The Squishy Cushions

[spookyumbrella]

The glory of Venus as the apex of luxury and sensuality: velvet red rose petal attar, sweet red oudh, Mysore sandalwood, red benzoin, elemi, silken musk, and jasmine sambac.

For me this was all jasmine and Ivory soap. I didn't get any of the notes listed but jasmine.

 

If you like jasmine or Ivory, you'll love this.

[roseus]

In the bottle and wet I get a very intense, damp oudh. This with the heady jasmine reminded me strongly of The Head initially. As it dries the oudh softens, giving a less intense but deep woody base. The rest of the notes are like rich velvet over the top, though difficult to pick out. I had a bottle of Versailles a long time ago and for some reason this seems to be its dark counterpart to my memory of it, decadent and rich but not bold and bright in the way Versailles was. The jasmine is softer and less heady and mingles darkly with the rose, while the benzoin and musk blur all the edges.

[LizziesLuck]

Not gonna lie, I wanted to try this mainly because of the name, because neither oudh nor jasmine typically work for me.

 

Wet: OMG so much jasmine and oudh, aka cat pee and feces. This was a stupid stupid idea for my skin chem. I have much regret. I smell like a perfumey outhouse.

 

 

Dry: The oudh settles and fades out, but the jasmine is still somewhat "pissy". That's just how it rolls on my skin....Anyway, the perfumey part of this scent that I can smell past the outhouse is lovely, so if you don't have my skin chem issues, give this a go!

[zankoku_zen]

Jasmine, red roses, sandalwood and a touch of elemi. This is dark, mysterious red roses. Medium throw and wear length.

[Lucchesa]

This was gifted to me or I would never have tried it; jasmine in particular never works on me.  But I skin test it all, and sure enough, this one was all indolic jasmine at first, with some indolic oudh playing backup.  I was running out the door and didn't scrub; it got progressively nicer over the afternoon and the late drydown is quite beautiful.  So if jasmine, rose and oudh work on you, this might just be gorgeous.  

[tinyvulture]

Sweet, warm oudh and a kiss of jasmine is what I'm getting at first. Very smoothly blended, sophisticated. These are some luxe, expensive silk cushions. I like it, very appropriate for work or date night. Not getting any rose, though -- odd!

[Threemoons]

Alas, I also really wanted this one to work on me, but I wound up giving it up as a swap.  Oudh and jasmine can both go either way with me; the oudh being more problematic.  I get ZERO rose on this, just overpowering sharp oudh with jasmine; also getting a cat-pee note overall that I never got on any BPAL before.  Zero rose.  I tried giving this a full day to dry down, I finally got a hint of rose at the end of the day with a tiny hint of "nice" jasmine but the oudh just never really quit.  I feel bad; I have 10 boxes of BPAL and really wanted this one to work.

 

[VetchVesper]

This was mostly jasmine and oud on me. The jasmine was pleasant, but the oud is being p'oudiferous.  That said, sometimes oud is just awful. Here it's just going a little barnyard.  Wish I got some elemi or silken musk. 

 

The most surprising thing to me about this one is it's short wear length. This stuff's gone on me within 2 hours.  From the listed notes, I expected this one to have a long wear time. 

[LilBaephomet]

I’m not too proud to beg if begging could bring back the Tarot series. This was my very first BPAL fragrance, and as The Empress is my favorite card in the deck and this fragrance was the apex of Venusian Luxury, I knew I had to have it.

 

The oudh, jasmine, and rose all work together to create what I do very inelegantly like to call “a good stanky rose.” Much like Mata Hari (who is the closest I have gotten to success in my chase of The Squishy Cushions dragon), the floral has the smokey, woody, sticky undercurrent of a rose incense, as opposed to fresh cut flowers. The florals settle and become softer as the oudh steps back and lets the sandalwood drift forward, but the fragrance never slips out of its own opulence. It hangs heavy around like brocade silk and coils of perfumed smoke.
 

This fragrance is a head turner and will have those you permit into your close proximity asking for second and third whiffs of your neck (pre-Covid this sentiment was much sexier.) It is my signature fragrance but now I save it only for special occasions because I can’t imagine having to do without it.

[Threemoons]

When I first got this, the jasmine mixed with the oudh was a total poop-bomb on me. Jasmine really can go either way on me, and ditto for the oudh. However, after over 2 years of Getting Over Itself, it's mellowed into a really gorgeous, plush, rosy musky thing. The red oudh has really aged very well, and the jasmine stays in its lane. Wears all day, very nicely. Also took out my Book of the Dead locket and had some in the locket to compare how it is in that vs. on the skin. Really very rosy and powdery in the locket; it really is a skin chemistry thing! Glad that this one got better with time.