The Best Lies

[Franny]

"Such a pity," Zorya Vechernyaya told Shadow. "In my fortune for you, I should have said you would have a long life and a happy one, with many children."

"That is why you are a good fortune-teller," said Zorya Utrennyaya. She looked sleepy, as if it were an effort for her to be up so late. "You tell the best lies."

The melodious sweetness of false fortunes: sugar-swept honey and rose.

This is really what it says on the tin, honey and sugar and roses. If you love all those things this one is for you. It's a beautiful sugary sweet honeyed rose scent, I don't have a sweet rose like this one in my collection. I think sugar and honey get as much attention as the rose in this, other rose scents I have are more strongly rose. I love this being the scent of a false good fortune told, the smell of something so sweet and beautiful it can't possibly be true.

[Casablanca]

Sugar, honey, and rose, and a sort of autumnal apple tone. This reminds me of the honeyed apple-rose musk of Bilquis, but less bright and youthful on my skin than she was.

 

I smell caramelization in the sugar, which is lending some maturity. I feel like there might be more than one sort of sugar in play here, or maybe sugar and a sugar-crunchy honey.

 

I love Bilquis as she is, but I think this is more of what I was looking for when I picked up Bilquis. Lovely stuff.

[LizziesLuck]

I told myself no more rose scents, I have too many I don't wear much! But I couldn't resist the honey...(or the name)

 

 

Wet: YUM. You can distinctly smell honey, but sugar as well. You'd think that would be overkill, but they smell great together. Not getting any rose, which I am kind of OK with because this is lovely the way it is. A much more innocent honey than O or Womb Furie. It smells sweet, but not cloying or heavy. It's light and sort of playful. Really enjoying it. Not a ton of throw for something with honey in it, but the scent it strong when I stick my nose up to it.

 

 

Dry: The rose comes out, a lot. I think it's white rose, maybe? With the honey and sugar, it reminds me a bit of Love, the Pickman scent. I really like it, and would have gotten a bottle if the rose hadn't amped up. Now I'm not as sure. Needs further testing! Really pretty though, and if you love sweet rose scents I would say it's a must-try.

[roseus]

This starts off as a sugared pink rose, slightly fruity and very candy like. Dry it gets a little more sophisticated, the honey really smooths it out and gives it a bit of depth. The rose dry is beautiful but overall it might be a touch too candy-sweet for me.

[Jenjin]

These lies are made of silvery sweetness and pinks. The honey is airy and light, while the rose is creamy fluff. On my skin, it's a delicious, mellow, floral cotton-candy delight. The dry down becomes fuller and richer, it's ladylike, yet extremely wearable. There's something almost "milky" about the way the honey froths with the floral that's certainly addictive. Perfect for when you want to feel sexy in a cute and carefree way, this embodies innocence with an seductive bite. Edited June 30, 2017 by Jenjin

[KatyC]

On my skin the rose in this scent is very subtle, in the background far behind the sugar and honey. When first applied I get a disappointing play-doh note , but thankfully this calms down after 30 mins or so. It has surprisingly good wear length for a sweet scent, medium throw.

 

I like this, but I don't love it -there's not quite enough rose for this flower-addict. It is really pretty though, and I'd definitely recommend it for people who are only so-so about roses.

[lilacea]

This is dusty, musky honey and just a touch of pink rose. The kind of rose smell I'd imagine you'd get if you took pink rose petals, dried them, and turned them into a finely milled powder. After its initial sugary sweetness, it tames on my skin and develops that "womanly" honey smell that O has, so slightly powdery, sweet and intimate.

 

It's an uncomplicated scent, and I find great joy in that. Long lasting, skin hugging joy. Sweet, feminine, with an infinitesimal touch of dust underneath.

[faifai]

This is beautiful beyond words. I imagine a freshly picked pink rose with petals dripping with nectar or simple syrup instead of dewdrops. Fresh, clear sweetness paired with fresh innocent rose. It smells expensive and what I imagine the "gorgeous girl next door" in a movie might smell like.

Edited July 10, 2017 by faifai

[annemathematics]

a beautiful rich velvety rose sexxxed up with some honey. I can see this honey being too musky/funky/naughty on some folks' skins, but on mine it's just right. I really love this and have been reaching for it as soon as I get home from work at night. snaps me right out of "work" mode by rinsing away the stench of wage slavery and replacing it with fabulous fantasticness. happy long life, here I come!

[Elspethdixon]

Wet/in the imp - cool, candied rose scent. Almost minty?

Freshly applied - a sort of slightly-minty sugar scent, with a hint of light rose. Think fancy rosewater marshmallows dusted with cool powdered sugar (you know how powdered sugar feels cool in your mouth when it first hits your tongue but then is just sweet? this is like the olfactory version of that). If there's honey in this, it's the soft/gentle/powdery kind of honey rather than the sexy, sticky Womb Fury kind.

Five-ten minutes in - There's no musk note listed, but I swear I smell musk in this - maybe it's the sugar? Some musks go super sugary on me. Now that it's started to dry down, my arm smells like home made/artsy hipster cafe/gourmet macaroon-shop-style rosewater marshmallows with a puffy/pillow-y cloud of cool white musk around them. Like a rose-only version of De Vos, but sweeter, stronger, and with a good six inches of throw. I like sweet scents and gourmands, but this almost borders on too sweet/strong for me.

This isn't much of a morpher. The scent stays basically the same from this point out - a very sweet candy floss/white musk sugar-syrup rose - and was still going strong five hours later when I got home from work and took a shower.

