Thirteen (13)

[Neecerie]

13 is significant, whether you consider it lucky, unlucky or just plain odd. Many believe it to be unfortunate...

... because there were 13 present at the Last Supper.
... Loki crashed a party of 12 at Valhalla, which ended in Baldur's death.
... Oinomaos killed 13 of Hippodamia's suitors before Pelops finally, in his own shady way, defeated the jealous king.
... In ancient Rome, Hecate's witches gathered in groups of 12, the Goddess herself being the 13th in the coven.

Concern over the number thirteen echoes back beyond the Christian era. Line 13 was omitted form the Code of Hammurabi.

The shivers over Friday the 13th also have some interesting origins:

... Christ was allegedly crucified on Friday the 13th.
... On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and sixty of his senior knights.
... In British custom, hangings were held on Fridays, and there were 13 steps on the gallows leading to the noose.

To combat the superstition, Robert Ingersoll and the Thirteen Club held thirteen-men dinners during the 19th Century. Successful? Hardly. The number still invokes trepidation to this day. A recent whimsical little serial killer study showed that the following murderers all have names that total thirteen letters:

Theodore Bundy
Jeffrey Dahmer
Albert De Salvo
John Wayne Gacy

And, with a little stretch of the imagination, you can also fit ”˜Jack the Ripper' and ”˜Charles Manson' into that equation.

More current-era paranoia: modern schoolchildren stop their memorization of the multiplication tables at 12. There were 13 Plutonium slugs in the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Apollo 13 wasn't exactly the most successful space mission. All of these are things that modern triskaidekaphobes point to when justifying their fears.

For some, 13 is an extremely fortuitous and auspicious number...

... In Jewish tradition, God has 13 Attributes of Mercy. Also, there were 13 tribes of Israel, 13 principles of Jewish faith, and 13 is considered the age of maturity.
... The ancient Egyptians believed that there were 12 stages of spiritual achievement in this lifetime, and a 13th beyond death.
... The word for thirteen, in Chinese, sounds much like the word which means “must be alive”.

Thirteen, whether you love it or loathe it, is a pretty cool number all around.

... In some theories of relativity, there are 13 dimensions.
... It is a prime number, lucky number, star number, Wilson Prime, and Fibonacci number.
... There are 13 Archimedean solids.

AND...
... There were 13 original colonies when the United States were founded.

Says a lot about the US, doesn't it?

In our paean to all the mysteries surrounding this enigmatic number, there are thirteen lucky and unlucky components, including white chocolate, tangerine, currant, mandarin, white tea and iris.

Oh god the pressure.....at least I dont -see- a 13 review yet.....so here goes

in the bottle: I smell the white chocolate and it smells not sweet but there like a rich chocolate cake sort of smell

wet: it almost immediately goes more dry and acidic smelling, in a possibly tea like way. None of the chocolate is there anymore at all. A tiny hint of some flower is there, but its like in the background for the more possibly citrus smell.

Dry: the citrus is still there as are the flowers. I know I have smelled something similar in a cleaning product, maybe a soap before, because I know this smell, but cant -quite- name it. Quite tangy though, with a bittler edge, although when i smell the edges of the area I applied it to, its softer and more womens dressing powder-like.

Very summery and quite likely a good outdoor scent. Will have to give it one more all day test run before I am sure..

Denise...devistated that the chocolate never came back...

edited to add: chocolate or something else sweet, just came back, but conflicts a bit too much with the flowers on my skin

[verbosa]

My first review is a hard one.

 

Okay: in the bottle it smells light and almost sort of waxy? Sort of like one of those milk chocolate oranges, but the chocolate part isn't very heavy or rich. It also smells citrusy, but slightly artificial and cloying, like lemon dish soap or something.

 

Immediately after applying, the citrus part takes over and also becomes a little soapy. It smells like a "fresher" version of Dorian, with the tea and sugar. After awhile, it morphs into a floral - I think gardenia? Iris? but I don't know my florals very well.

 

I have to wear this again before I really decide. There's something about it that I really like but also something that makes me a little nauseous. I wish I were better at picking out specific notes.

[Northernminx]

Whoa.

 

The phrase: incredibly complex comes to mind. White chocolate in the bottle it's a cocoa smell for a moment but is creamier and lighter than any of the other BPAL chocolate scents. Tangerine and a touch of sweet citrus come out on my skin, sort of a rich, decadent table set with flowers, fruit, and candy. There's a definite floral undertone to this but I wouldn't classify this as strictly floral or strictly foody, rather a combination of both. The white chocolate stealths it's way back in eventually for which I will be ever thankful.

