Halloween: Las Vegas

[Deceitfuldescender]

HALLOWEEN: LAS VEGAS
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

On Halloween in 2007, surrounded by our loved ones, I married the man of my dreams in Las Vegas. True to the nature of our relationship, it was a costumed event - a pirate-themed wedding - and it was as merry, strange, and wonderful as a Halloween wedding should be.

Ted, I love you. You are the poetry in my soul, you are the dreams of my heart. You are everything I need, and I love you with a passion that transcends all time, space, and logic.

The aftermath of piratical nuptials: walls smeared with red and black frosting, copious amounts of spilled red wine, the leftover contents of three full bars, dry leaves and desert flowers crushed into carpet, tobacco smoke, and champaca incense in a cloud of body-heat amped Snake Oil and Dorian.

It has been a few hours but this still lingers nicely.

Halloween in Las Vegas (is what it says on the label) is a nice blend.

This is VERY reminiscent of Cake Smash on me, but unlike Cake Smash, this actually works.

In the bottle this is Delicious cake and frosting mixed with ripe and delicious dark fruits.

Once on this edges on the play-dough edge that makes Cake Smash not work for me, but as it dries down, it looses the play-dough! yay!

I don't get a lot of frosting from this blend (oddly enough) but I do get the red velvet cake, and faint hints of that dark fruit (must be the booze?) peeking through.
On me, I don't get any actual "alcohol" note, if you were worried. I also can't really sense the Dorian or really anything else... except maybe a little incense in the background which keeps it from getting too sweet.

This is definitely a hit!

Eta: almost 7 years later this is still a wonder. Sweet frosting, non boozy wine, a hit of tobacco and incense. Hedonistic revelry. Love. Edited April 14, 2018 by Deceitfuldescender

[violetblue]

I adore this - first applied it's sweet cake and some kind of pine note that actually *works*. The pine disappears after a few minutes and I get a vanilla-y snake oil slight winey sweet scent with maybe a hint of champaca? It's delicious , am already considering another bottle or 2 - though the man said it smelled like pipe tobacco to him, which is usually what I smell on myself with vanilla blends but this one, not at all, so kinda weird.

 

ETA: Throw is super light to me even with slathering but very nice. I do not smell cigarette smoke.

Edited September 24, 2011 by violetblue

[killersandliars]

I ordered 4 Weenie bottles unsniffed, and Halloween: Las Vegas was the one that I thought could go either way. Lucky for me, it is awesome. I agree with the other reviewer who says that the scent is subtle on the skin. I was really surprised by this since when I opened the bottle Halloween:LV smelled exactly like a freshly uncorked bottle of sweet wine. The alcohol was pretty strong, but I smelled something like berries and vanilla mixed in; I got none of the smokiness in the bottle. When Halloween:LV dries down, the alcohol evaporates and leaves behind all the sweet berries, smoke and vanilla. I get the slightest hint of Snake Oil from this too. Something in it (maybe the smoke?) smells like a beeswax candle to me, which is amazing. Given the description you would expect something a little more wild, but it's actually the perfect mix of sexy vanilla and smoke with soft berries. This is a very nice blend, and also a very surprising one.

[whataboutprom]

In the bottle: sweet, rich cake and icing. It smells divine, and I hope my skin chemistry behaves.

 

Wet: Play-doh is making an appearance. It's not overwhelming though, so this could still work. I'm having trouble picking out individual notes. I still get the cake and icing, with maybe a little incense. It's actually fading fast on me, but I know that scents can sometimes reappear on my skin after a while.

 

The fragrance became so subtle so quickly, that I reapplied to my other wrist. After second application, I get the slightly boozy berry notes. Boozy fruit often turns sickening on me, but this isn't overpowering in any way. Like those above have said, Halloween: Vegas stays close to the skin. I might try making a small amount of this into a perfume spray, to see if it increases the throw, because the blend is quite lovely. After it dries, it becomes a soft, incense/spice/fruit/cake smell that somehow doesn't smell all that foodie. (The Play-doh smell didn't stick around for long at all.) I wonder what aging will do to this...

 

Thank you Beth, for this wonderful perfume commemorating your special day!

