Venom

[Shollin]

Venom, from Diabolus:

 

Darkly seductive and lethally compelling: sinuous opponax, galbanum, dark wild berries, a drop of lush jasmine and a sliver of lime.

 

First sniff: Warm and elegant. I smell alcohol in this one too, like an upscale cocktail in a room full of ladies in high high heels and black dresses. Definite sharpness.

 

Wearing: It's nice -- I definitely smell the lime right away on my skin. Elegant but somehow ominous. Though pleasant, it's not exactly pretty... it's more of a haughty scent, like something an ice princess would wear. It's a much cooler scent on my skin than it is in the bottle, and somewhat green -- neon, not woodsy.

[Guest]

I did not think I was going to like this one...normally I prefer vanilla-y or amber-y scents...as matter of fact, I didn't even read the entire description on the site, so un-interested was I.

 

However, I received it as a sample, and upon first sniff I was hooked -

it smelled so familiar to me, I could not figure out why...

it DID smell venomous...poisonous...and then it struck me!

The scent is very similar to Poison, by Christian Dior, which 10 years ago was my all time favourite. This scent seems a little darker, wilder, a bit more...corrupt.

 

This is a definite keeper, and will teach me to give something a chance before I completely write it off!

[lorajc]

I agree with the above reviewer on this scent. I passed it over on the site...but Elizabeth sent me my scent recommendations with this on the list. I got it in a swap and tried it....Love it!!! It's really unique. It is another resin scent that is mild but potent. I don't know how to describe it. It is a bit fruity but deep. I can't really detect any of the notes on their own. They blend together well. I wore this to a job interview recently....with the thinking Venom would help me be confident and I'm a bit sick of all of the interviewing since I've been unemployed...I wore it as venonmous aide in orally presenting myself. Maybe somewhat twisted in my thinking, but I am a bit sick of all of the interviews with rejection to follow. We'll see how this worked. I'm still in the running for the job. I just called to find out since they are taking their good old time. (and yes now that the above person mentioned it, I do recall Poison from days long ago.....slightly similar...of course, Elizabeth's is much better)

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: This is gorgeous! Sweet and juicy with a touch of malice in the bottle.

 

Wearing: This is the first BPAL I've tried that doesn't change significantly on my skin. The berries sweeten up the floral perfume smell, the end result being a thick, sweet, poison-like mixture. I feel LETHAL in this perfume. The only problem is that it fades too quickly.

 

Final Impressions: A definite keeper. I'm so glad Elizabeth tossed this one in, as I don't think I would have ordered it myself!

[jj_j]

I can't decide if I truly like Venom or not. It has such a dual nature to it - I've almost decided it's like getting an injection - or what a snakebite must feel like. Icy in nature at first, then warm and throbbing.

 

Definitely alluring. It calls to me, and some days it's all I can think about wearing. The jasmine would usually be off-putting to me, but it's just the smallest part of this scent, and mingles with the berries in an absolutely compelling way.

 

While not classically beautiful, it's very striking in a soft, sinuous manner.

[Astarte]

As soon as I put this scent on, I wondered why I smelt like my mother and then I remembered her favourite scent is Poison by Christian Dior.

 

I'm so stunned that Elizabeth has created such a hardcore version of the scent, I will definitely be passing this imp onto my mother when I next see her.

[TygherRayn]

First sniff: Oooh, I'm going to like this one. I can smell the jasmine .. and I -love- jasmine in an oil. It's sweet, but not wine or sugar sweet.

 

First 5 minutes: Almost immediately I can smell the lime in this one, which is odd, because it was very strong jasmine on both Jason and vaniclion. But that's not a bad thing at all .. it's deliciousl If this were a drink, I'd love it!

 

After drydown: Oh, I love this one. It's almost a lighter, more delicate Nyx to me. It's sweet, from the jasmine and lime. I don't really catch the berries, but that's okay. I like this just the way it is. I like what Shollin said about it .. it's what an ice princess would wear. It definitely is a lime-green scent to me.

 

Final decision: I want a bigger bottle of this one I think. I definitely will be buying more imps, at the very least.

[hypothermya]

A fan of limes, and absolutely in love with Bewitched (another berry scent by Beth), I decided that Venom was a must. Fortunately, paperdoll was kind enough to swap this with me.

