Carnal

[mmcfa2]

Bold, bright mandarin paired with the sweet, sensual earthiness of fig.

Juicy, sweet and lighter than I expected. Honestly? This reminds me of clair burke air freshener kind of like the applejack variety. It's a very nice smell, but more like a candle or room scent for me that a personal one. On me, I like fig leaf more than fig fruit

[tesao]

i am on a winning streak, for which i can thank lady ell.....she has proven to be my scent twin once again!

 

my last imp order i just ordered all of her favourites, without paying any attention to what they were supposed to smell like. and this morning i just tried it without reading any reviews.

 

in the imp: slightly sweet and foody. i couldn't really recognize anything but thought i had smelled it before. spicy fruit of some kind, with a bright sweetness that wafted by once and a while.

 

on my wrist, wet: fruity and warm. dark, deep, reddish purple smelling. i wanted to lick my wrist. i wondered if it was vanilla or cocoa that i was smelling.

 

on my wrist, dry: got it! figs! fig newtons. and i love love love it.

 

dry down: still yummy spicy figs. much creamier, though. not as sweet.

 

i never got orange out of this, but i loved it. another big bottle, because i will use this imp up toute suite!

[nhough73]

My nose must be really weird but on me it smelled like rose dribbled with cinnamon.

 

Really like it though Considering a large bottle of it. I didnt get any mandarin at all.

[lucytalk]

I got Carnal as a gift imp with a swap. I'm really not into sweet scents, so I probably wouldn't have ordered it. In the bottle, it's fairly sweet but not overly so. On my skin, the fig tempers the sweetness and I get a sharp citrus with an earthy base. The mandarin is the dominant note. On drydown it doesn't change much on me, the sharpness/slight sweetness of the mandarin remains and it stays a fresh, bright scent despite the fig, which stays in the background balancing the mandarin. I love it, though it's not what I would have thought Carnal would be like. I used some in a massage bar, it's great.

[Imbrium]

In the Bottle: It's mainly orange, though I can smell a bit of the fig.

 

On: Figgy fig! I get little to no orange, but it's alright, because Beth's fig is beautiful. Sweet and spicy - I want to bite my arm. As this is drying, it goes through a phase that smells almost berry-like to me - think Skadi - but that dries away, and it's all fig.

 

This is delicious, and as juicy as a perfume oil can get. I'm so happy I have a big bottle.

[Eros]

This is actually the first fig blend I've sampled and OMG!! I LOVE it!

 

In imp and wet~warm, spicy vanilla clove. Stays that way through drydown and hours after w/definite "figgy-ness" swirling all around.

 

Very rich. Definitely captures the comparison of a fig to "girly parts". Voluptuous, juicy, wet...bursting with swollen, sexual ripeness, aching desperately to be plucked.

 

Yep, I'll be getting a big bottle

[gingersnapp]

This scent is succulent, thick and throbbing. It is juicy and ripe and swollen, as if I've just torn into the perfect plump fig, fingers sticky and sweet and browned. This is the perfect smell of sex in liquid form. TO DIE FOR!

[ismene]

Mm, fig. I can smell a hint of orange in the vial, but on my skin it's pretty much all fig. It's a warm, sweet fig, without the odd chemical undertone that the fig single note has. I like it a lot, though I'm not sure how much I'll wear it since it's so one-dimensional on my skin. I might end up using it more as a room scent.

[yellowrose]

Just as a bit of preface, when Carnal arrived for the first time, the imp had shattered somehow. It was graciously replaced and now tested.

 

Carnal just isn't getting a fair break by the immediate universe. In attempting to decide what to wear today, I think I had some other oil on my fingers when I applied it, so this might not be a clean test. And the residual of Black Cat, too.

 

Warm, spicy and non-descript. No notes pop out immediately. Eh. Later ... get mostly fig. Wish the orange were more assertive.

 

Figured out why "eh" later in the day … all the previous smelling from the breakage! Doh! My schnozz "knew" the scent or was used to it. When it dried, this was quite nice. Didn't stick around for the entire day, however.

