Sacred Whore of Babylon

[Xylis]

An ancient formula that inspires unrepentant decadence, lechery and debauch.

in the imp:

from the moment i opened it, i got this OMMPH of a floral that was obnoxious, bold and totally in-you-face. honestly, i didn't know if i liked it or hated it.. it seemed to be straddling the thin line between the two.

wet on my skin:

i'm surrounded by a floral overture which i just cannot put my finger on. [considering that i come from an origin where i'd be more likely to recognize the smell of concrete rather than flowers.] is this gardenia? i've smelt jasmine before [which seemingly is the over dominant floral note based on other reviews] and i don't think this is it on me, unless this is a case of over-amped jasmine, then more fool me.

the drydown:

i'm still undecided as to whether i like it or hate it. there is this undertone of mystery stemming from a low note of incense. it reminds me of a deep, sensual boudoir where a beauty lies immersed in a bath of freshly plucked gardenias [yes, i think that's what it is]. it's all beautiful and lovely for a moment, and then, on double sniff, it smells like a hand-wash soap in my school bathroom which i absolutely hated.



verdict:

it kept alternately between the two so eventually, i gave up and drizzled my most beloved whip onto it, in the hope that rose would save the scent. and so it did, i'm now basking in beauty. *bliss* although, of course, i'd be in the same bliss even if it were whip alone, so this lil imp will probably be dancing its way into the arms of someone who can appreciate it more.

[redderz]

In the imp: Sugary and floral - I think jasmine? I'm not sure what gardenia smells like.

 

Wet: Very jasmine with a hint of spice. Reminds me a little of Red Devil. There's something creamy in there too.

 

Dry: The jasmine is dying down a bit now and it's very sweet. Probably not an every day scent, but it's nice.

[Diva Urd]

Vial: Floral and a bit fruity

On: Gardenia and something fruity-green adding a hint of zest - apple, maybe? I'm enjoying this. Turns more creamy as it dries, but stays beautifully floral

Later: Slightly powdery floral. Quite pretty. I don't know whether I want more, but the imp will stay with me.

[ouch!]

This on me is a very deep Jasmine/Gardenia smell with a thick luscious sweetness that could be be honeyed vanilla or somethng to that effect. There is a spicyness to this that I'm guessing is either cassia or cinnamon and it smells like a combination of dust/wood.

It's quite potent so doesn't need much (As with many other jasmine blends).

 

The dry stage is much nicer. The sweetness comes out mor and takes care of the overwhelming Jasmine that attacked in the beginning. It's definiatley more vanillary now but it's very thick, it's not the vanilla you find in Dorian, it's the vanilla you find in Dragon's Milk and Tombstone!

 

Not really for me this blend.

 

[jamcde03]

my unsophisticated nose has a hard time picking out notes, but i defenitely get some vanilla some spiciness, and some floral- everyone seems to agree it's gardenia? i've never worn gardenia and i don't normally like sweet florals but i looooooooove this. the first thing i though on opening the imp was that this smells NAUGHTY. Like i've just walked in to a party that's soon to become an orgy? It smells like the color it is- a dark, dusky pink, this is hedonistic and spells expensive. Like, maybe I can be bought but you totally can't afford me.

 

This doesn't change much from wet to dry. I can absolutely see myself wearing this every day- though it worries me that my signature scent might be called Scared Whore

[verbranden]

I get a sweet and spicy floral scent in the vial, but the second I put it on, it turns straight to headache inducing cinnamon. After several hours, a powdery floral develops underneath the cinnamon, but I don't like it enough to tolerate headaches and smelling like a red hot candy. This is one for the swap pile I'm afraid.

[cinderfallen]

Mhmmm, tuberose! Gardena, tuberose, and lots of something spicy--spicer than cinammon, perhaps cassia? More like the bark than baking cinammon. The combination lays lightly on my skin, with those three notes balancing each other out.

 

The gardenia is a lush, cream floral, which is encased by the cooler, waxier tuberose, and the whole thing restrained by the spice.

 

Really interesting, though I need to learn not to stick my nose right at the application site on my arm as my nose hurts from breathing the cinammon bark fumes! LOL.

 

ETA to say: lab-fresh imp!

Edited November 18, 2009 by cinderfallen

[reynardine]

Got a frimp decant of this. Always willing to try another floral!