 

Gorgeous and ever-shifting and just wonderfully yummy.

[Scylla]

In the bottle: Wait.....Did I get a bottle of Bliss by mistake? It smells almost exactly like Bliss in the bottle. I thought that, and then my daughter smelled it and said the same thing!

 

Wet, on my skin: It starts out VERY chocolatey--like Bliss or Vice, which is weird, because I didn't expect that at all. The white chocolate (which smells like regular chocolate to me) stays predominant for less than five minutes, then fades WAY into the background. The tangerine, currant and mandarin come to the forefront, making 13 smell like the love child of Bliss and Akuma.

 

On drydown: The (white) chocolate continues to fade, but is still detectible. The fruits have also taken a step back and the iris (and perhaps some other florals) has come forward to take a bow. Then the fruits come forward again.

 

13 is definitely a shape-shifter of an oil. It's complex, delicious, ever-changing and I enjoy every stage of it! So glad I bought two bottles!

 

ETA: The tea note comes out and mingles with the florals on extreme drydown. (3-5 hours later) Very nice!

Edited July 13, 2005 by Scylla

[laochodia]

Yum! This is pure white chocolate, sweet and light in the bottle. Once on skin, this stays chocolate while adding a bit of a light sweet orange scent- probably the tangerine. After a tiny bit, the chocolate fades to a background note and the tangerine takes over but with a red note which, after reading the description, I realized was currants. Tea and currants push themselves for a tiny bit, and thena hint of dry flowers joins them. After about 5 minutes it turns back into white chocolate, mandarin, currants and tea all blended wonderfully. This isn't foody- the chocolate smells more like essence of white chocolate (which, if I remember correctly, is an aphrodesiac), the tangerine/mandarin smells less like, say, orange juice and more what you get when you first cut into a fruit. This is a lovely, lovely scent that I wish I had gotten more than 1 bottle of.

[L-z_Empress]

When I opened the bottle of this, I was wondering why the oil smelled like Doritos or Cheetos or something (strange, I know). Still I decided to stick to my rule of giving all BPAL oils a wear test. So I dabbed a little on my wrist and tried not to put my nose near it I was even starting to type up my swap post for this one when I got a whiff of something really nice and I was wondering if it was Kyoto (which I had on the other wrist), but no it was 13 morphing into this lovely scent. After the initial drydown once the strong chocolate, orange, dorito scent fades, I get this lovely, perfect warm weather scent. It smells like white tea, a tiny smidge of citrus (i guess orange), and light florals. I guess I'll keep my bottle after all

[Thorne]

In the bottle, this was all cocoa. Like Scylla said, it smelled exactly like Bliss to me too. On the skin, the cocoa scent lingers for maybe a half hour, then shifts to a much sweeter, creamier white chocolate scent. Delicious!

 

There's something fruity lurking around in there too, the tangerine, I think. It's not a sharp citrus at all, but a soft haze of juicy scent. I think it's the current playing with the mandarin and tangerine.

 

I can't pull my wrist away from my nose. I'm getting a little whiff of the white tea underneath faintly, also, grounding the scent and making it more complex. This is quite a changeable blend, strong and unusual, with a lot of throw and a wonderful tumble of scents coming out over time. Big love for this one.

 

And look how cute the bottle is! Fuzzy webcam pic of 13!

[Scarlett]

Ordered for name alone...

 

In the bottle: Uh. Not me. Chocolate has not been favorable in the past, and unfortunately, I don't think this is going to be a hit either. Tea has been hit or miss.

 

On me: Still "Uh".

 

After 30 minutes: A little better. The fruit is more noticable and the chocolate is way, way in the background, but the tea just blows it all for me.

 

After 2 hours: A miss. I can see how some people are going to just love this though.

 

Off to elsewhere it goes.

[pekeana]

Love, love, love, love, LOVE 13.

 

In the bottle, I smelled chocolate -- but white chocolate. I can smell the difference because I prefer the scent of white chocolate, so it's very pleasant. I can also smell a touch of floral and a touch of citrus. But it's mostly white chocolate.

 

On my skin, it's like "HELLO, SMELL ME, I SMELL FABULOUS, DAHLING!!!!!" Soft chocolate, sharp but sweet citrus, a tiny hint of floral, and something red. I wonder if there are berries in this because I smell berries. Hmm. It's slightly powdery, very sweet, and incredibly delightful.

