Romanti.Goth

[GypsyRoseRed]

ROMANTI.GOTH
Dark vintage musk enrobed in a velvet black swirl of plum, precious resins, opium tar, sweet incense, and Nepalese amber.

Given that the notes in this are some of my favorites, I expected to fall in love with Romanti.Goth. In the bottle, it's resiny and mostly incense, opium tar and some resins. I was hoping it would warm up and blossom on my skin, with the plum coming out to play and give it a little more dimension but it really didn't. What I got was powdery incense. Very pretty and all, but not quite what I expected though I have a feeling my wonky body chemistry screwed me. I'm looking forward to seeing how this ages, though.

ETA: 30 minutes after I posted this review, it changed again! It suddenly became richer and deeper, a little smokier and sweeter. WIN! Edited May 3, 2010 by GypsyRoseRed

[fairnymph]

Daaaaaaaaaaaark. Really, really dark, resiny, incensey, smoky, rich, heady and intense - everything I don't want in a scent. This one scared me in the bottle. I couldn't get much plum or musk, notes I DO like, it was all resins, incense, and OPIUM most of all. I am sure this will be popular, but I didn't like it at all myself.

[edenssixthday]

Romanti.Goth - This is probably my second-favorite of the Bat's Day exclusives this year. It's dark and resinous, heavy on the opium and incense, and the plum give it just enough juicy sweetness to make it totally interesting. It's extremely dark and heavy, and evokes images of cast-iron candelabras with blood-red candles dripping mounds of molten wax down their sides casting shadows against the heavy, drawn velvet shades, while the angsty cries of Peter Murphy mingle with the clove-laden cigarette smoke swirling through the air. Oh, this is definitely a Romanti-goth's dream scent! It's rich, heavy, dark, smoky, sinister, sexy, gorgeous, and sweetly seductive. It's the "gothiest" of all the Bat's Day goth scents.

 

 

See the cute little South Park Goth Kid on the right? He would TOTALLY wear this:

 

 

 

 

[MCS4096]

Fantastic! I got a lot of amber when first applied, but as it dries it is mostly opium.. and boy is it yummy It smells like velvet feels.. not really warm, but thick and lush and dusty and deeply colored. I also wish i could get a bit more plum, but we'll see if it comes out in time.. even so this is a delicious blend!

[slave1]

Romantigoth

 

In Bottle: Incense

 

On Skin: Wow, this is much smokier than I imagined. It also has a very tart edge to it... I thought the plum would sweeten it, but the plum doesn't really come forward on me sadly. This scent is "Super Resin" and absolutely very "Goth". I actually grew up as a "deathrocker" (we didn't call it goth back then... lol!) and this reminds me of the perfumes and scents I smelled everywhere around me back then. The opium is gorgeous and deep, exotic and hypnotizing. I can see all the velvet, lace and long silver necklaces we wore back then... and especially our infamous bat buckle boots. Gah! the memories! Yes, this one will be in my rotation, especially since I've been feeling sentimental for those days lately. Strong throw and a long wearlength.

[Delirium1009]

This scent smells like the inside of a fortune teller's shop. It's dark and thick, like black velvet shot through with glittering purple-grey threads. Mostly, this is opium and incense with deep resins in the background, and just a small bit of plum to sweeten it. It's very dry and almost powdery, but still a very rich scent.

[ami226]

Ooooh! Dark and incensey! Wow, this is good! No hint of smoke! A sweet incense (from the plum?) yet this doesn't smell fruity.

 

Hmmmm, I think I can slightly smell something a bit soapy (the amber?), but it is still pretty good!

 

I will have to test this one again!

 

-ETA-

Slightly soapy smelling incense.

 

Not for me at all.

Edited July 8, 2012 by Catseyes

[Geminirubyshoes]

Romanti Goth is like a smokier, heady-er Velvet Dogs Playing Poker to my nose. Actually I feel like if I put VDPP on and then put a little bit of Gothic Horror over that it would be similiar to Romanti Goth. And yet Romanti Goth is soft, comforting and lush with a little bit of sass. This has crazy staying power, I put this on before I went to bed last night and when I woke up I still smelled like it. This would be an amazing smell on a boy. Soooo goood

[violetblue]

Oh I was so excited for this one, but when I opened it up and sniffed it, I went The tiny bit I sampled smelled better on than in the bottle, but just wasn't for me - I think the guilty party may have been the opium tar but not sure. I can't describe it, but it has an odd underlying funky smoky thing going on I had never experienced before and a bit too sharp for me. Sad to say it but this one just didn't work out, off to swaps you go...

