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shriekingviolet

Jezebel

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Biblical witch, priestess of Astarte, and general troublemaker. A true role model for today’s upwardly mobile Modern Woman. A gloriously decadent blend of honey, roses, orange blossom and sandalwood.


Jezebel is a bright, energetic scent: sweet candyish citrus-and-rose drying down to a fainter honey scent with the roses in the background. It's cheerful, girlish, rosy and a bit foody -- and the weird thing is, none of those are qualities I usually go for, but Jezebel is growing on me nonetheless. There's something winning about it. It probably won't go on my big-bottle list, but it's surprisingly enjoyable. Edited by Shollin

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I first tried this in a scent locket because other honey based oils (O and Alice, for example) are really faint on me. In the locket I got lovely orange/honey. It lasted for a long time and I really enjoyed it. Then I tried it on my skin and got the mythical horrible, rancid honey smell some people experience. It's odd, because I've never had another honey blend go bad on me, so I'm not sure if Beth uses different honey notes or if my chemistry has gone wonky. I tried to wash Jezebel off, but it would not come off of me. After a few hours, Jezebel morphed into a baby powder smell (which I actually really like). The horror of the honey-stench isn't worth the eventual niceness, though.

 

All in all, this one's a no-go for me though I will keep the imp for occasional scent locket use.

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So now that I know a lot more about BPAL notes, I’m trying to actually order blends that have things that work on me. This blend fit the bill. I set aside today to test it.

 

Wet: Man this oil packs a punch within the first minute! All four notes start duke-ing it out amongst themselves to see who wins. It’s a bit nauseating and cloying actually. And unfortunately the first thing that comes to mind is “Old Lady perfume” or sitting with a Great Aunt for English tea and honey cakes in a rose garden. I may have washed it off at this point, but I was outside running errands and did not (thankfully) have the opportunity, as it begins to settle on my skin after 10 min.

 

Dry Down: OMG! Thick, sweet, dripping honey. This is the seductive honey in Athens. This is the smell that makes me adore Lush’s BNever shower gel. I love this stage and ideas of what I can layer this with starting jumping around in my head. After about two hours its calmed down considerably and turned into a rose baby powder. The rose is a pale pink rose scent similar to Dr. Hunter's Rosewater & Glycerine Hand Creme. Nice, but the honey extravaganza stage was better IMHO. After three hours it’s turned into a fruiter (orange-blossom) O.

 

Complexity: It’s definitely a morpher with very distinct stages. It also has great throw and long lasting power.

 

Overall: Not what I expected, but I kinda like it. It’s definitely memorable. Large bottle? I don’t know. I need to live with the imp awhile and layer it with a few things to see its potential. I hated O originally and slowing finishing the imp turned that affair around, so who knows? I think it will do well as a spring scent and it does leave me feeling very womanly.

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In the imp: Sandalwood with honey-roses. Mmmm.

 

Wet: Wow, honey. With sandalwood and something else that's almost oranges, but isn't.

 

Dry 5 minutes: The honey and the sandalwood are vying for top-spot but the roses are back, very faintly adding a richer note to the sweet.

 

Dry 20 minutes: And whoooooosh, it's all a very sweet sandalwood.

 

Dry 1 hour: nothing but sandalwood and sweetness which, upon very close sniffing is probably the honey and the roses. Oranges, we hardly knew ye.

 

Dry 1 1/2 hours: Soap. It's gone to a soap smell. Not the feeling of smelling soap, but a herbal soap. :P

 

Jezebel, you wench! You loved me and left me nothing but the scent of your soap.

 

My skin also ate this in about three or four hours, too. It was pleasant and I'd like to try it as a room scent once hecate or tushnamatay finish out.

 

The throw on this wasn't bad. Mr. Circe turned his head and sniffed at me as I went past somewhere in hour two.

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Imp

Sweet orange, creamy sandalwood, and sweet honey. This smells better than I remember it to be when I first tried it months ago.

 

Wet

Sticky honey and something else that I am not too keen on. It is creamy, yet making my stomach sour. It has started out pretty, but is going rancid on me. :P

 

A few more minutes in and the rose starts moving in.

 

Dry

This is really weird and I wished my old review was still here (perhaps I did not post it correctly as it was in my early forum days). The honey note is making my tummy turn and I have to wash it off. I don't remember it being something bad when I first tried it, just not something I wanted to hold on to in light of other thigns---I think I might have even liked it. Odd. Well, I let it go then and I am letting it go now.

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Mmmmmmmmmm! Orange flower and honey :P I am glad the rose note was not predominant in this- it's perfect just the way it is. It's soft, sweet and mellow when freshly applied and becomes candy on my skin when it's dry. This is absolutely gorgeous.

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Hmm...this has Rose in it...my arch-enemy. Well, let us see where zis goez.... (God I :P that character from the Matrix!)

