Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge 2024

[Jenjin]

Cream accord, amber, teak, and lotus blossom.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I admit I was a bit scared when I ordered three bottles of this, unsniffed. I adored the original Glowing Vulva— and would’ve been devastated if this didn’t smell like the iconic BPAL perfume I remembered. 

 

while I don’t have the imp I cherished years ago to compare this to— this surprisingly did not disappoint. it’s the same hypnotic scent I remembered: lactonic and sweet, but soft and mildly woodsy. the lotus gives this a hint of sweetness that’s tempered with luscious cream, softly-glowing amber, and teak notes. 

 

truly a glorious post-sex afterglow!
 

 

[bunnicula]

Just got my package two days ago, so this is a first impression test and is subject to change with more rest!!

In the bottle: interestingly.. i'm getting a "yogurty" "tangy" note that i believe is probably coming from the cream accord Freshly applied: yup, it's the cream accord goin a little tart yogurt! However, the tangy-ness dies down a lot within like a minute or two! And then it becomes this.. creamy wood with only the slightest "yogurt tang" to it? lol

Drydown: it goes through a phase where i'm getting a lot of that teakwood note, and it's gorgeous! i think combined with the cream and a little bit of amber, it makes the wood smell all soft and vanillic. any yogurt tang is fully gone now. I also never really get any lotus? finally it ends up being a light powdered sugary cream amber blended perfectly with the teak. this really smells luxurious and i get why it was such a beloved favorite! it wears a little close to the skin so i would probably apply more heavily next time. but wow i love it already!!

[jiggahava]

Creamy, freshly washed skin, a surefire crowd pleaser fragrance. Powdery amber, but in a way that blends well with the cream, rounding out the clean skin effect. The lotus is contributing a sweet floral blackground, almost bubblegummy.

Very consistent and linear, a few hours in it remains a cream-like skin scent, with light projection. I don't associate it with sexiness as much as I do comfort. The equivalent of a warm sweater on a chilly day.

Edited March 11 by jiggahava

[redharlequin]

In the bottle: Creamy, smooth, almost buttery, with a powdery woodsy quality.

 

On the skin: The powderiness is more pronounced on the skin, but its still very creamy and smooth. It’s still woodsy, but now with an additional greenness to it from the lotus, which thankfully is not going bubblegum. Its very elegant and perfume-y, and reminds me a lot of a vintage ladies’ scent. I will say that I expected it to be sweeter than it is. I think this is nice but I’m not sure if its for me.

[MadameGorgon]

I dont think of myself as a floral perfume person.  I associate florals with “high femme” style, which i decidedly am not even when i wear dresses and makeup and paint my nails.  “Girly” has never been a word people use to describe me.

 

But honestly, that’s such a silly, narrow view.  Masculine people can smell wonderful in florals and some very typical masculine coded fragrances are formulated with florals like lavender and neroli, and others.

 

I like the other notes- cream, amber, teak- but was unfamiliar with lotus, so i was prepared to pass on this scent.

 

However, rave review after rave review after rave review convinced me to give it a shot.

 

In the bottle it was kind of non-descript.  Nothing special, but not offensive.

 

Dabbed some on today and it really is just lovely.

 

It stays close to the skin.  It’s fresh without being too clean.  A “your skin, but better” kind of scent.  It’s very soft, but i wouldnt describe it as “girly” in spire of the pretty whisper of floral.

 

I’m always going the be a gritty incense person and a lover of the butteriest and fruitiest gourmands, and a zippy zesty citrus sniffer.  But sometimes you don’t want to smell like a funeral dirge, or a dessert buffet, or an exhilarating squirt of lemon juice to the eye.

 

Sometimes you want to smell like a fluffy, cloud, soft as a warm bunny.  The palest peachy pink cupped by delicate blue lavender shadow. 

 

Sometimes you don’t want your sillage trailing behind you in a heady miasma for the entire world to smell.  Sometimes upu want to keep it between you and the one who embraces you just the way you like and gently lays their head on your shoulder, nuzzling your neck.

 

Glowing Vulva of Ryogoku is that moment.  Not femme, but the fluffiest cloud of baby bunny warm fur nectar drizzled sweetness.  For Softfolk when the world could stand to be a little fuzzier around the edges.

[Failmingo]

I had no recollection of this from the original release, and thus have no basis for comparison. From a bottle-sniff alone I wouldn't have thought much of it: creamy and wispy, faintly pink at the edges, all in a relatively unsentimental way: comforting without being particularly inviting.

