Vampire Tears

[Kittenish]

Regret born from ceaseless longing: wisteria, white grapefruit, neroli, green tea, jasmine, white ginger, honeysuckle, iris, and tonka.

I agree with the person who said this smelled like lemon Pledge. It's not necessarily horrible though... lemony, a little sweet, other things that I can't identify just under the surface. I got this as a frimp, so anything free is fine with me.

[semuelle77]

I really wanted to like this. I was hoping for something crisp and fresh. After the dry down one note takes over and goes super powdery. I think it is the tonka. I don't think tonka likes me. It hijacks the scent, much the same way Desdemona gets hijacked on my skin. This makes me very sad. I think I need to stick with the spicy and gourmand scents.

 

Boo. There are tears, but they are fava tears, not Vampire Tears.

[mooncityminx]

In the imp: My first impression is Sweetarts.

 

Wet: Lemonheads? Sweet but potent lemon, now with some flowers peaking through, very pretty!

 

Drydown: Many times I have skin chemistry issues with various citrus oils, but this one is fabulous. Very clean and refreshing. I am going to want to have plenty of this on hand during the summer. Hmm, I wonder if it repels mosquitos? I am still geting powerful but sweet lemon with some background floral. The floral is way in the background though. This is so pretty!

 

This isn't a fragrance I would have associated with vampires, but I love it.

[megank4]

In the imp, I smell something like popcorn mixed with lemons. Ick. Once applied, the popcorn smell faded a bit, but it still smells too citrusy popcorn for me.

[gchris]

In Vial: Smells lemony and sweet, like lemon sugar cookies

 

Wet: Very lemony, like lemon drops. In the back ground I can smell what I think is the grape fruit.

 

Dry down: Still lemony but more of the musk coming to the surface balancing the sweetness and the lemon. Not as foody now as it was earlier.

 

Evoking Color: Lemon yellow (what else ?)

 

and later...I hardly smell the lemon now. There is not one scent that seems stronger than the others, just a blend, more perfumy, less foody.

[eternalargus]

In The Bottle: Lemon bubblegum with cream.

 

On Skin: Lemonheads candy.

 

Dry Down: I smell something vaguely floral in it, but it's getting overwhelmed by the lemon.

 

Thoughts: This isn't my style. I love the artwork on the bottle and if I were a citrus lover I'd be all over it (or vice versa, heh), but my skin is eating up the other notes so I'm left with nothing but lemons. It's great, but better on someone else. I think I'll give this to a friend.

[edenssixthday]

Vampire Tears – I distinctly smell the grapefruit, white ginger, and green tea, but there’s another odd scent that reminds me a lot of something that’s in MB: Bigger Critters – a jasminey, lemony, buttery-type scent. I can only figure it must be the jasmine and tonka blending together? I have no idea, but it’s definitely warm and creamy and foody underneath the brighter, crisper notes. This is a very straqnge scent on me. I can’t decide if it’s a floral, a citrus, or a bakery scent – I guess on me, it’s all three. It is a bit too cloying for my taste, but I really, really want to like it because it’s almost really unique and fascinating on me. The throw and staying power are both quite strong.

[Alchemy21599]

In the imp: sour fruity candy and buttered popcorn

 

Wet on skin: lemon pledge

 

dry: this smells like the concession area of a movie theatre.

[CrazyPretzel]

At first I thought I was smelling lemon as well, but after comparing with Kumiho I recognise the initial tart citrus scent as white ginger combined with grapefruit. For the first hour or so this has a really lovely throw on me; a really pretty sweet white floral dusted with lemon sugar. After that it goes through a strong iris stage - sadly I am not the biggest fan of iris - but after 30 minutes or so of iris-palooza it settles down to a comfortable green tea 'n jasmine scent that stays close to my wrist. A major morpher and I predict it will grow on me.

[terrenity]

In the imp: Popcorn?!? Whoa. -sniffs again- Damn, that's a new one for me. I guess this is the salty 'tears' part.

 

Wet, on: Still very popcorn-y, but now with a strange sort of bubblegum note lurking in the background.

 

Dry: The popcorn note gradually fades over fifteen minutes or so, becoming more of a suggestion of saltiness in the background. Meanwhile, the bubblegum scent gets much stronger, eventually dominating the blend. It has a sort of citrus-y edge to it that I assume is the grapefruit, though it smells more lemon-y to me. It's a very pink sort of scent... youthful with a bit of a bite. If this is the scent of vampire tears, then the vampire is a five-year old chibi vampire sniffling into her pink jumper. When you reach out to comfort her, she wipes her nose and manages a weak, fanged, smile, promptly latching onto your hand, somehow managing to remain cute while draining the blood from your thumb.

 

Overall: Not at all what I would have expected from the name, but kind of a fun scent, and very fitting for Shojo Beat. It's even got a strangely comforting quality, even during the popcorn phase. I wore it to bed the other day and fell asleep huffing my wrist (not an easy position to sleep in!). I'll use my imp, but I don't need a bottle.

 

Edited for spelling. ><

Edited February 9, 2008 by terrenity

[Jilara]

Wet, I swear the first note I pick up is cherry bubblegum. Weird.

