Hollywood Babylon

[arcadelane]

The essence of innocence shattered: glittering Egyptian amber and heliotrope, infused with the sweetness of strawberry and vanilla - dragged into debauch by lusty red musk and a dribble of black cherry.

at first this smells just like cherry lifesavers, very strong, yum. then after the dry down the red musk comes out strong over a base of amber and heliotrope.. and eventually the vanilla comes out a bit on top. i never got any strawberry from this, BPAL strawberry is always nonexistent on me, sadly. overall i think this is nicely sweet and rounded but maybe a bit too incensy for me. must test this one again.

[Northernskygal]

Wet on my skin, Hollywood Babylon smells exactly like the red life saver candies! I swear it! It isn't bad.. as the red ones were always my favorite, though I do admit it was maybe.. a bit.. off putting.. at first. The musk starts to make itself known, taking away the edible part of the scent and making it more.. grown up.. mature smelling. The amber does it amped on my skin.. a lot so.. on me this kind of ends of being a very pretty amber/cherry/musky blend. There is just a hint of heliotrope, which helps the scent from becoming too heavy. I think this scent captures the feeling of the title and description just.. so perfectly.. this is the scent of the little girl who went out to Hollywood to become a star.. it is bright and.. hopeful.. and then it also has a darker.. sadder side to it.. It is a very pretty blend, though it is a bit more on the meloncholy side on me, so it most likely won't be worn very often.

[pensarepink]

In the bottle: Fruity and sweet.

Wet: Very sweet. A cherry syrup smell.

Drying: More floral now and I can smell the musk. The cloying sweetness of the strawberry/cherry is still hovering. There is almost an incense quality to it now. Strawberry incense. Does such a thing even exist?

 

I like this more than I though I would. I think the musk and touch of vanilla saves the fruitiness from being too overwhelming. Not something I would wear everyday, but now and then I'd certainly indulge.

[grashopper8]

I have to start out by saying I usually don't like cherry in perfume, and that's probably why I am not more ecstatic about Hollywood Babylon.

 

Wet, this is red candies - a sweet cherry-strawberry. The heliotrope then begins to come forward, and adds an interesting foil to the fruit, it blends nicely.

As it dries, the red musk and amber become more prominent, and the scent develops a Dragon's Blood quality. It certainly begins to smell incense-y.

 

I agree with pensarepink about the strawberry incense - and, yes, such a thing does exist, and it smells almost exactly like this!

 

Cherry-Strawberry-Vanilla Incense. It's strangely appealing.

 

I like this scent, and if someone else was wearing it I would probably approach them and ask about their perfume. I usually hate cherry perfume, but in this blend, it's not quite as fake-smelling and childish. The musk, amber, and vanilla really round things out, and the heliotrope adds a nice hint of floral.

 

I also have to say that Hollywood Babylon matches its scent description perfectly - girly red fruits being eclipsed by an emerging darker side, the scent of lost innocence and yielding to temptation. The longer I have this on, the more I like it.

 

A few years ago, this would have suited me perfectly! However, the days when I wore a strawberry-vanilla perfume while partying in tapestry-draped dorm rooms, incense and pot smoke drifting in the air....those days are behind me now. (I really did wear a strawberry-vanilla oil, and I still have it. It's just too funny, this scent is so evocative!)

 

I will hold on to this imp for the memories (as cloudy as they are hehe). I don't see a 5mL in my future, but it's a great scent.

 

4.2 out of 5

[cherrytart]

This scent is wonderful on me! People at work comment on it and I love it when I catch a whiff of myself throughout the day. It is sweet but the musk keeps it from being sickly sweet. I have an imp now but my next order will include a bottle.

[violetflower]

When I first applied this I could smell marzipan! That disappeared almost instantly!

 

I can smell the strawberry, like the Strawberry in Pink Phoenix. Actually in the more it dries the more it reminds me of Pink Phoenix, which is a wonderful thing! It has been so long since I wore this that I had forgotten! This is a GC scent so I really should hoard the heck out of it!!! It is like PP with a musky twist!

 

It is very strong on me, and a fabulous throw!! Excellent! And to think that I was thinking of offering my one bottle for a swap! Thank goodness I tried it again first!!!!

[DARKBEAUTY28]

Ooo a nice light incense scent on my skin. I detect a slight hint of strawberry but mostly sweet incense. I've found that I enjoy the incense type fragrances from the Lab. Uh oh, this one is slipping away from my skin. EXTREMELY light, no throw it seems. It's almost gone under 3 minutes. If it was stronger and richer I might buy a full size.

[suki]

in the imp: like cherry coughdrops.

