Whip

[anguissette]

Agony and ecstasy: black leather and damp red rose.

At first its all dark leather, but good leather, deep not dull and flat. Then suddenly the rose blooms. My skin has a tendency to amp rose a lot so it kind of overwhelms the scent but I didn't give it a full day test. I think that if they were to blend over the day it would be magnificent. I think its amazing how the rose scent just blooms out from under the leather, its a perfect example of how BPAL scents morph and I would recommend it to those new to BPAL just because its such a clear stark contrast of scents, at least in how it develops on me.

[tdgnika]

In the bottle, a strong rose.

 

Wet on the skin and for the first hour or so of drying, a strong rose scent plus what I assume is the leather underneath. It mellows the rose nicely. I'm not sure if I like the smell of the leather, but it definitely has leather undertones. It smells like the inside of the leather bondage bracelet I used to wear; I'm not sure I could say that I 'like' that smell, but it's not unpleasant.

 

At full dry, I can only smell the leather, but someone else told me they can smell the rose and not the leather, so my nose must have just gotten used to it.

 

Overall, I like it, but I'm not insane over it like I am with some of the other scents. I could take or leave this one.

[rayvn1]

This is exactly what the description says! Sensual and lush rose with a mouth watering base of leather. Who can resist?!? It lasted a really long time too. I woke up this morning with a hint of rose still lingering in the air.

 

Devastatingly sexy.

[vikitty]

Does what it says on the tin. This is a sexy rose with a leather undertone that drifts in and out of the foreground as it dries. It loves my skin!

[goblinshark]

In the imp: I say this as a person who loves an old-ladyish rose scent but...this is a very strong granny rose smell

 

Wet on skin: mostly fussy rose, with a hint of plastic

 

Drydown: ooooh, the leather stops being plasticky and starts smelling like actual leather! I think I may smell like a very flowery expensive car, haha. I like it well enough to use up the rest of the imp, but I have so many BPAL rose scents that I prefer to this one that I don't think a big bottle is in my future.

[desertwaya]

i horded this imp for myself during swap sessions. i dont smell the leather at all on me (which seems to be a trend w/ leather BPAL scents) but the roses are simply beautiful. i love roses so id probably buy/swap for a larger bottle of this.

[MisterShrapnel]

My nose likes earthy, incense-y, woody, that kind of thing best, and anything other than that often gets interpreted as high and keening and "soapy," unfortunately.

Even so, I keep coming back to my imp of Whip! Really I probably just huff my wrist too hard instead of letting scents waft...

Certainly it's a lot "higher," more aggressive than what I tend to like but somehow this is intoxicating as long as I don't inhale too deeply (which you really aren't supposed to do anyway... ). And it's not just me being enamored of the idea of smelling like leather and roses.

The rose is fantastic in this.... really full and deep, damp for sure, and a gorgeous velvety red. I can just see it.

It's hard to distinguish the rose and the leather, for me, as black leather inevitably takes on a sharp, almost soapy quality on my skin, but the rose is so deep that it has to be backed by... something. In Severin and Tezcatlipoca and other black leather blends I recognize the same sharpness that I got in this, and I think "ohhhh thaaat's right...". I can only recognize it in retrospect, kinda. My nose will get better, I hope...

I think an earlier reviewer said it, but... S'like holding the bunch of roses (or maybe just one really nice one) in your hand in front of you, while you hide the whip behind your back so the... er... recipient can't see it. They'll find out what you've got in your left hand soon enough anyway.

(BPAL stop making me write dirty reviews. >:U Self, stop being dirty!)

 

Edit: Bah, if I add any more than a minimal swipe from the imp (i.e. when I reapply), this gets too strong and sharp for me... probably my skin chemistry... It looks like I can't handle the Whip's sting after all! (ack I hope Rose Red will be an exception to my usual reaction to roses...). I keep wanting this to work on me but I guess it's not meant to be.

