Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge

[persephanise]

Cream accord, amber, teak, and lotus blossom.

Oh, no. I was kind of hoping I wouldn't care for this.

But when I opened my imp I immediately went, Oh *wow* and put it on. Which I never do. I usually think for a while about what I want on my skin.

At first it's a creamy floral. Not at all foody--just creamy and pretty.

On drydown I get soemthing that reminds me strongly of patchouli. It must be the teak giving it that woody edge. But where I don't care for patchouli, I really like this. It's earthy without being "dirty hippie".

I don't get any outright amber or floral from this, though. It's not at all floral on drydown--it's creamy and woody in a lovely, exotic way.

I will certainly purchase a bottle. It's definitely different than anything else in my perfume closet. It's going to be a beautiful scent to wear in the summer. I truly love it, and though I am quite fond of many perfumes there are few I genuinely love, and this is one. Very impressed with this one. Edited February 29, 2008 by Persephanise

[cameroncrazed]

Sexy. That's the first word that comes to mind when I sniff this one. It's a creamy, slightly musky blend that lingers on my skin. Every so often, I get a whiff of it, and it's just amazing. The amber, cream, and lotus blossom are just a beautiful combination that's ever-so-slightly deepened by the teak. I get the comparisons between the teak and sandalwood, but to my nose, the teak's not quite as woodsy or spicy. Can we buy this one by the gallons?

[akiko]

I get vanilla from this. No idea where it's coming from, but... yeah.

 

Bottle: vanilla. I'm guessing it's actually the cream, because it's a very French vanilla.

 

Wet: same vanilla smell, with a floral in it.

 

Dry: In the drying phase, there's something in the throw that makes my eye want to explode, but fortuitously, it goes away. It becomes a soft amber-vanilla/cream, with a weird perfumey floral behind it. It reminds me of Love's Philo, but it's nothing at all like it. I'm not sure which I like better...

[HappyLoveJoy]

When I first put this on I was reminded of Sportive Sun but mainly because of the amber. I am happy to say that these two are worlds apart on the drydown. Glowing V is exactly what the notes represent: creamy amber with just a touch of soft wood and a hint of floral that is not cloying in the least but lends just enough sweetness to make it feminine. It really does seem to glow in a smooth, warm kind of way like flowing amber-caramel enveloping something precious. On me this has superior throw and lasts for several hours---I am quite happy about that. It's so beautiful that I don't think my review is even doing it justice. I highly recommend getting a bottle or two.

Edited March 15, 2008 by HappyLoveJoy

[coldandsleepy]

In the imp: y'know how sometimes you open up a new imp and the scent is so overwhelming and weird that you just want to clamp the lid back on and hide the thing away and pretend you never ever opened it? That's about how i felt about Glowing Vulva in the imp.

 

It smelled like sour cream to me. Like, to put on a baked potato. My husband gave it a sniff and also really, really didn't like it. After the initial sniff, i almost didn't try it out. But my sense of duty prevailed...

 

On me, wet: hey! This doesn't smell half bad! Not like sour cream at all, though the cream accord is most definitely what's dominating this. It smells just like the cream in Velvet, with the chocolate and the sandalwood stripped out. There's a touch of amber giving this a nice soft feeling. There's also something sugary (though not overwhelming sweet) in this, maybe part of the accord. Hmm.

 

On me, dry: almost identical to the wet smell, just a little softer. On further smelling, it reminds me of the smell of fondant. Kinda like the inside of Cadbury Creme Eggs. Not quite as sweet as that, though, and a bit richer.

 

Throw and duration: throw is way above average on this, to the point where you can smell it on me a couple of feet away... and i just dabbed. Really, just dabbed. Duration's excellent also; i applied around 10 a.m. yesterday and it was still going at 10 p.m.

 

Overall: Glowing Vulva perfectly sums up the concept behind it, i think. It's got a really strong character to it, too. It's just not a "me" scent, though. I'll hang on to my decant, but no big bottle for me.

 

If you know you like the Lab's cream note and you don't mind a bit of sweetness, though, i would really strongly urge you to try this out. I think a lot of people are going to love this one.

[UploadedLobster]

Oh my god, this is GOOD. This is SO GOOD.

