Velvet

[VioletChaos]

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

in the imp:the pure milk chocolate of Bliss.

wet on skin: same.

dry down: ah! THERE'S the sandalwood! wow. this is the warm, sweet sandalwood of Tombstone with a background chocolate note from Bliss. awesome!

in all: another oil that manages to incorporate food notes without being foodie, Velvet is sweet and sexy without being too heavy. perfect for a friday night snuggle date!

[ralenth]

Imp: Warm spicy cocoa, can't wait to dive in!

 

Wet: Smells like I rolled in chocolate. Mmm...

 

Drydown: Did I say chocolate? It quickly becomes woody, I can see how some people said pencil shavings, it's not quite sandalwood though. Hrm.

 

Dry: Vaguely woody, but not sure what it smells like. Myrrh peeks in a little bit, but not enough to save this from the swaps pile.

 

Overall: Amazing off my skin. Not so great on. Perhaps a locket scent?

[othelloperrello]

First skin: Choco goodness. Very promising.

 

5 minutes: Seems to fade quickly. Chocolate drops out, leaving a feather-light musk - after some research and discussion with my bpal think tank, I suspect that this is the myrrh coming out as the dominant note. My skin doesn't like myrrh much and damps it down a lot.

Yields a nice residue, but with none of its original glory.

 

10-15: I really do think this is an excellent scent, not for what it leaps out of the bottle with but for its velveteen smoothness once it settles down. Alas for me it's too light and TOO smooth - it reminds me of white chocolate.

 

x Othello

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Smooth, liquid chocolate, not quite as powdery as Bliss.

 

Wet on skin: Lovely powdered cocoa and sandalwood for about two minutes, then cardboard.

 

Dry on skin: Yup. Cardboard. No myrrh, no sandalwood, and most decidedly no chocolate.

 

The BPAL cocoa and chocolate notes, they do not love me. And the irony is that I love and adore them (and chocolate in all of its forms). I had hoped the presence of the sandalwood would help me on this one, but no luck.

[Jessaka]

Initial sniff in the imp it was SUPER STRONG. I had to step back. I applied a bit and OooOoOoO cocoa! It smelled good, then the incense-y and smokey smell came. As it's drying down, more incense, less cocoa I kind of like it, because I like incense, but hmmm. We shall see how this goes. For now it's in my so-so pile.

[hkhm]

imp: like i just tore open a cocoa packet.

 

wet: this is a mug of hazelnut vanilla cocoa.

 

dry: the cocoa note fades to leave me with a faint spiced vanilla scent.

[beturtlement]

Imp: Woah.. warm, chocolatey goodness. Not as sweet as Bliss, and a bit darker.

Wet: The chocolate still holds true, but there's a spiciness I really like in the background.

Dry: The sandalwood finally pokes it's head up, making it all a mildly spicy and smoky chocolate.

 

Overall, I really like this, although the sandalwood makes it a bit more incensey than I usually prefer.

[elektrikmistress]

Velvet smelled so delicious in the vial! A warm cocoa with a spicy scent... totally mouth-watering.

 

Wet: Chocolate and spice... undertone of vanilla and sandalwood

 

After 20 minutes: Baby Powder. Literally, my husband asked me why I was using baby powder.

 

I'm sad, because this was so promising, but apparently my body chemistry just doesn't like something in this combination. I'm experimenting on using it as a scented oil for the home...

[msbcozad]

Velvet

 

This smelled sooooo good in the imp and soooo bad on my skin. I don't know what went wrong where, but I cannot wear this oil. Sadness.

[vegasblueblood]

Gorgeous. A deep milky chocolate surrounded by the woodiness of the myrrh and the warmth of the sandalwood. This, somehow, is truly velvety. It is so unusual. Vaguely foodie yet not enough to be considered a foodie scent. It's rich and sophisticated and after a good hour or two of wear, it has not even slightly faded.

[Dianora]

Oh, this is absolutely gorgeous. In the imp, it smells like cocoa and warm vanilla. When I put it on my skin, it bloomed into a rich, warm vanilla myrrh with just a hint of cocoa to make it smell swoon-worthy. For a few minutes there, a hint of something slightly off crept into the scent, and I began praying to the perfume gods to please, please make it go away because Velvet is one of the most amazing scents I've ever tried. Luckily, my prayers were answered and it dried down to a beautiful, deep warm myrrh scent that just glows with sophistication and loveliness.

 

Also, I realized that it smells exactly like a tobacco and cigar shop that I used to lurk in when I was a child, the same smells of almost-incensy exotic cigars and flavored cigarettes. It's just breathtaking, I love, love this.

