Siren

[skepticism]

Bewitching, tantalizing and dangerously seductive. A thrilling, exotic blend -- deceptively sweet, but spiked with malice. White ginger, jasmine, and a touch of vanilla and apricot.

Yikes. This smells like a gingerbread cookie factory during rush hour on me. If you like spicy, foody vanilla, then this could be a blend you like. I actually think this is fun to smell, but I will never wear foody scents. I think what makes this tolerable as a sniffie is the ginger. It adds some spice that's definitely needed to tone down the vanilla. I also think the jasmine note underneath makes this scent very very weird, like it shouldn't be there. *shrug* Not something for me.

[aquazoo]

Hot and spicy! A nice floral with an edge to it. Even once it mellows down, the heat and spice still creeps up the nose. It's very nice!

[angelicruin]

Very strong ginger note in imp & wet on skin. As it dries, I can detect more floral, but I never caught the vanilla note.

[madeleine]

I was really indifferent about this until about half an hour in. It started out very evocative, but not particularly attractive on me. There was plenty of chilly danger and malice (the ginger seemed quite cold, plus there was a very very faint cigarette smell) but it wasn't really...something I wanted to smell. However, after a while it warmed up a lot. There's still an edge, but it's a hot edge. I only get the barest whiff of vanilla, but the apricot, ginger, and jasmine combine very nicely. Exotic is exactly the word I'd use. I actually like this a lot, now.

[loladae]

So good. This one grew on me. It's definitely unique, but not unwearable. It's bright and dark at the same time. I feel like the base note is this coconut tai soup I love, but I think that could be the white ginger. Anyway, I wouldn't have guessed it would smell this ay from the notes but, I also don't know what white ginger smells like.

[voodoocatwoman]

Siren started out very jasmine-ginger. When it dried, the vanilla came out and pretty much stomped everything else. I smell like vanilla. Generic vanilla. Pleasant but non-descript.

[Iceblink]

Sweet vanilla-y ginger--smells like cookies! Unfortunately the jasmine is picking up power as it dries and making it less foody. This might be a good thing if you love jasmine, though. Spicy and rich.

[stillalive]

hm. alright... slightly foody. I think my brother is going to adore this one. It makes me think of ginger apricot tea (not gingerbread), which was never my favorite. Ah well. my brother has been *dying* to try this one.

[crebbsgirl]

Jasmine and I do not get along, and now apparently, apricot and I are having a tiff. This started out nicely vanilla and white ginger. Sweet with a little spice. As it dried, the apricot and jasmine started duking it out for supremacy. Neither won, and this blend became sickly sweet, with a fruity overtone. There was a bit of a rotting vibe on my skin. I had to get rid of it.

[milica]

when first applied, I get mostly ginger and jasmine, and just a bit of vanila and some fruit. but that goes away quickly and leaves me with gingery jasmine. I guess white ginger is a bit lighter than usual ginger, a bit woody. Jasmine likes me, and in this scent it's not overwhelming, it plays nicely with ginger. Very spicy floral, I like it enough to keep the imp.

[Andrea912]

Imp: Gag; jasmine overpowers the imp and the white ginger makes it spicy; no vanilla or apricot

 

Wet: it's even worse on; the ginger and jasmine just explode; I can taste it in my throat...

 

Dry: no vanilla or apricot; ginger and jasmine so strong...very bad combo on my skin...smells acrid...must wash

Edited December 19, 2008 by Andrea912

[Banyangirl]

In the imp: Ick. This may not be good. Everything is kind of mushed together and doesn't have room to breathe.

 

Wet: Okay, okay, patience. It calms down after a few minutes, although when it's really wet it's just stinky and sharp.

 

Dry: After about five minutes, it calms down and opens up. Whew! Sharp and sweet and very different. The apricot and ginger are coming out in the forefront, but when I waft it, I get a very nice scent, mostly jasmine mixed with ginger and a touch of vanilla. It's slightly coconutty, but that's a good thing. Overall, as this sits on my arm, after about an hour, the ginger and apricot are foremost, but I feel like there's a soft jasmine/vanilla aura around me.

