Red Lantern

[maproot]

A tribute to the opium den cum bawdyhouses of Shanghai in the 1930s. Golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice.

it was my first FAVORITE and i had to search to find more.Other peeps have said dirty ashtray, but on me, I think cherry coke!
with a little bit of fizz, and caramel on the backburner coming out after an hour.one of the things I like is its mellow cherry coke with caramel!, also its jackets with elbow patches too (to me)

[ceiswyn]

In the imp: Oooh. Sweet and a little edible. The caramel and spices are strong in this one, with delphinium and a faint fruitiness that must be the blackcurrant around the edges.

 

On the wrist: I think caramel loves my wrists. Behind it, yes, perfume cutting through rich tobacco smoke, with coconut very very faintly in the background. It doesn't seem to have a particularly strong throw at first, but in a little time the throw seems to strengthen, and further from my wrists the perfume/caramel elements are strong, with the very faintest edge of coconut, while closer to the tobacco predominates. God this is nice.

 

One hour later: The amber and tobacco seem to have largely taken over on the wrist, but the throw is still gorgeous; similar to my beloved Tiresias (no great surprise with three of the ingredients the same), but lighter on the caramel, heavier on the tobacco, and threaded through with heavy perfume, evocative of a turn-of-the-century brothel or gaming house. It makes me feel like someone's made-up and perfumed mistress.

[Esmeria]

In the imp: This is nice, very soft and sweet. Not that impressed so far, but I'll give it a fair shot.

 

Wet: Oh my god! How wrong could I be?! This is gorgeous. So caramely and sweet. I get apples from this as well, but then it's fair to say my nose often smells things that aren't there. I love it anyway.

 

Dry: Exactly the same as before, just a little toned down. Unbelievably nice, I must hunt a bottle down straight away!

[vintagedlust]

Oh my goodness I think I have found a new favorite scent! It has so many things I love! Spiciness! Coconut! Caramel! Oh my!

 

I've worn this one several different occasions now and am amazed at what my nose picks up each day and what shines through. One time it was the sweetness of the caramel. Another time it was the coconut and it reminded of a slightly spicier Elegba. Today I am wearing it and the spiciness has taken the forefront with a little hint of sweetness in the background.

[squirrelmonkey]

This is 2006 version.

 

In the bottle: Caramel!

 

Wet: Caramel and something spicy and heady -- opium?

 

Dry: Caramel subsides somewhat but hangs in the background. Tobacco becomes prominent -- but this is blond expensive pipe tobacco that smells more of spices than cigarettes. Opium gives it this heady sweetness, but is not really prominent.

 

Overall: love love love! Sweet and exotic and wonderful. It has a caramel foodiness to it, but it is offset by the spicy gorgeousness. If this is what opium dens smell like, I need to find me one.

[CrazyPretzel]

This is a weird one. I first got it and tried it ages ago, and thought 'hm' and put it into my BPAL box. I've taken it out again today and it's still making me go 'hm'.

 

Initially it's a crazy musky bawdy scent, very raunchy and boozy. On the drydown it's caramel and blackcurrant, but there's tobacco and opium there which make it definitely *not* foody. It's sweet and poisonous and intoxicating. At first I don't like it much because I just can*not* get my head round it at all and the throw is super-strong, but about 45 minutes into the drydown it calms down and becomes sexy-juicy-berry without being overwhelming.

 

A strange little one, this!

[abejita]

I don't know why I haven't reviewed this yet. It was one of my first bottles, and remains one of my best loved. I have the first version, so it's nicely aged.

 

Basically, the blend is a mixture of several of my all-time favorite notes. White opium, Sudanese coconut, amber, spice. They mix and meld beautifully into a rich haze. I've read other reviews that say something to the effect that this is a non-foody foody, and I can see that. The caramel, currant, and black coconut do that, but the resins and tobacco scale it back considerably.

 

It's very much evocative of it's name. I love this blend and hope it continues to be released every year.

[n3m3sis42]

This blend was totally disappointing on me. It smelled basically the same as Mr. Nancy does on me. I will definitely be swapping this one.

Edited September 20, 2007 by n3m3sis42

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Caramel and coconut.

 

Wet: Caramel, coconut, and some sort of spice. It smells good, but I'm not sure it's for me.

 

Drydown: It stays exactly the same. I like warm scents, and I like foody scents, but I'm not sure I like them together.

 

3.0 outta 5

[Lupelele]

this review is for the 06 version:

 

my bottle arrived yesterday & - as i bought it unsniffed - i was a bit worried i wouldn´t like it.

but...it smells exactly how i imagined it would

 

in the bottle: it smells rather intimidating: rather strong tabacco with caramel & a faint coconut note.

 

wet on skin: for one second it smells exactly like in the bottle, but then it morphs into something odd: spiced soap with a tobacco undertone

i´m worrying i´ll be disappointed...but i´ll be strong & wait how it dries down!

