Virginia

[SophieCedar]

VIRGINIA
Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Carlotta Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoïni was born in Florence to minor Tuscan nobility. At 17, she married Francesco Verasis, conte di Castiglione, and bore him one son. In 1855, she traveled to Paris as a diplomat with instructions to plead the case for Italian unity with Napoleon III. She displayed an impressive gift for foreign affairs, becoming Napoleon III's mistress and gaining entrance to a glittering social circle that included the cream of European royalty. During this time, she wielded a great deal of political clout as both a courtesan and a spy, and her influence was such that she was instrumental in helping to protect Paris from a Prussian occupation. Considered by many to be the first fashion model, she directed Pierre-Louis Pierson at the Mayer & Pierson studio in Paris to assist in accumulating over seven hundred photographs documenting pivotal moments in her life and flashes of Surrealist artistic symbolism. Photos from this period include images of her in a nun's habit, as a virgin drowned, as a corpse, and also as Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, Judith entering the tent of Holofernes, Anne Boleyn, and Goya's Nude Maja.

An exotic South Asian musk blended with white sandalwood, tobacco absolute, white sage, caramel, black orchid, tonka bean, frankincense, muguet, and juniper.

This is truly bizarre. I can only smell the slightest red musk and something a little sweet however the oil is completely opaque..? I expected this to smell very strongly, looking at all the ingredients. I'm starting to think there's something wrong with me. Then again, I tested my nose against a few other familiar scents and everything checked out ok.. I conferred with the dh and he only smelled a slight musk too. This is incredibly light.

I'm going to watch this topic to see if others agree or if there's something wrong with the way my nose perceives this. Further into drydown, there's a slight waft of caramel and frankincense but that's me really straining to smell something. Double layered, I can smell the white sage and juniper with slight sharpness for a second and then it's gone, back to a strange musky ether.

[LunaLovegood]

Ugh, another Courtesan that dissapoints.

I can barely smell Virginia from the bottle. On me its not much better. No throw, barely there scent and once it dries it goes baby powder on me.

[Aldercy]

Indeed, the oil is completely opaque... milky, almost. I've seen dark oils or oils with chocolate sediment, but never something just full of clouds like this.

 

The scent is shockingly weird, at least at first. From all the Will Call and prototype reviews, I was expecting something slinky and instantly, recognizably sexy. But in the bottle and wet on my skin, it's... baby powder? grape? ass? and watery red musk? Whaaa? No one ever mentioned the "South Asian" musk as being a red musk or related to a red musk.

 

As it dries, it does improve. The musk (still... reddish) kind of melts into the sandalwood and frankincense and loses its fake grapey edge. Other notes start to appear, but they're all kind of muddled together, too, and I don't get anything of the tobacco, tonka or juniper. It's resinous and perfumey with lashings of oddly herbal caramel. It's wearable now-- and kind of interesting-- but I'm having a hard time knowing what the hell I think of it.

 

Maybe it needs some time to settle down. I'm really interested to see further reviews of this.

[Clavis]

Okay... this one must be VERY dependent on your chemistry because what I got from it is NOT what's described in previous reviews...

 

Bottle:

not much. A touch of musk.

 

Wet:

WOW! Strong sweet musk. There's the caramel! With bits of tonka, orchid, sandalwood and frankincense peeking around the edges.

 

Dry:

Doesn't change much, except the musk & caramel fades off a bit so its all balanced. Smooth, warm and sexy. Very nice! Is that a faint touch of leather? Yummmmm

 

Much Later:

The musk and florals fade away leaving caramel, tonka and sandalwood. I know from previous experience with other scents this has happened to that those notes will stick around on me for up to 36 hours...

 

I'll give it 5/5.

 

If this is what the courtesans are like, I'll have to get more of them...

