Gelt

[jencallisto]

A bounty of chocolate coins! Dry cocoa and golden amber!

In the imp: Fake! Cocoa!
Fresh on the skin: Fuzzy, plasticky cocoa.
10 minutes later: Fuzzy cocoa and warm, bright amber. Nice, actually.
15 minutes later: God, this is gorgeous. Warm, dry amber, with a tiny bit of cocoa.
2 hours later: I think this might be the ultimate chocolate-inclusive scent. The amber and cocoa blend beautifully, mitigating the potential flaws of each. Lovely!
3 hours later: Ah, we're powdering down a bit in a way that threatens to be almost cloying, but doesn't quite cross the line.

Verdict: Color me surprised. This just might merit a bottle. Very cool!

One phrase: amber cocoa.

[jwhxtna]

IN THE IMP: Dry, slightly nutty cocoa powder. A second whiff gives me the golden amber, which adds a richness and warmth to the scent that helps round it out.

 

WET: Rich, creamy chocolate in a golden halo of amber.

 

DRY: Creamy chocolate with a hint of amber.

 

This is the first chocolate scent that's ever worked on me. My skin hates chocolate but loves cocoa, so I love that the combination of cocoa and amber here produced a chocolate scent that I actually wear!

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Milky chocolate

 

Wet on me – Again milky chocolate, with a slight biscuitiness to it

 

Dry on me – Ashes (stale cigarette ashes to be precise)

 

Overall – Blah! I wanted to love this, but my skin chemistry just killed

 

[voodoocatwoman]

I don't know about this one. In the imp, it smelled like Chocolate Heaven. Warm, gooey and sweet. It stayed like that for a few minutes after application. But now it smells like fake chocolate scent... like something in a candle or non-food item trying to replicate a chocolate scent. Not terribly yuck-worthy, but I don't know that I want to smell like something trying to pass as chocolate and not quite making it.

[QueenFae]

Yup, this reminds me exactly of the chocolate coins that my mom always put in my Christmas stocking. Not overly sweet, but rather a dry chocolate scent. The amber gives it a light, airy, almost powdery quality. A very interesting chocolate blend, not traditionally what I would drool over, but it's really growing on me. This is not a terribly strong chocolate blend, but strong enough to have relatively good sticking power.

 

I like this!

[awesomeoverlord]

So, I've never had much interaction with the actual inspiration of this scent and I can't say that I'm able to compare one way or the other.

 

That being said, this is more like a chocolate shortbread cookie to my nose, rather than a chocolate coin. Maybe it's the amber...who knows...

 

Overall, I'm not astounded, but I'll probably keep the bottle for those times when I really just want to smell like warm fuzzy chocolatey goodness.

[asciident]

Wet: Hot cocoa.

 

First on: Something sweet along with cocoa.

 

Dry: Smells almost exactly like El Día de Reyes.

[RaeiNarcissus]

I had hoped that the chocolate would balance out the golden amber, which sometimes gives me a headache. No chance of that here. Headache central.

 

WHY is it all the jewish scents don't work for me? WHY!

[tinyvulture]

this is amazing. i foolishly opted not to buy a bottle, telling myself, “you have enough chocolate blends!” after sniffing this, however, i realize there is no such thing as enough. it’s dry, powdery cocoa – the really good kind, that will make the richest, creamiest, most wonderful cup of hot chocolate you’ve ever tasted. and then there’s the unmistakable, beautiful amber, intensifying the cocoa, melting into it with its golden, liquid warmth until they are indistinguishable.

 

please come back in ’09!

[CapriciousPuss]

Gelt, I think I love you!

 

I knew I should've gotten some of this during the Yules. In the imp is it like sophisticated chocolate cookies. Not oreos, mind you, but something a swanky pastry shop would sell, made with high quality cococa and just a hint of spice.

 

On my skin - this is what I wish Bath & Body Works Chocolate Amber had smelled like. My skin can sometimes do funny things with amber, but here there's just enough to differentiate from a chocolate bar... a touch to make it sexy, I suppose.

 

Definitely on a hunt to acquire more of this now!

[aquazoo]

There is a way old chocolate sometimes gets — it's not bad, but a little different than fresh. Dustier. I notice this smell on holiday chocolates, such as chocolate coins and Easter candy. This smell nailed it! Also it's a lovely wearable chocolate.

 

[BuxomM]

in the imp it smells like chocolate with a bit of metal and a bit of amber. On me it smelled like amber and metal with a faint hint of chocolate. This wasn't a keep for me.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Light yellow oil. Dusty, sweetened, hot cocoa powder. Like inhaling Swiss Miss - and similarly, a little artificial. :\ There's a bit of bitter undertone, maybe from the cocoa, and a dry, woody, slightly incensey amber note.

 

Wet: Same, with perhaps more amber than cocoa. it's a little more 'perfumey'. There's definitely a vanilla note in here, sort of a fake one that's slightly creamy. Light, though. This isn't all that foody, although there is a strange nuttiness.

 

Dry: Slow to dry. Vanilla and amber amping, and...oakmoss? Is that you? The woody note has turned earthy and...I get hazelnut? This is a lot sweeter and more cloying, due the vanilla, and the hazelnut has a sort of rancid tone.

 

Summary: Dusty hot cocoa mix with cloying fake vanilla, powdery-incensey amber, rancid hazelnut and earthy oakmoss. Really...strange, and not for me. This is sadly not the chocolate note I like in BPAL. Good throw & incredibly longevity (alas).

 

 

[catattack]

Wet: cocoa powder. Not very sweet

Drydown: I can smell the amber in the background keeping this from being overly foody. Unfortunately, after about 30 minutes, it went waxy. Boo.

