The Grindhouse

[hepkitten]

Florentine iris, red musk, mimosa, magnolia, Damascus rose, clove, and vanilla bean.

Oh, this is TOTALLY the perfume of a madam. I mean that in a good way, of course.

It doesn't quite work on me, though, as the florentine iris is beating me over the head, and I could swear that I smell a wisp of red wine.

[kikithepirate]

At first, this is very musky and heady, and it's really blended to perfection: you can pick out almost everything. As it dries, it REALLY morphs, and is completely rose and red wine on my skin. I really like those things, so I love it! The musk helps the scent stick around, though it doesn't last nearly as well as a lot of other scents.

[twilighteyes]

This is one of those scents that took me by surprise. I was anticipating others to be my long lost loves and instead I'm blind sided by something I wasn't even looking at.

 

I wonder if it's the red musk / vanilla bean combo? I certainly like rose and clove too.

 

Regardless, this was a pleasant surprise and may be back up bottle worthy for me.

[zankoku_zen]

This one doesn't work on my skin chemistry - the vanilla goes plasticky, which leads to an odd almost dirty patchouli overlay to the red musk. The rose is the other predominant note - so it smells like a dirty, sexy red rose.

 

Yeah, not my type of scent.

[tasty]

I'm so bad at doing scent reviews! So please take that in mind when I attempt to describe this scent.

 

This is a very pretty scent yet is sophisticated at the same time. Youthful florals mix with stately musk and spice. It's a balance of beautiful and strong; really it's exactly what a madame should smell (and act!) like.

 

I love this. I admit that I want to try any blend with Florentine Iris since I think that's what's in Black Pearl that has me going gaga over it. There aren't many blends containing this illusive ingrediant, so I treasure each one.

 

This is so lovely on - even better than in the bottle. I'll be treasuring this blend and will be buying a lot more of this one!

[innocent]

The Grindhouse is sweeeet on my skin, candy-sweet. The red musk is singing an alto line while some sort of SWEET floral (iris, mimosa? I'm not certain.) is piping up - a bit too high and squeaky. I like red musk, but I was really hoping to get the vanilla, clove, and rose in this one. Sadly they're MIA.

 

This has some throw on me... it's not unpleasant but rather reminds me of Pez.

 

I'll be keeping my imp to see how the red musk ages, but I won't be getting a bottle.

[theseagrows]

at first, this definitely smells like one of the musky sexy blends- smut, voodoo queen, venom or trick #1. the red musk and clove are the most prominent. when it sinks into my skin, i think the florals come out more. the vanilla is a background note- i am mostly getting a musky floral. i really like this, it's very beautiful. i think i might have to get a 5ml.

[Lyrical]

In the vial: rich florals with musk, clove and vanilla. Darkish brown in colour.

 

Wet on skin: very dark and rich, and almost smoky - perhaps it's the red musk combining with the clove that does that? I think there's another note that's not listed - perhaps patchouli or even vetiver - giving that dark sourness! Then vanilla emerges and lifts it into the realms of foody. The second time I tested it I could swear there was heliotrope.

 

Dry on skin: I really didn't expect this to be so dark and spicy! The vanilla and clove are yummy, but I don't like the way rose combines with the other notes. However it's sweet, and it's teetering on the edge of gorgeous! I'll just have to wait and see where it goes next!

 

Conclusion: I think it's a bit too dark and spicy for me. There's a note here I don't like, although I'm not sure what it is. It is very nearly lovely, though! In fact it definitely has its moments!

 

Great lasting power! 12 hours later I could still smell this on my arm!

[furygrrl]

In the imp: Sweet - almost creamy - wood. How odd!

 

On wet: Nothing beyond an indistinct, vaguely perfumey sweetness - weirder and weirder...

