La Petite Mort

[Shahmeran]

Description: Seduction, sensuality, the Act, and the aftermath all in one. The scent of warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion, touched by the luxuriant potency of ylang ylang and myrrh.

 

In the bottle: Floral incense. I got a little worried when people said 'rose' in their reviews. But I don't smell any migrane-inducing old-lady-perfume rose in there. So if it's a rose it's a nice rose. I've never met one before...

 

On me, wet: Ok... um... incense... and... urinal tablets. No I'm not kidding. And it's not that bad a smell, just a bad association. It reminds me of the mens room without smelling like pee...

 

Drying: Someone else mentioned un-lit Nag Champa. I'm getting that too. It's not men's room anymore, thankfully. It's not stellar on me though, I was really hoping I'd like this one. Ah well.

 

After a while: Ok, I'm really starting to like this now. It reminds me of my old room, smelling of unlit incense and my old perfume (some kind of musk Boots body spray I bought ages ago). It's a little bit powdery, but I really like the incense smell. It does smell a bit like clean skin as well. I can see how that would be sexy. I never got any roses. (I'm not dissapointed )

 

(ETA description)

Edited April 19, 2007 by Shahmeran

[porcelina]

Bottle: This reminds me of O, only not gross.

Wet: There's the ylang ylang. Annnd myrrh. I ordered this before I knew how much myrrh and I hated each other.

Dry: The "skin" scent is there, and I like it. I don't like the myrhh; it tickles my nose. This would be far preferable without it. On the final drydown La Petite Mort becomes more powdery and very O-like, only it doesn't go rancid on me like that treacherous other oil. The myrrh is way mellowed out now.

Overall: It's nice. I think I'll keep it, although I don't know how much I'll wear it.

Edit: After I tested a few other scents, I came back and sniffed at this again, and I am delighted to report that after about 15 or 20 minutes it deepened into something absolutely marvelous. I love this now! It wears very close to the skin, so only someone who was really close to me could smell it... mmm. I need a big bottle of this, like, now.

[rien]

In imp: so that's what an orgasm smells like? I'll take it!

 

Wet, on skin: funk, can't figure it out, exactly. It reminded me of a quote from Rules of Attraction, Lauren describing losing her virginity at a kegger: "When I came to, he was already ----ing me, but he didn't know that I was a virgin and that it hurt. Not that badly, only a little bit of sharp pain, but not as bad as I had been taught to expect - but not exactly pleasant, either." I know, it's weird, but that line popped into my head when I put it on.

 

Drydown/Dry: Wore this for a trip to Target and spent half the time en route sniffing my arms (yes, in the store too). Got caught in a gust of wind and actually looked around to see what that awesome smell was - it was me! It's hard to describe - it smells like skin after something dirty, but in the best possible way. Sadly, it suddenly vanished at hour in, but worth reapplying. I feel like I have a secret when I'm wearing this in public.

[mspixieears]

In the vial this smells like delicate white flowers – for some reason I get the impression that they are very small flowers. Something gorgeously sweet and powdery in this once applied to skin and still drying. I do wish I could pick out exactly what the floral is, as it’s something very familiar. I get a lovely baby powder note from this and it isn’t like the usual BPAL ambery powder note I’m used to. Beautiful to wear before bed I think!

[rockchickie]

Wet: Honey and flowers. And soap. Not faded powdery soap like when a scent goes wonky but honest to goodness bar soap.

 

Dry: Ylang ylang soap and...musk? Sweetness is virtually gone and this is quite sharp. Not gross though. I'm not a fan of ylang ylang and even though it's prominent in this, it's not as...horrible as it usually is on me.

 

He liked this on me more than I did. I think it's okay but I prefer O. I will say that because of the sharpness, it's definitely much more of a sex scent than O is. And this one might be loads of fun for layering.

[starryharlequin]

When I opened this, it smelled a little like incense topped off with fruit, which made me nervous (my skin tends to pick up patchouli and throw it to the winds, strong enough to give me a headache). But this oil was lovely from the minute I put it on.

 

Kind of hard to describe...I could smell it, but it was hard to notice--it smelled a lot like my normal skin amped up. Which, uh, was the point of saying it smelled like skin, hey. It did stay close to the skin, and retained that lovely almost-me scent for a while; unfortunately after a couple of hours it turned into a pure incense-y kind of smell, which I think was the myrrh, and got a little stronger. I had to take it off at that point. I may try it again, and hope that's just a short phase. But until it turned into nothing but myrrh, oh, this oil was very nice!

