Velvet

[taramarie]

Envelop yourself in the soft, sensual embrace of gentle sandalwood warmed by cocoa vanilla and a veil of deep myrrh.

On me, Velvet is cocoa vanilla with a little myrrh in the back. It's lovely, I just wish it were stronger.

[anardana]

Interesting! Not too sweet or foody.

Edited June 23, 2008 by anardana

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Honey coloured oil. Sweet, dark, woody. Rooty-earthy myrrh and milk chocolate, sweet foody vanilla, and a hint of dry, almost-cedar like sandalwood. Potent.

 

Far too dark and sweet and rooty for me to test further.

[MissMercurial]

I'd heard that this would be a lovely backup for 13 (oct 06), my favorite scent so far, so it was on my wishlist.

The ever-gregarious alterosen frimp'd me it

Sad to say, though, I don't think that this will fit the bill for me as a 13 replacement, at least, not by itself.

There is a similar woody/chocolate-y smell that 13 (oct 06) shares, but the difference is the weight of this scent in comparison. I believe the sandalwood in this is not the same, and is probably making the difference (this one doesn't specify what kind of sandalwood is in here; 13's formulation specifies Mysore). Whereas my beloved 13 is rather lightly woody, and well-balanced by the other components, floral and fruit, this one is overpoweringly woodsy. It might be the myrrh and the sandalwood ganging up on me to make mischief, but all I can smell from this is very dusty, musty pencil shavings and a smattering of old vanilla beans and chalky chocolate.

It'll be off to swaps for this one if it doesn't play nicely with Bliss - I'm thinking about layering the two to get more of a "13" smell.

Edited June 26, 2008 by MissMercurial

[faerywolfe]

In the bottle: Mmmm, yummy. Vanilla and a gentle myrrh with a rich dusty cocoa powder.

 

Wet: Dry and bitter and softly sweet. This isn't remotely foody, although the notes would suggest otherwise. The cocoa is dark and heady and the sandalwood blends to make it nearly woodsy. The myrrh is still hiding behind the cocoa, softly enhancing it from the shadows.

 

Drydown: The sandalwood is the more prominent note, but not nearly as sweet as it usually is. Vanilla is blending with the cocoa now, stilling some of that bitterness. Myrrh is making her presence a bit more known by lending a soft earthy spice to Velvet. This stage is sweeter than when I first put it on, but still isn't foody in the slightest.

 

Overall: This is very good. I was expecting darker, richer, more woods, but this is a delicious comfort scent just as it is. I don't know that I need a bottle, but I will definitely use my imp.

[AthenaRose]

I recieved velvet as a frimp on my first BPAL order, and this is the first scent that i have tried. So this is a review from a BPAL noob, but a very pleased noob i am, and i'm very excited to try the rest of my imps.

 

So here are my impressions, from the nose of a novice scent sniffer.

 

In the IMP: Sweet, but not too sweet, dark dusty chocolate. Mmm, delicious... i'm a huge dark chocolate fan. Almost like a dark chocolate fruit and nut bar (my favourite).

 

Wet on my skin: Chocolatey and smoky. Kinda like when you make chocolate chip pancakes, and the chocolate chips get a little bit burnt on the pan after a few batches.

 

Drydown: Quickly turns strongly woodsy, i believe that's the sandalwood, but there is still a touch of sweetness fromt the vanilla, but not overpoweringly vanilla. I mostly smell wood at this point, the other notes are very faint.

 

After a few hours: Soft, dusty smoky wood, with faint hints of chocolate and vanilla. I can see why this is called Velvet. It's like a velvet magican's cape that's been stored in a wooden box in the attic for a long time. Warm, intriguing and comforting.

 

Final thoughts: I'm happy i recieved this one. It's the first Bpal scent i've tried, but i like it enough that i'll gladly trash ALL my old perfumes. This does not make me sneeze or give me a headache. My fiancé thought it smelled nice, and my dad thought it was nice too.

