Chaos Theory VI: Recursive Self-Similarity v7

[Ondine]

#560. Previously reviewed by Livejournal owner as "Resins, black musk, opium, amber. Definitely a dark scent on me, I get some powderiness from the black musk and a bit of a 'perfumey scent' which I think is coming from the amber. I feel it has a similar 'feel' as Romanti. Goth (not as sweet or smokey though) and the Butter Arsenic proto, but with vanilla."

 

I agree with the resiny/smokey aspects. I couldn't wear Romanti.Goth because something in it went sour on me. This is similar--opium, smoke, etc.--but without that sourness. There's an oddly powdery note but it's not overly potent. Very nice for fall!

[lookingglass]

#325: Vanilla and what smells like apricot and light spices and honey! Mine, oh, mine, oh, miiiine!

[zankoku_zen]

#313

 

This one has the same vanilla base that Dorian does, in fact there's also lemon in it. The original owner told me that it smelled like 'sweet fruity candy'. I think a comparison to Dorian is much more apt. There is a dollop of sweetness to it, and some fruity freshness as well but overall, yes, very much like Dorian.

 

TASTY.

[mxtine]

#543. This little bottle has been around!

 

#543, previously reviewed on Livejournal as "slightly sweet, dark-ish vanilla, tart, zesty, zingy lime, a little booze (possibly rum), and something grassy/herbal, perhaps lemongrass and some fresh ginger."

 

Pretty much all clear here--no layers. It smells kind of like an evil Tiki Bar scent! I smell something greenish and herbal, but it's not a planting or floral type green, more like a herbal green as noted above. I do smell something citrusy and maybe it's lime or lemon. Not much lemongrass coming through. It's a really interesting, complex scent.

 

I received this via swap from The_Witching_Hour who described it as "Boozy Tahitian Vanilla".

 

I have to agree with all the above. It's a strong, boozy Tahitian vanilla with a zing. Unisex. It was very hard to tell what's in here. First, I got licorice which morphed into something like oak then sarsaparilla. When it's dry, it's a dry boozy vanilla with sarsaparilla and wafts of something herbal (lemongrass?) and sometimes woody (oak?). Mostly it's just making me crave a root beer float.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

#36 5mL from evanescence.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

This was described to me as vanilla and light honeydew melon (or green melon of some sort). While I hate eating honeydew (and most other types of melon except for watermelon), I'm learning that I really love the smell of it in BPAL blends.

 

I've never had fantastic luck with Chaos blends. There have been ones I've liked (both received from the Lab and bought with a general idea of the notes), but none have ever been OMG-amazing on me. I'm almost hoping I don't love this because I'm a slatherer and a hoarder and it's rough knowing I've only got one bottle of something I love. But the description of this sounds so pretty that I couldn't pass up trying it and risking falling in love.

 

First sniff:

 

Sweet, sugary melon (like melon syrup or very ripe fresh melon) and vanilla. I think it is honeydew, but the vanilla's sweetening it up to where it seems like it could be a mix of honeydew and another type of melon, something light pink, but not quite watermelon. I really like this so far.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Melon balls rolled in vanilla sugar. I get a little bit more fresh fruit than syrup now and it's lovely. This one seems to fall into the same rule-breaking category for me as 51 does. It's feminine and pretty and not my normal style, but I love it.

 

Dry down:

 

Fresh, sweet, juicy honeydew sprinkled liberally with vanilla sugar. This is actually pretty close to what I imagined Fée would smell like (in spite of all the florals) and somewhat like I remember it smelling like when it was fresh (my decants of Fee have turned into super strong watermelon Jolly Ranchers as they've aged, weirdly enough), but without the light florals.

 

The bottom line:

 

I've officially fallen in love with a Chaos blend for the first time. #36 smells whimsical, which I'm really enjoying. I don't have enough fun, light-hearted scents in my collection since my normal tastes run more toward the dark side, so I'm glad to have this to balance things out a little.

[zankoku_zen]

#462

 

On wet, there's definitely a touch of grape in this, but it essentially dries down to a vanilla cream soda. The cream aspect tends toward plastic on my skin. Sad, because otherwise this is pretty tasty.

