Shelley, Byron, and Keats

[kashmira]

Uncompromising idealism, haunted romanticism, fatal ennui, and a heady amount of scandal and vice: red roses and pale carnation with a draught of laudanum, smears of opium tar, a hint of absinthe, and mercury ointment.

Wet, this starts out with a medicinal, almost bitter smell that quickly morphs into red rose and laudanum. As it dries on my skin, the carnation takes a front seat and tends to be very assertive. It pretty much stays all carnation all the time, though eventually a bit of the opium tar peeks through. To my nose, overall this has a "high pitched" floral scent which isn't necessarily to my taste. On the plus side, it has a ton of throw and lasts for hours. Interestingly enough, I tend to get a lot of compliments from women on this scent, but my husband and guy friends all find it somewhat 'meh.'

[theseagrows]

sorry my notes on this scent aren't too detailed, but i will give it a whirl with a review. it starts off all floral, mostly rose and opium. my skin tends to amp opium and not in a way i am a fan of, so i wasn't too sure about this. opium gets really strong and a bit harsh on my skin unfortunately. i love rose, but it can be fickle too. rose works amazingly on me in some blends and smells sour in other blends. anyway, next the carnation peeks out, which is one of my favorite notes. but then i get something souring the florals, which i have to guess is the mercury ointment, but i'm not sure. i so hoped this would work on me because i love resiny rose blends as well as rose-carnation blends, but alas my skin just doesn't seem to like the opium and mercury in this.

[zankoku_zen]

Shelly, Byron and Keats was roses and carnations that dried down to a carnation and geranium blend. Where the geraniums come from, I have no idea but I suspect that may be the mercury ointment mixed with absinthe.

 

I happen to like both carnations and geraniums, so I liked this floral combination.

[tinyvulture]

Florals, mostly rose. Stuffy florals...stuffy, like a vase of flowers in a warm, poorly ventilated library. With the chemical tang of...laudanum? Mercury ointment? I don't know what those smell like. Pass on this one.

[milo]

Weird kind of blend. I'm getting something like vetiver and bright fruits with a touch of mint, but it's probably the geranium. Too odd.

[Balame]

There's a well-defined silvery, chemical aspect to this scent... with a hint of herbs. No doubt the laudanum and "mercury." It's very interesting.

It makes me think of being inside an art studio where people are painting but there are also fresh vases of flowers scattered around.

Really heady and hazy, yet the "silver" aspect makes it sharp as well. While I'm not usually a floral lover, the rose and carnation are pretty here.

They're muted in a way that I'm not picking out one over the other, so it's like someone smeared a bunch of red petals around and this was the resulting mix.

 

Definitely not for me, but as it dries it becomes less sharp and more... almost cozy. The opium makes a bigger appearance and turns the flowers almost fruity.

I think it suits its namesake very well. Romantic but a little dangerous and unsettling.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Balame

[annemathematics]

this is one of my favorites of the OLLAs. on me it's a beautiful rose/absinthe cologne. the rose is bright and rich, the carnation spicy in the background, the absinthe giving a vibrant energy, the other notes giving a deep and delicious foundation. everything about this-the balance of the different scents, the throw, the wear length is a delight. one of my favorite rose bpals. beautiful and slightly bizarre.

[Atrous]

At first I get hit with a oily chemical/medicinal smell which I'm guessing is the Laudanum & Mercury.

During the dry down Absinthe and Opium start to come out and temper the chemical aspect.

And finally, Rose and Carnation come and round SB&K out. Once dry, the chemical/medicine translates as herbal to my nose.

All the notes are present but muted. I don't think I've smelled anything quite like this. Its a comfortable and restive scent and I'm liking it a lot.

[claudia6913]

This is a very languid scent, as though you are draping yourself across furniture while a haze of opium smoke drifts about you. This feels a lot like Langour in that way. But the carnation gives it a bit of a spicy edge that does not detract from the scent, rather it heightens it and gives it depth. Very floaty and flowing.

[satinworship]

Florals and I, particularly roses and carnations, don't get along. I tend to amp these parts of a scent until I'm nauseous and have a headache. Shelley, Byron, and Keats (also know as Those French Assholes) goes on wet like a sharp punch to the face, no individual notes just intense perfume power. After a couple hours of drydown I get a very well-behaved rose scent, like garden roses cut and placed inside a lady's bed chamber. I'm picking up some laudanum/opium not so much smokey as resiny, perhaps the way a chunk of opium would smell as it's set out on the table. I don't get any anise or other absinthe notes.

If I wanted to wear a very grown-up, ladylike, sophisticated floral perfume, this would be the winner!

