The Harlot's House

[claudia6913]

The dead are dancing with the dead, the dust is whirling with the dust: angel’s trumpet, violet, white sandalwood, oude, copaiba balsam, angelica, white tea, olibanum, and oakmoss.

 

Soft floral, not overpowering, not assuming, it just is. Kind of wafts around without imposing but letting you know it's there.

[BlueberryPie]

My nose must be crazy, because I swear I get a rose note in this. But then again, the only rose scent I've tried so far is Roses, Pearls, and Diamonds, and it's rather faint on me in that one. So maybe my nose just hasn't learned what roses actually smell like yet.

 

I wish the white tea note would come out more on me, because I love tea scents. But overall, this is just a very floral scent on me, with the faintest whiff of sandalwood. Which isn't a bad thing at all. I enjoyed this a lot. I thought I was going to think it was generic at first, but there's something about the subtle freshness to the florals, something tempering it down and making it not piercing or cloying that really made this blend for me. I'm now wavering on whether to get a bottle of this.

 

The main problem I have is that my skin eats this up, so after an hour, there's almost nothing left. And I want to get a bottle to see if the problem improves when I slather, and I can't slather properly with an imp. I'm too paranoid about using anything up. (I have so many almost-empty imps at home that I refuse to use.)

 

Score: 9/10

[Ajila]

In the bottle - A high pitched sweet/sharp floral bouquet with a hint of pepper beneath

 

Wet on me - Sharp green sappy florals with a hint of pepper

 

Dry on me - A calm cool floral

 

Overall - It's quite a classy scent, but it's not really me

[littlesparrow]

This is really good - bright and refreshing...it's not too feminine, I feel like a man could get away with wearing this...I can't really pick out any individual notes but I agree that it's classy. It's very very nice! Maybe bottle-worthy!

[filigree_shadow]

I think my imp is pretty aged at this point, because I'm having a lot of trouble identifying particular notes, and it's certainly not the heady floral soapy perfumey scent other people have described. It's light, sweet, pretty, and a little woody. It seems like I can tell there's sandalwood in this, and the sweetness seems to be coming from the tea. I don't know what this imp smelled like when it was new, but I bet aging has helped. It's pretty nice, and I'm not a fan of florals.

[Veronica]

Clean, white floral scent. Soft and slightly "wet", very faint.

[SophieCedar]

Wow! This is the 1st blend I've experienced where angels trumpet was notable and actually stuck around! Its wet, purple, green, earthy, clean. Reminded me of Devil's Nightcap from LUSH for a sec. Violet becomes more prominent in the drydown but its still sufficiently obscured by the rarer floral and base notes.

 

Overall, I truly like it. Nice floral that's just this side of different. I'd say wear this to confuse true floral geeks...they won't be able to identify the notes clearly. Plus, its got hella throw!

[Kay Torres]

I really loved this when I first got it from the lab; it was a fresh, pretty floral with just a hint of woodsiness. Now that it's had a bit of a sit in my drawer, I hate it. My skin DEVOURS the floral notes and it's just wood and tea. Very STRONG wood and tea that makes my eyes water. I smell like the man after he's been out cutting (only nowhere near as delicious) - it's sort of briny, woodsy, bitter and very sharp. It sort of reminds of the smell of a rotting fallen log. Not feeling it. I need a scrub.

Edited July 29, 2016 by SunsetKay

[gloame]

This is really pretty and I love it. I definitely smell the violet, and it's behaving very well! The sandalwood and balsam are mixing into an almost-cedar, which I love. Oakmoss to keep it from going too sickly sweet with the violet, and tea to soften it. Very nice!

Where I'd wear this: Spring holiday in Seattle

[VetchVesper]

It's interesting so many people are getting floral from this, b/c on me it becomes a very clean, astringent, sort of woody herbal. It's really interesting, and it actually does remind me of the smell of an old house. Like... one with old hard wood floors and cabinetry that's not dirty, but definitely has a smell from all the age.

