Hollywood Babylon

[gdogs]

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.

wet, this smells just like aquanet hairspray. . . bleck. i'm trying to pick out something other than hairspray, but all i can think of is my days in theatre, where hairspray hung heavy in the dressingrooms. its making me nostaligic. . .but it is not something i can wear as a perfume.

[gangstaknitta]

In Bottle: This fragrance smells sweet in the bottle; only a little musk detected. The cherries are strong. No trace of strawberries, sadly.

 

Wet: The cherries take over everything else. It smells very sweet and fruity. The musk is very faint on my skin.

 

Dry: The musk comes out a little more, but cherries still dominate my skin, sweetened by the vanilla. It's a little too much for me. I was so looking forward to the strawberries, which never emerged on me.

[quikslvr]

Strawberries with incense. Doesn't change much throughout, although sometimes the berry's top, and sometimes the incense (amber and musk, I'd assume)

[olympia301]

 

This one smells like Snake Oil's twin sister (fraternal twin). Slightly floral, smacked up with a bit of strawberry and cherry, much more major dark (really red) Musk kind of background noise, very loooong lasting, and really crazy beautiful. Wow!

 

There is supposed to be vanilla in here, but I am picking up TONKA bean and saying that is the vanilla. The fruit that some folks have remarked on is there but I see it as being abit player, not a major star.

 

Hollywood Babylon is more of a Fall and Winter scent. It is a bit heavy for spring and summer, if you are paying attention to that kind of thing. Very oriental, indoorsy, and not at all breezy or cooling. HB would be excellent sitting around a fire in winter, on a crisp and snappy day around Thanksgiving, or being quiet in January while the snow falls.

 

This was a "thank you"imp from the lab, and they certainly got my vote when they sent me Hollywood Babylon. I am getting a 5ml of this one. It is one of the longest lasting blends ever to touch my skin and smells ab fab on me.

 

Now, two months later...I got my 5ml and am I glad I did! Put it on (it's August) and felt Va Va Va Voom! Very fun, vulgar, sexy and all out in the open. I love Hollywood Babylon!

Edited August 21, 2005 by olympia301

[zankoku_zen]

I would have never thought of ordering this. It is a gift from the lab.

 

In the bottle: Smells like strawberries and chocolate.

On Skin: Smells a bit like root beer. I can still smell the strawberries. I can smell something floral too. Wow... I'm really digging this scent. I mean, I want to take a bite out of myself. Its making me feel sexy and flirty.

On Drydown: Lovely. Absolutely lovely. I need more of this. This is such a comforting scent.

 

Verdict: I love this. How did Beth know? Is she a psychic? She must be! Wow. I would have never thought to try this and yet it works so well on me. This is definitely on the "must order more" list.

[yeahbutnobut]

Hollywood Babylon

 

In the imp: sweet! This is really sweet, with strawberry and vanilla, but the musk and cherry are also there.

Wet on skin: the strawberry fades a bit, and the musk and cherry come out to play. It's quite an unusual blend, musk and cherry, but they merge quite nicely to make a darker version of red musk. The vanilla adds a nice sweetness, I think I can also smell some heliotrope. But where's the amber?

Dry on skin: The sweet strawberries return and add a lovely fruity sweetness to the musk-cherry backdrop, mingling with the vanilla, I think the amber's there, but all the sweet scents all become one. This is really yummy, this scent. Sweetness with a sexy dark side. Thank goodness the vanilla doesn't amp up to the max here. this really reminds me of another BPAL blend, can't remember which one though-probably Blood Lotus?

After a while: the vanilla is lovely here, it's quite creamy. There's still that background of musk and cherry, possibly with amber, and there's some heliotrope adding sparkle to the blend, strawberry adds a nice sweet fruitiness.

After about half an hour, this smells very very sweet, but it's still lovely. Now I want to lick myself, as it smells like a twisted version of vanilla ice cream-like a 'cherry ripple' ice cream...yum!

Verdict: this is a really nice mixture of sweetness and darkness. The cherry adds a wicked bite, merging with the red musk and enhancing it, and the sweet notes of strawberry and vanilla flit through it. This blend is sugary and yummy, but with a musk undertone that prevents it from being too foody. This is delicious and decadent, brash and flashy, a wickedly sweet and addictive blend.

