Vasilissa

[roseus]

She herself had cheeks like blood and milk and grew every day more and more beautiful: creamy skin musk and blushing pink musk with soft sandalwood, white amber, dutiful myrrh, and star jasmine.

 

Absolutely gorgeous. Soft creamy and musky, with a light-handed soft sweet jasmine. A gorgeous softness from the sandalwood and the amber and myrrh create a warm sweet base without weighing it down. Will need a bottle!

[marilyn eyre]

This is a princess scent. It's light, sweet, and fluffy. The strawberries are the top note, the jasmine is well-behaved, and the amber and musk are a nice base. Bottle!

[Cali]

Sweet, fuzzy, gentle playfullness. There's a certain headyness to it, a darkness, but in the background. Pretty sure that's the musk and amber. If only this had a stronger throw cause this is waaay to soft for me.

[achildoftime]

Well, I was expecting this one to be a bit stronger, but i found it rather faint. It's very quiet and there is only one thing that I can really pick out. It's myrrh because it tends to go very powdery and soapy on me. I think there's musk, too, and maybe a bit of cherry for the pink musk. It just just doesn't work out for me for both the throw and the powder.

[hroki97]

Oh my. This is so delicately gorgeous, much like a young princess.

These are the words that first come to mind upon application: Sweet, soft, warm, cuddly, most definitely pink, strawberry, champagne, blush, innocent, princess, delicate, Lupercalia

 

It actually reminds me a lot of a pink version of Zarita, the Doll Girl. I keep checking the notes to make sure there is no carnation, but alas, there is none! It is still somehow spicy and beautifully creamy.

 

Jasmine haters, like myself, should not shy away from the scent. Beth perfectly captured a blushing young maiden, and she is absolutely immaculate

[torikitty]

Creamy skin musk. Amber and myrrh are obvious, but the jasmine is not. Really lovely if you feeling like something pale, sweet, and feminine.

[cassiejaynebunk]

I have been putting off testing this one because, jasmine. also, there was really nothing in the scent notes that appealed to me. Well. was I wrong. At first sniff my first thoughts were creamy and very pretty. Must be the sandalwood and the skin musk. I don't really detect the jasmine, just something floral in there to give some tang to the sweetness. I actually really like it. makes me think of young girlish innocence.... which means I won't be wearing it LOL but I will give the imp to my daughter

[LadyLuckless]

When I first got my bottle there was something about it that made me think of overripe fruit and made me queasy, so for a couple of years it sat in my cabinet unused. I tried it again while gathering possible swap bottles and I'm glad I kept it, because that sickly edge has aged right out! Now it's a beautifully blended creamy pink dream! There's a suggestion of strawberries, like a light blush, but it's not super fruity. Very pretty and princesslike. I love it!

[Lucchesa]

I have a well-aged imp of Vasilissa today that I wore because I wanted a floral and couldn't remember what it smelled like. Freaking gorgeous, is what it smells like. I can't generally do jasmine, but star jasmine seems to be just fine (plus there was a fence covered with star jasmine in my backyard growing up so I have positive scent memories associated with it, despite the wasps). There's sweet, gently musky sandalwood and I would have guessed a drop of vanilla as well. This could be a Luper -- it's one of those beautiful soft creamy florals Beth does so well. And it's GC! It was nearly gone in about four hours, but it's so pretty it's absolutely worth slathering and reapplying. I need to buy a bottle and cellar it for a couple years.

[mimicofmodes]

I got this as a frimp, and I'm so glad I did! It's a very sweetly feminine scent, which is exactly what I like. Sandalwood and jasmine were coming through stronger when it was wet; I have a hard time differentiating musks and ambers as I don't tend to smell them separately in day-to-day life, but I think that's largely what I'm getting now that it's dry.

 

Edit: Or maybe that goes the other way around? The last, lingering note that stuck with me for hours and hours was very similar to that with White Rider, which I suppose is sandalwood.

Edited August 22, 2018 by chocolatepot

[torischroeder9]

In the vial: Skin musk and a light, sweet floral note that I think is jasmine. (I'm used to jasmine announcing itself in a perfume, and at least in the vial, this jasmine doesn't quite do that.)

 

On my skin:

 

This smells very light and faint in the vial, so I gave my inner elbow a good slather.

 

Wet, the jasmine announces itself. Like, a lot. The skin musk must be tempering it a bit, though, because although jasmine is the dominant note, it's not overpowering my olfactory sense (as jasmine is wont to do on me in the absence of balancing notes). Gradually, the amber makes its way out, followed by the sandalwood, adding both a powdery and a spicy note to the blend -- and this is where it seems to stay. The result is a light, creamy sweet scent that stays pretty close to the skin.

[spookyumbrella]

Creamy and smooth musks and a bit of fresh jasmine. Words that come to mind are: pink, clean, pretty, feminine. 

[monocainsheresy]

Sweet, gentle, and pink! Skin musk and jasmine over soft amber and sandalwood. Not soapy, but a scent that would go nicely in soap.

[feyofthefellwood]

This is so pretty and unique; I'm not quite sure what to make of it yet, except that I know I like it. I tend to be wary of jasmine, but it's gentle here, balanced by the other notes. I adore the strawberry in the pink musk (at least I think that's what's giving me strawberry) and will definitely be on the lookout for LE blends with this note. As far as I can tell, Vasilissa is the only GC scent with pink musk! Overall, this is pleasantly soothing, feminine, and mysterious.