 

In the Bottle

 

Okay, the strongest note that I can identify is the jasmine, followed by the berries, and then there's the lime. There are two other notes that are stronger than the berries or lime, but I don't recognize them. This has the smell of a perfume from a department store, upscale and classy, but with rich berries speaking of a low class hedonism and the lime giving it a bit of a spike.

 

Wearing It

 

As soon as I put this on, the jasmine and two unrecognizable notes perked, drowning out the berries. The lime just vanished, which was a bit of a bummer. As the fragrance softened down, I started to realize that the lime was just not going to make an appearance. And I was right; after nearly two and a half hours there's still no hint of lime. There wasn't enough berries to keep this from regaining it's department store conforming smell, unfortunately. The one thing that did keep my interest though was that after about a half an hour or so, the scent picked up a bit of spiceyness. It was as if that soft floral ingenue had suddenly whipped out her sting.

 

My sister loves the way it smells on me, and thinks I'm crazy for not liking it more. But this one is getting the same reaction as Viola did; a nice floral, but a floral nonetheless. I'm really a bit miffed that my skin chemistry didn't bring out the berries and lime more, but such is life. I did enjoy smelling it though, and was really pleasantly surprised by that bit of bite that it showed towards the end. She really is the classy assasin of perfumes.

 

edited to say: between this scent and Muse, I think I'm beginning to like the way these slightly quirky florals smell on me. I wore this tonight, and even though it's still too heavy on the jasmine for every day use, I think I'll keep the imp and wear it when I want to feel sophisticated and deadly. It's definitely growing on me though...

Edited June 4, 2004 by hypothermya

[Becky]

this is a very interesting scent to me. at first it smelled mostly of sweet lime to me. not a sharp bitter lime, but almost like lime candy. after wearing it a while the berries came out and it turned fairly warm on me. the lime faded a bit, but it was still here adding a strange sharpness and sweetness at the same time. I really like this one, not what I was expecting, but wonderful.

[Mitzy]

I would describe this as soft, warm, and somewhat elderly. It is a comforting scent. I cannot pick out the individual notes, it is a very harmonious, floral smelling blend. There is no lime in this for me. As it dries it gets sweeter, but after 1.5 hours I can barely smell this anymore! Nice, but not for me.

[Effluvia]

in the vial: Some kind of lime vodka drink. This reminds me of a mojito.

 

wet, on my skin: This is totally the embodiment of "venom"...This chick is very pale and has white blonde hair and has a weird sadomasochistic relationship with Draco Malfoy. This is totally Slytherin, but feminine and kind of sexually malicious...bitchy. Definitely cold-blooded. I like this a LOT, but it's not warm enough for me...I think I'll wear this when I'm playing someone else for a day. Someone far more icy and wicked than I.

 

dry, on my skin: lime and some other VERY familiar spicy smell I can't quite put my finger on. I'm pretty sure it's the jasmine. This scent makes me feel so bad-ass dominatrix all of a sudden!

Not in the usual Loviatar way, though, this makes me think of a sex scene in an Ayn Rand novel.

 

Update: That's it, this is going on the big bottle list FOR SURE.

Edited June 29, 2004 by Effluvia

[malanna]

On first application, I went, "Ooooh!" It was hard to pinpoint my finger on what exactly it smelled like, but it reminded me of my grandmother. Not so much that she uses this scent, but it has the same feel of the scents she uses--brands, such as Chanel, that are so upscale, it feels like it puts a distance between you and the scent. I thought I smelled lime and the jasmine is pretty dominant, but the scent melds together so that it has a oneness. This oneness comes from this singular impression that I get from it. It's not in the nature of this scent to be "weak" enough to be identifiable by its separate parts. The impression I get from it is that it's a very cool, yellow (not pastel or bright yellow, but a cool yellow) scent. It doesn't feel cool on the skin, but afterwards, I think that it must have. It also doesn't smell very real. By that, I mean that it doesn't smell like it was made from natural ingredients. It smells like it was artificially manufactured, because otherwise, the scent would be intimate, which it most definitely is not. When I wear this, what immediately pops to mind are the makeup artists behind the department store counters (Chanel, Christian Dior, etc.) in their black suits and jackets, with impeccable hair. It's what you'd think they'd smell like (or the impression they give off). You can't imagine them off job and/or not being formal and distant.

 

Over time, my liking for it faded. Off to swap!

[Scylla]

Woo Hoo! Finally a BPAL oil that my husband absolutely LOVES!

