Salomé

[Eris]

A scent that is both coquettish and sinister. Exotic and lush, brimming with grace and viciousness: almond with star jasmine, oakmoss, red sandalwood and Egyptian musk.

In the bottle, this is practically drinkable. The sweet almond is lovely and strong, backed by a faint floral spiciness. I was very excited to put this on, and the same beautiful scent lingered on my skin for about a minute.

Then, the almond faded, leaving a very standard floral fragrance I've come to associate with jasmine. It wasn't bad, but it was not that remarkable either. Something about the Lab's jasmine just doesn't do much with my chemistry. After a couple more hours, the floral was gone, replaced by a spiciness reminiscient of a thinner version of my Mom's old Opium perfume. I believe this is the Egyptian musk. Like the floral, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.

In my final analysis, I think I would have bought gallons of this if it had kept that initial almond scent on my skin, but I'm not sure now if I'll even keep the imp. Maybe I will--just to take off the lid and sniff once in awhile. It's that good!

[FireInCairo]

The almond is very prevalent in this frgrance. it smells of almond darkened with mysterious florals. It is a very heady scent. Marzipan with whips and chains!! That's the best way to describe it. LOVELY!

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: In the vial that "I don't know if it's cherry or almond" scent leaps out.

 

Second Impression: Then it's gone as soon as it hits the skin. It remains sharp for a little bit and then the magic happens. Oh, this is mysterious and lovely. I adore Egyptian musk and red sandalwood and together they make a sexy duo. The star jasmine, which must be more subtle then traditional jasmine, lends a very smooth and subtle spice.

 

Final Analysis: I wasn't sure I would like after the first few minutes, but then Salome morphed into a very "me" scent. Wow!

[LiberAmoris]

The olfactory equivalent of the dance of the seven veils.

 

Salome goes on with a boozy, effervescent burst of the almond/cherry noted above, which quickly dissipates when the jasmine comes through like the sun from behind clouds, warming things up. Jasmine and I have a rocky past, and at this point I wasn’t sure this blend and I would get along. But about ten minutes later the darker notes started crowding the floral, and the gorgeous sandalwood and musk came forth. At the end I could even smell the tangy, herby oakmoss at the edges.

 

Salome on me smells like a sexpot version of Namaste, minus the lemongrass and patchouli. The jasmine is not overpowering and although it is a sexy scent, I can also see how it would be great for days when I want to wear something mellow and warm.

 

This isn’t the Salome from the Bible, this is Oscar Wilde's Salome.

[lixolux]

out of the bottle Salome is very marzipan, spice and then more almonds than you can shake a stick at! upon wearing it mellowed yet became very full the same almond spice and then moved through some jasmine and now finally landing on the very earthy combination of sandelwood and musk - like the base note in Ann Bonny which is so delicious but unfortunatly makes me a bit ill to the stomach. But if you can handle it, the drydown is so so so so beautiful - i think i may try to use it as a room scent but it is so totally different, i wish there was a way to capture the dry earthiness of this last part! And it hasnt lost any "volume" so to speak, morphing thru the scents at the same altitude...

 

eta: this time wearing it that base note that make me feel icky is so faint that i am really really really enjoying it, its such a soft jasmine spice its got a very light loveliness that im so glad that i can noww enjoy!

Edited November 24, 2004 by lixolux

[Northernminx]

I didn't get a lot of almond on this one, but I did get a lot of heady, gorgeous spices and something abit more resiny. I imagine this is what the interior of the zenana would smell like in a sultan's harem, spiced and smokey and gorgeous. The star jasmine starts to come out after a bit but it's not over powering instead sort of powdery soft like Jasmine scent floating in a window.

 

Gorgeous and while this reminded me a bit of old Morocco that floral is making it so different a definite keeper.

[ChupaChup]

I love most of Beth's almond blends so I had high hopes for Salome. Immediately from the vial, I get the fresh burst of almond, that cherry cola smell, but it lasts only seconds. Still, for a while, Salome smells very nice, I get a little bit of spice and muskiness. But the jasmine starts to take over, gets stronger and stronger, to the point where I get a headache. Too bad, I really wanted to like this one

[Lucretia]

again, wonderful wonderful almonds at first and then POOF all gone!

sniffle... the dry down is still nice though, I get a hint of jasmine, but it's really nice. After new orleans I was afraid of jasmine, was now I think maybe it was just that particular blend.

anyway, it is very musky and spicy, smells almost peppery to my nose. staying power was so so and was completely gone by the end of the day.

I think I'll use up the imp, but it's a bit too musky for me.

[tempete]

Salome blasts me with sweet almonds when wet (Penance would hate this!), but then something spicy emerges to temper the almonds. At this point, I was thinking that I might grow to like this, but then Salome turned to soap - slightly licorice-y, sandalwood-y soap, but soap nonetheless. Off to swaps.

