Wanda

[Fleurdelys]

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.

This scent was a revelation! This was a part of my very first order, just because I was curious about how wine and leather would smell in a perfume. Prior to that order, I was mostly a floral/herbal/vanilla (pun completely intended) sort of girl.
Well, my experience with Wanda definitely introduced me to the kinker side of scent. And I loved every freakin' second....
I'd also never tried scents that morphed before. This is a morpher, and a testament to the skills of our beloved lab alchemists.

Wet: This went on very sweet and juicy with the wine. Almost all I could smell. And it wasn't really in a good way either. Luckily, this stage passes in five or ten minutes.

After ten minutes, the leather asserted itself...and this became the scent of a Saturday night at a smoky bar, drinking wine, and being wrapped in a hot guy's leather jacket. Ooooh, this is sooo good.

Then the roses come into play about half an hour into it. The scent becomes more feminine, but doesn't lose any of it's kick. The wine fades a bit, so it becomes mostly leather, roses, and smoke. Still a great scent. Very sexy and assertive, with a decent amount of throw.

A bigger bottle is definitely required! Buy it for me now, Slave!

[zenvodunista]

whoa, this is sexy! Much more elegant and refined than I had imagined it to be, for some reason. This is a woman in control, fully capapble, with a big Do Not Fuck With Me sign, and she's all curves from top to bottom. Everything blends together so well, that i can't pick out a single moment. i want to see if i reach for it again, but wow. this is an amazing scent. i wonder if i can pull it off. note: this is the first time violets have actually stuck to my skin. this may be a serious keeper.

 

another odd thing: on me this is definitely a skin scent. you have ot get close to really smell it. i kind of like that about it. i go for the more "close" kinds of love-torture anyway so close, yet so far!

 

hmmmmm.

 

ETA: i just wanted to say that my next order will contain 5ml of this. i've worn it twice and it makes me feel incredibly sexy. Wanda gets two thumbs up!

 

n.

Edited November 27, 2005 by zenvodunista

[SeaMonkey]

In the vial, its all merlot with a little bit of leather.

 

When it dries, its mostly leather, roses, and the sweetness of merlot. Its pretty. Sometimes it crosses to the boundary of too perfumey, but then comes back. For some reason, I'm getting a little bit of chocolate.

 

Its very faint on my skin and doesn't have much of a throw. I have wonky body chemistry. I'm glad the rose doesn't completely take over.

[Victory]

All I can smell is Kool Aid... for twenty minutes, and then Wanda's gone. Completely. She didn't even leave her phone number.

 

I feel so used!

 

[Meg]

In the bottle: the rich scent of sweet plum liquor, mixed with something leathery. Makes me giddy to sniff it.

 

Wet: Luscious, sensual liquor and dry leather, with a musky, slightly sweaty undertone. Oh my god, this is so sexy.

 

Drydown: As it dries down, the leather fades to a background note with the herbs, while the crushed dark red roses come the forefront now, still warmed up by the plummy alcohol scent. There must be some violet here, but it's extremely subtle (fortunately, as I don't like violet), it just gives it a darker, deeper tone. There's an ambient scent of booze and a slight whiff of smoke.

 

Overall: All the elements of sensuality... booze, leather and smoke with roses and musk. It's slightly harsh and dry, and at the same time it's very sensual - probably like a good wine, right? (I wouldn't know, as I don't drink) It's also very spicy and definitely hot! Absolutely stunning, very sexy in a powerful way. On the big bottle list - I sense that my mother is going to try and steal this from me, I'll have to make it a 10ml. This perfume really makes me feel strong and womanly - and makes me want to reach for my corset collection.

[Nepthys]

On me this smells straight-up like Kali. Which is one of my BPAL favorites, so I don't mind, but I was hoping for a little differentiation... and after a few minutes it comes in the form of rose. Rose always likes to dominate on me and while I don't care for rose, here it's likeable. For a while it stays as a boozy leather and rose, with that whole drinking in a bar skin-warmth, and then it suddenly turns unexpectedly sophisticated as the wine emerges. I like all of the stages, but the final stage is the prettiest and most womanly - at that point, Kali seems much more complex and a little dirty (in a good way) where this seems more like Kali's respectable mother. I think this is a good scent to enable people to BPAL, because it's quite beautiful but not too out there.

[Stumbeline]

Wine and roses. On me, most of BPAL's florals turn into headache juice. I'm not kidding. I'm the least floral-inclined person on earth. BUT, I love wine. I love the Lab's wine notes and they love me. I've been on a mission to try all of the wine scents. Particularly red wines, they bloom on my skin and turn into rich, sexy, womanly scents.

 

Wanda is a very fresh scent on me, and surprisingly it works. The florals are tempered by the wine, although I don't get any leather or musk. It's a very light, almost aquatic fruity rose on me. I love to wear Wanda in the summer months, when it's warm and I want to smell clean and pretty.

