Story Time at Dark Delicacies

[glcastil]

STORY TIME AT DARK DELICACIES
Heavy oak shelving, cracked leather bindings, incense-soaked parchment, ancient inks, baneful aromatic herbs, and crumbs of spilled sugar-glazed lemon butter cookies that have been accidentally dragged from the kiddie section of the store.

This scent confuses me; I really can't tell if I love it from the intrigue or if I just want to love it.

Wet, I get a blast of oak, Misk. U style. This is heavy, smoky wood, which basically predominates the entire time. Up close, it's a little suffocating, but whenever I move my arm, I can get a sweet, smoky waft of oak. Mmmm.

This next part's a little strange. Something in here--maybe the ink + herbs?--gives off a metallic, bitter note, but that's only if I breathe it in deeply, and it's still buried under all the oak and incense. In general, I get a tobacco-y, almost bitter cocoa feel, but there's something soft and golden, like butter, that warms it up. It makes me confused, because I think it's going to be delicious, so I inhale, but every time I inhale I'm left with a bitter taste in my mouth--literally and figuratively.

Finally, much longer into the wear, it turns into cupcakes! They're faint, lemony, and sweet, but there's a kiss of a bakery note in here, riding right on top of the oak/bitter coca vibe I'm getting, which makes it a dusty cake. Damn those cookie crumbs, Beth really did it. When I greedily try to inhale right from my skin, I get the incense-y wood. Still so confusingly delicious. Like the time you find obviously stale sugar cookies or brownies, and you want so badly to eat them, because they still give off that sugary-sweet vibe, but you know you shouldn't because you're just going to make your tongue and teeth really, really sad because it's just going to be hard and flavorless. It's just like that with my nose: wafting up to my nose, I get a cookie vibe, except when I turn my attention to it, it disappears, and all I'm left with is the sweet, smokey, faintly buttery oak.

Story Time is so odd. I think I might be in love with this because it's so damn tricky. I actually have given myself a headache trying to huff the cookie scent, and only getting oak in return. Either way, I'm keeping it because i want to see how this thing is going to age.

UPDATE: Okay, an hour later this is exactly what I was hoping for: sweet, buttery, lightly baked goodness with a hint of spice from the incense and wood. It almost feels like it glows, that's how warm and creamy it is right now. Also, there's a bit of a dry bit in here--this could either be the herbs or the parchment, but it has a "dusty stack of paper" vibe.

*Edited because late nights make me forget verbs and articles.* Edited December 5, 2009 by Shollin

[Lycanthrope]

Hrm, this seems to have a similar feel to Pfefferneusse, with the powdery sugar. Likely this from the lemon cookies. It has an overall ginger-y spicy feel that is deeper than the prior scent, also appears to have a very rich, sultry quality similar to Shub-Niggurath, but with less raunchy deep musks. Over time, this scent definitely veers a bit towards foody... I think, more yellow cake with a scraping of lemon gratings, powdered sugar. As above, this definitely has woodsy notes peeking out every now and then, so it's not a pure foody fragrance.

 

I am confused. But I like it. Not sure if it's > than Pfefferneusse to me, but it's definitely moar different.

 

I was afraid the lemon would amp on me, but it's quite subtle.

[angelicruin]

Initially, quite sharp on my skin. Definitely getting the wood , parchment, and ink notes along with spicy incense. Just before it completely dries, I pick up the distinct scent of lemon butter cookies. I'm always amazed how dead-on Beth gets these fragrances.

[Blood onmy hands]

I don't tend to like lemon (too sharp on me) and I never think that the book/library themed perfumes really smell like old books, so I wasn't sure what to expect from Story Time. That said, I LOVE THIS. It really does smell like old books and the lemon really does smell like a sweet, pleasant lemon cookie <3. I get mostly lemony sugar cookies at first and the book smell comes out in the drydown as the cookies disappear.

 

The drydown is like old paper, a hint of the softest, aged leather note, and a hint of incense that ties everything together and makes this smell just like a bunch of old books on me. It's really amazing how accurate it smells. It's the first perfume I've ever had that really captures that smell for me, and I've tried a lot of scents that were supposed to smell like books & libraries.

 

This scent doesn't have much throw at first, but it does get stronger on me in the drydown.

 

Story Time is just wonderful . I might need a second bottle of this one.

Edited December 10, 2009 by Little Bird

[Iceblink]

Whoa--this is intense herbal incense. Really strong with a lot of oak. I smell some leather and dusty/musty books as well. No cookies! The herbs and wood put this firmly into the manly-smell pile for me.

