Black Dahlia

[symphonyinsilence]

Voluptuous magnolias strewn over orchid, star jasmine, black amber and smoky rose.

Magnolia, orchid and black amber. Sounds glorious. But what do I get? Blasted jasmine and powdery rose. Good thing I got this free. I think I'll pass this to my mum since she likes it. Edited January 17, 2010 by Shollin

[cinderfallen]

It's a rush of magnolia, extremely lush and fragrant, and then the more powdery-flat jasmine coming up behind to counter it. I was really disappointed they're so evenly matched because I really wanted a more pure magnolia scent. The amber grounds this, but that amazing white floral haze gets flat within half an hour, and I really think it might be the rose causing something to smelly powdery--as if that it was meant to, actually, but it dates the perfume to something like a costume scent, or one meant for more mature women.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I get this dark, heady floral. On me, it's this mix of heady florals (I think I can pick out orchid, magnolia, rose, and jasmine), with a bit of the black amber. Not really sure what to think of it, going to test it further at some point.

[skylarkza]

In the imp: Magnolias and deep dark cordial.

 

Wet: Jasmine! And magnolia! Wait - Jasmin... magno... jasmine! And something golden and sharp sitting and chuckling at the catfight.

 

Dry: Jasmine and moonlight. Strong florals - headed by the jasmine and something dark and wispy (maybe the amber).

 

A while later: Sadly my skin seems to eat this one right up! There is a faint miasma of a dark powdery scent - uhm... goth baby powder if that existed - which is quite nice! But it is barely there.

[SophieCedar]

The magnolia is pretty radiant. I feel bad for the people that got only a jasmine rose combo on their skin. There is an elixir-like spice to this in the imp that melds with your skin chemistry when applied. Mine does a wonderful dance with this one.

 

Smoky rose for sure but catch it best while it's wet on the skin. Jasmine plays the fence with me. If it doesn't like it's company, then it will boss everyone around. It's apparently happy with the crowd. Horray!

 

Drydown about 5 minutes later, the magnolia is still going strong. Yessss....

[Saya]

Powdery, jasmine with a sour undertone to it. Not for me.

[milo]

Oh yuck, this is uber heady floral on me. Jasmine for sure, and yep, there's the magnolia. There's a bit of dbr-like spice as well, but not enough to save the blend for me. BIG fail.

[impolight]

:::BLACK DAHLIA:::

Black Dahlia is maliciously sweet.

This is the glistening, rouged smile that holds a fearsome bludgeon behind her back...Black Dahlia is the rustle of a cotton skirt and the snick of a stiletto blade.

The fragrance here is an unrepentant scarlet of florals mixed with sweet, subtle wood and a light misting of amber.

The fragrance is utterly gorgeous and meant to compliment and reveal the vast power and fearsomeness of a woman who knows what she wants.

Black Dahlia is the ultimate femme fatale.

This should be an ice cream that's illegal in 27 countries!

Fear this!

[lilwhiterabbit]

In the bottle, this is overwhelmingly floral with just a hint of something musky beneath. My guess is that's the amber. Otherwise, it's hard to pick out one distinct scent. On me, however, it's this lovely magnolia fragrance, with a subtle bouquet of the other flowers in the background, and the amber to round it out. Magnolia's one of the smells of my childhood (I grew up in Louisiana), so this is really comforting to me. It's a lot more like traditional perfume than most of the other blends I've tried, but I rather like it. There's something sensual and elegant about it.

[Sinmara]

On my skin I get a blast of jasmin with something powdery and musky - for a change the jasmin is not giving me a headache, and it's actually not that unpleasant, but I'm not going to buy a bottle of this.

 

Glad I sampled it though.

[lavender84]

Not too good at describing this except its gone all smoky on me... like I can't smell anything else from it smoky.

 

Wonder if sitting around will make it better... Guess will have to test again another time.

[antihero]

This started out super smoky rose on me, with some musky amber underneath. It's dried on me to rose, amber, and jasmine. Not getting much magnolia, but I do love what it's turned into on me right now.

[ami226]

This is a very soapy floral on me. Quite pleasant, but not my thing...

[zagadka]

In Bottle: Very rosey, heavy floral. Smells old fashioned and sophisticated.

 

On Wet: Still very strong floral with some slight hints of a powdery background.

 

On Dry: The floral has a strong staying power, but the rose definitely drops off and the scent becomes more well-rounded. Its softer, but still bright. Lasted a long time on me.

 

 

This one I can only wear on occasion because its a bit too strong for my liking and has given me a head ache. But if you like a true floral that isn't sweet, you'll probably love this.

[elinox]

First Sniff: Light and flowery. It reminds me of gardenias.

 

Wet: More gardenia and something tangy and not so pleasant is coming through (probably the amber).

 

Dry: The tang has died down and now I’m starting to smell a very light rose smell. I might even detect a hint of the jasmine which makes a nice blend with the rose.

 

My Reaction: Very light and flowery, definitely a feminine scent. Unfortunately, it did not have very long staying power on me.

 

Rating 1-5: 2.5

 

[cyanidenoir]

I should have known better.

Seriously.

