Val Sans Retour

[Cat]

I got this as a frimp in an ebay auction I won this morning. My nose must be really wonky because all I get is apples and pears! I do admit, they are green and woody apples and pears. This is quite aquatic for me, but still quite tart at first. It mellows down to a more rounded apple and pear scent for me. Maybe it is pine I am smelling, I haven't really smelled it in a bpal oil before.

 

Wow this is really difficult without the ingredients in front of me. This isn't the sort of scent I go for. I prefer warm, sweet scents, and this is crisp and green. I can see how others would love it though. It does seem a little one-dimensional to me. Maybe it is just my wonky nose

[Julilla Regina]

This reminded me a bit of Empyreal Mist, but instead of blue-green, this one is all green. It's really fresh and gorgeous. It does have a grassy quality, but there's an herbyness to it as well.

 

I love this, if only I could have gotten it to last longer on me! It is too ephemeral. I would definitely buy this if it could be made to have better staying power. Please, oh please.

[klowey]

I got an imp of this in a swap and I'm desperate for more.

 

It's light, green, and smells of grass and spring. I was turning my imp into a salt scrub in my room and when I was done, my cat came and curled up. Every once in a while, his head would pop up and he'd sniff the air with his eyes half closed. Which is almost a perfect description of it. It's a promise of an idealised spring where grass grows, and the slightly cool, damp air carries the scent of flowers, trees, and sap. It's a scent that makes you want to go outside and try to recapture it.

 

That said, it is ephemeral on me. It's in a salt scrub to use in my morning shower, but if it ever gets released as any type of scent, limited, catalogue, whatever, I'm buying 10ml and turning part of it into a moisturiser to use at work. It's light enough that it shouldn't be offensive to anyone.

[shelldoo]

in the vial juniper berry

 

on it becomes a hodgepodge of juniper, pine, possibly hemlock, it is gorgeous deep rich thick forests. i love it

[cuervosueno]

My take before reading reviews:

I open the bottle: huh, I don't smell anything at all. Finally, after I swipe it across my writst I get a green smell. Evergreen? Maybe, but not a strong pine like I later read many others smelled.

When it dried, I got no evergreen at all, but it did smell grassy and meadowy. Like a slightly wet meadow, green grass and herbs and creamy white flowers. Someone early on said Sweet Annie, and I thought, yeah, it is kind of like that--a summery wildflower scent.

But then--ack!--playdoh! What happened?

After an hour it was gone.

[bellis]

In the imp: Green! Fresh cut grass and lemon.

 

On me: This is so lovely. It smells exactly like a lush green pasture of grass, sunwarmed and sweet. The lemon fades until it's just an accent, and there's a bit of herbs and wildflowers in the background. As has been said, this fades VERY fast. I'd love it it if lasted longer, but as it is I'll probably just end up buying a 10ml and slathering excessively and often when it becomes available. So perfect for spring and summer days outside.

[DameBecca]

In the bottle: Very fresh and green. It has this note to it that reminds me of the way a Jamba Juice store smells, but I can't pinpoint it. It's not fruity.....more like the smell of a green banana skin. It also has a little hint of spiciness in the background.

 

Wet: The bright green note really comes out strong with a piney note behind it. This morphs very quickly into a grassy scent. It's a very uncomplicated scent, very sunny and summery.

 

Drydown: The greenness morphs into a more lemony scent, but it takes on a very plasticy background. This oil does not like my skin. All for the best anyway because it lasts less than an hour on me.

Edited May 23, 2005 by DameBecca

[mmcfa2]

juniper and citrus? a touch of tea?

This one screamed at me in the same way that kumiho and shanghai did although the notes are different. It is much softer citrus on the drydown though.

 

It smells very bright and sunny. I'm not bright and sunny, so off it goes.

[tropicalstorm]

In the bottle: Smells sunny and bright.

 

 

Skin: Wet. OOh! So green and citrus!

 

Skin: Dry. Such a lovely citrus smell. I can also smell a really nice woody note, like a fresh green pine or fir tree.

 

I like this lot. Fresh and cooling, it is a perfect summer scent. I hope it is eventually released!

[PurringPulsar]

Val Sans Retour

 

In the imp: cut green grass and pine. Like a lush green valley.

