The Raven

[Aurelius]

Sleek, dark, and ominous. Violet and neroli mingled with iris, white sandalwood and dark musk.

Gimpage! Yay!

in the vial: Um, flowers? I can't pick anything specific out. It's not floral bouquet floral, if that makes any sense.

wet: Violets! Violets and something sweet.

drying/dry: Wha? Fruit punch? Oooooooookay. That was odd. This goes super sweet on me. It's not a bad scent, but clearly my skin chemistry is having a field day morphing this one way out of whack. Odd.

[Tesseljoan]

From the bottle The Raven smells like violets and something pickled. Huh? Do I want to put this on? I'll try it anyway..

 

When wet, violets always smell juicy to me, in this blend that fades rather quickly. It is a dry violet, with a dark musky undertone. I think it is very special as a violet scent, because violets tend to have a linen-drawer association attached to them for many people I know. This violet has the upper hand in this scent, but it is toned down enough not to be associated by people with their own clean undies.

[tempete]

After falling in love with Ultraviolet, I started on a hunt for other violet scents, which naturally led me to The Raven. I thought that I had hit upon The Violet Scent when I first sniffed The Raven while it was still wet on my skin, because it was exactly what I was looking for: a lush violet scent without the eucalyptus and minty bite of Ultraviolet. Unfortunately, it turned really soapy during the drydown, which I think may be due to the neroli note. About an hour or two later, The Raven reverted back to a soft whisper of a violet scent, with a touch of sandalwood. However, the final stage of The Raven doesn't have enough throw for my tastes, and I don't like the soapiness of the middle stage, so this imp will be passed onto someone else.

[pensive]

A surprise from the lovely Diana. Thanks!

 

Preconceived notions: "The floral for people who don't like florals." "violet"

I like violets, as I have tended to put them in my office (pensive + plants = disaster, usually). Might as well give this one a twirl, and never put a random gift imp straight into the swap pile unless I'd already tried it and knew I didn't like it.

Imp sniff: Violets as advertised.

Wet: Violets as advertised and.. something else.

Drydown: Violets gone musky, woodsy, yumsy. Nicely mixed up. Subtle. Nice staying power.

Impression: This would be a lovely evening scent with some variation on the "little black outfit". Definitely not for work.

Cat Survey Says: While not pushing at the imp tin, she's not fleeing in horror either. In fact, she's sitting here quietly keeping me from cleaning.

Verdict: Keeper. I found a floral I actually like! Well, don't mind, I mean, I'm not rushing to my shopping cart and slapping down a 10ml or something. I wouldn't have picked this up on my own accord, but at some point a nice 5ml would be lovely.

[glampyre]

The Raven is a member of the family of scents that BPAL is famous for...those dark, incensey, deep-thinking, dreamy scents.

 

Very transportive and delicious.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: A complex violet scnt in the vial. I think I smell the neroli as well.

 

Wearing: The violet dominates until this dries. The violet becomes more powdery and the other ingredients peek out a bit.

 

Final Impressions: Yeah, I still don't like violets.

[FireInCairo]

Sinister violets abound in this scent. It is definately a witching hour scent... very complex..dark...almost satanic. Very nice....

[oakmoss]

I've been craving violet scents for a few days and have been focusing on all my imps that have violet, which led me back to the Raven, after a day and night spent with Marie. While Marie seems like violets in an ancient French garden, the Raven is more like violets at twilight, darker, more complex and less definitely violet. This scent reminds me (in a good way) of Chanel No. 22, though less powdery. It has the complex floral scent of a classic perfume. And very evocative, like the mystical messenger the Raven is supposed to be.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Violet.

 

In the imp/bottle: Sandalwood and musk beneath a strong violet.

 

On skin, wet: Violet! Violet seems to trample any and every other note when it hits my skin.

 

On skin, dry: The violet lets up just a bit and lets the musk peek through, so it becomes a musky floral. The whole scent lasts about two hours.

 

Conclusion: Clean and fresh for a violet scent, but I'm not big violet fan.

Edited December 16, 2005 by Aredhel

[urraca]

Still on my quest for the perfect violet....

 

In the vial this was strong, heady, sweet violets. So far so good.

 

Wet on skin, the violet is in the foreground backed with other indeterminate (to my newbie nose) florals and deeper in the background still, a faint incense base.

 

As it dries down, the other florals retreat altogether and the incense gets stronger and stronger. I can distinguish both the sandawood and what must be the dark musk. And you know, I think I have learned something very useful from this scent which is that I probably don't like dark musk; it is the generic strong perfumey scent for me. I can tell it really is expertly blended though, with neither the sandalwood nor the musk dominating. The violet stays on top and as I move around, I keep getting lovely wafts of it.

 

Strangely, when it dries down it is the same vanilla violet I loved in Sybaris, but very faint. The Raven really is Sybaris's darker sister, as some have said, but I think I likt her lighter sister better.

[quikslvr]

Violet pops first. Pretty, but wayy too flowery for me. I thought maybe the sandalwood and musk would emerge more than they do.

[Scarlettfish]

Another one I thought I wouldn't like, but now love. In the bottle, it is all violet, but on the skin it dries down to a lovely, musky violet and sandalwood scent. It is kind of classic, but a bit haunting and mysterious at the same time. Definitely a keeper, and I may have to invest in a big bottle of this one.

[cuervosueno]

I wanted to like this one since I have great raven connections, but never tried it because of all the florals. Got it in a swap or as a freebie from the lab--can't remember now.

In the bottle. Green. Light green. stays that way wet.

then goes pure floral. Lavendar? I don't like lavender. No, its not lavender.

Looked it up: violets! Of course!

After it dries, that's all I get--pure violet, nothing else.

Reminds me of those Choward Violet candies I used to eat.