 

I think it must be one of those scents that's densely packed together like an accordion, expanding once it makes contact with air, because within a few moments on the skin I felt like someone in one of those cinematic dolly zoom shots:

 

 

Each of the listed notes has deepened somehow, unfolding dimensionally. I'm getting several layers of cream, a polished wood base, and a scattering of pale floral bokeh twinkles. I truly went from a "meh" in the first two minutes to finding myself continually distracted by this scent over the next two hours, because of how seductive it was. I kept catching myself thinking it was a scent someone else was wearing. Nope, that's me!

 

In the drydown there are elements of overlap with other creamy scents I love: Melon Cream Cake, and Noisy Goose Moon. This one is more grownup, I suppose, a bit more wistful, less overtly foodie. Really happy I gave it a try, because I've been so buried in Shungas that most have only gotten a superficial sniff so far. 

[BetteNoire]

I have never understood why anyone would want to smell like food, especially dairy containing food. BUT someone said this dried down to a more femme version of Antikythera Mechanism so I took a chance.

 

On wet, it smells like Yakgul, those little creamsicle tasting yogurt drinks you get at the end of a Korean BBQ meal. Then it straight up disappears for 10 minutes. 

 

Once it dries down it really does do something Antikythera adjacent. The lotus doesn't read as specifically lotus to me but is an airy, non-powdery floral, and combined with the amber and teak it's much more complex than it's simple notes list and has depth I didn't expect.

 

The throw is quieter than some, but I feel like this means it'll stun without overwhelming in warm weather.

[ND¢]

I broke out my low partial of the original to see what I thought, for those interested in direct comparison. The wood? or something in the 2024 reads as slightly more aromatic when it goes on wet? Original, the first impression is a thump of teak that is absolutely smooth, twined with a yogurt cream note. Here there is more, IDK, fuzz surrounding. Not overwhelmingly so. The drydown is not identical; there is more of the sweet fuzz with a pretty, light, non bubblegum throw. HOWEVER, it is close AND I think the re-release would have wider appeal for some reason. There is something a little more... obscure about the drydown of the original. Apologies for not having a better way to describe all this. 

[becca_s]

This one is a morpher for me, on initial application I get the cream and teak wood notes. Over time I get more of the lotus and amber. Normally for me lotus is a sweet, watery note, here it is not watery but still very sweet. It dried down to being a creamy,  pink scent with a hint of powderiness from the amber. I think it shares some similarities to Triumphant vulva from a few years ago. I was hoping that the teak would hang around a bit longer but this is still a lovely scent and I can see why people love it. 

Edited March 29 by becca_s

[Weirdgirlpilled]

Mmmmmmmm Creamy sexy vanilla with a woody base to keep it from landing too much in icecreamsville. It’s definitely sweet but the wood grounds it perfectly- this IS “hoard-worthy obsession-level my-heart-only beats-for-Thee” kind of perfume. It smells expensive, it’s sexy and comforting, and my god it LASTS. I put some on around 10 PM last night and its still here well over 14 hours later. I smell incredible.

 

[doomsday_disco]

Note: I have never tried the original.

 

The teak is the star of the show on me throughout wear, backed by the amber, with just hints of cream and lotus. I swear I also get a hint of red patchouli here, and I don't know if it is part of the teak or amber note, or if it's just an impression I'm getting from the way the two mingle with each other. This is surprisingly darker on me than I had expected... it's not even a cousin to Blossoming Vulva (which also features amber and lotus, but different kinds -- and I feel the amber in this is a darker variety and not the golden amber from that scent). It has great throw, too: I applied this to the back of my hand and it lasted all day, and I didn't even have to get super close to smell it.

 

I'm going to have to give this a full day of wear to really see how I feel about it. I enjoy it, but I was also hoping for some more sweetness from the lotus, and some more creaminess from the cream. But this was very strongly woody/resinous on me, with a hint of red patchouli. So I have to do a full-day slather and see how that goes before deciding whether or not I need more of this.

[Tamarinda]

I don't know what this smells like, but it is interesting. I suppose the note I'm smelling is the lotus. Honestly, I have no idea how to categorize this. It smells smooth, which must be the cream accord. I don't notice any amber, powdery or otherwise. I can't place anything woody, which I'm fine with because most woods smell bad on me. And the lotus does not smell floral, but I've never smelled lotus flowers before, so what do I know?

 

The verdict for me is unfamiliar, but interesting. I like what I'm smelling even if it puts me off just a little because it's so novel to my nose. Hopefully time will bring out the other notes in a pleasant way. I like this. I do not understand why, but I do. GVaRB lasts at least six hours and has moderate projection on my skin. I do not regret blind bottling this perfume even though it was a total gamble. May it continue to play well with my ever-evolving skin chemistry!