[donnatron]

#32 (bought direct from lab)

 

Bottle: Achingly sweet berry/currant scent. I would hazard a red currant and raspberry? Little swirl of vanilla. Afraid I am about to be taken away by Calgon.

 

Wet: Definitely currant in this and the sweet, sticky vanilla from Tombstone. A bit of resemblance to Snake Charmer although definitely less complex. Also a similarity to Penis Admiration. It might be a little swirl of ho wood. There is a strong, tart, juicy berry in there. Not blackberry but it could possibly be raspberry or cranberry. Actually, the more I sniff this on the drydown it smells like a weird combination of Snake Charmer and Baneberry. Strange. Also: a little melon. This is a weirdass scent.

 

Dry: Berry watermelon vanilla. It's... weird. Not childish but definitely young. A little candylike. A little downright strange. It's not objectionable. Just an odd, candy sweet scent with a really... uh, adult vanilla behind it? The vanilla is not the candy sweet type. It's adult, it's sexy, it's a little smoky. And the fruit clashes with it in a kind of unimaginably dirty sort of way. I feel a little jailbait-y and I'm not sure how I feel about that. It is a lovely scent, probably I am ascribing way more to it than anyone else would.

 

Throw: Strong.

 

Overall: It is a sweet, warm vanilla with berry and melon that is somehow unspeakably dirty. On the plus side, I recall this smelling like cough syrup when I first got it so unspeakably dirty is definitely a step up.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

#139 5mL bought on LJ.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

This was described to me as boozy vanilla with a touch of musk, which sounds awesome. I asked what kind of booze, and was told it wasn't wine, gin or absinthe (which are about the only alcohol notes I don't like). I've got high hopes for this one.

 

First sniff:

 

Ooh, pretty! It's definitely a boozy vanilla. Not as boozy as XCDL13, but boozy all the same. There could be a touch of musk here (some kind of light musk...white, probably), or it could just be the combination of soft, fluffy vanilla and booze. It's not foody, but the vanilla is quite strong.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Stays the same as the bottle scent for about 2 minutes and then I start getting the dreaded wine note mixed with a very faint hint of spice. So it's mulled wine or wassail, I guess. I can't smell anything resembling wine in the bottle (so I don't blame the person I got this from for saying she didn't smell any; it's even possible it doesn't come out on her if she skin-tested it), but I apparently amp wine to the high heavens, so it's probably a very minor note that's just getting blown out of proportion. I was hoping this would smell the same on me as in the bottle.

 

Dry down:

 

Yay! I thought I was going to have to relegate this to the "only in a locket" collection, but the wine note disappears as mysteriously as it came on. It takes a couple hours to get to that point, but since I don't hate it in the in-between stages, I don't think I'm going to be forced to wear this in a locket.

 

On the drydown, it's beautiful. I get a gorgeous soft, fluffy, slightly powdery vanilla (not foody at all) with just a faint touch of booze of some sort. It's sweet (but not in a foody way) and comforting.

 

It seems to be a relative of several scents...Elf v4 (similar but slightly sweeter), XCDL13 (doesn't have the amber note and it isn't anywhere near as boozy), Antique Lace (no linen or florals, but pretty similar otherwise), Phyllocrania Paradoxa v1 (no sassafras and it's sweeter). I'd say it's closest to Elf v4, which makes me very happy.

 

The bottom line:

 

I thought this was going to be another "nice but not amazing" CT as most are, but the drydown on this is fantastic. It's similar to several other scents that I like or love, so it's definitely found its forever home with me. I'll just have to tolerate the middle drydown "wine of doom" stage. It's worth it to get to the later drydown, which I find prettier than the bottle scent, otherwise I'd just wear it in a locket.

[cfrancesca]

#567: I get dark vanilla, soft tobacco, resins, nag champa-type incense and woods. The woods and incense amp with time and I also start to get some musk.

