Salomé

[Suu4LC]

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.

Ooh, coquettish and sinister! This sounds lovely! I love lab almond! I worry a little about jasmine (can be overwhelming) and sandalwood (goes woody/powdery on me) but I am looking forward to trying this blend!

In the imp this is a fight between the almond and the jasmine. Both want to push to the forefront of this blend! I am hoping that on my skin the almond wins out. I like jasmine...but just in small doses.

Oof, yeah, on my skin the jasmine is still quite intense. I definitely get that lovely sweet almond, but the jasmine is really the star of this blend. I get a bit of musk, don't really notice the oakmoss or sandalwood.

Eep, this went from a strong jasmine scent with an undertone of almond, to a sweet powdery soapy floral scent very fast. Stupid sandalwood! It's almost an entirely different scent. I imagine this would smell wonderful on the right person, but my skin just devoured it. I will say, jasmine haters beware-I found it to be the strongest note in this blend!

[Dani87]

Imp: I smell wood, so I guess that would be the red sandalwood.

Wet: cherries, after reading other reviews I found out that was the almond.

Drydown: the jasmine is comming out, mixing with the sandalwood, and it gives off a creamy spicey scent.

Dry: it is still sandalwood, and jasmine, but it's gotten warmer. Smells more like a headshop now.

Overall: it's a warm incense type scent, not really for me.

[romarin]

It goes on esters (probably the almond combining with the jasmine) and sandalwood. Fortunately the chem-labness of the esters quickly blends back in while a LOT more sweetness and just enough spice and musk to keep it grownup appear. Like membrillo made with hibiscus and thyme, or a fuschia velveteen cover on a polished wood pillow. It smells like a pomegranate looks on the tree.

 

I rather like its mixed messages, but the spouse says "meh" and reaches for my unscented arm.

[lolcat]

Salome interested me because it contains almond, which sounds luscious as a perfume ingredient.

 

I didn’t smell any almonds in the bottle, but that may’ve been because all I could think of was Pheremone, a perfume I own but can only wear very rarely and sparingly. I think the egyptian musk must be the common denominator.

 

When I applied it, it thankfully morphed from an iteration of Pheremone into this pretty, rather sumptuous fragrance with the texture of incense, very “Salome.” I credit the jasmine with rescuing the formula from leaning too heavily into musk.

 

This lasted for about fifteen minutes, and then it soured into this smell reminiscent of cheap perfume languishing on my grandmother’s bathroom counter. Never got a whiff of almonds and while some people may not share my associations, I’m hardly in the mood for anything sexier than soap and water to wash this off!

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): It’s exotic and scintillation. The jasmine mingles perfectly with the heady Egyptian musk and the nearly feral quality of the red sandalwood. Delicious!

 

Wet: It’s still sexy and slightly scary at the same item, although too powerful in its sensuality with the jasmine and musk as predominate notes. The sandalwood is like a bed upon which the aforementioned scents cling to the skin of a sultry figure.

 

Dry: Once dry, it smells like smoldering sandalwood. I still like this quite a bit.

[vanillabean]

In the imp: That whole "So almond-y, it is fruity" scent.

 

Wet: But... but.... Where did that almond go? *whimper* As soon as I put it on, it lost all almond scent, and went almost dusty.

 

Dry: This is sandalwood, right? Not cedar? Because all I can smell is walk-in-closet.

 

Another one for the "try it later before I trade it away" pile.

[JazzieCazzie]

Working my way through all of my BPAL to finally come up with a comprehensive swap list AND wishlist, I also fortified said collection with some imps of old that I knew I liked but no longer had. Salome was part of that impapalooza purchase and it is that fresh imp from the Lab which I tested here. Surprised indeed that I never reviewed this ... I always associated it with Eclipse as the two "almond scents" that I liked a lot.

 

IN THE IMP: The first blast is almond. Jasmine joins it very quickly but, in the imp, it remains predominantly almondy sweet.

 

Dabbed onto wrist and into crook of arm.

