The Black Temple Burlesque Troupe

[femmefatale]

Cacao, black musk, and tobacco absolute.

Oh my. This is GORGEOUS!!!! I was a little worried about the black musk because sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but there was no need to worry and it seems to be keeping the cocao from being too foody. There is a slightly sweet note which could be the tobacco and balances out the other notes nicely. It does go through a brief powdery phase, but that doesn't seem to last long.

This is a crazy sexy scent and I LOVE it. I wish I could do a better review but I can't keep my nose away from my wrist long enough. I will most certainly be getting multiple bottles since there is nothing like it in my stash.

Oh! I realized that this is more of what I wanted Boomslang to smell like, but that went horribly wrong on me. Thankfully, this doesn't!

[Silvertree]

In the bottle, this scent is dark and warm, all rich, luscious chocolate with a little swirl of the slightly earthy note that I associate with black musk. No dirt or soil, just something deep and a little bit furry. It's hard to describe-- earthy but not dirt, furry but not animalistic; just a little bit... prickly, maybe. There's a faint hint of sweet tobacco, which blooms once I've tested it on my wrist. Drying down, it smooths out into a balancing act of golden tobacco and bittersweet chocolate, over a subtle background of musk, like a skilled troupe of dancers twirling in unison to a strong, steady beat.

 

Lovely!

[PhantomV48]

Yummmm. Starts out dark and super-sweet in the bottle. Also a way dark colored oil, black-coffee-colored. Once it dries down on the skin, the over-sweetness fades, and just becomes warm, dark, and bittersweet. I think a lot of Snake Oil fans (and who isn't, really ) will dig it. Well worth the bottle I had to buy of it to get it.

 

Sorry for the short review gang, it's my first one! Plus, like Femme_Fatale, I can't seem to stop smelling my arms for any length of time!

[thekittenkat]

All the notes listed are present. It's dark and rich, not foodie-sweet at all. And yet, it reminds me of Black Lace. If you like Black Lace, I suspect that you will like the Troupe. And like BL, the ladies hang around for a long time.

[suki]

in the bottle: i'm getting something similar to the chocolate note in Boomslang with a HUGE dollop of black musk. i worry this may be a bit too...feral for me. but we'll see.

 

wet on skin: strong black musk, and the cacao is almost like a dark coffee next to it, like the musk is subverting it somehow.

 

dry down: it's morphed into black licorice with a hint of the tobacco from Black Lace someone mentioned (though this is *nothing* like BL in my opinion) and something odd and root-y, like sarasparilla or cola nut or something.

 

in all: i'm going to let this age a bit and see how it does when it's a little more unified. it's either going to stay true to how it is now, in which case i'll have to swap it, or the things i like will mellow it and make it very fine indeed.

 

 

[greenranger]

Whoah. Not what I was expecting....

 

I expect I will be trying this more than just this once, partly because I really wasn't expecting a package today, so I was already wearing another scent. This one I'll have to try again solo.

 

The oil went on dark...and a little sticky.

 

Feral is a good description of the musk. It's sweetened by the cacao, but, no where anywhere close to foody. This isn't the softer tobacco that I am accustomed to either. This scent comes out swinging.

 

I think it's going to soften up...in a while? Maybe?

 

Right now, though this is one bunch of very ...assertive... dancing girls.

[Dark Alice]

This is perfection. Chocolate...a chocolate I can FINALLY WEAR!!!! These burlesque girls are definitely out kicking and they are fabulous. Spicy black musk, with hints of tobacco, and sweet chocolate. I am in

[mparker]

This is a major morpher on me. Maybe aging will balance that out some, but it's lovely in it's stages. I have to warn that I'm smelling all sorts of things that aren't actually listed as notes, so I'm not sure if it's "behaving" on me normally.

 

In bottle - Very light, very slight hints of chocolate and a hint of what I would assume was red musk, but overall cool-smelling and not very strong. But it lies!!

Wet - Cocoa! Wonderful, delicious cocoa! It's not a soft scent anymore, so it's a good thing I went light on application (I was afraid it would go "perfumy" and give me a headache). This is not a cheap cocoa, it's a lovely, dry, rich cocoa and it's supported by the musk that I can now tell isn't red musk at all.

 

Dry - The chocolate is gone and for a while I'm smelling something champaca or nag champa like. Lightly incensey, but it's still a full, rich, slightly sweet scent. I'm going to assume this is the tobacco, but it's not the way tobacco scents usually smell on me.

 

Extended drydown - Ok...it gets a little odder. The scent is still beautiful. Good staying power. Nicely rich and complex. A slight powderyness has crept in, but it's a complexly scented, pretty powder, so isn't any trouble at all. But for some reason I'm catching the occasional hint of honeysuckle or night-blooming jasmine. I don't know where it's coming from, and it blooms and fades randomly, but it's gorgeous. The musk blooms up now and again, too, and it's like every time I sniff my wrists or the air around me I'm getting something slightly different. I can't really smell the chocolate anymore, but something sweet and delicious, like cocoaed honey peeks up now and again.

