Velvet Unicorn

[Bluestocking]

Spun sugar, sparkling rainbow candies, strawberries, merangue, and cherry fluff.

In the bottle: Total and utter pinkness. Very sweet and creamy. There are different layers of sugar scents here, but overall, it smells like soft cotton candy to me, with a welcome bit of tartness from the gorgeous strawberry note. I can't pick out cherry fluff, but I do get something that's almost… coconutty. I suspect that's the meringue. It's so ridiculously girly, and I love it.
On, wet: Ooh, so there's the cherry. It's a bright red, candied cherry, blending with the strawberry to be front and center, all fruity and juicy. It's still shrouded in the cotton candy and puffy meringue clouds, though, keeping things nice and candyish. I would still swear that this has coconut in here somewhere.
On, dry: Sugary, creamy, fluffy pink heaven. This is now strawberry-scented marshmallow fluff and meringue, very sugary and creamy, but light. The cherry has blended into the strawberry, but the strawberry is still dominant, and it's delicious. I know some people have said that this one is low throw, but it has huuuuge throw on me, so I'm walking around in a glittery cloud of pink candy awesomeness.
Later: A little bit drier and less creamy, but this is still sparkly strawberry cotton candy. I almost get a bit of something like heliotrope, but I suspect that's from the meringue. Still sugary. Still emphatically strawberry. Still awesome. Still hanging around, almost twelve hours after application.
Overall: Total, utter, instant love! Like some others have said, this really IS a Lisa Frank unicorn, bright pink and glittery and unapologetically girly. It's an intense and yet squishy-soft sugar rush, with a fantastic strawberry note and some deep creaminess. This is a perfume that suggests Velvet Unicorns and sparkly-eyed anime heroines, and it's a must-sniff for anybody who loves candy or strawberry scents. Bonus: massive throw and incredibly long-wearing on my skin. Edited May 18, 2009 by Bluestocking

[Gin]

Velvet Unicorn

 

I was so looking forward to this one! My first test left me feeling as though I were trapped in sticky pink frosting on top of a giant buttery vanilla cake. Unwilling to give up, I tried it again a week or so later. Much better. It's still OMGSWEETFRUITYPINK, but in a good way instead of a suffocating one. It's somehow "fluffy"--I guess that's the meringue's influence. Very sugary, red-fruity, and fluffy. It's great on its own, but I'm really looking forward to layering it with Snake Oil.

[ShadowsDance]

Very much a sweet candy scent. Cherry and strawberry, but more like candy than the actual fruit. Cotton candy, marshmallows, and merangue.. yep, all there. Honestly, while it sounds like my dream come true.. I'm not so sure about it. It's good, but there's something about it that just doesn't "wow" me.. I'm keeping the imp, but I'm off and on about an actual bottle..

[voodoocatwoman]

Just sniffing this is making my teeth contemplate a good rot. It is sweet, oh MAN is it sweet!! Mountains of cotton candy and cherry taffy by the yard...

 

It gets softer on drydown but stays just as sweet. Yum.

[PlasticBlue]

In the bottle: Candy candy candy. Sweet strawberry hard candies. I strawberry. My mouth, she is a-watering.

 

On, fresh: Mostly strawberry hard candies, with hints of marshmallow fluff, cotton candy, a touch of lemon meringue (Huh? Lemon? Where did that come from?) and an undertone of powdered sugar. Comparing this to my other candy scent, Candy Phoenix, I prefer this one so far, although that could be because I generally prefer strawberry flavour to blackcurrant in my candies.

 

The cats, after a curious sniff or two, appear unimpressed, although one must have gotten some on her fur when she jumped on my lap, as she promptly jumped off again and has been compulsively sniffing and licking at one spot ever since. Is that good or bad?

 

After fifteen minutes: It's fading fast. I have to press my nose right to my wrist to get anything.

 

After an hour: Hey, where did my unicorn go? It's as if he's galloped off into the distance, leaving behind only a dust cloud of powdered sugar and maybe a marshmallow poop dropping or two.

