Hollywood Babylon

[steffanina]

Hollywood Babylon-

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 Bottle: Mm, musk and cherry, definitely!

 

Wet: Oh, I love the sweetness. This is Marilyn Monroe burning fast and dying young, no question.

 

Dry: This is delicious. The sweet musk penetrates everything; I smell it wafting around me every time I move my arm. And there's a woody smell to it as well that really saves it from being cloying. Yes, this is what the sexual musk of a pop star should smell like: candy-sweet and inhumanly pretty.

 

Overall: I love.

[Lanet]

At first this smelled like a strawberries & cream candle. Then someone blew out the candle and the resulting smoke was just like a really good quality strawberry incense - emphasis on the strawberry, not the incense.

 

Wow. This is good stuff...

[UberAlice]

At first try, this smelled just a little too much like fake strawberry to me. It kind of smelled like a strawberry air freshener. I don't think I gave it enough time on my skin though, because I tried it for the second time and LOVED it. As someone else described it is the smell of something beautiful burning out rather than fading away. LOVE IT.

 

In the imp: very strong strawberry, and a tiny bit of musk, and something else that I can't name....saccharine sweet with a dark undertone.

 

Wet: A little bit of vanilla starts coming out and mixes with the strawberry, but the musk keeps it from being sickly sweet. My best male friend applied at the same time I did and he got much stronger sweet musk than I did. Individual chemistry is amazing.

 

Dry (3 hours): The musk and what smells like incense have definitely come out while the strawberry has taken a step back. It's now a very creamy, slightly spicy fruit. I had to reapply after around 4 hours and the throw is medium level but it is a lovely smell and definitely a keeper.

[sarada]

I've sniffed this on other people and tested a little before but I never got a really good idea on how it worked on me until recently.

 

Red musk is a perennial favorite of mine, but paired with these rich, sweet fruits (and even heliotrope has a certain cherry-like quality to it) it's completely irresistible.

 

I have a feeling people might think it smells a bit like an artificial cherry or strawberry scent on me at first -- in fact I'm reminded of a play perfume-making kit I had as a kid, where one of the fragrances was a strawberry scent and this reminds me of that. The "I'm going to eat you, Strawberry Shortcake, even if you are made out of plastic" scent. But it deepens on my skin, picking up some throw and staying power from amber and musk that give it an incensy quality.

 

This is unusually candy-like for my tastes but it's just so good. It's really more like a really good strawberry incense as it dries, than an air freshener, as the red musk and amber blossom on my skin. Someone makes an incense called strawberry champa...although there's no champa in this, the vanilla and musk combined with these deep red fruits really do make me think of that. Or maybe I just have to compare everything to incense if I like it!

 

I really need to pick up more of this some time.

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: cherry with an edge...a little like candy, but I am afraid it may become cough syrup.

 

wet: CHERRY and wood. Cherry candy. ick.

 

dry: goes a little musky and resinous...we'll see...Nope-- nasty. It's the cherry.

[amyberries]

In bottle: Very bright and fruity, almost bubblegum-y, but juicier. The strawberry and cherry are definitely taking the front.

 

Wet on skin: Cherry, cherry, cherry! The vanilla comes out fairly immediately, too. Definitely muskier, too, the intense sweetness of the fruit is fading - good, since I'm better with subtler sweetness. I think that's amber I'm smelling now... can't tell exactly, but it seems likely.

 

Dried down: More amber and vanilla - nice combination. Still sweet, but now with that darker undertone, I like that very much.

 

Decision: Might keep this one. Probably won't buy a bottle, though.

[minnalavender]

The Lab's red musk and fruit scents are so gorgeous.

 

Hollywood Babylon is full of notes that are lovely on my skin, and it doesn't disappoint. In the vial, the musk, strawberry and cherry are most noticable - it's a strange combination of innocence and sex. On my skin, those three notes blend together and remain true to the concept behind the fragrance. On their own, I wouldn't wear the fruits, but combined with the red musk their sweetness is perfectly tempered with depth and spice.