 

ETA: In further testing, those scents with fig notes commonly become single note fig. I think I'll stick to eating my figs rather than wearing them.

Edited August 22, 2005 by yellowrose

[oatmealneko]

Carnal starts out as spicy mandarin. It has the hard spicy kick of fig, with the submissiveness of mandarin orange. When it dries, it smells like Celestial Seasonings' Mandarin Orange Spice tea, which is my favorite of the CS teas.

[Jello]

This smells good, like some sort of tasty dessert BUT it's definitely not something that I want to smell like. It's too sweet, kind of reminds me of something from bath and body works that I would have adored in middle school, and it's a little bit headache-inducing. I thought I smelled some licorice in the very beginning, but now it's sort of like a fig newton dipped in sugar. It would make a good candle, or bath oil, but not perfume.

 

Edited to say that I dumped my imp into a bottle of cooling foot spray that I had, and it worked nicely because it smells yummy, but it doesn't make me smell like something to eat

Edited June 13, 2005 by Jello

[coulrophobe]

I first tried Carnal months ago, loved it, ordered a bottle of it, but never got around to reviewing it... well, today I happen to be wearing it again, and am in a reviewing mood.

 

For me, Carnal was one of those scents that reached deep into my memory, grabbed something, and dangled it in front of my nose. In this case, it was my grandpa's flavored pipe tobacco - not the tobacco as it was burning in his pipe, but fresh from the pouch.

 

Thus, Carnal's warm spicey smell is a comforting, homey, nostalgic scent to me, rather than one I associate with the Love Potions category. Rich figs, spices and a subtle tang from the mandarin... mmm. And on my skin, it lasts much longer than most of the blends I've tried. Definitely a keeper.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Smooth and spicy.

 

Just On: Smooth, possibly cloves.

 

An hour or two later: A bit of spicy clove.

 

Around 6 hours: Spicy clove.

 

12 hours: It's pretty well faded to nothing now.

 

Overall: Interesting. I like it.

 

After reading other reviews: I almost wonder if I'm not smelling right, because this didn't smell of fig or orange at all to me. All I got were cloves, and perahps some other spice.

[arabella]

First impression: Orange slices soaked in artificial sweetener and then baked.

 

Dries down to: A compote of baked figs and mandarins - then, it turns into fruit roll-ups - and, finally, it fades to a weak Tang scent - all in the space of about 15 minutes.

 

Additional Comments: I don't hate it but I don't love it either - and, I definitely don't feel it's "carnal" at all. I'll have to try layering it - maybe with Bliss or something spicy.

 

Lasted: About an hour.

 

Rating: 2 out of 5

[gravity_always_wins]

Similar experience to Originalwacky... didn't get any citrus or fruity notes. Very clove-like. For some reason, it reminds me of a Christmas potpourri and would replace said potpourri very nicely, but it's just not for me as a perfume.

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression: Fig with more fig & a very slight mandarin. Too much Fig for me actually. Nice enough but off to swaps it goes to find a better home than mine.

[shayelea]

In the bottle: when I first opened this, I thought it smelled as unbearably sweet as I found Lady Macbeth, but I think that must have been a little bit of scent transfer or something, because after having my imps separated for a few days, Carnal's true scent came through. I smell a very spicy orange scent, bright and sweet orange mixed with something I would have pegged as clove had I not known it was fig.

 

Wet: at first, the mandarin is foremost, sweet and tart with just a hint of spiciness beneath. This first wet stage is really the only stage where it actually feels "carnal" to me. After a few minutes, the spiciness started to come back out, and I'm still thinking clove rather than fig. But not at all in a Christmas-y type way. It smells rich and sophisticated without being heavy. This would be the perfect autumn scent.

 

Drydown: After about an hour the orange starts to fade, and underneath the clove scent I'm finally getting some fig. Oddly, when I sniff my wrist it does smell a little powdery, which seals it: BPAL's fig turns powdery on me. I'm not going to pout too much, though, because I really only get the powder when I put my nose directly to my wrist. It's much less powdery than, say, Intrigue or Nemesis.

