Spooky

[girl-zone broker]

A maddeningly festive blend of warm, buttery rum, cocoa, coconut, vanilla and a jolt of peppermint. It’s a sweet, decadent, slightly silly scent, reminiscent of rum-laced holiday cookies.

When I first opened the bottle, I thought "Oh no!" because I'd had such high hopes and it smelled so strongly minty, with the sharp bite that you get when you sniff and open liquor bottle.

I'm so glad I put some on.

15 minutes later, an hour later, 3 hours later, Spooky is a warm, cozy coconut butter-rum scent with just the faintest hint of mint. It lasts longer than most of my favorite BPAL scents, and has gotten more compliments than any other. I've been wearing it to school almost every day just because it's so pleasant to smell, and unlike my other favorites, I can smell it just by sitting there.

One of BPAL's best.

~Lily

[SyringaVulgaris]

Sad...whenever there's a huge buildup things just don't live up to the hype for me.

 

Anyway, this smells GREAT in the bottle....chocolate mint...but on me it quickly turns into what? A very cheap margarine? Greasy, waxy plastic? Dare I say...rancid?

 

The mint is OUTTA there fast, that's for sure.

 

I'm really glad many people love this, as now someone will be able to get another bottle!

[feline.by.design]

Spooky is the first BPAL oil I've ever had a skin reaction to, which is shocking. Hamadryad? Bring it on! Mercury? Cinnamon rocks! Minty coconut fragrance? Rash.

 

After putting Spooky on my neck, I noticed that ten minutes later my neck was burning like Dante's Inferno. My arms, however, which also experienced sprinkles of the oil, were fine. But my neck broke out. I was at work, so I followed up a wet paper towel with an alcohol wipie, then repeated this scenario until it was gone.

 

That said, I am uncertain as to what I will do with the *two* bottles I have. I'm tempted to keep one and just note put it anywhere near my neck, and sell the other one to a coworker of mine who enjoyed the fragrance and would like it for her daughter. In fact, I got a couple copliments despite my urge to claw my neck skin off.

 

But yes, I did note the "thin mint" scent. It reminded me of those Andes mints (yum!). It seemed to last an acceptable amount of time for a light fragrance. I did enjoy it, enough for me not to cast aside the bottle as soon as it started to give me my first ever BPAL skin rash. I just don't know if I will hold onto the bottle, or swap it off.

 

-doreen

[eclecticaurora]

Oh, wow...I opened the bottle upon arrival - I couldn't wait to put some on - and was greeted with a astringent minty "hello" and then a coconut said hi and I just KNEW it must be put on right away! On it went and:

 

Wet: I smelled the mint and coconut and rum...mmmmm (as a side note as soon as I put it on the Boy took a sniff and said "RUM! There's RUM in there!") and it was GORGEOUS. I couldn't stop sniffing myself.

 

After it soaked in: still the mint, coconut, and rum, but more smoothly blended together. Still quite strong. I kept on telling the boy that I'm in love with myself because I smelled so good!

 

A couple hours later: STILL going quite strong but now more softer on the mint and the rum is gone, but the coconut is still there soft and sweet.

 

Next morning: WOW - I can STILL smell it! But now it is just the soft coconut that just wafts near my skin - apparently it reminds the Boy of the good times he had when on vacation with his family in Mexico. Me, I just smell soft and sweet.

 

I'm sad that I didn't buy another bottle or two because well - it would have been worth it, but as I don't have a lot of disposable income I feel very lucky to be able to have my 5ml to worship.

[Ishtar]

This will quite possibly be seen as blasphemous, but I have to say it: On me, for some reason, Spooky smells mostly like... celery That's right, a bright, green, happy stalk of celery. Uhm. Not really what I expected.

 

If I sniff hard, I can smell some mint and a faint whiff of coconut, which keeps me hoping for the best. Maybe the celery will go away and I will be able to enjoy the beautiful sweetness everyone mentions. Let's wait.

 

...

 

Well, this is one stubborn chunk of celery...

 

...

 

Ah, after a couple of hours, at long last, the odoriferous vegetable starts fading away! Now the blend is much creamier and quite soft. This is more like it, even though there is still something vaguely herbal happening in the background that prevents me from really enjoying this scent.

