Burning Vulva

[ajansuz]

Vanilla-infused amber, leather, beeswax, cyclamen, oakmoss, peru balsam, orange blossom, red ginger, tonka, opoponax, myrrh, and black pepper.

In the bottle, this is a huge hit of black pepper and ginger to the nose. I was a little skuurd (scared). But I tried it on anyway.

Wet, I amped the black pepper almost to a sneeze-y degree. That didn't last very long, thankfully. The leather asserted itself along with the myrrh. I never got orange blossom at all, because it always smells cloying on me. In fact, I never got anything distinctly floral.

Dry this gets prettier and prettier. Everything blends so well it's very difficult to pick out any one note. It remains spicy without being obnoxious, but it's sort of a spicy incense and well worn leather. I find this strangely comfortable, like a great pair of boots you've had for years but still feel sexy wearing. I loved this way more than I expected to and can't wait to see how it ages.

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this is a very dark, almost bitter, heavy wood note with a dry, masculine edge from oakmoss and a sweet spiciness.

On my skin, it morphs into something vague, cloying, and lackluster, with a baby powdery edge.

The spice and woods that intrigued me in the bottle are completely gone within five minutes on my skin.

Burning Vulva smells very sweet, but not exactly like vanilla, beeswax, or tonka (oddly, it's something like pineapple on my skin :/). I can't pick out any of the listed notes, just a mishmash of too much sweetness and baby powder.

 

I hated Giant Vulva and Glowing Vulva from previous years, even though their listed notes should have been awesome on me. Burning Vulva is more of the same story

[MonkeysInk]

I purchased a decant of this, hoping to like it....not sure why, as beeswax is a note of death for me.

 

The red ginger and pepper literally burned my nose when I sniffed the imp. That was as far as I could get -it was really overwhelming.

 

Off to the sales for this little imp.

[malibusunny]

I put a little of this on one wrist this morning, and I was SO disappointed. I wanted vanilla-infused amber, leather, beeswax, orange blossom, red ginger, tonka, and black pepper. I was willing to put up with cyclamen, oakmoss, peru balsam, opoponax, and myrrh. But on my skin, by the time I got to work, all I could smell was ZOMG MUSK -- in a "I can't wait to get inside and wash this off my wrist" way.

 

I didn't actually wash it off, and no one complained, and now 8 hours later it has sweetened and I can find the vanilla, orange blossom, and the beeswax. But it's just nothing like I thought it would be.

 

It seems like a lot of reviewers agree, which is too bad -- I risked on a bottle of this because from the description, I figured it would be an easy resale if I didn't love it.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Wild. I barely get 'warm' and forget burning or fiery.

 

And forgetting that oddness- this is a great skin scent.

[wolfie13]

Wow - this one changes dramatically on me.

 

Initial sniff - it's almost all pepper and ginger, which I love.

 

Initial wear - unfortunately the lovely pepper/ginger scent turns to a "burnt" smell on my skin almost immediately. Then it's the burnt smell mixed with a kind of dry woodiness.

 

A few minutes later - all of the above disappears entirely, and I get almost all beeswax and leather. (Oh and now a bit of the spice has crept back in. No more burnt though, thankfully.)

 

I'm really not sure what to make of it. I AM fascinated, however, and will be keeping this decant around.

Edited March 4, 2011 by wolfie13

[MCS4096]

This is SUCH an interesting blend! I didn't really expect to like it but love testing the Shungas.. not to mention this has ginger in it which I don't like. BUT... this has a papery note that I love-- it's in Couple With Rutting Cats from a couple years ago too. The overall feel of this blend is sweet and delicate with a wisp of body heat.. it's kinda smokey but not really, more just like the insinuation of heat.

[tealeaves]

Disclaimer: I'm not yet familiar enough with all the individual notes to pick out the prominent ones. How does one single out notes anyway? Test a lot of scent, I imagine.

 

Anyway.

 

In the bottle it smells warm and spicy, but on initial application all I could think of was 'mint chocolate'. I have no idea what notes contributed to this but all I could smell was a warm, sweet freshness, with a bite of chill from mint (I know, it doesn't make any sense to me either). After a little while, though, it mellowed into something more like the description - warm spice with sharp edges. Definitely peppery, and I think I can detect a hint of the ginger and tonka bean. It's a very interesting scent, and I'm curious to see how it will shift with age. I only got a half decant of this one, so I will monitor it closely.

[Deek]

Bottle: Ginger and something gross. I have been putting off trying this scent because in the bottle it has been very offputting to me.

Wet on Skin: The bitter sharpness in the back (pepper?) is not nearly as strong for me. There's tons of ginger.. finding it really hard to pinpoint this one.