 

Clavis

Edited March 22, 2011 by Clavis

[Venneh]

I had to roll this in order to get the components to meld properly; when blended properly, it is opaque, but it does seem to have a tendency to separate. And the scent itself is stronger mixed; I'm getting a sweetish sort of musk with caramel and some sweeter florals and I think sandalwood? On my skin, the sweet musk and caramel amp. Hmmm. Mixed, this is an opaque brownish oil, quite neat. Not quite my thing, but someone else I think will love it more.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Venneh

[Dharklady]

I was not prepared when testing Virginia since all of the other courtesans have a smooth sweetness to them. Virginia is completely different. First impression is a spicy white incense with an odd caramel base. This blend can’t seem to make up her mind about what she wants to be. There is a white, clean sharp component from the sandalwood, sage and juniper. Then there is a deeper spicy incense from the frankincense and musk. Then there is the caramel and orchid sandwiching it all together on either end. Sadly this is not my cup of tea and mildly headache inducing.

[filigree_shadow]

Well, looking at the reviews it kinda looks like there's not much Virginia love yet, but so far this is my favorite of the Courtesans. The musk is quite reminiscent of red musk, but it's about 20% as strong as red musk usually is on my skin. It's just a little waft of it. There's a trace of orchid, but mostly this blend smells like musk, sandalwood, and caramel on me. The caramel isn't buttery-thick, it just gives the scent some sweetness. I thought with the tobacco and sandalwood it might be kind of dry, but it's not. It's pretty smooth. It was a smidge powdery when it was wet but as it dried the notes all melded together wonderfully.

 

I like this one a lot.

 

I ordered a bottle of Celeste unsniffed plus decants of all the other Courtesans, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a bottle of this one too. I'm a little hesitant, though, because a couple of people described their oil as being opaque, and the oil in my decant looks just like regular perfume oil. I wonder if there was some batch variety.

[mistressfizz]

Since honey is epic sour fail on my skin, I've been approaching the Courtesans with caution. The notes listed for Virginia seem the safest for me, so I decided to give her a go.

 

Like filigree_shadow, the oil in my decant looks normal. It's a deep caramel brownish/gold, and while it's on the dark side, it isn't opaque.

 

Sniff: Surprisingly earthy! Maybe that's the tonka and sandalwood? There's a sharp herbal bite from the juniper and sage. There's also a bit of smokiness, I think from the tobacco and frankincense. I can't smell the orchid or muguet at all.

 

Wet: The smoke is forming a rich spicy cloud. The earthiness is tempered into warm wood. It's getting a little sweeter now. Slight hint of florals, with a juniper berry pop.

 

Dry: This dries into a mildly sweet musk. The juniper and sage fade into the background. Not much throw, but the soft musk stays all day and I'm rather liking it.

 

She's unlike anything else I've smelled. Definitely complex and odd, in a good way. On the edge of bottle worthy - I think I need to test again before making a final decision.

[hlemonds]

As I was hoping, the way that the orchid and musk play together reminds me of some of my favorite blends. I do agree that the musk is a close relative of red musk. Upon initial application this reminds me of some of my favorite red musk blends, Scherezade, The Grindhouse, Marianne, and Mircalla (minus the clove, of course). I think that the orchid and musk are the most predominant notes on my skin just after application. Other reviews don't mention the orchid note, maybe I amp it? Which is fine by me, since any blends I've encountered it in I've really enjoyed it, so it's totally fine by me. On me this has substantial throw, I applied it with a very light hand, and I can smell it quite well on my wrists down by the keyboard. Honestly I've found that to be the case with all the courtesans I've tried, excellent throw and very good longevity. I'm happy to note that I get zero caramel on my skin. Overall this is a lovely blend on me. A warm, mildly sweet, *almost* red musk, blending beautifully with the black orchid note, and all the other notes simply add complexity, but don't overwhelm that delicious musk. She's a keeper! Don't know if I'll need to hoard, since she is plenty strong on me, so a little goes a long way. So far I think Virginia is my favorite of the courtesans.

[calivianya]

Virginia does smell like she contains red musk! I'm going to second the similarity to Mircalla, and say that she also reminds me a little of Smut. I was expecting this to smell somewhat like Red Lantern because of all the notes they share, but they are totally different perfumes. I cannot distinguish Virginia's caramel, so it is very light in this blend.

 

I'm not quite sure if she's a winner yet. I already have bottles/decants of Smut and Mircalla, so I'm not sure it's worth keeping Virginia, too. If you like those blends you should definitely give Virginia a try!