 

WET: Upon contact, the jasmine and sandalwood notes immediately jump into the fray and combine so perfectly with the almond, that the latter is really no longer identifiable in and of itself (and, happily, it DOESN'T go cherry on me, since that is a tummy-turning note). I definitely get a hint of "Flying Fox," as a few others have noted, from the jasmine bu t the sandalwood is also REALLY prominent in terms of offsetting the almond and keeping the blend from being too sweet.

 

DRYDOWN: It is nose-ticklingly complex, a blend of sweetness and smoke and resin and wood. On my wrist, it is sweeter with very little evidence of the sandalwood. Yet in the crook of my arm I'd say the wood/incense scent is predominant.

 

OVERALL: This is absolutely one of the most unique and unusual of BPAL's blends, in my opinion. You can identify all of the notes and yet, when combined, none of them are predominant, but rather one ineffible and inexplicable mysterious scent. It's really a work of art.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 4.6

[ccelaya]

Wet - sweet egyptian musk and star jasmine.

On skin - The musk is sweeter.

Drying it just keeps getting sweeter on my wrist.

Not my favorite scent because all I smell is the Musk

Perfect scent for someone who enjoys sweet musky scents

[mooncityminx]

I recently bought an imp's ear of this from the lab, with the intention of wearing it to the opera, which is still many months away. I may very well have to order a whole bottle before then. I expected this fragrance to be pleasant, but I was not expecting to fall in love. I'd never sniffed it before.

 

In the vial is the only time I can smell the almond, and it's not the sweet almond of Dana o'shee. This is the dry realist almond, as in a handful of almonds. It is very faint, though. Mostly, I smell incense and sandalwood.

 

On, the Jasmine comes to the forefront, making the fragrance decidedly feminine. This is, thankfully, the rare Jasmine type that I can wear. Sometimes (as with Monsterbait Bigger Critters) Jasmine can go a bit baby-diapery on me. Sorry to put that so indelicately, it's just something that happens with my skin chemistry. But, as I said, this is the heavenly Jasmine of Parlethenope (of the Carnivale Grindhouse) and I am very thankful for it. I do adore Jasmine.

 

The Jasmine mingles with exotic incense, and sandalwood. Together, there is a phantom of smoke and leather. I get a sense of decidedly feminine power, very badass, but also sensual. This fragrance is for a woman who is in control, perhaps an alpha female. Perhaps this is the perfume "Coco" (by Chanel) wants to be, but falls short as a mere imitation. Salome is the real deal.

 

Salome is the fragrance of the woman I hope to grow into, and I am very thankful to have found her.

[KerylRaist]

Imp: Wet, juicy, dark cherries. Not black cherries, more like cherries that like leather collars and tattoos. (Gosh, that's helpful, isn't it? We've all got a bowl of them at home to go and sniff, right? )

 

On the skin: Dark cherries, for about five minutes, luscious sandalwood partying with the cherries, ten more minutes. Half an hour of sandalwood's ghost. And then it fades to the faintest hint of sweet with just a bare memory of the ghost of sandalwood.

 

Throw: What throw? It's on my neck, and I can barely smell it.

 

Hour two: Did I put perfume on? I swear I did. Nose right on wrist. Very, very faint sweet scent.

 

Okay, so my skin eats this alive.

 

ETA: Hubby tells me that long after we've hit the point where I can't smell Salome, he still can, and that he can smell the almond, sandalwood, and a general yummy sweetness. He approves greatly of this one.

 

Day Two: Bra test. I put a few drops on my bra, so it gets warmth and a bit of skin, but not right on my skin.

 

Wet/Drying: Dark cherries.

 

An hour later: still dark cherries.

 

Three hours later: faint dark cherries. Cannot smell this outside of my shirt any longer.

 

Five hours: very faint dark cherries.

 

Six hours: Gone.

 

So, much longer shelf life on my bra than on my skin. And I think the first reviewer was talking about loving the cherry smell so much she wanted to eat it, so that keeps it all nummy cherry and whatnot, but since I'm in it for the sandalwood scent, this is not working the way I'd like.

 

Probably not going onto my get a full bottle list. But will be playing with it and testing again, because if I can figure out how to get a longer run of that sandalwood partying with the cherries scent, I will be very happy.

