Love's Torments

[Venneh]

White sandalwood, neroli, and vetiver.

Why helo thar vetiver. This will probably not turn out well. Mostly vetiver on me. Not expecting much of a change. Edited May 18, 2010 by Venneh

[tarotgirl99]

Smoky pork. Like a burning heart? No, that's not what it is...It's Bac-O's.

 

You know, the fake bacon pieces you find in bad salads.

 

Well, that's what is on my wrist.

 

Hopefully, I can remove it.

[SophieCedar]

trying to shake the bac-o's association... that's not what I smelled at first but I'm too open to suggestion sometimes. (If my husband says "*smirk* It smells like....." I'll go running in the other room with my ears blocked yelling "lalalalalalala!!" so he can't ruin a scent on me.)

Wet: this is the 2nd time I'm trying this. 1st time was not good.. smells better now! Definite vetivert and neroli with a sandalwood undercurrent. Very straightforward. It develops in the way I anticipated it to. Strong dark vetivert with tinges of bittersweet neroli heightening my senses and sandalwood a calmness that I can sense but it's just out of reach.

Drydown: just like love, the twist & bittersweetness is there.. I smell neroli most prominently with vetivert taking a backseat! Sandalwood is there and still slightly unattainable. Interesting!

[Vega]

Sniffed: Yike! Vetiver!

 

On skin: Vetiver explodes out, laced with traces of neroli and perhaps some sandalwood dryness. And burns forevermore.

 

Verdict: Just took one sniff to know I can't wear this. Vetiver is fine in minuscule amounts and in more complex blends, but this is unwearable. Love's torments, indeed... I've already swapped my frimp.

[Rouge]

Vetiver is not usually a particularly good note on me except in very small doses, but maybe the neroli will brighten it a little.

 

In the vial - Vetiver. Sooooo much vetiver. There's a lovely waft of sweet flowers as well, which stops the blend from being too heavy.

 

Wet on the skin - Sweet and rich but with a citrusy overlay and a heavy, soporific base. This is a very resonant blend, for want of a better word.

 

Next stages/ Dry down - Athough the blend remains balanced, ultimately the vetiver is too heavy for me, and given the mid note of sandalwood there's altogether too much dark woodiness going on for my liking. I shall keep my imp and let it age for a few months; maybe the vetiver will soften over time.

[HerbGirl]

Finally got around to trying this one!

 

Wet this smells like a foody Ginger on me...GINGER?! Wha? Yes.

 

After 20 minutes I smelled the Vetiver...and it was the nicest, most well behaved Vetiver I have smelled (next to Devil's Claw).

 

The Neroli does peek out a bit, but not in a "Hi I'm Neroli" way, more like a "Hey there, nice weather we're having, oh I'm a citrus flower" just a nice understated citrus flower as it should be.

 

I still can't get over the Ginger impression in the beginning...it reminded me of Shub-Niggurath.

 

This is actually lovely, but not something I would ever reach for. 3/5

Edited February 25, 2011 by Shollin
Removed Lab description

[GeorgeJr]

I wish I could say this one blends evenly on my skin , but all I usually get from this is the neroli . Which is a bummer cause I love the other two notes . This one is more miss than hit for me , sadly .

[surlygurl]

In the imp, this was all "Eeeewwwww! Vetiver!!! Eeeewww!" But then I put it on. At first it was pure vetiver, then a fruity like sweetness came out. Then "HELLO! I'M LEMON. HOW ARE YOU?" Very sharp and fresh.... which then went powdery. There was almost a lemon gingerbread vibe for a bit. Or was it the vetiver that went powdery? Either way, the lemon mellowed and the scent took on a different dimension - dark yet bright, bold and coy. Very strange. Pretty, but it doesn't last long on me.

 

And that meat smell people mentioned upthread? I thought it was my neighbors making dinner. But I got that, too. A very strange scent, this one.

[Ella LaRose]

whew! woody is the first scent I get, hat must be the vetivert, as it dries the sadlewood starts to come out to play, sweetening the wood up, the neroli peeks out evey now and then, brightening the wood up, a light green citrus floral, but on me once dry this is mostly wood and a touch of woody sandlewood.

I think I would like this on my husband, but it's not sweet enough for me.

[Helas]

I think it's time for me to review a long-standing favourite that doesn't get nearly enough love.

