Marie

[autumnviolet]

MARIE:

A blend of sinuous violet and elegant tea rose: the chosen scent of France's Demigoddess of Debauch: Marie Antoinette.

 

wet-violet.

dry down: violet

later-violet.

Stays and stays with a light violetty touch.

Luckily, I adore violets and currently have a yard full of them. Um, they don't really smell like this.

BUT this is a great violet scent. Most are too cloying and sweet.

I'm getting a 10ml of this because it is perfect for spring.

Sure would like violet/rose, though...

[lady_pandora]

Chose this on a whim to round out a pack of imps. I didn't really expect to fall in love with it; I mostly picked it because I've had a mild obsession with Marie Antoinette since I was a little girl.

 

However, Marie really agrees with me, and I like it muchly.

 

This one doesn't change much on me from bottle to wet to dry. Pure violet, with the rose sneaking up slowly throughout the hours.

 

A lovely, flirty floral for spring, without being obnoxiously innocent.

 

ETA: icon.

Edited May 10, 2005 by lady_pandora

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Violet and rose. This is actually quite sweet.

 

Wearing: Violet and rose duke it out for dominence on my skin. Violet actually mostly wins for a while, but pretty soon this truns into a violet-rose-powder-soap blend. It smells like the guest soaps my elderly neighbor had in her bathroom in the early 80s. Then the rose takes over and this is pure rose.

 

Final Impressions: I have a policy of trying every imp that crosses my path, but I almost passed this one up. I don't like violet or rose, so this blend meets my expectations.

[FireInCairo]

This is a beautiful softened rose fragrance. I smell jasmine for some reason too. It's definately an evening fragrance. It smells of sophistication. Elegant ladies would wear Marie.

[olympia301]

 

A scent as pretty and simple as the woman it's named after, Marie is a concoction of rose and violets with a touch of green. This is a straightforward beautiful light headed woman's scent which makes no bones about sophistication it just naturally is.

 

Marie is where the lab abandon's it's mania to mix violet with vetiver or some other volatile extraction and lets it rest on a bed of soft roses. That is exactly what violet needs or else it can be a nose irritant. Though I love violet I have sniffed by way through Lex Taleonis (one of the strongest and most relentless violet blends), up to Marie which is the prettiest and frilliest so far. I would heartily recommend Marie to the hardened veteran of the scent wars or to a total virgin entering the fray. It is just fabulous and doesn't pretend to be something it isn't.

[Witch's Dagger]

Marie

 

This was a freebie from the lab. Thanks!

 

Preconceived notions: I must have thought it would be too floral or something, because it never made it on to my wish list... But it’s odd, because just the other day, I was hoping to smell an oil with violet and rose. Here we go!

 

In the vial:

Fresh, watery violet. Very nice, but where’s the rose?

 

On me

Ah, there’s the rose. Yes, this is a dark, soft, deep rose, but wait - no, this might not work on me. This seems to be the same rose that’s in Black Widow and Wolf’s Bane, because it’s taking over and changing character - this a bitter, floral, antiseptic, powdery (in the sense of make-up powder), astringent rose. Sheesh. I wish my skin chemistry would behave better. It smelled lovely in the vial.

 

In 10 minutes:

The same.

 

In 25 minutes:

The make-up powder is taking over the rose. It’s less bitter, but much more artificial and fake-smelling.

 

In 1 hour:

Faint powder with bad artificial rose perfume.

 

Overall:

I hate my skin chemistry. This one’s going off to someone else. And yes, I’m sure it’s my skin, not the oil itself. This happened, as I said, with Wolf’s Bane, and most people got green and woody from that. Me? Bad, icky fake rose powder.

[Rosaleen Dhu]

This came to me as a frimp from the lab, with my boy's order, so a nice surprise for me!

 

I ^never^ would have ordered this on my own, even though I love rose blends. Usually I want rose with something darker, like amber, and not all floral. As usual, Beth takes my expectations and puts them on their head.

 

I love this. It is certainly floral, but somehow manages to be dark and slinky and sexy as hell.

Big bottle for sure!

[tempete]

I tried Marie as part of my search for the perfect soft violet scent. Initially, Marie is violet with a strongly sharp green edge. The green edge slowly dissipates during the drydown, heralding the emergence of a soft, powdery rose. But where did the violet go?

