Madonna

[shelldoo]

 

Madonna, Edvard Munch.

Hyssop, pomegranate, Angel's Trumpet, Indonesian patchouli, iris, white orchid, and frankincense.

 

in the bottle: pomegranate, hyssop, and floral

 

wet hint of orchid, hyssop seems to be the most pronounce note besides orchid

 

as it dries this scent is a nice orchid (similar to black orchid) w/ a hint of green in the background.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Well now, this has several notes that are Heavenlyrabbit Balm. Like Hyssop, pomegranate, orchid and frankincense.

 

What I get is a clean floral. Clean without being ozonic or aquatic.

 

Which seems to work with the subject matter of the painting. But is sort of an unusual connotation for any perfume having orchid in it (cause orchids wear a bit sexy to me).

 

There is the herbal side to this. And to a lesser extent, the incense resin.

 

Can't find the patchouli. Or the pomegranate.

 

A nice, friendly and approachable floral.

 

Honestly, this doesn't move me the way I anticipated though.

Edited May 25, 2007 by Heavenlyrabbit

[vylit]

Wet: I get hyssop, pomegranate, iris and orchid. It's a sweet, well blended scent.

 

Dry: Hyssop, iris, and what I'm assuming is Angel's Trumpet since it's not iris or orchid. It also takes on a soft powder note during dry down.

 

I loved the wet stage of this - truly gorgeous. Unfortunately, the powder note on dry down means I won't be getting a bottle. Stupid body chemistry.

[noumenon]

I'm going to trust Shelldoo and assume that's hyssop I'm smelling. It's bright and clear and sweet, and I can definitely pick up the pomegranate as well. Very summery, a little "perfumey" but mostly the iris, hyssop and pomegranate are in charge. Now that I've had it on for over an hour, the other scents have burned off and I can smell the ghost of patchouli right at skin level.

 

Of all the Salon scents I've tried, I like Madonna the most. The others have often seemed dull or muted (that Cala Lily from Bat-Woman and Monna Vanna, for instance), but this one is much more cheerful and sauncy.

[clover]

I can tell sniffing from the imp that this isn't going to be my kind of scent.

 

When I put it on my skin, the pomegranate dominates. Pomegranate seems like it would be such a harmless note - but it's a total scent killer for me. For some reason, pomegranate just smells god awful on me - it has ruined many a promising perfume with it's evil astringent juiciness. So, the pomegranate is bugging me, and I'm not a huge fan of hyssop or patchouli either. And, unfortunately, none of the florals come out to play on my skin.

 

Definitely not a scent for me.

[supremegoddessofall]

Citrus-y somehow - the hyssop maybe? Some of the florals, but they're secondary. Not getting the patchouli or frankincense.

[dawndie]

Wet: vague white floral

 

On skin: "juicy" floral, flowers with a splash of pomegranate juice and dew

 

Half-hour later: the pomegranate has receded (boo) and one of my nemesiseses, IRIS, has taken over

 

In conclusion: while this didn't turn into a floral that was too dainty and twee, or too soapy, iris has conquered like it's done to several other blends. Iris is just too cloying on me. I really liked the beginning though!

[Lunaratu]

Ok, this one smells almost very alcohol-based perfume on me—one of those aggressive floral alcohol based scents that are way too much for me. I’ll try to stick with this one but my nose can’t help but yelp every instant I take a sniff.

 

Ok, I had to wash this one off it bothered me so much. It was just way too aggressive and alcohol-like on me. Sad since quite a few of the other reviews sounds wonderful but, alas, not for me. Good thing the rest of the salon has been very pretty thusfar.

 

Rating: 2/5

Edited October 9, 2007 by Lunaratu

[euterpe414]

Argh! This starts out as a juicy floral- pomegranite mingling with flowers in a sweet and lush way. but. Frankincense somehow decides that it wants to ruin the whole thing and make it turn sharp and perfumy. This is sad since I love frankincense, but in this case I think it is hindering the blend (on my skin, that is). After the sharpness sets in it goes the way of the laundry detergent...this reminds me a lot of what happened to Sol Invictus on my skin. Hm. I better take note of this for the future.

 

Anyhow, I think this would be gorgeous on someone whose chemistry does not butcher it so. FWIW it lasts a long time on skin and has a lot of throw.