[Laughing Seagull]

I purchased a fresh imp of this from the lab.

 

I was concerned about trying this at first because sandalwood tends to destroy everything around it when I wear it.  When I put this on, I primarily smell amber and...  Other stuff.  I can't pick out any other individual notes.  This is a good thing.

 

Vasilissa doesn't really do much of any morphing, essentially remaining "amber and other stuff" for its duration.  I agree with all of the comments saying that this gives off a "pink" vibe.  It's like the fluffiest, softest pink bathrobe you can possibly imagine.

 

Overall, this is a very pleasant scent.  It is somewhat short-lived (about 2 hours).

[alyelle]

In the imp: I first tried this years ago, and remember that at the time, I didn't much care for it. That imp (from 2009) is still somewhere in my deep stash, and I'm now curious to see how it compares to a newly made batch. This one is straight up musk, pure and indomitable.

 

Wet: More musk, but with a nicely amping sandalwood that I appreciate. Like Neutral, this has a vaguely aquatic note, which I think is simply what skin musk does on me (worth noting that blends with "pale musk" or "white musk" as a listed note don't behave this way, and from memory, neither does "red musk").

 

Dry: This dries off into a very pretty musk, much nicer than Neutral (its closest scent counterpart, in my mind) and with more depth. The sandalwood gives a grounded profile, and I suspect is what stops this from triggering a headache when I wear it. Pretty standard life of 6-8 hours, with medium throw.

 

Stars: ★★★★

[proverbsofhell]

I blindpurchased a bottle of this, feeling I would probably like it. I do indeed.

Here's the funny thing, sometimes the smell reminds me of plastic figurines? But, like, good?

I asked someone else if they could smell the plastic, but they didn't. Maybe it's just me?

Lasts a long time. I put a rollerball cap on it and use it frequently.

 

Edit: I wanted to return to this after wearing this a lot over the course of a few months. It's a cool, creamy musk for me. I've gotten comments that people can smell it from a good space away. It's one of my no-brainers.

I don't get a 'pinkness' from this. Maybe that just doesn't come through for me or that I have different associations. If it's a color, it's white to me. I may be getting the amber as well.

Edited September 27, 2021 by proverbsofhell
Update

[Rane.]

I have 2 reviews.

 

*This review is for my 2018 bottle. It is powdery, soft, slightly sweet, all skin musk on me. Coming back to this now, & studying the notes again, I'm surprised at what this has. The Star Jasmine is very faint. The myrrh & sandalwood are the beautiful stars in this. Combined with the creamy skin musk this is a very intimate scent.

 

**This review is for my 2021 bottle. It has that heady quality in it from the skin musk. I get zero star jasmine. Some pink musk is there. Dried I smell the sandalwood, & creamy musk. Will have to age more.

Edited October 6, 2021 by Rane.
*updated my review

[RoseThornAndOak]

Oh wow does this take me for a ride! In the vial is a soft, almost sugary sweet pink rose musk/amber. It doesn't really read as jasmine to me, which can be a good thing. The sweetness kind of reminds me of pixie sticks as opposed to cloying sugar, so that's good. Somewhere in the middle of wear, the myrrh threatens to sully this up, but it mostly behaves, just kinda turning the scent "meh" for a bit. Closer up, the creamy sandalwood is apparent. I think those two notes are making this go just a little wonky and unsettling. Not my favorite stage at all. Interestingly, myrrh and sandalwood serve more as mid notes here as opposed to base notes, which are more musky, which brings me to:

 

the final drydown is *gorgeous*, soft, musky, and very very princessy.  It reminds me a lot of the rose + musk blends Deep Midnight Perfumes does so well, namely the scents Rosabelle and Deep Midnight. Those will be incredibly hard to beat for me as I adore those so much, however that dryown is so gorgeous in this I might still spring for a full and try to dab off the murky midnotes or just wait them out. They're not altogether unpleasant, just kinda 'wahh?' for a while. Also, the beautiful fiinal drydown stayed on throughout the night and was highly comforting. Not that I needed it in this god awful insane world or anything, lol. 

 

Tempting, tempting, temptress is Vasilissa. 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by RoseThornAndOak

[Vexelite]

I loved the creamy floral opening on this and expected the dry down to be lovely as well, but it pulls very sweet and a bit artificial on my skin when dry. I still liked the smell, but had to scrub after an hour or 2 because it started to induce a head ache, which is quite rare for me.

 

That's when I realised: Vasilissa smells exactly like Electro Mart, a Korean electronics chain store! I guess not many people will recognise it, but if you want to smell like Electro Mart, this is it! It's a smell I've always liked actually, but also gave me head aches from time to time. My partner enjoys it (and agrees on the Electro Mart part) and doesn't get head aches, so it's definitely a personal thing.

[Lit Chick]

So sad!  I had massive hope for this, and in the imp and fresh on it was stunning.  But it turned soapy and powdery with such overwhelming throw.  There’s still a really pretty scent in there but my chemistry sours it.

[Assimbya]

In the vial I get a lot of sweetness, musk and amber and really like the scent; it's a soft gray. Wet on me it's similar, with a hint of the star jasmine. But as it dries the sandalwood goes acrid on me; the musk fades and the jasmine vanishes. If it stayed as it is wet I would love this, but as it is I think the sandalwood might simply not work on me, though I want to test it a few more times.