The Knave of Hearts

[lizabelle]

Crushed roses and blackcurrant tarts.

Wow! This is a surprise favorite for me from the Mad Tea Party collection--Dormouse is still number one, but this might be number two. The cake note here is almost identical to the one in Mari Lwyd, and similar to the one in Eat Me; it's heavy and currant-rich, almost closer to scones than true cake for me. The roses here are pink and yellow, and similar to Cherokee Rose SN on my skin. Almost lemony, fruity roses (although many of BPAL's roses end up rather fruity on me) with a sweetness I've only smelled in other "pink" rose scents. The overall effect is that of a true tea party, with little cakes on a pretty table in a rose garden. I love it!

[Katillac]

I actually hated this the first time i put it on. All i could smell was super red roses and butter. Like an old lady holding a jar of melting butter.
​But I wanted to try it again.
[2nd and 3rd were 1 month apart, same weeks so my cycle didn't make it go crazy]
2nd time I still had the red roses and butter, but there was a sweetness coming in.
​3rd time...sweet Christmas, this is niiice. Not too foody, not too buttery, not too floral..it basically morphed into the perfect "what are you wearing?" smell on me.
​
​It's just so hard for me to pin down. It still doesn't smell like rose on me, and not like tarts (so I can't say "oh it's a buttery rose water berry tart smell").
It's for sure sweet on me, though.
​So for those who are iffy about roses, or berries, or buttery tarts...get an imp of this, it might surprise you over time like it did me.

[spikyfairy]

I know that BPAL's cake note doesn't work on me, but I wanted to try this frimp out of curiosity, & because I do love rose.

In the imp it's all buttery pastry. Argh, do I even want to put this on my skin? Once I do: Yep, spiced butter. That's pretty much it, no currant, no rose, just the top layer of a crumble.. Once it's dry, the butteriness calms down slightly, and I can almost smell the rose. But it's still mostly pastry.

I liked this a little better than I did Eat Me, but I just can't do these cake-y scents.

[gloame]

Wow, what? This smells like chocolate and spice to me. Nathan says it smells like holidays. Really really lovely. After a second application, I get that bready note like in Mari Lwyd—a bit of fermentation. Ugh, I fucking love this.

Where I'd wear this: New Year's Day, baking for luck

[Mufasa]

I was kind of disappointed in this scent, I adore eat me and I thought it would be like eat me with a subtle rose in the background but instead I get a sickly sweet brown sugar + berry syrup and a very in your face powdery rose. Sort of like if you mixed an aged skull candy with a powerful rose its a nice scent mind you, but it's not really MY scent

[Lucchesa]

I didn't have high hopes for Knave of Hearts because the pastry note tends to be a disaster on me. And wet, it was all I got, weird sweet buttery pastry that amps out of all proportion to anything else. Just like spikyfairy, I got no currant, no rose. When it dried, it became significantly more pleasant, and just as spiky could almost smell the rose, I could almost smell the currant. On me too, this was definitely better than Eat Me, and I'm glad I got to try it, but I'll be passing this imp on.

[RobberBaroness]

I can officially say, between this and Blackcurrant Sufganiyot, that the blackcurrant note is too strong for me. It's all I get in this, sweet like jam or a lollipop, with no rose to be found.

[patina]

Very sweet, almost warm berry syrup, sometimes with an odd savory note from the roses.

 

This seems to have a medium wear length and despite the overwhelming sweetness, I really like it. Wearing it outside I occasionally got whiffs of a pale purple berry scent. The currant is not as perfumy as it usually is on me. I sort of regret trading off my bottle a few years ago now.