Vice

[Victory]

Voluptuous and indulgent! A deep chocolate scent, with black cherry and orange blossom.

Vice opens blaringly sharp (what IS that?), but then as it begins to dry down, the orange blossom pokes its head out nicely, and then it becomes a smooth scent. Bordello makes me think of satin, and this is smooth like that, but not satiny. Maybe... freshly paved road smooth? Anyway, I'm not sure what that smoothness-inducing scent is. It doesn't smell like chocolate to me, but not like black cherry, either. I guess it's a combination! It's a nice oil.

[cinderfallen]

Mhmm, Vice! I am not a foody scent person--no cakes or toffee or popcorn on me, thank you!--but I loved Vice. It's a light, spicy chocolate scent with a slight orange top note that blend really well together. When it dries down, it smells a little like subdued Mexican hot chocolate--but in a perfume way, not a "I wonder who's drink that?" sort of way.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a few words/smilie: Black cherry candles.

 

In the imp: Surprisingly, I get no chocolate in the imp, just black cherry.

 

On skin, wet: Black cherry and orange. Still, I detect no chocolate!

 

On skin, dry: Finally: chocolate! Chocolate-covered cherry... candles? This reminds me of a black cherry candle I buy fairly regularly from a local craft market. It's rich and sweet, but also just a bit waxy. Given my history with chocolate, I'd wager that waxy quality is, in fact, the chocolate itself.

 

Conclusion/Notes: I just can't seem to wear chocolate, with one spectacular exception (Candy Butcher). Even if the chocolate had never appeared, this still would've reminded me too much of those cherry candles for me to ever want to wear it as a perfume.

[sterlingspider]

wet in the vial: glorious dark cocoa chocolate with a hint of sweet black cherry (real cherry scent too, doesn’t smell oversweet or fake at all) and orange blossom. Pretty much exactly as advertised.

 

Drydown: unfortunately I've lost a lot of the chocolate, the cherry seems to be dominating with a faint kick from the orange blossom.

 

3 hrs later: the chocolate has come back but is a soft sweetened cocoa scent. There is the barest hint of cherry and I dont detect much of the orange blossom at all

 

Very interesting but ultimately not me. I think I've simply lost my taste for chocolate based scents but if it's your thing I highly recommend this.

[mtlaise]

I love spicy, foody smells, but I never imagined a perfume with a chocolate note, so I decided to try this for curiosity's sake.

 

Wet this smelled strongly of chocolate covered cherries. As it dried it became slightly powdery chocolate with a hint of cherries. I actually like this smell, but I'm not sure I'd wear it as a perfume.

[goth_huntress]

There is a drink called "sex" made of Kahlua and Grand Marnier. This is exactly what Vice smells like on me. It's all oranges and cocoa. It reminds me of those chocolate oranges they sell around christmas time. It's a keeper.

 

[mmmitchell]

This is just so great.....I love the chocolate-y orangeness I get from this. VERY nostalgic, too. Smells exactly like an orange chocolate mousse my Dad used to make all the time for special family occasions. Yum.

 

I got this as a frimp from the Lab (*thanks!*)and immediately ordered a big bottle. This is going to be used to make some truly delicious Yule-gift body scrub for the women in my family with sweet tooths. That would be ALL of us, actually......

[ACVail24]

Vice:

 

In the bottle:

Hmmmm....Orange Blossom! I like Orange Blossom!

I don't smell any Chocolate or Cherry though - maybe they'll show up as it dries ::crosses fingers::

 

On my skin/wet:

::wrinkles nose:: orange cleaner? wow! not what I was expecting ^_~

Also faintly smells of plastic-y somethingoranother.

 

Drying:

Oh my! more plastic-y smell! What happened to the Chocolate? the Cherries? the Orange Blossom?

::still hoping for the description to shine through over the next couple of hours::

 

Dry:

awww...that's disappointing! I was so hoping to smell like a decandent Chocolate cake with toppings!!

Instead I just smelled like plastic tupperware put in an oven at 400* and forgotten.

Crazy chemistry!!

 

Ahh! but the good news is that Vice is on it's way to a new, very hopeful home

[Druby]

In the bottle it smelt chocolatey. When first applied it it didn't smell nice at all, the chocolatey smell warped and smelt weird, after a while the orange came out and made it sweeter, the cherry was very very light. Towards the end the chocolate came out more and blended with the orange nicely. Not sure if this is for me or not.

