Hollywood Babylon

[Christine Daae]

The essence of innocence shattered: glittering Egyptian amber and heliotrope, infused with the sweetness of strawberry and vanilla - dragged into debauch by lusty red musk and a dribble of black cherry.

 

In the bottle: Strawberry-sweet!

 

Wet: Still sticky-sweet strawberry, plus the sweet cherry, and a bit of the musk, too. Very sweet!

 

Drydown: More strawberry, less cherry, and the vanilla starts to peek out.

 

While wearing: Oh, I am so-so-so glad that I ordered a 5mL of this. This is so sticky-sweet and glittery. This is so very Hollywood ingenue, I can't even stand it. More Marilyn than Grace or Audrey. This has the same vibe as Lolita, to me, but it's like Lolita in her glamourous red-lipsticked wannabe-starlet phase. Definitely encapsulates the idea of a girl going off to Hollywood to become a star and getting lost on the casting couch. Vanilla-strawberry-heliotrope sweet yumminess.

Edited May 4, 2006 by Christine Daae

[Miss Lynx]

Courtesy of the lovely and kind Purplegirl, who included this as a frimp with the 5mL of Red Lantern I bought from her for Kettu, I finally have my own imp of Hollywood Babylon.

 

This is another scent I never would have originally imagined I'd like, but I do. It sounds from the notes like it would be an uber-sweet teenybopper scent, but it's not on me. While it is a bit sweeter and more girly than many of my favourites, it doesn't make me smell like a candy store.

 

In the imp, and when first applied, the cherry and heliotrope dominate it, and it is a bit scary at that point. But they soon die down, and then it's a lovely berry/amber/vanilla/musk -- light enough to seem good for spring, but with a warm, aromatic, incensey base that keeps it from being too sparkly. And over time, it fades down to just a soft amber/musk skin-scent.

 

It definitely fits in with the way that the coming of spring has made me crave lighter scents, and also has a bit of a festive feel to it -- my first time wearing it was to a party, and that seemed quite fitting. I don't know that it would ever be an everyday scent for me, but it's quite nice for bright spring days and festive occasions.

 

Grade: B+

[bookishgrrl]

Wet on skin: Delicious! I can pick out many of the individual notes, and the musky sugary sweet fruit is swoon-worthy! I love this from the starting gate. Until...

 

Dry on skin: (10 minutes later)... strawberry incense. When I was about 12 or so my teenaged friend constantly burned strawberry incense from Spencer's. Though I'm not opposed to a little trip down memory lane now and again, it's not the scent I want to project, so I'm heartily disappointed in the way my skin morphed this.

 

On the plus side, it stayed true to the dried down scent and lasted *quite* a while. Hours later I still smelled like I just walked out of my friend's smoky bedroom to head home at the end of the night.

 

Final Verdict: Strawberry incense... humph. Grrr, chemistry.

[cybra111]

Hollywood Babylon

 

In the bottle: Sweet black cherry. what is in this that reminds me of F54?

 

On me: Love it! Still the cherry, but smoky and sexy. The amber and musk give it a deeper scent. A quick search revealed that heliotrope may have a cherry pie aroma. Hmm, I had no idea.

 

After a couple of hours, it begins to get an incense scent, but nice and not strongly enough to turn me off.

 

I think this is a keeper!

[kakiphony]

Application point:

Left elbow.

 

Wet:

Sweet, plasticy, fake fruit. Strawberry Shortcake dolls.

 

Early dry down:

A sweet fruit with something smoky. It's settling into my skin and losing the plastic smell.

 

Late Dry Down:

Oddly, this has a very smoky undertone on me. It's sweet strawberry candies laid over a smoky musk. Pretty. Too sweet for me, but definitely a nice, complex scent.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: lots of sweet notes layred on top of each other.

on: a warm sweet scent. i can't really pick anything out aside from the amber. lovely stuff.

1 hour later: the strawberry and vanilla are coming forward now.

3 hours later: still lots of vanilla and strawberry. i can catch a bit of heliotrope and cherry in the background.

overall: this worked much better on me than any of the other strawberry-containing blends i've tried. it's definitely a very fun scent.

[filigree_shadow]

Hmmm... black cherry and red musk, very lovely. Lusty and dark. I don't really get much strawberry, which is okay with me. I love heliotrope, and I always love amber and vanilla. Seriously, the only note in this whole blend that might not have worked on me was the strawberry, and I can't really detect it. This is exactly the sort of oil I'd like to wear 5 days out of 7. I tried this again as part of the GC circular swap after not trying it for a couple of months, and now I realize I need a bottle of it.

[misfitroxy]

Ooh! Very cherry-berry, sticky sweet in the imp. I don't have many fruit scents, and most of them are "dark" in nature, so this is a new one for me. The throw is intense. I'm trying to let this dry before I start huffing my wrist, and I can smell it from down around the keyboard!

 

Wow. This is totally not what I expected from this blend. I was anticipating a girlie scent, like candy. And while the sweetness is there, the musk and amber totally tame it.

 

I know the comparison is odd, but this is like the fruit version of Medea to me. They're very similar in tone on my skin. I'd say Hollywood Babylon is more bubbly to an extent. This is the start of the party before it transcends into a melange of sweaty limbs and assorted chemical substances.

 

I'm concerned about the red musk, as it goes a bit body odor-esque on me. I think the other elements counteract it enough to prevent it from smelling offensive.

 

I think this would make the perfect club-night scent to counteract the sweat and smoke. I don't know that I'd reach for it often, but I'm enjoying it enough to keep the imp close for a while.

[elfmaiden]

In the imp: All I could smell was a bright bright cherry and it turned me off alittle at first. But I know things don't always stay the same!

 

Wet: The cherry was still really strong, but I can smell the strawberry, musk and Vanilla in the background.