Wet on skin: omfg I've been wondering if BPAL would ever make a cut grass scent, and this is it. This is like a freshly mown lawn in the summer sunshine, with pine. But the pine note gets stronger as it dries.

Dry on skin: it's faded and the smell has softened, but the smell is of overwhelming, unadulterated GREEN. Grass, mint leaves, pine needles…it's like a grassy valley with pine trees growing on it's slopes, but it's gentle, soothing, slightly sweet, but a bit too faint…I have to go right up to my wrist to smell it. But wait a minute, as this fades, I smell a hint of floral? Or is it honey? Or maybe fruit? It's something sweet, that's for sure.

After a while: I have a feeling the sweet note could be apple. I'm uncertain, but that's what it reminds me of. But then I smell it again and it reminds me of a floral note of sorts, and then I smell it again and I swear I can smell herbs, maybe rosemary, sage or thyme. But pine is still a dominant note. This scent is intriguing, it's changing, releasing more scents, teasing me…

Verdict: this is the scent of true green. Mint, pine, grass…it's like summer in a lush fairy valley, but unfortunately it's a bit faint on my skin, but it’s amazing…it's got that mown lawn note, with pine, but also something more mysterious, a collection of assorted notes that show themselves as the smell dries. It's really interesting and intriguing and if it was a bit stronger, I'd love it.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Hmmm, I can't identify any of this. Something tart-y, and not really sweet, but sweet-like. 2nd Try: I think it smells a little citrus-y. Not terribly sweet, but there is some sweetness.

 

Just On: Some kind of seasoning scent comes to mind. I have no clue at all. I keep smelling it over and over though, so it's not a bad scent. I have absolutely no clue what this is. 2nd Try: This time I get seasoned citrus. It smells a tiny bit like potpourri with lemon peels, but not quite lemon. Not lime or grapefruit either. Just something citrus.

 

An hour or two later: This one faded a lot, but still smells very much like when it went on. Most certainly will have to be reapplied often. 2nd Try: It's pretty faded, but I can still smell it a bit. It's citrus with seasoning, some kind of mild spices.

 

Around 6 hours: It's so close to gone that I can't tell if I can smell it anymore or not. 2nd Try: Not quite as gone as the first time, but still pretty faded. It's not too bad.

 

12 hours: It's definitely gone now. 2nd Try: It left this time too. I'm not sure if I'll keep this or not.

 

Overall: Well, I like it, but it's certainly short-lived. I'm trying this again. 2nd Try: It's a nice enough scent, but it doesn't jump out to me as something I *must* have.

 

After reading other reviews: I really didn't get pine out of this at all (which is good, for me, as I don't care for most pine scents). I'd like to see this released soon.

[JazzieCazzie]

My favorite fruits, so fresh on the vines.. so close to the vines. So leafy and green that it's much more green than fruity. Lemon and lime rinds, It just has no legs, it disappears so quickly. This is what it should smell like in the fruit grove on a hot summer afternoon.

 

REVISITED AND RE-REVIEWED APRIL 2013:

 

After having fallen in love with a sniffie back 8 years ago, a wonderful forumite filled my heart and BPAL box by selling me a bottle of this precious. This is a review from an imp I decanted from said bottle.

 

IN THE IMP: The lightest, most delicate lemon. A light fragrant citrus, but more green than gold.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: This is SUCH an interesting scent. It's more like an idea of a blend than a true perfume. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's citrussy, but more the scent of the dew-kissed air IN a lemon or lime grove, more like what it smells like if you're standing in the leaves than sniffing the fruit.

 

DRYDOWN: This is one of the most unusual body morphs for me. Often, when I apply an oil to my wrist and into the crook of my arm, the scents are different (that's part of the reason I apply to both spots) ... because my wrists are dry, the scent will tend to be sweeter there with less throw. But the oil in the crook of my arm, where the sweat (well, slight moisture) amps notes, will be stronger. In this case, however, the initial drydown on my wrist was much more acerbic -- BRIEFLY but noticeably -- and even had that brief "cleanser" quality. Fortunately, that faded within a few minutes and it is now a lightly cologne-like citrus scent. The crook of my arm, however, remained sweetly fragrant with the grove-y vibe and still does.

