Rapture

[melrose]

Sensual ecstasy, the blinding red fire of the apex of sexual pleasure: Moroccan rose, Sumatran rose, mandarin, Egyptian myrrh, night-blooming jasmine, bergamot and neroli thrust into Arabian musk.

Hello, my name is Jasmine and I'm a great, big bully. I will put the smackdown on every other scent in this blend. I'm not the least bit afraid of even you two roses because my name is Jasmine!

You'd think I would have learned by now. Sigh . . .

[Blithgunde]

Rose! Lovely old-fashioned roses spring out of the imp, enhanced by the citrus notes and balanced by the myrrh. After a while the musk makes himself felt. If I concentrate I notice the jasmine, but on me it's gentle and distant.

 

Drydown is a delicious musky myrrh rose. It's soft and rich and sophisticated. I can imagine wearing it when I want to wrap myself in something traditionally feminine and attractive.

 

 

[impolight]

:::RAPTURE:::

 

Rapture is hot pink and fluorescent white in the olfactory spectrum.

This is a distinctly floral fragrance, yet there is something... Cleansing here, too; something of the tear-free persuasion...

Antibacterial, perhaps.

Soothing.

So far, this seems as though it would be an ideal room fragrance!

It is very fresh, clean, and feminine.

On the Skin: this is very much the same. The Neroli struggles to surface for a breath in this pool of pink rose petals.

The Myrrh, try as it might to cast a pall of shadow over this, to lend an air of reverence, has, at best, a fluorescent, sparkly, pastel sort of grey.

Giggles are stifled.

The Arabian Musk brings yet more sequins to the affair.

Total glitterpalooza!

Washing the hand until the suds looked like shaving foam did little to keep the neon pink light-saber from igniting the sinuses.

Rapture is unmistakeably for Her.

Very fresh and fragrant.

Hyperpink.

Best to brighten a room or use in teensy, atomised doses.

3.5 out of 5.

[reynardine]

Someone frimped me this one. From the imp, I’m getting pure jasmine. On my skin, a bit of the citrus and musk comes out. I must amp musk, because by the time this dries down, I’m mainly getting musk and jasmine. Not to my taste at all.

[whisperstilled]

In Imp: Rose and mandarin. I smelled citrus and for a moment thought it was apples, but nope, that's definitely orange.

 

Wet: The mandarin blends into everything else really nicely, and I end up with a well-blended floral with rose and jasmine thankfully taking backseat. I love morroccan rose like crazy, and it's really great here. Throw isn't too bad either.

 

Dry: Sweet, fairly simple, but a really nice example of the lab's morroccan rose note. I get almost no musk, but that hardly matters. Definite keeper. 4/5

[Duck Mountain]

98% of the time, jasmine in any amount is a no-go, but I tried this just out of curiosity.

 

No surprises here - it's cloying, headache-inducing, clingy attention-seeking jasmine all the way through with a whiff of other florals beneath.

 

The roses and musk sounded nice, but alas never made an appearance.

[zagadka]

^pretty much my sentiments exactly!

 

I wanted to love it, I really did...

[yakiguri]

Normally jasmine is one of my favorite notes, but in Rapture it's all I smell, and it's STRONG, set against something sharp and somewhat sour. Headache inducing--had to wash it off immediately. Too bad.

 

EDIT: Revisiting this since I got a frimp in a recent Lab order. My skin chemistry must have been off when I last tried Rapture, my sniffer was too inexperienced, or both, as I'm not getting any sharpness or sourness at all. I love jasmine but it's much too prominent here, though I do get a teensy bit of mandarin and soft clean musk. I'm surprised to not get any rose and bergamot considering those two notes can amp to high heaven when they want to. I'll stick with Salome for a clean musky jasmine, though Rapture is slightly softer.

Edited January 29, 2013 by thatbrownelf

[hkhm]

imp: rose and jasmine. sigh.

 

wet: horribly soapy rose and jasmine.

 

dry: soapy rose, strong jasmine.

[Victory]

This is a rose scent, no doubt, but it's a sweet rose. The sour edge that rose has isn't just covered, it's not there. I'm not sure what note is making it sweet, since none of the ones listed are sweet to my nose, and I had been trying to guess without luck. I don't think it's sugar. Anyway. It's sweet rose with the musk behind it and a really lush floral note. I'd thought gardenia, but I see jasmine listed, so that must be it. I like this. I don't often wear unabashed floral perfumes, but this is a nice one.

