Val Sans Retour

[slave1]

In Bottle: Lemon citrus

 

On Skin: Yum! Sweet lemons and crème! Someone on the forums said Lemon Merengue Pie and that’s exactly what I smell! It’s delicious! I normally am not too keen on lemon scents, but this being so sweet grew on me right away. As it dries, I get a grassy and slightly herbal feel… very outdoorsy, like a field. I don’t smell the pine that some people have mentioned… interesting. As the scent develops, the grassy note seems more specifically like wheatgrass. I still like it, especially that sweet lemon note which has now shifted to the background. It has a very low throw, this is a super LIGHT scent, I would have to slather a lot if I wanted to this scent to be noticed on me. The scent changes a little more, it reminds me a bit of a cactus or aloe vera. To sum it up, I never smelled Pine, I wonder if this was a different batch than the ones where everyone smelled pine? It’s a sweet citrus with a low throw… very yellow and warm. It gives a kind of desert feel and reminds me of a cactus. Quite beautiful and unique.

[siddal]

In the imp I smell some pine and citrus, but I don't really get the strong lemon like some do. Oddly enough, this smells like chamomile to me! green notes and chamomile. A very interesting and unique scent.

[Ryvre]

In the imp: Citrus. I'm not getting lemon- maybe more like orange. There's a note behind it that I can't quite make out.

 

On me: More of the same. Now I'm fairly certain it's orange. Whatever the other note was disappeared completely. It smells like a lot like the orange oil my girlfriend in high school wore.

 

It's nice, simple, and light. It's a very summery scent. I like it, but I tend to wear more complex scents.

[arabella]

First Impression: Pine and citrus, with maybe a hint of underlying florals.

 

Dries down to: Strong pine overtakes everything - almost as if it's heavy on pine resin.

 

Additional Comments: The little bit of citrus, initially present, disappears quickly and it's just the pine that remains - definitely, not one for me.

 

Lasted: An hour or so.

 

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

[falcon in the dive]

Described to me as lemon and pine, I was terrified this would smell like a cleaning agent.

 

In the bottle: Very nice, a deep green foresty scent. Almost black foresty. There's something almost fairytale-esque about it in the bottle.

 

Wet: Very strong pine with the floral coming out as it dries.

 

30 minutes: I like how this morphed. It's almost as if you're riding through a forest and come to this beautiful, honeyed garden. It's quietly seductive. I thought that it was a nice outdoorsy scent.

 

Dry: I'm in love with it. It smells like pine with a subtle, cool, subdued mint. Colorwise the scent is almost a sky blue or pale teal. It's amazing. I hope they release it one day. I absolutely love it and would buy it if they sold it

[batsy]

My first unreleased scent!

 

In the vial: pine and lemon, after a sudden rain storm

 

On the skin: it's manly, the undertone is smoky which juxtaposes with the clean pine/citrus. It's a most interesting combo. Not my thing but really good for a guy.

[empi girl]

Lovely blend. Whiffs of pine, a light citrus, a hint of sweet ozone. I like how the pine is distinct, but not masculine-I wish this stage lasted longer. Dries down to a soft floral, not cloying, not perfumy, very light-like a breeze through a window outside a garden. 2 hours on, melony, soft, sweet.

[edenssixthday]

Val Sans Retour is initially a light and lovely scent, full of citrus and sunshine. Very subtle and not heavy at all. Even when wet, it stays very close to the skin. After a few minutes, a pine scent starts to move to center stage, and then suddenly, it takes on the distinct odor of Pine Sol -- and not in a pleasant "oh my bathroom smells so clean!" kind of way -- more in a "*@#$*&(^@ someone just dunked my head in a bucket of bathroom cleaner!!!" kind of way. Fortunately for me, this is one of those scents that my skin absorbs in about 10 minutes, so I don't have to deal with it for long. Others may like it, but it's definitely not for me.

[absinthetics]

pine, a light citrus, a hint of sweet ozone.. yes.. but it's very very strong in the vial.. i am actually warry of putting it on as all of these notes are not to my taste. It is perfumy and clean in a somewhat jarring way... I was glad to have tried it, but I think this is not for me.

[Inanna9]

I positively squeed when I saw this tucked in my most recent order. This one sounds right up my alley.

 

In the bottle it's light, citrus--a little sharp, maybe from a trace of ozone, which tends to freak out on me. I'm worried at this point.

 

But as soon as I put it on, it is just the most perfect green-citrus blend; tangy, light fresh-squeezed juice. This could be my best friend this summer.

 

And then it's gone

 

If there was any pine, my skin ate it up before it had a chance to emerge. Val Sans Retour is my elusive, summer citrus scent, and fades just as fast as most oranges are wont to do on me. That's okay--I'm putting this bottle to good use; I'm going to make a spray to keep in the fridge for spritzing, and decant some into a roller bottle so I can reapply as many times as needed. I love this. Thank you Lab!! ::smooch::

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Citrus and a hint of pine. I got an empty as a freebie from a swap, there was barely enough for a test.

