Ginny, the Reaper of Vengeance

[Balame]

GINNY, The Reaper of Vengeance

Sharp tobacco flower and white cognac, a thin layer of smoke, and dusty black pepper pierced by the amber of her eyes.

I was unsure of this blend since it sounded like it would be super strong and astringent, but I was wrong. It’s interesting, sexy and smooth. From the bottle I mostly smell the pepper and cognac. This didn’t make me feel any better, but once I put it on the pepper calmed down greatly. While wet it's a soft, dreamy tobacco flower with cognac and sweet amber.

It’s definitely strong but not overwhelming. Rich and more than a little sensual. I pick up a bit of spice every now and then - I suppose the pepper returning - but it doesn’t “read” as pepper. It just gives the blend some kick. My color association is a soft gold. It almost smells like a pretty commercial perfume (probably because cognac = alcohol) but it’s more nuanced than that.

I can imagine an otherworldly cowboy/girl smelling like this, the light from the setting sun making it look like they’re all aglow. In the end the alcohol slightly overwhelms it for me, yet I find myself wearing Ginny over and over hoping the tobacco and amber will finally overtake it. It's so close to being absolutely stunning, and even as is, it's a knockout.

[Monday]

Right off the bat Ginny smells of air, cinnamon and tobacco flower. The cinnamon smell I get is probably the result of the cognac combined with pepper. It just smells like a friendly, airy cinnamon with tobacco flower.

I associate cinnamon with autumn and winter but the whole scent is light and summery. Unusual but nice.

[Dark Alice]

The tobacco flower is just UGH. Then when it dries...the cognac takes over and pummels the amber and black pepper into dust. Pass.

[kakiphony]

In the imp: Very sharp and slightly floral. The tobacco flower is dominant, and it scares me just a bit. This smells like sharp words and sharper blades.

Wet on skin: Something about the combination of pepper and amber is reading as cinnamon/cassia to me, and I smell spicy and, again, sharp. It's the sort of scent that pierces your senses up high at the very back of your palate. If it were a taste, it would be medicinal and a little bitter.

Early dry down (10 minutes): This is really lovely. It continues to be super spicy as it reacts with my skin, and as it dries the smoke starts to come out and play. It's dry, sweet smoke -- more like burning sweetgrass or sage than incense or tobacco.

Late dry down (30 minutes +): This sits close to my skin and continues to be spicy and smoky, but somehow also light. Many times, the spicy/smoky scents are deep, dark and resinous. This is not that type of scent. Rather, it's dry wind in the desert smoke and spice. Often amber goes powdery, and there's a bit of that here, but it's not baby powder -- more like herbs/spices that have gotten so dried out that they crumble in your hands.

Final Verdict: LOVE. I seriously need a bottle of this. THIS is why I love bpal. It's completely different from most commercial perfume -- subtle, elegant, and evocative. This is bottle worthy.

One thing that occurs to me is that this is really a very accurate scent representing vengeance. It definitely has the sharp, scorching power of anger, but it understands that the need for vengeance comes from a place of deep love. In order to feel the need to avenge something, one has to have cared enough to have been hurt. This scent acknowledges that core, and it's where the dry down comes from.

Reminds me of: The Ifrit, Mr. Jacquel, Al-Shairan

Edited July 29, 2014 by kakiphony

[Aldercy]

Ginny is one of the best scents I've bought all year.

 

It's not totally what I expected based on the notes. It's much spicier and darker than they might suggest, but so, so good. It is very closely related to Priala, the Human Phoenix, but more mellow, without the need for aging. It's a softer version of Priala, but with the same earthy cinnamon-and-smoke vibe. The tobacco flower is more like the French Tobacco SN than the tobacco flower or nicotiana note I'm used to encountering in BPAL. Overall, it's a bold, thick liqueur of a scent. Lingers close to the skin. I bought it and then couldn't help but wear it three days in a row (which almost never happens).