 

In the imp, honey and flowers.

 

On: Oh, this smells gorgeous initially. Honey, cream and orange blossoms. This is O, only floral. And then...that...ROSE! Yep, it didn't even wait to dry-down to be heard. Had to wash this off, it was just too much rose for me.

 

Off to the swaps with you, Jez. Too bad the rose couldn't play nice like in Catherine. I'm sorry that my chemistry loves you more than I do. It's not you, it's me, Rose. Really. :D

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This is another scent where the name of the fragrance blinded me to the ingredients. Images of Bette Davis in Jezebel flashed through my mind. The scene of her in a red dress when all the ladies were supposed to wear white. There was a voice in the back of my head trying to scream at me "you're not looking at the notes!" so I ordered it and then I realized that I would not like this scent and I was right. The curse of the roses.

 

This is the only scent that has thus far turned to pure baby powder on me. I hate baby powder and this was the baby powder from hell, because it wouldn't come off. Even after I showered, I could still smell it! Ugh. Horrid.

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Jezebel ITB: honey and nothing but.

 

On: crisp and clean - like freshly mown hay. Why I get hay is anybody's guess.

 

Dry: the throw is honey sweet, but up close is more like baby oil. Not unpleasant, but I already have several honey scents without the undertone.

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Sometimes for me, a scent just doesn't work out. This is a lot like Eve for me - wimpy, watered down, and just smells flabby. I do get watery honey, and some sort of fruitish water, but it's all so pale and lackluster on me. A swapper.

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In the bottle- very strong oranges and honey.

 

On me- when wet, I get something similar to in the bottle, a strong orange and honey scent. I love oranges, but I do not love honey. We'll wait and see.

 

As I'm wearing this it changes, into a lovely, powdery, sweet floral. I can definitely smell the rose, and the honey has completely disappeared. It's lovely. There's a faint hint of sandalwood, but it's mostly floral. I really, really like it.

 

Now I need to decide if I can put up with the initial honey to get to the stage I like.

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This is gorgeous. The predominant note is the honey, which is warm and sexy, with the floral notes coming up underneath. To me it smells almmost identical to O, but with the added interest of lush flowery scents.

 

Strangely, after wearing this a few more times, I cn detect a faint minty smell, which isn't in the list of ingredients. It still smells nice, but it's almost like "Hey, I smell fantastic - but did I drop toothpaste somewhere on myself?"

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Mmm, honey and oranges and sandalwood. Yummy. I'm a sucker for anything with honey in it, I gotta say (mead-makers anonymous....), and this is no exception.

 

I smell sweet oranges in the vial, and not much else. It's like a shot of curacao. On my skin, it develops a little bit of floral spiciness, but the orange-honey accord is still extremely dominant. The smell is evocative of some kind of exotic candy - something I had once as a small child and have been craving ever since, perhaps. Much girlier and more feminine than I usually choose, but a nice change from my usual woody/herby/spicy/smoky choices.

 

Most BPAL scents cling close to my skin. Jezebel doesn't; ribbons of sweet orange perfume waft up from my wrists all day. This makes me feel like I'm bellydancing with a veil floating around me, following my movements but not wholly connected to them.

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Scent in bottle: Mmmm....floral honey with a hint of sandalwood. This is actually a lot like Thaleia in the bottle. Very cheerful and springlike.

 

Scent on me:

Wet -- The rose and orange blossom are now very prominant, and the sandalwood has disappeared.

Dry -- The honey and sandalwood come back and meld beautifully with the flowers.

 

Conclusion: This is Thaleia's sexy older sister. :-D

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Initially this smelled like really strong orange blossom, almost like orange cough syrup, but then the rose starts to emerge as this warms to my skin, and the whole scent evens out into a lovely sweet-floral.

 

Very pretty and feminine with a youthful feel, but not my thing.

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I get mostly sweet orange from this. There is a bit of a hint of floral in here. hmm it's nice. it is pretty and simple.

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I have a million reviews to catch up on, because I've been lazy lately, but I have to review this because the description that popped into my mind when I tried it cracked me up.

 

Jezebel is, in two words, NAUGHTY ALICE.

 

It's a combination of Alice's innocent milk-and-honey-floral and O's honey sex.

 

I really love this. I'm also still laughing at myself. I'm not crazy, but Naughty Alice? :P I really can't help it.

 

9.5/10

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Bottle: Sharp, sweet honey, hits me between the eyes sweet honey.

Wet: Honey, with the sweetness of the orange coming through in a way that rather exacerbates the honey sweet instead of tempering it. I'm not excited about this so far.

Dry: The sandalwood is coming more to the fore, and while usually I like sandalwood (and I find it more on the grounding side) it's almost choking me because none of the floral is present and it's all sweet honey and oddly-sweet sandalwood. O.M.G.

