Thirteen (13)

[Scylla]

In our paean to all the mysteries surrounding this enigmatic number, there are thirteen lucky and unlucky components, including white chocolate, tangerine, currant, mandarin, white tea and iris.

My new bottle of 13 smells different on me than the one from July. The one from July was mostly orris, with some orange and a tiny bit of white chocolate. This one seems like milk chocolate orange at first, but then it changes after it has dried down and it smells like black pepper! I swear, it smells like black pepper. I had my husband sniff me and asked him what I smelled like and he said "peppercorns."

It's official--my chemistry is wacky! Edited February 24, 2006 by Shollin

[Lilitu]

This scent is wonderful. Dark chocolate and orange cream mostly, which are two scents I totally love.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Yay! So happy to have some in plenty of time for *next* Friday the 13th.

 

OMG, this smells so good I may wear it on the 13th of every month to get more use out of it! Scrumptious topnotes of chocolate and tangerine; clean papery floral (must be the iris) and a touch of spice adding depth and keeping it from being too foody. Good throw.

 

Chocolate + citrus...yum. Fun and unexpected! This is a great, whimsical blend.

[Babylon]

Absolutely delicious! 13 is pure chocolate and orange, and I love it. It lasts forever (last time I put it on at 3pm and it was still going strong when I went to bed 12 hours later!), and makes people's stomachs growl when they're around me.

 

So happy to have a bottle of this yummy chocolate scent.

[mina13]

Hmm,

At first this is really cocoa like, but also has a sort of chaptick-y smell on me. The other oragey, flowery notes reveal themselves much later. Overall it reminds me so much of that scent Angel by Thierry Mugler that an crazy ex-boyfriend of mine wore that I won't be wearing it and will be swapping it (on lushie NA forum)

 

Ugh bad memories, I'm sure I would like it if it didn't remind me of him.

[bheansidhe]

I picked 13 as the first imp to try out of the six-pack of testers I got from eBay. Not only do I have high hopes for this imp, but it's my first BPAL scent *ever.*

 

In the vial, it smells bizarre and fantastic. White chocolate and tea, with a very pushy bright yellow middle note, like a muddled citrusy-floral, and a bit of tang.

 

I slather it on one wrist and rub briskly.

 

Chocolate.. chocolate... fading. Getting powdery and sweet. Very sweet. Er... extremely sweet. Almost sickeningly so. Hello?

 

It's trying to be a nice light floral-food scent. I can tell it's trying. But each second spent soaking into my skin rapidly devolves the scent into something more like decayed flowers with a candy coating that won't melt on your hands. Chocolate and tea notes are completely gone; there's nothing crisp left in the scent. It's mushy and puddled and overblown. I - I have no idea what I'm smelling now, other than "sickeningly sweet," with an emphasis on sickening; after an hour I'm almost queasy.

 

Begone, foul stank! No luck in this one for me. May my next imp love my skin!

 

Ironically, six hours later there's a whiff of chocolate back on my arm. Too little, too late.

[ashtonrose]

White Chocolate was all I could smell when I opened the bottle.

 

On: White Chocolate, which stayed, but dried out some.

 

Drying: The mandarine came through.

 

Dried: Madarine and white chocolate. Great combination on my skin.

[LittleGreyKitten]

THIS IS MY REVIEW OF THE '05 SCENT:

 

I must write a whole different review of this blend. I got the '06 one, and ended up swapping it because I felt that it was just not pleasing to me. I ended up getting the older one in a whole lot, and didn't think much of it, untill I tested it again. HOLY COW. It is that different.

 

First, it has this divine chocolate aroma, which YUM the new one didn't have quite the same. Then when it dries, it leaves this soft, slightly creamy, a little tea-like scent. Wow, I like much better! I almost can't believe it's the same scent. I'm pretty sure it's not just aging that did this- I just think I like the blend better. It smells soft and delicious, no citrus in there ruining it and no fruitiness.

 

Hell yeah. I will be getting a full size of the old one. 4.5 out of 5. Incidentally, the husband hates it, but I don't care. He can suffer.

[filigree_shadow]

I saw 13 in several different swap and sale posts and continued to pass it by. The number gives me the flit-flats for some reason, and without even finding out what was in it I assumed it'd be something crazy and chaotic. Now that I've tried it, I can see that I have been a fool.

