Rome

[The_Merf]

Refined, austere and graceful. A recipe gleaned from Classical Rome: cypress, juniper, chamomile and rose.

Oh how I want to love this one...I'm obsessed with the Roman Republic (I won't wear the oil Antony because of his behavior during the republic's crisis, and the same thing would hold for Nero as well)...I don't know if I've ever anticipated an oil so much based on its name alone...

In the imp: This is promising. It is cool and green. This is certainly something that the daughters and wives of the optimates would consider proper to wear. I get the cypress and the chamomile coming through.

Wet: It is almost too commanding--very green and sharp. It does bring white columns to mind though.

Drydown and wear: Tragedy! The scent just vanishes. It is undetectable after 20 minutes. I'm crushed; I can't buy an oil that disappears on me, no matter how much I love the name. I will say that it is brilliant in terms of capturing its subject, and I urge people to try it.

[Rhowan]

Ack! Another Rose! Maybe this time it will work....

 

In the imp and wet on my skin - wow! sharp juniper with an herbally feel to it.

 

I am just going to cut to the chase here instead of going thru my usual dry down, conclusion. I find this really icky. There is a sharp tangy almost palatable note in Rome that is just really offensive. Unfortunately, this has really good throw and wear. Can't wash this thing off quick enough!

[Meg]

In the bottle: A very green, astringent scent of juniper and cypress, I think, with a hint of rose in the background.

 

Wet: still a sharp green acidic scent of juniper and cypress, that slowly gets toned down as it dries. I think I get hints of bitter chamomile and very slight whiffs of rose.

 

Drydown: The rose comes out and it's lovely and pink - nearly like a wild rose mixed in bitter and sharp greenery. I still find the juniper pretty tart, though, sort of thick with acidity. This reminds me of "Burial" with roses, or of a tarter "Venus".

 

Overall: There's a definite scent of warm greenery in this blend - sharp juniper, cypress trees and sweet small roses mixing on a hot sunny day, it smells of southern Europe. I still find it too tart for my liking, I'm pretty sure it's the juniper and it confirms that I don't really like that scent. Fortunately, about an hour after drydown, the juniper evaporates, leaving a lovely chamomile and rose scent that's very soft and long-lasting.

[klio]

I was posting my bright-eyed newbie reviews on LJ while the forum was down, but I'm trying to get into the habit of posting here. So, here's a (re)start. My experience with this scent is a lot like some other reviewers'. I wanted to love Rome, since Roman history has been the passion of my entire life. I'd wear Antony all day long, because of his behaviour during the end of the Republic. Yep, I'm 100% Antonian. But we were talking about Rome the scent

 

ROME

Sniff sniff sniff: Minty, woodsy, and very manly.

 

Wet: A little powdery. There is definitely cypress and juniper in here—I remembered that part of the description, from the scent, without having to look it up. There's something of a household cleaner feel to this, but not in a bad way; more like something that should be of Victorian vintage and come in a beautifully decorated tin.

 

Dry: Woods, woods, woods, piney. A little soapy. It doesn't magically evoke the ancient city to me, the way Athens evoked 3000 years of history. But if a guy wore this, I'd be all about that.

 

More dry: A complete change. That soapiness was, I believe, the rose, which has come up insistently and is now much stronger than all the other notes. Now I'd call it very feminine--a mature, reserved femininity. I may detect a bit of sweet chamomile in the background. I wish it would stand up for itself and blend with the rose.

 

Throw: Seems weak. It also has faded a lot over a half hour.

 

Overall: I'd wear this when I want a graceful rose scent in a situation where I'll be very close to other people and don't want to overwhelm them, but still want to make a statement about myself. It's distinct from the other muted roses I've tried. Rose Cross is more vibrantly rose than this; this is more vibrant than Whip; that crazy Two, Five and Seven is not muted at all; Whip, to me, most gives an air of maturity. I agree that one of the main qualities of this scent is austerity. But it's not distinct enough for me to want a big bottle of it. I wish the other notes were more persistent--I love the idea of re-creating ancient perfumes, but a rose is a rose is a rose.