 

I opened the bottle to sniff it and my head was immediately wrapped in creamy golden sugar. Then I put it on my wrist, and my arm smelt like I'd marinated it in warm milk and sweet incense. This is an impossibly soft and sweet scent. It's the scent of a cat's purr. Later, as the cream fades and the amber comes out, it's a cat's purr in a sunbeam. Beautiful!

 

 

Lobster Rating

better than: rubbing fleece on your face

[cranberry]

This is absolutely beautiful – so creamy, warm and sensual. The amber is strongest on me and this is just a warm, creamy, glowing scent. The amber is absolutely gorgeous here – I think it’s a golden amber, certainly not black amber which can go powdery on me. The teak is not strong here, just a little bit to help ground the scent. The cream is wonderful too. I was a bit worried about it – I’ve had some milk scent go terrible and sour on me, but this is far from that. The cream is just enough to add a richness and creaminess to the scent. I can’t smell the lotus blossom here, but oftentimes I think lotus adds a smoothness to a blend, and I’m convinced that what it does here. I absolutely love this scent and can’t think of another BPAL like it.

 

Gorgeous, simply gorgeous.

[forspecial_plate]

This is all sweet, golden amber backed by vanilla-kissed cream. What makes it for me is the teak running through it, so masterfully blended with the other notes. It took me a couple tries to start really liking this, because at first I thought it was borderline powdery and too sweet. But now.....it reminds me of a golden-vanilla cousin of Boomslang (which is a good thing), without the cocoa. I'm glad I sprung for half a bottle, I'll enjoy wearing this from time to time.

[evanescence]

I feel foolish in posting, as I can't really articulate it ... something in this oil just bugs me. There's a note that in the bottle detracts from the creamy vanilla... it's similar to that "thing" that bothers me about Love's Philosophy and that I still haven't found the words for. Wet, the note is still there. On the drydown, it fades gradually until a few hours later when it just is vanilla. After 6 hours, it's still faintly there.

 

Quite pretty but do I have the patience to wait hours for what turns out to be a warm amber vanilla?

[Dracoo9]

The creme blends more in to this blend so it doesnt have that coka cola smell that Love's Philosophy had with me. The boy smelled it and said it smelt like cake icing and I have to agree, it kinda does have that vanilla almost foody scent while not being foody.

 

Its a sweet, beautiful scent shile not being to sweet. I really am pleased with this and glad that I bought it. If your on the edge about getting it or not I'd say buy it and if you dont like it, sell it later someone will deffenently be after this later!

 

6/5!- Amazing!

[RobotBunny]

This is so good. There's definitely just some golden and comforting air to it that wows me. <3 Who knew teak would be such a winner? It's entirely creamy and smooth and then the teak pokes out at me, but not in a pointy or offensive way, but just blending and emerging from the cream. And normally creamy blends seem more "cold weather" type for me but this one just screams all-year-round perfection to me.

 

Mmm. I am definitely going to get a bottle or possibly two of this and I'm not much of a hoarder!

 

Unfortunately, I said to my Evil Temptress Enabler (who hasn't gotten to sniff hers yet!):

 

Me: Man, I wish my vulva smelled like this.

SeaLady: Ahahahaa, you had better put that in your review.

...

SeaLady: Ahh, I can't wait to smell ittt!

SeaLady: Err, mine, not yours.

Me: Suuure...

 

[alterosen]

Great review before this one!

 

I'm on the fence about this blend. I love the smell of it wet (I spilled some on my table & it smells grand) but on me after drydown it's teetering on the edge of becoming baby powder. I suspect the amber is the culprit. The creaminess is really lovely but I haven't decided if it's too cloying or not with that hint of powder. I'll have to try it a few more times because I want to like it

I agree with whoever mentioned the similarity to the Body Shop's Woody Sandalwood (& that I wore for years)

[PurringPulsar]

Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge

 

In the imp: patchouli? I have no idea why I smell patch in here but it’s a woody sweet creamy scent.

Wet on skin: gorgeous sweet cream-nothing sour at all-with a deep woody amber base.

Dry on skin: oh wow, this is beautiful! The amber is just GLOWING off my wrist (sorry, couldn’t resist it) with a golden aura, softened by a sweet, almost vanilla-scented cream, the kind of cream scent I love. In fact, it’s a similar amber to Sea of Tranquillity, which must be because of the lotus. It’s gorgeous. Underneath it I smell teak, a rich exotic wood, but I swear there’s a smidge of patchouli here, it’s too deep and musky to be just teak. Or maybe it’s musk? This does remind me of Haloes, not as ethereal and floral-fruity but the woody creamy amber is similar.

