Harlot

[tailoredshirt]

Based on a Romany incense blend reputed to induce sexual dreams: Somalian rose, Moroccan rose and Bulgar rose with a sultry dribble of cinnamon.

I am using an aged imp, probably 2-3 years old.

Wet: Rose! It's very pretty. I love roses, but haven't tried many BPAL rose blends yet, so this is like coming back to an old friend. This is a lush, wet rose. It smells a bit like rose-scented soap, but that's okay. I don't get much cinnamon yet, just a bit of spiciness from the rose.

Dry: This is smelling exactly like a rose-scented soap I used to use. So, yes, there is a certain soapiness to it, but it smells good to me. I really don't get a lot of cinnamon until about 30-45 minutes after application, and even then it's subtle.

After 3-4 hours, it's faded to a very light rose scent, like I just showered with the aforementioned rose-scented soap. I like this and will continue to use my imp, although I doubt I'll need a bottle.

[FathomBelow]

In the imp, this is like a rose version of Head 'n Shoulders shampoo (not a bad thing!). But not soapy or anything.

Wet on skin, this is still the same sharp, fragrant rose. If it stays like this I'll be quite happy with the scent - it's very unique and compelling.

Dry on skin: Urgh, this turns into powdery/sharp rose soap with some obnoxious white musk added. There is also a pine note (probably what my nose is reading from the cinnamon) that turns this into an inferior rosy version of The First Soft Snow.

Final opinion: Definitely not for me. Darn it, this got such enchanting reviews from other people, but just didn't agree with my skin.

[Monster]

A very simple (yet beautiful) scent. This is well-balanced, perfectly proportioned mix of rose and cinnamon. I've never smelled these two notes blended together before! At first I thought this was more of a potpourri/room scent but after it settles into my skin a bit it transforms into a gorgeous spicy rose perfume. I can't stop sniffing myself.

 

A winner!

[Suu4LC]

In the imp, this is a sweet pink rose to me, with the barest, faintest hint of cinnamon. BPAL rose is totally hit or miss on my skin (it goes sort of sour) but this smells absolutely lovely in the imp.

 

Very similar on my skin-sweeeet pink rose and the teensiest dabble of cinnamon. This actually is sitting beautifully on my skin. No sourness or old-ladyness. Just wafts of soft pink roses and a touch of spice. Reallly gorgeous.

 

Seriously, I think this is my favorite rose bpal blends. O_o It never goes weird on me-just a beautiful sweet, fresh pink rose bouquet with a whisper of spices. Absolutely gorgeous!!! Very romantic to me. Will add it to the bottle list!

[Invidiana]

This is just about a rose single note on me; I can detect the slightest whisper of cinnamon somewhere, and the fact I don't get more surprises me because I usually amp it, but I also amp rose in many cases so in this case it seems that in the battle to amp the rose won. This is pretty for someone who is into fresh rose scents like Rose Red and Peacock Queen but I personally much prefer the proto because it's backed by what I believe are dark resins and tonka.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Invidiana

[Incendiare]

Roses and roses and roses in the vial. Wet, the roses smell fresher and the cinnamon is slightly palpable in the background. As it dries down, the roses gently sweeten, but the spice still remains soft and in the background. As pretty of a rose blend that Harlot is, I don't think I'll need any more than an imp of this since there are a couple other rose blends that I prefer.

[fairestrocza]

In the Imp: I can smell at least two rose notes. Unfortunately, one I associate with Grandma's-decorative-bathroom-soaps. The cinnamon has a bit of a chemical harshness to it.

 

Wet on Skin: Interesting. I can smell rose, but it isn't a typical rose scent - more hot, spicy roses. The Boy says it reminds him of lilacs, and I can see where he gets that impression.

 

While Drying: Slightly soapy in the elbows. The faintest tingle of cinnamon, and a touch of red skin to go with it.

 

After a Little While: Cinnamon or another spicy scent may be a necessary component for rose scents to work on my skin. This is a nice spicy rose scent.

 

Later: Smells spicy and slightly floral, almost like carnation. Love it.

 

Final Thoughts: Low throw after it dries, but it is one of those scents that makes me want to glue my face to my wrist every time I catch a whiff. Doesn't last very long. I'll have to try this as a sleep blend and see how that goes. At certain stages it reminds me of Blood Moon 2010.

 

Harlot earns a 3.5/5 on my skin.

[Altaira]

Cinnamon comes to the top for me, with juicy fresh rose bobbing underneath. Although light and floral, there is something bright-eyed and aggressive waiting to leap out. Very interesting.

