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cranesnow – :
I just sold my Meteorites edt and happened upon this formulation of April Violets recently (am a bit of a lover of violet soliflores and violet perfumes in general).
This is very similar to Meteorites. in composition, in longevity, powderiness and that lily of the valley note. the similarity is striking to my nose.
not sure which is easiest to find though! but the Yardley is far far less expensive when you do and will make an excellent alternative.
avchernova1 – :
I am 65 years old and this was my first real, personal fragrance,back in Jr High. If course, it was the ORIGINAL April Violets from Yardley, in an EDT splash. Violet is a soothing,calming, comforting warm and powdery scent, extremely feminine but too humble and innocent to be very sexy. It has a Victorian quality, shy and ladylike and very well behaved.I have worn Perfumer’s Workshop’s,Bath and Body Works, Penhaligon’s Violetta and the classic Violetta Di Parma, but this one will always be my first, and most personal, Violet perfume!
SAWRASSER – :
There are rumors that also vivian leight wore this in gone with the wind. She smelled like violets during the filming and this was the only violet perfum around. It created 1912 or so….
sseerryyaa – :
For anyone who might think that a cheap perfume smells cheap, April Violets (the pre2015 version) smells rich and indulgent and fabulous. The bottle is also beautiful. I haven’t tried the newer version yet, but will, because I love this so much.
oleg210783 – :
I don’t usually like Violet in my fragrance, but I had a sample of this.
What a great scent, violet with something else to make it more modern. Don’t know if it is the pelargonium or musk/vanilla but it’s great.
My female boss told me she liked the smell as well.
I feel this really wraps around me, know that sounds strange.
So affordable that you can also buy other items in the range. Hand cream is lovely on a summer day.
I bet if this were Prada it would cost the earth.
Well done Yardley.
demaTeams78 – :
If you want violets you got violets, the only down side to this is that it lacks the powdery sweetness of true violets. I couldn’t finish the bottle for this reason.
bugsy88 – :
I love Balenciaga Paris! It’s one of my favourite fragrances, so when I saw Yardly April violets in the chemist today at Jackson court, I had a good spray and I really like this. Very very similar to my balenciaga but a fraction of the price. So great for work and daytime, I’ll save my miss B for special.
Deroxadhhy – :
This was on my wish list for the holidays and Santa came through. The thing I loved about it is that one spray of Yardley April Violets made me realize how ‘violety’ the more sophisticated Balenciaga Paris really is! They are very similar to my nose!
Yardley April Violets is softer and linear –
powdery violets with a touch of green. My Balenciaga Paris has more depth and glamour and a hint of something more modern.
Yardley April Violets lasts about 5 to 6 hours on my skin and the violets stay to tea whole time. The price was great. It makes me want to purchase their good old English Lavender and English Rose again. Both are affectionately remembered fragrances from junior high school days.
So far the Yardley scents have never disappointed me whenever I’ve looked for something lovely and simple! After wearing complex scents for awhile, it’s soothing to kick back and spray something gentle and relaxing like April Violets. Wearing it is like walking a warm sandy beach barefoot after a tough day in tight high heels.
alex-2000 – :
Very lovely violet scent ,grape, with a sweet twist. Reminds me of BBW limited edition Violet Bouquet in 2007 or so.. I can only find the scented powder in US. Wish Yardley was easier to find.
Sweet like grape candy.yum
petrov 009 – :
There was one day, last summer, that I couldn’t believe how beautifully my cardigan smelled. I couldn’t tell what it was. It kept coming to me, again and again, and, then I said, wait, you know this smell.. It is the white powdery Yardley soap bar, you once thought was too heavy to use. Well for some reason, it spent some time in my suitcase and then … just beauty on my clothes. I have never had the chance to try the actual perfume but the soap is quite possibly one of the best products out there to refine and give a bit of character on your clothes. Exquisite. Beautiful.
jinn77 – :
April Violets is one of the new reformulations that to me, is not bad. Not bad at all. It is very light in my opinion. It is not sweet or cloying. The violet blend is lovely. Nice bottle, and great value as always. Yardley, love Yardley everything. Christmas would not have been Christmas without Yardley Gift sets. There were some amazing scents.
wyth – :
Oh it so good .just make me feel calmer and safe.feels home :).