 

dry on skin: *wow* that´s so much better: it smells wonderful - the coconut finds its way out of the tobacco smoke! it´s a dry coconut, not foody at all, but rather smoky. it´s now surrounded by the tobacco.

after a while, the caramel note gets stronger, but it never overpowers the other notes.

it´s such a gorgeous blend!

 

it has a lot of sillage: i just applied a tiny drop, but i feel like wrapped in a cloud of caramel/coconut/tobacco for the whole day.

so lovely & i got compliments from two men saying me that i smell delicious & sexy

[mspixieears]

At first I smell blackcurrant and tobacco when it is applied. As it dries the caramel comes through as do the spices. I don’t smell any of the amber or coconut – bit surprised that I don’t get any of the amber as usually that is a note that gets really prominent on my skin. I’m starting to detect the opium – I’m noticing that Red Lantern is one of those fragrances that smells very different up close and from afar, I think I’d probably have to try this in colder months.

[ouch!]

Gosh...I have ALOT to say about this one!

 

Firstly, I must say I am ever so slightly dissapointed in this, only because the description and name grabbed my attention immediately!! I thought WOW. And was expecting this smoky, sexy, red....seductive scent.

 

On me? Sickly Sweet caramel & coconut(at first).

This to me smells EXACTLY like Hearth when it's wet, in fact I couldn't even tell the difference, it's only in the drier stages that it starts to change.

 

Ok so...apart from the dissapointment with the foody side of things at first, as it dries there IS something gorgoeous underneath. It's lovely, I think it's the tobacco and amber. Blackcurrant? I WISH! Where are you? But the caramel and coconut will not hide. They just dominate this scent for me the whole time.

 

HOWEVER...

 

All of this is only when it is first applied onto clean skin! When I apply it again a second time it's another story...the beautiful spicyness that I was hoping for is kind of drowning out the caramel note thank god (only ever so slightly though)! This just proves that BPAL scents have a mind of their own. Love them!

 

I would love to smell this blend without the caramel or coconut because I think it would be an absolute gem and possibly one of my favourites!!! Until then...I'll have to keep applying until the spicyness takes over.

[ribcaged]

When I wear this I get a lot of men telling me how fragrant I smell. I ask them if it's bad or good and they say they love it. It's a really male magnet! Nothing else I wear gets the attention this does.

 

I think it very much smells like a sticky, slightly spicey caramel. It's not something I would wear all the time but it's quite sexy without being too deep.

[Styx]

Red Lantern 2007 (yellow oil)

 

gImp (Thank you!): toasted coconut, almost cookie like (is it the caramel?) with Tobacco.

 

Skin: Toasted coconut and caramel, with a hint of tobacco. When I suck in deeply, I can smell an airy floral laced with spice.

Once the oil sets, the initial sweetness is softer and the opium hits! The coconut is not so foodie, the floral note is stronger and the effect is seductive.

The end is a sweet, spicy oriental smoke. It fits the image of Shanghai 1930's opium den perfectly.

 

Heavy weight, warm winter/evening scent.

[greymatter]

I really thought I'd like this, but it turned into burnt brown sugar and pencil shavings on me. *sad*

[Jenesis]

I have no idea whether this is the 06 or 07 version. I think it may be the 06 as the label isn't "shiny" and it looks a little weathered.

 

In the bottle, this is incredibly sweet - think along the lines of the overpowering caramel of Creepy.

 

First on my skin, it retains this caramel-sweet whoosh, but I can detect the coconut in there too.

 

Drying, I get a slight "burnt sugar" smell. I hope this doesn't last

 

Drying after a few minutes, the sugar has faded to the background, leaving a smooth amber-coconut scent. Very strong, so use sparingly, but going well so far!

 

Dry (10 mins): I'm not getting any opium, spice or delphinium out of this. It's just a smooth, slightly "sticky"-smelling scent.Definitely pleasant

 

ETA: This scent does something weird on me. After about two hours, it just... vanishes. Completely disappears. It leaves behind a veeeery faint musky skin scent.

Edited November 6, 2007 by Jenesis

[steelxrose]

I think I have an 07 decant..

 

In the imp, it's sweet and a bit spicy. Intriguing, for sure.

 

On my skin....ugh.. Caramel prevails! For the next three hours I was smelling like food and feeling quite nauseated.

 

Hours later, the caramel fades to spices. Pleasant now, but I don't think I can deal with the caramel. I'll have to pass on this.

[grashopper8]

Wow.....this is different.

 

At first, it's a strong caramel, with some tobacco and coconut.

 

Then, the sexy opium comes forward.

 

Carmelized opium? Come on, now, Beth. Are you trying to kill me? Well, congrats, I've died and gone to heaven.

 

I usually hate caramel notes, and coconut and I don't always get along.

 

Red Lantern has made itself an exception. I freakin love opium blends, and this is such a creative twist!

 

A rich, sexy blend. Intense.