After a while: this gets smoother and more sophisticated. The amber and cream have merged beautifully and rest on that warm woody dark base, and there’s something to this that reminds me of tonka now, almost like a classy vanilla with a very rich sweetness that isn’t foody. The amber just gets better and better in here.

At the end it smells like the most amazing mix of glorious sweet creamy amber with a shadow of woodsy patchouli (yeah I know, it’s not listed, but I smell it in here), and it’s amazing, very feminine with a hint of lotus adding floral lushness. This then dries down to a lovely mix of wood, cream and amber and an amazing sweetness which is almost like vanilla, almost like tonka.

Verdict: this is my favourite of the Shunga series, and one of my favourite of this year’s Lupercalia scents. this is one of the most stunning creamy amber scents ever, with an undertone of deep sweet wood. The amber in here is magnificent-golden and luminous, and made even more sublime by the cream which, in here, is not sour at all. The perfect creaminess married with the perfect amber. not just amber, but amber and lotus, a combination I adore. Underneath that I smell not only teak but hints of patchouli and vanilla or tonka. The result is a glorious scent which smells incredibly luxurious, feminine, voluptuous and perfect. Could this be the new Underpants-like scentsation? I wouldn’t be surprised-considering the name this scent has! And the name will make for some fun layering combos, double-entendre filled sentences and aghast faces when I tell people what I’m wearing…I have a bottle coming and want another one!

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Yes! I need a bottle or two of Vulva! (that sounds so wrong…)

If you like this, try: Haloes, Sea of Tranquillity, Bastet, Dana O’Shee, O, Underpants (if you can get it!)

Edited March 7, 2008 by yeahbutnobut

[Frills]

When I went to see my brother in New Jersey, one of our friends bought me a limited edition candle called, simply, Vanilla-Sandalwood. And it smelled so amazing. It was warm and spicy and vanilla and not foody (I like some foody scents but I really LOVE faint incense notes, which this had). There wasn't any waxy, commercial-candle scent to it at all.

 

I burned out the last of it a few weeks ago, but I kept the pretty little jar it came in so that I could still catch whiffs of how good it smelled, and I poked around vanilla/sandalwood perfume combinations just hoping I would find one that smelled even a little bit like it.

 

But this? This perfume IS that scent. I'm so happy! It smells amazing. I'm going to need another bottle as backup, I think. Just in case.

 

In the bottle: Smells like Love's Philosophy, so I'm betting that's the cream.

Wet: I actually didn't like it wet very much. It smelled like teak, and more teak, and teak as a backdrop.

Dry: Sweet amber, a touch of cream, blended with that faint spicy-woody scent. That delicious, elusive scent I've been hunting down for two years.

[minnalavender]

The first day I wore GVaRB, the bank teller told me "Wow - you smell really good today - really good!" Not "that's a nice perfume," but "you smell good." That's what this scent does- it smells like a beautiful extension of your own personal fragrance. It's musky, woodsy, and clean, with the most gorgeous vanilla note EVER. If it were a color, it would be soft and golden.

 

I just wish I knew what to tell her when she asked me what it was called. She would have had a coronary. Seriously.

 

Drop dead sexy. A hoarder if there ever was one.

[the_cat_goddess]

Reviewing without looking at notes or previous reviews:

 

In the vial: I definitely catch the "glowing" as this has a delicious swelling creaminess to it.

 

Wet: I definitely smell amber, of which I am not a fan normally. But this smells pretty without being powdery. Not able to descern any more notes

 

Dry: I smell something that smells like a note from the different Dragons... the note that I didn't like.

 

20 mins later: Blek! I smell rot. Creamy but rotten. This one is not my friend.

[azhriaz]

This is so strange... I have no idea what it smells like. I've never had a perfume 'cream' actually register as cream to me, so that could be the first obstacle. I can smell the teak in there somewhere, and the lotus occasionally peeks out (moreso after it dries a bit)... but primarily it smells like... er... orange? (but with no citrus...). And vanilla. It is a fascinating scent though.

 

I'm trying to figure out which Lupercalia scents I need a bottle of, and I'm finding it hard to make a decision on this one. It's unique and I think I like it but I can't be quite sure.... So I asked my boyfriend what he thought, and he said "it smells like my protein powder! Tasty!". hmm. Not so helpful.

