Prurience

[crebbsgirl]

An unwholesome scent. A craving, an itch. This scent smoulders with a lust that singes the edge of your nerves and leaves your soul chilled: red amber and scorched musk with voluptuous carnation, charred vetiver, sensuous tonka, and orris.

Whoa! Hellooooo vetiver! This is thick and SMOKY while wet. The vetiver is holding everything back. As it dries though, the red amber and musk start to come out more. I can catch hints of carnation and the tonka is adding a sweetness here. The orris note is pretty faint. The overall effect is very dark, smoky and smoldering, like coals really. That's exactly the vision I get when I sniff my wrists. Embers. But sexy embers.

ETA: Okay, I swear I'm not crazy, but there are parts of this drydown that are VERY reminiscent to what aged Snake Oil and Snake Charmer smelled like on me. Edited January 31, 2009 by crebbsgirl

[Tramp]

It is like a head on attack of the vetiver in the bottle but on it mellows quickly and the carnation and musk come out to play. There is a definate "chared" note to this, like a campfire, but that fades the longer you wear it too. After about 10 minutes there is a cinnamon note that emerges! It is spice, musk and warm carnation

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this is all scary vetiver. It smells like someone tried to set damp, rotting wood on fire. A dark, cold, smoky, dank sort of vetiver.

 

On my skin, the vetiver smells sweeter and this goes very powdery. It's so strong in the bottle, but very light and subtle on my skin. It's also very not me. Prurience is a verrry dry smelling scent. It's like dry wood, woodsmoke, sharp, dry musk, and baby powder. I can't pick out any carnation or tonka.

 

This one isn't a keeper for me.

[Monster]

In the imp: Dark, thick and smoky vetiver.

 

On my skin: On my skin this isn't as sharp and masculine as it is in the imp, when you put it on the tonka pops out right away giving this a smooth, sweet edge. Vetiver is one of my favorite notes and paired with the tonka... As it dries I'm picking up a bit of the carnation, just a hint though. It's adding a kick of spiciness to the vetiver. Through all of this there is a foggy haze of musk. I'm guessing that's what will be left in the final dry down stage.

 

Dry: 1 hour later this is exactly as I expected, a nice, smoky musk sweetened by tonka. I'm picking up the amber note now as well as a dusty and powdry accompaniment to the musk. I picture blood red skies, foggy haze and a charred field of grass.

 

Overall: If you like vetiver you NEED to try this one, it's probably one of my favorite vetiver blends so far. I wouldn't say it's a masculine blend, possibly unisex but VERY wearable for the girl who doesn't want to smell too "girly". This is dark, mysterious and sexy (VERY sexy!). I'm sad I only have a few drops of this. I'll have to get my hands on some more, this one is very "me".

If you're a Snake Charmer fan, chances are you will really enjoy this one

Edited February 12, 2009 by Monster

[Iceblink]

OK yeah--aged Snake Oil, Snake Charmer, aged Vixen, very similar. The vetiver here is rich and chocolatey and combined with the tonka, amber and musk this is very Snake Oily indeed. I get a faint waft of carnation but it's very subtle. Any fans of the Snake Oil "family" should definitely try this one.

[thelaurenator]

Ew. I hate this. But then again, I hate anything in the "snake oil" family, as the previous reviewer mentioned. This is vetiver. LOTS of vetiver. It's very masculine and definitely "unwholesome," but not in a good way. I love my feminine scents.

 

Hate this.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh man, I get a very very strong vetiver at the beginning. Mmmm.... smoky bacon.

 

After about forty minutes to an hour, the vetiver doesn't smell like bacon anymore, still smoky but now I can smell the charred carnations and maybe a hint of amber. Still very smoky.

 

I'm not one who can wear vetiver, but if you can, perhaps you should try this out!