 

ETA: So, I've had some time with this oil now, and I did make it into a perfume spray. While that didn't really increase the throw or longevity on my skin, I have found myself using this as a linen spray EVERY night. It's such a wonderful scent, and I love catching whiffs of it when I wake up during the night. I definitely need another bottle of this.

Edited October 9, 2011 by whataboutprom

[dawndie]

In bottle: sweet red wine

 

On skin: cream cheese frosting

 

Half-hour later: the wine has reappeared, that and the frosting over a base of resins

 

In conclusion: I knew I needed to order this as we got married in Vegas also, but I was unsure I'd like "frosting" as the first ingredient. I don't like foody scents in general and didn't want to smell like wedding cake. This one, however, is like the original Beaver Moon with red wine and a light Snake Oil base. A foody scent that's more enjoyable for me to wear.

[bluelena]

I don't usually review, because my nose isn't quite sophisticated enough to pick out individual notes, but I like what I like. And I LOVE THIS. As in, this might be my first multi-bottle purchase. (And I have A LOT of bottles and favorites)

 

Let me preface by saying that this could have been very, very bad on me. Sweet-sugary notes can often be notes of death and burnt hairspray on me, and wine is sometimes pretty barfy on me, but I'm so glad I took the plunge on this one. There is a layer of pipe-tobacco and incense, a layer of something sweetish (red velvet?) and maybe a bit boozy, and a layer of the dry leaf/autumn-y thing that reminds me of my beloved Dia de los Muertos. Definitely not OMGWTFCAKE as I feared.

 

As others have said, it does stay close to the skin, but I kind of don't mind that. It's so complex, well-blended, and just plain special that you should have to get in close to earn a whiff.

Edited September 28, 2011 by bluelena

[Xanon]

Rats, I really wanted this to work for me. All I smell - in the bottle, wet, and dry - is red wine. Its like all the other components were forgotten.

[starpixi81]

This is awesome! First on I smell red musk-y frosting and lots of incense. The drydown has a Cake Smash feel to it, with the frosting being more prominent at this stage. The booze in this is giving a nice edge to the sweetness, but is not screaming alcohol. I absolutely love the incense mixed with everything else in this blend, not a big incense fan generally, but this is smoky and rich. Gorgeous!!

 

Edited for spelling problems!

Edited September 28, 2011 by moonberryjam

[cyberpuff]

Oh wow.

 

This might just be the Holy Grail Scent that I didn't know I was looking for.

 

In the bottle: smells like cake batter and sangria.

 

Drydown: Total and complete Afterparty In A Teeny Apartment smell. The kind that makes you leave and hope some magic elves come do the cleaning for you while you're gone. Really super sweet and cigarette-y right now.

 

20 mins later: OMG. Hello, hella foxy! This is exactly Grown Up Cake Smash. I do amp most sweet notes, so it's not surprising to me that I'm getting wine soaked cake and the sugared tea of Dorian. There's incense too, and a little bit of smokiness, which makes it seem like I've been up to no good. Every so often I get a hit of frosting.

 

1 hour later: The same, but with less throw.

 

Overall: Totally my cuppa. I totally agree with Bluelena about getting in close to earn a whiff. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't detect the Snake Oil in this, but hey, that's what Snake Oil itself is for! Now I need to decide now if one or two back ups are necessary- this one is going to be a daily driver for a while, and I'd love to have some to age too.

 

Fantastic job, Beth!

[angelicruin]

Love this blend. It starts out all foody and very much like Cake Smash, but then about 15 minutes into dry down, I get cigarette smoke mingled with the cake scent. I actually hate the smell of cigarettes in reality, but in this blend, it just works. It's now been over 7 hours since I applied it and, while the cigarette smell is gone, I'm still left with this gorgeous soft sweet cake scent on my wrists.

 

This would have been amazing as a BPTP atmospheric spray. Maybe someday...

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Piling on here to add some more love to the party.

 

I can smell the huge congregation of notes listed and it's fantastic how they work together harmoniously.

 

The Cigarette notes that one might pick up actually give the other notes the perfect contrast.

 

I am reminded of Black Velvet Clown. Not as a doppleganger but as another example of so many different kinds of notes meshing together for a wonderful scent impression.

