Succubus, Ars Amatoria, discontinued: 7/1/09 Options

[roisnoir]

Bat-winged, flame-eyed, and possessed of an unearthly, perfect beauty: the Daughters of Lilith, the Succubi, invade the dreams of men and lie with them in rapturous, unholy sexual union. The scent of their skin is bittersweet, dusky and terminally seductive. Mimosa, orange blossom, neroli and bergamot with a drop of sweet clove.

In the bottle: I smell orange peels. Exotic ones. Yummy! Some darker note.

On: Much the same as in the bottle, though something - neroli or mimosa, I don't know either scent alone - is coming out in force. Very agressive scent.

Drying: I don't know how to describe this scent I'm getting. It's almost cloying, but at the same time, not too sweet. It makes my teeth ache. It smells like a cross between violet and clove.

Dry: It's mostly clove now. I like it at this stage, but don't care for the violet stage.

Verdict: I would love this on someone else, but it doesn't seem to quite work for me.

[autumn24]

Upon first application, one is assalted with bitterest orange-- like the hard scent of a peel dotted with clove. As it softens, it becomes richly neroli, with the orange blossom sweetening it all up until it is an intoxicating blend of bergamot and flower. I highly, highly recommend this scent purely based on its seductiveness. For LUSHies, it is almost reminiscent of a very very grown up-Karma perfume.

[antimony]

This one faded quickly on me, and that's not usually a problem for me.

Nothing about the scent stood out, it was somewhat floral, I could smell the orange blossom, but it was overall, a very pale, wilted scent. The clove didn't really come out at all. On my skin, it smelled only faintly of what it smelled like in the vial and within half an hour it was completely gone.

[minilux]

I've been having trouble coming up with a proper review for this one. I love it, but I honestly can't say that I recognize a single element of it. To me it smells wonderfully light, clean and airy. I guess I would have to say it's delicate & blossomy with a touch of almond (for me at least). I wish I had laundry detergent that smelled like this, because I find it very soothing and dreamy.

[Koumori]

This one was overpoweringly heavy on me, smelled largely floral but at the same time smoky, like incense burning in a shut-up room. Bitter orange and sweet flowers. Not a success for me in the sense that it wasn't something I really wanted to smell like, plus it made my sweetie sneeze. It did last all day, though.

[Cegirls]

Er, I thought for sure I smelled a violet... (The reason why I don't make many reviews! lol)

Anyway, this is light and wonderful, yet intriguing - innocent with an air of seduction underneath...

[sirensongsouth]

Wow, we are all over the spectrum here with this scent.

I am closer to Antimony's review. To me this was a soft floral with the orange blossom providing a greenish note/tinge to the scent. It was a watery green floral. Like being by a lily pond with an orange tree and some other floral stuff on its banks. Nice in a subtle innocent way. This stayed very close to my body and was quite light and innocuous on me. Nice, but I don't love it as I do some of the other new scents. This looks to be a try it first scent as other reviews differ dramatically.

[dreamwalkblue]

Elizabeth included this sample in my order...I thankfully did not smell any of the sweet clove on me, as I strongly dislike the scent of cloves. All I really *did* smell though, was orange blossom, sweetened slightly by the mimosa. It smelled almost exactly like a bar of orange blossom soap, still in it's paper wrapping. While I will enjoy my Imp, I don't think I'll be buying a larger bottle anytime soon.

[Belladonnastrap]

When I first smelt this all I could dtect was oranges with some headier...musky smell. Definitely something that made me stop and take notice...it wasn't a straight citrus scent. Afterwards the muskier scent became more noticable on me and I kept having visions of Lillth or Lloth (for our RPG friends) in my mind. Very musky and sweet but ultimately as this dried down it smelt a lot like 404 Orange Wipes...meaning disinfect smelling and hence not good for me.


Also for the Lush heads this smells a lot like Rainbow Worrier so if you love that give Succubus a chance. Apparently Citrus/Sandalwood doesn't work well for me which is sad but you live and you learn. Try this if you like your citrus with a bit of punch.

