Rapture

[sarahj]

Sensual ecstasy, the blinding red fire of the apex of sexual pleasure: Moroccan rose, Sumatran rose, mandarin, Egyptian myrrh, night-blooming jasmine, bergamot and neroli thrust into Arabian musk.

 

Rapture

 

frimp from the Lab

 

in imp: jasmine and rose

 

wet: same

 

dry: jasmine, rose, and a hint of myrrh

 

verdict: too much jasmine for my taste...I think I may swap this one

[edenssixthday]

Rapture is one of my least-favorite BPAL oils. On my skin, the myrrh is dominant note, and everything else hides behind it. I don’t smell any rose, mandarin, bergamot, and only the tiniest hint of jasmine, which as usual with BPAL jasmine, is unpleasant on me. It’s dark and dusty and smells like the cork in a pair of old Birkenstocks. Definitely not for me. But I know some people loved it – I passed it on to someone on the forums who loves it through-and-through and was dying to get her hands on more.

[olympia301]

 

Again, one of the very very sweet jasmine blends. Real floral and very perfumy. In some ways it's almost quaint and could be overwhelming if you doused it on too strong. This one is saved by the perfumy undertone with is much better crafted than you might imagine at first, the jasmine being so "in here". Rapture bears being sniffed close up to really appreciate the foundation of it. There is just a hint of burning mixed in with the sweet, which gives it all a more complex and attractive air. I can smell honey, but in the best and most sophisticated way (I know that honey is not listed among the notes but something is simulating honey to me).

 

I would say that this is a righteous blend and one for floral lovers to try and keep an open mind about. I was sent Delight and Rapture as frimps and am really impressed with both of them. I will be passing them on to a fellow forumite who is a fan of florals and I bet I will enable her with these two.

[Summerpixy]

The roses and jasmine tame the myrrh in this blend, making it sweet and rich and everybody should try this blend. It's just plain sexy. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have as much effect on my bf as it does on me.

[shivashiva]

First, this is my FIRST bpal scent. Upon putting it on my wrists, I immediately smelled that "perfumey" scent, /and/ something familiar. After reading the reviews, I think it's because it smells similar to Anais Anais, which my mom wore when I was little. I like it for that reason, but don't like it for me. Something in it really bothered me, and when i looked at the description I saw it was jasmine. Jasmine gives me a headache and makes me feel weird. And it smells like departmentstore perfume, which i'm not into (except angel, go figure). Anyway, it kinda smells good, but overall bothers me. Might send it to my mom. (blood kiss was my second and i lOVE IT!)

[PhedrenoDelaunay]

Very pretty and flowery at first. It's not quite as sexual to me as the description makes it out to be, but I'll have to wait and see what it does on my skin. I love the rose scent, though, because that seems fairly dominant. The bergamot I can also smell, and just a hint of jasmine. I'm not sure about the mandarin, myrrh, or neroli yet, and it doesn't smell very musky. I like it, but I'd really like to see what happens when I wear it.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is sour and mossy, there might be some wood in here too, kind of hard to describe. When first on it's sweet and mossy mixed with something fruity. It changes into a soft, close to the skin scent. This one's just so-so on me. I thought I would have liked it more because of the rose, myrrh and musk notes (all of which I love) but in this blend they don't really do much for me . Oh well.

[neuilly]

Definitely smell the rose and jasmine, but there's also a mossy note that I can't really place. It gives it an earthy, gritty element which just isn't me.

[Luhtarian]

Sadly, the roses went to soap, as I'm learning they nearly always do.

[supremegoddessofall]

Jasmine is predominant, with a touch of rose. Not really getting too much musk. There's something underneath I'm not enjoying.

 

Score: 2 out of 5

[spaceprostitute]

Either my skin really amps the rose or I just don't know what night-blooming jasmine smells like. But, as night-blooming flowers tend to go acrid and perfumey on my skin, I think that's alright in this blend because I'm actually liking it.

