Firethorn Berry Tea

[oddlittleghost]

It’s a little bitter.

I’m afraid nothing gentle ever grows in this land, Edith – You need a measure of bitterness – not to be eaten. To survive…

First on this one!
*I will update with wet/dry down impressions as soon as I get the chance to try it!

 

In Bottle: :skull: Holy poison tea, Batman! This is the one CP that's throwing me the most so far. I chose this one on pure impulse because I am OBSESSED with tea notes, but this one is definitely on the bitter side. I'll be doing a skin test to decide if I want to keep it, but it's so hard to describe. It smells like a face mask I've gotten from LUSH in the past but I can't put my finger on which one. Sorry this one is so vague since there are no official notes listed from the lab either! It's very hard to describe! Let's just say a cup of tea I would be *highly* suspicious of.

[Tramp]

Beat the rush and go buy a bottle of this now. You won't be sorry. I don't get any bitterness at all, more of a rose hip tea sort of blend. It reminds me a bit of Dorian and is just beautiful. Tea, a hint of sweetness and some kind of red berry in the mix.

[absinthetics]

The bitter is there and very strong in this, but it is like the bitter of a very dry tea or a red current. It's lovely.

[Kaye_Sera_Sera]

I just received a bottle of Firethorn and I am absolutely in love with it. There is something in it that smells so familiar and I can't place it for the life of me. I get a very dark bitter note lying behind something powdery and just a tad sweet (perhaps a citrus/honey concoction). Now I normally don't like powdery scents but something in this blend makes it okay, it makes it familiar and entrancing. I can see myself using this often.

[Astarial]

In the imp, this really smells like some of those those tea samples if you go into Teavana... red, floral/fruity, but completely unsweetened - best served over ice.

 

I think some sweetness does come out as it dries, but sniffing leaves me with a dry, bitter afterscent in the nose. It almost reminds me of what it's like for me to drink things with artificial sweeteners... that awful aftertaste that lingers, though a little less intense. That part doesn't seem to linger too long, luckily, and it morphs into the same red berry tea, but sweetened enough to drink. It never becomes really sweet though... there's always that bitterness hovering in the back, waiting to strike.

 

It's a pretty simple scent, and I think it fills the fruity-but-not-sweet-fruity niche very well.

[Haltija]

In love with this one!

 

This was one of the scents I was most nervous about when it came to testing my decants. In the decant itself this is quite sharp and a little strange but have no fear, it becomes beautiful. Wet on the skin it immediately reminds me of White Rabbit, the black tea note in it for sure. This is a tad tangy and a lot fruity with a very dominant distinct black tea note and the berry to me is definitely red berry. I agree with someone above in saying it's reminiscent of rosehip tea a little. Either way I love it and I have nothing else like it in my collection. Every waft I keep getting is just making me happy.

 

Will for sure be upgrading to a bottle.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

it really isn't what i'd call bitter... astringent, and not the least bit sweet. definitely tea. my brain said white tea when i sniffed it. but i guess technically it would be a tisane... there's something really herbal going on.

 

i've had firethorn berry jelly and it didn't smell or taste like this.

 

i found a bag of assorted herbal teas someone had given me a few years ago - i put the ones not to my preference in a zippy bag and into the kitchen and promptly forgot about them. i used up all the others. the ones in the zippy bag, i found a few weeks ago. opened the bag and sniffed and there was this stale, leaf-y scent that was entirely too reminiscent of old potpourri... so those got dumped.

 

once this settles in on my skin, it has a similar sort of scent to it.

 

it is peculiar, and very interesting!

 

 

 

Wikipedia results

[zankoku_zen]

Bitter black tea with a touch of red currant, rose hips and something else. I think there's a vanilla in there because I smell in the drydown. Good throw, good wear length.

 

Definitely one of the more interesting Crimson Peak blends.

[Blood onmy hands]

Firethorn Berry Tea turns very sour and astringent smelling on my skin. It has a sharp, sour, high pitched red currant and dry, herbal tea leaf smell. It doesn't last long, and isn't sweet enough for my tastes (which definitely makes sense, given its inspiration, but I just don't find it wearable as a perfume).

[Eutectic]

 

This is simply stunning. It was the one scent I would have passed over from the start but a few friends said, "This is the one scent everyone will skip but wish they had hoarded, you must try this!!!" so I bought a bottle and it is so very delicious! I get a blast of tea (unsweetened and a strong cuppa) when wet but that soon mellows. There is a complex depth here and a preciousness of the blend. I'm terrible at reviews but had to add my two cents no matter how lame. There is a herbal tinge and a very subtle berry that is not sweet.

 

Simply put this is gorgeous, well done Beth!! *applauds*

[Christina Huizar]

I enjoy the herbal, berry tea scent, but there is almost no throw (on me, anyway). I have to hold my hand literally touching my nose in order to smell it. Maybe I just have a head-cold today. ha ha I like my perfumes to have a little more of a presence, so I probably won't buy a bottle of this, but I might use this imp to make a body scrub or something! It's definitely lovely, just not strong enough for my preference.

[porcelina]

astrigent, unsweeted tea note, maybe with some dry fruit or something in there? i like it and could see wearing this in the summer- i think it smells very refreshing. there is also something in there that smells a little bit like a lush store, hah.

[Katlastrophe]

Realistic lemon peel and green tea.
Very green and boring.

[sarandipitee]

Very much black tea single note in the imp but once it hits my skin... whoa.

 

A clove or dark spice dark fruit tea with something sweetening it up. It's perfection. The best tea note - not bitter or astringent on me at all.

 

Bottle.

