Bien Loin D'Ici

[idoru]

The Scarlet Woman, aglow with sensual indolence: red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents.

Perfumey and dark, a sweet red-copper sensual scent. Resinous, spicy, sweet.. with the tiniest hint of fruit or flower.

Dulcet and lazy..

Like a cross between Scherezade & Haunted, plus honey? Musk and spice, primarily.

Yum.

[thelaurenator]

Now THIS is what a sexy oriental should smell like. I don't wear this one because it's too spicy for me, but my best friend loves this and I love it on her. It smells heavenly on the right person. A mindblowingly hot, womanly scent. This is everything I expected Snake Oil to smell like, but compared to Bien Loin D'Ici, Snake Oil smells overdone and bitter.

[dorothy humbird]

First reaction: Oh man, this is so good to my nose. Without looking at the notes, there's a kind of floral veil over something pretty but hippie-ish.

 

Now that I see them... I have no idea where I'm getting the "floral" unless it's the unguents; but now that I think of it, it might be the honey, too. I don't get much caramel at all from this in the early stages. It's all honey and unguents, probably supported by the red musk (which also explains why I immediately breathed a deep sigh of contentment when putting this on.)

 

Hrrm, now that this is drying down, I'm getting way more spiced unguents than anything else. I was hoping the caramel would come out, but alas... unguents only. There's something masculine about it at this stage that I don't think I want to pull off, regardless if I could. I mean, maybe one day if I decide to join a drag king entourage of some sort.

 

Yup. By this point, whatever those unguents are, they are powerfully reminding me of my grandpa's cologne. Good for Roy; not so good for me. This is undoubtedly a really interesting blend, though!

[lady_pandora]

I'd heard that Bien Loin d'Ici was a close GC approximation of Smut, so I figured it would work on me. Sadly, no. There was a "burnt sugar" edge to this one when i tried it. I gave it to a friend, who smells like divine incensey goodness in it.

[sparkybish]

In the imp: It smells like generic cologne to me, but i'm unfamiliar with many of these notes

Wet: Still has the cologne smell, but a little more complex. I still can't pick anything specific out, but given the notes, I don't know if i would recognize any of them. I think the "cologne smell" might be the red musk, given other reviews.

Dry: It's definitely unfolding into something much more pleasant then it was at first. I don't know that it will be a bottle purchase, but I can see how this would be nice some cold autumn night.

[odalisque]

Oh man, is there any smell in the WORLD as sexy as Beth's red musk? No, I didn't think so either.

 

Ultimately, though, this one didn't work for me. To my nose, it went from red musk to Moroccan spices to benzoin, and those fragrances in that order seemed disjointed. I think I'm missing out on grace notes of the honey and caramel that would have tied it all together. Anyway, when it morphed to complete benzoin my brain kinda broke.

Edited September 3, 2008 by odalisque

[pinkstardust420]

Mmmmm...this reminds me of Nag Champa! Love it! Sweet and incense-ish!

[aquazoo]

Flowery and powdery. A bit green around the edges. This really warms up on the skin. Something spicy going on, too. Nice!

[emilybain]

huh...reminds me greatly of Orange oil ( like when you squeeze the rind of an orange and the oils start leaking out?) and ther is something very soapy in there, which is weird because that only happens when I come into conatct with Jasmine, lavendar or white flowers....

 

Its pretty light, I cant even smeel it unless my nose is inches from it.

 

I think Im going to swap it.

[NeuroticaGirl]

I do not smell the caramel or honey in this at all. I think it is the Benzoin that I really do not care for. I have yet to smell anything that contained benzoin that I did like. This scent is sharp like bad incense. Not a keeper at all.

[badseed1980]

The more I use it, the more I love it.

 

It sounds like this one reacts badly with some people's chemistry, but on me, it is sheer heaven. I get the sweetness of the honey, but instead of that and the caramel becoming cloying, there's this musky-floral note that makes it less thick, and more airy. It's one of the most wearable scents I have ever tried. I'd thought I'd found perfection in O, but this year, it's not pleasing me as much as last year: for some reason it seems a bit heavy. Bien Loin d'Ici has all the dead sexiness of O, but it's so wearable. This is more like a dream of sex than like actual sex. I only wish it lasted longer on me. I must get a full size bottle.

