Alice

[autumn24]

Curiouser and curiouser. Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot.

Alice is the very scent of blonde-haired, blue-bowed insouciance , with the scent of sugary pink frosting, roses, and milk. The carnation adds a spike to it all, and a soft powderiness that renders it ultimately innocent and mild. Lovely, girlie, and slightly mischievous.

EDIT: Added Lab's description. --Shollin Edited September 16, 2007 by Shollin

[roisnoir]

In the bottle: First sniff - oh, you'll hate me for this one, but it smells like the bathrooms at the summer camp I used to go to. Toothpaste and disinfectant.

 

On: Urk. Yes. Disinfectant. A little spice coming out. That's got to be the carnation.

 

Drying: Maybe it's the honey I don't like in this. I can't say that I've ever given much thought to the smell of honey, or to milk, either, though the scent of milk should be comforting, I think. I love the other three notes. But there's something in here that is throwing my nose off and partially masking the things I do like.

 

Dry: This is better. Spicy, clean. A lingering hint of the honey that I didn't care for, but not as overwhelming. It smells like a good cup of chai.

[antimony]

This smells like... some kind of dress-up perfume I had as a child. Something that was specifically made for children.

 

I like it though... I put it on and felt happy, what more could you want from a perfume?

[littleblu]

First sniff: this is way too sweet for me..smells like rose and honey cake!

 

On: Pretty strong and sweet, but I'm liking it.. There's something smooth and buttery coming through.

 

Drying: More smoothness, a hint of spice and settling into a warm round slightly powdery scent.

 

Much later: I really didn't think this would be me at first, but the more the scent settled the more I sniffed myself happily. At the end of the day I was in love; warm, spicy, creamy kinda eatable roses. Innocent at first glance but quite naughty.

 

Edited to add that I have been wearing this for over a week, and I'm completely in love with it now; sweet and spicey and warm...and just sooo delightful!!!

Edited April 10, 2004 by littleblu

[Shollin]

First sniff: There’s something in Alice, in the vial, that smells a bit “off” to my nose. I’ve never been a huge fan of the scent of milk, so maybe that’s it. The overtones are more fruit than floral.

 

Wearing: It’s the aftertaste of this that smells slightly weird – just when you stop inhaling but there’s still a scent. It does smell a bit like some sort of milk soap I used a long time ago. Over that I smell a slightly sharp-edged flower – I’m guessing that’s carnation – and the fruit seems to be gone, or at least toned down. The weird aftertaste disappears very quickly, fortunately, and the overall effect is quite sweet, with a nice powdery spice to it. It’s morphed into something I really, really like, an unconventional sort of soothing like a kitten sleeping in your lap.

 

I wasn't expecting to like this one based on the weird milky scent, but it turned subtly gorgeous as it dried. An older man in the post office kept glancing in my direction, and considering I went out with the Chin Zit of Doom and no makeup in a ratty old T-shirt and Birkenstocks, I gotta think it was the way I smelled rather than the way I looked... The closest I can come to "what this smells like" in its final form is a less sweet version of Burt's Bees buttermilk bath.

[oceandessa]

in the vial, Alice smells like.....well, like slightly soured milk.

thankfully, once applied, the soureness disappears into a spicy sweet carnationy scent. like all the carnation-based scents i have tried, the smell of the carnation overrides all the other tones. i can feel the powederiness of the rose (note i said feel and not smell.....this aspect of the scent is untterly tactile); i can barely smell the honey in the background, which is a shame because i love honey. in fact, i may layer it with O to boost up the honey. all in all, alice is a sweeter version of maiden, one of my favorite BPAl scents. i like it, but not enough to buy a big bottle.

[Pandorra]

initial:

oh this is way too sweet. my teeth hurt.

 

 

during:

I cant smell carnation. (I bought everything with carnation in hopes of finding a suitable Potion replacement). I think I smell milk and sugar. Definitely makes me think of a little girl playing with her tea set and serving little cakes.

 

final:

I had to wash it off. It actually made me naseus. I felt like I had eaten a whole box of candy or a whole cake and made myself sick.

 

Much too sickly, sugary, sweet for me. This will be swapped.

[Belladonnastrap]

When I first put this on it smelled a bit like O..that sort of amber honey smell I adore..but as the scent dried down on me it became a cirtusy floral and then morphed into a Rose scent. Everytime I thought I had it nailed down another note would waft up into my nose and I'd set off again trying to pinpoint it.