 

In imp: Whoa floral!! Something spicy on top of I think gardenia? Very lush.

 

Wet: Overwhelming. And I like florals. Almost rancid.

 

Drydown: Starting to calm down a bit. Still a touch of spice. I'm not up on spicy scents (don't wear them much) so I can't identify which one it is, but it keeps coming out. Various florals play in the background, but gardenia is up in front.

 

An hour later: Everything but the spice went to powder on me. Weird. Oh, it's cinnamon!

 

Interesting experience to be sure, but obviously not the girl I'm going to stay with. Will frimp to someone else.

 

 

[aquazoo]

Woody and exotic to start. A touch of dust and a smattering of cinnamon. There are a few other spices in there, both hot and expensive incense.

[KesHiro]

Frimp in one of my orders.

 

I'm very much inclined to believe I either:

 

A) Received a mislabeled imp <--------- possible culprit

B -- Got a bad batch

 

or

 

C) My nose and skin chemistry went completely bat poopie insane last night. <----- most likely culprit

 

Based on what I've read in the previous reviews, this should have worked for me but Sacred Whore of Babylon goes down as my first ever complete and utter BPAL fail. In the vial, I smell something akin to rotten vegetation and burning rubber. It has a vague chemical odor that is extremely unpleasant. Wet, it's pretty much the same, only stronger, and as it dries down, I smell plastic bandages. I couldn't go through with this and had to end the testing after twenty minutes.

 

I hope I get to smell this again, as I would like to give this scent a second chance. In the mean time, this is on my no-no list.

 

Edited: where the hell did that emoticon come from?!

Edited January 12, 2010 by Kejiaron

[Molls]

I was worried that I got something mislabeled too - my imp smells like straight cat pee. I can't even bring myself to put it on

It must go... but I'd be interested in smelling it again, to see if my imp was just bad

[antihero]

Wow, this is ... interesting. My first whiff from the imp SCREAMED powdery, sickly-sweet lime candy. On me it's calmed down to something sensuous and pretty nice, a spicy but citrusy incense, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get over my violently ill reaction to it wet.

[mari4212]

Frimp from the lab.

 

In the vial, and wet on skin, I get a very strong blast of floral. As it's not immediately killing me the way jasmine does, I'm assuming that this must be the gardenia.

 

After a half an hour, the dry-down has softened, and I'm getting an edge of vanilla or something else lending a powdery sweetness to the scent, at least when it wafts. When I bring my wrist up close to sniff, I still get a floral blast over the sweet powder.

 

And that's pretty much how this one stays. I'm a bit torn on it, because gardenia is not one of my favorite florals, but the drydown is okay.

 

Actually, when my end response to a perfume is "it's okay", it probably means I should just go ahead and toss it in my swaps box already. Meh and perfume should not go together.

[SophieCedar]

On first application and in imp it smelled a bit like a fish tank...? Not in a bad way. But that mossy water plant and electric whir smell.

Wet: opened much more nicely than expected. Still a bit fish tank-ish but sweet cinnamon and vanilla come out.

Drydown is the best part. Totally sweet juicy, spicy and sexy. Not sure what the tank thing was all about.

 

Puzzled but end result, happy.

 

ETA: definitely has cinnamon in it... contact dermatitis! Up to the swaps it goes...

Edited April 19, 2010 by SophieCedar

[sunlitgarden]

I sniffed a friend's imp (that she was trying to trade away) and got some on my finger, so I smelled it both wet and sorta-dry. I really didn't like this at all. Strong musk and florals -- way too heavy for me. It smells sickly sweet. I had to scrub more than once to get it off, so I imagine it would be very long-lasting. Nobody else who was there liked it either, so maybe it was just "off" or something?

[milo]

At first this is a sweet, fruity, red musk blend. It really reminds me of Hollywood Babylon at this point. I scent that really does not work for me. The fruit gradually fades away (thank goodness!), and we're left with a sweet, dirty patchouli musk blend. This would probably work on me if it wasn't too sweet. Probably a remnant of the fruit, which I'm guessing is strawberry. Oh yeah, there's the cinnamon, which only saves this blend slightly. Off to swaps.

 

OK, now it is a spicy, red musk blend. It really reminds me of Red Phoenix now, but with a bit of creaminess. I don't like cinnamon/cassia anymore, (unless it's in small doses, so still off to swaps!)