 

Verdict: Maybe the stories about unicorns only wanting to hang out with pure-hearted virgins are true, as mine appears to have buggered off at the first opportunity.

Still, it was delicious for the all-too-brief time it lasted.

[spiresinthesnow]

Velvet Unicorn is as good as you think it will be! It brings to mind a bowl of buttercream frosting mixed with tart cherry taffy, sprinkled with pink sugar and fresh strawberries then laid to rest on a bed of cotton candy. It lasted a long time on me and dried down to a yummy cherry vanilla salty sugar scent. This one will have to be my favorite velvet painting. It's my childhoods' long lost, pink candy, dream! :heart:

Edited May 21, 2009 by glasspillars

[heathercaley]

Holy cow! This is by far the best freaking candy scent ever!

 

I can actually smell the zing you get on the tip of your tongue when you eat sour patch cotton candy!!

 

Sour patch kids cotton candy!! The kind that you get at the movie theaters!!! I am in

 

The sourness is lemony, with the tart of the cherry fluff, and a lil cotton candy to smooth it down and keep it from becoming overwhelmingly sweet!

 

Big Bottle fo sho!

[kelpsoda]

Sweet! This is very very sugary. Like a sugar rush. Or like cotton candy. It's got some tartness to it, but it dries down to pure cherry/vanilla sugar. Like pixie stix.

[kohaisama]

In the imp: Strawberry candies!

 

Wet: Oh lordie... it's Floating Brain!!!! The only thing it's missing is cake!

 

Dry: Yup. Floating Brain without the cake.

 

If you missed Floating Brain, here's your chance at something very similar.

[suki]

this is fruit-flavored rock candy, pure and simple. it's crunchy, sparkling candy edge is matched only by it's fruitness. this is not like Sugar Skull, though. the sugar in that amps on me like crazy, where as in this it strangely stays in place.

 

this is not an everyday sort of scent, but when the mood is just so, it's the only thing that will do.

 

 

[AlarmAgent]

In Bottle - Strawberry fluff, which I swear, exists somewhere. Maybe a flavored marshmallow fluff? I know I have smelled a thing referred to as "strawberry fluff", though!--and this is it.

 

Wet on Skin, First Applied - edenssixthday was right on in her review! This is the lab's version of Pink Sugar for me, through and through. Strawberry cotton candy, slightly zingy at first and with a bit of lemon, sweet as all possibility, and warm. It is a lot less/not at all musky compared to Pink Sugar though, which I definitely appreciate. I like musk a lot, and I like sweet/candy notes sometimes, but when they go together, it just seems wrong. It makes me feel like I smell of a sweaty child at the fair, which isn't a pleasant thought. It is one thing to smell musky and 'sexy', and it seems to me a whole different thing to smell sweet and 'innocent'. Pink Sugar tries to do both, but Velvet Unicorn understands it is here to be all sweetness and light. Thank you, Velvet Unicorn. You don't want to be picked up by some older teen boys hanging out at the carnival, and I like that.

 

Dry, on Skin - Surprisingly long-lasting, and very strawberry cotton candy, and no kidding, I can smell the meringue specifically. I love meringues, and while they don't have much of a smell outside of when you directly take them out of the oven, this oil manages to capture what little they have--and flavor it with strawberry. No fizz, all smooth, sweet strawberry. Really love this one! It isn't at all similar to Candy Phoenix, if that is holding you back from giving it a try. I haven't tried any of the other 'candy' BPALs, so I can't speak to their similarities. I'll be trying to get myself a bottle soon, because this is one of the cheeriest scents I've ever had the pleasure of sniffing.

[naeelah]

Velvet Unicorn is every bit as chock full of sugary magic as you'd hope it would be.

 

If you look for the individual notes, you can find them -- there's the distinct bubblegum quality of spun sugar, a hint of Skittles, a dribble of sweet cherry, creamy meringue -- but the overall effect is like strawberry marshmallow fluff.

