Harlot

[MidgetCoconut]

Based on a Romany incense blend reputed to induce sexual dreams: Somalian rose, Moroccan rose and Bulgar rose with a sultry dribble of cinnamon.

On me this is a heady rose scent lightly kissed with cinnamon. A lovely scent but it can be a bit overwhelming on me if I go a bit overboard with the initial application. :-P

[supremegoddessofall]

Cinnamon and roses should be an interesting combination. *sniff* A good combination. I'm getting the cinnamon on top and the roses underneath. Very rich, somewhat Christmasy.

[Cariad]

Perfectly blended. The whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Roses and cinnamon are two of my favourite scents, and I knew this was going to be a delectable creation, but somehow this manages to smell so much better than I had even dreamed - hot, sultry, soft, sweet, very inviting...

 

and then, 5 mins after it touches my skin, it disappears in a puff of smoke

oh well - I might use the rest of the imp on my pillows, see if it really does induce sexual dreams

[luna65]

Thanks to Ah Xia for the imp.

 

Imp: The cinnamon is seemingly more prevalent than the roses.

 

Skin: The rose layer is sweet, the cinnamon hot.

 

Drydown: This is reminiscent of Othello to me, that sense of a spicy rose, although overall this is much sweeter and I can see why it would be considered a love potion of sorts.

Edited November 14, 2006 by luna65

[talula_fairie]

I hate rose scents, so I never did try this on my skin...BUT, if you love roses, you're going to LOVE this perfume. It did seem to be very well blended and lovely for the floral/rose scent fans.

[Spastik_Kitty]

Shall I brave it? Jeebus, the things I do to give a review. O_o Please note, I abhor most rose scents and traditionally they turn to much ass on my skin.

 

In the imp: Yup, thats rose. More like rosewater than a rose scent.

 

First on: Rosewater and wax.

 

After a bit: Hmm, remaining like a good rose scented candle.

 

A bit more: No cinnamon, I wanted cinnamon, now it smells like a cheap scented candle.. and I guess this is what I might imagine a harlot to smell like.

 

Must wash off!!!

[sofiaviolet]

I neither smell nor feel much cinnamon. Yay for that. The roses are lovely, and just this side of "so powdery they aggravate my allergies."

[Browneyes]

I didn't get any cinnamon either... too bad. But I love rose, so I'm ok with it

I was a teeny bit worried that the cinnamon would react on my skin, because I'm quite sensitive - But no need for me to worry about that.

 

I wonder if it would be too risky to attempt to blend a bit of essential cinnamon oil in it myself... maybe that is a bit risky if I do it directly in the bottle... maybe I could try that in a lotion though.

 

It's not very long lasting on me.

[jasmine]

Extremely high-pitched in first application. I expected something sultry and crimson. This isn’t red; this is hot screaming magenta, a blaze of fierce, false color. Something in the upper range strikes me as painfully fake-smelling... like there’s a floral with a side chopped off it instead of coming through true. This really does not smell like true rose. Ugh.

 

The longer this lasts, the less real it becomes. It’s like a spritz of air freshener. This is a serious miss on my skin. As time passes, it eventually becomes a pale pink rose... but I pass on pastels. It’s really not for me.

[VorpalBunny]

It's funny, because I don't really get a rose scent from Harlot on me. Just a fresh clean floral with a faintest hint of cinnamon. It's very light and pretty, I actually like it a lot for a lighter scent.

 

There's something ironic about Harlot smelling fresh and clean....

[brownbear]

Usually I really like rose, but there is something off in this one. I didn't even realize there was rose in it at first. I get cinnamon bears over something off. Something a tiny bit rancid. After a while, the rose starts coming out a little to fight with the cinnamon bears. I'm surprised that the cinnamon is winning. Usually the rose beats out every other note on me. I just can't wear this.

[Kittenish]

In the bottle: ROSE. Not "rose". A very loud, very wet, rose. Eep.

 

On: Roses and cinnamon hearts! Too much of a sniff of this makes my nose wrinkle a bit, but just some errant wafts are kind of nice.

 

Red velvet comes to mind, a deep red lipstick and a flirtatious smirk while sipping from a glass of red wine. I'm not sure it's me, but I still kinda like it.

[ForeverLastcXs]

Smells exactly how it's described: the perfect combination of sweet, subtle rose with just the right amount of spicy cinnamon. It manages to somehow be pretty and extremely sexual at the same time. I put it on before bed last night, but unfortunately I didn't have any obvious sexual dreams. Then again, I had been drinking so that could have had something to do with it.

Edited February 11, 2007 by ForeverLastcXs

[bombus]

This is a very sexy rose. The slight cinnamon in the background gives the rose some spice. Yum I like this one a lot, I see a big bottle of this in my future.

[The_Merf]

*cries* Stupid frickin' roses...I mean, I guess I sort of knew what I was getting into when I tried a blend that had three types of roses in it, but the note list also said cinnamon! I don't get any cinnamon at all; this is strictly roses, and they are white or pink ones, not deep red ones.

[mspixieears]

Rose with a hint of cinnamon. Thanks to a very generous lady, I was able to compare two samples of this two years apart in age and the older was sweeter, more mellow and the cinnamon had calmed down and wasn't quite piquant thankfully. In the younger sample, the cinnamon has a while to go before settling down. If you don't like rose straight as many people don't, this is well worth trying. It's very sexy!

[filigree_shadow]

On me this is a very soapy rose with cinnamon.

 

To be fair, roses don't usually work on me, so this isn't a big surprise. It's a litlte bit smoky, but the smokiness doesn't overcome the soapiness.