 

The search continues...

[girlmadasbirds]

violet and rose with a strange powder smell. definitely not for me

[La Chatte Argente]

I don't know where to begin...

 

I have always stayed away from floral fragrances, but after smelling this, I don't know why!

 

This smells about the same on me as it does in the vial. I smell the rose for sure, but it's a little lighter, which I assume must be the violet.

 

This reminds me of something innocent, though. Like the portrayal of Marie Antoinette in the Japanese animation Rose of Versailles; in this series Marie is a character who seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or not following traditions and standards - very innocent and girlish, forced to mature too quickly. That's how this perfume smells to me, a girl trying her best to be grown up, but still innocent.

[urraca]

I've been n a quest for a perfect violet scent and I think I may have found a candidate.

 

This scent is on the surface incredibly simple --- just rose and violet named as notes --- and at the same time very complex. As some have described, on me both the rose and the violet are apparent all the time but they come across as a single note, not as two notes fighting it out for supremacy. At first I thought, "nice but faint." but about an hour later I noticed big wafts of heady rose-violet swirling around me --- and it lasts too.

 

I do get the Marie Antionette vibe. Having both rose and violet seems like dangerous excess, like someone who would eat cake instead of bread! In the name of that excess, I want a big bottle.

[lokelani]

I bought an imp of Marie because I love violet and rose scents, and I was not disappointed. I've tried to figure out which note is dominant, but it's impossible -- the violet and rose blend so well in this scent that they create something brand-new between them. It's lovely and, as others have said, just a little bit naughty, something that I don't usually associate with either violet OR rose -- ah, the mystery and delight of Beth's alchemy! It's quite robust and has great staying power as well, which isn't always the case for me with floral scents. Marie went right on my top ten list, and I think it's highly unlikely that it'll ever leave.

 

In other words: it's love.

Edited July 7, 2005 by lokelani

[slugbait]

A freebie from the lab.

 

I was a little skeptical about this because I saw it has rose in it. Rose and I don't always get along...

 

In the imp this smells of sweet violets. I recognized the violets from Lush’s Daddy O shampoo. In fact, this is very similar to it (without the fishy smell ).

 

While drying, the violets mellow out a little bit, and after 2 hours I can smell a little bit of rose. Nice!

 

Marie is very feminine, floral and fresh. This is one of my favorite violet perfumes. I don’t wear this all the time, but a nice change when I want something different.

Edited July 19, 2005 by slugbait

[Xiabelle]

Marie, she hates me.

 

In the imp: Ew! I don't know if my nose is off, but I really don't remember this being so.... foul... the first time I sniffed it. It smells chemically and, dare I say it, a bit like urine to me. Yuck. I would expect violet and rose to be gorgeous to smell, at the least.

 

On: Wet, it's still got that chemically scent. It IS kind of like perming solution, like someone else mentioned. It got louder, but it's still sour as it starts to dry down.

 

Dry: I can pick out violets and rose, but they don't go with my chemistry at all, and smell rather harsh. It's bad floral soap. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind floral soapiness, but this is... bad. I can handle clean soapiness, but this is just cloying and chemical.

 

I can't decide if it's the violets or roses that hate me, but I suspect it may be a rose note. Ultraviolet was bright and fresh violet soap, but Marie... No.

 

Off to swaps with you!

[evil_laugher]

I can smell the rose, and I like it, but the violet is stronger and comes across as powdery unpleasantness. I got a similar kind of result with Wings of Azrael, so I can only assume it's the violets.

Edited August 11, 2005 by evil_laugher

[theseagrows]

marie was one of the first imps i purchased from the lab. i love violet and rose, if done right, and marie is done right! some roses become cloying on me, but this one didn't.

 

i cant even tell which scent is strongest- they are so complementary, and i am also not so great at distinguishing scents, but whatever it is, it's lovely.

 

hours later when its dry it smells like a soft violet, and the rose is nearly untraceable.

 

i think i might get a 5 ml of this.

[Hanyaan]

I very much wanted to like Marie. I love violets, love rose, love stories about the French Revolution. Thought this would be perfect, especially because it smelled so LOVELY in the imp.

 

Alas, my skin chemistry and Marie do not get along at all. The violets amp up like nobody's business, and then it goes all strangely chemical on me. I couldn't stop sneezing after the drydown, either; something about the chemical violet smell really irritated my eyes and nose. What a shame.

