O

[alioth]

The scent of sexual obsession, slavery to sensual pleasure, and the undercurrent of innocence defiled utterly. Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla.

In imp: Hello honey. Also honey. With a side of honey. Whooooo honey. Maybe some amber? But mostly HONEY.

Wet, on wrist: Mmm honey. And amber. And oh yes there's the vanilla, but it's just around the edges of the honey-amber goodness.

Dry, on wrist: Yeah, i'm one of the lucky ones for whom O dries down to the wonderous post-sex smell. It's heady and musky and warm and absolutely delicious without being foody at all. It's the scent of the most idealized, lovely, post-coital skin ever. Not something to be worn on a casual date or just out with friends. As much as i love Snake Oil's overt slinkiness, O is kinda more sexy in that it's not trying so hard. It's not sexy so much as it is pure and simple sex.

[Sheyona]

I was so hoping....

 

but my issues with vanilla strike again.

 

This smells like badly burnt cookies. and my wrist amps that up further. Dem!

[childoftime]

Wet, in bottle: Sharp, warm, and sweet. Definitely getting the amber and vanilla, with a sharp honey note.

 

Wet, on skin: The honey and vanilla are warming up, and the sharpness is fading, but it's a little powdery. Uh oh.

 

Drydown: Oh good, the powder seems to be backing off a bit. It's turning into a nice vanilla and honey perfume, warmed by the amber, and comfortably sweet.

 

Dry: If I can sniff past the powder, this is a beautiful blend. Sadly, the amber definitely turned to powder on me and didn't back off enough for it to be a nice scent for me. It's not a bad powder scent, but it's too powdery for my taste. Sad, this is one that I really wanted to love.

[ow1goddess]

Oh, O...how I wanted you to love me.

 

Wet- I get this big burst of HONEY, fresh, raw, and kind of carnal when I first applied this, which I adored.

 

Dry Down: Unfortunately, amber hates me. As it dried, the amber turned into baby powder. I could still smell the fresh honey, but instead of being sexy it came across kind of powdery sweet and innocent, almost something you might give a young girl. Not a bad scent to end up with when a note goes wonky due to chemistry, but not what I was looking for.

 

Dry: The drier it gets, the more it smells singularly of baby powder. An excellent candidate for a scent locket, perhaps, or into the swap pile.

[Janegodzilla]

Ahahaha, oh my god, this smells like honey and sex. I thought everyone was just exaggerating!

 

I thought I was really going to like O, because I love honey scents and amber has been pretty kind to me so far, but ultimately I think it's too sweet for me. The amber doesn't ground it enough, and without something musky or spicy to cut the sweetness, I find that the super-sweet honey or sugar scents like O give me a raging headache. If aging doesn't temper it at all, I think I'll have to pass her along to someone who will appreciate her.

[zee]

I'm going to make this a short review.

 

O smells like somebody who has just had sex in a beehive. That is all.

[tunedtochords]

O was one of my first "big bottle" purchases. I think I'm weird; I get no honey at all from this. I do get lovely warm amber and vanilla. When this was fresh and new, it went kind of baby powdery on me. But it's aged really beautifully, and is now just amber and vanilla amazingness. And maybe a teeny drop of honey. But mostly amber.

[SugarCookie]

Unfortunately for me this blend is one of my BPAL disappointments. BPAL's honey note doesn't work on me. And the honey in this blend becomes overpowering and cloying on my skin. I keep trying it periodically hoping age or variances in skin chemistry will make a difference but no luck so far. Still holding out hope for a nicely aged sample.

[Redillon]

In Imp: Cherry with a twist of almond. I must have a crazy nose.

 

On wet: Warms up a bit. The cherry fades and there's no almond left. It's floral, but don't ask me what kind. Not rose, that's all I know.

 

Dry Down: It's sweet. Probably from the honey. A tinge of vanilla? It's a warm floral with a powdery note. Nice, but not really me.

 

I'm still trying to smell the whole "sex thing." Maybe I'm DOING -IT wrong. The sex, I mean......

[skylarkza]

In the imp:Vanil.. no... Amber? Wait! HONEY. Each scent takes a second to shout before the honey takes over.

 

Wet: Van... HONEY.