 

Every foodie scent fan should have a bottle of this. I'll definitely be buying more when it comes back. It's just that good.

[Eldritch]

In the bottle: Shades of Bliss, is my first impression. Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. Much more chocolatey than Spooky, with less the powdery smell. There's something else hovering in the chocolate that I can't place, though. Cautiously optimistic.

 

Wet: More chocolatey-Bliss! And...oranges? Oooooo. It's those slammy chocolatey oranges you get at Christmas! How yummy. Very mandrin orange and chocolate.

 

Dry down: Hmm. Still orangey. Less chocolatey now. Where'd my chocolate go? I'm reminded of chocolate-orange liquor or something to that effect. I'm not getting any of the florals or non-orange fruits other people detected. But the choco-orange is kind of beguilingly nice in it's own way. It reminds me of Christmas, when Santa would always leave a hershey bar and a apple/orange in my stocking. Hee. I'm just glad it's not going powdery-cheap on me like Spooky.

 

Hour later: Still sweet, nummy oranges. Candied oranges. The chocolate has faded immensely to this subtle background note. This is the most -comfy- BPAL scent I can remember. It's not pretentious or flashy or sexy or glammy--not a high attention scent in the slightest. This is comfy denims, messy ponytails and a half-drank coke. Very laid back, youthful, casual. It's not an immediate omgmustwearthiseveryDAY! scent, but I am warming up to the bottle. Nice.

[Honeywhip]

I received this bottle over my lunch break and the first half hour my co-worker kept saying "Quit trying to eat your arm!!!" I am so happy to report that the white chocolate stays with me throughout all the morphing. White chocolate/orange...white chocolate/iris...white chocolate/orange/berries...white chocolate/tea/berries... super yum. I am deeply and utterly in love.

[gdogs]

mmmm. . . 13.

 

in the bottle this is WOW!! bold! dark sultry chocolate! musky and earthy in the way perversion is earthy to me. somehow animalistic.

 

 

wet on my skin it is still definitely chocolate, but with a bright sweet orange flavor. like lush's whip stick. . .at first there was a boozy scent, but that went away and settled into a deep earthiness (no more animalistic musky scent). hovering under the chocolate orange.

 

the earthiness comes out like some smokey fruit. fig, it seems, but sexy, sultry fig. and still, that chocolate orange scent. as it settles in more, a sexy floral comes out, that dusky floral i get from black pearl. must be the iris. *droooling*

 

after a while, the sweet chocolate scent has settled down, but only so that it sits perfectly with the other notes. mmmmm. dark and mysterious.

 

 

like this oil is full of contradictions. . . bright and smokey, sweet and dark. earthy and florally. sexy and innocent. they meld together wonderfully. it seems to not sit still on my skin, but wafts and rolls with scent.

 

i will wear this often, and with awe at the creativity that i sense from it.

 

do ya get it? i really, really like 13~

[Rheliwen]

Yum yum yum!

 

In the bottle: hot chocolate powder mix...less chocolate, more white chocolate though (if that makes any sense )

 

Wet: White chocolate mized with a hint of cocoa. I say this to mean that it doesn't quite smell like chocolate, but it does have a tiny quality of it somewhere. As it begins to dry I definitely smell the chocolate orange thing going on.

 

Dry: This is the best part! It's sort of like a soapy orange/berry creamsicle. I mean soapy in a good way, fortunately. The tea does make it similar to Dorian...almost like his chocolate cousin. 13 is way more complex though. Underneath all this is an almost woody background. :swoon:

 

I was a bit worried based on the early reviews...but this one is awesome! The drydown is so soothing and beautiful.

[ChupaChup]

In the bottle and fresh on my skin, 13 is very reminiscent of Bliss, in that milk chocolate way, and Vice, in that chocolate/orange way. But it also smells quite nutty. If you've ever had Cadbury's Fruit and Nut bar, 13 smells the way that tastes. I don't get white chocolate at all though, it's definitely milk chocolate on me.

 

The chocolate and nuts component fades very quickly, the nuts disappear completely and the chocolate fades to the background. This happens within the first ten minutes. Then a sugary tea scent emerges, very much like that in Dorian. But where Dorian is a little astringent on me, the tea in 13 seems to be sweetened by candied friuts, the kind you find in fruitcake. And every once in a while, I get a tiny whiff of iris, usually not good on me but somehow it works very well in this scent.