Witsin – :
So I woke up the other day and was like “You know what’s missing in my frag collection? A good basic “cheapie” violet.”
For some reason the first thing I looked up Elizabeth Taylors Violet Eyes which – duh- contains no violet.
I stumbled upon this here listing …. Yardley April Violets.
Well Yardley…….memories…1969…Twiggy…London….mod clothes & go-go boots….psychedelic body paint…..Glimmericks eye shadow……fuzzy guitars….. etc.
I love the whole scene !
This word association lead to my BLIND BUY for Mon. Nov. 21 2015.
PRICE: around $20.00 for a BIG 4 oz!
FIRST BLAST: a little too much alcohol at first but then a waft of straight up violet.
DRY DOWN: somewhat powdery and dusty. Which I liked because it takes a bit of the prettiness off of it and renders this almost unisex (which is what I was looking for).
LONGEVITY: Fair/poor . Sometimes these “cheapies” do better on clothing or bedding / linen–so I have this nice little gem to try out in any event. For a big $20.00 bottle; I aint complaining. This is making me want to try more Yardley fumes for sure!
SUMMERY: Classic yet economical dusty Violet smell akin to Choward’s Violet Gum !
Nothing more; nothing less.
MY HIGHEST RATING:
WBA: would buy again
WBABUB: would buy a back up bottle
and
PNDT: Please NEVER discontinue this !
lexa33.5 – :
I’ve submitted my favourable review of the new formulation which came out this year (2015)already. This review is for the pre 2015 formulation. It is (was) almost harshly violet, and after the initial violet had gone, the scent that remained did have a synthetic smell in my opinion. So I had a love hate relationship with it, loved the initial power of the violets, didn’t love the drydown much. The new formulation is so much better.
bossmer – :
A nice scent, but longevity is terrible, so much so that I use it just as a body spray.
9876512345 – :
It’s lovely, I got this and Borsari’s Violeta di Parma and I think April violet is better, it’s more like a real violet flower and is sweeter. Violeta di Parma has cedar and I think it spoil it.
Диман7777 – :
This one is serene, kind of sharp and clear, with a sober aftersmell. Not sweet, but more related to a clean, greener lavender. Makes you feel focused and serious. Lasting power is medium, bottle is big and has lasted me some years. 4 maybe?
msv753intitytek – :
My signature fragrance! Absolutely lovely scent, romantic and sweet! Reminded me of a sort of “mints” or breath fresheners that i loved as a child. Quite good sillage too, must say this is a very priceworthy perfume and i warmly recommend it!
андрей123456789 – :
If you’ve missed Lush’s tucca tucca (now discontinued), this might be a substitute, but Yardley’s is more powdery on the dry down than Lush’s tucca tucca – which had the sweetness of the tonka (a different sweetness to the vanilla that yardley does).
Like everyone says, on first spray, you get violets- sharp and green. After that rolls off, you can smell the jasmine and ylang ylang before it dries down to powder and vanilla.
This perfume is more for a Sunday evening, I think, after you’ve bathed, and it’s too early for bed, but too late to go out. Or even something that you spritz on tissue paper before you wrap your garments in it. It’s more a scent for a bath soap than a perfume, now that I’m thinking about it.
LJalmeskK – :
I was looking for a violet fragrance which reminded me of Swizzels Parma Violets sweeties, which we used to eat as breath fresheners as children. I lived not far from where they are made. I found it with Yardley, although I don’t detect any hint of vanilla at all and find it fresh and almost green.
I bought it in April and am still spraying liberally in July. I use it on my hair and nape of neck and find a delicate aroma meets me on my pillow. I find it’s lasting enough but not at all sickly or over powering, so perfect for warm summer days.
What began as a trip down Memory Lane, has turned into a firm favourite and it’s so affordable, I think I’ll allow it to take the place of Paris which is infinitely more expensive and only takes me as far back as the 80’s.