Dry: Powdery amber ginger. Bleh.

Overall: 1/5. Definitely not my cup of tea.

[crebbsgirl]

Ok, this may be the weirdest skin chemistry reaction ever, but on my skin, this turns into "LUSH store". I think it might be the floral notes combining with the beeswax or something. But it definitely smells like I've been hanging out all day at LUSH. It's not a bad scent, mind you, and actually I quite like it. But it's definitely not what I was expecting. The leather note is almost non-existent, and I'm only getting a hint of ginger. Mainly it's flowers and beeswax with a hint of amber.

[theseagrows]

hmm, i'm not completely sure of the notes i'm smelling here...i definitely get the vanilla-infused amber, beeswax, oakmoss, tonka and black pepper. i can't really smell the orange blossom, but it seems like there is something slightly sweet deep within this scent, so maybe that's it. i kind of like this, but something is turning a bit plasticky on my skin...i think beeswax can go wonky on me, so maybe that's it. i will have to re-try this again at a later date.

[surlygurl]

When I first tried this, my nose got the oakmoss/black pepper combo right away - shades of Ronin. But here it was backed up by smooth vanilla, sassy orange blossom and beeswax. Those didn't come out 'till later, tho.

 

So today I dabbed some on before going to meet a friend. During the walk, I would occasionally get a dark pleasant waft. During the bus ride, I'd move my arms & think "what smells so good?" then realize it was me! The oakmoss pepper faded into the background and the other elements came forward. Before I knew what smelled so good, I thought I smelled cinnamon, like a less foody chimera.

 

The throw is fabulously lovely, so if you're judging the scent by the up-close smell it won't be the same. Bottle buy!

Edited October 7, 2011 by surlygurl

[zankoku_zen]

Oh Burning Vulva, you are anything but fiery. You are a close, warm skin scent. I get vanilla, amber, hints of leather like in Heroine, and honey from the beeswax. In fact, a lot of honey. This is essentially a warm vanilla honey scent on me.

 

Pretty, and the honey is not obnoxious. Huh. Who would have thought this would have turned out to be so wearable?

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: A heady bunch of scents! I'm getting whiffs of most everything.

 

Wet: Amber, leather, beeswax, peru balsam & tonka, with faint hints of the spices.

 

The dry-down: Everything that I sniffed once the perfume oil was on my skin has combined into that heady bunch of scents I mentioned earlier. Vanilla-infused amber is a great thing, as it seems to be keeping the amber from going too powdery on me. Also, the ginger, pepper, and myrrh add some spiciness that keeps this scent from being too sweet. I really like how this works on my skin, too, as it seems to be a skin scent, which makes sense.

[cuervosueno]

I wasn't sure I wanted this. Glowing Vulva was gorgeous, but Giant Vulva was just "meh" on me, and while this has some things I love, it also has some things like leather and oakmoss, that can go wrong. Plus, lately a lot of the more complex BPAL scents have just been "meh" on me, so I wasn't sure. But then I saw a swap opportunity for a partial bottle and decided to go for it, and I'm so glad I did!

 

This is a big morpher on me, too. In the bottle and when wet it is a bit harsh, and has a "spice cabinet" scent--ie. dry but pungent spices, and a hint of sweetness. I supposed I'm getting pepper at this stage, and perhaps the red ginger, though I don't think "ginger" when I smell it. It smell almost medicinal at this stage, but once it's on my skin, the sweetness blooms immediately and I get a honey/beeswax note, and can tell there is vanilla in this. I also get just a hint of my beloved orange blossom.

 

At this stage, it's pretty but nothing special, and since I was trying Heroine on the same day, I can attest to the similarities....though Heroine seemed prettier in the first half hour or so.

 

But after awhile, this slowly turns, and it eventually becomes very beautiful, and very clearly a member of the "vulva" family. The orange blossom comes out and plays very well with the vanilla amber. After that, it settles into something truly gorgeous, that catapults this into a true favorite for me: it's final morph is to a creamy, golden resin scent, backed with sweetness from the beeswax and vanilla. It really smells to me like true frankincense (I know,it's not in here!) sweetened with a creamy vanilla--it has that golden, slightly citrusy note that true frankincense has (when the resin is burning anyway--I'm not talking so much about the EO), and it is backed with something creamy sweet and lovely.

 

I love frankincense, but BPAL frank doesn't always work for me, and what I'm often hoping for is just this golden note I get in here. I don't know if it is the opoponax Beth uses mixed with the amber that does this, or something else, but it is truly gorgeous. The leather never makes an appearance, btw.

 

And it LASTS! I can still smell it after I woke up and I put it on last night! It also is perfectly wonderful layered over Glowing Vulva bath oil! (which I use as a moisturizer).

