Thirteen (13): August 2010

[GardenCat]

A base of bitter dark chocolate with thirteen baneful and beneficial bits including pimento berry, pink pepper, tolu balsam, bergamot, golden honey, tobacco absolute, champaca flower, and paprika.

I don't get much chocolate at all. I think the champaca flower overpowers everything else. So sad, this one doesn't work that well for me. Edited September 14, 2010 by GardenCat

[milo]

Wet, dark chocolate. Pretty soon, a most lush, juicy berry comes out, which Im guessing is the pimiento berry. The chocolate fades into the background, and the berry is forefront now. It kind of reminds me of the juiciness of Australian Copperhead, but with a dark non foody chocolate. This is a lovely take on a summer 13 blend. I really like this, and will certainly enjoy the rest of my imp!

[Blood onmy hands]

I think that pink pepper might smell like spicy pink bubblegum on my skin :/. Very sweet, very pink bubblegum with a slight, spicy zip to it. I smell a light, bitter chocolate note way underneath the bubblegum. Something about the whole thing smells chemical-y to me as well, like scented markers.

 

I expected this to be darker and to have more depth to it. I expected honeyed tobacco and wood notes. What I get is a mix of bubblegum scented markers (pink!) and a chocolate scented marker. It doesn't smell like a good perfume scent on me.

 

I think that this is my least favorite Thirteen ever

[edenssixthday]

Thirteen (8/10) - I don't usually like the Thirteen blends, as they're usually way too chocolatey and foody for me, but this one... this one's a winner! It doesn't smell good to me at all in the bottle. In the bottle, I'm mostly smelling chocolate, pink pepper, and bergamot (three of my least favorite notes) with a bit of honey (which is "iffy" on me). But I tried it anyway, because we all know how BPAL can change with skin chemistry, and sure enough, it blossoms into something positively gorgeous on me. I keep catching wafts of it and just can't believe how good it smells! The dark chocolate note is there, but it doesn't turn to dust or plastic on me as chocolate usually does (dark chocolate seems to work better on me than any other chocolate), and I can't smell the pink pepper or bergamot at all on my skin once it dries. The honey note is there, and its one of the sweet, smooth honeys that doesn't smell cloying or sickeningly sticky. I think the pimento berry is what's making all the difference here -- I'm discovering over the years how much I love that little note. It just really smells both sweet and spicy on me at the same time and is awesome! The tobacco grounds the scent, but it's not too earthy. This is a beautifully-blended scent, and while I put the bottle up on my sale page after sniffing it, now that I've gotten up the nerve to try it on my skin, I'm taking it off my sales page and hoarding it for myself.

[Sultaana]

Spicy tobacco honey pepper chocolate. Oh my god, this is divine! Not a boring or foody chocolate smell. The fruitier version of Calaveras!

[surlygurl]

Wow. This is the most un-chocolate 13 I've ever smelled. It smell like fruit. Specifically, like hard candy, like those fruit flavored hard candy stick coated in milk chocolate. Except I don't smell the chocolate. Well, maybe as a grounding agent. This is weird. I'll retest this soon and edit this if need be.

[Voleuse]

Hm. This is fruitier than other 13s have been; the chocolate is a faint grounding note, rather than the predominant one. I like the complexity of it--there's a pink fruitiness to it, as well as a hint of pepper and florals. The chocolate--a dark, barely sweet chocolate--is a little more prominent over time, but it never does more than balance the fruitier notes. It also fades quickly on me, so overall I don't have a strong reaction to the blend. It's nice, though--just not for me.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Oddly, I smell grass, with just a touch of chocolate

 

Wet on me - Still very green, although the berries start to come through in the background

 

Dry on me - A faint berryish scent

 

Overall - It very nearly comes to life, but my skin just eats most of the notes

[zankoku_zen]

Sadly, no dark chocolate or tobacco for me. I get the bergamot on wet, blast of pink pepper and it dries to a pink pepper chocolate, or rather a pinkish, floral slightly spicy chocolate.

[aquazoo]

Boozy chocolate! The chocolate fades and I get the aftermath of too much drinking. Not good, not on me.

