Giallo

[cyanidenoir]

Profoundly passionate and singularly sinister: opoponax, black plum, night-blooming jasmine, benzoin, red musk, violet leaf, orange blossom, mimosa, mandarin, smoky vanilla, tobacco, patchouli, and black amber.

The moment I saw this, I HAD to have it. I LOVE Giallo films (not quite as much as Asian horror though hehe) and the label art is so appealing. I mentioned to my husband that I'd die to have this perfume. He ended up buying the whole Summer Blockbusters Set! But I had already purchased it on Ebay so we ended up with 2 bottles.

Althought all of the scents are marvelous, Giallo really sticks out. It truly reminds me of it's namesake.

In the bottle, the scent is heavy, smoky and tobacco-y. The aroma is exactly what you'd expect. It is dark, brooding and menacing. When on my skin, the plum starts peaking through and the vanilla becomes obvious. Sadly, the scent doesn't last long. It reminds me of Zorya, only it doesn't last as long on my skin.

I am so glad that I had an opportunity to try this! Giallo is definitely a scent I would recommend.

[rayvn1]

Ohhhh this is lovely! My only complaint is it doesn't last very long on my skin. This is worth multiple applications though. A sweet and dark haze predominates with plum and violet predominating. Since I love every single note (with the possible exception of jasmine) this was a pretty sure bet, but I'm so happy with this it may work its way into my top ten!

[tragedy]

In the imp: too much for me to wrap my head around, the newer bpals that Ive tried are like this, very complex.

Wet on skin: this hits me as rough masculine at first, i dont get the feminine at all... tobacco sweetened by a bit of vanilla with mens cologne in the background.

Drydown: I almost think its going to turn floral then it dissapears, the floral notes completely play peek-a-boo with my nose. Its slightly soapy which always happens with manadrin on me.I like it, but I swear its masculine and I'm going to force hubby to wear it to see what its like on him

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this smells like a smoky haze - dark, sharp, musky smoke. Like being in a room filled with burning incense, dim lighting, and a few women wearing very expensive, sharp, killer perfume.

 

On my skin, it's much the same, though it sweetens up a little once it's on. Smoke, darkness, and perfume. I can't pick out any one note by itself; they all just melt together.

 

Giallo is complex and has a lot of presence, but it fades surprisingly fast on me. It has an aggressive throw for about an hour and then all but disappears.

 

ETA: Reviewing this now that it has aged... this smells oddly like nothing a faint whisp of smoke, but mostly an oily base smell. Most of the dark delicacies exclusive scents haven't aged well for me and are going to my swap pile...

Edited November 12, 2012 by Little Bird

[Fefferbella]

I get a bright fresh lemon note when this is right out of the bottle. As it starts to dry, a light tobacco leaf scent emerges.

 

This is a fairly complex scent on the dry down, but sadly is fades away far too quickly. I love tobacco blends and this is no exception, I just wish it stuck around longer.

[caffinatedangel]

In the imp I found this scent really unappealing and almost passed on testing it at all. It was dark, musky, and sort of basement/garage smell going on. Not really all that great.

 

But the moment I put it on skin it lightened up a lot, well in a sinister way. I'm a big fan of a lot of the notes in this, but jasmine was my largest worry. I tend to dislike jasmine, as a smell in general. However, have found "night blooming" jasmine is less intense, softer, and somehow bareable. I can detect it in this because I'm a phobe, but it's not misbehaving. Ah that that mimosa note is in this too. I really enjoy it, it's tangy, tart, and just a lot of fun. But in this, it adds the sharpness to the killers blade.

 

It's also a tad smokey, but not campfire-smoke. It's not really intense at all, but has a sort of grit to it, like how bars get a coating of smoke lingering even after everyone is gone. Benzoin and vanilla add a light sweetness in the background, but it clashes against the tarter notes in a bizarre way.

 

I hate then like then love then hate this scent. It's such a strange one, with so much going on! But the general vibe of the whole thing? A smoking hippy with a vanilla ice cream cone, on a cold winter day. o_o

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Floral first, I think maybe the mimosa; there's a touch of fruitiness, some patchouli, and a base that reminds me of Mme Moriarty.

 

Wet: This is floral in a slightly bitter direction for my taste, more like mimosa than the night-blooming jasmine that works so well on me. But the rest of it is great, that signature blend of smoky dark fruity patchouli vanilla amber musk. In the dark I would be able to identify this as one of Beth's blends; it's almost archetypal. We shall see how I fare with this one.