[blondelamb]

This smells so yummy. Oranges and something deeper. Kind of incensy. It is really nice. Kind of dark in an exotic kind of way. I love putting this on my fingers and running them through my hair. Makes my hair smell beautiful all day, and it makes me feel kind of mysterious and sexy. My hubby loves it as well (IMG:http://www.bpal.org/style_emoticons/default/icon_wink.gif)

[Shollin]

First sniff: I get the same blood-red, slithery sense from Succubus as I do from Deimos, and it’s darker and drier, without the blackness that makes Deimos so masculine. This is a scent you do not want to mess with. Glowing red eyes and a twisted, sinister grin. It seems to be more apropos of the Furies than of Succubus – there’s nothing sexual about it that I can smell, at least in the vial, it’s just dark dark dark (dusky is a fantastic word) and decidedly menacing. I’m a bit nervous about wearing this one – I’m afraid I’ll scare people.

Wearing: Still dark, but mysterious rather than menacing. Very warm, the visceral warmth of blood and body heat. When sniffed directly, it’s much lighter and the texture is almost powdery, and… *sigh* it reminded me of SweetTarts when it dried all the way. I much preferred the scariness.

[chin]

I was very excited to try this one after I read the list of components - imagined it to be a warm, orangey, spicy floral. However... it is very soapy on me, not in a good way.

[JazzieCazzie]

Chin, I am with you on the "soapy" aspect, which in the long run made it too strong for me to wear regularly. But I really liked the deeper notes of orange blossom, which were evocative of childhood memories ... I think the perfect use for this, for me, would be to find a way to use it as bath oil (any suggestions???).

[paperdoll]

Initial sniff: I agree that "dusky" really is the most appropriate adjective for this one. Dusky bitter orange in the bottle - definitely not something to mess around with.

Wearing: This quickly fades into a bitter, powdery smell on me that was quite unpleasant. Fortunately, it faded VERY quickly and an hour later I am left with nothing but a faint soapy smell.

Final thoughts: I really liked this in the bottle. Damn you, skin chemistry!!!

[Andra]

First Impression: Extremely sharp and soapy.

Second Impression: Wet and drying it's still very sharp green soapy smell. I smell none of the oranges much to my dismay. It's all neroli attacking my nostrils.

Final Analysis: Not as sharp on the dry down, but all I can smell is neroli. I'm disappointed. And for all that sharpness, this scent lasted only minutes on my skin.

This post has been edited by andrabell: May 10 2004, 05:40 PM

[any_old_actress]

Dusky bitter orange in the bottle - definitely not something to mess around with.

FIRST SNIFF: I agree with the above comment
WEARING IT: no more orange, only neroli. it's a very sharp & loud scent. it evokes really strong and powerful feelings. as the smell lingers, the soapy smell starts to come out, but it's not overbearing.

VERDICT: i may want to try this on my boyfriend b/c i find the smell intriguing and not at all put offish, but i don't think it's for me.

[Fulltiltredhead]

Bitter, acrid orange that fades fairly quickly down to a warm neroli citrus scent that's highly lickable. A beautiful scent for day - reapply about every four hours.

Dreamwalkblue: All I really *did* smell though, was orange blossom, sweetened slightly by the mimosa. It smelled almost exactly like a bar of orange blossom soap, still in it's paper wrapping.


(IMG:http://www.bpal.org/style_emoticons/default/mnod.gif) Perfect image.

[jj_j]

Definitely all over the place on this one ...

Heavy, harsh neroli - very bitter - and a soapy smell, initially.

Luckily, though, it dries down to orange zest with a creamy floral note that's not white at all, and I'm amazed to say that I like it, a LOT. My toddler distracted me with her eighteenth attempt to get out of bed as I was on my way to wash this one off, and when I sniffed again, I couldn't believe it was the same scent.

Definite full-bottle order. This is perfect for less casual wear, and is an attention-getter; my mother asked what it was, and guessed it was one of those $120 bottles she couldn't afford, even if I had managed to swap for it. I think I'll surprise her with a bottle, too.

[magpiedee]

I despair of my nose this week. I'm not sure if it's because when I get an order, I start out trying the ones that appear most promising and save the rest for last, or if it has something to do with PMS, but I haven't had a "keeper" this week.