[amanderinorange]

I was excited to receive this as a frimp as I love sandalwood and cocoa vanilla.

 

In the imp: Yum! Definitely cocoa, but with a woodsy smell that mellows it out.

 

On me: at first, it was really good. Smelled exactly like in the imp. However, after only twenty minutes or so my skin started amping the sandalwood to headache inducing levels. I had to wash it off it was so bad.

 

Overall: it's a great scent, I just wish my skin hadn't amped the sandalwood like that. I hope my sister has better luck with it.

[aquazoo]

Chocolatey. It's getting a little dusty, like cocoa powder. This is really warm and sexy.

 

 

[Kikkervisje]

Velvet: (frimp)

 

On me: Putting this on, I immediately smelled like... a rich, spicy chocolate. Really deep, intense, intriguing--although I'm not sure I want to smell edible regardless. But that wore off after about 30 minutes, and then it mostly smelled of baby powder. My brother concluded that it was a bit "old lady-ish." The wear time for this one is less than 8 hours, while I've been getting upwards of 12 from others. Not the best option by far.

 

Note: After some thought, I think that sandalwood tends to go to powder on me. So, others will probably have better luck with this one.

[Aldercy]

Very little sandalwood in this, and only a bit more myrrh. I wish the myrrh were a touch stronger, but they both work well in the background here.

 

Velvet is mostly a thin, almost gauzy semi-sweet cocoa powder scent that comes across as warm but sheer. I've heard chocolate can be a little plasticy, and though I haven't gotten that from other cocoa scents, this has a very slight threat of plastic somewhere. It doesn't ruin the blend though. This oil doesn't strike me as hugely foody, somehow, though it theoretically should be. Gentle, feminine, and a little exotic.

[chimera87]

This...is an earthy chocolate. I like it, but there's something about it that didn't work well on my skin. I got this because I've been trying to find something that

smells similar to Lush's Cupcake mask. This is the closest thing I've ever found to it, but it's nowhere near as good. I mainly smell chocolate and Myrrh and don't get much sandalwood.

 

There's something about this, that makes me think of the mudpies I used to make as a kid. There's a dirty muddy smell to this. I think if you took some mud out of the yard, after a storm and poured cocoa powder in it and a bit of vanilla and mixed it all up, you would have something that smells like Velvet. Velvet is a musty, muddy, dirty chocolate.

 

I like this....it's unusual, but it's not what I expected. I'm not sure whether I'll keep this though....

[angelicruin]

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this before now.

 

Sniffing the imp, it's chocolate.

 

Wet on my skin, it still has that lovely chocolate note, but I now smell the myrrh. As it dries more, I smell myrrh and incense more than the chocolate. The chocolate becomes a minor note, but is still recognizable underneath the incense.

 

Very nice....

[devilot]

In the vial: Subtle hint of cocoa powder, but I definitely smell myrrh.

 

Wet: MYRRH overload! Holy moly! Wet on my skin, all I can smell for the first few seconds well into a minute+ is the myrrh.

 

Drydown: A smidgeon more of the cocoa wafts out, oooooh, a hint of sandalwood! Wait no, here comes the myrrh to chase all of that deliciousness away. Sigh.

 

Verdict: I want to love it, but it just doesn't want to play nicely with my skin chemistry. Oddly enough, on my skin, the myrrh winds up smelling like the lab's vetiver in other blends. Had so much potential, just didn't quite work for me.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Smells like and old, dusty, worn, red Victorian velvet chair, with the wood a bit moldy, and the cushion sitting in a smoke filled room for a few years. That's my first impression. My second impression, definintely chocolate, something herby, and woody. I also picture something when I smell something.

 

Wet: Patchuoli. Although it's not, just, strong woody or herby smells remind me of patchouli and I just don't like them. There's no chocolate anymore, just dry patchouli.

 

Dry: It's definitely not patchouli, but this blend is definitely not working with my skin. It's pretty light, definite myrrh. I like sandalwood only in tooth hurting sweet blends, where the sandalwood makes them no too sweet.

 

Overall: I think I just hate patchouli so much that anything that ever reminds me of it makes me gag. I actually dont hate this blend though. Reminds me of Death Cap in the sense that I like it even though I shouldn't. I might not keep my imp though.

[anna1850]

I like the cocoa, but I'm not into sandalwood at all and myrrh's hit and miss on me.

 

2.5/5 It's not bad but I'm just not that keen on this.

[Veronica]

The lab's cocoa note never seems to work quite right on me (or I just dislike the scent of cocoa...), and Velvet is no exception. Wet, it's a warm, spiced chocolate. Dry, the chocolate tones down somewhat under the sandalwood, but is still the dominant note, I can barely catch a whiff of it behind all the chocolate.