 

There's a bit of floral in the opening, though I didn't guess it was violet till I looked at the notes. I also smell the oude, which might be what's reminding me of that old house smell. It's a little funky, but not going strait to "poo" as some oude does. Then a sort of astringent, green herbal thing starts creeping in, which I'm guessing is a mix of white tea and angel's trumpet and who knows what else. Then the balsam peeks and there's a camphorous quality to the whole thing. This phase is very woody before it slides to a sort of soapiness. Not floral soapiness, but again, clean and herbal. This smells to me like clean old house. It's very atmospheric and not at all what I expected, but I'm glad I got to try it out!

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: The angel’s trumpet, white tea, and oakmoss stand out to me the most, with some resins (I think mostly dry sandalwood) lingering in the background.

 

Wet: I’m getting angel’s trumpet, white tea, dry, white sandalwood, and oakmoss, with a bit of sweetness from the violet and a touch of oudh darkening the scent.

 

Dry: This actually smells really sharp on me. It’s very high-pitched, almost like nail polish remover. I think one of the floral notes has decided it is at war with me. Behind that, there’s some oakmoss and dusty resins.

 

Verdict: It was nice to be able to try this, because I love trying scents inspired by poetry, but alas, The Harlot’s House does not jive with my skin chemistry.

[milo]

Fresh and airy. I'm thinking from the tea. Not getting one particular floral, it's just well blended. It threatens to go powdery after a bit, and becomes rather sharp. Not for me, but nice to try.

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Soapy, herbal, floral white tea.

 

Dry: Sweet and soapy baby powder.

 

Skin chemistry fail for me; oakmoss and certain florals can turn soapy on my skin, but I could see this smelling nice on someone else.

[lady_pandora]

I have the hardest time pinning this one down. I think it's because the strongest notes are ones I'm not really familiar with. The skin scent is clean and a little sharp, while the throw is kind of sweet and misty. It smells a lot like something I had in my house in about 2003. A perfume, a candle, a shampoo, maybe even a book? IDK. I'm just struck by this frustratingly vague scent memory of me reading a book in my tiny old apartment in my early twenties. The nostalgia of it is kind of cool when paired with the "dust is whirling with the dust" line.

[Myrrha]

Although it is very floral at first, after five minutes this is revealed as a tea and white sandalwood scent with flowers providing a beautiful accent. A little fresh but still soft.

 

I love white-green florals like The Ghost and The Witching Hour of Night. This one is not as sharp, possibly due to the soft base of oakmoss, white sandalwood and slightly sweetened tea.

 

I absolutely love this, it will be perfect in a lot of different situations and seasons, will look for more imps or perhaps a bottle.

[Shadowdawn]

First, I have to say the poem here is beautiful! And secondly, if not for a lovely frimp I probably would have never even tried this--first because it seems like it's going to be a heady, wet floral, (soap), and because it has a couple of my death notes in it. However, testing it and not knowing what was in it at first, it was a real surprise! Much more modern, bright, and classy than I would have guessed, with a much, much nicer drydown than I could have imagined. It actually smells quite unique, even amongst the BPAL lot. Sniffing the imp, I got straight up moist, green grass, and almost put it immediately back down. But breathing in deeper, I picked up on something behind that, something that made me think of mints and the old Undertow. Still not normally my thing, for being too 'wet' and fresh, but it suggested something deeper in there and I tried it.

It is certainly one of the most crisp florals and clean smells I've ever scented... for a 'harlot's house', this is more of a pre-coitus scent for sure. A few minutes in and it smells just like clean, freshly washed skin and hair, maybe from a soak in a flower bath. It really does smell like very nice shampoo in a way and makes me think of 'bamboo' and other vaguely green (but not grassy) scent elements. Or just getting clean in general (springtime, perhaps). It's relaxing, brings to mind fluffy towels, and tea time, because the tea note starts to emerge powerfully over the initial floral/aquatic perfume feel of it, and dominates with a slight sharpness. The violet is also really pretty in this, and the oakmoss/balsam (death notes normally) must be barely there because I don't pick them out distinctly. It smells a bit like a citrusy/floral cup of white tea. But as it dries fully, all that white sandalwood (and something else; earthy, dry, woody, maybe a little resinous) comes to the forefront and lingers around gently, evocatively, like a memory of a good time. In the final stage, it actually seems to dry down into a clean, simple, light musk.  

[Cali]

Lovely. I understand where people are getting a rose note from this - I was fooled as well. It's got that same warmth and sweetness. It's floral, it's a little green due to the moss. I'm thinking a field of flowers in a forest, on a summer's day. 

