Mystical Aphorisms of the Fortune Cookie

[xeia]

Almond fortune cookies and a bit of roadside palm reader-inspired incense.

I feel totally inadequate to post a first review (Thank you, Mod, for fixing me up to look nice), but I know people are waiting on reviews before they buy, so I want to do my part!

In the bottle: My initial reaction is "Hawaiian Punch!" I think it's the slightly spicy fruitiness. I'm pretty sure my nose is just reading the almond as cherry, because this is the last time I get fruit.

Wet: The incense struck me first, and I was thinking gentle spiciness, with sweet around the edges. The incense flavor is garden-variety. (Except, of course, it smells better because Beth made it, and she makes cheap, normal stuff smell classy.)

Drying: There's a phase where it does just what it says on the tin. It smells like you opened a fortune cookie, and there's some incense there. Not in-your-face incense, but like your roommate habitually burns it, and your couch just smells like that now.

A couple of hours later, it has settled down into comforting warmness. Predominantly I get that lived-in incense smell, with the sweetness behind it making it even more cozy. This would make awesome room scent, if it doesn't keep doing that fruit punch thing.

Bonus, supporting the good causes the Lab picked to donate to! Edited August 6, 2015 by xeia

[Leopard403]

This is such an interesting scent! When I open the bottle and take a whiff, I get lots of incense and something in this reminds me of the "opium smoke" in Carnaval Diabolique. That's a nice association to start! On my skin, this is much more almond-y and in my brain that starts to read like cherry, but not as overtly cherry as some almond scents (if that makes sense!). It's got moderate throw and moderate staying power so far, though I've also noticed that the smell I get when I huff my wrists is quite different from the smell I get when I fluff my hair and get a whiff of the oil coming off my neck. It's not that it's morphing, really... it's just awesome!

 

 

eta for bad grammar

Edited August 13, 2015 by Leopard403

[Dark Alice]

This starts out smelling like liquid vanilla you buy from the grocery store. Then dried it still holds that vanilla note and goes to fortune cookie incense. I adore this...but a bottle is probably all I will ever need.

[Gateau]

Wet, this is much heavier on the incense than the almond cookie.

 

Drydown -- Definitely a more incense-heavy scent. There is a longish period where the almond cookie aspect serves only to add a sort of Play-Doh-ish aspect to the incense. Not that appealing to me.

 

A couple hours later -- I like where this ends up. It smells like nice fresh warm almond cookies eaten nearby an incense burner. The doughiness goes away. I need to see if this final phase has enough strength and staying power with a fuller slather to be worth it.

[recklesslysober]

In the bottle I just get cherry, but on the skin it quickly dries away to almond and a soft incense comes out beautifully.. The description of warm almond spice cookies is the most accurate for me. I just got it out of the mail a couple of days ago so I'm hoping as it ages the incense will come out a bit more and the throw will be a little better, but I'm really glad I picked this one up!

[Lethran]

In bottle: Surprisingly circus peanut and bubblegum like in the bottle. I think it's an accidental accord of the almond and whatever incense is in there. Wet: Now it's more cherry blow pop. I'm wondering if this decant is mislabeled. it is quite incensey and... maybe a touch rubber and leather accord on the dry down. I don't know. This is nothing like I expected. It's quite pleasant, but not almond fortune cookie like at all. Dry: It really does turn into an unusual and pleasant insense, but the notes are two strange to guess at.

[dementia_divine]

In the decant: I'm getting the almond that reminds me of cherry almond things. It's a soft, sweet almond note.

 

Wet: Yes, this definitely reminds of cherry and almond or red Starbursts. No incense at this point, though I'm getting a bit more of a fortune cookie vibe the longer this sits on my skin.

 

Dry: Now I'm getting the almond fortune cookies and incense, but this is more fortune cookie than incense on me. I prefer this phase of the scent.

 

Verdict: This one is okay, but I don't feel like I need more of it.

[Soupy Twist]

Almond/cherry in the bottle. Goes on a bit medicinal, like a cherry cough drop, although not unpleasantly so. Quickly becomes straightforward incense. Sigh. I'll admit I didn't have high hopes for this, but I did have some.

[zankoku_zen]

Almond cookies and incense. It's like a very gourmand blend with incense so that it's not just a straight up foodie. I find this to be a very wearable almond-incense blend. Good throw, good wear length.

 

Very office appropriate.

 

Almond, incense, baked goods.

[savage_rose]

Sugared almond flour...sweet and delicious, and just a hint of amaretto-nuttiness to me. Mmmm!

[Allumina]

Sigh. Foodies are usually mostly a miss on me, but this one is particularly weird- straight up cherry cough syrup, from wet to drydown. No cookies, no incense. Usually almond works on me, so it must be something particular about this almond. Off to swaps!