[crescentwench]

I was pleasantly suprised about this one. it was a frimp decant i got with a swap and i was orginally very leary of it. it just reeked of flowers (probably cause i got it w/honeymoon which is very flowery) i left it in my imp box for a month or so and finally decided that i liked tintagel so much which is also wine and leather that i ought to give this one a shot. At first is was very fruity, sweeter than tintagel and not as spicy, and then the leather came through. yum! it reminds a bit of dorian but with a kick. that same sort of sweet corruption smell. I don't know how much i'll wear it, but i'm sure glad i tried it. i think i'm going to try a lot more of the labs leather scents in the future.

[Chantarelle]

I would never have picked this out -- I mean, roses and violets are usually big warning signs for me -- but I tested it at a smelling party a couple of orders ago, and I loved it. I think it's the wine. So far every scent with wine that I've tried has been wonderful.

 

It's a big, rich scent, the kind that wraps itself around you and gives you attitude all day. And the floral is not prominent at all.

Edited January 9, 2006 by Chantarelle

[wanderingredhead]

this is a very warm scent. I'm getting mulled wine and black leather and, perhaps through the power of suggestion, plums. I quite like it, although it's maybe a tad too boozy for me to wear as perfume. It would be a lovely room scent, I bet.

[Miss Lynx]

Interesting... This is an odd combination of scents. I'd been worried the florals in it would be too strong, but they're not -- it doesn't come across as predominantly floral at all.

 

I can definitely get the wine note -- that seems to jump out most strongly to me. Musk and leather are definitely in there too -- I can see (or smell, rather) parallels to Loviatar here. The florals are there, but very much in the background.

 

Overall, it seems like the different notes aren't really meshing together, though. The wine note is a little sour, and the other notes seem to be just sort of... there, but not really joining together into anything that's greater than the sum of its parts. It's OK, but it seems like it doesn't quite know what it wants to smell like and is just sort of meandering around in a state of confusion.

 

Interesting, but not a keeper.

 

Grade: B-

[undream]

My god, Wanda is just gorgeous. So unique, sexy, pleasant. I'm immediately hit with the merlot, it is all my nose wants to focus on. There is more going on, something very lush & sweet and beautiful, but I'm so honed in on the wine . . . !

 

On, it fades quickly, but breathing in deeply, I can now detect the leather, and I am SO surprised by how much I am loving it - I really did not think I would be very keen on smelling like leather! There is also a sweet companion scent to the leather, but I've no idea what it is - the florals, I suppose - and a slightly musky tinge, mmm. And of course, I can still smell the merlot, faintly, but definitely there.

 

God, I love love love this. I really do wish it was stronger on me - it is such a subtle scent on my skin - but I think I want a bigger bottle, regardless!

[Tallulah]

In the bottle: All i get initially is the merlot and roses.

 

On the skin : For the first couple of mins, this is all the wine, but after this Wow The musk, body heat, wine and leather start to pulsate, and the violets float around it.

 

This scent is stunning, very provocative. I love this scent, it makes me feel very self assured and very womanly!

 

Rating :another 5/5

 

edited for spelling

Edited October 20, 2006 by Tallulah

[pale]

I'm in love.

 

In the bottle: wet leather (somehow I am reminded of red leather) and choward's violet candy.

 

On me, about 1/2 hour: Violets, light grapes/merlot, and a tiny whiff of leather and roses.

 

Definitely a lighter, but Grown Lady, scent. My first 5ml bottle that I plan to wear as perfume.

[Summerpixy]

Notions: Sexy musk and wine.

 

Application: Light fruit? Intense fruit. As it dries the fruit gets worse.. here comes a headache.

Wanda does not like me, the leather and fruit notes do not agree on my skin. I can't wait for it to settle down. I wash it off.

 

Off to swaps with you.

Edited February 16, 2006 by Summerpixy

[bacca]

I'm soooo disappointed

Wanda seemed to be exactly the evil scent I was looking for... but then my body chemistry spoiled it all...

Ewww

Wet is... uh... bittersweet, berrylicious, poisony

Then it dries, and a "medicinal" note comes to dominate. Somenthing tangy and... rotten

That's it: Wanda stinks on me

Why????

I feel so unlucky

Edited February 22, 2006 by bacca

[poisonapple]

My Dear Hubby ruined this one for me.

 

I got it as a frimp. so I tried it today. I just did not know about it. I think boozy scents and I don't get along to well anyway. But i wanted to wear it to see if it morphed into anything interesting.

 

I walked by my hubby and he asked me "What smells like chewing tabacco?"

 

Turns out it was Me wearing Wanda. After he asked that, all I could smell was cherry skoll.

 

Off to the swap box it goes.

[PurringPulsar]

Wanda

 

In the imp: dry, almost burnt wine with a hint of cherry? An odd scent, but maybe it will be nicer on the skin.