[LavenderCoffee]

For me, the teak is peak! In a joyous union with the other notes, a creamy golden teak, well and truly glowing. It smells rich, in every sense of the word. A stunner.

[sudenmorsian]

This is divine. I mean. DIVINE. Kid you not. It's soft and rich and sweet and golden, everything is beautifully blended. I was bit worried about the teak because it doesn't always play nicely with my skin chemistry, but it's luckily pretty light and in the background here. This is creamy vanilla with most beautiful lotus blossom. 

 

I put Glowing Vulva to one wrist and The Antikythera Mechanism to another and they surely are same family, the latter being stronger and more masculine. Bold, beautiful pair. Somehow I keep on thinking Snake Oil when I sniff Glowing Vulva, but maybe it's just me. 

[Amoraexcena]

It's the scent of a promising young courtesan, about to make her big debut. She whispers and teases and lightly brushes your face with elegant fingers, leaving a trace of her scent on you. You can't help but fall for her. 

 

Your skin but better, lightly sweet, pink bokeh sparkles. You know Twilight vampires? Like their shimmery skin, during a golden-pink sunset. Creamy, gently sweet floral, and grounded with a hint of teak. It's a soft scent, very slather-able. Good thing I got 4 bottles!

[Jenjin]

I tried a decant of this years ago, and wasn't blown away enough to look for more. Regardless, had to try this newest release. 
This is a "must have" for those who like clean, feminine fragrances. The lotus makes it sweet while the teak is very golden dry, almost dusty. It does smell a bit like makeup, in a good way, but does not last long. I'd say its a great everyday scent, very simple and elegant. It's for those days when you don't want to smell like perfume, just your own warm body scent,  but better. 
 

[amoray]

This is a waft-y fragrance for me. It's just tendrils of pink root beer around me. It does threaten to go baby powder on me but then wafts out a lil sassyfras (although that MUST be the teak lol) and doesn't. This is mail freasssssh so maybe that is why. I can't stop smelling it. I too am in awe of this Glowing V. 

[Little Bird]

My old bottle of Ryogoku Bridge was all about the powdery amber and an oddly dank, moldering teak note.  My bottle of 2024 is all about the gourmand facets, and I am thrilled with it.  First applied, it smells like marshmallow mixed with a cool white floral perfume, like a bouquet of lilies and some creamy white musk.  Bpal's lotus usually smells like bubblegum on me, but this is lily-like, super creamy, and cool toned along with being sweet.  Dries down to a perfect sugared sweet cream scent with golden undertones.  The amber is a golden halo enveloping everything in romantic candlelight.  Beautiful, and it lasts all day on me.  Hoardworthy.

[tigermilking]

This one doesn't work for me until about an hour after I put it on. The teak note is aggressive and I wish I could give it to the people who want more teak! But after that calms down, it's just a beautiful cloud of something I can't quite put my finger on but enjoy. 

[Poenari]

I never had the original perfume, but I had the original bath oil (8 oz. bottles y'all!) and wore the hell out of it as an after shower moisturizer. So I couldn't wait to order this perfume when it returned! Granted, it's been several years since I last had any of the bath oil, but this perfume immediately brought those memories back. 

 

On my skin and as I remembered, the teak and amber are the notes that bloom on my skin. There is a vanilla kind of note to their mixture, which may be the cream note but fortunately, because I really dislike milk and cream and dairy notes, it stays as it is and keeps the teak and amber smooth. I don't really smell the lotus but overall this is neither a foodie nor a floral on me. The sum is so much greater than the parts. 

 

If my BPAL collection wasn't already so large, I would order a backup bottle. But at my age I am seriously trying to use what I have without getting more backups of those I love. So one bottle of this beauty will have to suffice. It's gorgeous.

[vixen of pie]

Ah, Glowing V. She lives up to the hype. I put this on, and it develops in such a magnificent way that is so smooth and refined in the most olfactory delightful way. 

 

When I applied this wet, it starts off as woodsy, though not in your face wood. It's wood, with cream and something vanillic. As it dries down, the wood mellows and the creamy vanilla and amber just glow and it emanates and makes me feel like a classy b. This really is like a beautiful courtesan in a palace tapping her fingernails on the polished table and looking at you with a smirk knowing she's that baddie. 

 

I have another scent that seems to be like a sister scent to this to my nose. If you ever tried the pricey eNVie saphir, this is almost identical, not quite but like siblings. While saphir has the same amber and vanilla chorus, it has a more nuanced delicate papyrus in place of the teak of Glowing V. I am happy I got a bottle of this.

Edited August 7 by vixen of pie