I know florals do not work for me but I go crazy for anything even remotely related to the Black Dahlia. For example: offer me a lawn gnome sculpted out of dog droppings and stick the phrase "Black Dahlia" anywhere in the title and I'll pay an insane amount of money for it.

 

Upon receiving this and slathering on a nice dollop, what assaulted my nose first was the over-whelming magnolia. Once my nose adjusted, the old-lady scent of roses came shining through. Strangely, I couldn't detect any jasmine, as other reviewers have pointed out. Just magnolia and rose upon initial sniffing.

 

The magnolia and rose combo lasted for about an hour and then a strange vanilla/spicy rose scent took over.

 

Being total anti-floral, there was nothing about this scent that I liked. On my skin, there was nothing sexy or beautiful about it. But if you're a floral fan, especially magnolia, this is perfect

[sparkleyturtle]

I definitely start with the smoky rose amping on my skin. There is a darker tone to this once is dries out a bit. Nice floral tones, but it fades out really quickly on me.

 

Nice, but I am not going to purchase this one.

[ajansuz]

I really wanted to love this one. It has a lot of notes I adore. In the imp, it was delicious. A big, voluptuous dose of magnolia supported and courted by rose and jasmine. I couldn't smell much of the amber in the bottle. On wet, the rose started climbing to the fore. And kept climbing. Then something horrible happened. I don't know what did it, but it took on a ghastly, sickly sweet smell, like funeral flowers that have been out in the sun too long, cloying, almost rotting. It kept going downhill from there to the point I washed it off at the three hour mark. I'm going to give this one another shot when I'm off my period. I'm hoping my body chemistry at this time of the month is what made it go haywire, because I hate that something that smells so wonderful in the bottle smells so wretched on me.

 

EDIT: I'm glad that I gave this another chance. The second time of wearing, it settled into something really nice, kind of evocative of Old Hollywood. It's a grown up scent. I'll use up the imp, just avoid it at that time of the month.

Edited June 1, 2010 by DarkSinestra

[talula_fairie]

This one smells like juicy, blooming flowers. Actually, it reminds me a lot of an expensive perfume, Chanel No. 5 or something in that vein. Unfortunately, as my skin amps the rose and I'm really not a big floral fan, it didn't work. I was hoping the amber and the "smoky rose" would make it work, but it didn't. It's just too strongly floral for me. I will say, however, that it doesn't smell soapy at all. So for those of you who love complex florals, this will be a great blend for you.

[hersphinxness]

Wet, jasmine with magnolia. Strong, but not the strongest I've had a floral go when wet.

 

Dry, the magnolia, jasmine, and orchid combine in this beautiful, subtle way. There's a kind of rosy resin base grounding the scent, but it's way in the background. This is surprisingly light and fresh. I was expecting a kind of heady, hothouse scent (well, hoping for it) from the notes. But, nope, this is a very pretty, almost delicate scent with a wonderful, complex floral sweetness. Decent throw and wear time.

[madscientistdh]

In the Bottle: Strange, medicinal cherry with an almost patchouli undertone... is this the black amber?

 

On my skin (wet): Truck stop toilet air freshener... This goes away quickly.

 

Drydown: Softens to a sweeter scent, dark florals come out more, the musk warms and develops nicely into a clean smell.

 

Verdict: Strange and interesting at the beginning, very nice scent otherwise. Makes me think of pinstriped pencil skirts and deep red gentleman's ties.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I love lush florals when they are blended with something smoky or resinous. The juice in the imp smelled very medicinal, almost like floral cherry cough syrup. I smell magnolia, rose, amber, and smoke. No jasmine. Drying down, it starts to develop a candy sweetness as the florals fade away. Pretty, but not a keeper.

[JasminDreams2010]

In the bottle- musk, amber, a sharp mystery note.

On- at first this is all magnolia, loud, white, large

but as it dries, there's a dark undertone. This morphs into a sweet dark amber/orchid.

Sexy, but -at least on me- not much of a throw. It's sexy in a quiet- stranger- in -a -bar kind of way. Lovely, dark, but subtle.

I love jasmine, I bought this for the jasmine, but I smell no jasmine at all. So- jasmine haters might be safe. Jasmine or not, though it is a keeper for me. Pity this is discontinued, it is very pretty

[SlySionnach]

Imp: Sharp floral! Makes my nose cringe.

 

Wet: Sharp florals. I couldn't tell you what it was except for WHITE!

 

Drying: Jasmine, jasmine, jasmine. There's a hint of headiness from the magnolia, but I can't specifically smell the magnolia.

 

Dry: The rose doesn't come out until it is dry (to my surprise!) but it still is The Jasmine Show, with special guests of Rose and Magnolia. There's also the hint of powder, which I have to guess is from the amber.

 

Verdict: I have a lot of florals, because I do like them, but there's nothing really special here thanks to the Jasmine. I will probably use up this imp, though, or gift it to a friend who's just starting out.

[ObliqueRed]

Alas, something on this goes really off on me. Not sure which of the notes it is, but it's a sort of cloying sweet-sour that just ruins the blend on me. Jasmine, is that you acting up?