 

Hour and a half: I'm getitng the Snake Charmer version of this scent, although it went through a quiet period at about half an hour. But no, I get plum and smoke and jasmine and vanilla and patchouli and amber. I like this, but that edgy floral note at the beginning may keep me from falling head over heels with it.

 

Three hours: Oh, this is so lovely, I think I may have to get a bottle of it after all. It is lighter than Snake Charmer, and a shade more floral on me.

 

Four and a half hours: It's fallen off some and the throw is almost gone, but it's staying true to itself. I figured from the ingredient list that I would love this, and I do.

 

I did wind up getting a bottle of it.

[Monster]

First of all I just LOVE the label art for this one. The whole series is fantastic but Giallo is my favorite

 

I decided to pick up a bottle of this since there were a few comparisons to Snake Charmer (which I love).

 

Giallo goes on strong at first. It's mostly orange blosson with some "perfumey" notes (I think that might be the jasmine and violet leaf). The jasmine in this isn't strong at ALL. It's very subdued, I can't really smell it at all. I only get a faint "impression" of it (if that makes sense).

 

As this dries, the initial big, bright "prefumey" quality fades away and I'm left with some nice citrus notes mixed with a bit of resin.

This doesn't smell like Snake Charmer at ALL to me. Shake Charmer was a dark amber with coconut, vanilla and incense. Giallo has BIG citrus notes and a lot more floral componants (did Snake Charmer even have any floral notes in it?). Yeah, Giallo and Snake Charmer smell nothing a like to my nose.

 

Unfortunately, citrus doesn't stick around too long. Giallo fades within minutes of putting it on. It's really lovely while it's there though.

It will be interesting to see how this one ages. Hopefully the patchouli and amber will deepen and help the citrus stick around a bit longer. I'll keep it and see what happens!

[heysunshine]

Giallo is definitely a perfume-y scent on my skin. For one because it is ridiculously complex; it has that feel of a high end perfume. Second there is something in it that hurts my nose the way alcohol in commercial perfumes does. A very floral blend, though a few times I caught some amazing wafts of something darker and more sinister coming off my wrists. Hours later if I really pressed my nose to my arm I smelled the red musk+patch+vanilla. Scent lasted all day + a shower and all there is now is still a complex flowery blend. Not my kind of scent but I appreciate the artistry.

[ami226]

I love the idea behind this one! It brings me back to the time I studied in Italy. I always found it interesting that the mystery genre in Italy was called Yellow..... Anyways...

 

On the skin: This scent is perfumey and lovely. I think I can mostly smell orange blossom. Quite nice, but I am not sure if it is me.

[theseagrows]

OMG i love this! it's really interesting-i am getting mostly musk, tobacco, amber and i think a combination of mandarin and plum (luckily the plum is subtle, as it can turn plasticky on me.) it's sultry and mysterious and sexy...mmm! i giallo movies, especially argento, so i was really hoping this would work on me. goin' on my big bottle wishlist!

Edited May 25, 2011 by theseagrows

[ellebelle]

In the bottle: I smell something woody, a bit of the orange blossom, definitely some vanilla and the red musk. Every time I smell the bottle, I pick out new notes.

 

Wet: Smoky orange. I can still smell the citrus notes from the bottle, but that woody, smoky smell is even stronger.

 

Dry Down: The citrus notes and the woodiness almost start to fade, and I get the jasmine, the musk and the vanilla more. As dries more and more, I start to smell the plum in this too.

 

10 Minutes Later: This is getting more and more floral on me, which is a little disappointing. I'm losing some of the darker, woodier base.

 

Verdict: This is an extremely well mixed blend. I think that all of the elements work together very nicely, and it smells ... expensive, if that makes sense. I thought this would be my least favorite of the three Dark Delicacies that I ordered, but I actually quite like it. I think this would age well, since it's been experience that citruses and florals mellow a little more with age.

Edited September 28, 2009 by Ellebelle

[myoubi]

TAKEAWAY: Lovers of Snake Charmer should give this a shot but bear in mind that it's a much more floral blend. Lovers of Faiza should try this because it reminds me of what I /wanted/ Faiza to smell like. People who like Black Lace might give this a try, because even though they are totally different scents there is this weird association. I'm keeping my bottle.

 

In the Bottle: this reminds me of Snake Charmer, but with citrus, and a little bit lighter. There is something slightly bitter about it too, but not in an unpleasant way.

