Intrigue

[Imptress]

A sultry, exotic scent that inspires devious plotting and clandestine affairs. It is a scent painted in artifice, veiled in deceit, and slithering with whispered secrets. Black palm, with cocoa, fig and shadowy wooded notes.

Lovely... fruity and woody, a bit resinous. This is the first blend I've tried that has fig and I love it. I don't get much of the cocoa in this. Thing about it is, I have to agree with Andrabell's earlier review: this smells like a Yankee Candle shop to me. In fact, when hubby first sniffed me after I put this on, he said "You smell like a candle... just like the Yankee Candle factory." I also agree with Penance in that this brings March Hare to mind-- I think it's the combination of rich, sweet fruit with some "spice" to temper it.

I still love it... I'm just not sure I'll keep wearing it as a perfume. I don't want to be "that girl at work that smells like candles"!

[orangepoppy]

I had high hopes for this one, judging by the notes listed.

 

First on, Intrigue smelled fruity, perhaps like cherries and I thought "Oh, no." Thankfully, the fruitiness has faded to the background and a very nice deep rich sandalwood note with some cedar comes forth to stay. I'm glad I waited. I may not buy a bigger bottle, but I'll definitely use up the imp.

Edited February 12, 2005 by orangepoppy

[warmfuzzies]

why don't i ever pick up the fig notes?? it is sooo hard to find a good fig scent. i got zero figm and zero cocoa. i smelled candy & coffee originally, which i think is very nice, but dried down to hay, which i assume is cedar. ick. hours later it was a sweet granny floral. i really really wanted to like this. you can't beat figs & chocolate, if you can find it! color me bummed!

[oatmealneko]

This one wasn't even on my wish list, but I decided to give this one a try. At first, I almost washed it off because it was entirely made up of this strong wood scent. Wood scents & I normally don't mix. Wood becomes overwhelming & I get a little nauseous. When it dried, it became a different scent. The other elements came through, while the wood faded to the background. There's dark cocoa & the spiciness of fig, plus another element I can't place. It smells coconut, but it's probably the black palm. it's a wonderful scent, I'm definitely hanging onto my imp. I don't know if I would get a bottle, but I might.

[scourgeotheseas]

Intrigue - got this as a lab freebie!

 

In the bottle: Smells like the inside of a furniture store. Or South Florida. Kind of light woods, maybe a faint hint of something sweet. But I can't pick out any of these individual notes.

 

On me/wet: For a moment, it smelled like it did in the bottle, then sandalwood. The note that adores me...too much.

 

Drydown: Still smells mostly of sandalwood. A sweet, faintly soapy, scent is the only other thing I can pick up. Like light coconut (maybe the palm?). I can't smell the cocoa at all. Or fig.

 

Well, this is not a winner on me. Wish it were, because the description sounded exquisite.

[Countrymouse]

This isn't a scent I was planning on trying, but was another great addition to my last order by the lab.

 

In the bottle: cocoa and wood

 

Wearing: Cocoa and sweet incense. I can't really pick out the fig, but imagine that is what is tempering the wood notes on me.

 

This one didn't last as long on me as most do, but I don't mind re-applying something I really like. I love chocolate scents, but sometimes they are just too sweet. This was wonderful the way the fig and wood notes weren't overpowered by the cocoa and it wound up being more earthy and incensey than just a food scent.

[HappyLoveJoy]

Intrigue This is deep and rich and right off the bat I smell the scent of dark wood. This is smooth and powdery with just enough fig to break the monotony of it's dark personality. Like cracking the door of a dark room to let in just a sliver of light. A beautiful and mysterious scent.

[Macha]

This was a complete and total impulse buy, completely the fault of some folks here on the forum who started going on about pretty this scent was. Since it was my "compulsive shopping" phase of the moon (i.e., full) I decided to add a bottle of this to my order.

 

In the Bottle: Sweet fig, dark chocolate, and cedar. The fig floats above the chocolate, and the cedar gives them both depth. Which is a fancy-schmancy way of saying this really works well, a perfume where I can tell the individual components but where they all cooperate as a whole. By that is just in the bottle...

 

Wet, on skin: On my skin, the fig is not quite as intense as it is when I smelled the bottle, but fig is still the first and primary note I smell. I use dried figs quite a bit in my cooking, but this isn't the honey-sweetness of such: this is fresh fig, green fig, the sort of fig that is rare, fragile and delicate. The cocoa makes this seem like a particularly choice french desert — fresh fig drizzled in dark chocolate — not too sweet, but still rich and satisfying.

 

Dry, on skin: As the scent ages, the wood notes (a little cedar, perhaps a little sandalwood) come into play, but the funny thing is that I honestly expected a perfume called 'Intrigue' to be more of a shapechanger. On me, Intrigue is remarkably stable, and changes little. If anything, it simply mellows and grows more languid.