[edenssixthday]

Madonna - When first applied, this smells entirely of pomegranate and iris. As it begins to dry down, the sharp blast of pomegranate settles down, and I can smell a bit of sweet orchid. Then, just as it's starting to get interesting...it disappears. It's just GONE. Just like THAT. Gone. Well, maybe there's a teeny tiny hint of hyssop leftover, but it's so faint as to be pretty useless as a perfume. I'm disappointed and frankly, I'm surprised because I thought the patchouli and frankincense at the very minimum would stay with me for a good while. I guess this is one that just doesn't work with me!

[Little Bird]

I'm not a fan of this blend. BPAL's pomegranate is sorta evil on my skin. It's very tart, heavy, & loud - like sweet tarts on steroids. Plus, it goes a touch powdery on my skin, in a dry and unpleasant sort of way. I get that heavy pomegranate for the first fifteen minutes or so and then the florals come out and this dries down to a chemical, department store floral fragrance. Sharp and perfumey. Definitely not a blend for me.

[Malista]

If it weren't for my skin's extremely unfortunate reaction to the BPAL pomegranate note I think this would be one of my favorite BPAL blends of all time. Alas, the pom casts a bitter/sour pall over the flowers and incense, and even patchouli can't smooth everything out. I can smell everything being fabulous under the pom, and at dry down it actually gets to that herbal-floral-incense place I love, but I don't like the wet and early dry down stages well enough to put up with them for a bottle's worth of wear.

 

I think it's a beautiful interpretation of the painting; I don't think Beth put a note wrong. I just wish my chemistry were a little more accomodating.

[alicia_stardust]

Wet: I get pomegranate mostly, with a touch of floral and hyssop.

 

Dry: I still get a lot of pomegranate. At this point I can actually distinguish the iris and orchid, but the pomegranate still dominates. For a short while this reminds me of Trick 2, but then it morphs again and that impression is lost. This is a very lovely mixture of pomegranate, resin, florals, and earth.

 

After a while: The frankincense and patchouli come out in full force. I am left with mostly a dry, slightly sharp resinous earth scent.

 

Lovely!

[PurringPulsar]

Madonna

 

In the imp: pomegranate! This smells just like pom juice, with a hint of floral.

Wet on skin: pomegranate, crisp and tart and juicy, with a patchouli depth.

Dry on skin: floral pomegranate! It's mainly pom and a white flower note, which may be orchid or angel's trumpet (probably the latter because it's different from most orchid scents), with earthy patchouli, the spicy-herbal scent of hyssop and a greenish, reedy-flowery iris note. This is very much like those fruity patchouli scents, lush fruity with an earthy rich base, and the pomegranate note in here is very genuine, it dominates the scent. It's like delicious pom juice, enhanced a little by other notes.

After a while: mmm, this is smoothing out nicely. The pom loses it's bite, and merges into the patchouli. I don't smell much of the frankincense apart from a lovely smokiness. The floral notes in here are soft and velvety petalled, providing a nice backdrop for the fruit. This is now a lovely musky fruit scent, grounded and deep, surrounded by lush florals. It almost reminds me of Kanishta but with jasmine replaced by orchid, an autumnal floral scent. Very close to the skin though.

The floral and fruity notes then merge to form a soft scent of tangy poms mix with cool white petals with that patchouli undertone. It is a bit faint though. Very pretty but I was expecting more oomph.

It's a soft white orchid scent after a few hours. It's a very nice orchid-much nicer than the one in Gemini that turned against me, this is almost like the orchid in Vaskakajja but less sweet and cool. it is very subtle though despite the patchouli.

Verdict: this scent, I think, has the best and most accurate pomegranate note in BPAL. At some points it smelt just like chilled pom juice, maybe with a hint of cranberry? But very authentic, juicy and crisp and richly red. I love the pomegranate-heavy stage at the beginning, rounded out by patchouli, which I've discovered seems to have an affinity for deep rich fruit notes. Sadly the pom stage fades too fast into a floral stage which, though very pretty, is very faint. It's a gentle white petal scent sprinkled with juice, but it doesn't have the oomph I hoped for, even with patchouli. I do like this a lot despite it's faintness and slight flatness-I think this is a scent that would benefit from a little bit of aging. Maybe that will bring out the patch and strengthen the notes a little more. I might keep my imp of this to see what happens over time.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? not sure. I love the pomegranate note in here but it's a little too soft at the end.

