The Grindhouse

[femmefatale]

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

This is very pretty and so well blended that I have a hard time picking out all the individual notes. As it dries though I can definitely pick up the vanilla and musk with hint of florals (iris, rose and what I think might be the magnolia). There is a touch of spice, but very very faint. So faint I wouldn't even have guessed clove.

I really like this, though it's not as unique as I usually prefer. Also, it seems to be a sister or cousin of Red Rose (though it might just be what my skin amps).

[milo]

Yay, A spring/summer Red Musk blend! This is so soft and pretty, even with the red musk (and the name, and the label, and the, well, you get the picture!). This kind of reminds me of Spawn of the She Demon, but instead of the fruity addition to the red musk, its the whispy floral. It reminds me of something else, but I can't think of what it is. Grrr!! I love this, though I was humming and hawing for a long time because rose and I don't get along. This is not an "in your face floral", so even floral haters may enjoy this. The clove gives a nice touch, and it not amping on me, which clove sometimes does. A WIN WIN WIN!!

[parrot_suspect]

No one floral overpowers, they simply add a nice, soft touch to the background of the vanilla bean and red musk. I love this in the way that I was HOPING to love Mme. Moriarty.

 

Exactly! Mme. Moriarty was too sharp on me, but this is very wearable. It's gorgeous, in fact.

 

I had been leery of The Grindhouse based on the floral notes -- I don't do rose well. Then an imp arrived in a swap, I sampled it and was intrigued, so I swapped for a bottle. And I'm so glad I did. The florals help keep the musk and vanilla from being too foody, soapy or strong. This is a stunning, sexy, musky floral-oriental. It smells a bit root beer-ish on initial application, then subtly changes as it dries down. My skin does eat this blend, so I'm going to have to buy backup bottles for slathering, but that's OK. I've been looking for a scent like this for quite some time, and I'm surprised it's not more popular/talked about.

 

If you like Scherezade, Snake Charmer, Hell's Belle, or any blend with red musks, florals and spices, you should try The Grindhouse.

[Monster]

THANK YOUUU to the lovely forum member who frimped this to me in a recent swap

 

Wowowow this is goorrrgeeoousss! The Grindhouse goes on as fruity red musk, with just a hint of spicyness from the clove with a gentle bouquet of floral notes in the background. I really can't pick out the floral notes individually (my skin usually amps rose, I'm not sniffing any in this). This has a grown-up perfume quality to it without smelling commercial or "sharp" (if that makes any sense at all ) As it settles into my skin, all of the notes melt together creating one, glorius red musk scent (it sort of reminds me of a more floral version of The Ifrit). If you're not a fan of floral notes, don't let this one scare you! It's not an overly floral blend at all (more red musk than anything).

 

I just love this one The Grindhouse is going right to the top of my "must buy" list.

 

[donnatron]

Bottle: Almost sour milky iris and a hint of vanilla.

 

Wet: Peppery red musk and a hint of floral, rosy sweetness.

 

Dry: Red musk warmed with vanilla with rose floating over top. I get a hint of that sharper, greener scent from the iris and then a bit of bloody spice (bloody spice as in it kind of smells literally like blood) from the clove. A really interesting and odd scent. It's gorgeous, sensual and highly feminine, but also a little threatening. I wouldn't wear this on a first date because it kind of seems like I'm going to take him home and ether him or something. It really walks the line between sensual and threatening.

 

Throw: Skin close.

 

Overall: I really like this. I kind of enjoy smelling like something you should be scared of and this has two, weird levels to it. There's a sweet, sexy side and then just a kick ass and take names sort of element. Exactly what I like.

[NoinHime]

In the bottle this is a very strong and sharp floral, something I'd definitely see as "Madame-ish".

 

Once on the skin it softens and becomes a much more balanced scent. On me it's a sweet, musky floral. The most predominant notes are the vanilla, musk, and rose.

 

This is exactly my type of scent: floral, a little sweet, but with some sexiness and authority. Love.

[crebbsgirl]

I was sure this wasn't going to work on me. Rose and florals aren't really my friends. When I first applied I was a little scared, the musk and rose were REALLY strong. It settled on my skin pretty quickly, and about an hour in, while I was at the grocery store, all I could smell was this delicious vanilla floral spice. It was ME! This is heady and sweet and sexy. A little intimidating at first, but this is just wonderful!