[countessmouse]

Soap, soap, soap. Meh.

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: dried out old hothouse roses, with old dirt that hasn't seen the rain or the sun for a long time. it's not roses the way real roses smell, but artificial flat roses. there's no juiciness to it, which is what I love about roses so much in the first place. that rich garden scent is stolen completely by the dried cinnamon.

 

On my skin: this is so dry on the skin as to be almost like a desert scented like rose. the cinnamon isn't a pleasurable spicy, but rather a dry one again. this seems like a scent that is utterly without passion. still artificial, maybe a little haughty.

 

Last thoughts: I love cinnamon and I love roses, but not together and not this dry. I like juicy roses and a wet sort of cinnamon, like cinnamon coffee or apple cider. this is much drier, and maybe more grown-up. but it's definitely without passion.

[Opal_Star]

In the bottle: the best words i can describe it.. is.. decaying rose soaked in medicine wine?

 

Wet On my skin: Oh my god.. It is so ...weird, I love Cinnamon and I am am usually fine with rose. .. But this is not good at all. The rose and the cinnamon does not mixed at all.I am half minded about washing it off..

 

On my skin: this dries down to powdery rose scent. The cinnamon was gone by now.. I can barely smell the rose unless I am putting my nose right on the spot.. hmmph.. Still quite disappointed.. I am not sure why but my neck itches although the perfume was no where near it.

 

Last thoughts: Not worth it. I am super dissappointed since I am looking forward to the cinnamon as it usually invoke a warm huggy feeling..

[Alethia]

Wet: A blast of cinnamon with only the faintest hint of rose in the deep background.

 

15 minutes later: The rose has come out to play! The cinnamon isn't as strong, but it's still pretty powerful at this point.

 

Dry: What a beautiful blend! I've never tried a cinnamon scent before, but I absolutely love the way this is melding with the roses on my skin. I feel sexy, and the boy seconds that sentiment, even offering to purchase me a bottle. Love this!

[JLH]

In the imp, this smells like a mix of fresh rose and cinnamon, but on my skin it quickly morphs into straight up perfume-y rose. The cinnamon gets completely lost in the shuffle. I am discovering that my skin amps rose to the exclusion of everything else, and Harlot became a casualty of that.

[Balame]

In the Imp: Roses.

 

Wet: This is literally like rose water to me. The rose is there but it's wet and watered down. The cinnamon is just vaguely there in the background.

 

Dry: Where the rose was extremely wet at first, it's now the exact opposite. Like dried roses in baby powder! What on earth is going on? Where cinnamon notes usually amp on the drydown I'm not getting it at all here.

 

Overall: I kid you not, dry roses, alcohol, and baby powder. Extremely strange and definitely not for me.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: warm, wet red roses and sweet, strong, dark brown, sugary cinnamon. Ka-pow! It's not fucking around. Hits me instantly and strongly. I normally don't care for rose but this is splendid. Harlot busts right out of the box, stays present, and the drydown..well..

 

drydown: sweet cinnamon sugar and syrupy warm roses. It's like cinnamon pastries with rose liqueur. Frikkin yum. I can equate the smell with the feeling of warm, fond memories of a steamy date. Ones that makes you skootch in your seat and salivate while you nervously hum to yourself to break the awesome mental replay you're having in an inappropriate setting.. work, on the bus, etc.. Anywhere you get a little embarrassed with that feeling of "omg did they hear that? Oh wait I was only thinking.. nothing came out of my mouth. I hope that dude across from me can't read minds.."

Edited August 6, 2011 by SophieCedar

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the bottle: Delicate rose with cinnamon. Love, love, love!

 

On me, wet: Soft and gentle. This would be an excellent rose blend for those who don't like strong rose. The cinnamon dominates the rose, but both are present and accounted for, and neither note is at all strong.

 

On me, just dried: Actually, this might be TOO gentle. Already most of the rose is gone (within minutes), and the cinnamon has turned vague and papery - not at all hot or spicy. It would be perfect for work because it is so subtle and not overly feminine/floral.

 

After 2 hours: Almost completely gone.

 

This is an utterly gorgeous blend, but unless you are at work, I recommend wearing it in a scent locket to retain the fragrance stronger and longer.

 

My rating: 4 on my skin, 5 in the bottle or scent locket

[Lyanna]

I think my skin eats roses. Or better, it first amps them, then eats them. Meh.

 

Bottle: whoaaa roses roses roses. Wait, is that cinnamon?

Wet: Rose rose rose rose with a very vague dusting of something sweet and spicy which must be the cinnamon. I like, but I would have liked the cinnamon to rear it's head more.

