Spellbound

[jasmine]

Perfectly enchanting! An irresistibly sexual, utterly rapturous blend of three roses, radiant amber, and sensual red musk.

I can hardly detect the roses in the vial. It’s a thinner scent than I expected, and I think I’m mostly smelling the amber and the musk. As I wait, the roses arrive, giving the scent a bit more volume, but the artifice of the scent is huge -- it doesn’t smell plasticky or outrageously artificial, but it only seems to have some aspects of rose-scent rather than smelling truly rose.

The scent is blooming rapidly. Figuring out the radius of this scent is difficult because the entire space around me now smells like Spellbound. I’m duly impressed, but I wonder if it will retain that kind of presence for any length of time -- it seems like a difficult feat.

This is undeniably a red scent. I can detect the rose, though it is, as mentioned before, not a “true” rose. I’m not very good at recognizing amber and musk yet, so I can’t be confident whether or not they’re here, but this is a sweet, full, red scent now.

[littlefoot76]

Alright, this is my first attempt at a review. Spellbound was the first BPAL fragrance with which I fell utterly in love. I love the smell of roses, and that smell just jumps out at you at first whiff. Straight out of the bottle it smells like roses on a hot, humid summer night. The musk and amber add just the right touch to make this fragrance complex and not just a simple floral.

On my skin the musk & amber come much more to the forefront. The smell gets darker (in a good way ) and more mysterious. I'll update as the day progresses and the scent changes.

 

ETA: After a little over an hour, the amber and musk are still prominent on my skin. I did put a drop onto a piece of paper for side by side comparisons, and the paper has much more rose to it. It's a spicy rose, but definitely primarly rose. On my skin, the rose is fading to near nonexistance.

Edited December 1, 2006 by Littlefoot

[Elemcee]

Spellbound is the present to Darkness's past. A musky, sultry rose scent, that I imagine would be worn by a femme fatale in a silk negligee, waiting a seduce an elegantly dressed man, when he finally arrives at her door.

 

Unlike Darkness, though, I think I could pull this one off.

[sofaking6]

Great call Elemcee - this has femme fatale written all over it. This is a dark rose, heavy-lidded and gliding. The musk and amber are strong on me even though the rose does remain to an extent. It's the lead player but not necessarily the star.

[slave1]

SPELLBOUND

 

In Bottle: Rose and resin

 

On Skin: The rose comes out right away. Sadly rose is one of my least favorite scents. This rose is sharp, it cuts through the amber and musk right away. They do their best to try and tame it, but it doesn’t work. This scent is sour and quite powdery. I get a very red feel from this. If you like rose, you should try this for sure. It’s a more sexual rose, not a prim and proper old lady rose. It has depth and grit, it’s a very dark red velvet rose. Not a scent for me though. Strong throw and long wearlength.

[Deiicide]

Spellbound and I were not meant to be because a lot of Beth's rose blends tend to go all soapy with me and golden amber tends to amp so I had amped ambery soap. Not for me, off to the swaps.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Hypersweet red musk and roses. I admit, it scares me a lot.

 

Wet: Slightly woody, rubbery red musk, with a rich tone that comes from the amber, I think.

 

Drydown: Rose comes out... it's a red rose smell, very strongly sweetened by the red musk and made heavy with amber.

 

Overall: This is a very strong scent that seems to manage to get everywhere, very strong, I definitely had to put on as little as possible and still find it too strong. The sickly sweet rose has very unfortunate mental connections for me, so I really don't want to smell like this, ever. It's a little bit like Smut with roses, in fact.

[darklorelei]

Rubbery sweet. Almost all amber. Absolutely no rose after the initial application. I also smell blood, and I don't know what's up with that.

[alliekat13]

In the imp it's a dark, citrusy musk. On my skin the rose really comes out, but it's not like a strong overpowering rose, this rose kind of smells like citrus, orangey or lemony or something. The musk is deep and sensual and the amber is slightly powdery. This is a sexy scent, but not my type, I prefer the lighter ones.

[bardsong]

I got citrus, too, which really isn't my thing at all. I have to concentrate to smell the rose, and I don't notice the amber at all until it dries down.

 

It's definitely a strong scent, and one that requires further testing, because I'm not sure if I like it or not.

[nikkoblue]

frimp.

 

Wet: juicy citrus roses. I am not a rose fan for the most part, but this has something musky in it so i'll give it a try.

