Fire for Thy Stepmother's Daughters

[forspecial_plate]

FIRE FOR THY STEPMOTHER’S DAUGHTERS
Vasilissa ran to the yard, and behind her she heard the old witch shouting to the locks and the gate. The locks opened, the gate swung wide, and she ran out on to the lawn. The Baba Yaga seized from the wall one of the skulls with burning eyes and flung it after her. "There," she howled, "is the fire for thy stepmother's daughters. Take it. That is what they sent thee here for, and may they have joy of it!"

Flaming coals, hellfire, and blackened bone.

First of all, Djinn is one of my favorite bpal scents, so I was definitely intrigued by the notes listed for this scent, and I even thought I had an idea of what it might smell like. How wrong I was!

This goes on like a fruity floral, almost like lotus. If I sniff up close I can tell there's some fire and coals to the scent, but for whatever reason, my brain translates it into dusky, fruity floral. It's a little spicy, too, which becomes more apparent as it dries. How in the world does that fit this scent, given the notes, you might ask? Well, it works. It's a low and smoldering scent, very subtle but definitely 'there'. I'm sure this will vary from person to person, though (it might be really strong to someone else). But for me, it's subtle. Even though it's very floral, it has the mood of glowing coals.

I think the 'blackened bone' comes out as it dries. It becomes kind of sneezy and spicy, and I wonder if it actually has a little black pepper, which is a note I don't care a lot for. Overall the scent doesn't change much from wet to dry, though.

This reminds me of Corazon, without the herbs. They both have that low, smoldering, subtle quality. Stepmother's Daughters is a really fascinating scent. After having it on for a few hours, I started to get a little weary of it, so I'm not sure how often I will actually wear it, but it was really interesting to try. I don't know where I would wear this......definitely not to work. I'm really interested to read other reviews, because I know some people are really going to like this one.

[edenssixthday]

Fire For Thy Stepmother's Daughters - I thought this would smell something along the lines of Hellfire or Djinn, but it's a deceptively scent, more like a faint trace of ashes in the air rather than flaming coals, etc. There's something almost floral in this scent, too. It's a lot prettier than I expected, and not remotely deep, smoky, husky, and sexy as I had hoped. It's very light on me with a really faint level of throw and fades quickly from my skin.

[voorishsign]

A freebie from the lab - definitely not what I expected. I really loved it when it went on - spicy, dark, and really well-blended, but then it turns utterly floral and fruity it becomes unwearable to me (obviously people who like florals and fruits will love this ). I'm not that good at picking out floral and fruit notes so I'm not quite sure what's in there. It's still a nice scent, mind you, just not for me.

[Iceblink]

I'll agree that this is oddly floral-sweet considering the official notes here. Maybe there's a touch of dragon's blood in this (the oil IS red) giving it that quality. The smoke and coals aren't from a blazing fire but from dying-down embers.

Interesting blend and something that might work for people who usually can't do smoky/burny scents.

[Thursdae]

Well, now. Based on the notes listed, I wouldn't have gone for Fire for Thy Stepmother's Daughters. Don't know why I ordered it. I guess I liked the name.

 

But...what exceptionally good luck!

 

There's a hint of glowing woodfire, but there's more of fruit than flame in this blend. Perhaps others are right when they say lotus or dragonsblood, I don't know. I do know that it starts with sweetness like the nectar of flowers or ripe fruit, is lightly polished by something minty (perhaps spearmint), and just gets better the longer I wear it.

 

Thank you for a wonderful new scent, Beth.

[irishelf]

Like many other reviewers, while I get dark and smoky in the imp, it goes floral/fruity in the wet stage. When dry, though, it has an odd sweet smell that I can't quite place. There also might be red musk? Not sure. Didn't keep this one.

[impolight]

:::FIRE FOR MY STEPMOTHER'S DAUGHTERS:::

 

The expectation, after reading the Lab's notes on this one, were something akin to Jezirat Al Tennyn.

Upon opening the Imp, though, and taking a slow, deep inhalation of the stuff, what was there appeared to be...

The liquidy center syrup found in Chocolate-covered Cherries??? O_o.

Another sniff was attempted... Nope. Sugary stuff. Again with the Cherry Cordials.

Rum & Simple Syrup.

Marzipan.

Hellfire, Coals, and Blackened Bones? Um... Was the fire at Wonka's factory?

A splat onto the skin changes things a bit. 85% of the sugariness drifts off and something resembling soot peeps around the corner at you and twiddles it's fingers.

The purpose here is not at all to discredit or condemn this fragrance. On the contrary, it is really nice. Sweet, planty, cute!

The hopes were simply high for destructive force.

A good fragrance for her.

4/5.

[Monster]

In the vial: Wow! Surprisingly sweet! I was expecting vetiver but this is surprisingly smooth.

 

Wet: A honeyed floral note...almond (??) and ZERO smoke or ash. Veddy odd.

 

Dry: This turns to alllll sugar on my skin. This is super sweet with the faintest hint of something floral in the background.

 

Verdict: Not what I was expecting at all! This isn't anything like the description. I guess it's pretty enough, sort of boring and definitely not for me.

Edited April 2, 2010 by Monster

[Blood onmy hands]

This is an odd scent, and not at all what I was expecting from "hellfire and blackened bone." It's also a very light scent and fades quickly on me, so it has been hard for me to get a clear impression of the scent at all. I think that it might have dragon's blood and/or almond in it, because it has that maraschino cherry sweetness that bpal's almond notes have on my skin, and a sweet fruity-floral smell that reminds me of dragon's blood. Those notes are usually really strong on my skin, though, so I'm surprised that this doesn't have better staying power. As this dries down, I can smell something that smells slightly of wet ashes and a little bit of smokiness. Still, it's mostly a sweet, fruity-floral thing. I don't care for this one...