 

Big win for me.

 

[midnight_aeval]

Even looking at the colors of the notes in this blend you see a common theme of the color of flames - orange, red, yellow, & black! It's goes on really aggressive, but the drydown is more feminine/soft that what you would imagine from the wet stage of this blend. It no longer smells like burning, but is more floral and waxy.

[Fury]

I swore there was honey in this! Wet, Burning Vulva is a very interesting sort of scent- honey and black pepper, then leather peaking out, grabbing a chair and staying a while. I was hoping for a sort of scorched quality to it somehow, but this is definitely a sort of slow, soft creamy sort of scent. The past Vulva scents to me have been instant swappers, and this one is the first that I can remember that I continuously sort of kept going back to sniffing. Once its dried a bit it becomes absolutely gorgeous- a sort of honeyed leather and orange blossom, with no spiciness of the black pepper or ginger, but just a very sexy sort of scent. This could definitely be a cozy date night kind of scent- with someone worn in and comfortable, sexy in that understated kind of way, versus that come and get me vibe I've gotten from Sin or Hunger. Similar to O as reminding me of naked skin, barely perfumed, but very intimate and pretty.

[yeahbutnobut]

Burning Vulva

 

In the imp: vanilla, leather, a bit of floral, smoke and ginger. Reminds me of VILF.

Wet on skin: orange blossom, beeswax and leather with vanilla and ginger.

Dry on skin: lots of ginger here. This is really fiery now and surprisingly floral-the orange blossom and something greener (the cyclamen?) are strong, and the ginger and pepper smell almost savoury, very spicy. I do not smell resins or amber. There’s vanilla but it seems to be of the plastic variety, or maybe that’s the leather or the balsam? It’s the same leather and red ginger mix with a hint of floral that turned VILF really bad on me. I also have a horrible feeling that Peru balsam is turning to plastic on me these days. There’s some beeswax, but I seem to smell a scent like burning plastic here with a ginger note that turns rubbery.

After a while: it’s a total mess. The cyclamen (I think?) has turned to a sharp yet cloying champaca-like scent and there’s some ginger that smells of hot asphalt, and PVC coated leather, as well as an unnerving plastic scent from the balsam. The beeswax, normally golden sweet honey musk on me, has turned to sharp honey. It seems like an incongruous collision of Giant Vulva, Lovers with Rutting Cats, Time Does Not Bring Relief, and VILF.

Verdict: this is my least favourite Vulva (lol) I much prefer the smooth creamy golden scent of Glowing Vulva and even the slightly perfumey honeyed scent of Giant Vulva to this, which is a mess of clashing notes that all turn bad. Even the nice notes seem to misbehave here. Not for me, I’m afraid.

Is it a keeper? nope.

If you like this, try: Young Pine Saplings, Giant Vulva, Glowing Vulva (perfume or bath), VILF, Lovers with Rutting Cats, Time Does Not Bring Relief

[puddingirl]

I am recovering from a cold so my nose may not be up to scratch. I took a bit of a gamble with this one, my skin doesn't respond well to scents with lots of notes in it. However I love vanilla, leather , tonka and myrrh so was willing to give this a try. In the imp I can smell the giner and orange blossom possibly along with a bit of creamy vanilla and green oakmoss. On and wet I get a scent that reminds me of Hermes d'Orange Verte - a crisp green orange. I already have this perfume and love it, hopefully the other notes will come out to morph this scent. The scent is fading when drying, I never caught a whiff of the leather which I normally amp! I'm surprised that the orange blossom came out on me really. This smells a bit bland on me which is a shame. But I would recommend it if you like crisp orange scents.

[Diva Urd]

In the decant: Primarily vanilla, beeswax and ginger. Smells a bit boozy to my nose.

 

On: This is what I was expecting out of "Siren" - I primarily get a combination of vanilla and ginger, with a tiny hint of beeswax. At the moment, nothing else is rearing its head. So far, it's good, but not great (which still surprises me, considering "Siren" did not work for me at all).

 

Later: Honeyed vanilla with a slight zing of ginger. Will definitely use up the decant, but don't really love it enough to justify hunting down a bottle.

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: I was expecting something much softer, for some reason, but Burning Vulva is quite strong and sharp. I get the vanilla, ginger, amber, myrrh, a hint of leather and orange blossom, and a sprinkle of black pepper that puts the burning in Burning Vulva. This is a very complex scent.

 

Wet: Whoa, this gets so much sweeter as soon as I put it on. And floral; the orange blossom is really coming out. The leather is also now gaining steam.

 

Dry: Vanilla, vanilla, vanilla, and orange blossom. And a touch of the ginger, and a faint smokiness from the amber. I can't believe how much this has already changed. This is much closer to the smooth creaminess I'd been expecting.