On arm: On my skin, this is only lightly floral with a lot of amber and musk; what's weird is that on my shirt that's on my skin, it's pure, dry rose.

 

This is a scent that i will wear in the summer, because I only like it on my skin. The scent on fabric is distracting me from the pretty amber and musk.......but as far as rose goes, this isn't too bad. OTOH, maybe I won't wear it, since there are so many other fragrances that smell better on me *cough*lust*cough*

[filigree_shadow]

This oil is extremely dark, almost as dark as Smut... and that's usually an indication that I'll like it a lot. This one is no exception.

 

The red musk is really strong at first, but as it dries the roses come out more. Red musk usually smells dark and sexy on me, and it blends really well with the roses. Normally I don't like roses, but I like them in this.

 

It's a sultry, grown-up scent. When I'm wearing it I feel like I should be on the prowl. It makes me want to put on stilettos and something slinky. It's too bad the only thing I'm doing tonight is prowling over to the laundry room and folding clothes. *sigh*

[mspixieears]

This is pure Nag Champa incense on me - it reminds me of the few Indian festivities I've been privileged to go to. Because it's too familiar and not exactly a fragrance as such for me, I wouldn't wear it but it was very nice to try. I do like it as a room fragrance.

[melrose]

Where are my amber and red musk? Sob.

 

It seems my skin amps roses. This is all rose, all the time. Nice, but not what I wanted from Spellbound.

 

Wonderful staying power.

[Browneyes]

Imp: mainly red musk

Wet: now I get red musk + amber. Amber is iffy on me. Sometimes it's awful, and in some blends it works... We shall see...

Dry: Now I finally get a little bit of rose. It's peeping out under all that musk. This ends up being a nice musky, powdery (in the okay kind of way) rose scent. I prefer this than Black Rose (which has the same notes, but probably different kinds/different proportions)

[whitemyrrh]

The rose in Spellbound is true to me, but not as a rose-in-bloom. This is a whiff of a freshly opened bottle of rosewater. It curls over a dark musk already in possession of a strong Indian edge; they compliment each other divinely if given the right amount of heat. A good Indian perfume needs a bit of humidity to blossom; without a little sweat, even the best of them can go soapy. This one certainly can! Absolutely this is a summer blend for me, though probably not for work days--far too heady. Let' stick with late nights of reclaimed sari silk skirts and ankletts woven with bells for Spellbound.

 

My chemistry tends to create an amber note with dark musk after a few hours, and my amber is the only amber I'm getting here. I suspect the blend's amber works more as a liason between the rose and the musk. It's not real apparent at all, in the bottle or wet on the skin. (Black Rose emphasizes the amber. Though the observation has surely been made before, It's amazing how different two blends that list a majority of same notes can smell.)

 

The first couple times I wore it, especially in the wet stages, it reminded me a bit of Auroshikha's "Indian Flower" (from back in my pre-BPAL days.) Not so much that I couldn't wear it comfortably, though (didn't wear Indian Flower during the happiest time of my life.) The drydown of Spellbound is far more distinctive to my nose, a little more rosey. I never realized the "Indian Flower" was a rose, back when, so thank you to Beth for solving that mystery. Since I think Auroshikha discontinued their perfume line, this would be a fine Black Phoenix alternative for anyone who was a fan. And the BPAL bottles are of a much better quality, lemme tell ya. No thin white plastic cap that cracks up the side if you try to close it tight enough to keep it from leaking!

 

I accidentally applied a bit of Snake Oil over the wrist I'd been testing Spellbound on the night before and almost died from bliss at the way the notes married. I've never been one to layer, but this may change my mind...

Edited March 31, 2007 by whitemyrrh

[hipslike___cinderella]

Oh goodness... this is loooooovely. A smoldering, red, steamy, warm and sexy scent. Probably the sexiest BPAL oil I have whiffed yet. Glowing, red roses (not green at all, or sweet, but big plump ones) equally mingled with amber, and then glazed with musk. I'd say the amber and musk is most prevalent, and the rose is there, but not screaming as in many other blends. Either way, I love roses and this one is just so sensual. This strikes me as a seductive "hey boy, come get me if you dare" type of scent. My boyfriend was even bowled over by me wearing this one and it totally gave me a sense of womanly power ... right to the top of my must-have list!