[Eros]

Violet?? Where??

 

TEA ROSE = headache = eh, no.

[LiberAmoris]

Marie seems to me a deceptively simple blend---at first it is an even balance of rose and violet, but as it wears, it develops a subtle leather-like note that implies a kind of violence underneath the violets, so to speak. It's evocative of the scent of a woman's hankerchief that's been stored in tissue, or of the sleeves of an 18th century gown.

 

There's something faded and aged in the floral notes here that makes them tragic. Like a worn kind of decadence that has long been fallen and laid to rest.

[Ankhet]

Marie:

In the bottle: Flowery, but very light

Wet: I can smell it on my fingers that I used to undo the bottle, but not on my wrist. What I can smell is light, airy roses.

Drydown: Maybe it's just because Burial was so strong, but this one is SO light, I can barely smell it! Ah, well, I'm not one for roses (I think) anyways.

Conclusion: sell

[Little Bird]

I've really wanted to try Marie just because it is my middle name. I didn't think that I'd actually like it based on the notes though, since I'm not really a fan of florals.

 

Marie is surprisingly wonderful and not really floral on my skin though. It is actually mostly violet, with a slight hint of very sweet rose in the drydown... but the overall impression is that this is very candy-like. I don't think this smells like flowers on me, really, more like the sugared violets and roses on the top of a wedding cake.

 

This is more of a light foodie scent on me than a floral . I'm definitely going to be getting a full bottle of this one.

[cupide430]

Yep, that's violet. And hey, there's the rose. But the shocker for me is that they're playing nicely together on my skin. The violet isn't that weird sickly sweet scent and the rose isn't that bizarre chemical bitter scent that I seem to get from rose. Wow, could I write a more negative sounding positive review? This is actually quite good on me and I'm a major violet-ater! The violet somehow adds a bit of freshness to the rose. All in all quite lovely and 100% better on me than I thought it would be after reading the notes.

[sookster]

lovely violet and tea rose~~~

gorgeous....the scent does not venture at all from its

original application....it is truly beautiful and one of

Beth's best floral blends i have had the priviledge to

experience...this would be wonderful for a romantic

summertime picnic.....

[melange]

Imp: rose.

 

Wet: violet and rose.

 

Drydown: rose and violet, definitely heady. I like this tea rose.

 

Worn: this violet and this rose are close enough that they blend together to my nose. I thought it might be headed towards soapiness, but it didn't, and seems good for when I'm feeling particularly femme. It has some throw but is less pushy than Libertine (which also has rose and violet in its components); it lasts a few hours on my skin before it's altogether faded.

 

Conclusion: I was intrigued by the association with Marie Antoinette when I first saw the description (having read The Other Boleyn Girl in the past year couldn't have hurt) despite that the notes aren't "me" enough to be high on my order list, so I was especially delighted when the Lab sent this frimp. I think I might keep half the imp as is, and use the other half as a spritzer, or possibly to scent some bath salts for relatives; it's feminine in a pleasing and not-unconventional way, so is likely to go over well.

[Thaleia]

I don't know what violet is supposed to smell like, but Marie Antoinette is deliciously evil, so her scent went on my wish list. But since the Lab so graciously frimped me, I can review this now.

 

In the vial: Ah, tea rose. A light rose fragrance, pale pink/lavender in colour. (I'm not very good yet at determining colour scents, but I'm trying.) I'm so relieved - I've just gone through a slew of frimps that didn't like me, so I'm glad to find one that just might.

 

Wet: An elegant and light, white-to-pale-pink rose, surrounded by opulence, as part of a flower arrangement in a ballroom with a parquet floor and gold-leaf and marble walls. Is the violet supposed to deepen/counter the rose, because I don't smell it. Then again, my skin tends to amplify rose scents over everything else, so it might be that as well.

 

Drydown: I don't even know what I'm supposed to smell from the violet, but it's gotten less pure-rosey and more rosey-floral. It's so pretty and light. Elegant, without being rich and ostentatious. Understated elegant, I think, would be the best way to describe it.

 

Dry: A white tea rose. And it's not about to lose its head, either.

 

Rating: 4.5

Edited December 23, 2005 by Shollin