Swank

[GemmaCat]

Simply cool, the essence of Lounge: the scent of a crisp pomegranate martini.

In the imp: a faint smell of cranberries.

On my skin, initial: tart, biting berries, and more perfumey than most fruit scents I've tried. There's a faint scent of soap, too.

Drydown: all soap. Very nice soap, but still soap all the same.

Overall, not for me. Even before it turned soapy, the really tart scent of cranberries didn't seem to work on my skin. Edited February 25, 2006 by Shollin

[nancybridget]

Oh my queen of tartiness!!!

 

It's crisp! It's alcohol and pomegranites!

 

Very fun scent....

[Torrilin]

In the vial it smells yummy - citrus and tart fruit. Not really the way pomegranate taste but...

 

The problem comes in that within 15 min of putting it on, my nose was stuffy. *sigh*

 

Second try, it was just a bland sweet and fruity me at 20 sort of smell. Not a keeper.

 

Kalli

[solcita]

In the bottle: Very citrus and slightly sweet, but with a strong, sharp overtone that reminds me of the cheap powdered soap used at my elementary school so many years ago.

 

First application: Lemon and pomegranate. The soapy smell isn't there at first -- in fact, this one starts out very light on the skin. Promising!

 

Drying: Whoops, spoke too soon. It's all lemon soap now. The sweeter pomegranate note is completely lost in the sharpness of it, and it's much stronger now.

 

Dry: It changes to a sweeter-scented soap when dry, but still more soap than anything. I can almost feel the rough powdery granules of it between my fingers again when I smell this.

 

30 minutes later: It fades to a lighter scent, but otherwise it's unchanged.

 

Final verdict: So not for me. This is actually the second time I've tried it -- I tested it a couple weeks ago and hoped that maybe I was just having a bad skin-chemistry night, but alas... Into the swap pile it goes.

[tamburlaine]

Swank smelled exactly the same way in the bottle as it did on my skin immediately and hours later. Unfortunately, I wasn't too happy with it. There was something there that smelled like detergent to me, something -- dare I say? -- artificial and cloyingly tart. Too bubbly, too soapy. Eeeek. It brought back memories of laundry detergents I've been allergic to, but thankfully the oil itself didn't upset my skin. Just my nose!

 

It's too bad, I expected a lot from Swank, since I'm a fan of pomegranates. I guess that the scent of pomegranates doesn't translate the way I had expected it to!

[fiddledragon]

Scent in bottle: Pomegranate! But it's a very crisp, alcoholic sort of pomegranate. Not a heavy wine or rum kind of alcohol, but more a vodka kind of smell. It's sort of generic-perfumy, but not in a bad way.

 

Scent on me:

Wet -- Sharp, effervescent pomegranate. How on earth did they manage to make something smell carbonated?

Dry -- Still lovely cool fizzy pomegranate. But the smell is giving me a headache when I sniff it close up.

 

Conclusion: It's lovely, but I need to try it again to see if it still gives me a headache. If not, it'll make a nice scent for when it's hot out, but otherwise is a bit too "crisp" for me to wear very often.

[klio]

Quick sniffy impressions:

 

Citrus, if citrus were a shiny silver blade that sneaks up behind you in a classy bar and snips your bra straps. Energetic. Delicious.

[ladymissspyder]

Damn, I wish I could drink this.

 

Anyway, this reminds me a bit of Baneberry - not in terms of the notes, but in that they both give an overall impression of fruity freshness. The pomegranate is well-developed, sweet and fruity - something I really can't say for most pomegranate scents out there.

 

It also has outstanding throw. I'm trying 4 scents on right now, and Swank is the only one I can smell at a distance.

 

If you like clean fruity scents, you should definitely try this.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Eep, what on earth is that?!! Smells like violent lemon cleaning product with a candy sweet note.

 

Wet: Still quite lemony and aggressive, and still the scent of a cleaning product.

 

Drydown: Wow, my washing up liquid has the same smell as this. I get really tart, I wonder if there's juniper in there, because it smells acidic. There's also something sweet in it, but I really cannot get the concept of washing up liquid or toilet cleaner out of my mind. It somehow smells of artificial apple to me, rather than pomegranate.

 

Overall: Extreme disappointment. Okay, so I don't drink, I don't know what a Martini smells like. However, I wouldn't put anything in my mouth that smells like this stuff. It's acrid and it smells very artificial. Ugh!

[joiedecombat]

On me, Swank smells exactly as it does in the bottle, one of the few oils which doesn't go through any kind of variation as it wears. Which I don't mind in the least, because I adore this fragrance. The fruit scent is bright and sweet and very appealing, and the alcohol note, for once, doesn't go at all boozy; instead, it dries out the fruitiness a little and makes it sparkling clear, giving the fragrance a little added maturity and class without taking away any of its fun. I haven't encountered anything like it in more conventional perfumes and body sprays, and I definitely adore it.

[Ryvre]

On me, this smells weird and citrussy, but not really like pomegranate. For some reason, it reminds me of cleaning supplies. Maybe it's the mix of the alcohol and citrus.

[Mary Mayhem]

I get lemon pledge with berry undertones. They're both fighting each other for who is on top. I am really not having a good time with my skin chemestry here.

[beetiger]

I should have realized that "pomegranate martini" was only a small step away from "strawberry wine cooler".