 

What not to layer: I'm wearing Athens on my other wrist. They are having a spat. Something about all those cheap Pompeiian knock-offs of statues of naked athletes.

[Chrysantza]

I bought an imp lot and this came as part of it.

 

Wet: Roses and evergreens.

 

On me: Alas, evergreen and me do not get along and this was no exception. It smelled like a roses and Pine-Sol combo, heavy on the Pine-Sol. I swapped it away.

[storme]

In the imp: Hmm! Sharp herby rosey tastiness. Somehow I was expecting something more acrid.

 

On me, wet: Green, sappy rose with an acid tinge and a good dose of chamomile giving it a faintly soapy scent, but not in an unpleasant way.

 

On me, dry: Sigh, the soap took over. I suspect that's the chamomile and rose combination. All that lovely sharp greenness didn't want to stay around.

 

Verdict: If this was actually a soap, I would probably buy it. But as a perfume, nope.

[kourika]

I'm not sure what the problem is, but when a scent doesn't work for me, it usually goes out with a bang. Rome was lovely in the imp, but when I put it on my skin it went heavily herbal and vaguely menthol smelling. Since I don't wear BPAL because I want to perpetually smell like Ben-Gay, I passed my implet along to a friend who might enjoy it more.

[Astburygrrl]

In the imp: Bright green & fresh cypress..holy moly, Batman!

 

On the skin: Bitter..here comes the juniper hangin next to the cypress! Hey..wheres the chamomile or rose..? Ehhm..

 

Afterhours: I can finally detect the chamomile but its so darn faint..and the rose..? I have no clue where it could be! Sadly, this has faded so quickly i cant say i'll be hanging onto this one, folks.

[erin.kogan]

lots of juniper and rose out of the vial and while wet, almost a hint of piney-lemon.

The chamomile starts to peek through, and then the cypress starts adding a little hint of dry bitterness.

As it wears, it's a little too woody for me, and the rose disappears almost completely. I would love to smell this on my guy, but for me, everything with cypress goes very masculine.

[ajcj213499]

I was able to test this as a part of quikslvr's GC Circle Swap.

 

This reminded me very much of Wolfsbane. It’s a green herbal with a touch of rose- I may need to obtain another imp of this for further testing… I liked this much more then I expected to.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: cypress.

on: lots of fresh juniper and cypress, with just a hint of rose.

1 hour later: chamomile and rose, mostly.

2 hours later: generally woodsy.

5 hours later: vaguely woody.

overall: this just isn't for me.

[filigree_shadow]

Tried this as part of the GC swap.

 

Juniper and rose are the prominent notes on my skin, but mostly rose. It smells like a woody rose (as opposed to a watery rose or a bright rose, etc.), which appeals to me more than other rose blends. But rose and juniper are two of my least favorite notes, so this isn't gonna work for me. I like the chamomile, though.

[Ryvre]

In the imp: Juniper, with a bit of cypress and rose.

 

Wet: I wasn't expecting to like this, but I do. The rose is soft and fresh, and the cypress mellows it and makes it just a tad woodsy.

 

Dry: Everything is blended together seemlessly. I can still pick out the rose, but just barely. This is gorgeous.

 

I love this blend. It's soft and low key and very classy.

[kakiphony]

In the imp: Strangely like sweet tarts. Fruity, high and sweet. I'm puzzled.

 

Wet: That's more like it. Juniper is at the fore and I smell spicy and little woodsy.

 

Early dry down: Hmm. The juniper and cypress definitely have the top, and make it smokey and a little astringent. The rose underneath is a soapy rose, as opposed to sweet one.

 

Late dry down: As this dried the rose...umm...rose to the surface. Soap all the way. Not for me.