 

In both cases, as before, there is not a lot of throw. But now that I have a full bottle, I can be more generous with the application.

 

OVERALL: This is a very cool and lovely summer scent. Not sure why it was not released, perhaps the lack of throw? But I am so glad to have my bottle of it.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 4.7

Edited April 21, 2013 by JazzieCazzie

[wickedgoddess]

Origins - gift imp from the lab

 

Preconceived Notions - I am not wild about any of the notes listed in the reviews, pine, juniper and lemon, but I wanted to try it out of curiousity.

 

Wet - green and fresh. It smells like being outside in a grove of trees.

 

Dry - I smell juniper in here and then the citrus starts to come out. The juniper is nearly all gone now, and I get a sweet citrus. It think it's lemon, but it's a much sweeter lemon note than the one in New Orleans. It smells almost like lemon meringue pie. It's a very soft scent, not a lot of throw and it doesn't last very long either. Strangely, even though I am not a big fan of any of these notes separately, I really like this one! It's the perfect mix of fresh and sweet, and I would consider a bottle of this if it were to be released. Another reminder to not rule out scents based on notes alone.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3.

[HoneyHoneyNY]

I got this as a frimp with an ebay auction.

 

In the imp, it smells herbal, and faintly fruity with a whif of something piney.

 

On my skin it smells like the imp for a second, and then it turns majorly piney, I feel like I'm in the Adirondacks chopping down trees. It prickles my nose, but not in a bad way, but I'm not used to wearing pine scents.

 

As it dries, the pine tone softens. It's still there, but now I'm catching a whiff of something lemony and faintly herbal. It's turning rather nice, and instead of chopping down trees, I'm lying under them on a bed of dry needles, drinking lemon tea.

 

If it stays soft and nice like this, I might enjoy wearing it, though I'm kind of wary of the Pine Tree up my nose feeling it gave me earlier. I'll report back when it's been on my skin a while.

 

EDIT: This scent faded to a nice soft scent like mown hay, lovely and delicate. It almost reminds me of the smell of spent tea leaves in the bottom of an empty cup. Unfortunately, it also faded almost completely away within the hour. I have to hold my wrist to my face and sniff hard to really catch it. Still , it's light, fresh, and pleasant. I'm going to enjoy the rest of this imp.

 

SECOND EDIT: This scent has softly crept its way up my top choice chart. I wear it on days when I don't want to smell like nothing, but I don't want to wear anything heavy. I find myself reaching for it on hot days, on days when I feel a bit headachey or queasy, or just when I want a bit of freshness. For some reason I especially like wearing it when I have my Tai Chi class. I hope this gets released, because I want a big big bottle of it.

Edited August 31, 2005 by HoneyHoneyNY

[Em-]

I sought this out, because I absolutely love citrus scents and readong many of the reviews, green, piney citrus just sounded wonderful.

 

In the vial, Val is very cedary to me, almost so woody as to turn me off. On my skin, the initial note is almost pure green. I cannot really identify notes enough to describe it any more than that. The citrus is definitely there, but it fades in and out, eventually running out with the entire blend within an hour.

 

Actually, I swiped this sparingly this morning, not wanting to be overwhelmed by the woody notes, and almost immediately applied another swath, so quickly did it fade. Within less than two hours the blend was completely gone, and I applied something else at lunchtime.

 

End result, I might put this on a couple more times, but I would probably not buy a bottle if it were a catalogue scent or released as an LE - the fade is to quick to be worth it to me. I am really glad that I got to try it though and I may play with it a little more or else pass it along so that someone else can enjoy.

[oakmoss]

A dreamy forest scent, very fae and soft, not overwhelmingly piney. I can't wear a lot of the lighter, greener scents, as they are too sharp for me, but this one is lovely. It's rather Brigadoony, like a wooded land that might vanish back into the mists or is just emerging from the mists. I like this scent very much and hope it's released soon!

[Spastik_Kitty]

In the bottle: Citrus fruit rinds and pine needles.

 

First on: It smells like an evergreen forest, or a christmas tree.

 

After a bit: The Citrus zest is coming back, but the pine note is very dominant.

 

I'll try this one on the husband, it's way too masculine for me.

