VILF

[Sultaana]

Vampire smut: patchouli-infused honey, red musk, red sandalwood, red ginger, pink pepper, Peru balsam, dark Eastern florals, Himalayan cedar, smoky vanilla, bitter clove, and leather.

I agree with Rinster that in the bottle this TOTALLY reminds me of a leathery Follow Me Boy! On the drydown the leather and bitter clove really make this one unique.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Definitely leather, vanilla, red musk and patchouli. Deep and complex

 

On Application

Leather, musk and ginger first up. Gorgeous, dark and thick

 

Dry Down

This really is stunning. A smooth base of vanilla, musk and honey with spikes of ginger, pepper and clove and leather all the way through. At times the leather really amps up but it is the amazing deep, aged leather that BPAL does so well. Outstanding

 

Rating (0-5)

5

[loubric]

I was very excited to get this scent and oooed and aaaed over the gorgeous & sexy vampire on the label.

On opening the bottle it had a very strong liquorice and medicated smell. The leather was very strong. Not unpleasant just different.

 

On me it’s very sweet and spicy. The florals, vanilla, honey and leather being the most prominent. It’s actually very pretty on me. Not something that I would typically wear but it’s dark and sexy and exotic.

 

I think I’ll save this for special occasions or for days when I’m feeling particularly sexy.

[Aldercy]

Hm, VILF reminds me a lot of The Red Rider-- I'm convinced the leather note is the same, the balsam is there as a base, and I always did detect a hint of watered down red musk in RR.

 

I'm getting lots of worn, raw leather (not the slick plasticky kind), some sweetness (doesn't smell explicitly like honey though... more of a floral sweetness), some cedar and balsam, and rusty musk-- it's not a voluptuous deep red musk to me, more of a slightly metallic, astringent sort. This strikes me as more cowboy than vampire. I don't get any vanilla or spices (where are you, pink pepper?).

 

I wish I liked this enough to snag one of those drop dead gorgeous bottles, but I'm rather undecided. It's a nice scent, but I don't think I'll find myself longing to wear it.

[Lorelai1945]

In the imp, I smell mostly honey and leather. They are working to balance each other out, and it creates this lovely smooth, sweet leathery sexy scent. When I put it on, I immediately get more floral (my skin amps florals like whoa) than I did before, and the honey moves more into the background- it's not as sweet on my skin. I also get a men's cologne feel coming through- so wet on my skin this is a little honey and leather in the background with some floral and some men's cologne pushing through the most. Weird, but surprisingly not bad. I do wish the honey sweetness would remain more in the foreground on my skin, but that's just not how my chemistry works. I definitely think this would be sexy on a man (or man-pire). It actually has something in it reminding me a bit of Hellhound, but I can't place the note that would be similar (does Hellhound have clove? That may be what it is). What I don't get is any red musk. Not at all what I was expecting, but I don't mind it. I just don't know if this is something I'd wear much- I tend to like more sweetness since my skin sucks it up.

[lefthandmade]

It's sweet and smooth and I get the honey and the red musk. I'm looking for the sharp edge that has ruined a lot of red musk blends for me lately but I can't find it. This is very smooth, with maybe a tiny touch of citrus, in a fire phoenix kind of way but not at all with the same force. The sharp cedar I got from the first test I did straight from the mailbox is gone now. I have to work to locate the leather but the clove is dancing a fiery tango with the cedar in the back.

 

After drydown and for the rest of the day this is pure vanilla honey and red musk. It seems to last forever and it's absolutely gorgeous.

 

 

 

edited because of some strange formatting that took away the space between some of my words

Edited August 19, 2010 by lefthandmade

[countessmouse]

Nothing but leather in the imp and wet on my skin. About 10 minutes later, the musk appeared and two hours after application the florals are starting to pop, perhaps with a touch of the patchouli. A nice scent once it start to settle down.

[starfish327]

in the imp: dirty leather. this just feels dirty. it's nice, but it does remind me of a tack store. but i tend to not really like anything in the imp either.

