L’Essence de la Passion

[Akurarei]

L'ESSENCE DE LA PASSION
Red musk, carnation, myrrh, and honey.

In the Bottle:
Myrrh & red musk - with a touch of carnations.

On my Skin, Wet:
The Myrrh blossoms with a center of red musk.
There is also a prominent honey note in this stage...like carnation infused honey.

On my Skin, Dry:
A very nice balance of red musk & Myrrh.
The carnation infused honey adds a touch of flirtyness to this sensual blend

Verdict:
this is a lovely blend indeed.
very well balanced and with just the right amount of youthful girly-ness to an otherwise womanly scent.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

My beloved red musk! On my skin, the carnation and honey tames the sexy red musk. As it dries, the myrrh takes over and gives the scent a sensual powderiness. I'm surprised how light the throw is, or maybe my nose is messed up. It doesn't last long on my skin like other red musk scents do.

 

This isn't that remarkable now, but I'm keeping it to age and re-test in a few months.

[VioletChaos]

In The Bottle: Carnation honey. All carnation honey, all the time.

 

Wet On Skin: WOW- the carnation is REALLY strong. This smells like fresh cut actual carnations, not like a spicy perfume note as I experienced in Pink Moon, for instance. I sure hope it stays! *Fingers crossed*

 

Dry Down: The carnation in this is AWESOME. I have been waiting literally for YEARS to find a real carnation, as they are my favorite flower. and this is IT. Yes, there's some honey in the mix, and maybe a touch of the myrrh. I get NO red musk, strangely, as I usually amp that. But I'm okay with it, because the carnation is just so so so good.

 

In All: Medium throw, rich, husky and sensual, this is a great floral for those that don't like florals. I am positive it's only going to get better with age.

 

Woo Hoo!

[OctoberGwen]

This is nice on me, very well blended, which is good because honey can go either way. Primarily I get red musk and carnation, with myrrh underneath.

 

In general, I like my red musk with a dollup of danger (Lucy, Kissed; Witch Queen) or intrigue (Pirate Moon). Passion is lovely, as anything with red musk is, but it's not terribly exciting to my nose. With time, it may deepen.

 

In fact, I'm counting on it.

 

 

2/16/12 ETA: As with pretty much every bottle I buy Lab fresh, this just needed some time to "set". It is now a gorgeous, sexy blend of myrrh and carnation with just a hint of honey and my beloved red musk anchoring the whole. I really, really love this and I believe it will only get better with age.

 

And it is FABULOUS with the matching bath oil!

 

 

10/10/12 ETA: This only gets better, folks. I'm pretty sure the carnation is the Spanish Red variety, now that I've smelled that as a single note. Passion is absolutely gorgeous and beautifully blended, and for once the honey stays firmly subdued on my skin (just the way I like it.) SO happy to have a bottle of this.

Edited October 10, 2012 by OctoberGwen

[theseagrows]

i have to remind myself that my skin chemistry and tastes are changing! when i saw the notes in this i immediately knew i had to have it, because i have a big love for sexy, red-musk, carnationy scents. bpal's honey note doesn't always work, but i figured that it would work here. this IS a really beautiful and sexy scent, but the red musk is so strong. i think my skin amps it, and i used to like very strong, sexy scents, but lately i've been into softer scents more. i still like these musky-oriental-floral sexy scents, but i just don't wear them as often as i used to, and i have a lot of them

 

that being said! this is pretty gorgeous. it starts out as a mish-mash of all the notes with the red musk most prominent. once the red musk calms down a bit, the myrrh comes through and the carnation fades a bit. the honey adds a weird straw-like feel, which bpal's honey note seems to do on me. luckily it's not too strong in this blend. now it's a perfumy red musk and honey-very passionate indeed!

 

ETA: it's now been on for about half an hour more and the honey has amped up. i get that weird dry straw-note that NO ONE else seems to get from bpal's honey. it is so odd. not sure i want to keep this scent if the honey stays this strong and for this long.

Edited February 10, 2012 by theseagrows

[tativa]

O type honey... but here it almost smells like rootbeer.

 

O and Inez had a baby who loves rootbeer.

 

It has promise though, as I HATED Inez at first, and now its one of my fav scents. And this is much less ugh atm than most carnation scents start out on me. I think its the red musk love. This seems like a diffrent red musk than usual though, a little less patcholli, a little less fruit, and more musk. With rootbeer.

[sharkdiver]

This is beautiful! On first application, its wonderful red musk, with a blast of carnation, the myrhh and honey soften the floral part a bit, and round out the scent after a while as it dries.

 

Typically, I am not one to reach for strong florals, but this is gorgeous. It layers beautifully with the passion bath oil!