Today it's Succubus, which just smells like lemony laundry detergent on me. I'm not getting any oranges or bergamot or neroli or almonds or violet, all of which I would love to smell. I'm just getting detergent. Since I felt pretty similar about Morella yesterday, I think I might just save them up to try at a different time of my cycle and stick to foodies this week.

*sigh*

It's all my fault. My chemistry. Ugh.

[MilkAndSugar]

In the vial: Neroli, Sweet Citrus fruits and (!!!!) Macedonian Halva! Must be the Mimosa that smells like sesame seeds and vanilla to me. I like this!

On skin: Ohh...I really *do* like this. It morphs into a very slightly spicy, musky flower scent. Not your average aggressive flower scent that hits you over the head with a bouquet of jasmine and rose, but a softly powdery blend of gentle Mimosa & Neroli.

Now when I look at the notes in this, it doesn't sound like anything I'd normally wear, but if I've learned anything during my BPAL experience, it's the old Terry Pratchettian truth: Just goes to show.
I need to send my thanks to the wonderful person who sent me a vial of this, otherwise I would have missed out on this olfactory experience. (IMG:http://www.bpal.org/style_emoticons/default/icon_smile.gif)

Drydown: At first I was a bit confused because I wasn't getting the soap scent from this, but now that I'm looking for it, I think I've found it. Succubus does have a clean scent to it, kind of what you would get after washing your hands with a luxurious Mimosa soap, but I can't find the actual soap here. The scent is too soft to be soapy, imho.
The Mimosa holds on to the skin, still soft and fresh, and all the while it's working its magic and hypnotizing people. I picture a nice scented powder that a film noir femme fatale would put on her skin in her night club dressing room before stepping onto the stage to wow people.

Succubus goes on my "buy a bottle" list. (IMG:http://www.bpal.org/style_emoticons/default/icon_smile.gif)

-Milk

[skg]

Agh! (IMG:http://www.bpal.org/style_emoticons/default/fear.gif)
No single notes that i can pick out as all i can smell is aquanet and soap.
It's way too overpowering and cloying.
My body chemisty definately doesn't like this one.

[isyche]

All I can smell in Succubus is a sharp/bitter note that must be the neroli - no flowers or orange or anything. I guess neroli doesn't like me.

[nevermore]

I really did want to like this one, as I really enjoy orange blossom scents. However, there is something else in the scent that I don’t really care for – I think it might be the mimosa. Unfortunately, Succubus turns a little bit sharp on my skin. I can really smell the note that might be mimosa, and a touch of clove, but not much in the way of orange blossom, neroli, or bergamont. I don’t know if I’ll keep this yet, so it may be up for swap soon.

[Lexy]

Handsoap. Yuck. I think it must be the neroli that really smells not-good on me. My sister said "it doesn't even smell like nice handsoap."

It fades very quickly, which is it's best quality.

If anyone loves this, it'll be coming up for trade real quick-like.

[hypothermya]

When I discovered how much I loved Katharina, I decided that I should give a try to anything with orange in it, just because I wasn't sure how much the "orange blossom" contributed to the end scent, or how orange smelling it was. Plus, I do like cloves and oranges; the smell of them together tends to remind me of Christmas.

First Sniff

Bitter. This smells mainly of cloves, and there is orange under there too -- it's the smell of orange zest, the bitter oils on the skin of the orange.

Wearing It

This does the same thing that most of the other fruit based perfumes do on me: it turns super candy sweet. The clove stays bitter/spicey. This actually reminds me a lot of old fashioned hard candy that you can get in a lot of "old town, historic" candy shops. This is like clove candies with the bitterest of orange peels.

Lasting Power

This one lasts for a while on me, something like 4 or 5 hours, which is towards the top end of BPAL scents. As it fades, it loses it's spice and mellows into something like a lightly spiced, lightly bitter, sticky orange juice.


On the whole, I'm not too taken with this scent. It'll probably work wonders for someone who wants a really unique, powerful scent. On me, the fruit doesn't cooperate with my skin chemistry (there's a shock), and the spice is a bit strong for me.