[Ramen]

I smelled myrrh just a little bit while this was wet, but otherwise it was rose and therefore barely registered to my nose until it got properly dry and turned soapy. Fortunately this was a frimp and not a scent I was too invested in.

[Vega]

Sniffed: Jasmine is the most prominent note, over musk and other florals.

 

On skin: Jasmine tends to dominate a blend, and it does that here, overwhelming Rapture with its hazy, thick floral quality. But I can also smell the musks, something fruity, and a clear floral note that must be the rose. Over time jasmine stops hogging centre stage, and the musks and myrrh start making their voices heard, although they never really overcome the jasmine overtone. Overally, Rapture is full-bodied, deep yet brightly hazy, a sensual fruity-floral-musky blend. Colour impression is a coral red, lightened now and again by streaks of pale haze.

 

Verdict: Rapture would be a keeper if not for domineering jasmine. Thank goodness it eventually plays nice, but I wish the other notes had more air time, especially the Arabian musk, myrrh and roses. Ah, well, I have better blends...

[Rouge]

In the vial - A very strong, gutsy floral with dominnt notes of rose and bright mandarin.

 

Wet on the skin - This smells like amber to me; a heady, rich, thick amber and deep musks. That's probbly the myrrh.

 

Next stages - Rose starts to brighten the blend after a few minutes of wear, but like many rose blends it threatens to turn a little sour on my skin.

 

Dry down - I seem to have escaped the curse of soapy-sour-old-lady rose. This is a beautifully sultry, deep scent for hot nights out (or in!)

 

If you like this, try: Othello, The Lion, Seraglio, Jezebel

[ami226]

On the skin: a musky floral. Beautiful. I think I can mostly smell the jasmine, but there is definitely some sweet rose mixed in there as well. Not headachy in the least for me!

 

Oh, I spoke too soon. The jasmine is becoming quite piercing.

 

Ouch! Sadly the jasmine really takes over. A bit later though, there is a point where this blend reminds me of walking through a greenhouse with fragrant plants all around me. Beautiful, but definitely quite strong.

[Invidiana]

There is a bit of a cat pee undertone to this wet but here's hoping.

 

:leaves swatch alone to dry down:

 

Okay, now it's really starting to take shape. I was afraid of either cat pee jasmine or dry rose death but apparently night-blooming jasmine behaves quite well on me. The rose notes are also the voluptuous type and not dry at all. My favorite thing about this scent, however, is the thick sweet myrrh and warm, sensual musk that really shine in the drydown. This might just love me.

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the imp: Rose and jasmine, strong

 

On me, wet: Mostly strong sharp jasmine, with a hint of rose and mandarin

 

On me, drydown: Softer jasmine with a little rose

 

On me, about 1 hour: Very soft jasmine, now with a bit of myrrh.

 

On me, after several hours: The lasting note is a gentle incensey myrrh, with no trace remaining of the florals or the other oils.

 

This is one of my favorite BPALS, although perhaps I should warn you that I do love strong florals and that Rose and Jasmine are among my favorites. It does settle down very quickly. I'd like to try it in a scent locket to see if the florals will last longer that way.

 

My rating: 5, planning to buy a whole vial in the near future.

[TheFrenchWaffle]

Dearest jasmine,

why can't you be more like the jasmine in Red Devil? Or New Orleans?

Sincerely, me.

 

What is it about this particular type of jasmine? It just hates my skin. The other notes try to salvage the scent but just can't muster the energy to save the day. Instead I get a scent that screams bug spray. At least it will hopefully be going to a nice home, thank goodness for swaps.

[countessmouse]

Sometimes jasmine works on me, and sometimes it doesn't. This is one that doesn't. Dammit.

[Honey]

Rose overkill!

 

 

Imp: Sweet, sweet roses. Very strong. Myrrh and jasmine tune into the mix, too.

 

Wet: Multi-layered rose with fruity mandarin and spicy myrrh. A really lovely blend although I am not much of a rose lover.

