Wanda

[het4377]

Along with Loviatar, she has become something of a Patron Goddess of all Dominatrixes, Wanda is the breathtakingly beautiful sable-wrapped marble queen of Sacher-Masoch's fantasies. Her scent is a deep red merlot with a faint hint of leather, sexual musk and body heat over crushed roses, violets and myrtle.

In The Imp: leather and lightly sweaty/salty musk with a LOT of the very grape/berry wine note. Strongly reminds me of Blood Rose, but with added muskyness and leather.

Wet: Yup, the merlot note is in the forefront, but you can still catch the musk lying just beneath it. The other notes haven't really appeared yet, but we'll see how it progresses.

Drydown: I'm getting a lot of the musk (which seriously smells like sex sweat to me, which is AWESOME), mixed in with rose and a bit of the leather. None of the other notes are strong enough to register distinctly.

As Time Elapes: Man, for the first two hours this blend just exudes that "I just had fantastic kinky sex!", then there's a rather sudden change/morph to a darker smoke smell. Specifically, cigarette smoke. The musk is still there, but it's back to ligering in the rear with a very subtle rose, and the rest of the notes have disappeared (bye-bye my beloved leather).

Summary: The evolution of the scent is also reminiscent of the progression of sex; drinking wine, a couple hours of drawn out lovemaking, and then the cigarette to wrap things up. I'm not a huge fan of the final morph of this scent, but I don't dislike it. It'll be a blend I only pull out occasionally, making it only imp-worthy for me. Edited November 5, 2008 by haley

[prettybird]

Let me begin by saying that this scent's description- and, indeed, Venus in Furs- squicks me just a little bit, as my mom's name is Wanda. Granted, this is irrelevant to the review, but it is slightly hilarious.

 

In the bottle: It smells really familiar for some reason- wine-y and slightly acrid.

 

Dry on skin: Oh my god, this smells exactly like “new car smell.” It's leathery and sweet with a little wine, but all I can think is that it smells like my godparent's Volvo- but in a really good way.

 

Nothing like literary Wanda and very little like the scent description, but I greatly enjoy it.

[maika]

In the imp, I can smell the wine and the violets. And damn but do they smell goooooooood.

 

Wet, It's all about the leather...and again, it's all good. I thought I loved Perversion...but this is even better! Unless it does something really weird in the drydown, it's going to be knocking Darkness out of my most favourite spot.

 

Dry...Oh My Yes!!!! This is too die for. All the elements are here, and they are all behaving on me...this is amazing! She hasn't totally knocked Darkness out of top spot, but she's definitely a VERY close second. I love smelling like a Dominatrix!!! This is ridiculously sexy, and while this won't be an every day scent - I can't see myself wearing this for grocery shopping, I have a funny feeling that I'm going to be getting loads of compliments for this one!

[acidrica]

In the imp, this smelled like straight-up booze. Scotch, specifically. That ended the moment I put it on. Now? Heat. Sex, heat, and alcohol tinged kisses. Dry, the booze comes back out, but the musk and heat (leather?) stay around. I can smell a hint of roses, but it mixes in with the booze. This makes me want to whip people. >D

Edited December 27, 2008 by Acid

[anastasia]

There is a wonderful painting by Reubens of his wife called "The Little Fur" and when I put Wanda on and started thinking about Venus in Furs I started thinking about it. I guess I think this smells like a fragrance version of that painting which was pointed out to me long ago because the perspective between the two halves of her separated by the fur is not quite anatomically right. Wanda definitely has stages for me. About two minutes after applying, there is a blossoming of leather like a leather flower just opened up on my skin. Which is a little disturbing. And there is something about it that I can't pin down that reminds me of being in the hospital as a child. Today wearing it, there is a tiny hint of the smell of woodsmoke in fall air as well. It is just a really strange montage of slightly unsettling imagery for me. And so because I can't ever quite get it figured out or get comfortable with it, I LOVE it!!! The wine is great on me, rich and honeyd and my brain can never really understand the flowers in this behind the leather but they are probably crucial to what keeps this strange for me. There is something that it shares with The Black Tower for me - probably the wine and leather. It is very much the colors in "The Little Fur" for me and the brightness of her look and kind of youthful face with all her fleshly perfection/imperfection. This is much more about being a woman than I usually go for in a fragrance and makes me feel like kind of an impostor when I wear it but it is strange enough for me to feel comfortable with it. And I hate to say this but there is a part of it that smells like swedish fish candy - the red ones. But that is one of my favorite candies. I could wear a lot of this for a long time and I think it will be my next full bottle purchase. It is at the top of my top ten right now because it is totally COMPELLING.