 

I get rose. All rose. There's a hint of something behind it, but I can't tell what (I think it's the musk I'm getting). It's not a dry or perfumey rose, not overly heady, just more of a lush, womanly, lure you with my feminine wiles kind of rose. I get none of the mandarin, neroli, or bergamot in this blend. It's nice, but not my favorite blend, and not even my favorite rose blend. It just doesn't really capture the image of the description in my opinion, but I'll keep the imp, and I won't toss any imps that may come my way in the future as it is quite a nice rose blend.

[Naamah_Darling]

Roses, jasmine, and musk front this, with a wisp of sweet orange. It's quite traditional and beguiling.

 

On, the bergamot and mandarin come out, along with the myrrh, and it becomes a warm, sweet blend that is not too floral and not too musky. It's a very soft, deep-pile scent, lush and sexy and warm. There's no false note in this – the blend is perfectly balanced between floral, sweet, and sexy, and it's every bit as lovely as I had thought it would be from the description. The musk here is a very rich, light, golden musk, and it twines with the myrrh and the jasmine to give the scent an exotic and regal flair, while the roses give it sweetness and the faint citrus serves to give it just a little more edge.

 

It sweetens up a lot as it ages, becomes a syrupy golden scent of jasmine and spiced rose and musk.

 

Just fantastic. I wish I could find something more colorful to say about it, but I'm really just swept away by this one.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Rose and mandarin.

 

Wet: Ooh, neroli and mandarin, very light!

 

Drydown: myrrh comes out to play and warms everything up, and jasmine joins it. It ends up in a happy mix of neroli, jasmine and myrrh, with some tang of bergamot and hints of rose. After a while it becomes rather soapy, fromt the jasmine, which is a pity.

 

Overall: The blend ends up pure sweet jasmine, with hints of myrrh. It's a pity, because I preferred the neroli and rose from the beginning. It's too plasticky jasmine for me, and so strong it makes me want to sneeze. Pity my skin didn't bring out any other notes.

[fiddledragon]

On me, this is entirely bright fresh mandarin. This confuses me greatly, as normally my skin eats mandarin and loves to announce to the world that it is WEARING JASMINE! I guess the neroli and bergamont help the mandarin find its voice; those are a bit more long-wearing on me. It's a lovely scent, but not at all like what I'd expect from the description!

[slave1]

RAPTURE

 

In Bottle: Rose soap

 

On Skin: this is full on rose, very soapy and it gives me an old lady feel. Rose is almost always sharp and sour on me, and here that is the case again. The jasmine sweetens it up a bit but not enough for my liking. The neroli gives an exotic feel and the Arabian Musk and Egyptian Myrrh are quite sexy but they’re faint background notes. I can’t really smell any mandarin… The rose is dominant and that’s pretty much all I can smell. This scent is so sharp it makes my eyes water a bit, very perfumey. I love the dark exotic notes in the back, but the front notes scare me off from this scent. Average to strong throw and long wearlength.

[amyberries]

In bottle: Very perfume-y. Reminds me almost of a lighter version of Darkness for some reason.

 

Wet on skin: More complex and slightly bitter with a powdery overtone.

 

Dried down: Not much easier to define, other than generically perfumy. It has a soft sweetness to it that's appealing, but... Too busy, I think.

 

Decision: Swap.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: Very floral. Light roses?

 

Wet: Oh, is that jasmine...*checks note list*...why yes it is. It's night jasmine though, and it's much creamier here. The rose holds its own, as it tends to do, and the other notes are very light.

 

Drydown and wear: Unlike other rose/jasmine blends like Nyx, this is really light and creamy. I'm not entirely sure which supporting note is responsible for that--maybe the musk, maybe the myrrh? After the rose dries down and fades, it becomes all jasmine, and I'm not sure if it is too plain to keep. I'll have to try again.

[SeaLady]

Alas, I get no rapture from this.