[hlemonds]

Unfortunately I may have to echo Violetblue on this one. I only tested a few droplets from the cap, but daaaang this stuff is potent! And unfortunately it is quite harsh to my nose. I can see where lovers of very dark, smoky, incense blends would like this, but I think it might be a bit too much for me. I'm not certain if the opium is the culprit, making this too sharp, but whatever it is.....yeah. The plum and musk were what drew me to this blend, and I'm not getting any of those on my skin. Probably off to the swaps for this bottle, hopefully for something I can enjoy more.

[angelicruin]

I'm in love. Very dark, resinous. One of the few BPAL blends where I can smell EVERY note. Most predominant notes on my skin though are dark musk and incense.

[countessmouse]

I usually can't wear dark scents so this one had me a little nervous. Dark incense in the imp and almost overwhelmingly resinous on my skin, to the point I almost washed it off. Glad I decided not to, because the plum added a sweetness that I just love mixed in with the incense and opium. A very long wear length too -- I could still smell it when I got up the next day.

[pinkgyrl]

This one is such a morpher! The scent is incredibly strong when you first apply it - smoke, resins, and musk - it is a very dark scent. I kept thinking - Romanti.Goth? Huh. Hehe. As it sinks in, the plum finally comes out to play (it took about 30 minutes to an hour on me) - and the "darkness" smarts to smooth out - and it really is gorgeous - romantic in the pale skin and blood red lipstick way. The plum is so subtle and is amazingly well-blended - tart, at first - and then just rounding out to a very slight sweetness that uplifts the heavier notes. So sexy!

[naeelah]

I have tried probably every incense blend the lab has ever released, looking for the ideal one. Somehow they all end up being ideal in a way -- it's amazing how many variations Beth can produce on this theme.

 

I've been trying black/dark incense blends for ages and never found one that really grabbed me, but when I saw the notes for this, I knew it was the holy grail. This stuff is DARKNESS. Blends like Penumbra and On Darkness were beautiful and complex, with carefully balanced resin, floral, fruit, and earthy notes.

 

Not RomantiGoth. This still is Ubergoth-ness in a bottle. It's just as dark as the lab's other black incense blends, such as Al Azif, but the incense notes are *completely* different. It isn't sinister, it's heady and even a bit swarthy.

 

The musk is what really sets it apart from other black incense blends. It smells like black musk, to me. It isn't advertised as such, but on my skin, it's how it smells. The musk is very strong. In fact, this whole blend is very strong. I put on the usual amount, and it gave me a headache. So use a light touch if you're sensitive, because a little goes a long way. (On the other hand, smelling like a walking nag champa censer is part of the GAF experience, so, do as you will.)

 

I don't really smell plum. I don't really smell opium (the way you sometimes get that sickly sweet quality on the finish). I don't really smell specific resins and I don't really smell amber. I just small black musk and black tar, with a hint of sweetness and a whole lot of velvety darkness. This is very smoothly blended.

 

It lasts a good long time. I'm in hour 12 now and it's still very noticeable. After several hours, the musk recedes and you can begin to smell the balance of different elements. I'd swear there is bitter clove in this. (It's RomantiGoth, there must be cloves.) I forgot it was supposed to have plum in it, and I thought, this would be really to die for layered with Bordello or another plum-heavy blend. Hopefully the native plum will become more apparent over time.

 

As it stands, it's unisex darkness in a 5mL bottle. It's already magnificent, and I'm sure it will only become richer and more complex with age. Check this out if you want a seriously heady incense blend.

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this smelled kinda scary. Dark, heavy incense with some perfumey sharpness from the opium.

 

On my skin, this morphs into instant love for me. Black, dark, heavy incense notes with what smells like a hint of smoky black musk to me (and maybe a hint of patchouli and beeswax? something reminds me very much of fresh, 2006 version Luperci in the drydown). The amber adds a rich, subtle sweetness to the blend. I can't pick out the plum at all, and thankfully I don't smell any opium notes on my skin. It's just the most amazingly dark, sexy, incense notes. It also smells very dry to me, without being dusty or powdery at all. It's an intense, unique fragrance.