 

Sniffing the oil directly and on my unicorn, Sir Rufus, the meringue smell is pronounced. It's very sweet and just a little bit plastic, so really it's perfect for the concept. On my skin, though, it dries to something that's a lot more subtle, tart and -- dare I say -- elegant than I expected. It still has an overall air of strawberry syrup, but there's something that's a little bit dry and tart for balance. It's sweet for sure, but it's way more wearable than I expected. It's fabulous.

 

So in short, it's strawberry meringue, or strawberry taffy, or strawberry marshmallow fluff. Where Strawberry Moon achieves fresh, true strawberries and cream, this is totally artificial and all the more wonderful for it.

 

Try this if you like: Beaver Moon (either one but especially '07), Pink Phoenix, Floating Brain, Bloody Mary, White Chocolate and Strawberry,

[sprocket21]

Zomg, this is SWEET!

 

On me, Velvet Unicorn smells like a base of Midway with a HUGE dollop of sweet cherry candy. I love the Midway base but I'm not a fan of the cherry portion - it smells kind of odd to me, like Runts candies. I suppose I'll stick with Midway.

[milo]

This is a sweet creamy, strawberry/candy scent. Whoever said "taffy" was right on. Another candy this reminds me of are the strawberry fluff marshmallow chicks you can get at Easter time. I also get the Pink Sugar comparison, though PS is a bit more muskier, and "grown up". The scent fits the description very nicely, I imagine Unicorn posters in a little girls room, doll houses, barbies, etc. I can't really see myself wearing this oil very often, as it is just too childlike. I do enjoy the memories it evokes, though. Also, a lot of the time strawberry scents go "chapstick" on me, kind of waxy, this however does not. So if you are into imitation strawberry/candy fluffy scents, you'll probably love this.

[BelleAnge]

I love this scent. In the bottle it is all sweet and cotton candy like. I get a slight bitter note when I first apply it to my skin. That fades pretty quickly though. When it dries down it's pretty much a candy scent. Light, fun, and a great scent for warm weather.

[Lyrical]

In vial: mmmmmmmmmmm makes me think of Sugar Skull and Midway, but with red fruit in it too. Kind of velvety!

 

Wet on skin: meringues and fruit, and creamy too - a pavlova dessert, topped with sparkling, crunchy sugar! Yum! Fans of Bloody Mary should try this one (and probably already have)!

 

Dry on skin: I smell so pretty! Good throw on this too! Creamy, sugary loveliness, but not as straight up foody as, say, Midway Res. I LOVE THIS!

[AnArtfuldodger]

This is really what I wanted Beaver Moon res. to smell like -- it's all pink and creamy and fruity, but there's just a hint of frosting -- not headache-inducing at all! *knaws at wrist*

[RabidRainbow]

I'm still very new to the BPAL world, and I've never written a review before, but I just got my bottle of this scent and couldn't help myself. This is everything I'd dreamed of while reading the other reviews in this thread.

 

In the bottle, it's got the sweet, syrupy scent of cherry and strawberry hard candy. Very girly with a tart little bite in it.

Wet, it adopted all sorts of other hints for me- cotton candy, taffy... fluff really does describe it well!

As it dried, though, I fell in love. It smells, to me, like I am in some beautiful little fancy sweet shop, and have just ordered a slice luscious marzipan drizzled with raspberry lime syrup and dusted with powdered sugar, and a strawberry french soda to wash it down. It's delicate and decadent and I just adore it! I feel like I'm ten years old and playing dress-up. I think it's making me giddy...

 

+4 Hours: Still there, but all soft, fluffy sugar with the softest hint of its previous fruity blend. I am loving the way this fades on me; its like falling asleep after an amazing costume party.

 

Congrats, BPAL, I'm hooked for life. :C

Edited June 6, 2009 by Ame

[djsiberia]

wow, this is yummy. sugar, strawberries and cherry fluff. YUMM. i wasn't entirely sure i would like this. it's seriously delicious.