[cranberry]

In the imp this smells very much like Fenris Wolf – the red musk and amber dominate the scent. Once applied, the red musk softens and the roses peek through. The roses interweave with the amber and the musk provides a stunning backdrop. As it wears the roses take on a slightly powdery smell, but still meld well with the amber and musk. The amber reminds me of the amber in Sin, which is a good thing. There’s a smoothness to this scent and reminds me of polished wood, even though wood is not a part of this scent. The best words for this scent: smooth, dark, slinky, and sexy.

[Neely]

In the bottle: hippy head shop sweet incense.

 

Wet: hippy head showe sweet incense, and someone is dusting the shelves with lemon Pledge. Ok why is my chemistry giving me lemon? There is no lemon listed in the notes!

 

Dry down: I smell like lemony fresh dishsoap. Not Pledge, more soapy (rose is the culprit I suspect).

 

30 minutes: lemon fresh dishsoap. I can almost see bubbles coming off my wrist. Where is the patchouli, the amber? DOH!!! Stoopid chemistry.

 

Conclusion: this should have smelled good on me, but my chemistry messed it up. *sigh*

 

Rating 1-5: on me this is a 2.

[batsy]

In the vial: a dribble of amber and loads of red musk

 

On the skin: the sourness of the roses counteracts the sweet amber. This is a hard one for me. I like it in the vial but on me something happens. I'm gonna blame the roses and musk. Plus I think is is a really old imp, because it's got a hand-written tag tied onto it. Never seen one of these before. Anyway, it's a hit/miss depending on the day, for me.

[hypatia]

I got this as a frimp, and tried it on before I knew what was in it. My first impression was "Oh, this is a lot like Lust, but with some roses or something on top of the red musk." Turned out my nose was right on-target.

 

Spellbound dries down to mostly red musk on me; the roses don't seem to last too long. It's not one of my favorites, but there's still something quintessentially BPAL-ish about it, something that would make it very hard for me (at least) to confuse it with a perfume from any other source. Probably it's the musk, which I associate so strongly with a bunch of the Lab's scents.

 

Pleasant, seductive, and sweet -- I'll keep the imp for when I want to feel all femme-y.

[Myotis]

Ok I must really be the odd chick out here. I get NO roses, NO florals...nothing like that whatsoever.

Probably a good thing because I'm not into florals ESPECIALLY roses.

Had I read the description first, I never would have even bothered to try this because of the roses.

 

I get pure DOWNY fabric softner with a wee touch of something sweet sniffing this! HAHAHAHHAHA

Infact, I can hardly tell the difference between this and Satyr.

 

But I must admit that I LOVE the smell of Downy April Fresh softener. So this is a good thing for me. lol

[QueenFae]

Wow, this is just beautiful. I can't believe it's taken me this long to try Spellbound!

 

This really stays true to the ingredients, and it's actually the perfect blend of rose, amber and red musks. How could you go wrong with 3 of the best notes ever?? The rose note is strong and bold, and the amber and musks have a very earthy, incensey feel. This reminds me of creeping, bewitching, expensive witch's incense.

 

Just wonderful!! So pretty, I would consider buying a 5 ml.

[funkmoppet]

This is a powdery sort of rose. Not a true rose like Whip.

 

When wet, it's a lovely mix of the amber, musk and rose. I do love me some rose, but my skin will amp it. Blends with rose at the fore will be dominated by the note when it's on me, and while the red musk and amber do keep trying (and I do get the odd whiff of them underneath), they're pretty much pussywhipped by the amped rose.

 

This is certainly a lovely blend, but I'm on the fence with it. My choice of rose blends depend on which rose it is, and I'm not as big a fan of the rose in this as I am of the real, wet variety in Whip. I may give this one another go when my sinuses have fully recovered from the flu, but right now it's in the "maybe" pile.

[starwild]

OH, Spellbound, where have you BEEN all my life?

 

Bottle: I just opened to sniff, but the immediate rush of spice-sweet-musk incense demanded I try it on. And I am so glad I did.

 

Wet: This smells just like metaphysical shops in the Vieux Carre'. Heady, mysterious, a little bit kinky.

 

Drydown: My skin chemistry loves BPAL musk, especially this red musk. The combination of a bit of amber makes it divine. Yet it's not all musk, the sweetness from the roses is still in play, just not terribly noticeable.

 

Wowza, what a scent. I'll be wearing this one a lot.