 

#627: Vanilla orchid and soft champagne

 

#614: Fresh roses, bright vanilla and very creamy lemon tea

 

#511: Vanilla Buttercream

 

[Blood onmy hands]

553: This reminds me of Clockwork Couture: Female (the soft vanilla orchid and warm amber qualities) and the vanilla from Love's Philosophy (slightly powdery on me), with a hint of clean metal. It's a very feminine vanilla, in my opinion. I wasn't so sure about this at first, but within five minutes, the vanilla gets much sweeter and this is quite lovely on me.

[Geminirubyshoes]

#333

 

I recently purschased this from a fellow forumite. I missed out on the vanilla's when they were around and I finally managed to procure one.

This smells like Banshee Beat minus the patchouli...it's totally a dark Vanilla. Luscious and Seductive...I'm stoked also makes a great layering friend for Celeste!

[Alshneato]

I have-

Vanilla CT 245- watermelon hard candy- TDF!! with a tangy cream...

 

I have had but no longer do-

Vanilla CT 103- smokey vanilla cake

Vanilla CT 325- apricots and cream

Vanilla CT 33- plum pina colada cream touch of honey

Vanilla CT 406- vanilla cake frosting light musk

Vanilla CT 683- orange mango bubble gum cake

Vanilla CT 702- musk from Teatime in Roswell some light fruit

Vanilla CT 24- gingerbread musk

Vanilla CT 620- candy candy candy and then a floral note that reminds me of J Horror and Tiki v3

Vanilla CT 316- amazing honeydew melon and vanilla combo!

Vanilla CT 591- strawberry vanilla

Vanilla CT 631- Anti-Saloon with a creamier vanilla??

Edited June 5, 2013 by Alshneato

[parrot_suspect]

My bottle is 567, received in swap, previously reviewed here and here,

 

Opening the bottle, a wonderful powdery scent comes wafting out. It's soft and sweet, but not foody or buttery in any way. Incense-y, but not headshoppy. Kind of like vanilla nag champa. No plastick-y notes to be found anywhere. A previous reviewer described this as "fluffy" and I can see why.

 

Upon application, I'm getting more of the soft woods and nag champa,maybe a bit of golden amber. But as it dries down, a sweet dark vanilla drydown becomes more apparent, intermingling with the nag champa and powdery notes. Could it be musk that's making it so powdery? I am a powder fiend and this powdery, incensey drydown pleases me immensely. It has wonderful throw and surrounds me like a soft powdery cloud.

 

In any case, this bottle has found a permanent home with me; I adore this scent and can only wish it weren't a CT because if it were a regular oil, it would warrant mass hoarding and multiple backups.

[SurrealReality]

#42 (previously reviewed here and here)

 

A rich creamy vanilla, lime, cake, and fizz. This lime is a little unusual per BPAL limes…. it's sweet but not candied, a bit tangy but never sour, creamy but still light. It's like….. a lime smoothie note (too light to be key lime pie, but too creamy to be a fresh or candied). Lime tends to steamroll over other notes when on my skin, but not in this blend. Then there's the fizz. It's not champagne or any actual smell really. It's just effervescence. This scent stays pretty much the same on my skin.... definitely not a morpher. It has a decent amount of throw too (especially for a citrus scent) and has very good lasting power

[SurrealReality]

#82 (no previous reviews here, but the the original owner described it as vanilla and cake)

 

In the Bottle: Cream and amber. This is like Glowing Vulva WITHOUT the lotus blossom or teak. Even though GV isn't my thing at all, I think this is pretty in the bottle (probably because of the lack of teak... one of my most hated notes). Still though.... I'm not too optimistic about it since the amber in Vulva turned to weirdness once on my skin...

 

On my Skin: The cream is still lovely, but as feared, the amber has begun to smell a little like play-do (as amber always does on my skin). However, after just a few minutes the amber disappears almost completely. And then, a very creamy vanilla note appears along with the cake the previous owner mentioned. The cake has no frosting though, so despite the notes this isn't an extremely sweet buttercream icing type scent.... it's more of a soft sweet scent. Like a more foody Glowing Vulva that doesn't turn nearly as funky on my skin.

Edited February 21, 2012 by SurrealReality

[Monday]

#620

 

Wow this bottle has been around. Previous reviews here and here . I got it from a fellow countrywoman in a swap.