Edited May 7, 2014 by KerylRaist

[Balaclava]

This is one of those scents that does a lot better on the wrist than on the inner elbow. On the wrist, it maintains the sweet cherry-almond scent mixing with the musk. On the inner elbow, the jasmine becomes extremely dominant.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: Wow, this one is rather intense! Not overpoweringly strong, just... intense! Notes are exactly as described!

Wet on skin: The oakmoss & almond are dominating here, with the jasmine playing a large supporting role. The musk & sandalwood are so far just intensifying everything else. This is strange, but intriguing!

Dry on skin: Oooohh, the oakmoss, almond & jasmine have toned WAY down & blended with the sandalwood & musk to create this really cool, dusty, sweet musk smell! It's like a really sweet (unlit) incense stick.

After a few hours: It's almost not even there anymore! Just a faint sweet-musky smell & you have to actually be trying to find it. Like a sweetened version of my bare skin.

Verdict: Not something I'd wear regularly, but I think I'll get a few uses out of it. It's quite noticeable at first, but fades VERY quickly to a sort of "I'm not wearing perfume, I just naturally smell this nice" scent, which is pretty cool! Good for if I want to smell nicer than unperfumed, but don't want to smell like I'm wearing perfume!

[sprout]

source: lab fresh imp

in vitro: almond and perhaps the moss (I jot down impressions before looking at the notes, my nose read this note as herbal but its the moss)

wet on wrists: bitter almond which smells much like fresh almonds to me (my nose often confounds sweet almond oil with cherry, that does not happen here) and a bit of the jasmine and musk

early dry phase: soapy musk (unfortunately, it may be that Arabian musk is soap to my nose on my skin chemistry) and a hint of jasmine, the almonds fade pretty quickly

drydown: buttery jasmine with soapy musk

late drydown: single note jasmine, which is lovely but faint

 

throw average to slight, did not last more than 4-5 hours for me, although the faint dry down was there if I "huffed" my wrist 8 hours later, very faint floral jasmine, slightly buttery

 

verdict: this was not complex enough for me to love it, I would have liked more support of the sandalwood and oakmoss to give weight to the floral jasmine. I am not a jasmine hater, I don't think I amp it as much as others, and I do not think it is the note that has gone "soapy" on me, I believe it is one of the florals constituting the "arabian musk," but not sure. I am going to age the imp a bit to see if the sandalwood and oakmoss develop better as it marinates. If not, I will keep Salome imp for layering purposes, but it needs complexity to intrigue me into buying a bottle. I am a bit disappointed, as I like all these notes, but it really became single note jasmine for me, which was lovely, but not deep or "sexy" as I wanted the scent to be. If the almond note had persisted longer it would have been more interesting or if the moss and sandalwood had made more of a show. Not sure, if the musk is going to go all soapy on me, I am not sure if other notes can save this. I loved the wet phase and the late dry down but the majority of the time it was just too soapy to suit.

Edited December 31, 2014 by sprout

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Bitter fruity overtones (I believe someone on here mentioned cherry?) over a strong, smooth base. I'm willing to bet that the bitterness comes from the oakmoss, although that's not a note I'm too familiar with. There's also something ineffably sweet that could be the almond, could be the jasmine, could be both, or could be something else entirely, idk.

 

Wet: Starts off as pretty much a jasmine single note. Which, personally, I'm A-OK with - I love jasmine, but I know it doesn't work for everyone. Eventually, though, the almond starts to sneak back in, followed by the sandalwood and/or musk. I could definitely see how this could be both a "coquettish" (floral) and "sinister" (musky, a bit of the almond) scent, although I do find myself wishing that the oakmoss would put in an appearance; this would help quite a bit with the interesting-yet-unsettling "sinister" aspect.

 

Dry: Jasmine and sandalwood. It's a lovely scent as-is, but I'm worried about it leaning a little too "generic exotic." Like, I love jasmine and I like sandalwood, but I'm still missing that oakmoss to really make it distinctive.

[Veronica]

Something in this just goes overly sweet and then sour on me.