 

Dry: Fynbos honey. This is pure, unadulterated fynbos honey. It smells like it has been slightly heated - like it has been left in a beam of sunlight long enough to get really warm and syrup-y. Hmmmmm...

 

Over 12 hours later: This scent has REAL staying power. I kept getting wafts of honey throughout the day. Even more than 12 hours later I can smell fynbos honey on my wrist. A little got onto my shirt collar which actually smells like vanilla and honey, but on the skin it is pure honey goodness.

[reynardine]

In imp: sharp scent, softened by vanilla

 

Wet: honey with a bit of amber and vanilla in the background

 

Drydown: Really pretty. The amber seems to keep the vanilla from going plastic. Honey still in the forefront.

 

Later: It was incredible for about 2 hours and then went to powder on me. Pretty-smelling powder, but powder nonetheless. Good candidate for scent locket.

 

[FathomBelow]

My first imp set EVER finally arrived!!! So here goes my first post:

 

In the bottle: Searingly sweet - must be the amber. I can't smell honey or vanilla at all.

On skin: Initially, I still only smell the amber. After it dries, honey gets stronger, along with a teeny bit of vanilla. While still sweet, it's much softer and not as cloying. Smells really good, actually. Lasts a really long time, as others have mentioned - as in, until the next morning.

 

I can't decide if I like this scent or not. It seems a bit "grown up" for me, not to mention overly sweet. On the other hand, my cousin put some on after mine wore off and I kept grabbing her wrist to sniff it, so it's clearly very compelling! If I do get more, it will definitely be for evening use only.

[Amoraexcena]

Imp: first impression, the vag*** of a sexy lady that only eats honeyed pineapple.

Wet on Skin: sweet sex. This oil isn't eaten up by my skin instantaneously like most others, it stays wet. I frankly want to use this as lube for sex on an event night like Vday or xmas eve. The amber threatens to turn to powder but it doesn't! yay!!!

Drydown: This oil takes about an hour to soak in. It blends well with my skin chemistry though, it's probably the best honey scent I've found yet. I definitely want to try aging this imp, and will order a bottle in the near future...

[Anneliese]

Imp, wet, and dry, it's all the same: honey. It's not cheap honey, though -- more like the wonderful honey that I buy at the farmers' market, with an almost floral aroma to it. The first time I wore it, it dried down to this wonderful light musky scent (what most must be calling the sex), but every other time it's just been honey, honey, honey. I like the fact that I'm not amping vanilla like usual, but I think that this is just a bit too much for me.

[SophieCedar]

I know this is quite the popular scent and I saw it used as a comparative frequently. I can see why this is a BPAL staple. It has my favorite three S's: Simple, sexy, scrumptious. Very lovely amber, warm running honey, and enveloping vanilla. Perfect.

[ravenscanary]

Source: Lab Imp, about 4 months old.

 

In the imp: HONEY. Yay! I love honey I don't smell the amber or vanilla, really.

 

Wet: HONEY. Syrupy, thick honey. After a few minutes I get a distinctively powdery note, which I think is the amber, based on experiences with other scents.

 

Dry: After about an hour, the powdery scent has moved into a very rich HONEY-vanilla, with only traces of the amber.

 

Further Notes: This is a seriously long wearing scent. Almost 36 hours after application, I have lingering traces of it, even after washing up, doing dishes, and generally running around a lot the past day and a half.

[doublehelix]

In the bottle: sweet honey at first, then i get whiffs of something that is a mix of cherry/maripan/baby powder. huh?

 

Wet on skin: sweet cherries and honey. Still getting a powdery note, which I'm guessing is from the amber.

 

Dry on skin: dries down to soft honey and amber. it's very soft, I would use this before bed time for sure.

[puellacaerulea]

Got an imp of this with my last order to see if it would live up to all the hype. And it *does.* I thought everyone who kept saying O smelled like sex was exaggerating. I keep getting whiffs of it and thinking "wow, I'd totally have sex with me."

 

In the imp, it's pretty much all honey (not cloying at all, though), and stays mostly honey on my skin for about a half hour. Then my skin starts amping the amber, and it turns into this amazing, soft, sweet-but-not-foody smell. The vanilla is still vaguely there, but it's mostly amber with a bit of honey. It has surprisingly good throw (the boyfriend was like "damn you smell good" from maybe three feet away), and seems to last roughly four hours on me.

