Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge

[Leopard403]

Cream accord, amber, teak, and lotus blossom.

This is lovely on me, rich and woody and almost boozy, and very warm.
I dabbed just a bit behind my ear to test, and my boyfriend tried to eat my face.
Plus, the gleam in his eyes when he asked what scent I was wearing was even better.

[capnlizaveta]

This is my first review. I've de-lurked in order to freak out at length about how insanely fabulous this smell is.

 

It is, without a doubt, the greatest smell that ever smelled.

 

Seriously.

 

So maybe that wasn't "at length," but it got the point across. To be slightly more helpful, it starts off very creamy and heady, but it's never overwhelming. It's just strong enough so that you can smell yourself smelling fantastic and remember how great you are. Then it gets more floral as it dries, but it always has a creamy and relaxed feeling. Perfect for breezy spring days.

 

I don't have the most sophisticated nose ever, being new to all this, but I know what I like. And damn, do I ever like this.

[Christine Daae]

I am very conflicted about this blend. I got this due to all the...er, glowing reviews, and I have tried it a total of four times now, but I'm still not sure if I love it enough to keep it. This is mainly due to my skin chemistry being totally bonkers with this one for some reason.

 

TEST #1, The day I got it in the mail.

In the bottle this smells a lot like how Love's Philosophy smells in the bottle - a buttercream frosting type smell. This, I think to myself, is promising. As soon as I apply it to my skin, I get this weird, bitter, almost salty note (celery salt?) over what must be the teak. No sweetness, no cream, no glowing anything. "What gives?" I ask my skin. Despite my questions, my skin still resolutely smells like celery salt. I decide to try it again, thinking maybe it needs to rest.

 

TEST #2, A few days later.

Gingerly, I apply the teeniest bit to my skin, wishing and hoping and praying that the celery salt won't be back. I sniff tentatively, and...it's nice! It's not mind-blowingly gorgeous like the reviews say, but it's nice. And as it wears, it gets prettier - that warm, glowing feeling underlaid with the wood, it's very, very pretty. I think, "well, maybe I will keep this, after all it's not every day you get a perfume called 'glowing vulva.'"

 

TEST #3, Right after a shower last Sunday.

Dabbing a bit on after my shower, thinking this will be a nice comforting/sexy scent to wear to bed...poof, CELERY SALT again. Whaa? Bitter, salty, woody. I got to the fiance and have him sniff me, and he wrinkles his nose. :\ Maybe that one time with the pretty creaminess was a fluke, then?

 

TEST #4, Last night.

I try it on again - I am nothing if not stubborn when it comes to liking something for the name. And this time it's gorgeous! Maybe it's just the comparison to the icky celery salt speaking, but it's utterly lovely. I go to the fiance again and ask him to sniff, and he says, "oooh, that's nice." When I tell him it's the same perfume as Sunday, he can't believe it.

 

So to sum it up, if this would always behave with my skin chemistry, I would love it and keep it and hug it, because it's lovely and the name makes me giggle. As it is, I'm not sure how I feel about keeping a bottle of perfume that sometimes works on me and sometimes doesn't. At least I know if I decide not to hang onto it, there are plenty of other people that love it!

[naeelah]

Wet, this hits me with a major dose of sugary, cloying vanilla. But the sweetness is immediately balanced as it dries. Right away, it becomes very ambery with a solid teak base, just flavored by vanilla. Here, it's definitely a buttercream sort of vanilla, like in Love's Philosophy.

 

At this stage, I can't detect any lotus blossom. But after it's had a little more drying time, I can detect a light floral quality. It's not sweet or heavy like lotus can often be. It feels more like rice flower or vanilla flower to me, just adding lightness to the heavy cream and base notes.

 

Unfortunately, at this stage, the teak is going WOOOSH! I tend to amp up wood notes, but I think this is just the way it's supposed to smell, because it hasn't drowned out the amber. The cream accord is now much more soft and creamy and less sweet and vanilla-like.

 

In the end, I get a well rooted, creamy wood and amber blend. It's very simple and elegant. Definitely a more grownup vanilla blend -- far more oriental than gourmand -- and it should age magnificently.

 

As many other people have said, this is one of the least sweet Lupercalias. Love's philosophy is all vanilla; this is wood flavored with soft vanilla. Harikata is creamy sweet florals with ginger, and a bit lacking in base notes; this is mostly base notes. Definitely try it if you're a fan of amber or wood blends. Staying power is fantastic, although after 5-6 hours it's relatively close to the skin.