[Astarte]

Initially in the bottle it smell like sweet almonds tinged with something vibrant. As I put it on, I get the promising almond scent but after a minute, an almost anise scent comes out which horrifically disagrees with my body chemistry, making me feel nauseous.

 

Bleh, I really wanted to like this one.

[Ishtar]

Interestingly enough, I did not get any almond with Salome, except maybe a faint whiff well into drydown.

 

To me Salome was primarily a smoky, incensey scent with an underlying sweet-yet-earthy thickness that had me wonder if there was any patchouli in it. Definitely an exotic, Middle Eastern kind of scent that I would have loved had it not turned soapy after drydown.

 

It is my skin that is to blame here, as I can see how Salome would be beautiful on someone with the right chemistry. It almost worked on me. I will be adding it as a freebie to the swap I am sending out today, hopefully it will be spectacular on the recipient

[Shollin]

First sniff: Ooh, wow. Naughty cherries. This is The Red Queen’s wayward little sister who goes out in a leather bustier and spike heels. (I look it up, and OK, so it’s not cherry, it’s almond, and my nose has betrayed me again. Whatever.)

 

Wearing: Salome is seriously gorgeous, and very sensual – a deep red aura of musky cherries. It develops an incensey undertone as it dries, which doesn’t show up in the aura but is very apparent when I sniff my wrist.

[nhough73]

In the vial - an intriguing cherry almond scent, sweet.

 

Wet - The cherry is completely gone and the almond is fighting it out with the musk, its starting to get really spicy.. and I have the faint smell of... feet, or armpit.. I'm kind of torn which it smells more like.

 

Dry - ugh... the armpit smell has taken over and I need to wash this off. I loved it in the vial.. pesky skin chemistry.

 

I wanted to like this one too.

[Lit Chick]

I was initally worreid - the sweet cherry/almond blast from the vial was immediately backed up with a animal musk when dabbed on my skin - but hooray! The musk quickly fades to the background, providing an earthy an naughty base for the spicy florals. The almond (again, hooray!) turns nutty, and the cherry departs. This is a very mysterious and sexy oil - if I were to slather instead of dab, I think I might get up to no good.

 

And now what has become a regular part of my reviews: This scent reminds me of Santuary Crystals, the magick shop where I used to live. (Which was not "head shop" smelling - more demure than that).

 

I don't know if my chemistry is weird or I have a cold coming, but this seems to fade pretty quickly on me - but I seem to have that with a lot of oils recently. Well, I plan on using my imp, so we'll see.

[diabolique]

first sniff, i get an unpleasant whiff of something animalistic. it smells like civet, but i think it's a mixture of the jasmine and egyptian musk. the almond smell isn't that strong. it smells heavy and cloying.

 

on my skin, though, it goes on amazingly light and i can smell very soft sandalwood mingling with something green. the green scent is in the background, though, and there's a dusty, antique smell about this. there's also something in here that smells really candyish. salome confuses the hell out of my nose!

 

uh oh. i should've taken heed to the oakmoss. it's really prevalent now but somehow it retains a weightlessness within the blend. this is making my stomach churn. i hate you, oakmoss.

 

i'm gonna have to wash this off. hopefully i can throw it in as a freebie to someone else and they can love it.

[luxuria]

Erm..I think I got an imp of Salome from a bad batch. I don't smell almond- not a single bit- and I love almond and can pick it out of anything. What I DO get is oakmoss and musk, with a very faint touch of jasmine. No sandwalwood, either. I recognize oakmoss as the thing that went positively acrid on me in Zombi, and seeing as this is oakmoss-heavy..this was really gross on me. This is fairly masculine as well.

 

I thought it smelled unpleasant enough in the imp, but when I went to re-smell it after wearing it on my skin, it seemed delightful. I'm giving this one away to my friend

[Fyre_in_Winter]

This scent turned out very differently than what I had imagined. On my skin it ends up a very dry, spicy, and slightly acrid. To my nose I'm getting mostly jasmine and what I think is the oakmoss. After a bit the musk starts peeking out and giving some smoothness. But the dry spiciness remains, in an unpleasant way.

 

It doesn't smell bad, precisely, it just so doesn't fit my chemistry or personality.

[Shimmershadow]

In the Bottle: Something almondy. I don't like almonds.

 

On me: Still almondy! All almonds!! I don't like almonds!! Although it smells less bad on me that I would have thought...I still don't like almonds!!

 

And so... I don't like almonds!!!

[Faerykin]

Salome’

 

Swiped across wrists and along collarbone.

 

Initial Wet (8-8:30am): This goes on strong, almost with the scent of a normal over-the-counter perfume. The saving grace is the almond, which provides a thick, sweet backdrop to the other notes – which mix and mingle in such a way that it is difficult to determine one from the other.

