Thirteen (13): July 2007

[kikithepirate]

A base of cocoa absolute and white chocolate with thirteen baneful and beneficial bits including vanilla bean, white ginger, orchid, golden peach, massoia bark, clove, honey, and starfruit.

I absolutely ADORE the 7/08 version of 13, so this one had a lot of competition. However, it seems to hold its own due to the fact that its components actually create a very different scent.

It\'s not as chocolate-y as the 7/08 version, but the peach and clove really bring a fruity/spicy scent to the forefront, which is nice. As it fades over the next few hours, it becomes a subtle chocolate/vanilla smell.

[gingiemay]

Wet in bottle - Cocoa, honey, vanilla, peach and an earthy bark smell.

 

Wet on skin - More cocoa and chocolate, with vanilla, honey, and the mix of the bark and starfruit. This is sort of odd. I’m interested to experience the drydown.

 

Dry on skin - cocoa and chocolate, but there's the honey/starfruit/peach smell that oddens this. I wish I were just chocolate, instead of fruity chocolate. Swap!

[Champagne]

Fruits with chocolate! And the zingyness of the starfruit is evident from the start. The chocolate tends to be evident after the fruits calm down, it plays a subdued role in my opinion, but it`s yummi enough to make me salivate every time I catch a whiff of it.

I `d love to hoard a gallon for a lifetime, it`s the only thing I can say.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Chocolate front and center, with tangy fruity notes and something nutty as well.

 

Wet: More intense now, but the chocolate has cut back in favor of a much more fruity, spicy blend. It smells wonderfully of a patisserie now!

 

Twenty minutes: Still rather more foody than my norm, but this is really wonderful, with a cocoa vanilla peach honey tone. Lots of depth, whimsical little curlicues of fruit and spice come wafting off it every timeI put my nose near it. The cocoa absolute note is my favorite BPAL chocolate note, and this one's another proof that it works nicely on me.

 

Hour and a half: The chocolatiness of this has worn off considerably. Now it's more like a bouquet of fruits and flowers -- still edible, but not so much like baked products. The clove and honey work wonderfully together to give it a spicy, yet unobtrusive undertone.

 

Three hours: A little more generic "baked good" quality about it, which I think is the vanilla and ginger coming up. There's also some orchid which adds a strange pallid flatness to the scent here. Fruits are still sparkly, and the spice and cocoa are noticeable. I still like it, but not as much as before.

 

Four hours: I still like this one, but it has mutated a lot. Now I get something more herbal than before.

 

I bought a bottle of this.

[zankoku_zen]

Wow, this is the fruitiest thirteen... ever. I definitely get the peach, the starfruit, the overlay of honey. If there is chocolate it is way way in the background. It's like a dessert of honeyed peaches with shaved chocolate on top.

 

Damn... now I'm hungry...

[quigza]

in bottle: zingy fruity, boozy chocolate

 

wet: fruits, boozy chocolate, clove?, vanilla

 

drydown: those fruit are more definied & one is weird, the chocolate is no longer boozy, the vanilla is still faint

 

aftermath: and unsettling dance of the above notes. I'm not a fan of peach & this is reminding me of that.

[cinderfallen]

Oh. Man.

 

Can I just say that I am SO. GLAD. that I got too lazy to swap this away because it has gotten BEAUTIFUL. I am not a foody person, really, and this has just shot up like 10 points with me. At first, I was too eh about the weirdness about thick cocoa and fruit notes, but that has balanced out with age to become not a foody scent but a gourmand perfume, where on the skin, the cocoa acts as a light base, as sandalwood might, to support the gorgeous honey fruit and very light spices. It's tart and yet is supported by an almost woody cocoa and the honey is just delicious in its supporting role. The cocoa almost but never quite disappears, and I'm surprised by how happy I am about that. The very slight hint of topnote from hot ginger and spicy clove is an excellent counterpoint to the tart, juicy fruitiness, with its slightly floral waxy sweetness, as well as the mellow honey and the creamy base--and just, man. This is good stuff.