 

Some he hates (Zephyr), an others he is just "eh" about, but Venom really got a totally favorable reaction from him. I suspected it might...he always liked when I wore Poison, and some other forumites have compared Venom to Poison.

 

I can definitely smell the note similarities: berries, opoponax, vanilla, honey. But there are also differences...which makes Venom even better, in my opinion. Yes, Venom is similar, but not in a "trying to be an exact copy" knock-off sort of way.

 

It is on my next order list!

[omly]

In the bottle this smelled strongly of alcohol, which took me a back from my other experience with BPAL oils and from the description. I can see where some people would say this smelled like a vodka drink, but my first thought was of a department store perfume. During dry down it sweetened a lot as the jasmine took dominance. I can't pick out any berry or lime, but there is definately more to this scent than the jasmine. It is pretty and something I could see a business woman wearing, beautiful and confident. It isn't something I would tend to wear though.

[Northernminx]

Sharp, biting, proud, and dangerous. The lime in this is readily apparant, there's a vague frutiness in there, possibly the berries, but tihs isn't a light or playful scent. Rather this aptly lives up to it's name, something somewhat incidious and sharp. Not quite me but since others have compared it to Poison, I'll toss it over to one of my friends who loves that perfume.

[fragrantgrasse]

I waited to try Venom not thinking I would like it for some reason.

 

Wet on my skin it is sharp and biting - I can smell the jasmine - which I love. But there is something else that is altering jasmine's sweet, narcotic scent. I can't identify what it is, maybe the lime....There is also something about opoponax & berry mix that is very complimentary and amplifying to jasmine, a sweet voluptuousness. It is incredible, and I find I really love it!

 

As it dries it gets warmer and mellows out to a very pleasant fragrance on me. for some reason I am also getting images of Hawaiian Islands and trade winds when I smell this!

 

Or.... maybe I just need a vacation. It is grey & pouring rain here in Toronto today.

 

I really like Venom and this is one for my growing list of 5mls.

 

And if I go to Hawaii anytime soon I shall certainly pack a 5 ml. of Venom!

 

 

eta: corrections on info...

Edited October 28, 2004 by fragrantgrasse

[pkwench]

Venom:

 

I recently recieved this in swap and loved it from the get go. Despite the name, the first time I wore it was to bed. It does, in case you wondered, produce sweet dreams. Today I drug out the trusty imp again to give it a whirl in the waking world. The first thing that struck me was that something about it reminded me of Dragonfly Blue's version of Nag Champa. What, I didn't know, but that can never be a bad thing. After having it on for a while, I've discovered that my skin positively eats Venom. It's a lovely, dark and biting scent, but I quite literally have to reapply it about every 90 minutes. That's something that puts me in a strange place-on the one hand, hell, I'd like a big bottle so that I can appropriately slather and bathe in this puppy. Ha, take that Venom-eating skin! However, I wonder if that's a reason NOT to buy a big bottle-the fact that I'd have to reapply it so often. I sat here thinking "gee, that'd be kinda wasteful". Then I thought about how much I have and how much I have coming in. I laughed quite a bit and decided, yes, Venom goes on the bottle list.

Edited October 27, 2004 by pkwench

[rainbow]

I ordered an imp of this because I liked the sound of lime and berries. I've not been disappointed. Venom is magic on my skin. The details:

 

In the bottle and wet on my skin: I'm getting strong lime and jasmine. Not really smelling the berries. This is sweet, with a kick.

 

As it dries: This dries into a scent that gets sweeter and headier. Within a few minutes all the scents have combined into a strong, sweet, heady, gorgeous scent, still with that bit of kick. I think it smells exactly like Lush's sex bomb. For that reason, this scent gives off a bright pink, playful aura for me. It's jasmine with a layer of deep fruits. Those must be the berries, though it's obviously not just berries.

 

Duration: I found this oil to remain remarkably constant when I wore it. Once it morphed into the Sex Bomb scent it stayed that way. I loooove this oil. I shall be purchasing a larger bottle for sure.

[pekeana]

Guh, guh, omg, omg, loooooove.

 

In the vial, Venom is kind of a sweet, non-descript floral with a hint of citrus.

 

On me, it blooms into this utterly feral, sexual sweet berry and musk with a touch of lime and jasmine dancing around beneath it. Venom is powerful, enticing, and deliciously lip-biting sex in a bottle.

