Vanille

I had to create a new category so that I can rave about new (to me) fragrances that are in the "wow" category. It's getting so that I will only keep fragrances that make me say "wow" and the rest go right up for sale or swap. But some "wows" are more rave-worthy than others. Top new love (and lust, since it has been discontinued): Sugar Dust fragrance by Sweet Melissa. I got this in a swap, in the form of Whipped Body Cream (the cream is whipped, not the body, so don't look at me like that). WOW! When I opened the jar and started to apply it, I almost had to physically restrain myself from licking it off the backs of my hands, it was THAT luscious. Oh, my... So I've been keeping the jar at my desk, and putting it on as often as I can justify (yes, I'm going to have the smoothest hands and forearms in the county before long)... and wondering how I might get hold of some more. WANTSSS the precioussss... I would definitely like to find more of this cream, as well as other products in this same fragrance. New love and semi-lust: Wylde Ivy's Sandcastles fragrance. I think it was a summer scent this year. Now, I like coconut notes anyway, but there's something special about this one that makes me say "wow!" and want more. Maybe it's the ginger? I'd like to find other products in this fragrance as well. Renewed love: BPAL's Antique Lace. I had an imp earlier, liked it but traded it away in a tough swap (you know how it is when you really want something and start offering things you'd rather keep to get it? That's what happened there). Now I have it back in a partial bottle, thanks to a lovely recent swap. Niiice. I generally take a skeptical view of any scent with a floral-sounding description, but for me this scent is redeemed by its lovely vanilla notes. Old love betrayed: BPAL's Shub-Niggurath. Love the fragrance, dislike the name. I had forgotten how wonderful this scent is on me, and put my bottle up for sale in a frenzy of de-stashing. Just as I had decided to re-test it from an imp and rediscovered its total wonderfulness, a forumite swooped down on the bottle and wanted to buy it. I couldn't say "no" without feeling like a jerk so... now I need more *cough* SN. Here's hoping I find some again soon. As mentioned in the latest post under Quest for Chocolate, I just had the pleasure of testing a Dark Chocolate Cream soy wax tart by Wylde Ivy. Oh, my! I will be interested in trying more of their tarts fragrances, and I wonder if they have DCC in wearable form as well... Uh-oh... I just made the mistake of checking out WI's site for possible fragrances... erm... I'll wrap this up for now because I've got... er... things to do (yes, that's the ticket). Bye for now!

Overall, I am finding that HAEE's chocolate fragrances stay much more strong and true on me than BPAL's — the one exception being BPAL's Bliss. So when I want a chocolate fix, I turn to HAEE's Cuppa Cocoa, Chocolate Caramel Eggs or Whipped Chocolate Trio Mousse (the last two words are switched on the bottle I have, but this is the title on the site). Coming soon: HAEE's Hot Chocolate and Ghoulfriend! Hope to try soon: White Chocolate Latte. On the home front: I have just discovered the joys of wax fragrance tarts. Wheee! This is thanks to an enabler who included one in a swap, thus starting me on the quest for home fragrances. And in a recent swap, I was delighted to receive a small but mighty square of Wylde Ivy's Dark Chocolate Cream in a soy wax tart. Heaven! It smells a lot like BPAL's The Candy Butcher should have smelled if it had stayed true on me. Nice!

I think I've now tried every BPAL GC (and most every LE) fragrance that contains "chocolate" or "cocoa" as a listed fragrance note. It was an interesting quest. Along the way I found several nice scents that don't seem very chocolatey but are pleasant in their own way (Velvet, Tezcatlipoca, Vice) and a few that actually did exhibit a chocolate scent on me. Bliss was the only one that had a true chocolate scent (and stayed true) on me. Not Candy Butcher, not Boomslang, nor any of the other currently available scents. A couple of the versions of Thirteen had a reasonably lasting chocolate note in the complex mix of scents. I also seemed to catch a chocolatey note in the Smut I tried, and would love to get hold of a sample of the 2007 version. I would also love to try Lump of Coal someday, as it has been touted as an "ultimate" chocolate scent by some. Anyway, it has been fun. Here's to more chocolate!

I think I've now tried every BPAL GC (and most every LE) fragrance that contains "chocolate" or "cocoa" as a listed fragrance note. It was an interesting quest. Along the way I found several nice scents that don't seem very chocolatey but are pleasant in their own way (Velvet, Tezcatlipoca, Vice) and a few that actually did exhibit a chocolate scent on me. Bliss was the only one that had a true chocolate scent (and stayed true) on me. Not Candy Butcher, not Boomslang, nor any of the other currently available scents. A couple of the versions of Thirteen had a reasonably lasting chocolate note in the complex mix of scents. I also seemed to catch a chocolatey note in the Smut I tried, and would like to get hold of a sample of the 2007 version. I would also love to try Lump of Coal someday, as it has been touted as an "ultimate" chocolate scent by some. Anyway, it has been fun. Here's to more chocolate!