 

[LizzyLies]

In the bottle, it smells sweet with a hint of strawberries. But on the skin? Mmm, yum! The cherries are very, very faint, but definitely there and the strawberries are only slightly stronger. I think I'm getting creamy, fluffy vanilla and it almost reminds me of one of my favorite drinks--which is awesomeness. Anyways, I'm totally in love with this scent; it's all the girly goodness I could ask for and more without being overpoweringly sweet. Best of all, throw is medium and wear length seems to be going well. This is the scent one's inner princess would wear on a daily basis.

[futureyuppie]

In bottle: juicy fruit candy. Like strawberry and cherry starburst with a pixie stick sprinkled on top. Exactly what I thought this scent would be.

Wet: aw man, this morphs on my skin the same way beaver'versary does. It smells like coconut and graham cracker? Not like the scent in the bottle at all.

After 15 minutes: still coconut graham cracker. How heartbreaking.

[moonstonemama]

in the bottle: strawberry, cream, marshmallows, clean sugar

 

 

on skin: this smells really delicious. it's like a good vanilla ice cream topped with fresh strawberries, rainbow candy sprinkles, and whipped cream. I wish I could eat this.

 

I get a lot of compliments from my coworkers when I wear this blend. I'm going to cherish and hoard my Velvet Unicorn!

[beachbabealways]

Love this one! It reminds me of Midway but much stronger and a bit sweeter. It's a keeper.

[blacklacestatic]

Initial Unsniffed Impression: I'm expecting this to be youthful, fun and sugary. I bought a bottle unsniffed because it sounds sweet and flirty.

 

In the Bottle: Creamy, sweet candy. Cherries and strawberries and sugar.

 

Wet On Skin: As it first touches my skin, I get sparkly, warm sugar. It goes through a phase where I get something that smells strongly of lime, but that only lasts for a few minutes. Then it smells like cotton candy.

 

Drydown: Creamy, dreamy candy shop scent. I can't stop sniffing my arm. It's childhood sweetness and innocence and laughter, yet it's still got an edge. It's magical, perfect scent for a unicorn. I get a very pink feel from this. Sugar glazed strawberries and creamy melted marshallows.

 

Overall: It's a much lighter, more innocent version of Sugar Skull. It's a magical fairy princess type of scent, but kinda slightly naughty in a way. I can see myself getting into some (oh-so-fun) trouble wearing this. Probably the kind of trouble that involves dressing up and whipped cream.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Another one of those pink (candy) scents, but this one has a hint of something deep in the mix like Sour Tarts, but only in a very mild way.

 

Wet: Lots of sugar, also that cherry fluff. (And I was worried about this, because sometimes the Lab's cherry notes and I don't always see eye-to-eye. A mixed metaphor, almost.) There's certainly strawberries in here, but some are fresh-picked, and some have a sugar syrup already poured on them and been popped into the fridge to cool down and wait for the heavy whipping cream. The merangue is giving this Unicorn a nice vanilla base in which the other scents can frolic with abandon. (I always shake in a few drops of real vanilla into whipping cream before whipping it, so I can pour it over the strawberries--the vanilla really adds a deep but nice flavour to the cream.)

 

The dry-down: Everything blends together very well. This lasts for some time on me, and I only have to re-apply every three hours or so.

 

 

I love the label art on the bottle. But this isn't a totally sweet unicorn. There's a knowing glance there, something of wisdom but also perhaps of trouble? Certainly not My Little Pony Unicorn!

 

At any rate, I wore this all last weekend to a SF con, and people did comment nicely on it, that it was sweet and yummy.

 

Of all the Velvets, this and Ms. Pink Kitty are my faves, and it would difficult to make a choice between the two. I love them both!

 

If you like the Lab's candy scents, get both of these, and also Pink Phoenix and Candy Phoenix and Pink Moon '07 (the sugar, to my mind, puts it somewhat into this category).