 

After complete drydown, Spooky is reminiscent of Snow White (which I adore), with an odd herb undertone that reminds me of cilantro. Much to my despair, I think we can safely say that Spooky and I are not made for each other, so I guess I will give it to a friend, hoping it will work better on her.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Rum and Thin Mints. This smells yummy. Seriously there should be a mixed drink that's rum, Kahula, chocolate syrup and Peppermint Snapps because yum. And that's what this smells like.

 

Wet: Rum and Thin Mints on me, too. The rum has decided it wants to be the dominant scent, which is okay except for the fact that I'm not sure I want to smell like a bottle of booze. That nice thin mint smell is in the background and this is booze, booze, booze. So...not a work blend.

 

Dry down: Rum. Rum with some coconut and thin mints in the background but still mostly rum. I hope the rum dies down because it would be cheaper (and a little more fum) to buy a bottle of rum and drink it. The thin mint smell is getting a little stronger but the rum is still king. Giving it some more dry down time. (Please Spooky, please don't make me seem like an alcoholic.) Ah, now I'm peppermint rum. I was hoping to be thin mint rum, but I don't know where the cocoa has gone. I think the coconut and the rum have combined to create a supreme rum since the coconut is not present on its own.

 

Dry: I just smell like rum. The cocoa is gone. The peppermint has faded away. There's a trace of vanilla so I smell very strongly of vanilla coconut rum, which isn't a bad smell, but I have no idea when would be appropiate to wea this. I'll probably keep it and do some more testing at a later date to see if it lightens up any or decides to let the cocoa and peppermint play a little more after some aging.

[Finny]

Mmm, cocoa, rum and coconut. A little bit of mint, but it is just a breath of mint. I love this one, it doesn't come off as foody on me, it is just delicious smelling.

 

It dries down to a nutty, sweet, and soft scent. And lasts on me all day.

[warmfuzzies]

ok, here's what i got: plastic dollheads swirled with chocolate chip mint ice cream. an icky, plasticy-mint smell. i only wish i was kidding. i was dying for this when i read the reviews! where's the rum? the cocoa?? *ugh*

[Northernminx]

Mint liquoer in the bottle, this has been quite perfectly described as a coconutty thin mints with just a touch of chocolate. This is amazing as a perfume, complex and startling in it's smell. It's..well... spooky. Sweet and pleasant, this somehow just doesn't feel very me. I don't really want to smell like a thin mint as yummy as the scent is and while I liked it, I didn't adore it enough to deprive others of the experiance so to auction it goes.

[Ana Marie]

In The Bottle:

Sugar cookies and thin mint cookies, drenched in Peppermint Schnapps and coconut juice. Very foody. Fun and playful, I like the scent, it reminds me of Halloween nights when I was young.

Wet On Wrist:

Fairly similar to what I smelt in the bottle, but the coconut and mint, as well as a hint of rum are coming out. Then a rush of sweet cookie type smell.

 

Dried:

More of the mint and rum are seeping out into my nose. The cocunut and the cookie/vanilla smell are in the background waiting to shine through. In maybe 15 mins the vanilla comes back, bringing back that cookie smell.

 

An Hour After:

Now it pretty much just the mint and coconut. I like this scent, maybe not for all occasions, but it is nice and sweet.

[LupaWulf]

I think I'm obsessed....

 

At first it's a lovely mint cream with a hint of coconut. This slowly dissolves into a bright summer-esque coconut cream with vanilla. Like some sort of summer tropical drink I now MUST find and try.

 

Everyone I waited on after trying this scent commented on how nice it smelled. The coconut made them all think of summertime and the beach (think Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen) but creamier and nice. A tall cool glass of something splended.

 

I wish I baught more than one bottle. What I would do with it, I don't know. It's just TOO good to EVER run out of.

 

Paradice in the bottle. How on earth mint and coconut smell so darn good together, I can't explain. I've never considered blending those two together before, tho I love both of them very much seperately.

