Val Sans Retour

[isyche]

No description on the site yet.

 

I was curious about the name, so I went looking for information and found this description of it - "According to legend, this was once a valley ensorcelled by Morgan-le-Fay to ensnare unfaithful knights." Very cool, love it already.

 

As for the scent:

 

In the vial: Fresh, sharp, citrusy and green, like just-picked oranges or lemons with their fresh-cut leaves.

 

On me: At first, orange peel (or lemon peel?), something herbal (lavender?), and clover or green grass. As it dries, the herbal note comes forward more and the citrus dissipates.

 

I really like it, and I don't usually like orange/lemon scents. It makes me think of a quiet sunny orchard in the midst of an open green field.

Edited January 31, 2005 by isyche

[Lucretia]

In the bottle this one smelled very citrucy, almost like lemon merengue pie.

When I first put it on smelled again like lemons, but rather sweet and very very green.

Sadly, this has morphed into the smell of crushed juniper or possibly pine needles on me. Not that I don't like that smell, but I don't think I personally would like to smell like an xmas wreath.

So it seems that more lemony scents don't quite agree with me. This one may end up in the swap pile.

[Marissa]

I can't decide if this reminds me of Christmas or spring. It's lemon with piney or herby undertones. As the lemon fades it starts to smell more piney than anything. I can't decide yet if I like it or not.

[Falathwen]

This was a freebie. (I love that custom...so generous and so much fun.) I was excited at the thought of an Arthurian scent. This one has the scent of Sweet Annie to me - a wild plant of graceful shape and wonderful citrus-green scent. It blooms this time of year. I have only encountered it in one place, the community garden in the heart of our city which has a labyrinth and suits the idea of an enchanted valley quite well

[pkwench]

Val San Retour

 

Vial: Wow. Sharp juniper, pine, and citrus. What a job it did clearing my sinuses!

 

Wet: Sharp, sharp pine,

 

After a bit: I smell like a fresh cut Christmas tree. It's really quite nice and invigorating. It may not be quite for me. But, I'm glad to have sampled it and love that it was a freebie from the lab. Again-thanks, Lab! Btw, this would make a fabulous room scent for the holidays.

 

I'm normally a little better on reviews, but I was distracted by babbling about Trek with a friend on ICQ and completely forgot to sniff myself at the appropriate times. Ah, the perils of being a geek.

Edited September 14, 2004 by pkwench

[silverangel]

This is completely and utterly fresh cut grass on me. Everyone else is getting this citrus thing but all I had was grass. Up for Swap it goes. It smelled so pretty in the vial too.

[Vicious Mistress]

I got this as a freebie, and I think I'm gonna end up buying a big bottle.

 

In the imp: pine and citrus and maybe spruce?

 

Wet on my skin: pine and... ginger! That's it! And something peppery, but I don't think it's black pepper. Maybe it's bayberry or hollyberries or something like petitgrain. It's like walking in an evergreen forest with snow all around. Soon green tea comes out too! Fresh and invigorating!

 

Drydown: It settles down on my skin, the snow melting and the spicy petitgrain(I think?) coming out with the evergreens and just an echo of the tea.

 

I think this may be the perfect winter scent for me. I bet it'd smell delicious on a man too.

Edited September 14, 2004 by Vicious Mistress

[Nepthys]

Mmmmn. I'm afraid my nose just isn't educated enough to pick out the notes in this - I can pick up the pine that other people have mentioned but it's a very sweet pine, not a sharp or acrid one. It smells not exactly like a Christmas tree on me but rather a delicious Christmas potpourri or candle. Something is sweetening it but I can't tell what. Regardless, this is a very cheerful, pretty scent and a total mood-lifter. It reminds me of days at home baking and wrapping presents and burning candles, the kind of days I love to have around Christmas but never seem to have enough time for. On me it retains the same scent as in the bottle and lasts a decent amount of time, getting just a bit pinier after an hour with a bit of citrus(?) poking through. I think I will probably have to get a big bottle of this, once it comes out, because it is just so perfectly evocative of how I want to feel in November and December.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I would have done mad, crazy things to get my hands on this, such is my love of Morgan le Fey--but it turned out all I had to do was swap with pkwench. It's a foresty scent, definitely pine, but with a warm breath of flowers and a touch of lemon to soften it. A warm meadow fragrance--tiny white starry flowers blooming in the shade of lemon trees and pines. An enchanted valley where no wind blows and time stands still, suspended and evergreen...just beautiful. It faded fast on me, but I don' t care.

Edited September 18, 2004 by Laurel_the_Woodfairy

[lixolux]

so thankful i got this in a swap - its so absolutely enchanting. I get the sharp pine/citrusy thing wet - and as it dries it is like a walk from the deepest, mossyiest part of the forest, and then slowly evolves into a beautiful meadow full of the freshest grass and sunshine - most grass scents give me a massive headache but this one is so real and so pure. I would ensnare *myself* in Val San Retour just to enjoy the experience! Love at first sniff, i must have a big bottle of this!

[amaltheagray]

this smells like grass in the bottle. citrusy grass. it sort of deepens into a fresh pine when applied, but not in a fake air freshener kind of way. this scent is very fresh. i can tell there are layers but i'm not sure what they are. it's also very subtle on me. i'm having a difficult time smelling it even though i doused quite liberally. it *does* smell like a meadow on a fresh, sunny day. there's a bit of darkness there, it's not simple. it's also not quite for me. i might wear it at home sometimes if i want a pick-me-up, but it's not something i'd wear elsewhere.

 

the dry down is quite nice, actually. like wet crushed grass, only not so bitter.