 

Love's Torments is minimalistic perfection. Unlike most of the BPAL perfumes that I have tried so far, this one does not attempt to evoke a specific mood or atmosphere through a complex blend of contrasting ingredients. Instead, Love's Torments is all about coaxing out the beauty out of an unpopular ingredient - vetiver - by placing it against a simple backdrop of elements that play up to its strengths and soften its harshness. The result is, probably, the single most beautiful vetiver blend I have ever tried.

 

Vetiver, to me, smells like exuberant greenery, like a jungle or an overgrown garden. It is lovely in small amounts but can come across as raw and bitter when dominant. Sandalwood, on the other hand, is very sweet and dry-smelling. The sandalwood in Love's Torments successfully tames the rawness of the vetiver and make it smell like a luxurious exotic wood. The orange blossom, which sometimes comes across as bitter in other blends, is a light citrusy ghost that infuses a bit of sweetness into the blend and smoothes out the edges in the woods. The resulting scent is gentle, warm, spicy, and strangely comforting. It feels like falling asleep on a tree stump in the midst of a grassy meadow on a sunny day.

 

My sister, who used to hate vetiver, is now a convert because of this blend. As for me, I have found my holy grail of vetiver scents. Five out of five stars.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Ayup. Vetiver PUNCH!

 

On: Initially very strong on the vetiver, but there's also something citrussy to it, probably the neroli. As it dries, the vetiver actually tries to behave, though it is still the strongest note. At the moment, it's too vetiver-y for me to want more, though let's see how it develops.

 

Later: Citrus with but a small backdrop of vetiver. If the other notes appeal to you, do know that the vetiver does calm down. However, I'm not that big on neroli, so this is a miss for me.

[tkannon]

I don't like vetiver, but my friend convinced me to try more scents with vetiver to make sure that I didn't like it. And yep...this one went to bacon on me.

[rivercitylizzy]

I don't like vetiver, but my friend convinced me to try more scents with vetiver to make sure that I didn't like it. And yep...this one went to bacon on me.

 

Fortunately for me (though it was so cruel to her), Tracy agreed to send me this, and a few more BPAL Vetiver imps, for a song--thanks girl!! And I'm SO very, VERY glad she included Love's Torments in the pack.

 

In the Vial: OOOH, spicy green woods with a touch of citrus. I have a good feeling about this!

 

Wet: Gorgeousness. The neroli is fresh and green and brings the same qualities out in the vetiver, while the Sandalwood is warm and dry and golden spice. Ever smelled freshly crushed Grains of Paradise? This is how I smell right now

 

Dry: Very similar to the wet phase, with all the notes nicely balanced. I could wear this all day, everyday, it's such a simple and beautiful blend. Throw is moderate to high in the wet phase and dries down to moderate, which is common for such scents for me, and after a good 12 hours of wear I could still smell the spicy white sandalwood--amazing!! I have a very nice quality bottle of Sandalwood EO at home that I am not afraid to dilute in oil & use liberally (hair, cream, sugar scrub), and the day after I've used it, people will still stop and compliment me on how nice I smell. Love's Torments ends up on exactly that same note.

 

I must get me a bottle of this, because at the rate I'm slathering from the imp, it will be gone in no time!

[boomtownrat]

Vetiver, so sharp and earthy, is the dominant note from the imp, wet on my skin, during the drying phase, and for most of the 5-6 hours this scent lasts on me. Neroli and sandalwood have been among my favourites for years. All the notes play well with my chemistry and even my personality. The blend is gorgeous and it doesn't trigger a migraine for me, but I don't really want to smell green and spiky at this time of year. I'll probably wear this more in spring, but it's going to take me a while to use the imp so I won't be buying a bottle just yet.

 

Given the name of this scent, it's kind of funny that my husband liked it on me more than almost any of the other BPAL oils I've tried so far. Well, we are both Taurus sun signs.

Edited December 17, 2011 by boomtownrat

[MCS4096]

When I smelled this in the imp I thought "no way!" but after reading Helas' review I decided to give it a go.

 

Neroli doesn't always smell so citrusy on me, but for some reason in the blend its juxtaposition next to the vetiver makes it smell like Lysol death. It's not blending well for some reason, and in the throw I get vetiver alone, then Lysol death, then vetiver..

 

I think I prefer vetiver in heavy, spicy blends, rather than tempered with other high notes.. my skin is just breaking this one apart.

Edited July 5, 2012 by MCS4096

[Monday]

Facinating. I didn't like it a lot in the imp but on my skin it has bloomed into a heavy feminine scent. I guess I amp neroli because all I can smell is a heady floral which is slightly reminiscent of bergamot (actually it smells like a cross between myrrh and bergamot).

Love's Torment is very heady, I'm not sure if I can wear this without getting a headache.