 

Drydown: Okay, I'm getting red musk, the richness of the vanilla - perhaps even a bit of the magnolia, which often registers as a creamy, vanillic floral my nose - and a hint (and I mean *hint*) of clove adding a touch of spiced heat to mix. Not sure if it's the mimosa or the iris (which I usually love), but something in here is *incredibly* sweet - like, painfully so. It seems to burn off a bit after a while, but wow, is it ever potent! When my wrist is safe to smell again, I'm left with clove-studded, vanilla-tinged, still-fairly-sweet red musk. It's really quite sexy! (The rose never made an appearance, in case you were wondering.)

 

Overall: Clove rarely plays nice on my skin, so it was kinda surprising to find it behaving in this blend. I'm thinking that it was the mimosa that went uber saccharine (I had a similar reaction to the mimosa-laced Marianne), so I'll likely be avoiding (or at least wary of) scents that contain it in the future. If it wasn't for the sweetness, I'd likely be going for a bottle of this one with the next update (I don't have anything with clove in it, so it'd be nice to finally get something that does), but as it stands now, I'm going to stick with my decant a bit longer, test it again, and see if it improves or my chemistry is more welcoming over the next couple of weeks. Currently, a 3.5/5.

[yeahbutnobut]

The Grindhouse

 

In the imp: mmm, Marianne’s spicy incense-y red musk with a bit of vanilla sweetness!

Wet on skin: pepper? I smell something smoky and almost peppery now. This reminds me of Trick 1.

Dry on skin: crackling toasty smoky spices (almost like cumin now? What on earth?) mingles with pale floral notes, sweet vanilla, and red musk incense. wow, this is quite nice! It’s got an almost savoury spice to it which is a bit strange at first but I quite like it. then the mimosa comes through, surprisingly strong. To me this smells like a cross between Trick 1, Unheavenly City and Marianne. It also reminds me a bit of Hell’s Belle, that spicy musky magnolia scent.

After a while: now the spicy peppery smoky scent has mixed with the musk and the scent now has a dry, crumbly feel to it, like an incense powder waiting to be burnt. The powdery scent is enhanced by the iris and pollen-dusted mimosa. There’s that hint of nag champa to the musk, and the magnolia is very strong. I get hardly any clove and rose. The vanilla is soft and seems to by shying away from the floral and dry dusty spiced musk. It’s not bad but I really wanted this scent to have the creamy undertone I get from Unheavenly City and War.

Verdict: compared with the wonderfulness that is Marianne, this doesn’t quite cut it. Grindhouse is of course very similar, but there’s something in here I’m not crazy about. The scent overall is too dry and crumbly for me, I was hoping this would be a bit creamy and luscious, like many red musk and floral combinations tend to be, but there’s a champa-like feel to the scent which I’m not keen on. There was a similar scent in Marianne but there were loads of other notes in there making it rich and full, in here the champa-musk is a bit thin, dry, bland even? Like a spicy powder with hints of flower pollen and orris. I sent my decant off to a good home-I like this scent, but not enough to keep it.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Not really. I wish it was less thin and more rounded.

If you like this, try: Marianne, War, Hell’s Belle, Hollywood Babylon, Trick 1

Edited August 13, 2008 by yeahbutnobut

[naeelah]

I can't give this a very in depth review, but my general impression is this:

 

As a young blend, the most prominent notes are iris and red musk. The red musk is bright and a tiny bit chemical-y. The iris is sleek and sophisticated. Underneath, it's enriched by subtle, earthy vanilla and darkened just slightly by clove (which really only adds depth, not so much spice). I can smell the magnolia, but it doesn't take over or give me a headache, as it does in many blends. I'm not as familiar with the scent of mimosa, but I suspect it's right up there with the iris and red musk. The rose is definitely at play, but only to lend depth and smoothness to the bouquet. Even on my rose-amping skin, Grindhouse does not strike me as a rose blend.

 

I was expecting something a bit deeper and creamier, more like Sacred Whore. Instead, the Iris and red musk give me something much more chic. This is a sophisticated, classic floral that hints at a seedier background. As it is, it's a little too dry for my tastes. However, I think this is a great candidate for aging, so I'm definitely going to keep my imp and see how it changes.

