Bluebeard

[catattack]

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

Imp: Smoky
Wet: Smoky and something funky, can't place it.
Drydown: Liquid smoke.
Overall: I was disappointed with this. I like all the individual notes, but somehow, this blend went very wrong on me. I really thought I might pull this one off, as I do enjoy wearing masculine scents at times... Edited April 30, 2009 by catattack

[Argentwolf]

At first it smelled like funky vase water after you've just dumped out a rotting bouquet. But it gets better. It works its way upward from ugly rottenness to a twisted, vetivery musk tinged with violets, and eventually becomes a clean scent, floral but not quite unmanly...as if the murderer has washed his hands after his crimes and is ready to lay on the charm with a new victim. Conceptually this makes it *very* interesting, and as a scent it's a winner. Lasts most of the day with enough wafts throughout its transformation to mind you of how interesting it is.

[Acushla]

Out of the bottle: Lavender ahoy, but the usual sharpness I get with lavender seems to be tempered by the other notes.

 

Upon application: softens up after I put it on but still retains a good deal of scent. I'm still getting a lot of the lavender but there's something underneath it, like Bluebeard's secret under his gentlemanly facade. I actually found this to be an oddly comforting scent (I guess that's the lavender) and it really grew on me as the day progressed. This little imp's staying with me.

[papermaker]

This one was positively awful on me. I don't understand why though. Violet, lavendar, vetiver, and musk are all win one me, but this one I could not get off quick enough. I think it could be great for the right person though. It is angry like the description, and my skin.

[ianastar]

Straight away, out of the bottle and wet this is super strong.

 

On the drydown, I can really start to smell the lavendar and violets merging together. The vetiver lends a earthy, woody note that makes this more of a masculine scent to me. It reminds me of a lot of mens fragrances on the market right now actually as vetiver is prevalent in alot of commercial men's fragrances.

[skylarkza]

In the imp: Flowers left in the vase too long. Forgotten and rotting.

 

Wet: Salty. And flowers.

 

Dry: Violets and dark water with thick smoke drifting across it.

 

A while later: Smoky and dark. Slightly salty and musky. Not getting ANY of the flowers. It seems more masculine on me, but is not that bad actually.

[voorishsign]

The vetiver and white musk almost had me, but then here came the violet and lavender No, no, not for me. Shame. Wilting, dry flowers with a puff of smoke, but that's pretty much it - very evocative of the tale of Bluebeard himself, obviously, but not something I'd wear.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting vetiver and lavender. Well, this should be quite interesting. ON my skin, quickly goes to nothing. Yep, lavender continues to work as it always does on me, which is to say that the blend goes to nothing in about thirty seconds.

[impolight]

:::BLUEBEARD:::

 

Bluebeard is such a deviously brilliant and clever fragrance! It totally epitomizes the the urge to peek, even when you probably shouldn't...

Until Bluebeard, there was a very strong aversion to Vetiver...

But, with an exploration comes the promise of Violet! C'mon! Just a wee peek!

Here, the inquisitiveness paid off with 8 lives left over!

The Vetiver is still here, the very best specimen of Vetiver found anywhere. It has been sweetened and rounded out with Violet, LaVender, and iVory musk, making a Vehicle of unparalelled mystique.

Bluebeard fills up the head with a reckless sort of, "glutton for punishment" spirit that will have you spinning about until your inevitable crash into that certain someone who might just reveal to you a secret that will probably do you both more harm than good...

There's just SOMETHING about you!

Bluebeard is intoxicating and weird... In the greatest possible way.

Perhaps Elizabeth Frazier would sum it up the best...The song goes very nearly perfectly with this fragrance! Was this intentional or a very happy coincidence?

Bluebeard is certainly the color of Violets brooding in the dark, but surrounded by an ethereal halo.

Bluebeard is spectacular

5/5!

 

For those unfamiliar, Copy and paste the following into your browser!

 

[girasol]

I'd heard vetiver spoken of in disparaging terms, but up till now I don't think I'd tried a vetiver blend. Well, apparently vetiver=doom. This scent made me feel physically ill - it honestly churned my stomach. All I could smell was the manky vetiver and an unpleasant wet ashiness, like a damp fireplace. Soooo not for me.

