Bien Loin D'Ici

[lucy]

The Scarlet Woman, aglow with sensual indolence: red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents.

in imp - hmm floral? no caramel or honey..
wet on skin - same floral/slightly spicy no honey/caramel notes.. good so far as they usually amp on me
dry down - hmm spicy/floral/powder like someone is burning incense while putting on old fashioned perfumey talc...still no caramel or honey notes detected...very strange they usually jump out and punch me on the nose!
hmmm not sure on this one maybe leave it a while and try again

[kunoichi]

In the vial, this smells like a lovely mixture of musk and Morocco, over a layer of sweetness. It is only on my skin that the caramel and honey come out to play over the top of the musk, blending with the Moroccan unguents - it's delightfully gorgeous, the benzoin giving a slight vanilla-like touch to the scent! After a short time, however, it becomes a very smoky scent; it is still sweet, but the Morocco scent is practically overwhelmed by the smoke scent, although a touch of the musky-Morocco is hinted at beneath it all. After a few hours the other scents fade, and a soft musk is left which retains a touch of sweet-smokiness within it.

[RhinestoneHousewife]

In bottle: Warm, spicy and something.....maybe a really soft mint?

 

Wet on skin: Head shop.

 

Dry on skin: Totally smell like a clean hippie.

 

Verdict: Once this dries down a bit it settles into the honey, musk and amber that I was expecting. Not sure if I'll keep it though. The scent totally reminds me of every head shop I've ever been to.

[starfish327]

lab fresh, frimped with last order, dated this month

 

in the imp: wine and roses

 

wet: wine and roses

 

dry: this is having a really long drying time on me- most blends are stable by the time i get the review window open to type. this one is still drying and still morphing. wine and roses and sweet tarts- this reminds me really of a mixed drink. it starts pulling rose and musk though.

 

this is definitely ROSE. and not just rose but strong rose. i normally can't do rose, especially amping rose. but this is weird enough that i think i want to keep it around. this is actually really surprising, i thought that i would hate this when i opened the imp. i'm sad that i'm not getting the resin/incense vibe from this however.

 

actually i know what this makes me think of,. this is what i was hoping smut and/or womb furie would smell like, just with rose. this is behaving better than those two however, which is surprising because those were two of my biggest bpal let downs yet.

[pixiedoo]

I had really high hopes for this as it has a collection of notes that usually work a treat on me.......but.......it all went terribly wrong!!

 

It smelt horribly powdery and floral on me in a kind of cheap toilet freshener spray sort of way. It was so overwhelmingly nasty and floral it gave me a headache. I can't pick out any of the listed notes.......it's just so yucky on me I ended up wondering if I have the right imp.

 

How can my skin chemistry turn something that sounded so good into something that smelt that bad

[ami226]

Honey and something else that makes this scent really sweet! Something else flowery as well!

 

Hmmmm, not exactly what I was hoping for...

[batsy]

In the vial: Exotic-type spices, sticky sweet caramel, honey.

 

On the skin: This reminds me of that generic incense all the stoners loved. I think it's the red musk and the benzoin that are causing this comparison. Yeah, I don't really want to smell like that. My skin ate the caramel and honey and all I got left were the spices and musk.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: Hmm this is totally not as expected. The spices and red musk completely dominate the whole mixture. Smells more like a math teacher's cologne than a pampered harlot.

 

Drydown: musk and spice settle a bit and the honey is fighting to get through. no benzoin.. Then a smell the faintest hint of caramel however it's distorted by the musk.

 

Further into drydown: what a morpher! Red musk still smells like cheap men's cologne on me.. good to remember for future purchases.. but the rest of the notes are wonderful. I wish the musk worked!

[angelicruin]

I would have sworn jasmine was in this one if I hadn't just read the notes. This one is definitely not behaving well on me.

 

I do pick up the honey and spices, but no red musk. Bleh, this really smells like jasmine on me.

