Salomé

[blacklacestatic]

A scent that is both coquettish and sinister. Exotic and lush, brimming with grace and viciousness: almond with star jasmine, oakmoss, red sandalwood and Egyptian musk.

In the imp: Jasmine and musk, but fresher than I was expecting. A slight sweet woodsiness is hiding back there somewhere.

Wet on skin: I'm not getting much of anything right now, it's smooth, kind of medicinal.

Drydown: Jasmine!!!!! Normally I get the jasmine amping as soon as it touches my skin, but I guess something here was holding it back for a bit. Now this is nothing but jasmine, my skin chemistry always does this. Sigh.

Overall: Salome is not for me. It's not quite as bad as some other jasmines have been for me, but it's still not ultimately wearable. Please keep in mind that this is solely a result of the note not agreeing with my individual skin chemistry. If jasmine is a note you enjoy, check out some of the other reviews and disregard mine! Edited June 3, 2009 by BlackLace

[revinn]

Well, now that I see that this contains jasmine, black musk AND almond, I can see why I don't like it.

 

I got this as a frimp from the lab, and after opening the imp to sniff it, I immediately exclaimed, "it smells like bad breath!"

 

My brother and his girlfriend said outhouse, but I think halitosis is much more accurate. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you much else, as I only let it sit on my skin for about 30 seconds before I had to wash it off. So I dunno, maybe if those notes work for you, you'll love it, but this was made of fail on me.

 

Out of 10: Negative 4.

[Gaidig]

In the bottle: The sandalwood and musk are strong, with an undercurrent of almond. It invokes a closed room with curtains drawn but fluttering and sandalwood burning in a brazier.

 

On me: The almond and jasmine come forward, blended together to create one scent that is both and neither. They do not step far forward, and are anchored by the woodiness of the oakmoss & sandalwood and the musk, like a girl dancing in the flickering light and obscuring smoke of the brazier.

 

1 hour+ later: I really like this. It is what I was hoping for from Scherezade.

[Lyrical]

 

In imp: interesting. I can smell all the notes, and it's not like any other BPAL I've tried. If it wasn't for the jasmine it would by yummy, but jasmine being jasmine, it's not!

 

Wet on skin: dry and woody - not entirely unlike Ozymandias, only lightened by jasmine.

 

Dry on skin: too much jasmine. Otherwise it's mostly musky and woody.

[tacey]

A confused muddle initially, the florals gradually cleared up and let the jasmine take focus. And maybe star jasmine is nicer than the other kinds I've encountered, but this actually didn't take over the blend at all. I didn't love it -- it stayed a bit vague, but it didn't do what I was afraid it would, either.

 

I gave this imp to a work colleague who I think will enjoy it much, much more. Enjoy, Kitty!

[Venneh]

I'm not quite sure what I'm getting here in the frimp; the best I can tell is a slightly medicinal note, which I'm going to attribute to the oakmoss. On my skin, I'm getting a combination of the almond and oakmoss initially, and it's really medicinal, though the almond is quickly amping. And then it goes to absolutely nothing on me. Huh.

 

Swaps.

Edited October 12, 2009 by Venneh

[milo]

Wet, this is all jasmine and musk. The musk gradually fades, and we're left with pretty much all jasmine. My skin love's jasmine, and tends to amp so nothing else gets through. Unfortuneately, this is not for me.

[angelicruin]

Almond and oakmoss are the strongest on my skin. Almond begins to fade as it dries. Fully dry this becomes mostly a woody sandalwood. No jasmine for me.

[Redillon]

I love, love, love musks. But this one.....not so much.

 

On Wet: it takes on a "headshop" smell. I'm not a fan.

 

10 minutes on: Sharp. Almost BO! UGHHHH!!!

 

1 hour: Not as sharp. The Jasmine still has a slight sharp BO smell on my skin. I do not dig it.

 

I'm sure this one will find love with a friend of mine as long as her chermistry doesn't make it smell like BO.

[Greenwoodtree]

aaack I thought this floral might work because of the oakmoss, but the florals amped as did the red sandlewood and its now a sweet, powdery mess that just smells just like any other floral perfume and even slightly like a sweaty human

[strahlend]

To my nose this is mainly a jasmine blend, but this is the darkest, richest, jasmine I've ever encountered. I also get a strong impression of smoke and fragrant wood, like a bonfire. Every time I sniff Salome I think of a woman wearing jasmine perfume dancing around a fire - and I'm madly in love with her.

[SophieCedar]

This comes across different each time I try it. The first time, almond was prominent. Second time I thought I smelled rose? Hmm. Third time it was the oakmoss and sandalwood that overran everyone. I can't really pin this one down!

[Balame]

In the Imp: Dang that's some strong almond. Not my favorite of notes since it gets a bit cherry lollipop on me usually, but hopefully the other notes will smother it out.

 

Wet: Oh yeah, almond "cherry" surprise. Definitely reminds me why it's one of my least favorite notes - dirty diapers and rotten fruit. So unflattering. Somewhere in the distance, the musk contributes its mustiness. Don't so much appreciate that.

 

Dry: Thank all the goodness in this world, the almond has died. The musk is much smoother and pleasant now. Other than that, I mostly smell the sandalwood and a hint of jasmine. It's elegant and quite lovely.

 

Verdict: Unfortunately, there's no way I would ever, ever want to sit through this thing's wet phase again. Which is sad, because once it calms down a bit it's smoky in the way incense is, slightly woody, and has just the right amount of sweetness. But initially... heck to the no.