 

I don't smell much vanilla, but then, I can't really detect it in Snake Charmer as a separate note yet I know it's there adding richness to the overall scent. I believe the amber gives this another layer of powdery sweetness on the drydown. Yummmm.

 

Like all the red musk blends, it has a lot of throw and lasts a long, long time! Even after the fruit is gone, the musky goodness remains.

 

I received this as a sample vial in a private sale, and I'm really glad I did! This is going to be a 5ml bottle purchase for sure. I'll wear it a lot.

[luna65]

Thanks to silverlilac for the imp.

 

Imp: The black cherry literally jumps out at me, no doubt hoisted up by the red musk.

 

Skin: The heliotrope is the most noticable once I apply it.

 

Drydown: Either the amber or the vanilla is causing this to go somewhat powdery in the drydown, but not in a bad way. I get a hint of the strawberry, but it's still primarily heliotrope for quite a while; underneath is that tenacious base note of the red musk. I sense the dichtomy clearly: the more "girlie" elements contrasted with the shadowing of the amber and musk, though I would say that I perceive it to be more sweet than decadent.

[mtlaise]

This was recommended to me as a scent that had the same feel as Snake Charmer... while I didn't find that at all, it was an interesting one to try.

 

Wet: This was quite sweet/fruity, with a hint of spicyness

Drydown and 1st hour: As this dried down, the amber came out, which does nothing for me... at this point, it was not a bad scent, just not one I'd wear a lot

2nd hour and onward: the amber toned down a bit and this seemed to blend into a milder version of the wet scent - slightly fruity/sweet/spicy... it lasted like this for another hour or two, then faded

 

Verdict: I quite like this scent when it's wet, and in it's last stage before fading away. I don't mind it on the drydown and for the first hour or so, it's just nothing that screams "Buy me" at that point. Overall, I wouldn't buy a bottle of this, but may trade for an imp of it.

[wikkidraven]

i stuck this under my boyfriend's nose and he instantly said MARZIPAN!

 

he's pretty good. maybe he should be a reviewer. i get a very incensy, spicy musk with a bit of fruit to sweeten the lot. this isn't as sweet as i thought it might be, it's heady and is drying down slightly powdery.

 

i like it anyway.

[supremegoddessofall]

Fruity and somewhat foody. I get more strawberry than anything else. Kind of reminds me of one of the very first BPALs I ever tested, Bon Vivant. This also feels like Strawberry Moon's older, more jaded sister. Lightly musky. Despite the fruity, this is definitely a grown-up scent. I'm getting something that smells a touch like leather in the background. Bit of amber to balance out the fruit. All in all, I like this very much.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

sweet vanilla

 

On me:

I normally really love scents that have red musk, because it just works well on me. But, with Hollywood Babylon its a lot of good scents that just come together to make something that only smells "okay" on me. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, and yet I don't find myself "wowed" by it either.

 

Red musk is right on top, as it usuall is for me. It's smooth and warm and followed by a soft vanilla and a slightly powdery amber. I smell a fruit note but it doesn't come off as either strawberry or cherry in particular.

 

My only complaint about this scent is that it comes off like a candle scent or something. It's not bad, but it seems kind of faded and the fruit seems almost artificial.

 

Final note:

This could be quite nice on someone else, but on me it's just okay.

[dorothy humbird]

Hollywood Babylon smells unrelentingly candy-sweet out of the imp, and that doesn't change when it hits my skin.

 

I applied it in the crook of my elbow, which may have affected the particular reaction to my skin. Nevertheless I think it also heavily scented my fingers that held the imp cap, which I was smelling all through my graduate Syntax class. The notes blended together nicely, to where I could smell a light, sweet strawberry tempered by the amber; I wasn't struck by the cherry as much as by what must have been the heliotrope, because there was a bit of a floral edge in the background.

