BPAL: Two, Five and Seven

[rushthatspeaks]

Two, Five and Seven (from the Mad Tea Party collection)

Lab Description: ‘Would you tell me,’ said Alice, a little timidly, ‘why you are painting those roses?’

Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began in a low voice, ‘Why the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a red rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake; and if the Queen was to find it out, we should all have our heads cut off, you know. So you see, Miss, we’re doing our best, afore she comes, to—’

A huge bouquet of squished rose petals: Bulgarian rose, Somalian rose, Turkish rose, Damascus rose, red and white rose, tea rose, wine rose, shrub roses, rose, rose, rose…

…and just an itty bitty bit of green grass.

Vial: I'd been looking forward to this one for a while, because rose is one of my favorite scents. In fact, roses are my favorite flower. I love everything about them, the variations, the shape, the incredible softness of the petals, the flavor of rosewater. My favorite tea of all time (now sadly unavailable) was black milk tea with rose essence. I've told Ruth quite strictly that she must not allow me to plant roses until we are living in a place we know we will stay, because I would be incapable of leaving roses I had raised myself. However, this is my first rose perfume, since good rose perfumes tend to be quite expensive in stores, and I've been rather afraid that my body chemistry might react badly to it, which would be a tragedy. So I actually held off on trying this for quite some time, despite the fact that the first thing I said when we started planning our BPAL orders was 'I need some roses'.

In the vial, this is not encouraging: I got a very strong blast of fresh-cut grass over-- and I am very confused by this-- vinegar. *Bad* vinegar, the kind that isn't cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar or wine vinegar but just comes in gigantic cheap plastic jugs labeled vinegar and that works far better as a baking soda volcano than as a condiment. Scary. I slathered anyway and hoped for the best.

Wet: This literally went mad when it touched my skin. I've never experienced anything like it. I couldn't figure out *what* I was smelling or whether I was enjoying it because it was shifting too quickly. There was definitely grass in there. There was something very sharp under that. That's all I can tell you. I think my sense of smell may have actively shut off for a few minutes in total confusion.

Drydown: As I started to be able to sort out scents again, I noticed that there was a faint tinge of rose starting up, as though somebody had some very fragrant blooms in the next room. The scent kept getting stronger, and it became obvious that it was, in fact, many kinds of roses, but it remained at a distance for a while, only slowly moving closer to me. I found this very odd, as I literally had to lean out as far away from my own body as I could get to smell the roses. It was as though a totally unrelated cloud of rose scent happened to be drifting into the room on some air current and settling on me. I mean this absolutely literally. I went into the other room, and then it smelled as though it were coming from the first one. I don't know what to make of this effect. I also had it with O, and I haven't the foggiest idea how this could possibly be working. Has anyone had anything like this happen with their perfumes? It's honestly a little unnerving.

When the scent finished settling, almost as though it were clicking into place-- I could suddenly tell it was coming from my wrists-- it was magnificent. Three hours later, it still is. It is the precise scent of walking through a very large rose garden on a sunny, lazy day, when everything's in bloom and the air is practically tangible and laden with taste. The grass is a subtle note, as promised, and the roses twine around one another, as though one were pausing by one bed, moving on, pausing by another. I can't believe how good I smell. It's exactly what I was hoping for.

However, I don't know if I'm going to go for a bottle of this, because the wet phase was screamingly disconcerting and I don't know how often I can stand to go through it. I will order some different scents with rose components in the next order and see how quickly I use up the imp of this one. The description is certainly apropos-- the roses were painted on the air as I stood there waiting.

This means that the Mad Tea Party has now produced two of the things I love best in final result: White Rabbit (which I need to review) and Two, Five and Seven, as well as the thing that has been absolutely the worst on me, The Red Queen. Maybe I should order more from that collection.

Shiny happy Bryn Mawr-ish icon made by rabidfangurl, who is a total goddess of icons. Used here because roses.

Comments

[fiddledragon.livejournal.com]

Ooooo, I need to try that!

[gwynnega]

I adore White Rabbit, and Two, Five and Seven is lovely as well. I also like Alice a lot...

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

It is the precise scent of walking through a very large rose garden on a sunny, lazy day, when everything's in bloom and the air is practically tangible and laden with taste.

Oh, I'm jealous. (Well, except for the wet phase thing, which sounds rather distressing.) Rose is one of my favorite scents -- I grow about 80 roses in my garden - but every imp I've tried with any rose in it has turned instantly to powder on my skin. Maybe I'll try this one anyway next time I order.

[orawnzva.livejournal.com]

If you like rosewater, you may be interested to know that a 4:1 mix of white grape juice and rosewater has a lovely flavor which bears an uncanny but not untoward resemblance to that of lychee syrup.

[sovay]

If I could verify that BPAL were in fact the one kind of perfume on the planet to which I do not have violent allergic reactions, I could see myself losing so much money this way . . .

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I bought the limited edition Rose Red before Xmas, and it is AMAZING, like fresh roses. I will try and remember to bring it to WisCon or something so you can try it.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Pride is also a nice rose one, though it has a touch of cinnamon, which might or might not agree with you.

[cosmorific.livejournal.com]

Is the icon gankable?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I think I sent you an imp of Rose Red - if I did, and if you like it, there's someone selling a bottle of it on alchemylab at the moment here.