[lookingglass]

This is the kind of scent that haunts me. I knew I'd love it. I experienced it. I did. And I walked away. I dismissed her quickly because I have so many scents that are honey forward...but I need it. I can't stop thinking about her.

 

Wet the honey's slap is strong and thickly sexy, slighly animalic, a bit fresh, but not as green as some BPAL honeys. It quickly dries down a bit, melting into my skin, and rose emerges...blush colored roses..a bit lighter than my skin, which is Classic Ivory in most brands of foundation. Quiet. Unassuming. But not innocent. I think of her as Pink Snowball's older, psychic sister. An oriental gourmand-sweet but not silly-as if flesh transformed into an expensive, exotic confection...the scent of a vampiric desire.

 

Most of all, The Best Lies smells like that very idea: the answer that appeases that incessant gnawing, that little desire that continues to creep, sweating under your collar...that intangible question that slinks beneath your nightclothes...that all will be "rosey". There's an unspoken wisdom, behind that sweet, fresh, relief, though...My justification not to bring her home fails me because it speaks a truth I need to hear.

Edited July 29, 2017 by lookingglass

[zankoku_zen]

Cotton candy pink roses and honey. This one is lighter, sweeter, and rosier than I expected. Definitely did not expect the cotton candy to show up. This is a light pink scent, and would be great for young girls. Good throw and wear length.

[Little Bird]

A perfumey/musky sort of sweet, pink roses dusted with sparkling honey powder. It is just as advertised. I like creamier roses and fresher roses than this one is, as it leans more musky and dry smelling, but this is still a pretty, pleasant blend. Musky, pink roses and dry, sweet, bee pollen sort of scent.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: Exactly what it says in the description. Sugar, honey, and rose.

 

Wet: I'm getting lots of the honey and sugar alongside a fresh red rose note. It does not take long for the rose note to assert itself and end up becoming stronger than the sugared honey.

 

Dry: A nice, sugared rose. Although I initially thought it was a fresh red rose, it now is more reminiscent of a pink rose note.

 

Verdict: I really like this. I already have a bottle of Hope, but I think I like this one more. It's sweeter, and the rose note ends up being calmer on the drydown. If I had to compare it to another BPAL with rose and sugar, I'd say it's more like Love than Hope. I'll be holding onto my decant, and I'll consider upgrading to a bottle if I go through it quickly.

ETA: I got a partial bottle of this earlier this year and only got around to testing the partial now. I swear I'm getting a bit of cherry in the spun sugar now?

Edited October 10, 2022 by doomsday_disco

[Bassmastadroog]

Just chiming in to agree with everyone...The Best Lies is a beautiful, honeyed rose. It's a beautifully and casually attractive rose. You can wear this under any circumstance. It's feminine and quite unified. It cottoncandy's up in the drydown, but it suits the overall feel. I love it!

[samanare]

Sugar and honey with a side of rose. As time goes on, the sugar and honey turn into more of a cotton candy scent, which is less overpowering for the rose. I smell more of a white rose and wish it was stronger in the beginning.

[AraliaShine]

This goes on smooth and thick like creamed honey (without the stickiness, but with all the depth and richness). There's an underlying delicate floral that surfaces more as the scent dries down, leaving behind a pale rose fashioned entirely from spun sugar. Lovely and sweet! Very evocative of the story and another rose that works on my skin, never becoming sharp or bitter.

[mishi-bear]

This one is absolutely lovely. I was thinking I'd know what it would smell like, but was caught off guard.

 

It's much more a honey scent than the other notes. It's a creamy honey, not golden and resinous. This smells pale, sweet, and almost milky. Reminds me a lot of the honey musk in Lady Una.

 

The rose is just a hint, a bit of tartness in the background, cutting the creaminess of the honey.

 

The sugar is surprisingly delicate as well. Sweet, not at all burnt. Like a spun sugar note.

 

This didn't have a super strong throw, it hung rather close to the skin. But it also lasted about 15 hours on my skin, and only went away at that point because I showered.

[Kytha]

Wet and in the initial application stages, it has a bit of an old-lady powder smell, something almost waxy like lipstick. My best guess is that this is largely because of the honey note, which may be of the type that usually turns to powder on me.

 

About 2 hours after it dries down, though, it becomes extremely pretty -- it's not 'sophisticated' per say, but it smells warm and affectionate, and it feels younger and sweeter and somehow fresh. 'Pink' is a good scent image for it. It's an odd transition, like watching the archetypical Mother reverse-age back into the Maiden. It also starts to have a bit more throw at this point, though it never really amps up. But I really, really like it.

[feyofthefellwood]

This is probably the sweetest, most sugary rose scent I've tried so far. The honey reminds me of the honey musk note in Lady Una at first, with the rose being faint. As it dries, the rose---which is soft instead of bold---peeks out and the sugar crystallizes over the honey. It's like rose and honey cotton candy. It's probably too sweet overall for my tastes, but I'm glad I got to sample my sister's bottle. 

[Thuy]

I love honey and don't mind rose, so I had to try this. This starts out like powdery rose perfume on me, which makes me a little sad...but like an hour in the honey and sugar start peeking through. Now it's like a lovely rose honey cotton candy. It's low on throw but that's fine - I'm wearing this absolutely for myself all day and straight to bed. This honey note is muskier than I was expecting, which is fine. Overall sweet but not too sweet with soft roses.

[LavenderCoffee]

Freshly applied, this is very similar to Alisz without the mint. As it dries, the rose becomes a bit more prominent, but it's still a gorgeously soft pillow of rose cotton candy.