Emma

[sarahmarie]

EMMA
Better known as the "Parisian Queen of America," needs little introduction in this country.

Emma's "House of all Nations," as it is commonly called, is one place of amusement you can't very well afford to miss while in the Tenderloin District. Everything goes here. Fun is the watchword.

Business has been on such an increase at the above place of late that Mdme. Johnson had to occupy an "Annex." Emma has never less than twenty pretty women of all nations, who are clever entertainers.

Remember the name,

Emma Johnson
331 and 333 Basin Street

Vanilla bourbon, tea rose, jasmine, pink pepper, and patchouli.

I get mostly rose from this right away, but on my skin that's not terribly surprising. It's a prickly, peppery sort of rose, especially when I sniff close to the skin...but what wafts up from my skin is a very true rose.

As it dries, a round sweet note rises up under the rose - presumably the vanilla bourbon! It gives a bit more weight to what is otherwise an increasingly floral scent. Jasmine and rose together seems to be going a little bit sharp on my skin, but again, that's my chemistry at work. I'm not getting patchouli.

I can definitely see this being lovely on someone whose chemistry is a bit more friendly to florals. It's pretty, but on me the bourbon and patchouli can't quite balance the floral, so it's a bit off. I like the waft of this, though - it's a perky rose (I think the pepper livens it up a bit), and if I got just a bit more of the vanilla I'd be really happy.

[VioletChaos]

in the bottle: a sweet candy-like rose. like if Jolly Ranchers made a rose flavored variety, this is what it would smell like.

 

wet on skin: it's becoming a slightly peppery rose, a little sharp as the last reviewer said, but in a rather appealing way.

 

dry down: rose. a true, fragrant rose. there's a slight hint of something way in the background, something that is reminding me of Cathouse. it might be jasmine. but it's really, really faint in there. mostly this is a pure, real rose.

 

in all: although i was hoping for some of the vanilla or patchouli to show itself, this is a lovely rose, and i'm willing to keep it around for a while, at least to see if the other notes come out later, after some aging.

[angelicruin]

This starts out as tea rose, mostly. The bourbon vanilla note comes out to play a few minutes later. I'm not really picking up either the patchouli or pink pepper notes. Just tea rose with light vanilla in the background.

[ami226]

On the skin: Hmmmm, I was hoping for a bit more vanilla from this one. Darn, I mostly smell rose and jasmine with a tiny hint of sweetness that may or may not be vanilla.

 

On the drydown: The vanilla shows its presence a bit more, but sadly the florals really do drown it on my skin...

[reynardine]

Had to try this one out, via decant.

 

In imp: rose and jasmine, with a touch of spice. Not getting the booze at all.

 

Wet: Jasmine dominates, with a touch of rose.

 

Drydown: VERY floral, rose and jasmine duking it out for prominence. No vanilla that I can pick up. The Man commented on the throw, “Strong stuff!”

 

Later: Tea rose, jasmine and a bit of pepper. It calmed down and doesn’t throw as much, but still a very strong floral scent.

 

I love florals, so this worked out for me perfectly. Warm spring/summertime scent.

 

[Little Bird]

Emma is sweet tea rose and perfumey, slightly smoky jasmine on me. I don't get any vanilla, pepper, or patchouli, but my skin does tend to amp up rose and jasmine notes. This smells rather boring on me, and I don't really like these classic perfumey floral type scents. I wish that I could say more about it, but it's just a perfumey floral rose on me. There are a lot of bpal rose blends that I prefer over this one.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

jasmine and pepper are dealbreaker notes for me, and tea rose doesn't like me, either.

but overall, this strikes me as a very old-fashioned sort of scent. something almost timeless, actually.

all the notes seem pretty well-balanced, even the jasmine doesn't take over!

this isn't something i could ever wear, though.

 

[Schmoozy]

 

 

This is earthy, pink, spicy and floral. Unfortunately it is a mish mash of notes that just don't really work for me. The tea rose is beautiful and the pink pepper gives it a hint of girly spice, but then the jasmine and patchouli come into play and wreaks havoc. The bourbon adds a boozy kick to a blend that is getting worse by the minute.

[pinkstardust420]

Peppery and powdery sweet soft rose with a bit of jasmine. A nice nostalgic scent...not sure if it's a keeper though. We'll see!

[milo]

The vanilla bourbon in Emma tempted me, but alas, I don't even get a whiff. What I get is strong, heady jasmine. This one is the first ever bpal to go cat pee on me. This one is off to swaps.

[Iceblink]

Emma begins as tea rose that's a bit sharp--I think maybe the jasmine's influence? The patchouli really opens up as it dries and gives some complexity to the flowers. I don't get very much vanilla from this but there is a bit of spice from the pepper. It's very light and feminine; I'll try it again in springtime.

[kohaisama]

Immediately wet on the skin, I get the vanilla bourbon and then it dies almost as fast to the tea rose. Jasmine comes up quickly to wrestle for top note, but it's more like a tie. In the end, it's a powdery jasmine-rose.

[Ondine]

Almost all jasmine on me, and sadly the lab's jasmine never works on me. The combination of the jasmine and rose (which does work on me) makes this over-the-top floral and cloying.