 

Romanti.Goth definitely smells dark and gothy, and conjures up images of heavy, black clothing and darkened rooms. I think that this is the darkest, sexiest scent I've ever tried from bpal...

 

I'm going to cherish my bottle of this. It's amazing.

[sirensea]

Oh, pretty! My skin amps the amber and incense notes most of all, with some nice deep, dark plum to give it a little sweetness.

[bloody sore]

Oh, I had such high hopes for this one. And it is horrid with my skin chemistry and nose.

It starts out pretty sweet but quickly turns into this super amped up, headache inducing thing that I believe is amber. Which I usually like. But not in this case. I get super heady (and not in a good way) amber doused in cheap high school boy cologne. With a twinge of the feared 'green bell pepper' note of doom, which until now I had thought was what the lab calls dried leaves, but apparently is not. Super disappointing, this isn't even a scent I could see myself loving after some aging. I hope I can swap it for something good.

[pinkstardust420]

Whoa. This is DARK and STRONG incense when first applied. No smoke. My first thought? Swap. TOO STRONG. Gah! But wait! After about 25-30 minutes, the musk starts to soften up a touch, and a slight sweetness from the plum comes into play and this is where it really shines. I really do like this blend. I'm interested to see how it ages! Takes about a good half hour to get the true scent. By the way, you only need a TEENY tiny drop of this on your skin!

Edited May 15, 2010 by pinkstardust420

[cgleichman]

My first scent review! Forgive my inexperienced nose, please. I was frimped a testable amount by a wonderful gal, and I couldn't be more greatful! The notes in this scent are among my favorites, so I suspected I would love Romanti.Goth, and I was not disappointed. For me, the note that stands out the most is the opium tar. I don't get any plum or amber, and maybe a minute trace of the dark musk, resins, and sweet incense. I prefer the dark scents, so this one is definitely a winner for me! I will be sucking that frimp dry, and looking for a bottle (or two, or three...)!

Edited May 15, 2010 by cmjames

[schackjj]

I skipped straight to slapping this sucker on my skin aaand... leather? Anyone else get that? No one? *looks around*

 

An hour later: Still leather.

 

Later still: Yup. Leather. This one really hangs on too.

[saralaughs]

WHOA strong. Teeny, tiny drop is right. Bah!

 

Strong, dark, powdery incense. After about 10minutes it calms down and sweetens up a bit. The amber is taking this out of total darkness and lending a rich, golden feel to it. The powderiness also lightens up. It's not so in-your-face grandmother's powder puff, you know? It's more a hint of a silky, dry feel than anything. The plum starts to give it a bit of a dark fruity feel as well.

 

It's dark and deep yet very sweet. Mysterious almost. Very nicely blended and quite beautiful. Just not something that I would wear that often.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I'm thrilled to have a decant to try, as this and Victoriana.Goth are the two types of Goth I relate to best...which admittedly isn't reflected in my wardrobe as often now I'm out of grad school and office-appropriate, but I do habitually dress romantic-with-dark-touches at least. I get dark musk and opium mostly--it's almost as dark as Smut. I don't really get much plum, which is a shame. Good staying power, although powdery on the drydown. Definitely gender-neutral. I would have to say that I prefer Gypsy Queen or Queen of Spades (where I do get tons of plum) for a more feminine version of the same family as Romanti.Goth, but I will certainly use my decant. I wish I'd had it when I went to the Goth club the other night.

[cuervosueno]

I thought I'd love this, but not so much. It does remind me of velvet--the fabric, not the scent--but old, dry, crumbling velvet that has been dusted with incense ash.

 

I like incense, but I had hoped this would be a bit sweeter from the plum. Instead it is dark and dry.

 

It's ok, and certainly suits it's name, but it is not a keeper for me.

[SophieCedar]

I felt the same way as gyspyredrose.. before I lost hope, I tried slathering a second layer on there. That did the trick!

 

Ah romance, sweetness, incense, and opium all through a rose tinted lens. That pretty much all I have to say. It's really lovely.

[Molls]

The notes in this one really sounded good - I was hoping for lots of plum, amber, musk, and sweet incense. Unfortunately it's a dusty, dry incense, and I'm not really a fan of dusty scents.

 

ETA: the drydown is very nice though, definitely a keeper!

Edited May 21, 2010 by Molls