 

I saw reference to this being similar to Storyville, and if there is resemblence, I can see why the latter is so popular. I'll be keeping and loving my 13.

 

UGH. I want to roll around in this scent.

Edited March 6, 2009 by cinderfallen

[Gin]

Thirteen (13): July 2007

 

I get mostly peach, chocolate and clove. It seems like that should be one of the worst combinations ever, but it actually smells really good. The more it dries, the more the vanilla and flowers come out, until it just fades into cocoa-ness.

[rayvn1]

I've always avoided the foody bpals - not really sure why, I just always assumed they wouldn't smell good on me. Silly, silly rayvn1. I'm going in with a bang with this 13 on one arm and El Dia de Reyes on the other. Chocale heaven This is a rich, verrry dark cocoa with and cinnamon and a sweet glow of peach. Yum! Well, crap. Now I have to start tracking down the foodie scents too

 

 

Edit: NOOOOOO! Fifteen minutes after posting my review it turned quickly and unfortunately into plastic chocolate hallmark candle. Im not even going to repeat what my husband thought it smelled like (lil' stinker that he is...)

Edited August 10, 2009 by rayvn1

[satinworship]

In the bottle, this smelled so gross to me. So I looked up the notes in this and decided to give it a chance, with much success.

Fresh on my skin, on the left wrist it's coco and liquor, with some ginger in there to give it dimension. On the right wrist, it's smooth, creamy chocolate and vanilla.

This one didn't change much from start to finish, it stayed coco liquor and and something that must be a mix of honey, peach, and clove. On the right it's nearly gone, and leaving behind some faint incense type vibes.

I got several complements today that I smelled "yummy" and I craved chocolate all day. I really like this, even though I wouldn't wear it everyday.

Edited August 31, 2009 by satinworship

[strahlend]

I ordered a bottle of this before I knew that cocoa is a very hit or miss note for me. The other place I came across cocoa was in The Great Sword of War, and I love how that one smells in the bottle, but on my skin it didn't turn out so well.

However, I'm pleased to say that 13 was a much better experience.

 

In the imp - it's all chocolate and fruit to my nose. Something is reminding me of sweetgrass, I'm thinking it's the honey-peach combination.

On my skin - if someone asked me I would sware that there's gardenia in here. It's reminding me of a gift shop I used to go to that carried chocolates, flowers and scented candles. I don't mean that in a bad way at all.... it's really a much better combination than I would have guessed.

After a little while - the cocoa fades into the background and it dries down into a rich, spicy, vanilla with a nice floral companion.

Edited October 20, 2009 by strahlend

[Xanon]

So in honor of yesterday's 13 I wore this bland. I then remembered that I have yet to review this... at one point it was on my sales page, but now I am glad that I still have it.

 

In the Bottle: I can smell the cocoa, a hint of vanilla bean and lots of golden peach. The spices are there, but nothing really distinct.

Wet: Oh hello Starfruit, ever so nice of you to push all those other notes out of the way. Ginger is there, peach is still holding its ground in the back.

Drying: Much more calm. Fruit and floral are sitting peacefully together and letting cocoa and vanilla bean hang out.

Dry: This is really interesting, I get the cocoa, which has taken on more of a white chocolate aspect, and peach. Ginger is gone, but fruit is starfruit is still present... but much more quiet.

 

Overall: Medium throw, AWESOME lasting power (put it on at 9:30 am and could still catch hints of it at 10pm). Not something that I can wear all the time, but really a fun scent.

 

[naturalcyber]

With this Thirteen my collection is complete! Thirteen being my special number, I just had to get them all, and thankfully they've all loved me back.

 

This one is a thick chocolate in the bottle, but not a sweet chocolate. It's smooth and tangy. I'm going to agree with other reviews and say almost boozy too.

 

On wet, it's still strongly chocolate but a little less boozy. There's something underneath I just can't place.

 

A few hours dry it's a much...dryer scent. Hints of chocolate and a dose of spice (pretty sure it's clove, but a mellow clove). Something nutty too.