Edited June 30, 2010 by milo

[whisperstilled]

PEE! CAT PEE AND CAT LITTER! Hands down the worst BPAL I have ever smelled. 0/5

[ravenzwart]

haha swob smells a little like follow me boy'ish! only with some cinnamon added

 

defenitly kinda weird when applyin it wet, but drying stage is interesting

 

since the notes of both oils aren't listed i can't see if they are the same :-( so it feels like i have bought a cinnamon dupe of FMB

Edited November 10, 2010 by lucifera

[FathomBelow]

This is strong stuff. Really strong. In the imp, this reminds me of sweat - kind of in between the nice and the nasty kind. Wet on my skin, the sweat is joined by...diaper bag? Oh dear. As it dries, a smoke-clove-oldness scent comes out as well. True to the description, this really does smell like ancientness - like it's from a recipe so old that people didn't necessarily intend for perfume to smell "good" in the sense that we understand today - like it's from a time with a whole different standard of beauty. After this dries it gets a lot sweeter - now I can see where the comparisons to gardenia come in, although I think it smells more like powdery, cloyingly sweet jasmine. It blends weirdly well with the smoky-clove thing.

 

Overall, (as you may have guessed, heh) I find this perfume extremely confusing. It's a combination of viscerally unlikeable and strongly compelling. Totally in your face, as someone else said. Definitely not for everyone, and I initially hated it but now it's starting to grow on me. I'm so glad I got to try it - not your everyday scent, and one of the most intriguing BPALs I've tried.

[calivianya]

Sacred Whore is vile on my skin. BPAL's gardenia and cinnamon don't really work for me, and this blend has both, and they're nearly all I can smell. I will say that this scent has some amazing staying power because I washed my wrist six times before it was gone. I really wanted to love this scent for its name, but sadly I am not meant to smell like a Sacred Whore.

[Ramen]

The closest I could get to sorting out what this smells like on me is it reminds me of this cedarwood incense I bought a while ago. There's something kind of sour and something darkly herbal, but mostly it's woody incense. Not a bad smell, but definitely one best saved for the right occasion.

[Ella LaRose]

got a free imp of this on a forum purchase!

ok, I smell flowers, sweet, like gardenia, very light warm spice in the back. I like this, pretty but not over the top girly, I still feel like a woman!

[JasminDreams2010]

This is hands down the most confusing BPAL I have tried thus far. I got a frimp from the lab two times, and it didn't really seem like my thing upon first sampling, then I got a full bottle later after some deliberation from a forumite, which was in the older blue bottles. I don't know if the aging process is good for the scent, or if it was reformulated but the bottle I got smells amazing on me, better than both lab imps. Go figure. I'm glad I made the purchase.

Upon first sampling this smelled like either cinnamon cookies or perfumed lavatory soap. Neither is particularly my thing.

But I wore it out last night for the first time and it was all beautiful, lush, jungle air, gardenias and spice. On the drydown it goes a little vanilla-y sweet but it is amazingly beautiful. What an odd duck of a fragrance. It seems to change with my chemistry.

Overall though, this might be my go-to scent for a night out on the town. (maybe not as much for a job interview )

 

I am editing this to add that this has surpassed all the others to become my favorite signature scent ever! It has that special something that just blends right with my body chemistry. i only regret that it doesn't come in 55 gallon drum size.

Edited July 4, 2011 by JasminDreams2010

[Cheeks1206]

When I first sniffed this straight out of the imp, I was a little frightened of it! It smelled overwhelmingly floral, like a flowery kick in the face. On, however, is a different story.

 

Wet: it's all gardenia and still quite strong, but not overpowering like I thought it would be.

Dry: the gardenia mellows and the vanilla really comes out. I'm not getting a huge sense of spiciness, but I'm sure it's there.

 

I'll have to wait a few more hours for the final verdict, but so far I really like it. I've had it on for about 1.5 hours and it hasn't changed too much from the original drydown scent. This is definitely one of my favorites so far.

 

ETA: It's official. I love this scent! I want to bathe in it!

Edited July 20, 2011 by Cheeks1206

[ami226]

On the skin: Hmmmm, I can't smell much. It's slightly sweet, but other than that I really can't smell anything. I think what I smell is floral sweet with a slight musky airiness. Still can't smell too much. I got this imp straight from the lab, so it should be the right scent.... I'll have to edit this post if I get a different imp.