 

Verdict: 5/5. I'm definitely getting a 5 ml of this, if not a big bottle. Wonderful! Its very sultry and feminine without being floral or girlish. Definitely Siren-ish!

[CynicalPink]

Disclaimer: I've tried this once before and was so taken aback I washed it off after only seconds. I got another imp of it from the lab, so I'm gonna take that as a sign that I should give it it's due. Greek mythology nerd that I am, here goes

 

Imp: Yep. There's the root-beer from hell I remember...

 

Wet: Not root beer. White birch beer. I had the stuff all the time when I went to school in central Pennsylvania. Nowhere near as bad as I remember.

 

Drydown: Still birch beer

 

Overall: Eh. It's not the demon scent I remembered, but it's not really my style. Interesting though. Not sure I'd call it foody, or spicy, or anything else. It just smells like Siren.

[femmefatale]

This started off as a spicy, something foody jasmine scent. Very strange. As it dried though it became a bit sharp and soapy. I don't think I like this.

[ljaylh]

Siren has the unfortunate honour of being only the second ever BPAL I've had to wash off my skin. Jasmine, you smell so pretty in my garden but you're a foul beast of evil stench on my skin.

 

I put a dab of Siren on, took a big whiff, and nearly keeled over. Mmmm... the lovely aroma of poopy baby's nappy. Nice!

 

So then I walk over to my friend and slap some on her arm, and take a big whiff. Mmmm.. the lovely aroma of spicy vanilla and apricots. She's there inhaling her arm in a dreamy state making squee noises - it smelt fantastic on her.

 

Then I say to my friend "smell my arm" and I wish I had taken a photo of her face at that exact moment when her nose got close to my skin.. yup, there it was - right in her face - poopy baby's nappy. She was amazed that it could smell so nice on her but so foul on me. So unfortunately, there will be no further applications of Siren to my skin. But my friend now has her very first BPAL imp

 

Edited March 6, 2009 by sunshinedaisybliss

[simpsonmeredith]

Wet: Sharp orange spiked with spicy ginger. I'm talking Wusthof knife sharp here. And is that...a minty patchouli?

 

Dry: It's a morpher and it's beautiful! It's a creamy orange blossom with sugared ginger. I don't smell vanilla specifically but it must be causing the creaminess. The ginger is very light and clean. CleaIt's literally naughty and nice.

 

This just gets better and better. Can't keep my wrist away from my nose. *nuzzles self* This is going to get a lot of love from me this summer.

 

This is seductive. Total sex kitten.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Mmmmmm, yummy. Not strictly foody, though it has a bakery element that is made wearable by some of the subdued floral elements. The apricot and vanilla are so delicious here, and the white ginger adds a bright splash of zing. I really like this, so much so that I kind of can't believe that it's actually GC! I'll definitely be getting more!

 

[Pottersville]

A random imp pulled from the shoe box o doooooom .... I NEVER would have guessed the notes correctly! In the vial and on the skin, Siren has a weirdly unpleasant odor. It's a cross between BO and cheap candle wax - very dry and not the least bit sweet. If there's ginger in here, it's the dried kind and has been sitting at the back of the shelf for a few years. It's the antithesis of creamy and there are no signs of any fruit or vanilla. Yech!

[catattack]

Imp: Earthy and medicinal

Wet: Woody and medicinal

Drydown: I can smell the jasmine, but it's actually being smothered by the other notes, which is surprising. The drydown is a little better than the wet stage.

Overall: This is a thick, heavy scent on me. It's too heavy and suffocating. The notes are not working well on my skin at all.

 

[faerywolfe]

This one should have been lovely given the notes, but it's become my second most hated oil, unfortunately (nothing under the sun can best, or rather worst, White Rabbit).

 

When I first opened the unassuming lil imp, I recoiled. Someone mentioned rootbeer from hell, and I'm inclined to agree. It was sharp and acrid and fairly unpleasant, but I determined to test it anyways. (Some of my favorite oils have smelled terrible in the imp/bottle, so I try to always do a skin test.)