 

An Hour Later: Once again, an incredibly complex scent is whittled down to just a few simple notes by my skin. Still primarily vanilla, with orange blossom that's more citrus than floral now. And a tiny bit of amber giving it the slightest resinous background. It's ever so slightly toeing into rancid butter territory.

 

Overall: Cute (I never thought I'd describe a "burning vulva" as cute, but there it is), but not for me.

[damonkitty]

I mostly get the red ginger and vanilla amber. I can not detect leather at all . I really can not do red ginger at all so I knew this one was a risk, but with a name like Burning Vulva I had to see what Beth would come up with. It reminded me of Neil Gaiman's War actually. I could not wear that one either though. It is off to the swaps/sales for this one.

[feline.by.design]

While wet, Burning Vulva smells very lush and fruity. It reminded me of peach cobbler, although it didn't spell really peach. Just sweet and bright, like a sunny day. I suspect the peru balsam and orange blossom had something to do with that, coupled with the vanilla to accentuate the sweetness of these notes.

 

After it dries down, the scent loses its initial wetness and moves from being something quite nice and very lushly flowery/fruity to something less bright, nearly powdery. After thirty minutes, ah, the vanilla asserts itself. It isn't particularly creamy--more like vanilla dust or powder.

 

After around forty minutes, it's vanilla-beeswax I mostly smell. Although slightly powdered on my skin, the fragrance still retains a bit of warmth, though not anywhere near the level it initially was at. More like sunset peeking through translucent curtains as you're eating honey off a spoon before sipping a vanilla chai latte, with most of the chai bit covered up by the vanilla, but it peeks out periodically in a gingery form after an hour's wear, keeping the scent warm and cheeky.

 

Such a difference trying BPAL on the skin makes! It's as if the fragrance and my skin have been discussing on how to mutually express the scent.

 

Burning Vulva: "I'm going to be sensual and bright and sweet and fruity! There's no fruit note listed, but I wanna do fruity!"

 

My Skin: "Okay, sure, that's great... but I'm gonna need some vanilla."

 

Burning Vulva: "Oh, okay, well, here's some vanilla then."

 

My Skin: "That's good... but I'm gonna need more vanilla."

 

Burning Vulva: "Oh, oh sure. But I'm gonna have to lose a bit of the lushness I've got going on. Is that okay?"

 

My Skin: "Fine, fine. Just give me more vanilla."

 

It's like the Saturday Night Live Cowbell skit with Christopher Walken. Just replace "cowbell" with vanilla.

 

But STOP PRESS!! After an hour's wearing it on my skin, the amber seems to wake up and shoves aside the cowbell... I mean vanilla! I now have a fragrance that seems more like The Lion from Mad Tea Party than The Mouse's Long and Sad Tale. In this case, The Lion is drenched in beeswax, but it's still a bright and warm scent. Whoa. How'd it do that?

 

Burning Vulva is an interesting one to try, as my skin seems to take notes like vanilla, leather and amber and push them up to the forefront. In this three-for-all note match, it seems that vanilla, along with beeswax, wins the Prominent Note of the Scent award for the first hour, but then in the second the amber sort of yanks back the vanilla and comes into the forefront.

 

It is a nice skin scent, and as I am quite the connoisseur of BPAL vanilla and amber fragrances, Burning Vulva has earnt a place in my collection as a vanilla/amber fragrance that's fairly distinct from my usual selections from the general collection. Quite happy with it!

[ephemere]

Five minutes after I made my payment for an order including a bottle of Burning Vulva I had that awful feeling of panicked dread when you know, just know, that you bought something you shouldn't. I was convinced it was going to be awful on me. Pepper! Oakmoss! Balsam!

 

Thankfully, I was wrong, and Burning Vulva has just shot up to my top five favorites. It starts off as this rich golden ginger before turning into a -- surprise -- beautiful, sophisticated floral that melts into a creamy sandalwood/vanilla scent. For some reason it reminds me of a scene described in one of Ursula K. le Guin's Earthsea books: dragons wheeling in a golden sky.

 

Love. ♥

[curlsandpearls]

Bottle: Orange-citrus-red-grainy smell.

 

Wet: Initially, this is ginger-tropical-citrus fruit on me. However, it quickly goes to a darker, pepper-y amber-leather combo.

 

Dry: It definitely dries into a “hot” smell, but it’s so blended I can’t make out notes. It’s no longer citrus-y, just a fiery note with light pepper. The leather must be prominent, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what is doing what. A sweet amber note comes out after a while, not my thing, though. Something almost Christmas-y about it, very reminiscent of Grandma’s house, candles burning. Smells like a less foody Interfector. Swap pile.