Salomé

[pranashakti]

A scent that is both coquettish and sinister. Exotic and lush, brimming with grace and viciousness: almond with star jasmine, oakmoss, red sandalwood and Egyptian musk.

Salome was my first swap from the LJ board...my first imp!

First impression...almonds, very strong cherry soaked almonds.

Wet...cherry and almonds again, a hint of spiciness

Dry down...the jasmine/floral comes to the front. During this stage I was a bit afraid. Straight florals don't work that well on me, but the floral toned right down and the spiciness mellowed it beautifully.

Through the day...a soft powderyness come through - not baby powder powder but something like spices, almonds, and dried flowers worked with a mortar and pestle. This makes me wish I had my softest, most beaten in jeans on. Very vintage in a patchwork leather jacket rather than a lace collar way, if that makes any sense.

I find this gentle, delicious and comforting and will be in for a 5ml.

[rainbow]

In bottle and wet on skin- earthy with just a hint of sweetness. I can smell the musk and oakmoss. No almond for me, at least not yet.

 

Wearing- okay, now I get almond. This scent morphs very quickly. It's almond and oakmoss, then almond and florals, all with something dark, mysterious, and incensey underneath.

 

This settles into a sweet-incensey scent that smells something like middle eastern spices. Pleasant, but not really me.

[oatmealneko]

I wasn't able to wear this for longer than ten minutes after I put it on my skin. The jasmine completely overwhelms all the other notes until that's all I can smell. Jasmine has about a 50-50 chance of taking over a scent, but I can never tell which one it will happen in. Scrubbed off quickly & passed the imp on to someone else.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: In the vial: sweet musky almonds.

 

Wearing: he almond note is very short-lived, and fades away almost immediately. The jasmine stage is next, and when that fades we are left with a deep, pretty sandalwood/musk/spice scent. So this moves from almost foody to very floral to hippie incense.

 

Final Impressions: This is a fascinating scent - it moves and changes with every breath. I like all the notes, and I'm terribly intrigued by how the story plays out on my skin.

[unmused]

I've been wearing this scent to bed and I've been enjoying it, but I always miss out on the later stages. I finally got around to testing it out during the day to get the full range of this fragrance.

 

In the vial: Almond formost followed by jasmine, maybe a touch of musk and moss or wood.

 

Wet: Still very almond. Sweet, dark, lush. Loving it.

 

Dry Down: The almond begins to fade, the jasmine gets a little soft and powdery, but overall it’s a lovely, subtle scent... right up until it went soapy on me.

 

Mature: I catch little hints of the lovely subtle thing that was happening but the soapy overtones overwhelm it 95% of the time.

 

Final Thoughts: Frustratingly pretty when it's not being soapy. Body chemistry is a bitch. I guess I can still wear it to bed.

Edited April 22, 2005 by unmused

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

Almond, and jasmine.

 

On

When applied, the sandalwood and musk became apparent immediately. They're balanced nicely with the sweet almond and the sensous but light jasmine floral.

 

30 minutes

It hasn't morphed that much. It's still a lovely sensual, musky, jasmine sandalwood blend. The almond is nowhere near as present as it was when wet, but it's still lending it's sweet nuttiness in the background.

 

Throw:

Light /Medium

 

Scent category:

Foody/Floral

 

Summary

A softer more sensual and mystical blend then I thought it would be. It's medium light on the strength scale. Initially it's sweet from the almond and the jasmine, but as it dries it turns into an almost nutty floral because the sandalwood and of course the dried almond.

I think that when it dries it makes a great meditational blend too. Sure, it's a little bit sensual for meditation but It's got those calming qualities of sandalwood and jasmine. Okay, maybe Kundalini yoga then.

For you "Lush" fans, I think this is what we wanted "Flying Fox" to smell like.

 

Purchase again?

Yes. Another imp when this runs out for sure. Perhaps a 5ml.

 

1-5 rating, 5 being best.

4

Edited April 25, 2005 by UltraViolet

[joseybird]

The red sandalwood, oakmoss, and almond *immediately* pop out here...it has the sensuality of Scheherazade with an almost sinister, "dirty" quality to it...the jasmine becomes noticable during drydown, and the sandalwood and oakmoss almost dissapear.

 

This is something I'd wear if I felt a lot more sexy

[tsarina]

Almonds! Bam, the strong sweet almondy scent. That faded downward to a less overwhelming note. Then I could pick out the sandalwood and a deep musky scent. It was beautifully balanced.