[vanilla323]

This one starts as mostly incense on me with a little bit of almond cookie far off in the distance. I am liking it so far. It has a classic BPAL scent to it. Not sure what that is but its there. Good throw and descent staying power. The dry down got a little more cookie like which was a yummy surprise. It's a perfect almond cookie scent...no cherry.

 

This scent has grown on me more. It's very pretty and bounces from foodie to sexy and hippie all in the same scent! Love that. Wonder what aging will do to it...

Edited November 1, 2015 by vanilla323

[milo]

YUM, I love bpal's almond note, and it's definitely here, along with spices. It does smell like a cookie, but I've never had a fortune cookie that smelled like this. It smells A LOT like Asp Viper, but without the Snake Oil. Because it is so much like Asp Viper, I don't need any more. There's also a very faint (but annoying), oil or petrol smell. I don't get the petrol around me, but rather when I sniff my wrist up close. This is a great blend, and if you can't do Snake Oil and love almond cookies, you'd probably like this.

[Astarial]

Wet, this is almonds and spices. Dries down to a softer incense/spice blend, and I don't really pick up any almonds or cookies. As incense goes, this is relatively soft and unobtrusive.

[agirlnamedfury]

Spicy marzipan. This is that kind of almond that smells a bit like cherries at first, but it's definitely very sweet and cookie-like as well -- not really fruity past the wet stage.

 

I actually really like this one.

[LiberAmoris]

Wow, fortune cookies and incense... Mystical Aphorisms captures my favorite part of fortune cookies—the smell (because they never taste as good as they smell). The strong almond note burns off really quickly, and I'm left with an almond cookie incense that lasts for hours. So fun!

[suki]

In The Bottle: Yummy almond cookie!

 

Wet On Skin: Yep, that's some almond cookie alright.

 

Dry Down: Goodness! It really *is* fortune cookie incense! This is AMAZING! I never would have thought I needed such a thing in my life, but yes, I needed this exact thing! It's sweetly resinous incense-y, but definitely still fortune cookie. It might sound odd- how can those two things line up? but they do. they really do, and this has immediately jumped to become one of my favorite incense scents of all time. Just like that.

[roseus]

In the decant: The almond is reading as a very sweet cherry

 

Wet: Cherry syrup, but with a nuttiness underneath

 

Dry: Soft almond cookie and incense. Comforting and beautiful. I love all of the Scalias

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: uugggh/ Almond is so iffy on me, and this has gone wrooonng. Fake cherry with a hint of plastic. NASTY. Darn skin, this sounded so good!

 

 

Dry: Not as horrid as wet, but still not good. I don't know why almond smells like cherry to me, but this is not a BPAL thing. Almond extract does too, and Marzipan. Real almonds smell like none of those things to me.....anyway, this is not for me.

[Blood onmy hands]

Cookies and incense sounded good to me (I like a lot of the lab's cake & incense blends), but this has the bad almond in it, the kind that smells like cherry cough syrup and sickly-sweet maraschino cherry syrup. Dries down to boozy almond extract (cherry all the time) and... cinnamon? I'm not getting anything that reads as incense.

[tinyvulture]

First impression: the most mouthwatering cherry-almond, butter cookie. So sweet, with tons of vanilla. No incense at all. Foodies, get on this!

Dry down: Wow, it really smells exactly like a fortune cookie. So glad I got a bottle!

Edited July 30, 2016 by tinyvulture

[lizabelle]

Starts off as the cherry-est almond you ever did smell, then settles down into a soft, pleasant cookie scent. It's not overly sweet, so those who don't usually go for gourmands don't have to fear. There's the spice of unburnt incense in the background, as well as a true smoke note reminiscent of Weenies "bonfire" scents. It's not a blend I would have thought of but they go great together and I can see myself getting a lot of wear out of this. Glad to have a bottle!

[theredkilt]

Freshly applied, the cherry/almond note shows up. And later on the blend morphs into something that smells very similar to Perversion, the GC oil. Who would have thought?

Edited February 20, 2017 by theredkilt

[Deceitfuldescender]

On drydown I get mostly a pleasant, no headachey incense with just a little almondy something. Could be cookie. This actually smells quite good, an unassuming blend that is sort of comforting. Worth keeping.

[Lucchesa]

Wet, there's a blast of almond extract, which I love. Somewhere on the forums I read the scientific explanation for why the almond note is always so fugitive, and while I don't remember it (esters?), this is another example of a fleeting almond that entwines with and then bows out in favor of a gentle incense note, more fortune teller than fortune cookie. It is not at all foodie on me past the first ten minutes.

 

I'm delighted I finally got the chance to try this, but I don't think I need more than the decant.