 

It starts off delicious, goes through an exotic and sexy period, and finally ends up fragrantly soft and snuggly. I'm sure a heavier application would give me a headache at several points, but a light touch at application kept that from being a problem. It's a lovely scent, one that sniffing the bottle doesn't even begin to hint at. It's very very feminine without being sugary-sweet or overly floral. And now that one of the above reviewers mentions it, I DO get a sense of Snake Oil, too. Not the actual scent, but something sweet and vanillaed and resiny.

[MeiLin]

In the imp: First very dark musk, then the tobacco, then cacao very last.

 

Wet: Chocolate tobacco?! The chocolate note is similar to the one in last year's Gelt, not sweet, a little bitter. (I love Gelt.) As it settles it gets smoother, more chocolate-y. Chocolate tobacco on a bed of dark musk. so far? o_O massive love.

 

Dry: The cacao faded with drydown and left a pleasant, dry, baby-powdery musk. Every once in a while I catch a little chocolate.

 

It's very pretty, but it strikes me as being a good deal like Gelt. I'm going to have to do a sniff test between them to see if I want to get a bottle of Burlesque Troupe.

[edenssixthday]

The Black Temple Burlesque Troupe - Black musk never has worked on me, not once. But it smelled so good in the bottle that I just had to try it. It smelled gorgeous when I first put it on -- a dark, heavy, sexy, musky chocolate. It smelled soooo good... but while the black musk actually behaved for the first time ever, the chocolate had to go and quickly turn to the scent of Play-Doh on me. Makes me so mad! I could wear this in a scent locket and really enjoy it, though, and I might just do that.

[angelicruin]

On my skin, cocoa and black musk. Just gorgeous.

 

[SeaMonkey]

I got my decants today and this was the first one I tried because it sounded perfect to me

 

Wet I'm getting chocolate and.........lemon?

 

I let it dry a little, then I'm getting nothing but lemon pledge

 

It's totally dry now and I'm getting lemon and bad breath.

 

I'm so upset about this one

[EdenIris]

Wet: Cocoa, smells a lot like Boomslang.

Drying: Fierce musk comes roaring in. Black musk is generally very well behaved on my skin, so this is new. It's not bad, just a bit stronger and more feral than I expected. I'm also getting a sort of lemony scent, which I think is the early stage of tobacco.

Later: Musk has settled down, and the cacao has faded a bit to let the tobacco shine. This is the pattern for the next few hours: the cacao and tobacco take turns. The formula is deceptively simple, and the results are lovely.

 

This is gorgeous, especially for a rainy day. Definite bottle, maybe two.

Edited November 27, 2009 by EdenIrisMae

[Altaira]

In the bottle, this smells like bitter-sweet chocolate oranges and something smoky.

 

Unfortunately, once I put it on I discovered that it turned to baby powder very quickly. I'm new to BPAL, so this is the first time I've had that happen. I left it on for a few hours just in case the powder went away, but no luck.

[surlygurl]

You guys wanna heard something freaky? This came in the mail today, and I thought it would be all cocoa & musk with tobacco (you know, like advertised ). So I applied it and got cocoa. Then that went away within seconds and you know what I got? Khandita from the Faces of the Heroine series. Seriously. It must be the same "severe" black musk, because that's all I smell. I'll do a side-by-side comparison later, but it's so similar it's almost scary.

 

eta: after drydown, the cocoa comes out a bit and blends with the musk, making it more complex than before. Still, that black musk is fierce!

Edited November 28, 2009 by surlygurl

[slayheim]

I was really psyched for this one! In decant it was just warm and enveloping and even foggy.

 

But it didn't come out too well when on my skin. It's overwhelmingly dark and heavy - kind of like you'd expect a group of exotic dancers, covered in a screen of smoke in Miskatonic Valley to smell like - like a group of priestesses moonlighting as a burlesque troop! I'm in love with it, but it's a bit heavy on me. I'm trying to perfect the art of not applying too much and I hope that putting on only the most minimal will change this.

[tasty]

[Disclaimer: My decant may not be completely accurate to how other bottles may smell. My decantress wrote a letter saying that the bottle she received may have been an unfortunate batch variation, so with a grain of salt on this one...]

 

The oil in my decant is thick and luscious. It's very stick to apply; almost like syrup. Putting it on is a little difficult and I think it'll stain my skin. All of this is such a shame because this is a BEAUTIFUL scent. The cocoa absolute makes it smell like a decadent chocolate cake batter but the tobacco and musk grounds it and keeps it in check from being a foody disaster.

