The Lady of Shalott

[Luhtarian]

The scent of calm waters just before a raging storm, limned with achingly-beautiful blooms, an icy scent, but somehow warm, and mirror-bright: bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, clear, slightly tart aquatic notes and a crush of white ginger.

Wet, I can smell all the different components, aquatics, ginger, the whole works. Dry, it smells oddly like celery... not BAD, but celery-ish all the same. It doesn't change from the celery, so I think I'll give it to my friend that loves gardenia.

[Medici]

In the imp: almost a fruity floral, underscored by... dirt and shampoo?

 

Wet: Eh? Floral. Drippy, droopy florals with a crisp edge. I have no idea what florals exactly. I can't place it. Still fruity and a little sharp.

 

Drydown: A dewy, sweet floral. A little too sweet for me, in fact, and its fading fast.

[oh_the_horror]

In bottle: Watery, white flowers and aquatic notes. Gorgeous. I'm afraid of how this will smell on me however.

 

Wet and drying down: Whoa, weird piercing smell. I have no idea what it is, I've never smelled anything like it. It smells like sharp florals mixed with wheat crackers. Ohh, my poor nose. Oh damn, this turned nasty real quick.

 

I love the smell of muguet, and I think it might be working on me underneath all this discordant stink. I'm not saying this is a bad blend, I'm saying my skin chemistry is unforgiving when it comes to aquatic scents and white florals. This is probably really nice on the right person.

 

Dry: Kind of a clean smell I guess but didn't work.

 

I'll have to try some muguet blends if I can find any that aren't white florals. Should be interesting.

[bettybaker]

Smells like honeyed bananas on me at first- which is nice, actually- it makes me feel very warm, confident, and graceful. Upon reading the notes, I think I'm responding mostly to the gardenia and the ginger. After about an hour, this settles into a cool, subtle gardenia scent, and I'm fine with that. I keep getting (haunting?!?) wafts of banana. I'll finish off the imp and consider a bottle. I think this'd make a great romantic scent to wear around my sweetie.

[tasty]

This is a really beautiful, really amazingly delicate and gorgeous scent. At first whiff, I do detect a slight banana scent, which seems out of place but it fades very quickly.

 

Gardenia must really agree with my skin because I am in love with this scent. Initially, I have ruled out all aquatic scents because I immediately associated them with the nasty Cool Water perfume, but now I am thinking that I should rethink that because of The Lady of Shalott.

 

5ml purchase, for sure!

[keltic]

The Lady of Shallot has long been one of my favorite archetypes of literature, and i've devoured or collected everything i could get my hands on in relation. so when this mp arrived, i could not wait to try and it and take the archetype to a whole new level of experience.

 

new level is right. i had one of the most unusual reactions to this imp -- something i've only ever experienced once before with a scent memory. it's so charged an experience, i can't even break down this scent by notes, and the physical of what it smells like on me. all it is is experience. the crisp almost ozone smell of the aquatics for me bring in a rush of some long forgotten memory of standing someplace special, someplace charged, someplace between time. it’s a haunting and desperate feeling, and something in this blend is ties to this scent memory, yet i still cannot untangle the threads to remember what exactly the memory is.

 

this is so poignant, and almost too powerful a scent for me because of the memory factor. certainly not something i can wear casual – it remains sacred and needs to be respected.

[alliekat13]

Flowery bananas and aquatics. Don't like this. I had such high hopes for this one!

[theseagrows]

yep this smells like gardenia and aquatics. it's very light and clear and smells a lot like a mainstream perfume to me. it's very pretty but not really my style, so i think i'll swap it.

Edited October 18, 2014 by theseagrows

[Jilara]

I was sitting here at my terminal, and kept thinking "What is that gorgous scent?" And realized that Lady of Shalott had morphed again. It's now etherial flowers, with a slight hint of muguet and calamus and something that reminds me of fresh primroses.

 

This one, I was scared to try. I've identified with the Lady of Shalott since high school, but the scent description listed gardenia. And gardenia and I do NOT get along. But I decided to try an imp, because, well, it was the Lady of Shalott.

