The Illustrated Woman

[auburnette]

Skin musk, smoky vanilla, pine pitch, patchouli, Indian resins, golden honey, and tobacco.

The Illustrated Woman

wet, in bottle: sharp, fresh pine needles.

wet, on skin: Muskiness emerges, as does the tobacco. The pine keeps it fresh. Smoke starts to curl through.

Dry, on skin: As it dries down - mmm, a lovely smoky vanilla, grounded in musk. Warm, but sexy. The pine's a distant, lone tree in the distance now. There's honey, swirling in golden, thick waves around the middle of the scent- the base is musk, and a warm and wonderful one at that.

I think I'll almost certainly get a 5ml. Damn, and I still have Mme Moriarty and Temple Viper to try out of the 'big hits' of CD...

[dorothy humbird]

How have I not left a review for The Illustrated Woman? Shame on me.

 

Of the Act IV decants I picked up, this is top three (with the Torture Queen and Inez duking it out). Goes on sweet pitchy smokiness - smells a little like natural cleaning products from Seventh Generation and the like. I remember being dubious when I was testing it, but knowing the key was in having the patience to wait.

 

And oh, man. The almost bubblegum-y sweetness of the pine pitch is finally overtaken by the musk, vanilla, and cohorts about 3 hours after I first get it on my skin. At this point into drydown, there is still a certain tingle of the pine left in the blend, but it is smoother, slightly deeper, and warmed all the way through with delicious golden vanilla-honey.

 

I wish I was doing better in the finances department, because I would totally snag a bottle of this while we still cling to the CD.

[anardana]

Like others have said, this starts off VERY pine-y and sharp but after about 15 minutes it softens into something much nicer. I'm not sure if I LOVE the dry down, but it is much better than when it is wet. Don't be too quick to judge this one.

[Sapphiremo0n]

In the bottle it is very Musky and insenceish.

 

On my skin it smells of Musky vanilla with a little bit of resin and honey.

4 hours later it is all vanilla, resin and honey.

 

Once again the blend is so nice that I can't smell the patchouli, Yay!

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

[lainevierge]

Well, you can put me in the camp who dislikes this scent. There are notes I love in this (smoky vanilla, patchouli, golden honey), but they're all shrouded underneath this overwhelming note that screams MEN'S AFTERSHAVE!

 

Oh well. I should have no trouble getting rid of my decant.

[crebbsgirl]

Well, I definitely get the comparisons to aged O here. This blend does start off on the pine-y side, but it's a refreshing pine, and prevents the blend from getting too sweet. The skin musk is a fairly predominant base note, and the honey, vanilla and tobacco waft lazily through the blend. I've heard people mention the "skin but better" scents and so far, this is the only one I've tried that smells like me, but better. I'm a big fan, and I can tell this one is going to age beautifully.

[yeahbutnobut]

The Illustrated Woman

 

In the imp: sweet rich pine.

Wet on skin: pine and patchouli and some spice too…this is a gorgeous resinous pine.

Dry on skin: mmm, this is really good! It’s dark green pine needles, but now I can smell vanilla, patchouli, tobacco, maybe some resins too, lots of smoky and spicy notes swirling around the pine. It’s wonderful and unusual, and the pine has that needle-y aspect to it which I love (not like pine cleaner at all!) I also smell hints of honey and pale musk peeping out of the dark earthy smokiness.

After a while: now it’s melded into something I’m not quite sure about. It smells nice, but something isn’t quite right…it doesn’t seem as complex and sweet as before. The vanilla has vanished, and there’s something vaguely medicinal to the scent? The pine isn’t as sappy as I hoped it would be, and now it smells a tiny bit greener. I’m not sure if the tobacco here suits me much, it’s starting to go a little bit burnt on me like the Black Lace tobacco did (though it’s a little bit milder here). I do love the hint of something resinous here though.

Ah, now I get what’s going on. It seems my skin is eating all the other notes now, save for the patch and tobacco. There is a nice Luperci-like thing going on with the patch and honey and evergreen notes and resins, but it’s also very faint, save for a touch of smokiness which seems a little bit more masculine than expected. I’m undecided about this now…it looks like it has potential, but I’m not sure if it’s me yet. It’s not sitting right on my skin but it doesn’t smell bad either. It does, however, remind me of Devil’s Night at times. I do wish it were sweeter though. Where’s that vanilla gone?

Verdict: I think I need to retry this…though this is a lovely scent, it’s not the ‘wow’ scent I was expecting. It smells a little bit like Hexxennacht on me but I prefer Hex. It starts off nicely with a mix of pine and vanilla and honey and spicy tobacco, but then it turns a bit flat and the sweeter notes seem to fade off, the smell overall goes a little bit masculine and burnt on me. it’s not bad and I think it has potential but on me it seems to be missing something. It’s a shame because I really wanted to love the Shelldoo scent! I have a decant of this which is a few months old, and will need to retest to see if age has worked wonders.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Maybe…

If you like this, try: Hexxenacht (any), Capricorn 07, Stranger In Camp, Luperci, Goblin Rider

[jencallisto]

In the imp: Sweet and incensey.

