Desire

[hkhm]

The overwhelming agony of passion crystallized into a singularly dark and magnetic blend: bittersweet neroli, black patchouli and black musk, gilded by apple, bergamot, blood red rose, teak, and vanilla.

imp: i'm getting patchouli, musk and a hint of vanilla. thrre is also a faint woodish aroma.

wet: whoa! musk! i'm sure there were other notes here but they seem to all have been gobbled up by musk!

dry: okay, the musk has been tamed a bit and a nice, rich vanilla scent is dominant. the patchouli is soft and there is still just a hint of wood.

[The_Merf]

I generally have serious problems with black musk going wonky on me, but this is one of the more pleasant black musk scents that I've tried. It's certainly the dominant note, but there is rose and vanilla here as well, and they help balance out the black musk. I don't really pick up on the citrusy notes that much, which is unusual because they tend to be very strong on my skin. As this dries down, the vanilla and patchouli are more prominent, but the overall scent throw also drops around this time (this one really is quite a morpher on me though).

[blacklacestatic]

This one was a liitle wacky on me.

 

In the Imp: Boozy, beachy

 

Wet:At first this reminds me of Mailibu Rum. It's got a beachy feel to me, like warm but kinda tropical, stong citrus. I also smell the teak very strongly.

 

Dry: This has dried down a little sweeter, muskier. I get the vanilla now, and it's gotten softer.

 

Overall: This scent makes me think of hot summer nights. I would love to wear this out to a club as I think this is the kinda scent that could keep up with the sweat and the dancing. However when I tested this out I was wearing it to work on a cold winter day. It didn't feel right. Sometimes certain summery scents give you a mood boost in the winter. This did not do that to me. It simply felt out of place. 3.5 out of 5. This score might go higher in the summertime.

[synestheticheart]

In the imp: Sweet with a hint of musk.

Wet on skin: More musk now.

Dry on skin: Smells like a fire burning in the distance! I also smell patchouli now.

 

Interesting. When I first smelled it, it made my sinuses go crazy and I had a sneezing fit. Then it mellowed a bit and my nose could handle the scent. Not sure I'm crazy about it now that I smell my pulse points a couple hours after applying it. I'll have to try it again some other day...

[diamondstars]

I have an imp of this and it wasn't what I was expecting from the description. To me it smells like musky coconut. Unfortunately this isn't for me, as I really can't stand coconut! Nevermind.

 

[azurelunatic]

I just got my imp of this. It doesn't seem to work on me -- it's bitter in the bottle, and bitter wet, and dries out to something spicy but not a spice that works well with my skin, and finally fades to something faint, acceptable, and musky.

[Eutectic]

I got an imp of this and it was love at first sniff. Citrus sweet and the grounding of the patchouli. On it morphed over the dry-down from sharp sweet citrus to spicy warm yum. The rose was very understated and served as a back-note to the other elements nicely, which is rare for me as I amp rose.

 

I ordered a bottle the next update and counted the days till I could slather this one with wild abandon...

 

It came and I let everthing warm up and then I opened the bottle all excited...

 

Rose....nothing but rose. No warm citrus, no vanilla, roseroserose.....with a very faint hint of all that I loved in the imp way in the back. It was heartbreaking. So I have set it aside and hope with age it will get better but right now it is unwearable as the blend becomes all rose on my skin.

 

I tested the imp and the bottle side by side and they are like two different oils. I am so dissappointed....

[akiko]

I also got coconut from this. But my arch-nemesis, rose, doesn't make an appearance. Extremely unusual.

 

Imp: Coconut?

 

Wet: Acrid Coppertone.

 

Dry: Vanilla and maybe musk. Very light and powdery. Not at all what I expected from the horrid acrid stage. And, surprisingly, NO ROSE. For me, this is a good thing, as I dislike florals.

[Thursdae]

I'd tested Desire a year ago. "I'll use up the imp," I thought. "No need for more."