Edited October 2, 2011 by Heavenlyrabbit

[Siberia]

I'm amazed at the varied impressions of this scent. My impression is in the vanilla frosting/incense/whatever is in Dorian camp. I didn't smell any wine, booze, or cigarette smoke. This has a bit of a similar feel to Cake Smash, but the grown up version. This is a little bolder and more complex. Underneath all that sweet frosting and sugar from Dorian is a melange of notes that I really can't pick out at all, but that reminds me of Fall. I love this one and I'm getting a second bottle.

[stellamaris]

Fabulous. This smells like fabulous. At first it's cake but then the drydown is so much more.

[Lycanthrope]

Hah hah!

 

This is like one of those cupcakes you see from a distance that looks all prim and proper, a perfectly tailored cupcake with a little round stick stuck in like a straw, covered in sprinkly bits, and all innocent and likely baked by a 7 year old kid.

 

Then you get closer and realize that the stick is a cigarette butt mashed into the frosting, and the spattered decorations are from the spilt red wine.

 

I can definitely see this as Cake Smash after she's grown up some and is out past curfew.

 

Have two bottles on the way from a variety of sources, that may be enough for me, since I love foody scents but wearing this out in public may make some alert folks question my use of free time (it's baking cupcakes).

[calivianya]

I was really excited for this; I didn't think there was any possible way this could go wrong on me. Frosting? Check. Red wine? Check. Dry leaves? Check. Tobacco smoke? Check. Incense? Check. Snake Oil? Check. Dorian? Check.

 

However... this is really not great on my skin. The red wine dominates initially, and it is very grapey, like Anthesteria. Red wine normally does not go grapey on my skin. It is usually very dark and sensual, not candy grape-like. What's going on here? Okay now it's starting to go powdery on me the way that Tombeur does. This is also mystifying, as technically they only share Snake Oil. I can wear Snake Oil, I can wear Green Tree Viper, Boomslang, Lilith Victoria... what's happening? Maybe the tobacco smoke note includes a bit of vetiver to create the smokiness, as that might explain the similarities to Tombeur I'm getting. I really don't know, this just ends up an overly sweet powdery mess on my skin. I am very disappointed, and I am really hoping that aging works some miracles. I was really hoping that this was going to be my HG scent.

[Dark Alice]

Never in my life have I loved a cake scent as much as I love this one. IT IS FABULOUS!

 

In the bottle: Red wine with cake.

 

Dry:Red Velvet cake, icing, snake oil and dorian all meshed together. I want to eat this...and I need a back up bottle in my next order. It's just that damn good!

[KrahesPhoenix]

Delicious cake and frosting with hints of booze: just plain yum. I wore it yesterday and my mother instantly said "what smells so good? It makes me hungry!" Right now I'm enjoying putting it in my hair because it smells so good there and every time I move my head I catch the scent. Halloween: Vegas is a cake that worked for me like Sprinklecake did not, so I'm pleased.

[miss_rynn]

Cake Smash with extra spiced rum. It's cakey, with hints of Dorian in particular, with a rich tobacco undertone. It starts out with a red fruity tone, but settles down to a boozy, cake sent.

[boxinghelena]

Halloween: Vegas smells amazing!!! I don't detect cake at all but I get a lovely plum for some reason. I swear I thought it was Sugar Plum Fairy at first. Either way, I'm very happy I bought two bottles. I can't stop smelling my wrist. Smells so good!

~

[Klepz]

In the bottle, this smells exactly like Bones Trombone. Very strange!

 

On wet, it's a grape-heavy wine scent with incense and something sharp that I'd bet was the lab's gin note. I really, really dislike gin notes, and they have ruined many good scents for me Uh oh!

 

As this gets drier, it still smells extraordinarily like Bones Trombone, which I guess would be the frosting/cake/berry. The Dorian also probably helps make it smell similar, with the lemon. It really is actually quite lovely, as long as I don't stick my nose to my skin (then it's just that gin note that I hate..) It's a little bit sexy, a little bit fun.

 

Dry, it is a boozed-up Dorian with lots of wine and cake.

 

ETA: OMFG. The late dry-down of this scent is... amazing. It's powdery and sexy; I'm at a loss for words to describe it, but it reminds me vaguely of Womb Furie.

