Thirteen (13), November 2009

[sunshinedaisybliss]

It's Friday the 13th in the Miskatonic Valley! A base of Mother Shub's dark chocolate fudge, raw vanilla, and sibilant black incense dusted by thirteen merrily malefic, ill-omened herbs, resins, and flowers: prune, musk seed, baneberry, myrrh, wild tobacco, hemp, datura, bluebell, cypress, hemlock, snakeweed, opoponax, and black hellebore.

When this first went on my skin, my initial reaction was that it's like a diluted version of Gelt - the chocolate smelt very similar. But that changed within seconds when the incense and vanilla showed up. About 15 minutes in, it went very floral-y and herb-y, and the chocolate completely disappeared. Half an hour later, I can barely find where this is on my arm - there's just a very faint remnant of musky resins/incense, some prune and mixed florals. It's nice, but not enough of anything interesting really and the disappearing act is a dealbreaker.

[aquazoo]

It starts with the fudge, and a definite vanilla note to it. Lots of different things, I'm getting some herb and a little bit of booze.

 

[skylarkza]

In the bottle: Chocolate, vanilla and dirt.

 

Wet: Smoke and chocolate.

 

Dry: Chocolate, vanilla, herbs - but not cooking herbs, how you imagine a witch's herbs might smell. Dark, very VERY dark.

 

A while later: Slightly minty chocolate. Earth and herbs in the background. Quite nice and complex.

[bheansidhe]

Seeing the label art, I immediately dubbed this "A Miskatonic Dozen!" Worth owning for the bottle alone, folks.

 

So, Miskatonic 13 is decidedly unlike the other 13s, is an insane morpher, and is very chemistry-dependent to boot. If you love the Chaos Theory concept, I recommend trying this one just to see what the heck it's going to do on you.

 

On me, it starts out as a flourless dark chocolate torte baked by an upscale European pastry chef who thinks Americans put too much sugar in everything and our palates need to be "reeducated." It's made of that extra-bitter Scharfenberger chocolate, finished with hand-whipped vanilla heavy cream. Not cakey, not fudgey, but insanely dark and rich, with almost no sugar to be smelled.

 

Turns out the pastry chef was on a bit of a diet kick, because he substituted dried plums for butter in the mix. (I'm being politically correct. Prune growers went on a PR campaign a few years back and lobbied to change their product's name to "dried plums.") The musky plums blend well with the dark chocolate at this stage. Chocolate Madame Moriarty.

 

Turns out the pastry chef was kind of a stoner, too, because he was burning some crazy headshop incense in the kitchen while this stuff was baking. It's starting to drown out the cake, and I'm left standing in the Chapel of Chocolate Moriarty.

 

.....And the herbs come roaring up. At this point, with my chemistry, the blend goes out the window and starts to smell like some raw foodist revamp of chocolate torte that LOOKS like cake but is really made of dark carob chips and ground hemp seed and roadside grassy, pungent weeds. By now it's a strongly herbal blend soaked in plum juice. I'll note here that of the listed notes, myrrh and opoponax hate my skin, while black hellebore and cypress love it. I was hoping love would triumph over hate, but it looks like this blend is not meant to be.

 

However, I strongly recommend dropping a coin in the slot and taking this crazy ride for yourself. This one is unique.

[lothien]

I'm kind of at a loss to describe this one - I just know I love it and whatever lameness I write down is not going to properly explain my 13 perfume experience. =)

 

It's unique and interesting and yummy. It is sort of fascinating to experience the morph. Starts out fudge, but as soon as it's mostly dry the chocolate is joined by incense, and I love the combination. Then there's the other things that join that make it even better: musk and vanilla and prune, cypress and flowers. The fudge never quites bails out.

What it all blends into is gorgeous, although I like that it's not super long lasting, because as much as I love it, I wouldn't want to smell like it all day. Sort of like real chocolate.

 

I've never had a good experience with a 13, so this amazes me. Finally a good combination of herbs/stuff for me. The cherry one was close, but the cherry too much and the chocolate wasn't right. This one does what I wanted from that one. Plums, even dry ones, seem to be a winner almost always, so I had hopes. Well worth tracking down a bottle, partly for the awesome label. ^^

[loubric]

Yummy ... this is a very sweet and very choclate scent on me. Has hints of floral on me as well.

The chocolate is a bit too heavy on my skin and makes me want cake.

 

Dark, rich, herby and CHOCOLATEY. Something that I'd rather eat than wear

[crebbsgirl]

Hmmmm, I thought I had reviewed this but I see that I haven't yet. When first applied, the chocolate is the predominant note by far. But almost immediately it fades and blends seemlessly with the rest of the notes. The fruit comes out and sweetens it, while the incense and myrrh deepen this blend. OMG this is LOVE!!! Sweet, dark and yummy. I think the herbs here are preventing it from getting too foody for me. I almost can't describe how amazing this is. I am pretty nervous around chocolate scents, because most of them don't work. This definitely does.

