Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit

[doomsday_disco]

Vanilla orchid, black amber, coffee bean, labdanum, champaca, and oudh.

 

In the decant: I definitely get the coffee bean from this. It is one of the notes that stands out the most to me in the decant, although it was even more prominent when it arrived a few days ago. The vanilla orchid note is pretty strong as well, and I can detect a bit of the champaca and the resins.

Wet: It starts off as coffee bean and resins at first, but the orchid note quickly overtakes the resin. It is now coffee bean and orchid. Then, the champaca starts making itself known, and I start getting the champaca and resin notes from this with a hint of the coffee bean. This seems to be quite the morpher!

Dry: Champaca, resins, and coffee bean. (The coffee bean note is a lot stronger in the crook of my elbow than it was on my wrist.) Although other reviewers mentioned chocolate or root beer, I am not smelling either of those things in this.

Verdict: This smells like an awesome coffee shop! It is very sophisticated and pretty. I didn't think I would like this as much as I do! I will definitely be getting a bottle of this.

[milo]

This one is hard to describe. Kind of fruity, kind of musky, with a bit of sweetness and resins thrown in. Was more orangelike when wet, but dry, it's kind of a resin musk with a touch of orange spice. It's not unlike one of those clove studded oranges, but not with clove, if that makes sense. This really isn't my type of blend, but it's kind of appealing in a way. Reminds me more of a Yule blend than a Shunga.

[lucycat]

In the neighborhood where I lived for years, there’s a coffee shop almost next door to a Rite Aid drugstore. The first sniff of this oil in the imp smells like walking into that drugstore: sweetness from various kinds of candy (because the seasonal displays, which are mostly candy, are near the front of the store) mingled with coffee from the nearby coffee shop.

 

This dries down to sweet incense just touched with coffee. On the back of my hand, the vanilla is very prominent and sweet, while in the crook of my arm, it’s sharper.

 

This is a very warm and cozy blend. It’s bottle-worthy.

[OneEyeAskew]

Disclaimer: when I got my order in the mail, I was in the midst of a nasty cold and couldn't smell them at all. Tragic! I've been waiting impatiently to start reviewing all the nifty things, so today when my nose seemed to be working again, I leapt at the opportunity! That said, it is possible my palette is off, or my skin pH is off from the cold, or SOMETHING, because seriously...this one is WEIRD.

 

Opening up the bottle: BUBBLEGUM.

 

Wet on skin: BUBBLEGUMBUBBLEGUMBUBBLEGUM. Bubblegum...and...soap? What is that? Ugh, this is just revolting. I don't hate bubblegum, you guys, but it's got such potency and a...grossness to it. Like being in a candy store with a stomach virus.

 

Drydown: Thankfully, the bubblegum has receded somewhat. It's still dominant and unpleasant, but not in the same stomach-churning way as before. Underneath, there is...pale wood? Bamboo? I can't quite get past the pink enough to see this birch-colored thing. But that's what I imagine -- pale floorboards in a wooden teahouse. And the teahouse is filled with bubblegum.

 

Dry, later: I keep huffing my wrists trying to identify this other scent, which is still incredibly faint on me. Thankfully, though, the gum has faded to a faint wisp as well, so at least there's that. As I sniff and sniff at this, the two notes blend into something I'm really struggling to put a word to. I try to convince myself that it's coffeeish? Mostly just because that's what everyone else was saying. But then I sniff my wrist and, NOPE, definitely not coffee. But wait! I remembered something someone said earlier, about the memory of a coffeeshop. That phrase jogged my palette! Sort of right, but not really. For me, it's more like the very faint whiff of sickly-sweet flavored coffee creamer. I can /barely/ get that, though, and it stank to high heaven on the journey. It's still got a too-sweet rancidness, it's just so far away that it's not so bad.

 

I will retest this one after I've waited a bit..but my hopes are not high. This is so disappointing, I was really looking forward to this one!

Edited April 15, 2014 by OneEyeAskew

[ModderRhu]

it vascillates between smelling like incense and sour old lady perfume on me. either way, there's not even the tiniest hint of coffee. really disappointing. though I don't mind when it smells like incense. I feel like I got the wrong perfume by mistake.

[Monster]

People keep saying this smells like a coffee house filled with nag camp incense, that description is exactly my experience.

 

Upon first application, I immediately detect coffee. It's nearly all coffee on my skin until it starts to dry. After a few minutes, the coffee fades to the background while my nose fills with the gorgeous scent of nag champa and amber. The coffee keeps fading into the background until it's in the distance far enough to keep this from making me smell like I spilled an Americano all over chest. Coffee is a note that has only worked one other time (Miskatonic University), and fortunately, works again for me in Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit.

 

This one totally lives up to the hype! I will cherish my bottle.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Monster

[Mokiefraggle]

Smelling this in the bottle and on my skin when wet, my brain immediately chimed in with "KAHLUA!" It really did just smell a lot like the bottle of homemade Kahlua my mum gave me, of a boozy-edged coffee scent. It was a little shocking, since I was expecting a warm coffee note, but it wasn't bad, so I didn't immediately want to be rid of it. I like boozy scents just fine!

