Freak Show

[theseagrows]

A strange, disconcerting embrace… to some, alarming, and to some, intimately familiar: fig, pomegranate and cocoa bean with lemon, bergamot, vanilla, mellow honey musk, calamus and tonka.

when i first apply this, there is some note that is too strong that turns my stomach slightly. it reminds me of a candle wax smell, but i am assuming it's the cocoa bean, honey musk or maybe the chocolate.

once it dries though, it is a nice, warm, complex scent. i can definitely smell the tonka, but have trouble picking out the other notes.

[SeaMonkey]

Figgy chocolate with Tonka in there as well............This might turn me into a food scent person!

[HappyLoveJoy]

This smells like a spicy vanilla cola with what reminds me of cherry but I know is pomegranate. The fig lends more of a dark scent than a fruity one and might be what it is that makes me smell cola/dr. Pepper. It's nice but it's so mild on my skin.

Edited November 16, 2005 by HappyLoveJoy

[jewelbug]

In the Bottle: A very smooth, sweet fig with a touch of lemon. On deeper inhale I can smell some sweet (but not dark) cocoa.

 

On, wet: Really sweet juicy fig with an odd edge. The description says unsettling, and I think there is no better way to describe it.

 

Dry: This pretty much stays as it was wet. Its super juicy/sweet fruity fig (and I'm a huge fig lover), but i just cant' get over that "edge". I don't know what it is--maybe the calamus, since I don't know what that smells like? Its just so strange. I can't get used to this. After several hours it just stays here, then fades.

 

Overall: I consider myself a fig girl. And this is by far the strongest fig I've tried--I get mostly fig. But its actually a bit TOO fruity for me. I don't get any chocolate, vanilla, musk. I do get a bit of lemon/bergamot (but only if i'm really trying). The problem is that I'm also getting something unfamiliar and it kinda smells....like dirty people. I dunno. Maybe i'm overly influenced by the name.

 

I was so hoping to love this , but I'm going to hope that someone will want to swap me for a 5mL of something I like better. At least the other two in my first ever bottle order worked for me! You know what they say, 2 outta 3 ain't bad....

[Cleolinda]

On me, it's all fig and pomegranate with an overtone of chocolate that settles down as it dries and sinks underneath the fruit. I get so many compliments on this one; I let a friend of mine sniff my collection of bottles, and she said that this one was her favorite of all of them (and I have Dorian!).

[ViolentKitten]

A gorgeous, airy cocoa with a light lemon and honey musk. I don't really notice the fig or pomegranate, but they are there, intermingling in the body of the scent. There's something in there too, which I can't quite define, a kind of dry spice. It might be the calamus which I read from various places on the web that it is a herb with a lemony, spicy sweet aroma (yet bitter to taste). Overall, despite the notes, Freak Show is not too fruity or foody, but quite tasty nonetheless!

[Phaedra]

Wet this is chocolate, orange and sour fruits. When first on it smells like hazelnut, chocolate and orange. It’s also a bit misty. This turns powdery and sweet, similar to Kuntskammer. Then a floral note develops, rose maybe. This dries down to a soft floral. This is really nice! A bit foody, a bit sweet, and a bit floral all at once. Quite an interesting mix!

[Lady Ravenglass]

Hmmm. Wierd! It's sort of all mixed-up and chocolatey at first, then it mellows into something a lot like Carnal, except warm and skin-scented and pleasant. There's fig (or at least, since it smells like Carnal I assume so) and something ever so slightly vanilla. I can see where a previous poster has mentioned the 'candle wax' thing. There's something a touch waxy or smokey there that gives it warmth and depth, probably the honey musk. The honey is giving it a slight 'something' that I dislike, but I think it'll wear off and fade.

 

I like it It seems like a good wintery scent to wear close to the skin on cold days, once the cocoa note has worn off. Sadly, I'm not a cocoa note fan.

Edited November 21, 2005 by Lady Ravenglass

[Fefferbella]

Chocolate, cinnamon and fresh figs.

 

This is yummy. Eventually the chocolate mellows out and the vanilla note takes over. This is really sweet, but not overpoweringly foody... I like it.