 

Dry: Soapy, fruity floral notes, strongest of all is rose. Might be jasmine in there as well, but I usually have a hard time detecting that as a single note in a mix. Hmm, not really my thing I guess.

[Missy_killer]

In the imp: Heavy, soapy floral. I definitely pick up rose and perhaps some citrus.

On me: Old lady. Heavy and sweet with a lot of roses. There is still some tartness in there, some kind of citrus.

One hour later: This one faded really fast on my skin, and I can only smell it if I press my nose to my wrist. Faint citrus & rose.

 

I'm not a floral fan for the most part, but if this had been a bit more citrus and a little less heavy on the rose.. I might have liked it!

 

Migraine: Almost

[MadameFaye84]

Got this in an imp.

 

Hmmm, not sure what to think of this one. When first put on I get a whole lot of jasmine, which is okay but not my favorite. Then on dry down this turns into soapy rose on me. Kind of reminds me of my grandma. Fond memories, but not something I would want to wear often.

[alyelle]

I need to preface this by saying that bpal rose + my skin is usually a total disaster. I can't count how many times I've tried it and hoped for anything even vaguely like rose, but - leaving aside Blood Rose, which is a world unto its own - it always results in baby powder or soap. Or so I thought. I've worn Rapture several times now, and it's been beautiful every single one of them. Though I have noticed a distinct seasonal difference.

 

Imp: In winter, a sharp citrus blend, almost entirely bergamot and neroli with a musk finish. In summer, pure jasmine, plain and simple.

 

Wet: In winter, a beating around the head of musk and rose, like the sweet cloying scent of an 18th century perfumier. In summer, sweet but refreshing, like a fresh cup of musky earl grey tea.

 

Dry: In winter, the rose and musk amplifies and all citrus notes disappear. And it's strong - even on the occasions I had a head cold I could smell this quite distinctly. In summer, it's the exact opposite: the citrus amps beyond belief and it starts to fade far more quickly. Rapture simply turns seasons on their head. It reminds me of dewy red summer roses when I'm rugged up in scarves, and feels like piping hot cups of tea while it blizzards outside when I'm lying supine in the heat and am too tired to even breathe. It's a most curious sensation.

 

Overall: It has a far better lifespan in the colder months, ~11 hours as compared to the usual 6 in the summer. And remarkably, I've not had a single waft of baby powder. I will now go go back through all my notes for imp trials of the past year and see exactly which rose was included in the blends I can't wear. I'm not sure which of these is the winner, but whichever it is has my lifelong devotion. I'll almost certainly keep a bottle of this in my permanent collection.

 

Stars: ★★★★★

Edited February 4, 2014 by alyelle

[venusinfurs]

In the imp: Heavy floral, but a "white" floral. Sweet and clean.

 

Wet on skin: Soap. Like most of BPAL's white florals on me

 

Dry on skin: Yuck, I don't think I like jasmine at all...either on me or in general. I know it's not the rose, because I ADORE bpal's rose and I'm not smelling it at all. I'm also usually not a fan of myrrh. I think this needs to go off to the swaps unless it morphs dramatically.

[AlectoFurious]

In the bottle: roses and jasmine with a tiny faint tang of something citrusy

 

Wet: roses gone, jasmine strong and not playing nice on my skin. Quickly turing into something between industrial cleaner and the aforementioned cat pee

 

Dry: this went very sour on me, which is disappointing because I sooooooooo wanted it to work. Ended up smelling like a citrusy urinal cake

[symbiosis]

In the imp, I strangely couldn't smell a bit of rose. This one was all about the smokey smells of musk, the bergamot and myrrh. Wet on my skin, Rapture explodes in roses, petals and fresh roses at that. At that point I was worried, since rose tends to turn a bit sweet and grandmotherly on me, but somehow...somehow, the rose that usually smells bad, the jasmine that my skin amps and then turns powdery...why, they're teaming up with the other notes and doing something entirely new! The grandmother of the rose is balanced out by the sweet of the jasmine, which is balanced out by the musk. Unless something weird happens in the next hour or two, I definitely won't hate this scent, and it may start to change my mind about florals.

 

I'm not sure I'd call this one a daily wearer, but it sure might be interesting for those times when I'm feeling extra girly.