 

I can see where the other reviewers got the candy note from but if you were only expecting candy from this blend you'd be disappointed. However I'm not disappointed in this blend at all.

It starts out as candied oranges but quickly changes to a note that I can only describe as wafting amber. I have never encountered this note in any Bpal blend. This Chaos Theory is on the powdery side and I lubz it!

[Monday]

#245

 

For some reason I thought I had swapped this already.

Anyways. This oil has been reviewed before here. I completely agree with the other reviewer that this is watermelon! You can't miss it in this blend. It's quite a sugared yet still natural watermelon. Underneath that there's the vanilla making it nice and creamy.

It has a summery vibe but I have never been very fond of smelling like watermelon. Off to the swaps.

[zankoku_zen]

#63

 

This to me has to be straight up vanilla booze. It's like the heavy dark vanilla smell you get from vanilla extract with a slight rum overlay. In some ways, it makes me think of a vanilla rum cake.

 

Tasty, very wearable, very foodie.

 

Sadly, too foodie for me.

[Monday]

#672

 

Well this one is a simple. Tea with vanilla. The tea is of the Baobhan Sith variety, slightly lemony with a good throw. It darkens slightly when it dries and the vanilla gets stronger too.

As I'm not a huge fan of tea blends I can't see myself wearing this. Off to the swaps.

[zankoku_zen]

#205

 

Rich, bourbon vanilla, light musk (my guess is white) and a hint of shea butter which adds a slight watery dimension. This one is a creamy, vanilla musk scent.

 

Overall, it sticks close to the skin, and has very low throw on me.

[zankoku_zen]

#516

 

Caramel-like vanilla, hint of chestnuts. Foodie. On wet, it was slightly spicy. I think this might also have some tonka to it.

[Monday]

#236

 

I might have stumbled upon a masculine Vanilla Chaos.

In the bottle it's vanilla, oakmoss and something I can only describe as dill.

On my skin it's still a greenish vanilla. I can't really describe the green note, it may be oakmoss but it may also be something completely different (sage?). It gets spicier and there's a hint of tobacco when it dries. The vanilla amps considerably.

It's not necessarily masculine but it has a manly vibe to it. An interesting blend but not one for me.

[bheansidhe]

I also found a masculine Vanilla chaos!

 

#122 - Vanilla plus a distinctly masculine lime-and-oakmoss fougere. This softens and becomes less citrus-y as it wears and develops more of a mossy, woodsy base, rounded on the edges by the vanilla, but definitely a guy's cologne.

 

Also tested:

 

#15 - Sniffed from the bottle, I got O + White Rabbit + extra honey + a very foody, buttery vanilla + a really rich golden cream note, like saffron cream. Testing confirmed the presence of honey, because it turned to to scorched plastic, a result of my incompatibility with all things honey. I toughed it out, and about an hour later I was rewarded with a sweet, dusty dutched cocoa, saffron cream, and a very light hint of amber. Still nothing I could wear, but very nice for those what love those notes.

 

#33 - Vanilla and an intensely foody, juicy strawberry, with other pina colada notes in the background.

 

#165 - Vanilla plus maybe heliotrope, and shreds of some solidified resin or fruit skin. Frankincense? It read as overwhelmingly cloying and powder-sweet at first, but mellowed out on the skin.

[zankoku_zen]

Previously reviewed here

 

#15

 

Extra honey, golden cream note, and hint of saffron. There's something that smells kinda 'plasticky' to me, which is definitely BPAL's cream note. Light amber on the drydown.

 

Nice, but not my type at all.

[Monday]

#321

 

Well this is a difficult one.

Wet this is mainly vanilla with a kind of foody floral. It's a familiar scent but I can't recall what it smells of. It's nice and light, the vanilla is blending well with it.

When it dries there's something like almond and a hint of spices mingling with the vanilla.

This Vanilla Chaos starts out foody/floral but ends up more foody than floral. It's light as a scent but has a lot of throw, if that makes any sense.

All together it's a very nice scent, I'm sure I've smelled something like it before but I can't quite put my finger on the notes.