Manila

[Mary Mayhem]

A tropical, humid, lush scent, with a faint echo of Pacific breezes, jungle blossoms, and deep wet woods. Sampaguita blossoms, banana leaf, palm, and narra.

 

It goes on bananas and floral. Mostly bananas. Mmm, smells good!

 

It dries into pencil shavings.

Edited February 22, 2006 by Mary Mayhem

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: bananas!

 

Wet: Uh, oh! This oil smells like the nail varnish that I used to whip up in organic chem lab in college. Must wash off now!

[GemmaCat]

Mouth-watering tropical fruits! The mix of banana and tropical blossoms is divine.

 

On the drydown, though, this goes a little sour on me.

[arabella]

First Impression: Sparkling fruit.

 

Dries down to: The fizziness dissipates but the fruitiness remains - and it feels, primarily like pineapple.

 

Additional Comments: I'm not at all familiar with the scent of sampaguita blossoms, narra, palm or banana leaf (although, I'd guess the latter two to be "green" smelling), but they combine nicely to provide a scent that is light but unmistakeably tropical. I didn't, however, get any woody or incense notes at all - I'll have to try this another time to see if they show up. This will be a good summer scent.

 

Lasted: A couple of hours.

 

Rating: 3 out of 5

[storme]

In the imp: holy cats, that's some fruity juicy chewy candy in tropical flavour. Or possibly banana, mango and passionfruit juice. Totally a fake 'tropical' scent to me.

 

On me, wet: tropical fruits bubblegum. Sugary, sweet, slightly rubbery, inexplicably saliva-inducing when you smell it... but ultimately very fake and plastic.

 

On me, dry: Slightly calmer but still very plasticky as a smell. Where did the non-fruit components go? It's not repulsive, but I think this would give me a headache were I to wear it all day, since it's relentlessy chirpy and bright and sweet.

 

Verdict: Wurgh, I though this would be more floral and woody, but this is tacky-pretend-fruit overload on me. I could only wear this if I were a My Little Pony with bananas and pineapples on my rump. I wish I'd had the spiciness that other reviewers got.

[gingersnapp]

This is definitely tropical. I'm not familiar with many of the notes in this blend, so I can't really tell which is the most dominant. I'm guessing it's the banana leaf, but there is also this crisp piney smell that I can't figure out. Maybe that's the palm? I'm not sure.

 

This reminds me of Hawaii.

[nancybridget]

Yum! Delicious tropical fruits

 

I'm not crazy about banana-esque scents, but this blend is truly mouthwatering and perfect for this lovely summertime we have ahead of us.

 

Must get a bottle!

[juniperus]

Bottle: super sweet and fruity, although I can't see how- tropical fruit-salad. Banana-mango. Seriously. It's like that weird fake-fruit smell the old Strawberry Shortcake dolls used to have, remember?

Wet: A light woodiness with the sweet, the narra, I assume.

Dry: Wood, sweet, and a green-ness...the palm or the leaf? I don't know. Like that fruit salad was served in a freshly-turned wooden bowl.

Later: The sweet has abated some, and the hint that some of the sweet is floral is there, and the wood is still more present than the green that popped up then hung back again. Tropical, yes, and warm. Too sweet for me.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a word or two: Banana!

 

In the imp: Banana candy and flowers.

 

On skin, wet: Banana and coconut? Very fruity indeed, and I'm not big on fruity scents.

 

On skin, dry: Very tropical and fruity. Banana, coconut, and maybe vanilla? Something smooth, rich and creamy beneath the fruit, whatever it is. It kind of reminds me of those small banana-shaped candies found inside those quarter-operated candy/toy machines found in groceries, laundros, etc.

 

Conclusion: Nice, and it'd be great for scenting lotion for using using the summer, but I can't see this as a perfume for myself. I'm just not into fruity scents.

[Medici]

A tropical, humid, lush scent, with a faint echo of Pacific breezes, jungle blossoms, and deep wet woods. Sampaguita blossoms, banana leaf, palm, and narra.

 

In the imp: Banana!

 

Wet: Banana and jungle girl! Ok, I'm liking. I don't normally like bananarama scents, but the "jungle blooms" are totally making this tropical for me and I think I'm smelling something a bit fruity.

