Carnaval Diabolique

[azhure]

Straight from the twisted alleys of Dis, by way of the City of Angels: opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower.

In the vial: Hmm, smoky and bitter.

Wet: The bitterness stays with me for a while - maybe an hour. I contemplate washing this off.

Drydown: I am glad I didn't wash it off - the musk, opium smoke and apricot flower combine into something glorious. Yummy and soft and very long lasting.

[klavierbarrette]

bottle: CANDY

 

finger (ran outta places.....): lemon and coconut candy.......a little orangeness. very odd. please come out soon, opium/musk!

 

a bit later...didn't time it, i can smell a little underlying musk/opium. yay!

[Dymphna]

In the imp: This is the one that, during my initial sniffing orgy when I got my CD package, my husband and I both thought smelled like lemon cookies. This time, at first sniff, it's citrusy and sweet, like an orange-flavored candy, but not as syrupy as an orange soda.

 

Wet: There's something dry in this that adds an almost powdery quality, and something creamy that grounds the sweetness. Smells very much like a hard candy.

 

Dry: Once fully dry, it smells just like a lemon cookie, almost exactly like Tarot: The Star, but without the occasional wisp of coconut I get from that blend. It's just a little softer, because it's lemon rather than lime. I love the smell of lemon cookies. Nice and sweet, but with a little zing.

[lanablade]

In the imp: Lemon, opium smoke and something very perfumey... the tuberose and heliotrope?

 

Wet: Sharp lemon with that opium and coconut in the background. And as it dries a bit, musk, perhaps?

 

Dry: Smoke and a touch of coconut with a whiff of florals and a hint of musk. The florals are much more noticable on the throw than on the skin. Up close, this is a tiny bit astringent. The last of the lemon, perhaps. The throw, however, is very sweet, and reminds me a bit of Red Lantern. The opium, I suppose.

 

This reminds me so much of my favorites, Perversion and Red Lantern. It's got it's own softer sweeter feel, but so many aspects I adore. Thanks so much Juniperus for letting me try this. I'm definately keeping in on my bottle want list.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Lemon flower and a hint of coconut. Far brighter than I was expecting

 

Wet on me - Bright, vibrant lemon

 

Dry on me - Dark earthy musks and spices

 

Overall - This was nice, but I guess I expected to be blown away by it and I just wasn't.

[The_Witching_Hour]

In the bottle: smokey, sharp and woodsy. I'm not getting the lemon at all.

 

On my skin: SHOCKER! Lemon whips out of nowhere (I sure didn't smell it in the bottle!), even though its somewhat creamy. I suspect the coconut lends that feeling to it.

 

Drydown: a mix of florals has emerged to balance the stronger notes. This has an exotic feel to it and is hard to pin one note down as it dries. Definitely unisex.

[Voleuse]

On first sniff, this is sweet lemon drops, cool and a little tart. After a while, I can smell a bit of vanilla and floral behind the lemon, but not very strongly. The lemon dominates this one, though the blend itself is light and airy. This is pretty.

[dawndie]

In bottle: lemon drops with powdered sugar

 

On skin: lots of lemon mixed with some light florals

 

Half-hour later: mellower citrus, but darker. I don't sniff coconut or vanilla or musk straight-up, or anything outstanding really, but it's a nice blend of the lighter citrus with those heavier notes

 

In conclusion: I keep getting "incense" vibes, really fancy citrus-type incense, like if Trappist Candles made garden incense to go with their verbena candles. Such a lovely blend!

[themerrybaker]

Carnaval Diabolique

 

Evil Yellow Syrup of Doom.

 

The coconut, vanilla and florals interact with the lemon to make a surprisingly heavy and very,very, sweet scent. I feel like a sticky animate lolly wearing it.

[Ohmaude]

I'll try to not repeat too much what others have already said.

 

There is not much transition from application to dry down, the scent just mellows over time on my wrist. The dominant scent is powdery soft lemon, but it is accompanied by sweet opium smoke, the floral of the heliotrope and a hint of creamy cocount. Yet t isn't tropical, or candy sweet, or too floral. You would think all these ingredients together would just be a sugar-lemon-floral overdose, instead it is sophisticated, subtle and just a touch sinister. It lives up to it's name.

 

It is a confident scent, soft without being whimpy, complex but not confusing. I love it.

[blu°]

Some citrussy blends remind me of something out of a Lush shop. Antonino did so, especially with the vetiver and lavendar added, and Carnaval Diabolique does the same to me. That's not bad. I looove that smell. It reminds me so much of a certain Lush product, I want to say... but I couldn't name which one... Avobath? Sexy Peel? Something like that.

 

When I first tried CD a few days ago, I had that Lush citrussy burst in the beginning sadly followed by the impression that black musk would once again ruin a scent for me... The scent seemed to turn somewhat dull after dry down and I thought I wouldn't like the beginning enough for CD to become a favourite.

 

However, not sure if it's due to a hormonal change or something in the last few days, today I'm wearing it again, and I LOVE it. Very much so. It has now dried for some hours, and turned considerably murkier, but it's still a gorgeous scent. Very warm, a tad sweet, a tad bitter, a tad smoky. Dig it a lot and will probably get a bottle at a certain point of time while the Carnaval is around.

[forspecial_plate]

I really like this scent, and I thought I had already reviewed it a long time ago. My review probably sounds like most others....I smell a lemony floral with some coconut, and it has a soft, smokey feel to it. It does smell somewhat like cookies or candy, but the smoke and flowers add more complexity....still, it's light and subtle on my skin. Very sultry and kind of incense-y. I can also smell the vanilla and black musk just a little bit.

 

After about an hour, the lemon flower has faded considerably, leaving a musky, smokey floral scent. It's kind of faint on my skin now and that's my one and only complaint about this scent. But really, maybe that's appropriate for this particular scent, especially since I'm a guy.

 

I love smelling like this, and I honestly want a whole bottle of it. It's not exactly masculine, but I think in some situations I could wear it and pull it off. Even if I don't wear it out in public, I could see myself getting a bottle just to wear it at home, because it's just too yummy to miss.

[luna65]

Thanks to kmasden for the decant.

 

Vial: Lemon and opium. The former really is sweet like candy and the latter gives an interesting quality to the former, like almost a wood or green accord of some kind. It amazes me how different it is compared to other opium evocations of the BPAL library. I guess the sweet quality of the lemon may be assisted by the coconut, but I can't discern the coconut specifically.

 

Skin: The flowers are more prevalent now: that kind of fresh, rather than sugary, sense of sweetness. Pretty in a way that I can enjoy, rather than cringe at.

 

Drydown: The flowery impression passes fairly quickly and then there is the smooth, almost creamy quality of the musk and vanilla. The lemon flower is still very strong, almost raucous, which is appropriate for the concept, to my mind. That sense of one particular scent atop a group of similar notes, like there's always one particular odor which catches your attention when entering a place which lends itself to olfactory overload. I understand the syrupy evocation that some others have commented on, it really does have a thick and heavy quality to it for me, teetering on the edge of being too much, too decadent. In that sense I feel it lives up to its' narrative, so to speak.

Edited January 22, 2007 by luna65

[SeaLady]

This was creamy and lemony and a little coconut sweetness on me. I can smell where smoke and musk are notes as sort of a subtle something, but neither of them leaped out at me as "smoke!" or "musk!". All the notes were so blended and lovely that it was hard to separate them. I'll have to try it again because I didn't have much time for pondering today, but I really like this. I also put on just a tiny bit 7 hours ago, and can still get a tiny waft of it. Yumyum!

[nikkoblue]

bottle: lemon.

 

wet on arm: there must be something wrong with my nose right now, cuz I'm getting pickles and lemon

 

Drying: pickles going away. Verrrrry heavy on the lemon though. Good thing I like lemon!

 

Dry: i'm gittin' nothing but lemon. Going to sniff some coffee.

OK, back.

alright. the lemon is starting to subside. My right wrist, which didn't get a direct application, is more musky/vanill-y-smokey/touch of lemon. The right wrist is still lemon with musk, and slight pickle....I think it's the opium that i'm translating here. Dill-emma aside (har har har) this is a nice fragrance and I'm going to try it again tomorrow when I'm starting fresh.....

 

EDITED: next morning, 12 hours later: still there. no pickles. musk and something slightly smokey. Will definitely give this one another shot!

Edited February 10, 2007 by nikkoblue

[emzebel]

Mmm...this is one of my unexpected favorites from the first round of CD - rich and mysterious, with just a hint of opium smoke (which can be dodgy with me), the eponymous blend is chock full of sultry night flowers, shot through with tartness (the lemon, which doesn't really register as "lemon" so much as tart on me in this), and sweet (the coconut, similarly, more of a hint than a pure note). I definitely get the whiff of coffee someone else mentioned as well.

 

This is a somewhat cacophonus blend, but a perfect manifestation of the delights of the Carnaval - the Diabolical one at that.

[juniperus]

Bottle: lemon, coconut, and the vague impression of flowers

Wet: sweet lemon and flowers

Dry: there is darkness below, the musk a shadowy presence, and the vanilla and coconut are hovering just behind the lemony florals

Later: I can catch the smoke, and a floral, I suspect heliotrope, is amped oddly and making unhappy friends with the coconut. My weird skin..

[mspixieears]

That awful lemon antiseptic note initially when wet on skin but it disappears as it dries down. I don't get any of the nicer scents like the tuberose, vanilla, coconut or apricot flower and not sure how to describe it other than to say that I am left with a masculine fragrance that is subtle. This fragrance is definitely not to my taste but I had to try it nevertheless.

[grifyn_whiffs]

This one starts out lemony right away. I can smell the opium smoke JUST underneath, very faint.

 

As it dries, it is still mostly lemon. Kind of a bracing lemon at that, but not a cleanser-smelling lemon, thankfully. I'm really looking forward to some of the other notes, like heliotrope and coconut.

 

Half an hour later: still lemon. What gives? Where is everything else?

 

The smoke and black musk comes out right at the end of drydown given the scent is otherwise fading away entirely. ::sigh::

 

It's not a total loss... I DO have my lemony-scented moods, but I won't be using more than the decant I have.

[tazjia]

In bottle: Strikes me as very well-blended. I'm having problems picking out any individual notes.

 

Wet, on skin: LEMON! Lots and lots of lemon candy. I like lemon, but this was not what I was expecting. (In the bottle, I get no lemon at all.) I get a bare hint of vanilla and what must be the tuberose... but mostly just lemon.

 

Dry: Over the course of the day, I fell in love with this scent. The lemon fades quite a bit (although it's always there) and other notes come out. A smoky/incense feeling takes over about 2 hours in, and hangs around for a very long time.

 

I've just added a few drops to some unscented lotion for my evening out, and I'll be interested to see how that affects the scent-morphing.

 

I bought a bottle of this from forums without having sniffed it... I will probably need another bottle.

[CiCi]

I purchase a bottle of this because of the ingredients: coconut, apricot, opium, etc. and new I would love it. It had everything that I new my skin chemistry loved. I opened the bottle and sniffed and once again, I was correct-a lovely scent! I slathered it on. Oh no! LEMON! Not a little bit, but screaming at me lemon. This was not what I was expecting at all! Okay, I'll just wait a while and see what happens...

 

After several hours, this dried down into a beautiful fragrance-very lightly floral notes with a little vanilla and musk somewhere in the background. The lemon is still there but way in the far reaches as an under note. It really did turn out to be as beautiful on as it smelled in the bottle.

 

The lesson I learned is, on this particular scent, a little goes a long way!

[labeth]

I ordered a decant of this one because I really love lemony smells-- they wake me up. However, unlike in most BPAL blends, the lemon in this didn't amp up much at all, and the resulting experience was less than pleasant.

 

It smelled pretty good in the bottle, pretty much like lemon cookies, as said earlier. But once on, the fruity scents turned plasticky, and I ended up with a smell thtat reminded me of this Strawberry Shortcake Apricot doll that I had when I was a very small child. So then I had a headache and smelled like a doll from the early 80s, which wasn't what I was going for. I tried washing it off, but this stuff must have some staying power, because even the next day I could still smell it a bit.

 

So, in conclusion, didn't work out on me, but that is primarily due to my apparent association with apricot=doll. Now, if this was the Doll Girl perfume, that might make more sense to me.

[CrazyPretzel]

Slathered this one on before going out to a Das Ich show. *g*

 

For the first few minutes, it's powerfully sweet lemon sherbet, similar to Phobos. That's cool; I don't mind lemon sherbet and can wait it out. Once that settles down, the opium comes to the fore and for as long as the scent lasts (which was all night, given how much I applied) it reminds me of Opium Poppy from Rappaccini's Garden, with just a bit of lemon behind it -- the notes combine wonderfully and make it strangely lickable. A winner.

[Iceblink]

Pure lemon drops at the start, which is fading into lemon drops dipped in opium. Nice, and a unique combination. Opium tends to amp on me so I'm not surprised it's really kicking in here. The lemon in this doesn't smell like a cleaning product at all, which is a definite plus!

[hackess]

Imp: Creamy light lemon.

Wet: Lemon zest over white floral perfume. Lots of heliotrope and apricot flower, just a touch of coconut making the scent creamy.

Dry: Vanilla and apricot blossom blend really nicely. The fruit tree blossoms tend to keep vanilla from turning into that powdery vanilla most vanilla candles seem to smell like.