Viola

[dreadeddragon]

Gentle tea rose, lilac, Calla Lily, and Somalian Rose layered over golden Peruvian amber, Spanish moss, red sandalwood, rosewood, and myrrh, with the lightest touch of Mandarin.

In the bottle: A mossy floral, but a bright shiny one, not dark & dismal.

First on: Lots of rose. In fact, that's about all I can distinguish, but it's not like a normal rose.

Drydown: This has gone all generic rose on me. It's nice, but definitely not me.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Rose and lily.

 

On Skin: This scent reminds me of a light perfume my mom used to wear when I was a kid. I don’t remember the name, but I remember the soft florals and powdery background. This is pretty but far too floral and tart for me. The sandalwood, amber and myrrh give nice depth and substance, but the florals still overpower them. I don’t smell the moss or Mandarin yet, they must be blended very well. Anyone fond of strong florals and woody scents, give this one a try.

[Splendid Molerat]

Viola is a brilliant rose scent.

 

It has rose and moss in common with Zombi (one of my favourites), but it's very sunny and clean by comparison. I prefer more green with my sunny florals, but I can see this being perfect for anyone who was disturbed by the earthy notes in Zombi.

[cupide430]

Viola

There's something sharp and harsh going on with this floral. I can smell rose, but it isn't a sweet rose at all. I think the harsh note is the Red Sandalwood. It has a citrus tinge to it as well. It starts to open up into a sweeter rose as it dries. With a big powdery kick as well. I think the powdery-ness is a combo of the sandalwood and the lilac. The lilac in this mainly contributes to the powderyness (I think). You don't get any of the good lilac in this, only the not so exciting drydown parts of lilac. There's something else going on in addition to the lilac and the rose and the powder, but I can't pinpoint it. The harshness is gone. I'm left with powder and roses. It smells like old lady now. Oh well. Viola got two tries and I'm done with it. Away to the swap pile it goes.

[Little Bird]

All that I'm getting from this is sharp bitter rose. I either love or hate rose (love it when it is a dark wet rose like in Whip, hate it when it is a high pitched whining rose like in Viola).

 

This is a floral that I find to be very headache inducing. Too much bitter rose, and it just gets stronger and more overpowering the longer that it is on my skin. I'll definitely be swapping my imps of Viola.

[Thorne]

You know, I kept reading about BPAL scents going powedery on people, but it had never happened to me.

 

Then I tried Viola, and *bam* powder. Pure, uncut baby powder. A little whiff of amber and a little whiff of rose came through eventually, but it was overwhelmingly powder.

 

Which is not a bad thing - it's a good smelling powder. But not something I want to smell like on a regular basis.

[brownbear]

OOOOO

 

This is a good one for me! yay!

 

It is a strong, almost heavy floral. It is a floral with balls. (Please excuse me, I live with 3 guys) mmmmmmm It kind of reminds me of something from childhood, but I can't place my finger on it. And it might be the name influencing me, but I could swear that with the rose I can smell violet. *shrug*

It's definately a keeper for me.

[zankoku_zen]

On Bottle: Smells very floral. I can smell the lilac

On Skin: Lilies, roses and lilacs. This smells like a stronger version of Juliet. But with more oomph to it.

On Drydown: The scent seems very gentle. There's a faint wiff of baby powder to it. I have the vision of a woman who hides herself, not realizing how lovely she is.

 

Verdict: This scent is warmer and more gentle than Juliet although there are some notable similarities. It's a bit more refined. Probably not order more, but I will keep the imp.

[malanna]

Viola is a clean, perfumed powder. It's the powder that your mom would dip into with her big pouffy, uh, pouf and dust all over. It's definitely a purple sort of floral. In fact, Viola reminds me of the stila sparkly violet powder my sister once got me. It definitely smells like it, even though I don't get violets from Viola. In any case, it's a pleasant, sweet powder. I think it must be the lilac with the sandalwood that's giving me powder vibes. Also, normally, if there's rose in something, my nose starts beeping--rose!rose!rose!--but it didn't with Viola. I guess it must be because the rose is mixed in so well with the other florals. Also, I think it must be the lily that makes it soft and a bit sweet. This is a nice scent, but I'm not much of a floral scent person.

