Lady Lucille Sharpe

[shibagast]

Love makes monsters of us all: faded red roses and a glimmer of garnet with black lily, ylang ylang, smoky plum musk and black amber.

(I'm on a review spree!)

In the bottle, I can only smell the amber at first. If I keep smelling, I get a hint of florals and a bit of plum. The amber discouraged me, initially, but there's just something about that I actually find quite pleasant.

First application, I still smell mostly amber. Not for me at all... but as it dries, I'm getting a little more of the floral notes. I'm terrible at picking them out, though, sorry ):

The plum is so strong now! It smells like I'm sniffing the skin of a plum, a little green. Upon further dry down, it is much more musky. I'm not getting much smoke, but I bet it's lost to the musk to my nose.

I was really nervous at first, but this just smells so lovely and elegant. I feel like I just need to drape myself in the darkest of Victorian fashion and stroll through the park.

[oddlittleghost]

Woohoo, second in line!

*I'll update this with wet/dry downs when I try it!

In Bottle: Holy smokes, okay. Let me start by saying I really detest most florals, but I loved her character and thought what the heck, and I am SO happy I did! It's definitely surprising, and the plum hits me the strongest right out of the bottle, which is great because roses really disagree with my nose. It smells almost velvety and it really reminds me of something from my childhood. Kinda like one of those grapey scented coloring markers? But in a good way!

[Musamea]

Bottle from the Lab, received 11.16.15

In the bottle: rich plum musk and amber, cushioned by velvety red roses; very dark and elegant and jewel-like; slightly reminiscent of Dior's Poison, but less perfumey and vaguely more sinister

Wet: the lily moves forward a bit to sharpen the scent, which is all smoky plum and amber on me right now – rose is here more as an image of purple-redness than a scent.

Dry: an absolutely beautiful and warm blend of plum, amber, and musk, with the roses blooming more and more in drydown. Somehow stops short of being overly floral. This is a sophisticated, womanly scent, and I need a back up bottle stat!

eta: extreme drydown is all beautiful plum-amber

Edited November 20, 2015 by Musamea

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: Plummy red rose.

 

Wet on my skin: This is very smooth and well-blended, even when wet. It's very perfumey, but not at all in an unpleasant way - it's actually quite gorgeous.

 

Dry: Sweet, dark, and just a little bit menacing in a deadly-but-sexy sort of manner. This is a perfume the Black Widow might wear with a slinky little black dress right before she assassinates the person she's been tailing through a high-class ballroom party. The notes here all combine very well, and while I can pick them apart if I try, the overall feel of the scent is a smooth, deep, sweet, slightly-green musky-floral. Mostly purple, though. Deep purple-green. If I had to list the notes in order of their strength on my skin, it would be: Black lily, black amber, plum musk, rose, and two things I can't really figure out. Must be the ylang ylang and garnet, whatever that smells like. It's a gorgeous and sophisticated scent, and I'm SO glad I have a bottle, because it's like nothing else I own (though perhaps a relative of Black Lily and Voodoo Lily, if those two had a baby lily and then packed it full of murderous, seductive intent).

[annemathematics]

Gah this is so good. Perfect balance of floral and fruit against warm amber and musk. Perfectly perfume-y.

 

The most sumptuous velvet in liquid form, the color of a bruised kiss scented with a wisp of lacy smoke. A hint of flesh via musk to honor that Lady Lucy has worked so very hard for what she loves and clings to.

[lady_pandora]

CURSE YOU, YLANG YLANG!

 

I was always on shaky terms with ylang ylang, which used to do weird things on me sometimes, but it had been years since I'd tried anything containing it, and all the rest of the notes in this were made of win, so I bought a blind bottle of Lucille Sharpe. And I do like it, but the ylang ylang is making it into something much different from what I expected.