 

I want this scent in a flavor. Alot. =)

[joseybird]

On me this is about 80% pure coconut--coconut flesh (which smells plasticy to some people), not milk. It seems like every time I wear this different notes come out...sometimes the chocolate, sometimes the mint, sometimes the rum (which is nice and sweet and doesn't go all play-dough), but it's always mostly coconut. I don't smell the cookies, unfortunately, but, strangely enough, Spooky doesn't strike me as insanely foody...maybe it's just that it's so complex, or that it doesn't smell like any one particular food.

[Etaven]

The day I recieved this order was the first really nice day we had, and I first sniffed Spooky while walking back from the mail building, which the sun shining and the air cool, but not freezing. And I think I must have gotten some on my nose, because every time I went outside after that, I smelled Spooky.

 

My first impression was of coconut and rum, with that tiny hint of vanilla... it reminded me of the tropics, of beaches, of pirates. Yay pirates!

 

And it was strong... I had it open for maybe a minute in my dorm room, and a few minutes after I closed it, all I could smell was Spooky. I thought I'd just gotten it on myself, but my roommate commented that it was all she could smell as well from across the room... and indeed, it scented our whole room. Yay!

 

Today, a gray, rainy, cold day, I have decided to try Spooky out on myself. In the bottle, it's the same as my first impression, mostly coconut and rum. On me, it changes immediately, a new smell coming out... hmm. It's a sharper scent, one I can't really identify, and a wee bit metallic. Growing into very metallic. It's faintly fruity, faintly alcoholic... and the coconut is just about completely masked, though occasionally a wiff comes out.

 

A while later, it's mellowed out and become much sweeter, though not as tropical as it seemed at first. The vanilla is much, much more apparent, and overall, it's a very warm smell.

 

Not sure if I like it enough to wear it, but it's got some good memories associated with it, so it'll probably stick around for now. Though I wish some of the mint would come out for me...

[Reinaluna]

Spooky, I got this one off of Ebay from the-withching-hour. From the bottle I smell a little mint with some vanilla. When applied to my skin all I smell is rum and coconut oil. After about 3 hours I have a soft creamy aroma. This one had a little time to grow on me, I guess that I will keep it.

Edited April 5, 2005 by Reinaluna

[byrdie]

Note ~ As a treat to help me recover from Hurricane.

 

Vial ~ Coconut and mint!

 

Wet ~ When I shampoo my dreads, I use a combination of Lush's Washaday Greens shampoo and Coolaulin conditioner. This smells exactly like that mixture.

 

Drying ~ Something sharp just rose, and I can't figure out what it was. Could be the coconut, could be the mint, could be a third player. If it is a different note, it's not much on its own: it seems to intensify what it's mixed with. Problem is, I don't know what it was intensifying! Oooh, we're back to my dreadlock smell, now!

 

Drydown ~ The coconut has completely taken over and does indeed smell exactly like Coolaulin conditioner. For those who get a "wet cardboard" vibe off of Coolaulin, this might not be the best stage for you. I'm still pretty happy, m'self.

 

Dry ~ Mmmmm. The coconut has snuggled down into my skin so that the whole effect is much warmer. This smells just like my freshly shampooed, dry dreads. Mmmm.

 

Fade ~ This briefly gave off a soapy, wet cardboard aroma; but has since faded into a sweet, light coconut.

 

Final thoughts ~ Oddly, I was never fond of coconut for most of my life, and tended to avoid even the smell of it. I think that between Thai food and Coolaulin, I've started to develop an appreciation for it. Spooky is great!

[LiberAmoris]

Spooky struck me as a haunted tropical isle. Scent-wise, I got mint and coconut and a bit of lime with a smooth gourmand-y chocolate around it. That first blast of mint upon application wears off, and the coconut really comes through. The happy frolic of carefree coconut is checked by something darker and more ominous (the chocolate?) that keeps it from being merely foody or lighthearted. Like a thunderous, dark day somewhere in the Caribbean, or a vacation that quickly becomes complicated.

 

The first day I wore it, I got three completely unprovoked compliments from structural engineers. I don’t know if there is a higher compliment for a perfume than that.

 

Spooky seems to me to share a base with Tarot: The Star. So if you like the coconut/lime in Spooky, you might like also The Star.

[Tesseljoan]

wet: mint and a cookie scent.

 

When it dries I get a very dried out mint, with vanilla and a general baked-ness underneath. I can't smell a lot of coconut in it. It is, just like Sow white, my default scent.

