The Black Temple Burlesque Troupe

[milo]

Cacao, black musk, and tobacco absolute.

I'm a fan of pretty much all these notes, so I'm wondering why I didn't go straight to bottle. I actually thought that was what I was planning, but found this one among my decants.
Yep, this is pretty amazing. I get cacao and musk and something that reminds me of Mme Moriarty. Maybe the musk? Anyways, this an amped up non-foody Boomslang with a touch of the Mme, for lack of a better review. I absolutely love this, it smells amazing on me, and it will probably be a multiple purchase when I order my yules.

[wl552]

Wore this doing last minute Christmas shopping today... I'd tested it before, but this is a full day's wear out in public and sitting at Mom's house and now sitting here at home about 12 hours later.

 

It's lasted all day and it's still going strong; that's a very good thing.

 

BTBT is a perfect blend of all three notes. Warm and sexy and very wearable. I'd catch whiffs of it all day and it made me feel calm, confident and happy in the chaos of the weekend-before-Christmas shopping madness. Of all the Yules, I would consider this one highly for a backup bottle. Definitely a 10 out of 10.

[anomie]

Imp: Whoa. SUPER intense cocoa.

 

Wet: The aromatics of the tobacco over the dark, heady cocoa and musk.

 

Dry: Whoof. I am not woman enough for this scent. I feel like the musk is hitting me over the head and the tobacco is kicking my shins.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Nomie

[filigree_shadow]

Mmmmm, nice. Really nice. A dry cocoa scent that's not dusty at all. It's sweet, with a lovely musky undertone. It doesn't smell foody or like a big chocolate bar, which for me is a plus. I like cocoa scents but not chocolate scents too much. I find this scent warm and comforting, and entirely enjoyable.

 

For some scents, I think it's good for spring, or it's good for the daytime, or I'd wear it when I'm feeling cranky, or whatever. This isn't one of those. This is something I'd wear it all the time. And guess what? I think I will. Yep, I could use a bottle of this one.

[Sawasdee]

O how I anticipated this one. And in thvial and on wet, it is sexy gorgeousness with the tobacco and musk coming through strong, with the cacao in the back. However, in a few minutes, just like Snake Oil turned on me, I get mega baby powder. I asked my hubby how he liked this one, and he said "It smells like something you would put on a baby". Not the reaction I was hoping for. Pass.

[cuervosueno]

Oh, this sounded so delicious, though I know it could go wrong. I love cacao, and tobacco absolute is something I love the idea of (though in practice, it doesn't always work). Ok, musk is hit or miss, more miss than hit, but at least it wasn't the dreaded red musk (and even that can surprisingly sometimes work).

 

I read the reviews, and had fits of delight and despair. Like Arcana's Morphine without the heavy patch? Oh, delight! Then people started talking about all the black musk, some in tones of praise, some not. Uh, oh! Not good.

 

So I had no idea.

 

What I wanted was a delicious cocoa with the tobacco absolute, which to my nose is gorgeously blonde and rich. and when I first got this bottle, I was just delighted! It was EXACTLY what I wanted: not foody, but warm cocoa, with the dry tobacco note adding a sexy golden depth. I imagine it was the black musk that also added a sexiness to it.

 

It was pretty much what I wanted, which was, yes, Arcana's Morphine without the club-you-over-the-head patchouli (and I like patchouli, so you must know Morphine was really really too much).

 

The sad thing is, after sitting around the house for a couple of days, the bottle became more blonde tobacco and musk and less cocoa. So now it is a bit too bright/light. I want the chocolate back! I'm thinking what it might need is simply to be layered with a chocolate single note (which will have to be from Arcana or somewhere else) to make it back into the delight I wanted. It might also be nice layered with Bliss. Or perhaps over time the cocoa will deepen and the others will lighten up. cocoa/chocolate is a long lasting note that gets richer over time, so I can hope!

 

For now, I wish for more of the cocoa.

[SpookyBunny]

 

 

Just got my first order of Yules in for Christmas Eve, was very excited to try out BTBT - it sounded perfectly "me".

 

In Bottle : Primarily a very rich cacao

 

On skin : First I have to say, my skin is very pale...so when I put this very dark oil on, it really dirtied me up - haha. Right away there was strong chocolatey scent mixing in with peppery black musk. It was exotic, delicious, and spicy all at once. After about an hour...something scary happened, it turned completely play-doh on me. I never used to understand how oils could do that when reading other people's reviews, but now I get it. The thing is - it's not a cheap play-doh...it's like, a rich kid's play-doh.

I was settling with that, but then was pleasantly surprised to find that on the...