[ajansuz]

In the bottle: The red musk and the honey are what really jump out at me, but I'm also somewhat congested, so my sniffer isn't completely up to par.

 

Wet: This is really beautiful, but I used WAY too much for testing. The throw is nearly overwhelming with something in it actually burning the back of my throat. As this has never happened with any of the notes listed in this to me before, I have no idea what's doing it. It's almost like a tobacco note.

 

Dry: Lasting power and throw out the wazoo. That tobacco scent still lingers. This is much more perfume-y than I associate with most of BPAL and BPTP scents. I'm not saying that as a negative. It's not commercial or artificial, just wow, knock your socks off strong. Sadly, I never did get any individual carnation scent out of this, which I was hoping for. It's still beautiful. I just need to apply way, way less of it next time.

[symphonyinsilence]

I inhaled this in the imp and my eyes rolled back in my head. I love red musk anything, so I just had to try this.

 

On my skin, it's red musk (much like Smut), carnation (I have tried this flower at BPAL before? It's incredible! Reminds me of something out of my grandfather's garden - been looking for it forever!) and honey. Sexyyy.

 

I need a bottle.

Edited February 23, 2012 by symphonyinsilence

[Incendiare]

This is obvious red musk in the vial, and I swear I smell something barn-like. I have a feeling that it's just how the carnation and myrrh are playing with the red musk, because if I try get past that smell, I can break it down and detect a bit of carnation in there. Ech, yeah, on me it gets even more barn-like. What the hell is wrong with me? I love all the notes in here but I guess my nose merely doesn't approve of the combination. At least after a few minutes, the carnation is starting to separate itself from the rest of the notes and become more prominent. It's been about fifteen minutes in and nothing is changing. No dice for me.

[Celtic Goddess]

This blend is not at all what I expected but it's quite good. Don't ask me why, but this one always smells like cocoa when I put it on (no cocoa listed...what gives?). This is strange as it doesn't seem to be a complex blend and I haven't had this happen with other honey, myrrh scents. I won't complain, because it is quite decadent and unique (all of which I love). Definately a hit.

[midnight_aeval]

First spot I skin tested on was RED MUSK right away. About 5 min later, the red musk is subdued and it's almost pulpy? Like what the inside of a pumpkin smells like when you first open it. Odd... The second area I tested on, I get mostly spicy carnation with a touch of musky honey. I think my body is seriously f*#&ing with me. In any event, the scent in either place isn't really my kind of scent.

[Kamanjah]

I tried just a dab on my right wrist because of the review said it was so strong. Musk and honey, yum! Then the carnation. Oh, this is wonderful! I can just imagine what aging will do! I expect the myrrh to show up during dry down. Love this!

The myrrh joined in later, I kinda lost track of when because I was testing several scents and not taking the best of notes.

This is very long lasting on my skin and is a perfect blend of some of my favorite notes. After 24+ hours, the left over scent was almost identical to Variety of Pleasing Amusements (which I had on my left wrist at the same time & is equally long lasting) – myrrh & honey.

I have worn this several times and only need to apply a minimal amount to have a wonderfully wearable scent.

This is definitely on my big bottle list!

[lahdeedah]

This is lovely, but I almost never dislike anything with honey and red musk in it. On me, the honey and myrrh are really the strongest notes. It's a nice, round honey, deepened by the myrrh. Red musk definitely comes into play, but I get very little carnation, just a twinge of spice that lets me know it's hanging around in the background. Wish it were a bit stronger on the carnation, because I LOVE carnations. Really I love all these notes to pieces, which is why I sprung for a bottle unsniffed. Worked out pretty good!

[DrKate]

On first testing I'm surprised and a bit disappointed because all I get is strong headache-inducing floral carnation. No red musk whatsoever. I will be hanging on to this to retest in a few weeks but so far it's a big miss

[joyfulgirl]

in the bottle: almost all myrrh, actually...spice spice and more spice with a bit of carnation. this has me a tiny bit worried...where is my musk?!

 

oh my skin: this turns to almost all airy, waft-y carnation...there is a bit of myrrh holding down the low end...oh wait, oh wait...i smell a tiny bit of something. could it be...? oh YES...holy red musk and carnation combo, batman! i was a little worried that the carnation would turn powdery or overly floral on me, but the red musk has finally showed up and it is playing SO nice with the carnation...the myrrh adds a nice spicy counter-note. oddly enough i am not getting any honey at all, but i'm not too sad about that. this is amazingly beautiful as it is!

 

bottom line: this bottle is a total keeper! i shall cherish it. thank you puddin' for yet another amazing creation!

[Schmoozy]

Woaaaaaaaaaaaah. At first this is way to much red musk, in fact combined with honey it is simply overpowering. However, once it settles down it is actually beautiful. The carnation and myrrh help to temper the sickly sweet combo of musk & honey and also add a spicy element to the sweet.