Especially since money is a consideration for you, I suggest you hold onto your cash for a few days and order some imps first. A big bottle will take at least 2 to 3 weeks to reach you (according to what it says on the Lab site), while you can easily find imps of all the chocolate scents here on the forum and have them to try within a few days. I spent hours and hours reading reviews before ordering any imps, and still there were many surprises. You can read about some of my adventures here - I too was looking for something with chocolate overdrive in a BPAL fragrance. And I would have given up after a few disappointments if I had invested in a bottle on each one. The problem is, between differences in skin chemistry and brain wiring, not to mention whatever we use for bathing and washing on a daily basis, no one can predict how any particular scent will smell on you. I won't repeat the details here, but both TCB and Boomslang lost their chocolate scent really fast on me, while Bliss was pure, true chocolate that lasted. And many of the other scents containing cocoa or chocolate notes (I have tested all but two of them from the GC now, and many of the LEs as well) simply did not behave on my skin as they did for most of the reviewers. Trying out some samples of each prospective scent is a good way to "road test" them and find out how they smell on you - and if they still smell as great the second or third time as you thought they did the first time you tried them. Then you can order a big bottle with confidence. Keep in mind that you can also "layer" scents to sometimes get the best of both worlds. You may find that a combination of two (or more) scents gives you just the effect you are looking for. No matter how much reading you do or how many opinions you gather on each scent, I can guarantee that there will be surprises when you actually test for yourself. And that's part of the fun! Anyway, good luck and happy chocolate hunting!

I gave Cockaigne another try today... it still smells like slightly burnt spicy cookies to me (which is OK), but thanks for the suggestion. I am looking for an imp of Two, Five, and Seven this weekend. Hymn to Proserpine (supposedly a fruity rose) is in the works, and I think an imp of March Hare is also on its way to me. Tushnamatay didn't seem to work for me when I tested it earlier, but based on your recommendation I will give it another chance. Scents I am testing this weekend, relevant to this thread: Reporting in on the coconut front: I just received Obatala today, and it seems like a keeper for me. Unlike the lab description and the experiences of most of the reviewers, I get a definite toasted scent from this blend. In fact, I would describe it as some sort of toasted, buttery coconut confection. I find it very pleasant, with a decent throw. Fruit scents tested today: Mania smells exactly like strawberry incense on me - that is, like an incense stick right out of the box. That's not necessarily bad... Reminds me of bygone days and interesting settings... kind of evocative in a way. Next fruity scents to test this weekend: Night Gaunt and Depraved. On the chocolate front: Cerberus was a big disappointment. I had such high hopes after reading all the rave reviews, too. I don't how other people found the chocolate notes they were cooing about - all I got was strong lemon oil, offset by a bit of tomato and/or celery. (Lemon rind stew, anyone?) By concentrating really hard on the lab description I could almost imagine a rum note somewhere in the background but... Ah, well. More imps to test this weekend - the research continues!

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I tried Delirium but it was just... weird on me. EGM is such a fun scent, I get cherries and spices and nuts. Vice has some cherry, so it's pleasant in its own way. I have ordered imps of Hymn to Proserpine, Shango and Anubis based on recommendations in this thread, and am looking for imps of other recommended scents now. Whee, you guys are enabling me to the max! Not yet, but I will, thanks! I too have been looking for: I have ordered an imp of Obatala and have hopes that it will be a great coconut scent. And as discussed here, I am in sympathy with Mixxi who wrote: Well, which do you want more - sex or chocolate? But seriously, I found some sexy scents with cocoa notes (Tezcatlipoca tops the list on my skin) and some stronger chocolate notes which you may or may not find sexy - it would depend on your skin chemistry and brain wiring which scent has the most of each factor for you. The chocolatiest chocolate that I found in the whole BPAL lineup is Bliss. Nothing else came close to smelling like real chocolate on me for more than a few minutes. But some people get great results with The Candy Butcher and other scents mentioned in that thread. Great, guys - now I just need to stop reading this thread so I don't order any more imps for a while. Cheers, y'all, and happy hunting!

