New Orleans

[jidabug]

Reminiscent of hothouse blooms on a humid night, ripe, but touched with decay. Sweet honeysuckle and jasmine with a hint of lemon and spice.

Jasmine and honeysuckle are very potent. So much so, I'm not getting anything else. After a while, it's still a very strong floral, with lemony bits underneath it. It came on a bit too strong, but then faded very quickly. Not bad, just not the floral I'm looking for.

[anomie]

I only tried this once. It reminded me of a late August day in a friend's garden; hot, muggy, overpoweringly sticky. Something about the way the florals blend just made me want to go shower - or maybe it was that "hint of decay". So, despite loving jasmine in any form, I sent this along to a friend who loves the city.

[draconix]

In the bottle: Whew! That is strong... and it doesn't help that I flicked myself in the face with it either. Very flowery, it smells exactly like this kid's perfume my grandmother bought me when I was 11 (when she was still under the illusion that I could be turned into a girly-girl). I definitely smell the jasmine, but so much so that it's pretty overpowering, and the lemon... but just barely. I'm really hoping it isn't this strong on my skin, or I'll be knocking people out as I walk by!

 

On my skin: Wet, there's much more lemon smell, still the same amount of jasmine though. Those two are making it hard to smell anything else going on. Dry, it's MUCH better. Still very strong, but I can smell more of the spicyness that I wasn't before and the jasmine/lemon combo isn't nearly as overpowering. After drying for a few minutes, it's more subtle, but not as much as I'd like it to be. I'm liking it more as time passes.

 

Final Thoughts: Opening this one up, I didn't like it one bit. Way too strong for me. On, it's not as bad though and if I only use a little bit of it then it won't be an issue. Very flowery though, I can only smell the spices when I get close. Not sure I like the flowery smell, it's bad (actually, it's very pretty and works well with my skin chemistry), but it's not really me. I could see me wearing it to something a little more formal though.

[kourika]

For whatever reason I got no florals at all from New Orleans, just the sense of decay. It wasn't the worst blend for my skin chemistry, but it was like trying to wear a shoe that was a size too large or too small. The basic design isn't bad, just not for me.

[lysistrata]

In the vial: Jasmine, my old nemesis, we meet again. This time with something dry, the spices perhaps, that reminds me of Renaissance Faire.

 

On me, wet: There's the lemon, but it smells as if it's been cooked. The cooked, limp, slightly rancid lemon in canned lemonade, mingling with that sweet n' cloying jasmine smell, which, with the spices, remind me of the New Age bookstore I frequented in high school.

 

On me, dry: Now the spices come into the foreground, and the jasmine cools down into something almost aquatic. That's kind of morbid, considering recent developments in the city in question. I bet this is the honeysuckle. I wish I could smell more lemon.

 

Verdict: Evocative of my youth as this is, I don't think this is something I could wear. It's too strong, and too much with the jasmine.

[Voleuse]

This is a super-sultry, super-floral blend. The honeysuckle and jasmine are drooping and sweet, and I can almost feel the humidity against my skin. After a bit, I can smell the lemon, though I can't identify any individual spices. Lovely and evocative.

[sarahmarie]

Sweet, hot, wet florals. It's definitely exactly as described - there's a hint of decay to that heat and moisture, as there always is in those kinds of conditions. It's the sort of floral I like, but I don't know that it's me. It reminded two of the 3 people I was with of their grandmothers, and I guess that's part of it - but I think it's also potentially very sexy, depending on the person and environment.

 

So, New Orleans = sexy grandmothers. Or not. Oh dear.

[eviltemptressdq]

oh jasmine! Jasmine and I are old friends, and at first New Orleans really just smells like any other BPAL with Jasmine in it on my skin. Like, well, JASMINE. hehe. I like jasmine, and it REALLY likes me (aka: takes over).

 

Over time, though, the honeysuckle (my fave) comes through... So I like this one a bit more than some of my other jasmine scents!

 

I don't smell lemon in this at ALL. Again, my skin just loves it some jasmine. LOL.