 

Drydown: I AM THE JUNGLE QUEEN!!!! Hand me my loincloth, someone, won't you? I love it. It smacks of the tropics, juicy fruits, wet, dripping waxy leaves and banyan trees. What an absolutely kickass scent for summer!

 

Verdict: We wants a bottle. 4.5/5 on Medici's Scale o' Lurrrrrve

[Nekomata]

Wet: Sweet and fruity. I don't smell the bananas though, just some sort of sweet tropical fruit.

 

Dry: A lighter fruity scent, very tropical indeed.

[abberlaine]

Yum! Google reveals Narra to be a type of wood native to the Philippines, Borneo, Burma, New Guinea, Malay Archipelago, and Hawaii.

 

The banana's strong, both in the imp and on the skin. It blooms into a thick, fruity, standing under a banana palm in a tropical resort with a warm breeze blowing the scent towards you. The juicy blossoms and the warm, figgy palms work nicely against the bananas. It dries down to some sort of a spa-grade banana and florals treatment mixed with smooth palm and nara. The latter go a litle bit bitter as the oil dries, but it's not especially unpleasant.

 

If any of you like to treat your hair with hot oil, try scenting your blend with a little bit of this stuff.

 

It's pleasantly sweet, but a little too thick and heavy for me. Still, thumbs up!

[theseagrows]

smells like bubblegum and pencil shavings on me. funny, i usually only get pencil shavings from frankincense. off to the swaps with this one.

[AutumnQueen]

In the imp: Banana Laffy Taffy. It's a wonder I even tried this one on, as I absolutely hate the scent of bananas.

 

On wet: Still kind of banana-y, but there's something floral underneath it, the sampaguita blossoms, I assume.

 

Drydown: Thank god, the banana scent is going away. There's just a hint of foodiness underneath the floral, which isn't bad, actually. I'm picky when it comes to florals, and this one I like. There's a nice woodsy, spicy scent layered underneath it all, too.

 

A couple of hours down the road: This smells delicious. It's exotic and lush, and it makes me feel like running away to some tropical island. Manila's definitely a keeper.

[nerdcraft]

in the vial: How banana-y! I didn't expect banana leaf to smell like the fruit.

wet: Right away, this blooms into a gorgeous fruity tropical floral. So, so pretty. Very much like the description - tropical, humid and lush. I get a bit of a fresh, crisp, almost minty(?) note for a few minutes.

dry: Stays true on me. The banana scent has died down, and the lush, pretty florals take over. Love it.

 

season: Summer.

office-friendly? Yep - this one is definitely noticeable, but not too heavy.

 

overall: I really love this. It lasts a good long while, and I get whiffs of it throughout the day. Although it is definitely tropical, it's a sort of unusual one, not like any other floral I've smelled. I don't recognize any of the notes in it - sampaguita, banana leaf, palm or narra - from other scents I've tried, but I'll definitely look for them in the future.

[desu]

In the imp: A juicy banana.

 

On me: Juicy banana that gradually warms into something not quite so cavity-inducing. A woodsy note starts to creep out to balance the fruitiness.

 

Later on: Feeling rather "meh" about this. It smells like it's trying to be fabulous, but my chemistry is putting the kibbosh on that.

[Melantha]

Very fruity, a little bit floral, a little woody. It's nice, but I don't think it a scent for me; it doesn't give me that "WOW, this makes me happy!" that I get from other of Beth's blends. I'll keep my imp, but no bottle in the offing.

[portalkat]

When I first saw this scent name, I knew that I had to try it since my parents were both from the Philippines. It had such mixed reviews that I tried to stay optimistic, thinking that I would just keep it for the name alone. Well I have been wearing nothing but this scent for 3 days, ever since I bought an imp and I have been wearing unfragranced body creams just so that I don't mix anything with the scent of Manila.

 

Out of the bottle and onto my skin - I get what most of the reviewers got, banana candy. I like banana so this is fine with me, but............hey, where did it go!?!? It was so fleeting that less than a minute (literally) the banana candy disappeared.

 

Wet, after 45 seconds - Sampaguita blossoms, tropical fruits and incense. These notes are so balanced and combine into one very strong and beautiful smell. There is a bit of menthol, but that lasts only a couple of minutes. This stays this way for about 2 - 3 hours.

