La Petite Mort

[ND¢]

Seduction, sensuality, the Act, and the aftermath all in one. The scent of warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion, touched by the luxuriant potency of ylang ylang and myrrh.

In the bottle: Cherry-ey. Like, Red Queen level cherry-ey. Ughhhaghhhugh; cherry is one of my least favorite oil smells. It always seems so artificial compared to, you know, cherries.

On me: Well, thank heavens that's gone. No cherry. This is clearly ylang ylang and myrrh, not that I know what those smell like, and is a sexy woman's scent, and reminded me of a perfume my mother had when I was little. Not, maybe, the scent itself (though to some extent, yes) but more the reaction I had to it then, the mysterious world of woman-things about which I knew nothing. Still waiting for my memo about when I get the info packet, by the way. Like Smut on me, but less overpowering. I don't get anything resembling sex or skin or 'aftermath' and so on. I do get that baby-powder hint people mention, but what I think it smells like is Nag Champa before you burn it. Exactly the same. Uncanny.

[steffanina]

La Petite Mort-

 

In Bottle: Ooh, yummy. I smell...cherries and cocoa! And butter.

 

Wet: No more cocoa--no more cherries, actually, either! Very floral and light. Sensual but not in a smoky hazy way.

 

Dry: Oh, disappointing. This fades to a soft powdery smell on me, unremarkable. Not noxious but, well, blah.

 

Overall: Unremarkable.

[fairy]

I just read the previous reviews and dont smell O at all. I smell a lovely soft rose, some cherries combined with a powdery softness to it. This is such a lovely scent, probably need a big bottle of this one

Edited August 24, 2006 by maddi

[Faeried]

This is very much a floral scent. For me it smells very rosey like, with a light background of a powdery scent. As some have said, it is kind of grandmotherly, but not in an unpleasant way.

 

I think I shall be keeping this little imp around for a bit.

[nightbird]

this smells almost cloyingly sweet on me, and for some reason I'm thinking I smell bananas. I need to figure out that that banana-note is because I know it's come up before. this one's definitely getting swapped.

 

edit: 10 minutes later and it's totally disappeared on my skin. yep, away it goes!

Edited September 7, 2006 by Nightbird

[Dymphna]

This is one of my favorite scents, and was one of the first big bottles I ordered. In the imp, it smells like warm myrrh with a suggestion of perfume-y floral and a hint of almond. Aside from that almond note, it smells a bit like a cleaner, younger version of Brisingamen (which I like, but not as much as this).

 

On my skin, this has the clean, sexy skin scent that I've come to expect from myrrh. It's almost soapy, but in a good way. It smells like freshly showered, warm skin, with just a bit of beautiful perfume dabbed on--ready for bed, but not for sleep.

 

This has a good degree of staying power on me. I can usually still smell it several hours later. The throw isn't particularly strong, but then again I'm a dabber, not a slatherer. And I like knowing that I smell delicious, but that someone else would need to be standing rather close to realize it. It's a very intimate scent in that respect. I wear this when I want to smell sexy, but in a discreet, clean way, and I can wear it for a day out as well for a night in.

[porcelain72]

In the bottle: a richer, slightly sweeter version of O.

 

Initial application: huh, what's with this slightly acrid edge? Is that the myrrh? Not caring for that too much.

 

Drydown: okay, the acrid scent is gone now. It's not as much like O as it was in the imp, either. This is a sweet but not cloying creamy scent. I don't know what components come together to make "warm, damp skin," but it seems like a mix of vanilla and a light musk, amongst other notes. It's turning just a little to baby powder so far, but I'm still really enjoying it. The compulsion to sniff my wrist is a little stronger than it has been for the last couple of scents I've tried.

 

Smiley rating:

[gypsybaby1]

This is what I wished O had been... sweet and spicy and close enough to the skin to almost be that second skin scent - I could bathe in this and I imagine people would look at me in that "I know what you just did" way.

 

at first sniff, it's honey and roses - the roses being soft and luscious, not in your face. it turns slightly spicy after it dries, then settles in nicely. It does indeed remain close to the skin, it makes you hunt for it and revel in the finding. It does have that afterglow feeling without ever touching on the ylang-ylang powder note.

 

Love it. need more of it.