 

If you've tried Arcana's Morphine, this is in the same vein: dirty, sultry chocolate except BTBT doesn't have patchouli.

 

I'm in love. ...which is probably a very good thing because this thick oil is probably staying on my skin for a while.

[Prism]

in bottle - i smell a mix of all three notes.

wet - cocoa amps here, with a musky background and tobacco. I dont mind the tobacco but the musk, or the combination, just really doesnt work for me.

dry - mostly tobacco, then some musk, a hint of cocoa. The last being the only reason I haven't washed it off. I can see how others would find this pretty, but it's too dark, too smokey, and too masculine with my skin chemistry and tastes. it eventually settles down more and is a slightly lighter scent but i'm still not digging the musk all that much. it's okay.

 

Rating 4/10

Edited December 2, 2009 by Prism

[kelpsoda]

In the decant: cocoa! no sugar

Wet: tobacco, with musk to back it up. Strong.

Dry:Cocoa, dry, bitter, swirling with tobacco. Not really my thing

[samarablackcat]

In the decant, rich cacao.

 

Wet, more rich cacao with a tad of something thrown in to sweeten the mixture. This is really good! I am not a chocolate/cacao/foodie person at all. And black musk?

 

Drying, the cacoa takes the background as the musk and tobacco do the dance of seduction...warm, schexy and just a little sweet. Oh, you temptuous vixen, swirling in clouds of nom nom nom without ever being foodie. A definite winner, and a total surprise for me. Will be looking for more scents with tobacco absolute in the future.

[saralaughs]

This seriously is GORGEOUS after drydown. It's not bad on its way to absofuckinglute prefection but at times it can be really dry, sharp, and really powdery.

 

First applied, I get the cacao, straight up. Not sweetened but fresh and just ground cacao beans. This is soon joined by the musk which starts to sweeten it up *just* a bit without it becoming foody at all. It is then that it gets a bit sharp. The musk actually starts screaming at me! It settles fast and gets powdery. But even then (when it is ALL powder, all the time) it's a good powder. I never thought I'd say that. I hate the powdery-like smell and avoid it in all my Bpal.

 

Anyway, after about an hour, the powder goes away. At some point, I'm sure the tobacco snuck in and calmed everyone down. I'm left with this magical cacao that is just sweet enough, tied down with this awesomesauce of BROWN. Yes, it smells brown and yummy, sexy yet comforting. Wearing it you could be the vixen with the leather and whips that likes to cuddle after. Finally, this is what I wanted Boomslang to be.

 

Bottle. At least.

Edited December 3, 2009 by saralaughs

[crebbsgirl]

This one needs to age for me I think. Wet, the cacao is the strongest note here. As the scent dries, the tobacco comes out more and sweetens the cacao a bit. The black musk comes out finally about 20 minutes in, and it takes over the blend at that point. (I should mention that I LOVE black musk, but my skin doesn't usually amp it or turn it to powder). The black musk continues to predominate here, and eventually it turns into the equivalent of a single note for me. I'm going to try aging this to see if the musk calms down a bit.

[strahlend]

First sniff - I would say this smells in the vial exactly as described: cocoa, musk, tobacco.

On my skin - YES. This blend absolutely works. I've had problems with cocoa being too overpowering or being paired with other notes that made it seem like the cocoa went sour, but THIS is perfect. The Musk and tobacco blend together in a rich luxurious harmony and the cocoa stands in the back quietly supporting them. I think this is a fantastic blend that will only get better with age. I really need a bottle of this.

[creepy]

when its wet i get a bitter smell above a musky tobacco smell- its not pleasant to me. after its dry though, it smells like play-doh! i guess thats this powder people are talking about. well i love play-doh, so its not a bad thing, at all. i was disappointed with demeter's version of play-doh so this kinda makes up for it. still debating buying a bottle though, i dont know how many times i want to smell like kids clay.

[HamletsKeeper]

Well this was a fun pick and not something I expected to work on me so it's good to know my expectations are fulfilled. In the imp it's ok and a little weird, chocolate spiked with something poisonous. Ok, I can dig that vibe....

 

Then cocoa takes her leave and I'm left in a dark alley with something that smells like cedar wood shavings (must be tobacco) and a general mustiness (oh yeah I think that's black musk). It's not entirely fetid on me but definately only for someone who gets along well with chocolate as a scent. Then it does a really good impression of oiled pine and weirdly some kind of shower gel. These naughty ladies must be fond of showering in a wood working shop.

 

Towards the end I get woodshop, woodshop, woodshop. It was a fun ride gals but I think I have to conclude that both cocoa and tobacco are not my friends. And......the encore performance is marzipan.

Edited December 8, 2009 by HamletsKeeper