[GhillieDhu]

This is so very sweet. At first, all I got was gooey burnt sugar and cloying red musk, with some sort of heady floral in the background, Very strong. Almost washed it off at that point, but I'm glad I didn't. It then evolved into a spicy Oriental with a very interesting mineral note, similar to what I sometimes get from orange blossom, but stronger. Not "me," but not something I mind smelling at all. Sexy, vintage, and somehow expensive-smelling. However, two hours later, it's back to burnt sugar and musk. All in all, not for me, but glad to have tried it.

[obsidienne]

Lab frimp that was already on my wishlist, yay!

 

This is kind of a sweet, musky, slightly spicy scent. Somehow it manages to make me think I am smelling citrus now and again. I was hoping for more caramel than what I am getting (only a little). Not my usual style, although I wanted it to work. Strong musks often amp on me in a way that annoys my nose (like now). As it wears, the musk and whatever it is that I am really not liking (must be benzoin?) strengthen, along with the spices.

 

This smells like a masculine cologne; not for me!

Edited October 26, 2008 by obsidienne

[donnatron]

Imp: Red musk and sour honey.

 

Wet: The musk amps up and I get a hint of benzoin before it disappears. Mainly musk, warming honey and a light spice.

 

Dry: The initial drydown on this is always so funky that I have never actually made it through to the dry stage. But then I dumped a bottle of water on my desk and this got a chance to dry down while I was dealing with that. Dry this is... weird. I like it and then I don't like it. It smells like sweet, warm red musk touched with a strange incense note. The benzoin and the honey have sort of melded together and are sulking around in the background. It's strange and interesting but I'm not sure if I really like the smell of it on me.

 

Throw: Good.

 

Overall: I usually like red musk blends and I'm pretty sure I like this. It's just completely outside of my comfort zone and makes me feel a bit like I'm playing dress up or trying to be someone that I clearly am not. I think I'll keep the imp and drag it out to test every once in awhile, but it's pretty unlikely than anyone other than me will ever smell this on me.

[fantasmaglow]

Smells so sexy and exotic in the imp, very reminiscent of yves saintt laurent's opium. But once dry on my skin, it sadly turns to cat pee.

[Seismogenic]

This was a Lab frimp with my most recent order, and I have to admit the description scares me a little - not so much because of the notes, but because of the figure by which they're inspired. Sensual and indolent I most definitely am not, but that's not reason enough to not try the oil anyway.

 

In the imp: This is odd - I get an impression of sweet, bitter, and incensey all at once, though I couldn't begin to tell you the actual notes behind that impression.

 

Wet on skin: There's the musk. I think that's what the impression of bitter was coming from, and now that it's on my skin, the sweet aspect that was in the imp has faded. It's bitter spice for now.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, I've gotta admit, it's pretty pungent, and definitely strong. I can get some of the spices behind the bitter sharpness of the musk, but they're not contributing much, and I'm not getting any of the sweet notes at all. At an hour in, I get more of the spices, but I think that's because they've gotten stronger, rather than from the musk retreating. That musk is still strong and sour-bitter. I'm still not getting anything sweet.

 

Five hours later: The musk is still very much in charge, and still very present. It's also still rank and sour. It's an animalistic smell, and the animals in question are not the cleanest ones around. The spice has pretty much disappeared, and nothing sweet ever showed up.

 

End of the day: Still some obvious bitter muskiness on my wrists.

 

Overall: This was my first experience with red musk, and I'm not anxious to give it another go anytime soon. It completely took over in Bien Loin d'Ici, and none of the sweet notes even showed up. It was pretty much all sour bitter dirty-animalness, and I really didn't like it at all. This may be the first BPAL I've tried that has made me go, "Do not want!", but that is how I felt about this one. I wanted to wash it off earlier, but kept it on for the sake of thoroughness. It will be making its way to swaps, surely enough.

[lothien]

I bought a bottle of this unsniffed from a forumite, because it sounded so good, and the comparisons to Scherezade made me think I would love it, and I wanted something close and everyday to wear. But it was still a crap-shoot.