[Lilithlefay]

in the bottle: very clean and a citrus tone to it. A lemon or lime type of scent. I really like it. There is a bit of fresh cut grass smell as well.

wet on skin: definately lemon or lime, but still yummy, surprising because I normally don't go for clean citrusy type of scent.

Dries down: this is beautiful. Very clean and fresh. I don't get any woodsy notes and it is very light on the skin. A fresh cut grass and lemon scent, there is also something almost lightly floral underneath. Oddly something a bit creamy as well. Is that honey? My nose must be off because I don't think anyone else got that. If this is released I am definately investing in a bottle.

[Lycanthrope]

In the Bottle or Imp:

Pine. Definitely pine. And an airy, nondescript whiff of grasses and ozone. Perhaps a touch of citrus.

Wet, on Skin:

Pine!!! Pine, and orange. Definitely pine and orange. It's ok so far, but neither of those notes are big winners with me, so I'm hoping it'll shift...

Drying Down:

I can detect peeks of herbs trying to bust through the orange pine aroma, but no go... The orange and pine has a stranglehold on everything it seems. Not too content. Hurry up and dissipate, orange!

Over Time/Longterm:

The orange has faded into... lemon?! It seems to be a citrus fruit shapeshifter. The pine is much reduced and there's a faint dried herb, rosemary and sage type thing going on. It fades back and forth between a pleasant citrus herb and the very tip of 'pine,' which to me smells none-too-pleasant.

Final Verdict?

Uh. Well, I won't be getting any of this if it is released. Pleasant enough but this is too straightforwards for my tastes. And now I know that pine and me, we don't get along.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Grass. Ouch! It's rather sharp to the nose. Definitely grass, I would say it is grass and orange peels.

On me: It's much prettier on the skin than in the bottle. It actually makes me think of my backyard in the late summer/early autumn; if I go out and lay down on the lawn beneath our naval orange tree, I get this very same green grass and green orange peel scent. It's a very natural, summer-day scent.

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

smells nicely fruity

 

On

I had no idea it would be this good. It's like mandarin and something herbal, and pine as mentioned above. It's very fresh while being yummy. I don't know how she does it.

 

30 minutes

I took off a point because it just sunk in to my skin, the lovely smell got sucked all away at around 30 minutes. I think this one is worth it so I'll just have to slather it on.

 

Throw:

average

 

Scent category:

fruity/green

 

Summary

At first it's yummy in a succulent orange way, then the pine comes out and you go "uh oh", but it's so soft and subtle and the creaminess of some note and the freshness, it all works really well together to make a absolutely fresh but fruity scent.

 

Purchase again?

Yes.

 

Rating (1-5, 5 being best)

4.5

[Little Bird]

I love this. I wish that I could order a bottle of it right now. I'll definitely order a bottle as soon as it gets released.

 

This has the same sweet icy lime-lemon citrus in it that I love and adore so much in Wilde. It smells a lot like Wilde on my skin, actually. Only this has more of a green herbal quality to it and doesn't last as long on my skin. I can pick out something like pine in this, but it isn't the strong pine that I smelled in Dublin. It is very muted and in the background.

 

Val Sans Retour only lasts about an hour and a half on my skin, but it is the most glorious fresh green blend while it lasts.

Edited August 17, 2005 by Blood onmy hands

[Blueelm]

Hmm... I thought for sure I would love this. I got it as a surprise sample in an order. I love getting to try out new things!

 

I love grassy scents. I love turpentine. The first thing I thought of when I opened this was turpentine, or maybe gin. I was sure this would be a hit with me. Unfortunately it didn't work with my chemistry very well. At some point after contact with my skin, it turned into lemon pine sol.

 

It is a very light, non offensive pinesol scent, but still... not something I would wear. Very straightforward: I have clean floors.

 

It faded quite quickly, leaving not a trace. Oh well...

[Ajila]

Wet on me this is lemon and grass, not cut grass which is the most common grass scent but the lighter sweeter scent of fresh spring grass. Dry on me the lemon has faded and I'm left with the grass scent and daffodils in the background. This is a very light blend and faded quickly, but I guess that's almost apt, the whole thing is like a spring breeze on a warm day.

[quimerula]

Wet I get pine, lemon and a touch of juniper.

 

As it dries down it goes softer and I can pick up a resiny undertone.

 

It's a melancholic scent, true to the concept.