Fresh on the skin: Pine and resin center, spicy smoky vanilla-honey edge. And interesting combination of bright and smoky.

5 minutes later: Sweetened pine resin with a bit of a baby powder edge. Nice, actually, but I don't know that it makes sense to me to smell like this.

1 hour later: Sweet, syrupy pine resin. Pretty nice.

2 hours later: Warm and sweet and syrupy. A nice medium throw, all glowing and fragrant and maybe just the tiniest bit soapy. Remarkably stable and robust.

3 hours later: This is kind of like a syrupy version of if you were to combine the two Lush deodorants I like. Which is not a bad thing, but it's also not exactly ideal.

4 hours later: Basically, a golden brown soap. Very nice, but not what I really want to smell like for hours on end, especially not given how strong this is. It actually might be making me feel a bit queasy (something is, but it may or may not be this).

4.5 hours later: Okay. This is slowly becoming sour and icky on me.

6 hours later: Obnoxiously strong laundry, with annoyingly long throw. Bleh.

8 hours later: It has taken a lot of willpower to not just wash this off. Not that I think it would work by this time. I suspect this is still going to be around tomorrow morning. Unfortunately.

16 hours later: Ugh. Still there, going strong, smelling basically like "deodorized" sweat. Admittedly, I put it on my inner elbow, where it tends to smell warmer and last much longer than on my wrist, but still.

20 hours later: Ahahahaha, it's still there. I even did actually try to wash it off, too. I do think it's finally fading at least.

22 hours later: Approaching gone. Finally.

 

Verdict: I can acknowledge that it's nice enough for awhile, but pretty strongly something I just don't really want to smell like, and the laundry finish is additionally unappealing.

 

One phrase: golden brown soap/deodorant/laundry.

[eyeska]

I let my bottle sit for a few months, because when I first put it on it was a VERY strong pine scent with little else. Not unpleasant so much as "HI I'M A PINE TREE," which just isn't my thing, my love of green scents aside.

 

I am soooooo glad I did! I'm now getting this lovely balance of warm, sweet musky earthiness with pine that smells so unusual and gorgeous that I can hardly stand it. I keep associating this scent with Christmas, amusingly enough, and I suspect Illustrated Woman will see lots of wear this December.

[Celestyna]

dries down to a nice light musky powder on me

no florals, which is usually the fare for this type of scent.

a very antiquie sort of scent.

[shelldoo]

i realized i have let my reviews slip lately. and what better scent to form my comeback then *my* scent. when beth first asked if she could do me, i was stunned, crazily fangirl flattered, and uber excited, athough a bit nervous to have anything threaten my love for snake oil. the description and artwork brought tears to my eyes, it is soooo me.

 

so the prototype arrived for ECWC and i had to try it first, i mean come on it is meeeeee.

 

and i opened the bottle, i love beth's pine notes, i have made no secret of that, but man wow smack in the face pine. wow did i say pine??

this is one of those times i trust in beth, i know what she can do, i have read the notes, i know there are other facets to this scent.

 

wet: still heavy on the pine, but i can detect patchouli, smokiness, and a hint of musk.

 

then it dries. O.M. GAHHHH gorgeousness. this is a skin hugging vanilla, honey, smokiness, the pine fades back to barely waft by occasionally and say hi. the tobacco, honey, and musk frame the patchouli and make this just stunning, it is definitely a "me" scent and definitely tends to give snake oil some competition. although snake oil will always be my signature scent, illustrated woman is my comforting hell yeah scent. beth continually amazes me, and it is such an honor to have such an amazing scent w/ my pic on it.

[meatcake]

To be completely honest, this bottle was not on my Wishlist. I received it from my boyfriend as a Christmas present, along with a bunch of other goodies. He picked it up on a whim while shopping at Nail Polish, Etc, in Palmyra, Pa (Hi shelldoo! The goth/industrial DJ who spins in Lancaster, that's the bf). After opening my package, I early smelled all of the bottles, even the ones that were familiar to me. When I finally came to the Illustrated Woman, I cringed a bit after sniffing... the smell was overwhelmingly PINE and seemed way too strong for me. It almost seemed like it would be a better scent for my boyfriend, as I am more of a foody-BPAL girl.

 

Well, today I had a very stuffy nose, so thought I might as well try this scent since it is so overpowering and militantly resinous-- might help open the sinuses!

