Eve

[JasminDreams2010]

Eve is eternal: in three-thousand years, she has likely traveled the length and breadth of the world, immersed in innumerable cultures throughout the ages, observing the ebb and flow of humanity and the imperishability of nature itself. Despite her age, she is the character that seems most rooted, always experiencing each moment with open eyes, always fully present.

Her scent is one that travels through the eons: the Irish moss, yarrow, and hawthorn of the Iron Age Britons, ancient Rome’s omphacium and honey, myrrh and calamus from Egypt, the frankincense and damask roses of the Florentine Renaissance, white sandalwood from the Far East, Moroccan saffron and rose water, and a swirl of incense from the souks.

This perfume is a layered and complex scent, perfect for someone who has lived 1,000 years. IMO of all the BPAL scents I've tried, this is the most artisanal, and it smells the most expensive

I do not get rose or any of the bitterness from the yarrow or saffron, it's all just soft and subtle, though the frankincense has some teeth. The resins and incense are spectacular, but it's a very light throw. I give this a five out of five, but that said, it isn't me. I like scents with some stank on them- Callidora, Qandisa, VILF. I have a bottle of Hal on the way, and I'm hoping that it will be what I hoped for Eve. It's a testament to Eve's popularity though, that I was able to rehome it in under five minutes. seriously. It isn't "me" but it's just. THAT. good. I predict the wailing and gnashing of teeth for many many people that this only had a 350 bottle run.

[Lucretia]

This is one of my top 10 bpals ever and one of the few incense scents I can actually pull off. It's dark swirling incense with rose, honey, and saffron blended perfectly into the background. You can't put your finger on them but you can tell they are a part of the mix.

 

It smells a bit like I had hoped that Cicuta would smell. As a comparison, the rose is much less prominent in Eve than in Cicuta. She's also a little bit more dry and more woody smelling somehow. There's no sweetness to the scent on me. Overall, Eve is a really sexy scent. It's dark but distinctly feminine. So glad I took a chance on this one in time to order an extra bottle.

[Balame]

At first Eve was a curiosity with her encyclopedia of notes, then she enraptured me with her depth.

 

I'll do my best to describe a scent that has everyone scampering for more, but it's a complex one.

 

You start out at a crossroads between Morocco, Egypt and Britain. It smells like rose water insulated by fresh, foresty plants.

This is sweetened by a vaguely grape-y incense that's darkened by frankincense and myrrh.

Calamus smells similar to cinnamon and so there's a gentle hint of spice.

 

Eventually the Roman honey trickles into the mix and I smell hints of airy, soothing sandalwood.

 

There are a few scents from BPAL, like Morocco, that have been described as being the scent of "trade winds" amid a bustling marketplace.

I love Morocco, but I have to say that Eve fits this descriptor more than any other blend I've tried so far.

It smells like warm, sweetly spiced, gauzy air sifting through the souks. The haze of a mirage. Indulgence and beauty tempered by wisdom.

 

I really adore this blend and feel disappointed that it was released in such limited quantities.

I try to avoid anything overly exclusive due to this exact reason, but I never imagined I'd fall in love with it this much.

If you currently own some, savor it!

[Aviatrix]

Eve has a wealth of notes, so I'll try my best to describe the scent even though I can't distinguish all of them.

 

To me, it's a light and spicy incense, and heavy on the saffron in the beginning. There's a slight hint of rose that wafts in and out of the scent in the background, like the memory of a rose that has since faded. There is a sweetness to the blend that could be a mixture between the honey and the frankincense.

I'm not specifically getting any sandalwood or any moss or yarrow (not that I'm even sure what that smells like, but still).

 

Overall, as some other reviewers said, this is like trade winds that blow through the Old World, a mixture of impressions and cultures that has a lot of depth, but still manages to be sweet and light and surprisingly close-to-the-skin.

 

I am glad I sprung for a bottle, and I will happily be wearing Eve whenever I feel like exuding a bit of old world style mystique!

 

I would recommend anyone to try it, since it's so unique, and if you like incensey scents, you will likely be very pleased with Eve.

[SadariEvenstar]

This reminds me a lot of a more grown up Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending. It's very, very pretty.

[Ilex]

This absolutely shouldn't work on me. No way. Sandalwood usually goes to powder, saffron turns to putty, musk is ugh, so there are some death notes for me in this. But I love the character of Eve so had to take a chance.

 

And it works on me and my husband doesn't hate it. A miracle. The rose is like the memory of roses, faint and barely there. Everything is rather understated, and aged, but lovely. It kind of reminds me of my mothers jewelery box, which she had used to store incense and old perfumes as well as jewlery and it was always a very mysterious, very grown up smell that wafted out of it. It perfectly fits the character of Eve.

 

This is in my top five, for sure.

[Atrous]

With all the notes in Eve it's hard for me to distinguish between them. I'll just say that Eve has layers upon layers of well-blended notes.