 

ETA: After trying many others, this one is still one of my top favourites

 

4.5/5

Edited July 20, 2008 by AthenaRose

[catwoman30]

Ah-what else can be said about Velvet-it's easily one of my favorite BPAL oils ever.It does have the richness of the cocoa on first sniff and the warm woodsiness of the sandalwood on application.I don't smell the myrrh per se, but I know it's there to add a softness to the blend.Fades to mostly sandalwood with a slight trace of the cocoa-just wonderful.One of their most soothing and comforting scents.........the one scent I would happily forsake all others for!

[nightbiscuit]

Oh, joy... A cocoa that does not turn plasticky on me!

This is a smooth, warm, spicy creamy cocoa, which is quickly supplanted by dry sandalwood. Funny thing, I could swear I smelled some orange in there during the drydown!

[Andrea912]

Wet: nice coca; touch of myrrh in the back.

 

Dry: Hmmm...I don't know about this. The cocoa is gone, still no vanilla; dark, heady, swarthy incense. Hippie.

 

Two hours later. I am quite perplexed. I thought the incense smell would be a NO, because I hate that. But it's faded; the coca is back tempered with the vanilla. Still very dark. I think I might like it...

[porcelina]

velvet smells lovely in the bottle, like spicy chocolatey marshmallow goodness. on my skin, however, it is all sandalwood and pencil shavings.

[prettybird]

In the imp: WTF, it smells just like an Andes mint!

 

On skin: This is very nice. Still very chocolatey and minty (or is that the myrrh?).

 

I don't know what to say about it, really, because it's just not a very complicated scent. I like it a whole lot, though.

[Champagne]

I do love chocolate and sandalwood, so I had high hopes for this, but in this case I amped a dry and glowing sandalwood like crazy, with a sweet and frustrated undertone that scream "I want to be foooody!!". I should maybe use these notes separately, oh well.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Wow. Unsweetened chocolate with the other elements underneath. Wet: More sandalwood than in the bottle. More vanilla too, the more warmth it takes from the skin. The vanilla/myrrh gives a vaguely impersonal affect and the sandalwood/cocoa combo’s a little weird, but it’s pleasant in the aggregate. Dry: Mostly sandalwood and vanilla.

[OhioSky]

I grabbed this imp, not remembering the description AT ALL, and was so surprised to smell this sweet chocolate! It smells delicious in the imp, which, in my experience, even the best BPALs usually do not.

 

After applying it the first time, it was gone in about 5 minutes, and I was sad.

 

But I put it on again today and a good 8 hours later I'm still getting whiffs of smokey chocolate vanilla goodness. Yum! I only the most subtle hint of the sandalwood, unlike what others on this thread have stated.

[cam]

This is great on me. It's a dark cocoa dirtied up with sandalwood and myrrh. Love it.

[mgrazulis]

In bottle/imp: Warm chocolate with spices.

 

Wet on skin: Mmmmmm....Bellagio sipping chocolate, gentle vanilla and warm sandalwood.

 

After a little while: This morphed! It went from chocolate to almost all sandalwood. The chocolate is there but only lightly so. The sandalwood and vanilla plus a bit of myrrh are blending nicely. Nothing is oversweet. It does get a dry woodsy tone.

 

Verdict: Velvet was soooooo yummy at first! It was warm gourmet chocolate with sandalwood taming the foodiness. Sadlly, I can barely smell the cocoa anymore. What remains is sandalwood and a tiny bit of myrrh/vanilla.

Next try--the scent locket!!

Edited September 18, 2008 by mineralfairy

[EauQue]

NOW I know why I could not wear Loviatar: THE MYRRH!!

 

This was a frimp from Elizabeth... so I will be sending this onto another soul. But now I know if I see myrrh? NO WAY!

 

The scent of it on my skin is nauseating like dusty dirty darkness.