[nerdcraft]

in the vial:

All jasmine, all the time.

wet:

Not quite as overwhelmingly jasmine-y, although that's the dominant note on me for sure. The spices are coming through a bit. Sad to say, it has a slightly...dank, burnt-plastic smell on me. Honeysuckle? Lemon? Where have you gone?

 

dry:

Well....hm. I think my skin is amping the "decay" part of this blend, because it really smells pretty dank and un-lovely on me, even after it dries. For a few minutes, it even smells reminiscent of burnt oatmeal! (sorry! I feel so bad saying that! it's just my weird skin! really!)

 

season: Summer.

office-friendly? Kind of heady, so I'm not sure.

 

overall:

I wanted to like this one, but it just did not work with me at all. The head-ache inducing jasmine plus whatever note is providing the lovely decayed plastic scent on my skin have sent this one to swaps. The concept is great though, and I think this would be beautiful on the right person.

[filigree_shadow]

Woah! Nostril-curling floral. Sickly sweet heady flowers with some kind of camphor-like scent underneath it. Phew. No, this isn't going to work for me.

[Galatea]

In the Imp: Uber flowery, with just the smallest hint of something dying, moldering. Not unlike Magnolias past their full bloom. Must be the jasmine, it tends to smell this way to me more often than not.

 

Wet: Very flowery still; it swings between light and airy flowers and deep dark chest-crushingly sweet flowers. It also has the old and green thing going on. Old trees? Old money? Just plain old?

 

Dry: The honeysuckle and jasmine blend properly and reign supreme. I really don't smell the lemon or spice at all.

 

Throw: Not terribly much throw, surprisingly enough. The scent stays very close to my body, but when you do smell it - Whoosh! Smack! Thud! Flowers!

 

Overall: I really didn't expect to like this one as much as I do. But I am a pretty bug fan of honeysuckle*, it's just uncommon for a perfume to get honeysuckle right or for it to smell right on me.

 

 

________________________________________

*My wedding was bathed in honeysuckle; it was growing all along one fence in the yard my wedding was held in. So it and the smell of it's flowers hold a special place in my life.

[edenssixthday]

New Orleans - WOWEE ZOWEE!!! This should be called "The Jasmine Effect" or something along those lines. To my nose, it's all jasmine and nothing but jasmine, and an overpowering, heavy-floral, heady, and very strong jasmine at that. The first time I "used" it was when I opened the imp to sniff, and it spilled ALL OVER my fingers. I smelled jasmine for hours and hours and hours afterward -- it would not wash off. I tried a much more "normal" application a few weeks later, but had similar results. I love the soft scent of jasmine as it wafts in my windows, and have purchased jasmine-scented oils in the past that I love, but this is like jasmine on heavy-duty steroids. Nothing soft or pretty about it at all. I'm not sure why they named this scent "New Orleans," either. I'm from New Orleans (well, I was once from New Orleans...) and this smells nothing like New Orleans. If I were making a scent called New Orleans, it would be full of sweet fruity rum, Spanish Moss, bougainvillea, a touch of beignet with sweet powdered sugar, and maybe even a smidget of chicory coffee and sweet cream. My initial reaction was that this is atrocious, but the more I thought about it, the more I realize while the jasmine is overpoweringly strong, some people might like that kind of heavy floral, and well, it's got the most lasting power out of any BPAL scent I've tried so far, so I’m sure people who don’t mind jasmine would love it, even though I don't intend to ever touch it again.

[purrbox]

speaking as former resident of new orleans (transplanted to the midwest) i was hesitant to try the scent named after my beloved home town for fear i would be disappointed. but i was actually pleasantly surprised at how well this scent conjures up nola. smells like new orleans allright. like jasmine and magnolia blossoms with a slight undertone of river. when the air is so stifling the flowers/trees are just heady- almost foetid. it's making me homesick, but this is definately a winner.

[euterpe414]

I got this as a frimp with my latest order, and was pretty excited to try it. It smelled like a humid floral blend in the vial, the citrus was definetely present. Surprisingly enough, all of the notes when it hit my skin were there. It was almost like I could pick them out individually.

 

BUT...even though the notes were balanced, the jasmine made this entirely too cloying for my taste. Jasmine has done this in the past, I should have known! Ah well, at least I tried it!