[kunoichi]

In the vial, this is a sweet scent of the ylang ylang over something darker. On my skin, this becomes more rounded and the ylang ylang becomes more noticeable in the blend, though it is covering the myrrh, which would be the darker scent. After a number of hours on my skin, this is a softer and lighter floral with a darkness to it.

[maijasu]

This one just screams ylang ylang for the first hour or so, and it's just too much for me. After it calms down, it's a really beautiful, deep honeyed floral. I love the second stage, but I'm not sure I'm prepared to put up with so much ylanginess to get there. Further testing of my imp is in order.

[The_Merf]

Note: I am testing a shortie, provided by the generous pkwench, that has been aging for approximately two years.

 

In the shortie: This is just amazing...absolutely gorgeous. I could rave about this all day. I smell the myrrh, the ylang-ylang and maybe even some rose? I hesitate to say rose because there is no note that jumps out at me the way rose always does, but OTOH, it smells like faded roses--perhaps a consequence of the aging...

 

Wet: This stays pretty consistent with what I smelled--now I want to say there is no rose, because nothing rosy is coming up on my skin. It's powdery, but it's the most beautiful powdery you could hope to smell.

 

Drydown and wear: This is an oil that was meant to be slathered. As someone upthread said, this is a "second skin" scent, and it really does smell like a combination of fine, lingering soap and a flushed, but happy person (or what we would think a flushed, happy person should smell like).

 

I'll be interested to see what this smells like new, but I see that aging does this oil quite well!

[supremegoddessofall]

Mostly myrrh, with just a hint of the ylang ylang. Spicier than I thought it would be. I seem to be getting a touch of honey in the background, too.

[PilotKitten]

This smells like truck stop soap on me. >_< I dunno if it's the myrrh screwing it up yet again or perhaps too much ylang-ylang, but this is horrific on my skin. After the initial drydown it turns to straight-up baby powder. Not at all sexy or seductive.

[euterpe414]

Hm. This reminds me of a few blends, but actually NOT of Snake Oil, as many said in early reviews. I definitely smell kinship to O, and Alice, but also a lot with Lust. On my skin, this is Lust Lite. No heavy musk, but all the sexiness of the myrrh and ylang ylang. Actually, it is also a bit reminiscent of when I layered Alice and Lust, as well. So, if you like these blends, you will like La Petit Mort as well.

 

I am not sure if this bottle worthy yet, even though it is delectable. I think if i use up the imp I will buy a bottle, though.

[valentina]

O is my "second skin" scent, so I thought La Petite Mort might be second skin with a little oomph on me. In the imp, it's much more of a floral, powdery scent, rather genteel and femme. When it hits my skin, it's pleasantly floral and sweet at first, but then what is apparently my nemisis, myrrh, kicks in. For a resin, myrrh seems to go very powdery on me -- it really overpowers the round, buttery floral of the ylang-ylang and what I think is honey and maybe pale musk. It isn't terrible, but because the myrrh is such a bully, I think La Petit Mort won't be the "second skin plus" scent that I hoped it would be. My body chemistry does terrible things to my expectations! For anyone who likes O and can wear myrrh, I think this would be deadly sexy.

[tmcm]

Yum. I haven't smelled either Snake Oil or O (I know, what kind of BPAL lover am I?) but I do like this. Sweet and spicy, the myrrh is creamy enough to make this a subtle sexy scent. I like it so far - but I put Salome on the other arm and it's sort of tainting my experience. I'm pretty sure it's a keeper though.

[girl_android]

I gave this a try yesterday, not sure what prompted the pick out of my imps (:

 

In the imp, I get honey ... floral honey with a bit of sharpness. Nothing putting me off yet though!

 

Wet on skin, the honey mellows out, I get a bit of a creamy heady floral thing with honey leading the way.

 

Once it's dry, the sharpness I got from the imp, goes away. I get a subtle spicyness, mingling with the honey.

 

I like this, I don't think it'd be appropriate for me to wear it to work though! I can see me wearing it on a night out, or a night in (:

[Iceblink]

Myrrh, myrrh, myrrh--absolutely beautiful myrrh! This goes on smelling like O minus the sweetness (sugar-free O?) and dries down into a sort of Chimera without the cinnamon. It's delectable, and will layer well with Chimera, methinks.