 

wet on skin: more cough drops, with a hint of licorice as an undernote. i mean real, actual licorice root, not black candy licorice- this is warm, sweet, a bit spicy. nice.

 

dry down: the cherry all but vanishes and i'm left with a cloying incense smell of undefinable fruit mixed with a musk that is rapidly turning powdery on me.

 

in all: meh. not my scene. off to swap!

[gchris]

In Vial: Rotten strawberries and perfume.

 

Wet: Like a strawberry or cherry carbonated beverage. Is fizzy.

 

Drydown: Smells powdery, like a light strawberry powder. The hint of baby powder lingers in the background.

 

Evoking Color: Light Pink

[jynxjynx]

Bottle: Very perfume-y and artificial strawberry smelling.

 

Wet: The perfume part fades away immediately and just leaves the strawberry and cherry in the foreground. It really smells like candy on me. The artificial smell has also left.

 

Dry: The vanilla comes out more to play and it ends up smelling smooth and strawberry like. After a while the musk comes out a bit as well. Unfortunately the strawberry or cherry returns to smelling artificial on me after a while and the smell dissipates very quickly.

 

I liked the strawberry/cherry/vanilla aspect of it, but it dissipated too quickly for me to see if the artificial part would go away again. As it is, I'm not sure if this type of scent is "my thing" anyway, but since I'm still learning what "my thing" is, I'm not sure I'm equipped to make those judgment calls.

 

Edit: The smell came back. o.O I think I'd been sniffing my wrist so much, I couldn't smell it anymore. Unfortunately, the plastic part of the scent is back in force. It smells like a slightly cherry version of a strawberry shortcake doll. Ah well. :|

Edited February 5, 2008 by jynxjynx

[othelloperrello]

First skin:

A very nice sweet blend. Cherry & strawberry over vanilla, with cakes for substance and powdered sugar.

 

Sinking in:

Amber and musk comes out to play, creating in my palette a well-balanced fun-sexy scent. I don't really wear the sweets, but I appreciate them and this really is pretty. A light sweet with a beautiful smile.

[Lyrical]

In vial: red musk, amber, strawberry and cherry.

 

Wet on skin: lots of creamy red musk and sweet red fruits. It's the same blend of amber, red musk and heliotrope as Red Moon, but the strawberry and vanilla sweeten it beautifully.

 

Dry on skin: a bit too faint - clearly I'm going to have to slather this one! The red musk and the fruits start to blend together very nicely. I like this a lot.

[matokie]

Soon, soon I will have my own imps to try! In the meantime I keep borrowing oils from best friend Aimee. She said I'd like Hollywood Babylon, and she was right. At first sniff I had an extremely strong scent memory that took me back to summer camp in the San Bernardino mountains of all things. I have no explanation for that really, because I'm fairly sure our counselors weren't slipping Egyptian amber into our mosquito repellent. The red musk in this definitely agrees with my skin, and I'm also getting strong hints of the vanilla. I imagine this on someone like Bette Davis or Greta Garbo, and I only regret I didn't have it with me when I was in Hollywood myself two weeks ago.

[dluszcz]

I never would have ordered this for myself, as I tend to get nauseated by strawberry-scented anything. But hooray for frimps, because my nose can not detect even a whiff of pinkness, or the equally offensive marzipan that seems to be a common perception! Wet and shortly after drying, this reminds me of Blood Rose, but lighter on the rose, and heavier on the Dragon's Blood Resin. I was actually really suprised not to see DBR listed as one of the notes. As this dries down, the amber makes its appearance as a mellow base. Pleasant, but I think my frimp will be enough for me!

[diamondstars]

I think this smells like Glitter. To me it's just pure bubblegum, but not as sickly. At first I wanted to get rid straight away but it's grown on me now..definitely a keeper.

[cloudedillusions]

Wheee. My first review.

 

In the imp: Sweet, sharp, almost medicinal cherry.

 

Wet on skin: Cherry, but less sharp and medicinal. There’s a hint of floral, too. Heliotrope, I assume.

 

Initial drydown: …Where did it go? No, really. I don’t smell anything, except maybe a faint whiff of floral.

 

About 10 minutes later: Ahh, there’s the red musk with a hint of cherry. Nice. Faint. But nice.

 

About 5 minutes after that: Oh, hey, here comes the vanilla. This is pretty. Red musk, cherries and vanilla. It’s kind of creamy and yummy without being foody. I don't detect any strawberry, but that's okay.

 

And about 30 minutes after THAT: Aaand now it’s gone again. Weird. Normally red musk scents last a good long time on me.

 

Final thoughts: I like this scent. It’s really pretty when it’s there. But it fades so quickly on me. I don’t know if it’s worth getting more. I'll probably give it a few more test runs before deciding whether or not to add it to my bottle list.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Bottle

Uh-OH. Reminds me of Scherazade, but with strawberries. Eeek! Very intense and incensy and "red." I'm concerned.