This topic is a great idea, and it is very helpful to see all the responses and suggestions. In recent weeks I went on a quest for the ultimate BPAL chocolate scent(s). Now to track down some other favorite fragrance notes! Some "ultimate" scents or combinations I would like to find now would include: a nice marshmallow or buttercream vanilla that somehow manages not to be cloying. roses and vanilla other than Alice - there is a note in Alice (possibly the bergamot) that says "men's aftershave" and spoils the effect for me. roses and fruit other than Persephone, which smelled sharp and sour on me. amber and vanilla just the two, with little or no embellishment. amber and sandalwood with few or no floral notes, please! fruit and vanilla again, with few or no floral notes. chocolate and musk somehow this sounds like it could work. fruits and spices sans floral notes, vanilla and/or amber would be OK. a very dry, spicy incense with NO green or floral notes - just woods, resins and spices. Nothing with detectable vetiver, please! Any suggestions on any of these would be appreciated. The quests continue!

Ah, thanks for the suggestion. *Reads the description on the Lab site* I will definitely look for an imp of that - and pray to all the gods that I don't smell the vetiver! Yeesh, vetiver made Devil's Claw horrible for me and also ruined any possibility of enjoying Azathoth, so I am wary of any scent that contains it now. But, in the interest of chocolate research, I will be brave! Wish me luck! Any other suggestions, anyone? [Edit] Kali arrived today... I wanted to love it, but to me it smelled sharp and "off" - like horrible, sour roses. No chocolate, just... eww. Ordinarily I can appreciate rose scents, but this one was an exception. I wonder what note is the culprit? Ah, well. On the bright side, the kindly seller included a free tester of Smut with my imp order and I love it! It seems (to me) to have a noticeable chocolate note, in addition to its other charms. Yum! [Edit - next evening] Imps of Wulric and The Great Sword of War (the last untested GC scents containing cocoa or chocolate notes, according to the Lab site's search results) are on their way. Tezcatlipoca arrived today. Wow. What to say about Tez... ahem... there's an incredibly manly note in there *fan* - whoo! Must be the warrior element. Oh, my. Moving right along... The cocoa sort of receded behind the gorgeous profusion of other notes, but who cares? I love this one! [Edit - a couple evenings later] Cerberus arrived in an order of imps on Saturday. And from the Lab's description as well as the reviews, I had high hopes that this would be one big, furry, chocolate puppy for me to love and cherish. Sadly, such was not the case. I don't where many of the people found the chocolate notes they were cooing about - all I got was strong lemon oil, offset by a bit of tomato and/or celery. Lemon rind stew, anyone? (A few other reviewers reported the same experience I did - which made me feel a little better.) By concentrating really hard on the lab description I could almost imagine a rum note somewhere in the background but... Ah, well. Next up: Wulric and Great Sword. Can a wolf man beat Cerberus? We'll soon find out!

Some progress notes on the chocolate quest: I was able to try samples of Boomslang, Thirteen (July 2007), Velvet, Intrigue and Bliss since the last post. Boomslang started off with a promising chocolatey scent, but that seemed to quickly be overwhelmed by the Snake Oil scent. I liked the original Snake Oil when I tried it earlier, but this variation just seems too cloyingly sweet (and not very chocolatey) on me after it dries. Thirteen is a rather complex scent. I could detect the chocolate at first, then it seemed to vanish or was eclipsed by the other notes, so I was disappointed. A couple of weeks later I tried it again (without any particular expectations) and found it to be quite lovely (and even somewhat chocolatey), so I decided to keep it. Velvet smells to me like a soft, even somewhat creamy, sandalwood (the imp I got was a freebie and may be well aged) with just a hint of dry cocoa. At least, knowing that the cocoa is supposed to be there, I think that is what I smell next to the sandalwood. Very subtle, but a lovely scent overall - another keeper. Intrigue lives up to its name - an intriguing and charming scent, in which I may or may not detect chocolate (there seems to be a whiff of the chocolate liqueur smell that I noticed in Centzon Totochtin). It's such a beautiful, complex scent that I really like it on its own merits, with or without discernible chocolate notes. Another keeper! The winner so far (according to my original criteria of having a strong, true and lasting chocolate scent) is Bliss. This one smelled like actual chocolate when I put it on, and continued to smell like real chocolate for a reasonable time after it dried. I will test it again soon to see if it's as good the second time around, but it's looking like a keeper. As for the earlier scents (Vice, Gluttony, EGM et al) I am finding that I enjoy them quite well as long as I don't expect them to smell like chocolate. They each have their own unique appeal, and I am happy to have discovered them. Good stuff! Soon to be tested (imps are on the way): Kali and Tezcatlipoca. The quest continues... Thanks for all your helpful suggestions, folks!