 

Now, after several hours, the patch where I applied smells much more of amber with a bit of strawberry sweetness. I like it, but not enough to seek an imp of my own.

[red colored stars]

In the imp: I'm terrible with picking out different notes but all I get is fake cherry/strawberry smell. Bordering on cough syrup. Oh noooo.

 

Wet: Thankfully it didn't go full out cough syrup, but still has that fake fruity edge that, though appropriate for the title of the blend, I don't know I particularly care for.

 

Dry: The cherry/strawberry smell has faded and it's turned into a sort of warm floral-ish smell. For some reason, a bunch of oils I've tried have turned to borderline grandma perfume on me. This, unfortunately, is another one.

 

I agree with Brianne...it smells OK on me, but I'm not wowed.

[furygrrl]

In the imp: Sweet cherry cough syrup.

 

On wet: Mmm...cherry-almond-marzipan goodness. Uber sweet, but very yummy.

 

Drydown: The cherry is long gone. A musky, slinky-sweet, somewhat dusty/ powdery floral is what I'm getting now - that is, until the strawberry rears its massive fruity head. Wow, not only did it just appear outta nowhere, it's surprisingly strong, too. Hmm...unlike other Lab strawberry scents, this berry blend doesn't smell fake on me. It smells darker and richer than it should - almost plum-like - making me wonder if the cherry's really gone after all...

 

Overall: I don't care for strawberry scents. Amber is not my friend. Red musk is hit or miss with my skin chemistry. Guess it just goes to show you how the right balance of notes can work miracles - I'm finding HB not only wearable, but deliciously sexy to boot! Not certain it'll rank big bottle-love (not yet, anyway), but I'll definitely be using my imp. A surprising, but well-deserved 3.5/5.

[theseagrows]

i'm surprised i like this one as much as i do. it reminds me a lot of another bpal i've tried, but i can't place it. mostly i get the vanilla, heliotrope and touch of the strawberry and black cherry, but not too fruity to make it overly sweet. i like this scent, but i don't think i'd wear it much.

[treska]

This starts out like super-sweet fruity red candy. It reminds me of visiting a candy store at the Shelburne Museum when I was a kid -- it's that old fashioned sweet of long-ago childhood.

 

After about an hour, it grows up. The amber comes out and the fragrance gets more mature -- but still sweet.

 

I like this a lot, but it's not the sort of thing I'd wear often. Still, I'll enjoy my imp.

[lapillus]

In bottle: Ambery vanilla sweetness, with a hint of fruit and something else

 

Wet: amber, vanilla a floral that must be heliotrope but not much in the way of fruit. Very warm and sunny.

 

Dry: amber floral, fruit sweet not powder, very similar to something else that I’m not placing today. (my brain is too fuzzy to process all this new scent info well, I suspect.)

 

Later: amber floral, sweet not powder, very similar to something else. Still a ghost on my wrist 12 hours later. Oh figured out it's probably heliotrope that was the mystery note.

 

Summary: Not bad but I’m not sure about long term prospects- I think I'd have liked it better if the fruit was a bit more present. Will hold onto the imp for now.

[Iceblink]

I used up a whole imp of this and waffled a long time on whether or not I wanted more. It's a sexy, musky strawberry on me--most of the time. Sometimes it gets that odd celery smell to it that happens with a few BPALs on me. I also get a little itchiness from this at times and I'm not sure what note is causing it. For now, I'm not getting more, but I may seek out another imp at least at some point.

[vegasblueblood]

In the imp, this is all glittery sweetness, strawberry and candy. After applying, the twisted undertone emerges and the red musk starts to crawl out. Someone mentioned that this embodies Marilyn Monroe--burning fast and dying young--and I completely agree. This puts images in my head of glittering sun, old Hollywood, and something under the surface that sickly sweet (in a good way) and dark. This is VERY sweet and candy-like on me but it's lovely. For the Lushies out there, you can kind of compare this to Rock Star or Two Timing Tart (discontinued now).