 

Wet, I smell rose, ylang ylang, and maybe red fruit. Plum really makes itself known a few minutes later. And then the ylang ylang kicks into high gear and dominates. One of the weird things the YY does on me is that it smells kind of 80s, hairspray, alcohol-y (though maybe the lily is involved in this too? IDK). It has kind of a nose-stinging edge to it. I think this maybe reminds me of a perfume that some adult wore when I was a kid. It's mostly plum and sharp ylang ylang, with a little more rose returning about an hour later, but still mostly those two things. Waaaay into the later hours, it becomes really amazing, when the YY loses its sharp edge and smells almost fruity.

 

I do like this, but it's not "my" Lucille; it's maybe Lucille reincarnated as a bad-girl rocker (now there's a plot bunny!). It just comes out distinctively 20th century on me (and I do mean 20th, not 21st). It makes me feel really badass and sultry, for sure! I think it will be a good going-out scent.

 

ETA: And lots of staying power. I can still smell it after showering the next morning and putting on a different scent.

 

ETA 2: I let Lucille cool her heels for a few months. Wow, this is just amazing now. The ylang ylang has calmed down a bit and the amber has restored order. It's now a well-balanced, well-blended fruity-floral with a honeyish amber holding it all together. If it were a color, it would be dark purple shot through with gold.

Edited February 16, 2016 by lady_pandora

[claudia6913]

Very soft and powdery, dark and beguiling. It's an intriguing scent, very feminine, very soft and delicate, but deep and dark.

[PrinceofcatS]

A lot of people compared this one to velvet, and that honestly sounds like hyperbole when you read it, but somehow it's really fitting. It started off intensely sweet, but not thickly or cloyingly so, not girlish or edible - a blend of rose and plum that was extremely beautiful. That dipped down really fast on me, like a door shut on it, and I could still smell it underneath as other notes came forward - so their "faded roses" description was quite apt.

 

At this point I could detect the lily note, which was so light but still so sweet. Amber is a very beautiful scent on me and grounds scents very well, I find. I don't know how to describe it, but this scent felt, to me, like there was something utterly sweet and beautiful, even sumptuous, behind a room's locked door, but I was in the hallway, where it smelled dusty, though not in a bad way; there are dark edges to this scent that don't drown out the loveliness. Actually, nothing drowns out anything because this scent is VERY gentle. I actually assumed its staying power was very poor because it seemed to vanish so quickly.

 

And yet I could not only continue smelling hints of that dusty-sweet-darkness last night, but this morning at work too I kept getting hints of it! Though deliberately soft and "faded"-smelling, this does have really good lasting power, wow.

[VioletChaos]

In The Bottle: dried flowers in an abandoned drawing room ❤️

 

Wet On Skin: there's something dark that reminds me of myrrh, without going to powder on my skin. Perhaps it's the smoky plum, but I can't be sure.

 

Dry Down: the amber and the lily are definitely adding something that smells like an era long gone. It reminds me a bit of B340, as if a dilapidated hotel's remains still boast that Garbo once stayed there.

 

In All: I'm not certain this is the right scent for me, though those that love rich dark florals are sure to want this in their collection.

[Hystrixia]

In the Bottle: A dark gold hued oil with a fruity bittersweet fragrance from the plum musk, ylang ylang, and black amber notes. It reminds me of a silver fruit bowl filled with barely ripened black plums. Decadent, cold, and delicious.

Top Notes: When first placed on the skin, the immediate smell is a bitter and biting mix of the black lily, plum musk, smoke, and lovely wet red roses. The mixture of lily and plum musk at this point is dominant, almost screaming. I'm pretty sure the lily note is what is adding to the acridness, which would make sense as it's one of those notes that can be temperamental when worn on my skin. In a way, it's fitting... this IS Lucille Sharpe in a bottle after all.

Middle Notes: An hour later, Lucille has softened into the most lovely, sumptuous, and sultry scent. The rose has deepened and gained a wonderful powdery quality with a touch of sweetness thanks to the amber base. Much to my delight, the ylang ylang has reunited with the plum musk, taming the lily note in the process. The result is a ripe, juicy plum note with only a hint of bite like you'd find in the skin of the fruit. This is one of those scents that makes you want to slide on a black silk evening gown with a pair of satin opera gloves. It's sexy, restrained, and intimidating all at the same time.

Base Notes: Eight hours later and a beautiful, fruity plum-amber base is what remains. It's as soft and warm as a pile of purple velvet cushions.

Overall Impression: I'll be frank... At first I was afraid that the very sharp combination of the black lily and plum musk would overpower the rest of the notes, thereby making Lucille unwearable for me. Luckily, the sweetness of the amber and ylang ylang saved the day while really adding to the red rose element. For this reason, I'm glad I stuck it out through Lucille's violent beginnings as she truly is a unique and wonderful fragrance. She is very much like her namesake in the film: cold, dark, refined and unpredictable with an undercurrent of raw feminine sexuality hiding under the surface. Her color palette is heavy on jewel tones: a glistening garnet, powdery dark violet, and jet black with a slight glimmer of emerald.

Compared to the other two Crimson Peak bottles I have (Thomas and Edith), she has the best throw of the three and is second best in longevity, her brother just barely winning out. She's a perfect evening fragrance for those nights out where you want to feel like the prima donna or femme fatale in the room. Layer her with Thomas if you want to give her an even sexier demeanor.

Final Verdict: Lady Lucille Sharpe will remain in my collection despite the rough start. Because in the end, she's bad in the best way possible.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Hystrixia

[absinthetics]

A feminine floral, however the plum and the "garnet" note shine out to me. I can't really explain what a garnet smells like, but somehow Beth managed to capture it. I'm partial to this strange capture because it's my birth stone. I love this scent, it's like... a floral laced stone grape.

[LizziesLuck]

In the bottle: I think it's mostly plum musk I'm smelling. It's deep and dark, and a little sinister.

 

Wet - It's like nothing I've tried before. Fruity, some sweet, dark florals. Musky. Kind of....ineffable. It's dark. Pretty and dangerous. I'm loving it.

 

Dry - The fruitiness recedes a bit. Mostly sweet floral and musk. Feminine and elegant, a little dangerous. Beautiful.

[Little Bird]

Edit:
I loved this when I first got it (see original review below), but it hasn't aged well at all. I wish I'd worn it more when it was fresh. The musk is so strong now, and it smells like a cheap, sharp, hairspray-esque white musk. The florals smell sour and chemical (reminding me of tuberose with a hint of dry, red rose). I can smell the plum, which adds a slight sweetness in the drydown, but the sharp musk and sour, heavy white floral feel is my anti-scent. It also has a hint of a fecal note to it on my skin. It smells like a cheap drugstore perfume with sharp white musk and white florals that smell chemical and like that alcohol base smell never really wears off. Really disappointed. I'm selling most of my Crimson Peaks after a year of aging.


---------
Original review:
Lady Lucille Sharpe is a beautiful scent, and hard to describe, because it smells like much more than its listed notes. I love that the black amber doesn't go baby powdery and that it makes Lucille share a similar feel with the Thomas Sharpe scent. Lady Lucille smells very good mixed with Thomas Sharpe or Black Moths.

 

I keep thinking that there's a little bit of red musk in this scent, but I'm not sure if that's the garnet or maybe the plum musk and rose mixing together in a red musk-ish way. And, for some reason, this perfume overall smells very much like a rich vanilla on my skin. It has a lovely, rich sweetness to it. The plum smells very dark and sweet to me too. The lily, rose and ylang ylang are present, but they just swirl together to add this haughty, heavy, decadent floral perfume feel to the fragrance. It smells expensive.

 

I'm pleasantly surprised by how smooth and sweet this fragrance is, and I love how layered and complex it is. It's a dark fragrance, but rich and sweet as well.

I thought that Thomas Sharpe and Alan McMichael were my favorite of the Crimson Peaks, but I think that Lucille Sharpe and Black Moths are winning now. I love this one more every time I wear it.

Edited December 18, 2016 by Little Bird

[Lilah Wrote]

In bottle: Wet plums. Almost a brandy sort of smell. That is the only note I personally smell.

 

On me, wet: Oh dear God. I could eat my wrists. More of that plum, but warmed by my skin and the amber is starting to creep out.

 

On me, dry: Now I get more of the amber, and the fruity smell is fading and being subdued by the other notes in the oil. I can smell the lily now. Whiffs of roses but they don't stay.

 

This is a REALLY complex scent. I feel like there is more I could say but I can't quite find the words to explain how this is shifting moment by moment. I wanted to like Thomas Sharpe better, but I think Lucille is a new fast favorite and I'm going to need at least one more bottle. Gorgeous.

 

 

May edit as to length of throw, but if Lucille is anything like her brother, I expect her linger at least until my shift ends at 10pm tonight if not longer.

[rosedamask]

In the bottle: definitely lush, and rich, and DARK. Like shoving your nose into the moths' den of a wardrobe where she must be keeping all her mother's gowns. I can't pick out any individual notes yet (except maybe the ylang ylang - I'm reminded a little bit of Lorelei, at least), but the overall impression is IMMENSE.

Wet: it's very subtly musky on me so far - I can smell the amber, I think (there's a definite chrysalis-appropriate smell here), and what I'm guessing is the plum musk, although it hasn't gone FULL PLUM on me like plum notes usually do. It's a deep golden scent, right now.

Dry: It DEFINITELY delivering on the whole up-to-your-waist-in-Victorian-aristocratic-decay front - it's a little musty in the best and most Lucille-appropriate way, although the more sweetly redolent notes are coming out now (black lily, I think). So far it's like you smell the whole trappings of her attic room in Allerdale Hall, and her skirts moving through the dust, then you get more of something rich and yearning and alive, like Lucille herself, and it's a very beautifully balanced scent. I think the Peak Lucille stage lasts about ~three hours or so on my skin, but even after it's faded a little I still have to keep ducking my head down to get more of it in all its sad dark grandeur, and it's still going strong eight hours after application.

 

Lucille's quickly become one of my all-time favourite characters, and her perfume does not disappoint at all! I'm so looking forward to wearing this again, after I've worked my way through the rest of the Crimson Peak BPALs I got today.

[Aviatrix]

Out of the bottle I can't really smell anything, but on my skin it becomes darkly elegant with plum being the foremost note. There is amber, too, and a little rose, but not a lot. It does feel very Victorian.

It has medium staying power and throw.

[Arachnae]

After watching the film, even before the notes were released, I was sure that I would be getting a bottle of Lucille and that I would love it. Maybe it's because I'm biased a little bit (Jessica Chastain is my ultimate lady crush), but I loved LOVED Lucille's character, and I was hoping that the Lab would get her scent just right. I wanted something dark, feminine and sinister. And of course Beth got it so completely right!

 

In the bottle, I get that rich smokey plum blended with the faded rose and the lily. It's quite sweet but not in a light, cutesy way, in a thick, suffocating syrupy way. The red roses are definitely faded, they've been sitting in that vase for weeks slowly losing their vibrancy and their bright perfumey-ness, their scent is becoming more subdued and dusty. I keep thinking of that 'glimmer of garnet' in the notes, because the colour that comes to mind when I smell this is a dark velvety red.

 

On my skin, WOAH. Heart eyes for days! This is such a complex scent, blended so beautifully, that I am in complete love. It's less plummy on my skin than in the bottle but the sweet smokiness it lends the scent never fades away. The florals are just so soft and velvety, surprisingly the ylang ylang doesn't overpower the roses or the lily. I think out of the three of them, the lily is coming out on top. The black amber adds a lovely dark muskiness. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Lucille is haughty and sinister, with the plum musk and the florals trying to sweetly cover her true nature up. Throw and staying power are both strong, she lasts all day long on me.

 

I thought I would love this scent, but I had no idea exactly how much I would love this scent. Pretty sure this has gone right to the no.2 spot in my all time favourite BPAL scents, which reminds me, for anyone who loves the discontinued Blood Countess as much as I do (she's at no.1), Lucille is totally in the same vein. They aren't the exact same, they are (evil, murderous) sisters not twins, but I get the same sweet smokey sinister floral feeling from the both of them. So seeing as I only got one bottle of BC before she was discontinued and I use my bottle very conservatively, I am going to make sure I get backups of Lucille so I don't run out of her for a very, very long time

[tyche]

I'm trying Lucille today, the first of the 4 CP bottles that arrived yesterday. I can't stop sniffing my wrist! Definitely getting dark, juicy florals, with a hint of dry rose. I'm usually not a fan of rose, but this is very faint, not at all overpowering, and I enjoy it. The scent actually makes me think of the Evil Queen in Snow White, all purples, greens, and reds.

[Atrous]

This is a classic sweet, floral, fruity perfume...gone to the dark side.

Everything is perfectly balanced. So gorgeous.

[Poenari]

I took a chance on Lucille because of the darkness in the character, even though I usually avoid florals. But dark amber and plum musk are notes I love, and I was hoping that faded roses would mean the kind of rose I've had success with before, as in Crypt Queen and OLLA Eve. Lucille does not disappoint! This is a darkly pretty floral, and I can see how it reflects her character so well. While it does smell of soft dried roses more than anything else on my skin, it is a beautiful dark fruity floral. Not my usual kind of scent, but that's also what I said about the OLLA June 23, 1868 and I have backups of it! So this is another great floral even for those who don't normally wear florals.

[Haltija]

Lucille is far from simple when you take the first whiff of her in the bottle or even in the first stages on the skin. On me though she blossoms and makes her stand with becoming a gorgeous deep plummy dark floral with a base of ylang ylang and a tiny tiny touch of lily.

 

I can't get enough of her honestly and like Poenari said, florals of any kind aren't usually my everyday thing, but I love dark florals the most when I do wear them and truth be told Lucille is the dark floral of my dreams. I will cherish her and I may even spring for another bottle. Absolutely divine!

[brineydeep]

I think I'm having the same issues as lady_pandora.

 

Upon application, all I'm getting is a sharp (Sharpe?) sweet note dominating all else. This is likely the lily and/or the ylang ylang. The sharp note overwhelms everything else for about 4 hours until it settles down into the smooth sophisticated perfume that everyone else seems to be describing.

 

So this is basically a total skin chemistry fail on me. Sad.

[zankoku_zen]

Plum musk, amber, and a deep purpley smokey lily overlay over it. Lady Lucille Sharpe smells dark and ominious in the gothic way, meaning there's also a certain romantic vibe to it. Good throw and good wear length.

[Kaye_Sera_Sera]

Oh this, this right here is liquified menace. So dark, yet so full of passion and depth. Lady Lucille doesn't disappoint, she's back up bottle worthy. I adore her. This has a beautiful musk with dark floral overlay, I don't ever want to let it go.

[theseagrows]

i'm iffy on bpal's plum note because it can be plasticky on me. i debated on getting a decant, but decided that hopefully the other notes would predominate. right off i get a "glimmery" ylang ylang. it's very rich almost banana-y. i think i am getting a hint of lily and some amber but not much else. after a few minutes on the skin, i get plum. but it's a nice plum and not plasticky at all yay. it is a bit sweet for my tastes though, especially combined with YY but i am sort of digging it because it's different for me. after awhile i get something more effervescent and aquatic- maybe the garnet/black lily, and it just gets a bit strong and harsh for me. oh well, the opening was really nice, but unfortunately it didn't last.