To my nose this smells like expensive, sophisticated incense +.

Incense blends are not my go-to scents but this one is so lovely that I will be keeping my decant.

[boomtownrat]

Everything that Eve is in the film is what Beth has managed to pour into Eve the scent. She is worldly, exotically elegant, sensuous, soft, and wise, and she comes from a land of much deeper nights than I have ever seen. I can't even adequately describe all the notes as they are so exquisitely blended, except to say that I get more of a sweet spice than rose. It doesn't take much Eve to make an impression and yet I must resist the urge to slather and just revel in this beauty. The fact that I have just one bottle and it's sold out means that Eve is automatically a special occasion scent.

[zankoku_zen]

Eve to me is spicy, roses and incense. In a lot of ways, she's a better and spicier version of Morocco or Inez.

 

If you like either of those blends, you'll like Eve.

[harmonictremors]

I don't know what is wrong with me, but all I can smell when I put this on is 'thrift store.' Like the kind of dusty, sneezy feeling I get in my nose when I go to Goodwill. It's exactly the smell of the inside of a Goodwill. And it's unpleasant.

 

I'm just going to shove this one in the back of a dark closet and hope for the best. Maybe it just needs to age a while. Spicy incense blends are usually my jam, so I'm really surprised that this isn't working for me.

[tinyvulture]

I had high expectations for this scent, representing one of the most brilliant fictional characters I've come across in awhile. I love Eve's zeal for life, even after so many centuries. Her scent is a pastiche of so many different influences and notes, as it should be, all neatly stitched together. It's heavy on saffron, like Hal, but Eve is more reserved, close to the skin. Rose water, light incense, honey...all so perfect together.

[theseagrows]

this starts out with an airy incense and spice. at this point i like it, but don't love it and i am waiting for more depth and then that happens- the rose, honey, myrrh and probably other notes come through and it's a spicy, incensey honeyed floral. there is more depth and it's quite beautiful, womanly and timeless. i love spicy floral blends so this is right up my alley.

 

(bless that person who reported on the bpal facebook group that there were 9 bottles left! i went and bought one right away and i am glad i did because i was waffling. )

[alyelle]

In the imp: Moss, myrrh, sandalwood and maybe a hint of rose if I sniff carefully.

 

Wet: Moss (so much moss), honey, rose and rose water (yeah, I can tell them apart, it's so weird - like smelling Turkish Delight and a bunch of roses at the same time), the barest hint of saffron. I can't quite tell what's Eve and what's leftover traces of my Lush soap.

 

Dry: Warm, sunshine-covered roses and sandalwood, dampened by the moss; a bitter hint of wood and saffron, and the slightest waft of dust. After a few minutes the rose starts trying to doing what it usually does on me, which is amp to high heaven and drown out any other note. Not this time. Hi, Irish moss, it's so nice to meet you. After several hours, Eve turns sweet and ... slightly fruity. In a very nice way.

 

The throw is medium-strong on me; life is 9+ hours. A gorgeous scent, overall, and one I actually wish I'd bought. (I have such terrible luck with things I risk a bottle on that I've taken to ordering decants only.) I'm not yet as desperate for this as I was for Snow, Glass, Apples, but if anyone's got a bottle they're looking to rehome, I'd be delighted to hear from you.

 

Stars: ★★★★★

[OctoberGwen]

This scent is so compelling, I can't stop sniffing my wrists when I wear it. I can pick out individual notes if I try (a beautiful blend of rose water, Middle Eastern spices, incense, and moss), but it's so masterfully blended that if I stop focusing it just becomes a glorious mix of wafts from the ages. It makes me think of the cobblestone streets of ancient cities in Europe; spice markets in the desert; luxurious rooms filled with books and priceless antiques. And I haven't even seen the film yet.

 

Eve has shot into my Top Ten, and thank the Gods I had the presence of mind to get two bottles, as she was the first of the OLLA scents to sell out. I really, really love this.

Edited August 5, 2014 by OctoberGwen

[bitterstar]

Like Atrous, I've been having trouble honing in on any one note as Eve morphs and develops on my skin. There's too much, and it's too finely-blended. The result is gorgeous, nevertheless. It smells worldly, sophisticated and rich. It's one of those scents that perfumers from the luxury houses wish they designed, so they could drown it in alcohol and sell it for hundreds of dollars.

 

In general, I would characterize Eve as incense and spice, with a little sweetness and a little powder.

[Dark Alice]

Eve is a right day/wrong day kind of scent. On the right day she is a gorgeous, light, rose incense floral! On the wrong day...she is a migraine waiting to happen with the damn rose. I am happy that I purchased my decant....hell...I could even go for a low level partial...but a whole bottle...I won't be needing that. at. all!

[stellamaris]

I am not surprised this one sold out so fast, it is really amazing.

Strangely, I get at the top a strong dirty note that I suppose is the moss, but then a powdery thing right under it.

and then the roses.