[Naamah_Darling]

In the bottle this is soft, rich ylang ylang . . . like a honeyed floral. There is something ambery/vanilla here, and a hint of some mellow incense. Probably the myrrh.

 

On it is powdery, but not in a horrible, stinky way. This is a soft, sensual sort of smell, very inoffensive, balanced carefully between floral and fleshy. A lot of people are comparing this to O and to Snake Oil, and it has elements of both – the sweet, fleshy, honey scent of O, without the overwhelming dirtiness; the rich depth of Snake Oil without the cloying almond/cherry rush. But it's different enough, light enough, that even those who didn't like either scent should try this one.

 

I don't do florals, but this is divine . . . ylang ylang doesn't smell like flowers, it smells creamy and fleshy, a rich body scent that clings close and has the most inviting throw. Actually, it reminds me very strongly of a deeper but less nuanced Khajuraho. There is a definite similarity. Khajuraho is green and wet, this is golden and dry, but they share a theme.

 

The drydown is delicious honey-amber inflected with ylang ylang and super-snuggly myrrh. This reminds me of Bastet a little, too; it's the same sort of utterly desirable, sensual scent that I can't imagine anyone objecting to. Definitely one for the classics.

 

It is very powdery, though; be advised that if you dislike powdery scents intensely, this might not be for you. I, however, really like this one despite my no love for the powder. It's going to go with O, Sed Non Satiata, and Blood Kiss for ultra-sexy fleshy scents. La Petit Mort is definitely the "good girl" among them.

[PurpleHeather]

A really short review for this one, as it's late & I'm getting tired. In summary, this one was very talcy on me, almost straight away I ended up smelling like old lady perfume. Didn't wash it off, and gave it all afternoon, but it was not very me. Not strong either. A frimp from the lab, and reading the first positive reviews in this thread, I'm sad it didn't work out. Maybe my imp will find a happy home with someone else...

[enchantedblack]

La Petit Mort is my "girly girl" scent. When I first smelled this in the imp I thought of Johnson's Baby Oil; sweet and powdery. Wet on my skin it maintains that smell too with a hint of something rosey and gentle. It's not overbearing but it lets you know its there. As it dried I still smelled the roses but also other floral notes that I can't place. It's a beautiful scent and as much as it loves me, I love it back.

[cassandrakfreaq]

I really liked this in the bottle. I cant even describe the smell. on it was completely different but good. it was incensy but the sweetest incense I have ever smelled. It was a very youthful smell to me. a few hours later someone else smelled me and said it smelled like a baby. not baby powder but a baby haha so maybe me chemistry is odd.

[squintywitch]

Sweet, nice and sexy in the bottle- quite classically perfumey, I thought. Alas, went straight to baby powder on my skin, and stayed that way before fading off to nothing. Sad, because the sexy smell underneath was very nice...

 

... off to swaps!

[KikuPeach]

This is lovely, though I didn't/don't really get individual notes from it. It's a musky, mixy myrrhlike mess, and I adore it. I feel like reading Lawrence and jumping on people.

 

I can't really say more, except that the ylang-ylang is, if anything playing wallflower to the concept, which is great for me, because it can go nutso on my skin.

 

Now I don't want to work. I want to go and live up to my perfume's name.

[Magda]

It's all ylang ylang in the imp, but after a minute or so on my skin the resins start to come out. There's a hint of something sickly-sweet (ylang ylang sometimes goes sour on my skin) and I'll have to wait it out to see if it will overwhelm the blend or mellow down.

 

Thankfully, it mellows down and it's a sexy, resinous scent, more sweet than dry, but not overly so. I get an immediate body response to it (in a very good way), I think because it smells like this fantastic honey powder that I've quite enjoyed, um, licking off of people. It's that powdery honey scent over a base of resins and musk and, um...yeah. I should maybe stop smelling my arm, now. Only I can't, and I kind of want to lick it, and I haven't had a date in a really long time...

 

Ahem. Sorry. This is a wonderful scent. I like it a lot.

[Rovylern]

This did not start off well. It was intensely floral and soapy for the first half hour, and I was ready to write it off completely. After about half an hour, though, it faded to a very spicy, subtle floral that was lovely. Unfortunately, it was completely gone within two hours after the morph so it really isn't worth the flowery soap phase for me.

[CausticFacade]

In the bottle it did smell sort of...floral-y, and I was worried about it getting that 'old lady' smell with me. Instead I smell NO flowers, but baby powder.