[Balame]

My gosh, what happened to this scent? I remember trying it a year or so ago and thought it was nice. I really like both vetiver and sandalwood, and I thought this was a smoky, sweet and earthy scent. NOPE. I hate neroli and unfortunately I'm amping it like crazy this time around. Maybe my skin chemistry has changed? Regardless, this smells like burning plastic and yes, rotten bacon. Definitely not a good combo!

[Deliciousness]

In the imp: Woah! Very strong and earthy!
Wet on skin: Earth and wood with a note of citrus coming coming thru.
Dry on skin:The citrus died very quickly and was taken over by a slightly bitter woody fragrance.

After some thought and deliberation, I finally found out where I have smelled this before. This scent reminds me of the old Noubar soap from LUSH!
Ok, I guess it's the vetiver which I'm smelling, which is somewhat bitter and earthy. I lost the white sandalwood somewhere along the way.

Love's Torments isn't as strong as I had feared it would be on my skin, but it's still not a scent that I would normally wear. I think I'll give this another try to see if there is more neroli next time

[quickdrawkiddo]

Yay! I just got a big pile o' vetiver, leather, and tobacco-heavy imps in the mail and I'm raring to try them out I've been looking forward to Love's Torments for a long time since it also has neroli, one of my other favorite notes. In the imp, this is sort of a rank citrus, but it blooms into something absolutely gorgeous on my skin. I don't know if my nose is wonky today because I'm a wee bit hung over, but dry, I'm getting all neroli and sandalwood and just a tiny hint of vetiver. It's very light and pretty and I can totally see this becoming my summer scent. 5 out of 5!

 

ETA: the drydown on this one is all creamsicle-y neroli, which is really interesting given how many other reviewers are getting nothing but vetiver. If this one scares you in the imp, give it some time to develop -- it gets very pretty and girly on me after half an hour or so.

Edited June 20, 2013 by quickdrawkiddo

[Monster]

The review Helas wrote is just perfect. All of her reviews are beautifully written but this one is my favorite. In fact, it's what made me want to try Love's Torments. Vetiver is also one of my favorte notes so I knew I was going to love this, and I do.

 

When first applied, this is a lightly citrus vetiver and reminds me a bit of one of my favorte BPAL oils, Incantation. As this dries, the citrus fades and I'm getting a bit more sandalwood. The vetiver in this blend isn't the dark and smoky variety, it's lush and green. That's the great thing about vetiver, it seems to take on the qualities of the supporting notes and had the ability to smell dirty, smoky, posh, green, or clean.

 

In the final stage, I'm left with a leafy vetiver and a soft base of sandalwood. It really could be a sister to Incantation.

 

Love's Torments is incredibly beautiful and I'm sad to see it leave. If you have a chance to try this before it's gone forever, please do!

[Cazzadeathgirl]

Got this 1 as a freebie from the lab...the name interested me, as for the scent...I can see why not too many people like this and also why it's discontinued.

 

In imp- a deep yellow/amber colour. And on opening, the 1 of the worst perfumes I've ever tried...guess that's the vetiver? It's just....yuck! and I like deep earthy scents, I smell no other notes at all

 

Wet on skin- still horrible doesn't change much at all, perhaps slightly more smokey but that's it

 

Dry on skin- thank goodness this 1 has almost no throw, about the only good point in it being honest. It's far too "dark" even as I normally like this type of scent. More for a guy.

 

Overall- maybe my aunt would like this 1, she tends to like this sort of scent, if not, it's going bye bye...not too sure anyone I know should even skin test this 1

[KakashiMorph]

This was a frimp from the lab for me as well.

In the bottle: Neroli and vetiver? It isn't bad or overwhelming at all.

On my skin: The vetiver comes out mixed with the sandalwood but somehow it smells dirty and has a slight sharp note that reminds me of alcohol. It takes a few minutes to settle down in a white sandalwood and a bit of neroli mix. It is dry and woodish.

Drydown: Dry white sandalwood.

[freyasfae]

Yep, that's some vetiver. (Places in swap box.)

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Vetiver indeed, and it's sort or a mix between the smoky and vegetal varieties. The neroli presents as chemically orange in this. The sandalwood smells sour - more like cedar when it doesn't work with my skin. All in all, this is really not working with my chemistry.

 

 

Dry: This actually settles into something not terrible on me. It's not really my taste, but it's quite nice, if you enjoy vetiver. The sandalwood gives it some warmth, the neroli gives it some complexity. If you love vetiver, it's likely worth tracking some of this down.