Inferno

[Dani87]

The Dark Side of Fire: cinnamon, bitter almond, and neroli. Heavily spiced, torrid, and possibly conflagrant.

 

Imp: red hots
Wet: still red hots, or maybe big red gum.
Drydown: the big red has calmed down some, and the bitter almond has come out. They are the only notes I smell.
Dry: still big red, and bitter almond
Overall: it's not a bad scent, and I kind of like it, but don't ever see myself wearing it. Off to swaps.

[Lani]

In the imp: sweet cinnamon. The almond definitely comes through, and it's not quite Red Hots or another cinnamony candy to me, but that description totally makes sense.

 

Wet: Instant almond, in a burst. It's amazing, but it's gone super quick, like, within 5 minutes. It's the most volatile top note in any perfume I've tried so far. It's followed immediately by amazing, rich, red-hot cinnamon, and like others have said, this one burns me and makes my skin turn lobster red as soon as the cinnamon comes out if I'm not careful. I mitigate this a few ways: no wearing it on my neck or the insides of my elbows (ever), and no putting it on right out of the shower. After I shower I dry off, get dressed, put lotion on, and I can apply Inferno to my wrists and it's fine.

 

Drydown: all cinnamon all the time! Really warm cinnamon. No neroli, the cinnamon is totally overpowering. This is awesome for me, because I love cinnamon. The nice thing too is that it never turns into that cheap craft store potpourri type of cinnamon.

 

Good lasting power, though it fades more quickly than other BPAL scents. I love Inferno, though I have to be super careful about the burning.

[Mechanical Death]

In the imp, almond. Strong syrupy sweet almond. Slight touch of neroli and cinnamon underneath coming forth. All very sugary smelling.

 

On the skin it turns into red hots candy. Straight up.

 

Drying the other two notes come out again and the cinnamon becomes darker, less red, more firey and sexy. Perfect cinnamon blend!

[elinox]

First Sniff: Wow, fresh ripe berry! With a teeny hint of cinnamon underneath, but it’s really faint.

 

Wet: Sugary red candy; I think I’m getting the Red Hots candy others have described. It’s turning into burning strong cinnamon!

 

Dry: As it began to dry it was sharp, biting cinnamon, and reminded me of Big Red gum. Once it dried completely it was a bit softer, but still cinnamon. I’m hoping the almond peaks through eventually.

 

My Reaction: Whereas Chimera was soft, warm cinnamon, this is harsh and violent cinnamon at first. After reading some of the reviews I became worried about it burning on my wrists due to my sensitive skin, but no bad reaction so far. Based on the name, I had anticipated something burning with smoke and fire, obviously, and the strong in-your-face cinnamon did not disappoint on that front! It’s different than anything else I have from the lab, but I think I’ll stick to Chimera for my cinnamon fix.

 

Rating 1-5: 2.5

[Lethran]

In bottle: Cinnamon dominant, but the almond is quite strong as well, the Neroli is soft and is tying the stronger scents together. Wet: Extremely strong cinnamon with a touch of almond and the ghost of neroli. Dry: Cinnamon. Lots of cinnamon, with a touch of neroli.

[zeldaZ4]

Beautiful, beautiful cinnamon and almond. I love this scent! Sadly, my wrists do not. Itchy, itchy, red. But this smells so good, I plan to mix it with orange oil and burn it in my effusion lamp. Will update with the results.

 

ETA: this works beautifully in the effusion lamp! May have to seek out imps!

Edited February 13, 2013 by zeldaZ4

[Xue_Bai]

Frimp!

 

Starts warm almond cookies, before the cinnamon takes over. Goes Red Hots over almond cookies for a bit, before evening out between the two notes closer to skin than before. This has a LOT of cinnamon in it, as it's the only BPAL with it that's caused actual skin redness (not just a burning sensation). If the initial burst of almond cookies kept around, the burn would have been worth it. As is and as much as I love cinnamon, it's not for me.

[themeaningofV]

Lab-fresh frimp.

 

In the imp: Cinnamon cloud! And almond... but it reminds me of the almond in Port-au-Prince. The rare almond that doesn't read as cherry to me! Yay!

 

I heeded the warnings and put a small dab on the inside of my arm. Aside from a barely-noticable warming feeling, nothing happened - I just sat and basked in Red Hots glory. I marked Inferno as "to-keep" in my spreadsheet and wrote "hell yeah hell f*cking yeah" in the notes.

 

A few minutes later... "huh, is there a welt?" I compared my right arm with my left arm, where I was testing O. It could be a rash, but it could be the oil color! WHO KNOWS. I rolled down my hoodie sleeves.

 

A few minutes later, I roll up my sleeve. OH GOD NO THE RED DISC OF DOOM. My eyes sting when I try to sniff my arm. It is still very cinnamony.

 

I thought I was only a victim of cardamom, but the cinnamon in this? It's just so strong. Gosh.

 

I should probably swap my imp. But I do like it. Maybe if I put some lotion on beforehand... ?

[WickedSage]

Wet: Strong cinnamon that reminds me of red hots

Dry: smells like cinnamon candied almonds. Almond note comes through in the dry down but it is still a stong cinnamon scent.

 

For those looking for a strong cinnamon dominate scent this is the oil for you.

[ClockworkMoM]

This is all cinnamon, all the time on me. I like the scent (red-hots esque), but alas the cinnamon note got me again red and burning on the back of my hand (where tested).

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Inferno smells like Christmas! I know that's odd, given the name, but it smells like almond cookies and cinnamon--in other words, like holiday baking to me. A happy scent, not hellish at all. It would be a great home scent as well as perfume.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: Cinnamooooon and almond. I don't get any of the neroli note in the imp, but that's okay!