 

Then, as it starts to warm up and dry down, I get the amber and the champaca, and the oudh starts to come out to play. Coffee and incense, just like so many others have said. Very nice! Not at all boozy coffee at that point, but I'm not complaining. I love my incense-y perfumes just as much as the boozy ones.

 

In short, very glad I have a bottle.

[misspaul]

I wrote this down before I looked at the notes: sweet and creamy coffee with a hint of florals and a bit of powder. A pleasant powder, not talc.

 

I am assuming that what I registered as cream and florals was the vanilla orchid, and the powder was a combination of the amber and champaca. It appears that black amber on me doesn't behave the same way other ambers do. The coffee note stays with me the whole time but dials back considerably after it has dried down. Wet, all I could think about was coffee liqueur without the booze - sweet, syrupy, and with a layer of vanilla cream on top. Dry, the orchid, amber and champaca comes out a lot more and the coffee rounds it all out into a gourmand that I can actually wear.

 

I love the Lab's coffee note. It works for me.

 

All in all, I really like this. It's like drinking a cup of excellent coffee in the sunshine with a vase of sun warmed flowers on the table. Just what I need on a cold drizzly winter's morning!

[Kmye Chan]

In the decant: sorta creamy, sorta sweet, but no distinct notes that I recognize immediately. After looking up the notes, I can distinguish the coffee and something more earthy (oud?).

 

Wet: a little bit sweeter and spicier, but again, nothing very distinct. Unlike previous reviewers, I get almost no coffee.

 

Dry: this gets so faint that it is almost undetectable on me. Just something vaguely incensey and creamy if I sniff reeally deep.

 

No likey. This really does not agree with my skin chemistry.

I also tried it in the crook of my elbow, since others noted a difference between wrist and elbow, but got the exact same bleh-ness.

[whoahorsey]

Wet: Floral and coffee. Not a fan. The orchid way amped on me. Sadness!

 

Drying: Oooh, now, this is nice. The orchid calms its ass down and finally takes a seat, and the champaca and amber get a chance to come out and play. As others have mentioned, it's a lovely, resinous incense-y scent. Heady and sexy, dark and mysterious.

 

Hour later: still very nice incense, but going a bit powdery on me now. Smells like a Hot Topic circa 1999. May sound like I'm insulting it, but my teenage self had very good times in Hot Topic in 1999, so this is pretty nostalgic for me. heh

 

Glad I got an imp, but probably won't seek out a bottle.

[BeyondBad1313]

This is by far one of my favorite blends. I am a big fan of the incense blends, especially when paired with coffee notes, It keeps the coffee from going plastic on my skin. Vanilla and the floral adds the the incense vibe. Smells like a beautiful vanilla coffee incense. I will horde this one for sure.

[Lambent]

It smells like a cup of a rich, but smooth coffee in the bottle. On skin, more of the champaca and other resinous notes come out. Something about this is creamy/milky and lightly sweet. The vanilla orchid blooms maybe ten minutes after application. Sophisticated, elegant, and quite subtle.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Mmm, coffee with a whole bunch of interesting subtleties. Hints of floral come through. A bit of champaca. Lovely. Sweet, but not overly so. A hint creamy, but somehow not gourmand. It's like incensey, perfumey coffee. It's quite close to the skin.

 

 

Dry: An incensey coffee scent, quite dry, just sweet enough to be really lovely. I like it a lot. I like coffee scents a lot, so not surprising. I also LOVE the name! Happy to have it.

[Juliamon]

In the imp: Boozy syrup? I had to read over this entire thread to make sure I wasn't the only one who got a boozy note out of it, I was so worried I had a mislabeled decant. A bit of research shows that it might just be how I perceive oudh, which I will admit I'm not familiar with yet.

 

Wet: The booziness continues, but only for a brief moment; it's quickly overtaken by the coffee beans, champaca, and labdanum. It's a gorgeous, rich scent that's almost gourmand but a bit too incensey to commit. I'd still classify it as 'delicious.'

 

Dry: Unfortunately after 5 minutes the coffee fades and the oudh reasserts itself in its place. It becomes oudh-forward, woody and dark with light wisps of incense, staying right against the skin. It's nice but it's not anywhere near as nice as the wet phase.

 

While I'm disappointed the coffee didn't linger, it DID behave better on my skin than any other of the coffee blends I've tried from BPAL. I'm glad to have this anyway, and will keep trying to make it last longer on me.

[VetchVesper]

I'll admit, this one I hunted down solely because of the name and image.  The scent is odd, a much lighter than I would have expected.  My skin also seems to drink it up, as it only lasts a couple hours on me.  Everything sort of blends together to create a nutty, musk, melange with a warm, fruity top note.  I can tell the coffee's in here, but it doesn't smell like coffee.  Nor is the champaca obviously champaca.  I would have expected this to be incensey, but it's really not on me. No problems with p'oud, though there is something slightly animalic about the whole thing.  I can see why some forumites really loved this one; it's very unusual.  I'm happy with just my imp though.