Edited June 23, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[sun_set_bravely]

Hollywood Babylon

 

In Bottle: Strong scent. When I move it away from my nose, I can still smell it lingering. I really can't pick apart any of the notes. It's a warm scent, a little biting. The deep red color is amazing.

 

Wet, On Skin: Dusky, dark, heavy. Also very sweet -- I can kind of sense the strawberry in here. The amber is very strong. Underneath the sweet darkness there's a little girl wearing her mother's store-bought perfume.

 

1.5 Hours on Skin: The sweet side of this scent has emerged over time. Still spicy and warm. Makes me feel like a glorious 45-year-old woman clad in a velvet ballgown.

 

Drydown: Not much has changed. This one has good staying power. It's sophisticated; I could imagine wearing it out for a fancy night on the town, or for a business event where I wanted to feel powerful. Also - random note - when I tried to scrub this scent off to try another, I used green Palmolive dish soap. It didn't remove the scent, but 30 minutes later, the combination is very pleasant. Bizarre!

 

Conclusion: Good for sophisticated, fancy events. I like the imp, but I don't think I'd buy a full bottle.

[blood*rose*flowers]

In the Bottle: I get the strawberries, cherries and some spice.

 

Wet: The strawberries are coming right out with the cherries not far behind. This is the sweetness I thought I would get in Strawberry Moon but didn't.

 

Dry Down: As this sits the sweetness gains an edge of spice and musk. This goes from being little girl to getting the edge of a naughty girl.

 

Overall: Sweet but sexy I adore this scent it is a lovely mix of spice and fruit.

[Xiabelle]

Oooh, yum. I must have this. Now.

 

In the bottle: This was very very loud. Sort of like vicks, without the medicine smell -- not the ones with menthol in them, but standard throat-soothers. Almost too cloying. It's like if I mixed this incredibly sweet cordial I have -- raspberry di amore -- with amaretto.

 

Fresh on: there was a bright hit of fruit, then the amber and musk especially both came out. It was really really musky warm with a slight fruit undertone for a bit.

 

Dry down: This kept morphing back and forth. I'd smell fruit, then I'd smell musk and amber, then it'd smell like I'd mixed strawberries with vanilla schnapps and amaretto -- I see where people get marzipan from, as it throws some almond sometimes.

 

When I first put this on, I was just half-dressed, and I spent about 20 minutes grumbling around the apartment because I wanted to wear a sexier shirt and I couldn't find anything that wasn't just a t-shirt and was suitable to wearing to the museum, which is where I'm going today. I finally swabbed a bit more in my cleavage, and gave in and put on something sorta fitted, but not before tossing aside a couple of other things.

 

Now it's dried down to a rich cherry vanilla with a nice spicy undertone of musk and amber so it's not too sweet. Fruity, warm musk. Mmmm. I want to layer this with a bit more amber or some sandalwood maybe. But it's so yummy. I need a bottle of this. The imp's not going to last long.

 

It's really not a summer scent, but I love warm scents, so it doesn't really bother me. It'd be good when it's cold and wet here, though, too.

[Ajila]

Wet on me this is cherries, gorgeous, sweet, juicy cherries . The cherries continue as the predominant note, but in the background there seems to be a more sparkly theme, which I atribute to the helitrope. This dries pretty much uniformly on me, but as it fades the musk, vanilla and amber do become slightly more apparent. On the whole this is a thoroughly gorgeous blend .

[Dark Seraphim]

Bottle: Bubblegum mixed with cherries, hairspray and a little smoke.

 

Worn: Rapidly changes into a carnation floral bubblegum scent. Quite nice and lasts a long time on me.

 

I enjoyed this scent very much, however I would rather get imps of this one rather than large bottles. I think there's better scents out there. 6/10.

[LunaDragonGirl]

Received as frimpage from a swap.

 

In The Imp: very fruity...I can pick out cherry and strawberry...it's a strong, dark red scent...almost like a cross between a cherry Tootsie Pop and Berry KoolAid.

 

Wet: still fruity. Some background spicyness is coming through. Dark, glistening berry red. Bordering on too cloying...but the spicyness/vanilla/sparkling notes in the background mellow it out a bit.