[kawaiiferreto]

This starts out with the other notes being there, but ends up all red musk on me. As to be expected since ALL red musks do that. It is lovely, both at first when everything is there and when it's just the red musk, but for the end effect of red musk I am better off sticking with a cheaper GC!

 

Edited for spelling fail!

Edited November 26, 2009 by kawaiiferreto

[emily2531]

I'd classify The Grindhouse as a light gourmand fragrance. It's a soft and sweet fruity-floral vanilla with a base of red musk. It's almost candy-like at first, but that dirty sweaty red musk keeps it from becoming cloying.

 

I could fall in love with The Grindhouse.

[ouch!]

As far as red musk blends go...this is a pretty good one! I'ma sucker for anything with red musk or vanilla so HAD to try this one.

 

I really rally like this. When it's wet it's a lovely balance of Red Musk, Flowers and a bit fo sweetness. It alsmost smells like there's fruit in here..like..dark red/purple juicy fruit, and it has an almost grape kinda smell. Like the grape feel you get with Blood Phoenix. But this is MUCH better.

 

I cannot pick individual flowers out either as most people have said, but this is a well balanced perfume that's blended beautifully. It smells smooth. Gorgeous! Floral & musk..with what smells like dark fruit.

 

When it dries more the clove comes out a bit more adding a bit of spice but it's smothed out by the vanilla bean.

This is a lovely powerful blend.

 

 

 

[Geminirubyshoes]

I love the artwork on the bottle! so perfect.

Here again, the red musk is a winner for me. Red Musk, the rose, iris and vanilla are what I smell when I wear this. A little goes a long way for sure, The Grindhouse Madam is fully in charge and don't you forget it! This has aged wonderfully since I recieved it for Christmas in 2008. It smells a little powdery in the bottle but never on me. Hooray!

[reynardine]

Someone was kind enough to send me a sample of this, since I was interested in the notes. It’s very spicy—too spicy for my tastes, but those of you who love the Snake Oil variations should love it. My husband absolutely adored it, but it is so not me. I got pure spice and musk out of this one—very little floral.

[pandorasmuse]

Amazing. The oil looks like non-fizzy root beer.

 

In the decant: This smells a lot like Mircalla, Countess Karnstein to me—the red musk and clove must be dominating.

 

Wet: More of the same. Clove, red musk, and not a whole lot else.

 

Drydown: Vanilla and cloves, with musk. This reminds me a bit of the stewed apples with cream I like to make in the winter.

 

Later: Too much clove. Clove just clobbers everything else on me. It seems to be emerging as one of my notes to avoid.

[CitizenBree]

Ok, the truth is that I loved the idea of this scent so that's why I wanted to try it. But I'll also try almost anything with vanilla bean in it.

 

Since I don't think of musk as a thing that exists (like a flower or a food), it's hard for me to know if what i'm smelling is musk or a mixture of things.

 

But this is very familiar to Mme. Moriarty to me -- so that must be the red musk. There is something a bit more sweet to this. If i had to look at the notes and guess, it'd be the magnolia. definitely something floral. I don't get vanilla from this one.

 

The other reason i'd like Moriarty over this madam, she lasts longer. This one is pretty strong going on with a good throw, but it starts to fade fast.

 

I'm still giving it a 4/5.

 

[RhinestoneHousewife]

I love this.

 

In bottle: Spicy!

 

Wet on skin: Spicy and with a bit of rose maybe? It's floral but not an overpoweringly floral.

 

Dry on skin: Lots of spices now. I can definitely smell the red musk and the rose has backed off a bit. Throw was good at first but it's settled down and is pretty wearable.

[tailoredshirt]

I really wasn't expecting to love this, but I kind of do! In the imp, it smelled almost like root beer, and I still get a bit of a sweet sassafras note when I put it on. I'm wondering if that is the mimosa? I have no idea what that smells like. It might also be the vanilla and clove working together. I get strong flowers in the mix, and the result is a very sweet, floral perfume-y blend.