Wet on skin: crisp, dry wine with the leather peeking through. This is a dark, deep, smoky scent…

Dry: wine! Now the wine note is much truer, it smells very genuine indeed. This wine is dry, deep, yet rich and fruity. There’s a dry, almost woody smokiness to this scent, slightly burnt-smelling at times but not off putting…and I can smell the leather. The combination of wine and leather is an odd one on my skin, but it’s not too bad. I’m not getting the musk, roses, or violets yet, just red wine spilt on hot leather.

After a while: the scent doesn’t change too much, it’s still wine, hot leather, and smoke, but I also get a hint of violet now, and maybe a slight, slight hint of rose. The musk in here is of the dark, smoky kind, I presume, but it merges with the leather and wine to become pretty indistinguishable.

After an hour, this improves nicely…I get a scent which reminds me of resins and incense? Maybe myrrh? it smells like a deep, rich, sticky and smoky resin and woods mixed with wine, with a hint of rose and violet petals, something herbal from the myrtle…it’s like a special magical loose incense blend-probably designed to arouse lust-burning in a candlelit bedroom, a glass of merlot, a bunch of flowers, and a leather couch which may soon become the location for some serious lovemaking...yeah, this is evocative and sexy!

Verdict: this is an unusual, interesting scent…again, another unique concoction of the Lab’s that is different to anything else, and this one is warming to me quite nicely. At first, I was a bit taken aback with the dry, tart red wine note coupled with deep, smoky leather, the combination was strange on my skin, sometimes a bit burnt and woody…but then it changes, slowly, gradually into something much nicer…the scent of mystical loose incense made of exotic resins and woods burning and smouldering-almost like an ancient spell to evoke lust…that smoke mingles with the scent of a glass of wine, a bunch of flowers, and deep leather. The result is a sexy, deep, mysterious and dark scent-the scent of a wily temptress, or dominatrix even. The scent of a woman who would have no problems alluring, controlling, and putting men under her spell. This is not something I need a bottle of, but I’m keeping the imp because this scent might grow on me.

[filigree_shadow]

In the imp, Wanda smelled kind of like cherries and roses to me, so I was a bit skeptical. (I don't usually like rose.) But I smeared some on my hand and wrist and waited to see what happened.

 

At first it was a bit strong -- not just in throw, but also in scent. Bold and obvious. A very dry wine-intensive scent. After about 30 minutes it settled down and wasn't shouting at me any more, and at this point the wine was very pleasant. I could smell the leather too, but truthfully that was only because I knew it was in there. If I hadn't seen the notes, I might not have been able to pick out leather. And I kept waiting for some hint of florals, but even after 3-4 hours they never arrived.

 

I like Wanda, but evidently my skin thinks that it needs to hide everything in it except the wine. And I can't think of an occasion when I would really want to smell like red wine.

[tinyvulture]

At first it’s bold, extremely fruity merlot. Then the florals come in, and a hint of leather that I wish were stronger. I don’t know...I want this to be sexy, but it smells like a candle shop. I don’t think I do well with wine scents, to me they always come off “potpourri.” Off to swaps.

[storme]

In the imp: rose, musk, leather and violet.

 

On me, wet: oh, ewwww. the rose and the violets are nowhere to be smelled, and all I get is stale icky body odour and civet. Wait, no, there's a little bit of powdery violet and wine too.

 

On me, dry: man, this smells like a fusty old wine-stained dustrag. Ugh, the longer this stays on, the less bearable this becomes. There's a licorice scent to it that apears and makes it even less appealing.

 

Verdict: She might be elegat and marble-skinned and sable-wrapped to Sacher-Masoch, but she's a drunken lush who never washes her body or her clothes to me.

[brownbear]

I'm really surprised that the roses didn't take over. In fact I hardly smell them at all. At first it is mostly the wine. After it dries I get a barely there trace of the leather and very soft musk. There is a tiny little bit of floral, but it isn't rose. It isn't very strong at all. I can't decide how I feel about this one.

[juniperus]

Bottle: Something very sweet over the merlot and leather. An Ugh moment.

Wet: Wine and flowers, and that odd sweet note.

Dry: The musk I'm catching is really nice and I can detect the leather underneath...the rose and violet are there, but under that weird sweet - the myrtle making bad friends with the merlot, I am guessing.

Later: Much like the dry-down, that sweet thing is just getting me in the throat. Lovely musk underneath, but I can't manage this any longer.

[josja]

I was sort of shocked when I smelled this right out the bottle, wow this is eehm different

 

But I put it on anyway and wow was I glad I gave it a try. Lovely, lovely leather, mixed with this sweet smelling wine. It's very sexy, and kick ass indeed. Reminds me of the 'good old days' when I used to live in my black biker jacket.

[PilotKitten]

Red merlot and sweet musk. I'm loving this scent. It's so beautiful and womanly... hedonistic and sexy. Must order a bottle.