 

After initial application: still very piney and resinous, extremely strong patchouli throw. I felt like this is how I'd smell if I had camped in the Pine Barrens of NJ for a couple days (dirty, smoky, piney). Definitely seemed like a masculine scent.

 

Dry-down: the pine scent eventually mellowed out and some of the amber began peeking out from behind the trees.

 

Couple hours later: The vanilla and the musk develop after a while and this oil turns into a really sexy, strong, feminine scent. I received approving nuzzles and comments from my boyfriend when I returned home from work. Definitely an oil I'd wear for an evening out or to bed... or when my sinuses need clearing

 

4/5!

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

At first, I was totally prepared to love this scent in a signature fragrance all-time top five desert island kind of a way, that is, based on the description from the lab and the earlier reviews here. I LOVE woodsy-ish smells and generally agree with all the individual fragrances listed in this blend. Plus I AM an illustrated woman! Tattoos have been an immensely important part of my life, and I have been patiently waiting for what feels like FOREVER for the lab to come out with a tattoo themed fragrance. That this one is an ode to a tattooed woman is even better.

 

In the imp, I was VERY concerned about this smell and whether or not it was going to agree with me. The aroma perfectly evoked that particular strange artichoke-y smell of a steam room with a vague hint of gorgeous honeyed incense underneath that did not seem to be enough to save it from artichoke strangulation. I even put it directly into my swap pile for several days, until I was going through some old BPAL imps I hadn't smelled in a while and realized that some of the scents I had once written off as being totally gross had now really grown on me. So I decided to go ahead and try Illustrated Woman on, though I was still totally prepared for disappointment...

 

On my skin, however, the scent really blooms...the weird note from before develops into a rich woodsiness and drops nicely to the background to provide a sturdy base for the complex and rich honeyed incense to take center stage. I get mostly vanilla honey with some musk for depth, a good dose of those "indian resins" contributing a lovely swirl of exotic incense smoke, and the faintest whiff of tobacco/pine/patchouli gently pulls this blend back from the brink of becoming excessively sweet.

 

Of course, now this blend has earned it's rightful place in my top five list and on my skin. In the end, it's everything I ever hoped it would be and more. It really suits my personality and tastes quite well. Plus...I. CANNOT. STOP. SMELLING. MYSELF. NOW!! A big bottle must have for me! :love!:

[waternight]

In the bottle: Smoky resins, honey, tobacco... possibly patchouli and a hint of pine. Resiny pine.

Wet: Honeyed tobacco over smoky vanilla and thick resins. A swirl of skin musk and a hint of pine pitch. This scent glows a deep, warm amber. Unnnhhh... this is sexy, smoky, musky vanilla with just a hint of pitch. THIS IS SEX.

Dry: Yeah. Still sex. Really great sex.

[kjirstiben]

The Illustrated Woman goes on soft and incensey with a touch of pine pitch sweetness. It's very, very soft--almost faint--in its first stages and I wonder if this one is going to do a disappearing act on me.

 

After an hour or so, it's a soft incense with pine pitch, not much altered from how it smelled when I first put it on. Lovely!

 

For a few hours it continues to be soft incense with pine pitch, then vanilla emerges from the background to flesh out the scent into a low-key, lovely sweetness. It's a casual scent--something I'd imagine for a Saturday with jeans and a t-shirt. Delightful!

 

Recaplet: Casual, low-key pine, vanilla and incense.

My rating: 5 of 5 (I LOVE IT!!!)

Color Impression: Soft light tan.

[MisterShrapnel]

oh YEAH. Resinous and smoky vanilla and tobacco with a bit of patchouli, very golden like the glow from a campfire or something. The pine pitch adds a fantastic exotic and outdoorsy feeling to the whole scent, and the Illustrated Woman is so representative of the entire Carnaval line for me. This smells mysterious, well-traveled, strong and self-confident like a woman working at a traveling circus would. For the longest time I couldn't figure this one out because it's such an odd scent... There's something sultry and growl-y about it that resembles Snake Oil (they are quite similar, I think) as well. I LOVE this scent like crazy, both the name/concept and the execution, and I'd probably need to stock up on a couple extra bottles because I need this forever.

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this is perfumey musk and warm, sweet honey with some vanilla. Overall it's like a sticky-sweet, ultra musky, classic, woman's perfume. Underneath that, I can smell a hint of pine needles that reminds me of Golden Priapus.

 

On my skin, the muskiness thankfully mellows down (though it creeps back in full force in the drydown). The patchouli, resins, and tobacco all meld together to create a sweet, rich, resinous earthiness. I can pick out all of the listed notes separately, but they blend together into a great perfume. It's a bit earthy, a bit sweet, a bit ultra sexy vanilla, a bit honeyed sweetness, and a hint of pine. It has an overall feel of resins with sexy, sweet musk and vanilla on my skin.

