Marquise de Merteuil

[Extispex]

Stately, bold, aristocratic and cruel. Opulent galbanum and amber, glistening peach, and a bouquet of French florals, with a merciless undertone of jonquil and heartless vetiver.

Now last night, when I first tried this one, I couldn't smell it. At all. Not in the imp, not on my skin. I got nothing.

Thankfully my olfactory senses seem to have returned to me today. In the imp, I get mostly peaches. Which I like a lot - so far so good.

Wet... good gods this is good! Peach still dominates, but its a twisted evil peach, slighty spicy with a hint of smoky vetiver grunge. Oh yeah, now this is the stuff.

It gets a bit lighter and prettier as it dries. I never get a sense of 'floral' to this, thankfully. The vetiver menaces peach from a darkened corner, and peach faints into the arms of amber and resin.

A bottle, please.

(edited for pre-coffee stupidity) Edited July 16, 2007 by Shollin

[LadyBug]

I mostly smell the amber...which I'm not a big fan of. I am still searching for the peach...I know I will be able to find it but I'm kinda bummed that the peach wasn't more obvious. This has a deep scent because of the amber...but still light because (I think) of the peach.

 

Not for me unfortunately.

[DifferentDances]

Imp: Peach and what I think is labdanum.

Wet: Peach and soap, fading fast.

 

There really wasn't much of a drydown. It just vanished, smelling vaguely like some sort of detergent of handsoap. Not for me.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Peachy, florals and something almost dirty

 

On Skin: I can't describe it other than dirty florals

 

On Drydown: Slightly powdery, dirty florals.

[KassiK]

drydown: This is way to peach-syrupy and floral for me. ::off to the swap list::

[madeleine]

This is a brilliant scent. And I do mean that rather literally - smelling it on my skin brought to mind hard glass flowers throwing back light. Really love the peach here, the two BPAL peach scents I've tried have really surprised me. As I perceive it, peach ought to be a very heavy scent, but as with Fae the peach here is crystalline and glittering. It's still very floral - hence the flower images. But it's different from the other florals I've tried on. Rather than being heady and snaky, Marquise de Merteuil is sophisticated and elegant. I like it a lot, and when I finally get around to ordering bottles it's definitely going on the list.

[Gwydion]

This one is weird. The jonquils and other florals try so hard to battle the vetiver. They really do. It is vaguely powdery, vaguely Dia de les Muertos, with the nasty vetiver scent underneath, like a base of corruption. It is a little like finding a rose full of Japanese beetles. If you like florals and vetiver though? It's actually okay. In fact, it's one of the least objectionable vetiver scents i've come across.

[mspixieears]

Deeply floral except for the hint of vetiver (!) which is evident straight out of the vial. I love how strong and potent this one is. This is due to the French florals though I do detect some amber – surprisingly it doesn’t dominate this fragrance as all amber blends tend to on my skin. Was very nice at beginning but an hour later is too perfumey for my tastes.

[TereFaerie]

Plastic peaches. *sigh* But at least the amber stayed nice, not urinal cake, while it lasted.

[tziporra]

Marquise de Merteuil smells very nice and floral-y in the imp. Once on my skin I get lots of jasmine before the scent dries down to a nice soft floral warmed by amber. Alas, I never get any peaches or heartless corruption or anything strong at all except that moment of jasmine at the beginning.

 

On me, this scent reminds me of a "couture", sophisticated perfume wet -- I wished it stayed that way dry!

 

Not for me.

 

Best,

 

Tzi

[Suu4LC]

Oof. I was excited to read peach in the description of this because I love peach. I forgot that I hate vetiver. It's hard for me to describe exactly how it smelled in the imp, but for me it was terrible. Kind of like a rotting peach covered in rotting flowers congealed in sour alcohol. Despite my better judgement, I am going to try this on my skin incase it somehow magically morphs into sweet peach schnapps or a sophisticated floral like I am hoping it will...

 

Ok.

 

It isn't as bad on my skin. To my nose it is a very VERY strong floral perfume with a slight peach undertone. The peach gets stronger as it dries.

 

While I think this smells a million times better on my skin than on the imp, this is not for me at all. Far too old lady perfumey, far too strong and floral, blech vetiver, to swaps pile you go little imp!

Edited January 31, 2008 by Suu4LC

[gchris]

In Vial:nice soft fruity blend. i smell the peach

 

Wet: notes are clearer now, more distinct. I smell the amber, peach, the florals are soft. The vertiver is nice in this, not too strong.

 

Drydown: The amber is in the background as a base for the florals. They blend beautifully. I still smell the peach but it is not strong. This is a nice warm fruit floral..

[Christine Daae]

In the imp, this is fruity and dark, something dirty underneath the peach.

 

On my skin, the peach first comes to the forefront (as fruits, or anything else sweet, are wont to do with my chemistry), and then backs off a tiny bit to let the other notes come forward. This reminds me of Versailles, a little, or Belle Epoque. These scents don't smell anything alike, but all give off a gilded (and French?) air, to me.

 

Eventually the peach burns off (yay!) and I'm left with something glowing and gilded, and yet dirty at the same time. This is not powdery like a lot of ambers, and the florals are regal and yet understated. Having to wait through the peachy peach phase is a point against it, because once the peach does burn off it's very golden and luxurious-smelling. This really brings across the character, the idea of the scent - and for that, I don't know if it's very "me." Very elegant, though.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Bottle

It's a soft peach reminiscent of body lotions, and it's quite innocent for a perfume named after such an... interesting character. There's honeysuckle in there, too, and it seems a little bitter.