 

3 hrs + - It is no longer so strong and smelling of incense. It mellows out and gets fruitier and the strong wood, maybe the Narra, gets softer and the whole thing is just so beautiful. The banana is now more of green banana plant, along with soft blossoms, palm and soft wood.

 

This lasted on me for about 14 hours. It probably would have stayed longer, but I had to jump in the shower! After day 2, I ordered a large bottle and I'm searching for another imp just to hold me over until I receive it. I absolutely love this scent and don't know how I can ever live without it!.

[batsy]

In the vial: banana. Particularly reminds me of banana bread.

 

On the skin: Very fruity, very exotic. I can smell palm and the wet warm breezes of an exotic island. It's actually very nice. It changes quite a bit during dry down, to a hazy island in a rainstorm type of scent. The banana still remains strong through out.

[shahrazad]

This is very OMFGBANANAS!! out of the imp, but once it dries down, all I get is the scent of young, green wood, like cutting into a sapling. It's pleasant, so I'll finish it off eventually, but I was hoping my skin chemistry would allow for more complexity.

Edited July 6, 2006 by shahrazad

[edenssixthday]

Manila - Oh, this is a really fun scent! It’s fresh and tropical and has a depth that I am guessing is attributed by all the greenery in it. There is the distinct scent of bananas – but we’re not talking artificial Jolly Rancher banana, we’re talking real, genuine, fresh banana off the tree in a giant bunch, unpeeled, leaves, branch and all. It’s a gorgeous scent with a moderate level of throw and I believe I’m going to find myself wearing it often in the summer. I can’t really see wearing it in the winter at all.

[cranberry]

In the imp, this smelled fruity, warm and tropical. Once on, the tropical fruit smell remains. It's a well blended scent and I'm not familiar with any of the listed ingredients. It does smell a bit like bananas but not full on, ripe bananas. More like banana taffy or other banana flavored candy.

 

Once it's been on a bit, it continues to smell like tropical fruit, maybe a mix of banana and mango or papaya. There's other elements in here for sure, lush florals and damp wood. It's really quite pretty and it reminds me of other scents that I can't think of right now. There's almost something back there that provides some tartness to the scent, like pineapple or kiwi (I'm leaning more towards pineapple).

 

I've never been to that part of the world, so I can't say if it's reminiscent of how it actually smells, but it evokes to me the tropics, moist rainforest, and hot and humid weather. I think I'll keep my imp to sniff during the subzero days of winter.

[PilotKitten]

Oooh yummy… this is exactly what I *expected* Lush’s Jungle to smell like but was so sorely disappointed. It’s a wonderful woodsy jungle scent. The woods are staying calm on me so far (my skin normally really amplifies woods and distorts them into horrible facsimiles of my most horrid nightmares). Not quite fruity but a mango or two would make this scent just perfect… perhaps a layering is in order with some mango-heavy scents….. < runs off to experiment >

[CelestialNM]

Okay, got this as an imp off of eBay. Read the description and knew I had to try.

 

I wasn't disappointed!

 

Bottle (or imp, rather, lol): lovely gorgeous peach color! I smell something floral and something fruity, but not a strong banana scent at all. A bit sweet. Hmm.

 

Wet: Still that sweetness, more fruit is coming out. I sense a bit of aquatic, just a bit.

 

Dry: This is such a happy scent. Very fruity, tropical punch, just a tinge, but yet... I lived in Hawaii, and we used to go hiking in the tropical rainforests, and I'm getting quite a bit of that from this scent, as well as a kind of beachy bit too-- I guess that's the palm. Very buoyant, uplifting, tropical, lovely.

 

I'm not sure if I love it enough to buy a 5ml, but I will definitely be using the imp and then I'll decide. But I'm quite happy with it.

[valentina]

Manila, in the imp, smelled very floral/tropical/banana. It kind of made me want to start singing "The Banana Boat Song." Once it hit my skin, the floral and banana competed for attention, and then the floral won out. It's a very spicy, exotic sort of floral, completely unlike anything I've tried before. Interestingly, on my body, Manila burned off after an hour or so -- normally my body hangs to to floral and woods notes and amps them to an ridiculous degree. But on my body chemistry, Manila was not long-lasting. For anyone who yearns to hang on to the smells of a tropical island vacation, this is the scent for you.