Dry, on me, it gets a little whiter, not colder, as I'm guessing the "tea" in there keeps this a lil brewy.

[myrrhmyrrh]

In the vial: I fell in love with title and description and so bought a big bottle. Uh oh. Something very bright here, a yellow feel. More so than flowers or incense or tea or anything announced in the description. I have a feeling this will be too bold for me

 

On me, wet: Brassy, like both a big band and a bad hair-blonding job.

 

On me, just dried: Some of the tea comes forth to pacify the brassiness, but this is a sharp tongued and sassy whipper snapper of a perfume. I smell no violet, for nothing shrinks here. Except perhaps me.

 

After 15 minutes: more tea thankfully, as I think I now have a hangover.

 

After 30 minutes: tea still, but the brassy yellow is refusing it for something stronger.

 

After 1 hour: Some individual flowers are coming out, with less fanfare, but I don’t know them by name

 

After 3 hours: The brazen hussy has gone pale and may faint but will persist in her vocal seductions no matter what - as said above this is the perfume in a harlot's house that has gotten into the fabric of throw pillows and curtains and  will not was out.

 

Verdict. I should have known that a name of this sort would not go in for subtlety - I did use the whole bottle or almost (so there is that), not wanting to waste my purchase and hoping it would grow on me, but it never did. Won’t go looking for it again.

[Claire-of-the-Valley]

I really didn't think I'd like this scent, mostly because when I've received other imps that are supposed to be more sensual I often end up finding them kinda repulsive on me. XD I was very pleasantly surprised to find that isn't the case with this one at all. Bear in mind that the imp I received may be a few years old at this point, I'm not totally sure. Regardless, it reminds me of the Manhattan scent and I'm thinking it's that they both share white tea as a note. I really thought this scent would also list something citrusy given how it smells to me, but it looks like that isn't the case.

 

If I had to describe the notes I'm getting, I would agree that tea is one of them, something faintly floral, and bergamot. The whole thing is very smooth and delicate. I think I like it a bit more than Manhattan, and I'd like to get a full bottle sometime if this is how it generally ages.

[roseus]

A fresh, cologne-y floral. I mean cologne-y in the best way, it has this layered, intentional vibe. Not just a bunch of florals, but a composed air to it. The tea starts off really forward and fresh, but on my skin everything melds together. Even violet, which usually doesn't play nice on my skin, I can't pick out in particular.

[ShadowEtienne]

I'm not sure that I ever would have taken the chance on testing this if I'd not been gifted an imp in an order from a lovely forumite. I'm really glad to have gotten the chance to try this though!

 

The white tea, angelica, and angel's trumpet are definitely the leading notes on my skin. It's a lovely fresh and airy white tea that ties the anise adjacent sweet angelica and slightly heady true to the flower angel's trumpet together. (I love anise and anise adjacent things, and heady is a good thing here for me.) Because of the white tea, it's not too intense or sticky of a smell.

 

Behind those airy floral-tea elements, there's a rich woody, spicy resinous scent that is definitely most recognizable as olibanum and basalm to me, but is drawing elements from sandalwood and oude almost certainly.

 

There is a tiny waft of violet hiding in the background that is a lovely addition to the other florals, and smells very fresh on me.

 

This is lovely, and I may seek out more when this imp runs out!

[Weirdgirlpilled]

Woawh…. floral. eugh! I know, I know, what was I expecting based on the description? I dunno! But not a weird Overly-heady screechy perfume with some kind of skanky stank underneath! Bummed but it actually smelled beautiful on my best friend, so it was absolutely just a skin chemistry thing lol.

[skyturtles]

Lab fresh frimp!

Wet: bright, clean, soft floral, not too powdery. When it comes to florals, if I must have a flower, a violet is an acceptable one.

Drying down, the more resinous notes come out. The white tea or whatever was so bright calms down. Still a clean scent, and pretty sophisticated if I do say so.

The sandalwood is not overpowering at all, which I appreciate.

All in all, I think this would be a nice, everyday SPRING scent. I'm in the meat of fall at the moment, so perhaps I should just set this aside and reevaluate next year!

Edited September 26 by skyturtles