 

Alice has pretty good staying power...I had to reapply after hour 5 so that was great. Not entirely sure who I would recommend this too but I think everyone should give it a try...it's a scent that completely changes depending on the wearer.

[janelle_hell]

i looooove this! It's the scent of childhood tea parties,in a bottle. The bergamot note is quite complimentary to the rose and carnation. i don't usually like 'food-y' scents,but this is great. i'll definitely be getting a big bottle of this.

[Becky]

I am so in love with this scent right now! I just got it this morning from a swap and its already one of my favorites! in the bottle all the notes seems to blend into one beautiful scent. on the first thing I notice is the sweet honey smell. that is quickly followed by the rose. I'm not usually a big fan of rose scents on me, but this is so well blended the rose is a soft, sweet, powdery, carnation rose. it really works well on me. I used it with Lush's Honey I washed the kids soap and Potion lotion and it is wonderful. the potion brings out the carnation and now (about 4 hours after application) its a wonderful soft sweet floral scent. I can mostly smell the honey, rose and carnation. I must buy a bigger bottle, I can see the Imp getting used up very quickly.

[astrid]

I wore Alice for the first time yesterday! Out of the bottle the milk and honey combination smell a little almond/nut-like. Interesting! On me, it softened, less nutty (tho I am) and a pretty and whimsical scent. Slightly reminiscent of when I wear Samhain, which I adore.

[blackrayne]

Curious indeed...on me, while I do smell the carnation somewhat, as with a hint of rose, I am getting a large dose of something spicy...no clue what, as what my nose thinks it smells does not exist in this scent. It could possibly be from the bergamot, but I am not positive.

 

I do know that this one, with what very little I applied of it, is making my wrist burn...I guess I just found another scent I can't wear.

[jj_j]

When this goes on, I smell milk and honey, without much of the carnation note. Within a few minutes, I get the tang of bergamot, and it livens things up a bit without overpowering the other notes.

 

Getting my coffee this morning, the proprietor of the shop told me I smelled like baby powder and kid's candy. I can't smell it, but she assured me that's what it was and that it was a good thing.

 

Several hours down the road, my wrists have a powdery smell to them, but not a baby-powder smell. It's a lighter, more amber version of what Unseelie dries down to (which is fairly green and dry to my nose). It's still not the spicy scent of a carnation, which I'm thrilled about - carnation has never been one of my favorites - and is really innocent, feminine, and uniquely lovely.

 

Another standout by Beth!

[twistygirl]

This is a feminine, lovely, soft fragrance.

 

At first, I can ever-so-barely detect the honey, what really comes out on me is the rose and carnation, and they appear in about equal levels. Carnation by itself sometimes is a bit off-putting to my nose, and the rose just mellows it out to an absolutely gorgeous floral blend.

 

As for the milk, I don't really smell anything milky, but the overall impression of this scent is that it has a creamy feel to the nose, so I'm suspecting that's the milk, lying quietly underneath, smoothing everything out.

 

Now that it's dried down, I can definitely detect the honey rising above and further softening the carnation. Oooh, I like this one. A lot.

[magpiedee]

Curioser is right.

 

This one is an enigma for me. At first, all I can smell is Orange Julius... you know, those orange creamsicle milkshakes from Dairy Queen or the Varsity? And then it dries down to a dream. So subtle on me that I really have to sniff hard. It is a smell of peaches floating in a bowl of cream under a willow tree, it's Alice at the tea party buttering her bread and adding a perfect dot of marmalade.

 

Somehow I think this is going to be my sleeping scent. After my bath each night, Alice will be on my throat and wrists, to waft my dreams into a sweet sort of place. Very hazy and gentle, like a child's breath on your shoulder as you carry them to bed. Lovely.

 

Edit/ Wait! I've got it!!! Alice is Skipper to Jezebel's Barbie.

Edited April 15, 2004 by magpiedee

[VorpalBunny]

I have to say, this is one of my favourites for this time of year. I got a sample of it and now I'm thinking I need to order a whole bottle. A lot of people were calling it sweet, it is definitely sweet, but not overpoweringly so. At least on me, it's light and springy, but still interesting and complex. I think the bergamot helps balance out the honey.

[Ura]

My first review. This is the first scent I tried, and which I immediately loved. Initially smelled of sweet almond but quickly changed to warm honey and then on to sweet milk and honeyed roses. A soft and very gentle scent.

