Brusque Violet

[Heavenlyrabbit]

BRUSQUE VIOLET

`I never saw anybody that looked stupider,' a Violet said, so suddenly, that Alice quite jumped; for it hadn't spoken before.

`Hold your tongue!' cried the Tiger-lily. `As if you ever saw anybody! You keep your head under the leaves, and snore away there, till you know no more what's going on in the world, that if you were a bud!'

Violet petal, violet leaf, osmanthus, orris, mint, and opoponax.

Whoa!

This is an arresting sent so in that respect, it captures the feel of "brusque".

This is no shrinking Violet. Unlike the Violet in Ultraviolet, this Violet has the upper hand. Which is rare on my skin where violet usually is much more subtle. I think it's the specific Violet-Mint combo. The resin helps this from being too high-pitched.r

No powder, soap or grandma feel to this.

This particular blend blows my mind. Will have to test over the month to see how it works but DAMN! This is a perfect Violet for people who don't do violet. Also kind of nice for late Summer into Autumn.

Edit to heap MORE love on this scent.

It is a fabulous mixture of violet, green and brown.

[hkhm]

imp: wow! bright, purple violets with greenery!

 

wet: very strong and almost sharp greenery make this a wonderfully commanding scent.

 

dry: this is a pollen feel here as well, like you are actually huffing a violet that has just been picked. very realistic.

[angelicruin]

Inside the imp, sharp green & violet.

 

Wet on the skin, still sharp and green floral. A few minutes after application, the mint note comes out.

 

Dries down sharp mint and violets. Not a soft scent at all.

 

I'd like to see it age, so I will keep the imp, but no bottle for me.

[izile]

In the imp: strong violet, but something very dark and murky, I'm thinking the opopanax

 

wet: lighter, more floral, but not sweet. There's a dry, earthiness which I would assume is the orris root and violet leaf. I am completely unaware of any hint of mint.

 

dry: violets in the woods, that's what I'm getting. I wasn't sure I'd like this from my first sniff in the imp, the opopanax worried me. But now it smells like the powdery dust from the underside of tree bark in the background, and really beautiful violets in the front.

[oakmoss]

HeavenlyRabbit said above that this is violet for people who don't do violet. If you DO do violet, like I do, this may be a bit of a disappointment. I'm getting a very faint whiff of violet somewhere in the background, but it's clearly been bound and gagged by the other notes and is barely able to squeak out its violetosity. The brusque quality is there, though -- this is a rough around the edges, dusty-musty scent, rather brown and dry. It's not UNpleasant, I'm just not sure if it's actually pleasant. I'll wear it a few more times and see if the violet manages to wiggle free of the gag.

[Little Bird]

In the imp, I was immediately hit with a blast of sweetness. I think it might smell kind of like molasses, and I don't know why :/. Molasses, violet candy, and something earthy. It's not good, though.

 

On my skin, that funky sweetness is still here. I'm not getting the sharp greenery that others have mentioned. A weird, almost wooden sweetness (like wet sugar dripped over dry barn floors), violet candy, and a cool feel that must be the mint. As this dries down, it smells sort of dirty on me, like unwashed skin rolled in dust. Something brown and unpleasanty earthy is creeping into the mix.

 

Brusque Violet is like a tour of bad for me. It starts off with an unidentifiable, cloying sweetness and then dries down with an unidentifiable dirty brown something (and taco seasoning? wth). It honestly makes me feel sick to my stomach when I smell it. It just goes all wrong and weird, with a powdery violet dancing around in the middle of the mess.

[Iceblink]

Gorgeously earthy violet. A lot of violet blends tend to be candy-sweet but this one is greener. It's like picking violets in the woods!! I don't get the mint in this at all, unlike Ultraviolet. Lovely and if the staying power turns out to be good, this one will be a realy winner.

[zankoku_zen]

So this is very much violet. On wet, the opoponax gave it a really sharp quality to my nose. And it dries to a very delicate, green sort of violet. There is a slightly earthy whiff to it at the end.

 

Very light on me, very short throw.

[inkaddict]

I love, love violet and I couldn't resist an imp of this even if I'm scared of the mint.