[zankoku_zen]

Red musk and carnation (where have I smelled this before) with an O-type honey becoming more prominent on the drydown.

 

Sultry, sexy, honey.

[milo]

Incense and red musk here, though very well blended so none overpower the other. Not getting any carnation or honey, though the carnation may be adding some of the spice in the incense. This reminds me a bit of Hygeia, though not as much red musk. This is nice, but the decant will suffice.

[calivianya]

Just realized I never reviewed this - which is a good thing, actually. I tried it shortly after getting it while the update was still up, and was nearly nauseated from the strength of the floral/red musk combo. I didn't get rid of it straight away because I had hopes that it would mellow, but I haven't touched it since until tonight.

 

Wet on my skin: The floral/musk ridiculously strong whack-me-upside-the-head combo is still there, but I saw someone say this has changed with aging, so... I'm not going to wash it off yet.

Dry: Wow. This scent does a total 180 from wet to dry. Dry, this is mostly carnation and honey! The red musk is still there, but it's faint, and I'm not really getting the myrrh, though it may be a subtle part of the spiciness.

 

This is still a little bit overpowering for me. It's definitely a going out on the town scent. I would not recommend wearing this to work or for any serious occasions. I recommend this scent for sexytimes and dancing. It's just that kind of a scent - it's very sultry and very powerful, so it needs careful handling so you don't knock people over with it. BPAL/BPTP is not kidding with this one; it really is the essence of passion. I like it a lot better than I did at first, and I'm really surprised it's improved this much, so I guess I'll continue to hold onto my bottle and hope that it gets even better with more time.

[Little Bird]

This starts off as a very strong, sharp, dry carnation that reminds me of hairspray. As it dries down, there's that note + the sticky-sweet honey and a bit of warm, smoky red musk. I usually have good luck with carnation (I love Hod, a bunch of the Pink Moons, and Maiden), but this one turns soapy on me as it dries down. Smells like a warm, sultry, honey scented bar of soap and a spritz of sharp, chemical-y hairspray.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Little Bird

[Juushika]

In the vial: Red musk and honey, a blushing and thick scent but not too bright or cloying.

 

On me: What is says on the tin: warm red musk; red, dry, spicy carnation; myrrh which leans towards incense, brown and slightly powdery; thick smooth honey which offers more texture than sweetness. The carnation is strong when it hits the skin but dies down during wear, which is my only big complaint; it is such a promising, bold carnation at the start. Three of these notes (all but the carnation) often go sweet on me, but La Passion keeps itself in check—perhaps because three of the scents (all but honey) tend towards powdery, and the two aspects balance one another. The result is a red scent, tending a bit towards pure red musk (which I amp), but exhibiting all its aspects: warm, spiced, leaning towards but not quite reaching dry, palatable and quite lovely. Scent color is (surprise!) red; throw is high but not overpowering, and wearlength is moderate to long.

 

Verdict: Carnation is my beloved, so I'm sad to see this one fade; red musk amps on me, so La Passion reads a bit like every other red musk blend. Nonetheless this is lovely: the notes are beautiful in concert, and the scent is a warm red beauty. I'll keep my decant, but don't need more.

[kashmira]

I received this as a decant in a swap. In the decant, it is all red musk all the time. On my skin immediately it turns into myrrh-madness. Apparently, my body loves myrrh way too much.

 

30 minutes later:

The carnation and red musk are having a little tussle with the myrrh; no winner is being declared. They're all on the mat in a pile of notes.

 

an hour later: still no winner, but red musk is twitching a bit more than the other two. There is a sweetness that is making a brief appearance ringside as well.

 

Two hours later: Myrrh is declared the winner by default.

 

Overall, I like it. I'm glad I have my decant, but I don't know that I would try to find a bottle.

[HerbGirl]

:-( Damn you honey.

I looove Red Musk, Myrrh and Carnation.

I can't wear Honey.

I keep trying to love this but the honey keeps funkifying the blend for me. I wish there was no honey because this could have been amazing.

[filigree_shadow]

I love red musk and myrrh, but I don't like carnation (it's usually way too loud on me, and not my favorite floral note anyway) and honey very often does that weird play-doh badness on me (I can't wear scents like O at all). So I wasn't expecting much here, but I always try everything, just in case.

 

Imagine my surprise. The carnation is very nicely balanced here and not overpowering, and even more unbelievably, the honey isn't ruining it at all. In fact, I think it's making it smell better. It's making the red musk smell smoother and sexier, if that's even possible. Deep, smooth, and fairly unrelenting. Not a playful scent. A purposeful one.

 

Very, very nice.