 

First on: Definitely something in the mint family, but not the menthol mint. Maybe just plain mint leaves? There's a sweetness to the citrus as well.

 

After an hour: It's so faint I can barely smell it, but it's the reminants of a nice woodsy citrus.

 

Overall: Maybe if I had been able to really test it I would like it better, but it didn't even last an hour on me. Still, I'm glad I got to try it.

[sofiaviolet]

Somebody sent me a sniffie of this.

 

Val Sans Retour smells very sharp and medicinal. It's chilly. Unfortunately, I don't really want to smell like that. I already have hospital smell clinging to me when I leave work, no need to accentuate it.

[Voleuse]

This is a sharp citrus on first application, and as it dries it gets sharper and greener. Yikes! It ends up a prickly forest smell on me, which is nice, but not at all what I would have expected. The scent I end up with is medicinal and cool, as if I blundered through an herb garden in twilight.

[supremegoddessofall]

Foody, but in a meat tenderizer way. I smell some juniper in here, and also a touch of mint, but there's almost a...garlic...in here, too.

[steffanina]

Val Sans Retour-

 

In Bottle: Kind of herbal-green.

 

Wet: Very herbal. Like rosemary.

 

Dry: This is gone in a short time and never became anything I liked.

 

Overall: Uninteresting.

[brownbear]

This one is icy cold and a little bitter. There might be some kind of pine or birch or juniper in here. Underneath there is something like orange. After a while it warms up some. It doesn't have a lot of staying power on me.

[filigree_shadow]

I was surprised when I looked at other people's reviews, because I don't smell a strong citrus in this. I think there is some citrus, but it's not loud. To me, it smells like Cathedral, but cleaner. It has that sort of pencil box scent, and it smells like the pencil box has just been dusted with Lemon Pledge. I think this scent is softly comforting. It smells like clean wood.

[xoe]

Not very citrussy to me either. Light and herbal. nice, but fades quickly.

[wikkidraven]

juniper? citrus? pine? pepper?!

 

there's a lot in this, and i don't think i like any of it.

[Reedsong]

I wish I knew what notes were in this so that I could buy up every BPAL scent with them.

 

Val Sans Retour is wonderful and is one of my favourite BPALs ever. It's sweet, fresh grass, very green, with a hint of lovely flowers lingering in the background. It's exactly as I would imagine a tempting, beautiful forest clearing would be, and it's perfect for its name/legend.

 

My only complaint is that it lasts only about fifteen minutes on my skin, thirty minutes at most if I use unscented hand lotion first. I love this fragrance so much and wish it would stick around for me to enjoy longer, especially since I'm down to a half-imp!

 

If the Lab ever releases this one, I'm in line for a bottle - and judging from some of the other reviews, I'll take their bottles, too.

[Babylon]

Wet - Lemon lime fizzy fun!

 

Dry - Juniper? Fir? Winter woods with citrus.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh man, on me this scent began as lemon fizzyness with a hint of pepper.

 

Now its shot to rosemary and graham crackers.

 

Sorry to say but this doesn't work on me...

 

ETA: Tried it in the vintage version from one of the Cobwebby bottles. I get more of the green grass, mild medicinal note. Aquatic. It's slightly sweet on wet, dries to a more outdoorsy scent, and is gone after an hour.

 

Sadness.

 

 

Prototype v3, from the 1st Cobweb event in February 2009:

This one smells really similar to the vintage version available at the Cobwebby events. Green grass, aquatic, with a brighter yellow floral note on.

 

Again, the drydown on this one doesn't last very long.

Edited September 16, 2010 by zankoku_zen

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Fresh, sweetly green, and sparkling!

 

Wet: Sweeter, in a not quite fruity way - bitter orange perhaps. Headier, but without losing that crisp- sparkling quality. There's a mild herbal-medicinal note, but I sort of like it. Tea tree oil perhaps? Or something in the evergreen family? I'm not sure because usually I don't like those notes but the one here is very gentle. It's not an in your face sort of menthol.

 

Dry: Okay, on the drydown, which occurs very quickly, this loses virtually all sweetness. I'm left with a light, sparkling foresty/outdoorsy scent - the first fall of snow in the forest, on a cool but sunny day. This could work on either sex, I think, but would probably be optimal on a man.

 

Summary: I'm really curious about the sparkling note. I've smelled it in Beltane as well, for which there is also no scent detail given. Any clue what these two might have in common? I am also sad to note that this oil has almost no lasting power on me. It's barely detectable after 15 minutes.

[savage_rose]

A very pale lemon scent, with some kind of wood undertone. This is a really amazing lemon...it's so light, it's like a lemon breeze. This fades pretty quickly though.

[hackess]

Green and fresh, with a hint of lemon and lime. I concur with other reviewers - there's definitely something in here that's effervescent. I'm wondering if this contains Beth's snow note. Not terribly strong, with very little weartime (disappeared within 10 minutes).

 

 

To be quite honest, Clorox makes a "green" toilet bowl cleaner that smells EXACTLY LIKE THIS.