 

wet: the leather is still the prominent note, and it feels like the leather in the traveller- which could be a problem. however, it stays pretty tame and stays essentially just dirty leather.

 

dry: it does get sweeter and lighter as it dries, but it stays a pretty heavy blend. the leather still stays the first note, but it does start to pull back. i get a hint of the clove and the musk as individual notes but everything else just blends.

 

i do have to agree with the cowboy imagery mentioned upthread- this strikes me more as rural than urban fantasy. but it's not bad. it's not the stellar win i had hoped for, but it's far from meh and i'm thinking that aging this will help in the long run.

[obsidienne]

Woah, this starts very strong and a little bit on the side of masculine, at least while wet. Almost entirely a very strong leather with a bit of pepper and spice underneath, but the leather is definitely the star of the show in the wet stage. The spicy woodsy notes hiding beneath the leather are pretty dang gorgeous, though, and I especially love Peru balsam, which is rocking out in my nostrils. It's weird that vetiver isn't listed as a note, because while wet it smells kind of like there is some, whereas in Tombeur I get none at all. Drydown sees this blend settle down quite a bit. It's not as strong smelling, and is smoother, a little sweeter, and less LEATHER and now it's just leather and other beautiful warm things. Definitely a winner in the sexy department, and this will, obviously, age into a thing of incredible beauty. So far, almost everything I've tested in this line has been phenomenal in one way or another. Beth, I admire your artistry!

[zankoku_zen]

Spicy, synthetic leather. The leather note has to be a kissing cousin to the BPAL black leather note found in DeSade. In this blend it is less chemically, and all the other components serve to soften and spice up the blend. I don't find the smell of leather particularly sexy nor is it a note that my skin chemistry to handle, so this scent is a no-go for me.

[Kayah]

My nose seems to be broken.

In the bottle, on me wet, on me dry.. I am getting straight up lemon chemical floor cleaner.

Ugh

 

ETA: That was then.. now.. Oct 5th: I put a VERY small amount on.. and it smells .. not like floor cleaner. I smell some leather, but the scent is more spicy, it's lost the chemicalness completely. It almost smells smoky. I like it a lot better now and I think I will get a bottle, but I will likely age this before I am able to use it. Will let the imp age some more and post an update.

Edited October 6, 2010 by Farenath

[Monster]

In the imp: red leather honey

 

Wet on my skin: honey and resin (mostly red musk) followed by the smoky vanilla note and lots and lots of leather. This is definitley a lot more leathery than I was expecting. I love leather, don't get me wrong but I wish it were a little less prominent in this blend. I'm not getting ANY clove, cedar or floral notes. This is all leather, resin and smoky vanilla (the smoky vanilla like Hellhound on my Trail).

 

Dry: This dries into a dusty leather scent on my skin. The notes BEHIND the overpowering leather are absolutley gooorrrgeous...I just wish I could remove the leather and make it go away. I feel it overpowers and dominates this scent making it not very wearable for me. There's too much going on...I dunno...it's just not working. Again, I LOVE leather and all of these notes together SHOULD work for me but there's just something wrong happening here and I'm pretty sure it's the leather. It's like there's a beautiful perfume that's being smothered by new car scent. So sad.

[Suusje]

Well, color me disappointed. This is all leather and sandalwood on me. Where are the other notes? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will come out when VILF has had some time to age.

[pixiedoo]

I was a little wary of VILF due to the leather and dark Eastern florals but thought it was worth a try as the patchouli infused honey, red musk and smoky vanilla elements sounded yummy...when will I learn that leather doesn't work on me!

 

In the imp: Slightly astringent flowery, leather

 

Wet on my skin: Still very astringent and vaguely chemically. I can still smell flowery leather. I am hoping that red musk, honey and vanilla step in to save the day.

 

Dry: Soapy, flowery leathery perfume of doom. My skin chemistry really has managed to make this rather unpleasant. It still has an astringent tinge to it and reminds me of something your nan might use to freshen the toilet with. Yep that's it...definitely cheap, floral air freshener. Off to the swap pile it goes...damn you leather!!