On me, this is sharp florals, and tea that has been steeped too long and turned bitter :/

[lanablade]

In the imp: Roses. Kinda like the Tea Rose perfume my grandma has a million bottles of.

 

Wet: Neroli and bergamot make the roses a bit sharp. I tend to amp myrrh like crazy, but it really blends with the roses here so it's not Myrrh of Death .

 

Dry: Flowers. Soft roses, I'm guessing Jasmine, and myrrh.

 

It's kinda boring, really. At least for me, but I'm not a florals fan.

[oh_the_horror]

In bottle: Mostly a jasmine smell I don't like, pretty fruity florals, some sharp white florals

 

Wet and drying down: Sweet orangey neroli, sweet pretty light pink and white florals, maybe some rose, stinky jasmine, ehh.. Looking at the notes, I'm pretty sure this would be heavenly on me without the jasmine. I don't like the smell of the jasmine in the bottle and it seems to turn even worse once it hits my skin.

 

Dry: The jasmine has turned kind of sour and reminds me of bad breath. I think the rest of the notes smell pretty and sweet but the jasmine drowns them out and kills it for me.

 

Also, the musk comes out after while and it's really nice. So I guess Arabian musk works on me.

Edited December 12, 2006 by oh_the_horror

[Sashan]

Imp: Very Rosey

 

Wet: Still detect mostly rose and a little musk.

 

Dry: The jasmine starts to show itself but not enough to tame the rose. I can't detect any mandarin but it is becoming more musky. It's a very strong fragrance. The scent is wafting up as I'm typing, giving me a headache.

 

A feminine floral that is mostly rose on me. It's not something I would wear but I recommend it to anyone who loves roses.

 

Edit: After an hour it faded to a rose scented powder.

Edited February 5, 2007 by Sashan

[concrescence]

mostly jasmine with a bit of rose. unfortunately, i don't smell the myrrh or musk at all. my skin just turns this to a generic floral. it's got a lot of throw, but it's not for me.

[theblackcloud]

A frimp from the lab.

 

In the imp it is soft and light with hints of orange and jasmine. As I apply it to my skin the orange grows stronger while the jasmine fades quietly into the background. As it dries down the musk comes out along with a blooming rose. It lasts a while.

 

Overall Rapture is a very soft and warm scent with floral, fruit and the presence of sex... I want to curl up next to someone right now.

[mspixieears]

Like its name in many ways imaginable! This starts off very much like Harlot minus the cinnamon and with orchid/honeysuckle-type notes that remind me of Nyx, Salome and similar such fragrances. There are plenty of fragrances that remind me of this one but this is captivating! Pretty sure I’ve seen this compared to Cacharel’s Anais Anais and while I do see the comparison, I disagree as there is an initial sweetness that the Cacharel fragrance has that is not evident in Rapture. This has a gourmand hint at the very beginning before its drydown that reminds me of Psyche. I love this!

[stellans]

Icon by Olympia301

My first imp didn't work out, so I 'drew' another one from my imp box. Yay! It's Rapture -- I've just been waiting for this to come up so I could use this totally great icon. Oh, and the perfume is just wonderful too!

 

In the imp: I was a bit leery on this, because sometimes jasmine doesn't always play well with others on my skin. I do smell jasmine, but rose is there too (thank goodness) and some citrus-y notes I assume are the mandarin and neroli. I don't smell any myrhh or musk, and I'm not sure what bergamot smells like.

 

Wet on skin: still a nice blending of notes, although the jasmine seems a bit stronger out of the imp.

 

Dry: drying down, I get a sense of something underneath the floral notes -- maybe that's the myrhh/musk/bergamot? I don't know, but this is nice.

 

Verdict: I have 2 imps of this and I'll definitely keep them and use them, but this isn't special enough for me to buy a bottle. There's too many other blends that really make me sit up and take notice to spend $$ on a 'nice' scent.

 

p.s. I giggle every time I see Olympia's icon for this, don't you?

Edited March 27, 2007 by stellans