[ChloeKEvil]

When I opened my imp of this, it smelled sort of chemical and harsh- I was hesitant to try it on, and when I did it kept smelling like that for a good half hour.

 

Then it faded into tart but sweet cherries. I couldn't stop sniffing my wrist.

 

It lasted a long time, too- at five o'clock in the morning, I woke up and sniffed my wrist to see if it was still there and it had morphed into pure chocolate.

 

I didn't like it at first, but now it's addictive and I need the bottle!

[swilde]

Last night, I was first sniffing this alongside others, so my confused nose thought it was cinnamon and nutmeg.

 

This morning after my shower, I smelled straight chocolate (like expensive hot cocoa) with whipped cream drizzled in chocolate. This made my boyfriend very happy, he says it smells like chocolate oranges.

 

Would love to come across a big bottle of this someday...

[Quiara]

I get cherry and orange at first and no chocolate. Then I get air freshener. Stupid body chemistry.

 

WAIT! I have to change my review! I let this develop for a while and while it still went through air freshener country, it settled into a very lovely orange/cherry with the tiniest hint of creamy chocolate. I went from hate to love in mere minutes!

Edited December 21, 2006 by Quiara

[Seelix]

My sister is being my valiant scent-test helper today, so this is a dual opinion:

 

In the vial: Between us we were able to pick out all of the listed notes without looking at the description. It's amazingly true to the description. It's not chocolate covered cherries, but it's dark chocolate sitting next to a bowl of maraschino cherries, maybe with some edible flowers as well.

 

On: She thinks it smells just like Cherry Cordial Hershey's Kisses. I think it smells very cherry vanilla, almost like a soda with cherry and vanilla syrups in it. Either way, it's absolutely delightful!

[n1k1ta]

Two words: 'head shop. Right out of the bottle I didn't like it. The chocolate was a little bitter and it overpowered the cherry and orange blossom. It mellowed after a bit and I started to enjoy it.

 

By the end of its life, which was shorter than the other oils from BPAL I've tried, Vice smelled like a 'head shop on me. I was reminded of brass incense holders and dusty hookahs in dirty windows. And while I like the scent, and 'head shops for that matter, I'm not fond of smelling like a toking hippie. No offense meant, my toking hippie buddies.

[mooncityminx]

In the imp: Smells like tootsie roll and cherry filling. Reminds me of those chocolate covered cherries with all the syrup. mmm.

 

Wet: Tart cherry syrup like the red ones that come in a jar for adding to mixed drinks and to top off desserts. Chocolate which is real enough, but also reminds me of scented pencils I used to get in 3rd grade whenever I aced a test.

 

Dry: Just a more subtle version of above. The tartness has mellowed a bit. Now it really smells like the chocolate covered cherries that come in big boxes for $3. I am smelling the blossoms a little but not much. Oh wait, now I am getting more of the blossom smell. Oh that is lovely.

 

Thanks so much to Joans for sending me this imp. I love this, but I'm not sure that I love it enough to get a bottle. Maybe I'll change my mind about that after I've worn it some more. *slathers*

[Analise]

In the bottle: My first thought was alcohol. That may be because I have a habit of drinking diet cherry coke with rum (and amaretto sours with cherries smashed into them) so I may be associating the cherry with the alcohol.

 

On my skin: definitely dark, decadent. I get the cherry now. And a bit of the chocolate.

 

Nice, but I don't think it's something I would wear.

[Browneyes]

Received in a swap

 

Imp: Ooo this smells like cherry-liquer filled chocoates! I love those. It makes me want to open a box of them that I have just lying around... Must resist.

Wet: Anyways, wet on the skin I get all three components, definately! The cherry smell is still kind of a liquer-ish scent, and I can recognise the orange blossom smell from Dracul (although that's a very different oil). The cocoa note (not chocolate but cocoa) is giving the scent warmth, but I fear it might fade quite quickly.

Dry: The sharpness of the cherry-liquer-like smell fades. It becomes sweet, round, yet not sickly. Flirty. Fun. A little bit candy-ish, but I like it It's much more difficult to smell the individual notes now though.

 

I will keep this implet for a while, and look forward to trying my Enraged Groundhog Musk, which also has choc.covered cherry!

 

 

ETA: hmmm. after a short while it now smells exactly like those cute scented stickers (scratch n' sniff!) my 1st/2nd/3rd grade teachers used to give us on our homework when I was studying in an American school. hmm... I used to love those (I was 7) but I'm not sure I want to smell like them. So it goes from grown-up candies to childhood stickers

But still look forward to the EGM!