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

 

Imp: Amber over vetiver. I’m trying but the intial whiff is almost an

automatic repel for me

Wet on Me: Already I’m having my aversion to Vetiver. It’s stale earth

and baby powder from jump street

Drying Down: now it smells like band-aid. Srsly! It smells like a new band-aid.

Dry: Baby Powder scented band-aids. Where is my Tonka? Where is

the Carnation? And the Orris? I feel left at the altar on this. I know that I amp

Amber to baby powder, and that vetiver hates me with a burning fierce, but

not even the musk came out to play in this group. At least I got to try it and

now it will be re-homed to someone that it likes better. Cause girrrrrrl it hates me!

 

[aquazoo]

Well, that starts out dusty and dirty! While I usually like the dirt scents, that one has a nasty start. It fades down and is much better. Actually quite nice once it gets settled down. The amber and floral is what I can smell the most.

 

 

[dreadpiraterustypants2]

expectations-

smoldering red musk, a little spicy

imp-

hey vetiver!~

wet-

blood kiss relative, a little sweeter later on-tonka? snake oil? (I'm glad other's got this too!) I like this phase, it's a less plastic-y snake oil on me.

love child of blood kiss and snake oil!

spicy, warm, and bitter-

verdict-

no need to upgrade, but certainly sniffable

[fireflower]

A very dry scent, much like sweet powder. It's soft and warm and musky, but not really wowing me. Thankfully I don't get vetiver at all, oddly. Another odd thing is that I don't get the woodiness other people are getting.. I think I'll keep the decant but wont opt for a bottle.

[Juushika]

In the vial: Warm, dark, faint, with something slightly plant-like—orris, I think.

 

On me: A momentary spike of vetiver calms down to—oh goodness, I think I love it. Between the musk and vetiver there's definitely a charred harshness which waxes (sometimes too much) and wanes (more and more over time) but never fades entirely. Beneath it is vanillic amber barely touched by carnation—not unlike by beloved Inez, it's creamy and rich and slightly heady. The vetiver is more distinct on the skin, the amber and tonka in the throw. Musk adds a touch of warmth, powder, and spice; on the skin I get nothing of the orris. Scent-color is smoke-dimmed saffron. Throw is moderate to low.

 

Verdict: Despite my intital swoon for the amber and tonka, Prurience isn't perfect. The carnation doesn't quite rise to meet the strength of the vetiver, and so the scent is a imbalanced towards dry smoke instead of universal heat and fire. That's too bad, too, because with more carnation this could be lovely. However, I like it enough to hold on to my imp—we'll see how much I wear it, and how it ages over time.

 

ETA: Five months after ordering it, and that bit of aging has already done wonders for this scent. The vetiver has calmed and tamed significantly, losing its harshness and becoming smoother smoke. There's still not a lot of spice, but a touch more overall warmth. The carnation isn't as overt as I prefer, but it's more distinct now that the vetiver has calmed. All over the scent is warmer, redder, less harsh. This has become much closer to what it's intended to be: warm, smoldering, but not yet scorched. And it is oh so beautiful. Aging can only improve this blend.

Edited May 21, 2009 by Juushika

[ifinena]

This is a dry scent. I was expecting and hoping for carnation but sadly it didn't make its presence known either wet or on my skin. Sniffing out of the bottle and wet on my skin I get vetiver and musk (I've come to realise my skin amps musk even if there's a little in there).

I do not dislike Prurience. I was really hoping for carnation and maybe it would have helped to steer this away of the all-smoky vetiver-musk feel. It did mellow down on dry-down, but still not something I'll reach for.

[magikalbrownies]

it smells like spicey cigarette smoke to me and i like it. i usually hate these sort of scents but i smell the vertiver and carnation and its true, the carnation isnt all HELLO IM HERE but its there, i can detect it on my skin.

 

this one, its just -- masculine. i do like it. i'll probably wear it more often to see if this is worthy of scouring the forums for but i do..

 

and fyi: i always HATE smells that are masculine but this one...well its grown one me.