 

In the imp, my first thought was "Where's the gardenia?" All I got was aquatics.

Wet, I got more aquatics and a soft background floral that I couldn't identify. As it dried down, the most amazing thing happened. A background note of calamus iris came up.

 

Suddenly, I was 10 years old again, and in the calamus bog, hunting frogs with my friends. Dry, Lady of Shalott was exactlty the smell of the calamus bog on the property of the "mad botanist" who had planted a jungle-garden of exotic plants behind high fences and hedges, decades before. This overgrown property, of course, was a kid-magnet, made all the more attractive by being Forbidden. This is exactly the smell of mud and crushed wet calamus irises, with a haunting background note of florals from somewhere outside. This is MY scent! For the Lady and for that kid in the bog. Even better for an additional morph later on, described above.

[dorothy humbird]

So lovely!

 

Wet, the Lady of Shalott smells very clear and pure. I get the gardenia (it's a damp blossom, just after a spring rain) and I think the musk is what gives it a little more body. There is a slight tang from the ginger... and the coolness of water.

 

I don't get a lot of morphing from the Lady. It does remind me of what I think of as the 'linen' note from White Rabbit (they do share ginger, so that may be part of it) -- which can only be a good thing as I love White Rabbit.

 

Overall, a lovely, clean and indeed crystalline sort of scent that I can see myself wearing one of these fresh spring days.

[mspixieears]

When wet, this is freshly cut flowers and their pollen…then later green apple of the Golden Delicious variety emerges, mingled with evening primrose, or something that reminds me of this. This is a very green-yellow scent on me and I can’t say I really like it, sadly. I also get a hint of saffron and later on, detect the thyme. I thought it might morph into something nicer but alas no, it only seemed to clash further with my body chemistry so it’s definitely not a keeper.

[TheIceMaiden]

The Lady of Shalott is such a gorgeous scent! It starts off as a strong gardenia floral. As it dries, the florals back off and I get a lovely water note with a hint of ginger. The drydown is a gorgeous clear musk.

Aquatic scents usually don't work for me, but this one is perfect.

Edited April 15, 2012 by TheIceMaiden

[500ml]

Fruity and floral, that sums this oil up for me. It's a clear crisp scent, with the light florals mixing so well with the aquatic notes. It's delicate, but still has a good amount of kick to it. I'm really liking this scent, there's something very beautiful about it.

[Naamah_Darling]

This is a beautiful, sweet floral with overtones of musk and aquatics. The top note is definitely muguet – lily of the valley – with gardenia coming in a close second. There is also a strong drift of lotus, that sweet and sugary floral familiar to me from blends like Bastet. Sweet, candylike florals that grow soapy the longer I sniff 'em. Still, very pretty. There is musk here, boosting the smooth sweetness, tying in with the faint aquatics for a scent that is a beautiful evocation of water lilies viewed in a mirror: lovely but distant.

 

Again, a concept scent that evokes its subject superbly.

 

When I put it on, alas, it turns to the smell of soap bubbles. No subtlety at all on my skin. Damn florals; they all hate me.

 

It's still a beautiful scent and one I would unhesitatingly recommend to anyone with a love of floral scents. This is not too cloying, it has some depth, overall quite lovely.

[poisons_sanity]

At first I wasn't too fond of this, which is a shame, because I like the poem. But I've never been into aquatics in the first place. So, I let it sit for two months. Last night when I was deciding what to wear today I smelled it again. I LOVED it. I absolutely it. I knew it would turn powdery on my skin, though, like all water notes on me. But, thank god I have a scent locket.

 

It's a sweet watery scent that reminds me of a woman standing by a lake, lost in sad memories.

[maribouquet]

On me this is straight up Amoxicillin. D:

 

ADDED Nov. 18:

 

Wet, I recognize the muguet that I know in Pele. The aquatic notes smell almost like citrus or green grass to me. This dries down to a pretty, gingered floral with aquatic undertones that then turns promptly to bubble bath. Swap!