 

The Grindhouse is, to me, a perfect match to its description. I can see the woman in the picture slathering this on between her breasts before she goes out for the night. It is sweet, sultry floral perfume. It smells like sex and flowers and something a bit too sweet, but together it just works for me. I think this is definitely a full-stop seduction perfume, when there's no time for subtlety. I can tell that there will be times that this will be way too much for me and I won't want to touch it with a ten foot pole, but there will also be times when I have to wear it. So I think I'll be ordering a bottle with my next order!

[Venneh]

In the decant, I'm getting iris, magnolia, and red musk. Mmm. On my skin, it's the same. Hoping this one doesn't do anything funky so I can take it to a second skin test.

 

On the second skin test, I'm getting more the magnolia and red musk, and I think the mimosa and vanilla bean too. Really sultry scent. Definitely a keeper and a bottle need.

Edited June 14, 2010 by Venneh

[fireweaver]

It starts out with a blast of red musk, with the cloves and vanilla rounding it out. The florals are there a bit later, but the rose starts to make it powder-y. Not in a bad way exactly, but in a more traditional smell that I personally don't care for. (I have trouble with most roses. They go powdery/sharp/ick most of the time). I wanted to love this one, but, I'm more indifferent to it.

[fieryredhead]

Wow this was really strong when I first tried it on; the red musk was way out there! Happily it settled down after about an hour into a smooth, sexy blend. Just what I was hoping for!

[lejlkwiet]

Extremely floral in the bottle, but in a nature sort of way, not the cultivated garden kind of floral.

 

Wet it was very much the same, with the mimosa amping itself on the drydown and the musk warming up the scent until it reminded me of hot summer days rambling in the countryside, picking flowers in the sun when I was a young girl. Not at all what I expected of this, but I did enjoy the flash of sense memory brought on by the scent. Not sure if it's something I want to keep on revisiting though - perhaps another test or two is in order before I make up my mind.

[invisible iris]

On wet, this is rosey, dry clovey vanilla, on the sweet side, in a nice way! The other flowers start to come out…

 

I'm beginning to learn that red musk has this amazing ability to transform fruity and/or rose notes, which I often can't stand, into things of beauty. Once dry, The Grindhouse is sweet and soft, musky floral vanilla, with a hint of fruitiness. (A fruity rose, I think..) Sometimes musk can be too heavy for me, florals are often too heady, but here everything balances everything else out so harmoniously, it's kind of... heavenly-smelling. Literally, this is (I just now decided) how heaven smells in my imagination. The longer it's on, the more I like it. Sugared/candied flowers with an exotic, spicy depth. No single floral dominates, but I detect rose and iris. The throw is kinda faint but really pretty. It begins to fade after several hours.

 

There’s something sweetly mysterious about The Grindhouse that makes it addictive. It’s like a floral Snake Oil.

[yakiguri]

I definitely think my skin chemistry has tilted and amps the hell out of red musk. All I get from The Grindhouse is that, red musk, but with a vague hint of the other notes striving to peek out but being beat back into oblivion by the red musk. Swap.

[claudia6913]

This smells like an almost fruity but mostly floral blend to me. Soft, sweet, and not nearly as dark or sultry as I thought it would be. Thank goodness the rose isn't going straight baby powder on me and I'm actually able to enjoy a scent with rose in it for once. I kind of wish the vanilla bean and clove were more pronounced, but it seems to be all florals and red musk. I really like it though, which is surprising as I don't really like a lot of the labs more floral blends. I can't wait to see how this one ages.

[GoddesShel]

Received this in a forum swap. This is total YUM - apparently red musk likes me! Sweetly floral, fruity, RED, juicy...another reviewer said she thought this was Mme. Moriarty's "calmer, younger, sister". I can see that...this pretty much is Mme. without the patchouli on me, and I LOVE IT!

 

This wasn't a CD blend I'd originally planned on ordering when the Carnaval comes back, and I'm feeling very lucky I swapped for this, because I'd have missed out on a blend that works VERY well on me. I can see this going into heavy rotation.

 

Now looking at everything in the catalog with red musk in it - this is divine!

[Cali]

There's another BPAL scent that's exactly like this in the imp/when wet but I forgot which one it is gah! It's pretty close to Mme. Moriarty though but I'm betting that's the red musk. This is sexy, soft and the Clove and Iris gives it this earthy and cold edge, while still smelling as comfortable as a pillow. Red musk and florals are the more dominant notes on me here.