Edited April 10, 2008 by naeelah

[Tudor Rose]

Man, I was really hoping that when I found my signature Bpal scent -in addition to my all time favorite Snake Oil- that it would be something I could tell people the name of when they asked!!!

 

Glowing Vulva (my husband calls it "Burning Pu--y") has slowly worked its way into being the scent I reach for almost every day now. My first bottle, which I've probably had for a month, is already 3/4 used up! It has really snuck up on me as being my favorite! It is gorgeous, light and creamy, and I don't know how they do it, but it definitely has a glow about it. It's absolutely lovely.

 

A check-out girl at the health food store asked what I was wearing so I told her it was called "glowing something"...I just can't quite bring myself to say it to strangers But I adore it! Fortunately I have 4 more bottles stored away, but at this rate, those won't last me very long

 

ADDED Jan. 24:

 

I have grown to absolutely love this scent! It has become my signature fragrance...unfortunately I only have 2 1/2 bottles left.

 

Please make this a regular BPal fragrance so I can have more

Edited January 25, 2009 by Shollin

[strangemodegirl]

I am totally kicking myself for waiting until the last minute to order and try this because of course, it turns out to be absolutely gorgeous! For lack of a better word, it's just so creamy. I don't notice the lotus blossom much at all, just a perfect blend of amber, teak and cream. Lots of cream, almost vanilla like. And on me it has some mega staying power. I put it on at about 10:00 in the morning and I could still smell it when I was driving home from work at 10:00 pm!

All day I was really hoping that someone would ask me what it was called because I just want to see the look on someone's face when I say Glowing Vulva!

I need to hunt down more of this.

[zankoku_zen]

On me, this is a weird blend. I thought the cream would be plasticky, but it's not. This is a creamy vanilla woodsy blend on wet, the vanilla tapers off a little as it dries and the amber comes into play. Unfortunately, the amber turns slightly powdery. It's like a vanilla/teak dusting powder on me.

 

Nope. Not for me.

[ifinena]

Oh.My.Goddess!

What a glorious drydown stage!

I hated the way it smelled out of the decant, so I didn't even want to test. But thankfully I did today. When the wet stage disappears, it leaves me with the most wonderful bpal blend I've tested in the last couple of months. I always apply a bit of bpal in between the girls. So as I moved my head during the day, I was getting wafts of something wonderful, a little bit musky, a little bit woody, a little creamy (not milky which makes me choke) and oh so darned sexy!

 

Sorry I can't come up with notes, but this is one glorious scent.

I can't wait to put this on, while my S.O. is around

Edited April 17, 2008 by ifinena

[Czarina]

Decant from a Novel Ideas decant circle. It's a deep amber in color.

 

In the imp: creamy! Mmm.

Wet: creamy amber.

Drydown: what an amazing combination of wood, amber, and cream. The lotus is a very faint overlay.

 

This didn't do much for me the first time I tried it (maybe Lupercalia overload) and I did not buy a bottle. I am now regretting that because this works on me so well.

[faifai]

Heaven and Earth Essentials "Voodoo Punani" was obviously inspired by MB: Underpants, but smells absolutely nothing like it. It smells just like GVaRB!

 

I get a buttercream vanilla and sandalwood-type background, with a faint swirl of spice, like how Morocco has just that gentle hint of spice cabinet smell. On me this smells like that faint incense-y spicy Indian clothing store smell that gets into all your clothes when you visit. It's very comforting since I am from the Indian subcontinent. Not sexy to my nose or to the SO's, who is also Indian. But he says it smells like home, and that's a warm, inviting thing to smell like. =)

 

Overall though, it smells like a more expensive version of HAEE Voodoo Punani or BPAL's Morocco, both of which are cheaper and smell so similar to this that there wasn't really any need for me to get this. D'oh.

[captainoats]

In the bottle: Cream, something warm and light-brown smelling - the amber?, and a light, woody smell - the teak. A hint of vanilla? It reminds me of Monsterbait: Underpants.

 

On, wet: Less cream, and the teak smells less warm and a little bit bitter. There is something green about it - probably the lotus. I hope it sweetens up a little bit and gets warmer...

 

Drying: It's getting less bitter and mellowing out, but the cream/sweet scent has all but disappeared.

 

Dry: Strong than when it was drying, it's still green, which isn't necessarily my favorite, but it's nice. Not as sweet as I hoped it would be (I'm an uber foodie, lol), but it's a nice, light change from my normal foodie scents. A good foodie scent for spring or summer when you don't want to be overwhelming.