It has oomph, and power, so pretty and good, but I can see a man wearing it too.

[Eemia]

Once in awhile I'll wear a scent and for some reason I feel like I'm smelling a different perfume that what I'm reading about in the scent description. This is so spicy and dry and sexy. I could swear there was carnation in here since it has hints of a vaguely powdery, smoldering spice note. From the notes I was picturing something more mossy and soft but this is like a slap of pure vamp. It feels like a cold-weather scent because it's so strong on my skin. And anything spicy (or extremely spicy, as this one is on me) isn't something I gravitate towards in warm weather. Actually spicy scents aren't usually my thing at all.

 

It reminds me of Houbigant Rose De Taif, which is one of the only oud based scents I can wear, and one of the only non-bpal perfumes I like. Not that the two are close at all, but there's a similarity that I can quite shake. Eve smells extremely niche and expensive to me and so well blended, maybe that's where the familiarity lies. I like trying to pick it apart because it's hard to pinpoint all the little changes it goes through as it dries down.

 

At first it's very spicy and roars with this vixen quality. It's over the top sexy, though not really the type of sexy I go for in a perfume. I'm usually more of a leathery/vanilla/tonka/cologne type when I think of sexy fragrances. So in a way I feel a little odd wearing it, like I'm sneaking on sprays of someone else's perfume. It almost doesn't suit me, even though I like how it smells.

 

The dry, golden tinged incense is similar to Morocco, which also goes borderline spicy on my skin. But the mixture of that sandpapery resin and the smoky rose is very strong and not at all close sitting on my skin as Morocco is. I wish I could describe it better but it really is a fine tuned mixture of resin and incense and a somewhat masculine rose. I only get the sandalwood after a few hours and it adds a nice woodiness that I love. I wish it was even stronger since I love sandalwood.

 

It gets more powdery and musky as it dries completely and continues to make me think of carnation. And it seriously lasts! I can see why everyone likes this one so much. It's really beautiful.

[porcelina]

the crazy complexity of eve puts me in mind of other scents like maybe the fairy market that combine lots of different notes into a gorgeous, cohesive whole. the main focus here is incense, mainly sweet smoky resins with soft roses in the background. i don't think you would immediately be able to pick out a single note here without reading the description; it is so layered and everything works together beautifully.

i could sit and smell this for ages to try and pick out all the different notes. it is lovely. overall i would describe it as sweet incense perfume- beautiful resins with light florals.

[milo]

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about here. I'm getting sandalwood right off, it is pretty sharp and dry. I think the sour rose is adding to that sharpness. If this blend were sweeter, it would improve it quite a bit, but maybe that will come out later. Right now, it smells like a basic drug store alcohol perfume to me. Well at least I dodged a bullet!

[Dark Alice]

This is Morocco, with more vanilla musk and flowers. This bottle...this batch...this bottle is sheer perfection! The jasmine is slightly headache inducing but I am going to ignore that b/c the rest of this is just gorgeous! So glad I found this in a swap.

[sammy]

On me, Eve is all incense with something dusty behind it. It evokes the memory of sitting in an old room full of books, with that almost musty, yet wonderful smell that surrounds you. Now, imagine that room also filled with the most beautiful, somewhat floral incense. This is what I smell when I wear Eve. Eve is not rose-y in the least. I tend to amp rose and it can trigger a migraine, but I get none of that with this at all.

If you've had the wonderful pleasure of seeing Only Lovers Left Alive, Beth has captured Eve, her surroundings, and what I imagined her life to have been like SO perfectly in this scent. Truly amazing!

 

ETA: Wore this again, and I could detect some rose, but again, Eve does not scream ROSE in your face. This is a rose I can wear and adore.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Sammylynn929

[bulletslc]

As others have already mentioned this scent smells expensive. The way every note is blended together is amazing. The stand out note for me is the frankincense. It anchors the other notes for me and is truly lovely.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Bulletslc

[littlesparrow]

I managed to score a decant of this from my NYCC fairy, secretly hoping that I wouldn't get what all the hype was about and therefore wouldn't mind that it had sold out. But alas! It's lovely. The incensey smell I get when it's on wet is so stirring and evocative...then when it dries down it becomes this really beautiful, wonderfully-blended scent - a scent, I say, deliberately eschewing the word perfume because it is just that classy. Perfect olfactory representation of the character. Well-played, Lab!

[Monster]

Out of the bottle this is a complex blend of incense and pale rose petals. On my skin, I'm getting dust, resin with the memory of rose. I usually amp rose but the floral component in this is very tame on my skin. Unfortunately for me, the final dry down reads as baby powder. I wasn't expecting this. :/ In the bottle and when first applied, this is heartachingly gorgeous, it's just not working with my skin.

 

I can see why this scent is so immensely popular, but it looks like I'll be rehoming Eve to someone who will wear and love this beauty. So sad.