 

[yamiko]

In the bottle, I smell almond and sandalwood.

 

On me, it's super almondy, with jasmine and sandalwood in the background. As it dries, it stays really almondy with a woodsy background. It kinda reminds me of a generic hippie smell. Like a head shop.

[hersphinxness]

Very musky in the imp, with maybe a touch of floral.

 

Wet, the jasmine is very strong. This is fine by me because I love jasmine, but this is already not a perfume for jasmine haters! The musk is still noticable, but the jasmine is clearly in control at this stage.

 

Once it dries, this is a beautiful, sweet jasmine with depth and complexity. The musks calm down and the sandalwood and almond come out. I'm not sure I'm getting the oakmoss, but there is something in here I can't quite place.

 

Medium throw and lasts quite a while. One of my favorites.

[melrose]

Jezebel and I didn't get along, but Salome and I are in love. First on, jasmine and smoke. The jasmine doesn't overwhelm. Drydown is hard to describe, but these notes blend into a note that is smoky, spicy, every-so-slightly sweet, and right up my alley.

[Incendiare]

In the imp, I don't smell any floral notes, just woods and musk. I can pick up on the sandalwood and musk, but when a forumite frimped this to me years ago (this imp is probably over three years old), when I first smelled it without knowing any of the notes, I thought I could smell myrtle wood in there. I can usually pick out almond no problem, but I don't smell any in the imp. Wet, the sandalwood comes out even more. The oakmoss shows up on the skin, too. This smells fairly dry. Up close, I still can't detect any jasmine, but when I wave my hand in front of my face, I get a light whiff of jasmine woven in with the woods. Still no almond. On the dry down, Salomé is definitely a woodsy jasmine. It's very unique but not something I would reach for.

[Invidiana]

I had such high hopes for this, thinking maybe the jasmine wouldn't show up...but it did, and trampleda ll over everything else. Behind the cat pee jasmine overtones, which is what my skin typcially does with BPAL jasmine. I can sense the sweet almond with a sultry muskiness, but it's too far gone with the jasmine to distinguish everything else.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Invidiana

[yakiguri]

This is the very first BPAL that caught my eye, made my husband go "OH what are you wearing?!" and was and will forever be my first love.

 

Bottle: Jasmine, a bit sharp but not cloying.

 

Wet: Clean Egyptian musk and jasmine, with a slight hint of almond peeking through.

 

Dry: The oakmoss and red sandlewood come out, mixing, softening, warming, and yet darkening the scent. Light throw, and she lasts quite some time, 4+ hours!

 

Overall: Salome definitely becomes something soft and seemingly innocent but with an undercurrent of something dark that tells you look but definitely shouldn't touch. Or touch, regrets be damned! If Vicomte de Valmont is the scent a vicious lover leaves on your pillows after he betrays you (thanks for the description viciousviolet!) then Salome is the feminine equivalent. Not so much vicious, but more leading you on with false hopes and promises, and then flitting to the next flower once her conquest is done to start the game anew.

 

Loving, HOARDING! If she disappears from my life for good (DC'd) I will up and die.

[Ella LaRose]

I got this in a n imp lot and when I read the reviews I was expecting to hate it since I don't like almond, but the almond disappears as soon as it hits my skin and all that is left is a REALLY good jasmine!! wonderful scent!@

[TheFrenchWaffle]

I received it as a frimp in an ebay sale, it was my third experience with BPAL.

In the imp: oh wow, bug spray? Not sure how I feel about this, it seems very potent.

wet: Still strong on the old lady bug spray perfume on my skin, a shame since I was so intrigued by the lab's description. I really can't get past this bug spray smell.

Dry: the bug spray scent died down a little, so strong on the jasmine. I wish I got more of the almond most people seem to be getting...

 

Final verdict: So far this is the one BPAL scent that just flat out disagreed with me. This one just wasn't up my ally. Hopefully I'll find someone else who can give poor Salome a nice home.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Very strong on the almond, with a floral background. Nothing but the almond stands out.

 

On: The almond immediately recedes into the background (it did so on me in Bastet, as well, so that was to be expected). At the moment, it is very jasmine, I don't get a lot of musk just yet.

 

Later: Jasmine and almond are starting to be on more equal footing, and I am getting some musk. It's quite nice, although I have to say that it is in a scent family I already have other favorites in, so I don't think I will need more than the imp (which I will keep, however).

[Honey]

Imp: Like spicy, floral marzipan.

 

Wet: Almond/marzipan and jasmine.

 

Dry: Really musky and dark (oakmoss) on the dry-down. Where did the almond go? Hmmm. Spicy/soapy jasmine it is.

[OctoberGwen]

I'm not sure which note did this, but the top part of the scent smelled like Bandaids. There was a gorgeous underneath to it, but I can't get past the Bandaids. I'll have to try and isolate that so I can avoid it in future (and look for the ones that smelled lovely.)

[mymymai]

almond with star jasmine, oakmoss, red sandalwood and Egyptian musk.

In the imp: I can smell the incense / musk rather strongly, but it seems a little oddly sour with the addition of the jasmine.

Wet: Wow, it's very strong in terms of incense and musk. I really can't smell anything else.

Drying: I get a little sweetness from the almond, my it's almost completely incense-y on me. I'll need to see how this wears hours out. After 13 hours of wear, it is a tad sweeter (almond), but still lots of incense.