[Dark Alice]

In Imp: Red Musk!

 

wet on skin: red musk and iris.

 

Drydown: POOF!!!!!! My skin eats this stuff. Although I am glad I don't get any rose, I am sad that I can't get anything after 5 minutes because my stupid skin eats it!!!!!

 

Drydown: 10 min later: The red musk amps and the vanilla bean takes over....then after 5 more minutes.....Poof, it's gone

Edited August 14, 2008 by Dark Alice

[gchris]

In Vial: Rootbeer

 

Wet:Very berry and sweet

 

Dry: Smells a little like berry koolaid but deeper and richer.

[grashopper8]

A dark, creamy red musk scent, with a swirl of sweet flowers.

 

It's rich.

 

I'm not really in love with this, it's a little head-achey to me.

 

2.2 out of 5

[tacey]

The Grindhouse (decant)

 

Oh, I like this one! This is just lovely -- it's rich without being sweet or foody, it's exotic, it's so well blended that I can't identify a single one of the floral notes. Besides the florals, there's red musk (yep, now I'm sure I know musk when I scent it), clove-y spice, and a hint of vanilla. The image in my head is a color -- a transparent, dark red, whisping to smoky swirls at the outside.

[dansemacabre]

The red musk is was initially drove me to try the Grindhouse because it tends to work well with my chemistry. Wet, the iris and rose is pretty dominant and the clove gives it some spiciness. I don't get any red musk or vanilla bean yet. As it dries down, the florals are pretty prevalent and there is a slight, very slight hint of sweetness. It's very very lovely but... It's almost commercial, something you'd find the average person wearing. Lately, I've been into gourmand and spicy scents or anything really unique. So unfortunately I will not be buying a full bottle of this, although I will horde my imp or any future imps. Who knows, I may change my mind in the future. I would wear this to the office because it seems a bit generic and probably won't offend because the final dry down is a very very very slight hint of white floral (which I love) but right now, other bpal favs demand my money, so this one sits on the back burner.

[tativa]

Okay, so keeping in mind my imp is from when acts 4 and 5 just came out... so its quite a few months old.

I really disliked it at first, and almost traded it away... not sure why I kept it. Last night I tried it on, and its so gorgeous... red musk and a lil floral... with a dry down of musky cloves.

 

I've been looking for a perfect clove scent... and this might be it. Really long lasting too... it survived many diaper changes at work today.

 

Edit:

O noes... the clove note died. Now its a nice red musk with a lil bit of iris and rose. Might try and pick up a bottle when the cd is leaving... but it didn't age nearly as well as I had hoped.

 

Now its nice... but its pretty generic and powdery.

Edited March 27, 2009 by tativa

[angelicruin]

I swear I can smell every note in this blend. A very pleasant floral and musk blended with vanilla. As it dried down, the clove became more dominant, but the floral, musk, and vanilla are all still there too. Glad I purchased a bottle of this. Very nice.

[Schmoozy]

First whiff from the bottle and I had high hopes. Unfortuantely as soon as I applied The Grindhouse, all I got was the scent of cheap vanilla candles with a splash of red musk for good measure.

So it's probably a good thing that I didn't wash this off right away, because the cheap vanilla candle scent disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

This is definitely a red musk scent with iris, rose and vanilla in the background. They play together very well, until the clove comes in.

 

Gah, I am just not sure this is for me.

[lothien]

How have I not reviewed this? Maybe I got so busy looking for more that I forgot?

 

I was gifted a 60% partial bottle of this because the woman I bought from a couple of times had a delay in shipping, and she sent it along to make up for it. It was unsniffed to me, and I was wary of the flowers, since that tends not to be my general direction... but

!!!Dayum!!!- she can be late anytime!

 

This is amazing. I'm an enormous fan of red musk anyway, but most of the CD's that folks recommend with red musk also have a patchouli component that would, at my house, offset the desired effect of the red musk (the boy sez "ew ew ew").

