Sacred Whore of Babylon

[lookingglass]

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

Out of the bottle this is sweet and strange...is that flowers or dragon's blood swirling in confusion? As soon as it hits my skin, it becomes so creamy and delicious (amber? vanilla?), with a hint of spice and a wiff of a white floral. I have been searching for a BPAL with a creamy white floral (gardenia, tuberose...) and this is IT. It reminds me of Michael Kors (tuberose and incense notes) but BPAL~ed and SO MUCH BETTER!!!!

This scent evokes strong visuals of alters to the Sacred Whore: feminine icons surrounded by offerings of sweet cakes, candles, incense, and adorned with flowers. It is both delicate and seductive, the virgin and the whore.

This makes me think of a lighter, less festivious DDLM. It is multilayered, breathtaking, and so...special.

Big bottle list for sure. Edited February 3, 2006 by Shollin

[alasindocs]

In the bottle this smells very spicy/floral/exotic wooo hoo

 

Upon application it smells very warm and a bit spicy.

 

Ok..two hours later and I smell like cinnamon.

 

Smack you in the face with a stick cinnamon..with a very slight other spicy smell.

 

I couldnt place the smell, but a co-worker hit it right on the nose (no pun intended)

"You smell like mulling spice..ya know like you put in Apple Cider"

 

Oh joy..

 

And so the swap pile begins...

[Heretic]

In the vial: Sweet, floral, vaguely fruity.

 

On my wrist, wet: Very sweet. Is that a nut of some sort in there? A bit of spice.

 

After 20 minutes: Hmmm. This has a killer throw. Unfortunately, it's throwing fig and nuts and cinnamon at me. Rather fruitcake-ish. This is very sweet and my sinuses are not enjoying it. I find I'm breathing through my mouth to avoid smelling this oil. Not a good sign.

 

After an hour: No. This just did not work on me at all. It turned to pure stank, but I can see how it would be stunning on the right person. Sacred Whore of Babylon is a rich and full-bodied (much like the lady herself), but unfortunately, it is comprised of notes that do not play well with my chemistry or my nose. Off to the swaps with ye.

[Ryvre]

This is spicy and exotic. I smell cinnamon and maybe some sort of floral. It's very womanly.

 

I like it a lot, but my boyfriend says it smells like his mother, so into the swap pile it goes...

[angharad]

Wet on my wrists, cinnamon pops out from behind a cloud of smoke and yells, "HERE I AM!" As the oil dries more, the cinnamon disappears, and a very strong floral scent emerges. It reminds me of honeysuckle, but it's dirty and still covered with something smokey. Actually I really liked this, even though it's more floral than I usually prefer. I just wish the cinnamon would last longer.

[tinyvulture]

Spicy floral (jasmine?), tempered with something creamy, slightly nutty, and sweet. Complex, womanly – makes me feel confident and sexy. Lasts forever!

[faded_stranger]

Rich. Heavy. Smokey. Sweet. Decadent as hell. My nose is certainly less accurate than many of the other reviewers here, but I get vanilla, a floral that I can't quite place, and something like cinnamon. I'm buying a bottle as a present for a friend, but I save my imp for those times when nothing short of absolutely hedonistic will do. Strong staying power.

[jidabug]

Started off as a strong, powdery floral. Definitely some jasmine in there, but the rest is kind of a blur. Eventually, it mellowed to a creamy, slightly spicy floral, which wasn't too bad, but on the whole it was a bit too heavy floral for me.

[Medici]

In the imp: Sweet and thick, florals and amber, maybe? A hint of resin?

 

Wet: Mmm, that's a heady floral, alright. I get gardenia mostly, but there's a truckload of something else in there that I can't make out at all. It's rich and sultry, though not... how do I explain this? I find some blends to be really somnolent. It's not that it's sleepy, but it feels sort of heavy-lidded: Like you want to line your eyes with kohl and rouge your lips and give every member of the opposite sex bedroom eyes.

 

Drydown: This is totally a "come hither" blend. Mysterious and heady and exotic. It's going straight to my head.

 

Verdict: Still too darn floral though. I'd like to say its almost too mature for my mentality.

Edited April 26, 2006 by Medici

[bifemmefatale]

I had to try this just for the name!

 

Wet: Jasmine! and gardenias. After a few minutes a hint of cinnamon or cassia over the florals, plus something is reacting oddly with my chemistry and making a green bell pepper note. Then violets start to appear, combining with jasmine and cinnamon to make an oddly bubblegummy scent. On the drydown, it's all gardenia and violets. Lovely to start with, but I don't like violets, so I will be sticking with Salome for my violet fix.