[thewondersmith]

In the imp: Grape soda! Yum, this is really delicious. Not at all like wine, which is a little disappointing since I love BPAL's wine/booze notes, but the grape here is still rather lovely.

 

On me: Grapes, sugar. Not really getting any leather or musk, but then again, my skin seems to swallow up any of those sorts of notes so I'm not all that surprised.

 

Drydown: Sweet grapes with a lovely subtle floral edge. I'm so glad the rose isn't dominant here; despite not actually liking florals all that much, I tend to amp them like crazy. The sweetness of the grape somehow manages to keep Wanda from being an overly girly sort of scent, and I feel rather womanly wearing this. Not too overpowering, either. I'm curious to see how long it lasts, but as things stand now, I'm thinking Wanda's a keeper.

[tajana]

Wet, this is purpley-red wine, very very fruity and quite sweet. Smells dark enough that it doesn't feel quite like grape juice, but I wouldn't say it's boozy, either. After a few minutes I definitely sense violets. So we have violets and fruity wine. After this is good and dry the wine dies down a little, the violets are blended with roses and another floral note (myrtle?). Eventually it dries down to a sweet musk, faintly grapey and faintly rosey. I keep searching for the leather but find none! A shame, because I love leather. It's not a bad scent, but it's more fruity and flowery than I'd typically wear.

[Seismogenic]

This was a Lab frimp, and I'll admit off the bat that it kind of scares me, both for the notes themselves and for the character/entity on which the scent is based. The quote on the Lab's description, however, mentions lava and Pompeii and stuff, though, and that makes me feel compelled to try Wanda anyway, even though she doesn't actually have anything to do with volcanoes. Hah.

 

In the imp: Wine and leather.

 

Wet on skin: The wine is mellowing out, the leather is melding in, and the whole scent got a little sweeter. There's something else in there that I really can't figure out what it is.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, the wine is still the most prominent note, even though it's not as sharp as it was in the vial. It's sweet, almost berrylike. The leather is smoothing it out some, I think. There's something maybe a little dryer in the background - myrtle, maybe? At one hour in, it's mostly sweet berry wine still, though the leather is back there, and there's starting to be some musk.

 

Five hours later: Still with the sweet berry wine, though the musk has become more prominent, even as the scent overall has grown fainter. Something about that musk smells, at times, unclean. I don't mean figuratively dirty, I mean literally, a little sweaty unwashed. Ick.

 

End of the day: Faintly dirty-musky berry.

 

Overall: To me, Wanda smells like sweet and dirty and borderline inebriated, not to mention extremely feminine. This is not a me scent. The dirty-sweaty aspect that came with the musk later on was a particular no. I am also terrified that this could smell like sex to other people, and I don't want to smell like that. Swaps!

[LizzyLies]

In the imp, I'm definitely getting wine. It's making me think of the color purple to be sure. When it's wet, there's the musk, and the roses and violets getting along surprisingly well. Er, can't stop huffing myself! Yes, Wanda is really that good. It's musky without being overbearing, wine that if bottled, would probably be well aged and taste fantastic, and well, roses and violets as if you'd crushed them into your skin while doing... other things. I'm extremely happy to have received this as a frimp, but I think I'm content with only an imp, at least for now.

[chimera87]

In the imp this smelled quite a lot like rich Merlot. On me it smelled like a fruity drink, like fruity iced tea, or a flavor of snapple or something. Don't get me wrong, it smelled GOOD. After awhile leather starts to poke through with a tinge of musk. That's pretty much it on my skin. It smells really good and makes me really thirsty, but it didn't stay true on my skin. Stupid skin I wanted the merlot to stick with me. I was also waiting for the violets, but sadly they never showed.

 

ADDED May 4:

 

In the imp this is insanely fruity with a rose and violet punch. This is a damp and cool scent, but it's also quite sexual.

I didn't detect much musk on my skin, but it must be there because there is a sexual scent underneath all the merlot

and flowers. The leather also starts to show once Wandra dries on my skin. I also smell something a bit smokey?

I really don't know. This is very nice. Not something I'd wear often but very very nice. Has good staying power.

Ok I just realized that this reminds me of a perfume my mother used to wear when I was younger. That must

be where I'm getting the "smoke" from? Because she smoked like a chimney and no matter what she did there was

always a faint scent of cigarettes with her even when she wore really nice smelling perfume. So I must be imagining

the "smoke" note. This is still a beautiful scent but I don't really want to smell like my mother used to, lol.