[forspecial_plate]

I grabbed this at random from my 'imps to try' box, and thought it appropriate since Rose Moon is coming up so soon.

 

I found Harlot to be a very dry rose scent. It reminded me of dried rose petals in the harlot's jewelry box. The cinnamon is just a hint for me. Over 4 hours later, there is still a faint woody note left on my skin, still very dry. I can't say that it reminded me so much of incense, but more of woody dry rose. I do like woods but this has too much of a 'dusty' feel to it for me to enjoy. I didn't find it really powdery or soapy though, so that's good.

[rien]

In imp: indeed! The roses are beautiful, could only smell "something else" which must be the cinnamon - I like that it's subtle enough you can't tell exactly what the other note is. I hope hope hope this works, the rose is delish!

 

Wet, on skin: oh god, the roses, the roses. mmmmm.

 

Drydown: they become kind of powdery, which makes me feel clean and womanly and everything good about a nice spring day. Not like a harlot at all, hee! I love this.

 

Dry: soft and sweet, still feeling pretty. Love.

[emerald_ibis]

I agree with the person who said that this was a magenta sort of scent. I, too, was expecting something very rich and somewhat spicy. I was mistaken. It is exactly what the description promises: rose, rose, and more rose. I don't get even a hint of cinnamon, which is disappointing to me. I LOVE cinnamon, and have previously been ambivalent about rose. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to go play in the no-rose camp...this doesn't suit me even a little bit. It's not a bad scent at all. I'm sure that anyone who can wear roses would love this. It's not even that it's bad on me. It's a pretty (if somewhat soapy) scent, but i just don't care to wear it. *shrugs, wanders into the no-rose playground*

[crimescenecleanup]

first impression:

 

Oh, wow.

 

 

 

I need a minute.

 

maybe five minutes.

 

and a cigarette.

 

wait a second, I don't even smoke...

 

What a beautiful, sexy, incredible scent.

 

Going on and out of the bottle, it's all clean, fresh rain spattered roses. I'm not a big fan of rose scents, but this one is just lovely, like a real, living rose fresh picked from the garden. The cinnamon balances the rose nicely, just giving it a little bit of depth and sultriness.

 

How does th BPAL crowd do that? This is a completely different rose from the others I've tried. Just amazing.

 

It would be a perfect scent to wear out dancing, I think.

 

I was so excited when I put this on, because I haven't really fallen in love with any of the imps from my first order, and it seemed like I'd found a definite keeper.

 

But ten minutes later it was all baby powder on me. I tried putting it in my hair and got the same effect. Goshdarnit. I'll have to find another use for this one. Maybe I'll put some in a diffuser and hope it brings me sweet dreams.

Edited January 10, 2008 by crimescenecleanup

[modernsaints]

For some reason I got this, and then realized a few days after that that rose went horrible powdery on me. The cinnamon never even had a chance here; rose lovers will ADORE THIS TO PIECES, but sadly, I am not one!

 

In the imp though it was pretty nice. Just a hint of spice, enough to make you want more, and to huff it.

[Trish]

In the imp: Argh rose!!!

 

Wet: Rose, rose and more rose.

 

Drydown: There's a tiny touch of cinnamon in this which I love, but it's still all rose otherwise. I fear this will be washed off quite soon especially if the rose amps up on me as it often does.

 

Dry: Actually for rose this is ok as the cinnamon is making it far more interesting. But it would need a lot more cinnamon for me to even consider wearing it. Even as I type the cinnmon is disappearing and the rose is getting stronger by the second.

 

This would be lovely for a rose fan but I am most definitely not.

[303marlena]

Purchased a 5 ml of this, taking a chance and I am glad that I did. I smelled first and then read other reviews, because I don't trust my nose just yet at picking out the individual notes.

 

Wet, in the bottle, my impression was of wet roses, you know when you get them as a bouquet or smell them still wet? I did not detect any cinnamon, which is interesting as I found most of the reviewers previous to my post either detected a predominance of roses or cinnamon and it seemed to be pretty equally split. I wonder if this bottle has aged a bit, which I read in another review will dampen the odor of the cinnamon a bit.

 

Wet on the wrist: Still roses and I can barely detect a citrus type note, I thought was lemon but read later was citronella. Still no cinnamon or spice. If you put your nose to the rose bud and smell, this is what it smells like. Its warm thought, not cool as roses usually are when dry, maybe thats the cinnamon or the citrus note blending.

 

Dry down: Dry roses. The way they smell on the bush with the sun shining on them and warm air wafting the scent to your nose. Not soapy or powdery at all for me. I like roses a lot and this was a beautiful scent. Wearing it made me feel pretty and sexy, but not an in your face way, more like the librarian who can get wild if the right person and circumstances permit...

 

Overall impression: If you like roses, this was very, very good. The rose notes predominated for me throughout. If your bottle has too much cinnamon note, let it age a bit. Although, it was not very complex, it was sexy and sweet in an understated way. The roses were beautiful and there was medium throw and short to medium wearlength. I think it would be better layered, I am going to try and find an imp with more "spice" in it to mix...

[ceiswyn]

In the bottle: Aaaaah. An initial very strong, sweet rose is followed by a sudden cinnamon rush. I could eat this.

 

On the wrist: The scent doesn't seem quite as strong as I expected, and it's changeable. Sometimes I think it's all rose, sometimes it's strongly cinnamon. Gradually it settles into a slightly odd fusion of the two; more greenery than flowery, and still surprisingly faint.

 

One hour later: I've been catching occasional whiffs of cinnamon and rose. It smells very edible, but faint, faint. Too faint, I think, for me. Which is a pity, because once you get your nose close enough, it's lovely...