Turns out this is everything I hoped it would be.

In the bottle and wet I get red musk and honey-chai. (This bottle is probably older than a year and a half, I think). Very reminiscent of Scherezade without its very incensey quality; Scherezade screams on me for a long time before it settles down and makes me self-conscious. The spices here are gentle.

I get a lot of honey right away (it starts to scare me), then it's suddenly quiet.

Once it's dry, neither the red musk or benzoin dominates, and the caramel accord and honey are soft and the spiciness is like the nutmeg in a custard.

So while overall this reminds me of foody things, it's not really, and it lasts up close for a long time. It's nice in my clothes outside on a cold day.

I also learned not to overdo. Too Much Is Bad. Cologny, overbearing, headache territory. No slather, and let it nearly disappear before putting on more. But that's okay, because it's yummy on me for a long time.

I'm really really glad I picked this one up.

I am curious to see if someone around me gets an, ahem, 'hemp' smell from it because I don't get that *at all* from it. We'll see if my boss looks at me funny...

 

edited for lame use of articles

Edited November 5, 2008 by dragonsidhe

[Argentwolf]

Dammit! I don't detect *any* of these notes in this at all! To me, this is all jasmine, with maybe a barest hint of musk. It's definitely pretty and sensual...but not the OMG yumminess that I was hoping for.

[crebbsgirl]

Wet, this was all red musk. As it dried, however, some note came out here that caused my fiance to become horrifically nauseous. I have no idea what, as to my nose, this was wonderful. The caramel accord was sweet without being overly foody, and the spices added a wonderful dimension and the honey note in this is to die for. To bad it inspired such a horrible reaction in the boy, or this would have been in my top 10 for sure.

[melrose]

In imp, and on, wet: Wonderful, complex, sweet and musky - can't wait to see how it develops.

 

Middle drydown: Caramel and honey, with just a hint of something deeper. Too sweet.

 

Far drydown: Sweet layer over vegetables just starting to turn bad. Then it fades away. What the heck?

[femmefatale]

In the imp is smells rather cologney. Once on it sweetens up and it's mostly honey (I always amp honey), with touch of musk and maybe caramel. Sadly, no spices here.

 

It's very nice, though maybe a bit sophisticated for me. I'll keep the imp though and wear it when I want to feel more womanly than I am. LOL

 

ETA: After about an hour the musk comes out more along with another note I can't quite place, to offset the sweetness. Very very subtle and sexy.

Edited November 30, 2008 by Femme_Fatale

[jehrichardson]

Mm. This smells naughty. Honey and musk and vanilla. Debauchery and pleasures of the flesh. Mmmm!

 

 

Thumbs up from this humble reviewer!

[mooncityminx]

In the vial: dry woods and something sweet.

 

Wet: Woah dry dry woods, and I am strongly reminded of a new age store. Seriously. This could be a very cool room fragrance.

 

Drydown: A little too much for me to wear on my body. Pungent!

[MisterShrapnel]

Ooh. Something outside my comfort zone for sure!

I wasn't expecting this to have such a floral/perfume-y hit (lolz "unguents"). Eventually that part backs off a little but still...

Honeyed. Thick and sweet incense. Womanly and "indolent" for sure! I'm digging the red musk...

Definitely NOT something to wear to work or school, more of something for the night. But I think it's gorgeous, and it does indeed have a "classic" feeling to it, even if it is kinda heavy/dirty...

I get _worried that I like this one, since it's very strong and heady and kind of out of character for someone my age, maybe... do I lack subtlety? "Potent" is a good word for this. I don't know what the responses would be if I went out wearing this, but I'd like to try it sometime.

Summarizing my reaction in an emoticon:

[KassiK]

It's real hard to pick out the notes in this aside from the musk (which even it itself is oddly tame), but I did get a wave of caramel about 10 minutes after applying. This is definitely a sensual scent, something to wear in the evening. It has a natural throw; not too much and not too little and is naturally balanced. Wet on skin, different notes danced around, but with the dry down they've all just blended into a sensual glow. My husband really likes it. I think it's just right, but no big bottle. I'm definitely hanging onto the imp, though. : )