[Poenari]

A true tea note, very identifiable as tea. This is the strongest tea blend I've smelled in any BPAL. Upon drydown, just a hint of a dark fruit. Neither bitter nor astringent nor sweet. If you ever wanted a true tea scent, get this one before it's gone!

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Tea with sugar. I get a bit of lemon too, but it's not tart at all. It certainly isn't bitter yet. Not particularly complex, either. Just sweet, lemony tea. Somehow BPAL's tea note always does smell lemony to me, even when lemon isn't listed as a note.

 

 

Dry: Very faint. This has faded almost to nothing, unlike most of the others in the CP line, which I have found to have great wear-length and throw. This dries down to just a faint sweetness on me. There was a brief phase where I could detect some type of berry, but that didn't last, nor did the actual tea note. This one is not going to be for me, I'm afraid, but I did enjoy it while it lasted!

[Lethran]

In bottle: This makes me think of absinthe and dragon's blood. It's got a red berry element that is very dragon blood like and a strong licorice or anise element. I'd call it licorice dominant. Wet: Much greener on the skin. It's got a green tea and lemongrass feel to it, and the red berries are a soft background element. the licorice note is softened as well. It is lovely, but completely different on my skin. Dry: Hard to describe. It's soft and dragon's blood adjacent.

[Soupy Twist]

Opens as an unsweetened berry tea. The fruit note quickly dissipates, leaving a very nice warm, soft, spicy black tea. Kind of like a simpler version of Villainess's Masala (which I LOVE and you can't get any more, so if you missed that, try this).

[PrinceofcatS]

I forgot to review this back when I got it.

 

The second review up there comparing it to the tea note in Dorian decided me on this one, and I was anxious about it being bitter and poisonous, but no, it's glorious. If you like tea scents (which I do - every tea scent I've tried from the Lab has been really lovely on, whether it was green, white or black) or if you like kind of food or drink scents that don't smell like "foodie" scents, ie, thick and edible with sugar or vanilla. This is a naturally sweet but unsweetened, very strong tea - I was agreeing with the black tea comments from earlier but I wore Maiden the other day (which is white tea, rose and carnation) and that one stood out as the same note - with a hint of berries, only bitter in that no sugar has been added. I think it may also be a rosehip tea, as others have mentioned, given the ways in which Maiden reminded me of it - but I don't think Maiden and this scent are similar enough to compromise Firethorn Berry's singularity.

 

It's not a scent with a lot of nuance or development, but it's unique, very beautiful, and extraordinarily worthwhile to anyone who likes tea scents or who really liked Crimson Peak.

[dementia_divine]

In the decant: Steeped tea leaves and bitter berries. I'm reminded of the tea leaf note from Miss Spink and Forcible's Tea Leaves (which reminds me of a green Earl Grey), but I can't say for sure if these are green tea leaves. The tea leaf note feels a lot darker, but not licorice-y (I sometimes get that vibe from the Lab's black tea note).

 

Wet: The tea note remains the same. The berries aren't quite as bitter on my skin, but there is something about this that says there is something not quite right about this tea. I think there may be bergamot in this as well.

 

Dry: The tea note calms down, and by this point I do think it is steeped black tea leaves that I'm smelling. The berry note is still rather strong and tart, but I think it is smoother in this phase of the scent.

 

Verdict: I'm glad I tried this one, but I don't feel the need to get more of it since I already have Miss Spink and Miss Forcible's Tea Leaves.

[Myrrha]

At first there is a slightly sharp even slightly sour, berry note alongside the tea.

 

After about ten minutes it all becomes more blended. Still tea with a slight berry note but nothing too sour or bitter.

 

It doesn't just smell like realistic tea/berry, there is a definite perfume aspect to it.

 

After about 20 minutes it becomes *amazing*. I am so glad I left this on and gave it a good chance. It sweetens up a bit but never becomes foody or overly sweet, just smoother.

 

It becomes a light, elegant, feminine tea perfume scent with a hint of berry. Lovely but I decided it is too perfume-y for me to need more.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Myrrha

[freyasfae]

Oh, wow, this does smell like a lot of the berry herbal tea bags that I have, and yes, there is, lurking in the background in secret, a dark/poison aspect. The throw is okay, bordering on weak, as it seems most tea scents are on me, but overall this is very true to the theme.

[Cali]

I was expecting something very bitter and sharp, but from the imp it's actually very sweet and it's crazy how much of a tealeaves vibe I'm getting. Very interesting - on my skin it morphs pretty much directly to something a tad sweeter (a "sweet" I can only compare in my mind to the taste of tea with milk and sugar) but there's also something sharp/bitter in there, but it's still smooth (comparable to cinnamon). It kinda dies after a little while with drydown though which is a shame cause it's very pretty!

Edited June 28, 2016 by Cali

[Casablanca]

Yes, it's a bit bitter. Mostly this is a mixed berry tea or tisane. (The blend keeps bringing tisane smells to mind.) I smell lots of red currants and a few blueberries. I also seem to smell a little red rose (or rose hips) and definitely clove.

There's almost no throw after the first bottle opening and application. If I didn't habitually sniff my wrists anyway, I'd forget it's there. It also doesn't last long on me, but I expect that of tea.

It won't be my favorite tea scent, but it's a great addition to the little tea collection.

[WinterSong]

This is nice. In the bottle and on first application, it reminds me of herbal berry tea. I can smell rose hip in this. On me, sadly, it fades really quickly, though. The scent is very subtle and close to the skin, and there's not much throw at all. It's a shame because it really is lovely. I'm glad I got to try it!