 

While this probably isn't the sort of thing one should wear at work or anything especially casual, I feel like O is definitely in signature scent territory after a couple days of wearing it. I need a 5ml right now.

[moosue]

Got imps of this from the lovely doublehelix.

 

In the vial: Hmm. I'm not sure, it's sweet and pleasant enough, but I just don't know. I do think this will smell different on.

On, wet: Yes, there is honey, and it is good. But it's really really sweet. We need the amber to come in and calm this down. Doesn't smell like sex, just really sweet and soft.

 

Drydown (only about 20 minutes in): Oh god yes. This is kind of reminiscent of Lush's Butterball bomb, only sexier. There's the smell of sweet sweat or something (so not in a gross way, which is hard to imagine) behind this vanillary, powdery honey goodness. This is really hot. As much as I want to wear it to work and all the time, I feel like I should save it so it doesn't lose its "powers" and become associated with work.

Also, I don't exactly exude sexuality normally, but I got hit on a LOT today. I blame (or credit) O.

 

ETA: Aaaand then I did wear it to work and was asked "why I smell like incense". Hmph.

 

ETAA: I did end up buying a bottle of this. I suspect the imps I tried were well aged, as they were very incensey. My bottle smells like O honey with a WHOOMP of sex. Like, mixed fluids post-sex. It sort of smells like a shower and a good washing is in order. I'm sure it will age into the pretty powdery, incensey honey that my imps are. Hopefully the bodily fluid smells go away once its on the skin as well.

Edited March 31, 2010 by moosue

[lavender84]

O on me is very much sweet sweet honey with vanilla.

 

Have to go light on it as slathering seems a little too sweet but I do like it whenever I'm craving for this type of scent.

 

My mum approves too.

[KimeePlus2]

In the bottle: Totally smells like amber, honey and vanilla.

 

Wet: I'm getting a Queen Anne chocolate covered cherry vibe going on here (weird chemistry, I blame it on my children ), but there's something else that smells SO GOOD that I just can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the vanilla? Maybe it's the honey? Who knows.

 

Dry: Oh God... This smells exactly like cake! A URINAL CAKE, that is. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I kept seeing people talk about urinal cakes and I'm thinking, "Pifft yeah, way to exaggerate" but upon trying this oil, I knew EXACTLY where they were coming from. I don't particularly remember ever PURPOSELY smelling a urinal cake, but smelling O on my skin brought back such vivid memories of port-a-potties that there was no mistaking it.

 

Verdict: Well, I wanted to love this. Sexual obsession? Slavery to sensual pleasure? ....Ummm, yes please! However, this scent was so totally and horribly wrong with my skin chemistry.

 

I am sure this would smell good on someone else, though.

[fieryredhead]

This was my first Lab purchased bottle. Interested in seeing how it will age but pretty happy with it as it is. When I first put it on it smelled a little powdery for about half a minute and then I got the amber which made me very happy. Not really smelling the honey on me though which might just be me; I still haven't figured out what exactly the Lab's 'honey' smells like just yet.

 

Regardless, I love it!

[summertimecrime]

Oh, O-I wanted to like you, I truly did!

 

In the imp: powder, cherries, and honey..after sitting on sweaty skin for hours

 

Wet: much the same as in the imp, except now the honey is more pronounced, as is the powder. So far, BPAL honey translates to sweet powder on my skin, boo =[

 

Drydown: this is a very "skin" type scent, but it's not pleasant to me at all-the honey has turned to a dirty powder smell, I think I may have detected a little bit of amber somewhere in the mix? But all in all, this is not the scent for me-it smells horrific on my skin, another disappointment *sigh*

[angelicruin]

Another one I am just getting around to reviewing.

 

Wet on my skin, this is mostly sweet honey. A couple minutes after application, the vanilla note emerges and mixes beautifully with the honey. The amber is just barely there on my skin.

 

Long lasting and medium throw. One of my "classic" BPAL scents.

[Schmoozy]

 

This is one hell of a sexy scent. Golden amber and honey. I mean does it get any better than this? I think not. I wear this when I want to feel sexy, and when I want comfort. There is just something so comforting about amber and honey mixed together. The more aged, the better O is. Although I have been warming up to fresh stuff.