 

I like the wet stage a bit better than the drydown, but I can always reapply. I'd probably want to anyway, because for such a rich scent this is oddly light on me, and is already starting to fade after a few hours.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Sweet fruit.

 

On Skin: Not exactly what I think of when I imagine carnal, but a pretty scent. The mandarin is bold and tart and the fig is dark and sweet. I just don’t see these fruits or the scent as being sexy. I would love this as a room scent or candle.

[cupide430]

Carnal

 

Smells like sweet pickle relish at first. Weeird. This is very quickly turning into a warm spicy fruity scent. Almost like spicy fruit leather. As this dries, it is getting more and more like fruit roll-ups. I think it is intensifying and getting stronger as it dries.

[jewelbug]

Bottle: Whoa. Mega orange. I like it.

 

On skin:

Wet: Very orange (almost overripe orange), with some spice edging in as it dries. Did you ever stick an orange with whole cloves? This is what this reminds me of.

Dry: 10 min: Gets more rounded, sweeter (fig?), the orange gets less biting and doesn't smell overripe anymore. I still feel like there is a spicy note--ginger or clove. Very warm and decadent. Invokes the holidays. I could definitely wear this in the fall, or to holiday parties. YUM.

1 hour: Faded almost completely. STOMP!STOMP!

 

I thought maybe I washed it off while prepping dinner, so I tried again, and it still faded in just about an hour. Zero staying power on me. I really liked this one--such a pretty blend (Beth is awesome). I don't know whether to swap it or reapply often. I think swap, unfortunately; I know I'm too lazy to reapply. I'll have to look for another orange scent. Oh, more BPAL testing? What a shame!

[Ajila]

Wet on me this was sweet, juicy, but slightly green figs. It's lovely a glowing, shining blend, that gives the impression on warm summer days in the country. Dry on me it becomes slightly more powdery, it's as if somebody has dusted the figs in icing sugar .

[fathom]

Thick and sweet, like tangerine candy. And this scent has tremendous throw. While I like a good fruity scent, I think this one might be too young for me. The sweetness is so intense, it almost smells sticky. Since there aren’t any woody or musky undertones to balance the sweetness it ends up being kind of overwhelming to me.

 

(edited for a silly typo...)

Edited August 21, 2005 by fathom

[Little Bird]

I love the fig note that bpal uses, but I like it best paired with the cocoa and wood notes in Intrigue. Carnal has the same rich, woody/earthy, fruity fig, but it's lighter and fades more quickly with a hint of orange oil. I think that it's better paired with darker notes that complement its woody/chocolatey tones. Carnal has a burst of mandarin orange that disappears after about 5 minutes and leaves behind the light fig note that fades away within an hour.

Edited April 3, 2013 by Little Bird

[BlueStar]

Carnal is a great scent but not really my thing.

 

In The Bottle: FIG! Wow that's a lot of fig. I thought this was supposed to have mandarin orangey stuffs in it. Let's try it on.

 

Wet on Skin: OK now it is orangey but that orange smells cleanserish like Simple Orange.

 

Drydown: Not getting much better but I get fig now at least. "Oh bring us some figgy pudding" on second thought no.

 

Verdict: Too figgy and female for me.

[Firewaver]

Oh this is so very pretty. In the bottle it smells to me like stewed pears.

 

On my skin, it's so delicious. I'm going to have to get a bottle of this, I can tell already. Yum. It doesn't smell like figs to me, it smells like pears that have been simmering in cinnamon and sugary spices. I do smell a touch of orange.

 

Not a bitter orange, thanks be. A clear, bright orange. Sweet, like a clementine in spring. I love the subtle spiciness that I know is the fig (though I still like the idea of stewed pears better).

 

It just smells so lovely. This is a simple review, I know. But I can't think of anything bad about this oil. Sparkling and luscious. I give it an A.