[renaissancerouge]

Val San Retour is lovely and crisp. My lovely sister who never ever writes me anymore AHEM, sent me this in a ravishing little bundle last week. I love this stuff, which is weird because I usually yawn with fresher scents. Maybe because the Lab does an exceptional job blending ACTUAL plant essences instead of formaldehyde and petrochemicals to make something smell cool and clean. I like VSR because my nose isn't all over one particular note. Like, in Old Shanghai, I really wanted to smell honeysuckle, but all I got was a noseful of tea. But also, if you like fresh blends like Old Shanghai and Kumiho, you'll like this one. It's just more twinkling and mysterious. Fresh like frost on a deserted meadow in Snowdonia.

 

Val San Retour= for fans of citrus, fresh pines, water, air, maybe some grass.

[kimberlygem]

I smelled the pine in this immediately. It was sharp and masculine to me. I waited it out to see if it would mellow but my skin does weird things and the pineyness seemed to amplify the longer i had it on. there is more under the pine, I could catch whiffs of it but my chemistry kept bringing the pine to the forefront. Lasted nicely though. This to me would smell much better on a man.

 

 

 

Kimberly

[Hallows_Eve]

In the bottle/imp- VERY lemon. If I didnt know better, I would have thought it was a lemon single not.

 

On me (rather, on my clothes at the moment): Lemon still, but...darker. Fir and Pine undertones, I think, cut with something else sharp. Maybe ginger, maybe orange or grapefruit. It reminds me a little of embalming fluid, but sharper, less herbal.

[alizarin]

Val San Retour is lovely and fresh and green. It has a distinct pine note but it's very bright, and some sort of light sweet fruity note that's actually reminding me of peaches for some reason, even though I'm almost positive it's not peach.

 

It smells like morning dew on a cool Summer morning. Which is particularly impressive since it's rainy and Autumnal today.

[Scylla]

Definitely a fresh, piney scent. Not a Christmas-y pine, though. More like a walk through a forest, enjoying the clean, crisp air and green scents of moss and stepping on pine needles.

 

It also reminds me of the rosin I used on my bow when I played the viola. If I recall correctly, that was made of pine also.

[Merteuil]

In the bottle: lavendery, piney, peppery, maybe even a little bit of menthol and cinnamon...fresh, green, and a bit spicy rather than sweet. It reminds me vaguely, gently of the "Karvol capsules" my mom used to get in England: soft capsules of aromatic oils meant to clear up stuffy noses when you squeeze them into a warm bath or onto a towel. A pleasant enough smell, but not the right perfume for me.

 

On my wrist: it quickly becomes a scent similar to the dried floral section of a craft and sewing store: dried lavender, crisp ochre sunflowers, fronds of eucalyptus. Again, a pleasant smell in its place, but not the right perfume for me.

 

This is the most swiftly-vanishing BPAL I've tried, too. Absolutely gone in 30 minutes.

[LiberAmoris]

At last! A BPAL oil that smells like my native Pacific Northwest!

 

This one smelled like citrus in the vial, but once on the skin, the pine and juniper took possession and I smelled like a hike through the Olympic National Forest! On me, the citrus remains strong enough to take the edge of the evergreen notes so that it’s complex and fresh. I think this would be a fab winter scent.

 

Thanks Lab, for including this as a freebie. I will use up every last drop!

[Lorencita]

I really like this one, it ofcourse smells like christmas trees to me... I how I love the smell of a xmas tree. Anyway, this doesn't last very long though, so I will use it sparingly... till it becomes available.

[Ina Garten Davita]

I wanted to know what Val San Retour meant so I googled it. I came up with "Le Val San Retour" is a song by Alan Stivell on an album called "The Mists of Avalon".

 

First Impression: Lovely pine with that eucalyptus vapor feeling.

 

Second Impression: Cold and crisp, snow on a beautiful Christmas pine.

 

Final Analysis: Very evocative of Christmastime.

[Northernminx]

Piney and fresh in the bottle, on me...oh no there's lemon in here! :sob: The lemony scent completely overwhelms anything else on me as always, which is rather sad so while this stayed citrusy on me for a while it faded abruptly into nothingness after long. Stupid chemistry!

[Electra]

Pine on me as well. Not as sharp as the pine in Golden Priapus - more of a mellow pine-resin scent. Reminds me of walking over a carpet of fallen brown pine needles in autumn.

 

I wouldn't wear it, but am glad I got to try it!

[feline.by.design]

I tried this on once or twice, and I didn't detect the pine until after I've read the previous reviews. I knew it was a "green" note, but I didn't realise it was pine until now, and now it seems obvious.

 

This fragrance seems to fade rather fast. It's quite unassuming, but I like it. Along with the smell of broken pine needles, I also detect a lemon/grapefruit scent.

 

If you're going to use it, I would recommend applying it with a heavy hand, as it's very light. Good for those of you who have boyfriends who complain about the amount of BPAL you wear (like me...). Aside from the fact that it's barely detectable for me, I really do enjoy this. It's a fragrance that can be worn by both men and women, and I thought at first that this would be one of those fragrances that was traditionally masculine, but I'd wear anway. It's very brisk and refreshing. Wonder if it's an upcoming holiday scent.

 

-doreen

[Splendid Molerat]

The first note I get from Val San Retour is natural turpentine, the kind that wells up when pine is deeply cut, or clawed. It's like crossing the boundary of a valley.

 

The follow through is an airy and watery blend, close to lemon. Later notes come up like a descent into the valley, reminiscent of tiny alpine flowers, grass and clover. You can imagine still air, and the shadows of clouds rippling the earth around you.

[rugiada]

Mhhh... green and citrusy.

It's like a clovers field in a sunny day. I love this smell. It makes me feel quiet, and calm.