[Musamea]

frimp from Lab

in the imp: strong jasmine, a bit high-pitched but not *quite* in the cat pee territory, musk

wet: musk and very very sharp jasmine, verging on cat pee, ugh, not getting any almond or sandalwood

drydown: if I whiff deeeeeeply I get really delightful, delicate jasmine, but the top of the jasmine note is very very screechy

verdict: Lab jasmines are still a great big nope on me

[HighlyBell7]

Third review/impression

 

Color in bottle: amber

In bottle: sweet with strong twangy note

Wet: strong jasmine and still green twangy discordance

Dry: Jasmine on a pedestal. w/fern? The smells just seem to be fighting in a very hot and humid place. It's like a flower battle. Some other flower. Gardenia? Almost numbing discordance or the smell of some kind of numbing gel.

Later: I start to get hints at something powdery. It is beginning to be bearable.

Much later: Fades into an older powder scent.

Much much later: It's almost pleasantly sweet and powdery.

 

After reading the full description: I really wish I would have smelled the almond or the sandalwood or the egyptian musk. I'm new to this and didn't shake it up before trying it. Maybe that was the problem.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: Almond (but not intensely almond, thanks to the other notes), followed by the floral, oakmoss, musk, and a bit of sandalwood.

 

Wet: The almond is present, but the star jasmine and oakmoss are trying their hardest to overtake it, and they'll probably succeed, as almond doesn't have a lot of longevity on my skin. I'm also getting the Egyptian musk, and the combination of it and the almond remind me somewhat of Bastet. The red sandalwood note is lingering in the background, but it seems to be getting stronger over time.

 

Dry: Just as I predicted, the star jasmine (a non-stinky jasmine!) and moss won out. I have to inhale really deeply to be able to detect the almond note now. The red sandalwood is a lot stronger during this stage of the scent, but the star jasmine and moss are the first notes that jump out to my nose. The musk is still present as well, but I don't get as much Egyptian musk from this as I do in Bastet.

 

Verdict: This one doesn't really grab me. It's yet another scent that proves that star jasmine is a variety of jasmine that works with my skin chemistry, though!

[LizziesLuck]

I'm not actually expecting this to work on my skin, cuz jasmine, but want to give it a shot anyway, since the Lab was kind enough to send me a frimp.

 

 

Wet: Almond! Straight up sweet almond extract. For all of two seconds, and then it turns to Jasmine. It's actually not terrible in this! At least not so far.

 

 

Dry: Uh, so much jasmine. And something sour, maybe the oakmoss? Not sure, but this is not doing it for me. For a split second I thought maybe it was a jasmine I would like, but I was wrong. Still, as always, glad to have gotten to try it.

[Casablanca]

Bottle: Jasmine la la jasmine. A little almond.

Wet: A light, playful jasmine. A little more almond, but it's there and gone again. I get sandalwood, oakmoss and musk blending together nicely under the other notes.

Dry: The jasmine is still there, and the musk comes out stronger. As this dries, it becomes mostly sandalwood on me.

This turned out to be more of a jasmine floral perfume than an almond perfume. A plain sandalwood base note at the end is never exciting for me.

Edited April 27, 2016 by Casablanca

[Lucchesa]

I love almond and I love exotic scents like Bastet, so I was very excited to try this. The almond I could smell in the imp became very faint once it hit my skin. I got some jasmine and some oakmoss, but before long the red sandalwood took over almost completely. This is the sandalwood that reads like cedar on my skin. And I have plenty of cedar-y scents, so this one is not a standout on me.

[achildoftime]

This one is almost all jasmine for me. It's almost all jasmine and the only thing that breaks it up is some almond. Almond and I are usually at odds, so I'm not crazy about this. I actually quite like jasmine as a note, but when it's almost all I get from a scent I'm not likely to reach for it very often. Especially since I'm not fond of almonds, the only other note I get.

[puellacaerulea]

In the imp, I get lots of almond, with a bit of musk and florals. Here for it. Unfortunately, the almond fades pretty fast, and I'm left with mostly sandalwood and musk, with a bit of somewhat powdery florals. The almond is still very faintly there, but it's not the presence it was in the imp. While I don't dislike the end result, there's something kind of traditional-perfume about the drydown stage that makes me think I'm not likely to reach for it too often (I think Ava's more likely to be my go-to when I'm in the mood for an almond-floral combo).