 

In the drydown, I get a lot more of the honey note and the earthiness fades to the background. This reminds me of LUSH's Honey I Washed the Kids mixed with Givenchy's Pi cologne. Musky pine, honey, vanilla, and a hint of gritty earthiness.

 

I like The Illustrated Woman, and my boy likes this on me. He said it reminded him a bit of my Black Lace perfume, which he loves on me. I might need to get another bottle of this'n before the carnaval leaves town.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Typically the two notes I was hoping wouldn’t show dominate, the pitch pine and the patchouli, which combine, to my nose, smell like hippy toilet cleaner. Let us hope that my skin chemistry can do something with this unpromising start

 

Wet on me – The pine pitch is still the main event, but there is now a touch of vanilla

 

Dry on me – The warmth of the musk and the vanilla come through to settle into a very come hither sort of scent

 

Overall – Once I’d got over the pine I loved it, although I would have liked more from the honey and the tobacco

Edited January 30, 2009 by Ajila

[ouch!]

This is very unusual on me, it smells familiar...but I don't know where from, there's something in here that's dominant in something else!! hmm!

 

When it's wet the pine is there, and it's almost like it's a vinegary/acidic pine...not that pleasant. But when that dies away this is a very distinct smell and I could easily Pick this out in a crowd. The pine goes completely after a while thoug hand...this almost smells creamy.

 

It's resinous, and creamy. But it's not a vanillary cream. Damn!!! It's hard to describe.

 

AH HAH!!!! I've got what this reminds me of!!!!! It's the drier stages of Crawdad Dream, it's the same honey in both that I can get really strongly!! Wow...thank god for that, it was starting to drive me mad.

 

So now that I know I can get the Honey, and the resins. It's a much more beautiful perfume now, but still a bit weird for me. It's a sophisticated perfume I would say.

 

Overall it smells like honey (But it's a strange honey), resins..and it's got a sweet creamy edge. Very hard to describe.

 

 

[Tracelina]

I received a decant of Illustrated Woman from the SO, who'd read a number of reviews and decided I needed to try it. Oh how right he was! I hadn't noticed the pine note until I came back and read the reviews here--I get pine pitch in the imp and in the first couple of seconds, but then the scent becomes the most mellow, smoky, dark, dangerous, sexy, gorgeous blend ever. :love!:

 

This scent brings out the more mysterious, confident, complex, sensual side that hides itself when most people are around. It's also, incidentally, the side that would very much like to get a tattoo. I have one bottle on its way from the lab; there's a part of me that holds out a fervent hope that the CDs will become part of the General Catalog. Because I never want to run out!

 

Illustrated Woman is the standard by which all other scents are measured. I have yet to meet her match; to me, she is proof positive of Beth's genius.

 

 

[Ceri]

In the vial: Musky pine.

 

Wet: It is heavy on the smoky incense and musk. Quite earthy and there's definitely a wee bit of patchouli.

 

Dry: Resins and incense overpower everything else, I can definitely smell honey and vanilla, but they like to play peek-a-boo. Appearing and disappearing as and when they like. I am not sure I like this much resins but the honey and vanilla balance it well when they are around.

 

Overall: This dries down quite nicely, I am still not getting most of the notes I like but I know they're there. I will definitely be getting a bottle before the CD leaves town.

[magikalbrownies]

at first it reminded me of pine sol but i thought, give it a chance, Fern. SO I DID.

 

it smells deep and musky, applied with a rich pine. its a delicious complex scent because like the poster above i smelled the vanilla but didnt detect honey.

 

this is a beautiful smell, on and off. it lasts forever. ive had it on since 445pm cst and its still on going strong and gaining a fuller body.

 

i feel though at times, this smells like a masculine scent. i want to slather it all over my man and i think i'll do just that. bottle? of course. this is going on the wishlist.

[ephemera]

I'm devastated. I bought a bottle of this unsniffed because it sounded gorgeous and so very me. It smelled all right in the bottle, but I figured on my skin it would warm up and get sexy and warm and... it didn't. I wish I knew what it was doing this, but I'm going to glare at the pine pitch. This smells like cheap commercial perfume on me and even after hours it's not getting better. It's actually actively offensive on my skin.

 

I'm going to try aging it and seeing if that helps any, because this has *such* possibilities, but for now it's not working on my skin even a little bit.

[MCS4096]

Immediately on it is a lot like Hexennacht, but within a couple minutes the pine pitch completely exits (just like in Pickled Imp for me) and it becomes the smoky vanilla and spices from Snake Oil.. but slightly more musky/sweet honey.

 

I thought I was going to have to save this for "when I'm in the mood" a la Hexennacht, but I see this is a true anytime scent yay!

[asciident]

Wet: Resin...nondescript.

 

First on: Floral, strangely. I was hoping for more musk and vanilla.

 

Dry: Faded resin.