Gun Moll

[freneticfloetry]

GUN MOLL
As sexy as ox blood lipstick and a Chicago typewriter: honeycomb, red amber, narcissus, bergamot, Zanzibar clove, opium poppy, tobacco leaf, skin musk, dark fruits, night blooming jasmine, tarragon, and gunpowder.

In the bottle: It's tough to describe at this stage - I smell something different with every sniff. It's a little sharp, but more evocative than anything - the honeycomb from Coxcomb is there, and a hint of clove...

Wet: Huh. On my skin, this is nothing like Coxcomb. It warms as soon as it's on, and changes faster than I can process. Wow, this is a morpher. The amber comes out, bolstered by bergamont, and just when I think "oh, I like this stage," it changes again.

Drydown: Holy quick change, Batman. Now it's dark fruits and smoke, and the more it dries, the more adamant the gunpowder becomes.

Dry: After all of that, everything just balances. The gunpowder is always grounding out the base, but I get a whiff of something different every time it wafts. This is the smell of a complicated woman. A woman with Issues. A woman with a big gun and a sly smile and a quick quip for every occasion. Why oh why didn't I get a second bottle of this?! Edited April 21, 2010 by freneticfloetry

[ami226]

This was the scent I was most looking forward to!

 

On my skin: This makes me think that red amber is the amazing note that I love in Wild Men of Jezirat al Tennyn. It is there under what I am guessing is the jasmine that is turning into a very nice soap scent. I hate to say it, but this reminds me of nice hotel soap. This isn't a bad thing though, I actually really like that smell. Reminds me of vacation. This scent is interesting though. With my nose close to the skin, I get only the nice soap note. If I hold my hand further away and let the scent waft to me, I get more of the amazing red amber with some sweetness.

 

I wonder how this one will age....

[LaurieB]

I love gun moll; there's something tough, yet nostalgic about it. Skin musk and red amber combine to form a very sexy base, while the tarragon, and, at the very end, the hint of gunpowder add a touch of menace. The fragrance is beautifully balanced; the dark fruits make their brief appearance last on me and the scent lingers for hours. I think this one will age wonderfully, and will prove to be as classic as blood-red lipstick.

[fairnymph]

JASMINE STOMPITY STOMP; a lot of complexity below, but I only sniffed this and the jasmine was clearly the unpleasant bullying sort. And my hatred for the fascist type of jasmine and lack of skin space meant this was one I didn't skin test at the con.

 

Note: my skin amps jasmine. I'm a bit afraid to try this for that reason, too.

 

I shall update this review as I properly test all the new releases over the next 7-10 days, just an FYI.

[angelicruin]

Sharp red amber right after application. As it dries on me, I get more "soap" than anything else. Tough one for me to describe.

[PersephonesChild]

Tried this on at C2E2, hoping I would love it.

At first sniff, the gunpowder was really strong and dominating-- that kind of surpried me-- and a number of the spicy notes were kicking up a storm. On my skin, the "dark fruits" came out, smelling a lot like cherry, but I want to say that this scent exists in two different worlds. There's the fruity/floral/sweet side, and then sitting on top of that are some rough spices and the gunpowder. The two never really converged for me. So despite that fact that I'd been planning on picking up a bottle of this, I went with Bathtub Gin instead.

[ellebelle]

I'll have to see: a) how this one ages; and b ) how it smells when I'm not semi-stuffed up! But on me, this is veeeeeeeeery powdery. Usually amber behaves on my skin, but this is powdery all the way through. Very talcum-y. It's not an immediate reject, but it's not the immediate love I was hoping for. I get no jasmine, no dark fruits ... just powder - likely amber + gun powder. Oh well.

Edited April 23, 2010 by Ellebelle

[Imbrium]

Gun Moll pretty much immediately became the standout hit of the C2E2 scents my husband brought home (and I have to add--he knows juuuuust enough about BPAL by now that he was very excited when he found out he got to purchase them from Beth!).

 

In the bottle, this smells quite different from what I'd hoped for. The floral notes--the jasmine in particular--are quite strong, and gives it a sort of classic, department store perfume scent that is not really my cup of tea.

 

On the skin, however, it is a far, far different story! My skin often amps musks, and this skin musk seems to be playing particularly nicely with me, so that this has a warm feel, but the musk doesn't dominate. Instead, I get an incredibly well-blended warm, spicy scent: the amber and the musk are definitely there, and I think the tobacco and clove--it has a similar feel to F54. Perhaps this is the dark fruits, as well? The truth is, it is hard to pick out identifiable notes, which is why I find myself reduced to describing Gun Moll vaguely, in terms of "feel": it is spicy, warm, sticks close to the skin, and is oh-so very sexy. I've been wearing it practically non-stop since trying it!

[Dark Alice]

Only sniffed as I don't like jasmine at all. Gunpowder, classic feminine perfume, and FREAKIN JASMINE! Glad this is going to a better home.

