Bourbon Vanilla Bath Oil

[Teaker]

Deceptively sweet: bourbon vanilla oleoresin and benzoin resinoid.

 

I was very disappointed with this. It has no smell at all in the bottle, and virtually none when applied. I use bath oils as a moisturizer, so I slather it directly on my skin, and I still smell nothing. If I put my nose right to my skin I get a faint hint of sweetness. I guess I'll use it as an unscented moisturizer!

[Balame]

I love the benzoin in this. It's smooth, warm and softly resinous. Mysterious yet inviting. The vanilla is okay, but that's just my personal preferences speaking. I really like foody vanilla and bourbon vanilla is not that; it's gentle but verges on an almost floral sort of sweetness. Thankfully not so much that it freaks me out (as a flower hater), but it does feel too "I'm a rich lady and you shall not speak to me," where I wanted a cuddlier blend. The vanilla is the main player here (which I should have expected based on the name!) instead of the benzoin, so it's a pass for me, but for those who really like perfumey vanilla it should be a big hit.

[DrKate]

I was very disappointed with this. It has no smell at all in the bottle, and virtually none when applied. I use bath oils as a moisturizer, so I slather it directly on my skin, and I still smell nothing. If I put my nose right to my skin I get a faint hint of sweetness. I guess I'll use it as an unscented moisturizer!

Mine is very faint too though not quite as much as yours sounds. The previous release wasn't very strong but was stronger than this and I bought two bottles based on that. Ah well, it's still very nice when I sniff deeply but I probably shouldn't have got two bottles.

[DJ Sin]

It has a root beer smell to it when first applied to my skin. After that I get vanilla extract. I am a fan of this bath oil. Its rich and lovely.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Bottle bought on the forums

 

Initial Thoughts: At first this wasn't even on my radar because generally booze=bad for my skin chemistry. Then someone mentioned in a thread that the "bourbon" of Bourbon vanilla has nothing to do with the Kentucky state drink but instead a geographic region of islands in the Indian Ocean that produces the majority of the world's vanilla. Thus educated, I immediately promoted this to my wish list. Because vanilla.

 

In the Bottle: Definitely vanilla. Smooth, rich and dark without screaming "CAKE" or "FOOD". I like it and am already pondering what this would layer with to give another scent an extra dimension.

 

On skin: This turns a bit more resinous, since of course benzoin is somewhere in the resin/incense family and that set of notes tends to amp on me. But it's not eating up the vanilla, only enhancing the aromatic side of vanilla and continuing to keep it out of foody territory.

 

Verdict: Lovely! I'll probably snag another bottle of this before it goes away, because it makes a perfect gentle scent on its own and has so many possibilities with combining with hair gloss and perfume...

[zankoku_zen]

Sweet vanilla and benzoin. More of the perfume style vanilla as opposed to the foodie type. It is oddly floral on me.

 

I'm sure this is exquisite on the right individual. That just ain't me.

[theseagrows]

i just skin tested this since i tend to use these as moisturizers more than bath oils. it's a subtle rich vanilla and i thought to myself, "oh good! this is the vanilla i like." because it is not too foody. not a fan of foody vanillas, but ones like this are my favorites. it's a vanilla with a creamy sugary note that comes out more after being on the skin for awhile. i think i am going to need more of this...

Edited March 14, 2015 by theseagrows

[Jeni Mullen]

Wow. I smell nothing. I slathered it on and even with my nose on my arm I'm getting nothing at all.

 

Also. I just want to say this: bourbon vanilla is not bourbon + vanilla.

 

This is vanilla from Madagascar, formerly called the Bourbon Islands. The vanilla is grown there and that's where it gets it's name. It's got nothing to do with booze.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Yojenitan

[LiberAmoris]

Bourbon Vanilla bath oil (which I use as after-shower moisturizer) is great to have on hand because it layers well with so many perfumes. The scent is relatively light, but I can smell an almost floral vanilla...almost like a combo of vanilla and honey from wildflower-loving bees. I'm glad I picked this up, and I wish I could wear it in my hair like some people can!

[milo]

I ordered right away, as I love my previous incarnation. This is nothing like it, and I am soooo disappointed. I'm used to the amazing non foody vanilla amazingness of the previous BVBO, this has none that I can detect. What I'm getting is very faint resins, kind of planty, then nothing. I am really upset about this, and will think twice about ordering a large bottle of anything that I considered my favourite from now on. If the blend is going to be that different, change the name already. I will check in a few days, as this just arrived yesterday, but I have my doubts.

[Poenari]

For some reason, I passed on ordering the previous release of this bath oil, and regretted it ever since, so I was excited to see it return. Having read previous reviews, which mostly confused me about whether this is meant for me or not, I decided to skip my usual blind bottle order and instead got a decant first.

2015 version: this is definitely a very lightly scented oil. I definitely detect a faint vanilla, non-foody. Since I only use my bath oils as an after-shower moisturizer, this one will be perfect to wear with my scents that have no true companion or complementary bath oil. It bridges the gap between my completely unscented coconut oil and my other bath oils. Bottle ordered!

[astarinel]

I have and adore the massage oil from the previous release of this, so I was very excited to see it come back because I love this vanilla and it goes well with the many vanilla-based scents that I wear.

 

Unfortunately, to echo some of the reviews here, I find this one very very lightly scented which surprised me because the massage oil was very strongly scented. The underlying scent is similar, it's just like someone forgot to put in half the vanilla. I'll still use it as moisturizer because I love the texture, but I'm pretty disappointed.

[kakiphony]

I am in love with this, partly because the smell is more faint. My biggest battle with both bpal and bptp scents is that they are often too strong and "wafting" on me. I want to be able to smell me when I sniff my skin, and I want someone hugging me to be able to smell me, but I do NOT want others in my office area to notice my scent. I'm an under-the-radar perfume wearer.

 

This is PERFECT. It's a lovely, rich, resinous vanilla that stays exceptionally close to the skin. It works great for dry elbows and layers beautifully on the occasions when I want a little more scent (i.e. going out, date night, etc). I've paired this with my old SN Madagascar Vanilla Run (SO SEXY) and Arcana Devilish, and it's beautiful with both.

[thekittenkat]

Cold sniff: Faint bourbon vanilla.

 

Wet: Much as on cold sniff. Not sure why this is!

 

Dry: My dry skin just drank this up immediately! Not any change in the scent. Just a tiny bit disappointed.

[LizziesLuck]

In the bottle, this smelled like nothing, and had me worried.

 

But I just slathered it on as moisturizer before bed, and I am in love! It starts out a sort of woody vanilla, not a foodie vanilla at all. Then, because I amp benzoin, that moves to the forefront, but the vanilla is still very much evident. The combination is divine! I adore it.