 

I cannot for the life of me identify or separate out the different flowers in this. Nothing screams flowers, or cloves, or vanilla. It just blends into a lovely succulent scent alongside the musk. As it gets farther into the drydown there is a little more spiciness and vanilla, but it doesn't change dramatically from the imp to dry, and it lasts quite a long time.

 

It calls to me. ^^ And my husband seems to like it as well, or there is a peculiar correlation between me wearing this and the out-of-context carnal attention.

 

I have since managed to locate another partial bottle that should exactly top off the one I have, and I am thinking it would be wise to grab a bottle from the Lab to tuck away, while CD is still around.

So thank you, generous destasher!

[ami226]

In the bottle: A dark deep scent that smells strangely seductive to me. I can't pick out any one note, but everything blends together into a lovely scent. Not as overpowering as I thought it would be!

 

On the skin: Definitely smell the musk, iris, and clove. Wow, this scent is so good right now it isn't even funny! I think I may have to add this to my love it list. I was not expecting this.

 

Okay, my boy took one whiff and said it smelled like gummy bears. *sigh* I don't understand how it can smell so different to him! Well, I like this one and it is going on my "like it" list. Mmmmm!

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Very little, a slight hint of rose and an even slighter hint of red musk

 

Wet on me – Soft, sweet iris, deep red musk and in the back something I would have said was patchouli

 

Dry on me – A faint, slightly sweet floral

 

Overall – I guess I expected this to be rather more full on. I like it, but it’s more the memory of a lover who has gone than a full blown Grind House

 

[asciident]

Wet: Spicy, creamy, musky.

 

First on: ...Almost undetectable on my skin, like it just drank it up.

 

Dry: Still barely there. SO sad.

[filigree_shadow]

Red musk is the sexiest of all musks, in my humble opinion, and it's really difficult for me to smell anything that has BPAL's red musk in it without thinking the word sexy. Also, often with other musks I can usually tell they're there, but I can't really tell the difference between black musk or gray musk or plain musk. They're just sort of musky and nondescript to me. Not red musk. Red musk is very distinctive, and I can always smell it in every blend it's in.

 

I can definitely tell this has red musk in it, but after about 20 minutes or so it's a lot lighter on me. (Often when I wear something with red musk in it, that's the last note that clings to my skin -- the one note I can still smell on my wrist when I get up the next morning.) I guess the other notes in this blend are getting louder and drowning out the musk a bit.

 

I can barely smell the rose, but I'm pretty sure I can detect some magnolia. Also it's sweet, but I'm not entirely sure what the sweetness is from. Bare hint of clove. I might have been happier with a little bit more clove in this one, but it's fine. Vanilla bean? Erm... maybe? I can't pick that out at all in the beginning, but after the scent warms up I think I can smell some vanilla bean. Everything in this that is not the red musk is blending together beautifully and really balancing out the scent.

 

This is very nice.

[tapestry]

In the bottle, this is faint but lovely. It makes me think "blue" and water -- deep, dark water like a lake at night, ringed by lights. I don't love it. Hell, I don't even particularly like it all that much, but for some reason I almost feel compelled to lick the bottle in hopes of getting that water, that texture that this scent fills my head with.

 

On application, I had a hell of a time picking up the scent. The bottle top gave me rather a lot of oil to smear around, and even then it was faint. For a good quarter of an hour or so, I then got soap. Afterwards The Grindhouse got stronger and I could pick out the magnolia, rose and what I am assuming is the iris. They were blended rather well into a floral that I'm on the fence about, but no clove jumped out at me, nor any red musk. If there's vanilla, I'm not finding it. And that's damn impressive since I amp vanilla to high heaven.

 

Having worn this the better part of an hour now, it's now a skin-hugging scent that I really have to huff in order to find, and when I do find it there's not much else than bare-bones florals. I can see how this would be quite lovely on the right woman (or the wrong one, I suppose), but this resin-loving girl is just not able to work with the Madame of the Grindhouse.