As it dries down, the florals come out, and the cherry bubblegum disappears. It's heavy on night flowers at this point, honeysuckle and wisterial predominating, giving a nighttime feel. Further drying, it goes to citrus, though I can't ID it as grapefruit, just more generic citrus-y scent.

Dry, it's lemon and ginger tea, with a slight waft of light but unidentifiable flowers. There is something more substantial, almost feral, behind that note, though, that only comes out later. Gives it a slightly sinister quality, which is appropriate for vampires, even tearful ones.

 

Not really me. I think it would work well on a teenager, though.

[etienne]

My skin chemistry must be doing weird things to this one.

 

Before checking the notes I'm convinced I can smell white chocolate in the imp and wet on skin!

This definitely smells foody to me, but more like bread than cake, if that makes sense.

I get a lot of sharp grapefruit underneath but the foody scent lingers around too.

 

Not me - luckily Midnight Kiss is right up my alley so at least I found one love in these two LEs!

[saosis]

Loved this! The citrus and florals worked wonderfully on me, though it did smell a little odd on my skin at first.

[Nightroad103]

In the bottle: The white grapefruit and neroli are what I smell initially. I can pick up on the green tea, jasmine and white ginger after a few more sniffs. The iris isn't very strong, nor is the honeysuckle. I can just barely smell the tonka (for some reason, it in general isn't one I can smell much).

 

On me: Neroli and white grapefruit are still strong, though the green tea and jasmine are about equally as strong. The iris makes an appearance, lending a soft floral note to the whole thing.

 

It smells more like a good springtime or early summer scent than anything else. I'm glad I bought it.

Edited February 21, 2008 by Nightroad103

[valentina]

I received an imp of Vampire Tears as a part of a swap, thanks to a kind forum member. I tested it without reading the components, and here's what I thought...

 

In the imp, I get a hit of dusty florals that remind me of the night-blooming florals of Midnight on the Midway (makes sense, this is a vampire scent), although there's also something sharper mixed in. On initial application, I still smelled the florals, but then I was hit with a yummy tidal wave of tonka. That subsided when it dried down, and it took on more of a orange blossom-like scent, along with a jasmine-ginger smell that very much reminded me of Siren.

 

While nothing like its companion Shojo Beat scent Midnight Kiss, the one similarity that I will mention is that they are both soft fragrances. Not in the sense of being faint or difficult to detect -- for that is not the case with either -- but rather having a lovely, rounded quality without any sharp edges.

 

Normally I'm a wearer of scents in the Midnight Kiss/Mme. Moriarity/Snake Oil fragrance genre, but I'm also fond of Embalming Fluid, Kumiho and Siren, and Vampire Tears is part of the latter fragrance genre. I think it would be a fantastic spring and summer scent. I may nab a bottle before it's gone!

Edited February 22, 2008 by valentina

[binaryfaerie]

All I get at first is very bitter grapefruit and a kind of bathroom cleaner smell. Later it fades to a sugary bubblegum floral. Meh.

[MissMercurial]

I got this as a frimp from the wonderful AleciaR.

At first, this smelled lemony-citrusy and a tad sharp (the ginger/grapefruit/neroli/green tea cocktail?), but not as sharp as the ginger present in Kumiho. It smelled quite like Phantasm (which, coincidentally, I tested at the same time) - they both have green tea, jasmine and neroli - but the lemon verbena brightened Phantasm in comparison.

Then in a few minutes it went funky, and it smelled JUST like Polyhymnia did on me when it turned, like Johnson and Johnson's baby powder. The only ingredient they have in common is iris (orris root is from irises) so I'm pinning that as the offender. Mixing in behind the powder were some very "wistful" florals - the honeysuckle, mostly. I say "wistful" because that's what mood/image it provoked - faded memories, like dust in an attic filtered through August sunlight.

It's too bad it turned powdery on me, since I rather liked the initial scent.

Edited February 24, 2008 by MissMercurial

[writergal969]

In the vial: Whew! Smells like sugary cake mix for some reason:( I'm not getting any citrus OR floral, just really sweet foodie.

 

On: Hm...the obnoxious sugar has now left and has left behind citrus that is slowly turning into lemon furniture polish and baby powder. Not a fresh, zingy lemon like I get from Et Lux Fuit, I'm getting dull chemical lemon:(

 

Dry: Huh? Where'd it go? I have the faintest whiff of the chemical citrus and the rest is all gone. Sad face.

 

Sadly, this must not be for me. I hate sugary sweet scents and I can't stand the chemical citrus. 1/5, will get swapped to a loving owner.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Buttery lemon cake!

 

Wet: Buttery lemon cake and coca cola. Super foody! Maybe the buttery-cake thing is tonka? Definitely getting all the citrus and honeysuckle, and maybe a hint of the ginger. I want to EAT my arm! No florals.

 

Dry: Some light white florals coming out, very barely though...it's still much the same as wet. The buttery-cake is a bit milder. This is sparkling - it just is. Strange!

 

Summary: Good throw and lasting power. Delicious and wonderfully blended, but I'm not into foody scents.