[Molls]

My experience with this ends up very similar to Imbrium's - warm, spicy, musky... it did morph quite a bit, before getting there. There was a very soapy stage that I started to think "uh-oh" but thankfully it didn't last. I am in love with this scent!! (wish I had gotten a 2nd bottle though!)

[heathercaley]

On first application, an amber laden jasmine note swirls around a zesty and spicy note. As others have noted, that initial wet phase is a little bit perfumy, but as it dries down the jasmine starts to relax. It starts to warm up and become slightly spicy.

 

Dry now, it's beautiful it's slighty spicy, with a kick of amber. Once this ages, and the amber thickens up I bet this'll be beautiful!

 

Throw is medium light

 

Verdict? Lets play shoot em up!

[Victory]

Wow, Gun Moll must be incredibly tuned to the wearer, because folks have such different experiences from each other, and definitely from me. On me, the gunpowder absolutely explodes. It reminded my mother of Brimstone- that gritty smokiness. Maybe the clove is adding some power to the gunpowder boom. Underneath that (far underneath that) is a very spicy perfume- the tobacco leaf, the clove, and the tarragon. I think there is some amber there maybe, or honeycomb making it round. At the point, Gun Moll makes me think of a moll sitting in a nightclub while her gangster mows rival gangsters down. She's dressed to kill (sorry, I couldn't help it) and the thick smoke clings to her and almost overwhelms her perfume. In the later stages, the gunpowder dies down and the spiciness lifts a bit, and I can smell the skin musk and amber and honeycomb. The skin musk here is total love for me- so often skin musk smells unwashed and gross, but here it's gorgeous. It makes me think of the moll having come home, bathed, and getting ready to entertain her man. I love, love, love this part. I wish it didn't take five hours to get here. I don't ever distinctly smell any fruits or florals. I am hoping that as Gun Moll ages, that last stage will creep forward as the oil mellows, and that the gunpowder settles.

[papermaker]

I love this one. First this is all amber, jasmine, and fruit. As it dries I get beeswax, witha little spice, and gunpowder.

[Voleuse]

Hmmmm. This is a bit soapy on first application, then it rounds out to clean amber and florals. Very feminine, though it makes me a tad sneezy. So far this is nice, but not the smoky sexiness I expected.

 

After fifteen minutes or so, I find myself very thankful for the (possible) floral stompiness, because I get the faintest edge of wrongness I sometimes get from amber + musk, which usually ends up extremely unpleasantly for me. (There is some version or combination of musk that inevitably smells like civet in a bad way. I haven't figured it out yet.) Instead, the musk is harnessed by soapy florals, so that the blend hints of both, but doesn't smell quite like either.

 

After forty minutes, this is a warm musk, with a hint of spice and soapy florals that suggests this is a woman's blend, without being super-feminine. This could be extremely sexy, I suspect, but I don't have quite the right chemistry for it. I'm glad I have it, though--I'm curious to see how it ages.

[Aldercy]

Mm, Gun Moll is almost exactly what I wanted. I think I was hoping for it to have more of a "red" feel, but I really like it.

 

Kind of peppery and gritty (gunpowder and tobacco leaf)-- it has a strange incendiary quality about it. I almost feel like if I were to get too close to an open flame, I might go up! That aspect of the scent definitely overwhelms the lighter, floral notes (which were very prominent in the bottle, but not on my skin) which are just cottony, white backdrop scents. It's very musky and the clove is bitter and dirty and thoroughly entwined with the tobacco note... more clove cigarette than baking spice. No fruit (yay!) or honey at all for me. This is a very dry, very sparse, very dangerous scent on me. It suits the concept quite well.

 

Something about this makes me think of Black Lace (I guess it's that traditional, slightly floral musk in combination with tobacco). Yet it's a darker, more gravelly, shredded Black Lace. Not nearly as smooth or high-minded. Like Black Lace got into some fisticuffs in the alley and came out the worse for wear.

[saralaughs]

Wow. This is really powdery on me. Like, the powdery smell crushes everything else into non-existance. It reminds me of Baby Soft perfume. It may be the jasmine doing this, I dunno.

[Blood onmy hands]

Gun Moll reminds me of LUSH's Silky Underwear/Alkmaar at first, but Gun Moll is more complex and heady smelling. I get lots of sweet, honeyed, dry, sultry floral and a hazy, almost smoky sharpness from the opium. The sweetness keeps the harsh opium in check for me, though. I can smell hints of a dry, spicy amber as well. The drydown is a bit sharper than I would prefer, but it's still wearable and I find myself liking this scent a lot.

 

This scent is definitely floral, but not in the usual way (not soapy/clean floral or chemical/sharp floral or fresh). It's like dried flowers with lashings of honey, clove, and amber. Warm and sultry. I probably don't need a full bottle of this, but I can see myself wearing Gun Moll from time to time.