[emzebel]

Alas, I cannot get past the uber floral stage at the beginning of this blend to anything resembling cinnamon or otherwise. To the sink to avoid a headache I run, which is too bad, because it sounds like it is really very pretty.

[miss_rynn]

Imp sniff: Jasmine and candle wax, with the barest hints of cardamom and patchouli. Quite nice, but I don’t trust it…

 

First on skin: Overpoweringly strong jasmine, which fades to a more civil note pretty quickly. A dusty, earthy undertone, which I suspect is a mix of musk and patchouli. Hints of a woody smell, too, maybe cedar. I was concerned it would be too strong and headache inducing, but it settles very quickly to be more of a... modification of your own scent, not an obvious perfume, while still having some strength of its own.

 

A bit later: Musky, dusty, and sweet. Like dried grass or tatami matting. It has a musky, grassy smell. Woody and sweet. The jasmine is still there, but fainter. It actually reminds me of dried jasmine flowers - the faint scent of the flower clinging to sweet, dusty smelling dried petals. I must say that I am quite surprised with how it has adapted on my skin, morphing from a very moist, damp sort of a fragrance to a dry and dusty one. Not dusty in a bad way, mind you. It is very nice, and has only faded a little bit.

 

An hour later: More of the same again - dusty, sweet dry grass smell. It's hard to get across how nice it is, though, from that description. It blends so well with my normal smell that it's just like I have been laying out in dry grasses all day. The woodiness and the muskiness combine so well together that it is hard to distinguish between them. There is something in it that I don't like, though - possibly patchouli. The dustiness of the scent is not as pleasant as it could be. The whole lot is sweetened by the remains of the faint jasmine scent - certainly not overpoweringly so. Its a nice, subtle scent, not a punch-you-in-th-face scent.

 

Much later: After a long time on a very hot day, some of the scent remains, but it is mostly what I have learned to recognise as the typical BPAL perfume base smell - a sweet kind of musky floral which I am not too keen on. However, with Sacred Whore it is less pronounced and... interfering, I guess is what I am looking for. It tends to blend in with my natural smell, much like it has done all along. It smells less grandmotherly and more womanly (mother rather than crone). It is a very nice perfume, I've decided, but one that should only be used for out-doorsy occasions. It smells like late summer.

[valentina]

I tested this one, even knowing that exotic florals are a bane to my existence. And in the imp, I loved the way it smelled. Heavy, exotic florals and spice. Something very akin to how the Hanging Gardens of Babylon would have smelled -- the perfume of the flowers, the spices of the city. On my skin, it's very heavily floral and hell if I know what kind of floral it is -- I live out here on the prairie, and gardenias and jasmine are hardly indigenous to this region. All I know is that it turns into a smell akin to icky week-old flower vase water. That "essence" calmed down after a while and the blend became a little spicier, but still not the least bit pleasant. I took a bath and washed it off.

 

Maybe my geographical location affects the way exotic florals smell on me, and if Beth ever did a scent called "The Sacred Whore of the Prairie," it would work on me. It would be something that Miss Kitty on "Gunsmoke" would have worn.

[dragonryder]

Super yummy! Sweet and decadent. Definitely brings imaging to mind..

[kourika]

In the imp, Sacred Whore of Babylon smelled sort of florally/herbal. It was strong enough that I had second thoughts about even applying the oil because most heavy florals don't agree with my sinuses. After application, the floral smell dried down, but all that's left is a sort of powdery musk scent. It's not unpleasant, but it's not something I have a burning need to wear on a regular basis either. I'll use up the imp I have, but I'm not going to run out to get a big bottle because this just doesn't do much for me.

[indicolite]

in the frimp, I get something that reminds me of melons, but not quite. Very sweet is the overall impression, and although it is not disagreeable, it does not arouse the desire to be that way. There is a smoky undertone to the sweetness, and something with a sharp edge that was probably the same sharp-edged thing in O.

 

I can see the "sacred" part, and I get the impression that most of BPAL's whore/seductress/sexgoddess blends have sweetness in them, so I guess that's where the "whore" came from. However, I do not see myself as the kind of person who would wear this. A couple more chances perhaps, but I will probably try to swap this one away.

[Melantha]

I get a fairly strong, dark floral, with a slight hint of spice. It smells almost sour to me.

 

Not my thing at all.

