Bluebeard

[rainbow]

A scent swirling with dark rage, unbridled jealousy, and murderous intent. Violet, lavender, white musk and vetiver.

In the bottle- mossy and earthy.

Wet on the skin- strong lavender, with violet undertones and something cooling- almost minty.

This is very sharp at first, and the earthiness of the vetiver is really striking, but as I'm wearing the scent softens nicely into a really wearable, pleasant purple scent in which the violet note is prominent. I'm liking this! It's like a more mellow Saturnalia.

[Faerykin]

Bluebeard

 

Swiped across wrists and along collarbone.

 

Initial Wet (8-8:30am): Thick, deep and dark. I can see why The Lab labeled this, Traditionally Masculine – there is nothing frilly or the least bit feminine here. This is the scent of deep, royal purple. At first all I could smell were the violets. Now I think the vetiver is rounding out and coming forth – I’m not entirely certain what vetiver smells like, but this is more than just violets, and I don’t really detect the musk or lavender at all. I like this.

 

Initial Dry (8:30-10am): This softens a bit, but remains its dark self. I still don’t detect any lavender or musk, just violet and vetiver. Still, very nice.

 

Throughout the Day (10am-on): As the day progresses, it is almost as if this gets stronger and stronger. It is becoming quite overwhelming, giving me a headache. Sad because it began so lovely.

 

Wow – the headache-inducing strength faded almost as quickly as it appeared. This has now settled to a very nice, soft, dark violet. The musk begins to peek behind the vetiver – but I still cannot detect the lavender. Quite pleasant, and I may have to try it again before swapping it away.

Edited February 24, 2005 by Faerykin

[scourgeotheseas]

Bluebeard

 

In the bottle: Whoa! Too strong!

 

One me: Whoa! What is this? I never got a whiff of violet. Instead I was overwhelmed by "guy smell". I couldn't keep it on to see if it morphed into something more pleasant.

[anmorata]

Bluebeard:

 

Like some others, upon the first sniff it was a pure "UGH!" reaction. All musk/vetiver, very very masculine.

 

Now that it's been on my wrist for about an hour, I'm starting to faintly smell the violet and lavender, but all I'm really getting is musk and sweaty pirate feet.

 

I'll pass on this one.

[autumnviolet]

Bluebeard

Wet: powerfully strong. No violets to my nose. Heavy, masculine. Woodsy and metallic.

Dry down: powdery like gunpowder. Tobacco. Bay rum.

hours later: very heavy and angry. Dusty bay rum and a green scent.

[tinyvulture]

on me this was all lavender, which was fine by me! it's very soothing and i think it's fine for a guy or a girl.

[Finny]

Vetiver, violet and lavender.

 

I get mostly lavender from this, the vetiver adds a fresh citrus note, and the violet sweetens it.

 

As far as florals go I like it, I'm keepin an imp, but as I have been gifted with it several times now, some are going up for swaps.

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle-Wow! This smells nothing like what I imagined 'Bluebeard' to smell like! A blast of powdery violet and lavender, like a freshly powdered babies bottom

 

After 10 minutes-Now the white musk and vetiver are slowly coming out. I am not fond of vetiver, it smells like a Chinese import shop and moth balls to me. Now this smells like babies bottom + Chinese shop/mothballs.

 

After 30 minutes-This is just not working for me. It's a wash off.

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF - pickles and wet wood

 

WEARING IT - this is a dark, heavy, masculine scent. as it dries, i smell less pickles and more damp wood and smoke. for being a damp scent, it still feels very warm and safe to me.

 

VERDICT - might be nice on a man, but not on me

[gingersnapp]

I have resigned myself to the fact that vetiver will ALWAYS turn into perm solution on me. It smelled lovely and floral in the imps, but again with the poor 6th grade me stuck under a dryer with rollers in my hair crying from the chemical smell.

[voodoobaby]

In the bottle: Sharp, herbal and green. With maybe a very small hint of floral. Yikes, this one's potent. I'm scared.

 

Wearing: The violets come out, softening the blend quite a bit, thankfully. However, it's still very sharp thanks to the lavender and vetiver. Still, it's not nearly as masculine as it was in the bottle.

 

Later: I went to bed with this oil on my arm, and before morning it had turned into a typical floral, but it was still very strong. I slept well, admittedly. However, I'm not sure what to make of this one. I like the violet smell, but something in it really is just too much for me. I think I'll have to swap it out.

[bellis]

Wow. Perhaps it's just due to the power of suggestion, but I'm going to echo any_old_actress on this and say that when I first smelled the imp I got pickles. Once I put it on, the pickled smell goes away, and it's mostly violet and and damp wood. The lavender doesn't show up at all on me, which makes me sad. It makes me feel like I'm eating violet pastilles in my grandmother's attic.

 

Interesting, but it's just too much violet for me.

[lavinia_short]

man, when i first put this on, i really kind of liked it, even though the smell was overwhelmingly violet. and as it wore down throughout the day, it remained okay. and then, all of a sudden, i'm sitting here and i catch this super strong whiff of just stink. stink! and it's me! gah! i hate it! i still have an hour before i can go home and waash this off and it's perfectly wretched. bah. i'm so disappointed...

[Hikaru]

Maybe I'm just weird.

I am female and I like wearing this and other masculine scents.

The violet has come through after 15-20 minutes but my first impression was lemon air-freshener covering up cigarettes. Like hiding a dark secret.

I dont really get **angry** from this one but it certainly is assertive!