 

Wet: Creamy almond and cinnamon. The cinnamon in this is pretty intense. It overtakes the almond, and it starts to tingle my skin, but hasn't turned it red or left any welts (yet). Alas, the cinnamon kind of has a cinnamon broom vibe on me, which... isn't really a good thing.

 

Dry: Um... I spoke too soon. There is a huge red spot on my arm near the place where I applied this (even though I did not apply a large amount). The creaminess of the almond is still present, but mostly, it's just cinnamoooon. I didn't get any neroli from this at all.

 

Verdict: I'll be passing this one onto a friend that adores spicy scents and doesn't have sensitive skin.

[Soupy Twist]

Almond in the bottle. Goes on as almond but within a minute it morphs into a hilariously perfect rendition of cinnamon red-hots. Finishes as Big Red gum. Only a little burn on the wrists — Lick It was much worse — but this will still be a scent locket oil. This will be my December scent.

[Veronica]

CINNAMON with just a wee bit of almond.

[freyasfae]

I got this as a frimp from a decant circle. I have been testing a lot of different BPAL imps right now, learning what I do and don't like, or what my skin does or doesn't like regardless of what I like. I have found that I do like cinnamon when it is less prominent which is not the case here. However, I hate almond scents, and I was surprised to find that the cinnamon prevented this from going straight to almond hate on me.

[russetfox]

Got this as a frimp a few weeks ago.

 

Sniffing the imp then it was so hot and burned the nose, I put it away for it to hopefully settle a little or something.

Was clearing out my notes and seen I had not tested this so I tested it today. All I get is Cinnamon and after a minute or two a nice red, bumpy, ichy testing area. I did not mind the smell, but I don't like my smelly stuff burning me

[Casablanca]

Bottle: Cinnamon and a little almond.

Wet: A hot, dry burst of cinnamon and bitter almond -- the bitterness has come to the front. The almond turns to amaretto on me, but less so than usual. Soon I get something else, which seems unpleasant at first, but then resolves into a dry neroli. Weird transition there... Now I get lots of neroli, and nothing but neroli.

Dry: Does my skin amp neroli? Other reviewers get cinnamon in the dry phase, but I mostly smell neroli, with just faint cinnamon, like a memory.

A nice orange-brown scent. Nothing hellish here -- it's pleasant and turns into a surprising floral for me. I'm not getting a skin reaction from the cinnamon so far.

[Lilac and Gooseberries]

In the vial: Smells just like Italian cookie, Amaretto. My mum's favorite, not so much mine.

Wet: Still smells like Amaretto... I really wish for cinnamon would come through. No burning.
Dry: Amaretto smell slowly dies and I am left with Neroli (?). No cinnamon anywhere...

Final thoughts: It is nice however, I don't find myself reaching for it. Maybe I'll want it on for the colder months. Not giving up on it and the staying time is quite good

[CitrusFiend]

Lab fresh imp. Just after applying this, I get a burst of sharp neroli, but after it dries it's all almond, all the time. It's not a sweet sugared almond scent, like the description says it's very much a bitter almond that doesn't smell foody at all. It smells a bit weird on me though, this scent just doesn't mesh well with my chemistry.

Edited September 22, 2016 by CitrusFiend

[roseus]

In the imp: cherry cough syrup. Looking at the notes it must be almond reading as cherry.

 

Wet: Cinnamon, the fiery kind. The almond is becoming nuttier but still leans cherry.

 

Dry: The cinnamon disappears on me. The bitter almond and neroli clash to my nose, but it does not smell bad. Just not my cup of tea!

[whisperstilled]

In imp: Red hots! The almond is really interesting here.

 

Wet: Spicy almonds. Strangely wet. Not loving the neroli in this, it's giving a rather foody scent a very weird, sickening floral background.

 

Dry: Yeah, this is an odd note combo. I like neroli in the right blend, but it took over here. On the plus side, this is the first cinnamon scent I can remember that didn't immediately make my skin burst into flames!

[freyasfae]

I got this as a frimp with a BPTP order, so it is not one I would usually pick: cinnamon and bitter almond are usually big noes for me. As they are in this scent, but the neroli helps add a lighter touch to it.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Cinnamon and almond-pretending-to-be-cherry. Syrupy and candy-sweet. More almond than cinnamon on me, actually.

 

 

Dry: The cinnamon comes out and mixed with the sickly-sweet cherry/almond. Not a big fan, I like Eclipse far better on my skin.

[Lucchesa]

I don't think of myself as having particularly sensitive skin (though I am older than most of you all) and for personal reasons I am trying a range of anger-related scents, so I thought I would give this a go.

Wet: if this is what eternal damnation smells like, sign me up! Beguilingly sweet with bitter almond as the dominant note.

Dry: the cinnamon takes over - cinnamon sticks, childhood holidays. The neroli is still in the background. My wrists begin to feel warm.

Five minutes later, oh damn, there are big red marks on my wrists, which are burning. I didn't react this way to the cinnamon in Wrath, but this is diabolical and I wash it off. Twice. This will have to be a room scent as apparently it hates me. Too bad!

[DiZZysTARdust]

I purchased this for the blend. Neroli and bitter almond sounded like a beautiful combination. In the bottle it smelled like strong cinnamon and orange candy. I was reminded strongly of ribbon candy, which was unpleasant as i am not a fan of them. On my skin the cinnamon got a little stronger, although the orange was still detectable and still very sweetish. After a few minutes i realized why this was called inferno, as my skin started to burn and red welts came up. I have mildly sensitive skin but i expected it would be ok as i have tried other cinnamon blends and had no reaction. This scenr had a medium throw . The cinnamon lingered but the sweet orange disappeared within the first half hour.