[edenssixthday]

Thirteen (Nov 2009) - Like almost all of the other 13's, this one is close-but-not-quite. I do think I like this one the second-best of all the 13's, though. The prune is actually the strongest note on me, and I love it's dark juiciness that almost reminds me of a dark, syrupy honey. I don't smell the chocolate in this at all, which is awesome since the chocolate note is typically the downfall of the 13's when it comes to my particular skin chemistry. This scent is strongly floral, but not in a feminine or high-pitched way -- it's more herbal and earthy. The prune remains the strongest note throughout the life cycle of this scent. Even though I really like the prune note, there's just a bit too much prune for my test in this particular blend. Still, it's unique and pretty and it's got a lovely level of throw, so maybe I'll give it another go before I give up on it.

 

Edited January 31, 2010 by edenssixthday

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Chocolate hits the nose first, but the flowers and herbs really open up into a rich blend. The banebery is particularly strong. The floral blend is unusual and the herbs go nicely with the chocolate. It’s quite impressive and unusual. Dry: Baking as smelled from the garden outside the kitchen The florals are strongly assendant here. The whole effect is wild and gloriously fragrant. The scent is complex and different elements surface with each sniff. Dry: It fades to soft herbs and vanilla mostly. It’s still quite pleasant, but very different.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - An odd, almost absence of scent; a hint of chocolate and maybe the slightest tinge of something green if I try really hard

 

Wet on me - A soft chocolate scent with a metallic undertone

 

Dry on me - It comes through stronger, an almost bitter herbal with touches of chocolate fudge, more in texture than actual scent

 

Overall - It's (like most of the 13s) an unusual scent, but I do like it

[brwnpaperhag]

I've spent this entire time trying to age my bottle, since I was sort of iffy when I first tested it oh so long ago--everything was so sharp and bitter then. That said, I am SO GLAD I kept my bottle. This is amazing!

 

It starts out fudgy and dark...there's no mistaking what kind of chocolate this is. It's rich and dark, and with the incense and slight boozyness, it's wonderfully heady and delicious.

 

Then, as it dries down, the raw vanilla appears. With the darkness from the fudge and herbs, it's reminiscent of XCDL13, but only just a little. I can't stop sniffing myself. The fudge definitely takes a backseat after the wet stage, which is awesome, because as much as I love wearing the chocolate note, sometimes I don't want to smell like a melted candy bar. haha.

 

God, this is amazing. There's enough fruit and sweetness in here to keep it light and not musty, but the herbs/vanilla/incense combo keeps it amazingly perfumy and sexy. If I sniff too much at too close a distance, the herbal part of it makes me want to sneeze, but I just won't do that. Time has definitely helped out the herbs here, as they're much tamer now. And the fudge on the back burner just smoothes it all out.

It's perfection!

Edited March 14, 2010 by bluberyapulsaus

[zankoku_zen]

This is a very 'dark' 13 - I smell cocoa mainly, incense and a hint of greenery. On wet, I could smell the prune more, but as it dries, I definitely get a slight whiff of tobacco and flowers.

 

Interesting, but a little too intense for my liking.

[London]

Imp: chocolate, green, sweet vanilla

 

First applied it was very fudgey, yum. As it dried it got really incense-y but with a cocoa background. Sort of like chocolate dipped incense. I don't like foody normally..but this yummy!

[yamiko]

The 13s are never super-awesome-appealing to me for the most part, but I bought this one because it's my birthday month's 13.

 

In the bottle, it smells like mostly herbs and incense, with a background of chocolate. On me, it's kinda sweet and herbal. As it dries, the vanilla comes out more. I don't really smell the chocolate at all. This is definitely an herbal/incense kinda scent, and not foody on me at all.

[Schmoozy]

This is one of my favorite 13 blends. It's creamy vanilla and dark chocolate with light florals and resins. It has very little spice to it, but it feels dark, heavy and slightly woodsy. It also has this refreshing bite of greenery, and I can only think that the baneberry, hemlock and cypress are responsible for that. It mingles well with the fudgey chocolate and creamy vanilla.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL bought on LJ.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

This is only the second of the 13 blends that I've tried. The other was the original version, which I didn't care for. I've been waffling on trying this one because it sounds like it could be good or could go really, really wrong on me. I've learned fairly recently that BPAL's dark chocolate is amazing on me, so that gives me some hope, as do the raw vanilla (sounds awesome), black incense and resins (I'm an incense/resin fiend). The herbs should be fine and the prune should be okay, too, but the flowers have me a bit worried since I'm a floral hater.

 

Truth be told, I'm having a hard time envisioning what this is going to smell like, but I'm excited to try it. The label art is awesome, too. Love the tentacles.

 

First sniff:

 

Unique! This is definitely not something you'd find in a department store or drugstore. This is the essence of BPAL to me. A strange combination of scents that somehow works. I couldn't tell you what's in this without the notes in front of me, other than to say that I smell chocolate quite strongly, along with a touch of vanilla (it's not a candy vanilla, though, it really does smell more like vanilla beans/pods) and...something else. The background is completely impossible for me to tease apart. I don't smell resins/incense, florals or herbs. I just smell a sort of dark, swirling scent that's impossible for me to classify. It smells kind of like what I imagine the witch's house from Hansel and Gretel might smell like...only without the gingerbread.