[Babette]

I didn't really like this at first. I planned on washing it off, except I had some urgent matters to attend to and I forgot in the end. And it's a good thing that I forgot because it's smelling rather lovely right now. It's sweetly floral and it's the sort of scent that I'd feel comfortable wearing daily. However, during the first thirty minutes, it smelt rather stale and old lady-ish (I think it's the leather and floral notes, they do that all the time), and so I am not sure if I should get a bottle purchase in the future if it means I have to endure that, especially when, in comparison, there are other oil blends that work better on me.

 

Oh, what the heck, why not? Works well with Antikythera Mechanism, so it might be useful for layering purposes.

[tragedy]

omg is this sexy! I'm always impressed by the labs wine scents, So I was excited to get frimped this today and couldnt wait to try it on.

Not dissapointed!

Wet: The heady wine that makes me feel dizzy right off the bat. It has a juicy berry kick to it.

Drydown: the musk and leather come out... but while bpal leathers usually go burning rubber on me.. this is divine.

Another to add to favorites!

[sighsandwhispers]

Wanda is soooooo sexy. After putting it on I couldn't stop smelling my wrist. On me it's a very rich, smoky sent of leather and wine.

 

 

 

[ouch!]

Wet...WINE! Red Wine. Smells spicy too... and reminds me of Blood Pearl. I'ts like a winey grape with some spice.

The leather comes forward once the initital burst of grape/wine fades, nd now my wrist smells like a leather jacket, with a bit of fruit in the pocket.

 

Then the leather dies down and it becomes much more sweet, the flowers are making this turn much prettier, there is still a tiny element of the fruit and the barest hint of leather. But it's now more like pink petals that are the main note.

 

Not really too much a fan of this, it's a bit strange.

 

[odalisque]

Goes on juicy berries and fruit (not so much wine, but fruit). The leather comes out as it dries. It's the same sort of leather as De Sade, but a lot less prominent and aggressive. When the leather's mostly faded and it's dried down completely, what's left is a pretty musk with the slightest bit of leather and violets.

 

It's notable for being the first scent with violets where the violets didn't take over on me, filling the air and splitting my head with their high-pitched screaming. Might be a good choice if you're kind of scared of violets but want to try them out.

[crebbsgirl]

This starts out wonderfully. For someone who usually has trouble with wine notes, this stays pretty true. It doesn't go fruity or juicy on my skin, and the leather adds a really sensual dimension. I love it for about the first half hour. And then the rose happens. Rose and violets really really go wrong on my skin. And they turned this blend for me. I really like the early stages, but the flowers ruined it.

[greenforrest]

Imp: floral with a darkness underneath that suggests a pain under the pleasure. Huh..fitting.

 

Initial: all floral. None of the lovely hinting, suggestive darkness that I could detect in the imp.

 

After Initial: still all floral, with a bit of powder. Lovely on my skin- IF I were an old lady Gone within an hour.

 

Impressions: Quite a nice floral, but obviously didn't work on my skin as I seem to need v. heavy, dark and intense scents.

[Altaira]

I was very excited to receive this as an unexpected frimp in a decant circle, as it was on my "to buy" list. Sadly, it was far too floral for me.

 

I don't think it is a skin reaction, because most oils smell very similar to me on my skin as they did in the bottle. I think my nose is just hyper sensitive to florals (and then I start sneezing).

 

There was something dark and dry and the background that I quite liked, I presume that to be the leather. I also like the wine/juice scent that was coming through. But in the end, it those all took a back seat to the floral notes - particularly violet.

 

I'm just not girly enough to pull off a scent like this, even if it didn't trigger my allergies.

 

[ianastar]

Wet on the skin, and straight away that I smell the violet. I love the smell of violets. It's sweeter, with a bite of the leather/musky smell.

 

As it dries down it starts to remind me of those French violet candies.

 

This defintely is a sexier scent. I was not sure I would like it, but the violet is really drawing me in. I might actually keep this one, not sure if I would buy a large bottle, but I might just use and treasure this imp.

[liat]

My first review. *hides*

 

Wet - This is super juicy in the imp and on me. More like sweet, over-ripe, sun drenched red berries than merlot. I like it! I was a bit worried about smelling of wine, but this isn't boozy at all on me. The only other scent I'm picking up here is a lovely base of rose. No leather, musk, violet or myrtle to speak of.

 

Drying - All I can think is "Persephone's grown up sister!". There is a little musk coming into play now, and overall it's a more complex, mature scent than Persephone, but I find them very similar. It's still juicy red fruit with an undercurrent of musky rose to me.