[sarada]

When I first read the description of this scent, I thought it sounded like my worst nightmare. It contains all of the ingredients that I normally avoid, but it has a really cute name! The only thing that I do normally like in the mix is mint, though, so when the fresh reviews started to come in I became curious...as long as I didn't smell buttered rum or coconut too strong, this had potential...

 

So having secured a bottle I'm pleased to say that mint is the dominating note in this for me and as such, I declare it a success! I don't think I'll be able to use all of it, but I'm sure I'll be able to share it here and there. It comes across as a dark mint on me, sort of like Cathode, which I liked. I do smell some coconut in there but it doesn't bother me the way coconut usually does. I get no rum whatsoever...thank goodness. I have a horrible relationship with that note.

 

As it fades it becomes a little more coconutty. Still not overpowering. I think the fresh dark mint smell is probably wafting around me. The only problem is that if this gets on my clothing (cuffs of sleeves, for instance) it lingers as a sort of tanning oil smell on the cloth (not that I would know anything about tanning, being a redhead!). Best to keep it away from clothing.

 

So, happily, Spooky was not as much of my antithesis as I feared. I can see it as a good Halloween to Christmas time smell, so I will try to keep some around for that time of year. This is one of the only 'foody' smells I have been able to get close enough to, to try. Yay mint!!

 

ETA: I did wind up passing on Spooky because of the lingering suntan lotion scent that permeated my clothing after wearing it, that I just couldn't seem to shake. As we move into the summer that's a scent that starts to make me a little queasy -- Spooky is probably best a cold weather scent when the chilly mint chocolate will be the tastiest!

Edited May 17, 2005 by sarada

[rhubarbbear]

i haven't had great luck with the foody bpal scents, and almost didn't order spooky. then i remembered how much i love the cocoa in velvet, and with a little prodding from gdogs, i ordered. i'm very glad i did!

 

in the bottle i smell cookies and mint and cocoa. i don't think i'm really getting the coconut, but maybe a creamy edge?

 

on my skin the cookies go away (a good thing, as they tend to turn plastic on me) and the mint and cocoa jump up, and the coconut gets stronger. after about 30 min the mint has faded and i have a sweet, slightly tropical, slightly cool scent.

 

i love it!

[Donnababe]

Spooky

 

Butter scents do have the tendency to go very wrong but I was hopeful the mint and particularily the coconut would favour me as I so adore Perversion. When its wet and only just on the skin its divine, liquid peppermint creams, but soon after that it's nothing but a nasty butter aroma. I decided to try again, this time layering with Snake Oil but it didn't help much.

[girlmadasbirds]

on me, this is mostly chocolate and coconut with a hint of mint and rum. it's a really fun scent and smells so delicious.

[DameBecca]

This scent is pure peppermint and chocolate to me. It reminds me of the green and brown chocolate mints that a lot of restaurants have. I never could smell all of the other notes that everyone else does.

 

In the bottle, wet on my skin and after an hour, it only loses a bit of the chocolate and intensifies the peppermint.

 

This scent stays strong. I eventually had to wash it off since I didn't like the drydown on me.

[lavinia]

On me, this didn't smell overly of choccie or mint but rather became a fabulous coconut summer tanning oil.

It reminds me of a sexy hot summer day at the beach and what you smell like later that evening such a great coconut scent on its own and I could see layering this with sheer light white florals too for a Tahitian Island girl effect

I got this yesterday and found my self reaching for more as it faded which is a good thing...very me and very comforting and yet sexy!

[brownbat]

At first: oh my goodness this is delicious. Like a cool minty drink. Or when you drink cold water after eating a really spicy mint.

 

Then, the coconut is coming out and it is doing a little bit of that plastic thing people have mentioned. After a little while, the plastic notes are fading. It's now a smooth mint sort of scent.

 

The plastic note came back with a vengeance.

[sarahjay]

yum.

yum, yum, yum.

 

I tried this out last night and snuggled into bed smelling all minty & coconutty & boozy. absolutely lovely. I can't wait to try this with burt's bees milk & honey lotion (which smells minty-coconutty to me).

 

I'm so pleased I got two bottles (amd one is super-full, too. lucky me )