Fearful Pleasure

[biocarolyn]

Dried orange peels floating in simmering cider, roasted apples, smoldering firewood, chimney smoke, sassafras beer, warm hawthorn wood, and oakmoss.

Its really nice. I don't know if the orange has mellowed over time or what, but I get apples with some smoky stuff underneath. It doesn't smell like craft store-fall candle, which is great. I reads a little darker than Punkie Night on my skin, with slightly more staying power.

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Smokey and woodsy, with a hint of sweetness in the background.

 

Dry: Smokey apple cider. Not bad, but I'll stick to Samhain for an apple cider scent.

 

 

3/5

[ObliqueRed]

In the bottle: fresh crisp apple and whiffs of cinnamon.

Wet: more of the same but with more cinnamon.

Dry: warm bubbling mulled cider.

 

Overall: a really nice cider smell, great for when the weather turns crisp.

[PinkoCommie]

This is a bottle from the original update, well cared for and aged splendidly.

 

First on, I feel a bit like someone spike my cider. As it melds with my skin, though, it become a soft, smoky scent, as though I've been drinking mulled cider while seated on a rough log near a bonfire. No note is overpowering. The spices are gorgeous and the skin scent is not even remotely foody. It just gives the aura of a perfect autumn eve.

 

It makes me happy, remembering crisp nights around a bonfire, beneath a twinkling sky with a sliver of moon high above. This is the smell of a night when it's just cool enough to grab a scarf and a light jacket and trust the mug to warm your hands. It's a perfect night.

[theredkilt]

Fearful Pleasure is sadly a miss for me since the roasted apples accord turns instantly into potpourri / fall spice candle on my skin. Off to swaps!

[Bratqueen1974]

Tis is actually one of the first scents I bought from BPAL, and still my favorite Autumn scent.

 

Spiced apple, without smelling like CINNAMON, leaves, wood smoke, and warmth, all together in one beautiful warm blend.

 

If Beth ever brings this one back, I would definitely invest in another bottle.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Crispy-fresh apple amidst an elusive darkness.

 

Drydown: Deliciously spiced apple surrounded by an autumnal ambiance. Not too sweet or fruity, the apple note is just right. There’s a bit of woodsy-outdoorsiness in the air, but no single note stands out, apart from the apple.

 

Dry: Mulled cider and autumn leaves, like the scent of a day trip to an orchard. A perfect scent for the beginning of fall!

 

 

 

 

7.5 out of 10 bones

[hammy]

In the bottle - I was about to write down my thoughts, and I realized my impression was almost identical to the scent notes: Orange wedges floating in a bowl of holiday apple cider.

 

Wet - Candied, spicy orange slices like the ones people hang on their Christmas trees. Actually, come to think of it I’m getting trees too. Smells like pine, but I guess it’s firewood or hawthorn. Clove is also getting in on the action, with maybe a pinch of sassafras.

 

Drydown - This strikes me as a cross between Autumn Cider and Bob Cratchit’s Hearth.

 

Verdict - Winner. It’s definitely an autumn/winter scent. Weirdly, I’m excited to try layering it. Not that this can’t be worn on its own -- because it can -- but the possibilities for layering seem endless.

[hobbitballerina]

I recollect that when I eagerly first put Fearful Pleasure on in 2008, it smelled glorious at first then turned into an overwhelming bomb of smoke and bitterness. I suspect some of that was my body chemistry at the time (being in a miserable relationship and feeling trapped does that to you), so I put it away for ages.

 

I hauled it back out recently, dusted it off, and on this oddly autumnal day in June, popped it on. Wet, it was the glorious cider I remembered, sweet and warm and shimmeringly burnt orange, the perfect representation of autumn. I braced myself for the dreadful smoke. Then, as it dried, the smoke came, but this time, it was a warm smoke, heating up the edges of the oil and bringing the spices out, tamping down some of the sweetness. It's still with me, seven hours later. I could smell it gently wafting around me at the library, and even at the grocery store. It's delicious without being overwhelmingly foodie. It's warm and sweet without being cloying. It smells like autumn, like October in the apple orchards of Virginia where someone's burning hardwood in their fireplace somewhere nearby and there's a promise of a cold snap on the wind. It smells like pulling out your favourite quilt on the first chilly night. It's fantastic. I suspect it could be worn by a man as well -- and he would be the Autumn King, I think!

 

In short, I am ever so glad I saved this one for a time and place where I could appreciate it. I've been hiding away my other crowning autumn scent, Pumpkin V from 2006 (which is the world's most amazing pumpkin ever), but this seems like it's in the running for October's crown. What do you mean I have four months until Halloween to go?

[Cali]

I'm getting the same artificial sweet note as in blue lollipops, but more grating...Other then that I find it hard to pick out the notes, I mean I guess I can smell the orange and beer but otherwise??? Perhaps I'm out of touch heh.

Reaaally doesn't work for me at all unfortunately.

[Lucchesa]

ITI, Fearful Pleasure smells like apple cider that has orange slices floating in it. Wet, it was initially orange flower water on my skin, but as it dried down it bloomed into apple cider, oranges, and woodsmoke. It's a very nice autumnal blend but doesn't replace Samhain in my affections.

[jjjevans]

Kids moved out and I got my old bathroom back. After going through all of the drawers under the sink I found Fearful Pleasure. I have never been one to choose apple cider, cinnamon, and orange, FALL stuff. OMG this smells so good to me now. I'm sorry the imp is only 1/2 full. 

[doomsday_disco]

This one was on my wishlist forever, and a very generous forumite frimped me some of this to try.  It reminds me of Lambs-Wool (I think it's the roasted apple note), my favorite spiced apple cider scent from the Lab, but with the addition of orange peel, and with a touch of earthiness from the oakmoss and sassafras.

 

I'll be hanging on to this decant and pairing it with my Apple Pie hair gloss in the autumn. 

 

[Riezky]

Spiced apple cider with orange peel, surrounded by woodsmoke and leaves. Soft, fades quickly.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Riezky