So if you’re looking for violets, I recommend this as an inexpensive experiment 🙂
efs038InsuffBooni – :
With the encouragement of a friend and based on these reviews I blind bought a 125ml bottle of Yardley April Violets recently and am happy to say this is mostly all violets on me. I get the initial green blast which doesn’t last long and it goes straight into lovely, sweet, familiar violets. I say familiar because I kept sniffing myself thinking I know this scent, I’ve smelled it before … and then realised I was being transported back to the early 90’s when I used to wear YSL Paris. The violets to me are exactly the same. April Violets doesn’t last very long on my skin, the violet fades fairly quickly but lasts forever on my clothes. I guess I’ll be spraying it all over me and not just my wrists and neck. The base notes on me are light musk and pelargonium, I don’t smell any vanilla whatsoever. I would love to try the original purple juice, however the reformulation is still a beautiful scent, cheap and cheerful for sure, but fast becoming a very firm favourite.
EDIT: I take back my earlier statement that the violets do not last long on my skin. It has been 12 hours and I am still getting wafts of light violet. I could smell it all night in my waking moments between sleep. Magical.
vgv1111 – :
received my bottle today.it’s a lovely bunch of violets. truely violet perfume. very gentle,.. polite?)) just giving a slight hint of its presence, not imposing at all…maybe even i’d like it to be stronger but it’s not. the smell of violets is so realistic! the scent is not sophisticated at all. i cannot smell here any other notes, but in this case i’m fine with this.
i would call this edt a violet-scented water. expected it to be more powdery (which IS in the drydown)… at the beginning it’s a little bit oily violet, then turns into a live flower…
both the sillage and longevity are very poor on me. thus, for me it’ll be the one to wear when i want to forget that i’m wearing any perfume and let it from time to time modestly whisper, reminding me that it’s still there…
InfernalBoy – :
I catch all sorts of types of violets in this fragrance—powdery violets, violet candies, rainy violets… I love it!
Satslayethy – :
Spring was the last time I wore April Violets until today, in the deep, frozen Ontario mid-winter. When I wore it to bed in late May, my fiance said, “what is that sweet smell? It’s too sweet!” This morning, he sniffed my skin and said, “smells like candy.” I paused. “Does it smell like flowers at all?” I asked. “Smells like candy,” he said, shaking his head.
Violet is such a precious flower and scent to me…
I think that the talcum powder (not widely available anymore, to my knowledge) still packs that purple punch. Like all Yardley talcs, it is fine quality, silken and very fragrant. I have the teensiest bit of purple juice I paid a lot for on ebay, and I have a full container of six-year-old talc I purchased from a seller in England – and they smell exactly the same. So do look for the talc, if it’s the vintage you’re after. I find that I have hardly touched my juice – the talc does the trick! In spring, I love it combined with Borsari Violetta di Parma, which I find to be slightly more green than April Violets. The talc also compliments Apres L’Ondee, Chloe Love, Annick Goutal’s Eau du Ciel, Chanel 19 de Poudre, and even L’Heure Bleue if you’re feeling like you want to be adventurous and take a real trip back in time…
ndg296Negeltzex – :
I have half a bottle of the purple vintage perfume left, which I am hoarding jealously, as I am not impressed at all by the reformulation.
Pure, sweet violets. What could be better for Springtime?
wolentine – :
I rediscovered this during this xmas time : it is one of the best violet soliflore, yes sweet but in that soft powdery way and on me it lasts long on the skin and i agree with other reviewers that guerlain might have been inspired by yardley’s violet to create their beloved meteorites cosmetics :-). As a side note for question on layering : although you can wear it oerfectly as a soliflore, it layers very well. I tried it wit Cornubia Penhaligon and combination was amazing : it transformed Cornubia into a velvet & warm beauty.
Soios – :
I found this on special at Chemist Warehouse: $10 for 50ml and an aerosol body spray. Thought I’d gamble on a blind buy.
I’d read conflicting reviews – some said it was quite green, while others said it was quite sweet and candyish. I was hoping for more of a green, fresh scent, given that Yardley’s Iris errs on the green side. Instead, on me April Violets is sweet… but in the way that real violets smell sweet. It’s still quite light and reminiscent of spring, rather than cloyingly fruity or gourmandish. I think it might make an excellent comfort perfume rather than a ‘going out’ perfume.