 

There certainly is something glowing about this scent, and I can't stop sniffing my arm. I think I'll have to try it again another time and see if it starts making more sense.

[Pottersville]

I'm with everyone else who's on the fence about this one! The first time I wore it, I thought, "VANILLA. I don't really need another vanilla scent." Then I compared it to Black Lace, Love's Philosophy, and Arcana's Devilish. "Soooo," thinks I, "GVaRB isn't REALLY vanilla. It's MUSK." Well, I don't have much that's overtly musky, except something from The Body Shop and it was no match for GVaRB (in many ways!). So is it TEAK? Hmmmm ... perhaps the only things I have with teak are the CDs Habu and Pulcinella & Teresina ... and they smell nothing like GVaRB. I dunno. It's an oddly compelling scent that's THERE but NOT there. I forget I'm wearing it and then I get a whiff of something lovely and realize it's me. So I go back and forth between loading 4 bottles into my cart or taking them all out. I have two weeks left to figure it out! <sigh>

[surlygurl]

In the imp this smelled like glowing cream, so I put just a touch on my wrists & chest yesterday before going out, hoping it wouldn't turn to plastic.

 

Wet, this is CREAM. There is something earthy & grounding (amber? Teak?) in there, but mostly cream. Let's hope it morphs...

 

Drydown: Sweet cream and woods? Fresh cut woods, like a carpentry shop. Oh No!!! At this point, it disappears into my skin, and I'm thankful.

 

Dry: Something smells really pretty... it's me! The sharp woods are gone and the sweet cream has mellowed considerably. Now its glowing. The teak smells like some kind of fruit and the cream cuts any sharpness that maybe left. The amber bolsters it and makes the "fruity" teak note glow. This is really a beautiful scent. It disappears, only to waft up gently when I move just the right way.

 

Even though I only applied a tiny bit, it lasted all day. The throw wasn't that great, but I only put a tiny bit on (I wouldn't dare slather this). Besides, I could smell it, and that's what counts

[SeaLady]

O, Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bride, let me count the ways you are delishus. Alas, for I cannot count that high, but I will list a vair abbreviated version:

1) Teak is nummy.

2) Amber is nummy.

3) Together they are perfectly balanced. They are lovahs. Their love is pure.

4) You're um, called Glowing Vulva.

5) If I had to pick a colour this scent, it would be the glittery golden glow of some angels in love, sitting in the sun, saying terribly romantic things to each other.

6) You are delishus, but not foody. This makes you infinitely adaptable to all situations.

 

So, in summary, :D

 

Edited to add that I've ordered a bottle, and my first ever backup bottle, because no matter what kind of a day it is, the smell of this makes me happy.

Edited March 27, 2008 by SeaLady

[Hayet]

This one is a velvety sweet puuuurrrrrr in a bottle. I need twelve. If you like cream accords, you'll want twelve, too.

[Jilara]

Something about this reminds me of a creamier version of Sed Non Satiata.

 

It's weird that I don't really get a teak note in this. I pick up teak notes in things like Jolly Roger, but I don't get it here. It's musky creamy good, and has a lot of throw. Later on, it picks up a background note of --cappucino?

 

I wasn't sure about getting this one, since it had elements that reminded me of BPAL scents I already had, until I put it on and my boyfriend said "Wow, you really smell GOOD! What IS that one?" Um, Glowing Vulva? I said with a sly wink. "Wow, nice interpretation." Okay, I'm getting a bottle...

[Mamacat]

It's a very creamy and sugary vanilla on me. The teak is doing similar things on me that sandalwood does. It makes the blend sexier and more incense. It is absolutely wonderful and the longer I have it on the better it gets. It was made for my skin chemistry.

[prunesnprisms]

This is certainly a warm, creamy sweet scent, but if amber turns powdery on you like it does on me, this may not work perfectly.

[Little Bird]

All of the scents in the 'Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements' set seem to be very light. They're soft in the vials and cling close on my skin, with very little throw.

 

Glowing Vulva turns very odd on me, probably thanks to the amber. It starts off with cream and a bit of creamy, sweet floral, but it quickly morphs into something strange on me. The cream mixed with the dry, powdery amber is like some sort of odd, powdered milk. The teak also goes a bit strange. It smells like musty, rotting leaves. Powdered milk over dank wood. It fades away entirely within an hour though.

 

This isn't a full bottle purchase for me.