 

Edit: I noticed the other reviewers mentioning that Ginny seems to feel paradoxically both "airy" and "deep." That's very true, and it's a rare quality in a scent. It feels like being outdoors-- somewhere dry and golden, but still fresh-- and also like being snuggled by a fire in an old parlor. Strange and intoxicating.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Aldercy

[milo]

Sharp tobacco and smoke, not notes I like, but the added spices make this a more wearable. Nice for a change, but no need to upgrade.

[ralenth]

Source: Sniffie from BluestBlood

 

Wet: Sharp, peppery cognac.

 

Drydown: The pepper takes a backseat, and something akin to French Tobacco SN comes to dance with the cognac. The result is quite pleasant.

 

Dry: Sweet, and not overly boozy. Ginny becomes smoky without being too sultry, and slightly sweet and effervescent like champagne.

 

Verdict: I could see myself wearing this on a hot day. I will need to acquire more of this.

Edited January 12, 2018 by ralenth

[zankoku_zen]

Tobacco flower, slightly boozy and with a hint of smoke.

 

It's not horribly complex and its like boozy tobacco flower.

[MautheDestroyer]

In bottle: Astrigent, strong, sharp. I smell mostly the cognac and the pepper which comes across as cinnamon, with a very faint floral note paired with leather and smoke smell. Not sure where the leather comes in, but it's very faint.

 

Freshly applied: It smells like an Atomic Fire Bomb- those cinnamon candies that I used to love/hate as a kid. They'd burn my mouth off! Under that is a delicate flower scent, so it's almost like spicy candy and flowers- maybe an almost Aztec incense, tobacco flower and cassia?

 

Later: The perfume is faint, still with that cinnamon candy smell with the tobacco flower and smoke undertone.

 

I like it! I've read the Pretty Deadly material and while it doesn't really remind me totally of Ginny, it does remind me of a woman with a hot temper, a cold gaze and who is always walking through the swirls of smoke- either cigarettes or burning buildings, I don't think she cares. It almost smells too much of candy, but the tobacco flower saves it, along with the smoke. I don't get the alcohol or the amber scent much, though that must be what mellows it.

[Little Bird]

I can't do the lab's tobacco flower note. It's like sharp, bright, cutting, cold white floral and laundry soap powder. Soapy, white, high pitched... I also get the cinnamon that other people have mentioned, and no black pepper, which is curious. I really don't like it mixed with the tobacco flower, but I never really like tobacco flower, so take that with a grain of salt, lol.

[LizziesLuck]

I've enjoyed a lot of this series - I have and love Sissy, Beauty and Sarah and I did enjoy Alice, but in the end she wasn't for me. I struggle with the Lab's tobacco flower note (it turns into single note and is high pitched and screechy on me) but I wanted to try this anyway.

 

Wet: Mmm! What is that? It's spicy. I guess that's the pepper note? Doesn't actually smell like pepper to me, maybe more like cardamom, mixed with sarsaparilla or sassafras or something? I get something that could be the booze too, and the sweetness of the amber. This is lovely! But I am starting to worry it was mixed up with Sissy? The notes don't seem entirely right, I guess because I was expecting TOBACCO FLOWER!!! and I get none. And the spice is really prominent but just doesn't smell like pepper. I like it! It's almost effervescent.

 

Dry: This was just so not what I expected. I do quite like it. It's spicy and sweet. A tiny bit smoky. Really nice! Not sure if I would wear it, needs more testing.

[Aveya]

Source: Lab

Preconception: Super masculine/too edgy for me. Wouldn't have tried if I hadn't ran a circle for these.

 

Imp: Boozy bold peppery leather.

Skin: Comes across leathery to me at first. Then unravels to reveal it's just complicated spices. This is some artisan cognac is all I can say. Either that, or that dust on the pepper is some complicated mid-eastern spice-bazaar-dust.

Drydown: Smoke is the prominent accord to me. That mid-eastern bazaar I mentioned? Fucking burning down. Ginny had enough of their "let me wrap it for you" shenanigans, coming back with other crap in the package half full and bad quality.

 

Verdict; Dark sexy lady with cowboy boots, standing in front of a burning spice Bazaar. With a sparkle in her eye.