 

13 is not at all what I was expecting but it is really pretty nice. I wish the chocolate aspect were stronger and longer lasting, in fact the whole scent is a little light for my tastes. Then again, I've yet to find any chocolate scent where the chocolate note lasts more than half an hour on me. I'm guessing even people who don't like foody scents will end up liking this if they can wait out the first ten minutes.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Smells like the chocolate digestives they gave us when I was in England. It's not a bad smell, but I'm not sure whether it's going to like me, you know. There's a little bit of something in the background, but I can't tell what the note is over the chocolate.

 

Wet: Chocolate digestives. Makes me kinda miss them even though I was freaked by the word digestive appearing on my cookies at first. There's also a bit of one of the fruits handing around. I'm not sure if it's the tangerine or the mandarin, though. It doesn't smell the best with the digestives, though. The throw is nice; it smells like baking.

 

Dry down: Weird. Now it smells like nail polish remover with chocolate in the background. I'm beginning to regret buying this blend. I think some of its components hate my skin. I was so looking forward to it, though. The throw still smells like baking, chocolate and sugar and orange. Orange chocolate digestives. Eh. But on my skin it's chocolate scented nail polish remover. To anyone in the nail polish remover business, do not scent it chocolate. Thank you. I think it's the combination of the tangerine, mandarin and currant that's causing the nail polish remover smell, but I'm not positive. If I sniff closely and long enough I can sort of pull those three scents out but together they smell like, as I've said, nail polish remover.

 

Dry: Chocolate nail polish remover. Le sigh. Another bottle that doesn't like my skin. I should have known. Most of the foody scents refuse to work on me. The throw is so lovely that I'd be tempted to keep it for oil burining. It's a pity that my skin makes it smell so rank, though.

[Batgirl]

I'm loving this! I first put it on my skin and that completely disappeared really quickly (under one hour). Actually, if I sniff my wrists really closely I do still get a faint citrus scent. I do think this is a rather light scent, which is odd becuase the other chocolate scents have been really strong on me. I also put in it a scent locket, and it is lovely used in this way. The chocolate has managed to stay in the forefront for several hours now, and is nicely complimented by the citrus smell. This actually reminds me a lot of LUSH's new Sonic Death Monkey shower gel - I think the two will go perfectly together. There's another note in the background that's really familiar, but I can't place it. Maybe it's the iris? I definitely recognize it from another BPAL scent, but I'm not sure which one right now.

 

In the future this will be a definite scent locket only scent, but I'm definitely keeping my bottle!

[inkdarkmoon]

All chocolate always smells the same on me...which is alright I suppose since I would rather eat it than wear it In this particular blend, the white chocolate smells like regular old chocolate, but not in a pure-unadulterated-chocolate-slab sort of way, but in a flour-y baked goods sort of way. Something with a dry crumb. A chocolate scone perhaps.

 

Upon initial application I smell the baked goods plus a vague orangey-citrus smell but it's got a little bit of a waxy undertone. Maybe if you iced that chocolate scone with a thin drizzle of icing made from melted orange-scented crayons. Yum!

 

As it dries down the chocolate sort of fades into a sweet-ish floral with a tangy zing, I guess that is where the iris and currant come into play. Sort of a "generic" (<--I hate using that word for BPAL) sort of scent, but not unpleasant or anything. Maybe if Strawberry Shortcake had a chocolate-covered-orange friend, she would smell something like this. So basically what you are left with is a sweet floral with a sort of citrus/waxy/plastic-y undertone, but when you've got a blend with something like "white chocolate" in it, that it probably unavoidable.

[Sheila]

Wow, this smells totally different on me than on anyone else! It's like reading reviews for a completely different oil.

 

On me, this smells like Bewitched, but with creamy mandarin instead of blackberry. (Bewitched is one of my top-ten scents, so this is not a bad thing!)

 

When I first smell the bottle, it smells like creamy oranges--almost like a creamsicle, but a little more sharp (I'm assuming that's the tangerine). I think the creaminess comes from the iris and white chocolate. It smells delicious. On, it becomes a strong white tea note, with bright, cheerful fruit. It's sweet and foody. I love it.

[sarada]

Opening the bottle: It's summer at the Jersey Shore and I'm going into one of my favorite candy stores. There are bins of chocolate and candy everywhere -- molded chocolate on lollipop sticks, an endless array of fresh chocolate goodies in every shape and size lining the walls, a rainbow of fruity treats and salt water taffy. There's a fresh warm breeze blowing in the door, and you don't even know where to begin as you start to cram a paper bag with fistfuls of treats.