Later: I catch a hint of the rose, but it's still mainly all honey. the sandalwood never has established itself as a grounding presence, and clearly honey notes do not work on my skin. I usually like rose (actually, often better than some of the more popular white flowers like jasmine and gardenia) but it simply can't make it past the honey on me. And there's this sort of baby powder affect on me that I've not noticed with the other scents I've thus far tried. sweet baby butt. mmmno. This is a horrifying scent on me.

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I totally agree with rabid hauteur's 'naughty alice' opinion. That's almost exactly what Jezebel is! Jezebel is perfect for those days when I can't wear Alice for fear of corrupting her but just can't handle O.

 

In the imp I got oranges. Juicy, perfectly ripe oranges dripping down my chin and fingertips and getting messy and a sunset that paints the sky that fabulous dark orange/flame red. There might have been a bit of honey, maybe some rose. All I remember is orange and firey light.

 

Wet, the orange was nicely tempered by the sandalwood and rose. Not much honey yet, or I'm not really noticing it. It wasn't until the 30-minute mark that I really got a nice whiff of honey. The sandalwood seems to have morphed into antique furniture shops and crushed black pepper, which I don't mind AT ALL.

 

Now, six hours later, Jezebel is honeyed roses with a bit of sandalwood (it returned!), a smidge of pepper and an undertone of orange and cream.

 

I love this. Really.

 

ADDED June 12:

 

I tried Jezebel after determining that O is just never going to be me.

 

Jezebel, on me, is the most wonderfully decadent slightly spicy (must be the sandalwood) honey. The orange blossom and rose are definitely there, but just enough to cut the honey and keep it from feeling heavy.

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Hmmm... I was nervous about the roses involved in Jezebel, considering my bad track record (i.e. they amp to cloying levels) with rose notes, but was enthusiastic about the honey and orange blossom, so gave it a go!

 

Wet on skin: Um, orange chocolates?! I know 'orange blossom' isn't the same as 'oranges' and there's no chocolate notes, but for some reason I get orange chocolates... the kind you whack on the table and eat the slices!

 

Initial Dry: Hmm. Now, of course, the rose kicks in. Orange liquor pretty much dominates the rose, though, with a sandalwood base. Where's my honey? *stamps foot*

 

Later: Hmm. Orangey-rosey powder. A bit sweet and sour smelling. I don't *hate* it, but I don't *love* it.

 

Final Verdict: Try again another time? Maybe it's an off-chemistry day.

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And here I thought I'd reviewed Jezzy. Anyway, it's one of those which some days is seductively gorgeous, honey-sweet and swoony. And others is over-the-top too sweet. It's gotten a bit better over the few months I've owned the imp; I think it's aged pretty well, the sandalwood balances the honey a bit better. I'd probably order a 5ml and take my chances with it, except I find O and Alice to be my Holy Grail BPAL honey scents, with O being like a better version of Jezebel, and Alice being the more innocent, less drop-dead-sexy one. Anyway, Jezzy gets a 4 from me, out of 5.

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jezebel doesn't like me. :P

 

in the bottle: kinda spicy. i really smelled the sandalwood, which happens to be one of my favorite scents.

 

on me: rose. rose. rose baby powder.

 

throw: too far!

 

didn't last more than about two hours or so, thankfully, but never morphed into something more than rose baby powder. i usually avoid anything that even mentions rose (a strange quirk of mine - i have a Rose side of my family, and my warped mind links the two, so i always think rose scents will be JUST rose, no matter what). i thought this scent would work, what with the honey and sandalwood and orange blossom (oh my!)...but nope.

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Jezebel is gorgeous on me. I love the strong honey scent with the orange blossom and rose. It is very sweet and heady and dries down into a sweet baby-powderish scent. But without the "playdough" note I get with O. We'll see how it is over repeated wearings but so far I'm really in love :D

 

 

ETA:

Aaaand, now I'm not in love. After wearing it again today I found that in a few hours I'm left with a pure baby powder scent. No hint of honey, roses or anything else. Bah! :P

Edited by fiddlehead

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Orange and rose blossoms and thick golden honey pour out of this bottle the moment the lid pops off. Wet, the sandalwood makes a vague appearance and the honey and orange blossoms make a citrus-sticky haze. Where'd the rose go?! Dry, honeyed sandalwood and a vague floral overture that lightens this from moody to sensual. Warm this is sun fresh honey on my lips with florals all around me. The sandalwood is a base now, as though I'm resting in a chair made of sandalwood and drinking sweet honey. Decadent and self-emboldened, this is a proud scent that borders on arrogant without quite crossing the line. Very self-aware and loud, it has a good throw and somehow avoids smelling foody despite being prominently honey!

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