Edited October 7, 2011 by Klepz

[slave1]

I don't have time to do a full review, but I had to chime in that I LOVE this scent! I wish I had ordered multiples! And wow does my husband love it on me. I wish I could have gotten a picture of his face when he sniffed my wrist.

The notes are so well blended and I can't stop smelling my own wrist!

 

Oh yeah, this is a gorgeous scent and I love that it celebrates such a good memory for the King and Queen of BPAL! Happy anniversary you guys!!!

[mojomomma]

Love, love, love this scent. I was worried I would get to much of a wine or cigarette scent from this I do not get any. I get a beautiful sweet and creamy, but sexy scent. I love snake oil, but for me it does occasionally get to strong. This little beauty takes my snake oil and makes it a softer, silkier work of art. I only ordered an imp in a decant circle, I am going to try and swap for several bottles of this it is amazing.

[Invidiana]

Smoky cake! I'm thrilled that I primarily get vanilla frosting, dry leaves and smoke out of this. I'm also really glad the wine didn't end up either cloyingly sweet or really sour and takes a backseat. I can pick out traces of the other notes--a bit of booze here, a bit of incense there, teensy hints of Snake Oil and Dorian if I really concentrate on finding them--but when everything comes together it's basically like cake smashed into the smell of autumn for me, and I love it.

[AngelaTarantula]

first off THANKS SO MUCH WITCH FOR THIS DECANT!!! U ARE AWESOME!!!

 

secondly thanks beth for this amazing perfume your fairytale wedding day smells like heaven!!! with a little bit of hell mixed in ofcourse

 

wow this is f$%#ing gorgeous! on me it smells like sweet smoky red wine and i think i can just catch a whiff of dorian in the background and the snake oil although i can't pick it out undoubtedly is whats lending the touch of deepness/darkness to the blend

 

this stuff is sexy as hell and super wearable. i am gonna have to save up to make an order so i can get a bottle of this! i just hope it sticks around for a while so i have the time. i hope to be able to buy 2 actually one for instant gratification and one for aging cause something tells me a few more wedding anniversaries from now this one is gonna be even more magical if thats even possible

 

oh and in the dry down it transitions to amazing smoky vanilla frosting!!!

Edited October 14, 2011 by AngelaTarantula

[rivercitylizzy]

My Holy Grail foody scent...and I truly believed such a thing could not exist! H:LV is thoroughly, completely, utterly the foody scent of my dreams--sophisticated, sexy, well-balanced, infinitely wearable--what I hoped I Fell In Love With A Floating Brain would be (based on the reviews) but...no, no not that one. I took a big risk and bought a bottle unsniffed with the rest of my Weenies because of the beautiful and celebratory nature of the event that inspired it, and hoped that the cake/frosting/foodie notes would be tempered by the boozy/fruity/Snake Oil & Dorian notes.

 

I'm so very, VERY glad I did!

 

In the Bottle: Well, hello my absolute favorite Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting! How delicious you smell, how sweet and vanilla creamy without being at all burnt sugary or cloying or sticking in the back of my throat like the smell of decaying fruit, about to make me sick And who are your friends, standing there just behind you? Spicy-sweet sangria and Dorian (yeah I can sniff you out in there--that fougere is unmistakeable!). Holy s---, this is better than I expected. Must try on skin.

 

Wet: Bless my disbelieving soul, but here's the Snake Oil come to the party and bringing forward the fruity-berryjammy red wine and mixed drinks notes forward to mingle so very, very enticingly with the red velvet & Dorian! Gods above & below, I smell positively delectable! It's amazing, it's incredible, I repent my previous foody-scent-hating ways, forever & ever. For me, the throw is moderate to high, not unlike my beloved The Grave Pig, and I am floating in a delicious haze of sweetcreamyspicyincenseyOMGf'knbrilliant gorgeousness.

 

Dry: Not much of a morpher, which is great because I love how it smells when first applied; in the late dry down as mentioned upthread it has become a skin-hugging, begging-to-be-kissed (long & slow), delicious "smoky vanilla frosting" (honestly I could not have put it better). H:LV lasts for a very long time on me--I wore it for 6 hours, then I reapplied just to re-experience the wet phase all over again Multiple bottles, here I come--this one is definitely hoard-worthy :luv: