Akuma

[FandF]

Devilish temptation, as sweet as sin: blood orange, neroli, and raspberry.

Wet: hmmm...fruit.
On the skin: harsh. astringent fruit, much darker than I thought and not at all pure and cheery on me.
Dry down: complex fermenting fruit salad. A little fakey smelling. Not a fan.

This one is a pass on me.

[Argentwolf]

In the imp: Strongly sweet and fruity.

 

Wet: Hellooooo Raspberry! It was incredibly strong and sweet, and, oddly enough made me think of 'generic candle smell'...that scent that most candles seem to have to me. I guess I've hung around a lot of berry-scented candles.

Dry: This was the part that has changed the most. I wore this every day for over a week, just because I *wanted* to try to like this scent, or at least give it a fair shake. Initially, it dried as pure raspberry -- sickly sweet and very 'childish', in that I felt like I was about 15 years too old to be wearing this scent. As the days passed, however, I noticed that there was more of a mingling of orange with the raspberry...that was actually a *lot* more pleasing to me. And today, I've noticed that the scent has grown sweeter still, like faint cherries, but unlike the raspberry, it isn't annoying.

 

Verdict: This scent just isn't for me. It's certainly not bad, and I would advise anyone who is initially put-off by it to give it a chance over time, particularly if you otherwise enjoy cherry-like scents. But there are other scents that I like a lot better.

[steelxrose]

I have no idea what neroli smells like. But this is the second scent I've found where I nearly squee'd because it's a fun scent. It's tangy, sweet, and smells like it should be fizzy - not completely different from The Hamptons fizziness.

 

Akuma is sweet, but not overly so. I get mostly berries from it, with the occasional wafting of citrus. Upon complete drydown, it still smells heavily of berries. I think this calls for a bottle.

[jparrack]

Wet: Very sweet and fruity, like raspberry candy rather than real raspberries.

Dry: Faded to a very faint, almost nonexistent sweetness next to my wrist.

Verdict: The wet version is too sweet and it fades to nothing almost immediately. There was no happy middle ground on this one for me. Into the swap pile she goes.

[seashell]

The first BPAL scent I have really, really disliked.

I love neroli, but I can't smell it in this at all....... Just a very artificial berry that makes me gag.

UGH.

[Pincushions]

Oh my goodness... Fruity fruity! It smells like Mr. Sketch scented markers, like as if I coloured a picture using just two colours, orange, and magenta (I had to google which colour smelled like raspberry because I couldn't remember which one it was, hahaha!) It's a very childhood smell to me. As it fades it starts smelling like those cupcake dolls, but without the rubber smell. It makes me feel like I'm 5 again. Thanks bpal!

 

The other day I was thinking "it would be awesome if there was a smell that smelled like scented toys" (my little ponies, strawberry shortcakes, etc etc) and then I tried Akuma... I'm so happy! It makes me wish I still had my old cupcake dolls...

[windbourne]

This one was one of the chosen imps from my first imp pack -- my hopes were for a bright, fruity scent with a bit of sting, and I got exactly what I wanted.

 

On me, Akuma goes the Sweet Tart route when it's wet, then dries down to a flaming pink ball of raspberry and blood orange. The neroli doesn't come out for at least a half hour, and after about forty-five minutes, that's almost all I can smell. I love neroli, and it likes me back, so I come out happy all ways 'round.

 

The letdown is that it has zero throw and completely vaporizes in around an hour, even heavily slathered on all possible pulse points. I'd have to bathe in it, I think, if I wanted it to last. This is not entirely a bad thing, as it means I can quite happily wear it to work and not worry about my scent-sensitive co-workers having asthma attacks.

 

This is the first imp I've gotten that I'm worried I might actually use up in a short amount of time; I'll almost certainly be buying a bottle of this one whenever I make another order. I like sweet and fruity pretty regularly, and this one makes me feel just the right amount of mischievous to warrant wearing it a lot.

 

It may be a devil, but it's just a little cute one.

[iiinterstate]

I just received Akuma as a frimp from the forum sales (thanks LunaSea!) and I think I really, really, reallly like it.

 

It starts out all orange and neroli, which was unusual but not in a bad way. Now the raspberry is coming through, and its a nice light and fruity scent. Pretty much like everyone else has said already DEFINITELY great for summer.

 

I can't smell it constantly, but I get wafts of it as I sit here. Very uplifting and sweet without being too sweet. *makes a note for next order*

[donnatron]

Imp: Bright and fruity. Mostly neroli.

 

Wet: Dusty. Dusty and kind of rank. I'm surprised since fruit normally loves me.

 

Dry: Blood orange single note. The raspberry is out the window, the neroli hit the ground running.

 

Throw: Considering that fruits are normally screaming off my skin, this is not particularly notable.

 

Overall: A scent to layer with heavy, bakery blends. On its own it's just not that kind to me.

[cassandrakfreaq]

I smelled citrus in the bottle and was a bit leery. I have a tiny bit of congestion today so I will reapply this later to see if it affected this. on wet I smell bitter orange pith, but as it drys it get sweeter and sweeter for me this is a really fruity summer blend and so far I like it!

[akiko]

My original post of this got lost in the database fail, so here it goes again

 

Imp: bitter orange

 

Wet: sweet, orange

 

Dry: faint, orange & raspberry

[taramarie]

On me, Akuma is orange and what I assume is neroli with a little raspberry. It's really good and it'd be great for summer when a heavier scent just won't do.