[Suu4LC]

In the imp I get sharp grapefruit. There's little hints of floral underneath, but the major note I'm getting is grapefruit.

 

Oof, I can definitely see where people get a "lemon pledge" kind of scent from this. It's verrry citrussy on the skin, in a slightly off-putting and bitter way. I think I can smell some ginger or jasmine under there, and it just doesn't seem to mix well with the other notes.

 

This settles pretty well. I get a mixture of grapefruit, neroli, jasmine, and ginger, but it's still a bit too cleanser-y and dries kind of soapy. And then when it completely dries it's almost straight soap. Wah. My skin just gobbled it up!

 

I can see how this might work well on other people, but unfortunately not for me.

[alsatia]

Expectations: Light, spicy florals with a hint of citrus.

 

In vial: Ginger and grapefruit.

 

On skin, wet: Argh, it's that toilet paper holder again. Now with a sprinkling of ginger on the quilted tissue.

 

On skin, dry: Ginger, a bit of sweetness (presumably the grapefruit), and a bouquet that definitely contains jasmine and honeysuckle.

 

After time: Not even 10 minutes have passed and it turned to Pledge. I am not a coffee table! Stop trying to dust and polish me! Another 5 minutes or so, and the citrus is a bit less overpowering, allowing the ginger to blend back in and make the overall scent more like lemon frosting...for a brief while, until it goes all Pledge again.

 

Conclusion: Grapefruit and I do not get along. This is the second scent including grapefruit that I've tried today, and both went very quickly to the Land O' Pledge. Considering I just barely missed being able to buy a bottle of this after testing, I'm probably glad I don't like it!

[seamor]

Wet: A nice, not too sharp, grapefruit. [The air is buzzing. Something is about to happen. A little more aware than usual, a little on the alert.]

 

Drying: A little floral with the grapefruit. [Graveyard flowers? A garden at midnight?]

 

Drier: Ginger? Yes, definitely ginger! [it's happening now ...]

 

Dry: Odd. An odd scent. I don't know how to describe it. I have no lexicon for this. A little dusty, a little sharp ... can this be the green tea? It doesn't smell like tea to me ... Whatever this is, it's not something I would expect to smell in a perfume - not what I would think of as a "pretty" scent, not musky or spicy - it doesn't remind me of anything I recognize. I have no basis for comparison, don't know how to categorize, can't intellectually put a finger on it. Is it salty? It is musty? No, not exactly ... Is it dusty? Just a bit. Something faintly feral, not exactly musk ... I can't stop sniffing at it, though, and - odd though it is - it is pleasant. The lab description isn't giving me a clue. This is something new and strange, and I like it. [Ahhhh... This would be the vampire! Yes, a vampire might well smell like this ... and naturally, the prey would like it.]

 

The scent continues to morph. It becomes more watery, reminds me of Water of Notre Dame. [The tears, of course.]

 

Later yet the tonka comes forward (I've learned to recognize tonka! Yay, me!), and with the tonka the scent becomes creamier, loses its remaining sharpness, and the florals pick up a bit. {Something has changed as a result of the vampire's tears.]

 

These stages have taken place over about 2 1/2 hours, and I can tell there's more to come. As I write , the scent is becoming sweeter, with gentle florals in the background. 2 1/2 hours in, and I have florals! This is unheard of with my skin chemistry! Wheee! Amazing! [Gotta get to bed now so I can get up ridiculously early, but I feel there is more to the story.]

 

Next morning: There is a gentle sweetness, lingering close to the skin. Honeysuckle? Lovely. A softly dew-covered daybreak, in a quiet garden. [Has the vampire been redeemed by his tears? He is no longer here. This smells like a blessing.]

 

Vampire Tears is not a scent, but a saga. I love the ones that tell a story, Beth!

 

[How the heck does she do that?]

 

Edited March 10, 2008 by celtimor

[Magda]

Wet on my skin, it smells like Sweet Tarts. As it dries it becomes a bit more floral, but it still has that candy sour scent.

 

It takes about half an hour for the sour candy to go away, and then there are florals that are so, so familiar, it's killing me that I can't place what they remind me of. There's a hint of green tea in there, too, and maybe just a hint of vanilla. Overall, it's a soft, round floral, something that would smell very nice on a young girl or an older woman who wants a soft, innocent scent.

[Electric Maenad]

[frimp from the Lab - thanks folks!]

 

Wow - this was a hell of a ride. It started off as lemon drops, maybe a little medicinal like lemon Vicks' cough drops. When it dried a little bit, the jasmine came up and started a fight with the lemon drops. After about an hour, both combatants seemed to tire and the whole thing settled down to a rather sullen jasmine sencha sulk. Finally, just before everything disappeared, there was a faint hint of other florals, which I'm assuming was the honeysuckle and wisteria showing up to clean up the broken crockery and vacuum the rugs. Not my bag, but I'll try it on my sister, who likes jasmine tea and citrus scents.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, Vampire Tears is very sweet - I get the neroli, tea, and a hint of jasmine.

 

The grapefruit comes out on my skin, backed by the tea (but very faintly).

 

When it dries, the jasmine and the honeysuckle are most prominent; it ends up being a very sharp, traditional scent.