[Ondine]

Could there be a grape musk? Because that's what this is like on me--a sexed up version of Lady Macbeth or another of the grapey blends. I love this! It's sweet, fairly light, but sexy, fruity and musky but not really resinous or overpowering on me (not at all like Smut, let's say, which becomes really overpowering on me if I put too much on). If you do well with red musk type blends or grapes you might really like this one.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh Virginia, what a personal disappointment you are to me. I sadly amp up the frankincense, white sandalwood and spices to the extreme. The sandalwood is powdery, the caramel amps up on the drydown. And you are a sweet, powdery musky incensey mess with orchid tinges.

 

Sadly, I think you lose against the bright, clean floral appeal of Lola. Perhaps someone with a more gifted skin chemistry can make you work. But not me. Which is a huge disappointment, since I thought you would be a winner. Pooh.

[cupcakegernade]

In the bottle and on my skin this smells like powdery baby wipes. This it is quite clean and sweet smelling. While this is nice, I am not so sure I want a perfume that smells like that.

[PurringPulsar]

Virginia

 

In the imp: WHOA. It’s Panther Moon’s incense-tinged musk! This could be awesome!

Wet on skin: this gets spicier and smokier. This seems to have a similar frankincense-tobacco mix that’s in Red Lace.

Dry on skin: spicy, sensual, exotic musk with sandalwood and incense. The musk is very similar to Panther Moon, with its hint of champa, but maybe not as sweet in here? The sandalwood also has a spicy scent, and it’s dry and warm. The caramel is incredibly subtle, I hardly smell it, in fact it blends with frankincense to make a lovely golden resin scent. I also smell tobacco, and it’s smoky, but it’s not as obnoxious as the one in Ninon. The sage has a spicy and almost savoury herbal scent to it. I don’t smell any of the floral notes here. This is a really unusual scent-sultry and haunting.

After a while: now it hits me what this reminds me of-Sunbird. There’s a similar spicy resin musk thing to it, but this one seems a lot drier, darker and smokier, it lacks the sweet smooth richness I get in Sunbird. The sage makes this smell really savoury at times, like cooking herbs. The musk has become darker and dirtier too. I still don’t smell the flowers, but the tobacco has gone up a notch, and I’m not sure if I like it as much now. It’s also surprisingly quiet.

The tobacco then retreats, thankfully never turning to ashtrays. I’m still not sure about the slightly dirty scent I get here, there’s something funky about the musk and an odd savoury sage note, which is a shame because I get a frankincense and orchid scent at this point that reminds me of Event Horizon meets Interfector.

Verdict: I’m undecided on this. There are some aspects which I love-the heady, exotic nature of the musk with its spicy, feral and incense-like complexities, the smoky resinous notes, the subtle yet well rounded floral notes. But I’m not sure I really dig the slightly dirty, gritty, sticky scent this has, and the hints of cooking herbs I get every now and then. And oddly it’s quite faint despite the notes being quite deep and dark. I like it, but there are other scents along similar lines, like Panther Moon, Sunbird and Interfector, which I prefer.

Is it a keeper: I think not.

If you like this, try: Sunbird, Aperotos Eros, Cat Allingham, Panther Moon, Interfector

[Gin]

Virginia is my given name, so despite iffy notes, I had to give it a try. On my skin, it's... good. Not amazing, but not bad. Musk, incense, sweet florals, sandalwood. I think I'll give this one the benefit of the doubt and keep it around to see how it ages.

[Drarra]

This was one of the two Courtesans that appealed to me. I did not get a bottle unsniffed, because there are a few scary notes in there - namely caramel and muguet. Sweets and florals don't get along with my skin. Still - tobacco? White sage? I had to try it!

 

In the imp: This is a hard nut to crack. I'm having trouble distinguishing each ingredient. I'm getting a meld of slightly sweet, yet floral things.

 

Wet on my skin: This is a strangely floral musk. I can pick out a hint of tobacco, and I recognize the frankincense binding everything together. I smell the sweetness of caramel, which seems to be held in check by the tonka. On top of this, I get the floral notes. I recognize the muguet, and its sister must be the black orchid. This is a dark, feminine scent.

 

Dry: I can still pick out the caramel and muguet, but neither is overwhelming, which surprises me - my skin amps sweetness and flowers. The caramel and muguet are a strange mix, yet somehow they temper each other. I adore the musky, slightly tobacco base of this perfume.