[filigree_shadow]

Thirteen usually works for me, unless the herbs are too strong. This is one of the ones that works. I can tell it has a chocolate base, but it's well blended with other notes. It smells a little dry and golden, and not creamy. It's sweet but not too sweet.

 

Hmm. My reviews of Thirteen sometimes say, "Oh, this is nice, but the orange label 13 is still my favorite." I might need to do some side-by-side testing with this one to find out if orange label is still my favorite after trying this version. This one is a contender.

[lilwhiterabbit]

Caveat: I've never owned nor tried a 13 before, so I can't compare this one to any of the others. What I can say, however, is that I loved my decant of this scent enough to eventually buy a whole bottle. On me this smells like the darkest of dark chocolates, almost uncultivated, just barely sweet, with a hint of honey to warm it up. The tobacco and spices are mostly in the background, deepening it, and there's something faintly salty going on, though I can't put my finger on what. Overall, this is a very well-married, complex blend, with dark chocolate as a dominant base note combined with honey. I've only recently decided I like chocolate blends, as long as they aren't milk chocolates, so I may have to try more versions of 13 in the future.

[SophieCedar]

This was my wedding day, so this is a very special perfume to me. My brand new hubby walked into the room when I 1st tested it and started sniffing like a hound dog all over the room, trying to locate the source of this wonderful smell he liked so much. I was of course very happy to tell him it's our wedding day BPAL 13 perfume.

 

Wet: The chocolate is silky and dark, spices are notable in a sweet & hot aspect. The pimento berry, paprika, tobacco, and honey are perfect. Especially strange because this is what my now hubby would have picked as an ideal perfume. He's a huge fan of hot spicy chocolate, mole sauces, and latin american foods in general. He also loves the smell of champaca flower

 

Drydown: The champaca flower is more prominent and the mix stays spicy and gets sweeter. I can smell a bit of the balsam and bergamont here. The chocolate continues to resonate.. that's the only way that I can describe what it does! Its' great and I couldn't be happier, especially considering new hubby's satisfaction with it.

[grrrlennyl]

Thirteen (August 2010)

 

Note: Beth's chocolate notes tend to go weird/bad on me.

On: Lots of dark chocolate with a hint of something peppery, immediately going to a bit floral. Interesting.

3 hours in: A bit sweet, but mostly gone.

Overall: This didn't last on me.

Edited July 9, 2011 by grrrlennyl

[alterosen]

This is just plain weird on me - no chocolate, just syrupy, slightly incensey bubblegum.

(I actually came to check the reviews to see if the decant had been mislabelled, but I see lots of people didn't get much chocolate from it)

My least favorite 13, thus far.

[tdiym]

This starts out like very dry chocolate on me. About mid morning it became very fruity, like overripe fruit. Not unpleasant, just very sweet. And at the last part of the afternoon, I kept noticing a wonderful, perfect sweet honey. I was wondering where that luscious honey smell was coming from -- and then I realized it was me! (well, it was 13, actually) The final drydown is The.Perfect.Honey.

Must.get.more.

[AnyseLawsBray]

In vial: Orangey chocolate.

Wet: Chocolate- not bitter, quite sweet actually. I can pick out the champaca & honey for sure. It is a really innocent feeling scent to me.

Dry: Fruity chocolate, though not as strong as most foody scents seem to me (that's a good thing). The throw is quite pleasant, just the right amount

 

Verdict: Much better than expected, especially the drydown. Not something I would wear regularly, but nice nonetheless.

[griffonner]

In the bottle- Dark chocolate syrup with a hint of herbs.

Wet- Chocolate and berries, with a twinge of herbs.

Dry- Chocolate mellows out and the honey, bergamot, and tobacco meld into a rich, slightly herby warmth.

[Vega]

Sniffed: A dark chocolate base sweetened with tobacco, overlaid with brighter notes.

 

On skin: Oooh, yummy! The dark chocolate is the semi-sweet base note, a delectable backdrop to the lighter notes. I smell champaca, tobacco, maybe pepper and paprika -- these slightly gritty, spiced notes contrast with smoother notes that may be red florals. The smoothness and spiciness alternate in dominance, all over the delicious chocolate. Mmm, this is lovely!... but wait, what's this? A whiff of honey! That's becoming more prominent! NO NOT MY DEATH NOTE how dare it trample over everything!! This would've been perfect if not for this dastardly honey, which shows no sign of going anywhere. Not happy. Really not happy.