 

Today I retested Desire and it hadn't been on my wrist for more than three seconds before I was jumping up and down and sniffing in wonder! Oh me oh my!

 

Dusky, slightly spicy and slightly floral, Desire puts me in mind of Serge Lutens' Arabie. Altogether yummy and a new world's record in getting onto my buy-a-bottle list.

Edited January 25, 2008 by Thursdae

[TPOD]

Huh. I got an imp of this and I loved it. It was a perfect blend - not too foody, not too floral, not too incensy. It was just right and sexy as hell. So, naturally I ordered a bottle.

 

Trouble is, the bottle doesn't really smell much like what I had in the imp. There is something really too sharply sour and nasty that just kind of overtakes everything.

 

I am going to try this later and hope for different chemistry. I suspect it needs to be aged to get that sharpness out and mellow into the smooth, rounded scent that it should be.

 

ETA: 5 months later and I pulled it out of the cellar and tried it. Things are much, much better. It's no longer sharp, but it hasn't yet reached it's full potential. I could and will wear it now, so I can watch the progress a bit more closely.

Edited May 23, 2008 by Hoyden

[blu°]

Received a sniffie of this with a swap and am happy about it as I always had been curious about Desire. However, I backed away from ordering an imp as my experience with black musk hasn't been all that pleasant so far.

 

Freshly applied this is black musk with something that I mistook for rice flower... I think I had it mixed up with The Temptation in my memory of notes listings. I guess it really is the vanilla.

 

Fortunately the black musk doesn't stay as strong as right after application. After a while, this becomes a lot softer. I don't really get anything fruity or floral. Much in the same way that I don't really smell the apple in Midway.

 

It's kind of a round, slightly smoky and woody musk scent, and actually reminds me a bit of the feel of Black Lace. I'd love to get another imp as the one I got had only the tiniest amount left, and I'd need a couple more testings before I'd be able to decide on the bottle-worthiness of Desire.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: A dark, thick smoky scent with wafting hints of perfume-y and herbal notes.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells dark, but has a nice sweet quality wafting about it. I think the higher notes of the scent are the vanilla and teak (it’s sweet, warm, and slightly woody) but it reminds me a lot of coconut. The body of the scent is a blend of the dark patchouli and musk. Those notes are rather dry, but they aren’t gritty.

 

After a little while: This has gotten a little less sweet and the components have blended together a little more, so this smells of dark, unsweetened coconut over a base of musk and light patchouli. It’s a smoky and very deep scent, and a little bitter. The black musk has fortunately not gone powdery on me, and gives this a nice depth.

 

Overall Impressions: I have no idea how I get coconut from this, but I do. The notes work together in very intriguing ways in this blend, and make me want to sniff more.

This is definitely a complex one. Unfortunately it’s one of the blends I like smelling, but don’t see myself smelling like, so the imp will be enough for me. This might smell wonderful on a guy though.

[eyeska]

Normally I don't break my reviews down like this, but this was so striking:

 

In the imp: Sweet, strong liquor of an unidentified type. Ack!

Wet on skin: Sugary sweet candy. Cheap candy. Oh, nooo, what have I gotten myself into?

Dry on skin: Oh. Ooh. Musk. And patchouli! Oh, hello, there's some rose there, too. And . . . oh, vanilla, was that YOU cloying up the place? This is much nicer. Sweet and delicious, with a tiny bit of wood and not-entirely-definable darkness. Worth the five minutes to wait out the candy stage.

 

The longer I wear it, the more prominent the vanilla is, but not in the overpowering (and scary to a non-foodie!) way it was in the beginning. This is as dark as Oblivion, but sweeter. I don't think I'll get a bottle (<3 Oblivion!), but I will definitely be keeping the imp.

[soonyi]

wet, neroli, black musk, bergamot, and teak are the full, bottom notes. spme of the apple, rose red and vanilla peak through. surprisingly, i like it so far cos usually i cannot take the heavier, darker scents, especially those with neroli, blakc musk or patchouli

 

dry, oh no no no the black musk and patchouli have come alive and stomped on all the other notes. this is way too heavy and black for me.

