Venom - Resurrected

[ltrittipoe]

These long-dead scents are back for a limited time in a slightly tweaked form!

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

Venom was one that I always wished I had a chance to try...
Now I have it and will need a backup or 2 or 3!

 

One of my first adult scents was Christian Diors Poison, and I loved it soooooo much. Rich, sweet, almost overwhelming, and just drop dead gorgeous. Its been reformulated and now smells like a super watered down version of the Poison I loved.

 

But Venom..... Venom has that same richness, sweetness and feel. The notes are cleaner and clearer, and of course its not the same, but they absolutely have something in common. It may be the dark berry/jasmine combo? Whatever it is, it has that grab you in the back of the throat feel that I loved ... just beautiful.

 

Rich and potent - definitely deadly.

[zankoku_zen]

Venom smells like poisoned berry fruit with a whiff of jasmine and lime. I can tell that this is going to age gloriously and just get darker and smoother as it ages and everything sort of melds together. This smells sophisticated, dangerous, and totally femme fatale seductive. Dark sirens that sing you to your doom.

 

This is like the perfume equivalent of "Remember that when you ask for dreams to come true, nightmares are dreams too."

 

DANGEROUS PERFUME FOR DANGEROUS WOMEN.

[mymymai]

ITI: Yum, sweet and exotic, like a lush jungle right after the rain, berries dripping onto upturned, fresh florals. There's a cleanliness to this scent which is strangely soothing next to the very light resins. Over the last hour, I've been trying to put my finger on the quality of the berry note. It doesn't remind me of strawberries or raspberries for that matter. Finally, it struck me: Dewberry! If you've ever smelled The Body Shop's Dewberry perfume, the berry note in venom is a slightly lighter version of it.

Wet: Clean, fresh, dark berries swirl around heady jasmine and bits of lime while galbanum undulates from the base notes to support the berried floral. It's sensuous, dark, feminine, and almost deceptive in its progression. I would say that this certainly lives up to its name.

Dry: Slightly soapy but resinous round black berries, both extremely alluring but equally poisonous. The resin certainly does bloom after it has had a chance to settle, making this a lovely scent for those who enjoy fruity orientals. Even after the initial dry-down, this scent has a decent throw - roughly 3.5" from my wrist 2 hours after application.

[donkehpoo]

(Side note: never tried the original, so I can't compare to that.)

 

Wet: Dark berries, with jasmine and something "green". Even though it's not a note listed, this comes off a little ozone-y to me.

I'm trying to figure out the berry scent, but I can't put my finger on it. It doesn't smell like raspberry, strawberry, blackcurrant, redcurrant, cranberry, OR blueberry. It's almost like a blackberry, but minus the tartness?

 

Dry: Powdery, sweet jasmine, with a smidgen of lime and the berry scent from earlier. Low throw on me.

 

I was worried about the jasmine, and while it did turn powdery on me, dare I say I actually kind of like it? I'll definitely hold on to my imp, but not sure if I need a big bottle.

[dementia_divine]

I have not tried the original.

 

Berries aren’t normally my thing, but I was interested in trying this one because of the lime.

 

In the imp: Berry-covered resins and jasmine, with a twist of lime.

 

Wet: The jasmine is the most prominent note on me, followed by the resins and berries, and finally, the lime. As it sits on my skin, I get more of the berries and lime. It’s mostly the fruit notes and the jasmine on a bed of resins.

 

Dry: Lime and berries over jasmine and resins. I am getting more of the opoponax than I did before.

 

After a while, the jasmine reasserts itself once more, but it isn’t as strong as it was when it was initially applied. I get a faint hint of the berries and lime, and though I expected the resins to come out more after a few hours, as they usually do on me, the opoponax I am getting is pretty light.

 

Verdict: I like that the lime ended up being more than just a sliver on me, but alas, that was also the case with the jasmine, which ended up being the dominant note on me in the end. It’s not a super heady jasmine, so it’s pleasant, just… not something I am likely to reach for. I am glad that I decided to try it, though -- I like it more than I thought I would for a scent with a berry note!

Edited July 19, 2018 by dementia_divine

[LizziesLuck]

I haven't tried the original.

 

 

Wet: This is sweeter than I expected, but I like sweet. Also lighter than expected with those resins. I hate jasmine usually (though finding more and more scents where I can tolerate it, yay!) but I like it here, it smells like a jasmine essential oil I have, not the Lab's usual indolic jasmine. The berries are great. I don't get the lime.

 

 

Dry: Lovely. really subtle and sexy on me. Like, super sexy. Hard to describe, but I get the jasmine faintly and dark fruit, and sweet sexy resins. Awesome. Need a backup!

[fizzbangdangcharade]

Obligatory 'haven't tried the original.'

 

In the bottle, as well as for the first 3(?) hours: all I get from this is a powdery floral scent, sadly.

 

HOWEVER, around the 3+ hour mark, I start getting hints of lime appearing. The powdery smell fades and the lime comes through stronger and stronger, pulling the lovely berry scents up along with it. 8 hours after initially applying it, I'm smelling this beautifully juicy, sweet, berry and lime scent with the faintest hint of that powder lingering below. To get to the fruit stage, it took about 6 hours total.

 

Throw: When it's powdery the throw is crazy high. It's all I can smell. Once it shifts to the lime/berry scent, the throw is nearly non existent. The places where I put the most on, I can only smell this if I stick my nose against my skin.

 

Fortunately, I'm not actually allergic to this one, I just don't like the powdery scent I'm getting as an opener. I'm not 100% sure which note is causing the powdery scent, but I'm going to put this one someplace to sit and age, to see if I can get more of that super juicy fruit, and less of the powder.

[fenharel]

it's so interesting to see everyone's different interpretations of a scent. wet for me this is a thick, heady blast of juicy berries tempered by a mild, pleasant white floral (that must be the jasmine - lighter than i've ever smelled it before) with a zippy green twist (and there's the lime.) it definitely has the air of a high-end, commercial perfume. what's really interesting for me is what happens as i wear this throughout the day. first of all, it has fantastic throw and staying power. it's not overpowering but i can smell it for several hours after application as though i'd just put it on. but over time this turns into something really stunning on my skin with a distinct like... sparkling honeyed note? there's this moscato they sell at Trader Joe's called Sara Bee that to me is essentially like a light sparkling mead. that's exactly what this smells like on me. moreso than ANY other champagne, effervescent scent i've tried from BPAL. i think it's a strange effect of all the notes combined. i love it. i'll probably be snagging multiple bottles of this.

[Juliamon]

Also haven't tried the original. It wasn't even on my radar, but I've been giving jasmine more of a shot lately and I didn't want my Dragon's Eye imp to travel alone.

 

This is, without a doubt, the one BPAL that most accurately evokes its name. Sweet and intoxicating, but also bitter and deadly. The berries and opoponax would be overpoweringly sweet if they weren't cut by the lime and galbanum, and the jasmine is so entwined with the rest of the blend that I wouldn't have been able to identify it if I hadn't read the notes.

 

Throw is insane for the first few minutes, but calms down to a more subtle, sinister level and stays there for quite some time. I don't think I could wear this often, but it's gonna be my go-to when I need to feel powerful.

[milo]

I love Poison, so was looking forward to trying this. I was pretty worried for the first couple of hours, it's screechy, heady jasmine, and much too sweet, with what smells like berries that you shouldn't eat. After a few hours, it is quite lovely, but I'm unsure if I want to wait those hours. It ends up being a soft, dark floral. I will wait a bit to see how it ages.