[liquidtrance]

Hot chocolate and a hint of sandalwood at first. As its drying its getting a little stranger. Maybe getting weird since I tried out Strawberry Feels stuff at the Lush store less than an hour ago… Couldn’t resist trying it, though, so now its just an awkward combo.

 

Retest-- Weeeird. At first smells like strangely rotting fabric. Might be the mix of vanilla, cocoa, and the wood. Up close, the rotting fabric almost smells even like wet dog. Pretty much right on the money. Maybe it will dry down better...

This ends up being an awkward sandalwood. Theres a slight vanillic chocolate in the background that throws it funny.

 

Swap.

[mineralgirl]

In the vial it's all lovely cocoa-ish .. on my skin the sandalwood doesn't play nice! it goes all pencil shavings.

 

Damnit.

 

It had such potential too! I'm disappointed!

[tajana]

In the vial it smells tasty and chocolately. I love cocoa as a supporting element, but not as the main attraction, so I hoped that the sandalwood and myrrh would be louder on the skin. Freshly applied, it's very chocolatey, but the vanilla is subdued enough that it doesn't do the over-sticky-sweet thing that Boomslang is wont to do on me. As it dries down the sandalwood and myrrh amp up higher, but they're still very much fused with the cocoa and a touch of vanilla. It smells pretty much as I'd expect it to from the notes... really soft, warm, and unassuming. I like it well enough, but since I have a few more complex and less sweet cocoa scents around, I won't be revisiting my imp. I'd be more inclined to keep this around if I could subtract the vanilla and add another wood note or some spice.

 

ETA: Yeeepppp... several hours after my initial application, it's almost interchangeable with Boomslang. Chocolatey-vanilla with something else lurking beneath the sweet surface. It would smell great if I actually wanted to smell like a delicious dessert, which I don't. Phenomenal lasting power, though... still going strong after eight hours.

Edited June 16, 2009 by tajana

[Graphica]

in the bottle: Cocoa! Dutch-processed with a touch of vanilla. Hint of sandalwood. Something (or some things) else that I can't identify: smooth, a little smoky, a little sweet. Also, a creamy sensation, maybe the vanilla again.

 

on, wet: Cocoa and a bit of sandalwood. After about 10 seconds, strong suggestion of smoke.

 

drydown: This will sound strange, but my left wrist retains the cocoa scent, where my right has gone completely smoky. And not just a little smoky, but full on sitting-in-front-of-a-wood-fire smoky (with a hint of vanilla). The cocoa-y vanilla scent on my left wrist is starting to seem a little food-like to me. Overall, I prefer the smoky effect.

 

one hour later: Sandalwood and vanilla, both wrists. A ghost or two of scents in the background, but almost completely hidden by the sandalwood.

 

end of day: Sandalwood and vanilla. Enduring scent, not unpleasant, but nothing like what I smelled in the bottle or through drydown. There remains a hint -- just a suggestion, really -- of other scents way in the background that are completely homogenized, but which lighten the sandalwood and give it a certain dusty sweetness.

 

compared to official description: Not sure I'd recognize myrrh, as I'm positive I've never smelled straight myrrh, and would therefore have trouble picking it out of a lineup. I know the lab doesn't necessarily list every component, but as the only three listed are sandalwood, cocoa vanilla, and myrrh, I'm wondering if the myrrh carries the smoky effect, since that's the only thing in this blend that stands out to me other than the other two listed.

 

notes: Not for me. Smells like a my paternal grandmother's house, somehow. In fact, I get a strong scent-memory of being put down for a nap as a very small child on my grandmother's bed, and drifting off to sleep with the faint drone of nearly-inaudible adult voices drifting up the steep, narrow stairs and slipping under the thick, dark, heavy wood door. Pleasant, but I'd want my house to smell this way, not me.

 

afterthought: I was initially disappointed that this perfume didn't retain its original character, but after re-reading my description I realized that there's no reason velvet should smell like cocoa. In the end I believe that the cocoa stayed there but hovered in the distance to give the whole thing a bit of dryness, and that some other element, in addition, pushed the effect over to dustiness. While the hours-later effect was much different than what I smelled straight out of the bottle, I'd have to classify the later scentsation as being more akin to how I'd aurally define velvet, since velvet (the fabric) makes me think of dusty places and the satiny-smooth skin of my grandmother's cheek. I didn't feel like Coyote hit the mark, but I must admit that, in the end, this could very well be velvet, at least for me.

Edited June 20, 2009 by Graphica