 

This scent really, really takes me back to being a kid in a candy store. Now, keep in mind, I hate foody scents. But not all of them. This is really, really fresh chocolate, there's nothing sticky or syrupy about it. I think about these wonderful cookies I got recently which have currant filling and white chocolate frosting. This is a lot like those, too. But more than anything else I think of that childhood rush of wonder when you go into a giant seaside candy store in the summer and just don't even know where to begin.

 

A touch of fruitiness, a breath of purple flowers (I love purple flowers, so I'm sure that the iris is appealing to that), it's just a wonderful fresh appetizing smell. And I happened to get this on an incredibly lucky day for me, as well -- I keep getting good news today! I hope that this blend continues to bring me good luck, but I already know for sure that a black cat is going to cross my path today (she's sitting right next to me) so who knows? I'm not terribly superstitious anyway.

[Nox Eterna]

13

 

In the bottle: Pure liquid chocolate

 

Wet on: eewww wierd dry grass/wet dog combo ???????

 

Dry on: Ok MUCH better. Almost minty with a subtle chocolate undertone, slowly the powdery floral comes out. Finishes with a sweet flash of mandarin dipped in chocolate.

 

Overall: A table set for a tea party. Fresh fruit dipped in chocolate.an assortment of baked sweets, steaming cups of tea, and a fragrant bouquet of fresh flowers.

Quite nice, just remember to keep the dog outside during the tea party

I really have NO idea how he got in there!

Edited July 15, 2005 by Nox Eterna

[lokelani]

Delicious. Starts out pure chocolate; after a few moments something a bit lighter insinuates itself in there – I’m pretty sure that’s the white tea. Next is the tangerine and/or mandarin, and then just a hint of floral makes an appearance. A bit later on the chocolate sort of winds its way back in there. A very complex scent, but lovely in all of its stages. I am so glad I ordered a bottle of this!! Great stuff.

Edited July 15, 2005 by lokelani

[evanesce]

13... When I opened the box from the lab, I smelled brownies.

 

I found the bottle, which obviously got a little oil on the outside of it too... And still.. BROWNIES! While backing.. Almost brownie batter.

 

Now, I don't like chocolate scents... but I gave this one a try.

 

On me, it's easily summed up as a chocolate cake, decorated with live flowers. It smells soft and chocolately, and when you get up on it, you can barely smell the flowers in the background.

 

I don't know if it's for me or not. I don't regret buying it though it is lovely I'm just not sure if I wanna smell like brownies!

[lorajc]

I rec'd this last night and tried it and could barely smell it. This morning, I slathered it on (very light scent and my dry skin soaked it right up) and I could barely get a trace of the scent......then ....as fate would have it, the air conditioning went out at work and I got really overheated. Since I tend to always be COLD, this is always a welcome surprise when wearing BPAL! All of a sudden this wonderful smell started to surround me. I could smell mostly white tea and iris, I think. When you first put this on, it's all white chocolate, but that phase only lasted about 10 minutes on me and then it turns just a touch citrus with the white tea and iris and the white chocolate is barely noticeable. I think, at this point, the white chocolate just makes the scent appear creamy. This is lovely and I'm glad I bought multiples. I suspected I would enjoy this unique combination of notes. Kudos to Beth for pouring all of her creativity into this unique scent!! This is slightly reminiscent of Dorian with an iris/currant/mandarin tinge. Breathtaking.

[shelldoo]

o....m.....g....!!!!

 

in the bottle:sweet rich white chocolate.

 

wet: white chocolate w/ a slight hint of tangarine reminds me a bit of that chocolate orange thing i always buy the kids at xmas and u smack it to break it.

 

as it dries i get some of the currant along w/ the above mentioned notes i don't get any floral at all (thank the heavens) and no tea just the milky white chocolate yumminess and fuity sweetnes of currant and mandarin/tangerine juiciness. this is such an amazing batch. i hope my stash will last until the next 13th

[blackrayne]

In the bottle I get pure smooth, creamy white chocolate. As soon as it's on my skin, the tangerine totally blossoms. It's simply amazing how it does that. While drying down, it morphs still more, and on me ends up being a light flowery, slightly powdery, slightly fruity blend, which is positively amazing. However... I really think there's some pale amber or musk in this because within 15-30 minutes, I have the most amazing sinus headache of doom.

 

I shall be keeping the one bottle, and experimenting with it (in an oil burner, in a car sachet, etc.), trying to find a way to enjoy this scent without the terrible pain it inflicts on me when it dries... but I don't think it will get much love since I rather prefer my head not to be a pounding, throbbing mess.