 

Wet on skin:

 

This reminds me a bit of Dia De Los Muertos, which I suppose isn't that surprising since they both have chocolate and a mish-mash of other notes that could smell similar. I like this more than DDLM on me, though. 13 is darker, stronger on the cocoa and much lighter on the florals, but the feel is similar. The chocolate note is what's making me compare them, I think. Both have a chocolate scent that's not just chocolate. There's something else backing it up that's vaguely fruity, just a little bit floral and slightly herbal. It's hard to describe but pretty in an offbeat way. I like it better in 13 than I do in DDLM, though.

 

Dry down:

 

The drydown on this 13 seems to depend on how heavily I apply it. If I apply with a very light hand, I get quite a bit of vanilla (a true vanilla that smells like the real deal, not a candy vanilla) and not a lot else. If I apply more heavily, I get mostly chocolate with that indefinable background from the bottle and wet stages. It's kind of fruity (but not in a juicy way), kind of herbal and a little bit dry, dusty and resinous. I don't think this is a scent you can really explain. You need to smell it to understand, because there's so much going on here and it's so discordant (and yet everything works together).

 

The bottom line:

 

This is one of those weird, complex scents that screams "BPAL!" to me. It's unique and strangely pretty. I really like it, but it's not something I'd wear every day. A huge improvement over the original 13 to my nose, although I know that the original was a big hit with some people. I have a feeling that if I were to try every version in the 13 series, this would be my favorite of the bunch, although I can't prove that since I've only tried two.

[aleciarivas]

Hm. Weird. This scent absolutely morphed from one strange unrecognizable scent to another through to the dry down. In the end, I get slightly fruity.... toothpaste? Not mint, but.... I dunno, something in this reminds me terribly of toothpaste! Can't handle it, it's gonna go. Ah well, I've never had any luck with the 13 blends so I suppose this was no big surprise.

[Briar]

My nose is stuffy from a cold, but I'm going to give this a try anyway.

 

In the Bottle: Soap. Totally soap. I don't even understand. There's this tiny hint at the top of the inhale that maybe the soap is covering something dirty.

 

On My Skin: Soap and a fudge brownie. I feel like I'm eight-years-old, eating a fresh brownie while Mom folds laundry. This is unusually vivid sensory imagery for me when it comes to BPAL; I mean, Beth's good at sense imagery, but this one's downright weird.

 

After Fifteen Minutes: Soapy soapy soap. It's floral, it's got a hint of a bite on the top of the inhale, but wuff, I'm just not getting the delightful melange of notes listed by Beth. If I sniff really hard and really deep, there's some chocolate lurking. Maybe if I give the chocolate a little more time...

[miss_rynn]

I'll freely admit that I only got this because of the tentacles. A girl can never have too many tentacles!

 

This starts out as chocolate and prunes, with a floral back. I know that sounds weird. I normally associate prunes with constipation (what can I say?), but I have to say that the prune-and-chocolate combo works really well. As it dries down the chocolate fades, what is left behind is a heavy but not overpowering prune/musk/floral scent with a touch of something herbal and sharp. Basically it dries down to a very complex perfume on the skin that is a little sweet, a little green, and on the dark end of the scale. A nice, grown up sort of a scent.

[mymymai]

ITB: Dark chocolate fudge is correct! There is also black incense, prune, vanilla, and just a little green (hemlock, I think) present so far.

 

Wet: Warm chocolate fudge, vanilla, incense, prune, faint tobacco smoke, and bluebell. It actually reminds me of a cafe next to an overgrown garden. Interesting.

 

Dry: The incense and herbal notes with touches of florals becomes more dominant than the fudge, although that is still apparent. The prune and vanilla are still there, which give it an interesting sweetness.

[Aveya]

BAM Fudge right out of the gate.

 

Then ... Smokers eating fudge (like, classy smokers with nice smellin' stuff).

 

Then I'm eating fudge in my great grandma's barn in Kentucky with tobacco drying in the rafters in the middle of summer right after picking grapes and berries in full juicy goodness off the vines right near the shed.

 

This is fun. I like this.I like this so much. So much more than I thought I would. I'll see how it ages. The tobbacco note is pretty strong, and people at my work act pretty uppity about smoking. But this would be a fun personal weekend scent. I've smelled this chocolate-tobacco sent before, randomly. There's something people smoke that smells EXACTLY like this. But no one's been able to tell me what it is. You can tell I'm totally not a smoker, can't you?

 

Love it. Smells like chocolate cigarettes if those are a thing

[Lucchesa]

I love trying 13s, and this one is a beauty! Dark and luscious, with some of my favorite notes, like vanilla, plum (well, prune) and tobacco. These meld with the dark chocolate until you can't prise anything apart, just a gorgeous perfumy chocolaty fug. It is not so tobacco-heavy on me that I couldn't get away with it at work, and it wears pretty close to my skin (which is par for the course for my skin), so I could wear this anywhere. I just want to bury my nose in my elbow. So good!