 

On Me

Oh, whoa, no it's not girly and innocent: this is a woman's perfume. It morphs something chronic and instead of being a dainty, polite peach, this becomes something else entirely on me. The amber makes itself known, as do the florals, and it's not really that sweet anymore, either-- it is, however, extremely classy and makes me think of high-end perfumes, only this stuff smells real. Plus there's a sexy, soft note which I can't place but which reminds me of Follow Me Boy.

 

After awhile, the peach has all but faded into the background, and I just have this golden amber with a bunch of heady florals (I suspect some kind of lily is in here and camelia?) and it's just lovely, and it suits the concept SO DAMNED WELL.

 

This is the perfume I'd wear to a job interview, if I was plotting a humiliating public revenge scheme on an ex who deserved it, or if I was getting up to any other sort of mischief where I wanted to project that I had nerves of steel and needed a confidence boost.

 

Love this stuff. I didn't review it when I first tried it, but since then, I've bought myself a bottle, and yesss... it's amazing.

[Czarina]

I can't smell the peach in this at all.

 

I can smell the galbanum (makes this smell like a commercial French perfume, notably Bal a Versailles), the florals, maybe the jonquil a little bit. The touch of vetiver gives this stuff some backbone.

 

I like this one a lot, though I don't think I need a bottle of it. It's more subtle than many of the Gothic-themed scents.

[savage_rose]

Peach floral cologne tempered by something hard. It's lovely and sweet without being too sweet...I think it's the vetiver. Sometimes vetiver goes on an ego trip and takes over the blend, but it's perfectly in harmony here.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Amber, ripe fruit, green and white flowers. Sweet, a little green, but resiny and warm. It smells like expensive perfume that women who like deeper scents wear.

 

Wet: Greener, sharper; also a little earthy and smoky - vetiver! The amber is very warm and golden, and there is another warm resiny scent. The fruit is lighter; yellow peach. A lily-like white floral is rapidly amping.

 

Dry: There's a hint of soapy greenness and very faint jonquil, but otherwise the fresh and floral notes have vanished in minutes. Some heavy spice has emerged, spicy cinnamon - mingling with the now sweetly stronger peach, it reminds me of Jack. The amber has gone powdery, as usual, but only lightly so. The vetiver has softened, and I actually like it here, it's sexy and earthy and grounds the blend.

 

Summary: Syrupy sweet peach and hot spicy cinnamon, with softer hints of lily-fresh jonquil, powdery warm amber, and earthy vetiver. Similar to both Jack and Katharina. Good throw and lasting power.

 

This is not a blend for me.

[gecko]

In the vial this smells like rotting peaches. Maybe that's the vetiver?

 

On my skin I smell no peaches at all. Where did they go? Wet I smell the galbanum, and then the florals come to the front on the drydown.

 

Now it smells like old lady perfume. It was kind of the Lab to give me this freebie but it doesn't love me at all.

[voodoocatwoman]

No peach for me. One year.

 

And I would LOVE a peach scent. But instead, I pick up my beloved amber and something that makes my nose crinkle just a bit-- vetiver? I don't know anything about gal-whatever, so I can't say if I pick it out or not. I get something that reminds me of something alcoholic too.

 

Not a bad scent at all, just one I can't describe.

[alicia_stardust]

This is a strong, stately floral blend with resins and a seething vein of vetiver underneath. It fits the Marquise so well and it's a blend that is very commanding and mature.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Peach and amber.

 

On Application

Awful toilet cleaner

 

Dry Down

The jonquil in this muddies the water of this scent. A complete miss for me.

 

Rating (0-5)

0

[Iceblink]

I get lots of vetiver from this one while wet but it nearly disappears as it dries (disappearing vetiver has GOT to be a first for me!). A sweet ambery peach is left. I'm worried the florals are going to turn up late in the game and turn this to powder but it's very pleasant at the peachy stage. More refined that most peach blends are.

[milo]

Not looking at the notes, I realized right away that this scent wasn't for me. Florals were too strong, and for those of you who like this, the throw is great and lasts a very long time. I am also definitely not a peach person. Not for me.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Slightly plastic-y sweet resin.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a very resinous, rubbery scent with hints of peach and light, sweet florals. I also get light hints of warm amber.

 

After a little while: The rubbery scent dissipated and now this is a very sweet, peachy scent with warm amber and bright florals. The vetiver isn’t strong but it is in the background, corrupting the scent a little.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a nice peach scent that isn’t too sweet, but has a nice balance to it. There’s the amber and floral notes lingering here, as well as the vetiver darkening the scent from the background. It’s fruity, but not too tart, and has a nice golden feel to it. This isn’t for me though, unfortunately.

[Juushika]

This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

On me: A difficult scent to describe. The bulk of it is a pleasant and almost creamy scent—perhaps the combination of amber and peach—but it's surprisingly nondescript. At it's edges, the scent is somewhat unusual, a bit masculine, perhaps a little darker and sharper, but again it's hard to pin down.

 

Verdict: The scent isn't unpleasant, but it's a bit nondescript, a little too much of a bland men's cologne. This isn't one that I would have picked for myself, so I'm not particularly disappointed, but I'll probably pass it along.