Dry: Rose rose rose ..... fading rose. Very slight rose. Soapy rose. What? Wait, where did it go?

 

Close, but no cigar. Would have loved it if the cinnamon was more prevalent and if the staying power would have been a lot longer. I am keeping on to the imp though, because I DO quite like it, even though it's not my holy grail rose scent.

[DahliaHayashi]

I really really didnt expected to love that one as much as i do.

I am a huge cinnamon fan and i love the scent of roses but I also know rose doesnt work with my skin chemistry at all normally. it goes all granny perfume or headachy on me. but blood rose and this one where just to tempting.

While blood rose is a georgeous scent but gives me a headache again this one is just totally different from all rose scents i tried before.

 

In the bottle: I can smell the cinnamon clearly in the background but foremost its roses. like spicy roses. very interesting.

 

On my skin wet: yap cinnamon is definately here. my skin is telling me with a slight burn and turning red. I have a very sensitive skin and it reacts to cinnamon quite strongly but i ignore it because i love the scent of cinnamon. and to be honest its a kind of burn i even like!

Scentwise the roses are comming out more now but the scent stays strong in the background.

 

On my skin dry: what a beautyful scent. roses and cinnamon are now equally playing with each other. never smelled anything like it before. like a playful and sexy rose

 

Verdict: I am deeply in love with this harlot It is a beautiful scent and by far more playful than expected. When i ordered the imp i never thought about a 5 ml bottle but now its on my list. i have to try it out some more since like i said flower scents tend to give me a headache but this is very light. even my only bpal perfume until now i have to reapply because it fades alot during the day. dorian for examble lasted on me over 24 hours on me.

It is a very beautiful spring scent i think.maybe to heavy for the summmer itself but probably good for hot summer nights

 

Edit 12.10. 2011

I am still thinking to get a full bottle and i still love the scent but i have to say i find it a bit annoying that i have to reapply it several times a day. i am always afraid i overdo it. beside this my skin is burning every time i put it on and the burn marks stay nearly longer than the scent. this is the only thing putting me off from actually buying a full bottle.

Edited October 12, 2011 by DahliaHayashi

[sparkleyturtle]

Starts out deliciously rosy. But the dry down just leaves a mild cinnamon. Just didn't work for me.

[vertine]

This didn't work at first. I put some on my wrists, no scent at all. Then I put some at the back of my hand: no cinnamon, only a harsh dusty rose scent, smells like granny toilet scent according to my bf.

 

But the next day I put some on my neck, what a big difference, it's gorgeous! Sweet incense and spicy wet roses. It stays for 4-5 hours without morphing. I want a bottle of this!

Edited January 1, 2012 by vertine

[whitsunweddings]

I was really looking forward to Harlot. Alas, alack, I had a really strong allergic reaction to it.

 

In the bottle: CINNAMON.

 

Wet: CINNAMON CINNAMON CINNAMON. You know Big Red gum? Like that.

 

Drydown: Still cinnamon. I was sniffing around for some rose in there, when I looked down and was like "wtf are those red splattery dots on my boob?"... and now I smell like Savlon. Ah well, can't win 'em all.

Edited January 12, 2012 by whitsunweddings

[bibzerneth]

This was a miss for me. In the imp and wet on the skin it was nice combination of rose and spice, but then it dried down to rose soap. After a couple hours there was just a generic floral smell left. Too bad.

[tdgnika]

Huh. Rose, you say? Rose usually goes to old lady bath salts on me, but this doesn't.

 

In the imp, there was a slight chemical smell, but mostly a pleasant, floral scent with a hint of some deeper thread running through.

 

Wet on the skin, a very sweet floral. It almost went syrupy sweet, but then pulled back.

 

On dry down, I smell the rose, but it's very calm, and not throwing that horrible old lady perfume soap smell. I don't often wear floral scents, but this is worth saving for those few times on a warm spring day that I do.

[nome]

During the first phase, this was a very subdued rose that didn't scream FLOWERS to me at all, which is nice. The cinnamon seemed to have just toned down the rose, rather than going foodie. Just after an hour, this went very, very powdery on me, like an old lady's face powder brush. Only a hint of powdery rose on the edges.

[romarin]

In the bottle it's very rosy nosy, but fresh on the skin, it's more like fresh wet roses and good potting soil - very nice. Unfortunately it a sinus stabbing soapy note comes in so strongly I have to run to wash it off. After a good scrub, it's good home made applesauce in a varnished wooden box. Not bad, but not me. Now if I could just preserve that initial scent..