Edited December 9, 2008 by MisterShrapnel

[lupidog]

first sniffs from the imp: heavy on the leather. makes me feel BAD!

 

Once I put it on, the rose is wet and pronounced, but I immediately detect the leather. It's just how it says it is! There we are, rose and leather. What's this? More rose and leather! I really love the mix. As it dries, it gets slightly less leathery but turns into this mature, dusty rose. If you don't like rose you won't like this, but I absolutely love this smell on me.

 

Unfortunately this story does not have a happy ending. The morning following the night I tested this, and several other scents with some friends, I woke up feeling horrible. Sinuses all shut up, puffy eyes, etc. I had no clue which scent might have been the culprit, and I suffer from seemingly random seasonal allergies as it is, so I didn't come to any conclusions. That night, I put on Whip to wear to a party... and half an hour later felt dreadful. At this point I'm not 100 percent sure it is Whip, but when I smell it I start to feel bad just from the association, so I am afraid it has to go. I Married a Vampire from Planet X also made me a little sniffly, so I am guessing it is the leather note. I wore Dyan Moon today with no problems so at least it is not my beloved roses! Still, I enjoy the smell of leather... I won't write the note off completely, but I will be very cautious with it...

 

Ah well, not every one can be a winner. If you like leather, and you like roses, and you don't have a dumb allergy - You will like this one!

[tielan]

Bottle: roses, roses, roses - is there actual leather in this, because I'm not getting any!

 

Wet: More roses - the rich, dark red kind, mysterious and fragrant. Still no clear sign of the leather, although I suspect the heaviness of the rose scent is because the leather is giving it oomph.

 

Dry-down: still mostly roses, although the leather is beginning to come through.

 

Dry: now we've got the leather, lightly overlaid by roses.

 

I'm not sure about this one - the roses are gorgeous, and I'm all for non-powdery roses, plus the scent has a very 'heavy, dark' feel to it - I'm just not sure that I'll use it that often. It's a dating/seducing kind of scent IMO.

[suki]

in the imp: yup. that's leather and rose alright! strangely, it reminds me of London (the actual city). something about the quality of the scent, it's like being near Hyde Park. strange.

 

wet on skin: the rose comes into the lead a little bit.

 

dry down: all rose- the leather has vanished!

 

in all: usually leather notes stay rather tenacious on me, so it's a surprise to find one disappear. the rose in this is deep, dark and lush. so, if you like rose, check this out-you may find a new love in your life.

 

 

[toomuch]

Full-bodied red rose with a hint of darkness. It isn't my favorite but I'll use the imp since it's a rose that doesn't make me itch like most roses do.

[thelaurenator]

This is surprisingly... good. It doesn't smell much like leather, but I do love that note, whatever it is. It's very difficult to describe. It smells black. This smelled more like what I thought "Black Rose" would smell like.

[veronicafranco]

leather-scent-dreading me decided to try this frimp tonight.

huh. right out of the imp, this is the prettiest, sweetest rose. i don't detect any leather until it starts to dry. even after 15ish minutes, the leather is not as aggressive as the name might make one think... at least on me, it kind of stays in the background, lends some depth and softness to the sharp rose scent.

could it be miss rose is not the submissive here? who knew.

[MCS4096]

I have goblinshark's imp!

 

In the Imp: Hmm.. yeah, the leather makes it smell plasticy. Which is odd because I do enjoy the Lab's leather note. It's a bit like dried roses petals.

 

Wet: Ahh.. now it blossoms very true roses 'n' leather scent... heavy on the leather.

 

Dry: Amazingly this is almost a leather single note.. the rose IS submissive on me I will enjoy the imp, but Severin is my leather blend of choice!

[asciident]

Wet: Leather.

 

First on: Leather and spice. Ironically, unlike De Sade, I can't smell any rose.

 

Dry: Same on drydown. Too masculine for me.

[masquedbunny]

This came as a frimp from the lab, and it was on my super long list of things I wanted to try ... kismet!