[Bagfish]

Glorious warm vanilla/incense/wood all bound together by the most wonderful soft and creamy scent. This just gets better and better the longer I wear it with the woodiness deepening and becoming more spicy after two hours wear. This is a stunning scent, doesn't have huge amounts of throw, but nestles softly on my wrist in the most delicious sort of way.

[persianmouse]

Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge- Wow, you can really smell the cream in that vulva. *rimshot* Sorry, ladies, I had to. This is another smack-you-in-the-face-until-you-cry-for-your-mama scent. I don't think it will fade at all throughout the day. However, it also reminds me a bit of Lucifer, and well, check out my review for that one if you want to how that went. It doesn't smell bad, per se, but I would never want to smell like it. Reminds me a bit of cheap vanilla candles.

[FandF]

Creamy woody and strong. It dries down to something extremely well blended and this seems like it would be a scent that vanilla lovers would like. This is the least weird of the shungas imo! It's right in the middle for me...I don't love it as much as other people do but it's still a wonderful scent.

[evanescence]

This is a must have for no other reason than the name! But as much as I want to love it, it just falls short for me... there is a strange, bitter note that will not fade, and it ruins the warmth of the cream accord. I'm thinking it's the teak... not sure, but while I see the appeal for others, it's not there for me.

[filigree_shadow]

Well, I don't know what to tell you about this one. I've worn it probably 5 times since I got it, which is more than usual. However, every time I put it on I think Hmmm, yeah, I'm not sure about this one. There's something about it that I like a lot, but there's also something about it I don't like.

 

I think the problem is that the amber goes powdery on me. If it weren't for that, it would be wonderful. It has this awesome creamy scent with the very alluring teak under it... but the powder. It smells so great even with the powdery part that I keep wearing it, but I keep being sort of mad at it for going powdery.

 

I can't see myself giving up on it entirely, so I'm sure I'll keep the bottle around for a while and see how it ages. Maybe the amber will deepen a bit after a year or so.

 

Edited many months later to add: Keeping it was a good idea!! I love it now after it's had a chance to age a bit. It smells wonderful now, and I'm so glad I didn't give up on it.

Edited February 22, 2009 by filigree_shadow

[Pepperminx]

There is something that smells awfully ripe in the bottle, something that reminds me of B.O. in a way, but luckily Glowing Vulva turns into so much more once it gets on my skin.

 

This is the "me, only better" scent I've been looking for! It should be no surprise that there is amber in this, I've come to the conclusion that I do really well with amber. The cream is delicious, full fat and well rounded, and the teak seems to give it a little kick. As it dries it turns sweet, without getting cloying (lotus?). I'm slightly surprised there is no vanilla listed, as I could almost swear it's present.

 

I'm on my second bottle already and am kind of panicky because, dude, do you know how hard I had to dig to find that second bottle?!

 

COVET! <3

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Rich vanillary cream on a back drop of teak

 

Wet on me – Sweet creamy muskiness, with an edge of wood and a hint of green. Oddly to me this combination smells of banana flavoured Angel’s Delight

 

Dry on me – Throughout the sweet vanillary musky cream remains the central focus, with occasional wafts of the teak adding support

 

Overall – A definite winner for me

[lilacea]

Sniffing this in the vial, it's gorgeous sweetened amber. Initially on my skin it's much the same, but then the cream notes start to emerge and go a bit sour. Not totally sour, just a bit off, kind of high pitched and sickly, and a tad soapy. The other notes are quite grounding (apart from the lotus, which is still very sweet at this point), and keep it from going to an all piercing sourness, but they take their time beating down that cream. The dry down is nice, a more orangey amber and warm wood, the lotus sweetness has subsided just a little, and the cream notes are a little better behaved. If those cream notes behave a little better, I might have felt very differently about this.

[Scanmike]

This is a really beautiful scent. Initially, I thought it was a bit sweet and wasn't that impressed. I got mainly vanilla out of it, no woods. However, now after 8 hours, the amber has blended in so nicely, balancing the sweetness. It's a really warm scent. Wish I could find a bottle.

 

I just got an imp of Black Opal today and on drydown, Black Opal smells so much like Glowing Vulva...almost exactly the same.

Edited June 5, 2008 by DeniseScan

[TooMuchTemptation]

I just got a bottle of this today. I've been dying to smell it, and now looking over the reviews, I feel lucky to have gotten it.