[hellomoonglow]

I was generously firmped with an imp of Akuma from a fellow forumite. In the vial it smells like baby asprin, remember when we all ate that stuff?? On the skin, it is WONDERFUL!!! Baby ASA, oranges, with a thin backbone of dryer sheets. Damn, I love this!

 

Edited to add: I also wanted to mention that this scent literally makes me salivate. Soooo delicious.

 

Edited April 29, 2008 by hellomoonglow

[stardreamer]

This goes on very light and fruity, mostly orange -- the raspberry is barely noticeable, and there's none of the darkness I usually associate with neroli. Unfortunately, this also means that my skin's citrus-eating power comes strongly into play. Sure enough, even with a touch-up midafternoon, this scent fades very fast -- it's entirely gone after about 5 hours. There's not much throw either, even when it's fresh.

 

It's a pleasant scent, but the lightness and poor staying power make it a swap for me. It needs a home with someone whose skin chemistry doesn't play merry heck with it.

[gypsysingleton]

I think the comparison to Razzles is dead on and I'm getting a 5ml bottle for the kid in me...

[arsenicsauce]

I expected this to be sweeter than it was, but it's almost a sharp smoky scent. I think it must be the neroli, which I'm not too familiar with, but there's something kind of bitter or woody about it. Very strong citrus note, I don't get the raspberry at all until it's been dry for some time and even then it's very faint; it also gets less bitter as it dries, and a bit powdery-sweet. Interesting, but not something I'd wear. Faded very quickly, I couldn't smell it at all with my nose to my wrist after four hours.

 

I think there may be a very similar bath soap out there, because that's what I keep thinking of when I smell it.

[voodoocatwoman]

Sweet sweet sweet!!!

 

Akuma reminds me of Kool Aid wet. After the dry down, it reminds me of a cologne I had as a child. But after a few more minutes, it settles into raspberry and orange fizzy. Wow. What a blast from the past. I loved to watch the tablets fizz but never wanted to actually drink it. This might stand a better chance with me.

[ErinZ]

Wet in imp:

floral chocolate (I don't know where the chocolate is coming from)

 

Wet on skin:

pretty floral with earthy warmth in the background

 

Drydown:

the floral is developing complexity and a touch of fruit is lurking behind

 

Wearlength:

by morning, it has faded to a soft, pure chocolate

 

Final impression:

The longer I wear it, the more chocolate seems to develop, and it fades away as chocolate.

[diamondstars]

I really like this one, even though I don't usually go for anything fruity. It reminds me of a certain flavour of Jelly Bean...!

 

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Very pale yellow oil. Bitter, slightly soapy neroli.

 

Wet: Hints of raspberry and blood orange, but neroli dominates till. Pleasant sparkling, almost champagne like note. Fruity and sharp.

 

Dry: Biting neroli with a soapy edge and rather artificial, slightly candyish (but not super sweet) raspberry. Very faint blood orange, alas.

 

Later: The neroli is going increasingly soapy on me as it tends to do, and has a sort of sneezy powderiness too. Fruit holding in the background.

 

Summary: Soapy, powdery sharp neroli with light sweetness from fake raspberry and even fainter blood orange. Strangely fizzy. Strong throw and lasting power.

 

I don't like the lab's raspberry note and neroli does its typical evil on me, and the blood orange is as usual, woefully light.

[Raqassah]

Wet: Mmmm soft gentle neroli and a hint of orange.

Dry down:Very sweet without being over powering, sexy. Suitable to wear to work.

Final impression: Yum! Very very nice.

[thelaurenator]

Wet: Crisp orange soda.

 

On skin: A bouquet of bitter neroli orange blossoms, ripe blood oranges, and a spritz of tangy raspberry juice.

 

Dry, a few hours later: Darkens a bit to a kind of incensey blood orange blossom smell. Raspberry becomes much more faint. Was there a hidden sandalwood note in this blend? Because it smells like it after a few hours.

 

I adore this. This is the second fruity scent I've tried in one day that doesn't turn to OMGLOLI'M15WEARINGCANDYPERFUME

Edited July 17, 2008 by thelaurenator

[contrary_wise]

Akuma:

 

In the imp, it's all bitter neroli.

 

Wet on skin: I get a minute or so of a nice orange scent, but it's rapidly overpowered by raspberry. My skin amps berry notes like crazy and this is no exception. I smell like I've been steeped in raspberry herbal tea. It's a little bit sweet and at the same time, it's puckeringly tart.

 

Drydown: A wrung-out raspberry tea bag. I bought this imp when I was first trying BPAL and thought I'd be into the berry notes. I've since learned better, but I am always hopeful. Alas even with my love of orange scents, Akuma just doesn't have enough citrus to beat back the berry.

[ladyver]

orange and neroli - quickly shifts to raspberry candy - then orange candy - then raspberry orange candy - then, unfortunately, it just smells like some generic shower gel on me

 

maybe that would be more appealing if i was trying this in summer

[milo]

Hmm, another candy scent. Right away I was trying to figure out what candy it smelled like, and suddenly it came to me. Sweet Tarts. I'm not into the sweet fruity scents, and thank goodness they don't last on me either. I can see a little girl really liking this.