Edited February 7, 2007 by Browneyes

[Holly]

I should probably start by saying that my skin tends to eat up almost ANYTHING sweet so I wasn't expecting to get much out of a scent people find akin to chocolate covered cherries. But man, I am so glad I tried this. It starts off as a very dark chocolate bar (say, 70% cocoa?). Good so far. Then comes the cherry, but an almost boozy cherry, not sugary. Then that fades and I'm left with dark chocolate melted over a sweet (!) juicy orange.

[filigree_shadow]

When I first put this on, I thought it was an odd scent. I also thought it was STRONG.

 

The orange blossom is overwhelming in this, and the chocolate is doing that weird funky chocolate thing on me. Chocolate and I don't usually get along even in the best of circumstances, and orange blossom isn't really the best of circumstances.

 

I'm glad that other people like this, but on me it smells like tootsie rolls and orange blossom. You might think that sounds good in theory, but it doesn't really work as perfume.

[CiCi]

It smelled good in the bottle but smells even better on. I really don't smell cherries at all but rather chocolate and oranges. Have you ever gone to Godiva and purchased the chocolate dipped candied orange peel? Its bitter and sweet and orangy all at the same time? Thats what VICE reminds me of. Its yummy-just what I like

[belegwen]

In the bottle, it smelled more nutty than chocolatey to me, I think I agree with some previous posters: hazelnut.

 

On me, for most of the day, the chocolate wasn't very strong smelling. I smelled a lot of orange blossom, which I like though it wasn't what I was expecting. This was very definitely orange blossom, rather than orange. It was very sweet-smelling, almost like honeysuckle. I could faintly smell the chocolate under it which was a very nice combination. Later in teh day, the orange blossom faded and I'm getting the chocolate-covered cherry smell that some people have described. It's lasted all day in spite of some warm weather, outdoor walking, napping, handwashing, etc.. I'm pretty pleased with it, as a whole.

[Jenesis]

Bottle: Sticky, sweet, hellishly expensive dark cherry liqueur chocolates.

 

Wet: The same sharpness that others have described, floating over aforementioned chocolate waft.

 

Drydown: This is where Vice comes into its own (on me, anyway). A deliciously sweet cocoa smell, prevented from being overpowering by the dark cherry. I can smell it just sitting here and it was the tiniest of dabs from the wand - not much needed at all!

 

Dry (early stages): Noooooo, talcum powder smell I guess that's the orange blossom - nearly all flowers go soapy/powdery on me. Not that this talcum powder is a bad smell, by any means, but I much preferred the sexy, cherry drydown.

 

Dry (after 20 mins): Less powdery, but now it's acting very oddly. It keeps switching between Velvet-esque pure cocoa and some cherry-flavoured lip balm that I had when I was 10. The cherry bit is nice, but not really me - a little too girly and sweet. Unfortunately it also smells rather artificial and plastic on me. I'll keep the Imp, but I doubt I'll be getting a bottle.

 

ETA (ages later): Just a thought, maybe this could be layered with something a little more bitter, like Phantom Calliope, to cut down the cloying smell while keeping the cherry?

Edited April 16, 2007 by Jenesis

[lightgatherer]

I get a hint of chocolate from this, but mostly I get the cherry and orange blossom. The boy thinks this smells like incense and Sweet Tarts. I like this, but I don't think I'll be needing more than an imp.

[ariosa]

This is definitely more cherry and orange than chocolate for me. I'm not sure how I feel about this one, actually. I had such high expectations for it, and it's a bit disappointing as it's not quite cooperating with my body chemistry, alas! Still, maybe it I let it age, it'll ripen into something I really, really like. For now, I may try layering it with Bliss to see if it's more chocolate that I need.

 

ETA, March 27, 2007: I tried this again, and got the nail polish/varnish fume thing happening again, as I did with Queen of Sheba. Not sure why! It dried to a faint chocolate and fruit smell, but all in all, I'm not impressed with how this works with my body chemistry. Very sad to say that I think Vice is bound for swaps!

Edited March 28, 2007 by ariosa

[arcticwolf]

Vice

 

Iti: What the heck is that? Ugh. I really don't want to put it on, but my friend is making me.

 

wet: Still an indescribable yuck.

 

Dry: I sort of smell chocolate. And orange blossoms. I see how it COULD be nice, but not on me. I just can't get past the initial revulsion.