Third Charm

[Silvertree]

The owl is abroad, the bat, and the toad,
And so is the cat-a-mountain,
The ant and the mole sit both in a hole,
And the frog peeps out o’ the fountain;
The dogs they do bay, and the timbrels play,
The spindle is now a turning;
The moon it is red, and the stars are fled,
But all the sky is a-burning:

The ditch is made, and our nails the spade,
With pictures full, of wax and of wool;
Their livers I stick, with needles quick;
There lacks but the blood, to make up the flood.
Quickly, Dame, then bring your part in,
Spur, spur upon little Martin,
Merrily, merrily, make him fail,
A worm in his mouth, and a thorn in his tail,
Fire above, and fire below,
With a whip in your hand, to make him go.

There’s magic afoot: fiery red musk, luminous elemi, East Indian patchouli, champaca flower, cedar incense, ho wood, and hemlock accord sweetened with a peculiar sweet honey.

Out of all the gorgeous Halloweenies, Third Charm stood out to me as a must-have. I made a bee-line for it at Dragon*Con, and I wasn't disappointed! In the bottle, Third Charm is similar to Scherezade (one of my all-time favorite scents), with an autumnal quality that makes me think of leaves changing colors and cool, crisp nights. A little of the peculiar honey creeps in to smooth and sweeten the scent.

On my wrist, more of the musk and patchouli creeps out, until it's a warm, glowing, scent that balances all the fuzzy, earthy elements beautifully. I can't wait for the weather to start changing so I can wear this and feel appropriately seasonal.

[violetblue]

I agree with the post above, this is musky/fuzzy goodness, and on the sweet side, which is how I like musks. It reminds me a lot of Elephantine Colossus without the bit of sharpness that one had on me or almost like a sweeter, grapier WILF. Truly gorgeous - if you like musk, you must try this!

Edited September 10, 2012 by violetblue

[boomtownrat]

Wow, where am I? What world is it where there's something that smells as good on me as Snake Oil -- maybe better? This does remind me a lot of SO, but I still need more bottles of this because I will be wearing it a lot! I knew chances were good I'd love it just from reading the notes, and I was already preparing myself for buying at least one backup. Now I don't think that just one more bottle will be enough.

 

Red musk, cedar, patchouli, and honey together all strike the perfect chord on me. I'm not familiar with ho wood or hemlock accord, so I don't know if they're showing up on me all that strongly. I guess this must be the same patchouli that's in Snake Oil, but whatever patchouli it is, I now want to try everything it's in.

 

I'll edit this later when I've worn it again for a full day, which will most likely be tomorrow.

 

ETA: I did wear it all day. Its sillage isn't as strong as it was last night, but that could be a good thing on some days. I can't say how long it lasted because after a couple of hours I put more on to get a little more throw. Last night it reminded me of Snake Oil but today it's somewhere between that and Blossoms in Springtime. (It also reminds me of a deliciously scented homemade soap I once had that smelled nothing like soap, but was a warm, spicy-musky scent.) There is an occasional faint waft of a floral scent, which I guess is the champaca. Anyway, I still love it and will buy at least one backup bottle, probably more to be safe.

Edited September 13, 2012 by boomtownrat

[sharkdiver]

This is gorgeous....it really reminds me of the infernal lover with a touch of honey....

[ellebelle]

I had high hopes for this one. I love honey as note and I hoped that the honey and champaca flower (favorite notes) might balance my less favorite woods. Sadly, that is not to be. When I first put this on, I definitely got the Snake Oil kind of vibe from it, but the sweetness wore off quickly in favor of WOOD. This becomes a strong wood + patchouli scent on me - and boy does it have throw! I had to scrub it off.

[Dedee]

When I first read the description of this scent I didn't think I would be interested at all. I did not even include it in my Weenie order. But I was lucky enough to test this a week ago and fell in love immediately, all other Weenies were pushed aside!

I agree with those above who mention Snake Oil. That's the first thing I thought of when I took a whiff from the bottle, but it dries down even lovelier and sweeter on my skin, like a softer Womb Furie... it's a new favorite!! I already have a back up bottle

[JasminDreams2010]

I received my bottle in the mail today! Third Charm is lovely and deserves my full attention for this review. First I want to discuss comparisons:

 

I am very curious to see how this ages. I can agree with boomtownrat that this strikes a note that is similar to blossoms in springtime.

However, snake oil and blossoms in springtime were not winners on me and this one is. So, if you don't like snake oil, don't rule this one out.

On me, third charm is the most similar to Dragon's Heart- which is a very good thing, I have always loved Dragon's Heart and get compliments sometimes when I wear it. The shared note is red musk- it must be predominant.

 

So, this is complex but a few notes stick out, mainly the red musk and honey. It doesn't seem to change much for me from the initial application to the drydown, and it hasn't faded much in the past hour or two. The patchouli remains in the background, providing an earthy feel, while the florals whisper just faintly. I think this is one that people might be reminded of "hippie store" a little but in a good way. I think this will work really well for fall and winter. I'm keeping this bottle

 

Update- it's turned kinda sour. Maybe it's the cedar, I'm getting that "hamster cage" woodiness. ugh. swaps!

Edited September 25, 2012 by JasminDreams2010

[jolarocknrolla]

I love red musk, so i just had to have this and i was not dissappointed. The red musk here is not as strong as in Infernal Lover or Smut, it's more subdued and blended, perhaps "grounded" by woods, giving it a more smooth and elegantly sweet quality. I do not pick up much honey or floral here the wood and musk really dominates both the wet and drydown stages with the mellow patchouli bringing up the rear Verdict? Absolutely lovely, complex and delicious - a perfect harmony.

[Midnight Eris]

In the bottle, to me this smells almost exactly like Death on a Pale Horse. That scent didn't work for me at all, so I'm a bit worried. The only ingredient I see that they share in common is the patchouli, so maybe that's just not something I should be wearing. I'm testing it and as it's starting to dry down it's softening up a bit, thank goodness. The musk, which I usually amp like crazy, is starting to come out and the scent is turning much, much more pleasant, although not what I expected at all. There's absolutely no sweetness to it at all. The throw is virtually non-existent. Someone else described it as woodsy, and I'm starting to get that more and more. I'm going to play with this one a bit. Since the patchouli, which so turned me off Death on a Pale Horse (funny, I always assumed that was the mint and lime combo, but I guess I was wrong), is really fading as it dries, I think there's hope for me with it!

ETA: okay, I've given it a few days and have decided I really like it. The patchouli is very strong at first, but within an hour it starts to warm up with the musk and other scents and becomes something really fantastic. It's got a TON of staying power, but I've noticed that on me anything that has honey as a note seems to stick around. Funny enough, at the end of the day (literal end, when I was getting ready for bed) the honey had crept out as the dominant scent and it reminded me a lot of O. Which I love and already own, so if it smelled just like it from the beginning I'd have been disappointed, but since it didn't I'm fine with it. Hooray! So happy I like this one. Was really disappointed when I thought it wasn't going to work.

Edited October 3, 2012 by Midnight Eris

[tawaen]

This is pretty similar to Dragon's Heart. But this is a more lush, intense and less incense-y version of Dragon's Heart. It also reminds me slightly of Paduan Killer Swarm, though that could be just me since they have zero ingredients in common. The honey is keeping this blend slightly sweet, so it's not super masculine. Pretty gender neutral, if that kind of thing worries you. :-) There is a bit of the wood note on me, but it's not overtaking the musk/honey/patch/floral-ish combo that makes up the primary notes I'm getting.

 

I was worried about the throw at first, because I wasn't really getting much unless I put my nose to my wrist while it was wet, but the skin heat must have finally gotten it going, because it does amp up quite a bit! Or I got some on my nose while sniffing. :-)

 

Overall: Delicious and sensual red musk, grounded by patch and wood notes, with a bit of floral and an overall hint of sweetness from the honey. Rawr.

[fairestrocza]

Sniffing the bottle, my first reaction is VIXEN! But here, the scent is more complex.

 

On the skin, patchouli is the dominant note, but where Vixen's sweetness comes from orange blossom, here I can detect a well blended influence of red musk and honey. There is a brightness in the background that probably comes from the hemlock and/or elemi, but neither of those notes is terribly distinct. (I happen to love hemlock, but for those who may be scared off by its mention, fear no pine here). The cedar incense is subtle and very lovely, and makes Third Charm slightly more masculine than the sultry blends that are sister scents (Vixen, Infernal Lover, Womb Furie, & Snake Oil). Third Charm is more of an Adore Me From Afar scent, rather than a Come Hither and Worship at my Feet scent, both in feel and in practice - I prefer the scent of the throw to the scent I get if I bury my face in my arms. After several hours, the top notes burn off, and I am left with a slightly soapy musk when I sniff up close, but rather than ruin the scent for me, this just encourages me to apply more.

 

Overall, I am very pleased with Third Charm. It is similar to some of my favorite blends, but has enough of its own personality to justify a space of its own (but probably not enough to warrant a back-up bottle).

[cherrycherry]

I'm loving this, but then I knew I would ^__^

 

Big burst of juicy, throbbing red musk upon application and I am in heaven. Then the woods come out to play and take the blend to a darker, drier place. This is going to age beautifully I'm sure and I for one am planning to hoard. It's not quite on the same level as The Infernal Lover or Snake Oil to me, but it comes close. Yummy.

[malibusunny]

When I opened this bottle just to sniff, I was immediately in love. It's the perfect grapey red musk that I love! I kept trying to figure out what this was like, because it's SO familiar, and maybe it is Scherezade, only a dirtier, deeper, darker Scherezade. I was thinking that it was Lust that it reminded me of, 'only dirtier' and then I was thinking, what could be dirtier than Lust? LOL. When I put it on it did something funky for a bit, but then settled into being good again. It really retained the original, in the bottle scent, except that my skin turns everything incensey so it did that.

 

Eta: this isn't scherezade, it's lust. Defitely. I have one on each arm and third charm is a butter musky lust. Other than the difference in the msk, there is nothing to separate these two, and that's just my skin chemistry bringing out the musk in the third charm... Wet they are practically indistinguishable.

Edited May 17, 2013 by malibusunny

[yewberry]

It must be the musk and honey, but it smells a lot to me like a sweeter, less resinous Bien Loin d'Ici. Really pretty and sexy. I'll wear this a lot when I'm fancied-up.

[OctoberGwen]

I love Third Charm, as it is smack in the middle of the red musky/spicy/dry scent family that I adore. (Note: when I say "spice", I don't mean cinnamon, I mean exotic spices.) Of which none are listed in Third Charm's notes, but it calls that type of a scent to mind for me. In my opinion, it could be a sweeter cousin to Mama Ji, for example.

 

It starts with a signature blast of red musk, which is absolutely lovely, but as it dries down the musk begins to blend with a sweetish smell that is really fabulous. I am not a fan of honey at all, but the honey here is definitely of the "peculiar" variety in that it's not heavy and cloying but in fact feels almost dry to my senses. I do not know where the slight spicy feeling I'm getting is coming from. The patchouli is very much in the background with the woods, just sort of grounding everything.

 

I really love this, and the blend is unique enough to warrant a bottle, I think. I can't wait to see how it ages.

 

ETA: Today I slathered some into my cleavage (where things always smell different than on my wrists), and I am definitely getting more of the patch, blended beautifully with that dry honey and the gorgeous musk. I think I'm getting a whiff of the hemlock, too. I absolutely love this blend, and I've just ordered a bottle.

Edited October 6, 2012 by OctoberGwen

[strahlend]

Red musk and honey seem to come forward loud and clear in this scent. In my mind I group it with Sentimental Initiation and Womb Furie. Red musk lovers rejoice!

[stellamaris]

this is like Snake Oil and The Night Raven got married, and they had a baby but it could also have been fathered by Lot and His Daughters, stand by for DNA results...

So very good, red musky, incensey, very very good.

[Ashmedai]

Wet on skin, this is a virtual wallop'o'red musk and honey (which smells more like mead than actual honey - I think I remember this note from Mead Moon, it's a little more boozy or like hard candy than most honey notes). As it dries a bit, I can just barely discern elemi, ho wood and something slightly astringent and "dark green" which I'm guessing is the hemlock accord, but the notes sort of flit in and out, there and then gone because the red musk sweetened by honey is so strong. A little while later, cedar makes an appearance, and a pretty strong one. For a while it's a neck-on-neck race with the red musk and honey, but cedar eventually loses out and drops behind several paces. Final dry-down is basically a heady, thick and syrupy red musk and honey, with a curious green-ish undertone (hemlock accord?). I didn't get any patchouli, and barely any champaca flower.

 

I think comparisons to Snake Oil and Womb Furie are pretty accurate. It has a little more complexity than either, but I really had to dig around for the more subtle notes. I do like it a lot, but I have a couple similar blends and I'm not a huge fan of red musk, so this will probably go to a better home. I have to say the honey note is one of the best I've ever smelled in a blend - usually honey is a death note for me, but here it worked beautifully.

[Blood onmy hands]

Third Charm reminds me of a lot of blends that I already own, especially when it's first applied. It has a Snake Oil feel and is similar to other blends that bpal have done with red musk & honey (Infernal Lover, Womb Furie). It's almost fruity/wine-like, red, warm, a bit sweet, heavy musk. Sweetened with a bit of honey. As it dries down I get more of the patchouli and cedar incense, making it darker and sort of unpleasantly dirty on my skin. After an hour, it seems like the dark notes fade away again and I'm left with just red musk. I find bpal's red musk to be really overpowering, though. Not a keeper for me.

[AlectoFurious]

This scent is divine, and there is really something for everyone in it. It does have a very Snake Oil like vibe to it but a more woodsy feel and the honey is subtle on my skin. Drinking mead in a Snake Oil bath in the middle of a forest.

[LiberAmoris]

I'm loving Third Charm. I think it's definitely one to try for those who've enjoyed Snake Oil, Womb Furie, Infernal Lover and O. The honey comes forward on my skin, and after a half hour or so, it's a soft, musky, honeyed skin scent with the patchouli darkening the edges ever so slightly. And it smells a little bit like nag champa (!), which is a total bonus.

[yakiguri]

Red musk dominates yet another blend. *sigh* As Third Charm dries I get slight sniffs of honey and woods but it's pretty much OH HAI I'M RED MUSK.

 

I don't know why I keep trying, red musk almost always shoves all the other notes out of the way...maybe I'm just spoiled since Mme. Moriarty was the first red musk blend I bought and no other has worked as well on my skin as that one has.

 

EDIT: Now that it's been a few weeks the red musk has finally calmed the hell down, and I get the thick spicy-sweet depth I love in my BPAL blends. Bottle for sure.

Edited October 26, 2012 by thatbrownelf

[Caper]

I had a slight cold when I first tried this one, and it was RED MUSK ELEVENTY!!!!1!!!!!1

 

so, I was going to come here and complain about it. I read the reviews first and everyone seemed to get some really nice woods and honey, so I thought I should try again.

 

Yes, it starts off with RED MUSK! but within maybe ten minutes I started to get this amazing woodsiness and incense. The only other blends I tried with ho wood was strong woods, and I think that is what is holding the red musk in place.

 

It is beautiful. I'm going to deathmatch it against Chrysanthemum Moon today to see if I need another red musk bottle, but I'm thinking the answer is going to be yes.

[tharsei-thanate]

Bought a bottle of this at Comic Con yesterday! Based on the notes, Third Charm was something I never would have thought to buy (not that I don't like the notes, they just didn't really catch my eye), but hey, there was a tester in front of me so why not test it? A few minutes later I decided I needed a bottle.

 

Third Charm is very well-blended so it's difficult to give an in-depth review of the notes, though if I concentrate I can pick out the honey and patchouli and incense. Also, the patchouli in here isn't going wonky on my skin like it's wont to do in other blends (looking at you, Samhain), which is pretty much the best thing ever.

 

Overall, it's a warm, softly sweet, gorgeously complex blend that somehow manages to be very autumnal to me. I'm so glad I have a bottle of this.

[Dark Alice]

Red Musk and Honey. Subtle, sweet, not musty. I think I need a bottle.