[edenssixthday]

Rome - I waited and waited to try Rome because the “cypress and juniper” notes made me more than a bit nervous. While the cypress is one of my all-time favorite trees, both of these trees are notes I don’t usually care for in oil blends, and especially not on my skin. However, Rome surprised me from the get-go. It’s an absolutely gorgeous oil! On my skin, it immediately smells not of cypress and juniper but of incense and roses. The incense scent is soft and sweet and incredibly beautiful. As the oil dries, I detect the chamomile note in the blend, which is very soothing and relaxing. The scent of chamomile, roses, and incense is relaxing, calming, and soothing. I really like this particular blend and will probably use it on high-stress days when I need something to ground me, or in the evening, when I’m at home and want to feel relaxed and calm. It’s lovely. Just lovely.

[juniperus]

Bottle: rose and juniper, and after a couple of sniffs I can separate the mellow chamomile.

Wet: the same, very green with a hint of pink.

Dry: not much of the cypress, yet, but the juniper is receding a bit to allow the chamomile to act as a mellow pivot-point in this teeter-totter of color.

Later: mellow - faded rather quickly, but very nice while it lasted (and I juniper, donchakno)

[rainbow]

In the bottle- sharp and herbal.

 

On me- Whoa! Intially this is VERY sharp and herbal, much more so than when just in the bottle. This smells much like pine, like when you break open pine needles.

 

After a bit of wear I get some rose too. It's rose with pine, and gradually turns into a predominantly rose scent with a pine base note. This scent retains a certain sharpness throughout its wear.

[opaleyes]

Oof! The wet stage is painful. It's like a citronella candle. I don't smell the rose in this at all, and that's the note I was after. It dries to juniper on me.

[empi girl]

Wet, it's juniper and cypress, and it's lovely. I immediately went to put some on my husband. He did, and right away (didn't even look at the notes, and he is terrible with notes anyway, so this was amazing) said, "it smells like roses". And sure enough, on him right away it did. On me, it took about 3 minutes. But it ends up as roses, a very nice rose, I have to add. But not a keeper.

Edited July 24, 2006 by empi girl

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i live in Rome... so i wanted to love this for the same reason i wanted to love Dana O'Shee (erm. my first name's Dana)....

 

impsniff: juniper and cypress - yum!

 

on me: rose-scented dollar-store candle-wax and perm solution.

 

i had the perm-solution thing happen once before with another BPAL/rose blend, so i'm thinking there's one particular rose that doesn't like me. ... i get the same thing from one of the bath & body works lotions (Moonlight Path? something like that?)

[theseagrows]

ew this smells positively icky on me. like a sour herbal-y rose. i dont know what's going bad on my skin, because rose often works for me, but if mixed with the wrong thing, this kind of thing happens.

 

i kind of think it might be the cypress or juniper, i think bpal's juniper hasn't worked on me in the past.

 

oh well i thought this might not work on me, but i'm part italian and just had to try it for that reason

[steffanina]

Rome-

 

In Bottle: Rose, with a tea tree oil scent.

 

Wet: Definitely rose. Not too strong or straight rose.

 

Dry: Remains rose but a very nice rose, not too flowery. It evokes a scent I remember of a house that had cats but was very clean (I'm allergic to cats, so, that could have been unhappy for me, but it's not.) Overall this is nice.

 

Overall: I like.

[sofiaviolet]

I can smell all the notes for once!!

 

I smell juniper and cypress most strongly. The juniper isn't as sharp as I had expected, which means I actually like it, and I love cypress. The chamomile is an intermittent presence, and the rose is a constant sweet gentleness.

[zombiegrrl]

Oooohhh, I love this one! In the bottle and wet I smelled the cypress the most strongly, followed by the juniper. Now that it has dried, it smells like a somehow edgy rose. It's totally great! :-D Oh yeah, I need a big bottle of this one.

[birdiefu]

Rome, why do you have to smell like Lysol on me? I'm glad I did a very light testing, as I could at least tolerate letting it get to drydown without giving me a massive headache. I hoped the wet Lysol stage would pass- dry, Rome was rose scented Lysol .