 

I didn't really get much fruit (I expect my skin ate the fruit scent and possibly amped the spices) but it's still a very wonderful smell.

 

I cannot express how happy the Thirteens working on me has made me. Overjoyed. I'll be wearing them a lot, I'm sure, and I hope the lab puts out a new blend for August.

[MiasmaResonance]

I don't really like this in the bottle, as it's hard to descern any individual notes, but on my skin it starts out as a floral scent that I actually like. The floral sticks around when a spicy undertone comes though, and then finally, I smell a hint of chocolate. This works!

 

 

[Schmoozy]

To me this is one of the more subdued 13's. While it certainly is a mix of dark and white chocolate, the golden peach, honey, orchid and starfruit help to lighten the blend and add sweetness. They also help to cut the spice of the ginger and clove. It's chocolate and fruits with hints of spice.

[Venneh]

In the imp, chocolate and the ginger and bark. On my skin, much the same. Sadness, we'll see if it changes any.

[bpalscentsual]

Somehow, this smells like chocolate-covered rose petals to me in the bottle. On my skin, immediately it loses half of that cocoa goodness and turns into a cocoa dusting over rose petals. Fifteen minutes later, I get nothing but a very sweet floral. Honey tends to go pollen-like on my skin, I see there's orchid in here, and the massoia bark probably isn't helping. If I really breathe it in, I can get the nuances, but my skin just hates florals, and my nose isn't a fan of them either.

 

This reminds me a lot of the floral notes in Pink Moon 2012, only with chocolate (just a little!) instead of strawberry (a lot). I don't know if this is just how this has aged, but I was hoping for more fruit, more clove, and definitely more chocolate.

[mymymai]

ITB: It's cocoa, white chocolate, and vanilla with just a tad of fruitiness and a little floral. It seems much more feminine than the tentacle or black label 13's.

 

Wet: Cocoa, ginger, vanilla, honey, clove, and nutty massoia bark, although it starts to develop a little more fruit as it begins to dry.

 

Dry: White chocolate, faded ginger, massoia bark, vanilla, peach and starfruit. It dries much more fruity than I would have originally suspected.

[Frills]

I bought this when it first came out and loved it, though I remember it being heavy on florals. I tried it on today on a whim, and after aging for almost 7 years it's mostly apricot--but very clean apricot--with a little trickle of starfruit, and honey, and this beautiful orchid note. If I breathe it in and close my eyes I can imagine being in the park on a cool, early spring morning.

 

I don't like aging my bottles much because they tend not to last on my skin long, and 13 is definitely softer than I remember. But it's beautiful and rounded out, and I'm so glad I still have it after all this time.

[Sakura Tsukikage]

In the bottle to me this is very much a milk chocolatey type scent, but if I really sniff I can tell that it's a deeper, darker, drier cocoa combining with the white chocolate to produce that impression, and a fruity overtone. On the skin, I get more of the fruit, a very golden peach and a bit of starfruit to add extra tang. I agree with the reviewer above me who mentions apricot, because something about the combination of the peach and the other notes gives me that impression of apricot. I can tell the honey is melding with the fruits and chocolate to make everything sweeter, and I definitely get a nutty undertone that must be the massoia, as when I really sniff deeply it does remind me of coconut. Mostly this is sweet, very sweet, very fruity (and yes, almost boozy in a way) peaches and starfruit over a creamy chocolate base.

 

Overall, this isn't really my thing, but I can definitely see why someone would like it. It lasts for several hours on my skin before becoming a rather close to the skin scent, but I can still get whiffs of it from my wrists as I type.

[LizziesLuck]

I like this a lot. It was a lovely frimp from a forumite.

 

The only other 13 I a tried was Jan 2012, and though it had the chocolate/ginger combo that I love, it was too herby to satisfy this foodie.

 

July 13, 2007 is a different story though. This is lovely. Sweet, fruity, a little spicy, rich, creamy and chocolatey. If the upcoming Nov 13, 2015 happens to have similar notes (more fruity/spicy than herby) it shall be mine!!