 

Conclusion: Lovely and different, Intrigue lives up to its name. It has good throw, excellent staying power, and on me at least, smells lovely. As impulse buys go, I would judge this one a success.

[e_miche]

Macha said it better than I ever will!

 

It is definately spring down here, so I decided to try out different scents for the warmer weather...

 

In the past, when I wore Intrigue, my only reaction was... FIG- lots of fig and something coconutty. But today? Sooo nice- I could finally smell the woods and cocoa, of course along with that fig- but it was just perfect. Also- It likes to morph from one thing to another on me as well.

 

I'm considering putting this on my big bottle list.

[Witch's Dagger]

Intrigue

 

Ordered September 22, 2005 (yes, I’m that far behind on my reviews!)

 

Preconceived notions: It sounded dark and mysterious, and the reviews seemed to indicate something very paradoxical. Thus, it intrigued me, the scent itself as well as the name.

 

In the vial:

A dark, smoky, chocolatey fig.

 

On me:

 

No more fig, it’s all very dry cocoa and sandalwood, very much like Velvet, only a lot lighter and more exotic. It’s also somehow both refreshing and deep, bitter and sweet. This is kind of a daytime variant of the darker Mystery. Not someone in black hiding in shadows inside a dark castle at midnight, but a mysterious woman having a drink on a veranda in the shade of some palm trees watching your every move. It’s also very distracting. I keep trying to work, and get lost in the scent. It’s a deep, dark olive green that’s a little greener than that. Something I’d imagine on a poster for a jungle. Not camouflage - darker and greener.

 

In 20 minutes:

Now the fig is coming out, still surrounded by the greener woods. There’s no chocolate left.

 

In 35 minutes:

About the same, though there’s something dry and spicy in the back.

 

In 55 minutes:

No real change.

 

Overall: This is a very lovely and evocative scent. It also makes me think of lazy days and sensual indulgence (but again, in a very lazy way).

[ShadowAngel]

I received an imp of Intrigue in a Lush swap.

 

In the Bottle: Very sweet, chocolatey and foody, with a hint of darkness.

 

On my skin: Beautiful! I'm not big on chocolate scents, but the cocoa in this is subtle. Fig and wood notes are prominent. It remains sweet, but not cloying.

 

Final Verdict: This may be my first "big bottle" scent. It's very sophistocated and perfectly named.

[fathom]

Fabulous, unusual, and my favorite BPAL scent I’ve tried so far. Out of the imp, I smell dark chocolate and coffee. On the skin, it starts out very strongly cocoa scented, but not a sweet chocolate: rather, the scent of an unsweetened chocolate like you use in mole sauces. After the first wave of cocoa calms down, it is a really dark wood scent.

As it wears, the rich fig scent comes out more intensely for me. I definitely smell the “black palm” in the description, too- an element of it reminds me of the sweet-dry scent of wild date palms in the oases of the Anza-Borrego desert south of Indio. I agree with other posters that it is a very grown-up scent. Mysteriously female without being the least bit flowery. Powerful and independent, and devious, somehow. Definitely a complex scent. It is the inside of an ancient teak box in a dark room in a colonial library in a tropical country.

I love it, and I ordered a big bottle.

[Spanglemaker]

Intrigue:

 

I was expecting to love this; chocolate and fig?? Sounds wonderful.

 

On me, no chocolate, no fig, no smoky, no sandalwood. Just fruity.

 

My father used to love to eat dried figs and I think that is what I was expecting this to smell like (dark, rich and chewy). Fresh figs probably smell fruity which is what Intrigue smells like on me. Oh well.

[Essay 28]

In the bottle: sweet, bubbly, warm chocolate, like making fudge.

 

On skin initially: fruity, tangy cocoa.

 

After an hour: the fruity scent faded to leave a warm cocoa scent that reminded me of the homemade kind with generous marshmellows.

 

It would definately be more of a winter scent if I kept it, but this one will probably go into the swap pile.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Woody and dark.

 

On Skin: I smell the cocoa and wood the strongest. I don’t smell the fig at all at first. It’s a much darker scent than I envisioned without reading the description. I can say that the smell really does intrigue me. It is a bit too incensey for my taste though. After about an hour the sweetness of the fig shines through, deep and purple. Yum! Now I do want to keep it!

Strong throw and average wearlength.

Edited August 18, 2006 by slave1

[lokelani]

First review!