 

4.6 out of 5

[suki]

in the bottle: LOVE. it's all butterscotch and caramel

 

wet on skin: more of the same, but with a slight note of opium thrown in. this only makes it better, of course...

 

dry down: no change. just yummy sweet buttery goodness with an edge of opium.

 

in all: this is my partner's bottle, so i *clearly* need to get some of my own!!!

 

 

 

[othelloperrello]

Wet:

This scent is amazing. Unscrewing the bottle is like opening a mischievous but benevolent pandora's bottle: Riotous high and low notes leap out instantly, and it's at this point that I realize that I need to see what this does on my skin.

 

First skin:

Th e first scent I get is a wild cherry sweetness bounding off of my skin - underscored by something like bark or woodsy smell. It's strong, but I like it.

 

I feel it's important to not here that my partner & I - usually oils do about the same thing on our skins - had totally different experiences with this scent. Start to finish, it really behaved like a completely different oil.

 

Drydown, down, down:

Though it changed continuously over the following hour, this continues to be amazing.

The intense sweetness burned off fairly quickly; the woodsy (probably the combo of amber and tobacco) lingered.

Floral delphinium came to play for a little while, then departed leaving only her scarf behind.

Definitely a note of butterscotch that's here to stay, subtle but there enough to do some magic.

Asian spices as a background, really nice to my palette.

Finally, the coconut comes out and stays, leaving a very mellow, complex scent.

My partner says opium, and ultimately I can see where she's coming from. I guess I usually shy away from things labelled "opium" because they tend to blow my nose off of my face. This is nice, subtle, blended opium, with spices and candies. : >

 

Love.

 

This one is great - truly great - for me. Great for my partner too, but in a different way.

Edited January 7, 2008 by othello

[tuesdaynexxt]

I didn't really care for this in the bottle: it was kind of thick with tobacco & amber, so it took me a while to try it, but....

 

I am so in love with this scent!! It is absolutely delicious on! The tobacco remains evident, but I get the amber and caramel more strongly. Just wonderful. The kind of scent that, when you catch a slight whiff hours later, it just brings a sigh of contentment.

[Eutectic]

Wet--Carmels with spice and wood.

 

Just on--the carmels starts fading to the background and the woods and spice are more promenent. OMG...this is a sexy scent.

 

Dry--Dusty opium smoke carmel floral vavoooom! Wow, I want to have sex with myself. Damn, this is a hot blend. YUM!! The first of my order I may need a dupe of....

[tartchef]

2007 release:

 

I have mixed luck with Beth's foody scents, particularly caramel, but wanted to give Red Lantern a whirl, as it's got two of my go-to notes, tobacco & opium. Besides, black currant? Yes please!

 

Wet, it's hellooooo, Congo Bars! Sticky caramelized coconut, super foody & pretty cloying. Gradually, I'm getting traces of tobacco cutting through all the sugar, but it's a strange scent - I suspect it's actually the delphinium adding what reads to me like a strange curry-like, almost vegetal note. There's something similar in Jolasveinar... Alas, as the coconut & caramel finally fade to wearable levels, this funky biryani note amps to the exclusion of everything else. No black currant, and amazingly no amber, which tends to amp like crazy on me.

 

I'll put this away & try it again in a week or two, to see if it's hormones causing all the trouble, but I suspect Red Lantern & I are not meant to be...

Edited February 4, 2008 by tartchef

[coldandsleepy]

I've got half of an '06 decant of this, which i picked up in order to help me determine whether or not to buy a bottle of the '08. Because i was so excited about trying this, i sniffed from the imp last night even though i couldn't test it on myself then (still waiting for Velvet to wear off). Oh my! I was so thrilled by that first sniff that i applied a dab of this as soon as i woke up this morning. Anyway, the review...

 

In the imp: caramel! Deeeelicious. A little strong, but really yummy.

 

On me, wet: still caramel! Not quite as sweet or strong, which is probably for the best. The opium is really coming out now along with a bit of the tobacco.

 

On me, dry: yes! This is not going horribly awry on me! Still delicious buttery caramel and soft opium. The tobacco seems to have peaced out, but you know what's popped up here? The coconut! Just a breath of it, nothing that overwhelms the scent or anything. It's really, really, really beautiful though.

 

Duration: unsure. As i said, i put it on right after waking up... totally forgetting that i was going to show in a few hours. It was still going strong prior to the shower, but had disappeared afterwards. Dooooh.

 

Overall: There is definitely a big bottle of this in my future. On me, this is delicious caramel, fluffy opium, and breathy, gentle coconut. Not overwhelming or cloying at all. Just lovely.

[heartlilly]

This is the 07' version (I think)

 

I tend to amp carmel, so for the first couple of hours this is just super sweet slightly smoky carmel.

 

Many hours later though the smoke comes out a bit more and it becomes a nice smokey, spicy, sweet carmel. It kind of reminds me of expensive pipe tobacco, but far more sweet.