[voodoocatwoman]

Pretty pretty pretty. This is dusted cocoa vanilla goodness. There's a little bit of sandalwood in the background that balances the foodiness. And 8 hours later it is still strong and just as pretty.

[kjirstiben]

On me, Velvet is a sweet, light, marshmallowy hot cocoa scent with just a hint of something going on behind it. It's reminiscent of one of those "gourmet" hot cocoas made by high-end chocolatiers.

 

It smells very much in the bottle the way it does on my skin, though after most of a day, I kept catching passing hints of a woodsy scent and wondering what it was. Oh--that's me! After many hours, Velvet dies down to a faint sandalwoody sweetness.

 

Vanilla and cocoa work together in this one and the sandalwood stabilizes everything, keeping it from being off-the-charts gooey dessert.

 

A very nice, cozy scent--one I envision wearing indoors on a chilly, overcast winter afternoon, wrapped in an afghan and sipping--what else?--hot chocolate.

[milica]

I love love love Velvet!!!

 

On my skin, at first, it's milk chocolate and vanilla, after few minutes it becomes smokey dark chocolate goodness!

I get a lot of sandalwood, then cocoa and at the end a bit of vanilla, and it has good staying power, about 8 hours.

I got lot of compliments for this one, from men and from women.

[anastasia]

Wow, this is just extrememly smutty on me. I really like it but it almost makes me feel a little bit shy. There is a winey thing that the myrrh is doing and an EXTREMELY skin salty factor from the vanilla cocoa and the sandalwood on me is like freshly cut lumber. I think it smells like I got nailed on a jobsite and then went to a really swank party with wine and chocolate.

It actually does kind of smell like the texture of velvet because velvet is a little rough and sensual at the same time, I mean, it has a serious nap to it but we don't seem to actually think about it as rough. Toothy. So yes, I guess for me, soft and a little brutal. For some reason this makes me want to wear it a lot during the upcoming holiday season.

 

In the drydown, once in a while, it smells like an expensive christmas baby doll. Hanging out expectantly on a construction site. I still like it.

Edited November 2, 2008 by novak69

[tacey]

Oooooooo! This is a good one! I haven't decided yet how often I'll be wearing it, but it's lovely for the right occasion! (Fridays, maybe!)

 

There's an initial blast of dark chocolate -- very strong, but not the overwheming wash-it-off sweetness of milk chocolate I got from Bliss. This is a very nice dark chocolate, quickly tempered by the vanilla and myrrh, both of which I can sniff clearly, but they blend beautifully with the chocolate, creating something new. A bit later the sandalwood comes out to play, promoting this blend into a new favorite. So smooth and dark!

[cherryontop]

In the bottle- it's all chocolate, but not in an overly foody way.

 

Once on it immediately turned to sandlewood and myrrh. This is a very good thing for me.

 

After a bit it gets very soft and powdery and the vanilla finally peeks out. Love, love, love this! Not one for going out so much as curling up at home.

 

It lasted a long time on me.

[crebbsgirl]

Before BPAL, I never would have thought cocoa was a note that I would be interested in, and now, I'm finding it to be one of my favourites. I was a little taken aback initially when I opened this imp. The chocolate scent was so strong I could almost taste it at the back of my throat. Instantly on my skin, the myrrh and sandalwood develop. This becomes smoky sweet and utterly sinful. The cocoa blends nicely into the sandalwood and myrrh so that you can detect each of the notes on their own, but only if you know what you're looking for. This blend is seamless, and not to be missed if you like sweet smoky goodness.

[PinkoCommie]

This is not at all foody once it touches my skin. It's an amazingly nice wood blend (sandalwood, specifically) with a hint of sweetness to keep the wood from going to sawdust. They myrrh blends in so well and gives it a lot of depth. It's a fantastic scent, but it doesn't feel like me when I wear it. It's really nice, though. The imp I have is at least 2.5 years old; I've had it for about 2 of those years and it just keeps getting better.