[raisin]

This one is tough to place. While I get hints of gunpowder woven in, fading in and out of prominence, mostly it smells like very classic perfume to me. On first sniff, it reminded me of my grandmother's bathroom and the perfumes she stored there. (I mean that in the best possible way.) There are just some incredibly classic notes here, exactly like a fragrance version of red lipstick.

I never get the fruits, and I couldn't pull out any of the flowers specifically. It's mostly musk and smoke and spice, with a floral feel that keeps it pretty feminine to me. The gunpowder is about the only note that seems to wander from the pack. It definitely keeps morphing, and while it starts out very strong, I like the stages as it starts to settle down. Alas, shortly after I get there, this fades to a whisper. Utterly gorgeous and sexy, though. Definitely makes me feel like a Roaring 20's Femme Fatale, if only for an hour.

[Ina Garten Davita]

Gun Moll makes me want to use words like "bawdy" and "dame." It's sexy, a little dirty and with that whiff of gun powder, a little dangerous. I adore night-blooming jasmine, so freaking gorgeous, it's the same sort of note in Midnight on the Midway. The musk-tobacco leaf-honeycomb-clove combination that comes after the jas/gun powder hit is amazing.

 

The over the top bawdiness of the scent gives me a similar vibe of Stardust and Formula 54 though the long dry down reminds me a little of Black Lace.

 

Gun Moll is potent, long lasting with lots of throw. One drop creates an aura, a different and dangerous persona that I really like putting on. This scent is going to age fantastically.

[jessiesquash]

Ooh this is very classy! It reminds me of my mom's Yves Saint Laurent (I can't remember the name) but with something dirtier, more playful. It's very incensy like Stardust but the tobacco leaf, clove and gun powder give it that gritty feel. It also reminds me a bit of Red Lantern but without the sweetness. This dame is feminine and gorgeous but she's got a tough side! Probably has a gun hidden in her garter too! I'll probably wear this when I want attention; one super flirty feminine dress, a pair of va-va-voom heels and Gun Moll.

 

 

[crebbsgirl]

And.... YUM! This started off a little heavy on the jasmine, which worried me. After a few minutes, the jasmine calmed considerably and blended with the other notes. This is an incredibly sexy, femme-fatale sort of blend. The clove and gunpowder add a bit of spice and grit, adding a darker edge to this scent.

[Ondine]

This is pretty sexy, but turns very quickly into super-heavy perfume of doom on me (despite the fact that I only put one teeny tiny drop on my hand). This could be wonderful on the right person though! It really does evoke an old-timey gangster moll's perfume.

[devilot]

Gun Moll

In the vial: Leaky vial (or that evilly leaky vial of V.olste.ad A.ct oozed all over this one). Sniffing-- ZOMG OPIUM POPPY!

 

Wet:Still mainly getting that opium poppy. Please keep in mind that I really dislike that note and am biased as my nose will be sensitive and pick it up, but it also seems to amp on my skin. The opium poppy is drowning everything else out.

 

Drydown: Shifts slightly to something almost piney. Getting something that might be the sharp tang of tobacco leaf or, it could be the night blooming jasmine, I'm honestly not sure. Yes, after a few more minutes, lots of jasmine.

 

Verdict: Am glad to have sniffed and tried, but am glad to know that I haven't missed out on a whole lot and don't need to track some down, either. BIG THANK YOU to the C2E2 sniff circle started by GypsyRoseRed!

 

ETA: Later, the clove is charging head-to-head with the opium poppy. I tend to amp clove notes and it usually bothers me, but thank goodness something is trying to stand up against that bully of opium!

 

ETA: Much later, it's become a powdery grandma smell (as in, I've sniffed grannies that smell like this).

[Suusje]

When the bottle first arrived it was quite soapy on me so I let it sit for a while. It's so much better now.

 

When first applied it's a very heavy jasmine. Way too heavy for me. But the jasmine fades very quickly and Gun Moll is becoming this gorgeous dark, smokey and powdery scent. I can't stop sniffing myself

 

[edenssixthday]

Gun Moll - I am in love with this. Head-over-heels in love. I think this may be the best new scent in 2010 (IMO). When I first apply, it's predominantly opium poppy (!!!! a favorite note that I was hoping would be strong in this blend ) and tobacco leaf, with a powdery hint of amber, the gorgeous, sultry floral of night-blooming jasmine, and the faintest spicy hint of clove. As it dries down, the opium note fades significantly, leaving behind a scent that doesn't smell like any distinct notes, but more of a musky and slightly spicy warmth. The first thought I had when I smelled this was, "Whoa, people might stop searching so hard for Noir if they can find this instead!" They don't smell the same, but have enough of a very similar feel about them. I prefer Gun Moll. This is going to age gorgeously. I love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Edited July 3, 2010 by Edens Sixth Day