 

Dry - This is lovely. Fruity but mature, rosy but not at all old-ladyish or cloying. Sadly though, I've still not detected any leather, and that's the note I was counting on to give this blend depth. It's a very pretty scent, but not evocative of a naughty, beautiful dominatrix at all to me.

 

After some time - My skin seems to drink this blend up. The fact that I have a cold isn't helping things, but I only applied this two hours ago and it's dried away to nothing but a hint of generic 'perfume' florals that sit close to my skin. I'm going to reapply now, and I'll probably manage to use up the imp, but this isn't a big bottle purchase for me.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Sweet, sweet, sweet. My teeth almost hurt. Too much violet or fruit or something. I love violet, but this is too much. And smells a bit musky, like dirty person musk. I would prefer if there was more wine to giver it a cleaner smell...I'll see.

 

Wet: Very sweet. Like too much sugar in apple juice, and heavily sweet flowers (the violets probably). I usually love violet, but in this blend there is too much sweetness.

 

Dry: New car small and apple juice. Like children spilling apple juice on the the ride home from soccer practice in mom's new car. I get motion sickness very easily, so just the slight smell of car or walking by a gas station or anything like that makes me nauseous.

 

Overall: Had to wash this off. My boyfriend even said, about 2 mintes after I put it on, that he is getting a headache. Definitely not for me. Too much sickly week. Too much car. And a bit too masculine, cologne smelling.

[lensflaaare]

Wet: Started off as cherry cough syrup (ick), but quickly turned alcoholic. Leather comes out right off the bat, and gives it an edge.

 

Dry-down: On me, this doesn't smell like red wine. It does smell like booze though, but more like a dry wine wine and other assortments of alcoholic beverages. This smells like black leather, but not the shiny kind... this leather has seen a lot of use. The grape emerges after a bit. I like it! There's not much sweetness to it, just boozy leather. When I walk around, I can smell something faintly alcoholic around me, which is kind of awesome.

 

Dry: It's red wine now! And leather! Ooooh this is good. It smells like I had a great time last night... in the dungeon. LOL.

 

My brother's opinion: Not bad.

 

ETA: After several hours, it becomes a delicious red wine.

Edited December 24, 2009 by lensflaaare

[angelicruin]

Oooh, I applied to my skin and immediately it's this deep red wine and roses scent. Shortly after initial application, it turns more like grape on me, reminding me a bit of Soothing System.

 

On the drydown, the grape goes away and I am left with violets, rose, and a faint red wine scent.

 

I really like this one. Probably not enough for a bottle, but I will keep my imp.

[KesHiro]

Frimp in my last order.

 

This is an interesting scent to say the least. While the notes on their own do not scare me, the combination gave me something to pause over. Booze notes don't always play well on my skin, although the lab's do and I've had luck with merlot in the past. Given all this, I figured it was safe to test out this oil.

 

In the vial, I get a very sweet, almost fizzy, fruit. I can't really pick out notes, or even what kind of fruit, but this is a very red-purple kind of scent. Once I have it on, I smell fruit with a touch of leather and musk. If the musk weren't so strong, this might actually be all right, but the musk starts to take over and during the drydown, I'm left with fruity musky leather with a touch of something herbal or medicinal. Dry, it's turned into fruity leather cough syrup.

 

I've noticed a lot of reviews that talk about musk sometimes having a cough syrup like odor and that it sometimes takes aging to knock that scent back a bit. I'm going to hang onto this imp because I liked it aside from that weird medicinal note. It's very interesting, feminine but certainly not innocent and girly. Not with the leather note swimming around in there. I'm disappointed that this couldn't be a winner right from the start but I'm hoping that will change after some time has passed.

[amritchie]

Imp - A deep red merlot, with a hint of leather beneath. It's almost a little metallic, but not quite. I can smell the florals as well. It's very complex and deep. I think I smell something different every time I take a sniff.

 

Wet - The florals come through more strongly, and there's a hint of musk as well. I can no longer smell the leather. The merlot is still strongest, smelling slightly alcoholic!

 

Dry - The merlot is dominant. It smells like a fruity, rich, sweet red wine - gorgeous! The hint of alcohol, however, has mostly faded. The florals linger for a while, but eventually fade, leaving only the merlot.

 

Overall, I like this. I don't think I'm going to buy a bottle, but I'll be using it again. It's a very sexy, sultry scent, very feminine and adult. It's not a scent I'd wear to work, put it that way!