[JazzieCazzie]

Got Venom in a swap, untested, unrequested, and curious. Jasmine is a good thing. Berries and lime, usually not such a good thing. And Opponax and Galbanum? I hadn't a clue ...

 

But something in the BOTTLE was immediately so familiar from my childhood and I couldn't put my finger on it at all ... GOOD memories though. Somehow oriental and medicinal. When I put it on I got the same vibes while it was WET ... I just sniffed and sniffed and was baffled. Pleasantly baffled.

 

On DRYDOWN though it became sweet and green at the same time ,,, mellowed down in to fruity clean laundry ... and I finally recognized its final morph was into the scent of SAKURA ballistics from LUSH!!! One of my very favorites! And yup, my wrist smelled like Sakura for hours afterwards. This is a big bottle order.

[sarada]

Oh.....dear. My, this is powerful stuff.

 

I have been intrigued by the description of this for some time, as it conjures a glowing green image for me and I love the idea of jasmine and lime working together in a blend. And I love berries, and resins (opononax and galbanum). So, in my mind this was going to be a very formidable blend....and it is!

 

I definitely can see where this could be compared to Poison. Poison is the only commercial perfume I ever tried, and I got it when I was 14 just because I liked the name, and the bottle. I liked the perfume too as it turned out. From what I remember of it, this does resemble it. But whereas Poison is a very purple scent in my memory (perhaps the berries were more in the forefront) this comes across very green indeed. The jasmine dominates, on me. This is very, very strong. This could definitely give you a headache if strong smells make you feel funny in the head. I adore it and I think I inhaled it for too long because now I'm spinning.

 

Once applied, this stayed on for HOURS. I can't keep a scent alive on my skin for very long at all so I choose many of my purchases for staying power. This goes on and on. And it doesn't change much -- the jasmine is still very powerful, and it is tempered by those unusual resins -- I have no idea what they smell like on their own, but I love Queen of Spades and she has opoponax (sweet myrrh) and galbanum as well. I do catch a glimpse of the Queen swimming around in this potion...though the jasmine is all-consuming here, and I can't catch quite as much of the berry scent. I definitely want a bottle of this, but it is so powerful I probably won't be able to handle too much of it on a regular basis. Very overwhelming...truly one of the lab's master strokes, but it might be too powerful if you're into lighter or subtler scents.

 

Updated: I swapped this away because it gave me a headache but I got another imp and I like it more this time. It's still a little too strong in the jasmine/perfumey department but it's such a regal, commanding scent that I find it compelling. Now that it's discontinued I am glad I have a little bit of it for those rare moods when I might want it. The resemblance to Poison is still uncanny but this time I am getting more a sense of the berries this time.

Edited October 27, 2005 by sarada

[Nemesister]

i am so glad someone mentioned dior poison. i knew this smell took me back to early-mid teens but didn't know why.....it is poison totally.....

[warmfuzzies]

hmmm, this smells like the color brown, amber brown. am i the only one that thinks this is a dead ringer for O without the powdery dry down? i tried without reading the reviews first. funny, i smelled things that were *not* in the scent description (cumin, butter), and never would have guessed at what *was* actually in it. i do like it, but since i find it so similar to snake oil & O, which i have 5 mls of, i won't be getting a bottle o' this. it is warm, comforting & unusual (i have never smelled poison, that i know of). it's good stuff. definitely not for the "clean, green" crowd, in my opinion.

[tempete]

Wet, Venom is nauseatingly berrylicious sweet, with a hint of the lime toning down the sugarfest ever so slightly. It reminds me of Poison in this stage, as other reviewers have pointed out. If I wait long enough, the sweetness fades and gives way to a resiny note (opponax? galbanum?) Venom is quite interesting at this stage, but I can't stand the incredibly sweet wet phase, so I'll have to swap this one away.

[sarahjay]

I was given this - I'm sure I wouldn't have bought it, because of the lime.

 

I love this! I used it today after lush's youki-hi bath bomb & flying fox and a dusting of silky underwear, and I'm in jasmine heaven. but there's something in here that does smell 'dark' to me, in a good way - I'm not powdery sweet at all. it's not to lime-y for me at all.

 

I put this in my scent locket & it's lasted well all day. I might just need a bigger bottle to satisfy my jasmine need... lovely

 

oh, and I didn't know that opoponax is sweet myrrh (this makes me happy because my skin loves myrrh) - so I've learnt something new today