 

Fruity and boozy, but not sophisticated like I would have hoped.

 

*sigh*

[Nekomata]

I wanted to like this...but it's a bit too much like soap. It is indeed very crisp, and smells lightly of fruit. But it reminds me of fruity handsoap more than a martini.

[damuddymeg]

In the imp: sweet and tart, citrus and berries.

 

Wet: I thought I'd get booze and earthy pomengranate, from the mention of martinis. But it's still sweet berries and tart citrus to me. Reminds me of an energy citrus soap I used to make.

 

Dry: The crispness becomes a bit more marked, but to me, pomengranates don't smell like this. This is definitely more sweet and citrusy than earthy or crisp. Still quite lovely, though.

[juniperus]

Bottle: sweet and boozy and almost medicine-y, less martini-like to my nose than I had imagined.

Wet: the medicine-y feel it turning almost cleanser-like. oh, my, very unpleasant.

Dry: sweet and sharp and edgy..cleaning fluid.

Later: This is just growing sharper and stranger, and itchy. Must. Wash. Now.

[kakiphony]

In the imp:

Sweet Tarts.

 

Wet:

Sweet tarts.

 

Early Dry Down:

I finally started to get some morphing after about 20 minutes. It lost the sugar candy edge and started to smell a bit boozy and a bit tart. The boy said, "Nice citrus. I like it." It made me feel invigorated.

 

Late Dry Down:

This is one of the most interesting oils I've tried to date. It started out a generic fake fruit and ended up a wonderful, boozy, juicy, tart and refreshing scent. It started out 6 years old and ended up a sophisticated 33. It seems like a great summer scent, for when I want to be refreshed, with a little boozy undertone.

 

I'm not sure I'd buy a bottle of this, but I bet I'd go through an imp or two in a year's time.

[silverfishee]

ok.... this did NOT work for me.....

I was a little leary when I took a whiff of the imp (in vial) but tried it anyway....

all I can say is LEMON PINE-SOL.....

this went totally chemical on me but thankfully it wore off quickly....

I hate to wash off an oil as I like to give it the benefit of the doubt for as long as possible and hold out hope for that special majik I have with so many other scents.....

alas, there is no majik here.....

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

berries, with a bit of a tart note

 

wet:

oh pomegranate! Yum. With almost an ozoney-alcohol side to it

 

dry:

interesting because it's fruity but oh-so-not-sweet! Good summer scent. This could even be good on a guy, that "ozone" side of it is different. In fact it's almost taking over… it does get back to more of a fruity scent, which is good!

 

overall:

mixed feelings… I can't decide on this one yet!

 

rating: 7/10

[filigree_shadow]

Reminds me of a cross between generic bath beads and bubblegum. Plus it's strong. It reminds me of a cheap fragrance for some reason, like a bathroom spray. The second imp I tried smelled better, less like bubblegum, but it's still too much of a sweet artificial scent for me. I'll stick with the peach and apricot ones.

[Supervixon]

I ordered this as an imp. In the bottle I smelled the pomegranate loud and clear. On me, for the first hour, it smelled like laundry detergent. Now it smells kind of floral-ish. I'll give this another try, but this may have to go in the "give to the niece" pile.

[edenssixthday]

Swank - I was anticipating that Swank would have the artificial cough-syrup scent that Bordello has, but no, it's a lovely fruit scent and is light and crisp and has none of the artificial syrupy sweetness that so many fruit scents take on. The vodka scent gives the pomegranate a little crisp kick, so that overall, Swank is a really fun and lively fragrance. If I use my Origins Pomegranate Wash in the shower and then layer with Swank afterward, it lasts even longer, and I smell soooo good! It's one of my favorite BPAL fruit scents. Unfortunately, it doesn't last very long on my skin. I've heard that Swank layers phenomenally well with Bliss, and I'll be trying that combo one of these days very soon.

[catrinella]

Imp: Fruity pomegranate with an ozone-y undertone.

 

Wet: Fruity and sweet.

 

Drydown: Pomegranate and raspberry, nice but synthetic in that expensive-candle or bodywash way.

 

1 hour: The same.

 

3 hours: Same, and fading. Almost no change from application.

 

Verdict: Not me for skin wear. As with Carnal, the fruit note would be great in bodywash or shampoo but it smells a bit sweet and fake on my skin. I just don't like smelling like fruit, I guess. Had I gotten anything boozey from this to cut the sweetness, I might feel different - I have Twenty One on my wantlist, so maybe I'll find that note there.

Edited July 3, 2006 by Catrinella

[neuilly]

In the bottle: It does smell like a cocktail. Light, fruity, slightly sugary. Sort of a citrus edge. I sort of want to drink it which is not so great! It's a nice smell but not sure I'd personally want to smell like it.

 

Wet: Someone mentioned is smelling like a sweet tart. I'd have to agree. Something candy-ish about it. And a vague hint of laundry detergent?

 

Dry: There's still a light fruity note that fits well with its namesake but there's an undernote of my laundry detergent which is odd so...off to swaps it goes!

[nightbird]

This is sharp, citrusy goodness. It smells nice, but I don't like citrus scents on me, so I'm going to add it to my swap pile.

 

The pomegranate smell is utterly delicous, though!

 

rating: 1/5