If you like this, try: Mme Moriarty, Dark Delicacies, Great He Goat, Persephone, Kanishta, Lot and his Daughters, Gemini

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Predominantly the pomegranate, with just a hint of floral sharpness

 

Wet on me – A dark, sweet pomegranate buried under a rolling sea of green florals (I have no idea, which is which)

 

Dry on me – Very faint, slightly sweet florals

 

Overall – Disappears quickly and I didn’t really mind when it did

[moon_lemming]

The oil inspired by it doesn't really work on me, though. First on, it's a bright citrus kind of scent -- hyssop plus pomegranate? I'm not sure -- and as it dries it takes on that detergent tone that so many florals like to bring to the party.

 

I can kind of pick up a hint of frankincense after an hour or so, but the overall Sunny Citrus Laundry Detergent vibe makes it a moot point. Off ye go.

[Miss Lynx]

On first sniff, this is a light, sweet, slightly aquatic floral. No trace of patchouli, frankincense of pomegranate...

 

But as it settles in a bit, it becomes more balanced. The florals begin to fade down, and there is indeed a bit of earthy incense beneath them, although it's still quite soft. And a bit of the pomegranate's fruity sweetness is starting to come through as well. Quite pleasant at this stage, though still a little more floral than most scents I'd wear.

 

It's a very soft scent, with a minimal throw. I have to put my nose within a couple of inches of my wrist to be able to smell it, though maybe that's part;y because I currently have Ahathoor on the other wrist, which has throw like whoa and completely overpowers this one. It doesn't last very long either.

 

On the whole, not bad, but not really me.

 

Grade: B-

[LauraB]

This is a beautiful fruity floral but stays very very close to my skin after the first half hour. It stays so close I don't think I can justify a bottle, which is a shame - I'd have expected an interpretation of this picture to be a bit more extrovert!

[The_Merf]

The hyssop is tremendous in this blend and it strikes me as rather complex coming out of the imp. I can easily pick up on the hyssop, pomegranate and orchid. Initially it is all hyssop, as I expected, with the pomegranate also in there as well. It is quite juicy and fresh. However, the scent really doesn't develop much as it dries and fades off. There's no resin here whatsoever for me, which is odd, because my skin tends to amp resins. It's almost all hyssop, with the pomegranate at the back, even as it becomes very faint.

[hkhm]

imp: pomegranate with something soft and florally in the background.

 

wet: odd. i can still smell the pomegranate but the other notes makes this smell odd. it's like smelling pomegranate granola with way too much sugar poured over it.

 

dry: this turns to almost a sour pomegranate on me. it's pretty rare that a pomegranate scent doesn't work out on me.

[porcelina]

YUM pomegranate, but with some unfortunate florals that alternate between cloying and sour in the background. but oh em gee, that pomegranate is fabulous.

[meeow712]

In the bottle: sweet orchid!! Yummy!

 

On me: Orchid darkened by frankincese and sweetened by something (hysspo maybe?). The pomegranate keeps this from being overly floral and really accentuates the beauty of the orchid. The frankincense makes it a little bit incensey, which I love! No iris in "sniff" thankfully, as it doesn't usually work for me. The patchouli is hiding somewhere, I think it's keeping the blend from being omg floral, which is great.

This reminds me of a sweeter and less perfumey version of Tom Ford's Black Orchid, which makes me a happy girl because I loooove it!

This is definitely a favorite!!

[mgrazulis]

In the imp: hyssop, pomegranate as well. Hyssop is herbal, but cheerful

Wet: hyssop, orchid, sweet juice of pomegranate. Oh--if this stage would last!!! Heaven!

Dry: An earthy patchouli on the skin, iris, hyssop and pomogranate balancing out. There's another floral there, perhaps angel's trumpet.

After about an hour, a powder note. The pomegranate is totally enhanced by the other notes and eventually loses some of its juiciness. The whiteness of the florals, an air of frankincense surround the musky fruit of the once tangy pomegranate.

After a few hours: a soft white orchid and subtle patchouli...Alas, the pomegranate is a memory.

Edited July 24, 2008 by mineralfairy

[zankoku_zen]

So I get the pomegranate on wet, but as it dries, more of the florals come out - I get this light iris smell but it isn't precisely iris. It's a green iris floral, if that makes sense.

 

Interesting.

[greenranger]

It starts off with unfamiliar flowers.

 

 

Drying, it becomes a spicy, peppery, resinous scent.