Somewhere or Other

[freyasfae]

Somewhere or other there must surely be
The face not seen, the voice not heard,
The heart that not yet-never yet-ah me!
Made answer to my word.
Somewhere or other, may be near or far;
Past land and sea, clean out of sight;
Beyond the wandering moon, beyond the star
That tracks her night by night.
Somewhere or other, may be far or near;
With just a wall, a hedge, between;
With just the last leaves of the dying year
Fallen on a turf grown green.
–Christina Rossetti

Ephemeral, elusive: a mist-veiled, pale rose.

Oh my gosh, I am the first, this is my first time as a first time BPAL reviewer. I am so excited!

Anyway, right when I sniff Somewhere or Other, I can tell it has the BPAL crystalline note in it, which I lurve! This smells like champagne and roses to me, which I know has been a scent before, but this is how I imagine it would smell: BPAL's crystalline note with rose, but more a pale pink rose, not quite sweet as pink rose, nor as faint as white rose. The rose grows in prominence as it dries down while the crystalline does actually soften to a misty dew.

I can't believe what the lab can do, so glad I made a blind bottle purchase!

[poofie]

Simple and lovely! It's a gentle rose made fresh by the aquatic note. I really enjoy how soft and fresh it is, it feels very feminine without being sweet. Fairly low throw, probably office appropriate. It's a scent that isn't challenging, just pretty and fresh. The rose doesn't go soapy or sour on me, and the aquatic stays fresh without getting sharp or harsh. So nice!

[Lambent]

I didn't know what to expect from Somewhere or Other just on description alone. A rose scent, obviously. Unfortunately, it became a rather soapy, laundry detergent-esque rose on me. I hope others have better luck with it.

[Haltija]

This is like fizzy roses and it never goes soapy on me. Gorgeous and simple in the most amazing way. I also think fans of the rose in Wretched Rose Window would really like this one. Winner!

[PrinceofcatS]

Severely disappointed in this one. It is pure expensive French soap on my skin. I tried to wash it off, which never happens, and has never happened to me with a rose before; it's such a fluke for me that I hope the soapiness goes away with time.

 

EDIT for advice to others: I am pretty sure the fizzy note others have noticed must be similar to their champagne note, and I think that's why this did this on me. If you've tried Bon Vivant and Thalia and they were soapy on you instead of champagney, then you should probably avoid this one.

Edited April 5, 2016 by PrinceofcatS

[Little Bird]

On me, this smells like dried rose petals thrown into some sort of 'spring' scented laundry soap powder. A very soapy rose scent.

[LizziesLuck]

So. I told myself sternly, "no more rose scents for a while!". And didn't order a decant of this. Then reviews started coming in. And a few mentioned "champagne" and "fizzy" (Yes, I'm looking at YOU <3 ) and I had to break my word to myself and hunt down a decant.


Wet: For a moment, there is a hint of effervescence - then it goes straight to soap. Straight up white bar soap. I am not even getting the rose. Whatever aquatic "mist" sort of note is in this does not agree with my skin chemistry. and it's ruined this for me. Occasionally, as it's drying, if I huff hard, I get beautiful notes of rose and,,,,,something else. Then back to soap. Darn!


Dry: Soap. Sadly this never recovers. This is what I get for breaking my promise to myself....

I will note that this smells divine in the imp - I can imagine how lovely it is on those with different skin chemistry than me.

Edited March 30, 2016 by LizziesLuck

[sunlitgarden]

In the decant: A sweet, light rose with a slightly effervescent note.

On my skin: getting more of that effervescent note. If you put rose syrup into club soda it might smell something like this. The effervescent note reminds me of a Tunisian frankincense oil a local shop sells, but maybe a bit... saltier? Yes, as this dries a bit it's kind of smelling salty + light rose. A bit odd of a combination but not unpleasant. I was expecting something more dewy, I guess, rather than salty for the mist.

Okay, dry, the "salt" note seems to be gone (I'm guessing that was some skin chemistry thing since other people haven't mentioned it). It's still more like the fizzy champagne or soda note, primarily. Dry the rose itself seems to have mostly faded away and I'm mostly just getting that bubbly note.

Unfortunately, it seems like my skin is eating major components of most of the Lupers I've been trying this year, including this one.

Edited April 10, 2016 by sunlitgarden

[zankoku_zen]

Soapy white/pink Rose. I think it's the same Rose note as in Fresh and Blooming like a Rose, but emphasis on the fresh. Great throw and wearlength.

[Christine Daae]

This was gifted to me by the lovely and generous PrinceofcatS, who hoped I would have better luck with this, since I do enjoy the BPAL fizzy/champagne notes!

In the bottle: The rose here really reminds me of the rose in Katrina Van Tassel (which is my favorite BPAL rose note), only brighter and “cleaner” because it lacks the honey and cream. Whatever the misty note is, it’s very subtle in the bottle.

Wet on my skin, the “misty” note comes out - it’s cool and a little sparkly and “clean” but not soapy to me. It almost has the cold quality that a pine or menthol note often has, without actually smelling like pine or menthol - just that 'cold' smell. I get the fizzy and sparkly qualities of the champagne note, but I don't smell champagne here at all - which is okay, because it's still very beautiful!

This reminds me a lot of Moon Rose, or at least how I remember it (it’s been a while since I last smelled it!): a pale rose with a misty, cool quality to it. Which is not to say that there's any moonflower note here (there's not!), but it’s in the same family, I’d say. This fades into a lovely, sweet rose after the cool misty note dissipates.

It's very beautiful and I think will immediately be going into my summertime rotation!

[Shadowdawn]

I was hoping that this would be a white rose (from the 'pale' descriptor), with a dewy backdrop going on, in the sense that it could be similar to Moon Rose (or at worse, Katrina Van Tassel without the creaminess). Alas, with time, I've come to realize that I think the reason I love Moon Rose so is not for the rose in it, but for the moonflower in it. I am also coming to find that regular roses aren't really my jam. That said, this is definitely one of the prettier roses; it's not dark or red in any way. It is closer to Katrina Van Tassel than Moon Rose, for sure, the rose is much creamier/sweeter (and it lacks any competing notes), maybe even a white rose (but without a 'cream' component it feels a bit stronger than some other white roses), and the aquatic mixed into it is definitely giving off a slightly soapy edge. Not a horribly plastic/dryer sheet soapiness, but a nice, pleasant, expensive soapiness. It is very fresh smelling. Sweet without being honeyed or sugary,  and very nice for those who would be fond of an aquatic. I guess the trade off for the soap is avoiding the 'baby powder' that rose blends with musk or honey in them tend to do to me. Still, meh.