[Dark Seraphim]

This one is by far one of my favorites. Everywhere I smelt it(bottle, skin, burner) reminded me of a delicious blend of wine and roses. Quite strong when worn, but not as strong when burnt. Still, I'd certainly get a larger bottle of this one. 9/10.

[pensive]

In the imp: A more grounded floral.

On me, wet: Mixed floral, creamy.

On me, dry: A woodsy floral that occasionally gets creamy.

 

Impression: I thought the roses may put me off but there's a LOT of stuff going on in Viola.

Verdict: A surprising like. A maybe for next spring.

[gingersnapp]

This is a creamy, yet somehow powdery floral. Unfortunately it faded very fast on me.

 

I don't smell much of the woodsy notes at all, which is a little disappointing. I don't think that myrrh ever comes out on my skin at all. But the Somalian Rose as the most prominant note is light and soft and powdery. There is just the slighest, tiniest hint of the mandarin in the background, which is what is giving the blend the creaminess that I detect because, for some reason, oranges always turn creamy on me.

 

It's very pretty, but with little throw or staying power.

[Finny]

Rose, and lilac, while wet. Very pretty and light. This blend has some depth with the resins in it, but sadly still too floral on my skin.

[olympia301]

Very pretty and rosy, every floral loving person on this forum should try Viola. It is not cloying though it's just 100% flowery smelling. It doesn't say anything about violet but I think there is a bit of it in here. Viola also has nice character, in other words it's not just another generic "floral...a white flower floral" sort of a blend. I think this is due to the lilac Beth used, and Beth certainly knows how to use lilac to its best advantage. A very nice scent, and one you might want to think about if you have to give something as a gift to someone who doesn't know too much about BPAL. Very nice introduction.

 

The photo is a Man Ray image of a woman and his idea she is shaped like a...viola. I would say a "bass fiddle" but that's a bit insulting.

Edited August 14, 2005 by olympia301

[magdalenita]

Viola starts out with a burst of heavy, elegant flowers - I can pick out the rose and lilac - but the woods and resins are just as present. A touch of citrus (a look at the notes tells me it's mandarin) shows up a minute later and mingles with the other notes until the drydown

 

This is the feminine, elegant Viola before the shipwreck and Cesario. The woods and the flowers and the playful mandarin capture the layers and complexity of the character beautifully.

Edited August 15, 2005 by magdalenita

[Orodemniades]

Wet: Roses, but gentled by mandarin, lilac, and lily.

 

Drydown: Rosey McRose! Oh, how I love you. Tea rose isn't necessarily my friend, but the other scents tame it down and make it gorgeous and oh-so-lovely. A great scent for when you're feeling confident in your femininity.

 

Overall: fabu! A lovely, light, very feminine floral.

 

Oro

[Lilithlefay]

Viola started off very green and very rosey on me. As it starts to dry down I could smell a little of the mandarin and I think that must be lily that I am smelling. A little while longer I smell some of the lilac and this starts taking a slight powdery scent. The rosewood is very faint in here but I can smell it if I look for it. I start smelling the amber after about 10 minutes or so and this starts to warm up but is still very rosey. I can also smell some of the moss too. It is actually very pretty. After about 20 minutes the florals have faded down on me and the sandalwood and amber have surfaced more making this a bit more woodsy and resiny smelling with a layering of florals. Very pretty.

[urraca]

I get the lily, I get the myrrh, and even the mandarin but over the long haul, this is mostly about the rose, the sandalwood, and the amber on me, three of my favourite scents. I am delighted they work so beautifully together.