This is the first post under the category "Quest for Chocolate." As noted in this post, I am looking for one or more really true, strong, lasting chocolate (and/or cocoa) based scents. A worthy quest! So far I have tried the following BPAL scents, all of which are supposed to have chocolate and/or cocoa notes: Vice (smelled like chocolate covered cherries until it dried, then became just candied cherries from that point onward), Gluttony (no chocolate scent was detected at any point), The Candy Butcher (smelled like chocolate cream until dry, then just smelled like cream), Enraged Groundhog Musk (fruity and spicy but alas, no chocolate detected) and Centzon Totochtin (nice but no chocolate). A bottle of 13 (July 2007) has just arrived, and it does smell like cocoa just sniffing the bottle... have yet to try it (waiting to see where I can get wand caps before using the bottles). Imps of Bliss and Boomslang are on the way, as well as an imp of Intrigue and a couple other editions of 13. So let's hope that at least one of those turns out to be a good chocolate scent on me. Widening the search, I ordered a few samples from DSH Perfumes based on a recommendation in this thread, and those will arrive within the next couple of days. Meanwhile I have Grog on one wrist and Irish coffee (i.e. Miskatonic U.) on the other to get me through the evening. Hooray for comfort scents!

Apparently this blog layout was designed without cross-browser compatibility in mind, because the nav strip parks itself firmly over part of my entry and the controls (including, presumably, the "edit" button). Not pretty. Maybe if I put a bunch of line breaks in the entry I can force it down below the nav strip so I can find edit buttons? Let's find out! [Edit] Yay, sure enough it forced the entry down below that nav bar, and now it is editable. Weird workaround, but it's easier than getting them to re-code the design to work in all browsers. [Edit weeks later] Well, I finally discovered other skins. It turns out that if you don't use the graphically-hefty default "seasonal" skin you can actually see your editing buttons and other nice things. Otherwise, many things are obscured by the weird way that the page loads. So... if there is anything you can't read here, choose a better skin like one of the "Kiss" skins and you will be able to view the entire entry. Anyway, this weblog is a place for me to review scents without stuffing up the forums with my opinions. By now most of the scents I am trying have been out for a very long time, and I doubt that anyone will be reading to the end of the topic to view any new reviews -- nor is it likely that my opinion would contribute much at this point. But hey! It's nice to have a place to discuss my impressions in any case. Viva the blog!

Thanks, guys! Basically I have been trying to get hold of everything that turned up with "chocolate" or "cocoa" in the Lab site's search results. Exception: have not tried to get Kali since it sounds very floral. For me, the "foody" aspects of a scent are a huge part of the appeal, but I am also open to any "non-foody" chocolates (and vanillas, for that matter). Currently I am wearing my first testing of Centzon Totochtin (another cocoa scent), and... it smelled like strong chocolate liqueur in the bottle... stayed that way for a few seconds on my skin... then became incense-y hard liquor with no chocolate. After an hour or so it is a fascinating incense (minus any chocolate or booze) scent on my skin. So... a scent locket might help the chocolate note last? I guess you bypass the skin chemistry that way, and basically just get the dried version of the scent. Thanks for the suggestion. I have read about Lump of Coal... a bottle sold just this week on Ebay for $81 plus shipping. >_< Still, we can dream... maybe an imp of LOC will show up in my life one day. It looks like Bliss and Boomslang are next when I can get them, as well as Velvet and Intrigue, and any version of 13 that I can find, and... should I try Kali? I generally avoid floral notes unless they are very subtle and well-balanced with other notes. Maybe it is also one worth trying? Thanks again for any suggestions!

I am really new to BPAL. In fact, my first imp orders just arrived this week. And high on my "to try" list is any scent which includes significant chocolate or cocoa notes. Hmmm... so far I have tried Vice (smelled like chocolate covered cherries until it dried, then became just candied cherries from that point onward), Gluttony (no chocolate scent was detected at any point), The Candy Butcher (smelled like chocolate cream until dry, then just smelled like cream) and Enraged Groundhog Musk (fruity and spicy but alas, no chocolate detected). Now, I am quite sure that my chocolate sensors are working (I test now and then). And some of the inexpensive single-note chocolate scents from *cough* a lesser etailer *cough* lasted hours on me. But I want my chocolate to have the quality of BPAL! Can any of you offer suggestions for a stronger, longer-lasting chocolate experience in BPAL scents? (I have yet to get hold of an imp of Boomslang or Bliss but I am hoping to find them soon.) Thanks for any helpful suggestions for a knock-down, drag-out, rock-my-world BPAL chocolate!