[angelicruin]

Oh dear, another vetiver-intensive blend. I think the lab was on a vetiver kick when they packed up my frimps this past order.

 

Sniffing the imp, it's all over-powering vetiver. I almost didn't even skin test it...

 

Wet on my skin, it's hell-and-brimstone-smelling-screaming vetiver.

 

As it dries, it does settle a bit but I get no tonka, no carnation...maybe a bit of musk, but it's overwhelmed by the stale cigarette smell of the vetiver on my skin. Urgh.

 

 

[sirensea]

In the imp: Extremely strong vetiver.

 

On my skin: Hm. Usually, vetiver and I don't get along, but in this... it doesn't make me flinch or recoil the way I usually do when catching a whiff of the stuff. This is the feminine take on a 'masculine' scent. And as others have mentioned, this does smell reminiscent of aged Snake Oil, with more of a bite and less of the spice. I actually really enjoy this one, which is surprising, because vetiver and I have a love/hate relationship. It didn't return my call the next day, and then it slit my tires.

 

Yeah, I sort of love this scent. I'm stunned.

[azhriaz]

Scorched musk! It really does smell exactly like I would have imagined, not that it ever occurred to me to imagine such a thing...

 

When I received my imp fresh from the lab I was too scared to even try it on my skin. It reminded me of Brimstone, which is not really wearable for me. A month or two later and it's still a little intense on first sniff, but after application the musk and burning subsides a little. Just enough to let the tonka do its thing. And I do like tonka.

 

Prurience is rich and smouldering (also unwholesome and voluptuous! the description is really spot on), and I've been sneakily sniffing myself all day, which hasn't happened for a while.

 

Pretty good staying power, as you'd expect from preponderance of base notes.

[donnatron]

Bottle: Vetiver and musk (red musk?) with a bit of dry sweetness. Probably the tonka and orris combining.

 

Wet: VETIVER EXPLOSION!!! This is a good thing. The vetiver goes dark and warm and smoky over a warming base of red musk (seriously, if it's not red musk it appears to share some ingredients with red musk) and amber. I still get some skin close sweetness from the tonka and a bit of powder from the orris. I don't smell the carnation at all unless it's suddenly decided to behave--fresh carnation usually smells like sweet tarts on my skin.

 

Dry: Man oh man. I am one of the rare forumites who absolutley LOVES Lunar Eclipse. While Lunar Eclipse has a bit more of a lush, elegant tea/musk/fruit gums drydown, this captures the initial smoky blast of Lunar Eclipse and then builds on it beautifully. The vetiver lingers and the musk and amber combine into this incredibly sexy blend. The tonka adds some vanilla sweetness and the orris gives it a bit of dry gravity. This smells like an assassin or a black widow. Definitely sexy and intriguing but with an undercurrent of real and present danger. It's definitely a power scent.

 

Throw: Good. Definitely one that you should probably refrain from slathering.

 

Overall: It's a gorgeous, gorgeous blend. If you like smoky, dark scents or are looking for new, inventive ways to wear musk or tonka, I'd definitely recommend it. It's the sort of scent where you can be assured that no one else in the room is going to smell like this.

[caitilarkin]

Vetiver and I are not on speaking terms since the Velvet Tiger Disaster of 2009 (wherein the vetiver did kill all the other notes and eat them), so I was a bit afraid to try Prurience. And if I had read the reviews beforehand I NEVER would have tried it at all.

 

In the imp: VETIVER

 

Wet on skin: Initially it's more VETIVER, but slowly the carnation and musk start to peek their little heads out.

 

Dry on skin: Ah, much better. The lovely spice of the carnation and sweetness of the tonka are holding their own.

 

This is ideal after about 40 minutes. Based on other reviews, I'm going to hand on to this and see how it ages.

[tajana]

Prurience, in the vial and wet on the skin, smells SO familiar! That's probably the strong undercurrent of red musk and red amber (a la Fenris Wolf) underneath the scorched, smoky vetiver. On me, it smells a lot like the "smoke" in Priala, which is one of my favorites. But here, it's just not as charming, because nothing else even challenges it. Also, this oil is really intense, and a little drop turned out to be very strong.