 

13 is one of those lovely scents that you can't quite peg because it doesn't smell foody and it doesn't smell floral, definitely not like incense and also not herbal. It's sweet and interesting and makes people say "What is that?"

 

The chocolate is there making it smell luscious, the fruits make it slightly tart and sweet, and the tea and iris give it an almost delicate feminine quality. Truthfully, I would never have dreamed that this combination would work, and I'm amazed.

 

Now if I can just find a bottle of it...

[Caltha]

13

I really like 13, I get chocolate, citrus and mint, an entire candy store, with a wooden desk. It dries to a warm, spicy, sweet, musty, edible scent: spices and woods drenched in caramel.

[nevermore]

This is a review of the '05 version - I haven't tried the newer.

 

In the bottle, all I can smell is chocolate, which worried me originally, as I don't get on with chocolate very well. However, 13 behaves - it doesn't turn all plasticy like Bliss and Vice did. It turns less from plain chocolate to sweetness with some iris and a bit of citrus. I don't think I ever smelled the tea or any currant, but I really like the sweet iris and citrus.

[slave1]

This smells more like milk chocolate than the original 13 which was clearly white chocolate. The tangerine/orange/mandarin also stands out. I’m getting chocolate covered orange peels from this… sweet but slightly sour and bitter. The tea note is light but you can smell it for sure. It makes the scent a little more formal, like a tea party with fresh fruit, chocolates and cookies. I’m not smelling the iris though… hmm… All in all, it smells quite similar to the original 13. I like it, but it’s not really a scent I’d wear.

[lannansidhe]

Ha, ha, Mina, you said "Chapstick-y" and I read "Chipmunk-y"!!! LOL! That would be like Alvin, Simon or Theodore? I wonder.

Anyway, I have a bottle of 13, which I wanted because 13 is my lucky number, (me and the husband both born on the 13, met on the 13th, etc) but food scents don't work on me, so if anyone is dying for a decant or two? I will trade for something good and amber-y, musk-y. But I have to keep the bottle!

[malanna]

13 doesn't quite smell like white chocolate to me. It's almost too perfume smelling to smell like white chocolate. Still, I can pick it up sitting behind everything. I was reading through the Retail Therapy forum, and some people were talking about how some body product smelled like 13--chocolate and oranges. This really confused me, because all I remembered 13 smelling like was perfumed chocolate. However, after testing 13 (Thirteen, for ease of searches) again, there is indeed orange. But not orange like the Cadbury chocolate oranges you can buy at the grocery store. No, this orange is like the zest off of a tangerine: highly fragrant, slightly bitter, and not at all juicy. I think the tangerine zest is partly what makes 13 smell so perfume-like. All in all, the scent is very consistent, strong, and long-lasting. It's just not foody enough!

[storme]

In the imp: cocoa powder and florals and maybe a hint of a mint/eucalyptus scent behing it.

 

On me, wet: cocoa and orangeish citrus and floral and mint. Interesting. There's a moistness cutting into the cocoa, which tends to go dusty on me, but that chocolate and orange combination is a bit sickly.

 

On me, dry: chocolate orange. It's nice in that it's not a dusty cocoa, but I guess I just don't want to smell like a chocolate orange. And the SO is repulsed by it.

 

Later on: Hmm, this has acquired a peppery dusty smell over the top, while the chocolate and orange go really sweet and nasty and nauseating. Urgh.

 

Verdict: I'm sure this would be great on someone else, but I'm not so keen and with the SO's reaction... nah.

[Aurelius]

This is one of the BPAL oils that seem to almost bounce on my skin. Notes peek out and play only to replaced by other ones. After everything seems to settle down a bit orange and chocolate remain. I smell like a chocolate covered orange candy. Very yummy for some, but not really to my liking. I'm guessing some people probably can't get enough of it. Fantastic, but not for me.

[BrightRedScream]

I LOVE this!

I'm so glad that I bought a bottle *happy dance*

 

In the bottle it smells like melted chocolate..

For some reason it doesn't remind me of white chocolate though - just regular milk chocolate. There is a slight floral tone to this and citrus as well..hmmm very nice!

 

On my skin the orangey tones came out a little more..and something else, not quite floral - maybe the tea? I was a little unsure for a bit but as it dried down everything seemed to balance out and the chocolate was still pretty dominant...