[lepetitmonstre]

in the bottle: the smell reminds me of...powdery, fresh, i just showered skin. mmmm

on the skin: still a bit powdery. reminds me of this milk and honey powder my gran used to have, only without the milk. a bit flowery.

 

 

 

 

impressions: eh, it smells very nice! it brins back lots of memories of my randma's room and playing with her makeups/powders. it is just a bit too flowery for me, flowers don't bode well on my skin i guess.

 

in the bottle: the smell reminds me of...powdery, fresh, i just showered skin. mmmm

on the skin: still a bit powdery. reminds me of this milk and honey powder my gran used to have, only without the milk. a bit flowery. later on, it got kind of...eh. i don't know what went wrong but i don't like it hahaha. maybe too much flower?

[maribouquet]

Sorry to say this goes to powder on me. Sweet, sexy powder, but powder nonetheless.

[nancybridget]

All I am pulling from La Petit Mort is almond. It's almost like s ingular note to my nose. How odd.

[dorothy humbird]

Mmm... I was interested in La Petite Mort to start with because of BBW's "Sensuality" aromatherapy lotion, featuring ylang-ylang and myrrh. I got a set of BBW lotions a few years ago, and of the 4, Sensuality is the one I used up first. Something about it appealed to me greatly, and I was hoping LPM would take me back there.

 

...and it does. This scent is quite lovely, albeit having that piercing-floral quality which can threaten a headache with me - at least in the first couple of minutes. By now it's settled down to something that reminds me a little of a floral-honey smell.

 

Overall, La Petite Mort is more "perfumey" than I'm typically drawn to, but I'll definitely keep it around for variety... and sensuality.

 

ETA: How did I miss this??! This is everything that was good about O, without any of its bad points (weird animal-y sawdust smell). Finally, honey-sex for meeeeee!

Edited January 14, 2007 by dorothy humbird

[Kittenish]

Ohh... I so, so wanted to love this. It smelled kind of ambiguous in the bottle, but on my skin it just turned to baby powder. After a few hours, I could smell some spices and honey... nice to wear, but I don't think I'll be getting a bottle of this.

[jasmine]

When I first apply this to my wrist, it is a broad, warm scent with obviously sensual intentions. I’m rather anxious, since experimentation has shown that skin musk on me is usually a bad idea, but I’ve become a believer in trying anything I can get my hands on... so... yeah. Here goes.

 

Luxuriant is a good word. This scent is sprawling all over my wrist like a big, sleepy cat. Myrrh is the most evident aspect, but I can pick up the ylang ylang nearby, and, to my surprise, the skin musk hasn’t gone screaming and evil.

 

Yet. I will give it time.

 

Time passes, and there is still no raging evil. In fact, after fifteen minutes, this scent remains broad, luxuriant, and sprawling. Since the lab’s description demands a response, I report that, if anything, it seems like an afterglow scent: that period of time when people are lying around feeling good and warm and terribly pleased with themselves.

 

The myrrh is muting down, now, and the scent is turning velvety and quiet. In its velvetiness, it becomes sufficiently subtle that one might mistake it for my own natural scent rather than a cosmetic addition, although sniffing my arm and comparing it to my wrist demonstrates that it definitely isn’t.

 

This scent has staying power. So many of the BPAL scents metamorphose on me, and that can be a bit frustrating, because I will find that I enjoy them in one phase and then not in another. La Petit Mort doesn’t do that, and it increases my approval dramatically. Once it settles into the velvety myrrh-and-ylang-ylang phase, it stays. The ylang ylang adds just a touch of lusciousness to it that I do like.

 

I’m not sure that I will wear it often, but this is a scent to revisit in the future. Checking other people’s reactions against it couldn’t hurt, either.

[Jilara]

My cat loves this one. He fell asleep sniffing my wrist and kneading my arm...I must smell like cat-mother!

 

Wet, it's very skin musk, with a bit of sensual vanilla. There's something that reminds me of Eclipse, but without the nutty quality. And unlike Eclipse, it stays on my skin. It was still with me faintly after a night's sleep.

 

As it dries down, a woodsy back note comes up. It's very comforting.

 

My male housemate was complaining about something when I put it on, and I said "smell this!" shoving it under his nose. "Whoah!" he said, looking startled. "Whole mood shift in a bottle! Wow, that's nice! Can I have some?"

 

See, it calms all sorts of savage beasts!