Blackberry and Bay starts as a green, brambly berry on my skin. It is immediately reminiscent of L’Ombre dans L’Eau, but far less green, sharp and assertive. The bay surprisingly is a sweetened not overly “masculine” sort, and adds wonderful peppery, spicy, citrus herbal green elements. The whole composition feels light and “transparent” but the bay adds interesting complexity without being overwrought. The berry becomes fruitier, but is a tart, juicy, mouth watering berry—similar in feel to the berry note in Amethyst, only lacking the muskiness (?) of currants. An aromatic, perfumey element perhaps from the bay weaves pleasantly through the notes. It is thoroughly enjoyable, but after a time, I sense something that is reminiscent of room freshener, but in a good way though. Then it grows a little synthetic— I find this note somewhat disagreeable and initially think it might knock B & B off of my” like list.” (After reading some of the other reviews, I realized that this is the same note that ruins Pamplelune on my skin!!! Must be some kind of grapefruit related note?) Happily, the synthetic note does not intensify or linger long, and there is something surprisingly vanillic— it is a bit sweet like a tiny hint of the vanilla musk in Trish McAvoy No. 9 Blackberry and Vanilla Musk, but less sugary. A resinous note, like cedar or perhaps pine—keeps it from being too predictably sweet or gourmand with the berry and vanilla. The synthetic note goes away finally and overall the scent is still tart and yummy. Although there is some musk, it is nice that this is a take on blackberry without too much musk. It strikes me as more herbal, not very floral either. I appreciate the difference from the other blackberry fragrances I have tried. The heart stays centered on the clean, green tart berry but tempered with some herbal notes and light musk. There is still a citrus element, but it reminds me of the lemony scent of bay or myrtle, not a true citrus. The drydown seems really based in the woody, vetiver note and it smells lovely, and I could easily imagine the scent on my bf.
It was very light on my skin and although I enjoyed it a good deal, I think I would have to bathe in it! The cream
Mikeperez23--- mentioned sounds great, and if I have a chance to layer them at a store, I will certainly see if that helps the longevity!
I read the reviews closely after sniffing, and was surprised that the grapefruit was so muted on my skin! The objectionable “synthetic” note was probably the only noticeable grapefruit element I got. Pamplelune is not grapefruity on my skin at all either; it is rather disgusting actually and I only keep my decant as a reference. I think B &B must contain a similar type of grapefruit note, but thankfully the gross note was very light on my skin. Otherwise, I somehow just associated the citrus I sensed with the lemony elements of bay leaf! I really enjoyed reading everyone’s differing impressions on this scent! I particularly loved how a relatively “simple” scent can still evoke such varied opinions. (I know, it’s a newbie observation, but one that never ceases to amaze me!)
Oh, and the USPS finally got it right and delivered the other sample to
Calilove! Tracking suddenly showed it as delivered, and he confirmed that it arrived safely. Yay!!!! I suspect he will chime in here sometime soon.
***Thank you again ***
30 Roses for so generously sharing and facilitating this lovely sniffing experience! And thank you to the generous and understanding SA,
Lyndsay, if she gets a chance to read this.