[Greenwoodtree]

Ahhh. bellisimo, gem of a scent!

 

I had a feeling about this one because it is similar to Saturnalia, my current signature scent...and this one tops it.

 

I was pretty thrilled to put it on and discover that vetiver and violets really do work the same magic over and over!

 

The scent went through a couple changes, and there was a point at the beginning I thought I smelled a man's B.O., but not in a bad way...you know, when you snuggle up to a man who has been working all day? That kind of salty skin musk.

 

The violets and vetiver create a dark, husky, brooding scent, that becomes incredibly sexy and normal for me! What changes it from Saturnalia, lightens, yet deepens the complexity, is the musk and lavender. A total unisex scent if you're brave enough for it!

Edited March 29, 2010 by Greenwoodtree

[lunchboxmonkey]

I don't know how this is possible, but I've tried Bluebeard twice and.... it smells like... bubblebath

I'm so sad... I love the story of Bluebeard and was really hoping for an angery, murderous blend lightly veiled with a veneer of gentility... but no

 

[countessmouse]

I have to agree with some other posters that, in the imp and wet, this scent smells of flowers left too long in a vase, just as they get that wet, grassy smell. Odd, but not so unpleasant I wasn't willing to try it. The second phase reminded me of drawers in an old dresser where grandma stored lavender sachets. It has taken a while for the scent to "warm" on me, but the vetiver, violet and lavender play quite well together and it is quite lovely in a very antique sort of way.

 

ETA: Off to the swap pile it goes. After a few hours, it morphed into old lady perfume. I sort of smell like my grandma now.

Edited May 13, 2010 by countessmouse

[Ishianti]

Very woody herbal while wet. I normally hate vetiver, but it's beating the violets and lavender into submission.

 

On the dry down, the white musk starts to emerge, blending with the vetiver and mellowing it out even more. Actually quite pleasant to me now, totally surprised. I'm not getting the whole angry thing out of this one, but as a scent by itself, it grew on me.

[Sultaana]

This scent shows no mercy with the mingling of lavender with the vetiver and violet; it's an angry smell. The second the cap was popped off of the imp, I could swear it almost snarled at me! I use a soft lavender laundry detergent, so I usually associate the smell with comfort and warm fresh clothes, but this is my laundry detergent's evil twin. This is most definitely not something for me as it is more masculine than I really like, but if you're interested in something that really roars when you wear it, Bluebeard is it!

[madscientistdh]

In the bottle: Yikes! I'm afraid to try this one! Something comes on STRONG, stabbing me in the noise rather viciously! Smells like salty dirt and kerosene... Definitely smell the rage here.

 

On my skin (wet) New plastic tupperware or bags, faint floral... sharp and bitter.

 

Drydown: A little lingering sharpness... one wrist softened before the other into this musky floral with a peppery accent. After a bit of physical activity though, this becomes powdery-peppery, and lavender peeks out a little more. Rather masculine though!

 

Verdict: I couldn't see myself getting past the initial smell, but once I did it became this peppery rich delight of a scent. I'd spilled some on my fingers, and when I washed it off the sharp scent was gone to leave me with the nice smell, so maybe I'll apply this one before a shower and see how it treats me then! Also need to try it on my bosom, where it'll warm up faster. It'd also probably make a lovely room scent.

[melrose]

Smoky vetiver - it's scary, all right. It never morphed - no lavender, no violet. Not my thing.

[Celtic Goddess]

Grabbed this one because lavender always makes things interesting and, until Bluebeard, never dominated fragrances (at least not on me). Oops. The lavender here

doesn’t dominate it overwhelms…in the bottle, wet on the skin, and dry this is pure lavender. It reminds of an old perfume my Oma in Germany used to send my mother. This isn’t bad but you really need to enjoy the salty-tangy smell of dry lavender (kind of like old lavender pressed in a book).

[angelmecha]

Ummmm, well, lavender and vetiver are two of my no-scents, so... lets see...

 

In Imp: Pew. It smells like peanuts. I don't know why.