[Vega]

Sniffed: Hmm, there's a lot going on in here. A bit sweet, a bit woody, a bit rich and smooth, a bit clean.

 

On skin: There's a LOT going on in this blend. It's at times sweet, spicy, juicy, fruity, woody, and vanilla-creamy -- all playing upon a backdrop of leather. Now I'm not particularly fond of BPAL's leather: not only is it too inorganic for me, it also tends to flatten out whatever complexity a blend has. The leather in VILF does just that, which is most tragic. The scent really tries to bloom, but it never really opens up; all the other notes morph in and out to tantalize my nose, but they never really make their "voices" heard over the white noise of leather. Overall, VILF is faint and indistinct and mostly leather -- there's too much going on, so nothing really stands out.

 

Verdict: Decidedly underwhelming. VILF strikes me as being a bit of this, a bit of that, and ultimately not much to speak of. But I place the blame squarely on the leather note, which completely dominated and drowned out the rest of the notes. Very disappointed! I could smell tantalizing complexity and beauty, but that was ultimately unrealized.

 

A hare-brained idea: I wonder if this blend, with its many and varied notes, is meant to smell different to everyone depending on what their skin chemistry prefers?? Let skin chemistry determine the nature of this VILF! very clever! If this is the case... my VILF is tame and boring. Man, what a letdown. Too much leather on this vampire, yo. Sorry, I'm dumping him!

 

 

ETA: Testing this in April '11, 7 months after this review...

Aging VILF has amplified the leather note to unpleasant levels. Now it's purely new black leather, and I can't smell any other notes at all. Definitely can't wear this.

Edited April 21, 2011 by Vega

[ianastar]

Out of the bottle and wet on the skin I got a very leather scent that was unusal. It reminded me of a huge, leather bound book, dusty and scented by age.

 

After a bit the leather scent started to turn into a new car leather scent. Like those "new car" odor sprays you use in the car. I was turned off and thought "No, this is just not for me"

 

After about an hour the finish turned into something very nice, I could smell the leather still, but it was layered with the sandalwood and musk. I actually really liked it once it settled and it's a keeper. I just have to get passed the point of the New Car Leather Smell. Geez

[plainjean]

In the decant, this is very much red musk and black leather. It has that cold feeling of new leather that my beloved worn leathers don't have. On, it's still black leather, but it's a very peppery and spicy black leather, slathered in sticky (from the honey) red musk with just a hint of the smoky vanilla. Not too much patchouli, thank goodness. It is masculine, in a way, but not overly so. And it's definitely sexy. It might just be me, but I totally see this as what Spike from Buffy would smell like. I might have to get a bottle just because of that association, haha.

 

ETA: I wore it again last night and..hrm. I had conflicting feelings. Sometimes I loved it, but then other times it was too sweet for me. I think I'll have to try it a few more times before I decide if I love it or not.

Edited October 7, 2010 by plainjean

[CreamyJade]

In the bottle: Leather, sandalwood and sweetness from the honey.

Wet on skin: Leather again, some patchouli, there's an oriental perfume undertone (the dark florals, I assume), with woods (the cedar, the sandalwood).

Dry on skin: Now that the leather has finally calmed down, I smell a woody blend, a hint of sweetness (red musk, honey) and dark florals similar to the ones in Scherezade.

Final thoughts: I'm confused. All the notes are magnificent in this, but the whole makes me wonder if I like it. I don't know if it's my skin chemistry, or if the blend would benefit from aging (which is why I won't let her go just yet - I got the girl label), but I honestly imagined I'd love it right away, by just sniffing the bottle. But no, this VILF takes her sweet time to be nice and it's only at the dry stage that I can appreciate her.

Try if you like: Dee, Western Diamondback, Romanti.Goth, Scherezade.

[cometgirl21]

In the bottle: This smells like my local hardware store. Probably the combination of the leather and the cedar. It's very strong and sharp.

