Bringer of Evil

[zankoku_zen]

A foreboding tremble of poppy leaf, cerulean musk, violet grapefruit, mimosa, orris butter, and benzoin
 

[WoolyBee]

This is so freaking good. It’s like a creamy grapefruit with a musky base. And when I say “creamy” I don’t mean any cream or milk notes. What I mean is it’s smooth, not super sharp or super tart. There’s a leafy greeness to this as well. Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about poppy leaf, mimosa, orris butter, or benzoin to be able to articulate if those notes make an appearance, or if they are/aren’t prominent. I thought orris was an immediate “no” note for me, but this is changing everything. Even as I type this, the musk and more perfumey notes are making their way closer and closer to the forefront. I reeeally like this one!

[Failmingo]

Wow, @WoolyBee didn't lie. This is a smooth, fuzzy (yes, somehow both!) fruity-floral with surprisingly dark undertones. An evil butterfly! It hints at the possibility of sweetness but then pulls back from it at every possible turn. As it dries I'm getting more recognizable violet and musk notes bathed in orris, grimly accented with a lovely grapefruit pith. It's mysterious and dramatic, giving A Midsummer Night's Dream vibes. A malevolent fairy approacheth!

 

Strikes me as being perhaps somewhat comparable to The Caterpillar from BPAL's GC, except... with all different notes? Egad.

[VioletChaos]

I got this because I needed to know what "violet grapefruit" could possibly smell like and I'm so glad I did! This is one of the more unusual scents I've encountered in a good, long while, in all the best possible ways.

In the bottle and when first applied, the grating-bitter-tart aspect of real grapefruit pith is front and center, and while I wasn't sure I *liked* it, I was suuuuuper surprised, yet again, at Beth's level of genius. Seriously: who ELSE can create something as specific to the natural world as grapefruit pith? That's some next level shit right there. 
Once the scent had a chance to warm up and dry down, it shifted to include the flesh of the grapefruit (still bitter, but now with an edge of sweetness added in) plus the mimosa comes out to play, which I was definitely glad to see, because I've not, until now, found a mimosa that actually reads like my favorite Seussian puff-flower of summertime. Once deep into the drydown the cerulean musk joins the party, making this scent a complex, slightly sweet yet sinister fruit-floral as prior reviews noted.

Although it only shares one unlikely note, Bringer of Evil reminds me, at least in spirit, of 2009's Black Butterfly Moon. They share a lightness that confuses the senses by obscuring the darkness that lurks beneath- and while I let that old chestnut slip away, I won't make the same mistake this time!

[samanare]

Violet citrus, more violet musk than citrus on me. I really wanted to like this one, but it's too violet/benzoin smelling on me. It's definitely a citrus scent, but more so a 'purple' scent. The grapefruit note is taken too far away from fresh citrus for my personal taste. But if the idea of a more elevated, musky, violet citrus scent interests you, this may be for you.

[groovyrooby]

Just adore this. I love citrus scents in the morning, and this is a great addition to my current selection. It is uniquely floral citrus - the violet is sweet and not at all soapy - and it lasts longer than most of my favorite citrus blends - including the grapefruit note! Wonderful and a must-have for me. Upgrading from a decant to a full size.

[Llanval]

Creamy, musky grapefruit.  A little blue. A little gold. Strange and enticing. Very very close to just the literal pith of a grapefruit, and while that scent reigns, I really enjoy this one.  After a few hours it becomes more blue, with the musk turning the pith into a luxurious cream.  If I was to spring for one citrus scent, it would be this one.  This one is the best I've tried all year and is quite the show stopper if evil grapefruit is what you are looking for.

 

I was hoping for the grapefruit to stay fresh, sharp and pithy as that would have been an FS for me. I love my decant and will keep wearing it until the Weenies come down.  If my mind changes, this may be a full bottle after all.

Edited January 30 by Llanval

[ghoulnextdoor]

A heady mix of musky queen of night poppy and honeyed mimosa entwines with the zest and evanescent freshness of grapefruit, a dark wispy tremor of benzoin’s caramelized sweetness flutters against orris’ secret, rooty coolness in a shadow cast by a single, ill-fated butterfly.

[RoseThornAndOak]

Ok. The Human Animals ended up being the sleeper hits for me of the Halloween offerings this year. This doesn't read Halloween to me at all, but there's an eerieness to it and yes this is fey, fae, fay. Otherworldly and difficult to describe, I feel like I've smelled something vaguely similar, a long long time ago, maybe in the Y2K days. It's a creepy fae fruity floral, like if you asked some faeries to try yo create a fruity floral for humans and it doesn't ever stop smelling fae, lol. This is so elf punk its awesome and it's going right next to Liz and others that put me in that headspace. I dont know it musky, citrusy, floral, creepy cool kid. 

[OxfordComma]

In the bottle, I get a really nice pithy grapefruit with a purple tinge to it. On skin this just starts getting sweeter and sweeter and sweeter. So, firstly, I'm an idiot. I read the notes and my brain was like "mimosa🥂" not "mimosa🌸" so color me very surprisedpikachumeme when it starts pulling this soft floral honey note and not fizzy champagne lollllll. SIGH. So. Recalibrated expectations in hand, this scent is somehow both a verdantly green and dark purple. The leafy notes, combined with the truly purple tart fruit vibe and the honey-mimosa make me think of elderberry syrup? Or something along those lines. On me it's a very sweet fruity-floral, the blue musk is hiding offstage. I'm on the fence on this one, but I'm not sure how much of that is because it's not what I was (completely wrongly) expecting from it.

[DiZZysTARdust]

absolutely gorgeous. for me this is not about the grapefruit at all. The citrusy notes are more present in the wet phase, not like grapefruit peel but more like sweet grapefruit. Then the floral notes come out more in the drydown and this becomes a high end designer perfume. No one floral comes out particularly strong. I think they must be blending seamlessly with the blue musk. A definite stunner and very glad I snagged a bottle before weenies came down.

[Ennikar]

There are a couple notes in here I'm generally cautious of - cerulean musk, for one; usually the only colors of musk I get along with are brown, black, and red. White, blue, green, ect all tend to come off as laundry or soap, which is not my cup of tea, as can some citrus notes. I do sometimes go for bitter citrus+, though, so the rave reviews swayed me.

Fresh on, I do get pithy grapefruit. My partner immediately got jasmine, which is not technically part of the scent, but after she said it I could see what she meant. The floral dimensions combined with the citrus play like a fresh, clean, jasmine-y floral. I would almost describe it as similar to orange blossom, which I fortunately like, but less creamy and heady than orange blossom usually is. No soap or laundry at all, but a fresh, non-sweet, citrus-y floral.

[becca_s]

I didn't notice this one when the weenies were first released but I decided to get a bottle before they were taken down and I'm so happy I did, because this one is very pretty. I get the violet grapefruit and benzoin as the main notes with hints of the mimosa and Orris butter. I can't actually pick up the musk or poppy leaf on my skin. This is so smooth and buttery, the grapefruit and benzoin really shine here and the Orris butter makes this so smooth.