[enozgirl]

In the bottle: Alice has a very almondy-cherry smell. Like one of those fancy pastries you'd get at a fancy Italian bakery. But something's not quite right there....

 

Wet: On me, while wet, there's still the almondy cherry smell, but now I get a powdery note that hits the back of my sinuses like a boxer's punch. I don't like that too much, but the other scents mingle into something that's very little girl playing dressup. I'd give the sweeter part of this to my niece as a perfume.

 

Dry down: Curiouser and curiouser...there's a spicyness coming through that's yummy. It's something mingling with the honey, which I can now smell. It's one of the few scents I've tried so far that's wafting around me, rather than just lying on my wrists. I feel like I'm wrapped up in the caterpiller's smoke from his hooka *grin* But the powdery smell is just a little overwhelming for me and is canceling out all the sweet and spicy scents I am trying to pick up. And it's still hiting my nose wrong. It makes me feel like I have to sneeze. But the other smells have made me positively giggly today (well, more so than normal!)

 

Overall, if I could get this without the powdery notes, I'd buy a 5ml of it in a heartbeat. But the powder's just too much for me. I have to smell it directly from my wrist to smell anything other than powder.

[Ms. MSGirl]

This is just heavenly. It has SO much more staying power than Dana O'Shee, which just doesn't smell like anything on me -- the carnation and the bergamot, I think, must give it the oomph or sharpness or whatever it is that it needs to cling to my skin and keep on smelling good. Wet, it has the same soft almond-candy smell that Carnivale initially has on me, kind of like Snowcake soap. It quickly becomes so much more, though -- fruity more than rose, though the rose is there.

 

I just love that this is such a strong smell for all its sweetness. So many of the really sweet ones I love don't last on me, but this should have no problem. I think I have found the perfect candied rose I was looking for (still haven't tried Persephone, but I think Alice is it).

[Dispatcherbert]

This was milk and sugar on me (the rose and carnation never came through) and dried to a baby powder scent on me. It also faded quite quickly. I liked Alice but will probalby wind up trading it.

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:

A milky floral with honey sweetening the edges.

 

After Wearing It:

When I first smeared Alice on my wrist, each of the notes were pretty clear and distinct. Carnation, a very light bergamot and a powdery rose swam in a sea of milk and honey. It was sweet and oddly simple, despite there being more than a few obvious notes making themselves known here. Perhaps the tone of the scent was predicting its upcoming behavior though, since within the hour the notes wove themselves together more closely until it was hard to pick them out individually. The integrated result was very powdery, though still milky and sweet. It felt very appropriate for the scent's namesake since it was all at once very little girlish and yet proper at the same time, like a small child pretending she's a great lady in her mother's hat and pearls as she entertains her dolls for tea.

 

Final Thoughts:

Lovely, though not for me. I don't mind powdery scents, but they have to be exceptional for me to want to wear them much. Still, for as well as Alice captures the idea behind her, she's worth keeping.

[isyche]

The first time I tried this, I could barely smell anything, just a faint sweetness. When I tried it again, it was soft, milky, sugary carnation - like Maiden, only even younger, because of the milk. Very little-girl.

I like it, and it's a great evocation of the name, but I don't think I want to smell like a rosy-cheeked eight-year-old in a party dress. If I knew one, I'd give it to her, but I don't, so I'll swap it.

[malanna]

Like everyone says, Alice is very much a little, prim, yet mischievious girl in a white dress and with a bow in her hair. I suppose there is milk and honey, but what I get is a spicy cinnamon-y kick at the forefront (although it's not outright cinnamon by any means). I had gotten this, because people had said it was like Dana O'Shea, which I don't get. Dana's foody honey and almonds. Alice isn't like that (re: little girl). I enjoyed it at first, but at times, this gives me a headache and I rarely see myself feeling in the mood for this. This scent isn't "me" at all, and it's one of those scents that has a concrete persona attached to it, so it can't be used that often. This'll probably be up for swaps.

[fallow deer]

This is a /nice/ scent. I agree with the reviewers who have said it’s a little girl’s perfume: pretty and sweet and the notes are perfectly balanced; however, it’s too girly for daytime (when I like wearing more fresh, unisex scents) and too girly for night (when I like wearing scrumptiously sexy scents) and so I can't see a time when I would ever want to wear it.

[Astarte]

The most prominent note on me initially is definitely carnation but this dies down within a minute to a gorgeous milk and honey scent. I cant detect the rose as of yet but its lovely and definitely the most innocent of all the BPAL I've tried.