[misfitroxy]

Viola smells very rose-y and sweet in the imp. It's much sweeter than many of the rose blends I'm used to (which are normally dry or mixed with something heavier to balance it out). Almost honey-like in fact.

 

It warms up instantly on my skin. I can smell the amber for certain (I'm guessing that's what is reminding me of honey). It retains it floral qualities the strongest, though the scent itself is rather light and doesn't seem to have a lot of throw.

 

I'm not catching much else from this oil. It's a nice perfume, but not something that's overly striking to me. I'm tempted to age it to see how/if it changes over time. For the moment, I can sum it up by saying that this is a wet, sweet floral blend that's rather unassuming but pleasant and friendly.

[LiberAmoris]

Violet is a very unisex floral, perfect for her role in Twelfth Night. I agree with Splendid Molerat above---this reminds me a great deal of Zombi, probably the combination of the rose with the oakmoss.

 

This seems like a nighttime floral to me. It's bewitchingly dark and dangerous.

[feline.by.design]

Viola is such a lovely name, and I had been wanting to try this fragrance out forever as a part of my Rose Quest :::huzzah!:::, so I finally broke down and ordered it in an imp pack. Now, here are the details of my experience with Viola.

 

First off, man, the imp was a bit hard to pry open, but once the sucker popped off, I was greeted by a lovely fresh rose fragrance. On my skin, though, Viola turned a bit odd. The wetness of the rose is more pronounced, and I keep thinking I smell some sort of sweet, candy additive in this mix of florals, however it could be my mind just playing tricks. Looking over the notes again, however, reveals it's probably the Mandarin orange I smell. Oh. It's very subtle and light, so don't expect the orange to dominate the fragrance.

 

With the mix of Calla lily and the multitude of roses, this was bound to go powdery on my skin, and Viola does not deviate from this, unfortunately. The fragrance goes powdery rather quicky, within a few minutes after application. It isn't overwhelming, but at the same time, the oil loses some of the freshness and crispness I like in most of my preferred rose fragrances.

 

Overall, Viola didn't grab me, which is fine. I'm sure she may be able to tempt another who wants to flirt with the rose fragrances.

 

-doreen

[Shollin]

First sniff: A very interesting and atypical floral. It smells a teensy bit cleaner-esque if I think about it too hard.

 

Wearing: Warm rose, definitely, with something deeper underneath. It’s nice, but didn’t blow me away.

[SnornL]

In the imp, this is rosy as hell, with a tiny shot of bitey-sweet mandarin behind it.

 

Wet on my skin, it's almost all roses, though there's an underlying creaminess which balances the scent out a bit.

 

As it dries, the roses retreat and the woods and resins come out to play. I really like this stage, red sandalwood is gorgeous and it blends well with the amber. I'm just disappointed that the notes I like best don't show themselves until so late in the drydown, and that it's basically ROSEROSEROSE until then. The mandarin never really comes out either, which is a shame. I won't be buying more of this, but I'm definitely considering aging my imp to bring out the depth & spice a bit sooner.

[AngelFireHeart]

To My nose I definitly get the rose in this, but it's not as strong as most rose oils (ie Persephone, 2, 5, & 7 etc) The rose here blends really well with everything else making a warm coloured floral for me, the Rose rounds off the scent & softens it into a floral blur like in a meaow full of flowers, it's really gentle & soft. I really like this, but I think it needs to be layered with something else to give it more definition, because at the moment it's like a background scent with the lead role taking a tea break, it needs something to take centre stage. I must however say that it has staying power I can still smell it after 12 hours of wear & no re-application

[QueenFae]

The top note in this one is definitely roses, which usually works for me, but unfortunately not this time. It has this odd quality of undertone on me, I think it's the spanish moss and the myrrh, it's just not working underneath the rose. I prefer rose that smells either really pink, like Marie, or really red, like Rose red. A shame, I had high hopes for Viola, but I'll try to find her a more appreciative home.