 

i am going to try and age this one and see what happens

[sadtomato]

i'm not getting lemon at all like a lot of people said they were.

in the bottle i get a sweet smell tempered by florals.

it's yummy and gives me high hopes.

 

on my skin it's exactly like in the bottle at first.

dries to a bit of a powdery smell which i usually don't like, but this one has a dark sweetness and dark floral behind it which i'm still really liking a lot despite the floral.

 

After a few hours it's dark and a mix of bitter and sweet.

Kind of sexy and sultry.

This one is a keeper so I'm glad I nabbed the whole bottle off ebay!

[savage_rose]

Sweetness with a hint of apple and an undercurrent of spice. So sexy, so lovely.

[darlingarmadillo]

It smells like coconut to me, too, but it's a deep, musky, sophisticated coconut. I can tell there's bergamot in it, too. It's quite a light scent on me, not too strong. Very nice, though I'm not sure I'll get a big bottle. That's more to do with the amount of BPAL I already have though, not a reflection on Desire.

[sirsaber]

My oh my...... this is the total scent I equate to what used to be my favorite club before it closed. The place was called Sanctuary and it had an amazing ambience. In the back were church pews and it was eerily lit by those wish candles you find in catholic churches. The next room was a dimly lit room that reminded me of an old saloon. This reminds me of it. Dark roses with a hint of something else.......Once again...not a masculine scent but definitely a seductive one..

[charshark]

In the imp: I smell apple and bergamot with spicy patchouli and a bit of vanilla.

 

Wet: Musky and sugary and I definitely detect the blood red rose in this.

 

Dry: Nice blend of musk and patchouli with a hint of vanilla and fruit that dries to powdery goodness. It's also woodsy and mysterious.

 

Overall: It's definitely desirable, heh. I like the powdery finish.

[marared]

Wet, this smells green right away on me - like bounding through the bushes green. I'm assuming this is the teak plus the bergamot, but it's not any bergamot I've ever smelled before (at least not in my tea!) The green is quickly beaten into submission as it dries, though, by the vanilla and ... I think it's the rose, maybe the musk. Which is interesting, because my skin seems to amp rose, but here the vanilla is more dominant. There's no hint of apple whatsoever.

[AEris]

My first impression of Desire is that it reminds me of the Dungeon room spray. This is definitely a good thing!

 

It starts out with apple and musk, then develops to let the hint of patchouli come out along with the crisp rose note.

 

I like it better wet than I do after it dries down. It's very unique and sexy, but I feel like it's too intense, even for me. It just overwhelms my senses, it's like eating too much chocolate or something.

 

3.2 out of 5

[BelleAnge]

This smells very much like Snake Oil on me. Mostly a vanilla scent.

[Iceblink]

Desire is SO sensual. Black mush + vanilla + teak=HOT. The bergamot and fruits give it a spiciness but the overall feeling is musky vanilla, and it's wonderful. I could see this working on a man well, too, since the fruits aren't too sweet. Love it!

[maika]

In the imp, it's all about the apples...and I'm not entirely sure I want to smell like apples, but here goes!

 

Wet on me, still apples, but I can smell the patchouli too...interesting, but still not entirely sure I want to smell like that, either.

 

Dry, we have a winner! The rose and musk are more obvious pulling the whole thing together, and my nose is now VERY happy.

 

Half an hour or so down the track, and I can finally smell the neroli and the teak. And if I loved it before, that's nothing compared to how happy it makes me now...must go order!

[gingiemay]

Wet in imp - Patchouli, musk and vanilla.

 

Wet on skin - Patchouli, musk and baby powder.

 

Dry on skin - Same as wet on skin, except the vanilla has faded and the baby powder, musk and patchouli are more noticable. Not a fan.