 

Drydown: STILL fruity. More cherry than strawberry. I'm getting a spicy note that is mingling with the cherry that is making me think of cinnamon. It's trying really hard to be spicy cherry cough syrup on me, but everytime I sniff, the scent subtly changes. Oh...wait...there is the amber/muskyness....oh...there it goes...back to cherryfruitiness. Hm. It seems to be mellowing out nicely, but I don't know if this is something I'd actually wear enough to merit getting a bottle. Off to the "wait and try a second time" pile.

[arabella]

First Impression: Fruity, juicy and bright.

 

Dries down to: I'm guessing there's plum and amber in this - can't really pinpoint anything else. It's bright, fruity and rich without being too sweet or creamy. I don't love it but I quite like this one.

 

Additional Comments: Well, I've learned to spot amber. I'm not sure what heliotrope smells like but the "plum" I'm getting must be the combination of strawberry, vanilla and touch of cherry. After a while, it was more obviously strawberry, but not the fake kind you sometimes get. I'm glad something is taming the strawberry because it can be quite a problem for me - maybe it's the musk.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

[rellyjean]

Imp: sweeter than I expected. Fuller, richer. Num.

 

On: OOooooooooh. The strawberry and vanilla make this light and fruity, while the darker musks drag this down and hint at a seductive corrupt underbelly.

 

There's a richness and fullness to the tone, a complexity. I feel seductive and dangerous and exotic.

 

The amber rounds it all out. There's a lower tone than you usually get with fruity scents. Mmmmm.

 

This is a strong scent, and badass, and with a lot of throw.

 

The one downside is that it doesn't seem to last as long on me as it does on other people. Feh. I'll just reapply.

 

This is going on my big bottle list, like, yesterday.

[Blood onmy hands]

I put off trying Hollywood Babylon because I really hate strawberry scented things, they tend to make me sick. I don't really like fruity blends in general. So it surprised me that I fell completely in love with Hollywood Babylon.

 

It's not at all as sickeningly sweet and fruity as I thought that it would be. It is sweet... just not in a cheap or cloying way. I thought that it would be sickly sweet like some other strawberry cream type blends that I've tried (*cough* Jessica Simpson lines *cough*).

 

For me, I smell a red fruitiness... but it's more like I smashed up strawberry and cherry into one fruit, not that they're acting as separate notes. Then it has a wonderfully grownup musky vanilla scent enveloping it.

 

This isn't really foody to me. I think it's the first strawberry scented anything that I've really liked. It stays strong and potent for a bit over 5 hours on me too. I think I might have to put it into my future 5 ml purchase category

[dcmo]

Like this one a lot!! Fruity, juicy feel, creamy from the vanilla, musky (from the amber). This one is really nice

[Loligo]

Hmm, I'll definitely have to try this one again when my allergies aren't acting up. From start to finish, this was pure strawberry daquiri on me -- sweet, boozy, fruity in a way that's sort of real but sort of fake, but not necessarily an unpleasant fake. I would never have guessed there was amber or musk. I liked it fairly well, but I think I might get a lot more out of it on a second try.

 

Edit: Wow, what a difference a day (and a functioning nose) make! The musk & amber were all over the place this time. The rich base notes say "elegant" and the slightly-fake strawberry says "sleazy" -- this blend is like a Hollywood starlet with big fake boobs, wearing a designer evening gown. It's a fun combination.

Edited August 14, 2005 by Loligo

[QueenFae]

Yummy! The top notes on me are strawberry and cherry, and they are dragged across a lovely dark musk. There is also a hint of the amber and the vanilla, but they are sort of like after thoughts. It has the same yummilicious appeal for me that Blood Countess has, but it's a bit more innocent and a little sweeter. It reminds me a bit of burning a strawberries and creme candle in a room where someone is wearing a sexy red musk. I really like it, I'm undecided on if I need a 5 ml, but the impie will definitely go to good use!

[Duck Mountain]

My first review on my first order!

 

This one came as an extra. I'm not good at picking out individual components or even reviewing things in general, but here goes:

 

In the imp, it's heavy and dark. The musk stands out the most. At first I thought I was smelling nail lacquer, so it was somewhat unpleasant. (Realized also that I'm not fond of musk at all.)