[blaqpearl]

The reason for me trying this scent was because of the Eygptian Musk....my favorite oil (before bpal obviously). So when I finally got a chance to get it, I was excited.

 

I was quickly shot down upon first sniff. But I wanted to make sure so I still tried it on. I must say that I didnt even smell a hint of egyptian musk. Almonds was very predominant. I think I am going to have to join the Almond haters club. I love almond otherwise...but not in perfume oil. Oh well.

[Nepthys]

I love almond but my worst fears were realized with this - which is to say that jasmine flattened everything else in the blend. It started as sharp but interesting almond and then a plastic scent emerged; the jasmine got stronger and stronger and eventually drowned out everything else. This gets relegated to the room scent stash.

[tarantulove]

This is probably the most interesting blend I've tried yet. It goes on almond with an almost dirty note I don't really like (musk?), and morphs between that, soap, a beautiful burnt smell, and marzipan. It's on soap right now -- I think that soapy note might actually be the jasmine, which is becoming more stable on my skin, and blending with the woody, burnt note (sandalwood?).

 

I'm just not sure I want to wear it as a perfume.

Edited May 9, 2005 by tarantulove

[Janie]

An interesting one where jasmine does not get the upper hand (YAY!). Although it doesn't fade quickly, it doesn't have buckets of sillage. A close-to-you scent. Love the musk/almond/sandalwood accord. Although I won't order a big bottle, I will enjoy the imp.

[PurringPulsar]

Salome

 

In the imp: almonds! Sweet almonds, and maybe a hint of musk.

Wet on skin: almonds with a sweet undercurrent, I think I can smell jasmine in this now. And maybe musk too.

Dry on skin: as usual, the almonds fade fast, and now I can smell the musk. Lovely Egyptian musk, reminiscent of Bastet's musk, but with jasmine instead of amber and spice. I think I can smell the sandalwood in this too. This smells sexy! It's a dark deep smell as opposed to a light golden aroma, I'm wondering if it's the oak moss deepening the blend?

After a while: there's something spicy and incensy about this-the musk strengthens, and I think the sandalwood does too. It's a warm, slightly sweet, yet dark fragrance.

Verdict: I'm a huge fan of these exotic blends that BPAL concoct, and this one is really nice-sensual, mature, gorgeous. There's a deep rich musk and sandalwood note in this (a bit like Morocco but more 'feminine'), and it's lightened by jasmine. It's a very indulgent smell, and it's also very sexy, very grown up and sophisticated, with a hint of darkness. I love it.

[Phaedra]

When first on this smells like spicy almond and cherry. It seems to fade quickly on me. There is also a faint hint of the mysterious "pencil shavings" in the background. (I'm not sure what that note is but I've had that happen with a few blends). This definately has a soft, feminine quality to it. It's nice but not quite as alluring as I had hoped (I bellydance as a hobby so the whole dance of the seven veils thing.....). I think I'll enjoy wearing the imp from time to time but don't need to buy a bottle.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Sparkling sweet almond, dark musty oakmoss, and Egyptian musk. Exotic and unusual; it's almost a perfect balance between light and dark.

On me: This just up and vanishes on me. I can faintly smell the jasmine, and the way it blends with the oakmoss and the almond is beautiful. But you can barely detect it on my skin. Dangit.

[Skyablaze]

This was a frimp from my first order and in the bottle it just yells almond and something ominous else which I don't like much. What? I'm bad at pinning names to smells. Anyway: ominous almonds.

 

On wet: Now we have a cheerleader squad jumping up and down screaming ALMONDS and waving pom poms. But the ominous note has vansihed. So right now, I smell like sweet marzipan and have a craving for cake.

 

Dry: Still keeping that gorgeous sweetness I have fallen in love with completely by now. Almond still is there but it's been shoved out of the limelight now by... yeesh, I have no clue what note is making this so amazing but I need to get lots of it, soon. This is golden, eastern and feminine, in a mature and confident way. It make me think of an asian fortune teller in a beautiful, richly decorated tent in the desert, if that makes sense.

 

Later: It softens into a stable, smooth, still slightly edible (but no almond to be seen now, yay!) version of the eastern fortune teller type scent of previously. But my skin really eats it up. I don't blame it, I wanna eat it.

 

In sumary: I'd never have picked this one in a million years but I'm so glad the lab threw it in. Good chance of a big bottle here! *sniffs wrist compulsively*

[olympia301]

 

Almond/cherry lept out right at the beginning. I really like the "almond fanfare" not because I think it's golorious in and of itself, but because it's the herald of a great many gorgeous things to follow in a lot of BPAL scents (e.g. Eclipse). So I associate it with "something good is going to happen".