 

I really, really wanted to like Intrigue, since I love cocoa and fig. Unfortunately, I didn't get the fig at all -- just a sort of woody, piney scent battling it out with the cocoa -- a very odd combination. It made me think a bit of drinking a cup of dark hot chocolate in a grove of fir trees, which was a nice image, but still a very weird smell. After a while the cocoa gave up and it was all sharp pine -- a nice enough scent, but not one I'm particularly fond of wearing as a perfume. Oh well. Swap time.

[VorpalBunny]

I love Intrigue. It has a hint of cocoa, without sweet foody chocolateness. I smell a similarity to Carnal, which must be the fig. It's light but intense, sweet but not overly so, with a hint of dark sexiness. This is definitely one of my favourites. I think I like it better than Carnal, but I'll have to compare the two a bit more.

[SoapyRN]

Received in a swap with Penance. I too loved the site desctiption: black palm, cocoa, fig and shadowy wooded notes.

 

In the imp, I got the shadowy wooded notes and put it back in the imp house.

A few weeks later, on a fig high I thought I would give it a try.

 

Wet I can smell the cocoa. I have smelled most of Beth's chocolates and this was so much darker, not that sticky sweet chocolate with Bliss and Velvet. But Intrigue goes deeper than that.

 

As it dryed I no longer smelt the cocoa and instead got the fig that I had been looking for, yet it was smoky, not sure if this is the black palm as I have never had the note before. Ends as some incency blend.

 

This is truly Intrigue, you expect something and get it, but then it changes.

 

Keeping the imp though. Will wear it in the cooler months. Or in a room spray.

[LiberAmoris]

Intrigue smells like grated zest from the root of some dark tree. There's a sense of humidity and smoke that wafts through Intrigue as well. It reminds me of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It's not my favorite fig blend (that would be Nemesis), but it's an amazing achievement.

[byrdie]

Note ~ A frimp from vitawash99.

 

Vial ~ A smoky resin -- possibly with a touch of green herbs behind it.

 

Wet ~ There has got to be cherry in this. Indeed, it reminds me of the cherry wood note in Hearth. Yep, the incense is definitely putting the "wood" in "cherry wood".

 

Drying ~ It's turning a little dusty and the cherry is either muted or morphing into something else. Hrm. The skin on my face is prickling, yet my nose is okay with the scent. Odd.

 

Drydown ~ The sweetness of the cherry has picked back up, but it's not quite a cherry scent I'm getting. Maybe more of a berry? Either that, or it keeps fading in and out.

 

Dry ~ Smoky berries. It's blended well, but that's what I'm getting off of this one.

 

Fade ~ Smoky berries, all the way down.

 

Final thoughts ~ At work, one of the administrative assistants told me that I smell exactly like Imperial Leather Soap, which his mother used to use. * He was born in Scotland, and I guess the scent association was really strong for him. I may have him try Intrigue himself. If it goes the same way on him, I'll probably give him the imp. I found it okay, but such a strong association beats out an "okay" from me every time.

 

 

* He insists that this is a good thing.

Edited January 4, 2011 by byrdie

[Loligo]

In the bottle and on first applying: it smells the way that Pier One used to smell 20 years ago when it was a funky import store: candles, sweet incense, and woods & dry grasses mixed all together.

 

The chocolate gets stronger, later, and so does the fruit. I know it's supposed to be "fig", but like someone else said, the overall effect is like raspberry hot cocoa. *Very* strongly so.

 

After an hour, I was really surprised when the incense & woods came back, which made me very happy. The hot cocoa stage was just too sweet and simple. Overall, it's not something I'd wear every day, but it's definitely worth keeping.

[wolfie13]

In the bottle: cocoa and wood - smells close to Velvet

 

Wearing: the same, but a little bit more depth and richness than velvet due to the fig. The cocoa still dominates on me, same as it did in Velvet, and not being a big fan of that note, this one's just not for me.

[girlmadasbirds]

on skin, wet: wood...with cocoa and berry.

on drydown: mostly cocoa and berry. hmm. i'm not too sure what i think about this one. i'll give it another try before i decide to keep it or put it in the swap pile.

 

edit: after another try, i've decided i really like this smell. it's like woods and berries with a bit of chocolate.

Edited June 23, 2005 by angel sixgun

[olympia301]

This is a big, fruity, powerful perfume. I am afraid it reminded me too much of some commercial air freshener type of scents. Not me at all. In terms of longevity, this stuff is relentless. If you love it, that would be a major positive. It is very popular, but not one for me.

[surf-tormented]

It's interesting. At first it was far too strong, almost nutty. But as it dries, it is a neat mix of chocolate scent and wood notes. I guess if you sat a chocolate bar in the woods, this is what it would smell like.

 

It is one of those scents like Kali that is multi-faceted. It's a deep layered scent that's foody yet tamed by the other notes.

 

I don't know if I would buy a bottle of it, but it is a nice scent.