 

In the imp: This seemed very masculine to me, all dark leather.

 

Wet on skin: The rose note comes out and is very even with the leather note. Still reminding me of some of my guy friends--which isn't a bad impression, because I love how these particular guy friends smell.

 

Drying: It goes a little powdery in the roses on me, though this could be due to this time of the month's skin chemistry.

 

Dry (5 hours later): This is still a fairly even mix of (albeit powdery) roses and leather. And usually when things go powdery, it bothers me, but the juxtaposition really works here.

 

I'm really enjoying this one, and I'm glad the labbies sent to to me. Who knows when I would've gotten 'round to ordering a sample for myself!

 

[diamondstars]

I love rose scents and the leather note works really well with this.

 

Definitely 5ml-worthy, especially now it's Spring!

[Lethran]

In bottle: Mostly rose. Wet: Mostly rose. Dry: Yep, still rose.

[Tess]

In the bottle - I'm getting a whole lot more rose than leather from this. There's a clarifying note in the background, though, so that might be leather precurser.

 

Wet - There is so much rose in this bad boy.

 

Drying - Seriously, there is no leather in this at all on me. It's just like a rose single note. : / And I don't even like floral notes much normally. Boo.

 

Dry (1.5 hours) - Just... rose. That's it. A rose, slightly on the soapy side.

 

Overall - This scent makes me feel like a total BPAL newbie. From start to finish, this was all rose, all the time. It makes me feel like my nose is busted. : /

[sirensea]

Whip

 

In the imp: Rose with something dark entwined. Mmm leather.

 

On my skin: This is deep and a little sadistic, the heady scent of pleasure mixed with pain. I love how the leather isn't overwhelming, but instead a compliment to the rose.

 

This imp was another gift from the wife. She has the 'match' to it, Loviatar. I don't think I need to say more.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Colourless oil. Slightly soapy and slightly fruity rich rose (definitely tea rose in there) over the slick, chemically leather note from De Sade.

 

Wet: Really gorgeous rose - the best of both Peacock Queen and Red Rose. It has the regal quality of the former and the lushness of the latter. Multifaceted. Alas, the leather lurks below, making this plastic.

 

Dry: De Sade smells like West Coke Cocaine, and Whip smells like the roses I mentioned over...methamphetamine. Seriously. Agony/ecstasy isn't a bad description of meth, either. This is sort of nostalgic for me.

 

Later: Not really any morphing. The combination of different rose elements continues to impress me - it's really the best of both tea rose and red rose (also as in The Rose, from Marchen). Gorgeous!

 

Summary: A complex but simple blend of roses that stays true on my skin - no soap or powder, or sour sharp notes - over a much lighter, skin-hugging meth-like slick leather note. You could say the roses dominate the leather...Moderate throw.

 

I want a bottle.

[ShadowsDance]

In the imp rose is the predominant scent. Hints of leather can be made out..

 

On the skin the rose seems to come out even more, and begins to go somewhat powdery. No, maybe more like soap.. I'm not getting any of the leather.

 

After time the roses end up turning to a soapy smell with no hint of what they should be, and the leather never appears.

[Lambent]

Another great scent.

 

In the bottle: I can smell an even mixture of leather and rose.

 

On skin: The leather reaches its peak in a few seconds then retreats into the background. The rose is dominant here. It isn't too strong and doesn't smell like a rose an old lady would favor. Later on, I can smell a very clean scent. The rose has died down considerably. This scent lasts a few hours.

[ephemera]

Usually leather amps on my skin like whoa, and I generally don't like anything with rose in it. So I approached Whip with hesitation. Turns out that it's pretty much just straight, undiluted tea rose on my skin. The leather can't even make it through. Not my scent at all.

[BelleAnge]

The first thing I smell in the imp and wet on my skin is leather. After it dries down a bit, I get some of the rose. The two scents blend well together and smell great. For me, this is my naughty girl scent. Perfect to wear when I am wearing my leather jacket.