 

Wet: Ugh. It's a wonderful, bright violet scent, but right beside it there's MINT. Not overpowering, but enough that I get my usual I-feel-sick reaction. Thankfully it disappears after a few seconds, and I'm left with strong violet. Not a live violet, more...the idea of a violet, all sweet purple petals. i don't get much greenery from this.

 

Dry: YAY, the violet didn't disappear! I still catch wafts of it, which makes me ridiculously happy since the other violet scents I've tried (with the exception of the Raven) always ended up with the violet overpowered by the other notes in the dry stage. In here opoponax and orris just add to the violet. It's difficult to explain, it's not like smelling the actual flower but Brusque Violet is very close to my idea of what a violet *should* smell like.

 

Verdict: After the first few seconds of mint hell this is the closest bpal I've found to the perfect violet. Will have to try another couple of scents before making a final decision but this has big bottle potential.

[LauraB]

In the imp it's all watery violet and mint and quite lovely but on it turns unexpectedly to violet and lettuce and...curry!? There's a definite savoury note in there which is some form of curry spice and it and the violet are fighting for dominance...I smell like a granny in the food tents at a festival!

 

Very weird - I do actually quite like it, but this isn't at all what I expected and I'm guessing Beth intended it to smell different (it's not so much brusque as peckish!) I'll be keeping the imp because it is so darn odd but I have no idea when I'll wear it...

 

Edited for grammar

Edited October 9, 2009 by LauraB

[milo]

Wet, this is a watery violet with a touch of curry and a bit of mint. I agree with the previous reviewer that this has a bit of curry in it. Along with this is a brown sugar sweetness that is translating to caramel for me. Quite unusual, but this phase doesn't last long for me. It gradually fades (very quickly), to a soft violet that I have to sniff right up to my wrist to get anything. Very pretty at this phase, but the whole scent disappears within half an hour for me, and therefore, don't think that this blend is a bottle worthy for me.

[Dark Alice]

For a Rude flower....this sure is pretty. Wet: this smells like a violet that may be considered rude...a little rough around the edges but as it dries it becomes a lovely soft violet scent. Faith's cousin without the sugar note. I do believe that on crabby days this will be my signature scent.

[fairnymph]

Light amber/deep goldenrod coloured oil. Lots of slightly harsh herbal mint (the strongest note) and violet leaf - peppermint and/or pennyroyal most likely, but definitely not spearmint, a bit of slightly sharp osmanthus, soft slightly powdery and a little rooty orris, and something sort of plastic? Definitely some depth but I can't pick out the opoponax.

 

More orris and violet, much more floral, more powdery, softer, less medicinally herbal; the violet notes now overpower the mint, Unfortunately I'm pretty sure the mint is pennyroyal, my #2 nemesis. Still oddly plastic, and the osmanthus, though light, is unbalanced here - it's clashing with the other notes. Overall this is pretty chaotic. More of that depth, a sort of woody resin, though still not identifiable.

 

More and more violet and orris. This reminds me a lot of the Violet Ray, except it's heavier and more powdery - VR has more petal, this has more root (orris). Also, the mint here is much less pleasant. Now I'm not sure it's pennyroyal, since pennyroyal usually amps on my skin - I think it's maybe catnip? This is going a little dusty, maybe from the violet leaf. And I'm pretty sure the osmanthus is what's plastic here; though usually a nice note on me, it's acting badly in this company. More opoponax as this dries, too.

 

Huh, it's morphed, with the green notes becoming stronger than the florals again. That mint has returned, turned a little mentholic (!) and I really do think it is catnip now. The violet leaf is back (it was very faint for a while), along with its rather harsh, sort of manly, medicinal edge - it's a little 'dry' feeling too, like dried herbs, or sage. Still, the orris is very strong, and quite heavy, but surprisingly only a touch powdery despite that.

 

This has a very 'white', opaque feel. In the later drydown - which is pretty different from the wet and early dry stages - out of all the strongly violet scents, this reminds me most of Faeu Boulanger, and then to a lesser extent Silver Phoenix. But this is much heavier and more orris-y than both those. It reminds me a little of Sugar Moon, too, though it's obviously less sweet - very similar vibe, though - much more like SM than those other scents in feel. I consider this a feminine blend. I'm surprised it's not more powdery, and once the osmanthus smooths out taking the plastic aspect with it, it's a surprisingly pleasant blend, but not my style and not worth the less pleasant, too lengthy early stages. Great throw, but it fades quite a bit.