 

I love how this morphs - that is my main attraction to it...

Chocolate to orange...chocolate to tea...chocolate to floral...

My fiance kept swearing that it was constantly changing every time he smelled it.

[lysistrata]

In the vial: Exactly like orange-flavored dark chocolate. Yummy.

 

On me, wet: Orange-flavored dark chocolate. Like a dark-chocolate-covered Orange Jaffa cake. Maybe a titch of lemon peel in there as well. And the currant, just sweetening up the dark chocolate.

 

On me, dry: Mmmm. Want chocolate orange.

 

Verdict: This makes me crave chocolate. Maybe it's not the best thing to wear on a diet, but it certainly smells yummy. I don't know that I'd wear it all that often, but it's fun to smell. Especially if you like orange Jaffa Cakes.

[astridclaire]

Wet: very much milk chocolate with some hazelnut perhaps

 

Dry: chocolate orange and then mostly disappears after 10 minutes. Nice while it lasted though.

 

I'll keep my imp of it because it is unique but I wouldn't buy a bottle.

[Eunice]

I've always had good luck with Friday the 13th and this scent is no different.

 

Deelish chocolate and orange in the bottle. It says white chocolate but I still smell dark chocolate. The longer I have this on my skin, the lighter the chocolate smell becomes. The orange is still there, or tangerine as this isn't as strong as orange. The white tea and iris come out later and make 13 a crisper, lighter smell. I can't decide if this is incense or foody the more I sniff. This is a totally rich and decadent oil. Very lovely.

[Elrianra]

First off I must say I love this scent but that it was COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from what I anticipated. Serves me right for having expectations.

 

In the bottle, this is a silly mix of brownies, citrus, and white tea. No joke! The currant and white chocolate mix with the tea to smell like the scent of brownies baking over a glass of lemon and rose hips tea. How very strange this smells... On me wet, the complexity of this scent begins to show itself: chocolate, tea, citrus, florals AND herbs all coming out to play on various levels. Musk... a clear bright white musk... mixes lightly with the chocolate and suddenly I'm sniffing at a thick lusciously creamy pot of drinking chocolate - with the little marshmallows to go with it. This is sweet and playful, a little foodier than I usually tend to go for but, really now... there's no saying no to this. And really? This stays brownies on me for HOURS... just sweet, chocolatey, rich gooey warm brownies. With a dash of orange zest in 'em to make for a tangy desert.

Edited May 23, 2006 by Elri

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

chocolate and orange peel

 

wet:

same - not sweet though

 

dry:

yummy gourmet but somehow not too foody! Chocolate dies down a little, still smells desserty but not sweet. Really nice!

 

overall:

I like it, gourmet foody!

 

rating: 7/10

[damuddymeg]

in the imp: Chocolate, smooth and mild, over citrus.

 

Wet: And there are the tea and currant, crisp and sweet by turns, under the chocolate and citrus.

 

Dry: I never get floral in this most recent version of 13. It is a creamy skin-scent, not much throw at all. The chocolate dries down to a barely sweet backdrop for the currant and tea. The mandarin fades into oblivion after just a few hours. Lovely and mildly sweet. I love it.

[PixieSkull]

Imp: DRY! Cocao, chocolate, fruit, dark chocolate. Very complex.

Wet: Like a fruity chocolate, nice dark cocao, sweet, strawberry chocolate?

Dry: This is VERY interesting! It's a mixture of chocolates and the fruit is softer. It's very soft overall.

Category: Food/Chocolate/Fruit

Rating: 4/5; Nicely rounded and comforting

Overall: I like the blend very much, it's very soft and gentle at the end. I'm sure my body will amp some of the other notes eventually but I'm happy with this combination. Would wear again, even though it is a food blend.

[joiedecombat]

Disclaimer: I'm not sure if it's the '05 or '06 version that I have.

 

In the bottle: Ooh. Kind of a chocolate-orange scent coming from this one. Looking forward to testing it out.

On my skin: Yep, chocolate orange. Dark chocolate; it's stronger on my skin than it was in the bottle. Very cool, though, and not too foody for wear, especially after it's dried down some. The other notes don't so much make themselves recognizably apparent as they simply add complexity to the chocolate-orange scent.

Twelve hours later edit: Lots of staying power, too.