Aremata-Popoa

[thekittenkat]

AREMATA-POPOA
Blackberry brandy, Castillo rum, ouzo, and iced black tea.

Lots of blackberries, but these aren't fresh and just picked, they've been cooked with a simple syrup, and are sweet and tasty. Not getting any ouzo, thank goodness. And yes, the cool black tea scent does appear after a bit. A different version of the blackberry note. Very lovely.

[Lethran]

In bottle: The blackberry brandy is delicious and strong, the ruim and the black tea really fill it out and make it warm. The ouzo gives it an extra sting.Wet: this is so boozy I’d be worried about wearing it when driving for fear of giving the wrong impression. The blackberry is still strongest, but less stand out here. It’s also a touch less realistic. I like the tea/rum combination still, and wish it were the dominant effect here, but it’s not a bad blend as a group. Dry: This is lovely on the dry down. The blackberry turns into a delicate fruit aura infused with rum and tea. My skin historically loves the rum dry down and this is no different. It’s a lovely, fruity, androgynous blend, with a lot of potential for versatility. I’m happy.

[angelicruin]

Strong Blackberry Brandy on my skin. Smells amazing and I want a bottle of this!

[Venneh]

In the bottle, this is blackberries and anise and tea. Mmm. On my skin, this is blackberry brandy and anise liquor. This is the one that's working the best so far, so here's hoping it stays that way. Going onto a second skin test, just for how interesting it is.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Venneh

[astarinel]

Wet, the boozy blackberries are definitely the most prominent thing in this blend, with a tiny bit of anise floating around the edges.

 

As it dries, the sweet berries abate a little, the anise gets stronger, and it's a lot more about the alcohol than it was to start with. This is nice, but I preferred the wet scent with the heavy blackberries.

[SophieCedar]

I found this to be less sharp than many others from this collection. Creamy soft blackberry with almost a banana anise undertone. Then again, some of these arrived half full.. maybe the labbie mixed them up? Dunno!

[Leopard403]

Goes on warm and boozy, almost like strong suntan lotion. But it immediately turns into black licorice, and then it's gone in a flash. I really want to love this, so I'll put it away and try it again later.

[Iceblink]

Blackberry is almost always a good note for me and this is no exception...it's boozy blackberry with anise (that seems to get stronger as it dries) and it's delicious! And unusual...blackberry blends tend to be very sweet but this is much more balanced thanks to that anise. This is wonderful, and I will need more of it.

[Blood onmy hands]

I was excited to try this, because I'm a sucker for any scent that mentions tea. I'm not really liking this scent, though. I don't smell any tea, but I definitely smell the berry and rum. The rum is warm and smooth, and the berry is tart and a bit dry (not a juicy berry, but a bit on the sweeter side of things). I can't really pick out the anise that other people have mentioned. It's a tart, sweet, strong, chemical sort of berry (maybe like berry scented markers on me) with a silky, warm, boozy note that's almost a bit caramelized smelling on my skin. It doesn't really remind of the other blackberry scents I've tried from bpal. It's so artifical and chemical-y that it starts to give me a vicious headache after a while.

 

I almost got a full bottle of this one, but I'm glad that I just went with an imp, because this version of blackberry and rum isn't working for me, and the tea is nowhere to be found. A bit too tart and a bit chemical-sweet in a way that turns my stomach

Edited July 29, 2010 by Little Bird

[proserpine]

This ends of smelling like strong anise, brandy, and tea on me. I really wish the fruit made an appearance.

[RhinestoneHousewife]

I wanted to love this, but all I get is plastic doll arm and craft store smell.

 

Boo.

[whisperstilled]

In the imp: Blackberries and something almost like cologne? Must be the tea. Very strange scent, smells more like perfume than a drink, which is something one generally doesn't get from BPAL's foodie based scents. Not even particularly boozy, either.

Wet: Spicy blackberries, blackberries with a kick from the tea.

Drying: Pretty much the same, sweet enough, with just a tiny bit of boozy sharpness now that it's finally drying down.

Dry: Oh dear, not good. The drydown reminds me of something else from BPAL that I just can't place at the moment, but it fades pretty quickly and I am left with a tiny bit of tea and blackberry brandy, which has a strange, pickled sort of quality. I get almost no rum off of this, but on the final drydown it's no longer offensive, going back to the sweet blackberry I was looking for. Still, not enough to merit a bottle, I don't think.