 

Verdict: Noooo... I was so delighted when I smelled the amazing chocolate mixed with all those other notes... and so devastated when honey barged in like a bull in a china shop. Oh, woe. I'm going to try 13 again, but I don't have high hopes, alas.

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Thick chocolate, honey, pimento berries, and wine. It's an odd combination - not exactly something that is soothing, foody, or something I cannot easily classify.

 

Wet: Bitter 85% dark chocolate, pimento berry, thick honey, something that reminds me of clove, and some shark woodiness from the tolu balsam. There is also something in here that has a wine note to it, but I'm not sure what it is.

 

Dry: After a few hours, much of the scent had faded. What has lingered is pretty: chocolate, pimento berry, tobacco, and honey. I like this spades better when dried.

[ih8perfume]

Thanks to the most awesome Usagi, I get to try this and and several other new scents.

 

First, why isn't this getting more love? I fear that the non-foodies are put off by the list of edible ingredients while the foodies are disappointed at how UN-foody this blend is.

 

From the very first whiff, the word that comes to mind when I smell this is PINK! It's Pink-tastic, Pink-a-riffic, happy, poppy, pink! I'm guessing that its mostly the pink pepper? I'm not familiar with Pimento Berry, so it could be that.

 

This is actually a fairly balanced blend, aside from the pink pepper. The dark chocolate ips far in the background, grounding the blend with an earthy quality. The balsam provides that high-pitched, slightly sour resin. The champaca does not give off the Nag Champa vibe that I recall from past Champaca experiences. In this, it lends a creamy, exotic floral note that's heady without being cloying. Bergamot usually makes me think of Earl Grey tea at best and Fruit Loops at worst. I don't seek it out, but I don't find it offensive. In this blend, It plays very nicely, just adding a whiff of fruitiness. I don't actually smell the paprika, but there is an undertone of spiciness in the wet stage that could be the paprika making its appearance.

 

This blend is NOTHING like I expected. It is quite light, fresh, and femme. I usually prefer my fragrances on the dark, woodsy, resinous side, but I could see wearing this on a gawdawful hot summer day and feeling refreshed and pretty. Would probably be nice for a wedding or innocent first date. Quite innocent and skewing young-ish.

 

I need to add that I keep catching whiffs of something GORGEOUS as this dries. It's dry and resinous and calls to mind the way teak plays with the other ingredients of Boomslang. I've tried a few different scents today, so it could be something else. But if its this blend, then I may have to track down some more of this and some other balsam blends.

Edited June 30, 2013 by ih8perfume

[Poenari]

I rarely buy Thirteens (13) because I prefer the scents with fewer notes, but this one was an insta-buy when it was released, because I was married on an August Friday the 13th and my anniversary has rarely landed on a Friday since then. The next August Friday the 13th won't occur until 2021 (OMG that will be my 45th wedding anniverary!) So Beth's description of the notes could have said "includes cat pee" and I would have bought it anyway. I apparently forgot to review it although I have worn it on my anniversary every year since I received it. This is a pink chocolate scent, and it's very pretty. This doesn't have an intense or strong throw on my skin, and the chocolate isn't overpowering, so it's perfect to wear even on a hot August day, when other chocolate scents might turn rancid smelling on my skin in the August heat. I use this sparingly because it has to last me a long time.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i finally decided to rehome this and so as it has moved on to a better owner, i thought i'd add my thoughts:

 

 

i keep my BPAL bottles in various boxes. some pretty and decorated ones, some plain ones that were shipping boxes in their previous lives, etc. but each one has a specific smell that wafts out when the lid is lifted/folded back.

 

somehow, this bottle contains the BPAL-box-smell of one of the decorative gift boxes (sort of a caramel brown, with a 2 drawn on the lid in metallic silver marker) that lives under my bed. that box has some of the phoenix scents (e.a.r.t.h, c.a.n.d.y, and some of the bards of ireland scents, plus a few assorted shunga and random other things that i acquired along about the same time).

 

it really boggles my brain how this bottle of 13 smells like so many of those scents from that box all combined... but it does.