 

..Drydown : it begins to smell like faint cacao mixed in with a sweet tobacco. I smelled like a sexy lady in the midst of some fine gentlemen smoking cigars, evoking thoughts of a burlesque performer shimmying in between these men and tempting them with her deliciously scented chest - casting a trance over them while she casually takes the cigar out of a man's mouth and has it for herself. This is a very upscale scent to me. My bf said it was "unusual" but that he really liked it, he agrees with the inspiration for the scent.

 

Overall, it is a striking and sexy blend that promotes bold mischief and mystery. It fades away rather quickly, of course I consider about 3-4 hours quick, but there is a joy in knowing there is a reason to re-apply this gorgeous oil. GET SOME, I imagine it will age BEAUTIFULLY!!!

[spiresinthesnow]

Its like Tiresias and Boomslang rolled in cocoa dirt and had a baby. Its dark and bittersweet. Sensual and demanding, it softens up a bit as it dries but its still very deep and dark with a little more sweetness. It lasts forever! Very nice scent.

[AnArtfuldodger]

In the bottle: That is some FIERCE musk

 

Wet on wrist: This is really more like "sticky on wrist" because this bottle I got is a sticky blend, so sticky that when applied with a toothpick to my wrist, it smeared and I still can't get some of the dirt-like streaks to go away completely! But anyway (I'm not complaining here, I've just never had that happen before), wet/sticky on wrist, the black musk makes itself very well known. This is no fragile dainty perfume here, this is HOLY TITS perfume. Musk musk musk tobacco musk. Very heady. It wants to be smelled.

 

On the drydown: I'm a little scared of this perfume at this point. But, it's ever so slowly settling down. Well, sort of. The tobacco and cacao are mingling with the musk which is begrudgingly letting them come out to play, and slowly the tobacco fades, and seems more incense than tobacco. But the musk is definitely still the mistress of ceremonies here.

 

I'm going to leave this on for the evening and see how things progress from here. I'm definitely keeping it for aging purposes, because I think this will age beautifully. I don't think at this point I'm thinking multiple bottles, but this is very interesting.

 

(For personal chemistry reference, I'm a general foodie, and the only musk scent that's ever really worked on me has been Dorian which is my ME scent, but chocolate/cacao/tobacco scents are a go for me mostly, so this is a strange blend of maybe/yes/no scents.)

 

 

 

Edited to add conversation from last night:

[Grew up Catholic] Fiance: You smell like church

Me: *LOL*

Fiance: What?

Me: Your church smelled like the black temple burlesque troop?

Fiance: *LOL*

Me: Well, temple....church.....okay

Edited January 1, 2010 by AnArtfuldodger

[lilacea]

Most certainly black musk ids the first thing I notice, it's that edgy animalistic musk that you'd expect from the baudiness of burlesque. Mmm, the cocoa is lovely, deep cocoa absolute, like a fine liquor, not the drier clear cocoa oil you find in other blends. I'm picking up traces of cardamon, which I tend to get in black musk blends. Whether the black musk bouquet has cardamon in it, or if it a seperate part of this perfume, or if it's just a a cardamon like scent found in black muck blends, I can't say. I like it though, it gives a nice spice to the musk, adding to the sweat soaked sex appeal of black musk. Can't say the tobacco is too prominet in the wet stages. Dry down on this is lovely, there's a close to the skin almond scent, although I don't pick any almond in the wet stages like I normally do in oils that contain almond. The tobacco smooths and smells fine, sweet and lovely, like a good unlit cigar. It's musky and dark and smooth, close to the skin sexy. Definitely unisex.

[aquazoo]

Chocolate and alcohol. It's warm, which must be the musk. A bit of a dry dusty chocolate, like it's been sitting around for a while.

[ellebelle]

Tobacco-chocolate FAIL. The chocolate smells like a scratch and sniff sticker and the tobacco overwhelms the other two notes until the drydown.

[rayvn1]

Wow, burlesque vixens smell delightful! This is dark, dark musk on me (without the lemons I sometimes get from black musk). The cocoa and tobacco warm and darken everything into a sexy, nuzzling blend. mmmMMM! Can't wait to see how this ages

[voodoocatwoman]

Wet: Hello Cocoa!!

Dry: Hello Baby powder!!

 

[Suusje]

Not a whole lot of cocoa, a lot of dark and sexy musk with tobacco and a hint of lemon. I let my mom smell it and she said: 'huh, it's ok but not as good as the other one. It's a bit soapy'. And she's right, it did turn a bit soapy.

[Wildbriar]

This is a lovely blend wet out of the bottle. I get primarily ginger, cedar and a dry cocoa in a nice balance. The notes combined are not at all gourmand or foody but instead a warm, incensy blend evocative of winter nights spent by a natural wood fire (no smoke though, I promise) with someone wearing an old-fashioned cologne. Once this dries on my skin it goes very musty, dry and sweet, and not all that pleasant. It is perfect in my scent locket though because it holds onto that lovely "wet out of the bottle" warmth.