 

As soon as I put it on, the musk started to fade, and the fruit smell came out, predominantly cherry. It became more of a crisp, tangy scent.

 

It has completely dried now, and the scent seems to have faded very quickly--then again, my soap may be overpowering it (Lush's Karma). A little while ago I could smell the strawberry, but definitely a sort of background scent, and I don't think the vanilla ever really came out on me.

 

In short: Heavy, but lightens up slightly to become sharp and fruity.

 

I like it, but only moderately--possibly because my initial impression was a huge turn-off. Will have to test it more (which I'm looking forward to).

 

ETA: Mm, I'm starting to get hints of vanilla. I guess it'll change during the day. It's getting positive responses from my co-workers, too, which is nice (to say the least).

Edited August 21, 2005 by Duck Mountain

[sarahj]

Hollywood Babylon

 

in vial: strawberries and cherries

 

wet: strawberries, cherries, and musk

 

dry: strawberries, cherries, and vanilla...lasts about 5 hours

 

verdict: I think this is too sweet for me to wear very often...I will use the imp, but I don't need a big bottle

[mandalinn]

Yummm, this is one I bought a 5ml of without even a sniffle and boy I am glad I did.

 

In the imp--Cherry/almond/vanilla. YUM!

 

Wet--Strawberry, with undertones of cherry still and a bit musky.

 

Later on--Still strawberry/cherry to me with a bit of vanilla creaminess and a touck of musk.

 

Glad I got a bottle of this one, it is very nice!

[maewitch]

Hrrm. The strongest note I get (and that's saying a lot, as this blend was surprisingly nose-to-the-wrist on me) was the strawberry. This actually reminded me of Strawberry Moon, but red and musky, whereas that one was pink and sugary.

 

The strawberry in this one, however, has a strangely nose-itching chemical quality. I don't like it.

 

I can barely pick up anything under it, except the general feel of something reddishly murky.

 

EDIT: once the strawberry fades (about an hour later) this is a sexy red musk. But it's so light, and the opening stage not to my taste at all. I think there are blends that provide something similar without aggrevating my nose, so I think this one goes into swap.

Edited September 12, 2005 by maewitch

[jewelbug]

Imp: Cherry and vanilla with a slight spice. A bit bubblegummy.

 

Wet: Musky first, then black cherry and vanilla. Pretty. Lighter than I expected from the description.

 

Drying: Musky sweet cherry vanilla. It's warm sweet, innocent and seductive all at once. Like sexily tonguing a lollipop. Yum. This reminds me of a sweeter Blood Kiss with less incense (the incense was the iffy note for me in BK). I like HB better. As it dries, I get a hint of strawberry (?), but it doesn't last long.

 

Dry: There is less musk, more vanilla and cherry now. It's pretty but maybe a little too sweet without the musk rounding it out. There is a hint of spiciness, though. Like the type of spiciness that Halloween mix bubble gum candy has to it--you know, the gum in the cheap-o mix. I actually like that smell…

 

Late dry down: All of a sudden at the 1 hr mark--musky spicy goodness, much stronger than only moments ago. I still smell the vanilla cherry, but now its way smuttier. Hmmmm….I could layer this with so many things, I think.

 

Overall: The staying power is good, the scent is yum. I think I like this sexy schoolgirl cherry vanilla better than the headshop cherry vanilla of Blood Kiss. Buh-bye, blood kiss ! Hollywood Babylon is a keeper!

[Nachtwulf]

Bottle: Cherryish, but not as sweet as I'd expected (I was thinking it'd be a lot more like Bordello). The amber is probably the strongest note, in the bottle.

 

Wet: Mostly amber and musk, with some vanillafruit backnotes. It's gratifying that the musk doesn't go all gross on me.

 

Dry: It becomes more cherrylike (or at least fruity in general) but the musk and amber remain fairly consistent, keeping it from going foody. The cherry is fairly clear and bright, without coming off like maraschino syrup. It doesn't have much throw, but it's nice.

 

Final Opinion: Not as foody or as sickly sweet as I was afraid. It's actually rather nice, and I wouldn't mind having some of it around. If a bottle shows up in the swaps, I may pounce on it, but it's not a driving rush to obtain.

[aessedai]

Tangy, succulent strawberries tempered by sweetness (vanilla?)