 

When I opened the bottle I got a big old wallop of sweet cream. The initial waft reminds me of the sweet cream ice cream you can get from Amy's or Coldstone Creamery. Not vanilla, but a rich, sweet milkiness that is vanilla-esque. It also reminds me of Milk Moon '05, but where Milk Moon was cooled by a slight mintiness, Glowing Vulva is warm and rich. Maybe the warmth comes from the amber.

 

I touched it to my skin, lifted my wrist to sniff, and said "Holy S**t this is perfect!" The creaminess of this blend immediately fell back close to my skin, and the amber rose up to meet me, pushed along by some sweetness that I think is the lotus. Grounding the entire blend is the dry teak. But where the amber might become too powdery, the lotus too sweet, or the teak too sharp the cream just mellows everything out. It's not highly noticeable on my skin except as a smoothing, softening influence on everything else. I can't stop freaking sniffing myself.

 

As time passes, I'm keeping a sharp nose out for this blend to go all powdery on me, like amber and wood blends have a tendency to do, but it doesn't. It continues to get more and more cozy on my skin as time passes. Hours later, I can still smell it, but it's now a two-notes better than skin scent that is just as gorgeous as the wet stage. I want to smell like this all the time!

 

I am now another of the army of admirers that Glowing Vulva has. It's so well-balanced, and well blended, and happy on my skin.

[rconklin]

I was prepared not to like this. Cream based scents are generally not my thing and I just couldn't imagine how amber and teak (not to mention lotus) would smell with it. It was one of the last Salon Scents that I tested and I held out on getting an imp for awhile, but it was called 'Glowing Vulva' so how could I resist?

 

In the imp, I was immediately overwhelmed with a very strong cream sweetness, with an equally strong woody scent--just what I expected and not something I liked. I ticked it off in my brain as a 'no', but tested it anyway.

 

Wet, much the same cream, but with a more expanded out teak (the bottle smelled sort of like they'd tried to cram an entire wardrobe of teak into one bottle)...nicer, but still not for me.

 

Dry...Holy lord. Gorgeous. One of the most sophisticated and sexy BPALs I've tested yet. I couldn't stop smelling myself. Part of my brain kept going 'but you don't like cream scents'--but a much bigger part of my brain was going 'dear GOD this is AMAZING'. The teak and amber balance so harmoniously with the cream, stopping the sweetness from being at all cloying or overwhelming and making it just perfectly...cream. And the cream keeps the teak and amber from being dry. The lotus is a breath of floral, hovering on the edges and giving this a lighter femininity. It is soft and subtle and yet...not subtle at all.

 

This is an exquisite perfume. It is not a foody scent, but the older sister of a foody scent. Glowing Vulva is a sexy, sexy blend--that's all there is to it. And it loves my skin chemistry. It has an excellent throw and a very long wear. Definitely a favorite.

[n3m3sis42]

In the bottle:

Sweet, heavy cream with a hint of amber.

 

Wet:

More of the same. This blend quickly goes a little powdery on me, in a way that The Perilous Parlor also does. It's not awful, but I can't help but feel this isn't exactly what it's "supposed" to be doing. However (I didn't get around to reviewing this blend until I'd tried it a few times), I've found that if I don't slather, it doesn't do the "powdery" thing as much. Although then it goes rather faint on me after a while.

 

Dry:

This dries sweet and creamy on me (but somehow not exactly foody), and the powdery element isn't nearly as strong as it was when the blend was wet. It's definitely a "glowing" blend, and I am rather enamored of it.

Edited June 16, 2008 by n3m3sis42

[mooncityminx]

A kind swapper sent me a 1/4 decant of this and I am psyched. I am thirsting to know what all of the fuss is about, and at the same time I'm afraid I'll like it too much.

 

In the vial: Butter and sweet, sort of the way Tokyo Stomp does but without the mint.

 

Wet: What is that? The butter is being mixed with the woods, and some playdoh. Oh wow, that is some amber doing strange things with my skin chemistry.

 

Dry: Ah, after this sinks in for about twenty minutes it morphs again and the amber is really really pretty. It's reminding me of a commercial perfume I used to love until I started having reactions to it. I want more of this! Seriously. OMG, need more!

[sprocket21]

Wet: Sharp wood

 

Apparently teak amps on me in the wet stage, though once it dries on my skin, it almost completely vanishes. What's left is a lovely blend of cream and amber. It's quite faint though, so it doesn't warrant owning more than this lone imp for me.