 

The smoky vetiver becomes too much, and too dry, especially because as it dries down the orris and amber amp up higher, adding a thick, dusty cloud of sweet powder. The carnation doesn't really deliver much more than a puff of clovey spice. The waft is a very powdery amber-vetiver combination. Later on the tonka peeks out a bit to smooth the edges, and remind me vaguely of a more aggressive, less sweetened variation on Snake Oil, but this scent remains dusty, dry, and thoroughly scorched.

[Venneh]

The vetiver in this makes me nervous, before I'm even opening it. It plays nice with my skin so long as there's things to balance it (or at least it was the case in Marquise), so let's hope it plays nice with the rest of the blend. Sniffing it, I get that vetiver note of DOOM.

 

On my skin, so far, it smells like smoke and vetiver. I'm going to give this one time to dry down, but thus far, I do not have high hopes, except for that bit of sweetness I'm smelling trying to get through...

 

EDIT: Yeah, the sweetness appears to be dominating here, which, frankly, is a very good thing. I'm thinking it's the amber and carnation fighting for dominance with the undertone of scorched musk and smoky vetiver, which is actually a really neat scent.

 

Like with Hecate, I think I'm going to be testing this out a bit more, but first instinct says no bottle here.

Edited October 3, 2009 by Venneh

[verbranden]

I'm another of the people who got, 'OH HI THERE, VETIVER' in the vial, but once it's actually on my skin, it smooths out to a dark, smokey musky scent with just a hint of the tonka and carnation. This is gorgeous on me, and I love it in return.

[MamaMoth]

This starts out with so much nasty, nasty vetiver. It's thick and burnt and I can taste it on the back of my throat. It makes me feel nauseous. :|

 

It stands at a testament to the faith I have in BPAL, that I let this get anywhere near me. I dabbed on a tiny dot with what I'm sure was a comically horrible grimace on my face. Applying cat urine to my skin could not have felt more repulsive.

 

Have I accurately conveyed that I did not like this very much when it was wet? Good. Moving on...

 

As it dries, the vetiver starts to ease off, thank god. I can smell the amber start to come out, then the carnation joins it. I can sense the muskiness, but couldn't tell you what kind. (I would have guessed black.) After about 30 minutes, the vetiver is just a smoky base for faintly spicy, dryish amber. It never goes powdery on me.

 

I cannot believe this, but it actually turns out pretty nice. After all that yucky vetiver, it morphs into something kind of subtle and spicy, a touch resiny, and faintly smoky. That said, I'm not sure if I can get past the opening stages. My morning perfume application is kind of a ritual for me. I open various bottles and sniff to see what I'm in the mood for. And unfortunately, I don't know that I'll ever sniff this in the imp and say "Yum! Gimme some more of THAT stuff! Hell yeah!"

 

We'll see. Maybe I can train my nose to.. well, probably not like vetiver. Maybe ignore it until we get to the good part?

Edited December 6, 2009 by MamaMoth

[theseagrows]

i think my tastes, they are a' changing. i think i have a kneejerk reaction to scents like this and immediately think i'll like them. i love every note in this, and it smells quite sensual and good but it's just too much for me these days. i think 2-3 years ago i would've been really into this though. or maybe the tonka and orris are too strong and the carnation is not. i'm not sure. it's just a powdery-musky haze on my skin...which isn't bad but it's a bit overwhelming to me.

 

[melrose]

Salted peanuts and booze - I must be at BPAL Happy Hour!

 

This is really interesting - I do believe I've finally found a way to enjoy vetiver - char it.

 

Charred, vetiver blends in and plays well with the other notes instead of slapping me upside the head. This dries down to a faint, sweet boozy note with a sharp edge.

 

Not bottle-worthy, but enlightening.