[RubyV]

I don't really get the florals. Instead, on me, it's all opium and absinthe and laudanum, and other naughty things. I also get a slight whiff of skin musk, oddly.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Wow, what IS that? Maybe the "mercury ointment"? It's like nothing I've ever smelled before. Really interesting, but not something I would want to wear. I was hoping the florals would lend some familiarity to it....but this is way way different. It actually smells like a pile of unfamiliar chemicals. Like a laboratory or something. It's a bit ozoney. Makes my nose tingle.

 

 

Dry: This is truly unpleasant on me. It just smells like chemicals. I'm having to wash it off. I am so glad I got a tester instead of buying a blind bottle like I had planned to....

[Jenkins]

On me, this is a lovely spicy floral with a hint of bitterness. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to last long. It definitely changes from the smell in the bottle, which is quite harsh, into a much more wearable scent as soon as it touches skin.

[Little Bird]

I hate the lab's opium/poppy note. It smells sharp and chemical, sort of like hairspray chemicals, with a white, sharp smokiness. I get lots of opium here, with hints of sour rose and maybe a sharp spiciness from the carnation. I had to scrub this one off.

[avilion]

Roses immediately, then something medicinal and sharp comes out , and it almost goes into "hospital corridor" for a moment before it dries down to a simmering, languid rose scent. I can definitely see this becoming a new "I'm writing" scent to wear while I'm locked down and working from home, and I might see about getting a bottle once my decant runs out.

[witchytwitchygirl]

I took a huge chance on this one because I love how caustic and “suicidally romantic” it sounded. I’m also an English teacher who happened to teach Frankenstein last year and Byron/Keats this year, so it seemed appropriate. On-the-nose, even. “I can pull off a creepy chemically floral,” I told myself. I was wrong, unfortunately. It’s all roses and chemicals to my nose, which is exactly the description, so really, what was I expecting?! 
 

I’m discovering that red rose simply does not work on me AT ALL. Beyond that, though there is something so unsettling about this scent in the bottle that I can’t put my finger on, but reminds me of younger years. I’ve convinced myself that it is the exact smell of the formaldehyde or whatever they use to preserve frog and worm specimens for dissection at school. Maybe it smells more like a funeral parlor. I keep promising to give it one or two more tries, but I can’t bring myself to put it on my skin. Not for me, sadly.

[windbourne]

This reminds me quite a bit of L'Heure Verte, but that one is strongly absinthe with a bit of rose and this one is strongly rose and carnation with a bit of absinthe. Both feature opium, though, and both have a heady, brooding aspect that evokes a similar time period and aesthetic. I do prefer the lilac in L'Heure to the carnation in SBK, but unlike many carnation scents that end up too sweet and unpleasant on me, that note is tempered by the rest. The mercury note is very low-key on me, lending a silvery cast to the whole experience without standing out. It's got a fairly significant throw -- I can smell it without bending my arms at all, and my SO has commented on it from across the room -- and lasts several hours. I like it a lot, but I have to be in a Mood to wear it. I used to wear velvet blazers and ruffled shirts more often and this felt just right. :3

[starbrow]

Opium whooshes out at me straight from the bottle and onto the skin. Medicinally sweet ointment is almost too vividly brought to life. I'm usually sensitive to rose, but this does not strike me with the usual rosy punch. No, this early stage is all business, all old-timey narcotics whose pleasantness is poisonous and vicious. It's creepy and consumptive and perfect. I can smell the absinthe, but it is just a sip. The rest is silvery-benzoiny-sticky-medicinal (but not cologney!). Very cool atmospheric stage.

 

The drydown is where the rose emerges into a very soft, carnation-kissed lotion. This is beautiful. Uber-romantic, still consumptive, but now a haunting ghost of florals and opiums that passes as perfume. Haunted romanticism is the perfect description of it. Currently, my bottle is only a year old at best, so it does need some time to grow a stronger throw, but I can still smell whiffs of it occasionally without huffing my wrist.

 

If rose is usually not your thing, don't write off Shelley, Byron, and Keats! Give these poets a chance to creep their way into your heart, or at least onto your skin. This would make a beautiful Evening with the Spirits. That's exactly the vibe here. 

 

I would wear this while: writing Romantic (not romantic) poetry

[QueenProserpina]

My eighth BPAL purchase, October of 2023. A delightful blend on me. I get rose and spicy carnation, accompanied by a vague, sweet assortment of other notes, one of which is reminiscent of banana candy (the historical medicinals?) This fragrance has decent staying power and only medium throw. Not my favorite of all time, but I will continue to enjoy it as it matures. Update on December 21: a boozy note has emerged: the absinthe? As of June 27, the rose has strongly overtaken the absinthe and other notes, standing in front of a vague, herbal spiciness, and the throw and sillage have increased significantly, prompting positive comments from a friend! I did apply it much more generously this time. On June 28, I’m noticing that the strong rose and understated floral note of carnation are creating a “dryer sheet” effect. Notes are basically the same on skin vs on fabric.

Edited June 28 by QueenProserpina
Correction