As it progresses I get a tiny whiff of iris in the heart, but no pelargonium. I think I might experiment with layering it – does anyone have any recommendations for what might go well with this?
Since I am not 14 and in PE class, I am not really interested in spraying the body spray on myself, but I did spray it in the air in my bedroom and study as a room freshener, and it has a very clean, fresh and feminine scent that’s more sophisticated than your average air freshener.
EDIT: Today I have layered it with Yardley Iris. All I smell is Iris when I sniff my wrists, but occasionally I get little wafts of violet.
Гордон1991 – :
Smells exactly like the smal violetcandy I had as a child so brings back good memories.
Strong in the beginning but softens down quickly and gives away smal wifs of musk.
It is also a bit powdery that gets stronger after drydown.
Even if it is a sweet little perfume, nowadays I crave more complex perfumes.
wemawerwreee – :
I haven’t yet tried this, so i was wodering how this compares to Tuca Tuca by Gorilla Perfumes at LUSH? As it’s currently one of my top fragrances. Any suggestions welcome! 🙂
Update;
I received a bottle of this (along with 6 other bottles of perfume) for Christmas and i must say, it’s lovely but doesn’t stick about long, but for the price of it (i told the other half what id like!) i don’t mind spraying it liberally 🙂
walvoka – :
I wore this when I was in my 20’s. I mostly loved it except for one thing – there was an undertone of something like a bad soap smell but I still wore it because the violet was amazing. I do recall wearing it once on a warm day and one of my workmates saying “Eww, yuck…somebody’s wearing a really cheap perfume!”. I’ve since discovered some better violet based fragrances.
400kg – :
Holy violets!!! Very strong. The soap scent took over my linen closet…had to discard!
JUNKIE JXL – :
Got the powder version of this at TJMaxx.
Truthfully, I do like this, but far from loving it.
It’s a little too sweet for me making me smell like one of those violet candies, mellowing out into a sweet vanilla milkshake.
Sort of a blind buy…… grabbing anything with singular violet since it’s hard to come by.
I was hoping it would be more green and musky like the Devon Violets, in which I believe has disappeared from the planet, forever.
*sniff*
JohnBenGood – :
Well if you want to smell like a walking Palma violet this one’s for you. Personally, I like smelling of and old fashioned sweetie, but whatever works for you, right?
Ducke – :
OMG I was in TK Maxx today and held a pack of soap bars in my hand from this range. Don’t really need soap so I didn’t buy but I knew I had to get this scent in some other way or form. So delicious sweet violet, I hope the EDT and cream are just as nice as those soap bars !!
Update: I have meanwhile tried EDT, handcream, deodorant and powder. The EDT and cream come across a bit waxy on me, but the deodorant has a cooler, slightly bitter (violet leaf) vibe and – the talc powder is just perfect.
ramzes78 – :
One of my favourite violet scents i have smelt including those from the high end brands. Yardleys is just how i like a violet fragrance to be:
candied soft powdery delight! No fruitiness or green. Similar to the tal version which is very pretty.
Just bought my second bottle today :o)
katerina – :
I just got a bottle of this in the purple liquid. This a very nice woody violet that turns into a nice soft violet powdery cloud. This reminds me very much of very refined victorian ladies drinking tea from their elegant fine china wearing lavish gorgeous victorian gowns. It was such a beautiful era where everything was of the finest quality. A very lovely old-fashioned quite fragrance…almost makes me think this is where Guerlain got their inspiration for the meteorites makeup.
This is the perfume I like to wear after a hot bath, I put my satin pajamas on, and cuddle up with a good historical romance;)
A romantic purple potion!
cessioste – :
I knew I smelled it somewhere else. This powdery scent…Guerlain Les Voilettes face powder. That’s what it’s drydown smells like! E-x-a-c-t-l-y. Took me whole day of smelling my wrist to get that.