[maproot]

have gone through a bottle and now an imp-dark cocoa powder, reminiscent of my beloved LIndt dark chocolate-in the imp it smells too chocolate-

however once its on the wrist and drydown smells as if Ive dusted wrist with a bit of vanilla and cocoa mox, but it's not a big WHAT ARE YOU WEARING SCENT!

 

 

More subtle than it seems in the imp I admit am not tempted to slather, very dry, and you know how some beers note they have a hint of chocolate-well, this is more of a hint, but not syrupy sweet fortunately. Wearable, though I expected to reach for it more than I do; perhaps am scared of nibbling my own wrist!

[spoilsofwar]

In the Bottle: Cocoa, cocoa, cocoa, coooocoa! Mmm. Yum. There's a hint of some other sort of flavouring, perhaps something in one of those expensive brands of hot cocoa -- like hazelnut, amaretto, etc. Can't QUITE place it, but YUM.

 

Wet: MORE of the same, and goodness, this smells like I poked my head into a giant tub of hot cocoa mix, and not the cheap kind. It starts to warm up, which I assume is the amber.

 

Dry: Dry-down is EXACTLY the same as it is wet. GOOD LORD, I want to eat myself.

[devilot]

In the vial: Pure, simple, delicious cocoa!

 

Wet: Again w/ the yummy cocoa! Ooh, what's this? Something, peeking in, mm, that's the amber!

 

Drydown: Oh no! It's gone all wrong. All. Wrong. Now it's like someone left a cup full of dry cocoa powder in a library. For a few decades. And that mug of cocoa powder? Is now mainly filled with dust. Oh no.

 

Verdict: This was so promising but it turns into dust on my skin just like w/ Miskatonic U. So so sad. This decant is going up for swaps. Sigh.

[Gin]

Gelt 2008

 

It's kind of funny, doing reviews for scents that have it all spelled out in the Lab descripion. This is what it says it is. Cocoa and amber. It's a lot like Bliss, I think, except it's amber instead of that hazelnuttiness that Bliss has. Goes a little bit dusty, but amber tends to give a dry, powdery feel.

[djsiberia]

chocolate! not so much amber. its a nice deep cocoa and it reminds me of bonnie bell chocolate lip balm from my childhood. i sniff gelt and i want to eat my arm off. the cocoa is much much deeper than el dia de reyes.

 

[sprocket21]

In the imp, this is bowl-you-over strong fake chocolate. Reminds me a lot of Bliss, actually, which smelled like warm brownies at first but got too cloying after a while.

 

On me, It's still 90% chocolate, but the amber is starting to come out a bit. The result is kind of strange to me, an almost metallic chocolate. It's like someone dropped some coins into a mug of hot chocolate. X_x

 

Verdict: I keep trying chocolate scents in the hope that they'll work on me as well as Candy Butcher did, but this one is a no-go.

[voorishsign]

And, much like real money and chocolate, there's never enough of it and it never lasts

 

I adored chocolate coins - Goldtaler to me - in my youth and when I heard BPAL had created a scent based on this lovely treat I had to give it a go. I like cocoa. I like amber. It seemed like an instant winner by the description. Putting it on my wrist, divine. Absolute heaven in oil form. Cocoa dryness plus the warmth of amber. Fifteen minutes later, the cocoa had disappeared, the amber mellowed and all I was left with was some half-hearted, sluggish amber.

 

I feel rather heartbroken now. I wound up using it as a room scent, but there, too, the nice fragrance all but dissipated after about half an hour of burning it.

Edited December 19, 2009 by voorishsign

[Venneh]

Got a decant of this in a recent swap; in the decant, it smells like cocoa powder, with a faint amber note. On my skin, the amber and cocoa come out in equal measure, not quite sure what to think of it. We'll watch what it does as it dries down. The cocoa note swallows the amber on me, leaving a cocoa scent that's fading quickly. I have better cocoa/chocolate scents, so this'll not be a bottle upgrade, but I'll keep the decant.

Edited December 23, 2009 by Venneh

[Geminirubyshoes]

Being the supreme foody-lover that I am, Gelt is totally a dream come true. Dry, dusty cocoa powder with amber? Hellz yes! anytime dust and chocolate can be obtained I'm all for it. This could be gold coins stored away in a secret wall chamber with a layer of dust over it, which may sound gross to some but fantastic to me!

I slathered this all over my arms last night and think I was transported to magical Candyland. It really is a chocolate scent that does not have the milky aspect to it that most other chocolate smells I have tried has. Yum, Yum, Yum! I need to try to not use this whole bottle in a matter of weeks becuase I want to always have it,

[fiddledragon]

In imp: Yup; chocolate. Very similar to Bliss.

 

On me: Wet, the chocolate and amber are having a bit of a smackdown over who gets to be the dominant note. I would have thought those two would blend quite nicely, but it's clashing somehow. Dry, the amber is most prominant, layered over a very nice chocolate. As it dries, it goes through a brief period where it really does smell *exactly* like those cheap plasticky chocolate coins. The amber is going a bit "perfumy".

 

Verdict: I don't know whether I need another chocolate scent, but this one is cute. I'll keep it around for a while.

[Invidiana]

This is absolutely amazing. The cocoa actually doesn't come out very dry on me, probably because most resins sweeten on my skin, hence the gold amber sweetens it up. When you put the two together, it's like--royal chocolate. I love cocoa/chocolate notes in themselves but the addition of this rich and shining amber brings it to a regal and exotic level, like a gilded Middle Eastern palace. It's foody and yet not foody, just chocolate enough and just resinous enough; very well balanced and simple-sounding but with gorgeous depth.