 

Yes I officially smell like baby powder, I have confirmed it with at least three males (two of my nephews and my mom's boyfriend) and a few women (my mom, sister and sister's friends)

[Pottersville]

Baby powder. Nothing but baby powder. And I hate baby powder.

[CrazyPretzel]

In the imp: hello, O!

 

Wet on me: Still really very much like O. A little bit darker, stickier, more cloying.

 

After a few minutes: This has become quite pleasant; still sweet like O but more powdery (ylang ylang) and with a deep honey scent.

 

Drydown: Dark honey and powdery ylang ylang.

 

If you really hate powder then clearly this is not the scent for you. It's sweet, musky, and sexy; to me the powdery sweetness of the ylang ylang keeps it from smelling too smutty. A delicious skin scent.

 

ETA: As time passes I keep liking this one more and more -- super-sexy lickable powder; I think comparisons to honey powder are spot-on!

Edited August 30, 2007 by Baitu

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: A little sweet, I can definitely pick up the myrrh, and just very clean.

 

First on: Powder! There's a lot of myrrh, and probably some amber that's producing the powdery scent. Is that honey? It smells like a baby powder with a small hint of honey added in.

 

Drydown: It's all baby powder on me now, I can't even discern the resins. An incredibly strong baby powder.

 

Overall: Um, no. Call me crazy, I don't want to smell like baby.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

This one is so sexy. I totally get the "warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion" from this...amazing! It is slightly powdery at first, but it is that way in the most uber sexy way imaginable, I think. After a few minutes the powder disappears on me and the notes become more clear and less fuzzy around the edges. I smell honey and ylang ylang...I can detect the myrrh in there just barely, giving this blend some heat. This is a soft sensual second skin scent that is pure sex. I love this one!

Edited November 11, 2007 by TheOneTheyCallLuna

[Jocelyn]

I was hoping this could work as a sort of replacement for my wonderfully aged, almost empty imp of O. However, it appears I will just have to get a bottle of O and wait for it to turn beautiful, because La Petite Mort just smells clean on me, there is a hint of musk and it's a nice second skin scent, but it doesn't yell " SEX" at me like O does.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

impsniff: yeah, it does smell like O, doesn't it?

on skin: O with children's liquid Tylenol/fake sickly cherry.

 

'scuse me. must go scrub this off.

[amyw]

Mmm! This smells much more like O than Snake Oil on me, but it's O with another added dimension, perhaps the myrrh. For once the ylang ylang is behaving on me, since in other blends it's gone soapy. I like this! I thought I wouldn't because of the ylang ylang, but I definitely do.

[mazikeen]

I recieved this imp free from a swap (thank you thank you! Very considerate of you.) I like the name and the idea of this scent, but alas...

 

At first, it is overly floral for my tastes. Then it settles into baby powder. There's also a slight lemon-iness and whiff of popcorn similar to Vampire Tears, although here it's slight, whereas with VT it is turned up to 11.

 

It's not really for me. I might give it another chance. If it still doesn't work on me, I'll try it in an oil burner. It seems like an appropriate scent for the house when doing some spring cleaning.

 

 

Added--

 

After settling in, that lemony/popcorny scent disappeared entirely (thankfully) and it lingers on hours later as a floral that seems grounded with something spicy or earthy. I still don't need a bottle by any means, but the imp may come in handy when I want something feminine-but-not-girly.

Edited January 6, 2008 by mazikeen

[persephanise]

I'm actually really surprised at how much I like this one.

 

It reminds me of aperfume called Alessandro, which is really pretty but at $155 a bottle not something I particularly have to have. This smells enough like it that I don't even need to consider buying it.

 

In the imp it smelled a lot like O (which I already own) but on my skin some cherry comes out (it smells like cherry to me; I have no idea what note it really is) and it softens into this sweet baby powder.

 

It's not a sexy scent at all. It smells like soft, mature, sweet baby powder. It's probably not something I will want to smell like frequently (I'm a Mouse's Long and Sad Tale addict) but I can certainly see time when I will wnat to wear this.

 

I don't know if I will purchase a bottle but I will keep this imp and maybe even acquire another. I really like this.

[alicia_stardust]

Skin musk smells very sexual and honey-like to me. It wears close to my skin and has a nice, sultry sweetness to it. Beyond that, the myrrh adds a dark but feminine resin background and the ylang ylang sort of brightens and accentuates the skin musk so again, it goes back full-circle to that honey-sweetness.