The Soul of La Traviata

[Larinessa]

The Soul of La Traviata, Sidney Sime.
Black plum, black musk, black currant, iridescent pink grapefruit, neroli, and jungle orchid.

I am the first?! Well, I had best get on with this!

There was no way, NO WAY, I could let this one get away from me. Black Plum, black current, black musk AND jungle orchid in one blend?! Hello?! Holy grail making here!

In the bottle- BAM! In your face black plum and black current. This is like WOAH strong!

Wet in skin- yup, the black plum is roaring to the front, with the bitterness of the black current in a close second. Not detecting the musk, but there is a sparkling, shimmery aspect that I think is the grapefruit. I can detect some floral underneath, if not pick them out individually.

Dry- in a way this is the dark evil twin of sugar plum fairy. Or its black swan to SPF's white swan. The plum is the star player here, no doubt about it, but whereas SPF has bright sweet complementing notes, this is darker. This is a heady, sexual quality to this. Black plum, currant and grapefruit making this the rich star it is. I am not getting the orchid I was hoping for, but its all right with me.

After an hour- There's the orchid! Lurking under the bolder notes, but it is present. WIN.

[Dark Alice]

Wet: This smells like black plum bubble gum.

 

Dry: Gorgeous black plum, black currant, light hints of grapefruit and gorgeous jungle orchid. These swirl around on my skin like a wonderful dance with each note going in and out. This is wonderful. I am so glad to have bought it!

[zankoku_zen]

Black plum and black currant candy. It's very strong, and in your face. I occasionally get whiffs of neroli and jungle orchid.

 

Actually, it reminds me quite a bit to Morgause, without the strong incense aspect. Very purple.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Androgynous people mingling amidst swirls of purple fruit suspended in the air above them

[a_llb]

In the vial: I get a very strong 'Asian' impression - neon lights in Tokyo, a black & hot pink glow. I get distinct plum and citrus right off the bat.

 

Wet: The orchid comes out on skin, subtle and delicate. Currant supports it, a deep velvet backdrop. The grapefruit and neroli add a razor-sharp edge.

 

Dry: The plum amps (as it tends to do, on me) and the grapefruit goes just a bit too sour for my taste.

 

Verdict: I did not expect to like this at all considering the notes, so I was surprised when I sniffed it and got such a specific impression. Ultimately it didn't work out for me, but I am quite pleased I got to try this lovely blend.

[Little Bird]

I haven't liked many of bpal's Halloween-time offerings this year, but The Soul of La Traviata is probably my favorite of my decants. It's mostly sweet, dark, jam-like black currant and plum on me, with a little zing from the grapefruit and a bit of a pretty, perfumey, womanly quality from the jungle orchid. Black musk usually smells like overwhelming masculine cologne to me, but I'm not getting that feel from this. I also don't smell any of the neroli. It's sweet, dark fruits with hints of sexy orchid perfume. I might be tempted to get a bottle, but $23 per 5ml is more than I'm willing to commit, lol.

[Monday]

For some reason I always find this ?etch? hilarious. Fireworks go off above the mountains and way down in the right corner a grumpy looking mask with tendrils is floating around. It doesn't make sense but it's hilarious anyway.

 

The blend is not quite what I had expected. I get a lot of fruity plum, black currant and grapefruit with orchid but no black musk. *pout* I'd have liked some black musk with my fruits but the jungle orchid is very dominant in this blend. Which is good news for jungle orchid lovers I guess.

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Purple, purple, purple! And I love purple Plum, currant, a hint of musk, and grapefruit.

 

Wet: More musky than in the imp, plum, grapefruit, neroli (one of my favorite notes), and just a hint of currant. Musky, juicy, fruity, fresh, and yet sexy.

 

Dry: Much foodier than I'd expected. Very plummy and a lot of currant. The musk is hiding as is the orchid. The neroli and grapefruit have faded to nothingness. It's definitely not bad, but I don't need a bottle.

[milo]

Mostly getting the plum here, and a bit of musk. The plum is almost 'wine' like, and reminds me of some other gc wine blends. This ends up being rather bland on me, and nothing to write home about, though I'm not a bit fruit fan. So, mostly a bland plum. Not for me.

[DJ Sin]

Black plum, black musk, black currant, iridescent pink grapefruit, neroli, and jungle orchid.

 

In the bottle:

Plum Goodiness

 

Wet On My Skin:

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo0000000000000h

I can't stop smelling myself.

I am in love with this perfume!

The black plum and black musk are a nice compliment to each other. The pink grapefruit shows up only in the wet stage and then disappears. I get the jungle orchid but not sure on the neroli.

 

Dry Down On My Skin:

Its teh sex in a bottle

 

I need another bottle or three!