 

ADDED July 31:

 

There must be a common note in a bunch of floral-y blends that doesn't like me. I should really figure out what it is, cause it's here, too.

 

Nothing special at all. But since there are a zillion of Beth's things I love, I'm not too unhappy.

[catrinella]

Imp: Gardenia and something a bit spicy.

 

Wet: Gardenia with a lot of throw. Almost completely single-note.

 

Drydown: Gardenia continues. I'm getting a mild headache, possibly due to the strength of the gardenia. I have love/hate with gardenia due to the popularity of "Jungle Gardenia" perfume in my high school. At about 20 minutes, something like myrrh appears as an undernote.

 

1 hour: The myrrh has morphed into cinnamon and a hint of vanilla, but the gardenia continues to be clear and distinct.

 

2 hours: It's almost like I put on gardenia by accident, then layered something else on top of it. I feel like I'm wearing two distinct scents.

 

3 hours: I was almost asleep by this point but it hadn't changed. It was no longer apparent at 8+ hours of application when I woke up.

 

Verdict: Not for me. Gardenia's too emphatic a floral for me, and the spiciness wasn't enough to mute it, just enough to set up a scent war.

[alishathekitten]

Mandarin orange and amber? I can't really describe this one, but it smells warm and slightly fruity. It's not very citrusy, but I think I smell mandarin orange in here. The warm base notes make me think of amber. The florals don't really stand out too much on my skin, but I can smell a little bit of heady flowers. This is slightly strange, but I actually do like this one.

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Something sharp. Spices. Some kind of fruit - maybe fig?

 

On me: Such an interesting scent! When I put my finger to my noise, I can actually imagine the curls of smoke that I'm smelling. It's a nice-smelling smoke, though. I like it a lot. I'm also picking up that subtle fruitiness, heady floral, and a nice kick of spice.

 

Verdict: I like it! Not sure if I'm ready for a bottle, but this is a very unique scent.

 

Rating: 4/5

[elfmaiden]

This is a really powerful blend. I'm getting subtle and exotic spices, with a sensual dribble of exotic flowers and lush smokey fruits. This is really complex and sometimes I think it smells like cinnamon and other times I get that fresh bite of melon or a brighter fruit. That fresh note I think is what went horrible wrong on me when I tried Delight. Here it stays true without turning sour.

 

I've already received compliments on it just from testing.

 

The throw is really wild! I walked into a room and people instantly looked in my direction and several asked what perfume I was wearing! The Sacred Whore is an oit that really demands attention.

 

It's on my bottle list for sure now.

 

5/5!

[Taniwha]

This has been the oddest olfactory experience ever. Wet on my skin, both my husband and I were sniffing away. He said - "Ugh, sickeningly sweet." I said - "No way - it's nothing but green! Like cattails around a scummy pond." I gave it a few more minutes - aha, gardenia (one of the few florals I can actually pick out). Then, it became gardenia and leeks. I love gardenia, but there is a very unsettling undertone - if it's not leeks, it's something else green and savory from the kitchen, something I can't quite put my finger (nose?) on.

 

This is so strange I'm going to chalk it up to my cycle and try it again in a week.

 

LEEKS?????

[kunoichi]

In the vial, this is an almost bubble-gum like sweetness of juicy things; perhaps fruits and florals (I am guessing there is lotus in that) and something else that I can’t pin down, something that it fighting a losing battle against the sweetness of the fragrance. My skin changes the scent to create warmth that runs through the bubble-gum smell... but that background note starts to dampen the sweetness with something perhaps a touch bitter. After a while, it becomes a dryer scent, slightly boozy, taking over from the sweetness which eventually mellows. This is a strong scent that lasts for quite some time.

[edenssixthday]

Sacred Whore of Babylon - I usually wear light, fruity and floral scents. I don't usually like the scent of heavy, dark, floriental and spicy scents. This one, however, is different. It has a side of it that's very dark and decadent and brings to mind some distant, exotic Siren that Indiana Jones might encounter on his travels through the Middle East. But it also has a side that is almost Victorian in its sweetness. It's definitely an interesting and complex scent, and throughout the day, I pick up various notes -- all of them familiar but completely unidentifiable. It's not the kind of scent I can wear daily, but occasionally, it fits my mood perfectly, and it lasts almost all day.

[The Perfumed Ferret]

On: The first notes are geranium, vanilla, red musk?

 

 

Dry Down: It mellows to a pale incense of musk, vanilla, cinnamon, and honey.

 

Very pretty, but too sweet for me.