 

On Me

Initially very hippy-trippy, though that changes pretty quickly and things balance out. I'm left with a warm, sweet, sinfully delicious smell. I can detect the amber and the cherry, the musk is obviously there, but for me, the dominant note is the strawberry. It's very similar to Strawberry Moon-- but while Strawberry Moon smells "pink," and light, this is a heavier, darker red. VERY red.

 

The throw's pretty good, and the life seems to be pretty long, as well. I'm almost tempted to add this to my bottle wishlist.

[SilverSerenity]

Mmmm. This is lovely.

 

In the bottle, it smelled like cherry cough syrup to me. Very sweet. But so far my experience is that the stuff that smells really sweet while wet tones down greatly when I try it.

 

And I was right! Once it dried it turned into a deep cherry scent, with the edge of the sweetness taken off by the musk and just a hint of dry spice (maybe the amber), with the strawberry peeking up slightly and a hint of florals. I smell no vanilla, but that's a good thing as I rarely like vanilla in anything. Very dark red, it strikes me as someone who's innocent on first glance, until you get to know them. Which makes this a great scent for me

 

A keeper! I may need a bottle of this.

Edited May 3, 2008 by SilverSerenity

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this smells candy-ish - I don't get the notes listed, just a strange fake candy smell.

 

It smells plasticky to me on my skin - no fruitiness, no sweetness - and it's very subtle, very hard to smell.

 

When it dries, it's still plastic. Sad!

[inurbanus]

I've discovered that my skin amps red musk, so Hollywood Babylon, which smells deliciously fruity in the imp turns into the red musk show on my skin. In this case, it's slightly cherry scented. Since I love all the notes in this, I was hoping for something more complex, but I really do like this. I think it would benefit from a scent locket, just so I could get something more than just red musk & cherry. This has a very old-school Hollywood vibe to it, and I definitely think it's more of a nighttime oil. It's kind of like Monsterbait: Bloody Mary, all grown up.

 

4/5

[charshark]

In the imp: Nice ambery scent with a little bit of fruity strawberry wine.

 

Wet: Heliotrope and amber blend nicely together and then I get the faint smell of vanilla strawberries. It smells playful right now.

 

Dry: The red musk makes its presence known and the strawberry and vanilla scents fade away quickly. It was nice while it lasted. The musk gives the amber a more sharp edge to it. I don't really smell any black cherry until quite awhile later.

 

Overall: It's a mixture of good and bad, just like Hollywood. It's sweet and innocent, flawed and secretive like me. I guess I like it then, ha.

[simpsonmeredith]

Wow. I'm in love. In the bottle, this smells like spoiled fruit incense so it took me awhile to try. So glad I did!

 

Love! Love! Love! It's deep but the strawberry on the dry down is lovely. The vanilla and amber are divine and the sweetness from the strawberry gives it just the right amount of...innocence. Beth just bottled being in love and long, hot Saturday mornings in bed.

[biggnerd]

This smells just like the hole-in-the-wall OJ Imports where I used to buy beadies when I was 14. It smells like Eqyptian musk incense with a bit of cherry cough syrup. Did not work well for me, to say the least.

[Raqassah]

In the bottle: Strong artificial fruit and incense.

Wet: Strong artificial fruit and incense.

drying/10 minutes: Like one of the indie perfume oils I used to wear in high school. Very dark and sweet. Very hippy. Nostalgic.

dry/40 minutes: Too sweet on my skin. Musk and incense. My husband REALLY disliked this - “unpleasant, sweaty”. Not the desired effect! Sigh - I really wanted this one to work.

[Indigo78]

In the imp - yeah, this is SO cherry NyQuil. Cherry flavoring is my not-so-favorite, we'll say. This smells just like it.

 

JUST like it.

 

On my skin, this moves from smeared sticky red lollipop (y'know - the kind banks give away to little kids in the drive-thru) to a gradually more incensey, smoky scent. Even though this is mellowing the bitterness I got from Cherry, it's still right there up front.

 

Now Strawberries, nondescript incense. Better, but still - - there's that bitterness that is the mark of all things fake-Cherry, to my nose.

 

ETA: Morph-a-riffic ~ After twenty minutes, the bitterness goes away leaving gorgeous wafts of vanilla and extinguished strawberry candle smoke. The cherry and my skin are no longer at war - thank goodness. The calm of the Vanilla and strawberry scent are still here, and this is a good place for things to stay. I will probably swap, though, on account of this oil not being quite "me".

Edited May 30, 2008 by Indig0