Wet: Lavender. And vetiver. It's green and skunky with little purple flowers on it. And plastic. Vetiver, whyyyyyyyyyy are you so mean to meeeeee...

Drydown/Verdict: Stink and burning plastic and wah. I thought maybe I just unfairly judged vetiver in the past, but it continues to be death on me. Lavender and violet don't help. Sorry, musk, you've been obliterated somewhere down in there. Just a random aside, when it start getting flowery and plasticy it kinda reminds me of bubble bath. The way the pink kind tastes when you're little and accidentally slurp it in the tub. Bleagh. I'm sorry, Bluebeard. Away with you...

[Juushika]

In the vial: Smoky lavender.

 

On me: Goes on the skin with vetiver up frontthe sharp sort, not the smooth sort, more like cinders than smokewith a bit of almost sweet white musk in the background and lavender in the middle. The vetiver calms during drydown and then ramps up again in the first hour or two, giving the scent a warmer, more potent, and more threatening vibe, but on the whole this is a surprisingly lovely, subtly masculine, powdery floral. The florals (the violet comes out after drydown, and violet and lavender meld together) have a purple cast and a dried blossom feel; their slight powderyness makes Bluebeard more than another cologne scent. It's not a particularly complex blend, but the notes work in lovely tandem. At the tail end of wear it grows a little more like cologne, which is too badnot because it's a strong shift, but because it strips away what makes the scent unique. Throw is low, wear length is about four hours.

 

Verdict: Well done, surprisingly subtle, unique, but not my styleBluebeard doesn't capture my imagination or my heart. It was nice to try, and now it's destined for swaps.

[curlsandpearls]

Bottle: It smells like a nice blend of all four notes.

 

Wet: Violet, vetiver—very vetiver heavy. Oh, how I love vetiver. It’s similar to Saturnalia, only it’s a little lighter, presumably due to the white musk and lavender.

 

Dry: It smells like Saturnalia, only not as good. Honestly, I think it’s the slightly light twist the lavender throws in that is “messing” this up for me. And it’s not a mess, not by any means—the violet and vetiver are glorious. It’s just that those are the notes that I love in this scent, and they happen to be performing by themselves in Saturnalia. So, much as I’d love to wear a scent called Bluebeard, I think this will go in the swap pile.

[Kayah]

This scent made my DH smell like he just scrubbed with a very nice flowery soap. Not exactly the rawr image I was trying to get..

[Innocuousmold]

Wowza, Bluebeard does NOT like me. It smells like a smoky plastic tarp or this old army camping tent my family used to have. I couldn't do more than 5 minutes before it was time for a little wrist bath.

 

ETA: I just tried a different imp and it smells like pepper and violet. So weird!

Edited June 21, 2012 by Innocuousmold

[Scorianelle]

Well I should start by owning that this has three notes (White musk, Vetiver, Violet) I already knew I wasn't too hot on. I basically got it for the lavender and I have to say that, well, it was a surprise.

 

I am not a flower girl so I was not surprised when I opened it and immediately disliked the way the Violet dominated. It was not the sickly sweet violet I was expecting though, instead it was stinging and sharp. Once on my skin it combined with the astringent lavender to become a really cold and aggressive scent. I have to say that it's description is very apt.

 

In the latter stages the flowers faded and softened allowing the vetiver and musk to come forward which was pretty 'meh' for me. The vetiver definitely added a sort of oily dirty quality, but I would in no way describe this as a man's scent. It was actually quite unnerving and off-putting but not because it smelt bad. While I can't say for sure if I liked it I am keeping the imp as a very interesting, possibly dangerous scent.

 

Colour association: Blue-Purple. I don't know the name for the colour that I'm thinking of.

 

Word for the Scent: Angry.

[Leviathan]

My favorite scent so far.

 

In the bottle: Strong lavender smell, with a lot of tones underneath.

 

Wet: Lavender and violet, and it stayed that way.

 

Dry: Less lavender and more violet than anything else. I agree with others however when there was a metallic bite to it. It really sealed the deal for me. As a guy, it was the perfect floral type scent without being too feminine.

 

Verdict: Bottle me, please.