[Dark Alice]

The lovely greylen let me try this at the last meet n sniff.

 

Wet: Lemon cookies with a bit of dust.

 

Drydown: Dusty Lemon Cookies. Sweet Dusty lemon cookies.

 

Final drydown: REALLY SWEET DUSTY LEMON COOKIES!

 

*sigh* but this one is not for me.

[AlarmAgent]

In Bottle - Dust, wood, a little bit of incense.

 

Wet on Skin, First Applied - Hmm, definitely mostly still wood--the slightest little bit of sweet lemon. I was worried it would just smell like a polished table, but it definitely smells like a lemon cookie buried under piles of broken up tables.

Dry, on Skin - The lemon, as little as it is, dissipates pretty quickly and what remains is an herbaceous oak table. I amp wood to a maddening degree, so mileage will definitely vary with this one. Lasts forever, but doesn't waft much so far.

Edited December 16, 2009 by AlarmAgent

[thekittenkat]

 

In the imp: Sweetness, herbs, and oak.

 

 

Wet: There's the sugar from the cookies, alright, and a nice bakery smell from the cookies. But now the oak shelves full of old books are falling down on the cookies. Oh noes!

 

 

The dry-down: More oak than anything else, though there's still a hint of those sweet cookie crumbs. And here I was hoping for something like Sunshine Bakery's Lemon Coolers. That company was bought out by Nabisco, I think, and these cookies, which looked like danish wedding cookies, but were very lemony and sweet-tart, stopped being made. No lemon, here, folks, move along, these aren't the droids you're looking for. Sweet oak? Maybe.

 

At any rate, this scent reminds me of another oil in the BPAL catalog. When I figure it out, I'll come back and add it to this post.

[fairnymph]

Sweet and foody for sure, definitely sugar-glazed butter cookies though not necessarily lemon ones. But there is a lot of oak and incense, a dark heavy base to this. I do get the leather and ink and the faint herbs, too. Very complex.

 

Lighter on my skin - I get the lemon, which is really delicious, a lot more of the leather and ink, and the parchament note which is sort of airy and dry and clean. I do also get some spice now, clove and nutmeg. It's still very very complex. The oak remains a strong, heavy presence but it's very nice, not overload.

 

This softens greatly as it dries down, though it doesn't fade much and it has fantastic throw. The parchament, leather and oak hold best but the light touches of lemon-foody and herbs and ink are there too, with a definite incense note grounding the whole blend. It's unlike any BPAL I've tried and I think would suit both sexes. Too spicy-incensey and not the right sort of leather for me, but this is a well-made scent.

[Chapanis]

At first I can smell the lemon cookies with some oak in the background. As the lemon fades away the leather and incense warm it up along with the oak staying strong. On the dry down the ink shows itself just a tad.

Overall, oaky, incensey, lemon cookies with a sniff of leather in the background. Just what I had hoped it would be.

[kerikeri]

Initially this is all lemony cookies with leather and a hint of herbs/resins-- it has a similar feel to Mr. Nancy. The cookie scent fades out fairly quickly, and for a few minutes it smelled strongly of cologne, but it eventually settled into a slightly spicy, dusty incense with a hint of sweetness. It's not a dead-on old books scent on me, but it is evocative of that kind of atmosphere, and I do get whiffs of that ink and parchment occasionally.

 

I do like it-- I'll have to test it more to see if it's something I'd actually wear, as the cologne stage worries me, but I like the final drydown and as a librarian I'd love to find a book-related scent that works on me.

[zankoku_zen]

Lemon cookies, leather and dusty woods. Odd.

 

For those that were fond of Aziraphale and Miskatonic University, check this out.

[reynardine]

Heavy on the oak, lemon and dust. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this, but I keep sniffing my arm. The blend really works well on me. Bottle.

[elenore]

Huh. WHen I first put this on, I thought for sure it was not going to be a keeper. Despite the lemon cookies, there is a pungent scent that right away turned me off-is it leather, books, herbs? not sure...but I was feeling very sad and disappointed. I keep trying these library/book scents in the hopes that they will work on me. I decided to wait a bit longer though, and after it dried, I suddenly realized a nice soft smell was drifting up-slightly sweet, still a little sharp but mellowed, somewhat dusty. and I can smell the incense now. It's interesting, and a real morpher. I think I'll give it another chance.

[claudia6913]

In the Bottle: Wood and parchment - a little bit of herbs. Very intriguing.

 

Wet on skin: Much more of the wood is coming out, almost to the point of excess, there's some parchment, ink, incense and herbs under there. I feel almost like there is a bundle of sage hanging from each wooden bookcase, and I'm surrounded by it all. It's not bad, but just a tad overwhelming.