No, it doesn't work for me as a scent.

[zankoku_zen]

In the Bottle: Violet and iris. It smells like a more floral version of Ultraviolet.

 

On Skin: I can smell the iris and the violet. This is a much sweeter violet scent than Ultraviolet on application. The iris is a bit more predominant. I'm getting a whiff of neroli.

 

On Drydown: Very much like Ultraviolet on drydown. Perhaps a tinge muskier.

Verdict: The iris makes this scent sweeter than Ultraviolet. I like Ultraviolet just fine and so by extension this scent. However, it isn't so much more different form Ultraviolet in my skin that I'll keep it.

[Morrigan]

the Raven: violet, neroli, white sandalwood, dark musks.

Violet and more violet, iris seems a backdrop, but mellows and balances the violet, as does the touch of sandalwood. It's mostly flowers on me, but beautiful and deep.

You must listen to hear the rush of velvet wings to soar with the Raven.

 

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep..."    Robert Frost, Poet Laureate Massachusetts

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Woah Iris @_@

 

On me:

Normally, the Iris would probably have scared me away from this blend. Iris tends to come out really strong on me. However, I LOVE sandalwood, and I was hoping it would be more sandalwood than iris. Sadly, it isn't. THis is pretty much all iris and violet on me, for about half an hour until it fades out into a soft floral with a touch of sandalwood. It's so soft by then though that I can barely smell it.

 

Final note:

Too floral for me, but anyone who likes Black Pearl, might really enjoy this for the iris factor.

[brownbear]

Hmm on first try it just seemed floral generic and then faded really fast. I knew it deserved a second chance. Today wet and in the vial the violet was really strong. I like violet, so this is good. Overall it stays very violet. And I always like sandalwood and musk. I haven't had it on long enough to know it's staying power, but this is a pretty, slightly mysterious, violety, floral scent.

ETA: oh dear, it's been 45 minutes and it's starting to go weird on me. I can smell play-doh sneaking in. dang it!

Edited July 18, 2005 by brownbear

[olympia301]

 

A perfect violet fragrance. I have tried most of them. This one is like Marie in that there is a good shot of "green" in it, but unlike Marie, it is an exceptionally tender version of violets and their greenery without roses. It bears comparison with Sybaris, and I find it "clean green" versis Sybaris' clove and candy background.

 

Overall, I find the violet pure but lacking a volitile edge here in The Raven, and the drydown very clean. The violet part doesn't seem to last, but that could be from the odd tendency that violet has to "deaden" your nose so that you cannot smell it after several minutes. The Raven is a very fine representative of the Violet scents that Beth excels in making, and if you bought a big bottle of it, I doubt you would be disappointed.

[slugbait]

Pure violet is all I can smell at first. After this settles down a bit, I pick up on subtle notes of iris and something a little deeper. Sandalwood? Musk? I'm having a hard time discerning notes.

 

This gets darker after a little bit of wear, and the violet is still pretty strong. It is still very sweet, but it is perfumey and making me feel a little nauseas.

 

I can’t pull this one off, and so I’m going to swap this.

[rainbow]

In the vial- this smells like watery violets- yum!

 

On the skin- much, much darker, but still very nice. I can now smell the sandalwood, but it isn't too strong, and it doesn't overwhelm the violets, which are very much present.

 

Wearing- a beautiful violet scent that's just slightly powdery. I loooove this, I think it must be my favorite violet scent. That watery element that I can smell in the vial comes back, and this is just lovely, soft, feminine and gorgeous.

[Lilithlefay]

With first sniff it smells like violets, and so crisp they are. On the skin the violets go on strong but tone down after a little while and then I can smell a little bit of the musk and maybe sandalwood. There is definately a resiny background to this that I love!! I am definately buying a bottle of this. So gorgeous!!!

[Miss Lynx]

At first the violet seemed to dominate everything - at least, I think it was violet, something powerful and extremely sweet - and this scent came across as a brutally sweet floral. But after just a few minutes, that seemed to settle down a bit so that I could smell the darker notes in it. Once it balanced out it was not bad at all, and an intriguingly complex scent with a lot of contrasts in it.

 

My wife, sniffing it on me, said that it smelled "Like 10:00 at night - deeper than twilight, but not yet midnight. And kind of blue-violet." People with synaesthesia give the most interesting scent descriptions... There definitely did seem to be a sort of darkness and coldness to it, and the sweetness of the florals was well-balanced by the sandalwood and musk once it settled.

 

I'm not entirely convinced it's me, but I'll definitely wear it a few more times before deciding one way or another. And in the meantime, my wife seems to have decided she likes wearing it, so maybe it's a keeper either way.

[delicate_fangs]

The Raven is very, very violet. The other scents didn't really show up at all for me; I guess my skin chemistry amplifies violet or something. This is unfortunate, as I am discovering that I don't want to smell of it, however much it reminds me of the violet pastilles I used to love and still occasionally enjoy.

 

This was a good thing to try, but more in the vein of finding out what doesn't work for me. Oh, well, it's something for swapping, and will probably make someone else happy.

[LiberAmoris]

The Raven is a deep violet like a wall of fog from which the other notes are barely visible.

 

The drydown reminds me of how when a raven is in the light, it can be seen that their feathers are not pure black, but blue-black, red-black, green-black, yellow-black. There's a bit of fire in this as well, something restless that I can't quite put my finger on.

 

Violet is sometimes oppressive on my skin, so I don't know how much I'll wear this. I wish it was a little bit darker, as it might cut some of the sweet violet note.

[Ajila]

Wet on me this is parma violets, with a little bit of green in the background. Dry on me the parma violet scent is still predominant, but now there is the sandlewood there as well. I have to admit this is a bit of a meh scent for me, it's nice enough, but doesn't excite me.