 

Then there is a crossover, the almond disappears and jasmine starts to assert itself. Jasmine and my skin have a dicey history, and there are a lot of different jasmines which the Lab uses, so I didn't know what was going to happen next. The jasmine in Salome I privately refer to as "Sambac jasmine" because that is the sort of flower it smells like. That's a sort of standard jasmine smell.

 

Then things start to get heavily floral in Salome and drydown to a pleasant "good oriental" perfume smell. It does last on your skin.

 

Overall, I have to say it's not distinguished, you really couldn't pick it out and name it just by smelling it. But it is an admirable winter scent being heavy and warm, it's not offensive or does it use ingredients which are an aquired taste. I would really recommend it to "scent timid" people, anyone who has a job in a big company and doesn't want to broadcast their perfume, or anyone who wants a nice and cozy cold weather scent.

Edited June 18, 2005 by olympia301

[quikslvr]

High hopes, but all I get at first is metal and musk. Awful start to me. Jasmine emerges, but I can't shake that civet-y first breath. I can just hope that it's just this imp, and a different batch may be different, because I was hoping for the almonds everyone raves about. I suspect the moss kills this one for me.

 

So unfortunate a reaction on my skin.

[Orodemniades]

Why? Just, why??

 

Salome sounded so lovely...and then I swiped some along my wrist. I could smell cherry and sandalwood, and then, ten minutes later, sandalwood and jasmine.

 

Cue headache.

 

It's a great scent if you like sandalwood and jasmine, but if you're like me and your skin amps them both up, then this should not be your first choice!

 

I'm bummed.

 

Oro

[feline.by.design]

I tried Salomé ages ago, and was tidying up around the apartment when I discovered the short note I wrote when I was testing the imp I had:

 

Salomé - A dark scent. I smell patchouli [probably the red sandalwood] and almond or cherry [it was almond]. Reminds me of a mixed drink.

 

Then I drew a sort of face, indicating that the results for Salomé and I were not favourable. Seeing as how I no longer have my imp, that's probably a safe bet. I'm not really a fan of almond oil, so if a blend has almond oil past the "threshold of tolerance," everything else is pretty much overwhelmed by the almighty almond. It would have been great for *me* had my skin amped up the jasmine-sandalwood connection, as I'm a fan of both. I love oakmoss, too.

 

Again, Salomé just wasn't for me, but I'm sure it has its fans, and I hope whomever I gave it to is enjoying their imp.

 

-doreen

[Sheila]

At first, almond. Then a sharp, bitter, dark scent that reminds me of patchouli--I'm guessing the combo of oakmoss and sandalwood. After about 30 minutes, I get a lovely, almost sweet, spice. This is very exotic and seductive, as others have noted. Golden and evocative of its name.

[Stumbeline]

Complete jasmine on me. I really couldn't wear it for very long as it overpowered everything. I love the smell of almonds and I was really hoping to have a nice, soft, deeper almond scent but instead I just get kicked in the face with jasmine.

 

 

My mother, however, loves it.

Edited June 29, 2005 by Stumbeline

[cuervosueno]

I ordered an imp of this because of the almond, and I love the almond note in the bottle.

But like others have noted, that goes away right away. What I'm left with is a standard floral--not even particularly jasmine like on me.

Oh well, guess its not a keeper.

[pekeana]

Whoa, I'm beginning to learn that I don't really like jasmine.

 

In the vial, this is all sharp jasmine and creamy almond to me.

 

On my skin,, it just doesn't smell very good. It has a very dry, acrid note from the sandalwood, and then the jasmine goes positively schitzophrenic and makes a huge noise (and stink) about not being the center of attention. So... poor Salome needs to go to swaps like right now. Dance, my pretty, dance -- away from me.

[Ajila]

Wet on me this is a fight, a battle between the almond and the jasmine. It really does feel as if the two notes are just not prepared to share the space on my skin, they're zooming up and down my nostrils in an attempt to win my attention. When the blend settles down, it turns out that the jasmine won, it is now the predominant note and very pretty it is too, but there is some thing else in the background, which smells remarkably like Jeyes Fluid. When this fades the tail of blend is entirely musk, this is the first BPAL musk I've tried that's gone really, well musky and animalistic, and it's too much for me by itself. This has been a really strange blend on me, it has had three definite stages and each stage I didn't like for completely different reasons. Oh well I'll swap it on to someone who'll love it.