[jewelbug]

In the bottle, this is the most delicious blend of dry cocoa, heavy dark musk and rich tobacco.

 

On me, its musk, all musk, all the time. I can barely smell the the cocoa or tobacco, which were the two big reasons I bought this one! The musk is strong and goes very powdery and perfumey on me almost immediately.

 

I think I'm gonna hang onto it despite these results...I'm hoping that a little aging will help to take the edge off and give the cocoa and tobacco a better chance. I'm also hesitant to judge right now, since I'm pregnant and the hormones might be changing what it would otherwise smell like on me.

 

Overall: Not for me right now, but hoping aging and better hormones will have it smelling more like what it does in the bottle!

[KesHiro]

Even though I was very apprehensive about the notes, I'm so glad I opted to get a bottle of this before the Yules come down.

 

In the bottle, I get chocolate mixed with black musk. I don't get any of the tobacco and the musk makes the chocolate have a very grown up, non-foodie scent. Wet, I get the same, with a sweetish pipe tobacco starting to creep in. This is very ni~ice, smooth and sexy! Once the drydown begins, I do get a bit of a powdery note and for a short time, it did shift into baby powder territory, but then this warm, ambery chocolate blossomed out and beat down the baby powder. After a few hours, I'm left with cacao with that extra "oomph" that keeps it from smelling childish or foodie and instead makes it a rather naughty, "grown-ups only!" kind of scent. I wish the tobacco stuck around a little longer but I'm otherwise pleased.

 

When I smell this, I can't help but imagine a warm, friendly burlesque dancer taking a break between acts, have hot chocolate in her boudoir and discussing her favorite brownie recipe. Yes, you should have seen the look my mom and Mister Boyfriend shot me when I said this. For me it conjures up the image of sexy but comfy, exotic but domestic, powerful but also down to earth and friendly. You can easily wear this for a night on the town in your sexiest dress or for a night in while wearing your jammies and snuggly socks.

[SeaLady]

I really wanted to love this one, because. . . chocolate and burlesque, I mean, it just sounds so right!!!

 

Apparently in that it turns to powder and something sour on me. It has that slight sourness that a brick of baking chocolate has, and then there's a bit of a chocolate baby powder problem. If this ages well, I will hunt it down and love it forever. But for now, I'll just keep my imp and love the name, and wish that the combination of notes didn't hate my skin

[MCS4096]

Damn.. I have sooo many incense based blends, but this is just soo yummy. It's also the first time I've had a chocolately blend truly work on my skin (usually chocolate just smells gingery and fake)

 

This is warm, smokey (tobacco, not bonfire), powdery, resinous and musky which a very subtle hint of chocolate (really just adds a sweetness once the blend has dried down).

 

I would order a second bottle, but I do have a lot of good resin blends.. what to do.. what to do?!

[Cheri]

I am so happy that I recently ordered a bottle of this. I wasn't too sure when I first tried the decant, but took a chance anyway. Now that the decant is aged a bit its awesome! It a soft, spicy chocolate with just the right amount of throw. Love it!

[dawndie]

In bottle: bitter chocolate

 

On skin: Tootsie rolls!

 

Half-hour later: hot damn this is nice. Smutty musk with a dollop of dusky cocoa

 

In conclusion: what a great cold-weather blend, dark and dreamy. This and Now Winter Nights Enlarge were my big favorites this Yule.

[theseagrows]

in the vial i definitely sense the cacao and black musk as strongest notes-it's a rich vs. clean sort of scent that way. i am normally not a fan of cacao, but damn, on my skin this smells pretty good. i think the black musk and tobacco ground the cacao nicely so that i will be able to wear this. it's clean, dirty and sexy all at the same time...very nice!

 

[Rianna]

Sniff: For an apparently simple blend, this is a wonderfully complex smell. All three notes work together perfectly for a smoky, animalistic chocolate. I am going to cry if this doesn't work on me.

 

Wet: Musky chocolate. The tobacco backs up nicely, so it's slightly smoky but I don't smell like a chain smoker.

 

Dry: All three notes are still there, but the black musk has taken another step forward. It's not at all a foodie blend. The chocolate just adds a dark sweetness to the musk and tobacco. Very sensual and exactly what I'd hoped it would smell like. To think I almost passed on getting anything this Yule! This is definitely going into the regular wear rotation.

[misscoldheart]

At first I was worried because I really didn't like the way this smelled in the bottle or on me. After a short time, it did go powdery as musks onften do on me, but now it has settled in to a rich, deep, smooth scent that I know will be one in heavy rotation. I'm usually not good at picking out notes, but all of them are present in this one and now for a beautiful deep scent. Now, to find another bottle...