[Tess]

...why did I want to try this one? The notes sound so incredibly floral. Well, I suppose it can't hurt to try.

 

In the vial - All the listed notes are right there, although it's more spiced jasmine than anything.

 

Wet - Huh, I don't think I like the lemon with the florals in this. Or with the spice for that matter.

 

Drying - Whoo, do the jasmine dance! It's not as strong as it normally is on my skin, not yet anyway, but it's the strongest note of the bunch. In fact, that's almost all I can smell. There's a touch of the spice and lemon and a breath of honeysuckle, but it's almost all jasmine to me.

 

Dry (15 minutes) - Crazy throw, this. And it's all spiced jasmine. ALL.

 

Overall - Why did I even think I could wear something with jasmine...? The lemon is so subtle that it gets overpowered. It's pretty much spiced jasmine from start to finish and I just don't like it.

[evilbee]

I received this as a freebie with my order. I never would have ordered, and I won't be wearing it again, but I was honoured to try it as it's a fascinating blend.

 

I adored the combination of lemon and spice, always in the background. However the honeysuckle strangled it, heavy and cloying. I'd love to find that lemon & spice hanging out with someone other than honeysuckle though, because they'd be cool friends to have.

[Jocelyn]

I was looking for something to mimic the scent of blooming honeysuckle out in my yard, so I was going for hot and cloying.

When I put it on unfortunately, all I get is jasmine with more than a hint of decay. Im getting no lemon or spice. Smells kinda too strong and old lady like.

[Melantha]

Very nice, but fades quickly, which disappoints me no end, since I expected to love this, and wanted it to last.

[lilfaerywingz]

Wow! This was a dead on New Orleans smell.

 

In the Bottle: I only can smell jasmine. VERY STRONG jasmine.

Wet: I smell the jasmine but it smells more like wilting jasmine (a little bit old flowers) and a tinge of the honeysuckle.

Dry: dries down to a softer jasmine and I finally smell some of the spices in it but can't figure out what kind of spice is in it.

[silver_dollar]

In the imp: Jasmine, ugh.

 

On my skin: Spicy jasmine! Much nicer than in the imp. I usually hate jasmine, but this is actually very nice. A tiny bit of honeysuckle under that. No lemon. I don't think lemon shows up on me very well - I don't get any in Dorian either. That's fine with me. Seems like the same spice as in Bengal, probably ginger. It's very heady, exotic and a little overripe, just how I prefer florals.

 

As it dries down more, the honeysuckle slowly overtakes the jasmine and ginger. God, I love honeysuckle, and this lasts for hours. After a while it smells like honeysuckle candy instead of the actual flower.

 

One of my faves!

Edited August 5, 2006 by silver_dollar

[lookingglass]

Not as dark as I expected. This is a very yellow scent, like Eos. Heavy on the jasmine. The faintest touch of lemon and spice in the topnote, but it is mostly jasmine on me.

 

I am doomed in my search for the perfect honeysuckle scent...

[sofiaviolet]

This is a warm, sticky, white floral. Very heavy and strong. It's the kind of scent one might associate with, say, St. Charles Avenue and other affluent areas of the city.

[neuilly]

Strongly floral. I'm honestly unable to tell if it's jasmine or honeysuckle...I would assume it's both. There is a very slight hint of spices in the background. And an extra note that I can't place that I don't find very pleasant...like decayed wood or something odd like that. Probably just my odd chemistry!

[dierne]

In the imp - Rainwashed sweet flowers.

 

Wet on skin - There's a disturbing "SOAP!" thing happening. Very chemical difficult to spot anything else.

 

Dry on skin - The soapy issue is still there but it's faint and now I can just about find the jasmine. Though I can smell Jasmine more strongly as I type and soap is only noticable when I stick my nose in it.

 

Later - Yes it's jasmine, warmed with honeysuckle and lifted with a hint of citrus but my nose is still finding soap I have a bad feeling it's the Jasmine that my nose doesn't like ...

[sapnak]

The description is very accurate - it smells like strong-scented flowers blooming in the South, but just a bit past their prime. There is a slight swampy smell too, which evokes memories of Louisiana. This isn't a scent I'd wear every day, but it is interesting.