[musichappens]

I'm immediately hit with the scent of the tea rose both when I opened the vial and when I applied it on my wrist. It's a more subdued rose scent than I'm use to and I like it! As it dries the vanilla bourbon and jasmine come out a bit more. The jasmine seems to make it more floral and feminine, while the vanilla bourbon seems to help round it all out. To me, it's a very antique-ish perfume that strikes me as something that ladies from the Victorian era would wear. I'm ultimately going to have to pick up a bottle of this.

[filigree_shadow]

I sort of expected the jasmine in this to overpower the other notes, but it doesn't. The tea rose does. It seems like I can smell a little bit of vanilla bourbon, but mostly it's a soft rosy scent. It's a good rose, but it doesn't seem like there's much else going on.

[hepkitten]

This goes through some weird stages on me, but it dries down to a warm rose with a touch of powder. (It reminds me just a bit of Lady Luck Blues, but I don't have LLB in front of me to compare.) I might consider getting a bottle of this, as the vanilla makes it very wearable. The jasmine is a no-show, thankfully.

Edited January 1, 2010 by hepkitten

[Tanya]

This is a winner on me. The rose and vanilla is beautiful-very old-fashioned. Then the patchouli and pink pepper walks in. This makes me think of a woman who appears to be very refined and elegant (powdered and scented) but who barely conceals a darker sexy side. A madam in silk and satin (and who knows what underneath). I got a compliment on it the first time out.

[amyw]

I asked my partner to smell this and he said, "hmm... Old Spice." I'm not sure what it is, but he's probably right. It does smell like a men's cologne I've smelled years ago, but I don't remember exactly what it is. It could very well be Old Spice, which supposedly has notes of vanilla and jasmine in it. It doesn't seem extremely floral on me at all, even though jasmine often screams at the top of its lungs on me. I do think I smell more tea rose than any other floral.

 

Not unpleasant at all, but not my thing either.

[msbcozad]

Emma started out spicy -- I guess that was the pepper -- and then morphed into rose. After an hour or so, the jasmine rose up and the scent turned to powder. I think this scent may do better in warm weather so I'll hold onto it until spring and try again.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh god, jasmine turns the rose into this sour mix of rose and jasmine... and it's just sharp, sour and in your face floral.

 

Epic. Fail.

[theseagrows]

in the vial i smell a sweet rose and pink pepper. on my skin it's kind of like a candied rose, but something else in it adds a touch of sourness-probably the jasmine, as it is a very hit-or-miss note on my skin. i kind of like this faintly on my wrist, but i think if i wore it full on my neck and wrists that it would be far too cloying. unfortunate, because it sounds like such a beautiful scent. if only skin chemistry would cooperate for this one! though i'll probably try it once more in hopes that it'll work better...

 

[mooncityminx]

A very kind forumite gifted me a partial decant of this. I was thrilled, as I am always anxious to try anything with vanilla. Particularly bourbon vanilla.

 

So far I have not detected vanilla from it. Mostly I am getting tea rose. It's a very nice tea rose, not too overbearing, not too sweet. Depending on where I apply it, I can pick up what I think is the pink pepper. There's something freshly sweet about it. It's not sugary, and it's not exactly fruity or powdery either. Oh, after several minutes, I can finally detect a bit of vanilla, but only in the background and close to the skin. At no point do I detect any patchouli of any kind, or the standard bpal jasmine.

 

The best I can do is to compare it to other roses.

 

Rose Red has a true rose floral and a green scent to it, like a pretty tomboy. This is more civilized and feminine, without the greenery. Peacock Queen is a clean rose that might belong to a very fine quality soap or a bottle of rosewater. This is less haughty, and more friendly. Hope is a candy rose, like a Rosepetal doll, sweet and vanilla, childlike. This is like Hope grew up, became more lady-like and poised, but stayed natural and friendly.

 

I wear Hope a lot. I would wear this if I had a bottle. Most likely, I will give this fragrance as a gift to someone at some point. I think this is one of the best gateway bpals I've come across in a while, because it is so classic and simple, yet uniquely wonderful.

 

[littlegoat]

Oh Emma, I had high hopes for you with your bourbon vanilla, rose and patchouli. Unfortunately for me, you also have that pink pepper, and your rose is tea rose!

 

In the vial and first on my skin, Emma smells a bit like a jumble of florals, though soon enough the tea rose comes to the fore and doesn't leave. Like ever.

 

Sad for me, tea rose doesn't seem to like me much, and tells me so loudly from the testing spot on the back of my hand.

 

Ah well Emma, I guess you're not the lady that's meant for me!

[Leopard403]

Emma is the most mysterious and least predictable of the ladies on my skin. When it is wet on my skin it is OMG HEAVY FLORAL! WHOA! It's sort of tuberose-y, which is really heavy and heady to me and must be the jasmine.

 

But then it dries, and it gets confusing. Sometimes I get a lot of patchouli overlaid with the daintier notes; and sometimes I just get pink girly goodness with a hint of boozy vanilla. This needs more testing over time because it is definitely a morpher, and so far I can't find a pattern.

Edited January 24, 2010 by Leopard403

[crebbsgirl]

Hrmmm, this one almost vanishes when it touches my skin. I really had to slather to get anything to show up. Anyway, the jasmine and rose didn't amp here as per usual, but instead lent a heady floral vibe. The vanilla stayed soft, and didn't go foody in the slightest. I'm getting just a hint of pink pepper and patchouli. Overall, this is a predominantly sweet floral blend with just a hint of depth and spice from the pepper/patch combo.