Edited November 27, 2007 by Shollin

[modernsaints]

Heavy gardenia at first, drying down into weird, metallic-y sharp ginger, and finally a soft, powdery floral. Much less aquatic than I wanted or expected; not me at all.

[laliloo]

Definitely gardenia. In fact, I can't really smell anything else when I first put this on. It's OK, but a bit too flowery-feminine for me, I think. In fact, as it dries, it smells like room air freshener. It doesn't suit me. I won't be buying a 5ml, and probably will swap the imp or give it to my aunt who loves gardenia and air freshener!

[hushmesilent]

The Lady of Shallott... Mmmmmm..

 

In the Imp: I never believed in the 'watery' scents.. I didn't think that anyone could hit them QUITE this accurately. It was always wayyyy too sharp. However, this smells EXACTLY like beautiful, fresh clean water!

 

On me: OoooooOOOOOOOH! The flowers pop out! It's like flowers floating on a clear lake in mist.. soo wondrously beautiful! And TRUE! Other water scents turn sharp, but on me this just was absolutely clear and stayed beatiful and slightly sweet.

 

Dry: Oooh so lovely! White, fresh fallen flowers.. it smells kind of like the scent when you cut the stem, that green sort of scent. (But still, NOT SHARP!! Amazing!) It is even more watery because the flower notes come and go, sometimes leaving the clean, watery scent that I'm getting. It seems like they're floating in and out.

 

Conclusion: So unbelievable gorgeous.. I will be getting a big bottle of this FOR SURE! It has a decent throw, and leaves my skin smelling absolutely mind wrenchingly gorgeous. I would love everything to smell like this.. not just me.

[jsn]

I dissagree and rather liked it but the wife thought this smelled like room dedoderizer on her. <sigh> LOL off to swap pile.

[kopper]

This is the first aquatic I've tried, and am gleeful that it smells so gorgeous! It's water blossoms come full force on me, and I'm in love! The musk is the after scent - and it's not strong, just floating around on my skin. The ginger tweaks the oil just enough so that there is a bit of a bite.

 

WET: bright and beautiful, Gardenia jumps out of the bottle.

 

On skin: Gingery goodness, mixed with musk and mugnet. Aquatic bliss.

 

Drydown: even better, although I had to re-apply later in the day...all the scents together blend to make a heavenly scent!!! will buy big bottle!!

[forspecial_plate]

My first thought was this smells a lot like the more recent Blue Moon, with some minor differences. Lady of Shallot doesn't have the wood note/s that Blue Moon has. There's some note floating around in the background that made me think of plumeria for some reason, although I really don't know what plumeria smells like. Now, reading the notes, I think it was the ginger.

 

This is a very pretty, aquatic floral scent. The ginger might give it a roundness, I think. I will probably use this for enabling because I think it would be good for that purpose. I personally don't need this because to me, it's so close to Blue Moon which I already have.

 

edit: I agree with dorothy humbird that there is a linen-like note in this. It reminded me of Dirty, a little bit.

Edited August 17, 2007 by Forspecial Plate

[ClareN]

I don't like aquatics or white florals, but all the imps I pulled out of my untested box today ended up being aquatic or white floral. This one's both. Sigh, gotta test 'em all...

 

This is actually not too bad. The magnolia is subdued, and the muguet (lily-of-the-valley) is more prominent, but muguet is one white floral note I can tolerate. It's not actually related to other lilies. And the aquatic notes here aren't overly soapy. This is a conventionally pretty and feminine blend, a very well-executed melancholy-damsel-in-distress scent. Have to say it's not me, though.

 

It reminds me a little of visiting my relatives in Texas, where they all have home fragrances from Bath and Body Works. Don't take that as a bad thing - I think if you like the sound of these notes, you'll love this blend.

[aquazoo]

Mmmn, citrus with flowers creeping through! It turns out pretty, I can sense the water element, but it's not sweaty or salty. This is a nice one.

[impadua@aol.com]

This scent is a very water-like scent that just flows. I can almost smell the Sea spray. Not a harsh scent in any way.....just gorgeous.