 

On Skin: Oil is quite dark in colour -- and in scent. It rapidly morphs from Snake-Charmer-Citrus to something deeper and much less sweet -- guess that is the opoponax coming out to play. I can feel the jasmine in there if I huff, but it isn't ZOMGJASMINE at all... and there is a dark sweetness that, I assume, is the red plum. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a 'sweet' blend on me -- it just has a slight something that cuts through the darker, thick and citrus-jasmine-resins thing going on.

 

20 Minutes: All of the notes have prettymuch melded together into some sort of strange brew... it is bitter, and a little musky, and very dark without being heavy the way Snake Charmer/Mme Moriarty/Crypt Queen are. Notes are discernible only if I huff my wrists and that's a maybe; from about a foot away, I get a little bit of the tobacco note and more of the red plum comes out, so the throw is actually lovely even though the scent itself is peculiar.

 

1 Hour: It's mellowed out into a dark, resinous floral blend that nonetheless doesn't have the *heaviness* of Snake Charmer et al. It's dark and mysterious -- doesn't have the Shocking! factor I associate with giallo but that's probably a good thing. It's alternately slightly bitter-jasminey and (the throw) sweetened with black plum. I like it, it's a morpher, I'm keeping it -- but it's definitely not for everyone.

 

 

ETA: OH MY GOD. Like does not nearly encompass how I feel about this scent after wearing it for a few days. It is this lovely sultry scent, not too sweet and not too heavy, that is nonetheless dark and murky and mysterious. KEEPING IT FOREVER. ((clutches bottle protectively))

Edited October 28, 2009 by myoubi

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Decant: Orange Blossom and Mimosa

Wet on Me: now add the benzoin and mandarin to the above mix. So far so good

Drying Down: I'm getting sinister now. It is kind of 'off' a touch sour or dank.

Dry: This starts of gorgeous but gets scary on me. I think I will re-home it.

[dawndie]

In bottle: watery citrus

 

On skin: zippy mandarin with some dusty wood nearby

 

Half-hour later: mélange of citrus, floral and wood

 

In conclusion: this is a grown-up fancypants blend, like Lady Lilith -- lots of favorite ingredients blending into a sophisticated floral. I wish I got the Snake Charmer/Madame Moriarty vibe, but maybe aging will help it get more sinister and less snooty.

[filigree_shadow]

I like all these notes except the jasmine, and I can't smell any jasmine in this! The citrus note and the plum are prominent when it's wet, but as it dries the darker notes get stronger. It turns quite perfumey, as you'd probably expect with those notes, but it's perfumey in the best way possible. Smells like very expensive perfume. Not at all like generic department store perfume. It's elegant and beautiful, and it's definitely more of a nighttime scent than a daytime one. I can't point to any one note in particular -- it's very well-balanced -- so I can't really tell you what this smells like. I just know I like it.

[greenranger]

This smelled elegant, stylized and yellow...

 

I'm still thinking about how I feel about smelling this way, but, it seems a really good representation of Giallo.

[SpookyBunny]

Started out very musky and flowery with some vanilla - reminding me a little of "On Darkness".

Soon morphed to very very sweet - the vanilla, mandarin, and plum mixing together - but with a smoky undertone which could be the amber and patchouli. In this way it smells very feminine and summery right now like a fruity creamsicle but at the same time there is a toxic dangerous edge lurking underneath. Brings images to mind of a pretty girl trapped in a musty basement - very evocative. This is a FAST morpher - eager to show you every side of it, every note. Quickly now the sweetness is moving into a flowery mixture - right now this is all flowers and it seems to be fading away fast, trailing off. I am really surprised at how quickly this morphs, this is all happening in the span of like five minutes seriously. I am not disappointed that it seems to be fading off because I didn't really slather it on, so it would have been expected.

BUT WAIT!

Oh man, this blend is really active. That is the perfect word for how it works on me, "active".

Just as it was drying down it leaped back and attacked me! Suddenly it smells strongly of that sweet smell mixed with flowers and oh yes... red musk. It fades in and out, one moment being extremely faint and the next moment having a strong presence. It keeps you on edge and has many twists and turns, it so accurately represents the Giallo genre. I would think if you wore this while watching one of Argento's films you would be in for the experience of your life. It really sets the mood.

It is working into something that smells like a much stronger version of "On Darkness" but with more fruit flowery action.