[DraloreShimare]

In the vial – Not sure what I’m smelling! I get a trace of what I think is honey? But the rest muddles my nose.

On the skin – Sweet, musky, kinda gross.

Dry – All musk, all the time. Not impressed. Bleah.

[Seamyst]

In the imp: Mmmm, musky and sweet. Strong, but not overwhelming.

 

On me, wet: Musky and sweet, like in the imp, but with a floral note as well. Not bad, but not great.

 

On me, dry: The floral note has gone, leaving a nice scent of musk, honey/caramel (can't distinguish between the two), and spice - probably the unguents. I almost think this is a risky scent for me, but somehow it works.

 

Overall: It doesn't smell great wet, but once it dries it turns out well. I probably won't get a bottle of this, but I'm keeping the imp!

[mari4212]

On wet: This is sweet and musky, I think the strongest notes coming out so far are the honey/caramel and red musk. The red musk is the one musk that doesn't tend to play well on me, and I think this is pulling the same thing. There's something about this scent that's making me feel like I should be sneezing.

 

Drydown: much the same. It's sweet, but overly musky for me. I think this is swaps-bound.

[NaiadOreiad]

Awww I was hoping this would smell like cannabis but i dont get any of it here. boo.

 

Wet: nag champa incense.

 

Dry, the headshop i like, which is always burning nag champa. I am a hippy, but smelling like nag champa is a different kind of hippy than me. It might be nice on my bf though.

[lilacea]

I had high hopes for this. The description sounded divine, like the most intense, sexy, come hither red musk perfume. Unfortunately there's something in this that smells like pee. I highly suspect there is jasmine in this, or another very simliar sickly floral. I'm guessing the honey is also one that turns sickly on my skin, I seem to do well with honey most of the time, yet sometimes I just hit one that really doesn't agree. It's a really light, yellow honey in here. I'm not getting much of the red musk at the forefront. It's certainly not that warm, heavy, voluptous red musk I was expecting, and it's certainly not the dominate note on my skin. I think the other notes are just squashing it. There's an acrid plastic note at the very bottom too which just doesn't help matters. It does however have a pleasant sweetness, and a delicate whisper of spice. Perhaps on the right skin thnis would be lovely, but on me, it's just too light on the red musk and too heavy on the other elements that don't play well with my skin.

[Dharklady]

In bottle this is honey and spices over musk. Once applied the first thing I’m hit by is a nauseating artificial perfume smell. Shaking that off, it calms down and I get…less nauseating but still unpleasant artificial perfume smell. I’m not sure what’s going on, this should have been lovely on me (red musk, honey, caramel? Sign me up!). Something isn't playing nicely with my skin chemistry, I just wish I knew what!

[Incendiare]

Is that you, jasmine? As soon as I take off the cap, I get slapped in the face with this particular strong floral. Actually, it's not as offensive as jasmine can be to my nose, but this is seriously all I can smell at this point. The jasmine automatically dies down as soon as I apply Bien Loin D'ici to my skin. Now I'm starting to get some of the notes listed, primarily musk, spices, and a touch of sweetness. If I concentrate enough, I can get the talcum powder that some other reviewers are talking about. Actually, I now know that this reminds me of. My grandma has had a jar of floral-like talcum powder ever since I can remember, and it smells similar to this, although this is ten times stronger. This is alright but my imp is way more than enough.

[mxtine]

Meh...I love honey and red musk, but this is more spices and florals with icky caramel.

[subtlesiren]

Didn't like this one in the vial at all. Very gritty and dark, like an incense that had gone off, with an odd, sharp sweetness in the background. I left the imp to stew for a few weeks before revisiting it and though it still smells a bit odd in the vial, it is wonderful on the skin! Very sexy, but not in an as accessible way as say Snake Oil, or O. It's darker, spicier. Don't write off this Scarlett Woman, because even though you're busy throwing bills at the barely legal dancers, you'll wake up in her bed with an empty wallet.