[fairnymph]

Lovely, light & delicate feminine perfume with a cologney edge - I will probably get a bottle of this one, but was too rushed to get one at the time of testing. Totally not what I'd expected from the notes - a sleeper hit.

[TulaMontage]

In the imp this is sugared Djinn... Manilla Djinn?! I wasl almost too scared to open this because of the listed notes as well! Just goes to show you can never really judge a scent until you have tried it.

 

Wet on my skin oh there is the hellfire! It's a big fruity firey kick in the nose, and it's really quite bizarre!

 

Drying down this is still heady, firey warm and extremely sweet. Not even a weeee bit like what I expected from the listed notes, but it was a great surprise! It's still not bottle worthy :-p

[zankoku_zen]

This one definitely has dragon's blood in it - because while it has some smoky aspects to it (perhaps a touch of menthol on wet, and a hint of vetiver afterwards) it also has a bright cherry/fruity floral tone to it. The color of the oil is somewhat rose-tinted, which definitely adds credence for dragon's blood being a component.

 

Much more floral and sweet than I expected!

[dawndie]

Wet: sweet menthol

 

On skin: lots of smoky wood with a bit of sweetened tobacco

 

Half-hour later: clean foamy soap. Whuck?

 

In conclusion: the soapy ending was totally out of left field, but wasn't soap made out of ashes in ye olden times? So that makes a weird bit of sense. A foreboding description, but not as dark as I feared.

Edited August 6, 2010 by dawndie

[Aldercy]

This one is so weird to me. It's nothing like the description, as far as I can tell. I get a faint impression of pinkness and slightly powdery white woods. Maybe a touch of verbena. Warmly soapy.

 

If it weren't for the other reviews, I'd have thought I received a mislabeled imp!

[tarotgirl99]

Got this as a frimp.

 

In imp: Interesting clovey scent

 

Wet: Clovey bubblegum. WTF? Ick.

 

Drydown: The bubblegum disappears relatively quickly, and a warm, sweet and spicy incense remains. I have nothing like this in my BPAL collection so will keep the imp. If it turns out I like use it more than three times, potentially a bottle. For someone like me, who rarely finds "wins," this is a surprise winner.

[mxtine]

Spicy bubblegum cologne. I would like it more if it wasn't so perfumey. Wait...the dry down is getting sweeter and the perfume is going away. Its kind of pretty, but it has very little throw.

[RSMcGowan]

This doesn't smell anything like I thought it would. That's not to say it smells horrible; it's actually one of my favorites out of the batch of imps I got. The only thing I could think of when smelling it, both in the imp and on my skin, is baby powder. It smells like fresh baby powder with slightly fruity notes. So I suppose that's kind of the ash scent? I'm not sure. I do like it, though. I expected this to be a very heavy scent, but it's very very light on me, which is nice.

[aquazoo]

I get candy first. Just not getting the coals or flaminess.

[hkhm]

imp: sweet and fruity.

 

wet: very sweet and fruity with a faint sort of ashy undertone.

 

dry: this is beautiful once dry, a dainty fruit and flowers scent.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells like dragon's blood and some kind of sweet floral note -- lotus-like. The bubblegummy/lotus note is really only noticeable for the first few minutes, though. After that it's like a sweet soft wispy ashy scent. (Dragon's blood resin tends to go a bit powdery on me sometimes, which is probably what's making the scent seem a bit ashy.)

 

It's not bad at all, but I like other DBR scents better.

[ShannonElisabethJones]

This was one of my first frimps and I'm just now trying it. LOL, for some reason I was scared to.

 

In the bottle and freshly applied it smelled like black jelly beans. I love black jelly beans to eat, not so sure about wearing. As it dries, I'm getting cloves, too.

 

But....nope. I've barely had it on 5 minutes before it turns into icky baby powder/diaper bag. I don't think this one is for me.

[rayvn1]

This was an odd one...I too was hoping for smoke and the other named blends but it's totally floral and almost...aquatic...? Couldn't really pin it down Glad I tried it though!

[theseagrows]

hmm, this one isn't working for me. it's very resin-y to me. there is a slight white floral here, but it is mostly resins with a tiny hint of fruit (plum?) which turns plasticky on me. there is also something that's turning leadlike on me (usually frankincense and sandalwood.) needless to say this does not work for me and is a bit headache inducing, actually. i'll have to swap it.

[SadariEvenstar]

Floral soap. Not at all what I expected from reading the notes.

[bheansidhe]

What an odd but unexpectedly nice blend. Frankly I wasn't tempted by the description, and I was expecting an in-your-face blast of roaring ash and bitter woods. Not at all!

 

Like the other reviewers, I note lotus or dragon's blood in the application. The oil itself is a pale rose'. This quickly warmed, lost its floral note, and became a dry spicy incense. Definitely evocative of red and gold flickering coals, with a hint of lingering char in the background.

 

Verdict: not a pungent smoke note; this is an incense blend! I recommend for fans of that type of oil.

 

ETA: On far drydown, I get carnation, dragon's blood, and pink peppercorn. Carnation can go to soap sometimes on me, but not this time; it stays peppery and spicy-sweet.

Edited April 13, 2012 by bheansidhe