Manila

[stellans]

A tropical, humid, lush scent, with a faint echo of Pacific breezes, jungle blossoms, and deep wet woods. Sampaguita blossoms, banana leaf, palm, and narra.

I really like the vague banana note I get when first sniffing/applying this blend; but... Yeah, there's a 'but' coming in this review. The downer (for me, anyway) is an unpleasant scorched something behind the banana, which comes out a few minutes after application. I am not familiar with much of what is listed as the notes in this blend, so I really don't know what makes it smell scorched on me, but it's too unpleasant to wear for the whole day. I washed it off, and wore something else instead. Sadly, I must mark this blend with an "X" for (Doesn't Work for Me), but I'm hanging on to the bit I have to retest again someday, just in case.

Edited April 22, 2011 by stellans

[iiinterstate]

Wet on me: Banana Laffy Taffy, straight up.

 

After a minute: Oh good, that didn't last. Not at all. Manila goes from sweeeeet candy to green and woody with a hint of banana behind it.... and then it all but disappears.

 

Well that's a bummer. I've never had a blend go away so quickly. Too bad

[cleske]

I don't get any banana from this one, which makes me quite sad. It was a frimp and I was excited about the banana posibility, but most of what I can smell is woody (I think the narra?) and floral. Perhaps it's my chemistry, because there's something very sharp and unpleasant going on, and it has a hell of a throw. My nostrils are being beaten into submission. Wherefore art thou, banana?

[Veronica]

I couldn't tell this was banana until I looked at the notes. This scent is warm and a little fruity, reminiscent of Lampades, but I looooooove Lampades, whereas I only like this.

[angelicruin]

I received a frimp of this last year when I first got into BPAL. The frimp smelled nasty nasty nasty. I couldn't even bring myself to apply it to my skin it smelled so bad.

 

Today, I was frimped another imp of this direct from the lab, and since it contains banana (which I adore), I decided to try it out again...this time it smells better from the imp...

 

Sniffing the imp, it's banana and something else I can't quite pinpoint.

 

On the skin, it's initially banana and wood right after application.

 

As it dries, I can smell the floral notes and still the banana leaf and just barely smell the wood note now.

 

All in all, it's not as bad as I initially thought it to be. I'm guessing I was possibly frimped a bad decant, or else maybe this oil ages into something I perceive as rancid.

 

Still, this is not anything I would buy a bottle of. Just too iffy with my skin chemistry. Sad too, because as a rule I love banana and fruit notes.

[crebbsgirl]

Huh... pez candy.

 

As it settles the greenery comes out, but it's sweet greens. Like, candy and greens.

[HKB]

Rum, or some kind of alcohol, and banana. Then something smokey. Tropical fruits. There's a lot going on and it seems to shift a lot. Wet and dense and strong. Saltwater and incense, and an overripe banana.

Drinking an expensive, fruity alcoholic beverage on tropical beach.

Very masculine. There's something very sour going on I don't like though.

[skylarkza]

In imp: Jellybeans. I smell jellybeans.

 

Wet: Jellybeans and bananas. Ick.

 

Dry: The banana fades into a general fruit flavoured jellybean-ness.

 

A while later: This is another skin hugger. Mildly fruity and nice.

[Stormslegacy]

 

In the imp: MMmmm pina colada.

 

wet: same as in the imp. Juicy pina colada with a hint of something with a little more body underneath.

 

Drydown: mmmm pinapple with a bit of woodsy undertone. It's an odd kind of mix and I think I'm catching a bit of banana? I normally don't like this kind of foodie scent but this is nice . The woodsiness prevents it from becoming too sweetsy.

 

Conclusion: I actually reall like this. I don't normally like fruits other than plum and berry, but this is definitely a keeper for when I am in a playful mood.

[Lorelai1945]

Banana Runts + fruit punch flowers.

 

That is all.

 

 

[ayelienne]

This is an interesting blend. I smell underripe banana, some kind of wood, and waxy tropical blooms/greenery. For a brief while, there was a really dry, almost hay smell, but that seemed to fade as the wood setttled in. I don't think this one's for me, but I have a friend who I think will love this.

[Dark Alice]

I have never smelled banana incense before. But now....I have. It's interesting. I think I will keep this and wear it on days when I am in a fun mood.

[impolight]

 

Manila is a rich and golden smell.

A decadent dessert made from exotic fruits.

A bright potpourri of flowers, friuts, and crushed vegetation.

An afternoon nap out on the veranda, seaside, after a much needed, stiff drinky-poo.

[musichappens]

I did get a hint of banana when I first applied this, but that went away with in seconds and I was left with ginger scented greenery. I actually got a pretty bad headache from this, so I had to wash it off quickly.

[heywilma]

I ordered this at the behest of a friend from the Philippines, who, after reading the description, said, "lol we don't smell anything like that". But anyway. In the imp this was really, really sweet. And while normally I don't like that, it reminded me of bubblegum (but bubblegum gone... evil), which I definitely had a fondness for.