[Mountaingrrl00]

This was a heartbreaker for me. The description looked so lovely, but I didn't get any of my beloved caramel or red musk. For some reason it smells smoky and multi-floral, not a combination I like.

[strahlend]

I seriously suspect that age is a factor with this oil - as is the case with many red musk blends.

This scent is BE-U-TI-FUL on my skin. Resin, flowers, musk, and a hint of something that reminds me faintly of apples. Like a reviewer above I get a nag champa vibe - which I totally love. It's a rich musk, with sexy, incense and deep but mellow jasmine (just realized there's no jasmine listed in here, but it smells like it to me). It results in a very inviting and mildly earthy blend that reminds me of what a sultry and confident woman would smell like. Wearing this perfume I'M the sultry and confident woman I love bpal

Edited May 19, 2011 by strahlend

[milo]

I don't understand this. I get no caramel, red musk, sandalwood. What I get is cloying, heady jasmine/gardenia. It does get a a bit musty/powdery after a bit, which sometimes jasmine does to me. Total fail.

[Honey]

Huh..

 

Imp: Smells like a heavy floral & spice perfume, even a bit soapy and dusty. Like an old chest with dried flowers and an incense-scented velvet inlay that you found in your attic. I smell rich dark honey

 

Wet: Balmy spices, booze, tart honey, musk? Could also be patchouli. Like.. yeah, that's what I assume a magic shop to smell like. Or an old-fashioned Tarot-reading lady on a carnival.

 

Dry: Soapy spices, heavy and dark. Musty and powdery. Incense? No caramel or sandalwood. A bit.. generic and boring actually. Meh.

[achromance]

If my rusty French skills serve me right, Bien Loin d'Ici translates to Long Gone from Here.

 

In the vial: For some reason, this is more incence and perfume than anything to me. I think it's the benzoin and red musk mingling that creates the olfactory illusion. I'm slightly afraid of the honey, as it tends to amp up on me.

On my wrist: Bien Loin d'Ici turns sweeter against my skin, with a hint of honey lingering in the background. I'm really missing the spices, as they never seem to show up.

It's a pretty mixture, but nothing special on my skin. To me, it's a very traditional perfume, reminiscent of scented soaps.

[rhubarb3point14]

No musk.

 

No spices.

 

Just sickly-sweet perfumey STANK. I could not believe how rank this was on me. I guess I just have exactly the wrong body chemistry for it. Everyone else I've talked to about it seems to love it!

[fantomenotes]

In the Imp: Wet, sweet honey thwarted by a strange note that resembles vetiver in the background.

 

On Wet: Honeyed Musk, thick and wet. Reminds me of a cold, rainy morning in the tropics. Everything is still and serene, dark in the presence of black clouds.

 

On Dry: Spices emerge from the slumbering, thick, damp honey, escorting the warm red musk into clearer view. The sun has broken the rainclouds and the morning becomes sunny, wet and warm. Honey bees visit flowers opening up to the still air outside. The honey is faint now. The scent just keeps getting warmer as more of the spices peek out. The vetiver hint has disappeared.

 

Half Hour Later: It is all spice at this point. It has started to resemble a burning Indian incense. There is something sharp and volatile like camphor being burnt. The spice is still intensifying and seems to be morphing, shifting into a more herbal phase. What an intriguing concoction!

 

One Hour Later: It has only gotten better; it is now a sharp, sweet honey note. Honey mixed with something citrus. It is very striking! It seems that the sun is now well in the open sky, drying the grounds and giving full life to the day, energizing the Earth's creatures big and small.

 

Two Hours Later: It has morphed once again and continues to change without stop! This time becoming somewhat mellow as it smells of creamy honey outlined with red musk rising through the air. Could it be? Yes, the tropical night has fallen. It stays like this for most of the time however there are sudden changes where the sharpness would return but then it would mellow out again.

 

This is truly an amazing scent. It morphs wondrously. The spices are exotic and the softer notes perfectly complement them.

 

*edited for spelling.

Edited February 5, 2012 by fantomenotes