Unlike other Yardley perfumes, this one has two faces. First one is very sharp and oldfashion. Bit too strong. But it only shows it for about 30 minutes. Second one whispers in a soft cosy powdery “voice” and stays there for a long time. More sophisticated and modest.
kvvpereslavl – :
This one is a spring favorite; it’s just like eating a pack of Choward’s violet mints, but smelling it instead. It does dry down to a more believable violet fragrance, but the candy-sweetness remains.
crv411intitytek – :
starts off as a baby powder violet scent, mainly baby powder.which i personally dislike then as it settles it becomes what you expect it to be or at least what i expected it to be and that is PARMA VIOLETS 🙂 yay!
smells exactly like the sweets
wml589Negeltzex – :
Hi! This is about Yardley April Violets, but has a connection to Penhaligon’s Violetta, as you will see- both very real earthy violets.This is the most believable, beautiful violet ever!! Ive been looking for a wonderful violet scent for soooo long! There are many others of course, that are fantastic, but this one is so earthy, so fresh- you can actually see, and smell, in your mind’s eye the fragrant violets, blowing in the breeze.
I have a confession about this, too. After getting a sample from The Perfumed Court, I tried and tried, in vain to re-create it myself, by classic notes theory, since I couldn’t spend alot of money right now on a perfume. Someday soon I will,( am an out of work medical social worker) but for the momment, just wanted something as close as possible.It reminds me of my Mom, who absolutely loved violets, and was trying to find a perfect violet fragrance before she passed away in June 2010, of lupus. So, this has become my mission, you see.
Anywho, I was desperate so even tapped into a different venue, the duplicate oil industry, but alas, even they didn’t have any Penhaligon’s Violetta. But then I learned that one company, in particular, would actually duplicate any fragrance for free! as long as they could place it on their own website for all to use. That was fine by me- I want everyone to be able to enjoy this, not just me! I’m sure there’s someone else out there that can’t afford the pricetag on the original right now, but would love the scent, even if its a close copy, someone out there must know how I feel! Yes, I am a perfumista, and have all original perfumes, but sometimes a scent means so much more than just a fragrance- its full of your heart’s memories, and hopes, its inspiring and uplifting, and this perfume is all that to me. I was not too much of a snob to have a copy created by a lab full of chemists, that do this for a living!
Anywho! So, I sent them a copy, and after several weeks, and adjustments, THEY DID IT!!:) They actually recreated ( and are the only company in the US, if not in the world, that has duplicated a Penhaligon fragrance! I actually sent in a sample of Penhaligon’s Violetta, and Yardley April Violets, so anyone out there who wants to know, they made that one as well. They are putting it up on the website today, so in the spirit of sharing a scent with those who love above snobbery, and want something that is created by professionals, here’s the website…. also,Love you guys! Hope someone tells me they like this. Somewhere in Heaven my Mom’s giving a thumbs up I’m sure.:)
**PS- I would be remiss to not thank The Perfumed Court, a place online where they share little bits of heaven. If you want a sample of just about anything out there, old or new, they are IT! Love them too!, and their tasty coffee candies they mail with each perfume sample purchase:)
Look up Save on Scents.com
Ritisediangen – :
Love this!
jbc574Bessinepome – :
Now i know this is discontinued , i must go out and buy the cpl of bottles ive seen tucked away in a chemists shop ! I love this scent , really gutted it’s gone 🙁
I see someone mentioned Sea Jade , ive never smelt that one , but have noticed it causes a stir on Ebay
I adore Violet scents.
Bring it back Yardley , and PURPLE juice not the clear reformualtion!!!
55374755 – :
I find it kind of strong at the beginning. once it airs out 20 minutes later it smells like violets! Not sure which floral component counteracts with violet scent, but it could have been taken out.
pipistrelle – :
Love this, love this madly, and of course they stopped making it. I will take the sharp, wistful, springtime purple scent of a violet any day, over the cheap rotten fruit atrocities I find at every turn. I’ve treasured a big bottle of this until it finally ‘turned’ and got an odd melon smell, so I suppose now I’m in fashion, lol. It’s hard to find a violet scent, and now it’s harder. Is it true Violetta de Parma uses actual violets? Because I read all violet scent is sythetic, being that extracting scent from the plant is problematic.
amurx – :
Although I tend to find soliflores one dimensional, this is pleasant. I love violets, so I wouldn’t mind having something economical to spray generously! Why not?