[bunnymcfoo]

I'm trying this one tonight in honor of the Supernatural episode of the same name that aired earlier. *grin*

 

wet: oh, this is super, super sweet, almost like those hard little strawberry bon-bons .

 

 

dry: still sweet, still candylike, but there's a hint of vanilla in the mix. It's a little more complex than it was wet, a bit more grown up. Don't get me wrong, this is still a scent that I think my 12 year old cousin would go crazy for, but I kind of like it. Very girly, very edible.

 

 

I'm not sure when or where I'll wear it, but I think I'm keeping this imp.

[ariosa]

Hollywood Babylon is everything I wanted Bon Vivant and Bordello to be. I -like- both of those scents, but HB is just so much.... more. With the addition of the vanilla, the amber, the musk and the heliotrope it's just so much richer. And somehow more naughty. I love it, and it would be a nice summer fruit scent for the evening when you just need a little more depth to your scent.

 

Love it! Thanks, Labbies!

[xoe]

Sweet and bubblegummy. The musk seems to give it a bit of depth. Very sexy, but a little too young for me

[mspixieears]

At the very beginning, wet on skin this reminds me of a cross between Regan and Snake Oil. Very floral notes peeking out of a lot of sweetness. The vanilla in this is delightful. I definitely get the amber and assume the floral note in this is the heliotrope. Sadly, I don’t get the black cherry but maybe it’ll develop as I continue to wear? This is very feminine and all the sweetness dissipates half an hour and it’s very powdery and musky up close on my skin but its sillage is still actually very sweet. How unusual! An hour or so later, I get the syrupy, sweet cherry and strawberry note – almost confection-like in its sweetness. I definitely like it – I ended up slathering it on a second time during the day and actually finishing up the imp entirely!

[Naamah_Darling]

Oooh, uhh . . . excuse me while I wave my HOT HOT SEX in your face! Whoa!

 

This is amber, vanilla, heliotrope, strawberry, and a spanking.

 

In the bottle, I wanna hump it.

 

On, I want to hump it even more, and then hump it again just to make sure it stays humped. This is filthy vanilla going down on the amber at 95 mph. in a bitchin' red Camaro. This is strawberry taking off her panties and putting them in her boyfriend's front pocket as she sits back down to a $1,000-a-plate charity dinner. This is "Neville? Will you come here a minute?" and then a smash on the back of the head with a pottery vase. This is so sexy you can't think straight, neither of you can think straight, it's just reckless and dangerous and up against the wall with one thigh between yours pushing irresistably up and up and up until you feel like you can't get away and all you can do is claw and bite rabidly hoping that they'll bite back because my God it's not just a matter of what feels good and what doesn't it's a painful physical animal need.

 

Pant, pant, pant.

 

This is unsubtle, uncontrollable at first, and then it settles back on its haunches and smirks like it's snowballed you. This winds up a red, red musk rubbed with vanilla and just a little cherry/strawberry sweetness for that tawdry touch. For all that, it's still an earthy scent, brought low by the amber and the fact that the vanilla is a particularly warm, golden vanilla.

 

Because this contains notes known to strike some as artificial, and because not everyone can do foody/sweet scents, I'll warn that this isn't for everyone. That said, on me it is the smell of pure sex. The kind of smell that would make me come on to someone not my type, do something utterly uncharacteristic and dangerous, get a little pushy and mean.

 

When I say it's girly, feminine, womanly, understand that I mean it brings out every single lizard-brained, throat-grabbing, hair-pulling, caveman instinct I have, and then some. And yet when I wear it, it does not make me feel submissive in the slightest – not like Bordello, which makes me feel like a toy. This is overelaborate and festooned with rhinestones, and maybe even cheap, but it will still kill you deader than hell.

 

One part charm, one part beauty, one part bitch, shaken, not stirred, and taken the morning after.

 

Unforgettable.