 

On me: Smells about the same for the first five minutes (which makes me want to run to get it off). I stuck with it and after that it starts to warm up and sweeten. I get a smoother leather and the sandalwood starts to come out, backed by the musk. It's predominantly leather on me and I do like it and think it will mellow with age and be gorgeous.

[Coldfire]

Decant: spicy and faint whiffs of leather

Wet on Me: spicy sweet leather

Drying Down: now I'm getting the patchouli, pepper and cedar.

Dry: everything disappeared and turned to baby powder over faint cedar.

[impolight]

:::VILF:::

A scent that is pure sexy...

Skepticism, admittedly, delayed exploration into the VILF Series...

Twilight and all of it's... Offspring recently rendered vampirism a bit... Cosmetic.

Poppy Z. Brite, Anne Rice, and now the illustrious Mrs. Barrial, are more the forte that really makes Vampireroticism almost tangible. Lush. Powerful.

VILF came calling in a swap with Sissy (Thanks a billion! *smooch!*).

From the Bottle: Stygian! Though sniffed in the rays of early morning, this was akin to a power outage... *Foop!*

Fascinating!

On the second sniff, a very masculine insinuation radiated from the bottle's neck in the form of something remniscent of shoe-polish on an exquisitely expensive pair of men's leather dress shoes. Being accompanied by the Sandalwood, the first impression suggests that Vilf would be an ideal counterpart to Red Rider. There is wet, splintery timber in here somewhere... Deeper whiffage reels in Red Musk and Balsam of Peru... *swoon*

Thus far, Vilf is a knock-out!

On the Skin: My how this

(((((EXPLODES!)))))

The onslaught of spices really hammers this home! With a stupendous olfactory crash, the Clove, Pink Peppercorns, and Ginger, meet the Himalayan Cedar head-on! Hot!

Imagine a God or Goddess carved from a living tree... It wants to dance with you and... Other stuff.

Sold on the Patchouli-infused Honey. Again, initial fear was that this might be something a little sweet for unisex application... Nope.

The Leather, Musk, Sandalwood, Balsam, and Honey give this the perfect amount of precisely balanced androgeny to truly immortalise the fragrance that is VILF!

Spectrally, VILF could be leather, wine, smoky-honeycomb, and jellybean-black.

On Her, VILF is worth the risk of life and limb.

On Him, VILF the delicious weight and blooming damp that crushes the last breath from your body.

Inexplicably hot.

5 out of 5.

[hkhm]

bottle: sweet, musky leather. rawr!

 

wet: a deep rich, musky leather scent with a nice hint of spice. kinda reminds me of i married a vampire from planet x with some leather added.

 

dry: this is mostly musk on me as it dries. but that's fine. i bought this bottle for my husband who has skin that does amazing things to leather scents.

[Pynki]

I refer to this scent as pure sex and leather.

 

In the imp it's heavy on the leather and sandalwood for me, with some honey/sweetness thrown in and men's cologne.

 

On my skin wet it much the same. Heavy on the leather and the sandalwood, with a powdery scent.

 

Drying down the leather pulls back a bit. and it smells like honey, and sandalwood, and amber and leather. It's damn sexy.

 

After a few hours it wears down a slight floral, powdery amber and sandalwood with wafting leather.

 

This is the scent I wear when I'm feeling dark, and bad ass, and sexy, or I want to. I REALLY prefer this on my husband.

Edited November 4, 2010 by Pynki

[voodoobaby]

This might actually be the sexiest thing I've ever smelled.

 

It's all half-sweet honey and leather and makes a wonderful second-skin scent, if your skin is made of sex.

 

Would be amazing on either gender. It's perfectly unisex and not too sweet. Delicious! A new favorite.

[milo]

I'm not sure why this is not working on me, as a lot of these notes are WIN, so color me disappointed. I get a bit of leathery musk with smoke. No sandalwood or patchouli or sweetness for that matter. In fact it's quite cologney on me, an running on the masculine side. It kind of reminds me of a more masculine Liz, it smells like the same leather to me. Maybe it needs a bit of aging, but I'm not holding out any hope. Boo.