(and mind you: it’s April now- 15/04/11)
Edit: to my nose, there is a “melon” top note, which I do not really like… the drydown is better, more violets and vanilla, but I will not repurchase.
s5519 – :
Ive just managed to get two bottles of this from a perfectly beautiful lady in London, after it was Dcd I was gutted, and was so pleased that Yardley decided to re promote it last September as part of their Winter Collection! I would add a word of warning though to those seeking it out – it appears to have been reformulated. The new notes are as follows ~
Top – violet leaf, lemon, Lime, geranium
Heart ~ Parma Violet, Jasmin, Iris, Ylang Ylang, Tuberose, Rose
Base ~ Vanilla, Powdery accords, Benzoin
The heart smells just like it used to, perhaps not as crisp or green, the subtraction of the LOTV was a loss IMHO, and the top notes are evidently different… I knew the second I sprayed it even before I looked for the new composition of notes that it had been altered – thats *why* I went looking…LOL! The citrus notes in the top are not at all attractive and this new composition (at least in the top notes) smells a *LOT* like Penhaligons Violetta, which I also have – in fact those first few minutes of opening are almost identical to PV. The top doesn’t last long thankfully and it settles into a beautiful violet accord much the same as the original – and thats the real deal here… the parma violet heart is really something to be admired. There is a slight Rose overture to the heart that enters fairly late that I wish fervently wasn’t there, it certainly wasn’t in the original formulation to my recollection. The base is totally unobtrusive… Im an oriental vanilla loving girl, and you wouldn’t know vanilla or the benzoin was in this.
I know this is trivial, but the juice is also not purple anymore…LOL… its clear now = I rather liked the look of the deep purple perfume sitting on my dresser 🙁
There are a lot of people I know who wouldn’t look twice at a low end Yardley fragrance, but this one is really special… its really got a lot more worth than its baby price tag. If you are a floral lover and like me you have a sweet spot for violets, then this is well worth looking at – even with the reformulation. I will admit that the original was far better, but I still love this, even with the new semblance to PV. Id say if you arent looking to drop the $ for Penhaligons, then this would be the perfect alternative! Ive had most of the commercially available violet frags on the market and while I still prefer Berdoues Violettes De Toulouse, as far as true violet fragrances go, and while I would no longer class this is a soliflore like its original, this still one happens to be one of the best.
bobr7772 – :
I get sharp, clear, penetrating, refreshing, cossetting, true, violent violet. I have not been without a bottle of this for 40 years (not the same bottle). I spray on my pillow or pj’s before bed. Borsari’s Violetta de Parma is great too, but softer, more powdery. Yardley’s April Violets is far superior to what its very modest price suggests.
opidlinouspic – :
this smells kind of old and funky from the bottle but once it makes contact with my skin…just heavenly! This is the violet scent I have been looking for! Pure, sweet, violets with hints of other notes but the main star of the show[as it should be] is the beautifully scented violet. Gorgeous! I am so happy to have gotten my hands on this rare Yardley fragrance.
BoombWobLof – :
I love AVs I wear it to bed everynight and I fell so clean and feminine it is sweet and powdery but refined too a true violet and one of the only ones I would think I can smell nothing but violet no other notes. I get so sick of rose this is a bit different it takes me back to 1900 an era I would have liked to live in, they used violets in perfume a lot then, sometimes I layer this with a franapanni perfume I have for fresh daytime summer use. AP is hard to get now and I found a big bottle in a small country town I was so pleased love it a true classic Grandma or not who cares.
buy klonopin – :
Have used April Violets for years. Really sorry to see it taken off shelves around the world. It is one of Yardley’s nicest and enduring perfumes.
витаминка123 – :
Surprisingly pleasant scent – very feminine, not too “old ladyish”, unlike many Yardley perfumes.
BerliozzOne – :
I can sense the vanilla note in this one, and it makes this fragrance more impressive than any other “violet scent” that i smelled until now 🙂 Its fresh, floral, cute… comfortable. Im really like the color of the liquid… and the sensation of a dewed violet near to me. Its also feminine and relaxing
For me, its very suitable to be in comfort reading a book… or to be in comfort with few friends at the house 🙂