[Bunny Butt]

This is a really lovely womanly scent. Floral but rich. Unfortunately it smells like my grandma’s oerfumes. If you remember the 80s perfume Babe or Fred Heyman then you know this. That also means it’s not for me.

[VetchVesper]

I rather like this one, which shocks me a bit, because at first sniff, it's a LOT of black pepper and sharp tobacco, and tobacco is hit or miss on me. This quickly takes on a smooth richness though, sort of a golden brown warmth. The pepper continues to lend it's spice, but mellows greatly. It smells almost like smooth cinnamon. I also get some sarsaparilla vibes, but I think that's just nose trickery with the sweetness and the spice. There's also an airy cleanness to this that I don't often smell in tobacco blends which tend to smell heavy and warm to me. I guess it's the cognac. I get a picture of someone smoking a hand rolled cigarette on a clear day on a mountain top. Sort of cool, contemplative, and aloof, but still grounded. I have no idea if that describes Ginny or not, but that's what I get.

 

Anyways, I would say, if you are a tobacco fan, you should check this one out. It smells different enough from the typical blends to warrant it and I think would work in both the cooler and warmer months. I don't know that I need a bottle, but I'll be enjoying my imp.

 

ETA: AHA! I knew it was reminding me of SOMETHING. Ivory Phoenix - a tad bit. But less sweet and powdery. But sort of that same mellow, spicy warmth with an air of coolness. So maybe that "dust" IS cinnamon? Or maybe a drop of frankincense? Hmmmmm...

Edited June 26, 2018 by VetchVesper

[Lucchesa]

I was pretty sure Ginny wasn't going to work on me. Tobacco flower almost never does; it's way too sharp, even if the word isn't right there in the description. I applied, thought, "Yep, sharp tobacco flower, damn," and put Molly on my other wrist, And by the time I resniffed Ginny -- so, maybe, 20 seconds later -- the sharp edge was dissipating in a soft haze of cognac and smoke. This is a tobacco flower I can wear, with pleasure. And it's not so boozy and smoky that you can't wear it to work because you smell like you slept in your clothes after hitting the bars the night before. No, everything is gentle and well-blended; the white cognac is less heavy than regular cognac, and the amber classes it up. Average wear length on me, and no throw, which is also average on me. Lovely!

[artisjok]

Ginny is black pepper and smoke and I think the amber, the combo reminding me of a leather scent. A touch of the tobacco flower peeks out. Something about it is going a bit plastic, and, on one wrist, also reminding me of those lunch meats that are edged in pepper... ermmm.. not what I expected to be thinking of at all! 
Sorry, Ginny. Looks like you aren’t the gal for me. 

Oh, and I got the cinnamon note after late drydown.
 

 

Edited July 14, 2020 by artisjok

[rhonorv]

I got this for the tobacco flower note, because it's generally a winner for me!

 

Wet, and for the first 10 minutes, this is "oh no, Big Red Gum" on my skin. It's not quite a blast of cinnamon, but the black pepper is acting a little strange, and it smells a lot like cassia! But once it settles down, it is be-a-u-tiful and blended. The tobacco flower blooms and the cognac and amber smooth everything over, no more cinnamon, just a little tinge of spice. It's definitely a 'tough' scent, and I love that I have a scent that feels badass and also very different from the rest of my collection.

 

This reads like a fall scent to me, but I'll be reaching for it to layer with some of my more sugary ones, too! I put a tiny dab of Snake's Kiss on over it this morning and 😋

[biggnerd]

This is a spicy black pepper and tobacco flower scent. I love tobacco flower and love it combined with the black pepper. However, something in this makes my skin go bright red and itchy so it will be a scent locket scent. Luckily, it doesn't morph much on my skin. 

[frizzlechicken]

Peppery cognac, with the tobacco flower adding an undertone of warmth. The "amber of her eyes" is indeed reminiscent of "Inside the Golden Amber of Her Eyes" so if you like that too, you may love this. (I do!)