Dry (5 minutes): I must say, this one is growing on me the longer it's on. Give it a chance to get through the unpleasant pickled-tea-weirdness and it sweetens up considerably, to blackberry with a touch of rum. I may or may not still swap this one out, but it's an interesting scent to say the least.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Whisperstilled

[hkhm]

imp: black berry booze and tea. yummy!

 

wet: this is a lovely blackberry tea scent. it smells only slightly spicy, yet i get no anise from it.

 

dry: lovely. this has softened and warmed to the most delicious tea and fruit scent, not strongly blackberry just rich fruit. will be getting a bottle.

[reynardine]

In the imp, this smells absolutely divine. On my skin, the brandy amps like whoa. And goes very sour. Still has that nasty, bitter note upon drydown. I think it must be the anise that is messing this one up for me. Since I loved the scent so much when it wasn’t on my skin, I’m going to use up the rest of my imp in a scent locket.

 

Also, imp from lab was only half full. Am disappointed about that.

[INFJ4w3]

Yuck...blackberry jam and honey, sickeningly sweet, with a bitter undertone. Cloying and strong. I had high hopes for this one, which are all dashed now. 1 star out of 5. I feel like I just crawled out of a giant jelly jar.

[musichappens]

Anise with only a hint of the blackberry brandy listed in the description. I don't pick up on any of the other notes listed and it doesn't last long on my skin at all. Oh well.

[moon_lemming]

I had to go through everyone else's reviews to figure out what I'm smelling. I don't know if it's because Aremata-Popoa is so well-blended or if it's just the combo of notes, but I couldn't pick anything out.

 

Now that I have more info, I can find the black tea, blackberry, and anise when the blend's on my skin. These are three notes I usually love -- but something in the mix is making it smell fuzzy in an off-putting, almost chemical way. Too bad.

Edited August 12, 2010 by karen

[Schmoozy]

Ouzo & rum. Or black licorice drenched in rum. The blackberries appear for 3 seconds and disappear just as fast. Doesn't really matter as this blend is complete fail from start to finish.

[Sultaana]

This turns out to be one of the Luau blends that I would rather drink than wear. Mysteriously vanishing blackberry note mixed with booze and anise. Sweet and delicious, but not wearable for me. Which is strange, because I love to wear some of the weirdest!

[zankoku_zen]

Blackberry brandy and a splash of tea. The tea dilutes some of the booziness.

[Monster]

In the imp: Sweet, fruity almond candy.

 

On my skin: I want to eat this. It smells of berries and almond, and sticky, syrupy sweet things. NOM!

 

Dry: As this dries the rum note really amps up on my skin. The berry notes soften a bit and it turns into a sweet and lovely perfume rather than a super foody scent. I LOVE this! The Tiki scents never disappoint!

[zagadka]

I get no tea

 

It would have been nice to lighten this up, its quite heavy and syrupy smelling. I get coconut syrup with a touch of almonds. The rum comes through on the dry down. It reminds me a lot of Elegba

[ami226]

On the skin: Wow! Berry and alcohol. Smells like a good drink! Very very syrupy. After a bit the berry seems to vanish a bit. Still quite a syrupy feel and still very alcoholic. This drink would be veeeery potent!

[plainjean]

Syrupy blackberry with ouzo and iced black tea on me. Only getting a little bit of rum, though. For me, it's more like really good blackberry candy than blackberry booze. I might need a bottle of this, to add some variety in my scents! Edited October 13, 2010 by plainjean

[ljaylh]

At first, I really didn't like this one too much. It started off with such a blast of alcohol that I couldn't find anything else in there - it was really strong on the booze smell. But then, after about 15 minutes on my skin, the boozy tones started to soften up and mellow out and I got a bit of a bubblegum-like smell going on. I hadn't read the notes at that point, so I was thinking maybe there's some strawberry or blueberry in here - I knew it was something berry, but the booziness was still getting in the way a bit.

 

So I left it alone for a bit, read the notes, and checked back at the 30-minute stage. It's completely changed now! The booze is still there, but it's in the background.. mostly rum, I'm not picking up anything anise/licorice like from the ouzo note, and I wouldn't have said 'brandy' if I didn't see it as a listed note but now that I know it's here then yeah.. maybe I can smell it. And blackberry is the fruit I could smell! And it's not turning to cat pee on me! Blackcurrant/blackberry often does the dreaded cat pee thing, but not in this.. it has an almost cherry-like smell to it, which is probably because it's more of a liqueur than a fruit. Black tea? Where's that?!? I honestly can't smell anything tea-like in here at all - on me, it's a fruity cocktail.. pretty much all rum and berry. Having said that, it's actually quite nice - but definitely one for those who enjoy their BPALs on the boozy side