[lilwhiterabbit]

I get almost no morphing from the imp onto my skin. This smells like fresh violets still planted in a flower bed. There is an earthy smell that comes on strong right after application, but eventually calms down and lets the violet take the stage. I'm not sure I like when it's wet, because the 'dirt' smell is a little overwhelming, but once it dries down its quite nice. I'm not sure if it's really a 'me' scent, but I like violets so I may keep it around to use for other things.

[crebbsgirl]

This was a dark and murky violet on me. The oppoponax adds a sweet, dark depth to this. I get mint in the wet stages but it calms down considerably as it dries. There is something slightly similar to B340 on my skin. And I agree that this is a violet for people who can't normally do violets. It stays a little sharp throughout the wearlength, and I generally prefer my scents a little more rounded.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Watery, violet mint candy. Fresh mint leaves.

 

Wet: Smells like sweet ocean water. With sugar.

 

Dry: Green bright, fresh baby leaves...and watery candy....

 

Overall: I love violet! And this isn't really violet. But it's still light and lovely. A good summer scent. Light and girly! And refreshing!

[Saya]

This starts off as a strong violet with undertones of maple syrup. WTF? The violet is sickly sweet for the first few hours. After a while it calms down and turns into a beautiful floral, but the first stages aren't doing it for me. I'll pass on this one.

[SophieCedar]

Ok not that anyone really follows my woes and glows on here, but I've been battling my hatred for violet slowly with the help of bpal. This is the hit.. even better than violet ray. I realized what I really hated was distilled or abstracted violet. What I really needed was the true smell of violet, straight off the plant. Exactly what this delivered!

[papermaker]

I love violet, and violet loves me, but so does everything else in here . It's a little more out there than some of the violets. It is violet with enough mint to give it an air of being more than floral. A floral with a bite. Once dry it is violet with some help. The opoponax and orris. Glad I sprung for a bottle straight off

[tailoredshirt]

Wet: This is definitely a bright, non-powdery violet. So often, violets smell soapy on me, and this one doesn't really. It's a bit sweet and green. I also get something kind of brown and earthy, maybe the opopanax or the orris root. I don't know the difference between orris and orris root, so I can't tell if I'm getting that here or not.

 

Dry: The brown, earthy thing is still there. I get some mint in the background, but I was hoping for more.

 

Overall: This is a nice violet scent, not too soapy or powdery. I don't think I'll be wearing it very often, but I'm glad I tried it.

[INFJ4w3]

Brusque Violet is pure violet on me: powdery, soft yet has lots of sillage. I don't smell anything but violet. For me, that's a good thing. I think this may layer well with Violet Ray. Anyway, I love this scent. I will purchase a full bottle soon. Mmm...5 stars or just a fraction under 5. If you love violet, this would be my first recommendation to try.

 

This may turn out to be my favorite BPAL scent or at least the one I wear most often. It's simple, but that's what makes it versatile.

Edited December 4, 2010 by Shollin
Merged back-to-back posts

[Schmoozy]

 

Smoky violet and dusty orris with splashes of mint. At times it reminds me of ultraviolet. It's cooling and slightly sweet. But mainly this is all violet and orris. Gorgoeus.

[ralenth]

Source: Lab bottle.

 

Sharp, aggressive green tendrils. It sweetens up a bit on the drydown, but it is still mostly greenery. I catch traces of violet in the background. It doesn't really smell like most other BPAL violet blends that I have experienced. It's far too sharp for my tastes, though.

[malibusunny]

Wet, this is so incredibly violet that I think, prior to this moment, perhaps I have never actually smelled violet before. I am not a fan. It dries down okay, soft and minty sweet, but I will never get through the violet.

[Argentwolf]

The orris and mint give the violet components a sweet, almost candied aroma to them. To me, it's not rude or strident at all...it's more like sitting down at your grandmother's house and pilfering her strange little violet-flavored lozenges from her candy dish. Novel, and not at all unpleasant. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to throw much, though at the end of the day there is still a little bit of residue left.