 

My final verdict surprises me: this is a floral that I can and want to wear! I see a bottle of it in my future.

[Lorna Brigid]

This really is a weird scent... final verdict is I love Virginia!

I'll tell ya why (it has nothing to do with the fact that I want to move there, or that it reminds me of my Grandma, bless her heart)

I smell the frankincense, and the caramel, tonka, orchid and tobacco... Seperately, none of those are "favorite" notes.

And Virginia is a wafter and morpher!

When I smell it, this is what I picture: A hot and sunny afternoon in the foothills, there are wildflowers all over the yard, and cigarette smoke lingering in the air.

It actually reminds me more of something opium-esque than red musk.

[sqwook]

In the bottle: rich and sweet

On me: There's something here that's almost going to red musk (or even jasmine or champa). Not getting caramel at all, which is good, because usually I amp it and it ruins everything. I think I'd most describe this as a purple musk. After 3 hours, it's now really really beautiful - the purple musk/orchid is now backed by sandalwood and tonka.

[Little Bird]

Virginia reminds me of the Snake Oil blends at first, with its dark, musky, incensey qualities mixed with sweetness. As it dries down, it's like dark, polished, clean musk with incense smoke, juicy orchid, and only a tiny hint caramel sweetness. The drydown reminds me of the Dark Delicacies blend. Virginia is my favorite of the Courtesans that I've tried so far. Perfumey, dark, sexy incense smoke and musk...

[Dark Alice]

Highly disappointed in this b/c it would have been gorgeous had it not been for the powdery note of doom. I want to know what it is in this blend and stomp it into the ground b/c it is taking away from the gloriousness of the sandalwood, barely there caramel and bourbon vanilla. *sigh*

[milo]

At first, this is all about the red musk. As it dries, it get's kind of 'cologney' on me, which I get is the musks coming out. The sandalwood pokes out after a bit, and now it has morphed into a sandalwood red musk blend. Nice as I don't recall ever smelling that combination before. I like this, it's kind of incensey with red musk and a bit of sweetness. Contemplating a bottle, will need to think on this one, and see how it develops for the rest of the evening!

[Voleuse]

This is complex, straight off the bat, caramel and smoky musk and...a faint floral, I think. It's hard to tease out the individual notes, but it reminds me a liiiiitle bit of Red Lantern. It's not quite as strong--it fades a bit over time--but it ends up being a caramelly, muggy sort of scent. It's a little grapey, as if Red Lantern was melded with the boozy musks of Smut. DELICIOUS.

[thekittenkat]

Note: I had to spend some time rubbing the decant back and forth in my palms, gently of course, because there was something all clumped up in there. Not really sure what that could be.

 

In the decant: Mostly sandalwood and muguet.

 

Wet: Same as when sniffed, but with hints of juniper and sage.

 

The dry-down: I think that it's the musk in this that I don't like; although I should admit that I used to love muguet (lily of the valley), but instead of taking a few hours to become brown and sharp (a rather rank brown musk would be the best way I could describe it), it nowadays does that almost right away. At WC we tried the prototype, well by sniffing, and hardly anyone present that night could stand to test it. I don't think that this changed very much in the process. I'm going to have to wash this off. Pity, as I liked so many of the notes.

[Melenass]

Can anything be more beautiful than the lily of the valley, sandalwood and the caramel together? I think not, I love this.

 

[stellans]

Oh my. Oh my oh my oh my! Virginia is amazing in the bottle, but it is absolutely glorious on my skin! Up to this point, I thought Lola would be the only Courtesan to work with my skin chemistry, but I did have a smidgen of hope for Virginia, because many of the notes sounded good -- but there were a few which gave me quite a pause. (Yeah, tobacco, caramel, and tonka bean: I'm looking at you!)

 

As several others have mentioned, the red musk in this blend reminds me of some other favorites, namely: Scherezade, Marianne, Mircalla, and The Grindhouse. However, there is enough difference in additional notes between those and Virginia that this is definitely a keeper. I am an incense lover, so the addition of frankincense and sandalwood to the red musk was a winner to my nose. It doesn't seem to last quite as long as Scherezade or Marianne, so the star rating isn't quite as high as it might have been: 3 of 5 stars.

Edited June 15, 2011 by stellans