As I continue wearing this, I can only explain the phenomena of how this scent is working as it running around and playing hide and seek. Running back and forth. One minute it is RIGHT THERE and prominent, the next minute it is just randomly gone but the shadow of it lingers and you know it is nearby. Finally it just comes right at you full force, and decides to stay. It is sinister and playful all at once, I absolutely adore it. This really exemplifies the perfect artistry of BPAL creations.

[voodoocatwoman]

This smells like a room full of old aunts, the kind who insist on hugging you so tightly you can't breathe. Not that you would really want to breathe when any of them are around, though.

 

One of them smokes, so you get a good whiff of stale smoke. One wears Faberge Tigress perfume and BOY does she wear it. She couldn't sneak up on anyone if her life depended on it. One of them likes her talcum powder and when she pulls you to her, a little white aura cloud erupts.

 

Run. Run for your life.

[edenssixthday]

Giallo - This is a strange scent on me. It wants to be a dark and beautiful, but the orange blossom keeps getting in the way and turns it into something dark and slightly off in a powdery sort of way. Beneath the orange blossom, I can smell gorgeous red musk and tobacco and patchouli and a hint of lovely jasmine and a hint of smokiness and sweet, dark plum...but the orange blossom keeps ruining the scent and giving it a weird powder-and-canned-green-chilis vibe to the scent, which just doesn't work with the other notes. I can wear orange blossom sometimes, but not other times. This time, the orange blossom is a fail.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: not looking at the notes this smells like one of those new deodorants that has jasmine, violet, tropical jungle blooms, orchid..etc.. pick anything more exotic than baby powder.. and that's what hits me. I think the orange blossom, nb jasmine, violet, and mandarin causing this.

Drydown: oh! Super morpher. Red musk, plum, and smoky vanilla (tend to amp these big-time.) and more resinous and sweet notes, but my snooter's a little blocked up. I love italian horror very much so I refuse to give up on this. It's shape-shifting every couple seconds between the florals, musk, and sweet notes. I keep chasing different notes around my arm but they're escaping me.. Most of these notes are magic for me and I bought a bottle unsniffed. Definitely need to go back to this later.

[revinn]

With so many notes, I expected this to be a little more complex. And it is, in the bottle.

 

In the bottle, I smell a mixture of dark, smokey notes and florals, but on my skin, I just get a muddled mix of tobacco and something incensey.

[Gin]

Smoky musky plum and flowers. On me, this is surprisingly faint. There's something cool and astringent, too, almost like pine. Very odd. This is going to swaps because I like my plummy musk to be heavier on the plum.

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: So, there are a lot of notes in this. I get the plum and mandarin first and foremost, and it's kind of a weird mixture. I'm also getting the vanilla, black amber, and a bit of red musk and patchouli. Overall it's a dark fruit scent that's juicy and smoky at the same time.

 

Wet: Oh hello, red musk! I'm glad you decided to come out and play! The vanilla quickly flares up as well. After a minute the floral notes start to come out and make it not only floral, but a bit herbal as well... and a little powdery.

 

Dry: Wow, I cannot believe how much this has morphed. I mean, most blends morph quite a bit on me, but this is a total turnaround. All I get now is a soft, smoky musk. It's closer to skin musk than red musk, I think; it's missing that... well, redness, that bright, sexy edge. If I try really hard I can still recognize the plum and vanilla in the background.

 

An Hour Later: Mostly the same, but perfumey, and... it's veering towards rancid butter territory.

 

Overall: I'd expected this to be a little like Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller, with the combination of red musk, plum, patchouli, and vanilla. But nope, not at all. This morphed way too much for my liking, and that it's going sour on me seals the deal. Giallo is not for me.

[whisperstilled]

In Bottle: Plum, florals, a definite smokey back note and something sharp and citrusy. This is a sit up and take notice blend. It has a bit of an oriental perfume feel to it, but dirtied up by the smoke. I don't get much amber and just a whiff of patchouli, but I do get some vanilla sweetening it up. This is a complex blend, and it seems a little different every time I sniff it.

Wet: Plum and floral with smoke. I get a little musk, no jasmine, and maybe a little of the orange and mimosa which I think was the citrus/floral combo I was smelling earlier. The notes here blend almost seamlessly together, however, giving the whole thing a sexy, smokey vibe that is surprisingly light.

Dry: As it dries, the orange is coming out more. I still get a little vanilla and some of the florals, and while some notes have faded back in the end this is what it was in the bottle, if a little dirtier on the drydown. Totally intriguing scent, good for a night out.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Whisperstilled