Nothing wrong with that.

I like it. Gonna wear it to my kid's soccer practice this afternoon and confuse all the other Soccer Moms, LOL.

[girlmadasbirds]

this is all vetiver on me with a touch of lavender... it's a very strong, sharp smell. not for me.

[allelujiah]

This is a very clean men's scent.

The lavendar is very nice. It kind of reminds me of this cologne I used to have as a baby that was mostly violets.

 

This scent is definitely masculine. I really like it, and keep sniffing my wrists, but I smell like I just had some sort of trist and the man's cologne has rubbed off on me.

 

There is a clean o-zone-y aspect to this scent. It makes me think of electric or icy blues.

[olympia301]

This was one of my first BPAL scents and I think I got it as a freebie from the Lab. I didn't see much in it at first, but one day I was bored and decided to put it on. Very pleasant indeed. Lavender is fine in this blend. It is unisex, and it does have a meadow-like sweet background to it. I don't think it will ever be my favorite, but it is awfully good.

[PurringPulsar]

Bluebeard

 

In the imp: violets! Violets with something herbal underneath-no doubt the lavender and the vetiver.

Wet on skin: the lavender is really strengthening, with the delicate violet still on top, and earthy vetiver underneath. It's quite nice.

Dry on skin: still the same, very lavendery with violet. This would be good as a night time sleepy smell. I think the vetiver gives this some depth as well. I think I can just about make out the musk but it's blended so well with the violet that it's hard to detect. It has incredible throw, though.

After a while: the vetiver is growing stronger, the smell gets more intense and powerful, it's a scent that packs a real punch, but the violet still lightens it a bit. Now it does have a sinister aspect, dark and brooding, but still pleasant smelling. But it's really really overpowering.

Verdict: the last two Diabolus scents I tried were pretty evil on my skin, but this one isn't. This is a lovely, yet intense herbal blend that smells very 'purple-blue' to me with strong lavender and delicate violet, which grows darker as the vetiver makes it's presence known, deepening and grounding the scent. It's very nice, but very overpowering, almost a smell that would knock you out with it's lavender-violet-vetiver intensity, and it has the biggest throw I've smelt so far.

Edited May 13, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[Orodemniades]

Lavender.

 

It's just not my friend.

 

And the lavender is this is so bitter that after less than an hour I'd layered something else over it. Which is a pity, because I quite liked everything else.

 

Oh well. To the sales it goes!

 

Oro

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Lavender and vetiver. Evil.

 

Wearing: The violet really dominates when wet, but there is a malevolent undertone to that violet. As it dries, the vetiver slowly gets stronger and stronger until it is all that I smell.

 

Final Impressions: This scent fits the story of Bluebeard PERFECTLY. Truly a work of art.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Lavender & violet. I usually don't like lavender that much, but the violet makes it a bit sweet.

 

First on: It almost goes minty in a sense. It's still mostly lavender, but the other scents are coming out. It smells like the dream pillows I used to make.

 

Drydown: I like the violet lavender mix. A lot. Weird. The musk is in the background and the vetiver is coming out to blend with the lavender. It's a really perfect blend where you can only pick out notes if you look for them. I can't picture it on a guy, but then I generally don't like men that smell like flowers.

[pkwench]

Bluebeard

 

In the Vial: Yar, matey! Wet, pungent and sharp.

 

Wet: It's very astringent in a witch hazel sort of way with, well, with a wet driftwood sort of scent along with. And with the pervading, wet and dark scent which must be the vetiver.

 

After 20: And violets and lavender ahoy!

 

Impressions: Somnus. It reminds me strongely of Somnus. Must be the vetiver and the flowers. The musk makes it a little more, ahem, suggestive than Somnus, but the two are very, very similar on me. I have this odd love and hate thing with vetiver. I put something with it on and react. "EW-it's vetiver! Strong, pungent, vetiver!" But then I'm all relaxed because, fuck me, it's just such a comforting smell. LOL So, that sort of somes up how I feel about Bluebeard. "EW, sharp! Ew! Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice."

[Muppetk]

Wet: good blend of lavendar & veritver, with bare hints of the other notes.

 

Dry: Pretty much the same. I bet this is great on a guy. On me it smells like herbal soap.

 

Edit: oddly, the herbal soap is growing on me. It's a very clean scent.

Edited June 5, 2005 by Muppetk

[Eris]

Ah, lavendar! That's what I'm smelling. The violet I recognized immediately, as it and I tangle quite a bit, never entirely sure where we stand with the other. I can't specifically pick out the vetivert, but it usually works with me, and I think it and the lavendar help keep the violet in check in this blend. Usually violet runs wild on me, gets too strong and fuzzy. The others tame it into a thin, pale purple colored scent, lightly floral and hardly (to me) masculine.

 

I suspect I might otherwise be on the fence with this, save that I can't get over the name and associations. So much of scent is perception, and BPAL is phenomenal with marketing and descriptions to really make you *want* to love a fragrance. Well...with the story of Bluebeard...I don't know. It kind of turns me against the perfume, when my reaction was otherwise neutral. Hmm. We'll see.

[joseybird]

Cold, masculine, and almost suffocating. I admit I'm not hot on violets, which smell like cleaning fluid to my nose, and that's the main reason why I'm not liking this blend. The sharpness of the lavender and vetiver, untempered by the white musk (which I like! why can't I detect it here??) makes this an almost painful blend to smell. Very much captures the concept of Bluebeard, though