Edited January 22, 2013 by DJ Sin

[naeelah]

I loooooove this. I'm normally not a huge black musk fan, but here, it plays very well with the plum and currant. Juicy, dark purple fruit is definitely the name of the game. The other notes are present, but they merely provide balance -- a little bit of tartness and airiness -- to the rich fruit. The black musk serves as a nice base note, anchoring the scent and making it a perfume instead of a fruit salad.

 

I have a lot of plum scents, and I don't find this redundant. Bordello is all delicious, candy sweetness. Bordello + Smut is a darker, gritty plum. Snake Charmer is like Snake Oil + black coconut and plum. Countess Willie rather like Bordello with red musk instead of amaretto, making it a little sexier and less sweet. Williw is perhaps the closest point of comparison to La Traviata, but I find their characters different. Lastly, it isn't anywhere near as sharp or floral as scents such as Kitsune Tsuki or Witch Queen.

 

If you like any or all of those scents, you should find La Traviata a welcome addition to your collection.

 

I'd sum this up as dark, classic, sexy plum. Not smutty, just smooth.

[filigree_shadow]

Very purple. Kind of a round, bright purple. Not a musky sexy purple like in Queen of Spades, and not a dazzling bright purple like Midwinter's Eve, either. In between. A little bit of floral, but nothing overly heady at all. It's a pleasant, friendly daytime scent.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: Purple! Purple flowers! Purple incense! Purple fruit! And some musk as well. And a pretty grapefruit; I just love grapefruit.

 

Wet: Yum. Purple plums, grapefruits, bursting ripe fruits, gorgeous florals and deep lovely incense. I'm not a big fan of black musk but it's very tame here, not powdery or animalistic at all.

 

Dry: Gorgeous fruity citrus incense, purple florals and warm musk. This is absolutely gorgeous, sultry and tropical and fruity and just all around lovely!

[cvelis]

Naeelah summed it up perfectly, except I don't know Countess Willie but I do know Blood Countess, and Blood Countess and I are best friends! Like seriously dark purple musky goodness that I want to slather on 24x7. I could wear La Traviata day and night, and not feel out of place.

 

If you love a juicy fruit with a touch of musk, turning everything up to an 11 of pure sex! I keep thinking this is what Jada Pinkett wears in her Gotham role:

 

 

 

 

VERDICT: I NEED and MUST HAVE More!!!

[anaengel]

I got this bottle when it came out and didn't touch it after my first application because of the reaction to the scent the first time trying it. Here goes the second time.

This starts off with a fight between Black Musk and Black Plum. On me, it really is the two of them fighting for dominance on my skin. Really, they can just stop it. It reads like a powdery sweet wine fight. No really, it took all I could not to wash it off and grab my darkest vetiver for comfort from this fight on my skin. This does go on for a couple of hours.

Later, it settles and the two go off in their corners. Why, Because the black currant has sent them there and is going to be nice to me and lightly sweep over my skin. Oh, look, the orchid is finally not hiding. Every time either the musk or plum starts to try to dominate, the currant points to the corner and they go back. They have figured out that they need their time out because they were not being nice to me.

In the end, all come together a bit and make a very close similarity to the more recent Smuts.

I'm not sure how I feel about this scent still. It smells much nicer than it did last time. Maybe I'll give it more time.

[Coldfire]

Decant: neroli coming in loud and proud in the decant
Wet On Me: mostly the neroli and some orchid
Drying Down: okay NOW comes the plum and black currant. and the faint whispers of the black musk. The neroli has receeded and took the orchid with it.
Dry: this is my dark fruit love! I'm swooning and huffing my wrist like there is no tomorrow! this is beyond divine.

[Lucchesa]

Testing blind, what I got from Soul of La Traviata was deep dark plum and black musk, and maybe some currant.  I don't know if the citrus notes haven't survived in my decant or got swallowed up on my skin.  I thought there might be a hint of a floral but could never have specified orchid.  But this is really a dark fruit/musk beauty, decidedly purple. 

[Zorra]

This was one of my decants in 2012 and I remember it was very sweet to my nose then. Too sweet for me. Today Facebook showed me I wore the scent on this day in 2012 so I decided to try it again. And the candy sweetness is much less now.. There is the darkness of the plum and still some sweetness of the black currant, the musk and neroli dance together  and the jungle orchid winds through it all. I love grapefruit  and I do not really get it here. It might be ageing, but it might be just that it blends so well I can't pick it out.  I am glad I still have the decant.

 

I should add that after an hour it got a bit too  much for me. I think 'it' is the black currant note. I seem to have a low tolerance for currant notes, the same low tolerance I have for most synthetic notes.

Edited October 23, 2021 by Zorra