 

Drydown: Still very deep, woodsy, and full of herbs and some incense wafting nearby.

 

I eventually had to wash this off as it was just too much incense and herbs for my delicate senses. I will put it away to age, and hopefully after I have my kiddo it'll be better, both on my skin and just in general.

Edited February 8, 2010 by claudia6913

[Schmoozy]

 

Bone dry oak, with whiffs of well worn leather, dusty paper and lemon. It's woodsy, herbal and very soothing. The incense is almost non-existant to my nose, but every once in awhile I can catch just a hint of it. It's the same with the lemon cookies, their barely noticeable, but they add to the aromatic herbs. I find this to be very soft on my skin, which confuses me, because most of the time woods, herbals, leather and incense amp.

[edenssixthday]

Story Time at Dark Delicacies - In the bottle, it smells like paper and wood, which isn't my type of thing, so I took forever to get around to actually testing it. I was really surprised when on my skin, I immediately smelled a delicious foody scent (butter cookies! yum!) and lots and lots of lemon rind and herbs....although the herbs remind me of those used in Eshe, which is actually kind of a strange juxtaposition of scent-memories. Anyway, as it dries down, the butter cookie scent goes away, and I never do smell the leather in it. The lemon note gets pulled into the overall herbal scent, and this becomes a very strongly sweet herbal scent with a woody base. It's a truly awesome scent, but I can't decide if it's something I want to wear as a personal fragrance or not. I think it might be a really good scent to wear if I'm going to be outdoors in the early morning shopping at the farmer's market. I only tested it so far at home. I'll have to give it a "real life" run to see how I like smelling it around me as I'm going through the course of the day.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

it's like going to The Lurid Library wearing a sweater that still smells faintly of Dorian. but woodsier. and i think the cafeteria must be nearby, and they're making stuffing.

[filigree_shadow]

Nice! It does smell like oak and paper. The herbs were a little strong at first but got softer as it dried, and the lemon cookies are just a smidge. Not overly lemony at all. Mostly that part of it just seems to be contributing something fresh-smelling to the scent. It's very warm and comforting to me.

 

My husband loves scents like Misk U and Lurid Library -- and they smell great on him -- so after I discovered I like this I passed the decant over to him to try. He likes it too! So it's a winner for both of us.

[Gin]

Yup, wooden shelving, books, and lemon cookies. An herby-incensy note comes forward while the lemon recedes. The buttery cookies are still there, but I think it's not quite foody enough for me.

[gniwle]

Mmmm! I love the smell of lacquered wood, so this was a no brainer. This starts off as sugar cookies (no lemon) and then it turns into delicious oak-y goodness splashed with ink. The dry down reminds me a LOT of Doc Constantine's Medicine Show atmo spray (something a snuffle like a crazy crazy person when I spray it!).

[virusq]

I really wanted this to work, so imagine my surprise when it actually did.

 

The green woody smells tend to evaporate on me, so when the heavy ashy oak smell and the used leather/paper smell came out and shook my hand, I was shocked. There’s something dark and bitter there, like ashes but not quite as hot. I’m assuming that’s the baneful aromatic herbs -- they really do make you stand up and pay more attention. But then, there’s also a burnt sugar smell to go along with it, like the bottom of the cake pan after you burn the cookies.

 

It … really does smell like a used book store. Amazing.

[MiasmaResonance]

Definitely smell the oak and leather, with a hint of sweetness. Reminds me of an atmo. spray, maybe Gertrude Dix's.

After it settles a bit the smell is more sweet than before. Yum.

[brilliantcat]

Wet: Herbs, lemon, a hint of dust and ink perhaps? The herbs and lemon are strongest. It's certainly not at all off-putting at this point though I'm hoping for some of the deeper notes to come through, like the woods and incense. The description had me absolutely hooked.

 

And there's the smoky woods and a hint of the metallic, like blood almost. It's probably the ink. I'm definitely put in mind of an old bookshop. I'm so excited this is turning out just how I wanted!

 

Upon retesting, I get a lovely woodsiness overlaid with cookies. On-skin, it's gorgeous buttery cookies with dry woods and a smidge of the ink. Not as lemony as my first test by far, I get barely a hint of it. Whoa, the wood note amps up quickly! It's quite evocative, and I can easily picture nibbling cookies, sitting in a squishy fat chair in a bookshop with the wooden racks gleaming with polish. I get a whiff of the tea I would surely be drinking!

Edited September 18, 2013 by brilliantcat