 

On my hand, and I hesitate to put it this way, it smelled like death. It was bitter and nasty and I didn't smell anything at all akin to vanilla or spice or even flowers. I love spicy ginger notes, and practically pour on my Shub Niggurath, but I'm almost positive the problem here was the white ginger. And possibly the apricot. I didn't smell fruit at all, but this may have been the root of the sour and rotting notes I was smelling. I just wasn't able to let it sit and see if it got better over time. This one was scrubbed off within a few minutes of putting it on.

 

Why couldn't this be the sexy yummy goodness so many others have reviewed and loved?

[doodlehum]

There's something about all the BPAL jasmine except for night-blooming jasmine that turns everything stinky on my skin, usually dirty socks stinky. Combined with the super-aggressive ginger, Siren on my skin smells like the cleaning spray that Satan uses to wipe down his kitchen counters. That said, this oil is my miracle migraine cure. As long as this little smelly is sitting in my oil burner, I feel no pain. So, perfume? No.

Aromatherapy? Yes.

My bottle of Siren sits with my vitamins and meds, not with the rest of the BPALs.

[Violaine]

In the imp: This is not something I'd ever even really try on had I not read the description and reviews first. I ordered this imp straight from the lab, so there must have been a reason for my madness, yes?

 

Wet on skin: Yes. I smell like the bath fizzy section at Lush. The ginger is predominant and it tingles your nose. It almost clears my head in a very effervescent way.

Dry on skin: More of the same. I'm liking it quite a bit. There's a creaminess underneath, and a heat as well.

 

And as weird as this sounds, it almost makes my mouth water! There's almost a.... a salty note that makes me want to lick the back of my hand where I applied it. Yet... this isn't foody to me, not at all. It's still screaming LUSH STORE to me! And that, my friends, is a very good thing.

[Dianora]

I tried this on without looking at the notes. I probably would have been warned off by the jasmine and apricot had I read them. At any rate, I get a weird reaction out of this one. The notes don't list any musks, but this definitely goes musky on me. Like, overpoweringly so. It smells like sex, but in a bad way.

[djsiberia]

jasmine, more jasmine...

this seems very very floral to me. i'm not picking up any vanilla or apricot.

[sweetpessimism]

This scent is one I've heard many, many good things about, and am very excited to try!

 

In the bottle: A luscious red-orange color. Scent.. Hmm.. It's sweet, but with a sharpness to it.. Lemon-lime, sort of.. With underlying herbal. And something.. Something that almost smells like the tart part of root beer. The effect is rather alluring..

 

Wet on skin: Ginger.. Yes, I think that's ginger. Sweet, but with a tang.. I think I smell sea foam as well.. Ginger on sea foam. A siren's scent, indeed! It's intriguing..

 

Upon re-reading lab description: Ah, yes, I got the ginger right! And I do smell the jasmine now that it's been brought to my attention.. Those seem to be the dominant notes right now.

 

On the drydown: I rather like how it turned out.. It's an unusual, exotic scent. Sharp enough to wake you up. My mother, though, objects somewhat. She said it smells like old brass - and I suppose it does have a somewhat metallic quality. That's the "spiked with malice" bit, I guess. I think it's pretty poetic, though. This is one of those scents, like Dorian, that tells a story - and I love that. It starts off sweet, with only a hint of danger.. It lures you in.. And then blood mixes with the sea foam as ships dash themselves upon the rocks, and the siren slips into the water to snatch up and devour the drowning sailors.

 

Delicious and dangerous. Maybe once the scent has had more time to settle throughout the day, my mother will amend her opinion of it.

 

ETA: She did not, and insisted I was some off before we got into the car. And continued to claim throughout the day that she could still smell it. From the other room, on the cat, from Taiwan. She did not approve. I still like the scent, though.. Will just have to apply it very, very sparingly. Which will make it last longer anyway, so it works out.