 

Sadly, that went away almost as soon as it was applied on skin, and within ten minutes left me with a cooked banana smell. On the bright side, the throw was good, and it lasted for a long while.

[Venneh]

Get that tropical sense in the imp, but on my skin, it's banana and palm and possibly coconut. Oh, damnit. Need to get this off, NOW.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Imp: definitely tropical and wood

Wet on Me: coconut? banana? palm perhaps? dark green evocative of the jungle

Drying Down: less coconut and more wood now. With the faintest trace of something floral. This reminds me of the palm trees we had growing around me when I was a young kid

Dry: this did not end up as it started out. it's nice. Not bottle worthy, but nice!

[Kiraze]

imp: wood and bananas

 

wet: bananas morph into more artificial on skin but dark green tropical trees is now strongest impression

 

dry: plastic bananas calm down and overall impression remains green with some exotic wood and seabreeze at the bottom - there is faint flowery undertone too but it does not jump out but more merges with bananas into background sweetness. I can easily see this scent to describe lush tropical trees and banana plantations of Philippines with sunny seaside at the background. This is pretty but not memorable and it seems to disappear pretty fast

 

 

[sunlitgarden]

Manila

 

Tropical and fruity... definitely banana and pineapple in there. It reminds me of a tropical cocktail, or the fruity notes in Milk Moon 2007. Unfortunately, whatever my skin did with Milk Moon, it's doing with Manila as well; it smells a bit overly tangy and acidic. Wood comes out more as it dries. I don't think this is a match for my chemistry.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: Good throw! I can smell it as soon as it's applied, with my arm in a resting position, away from my face. Very tropical fruit smells rush towards and fill my nose. It radiates sun-baked tropical fruit and flowers. The banana and palm are strongest here.

 

Drydown: the florals come out a bit stronger but the tropical fruits still compliment well. Nice!

[loubric]

In the IMP it smells like sweet banana taffy!

On me it’s less intense and more green and herby banana – more natural and less artificial sweetness.

 

I really like this scent it’s fruity and sweet in a subtle green and leafy way. It’s relaxing and cool and def. something I could wear in the early days of Summer.

 

Gorgeous.

[girlcalledmoment]

This is a very sweet scent which brings back memories of my early teens - hanging around outside shops sucking on Mr. Freeze ice-pops. There is something in this that smells exactly like those - a fruity tang. I like the hint of banana - it makes me smile, but it's not quite the scent I hoped it would be.

It's a morpher, most definitely, oscillating between ice-pops and nappy-like jasmine. I do like it; it's just it doesn't move me quite as much as some BPAL scents. The green element is there - a ferny jungle tangle beneath fruit and blooms - but it's just too sticky to be sexy.

Unless worn by a Mila Kunis type - I can see it on the girl she plays in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I'm not completely decided on whether it's something I'll get a large bottle of, but at the moment there are other priorities.

3.5/5

[Amaranthus]

Banana incense! Yes!

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: I know this is supposed to smell like a tropical garden (and people have recommended it as a sub for Hi'Iaka), but all I smell is nasty alcoholic limeade. with powdery palm-trees and lemonade. NOT good, in other words. it's very artificial lemon-lime and kind of reminds me of fruity jellybeans. but the LIMES!? I just don't get it.

 

On my skin: more alcoholic limeade, more powdery lemonade. I guess maybe I kind of get a hint of the tropic humidity, and maybe some jungle blossoms, but really it's still primarily a cocktail. and a particularly slutty one at that.

 

Last thoughts: reminds me of the Atomic Luau Lounge, which is NOT a good thing for me!

[angelamaria]

In imp: very tropical, spicy and woody. The sampaguita, which I was hoping to get, is rather faint.

 

Wet on skin: oh hello there sampaguita, I finally see you clearly. It's heady here, wow. Still very tropical to me, woody note is a bit subdued. "Jungle blossoms" sound like a perfect term for this blend, although sampaguita and jungle does not go well together in my head. It's quite spicy, very tropical. Interesting.

 

Dry: dry, this is a sweet and woody scent, the narra is finally coming out. Faintly cloying. Also, at the end of every whiff, there's a medicine-y scent coming from it--after a long while to puzzling it over, made me realize it reminds me of Vicks Vaporub, even if it's not exactly the same smell. It's weird. Also, the narra seems to be amping...and that Vicks-like after-smell is growing, too. A little later, it's become very strong, very cloying, and the throw is CRAZY, that I couldn't handle it and washed it immediately off. I have no idea what happened there.

 

Verdict: As a Filipino, I did want to love this blend. (National pride ftw!) But unfortunately, no, I just can't. I think I will want an empty bottle, but no, I just...can't. It's too much for me As for how "appropriate" this is for Manila--well, Manila is far from being jungle blossoms and deep wet woods, but the melange of notes and its complexity seems to be about right for Manila, and the Philippines in general, objectively speaking. It just doesn't call out to me as a "perfect Manila scent", even unsullied by my skin chemistry, but it is nice and faintly appropriate all the same.