 

Initial Dry (8:30-10am): This doesn’t really change much. The perfume smell still makes its way to the front moreso than anything else. The musk is more noticeable and the almond has softened a bit. I hope the perfume smell goes away.

 

Throughout the Day (10am-on): Something about this is giving me a headache. The commercial perfume smell has dissipated for the most part. I am left with a musky sandalwood with the barest hint of an underlying almond … and this headache.

 

The headache is gone! How odd! I am left with a musky, spicy, jasmine scent that isn’t at all unpleasant. But, with the initial commercial perfume smell and the fact that this gave me a headache midway through, I’m tossing it in the Swap Pile.

[tart]

Hmm.

 

I can immediately smell the musk, jasmine, and almond in Salome. This vaguely reminds me of Queen of Sheba. Salome is powdery and exotic, and reminds me of incense. This is something I'd imagine a bellydancer to wear.

 

I think the description is completely accurate of it being both coquettish and sinister, exotic and lush, brimming with grace and viciousness. This is the scent of a sensual, teasing woman who isn't afraid to hurt a man. I thought I didn't like Salome at first, but I may just keep it incase of seduction.

[sarahjay]

I'm liking this a lot. the jasmine is pretty strong at first but then the whole thing mellows out. it goes really nicely with Lush's flying fox shower gel.

[Witch's Dagger]

Salome

 

Preconceived notions: sensual, exotic - I love all the notes, and the oakmoss should add a lovely earthiness to an otherwise lovely collection of sensual notes.

 

In the vial: Very woody, with a large dose of almond thrown in. This is a bitter almond, not a sweet one, which isn’t what I was expecting in this particular blend.

 

On me: (10:17): It’s very, very sharp smelling, but unlike in Spellbound, in this, it’s quite a lovely sharpness. Closer in, it’s very, very sweet, but again, in a sharp way - like pure sugar. I’m wanting something warm, some spice of some sort. I thought the sandalwood would do it, but both the jasmine and oakmoss are pointy scents. . .

 

Ah, I spoke too soon - now, the sandalwood is coming out. At this point, it’s predominantly sandalwood and almond, with a hint of the jasmine. I’m not sure what happened to the oakmoss. Well, it’s still there, but it’s at the core somehow. This is turning into a very lush scent, just as I had predicted. I’m not too fond of the jasmine, though.

 

In 15 minutes: This is rich and complex. It is not a golden scent as I had imagined, but a dark brown with swirls of dark green. On me, the sandalwood comes out most - I’ve found that my skin really likes this note, and luckily, so does my nose. The other notes - especially the almond and oakmoss surround the sandalwood in a way that it doesn’t seem quite like sandalwood. But it’s still more that than either of the other two. Finally, the jasmine is wafting - hovering, like a ghost, around the central, earthy brown-green core.

 

In 30 minutes: It’s fading slowly, and the sandalwood is the last to go. It’s still complex with all the other notes that had been vining around it, though the jasmine has floated away somewhere else.

 

In 50 minutes: This is a lush, vibrant sandalwood, with the exotic and creamy hint of almond.

 

Overall: This is not at all what I was expecting, but I love it. It’s my favorite sandalwood blend so far. The almond keeps it from going bone dry, and the oakmoss gives it lush vitality.

[quimerula]

Wet it's way too marzipan-like, with a sublte sadalwood hint, but it morphes quickly letting the musk and the moss go stronger, turning it just a bit smooky.

Drying the base notes go stronger, holded back by the star jasmine and the almond that's still there somehow, more in a buttery way, almost all gone.

This is an oriental perfume, like the greatest classic of the past.

With some time it goes softer and a bit sweet, letting (at last) the star jasmine have it's own space to grow up.

At the end Salomé doesn't want the head of John the Baptist, she wants to find a good husband, settle down and have children.

[Julilla Regina]

Salome is a naughty little shape shifter. At first she's almondy sweet, Herodias' little darling. Then she goes smoky and deep incense with a slutty floral, the vile temptress!

 

It's not really a me scent, but it's nice and sexy for sure. My skin really ate this one for some reason, and was gone after a couple of hours on me. It's move down into a really evocative, seductive scent. Just a tad too much incense for me, but I don't think it's overwhelmingly incense, I just wish I had a smidge more jasmine.

[shelldoo]

in the vial and wet: seems like an almond single note

 

as it dries the almond, as others have stated, evaporates, leaving behind a sharp jasmine, the musk is fighting w/ the jasmine for top spot (reminds me of sonny and cher both trying to be in the spot light, you think it is one and bam the other jumps in), all this w/ a lovely background base of sandalwood to referee the mele

 

after a bit the jasmien takes a back seat and it is a lovely grounded scent i like much more then in teh jasmine stage., it is a spicy, sandalwood, musk,and a hint of something resinous.

 

i like it after it dires and the jasmine fades away