 

Dry: Much nicer! The musk is now the top note, rounded really nicely by the cherry and the barest whisper of floral.

 

This kinda reminds me of Smut without any of the smokiness. YUM! I am glad I put this on my skin!!!

 

4/5!!

 

Jenn

Edited June 27, 2006 by elfmaiden

[edenssixthday]

Hollywood Babylon - The first imp I got of this broke in the mail. What I got was a package that smelled so incredibly gorgeous I could hardly stand it. I set the broken vial and all of the soiled mail packaging out in my room so that everything in my room smelled like Hollywood Babylon – and it did, for about 3 weeks straight. It was sweet and resinous, definitely a mixture of amber, vanilla, and something fruity sweet, which I am now guessing was the strawberry and black cherry. It’s a gorgeous blend. It’s incredibly sweet and a little goes a very, very long way. I've tracked down a few more imps of this and have decided it's definitely bottle-worthy. I really don't think I can live without it or I might diiiieeee!!!

 

[Edit: I did get a 5 ml bottle, and then I realized that before 10 mls were discontinued, I had to get a 10 ml, as well. I don't think I'll ever regret having 15+ ml of Hollywood Babylon in my life. It's so lovely!]

Edited August 13, 2006 by edenssixthday

[moon_lemming]

Hey, this is good! Sweet black cherries in the imp, and when it's wet on my skin it's black cherry ice cream. As it dries, the strawberry sweetens it up.

 

It would be almost TOO sweet except there's something grounding it . . . I can't pick out musk, amber, or heliotrope, so I couldn't tell you which it is. I think it might be the amber. Whatever it is, it rounds it out and adds a depth to it that keeps it from being a cloying candle scent. It's just sweet and glittery and chock full of optimism.

 

I'm probably going to end up getting a bottle of this for next spring/early summer.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: Strawberries. I hate strawberries. I love all the other notes in this oil, but the strawberry is indeed strong.

 

Wet: To my utmost surprise, the cherry is dominant on my skin intially.

 

Drydown and wear: This is not nearly as sweet as I thought it would be on my skin. The cherry remains the dominant note and turns pretty innocuous pretty quickly. I don't have any real objections to this scent, but I'll bet my mother, who loves cherry, will appreciate this more than I can.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

this is certainly not what i expected!

 

Black Cherry Kool-Aid and Nag Champa.

 

not bad, by any means....but...not what i expected!

[populuxa]

Hmm. Musk and strawberry candy. Not exactly a pair I'd imagine would work together. The berry smell dukes it out with the vanilla musk and holds its own. Quite a feat because the vanilla/musk usually has a party on me and drowns out whatever else is in a blend. I think this is Pink Phoenix's evil twin or Snake Oil's tarty little sister. I really like this! It's really potent, a beautiful sass-tastic blend.

[fairy]

This one is one of my favorites so far. It's a gorgeous scent. Definitely smell strawberries, but it's not overpowering. A very delicious scent that will make you hungry I didn't notice too much of a change from the bottle to my skin...which is great because I wanted to drink the bottle Love it!

[silver_dollar]

In the imp: Strawberry. Medicine-y and a little burnt.

 

On my skin: Still strawberry with a strong Snake Oil-like undercurrent. In a minute or so, it loses its sharpness and I start to see the comparisons to Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I still don't consider it 'childish', though. It has a bite.

 

A few hours later and all I keep thinking is 'strawberries and cream'. It's like that. Oh, and it's got the red musk I liked so much in Kabuki.

 

I like this one.

[mirutai]

On me, this is very sweet, sticky, and boozy. Smells like cherry liqueur with a side-order of strawberries! There's a hint of spiciness that suggests cloves.

 

My skin chemistry amps up fruit notes into a nasty artificial sweetness, so this one does _not_ work on me.

[gaai]

This reminds me a lot of Pink Phoenix.....only less innocent and silly. It's like sexy strawberry candy.

Red musk and I get along just fine, thank you very much.......

[white_jenna63]

This reminds me a lot of Lampades. I get a strawberry incense vibe from it. Despite Lampades being my favorite scent, HB really doesnt' do anything for me.

[sofiaviolet]

Oooh, heliotrope and strawberry. The vanilla comes through on my skin. This is supersweet. And tasty (not literally, do not eat it, please).

[sookster]

straight sniff from the imp reminds me of dragon's milk yet sharper...more

sweet

 

applied, the lovely amber and heliotrope make their prescence know with heavy

deep musk...and sweet red fruits....

 

this is indeed a strong blend and to me has a definite head shop feel to it but one

that a woman in her 40's, 50's, heck; even 60's could wear

 

i am loving this

[mountainwitch]

One of my favorite Wanderlusts! Unlike Maenad, the strawberry doesn’t turn into powdery Pez on me. Instead I get a rich, decadent scent, edged with sweetness and gold. This is utterly fabulous.

[czuba]

Procured: Frimp

 

In Imp: Strawberries!

 

On Skin, Wet: Smells like my old Strawberry Shortcake doll.

On Skin, Dry: >2hrs, still smells like my old Strawberry Shortcake doll.

 

Nice, but not for me...

[PilotKitten]

Hollywood Babylon - Mmm... this is very sweet. I'm loving it. Juicy strawberries dunked into a rich vanilla cream with a side dipping of cherry flavored liquor. Just hedonistic and wonderful. < love > After the inital drydown I get a lght, sweet floral that seems very innocent in nature. Happy and polite.... I don't get that plasticy scent I normally get with strawberry notes (Bon Vivant), this is a rich juicy berry the entire time. <3 I must order me a bottle of this soon.

[libertybelle]

This scent is just delicious! A beautiful floral with a layer of fruity juicyness! I must have a 5ml of this!