[Shollin]

First sniff: OK. Please ignore my first impression, because it’s totally off-base, but… the very instant I started sniffing, Freak Show smelled like… um… Planters cheese balls. The Cheeto-ey-type things in the blue can. That went away in a split-second, but it was very much Planters cheese balls. Ahem. With that out of the way, the actual scent is much more like white chocolate, lemon, and that elusive yellow note that always turns out to be fig when I check the ingredients.

 

Wearing: Very mild chocolate and figs, and a fresh lemon afterscent. The pomegranate got much brighter and more dominant as it dried.

[sarahj]

Freak Show

 

in bottle: fig and cocoa...like a very decadent truffle

 

wet: the lemon appears...a very odd (but not in a bad way) combination of lemon, cocoa, and fig

 

dry: completely different...lemon, cocoa, and fig have faded away and now the vanilla, honey, and musk have taken over (with an emphasis on the musk)...fades in 3 hours

 

verdict: nice, but I'm a bit disappointed with the drydown and the disappearance of the fig, cocoa, and lemon and the no-show pomegranate...I will keep some of this bottle but will probably also imp some out for swapping

[ancilla_morte]

that was great and intriguing in the vial. A wonderful mix of cocoa, a tiny HINT of lemon, it was a very complex blend.

 

but on my skin... sadly it turned into a menthol honey lemon cough drop. which unfortunately has ruined my experience. anything that contains a combination of honey and lemon makes me feel a bit ill. (as did White Rabbit )

 

edit: SCRATCH THAT! 1 half hour to 1 hour later....PURE BEAUTY.

It is the SAME EXACT SCENT as my favorite Crystal Journey Candle of Courage. SAME EXACT. Holy moses.

no cocoa, not lemon-honey-ness that I despise... I don't even know what I am smelling. but it is this candle scent to a T.

 

I am completely, wholly AMAZED.

Edited December 11, 2005 by ancilla

[white_jenna63]

I'm not familiar with several of the notes, but I'll give it my best shot. In the imp, Freak Show was chocolate with a rich, red fruit (I'm assuming the pomegranate). Very nice. And it stayed that way for about the first five minutes on my wrists. Lovely! Then it started getting sweeter and "lighter", with the chocolate disappearing. Okay, I like vanilla and lemon, so we'll see how this goes. Within a half hour, it had turned to powdery old lady perfume on me. Burned all the way up the sinuses. It was so bad I had to wash my wrists. About three hours after that I did get a nice, light vanilla from whatever was left, but certainly not worth it. So, it got swapped for Hearth 2005, which is much better.

[Rhowan]

*~*Freak Show*~*

 

 

IN THE BOTTLE: Cocolatety goodness with maybe a hint of lemon? It is reminding me of 13 with lemon.

 

WET: right away I get a combo of the fig, pomegaranate and barely a hint of cocoa and lemon. Oh! This smells wonderful right where it is at! Only time will tell.

 

DRY DOWN: The dry down was going wonderfully. the tonka, vanilla and musk coming forward to blend with the figgy pomegranate. The cocoa is lost after a few minutes -not really lost but blended so wonderfully to round out the scent. About a half hour later, DISSAPOINTMENT! It is starting to turn powdery on me. Maybe it is the honey in the honey musk? Honey always turns powdery and yuk on me. Only time will tell....

 

CONCLUSION: Everything turned out okay after all. the powdery yuk only lasted a few minutes and continued to morph. This ended up to be a wonderful scent! It toned down, quit morphing and turned out to smell like it did in the bottle - just softer, smoother, and warm. This is very nice but I wouldn't actively seek out a bottle of it.

[girlmadasbirds]

i LOVE freak show! the notes blend together so well, it's really difficult for me to pick them out individually. it's sweet with a hint of honey and lemon... a very "light" scent.

[merebrillante]

In the vial: Fruit.

 

Wet: Fruit and sugar, with some chocolate on the side.

 

Drydown: There's the vanilla. I also catch the bergamot at this stage too.

 

Dry: Ooh, the fruitiness is calming down some and something more sophisticated is rising up -- it must be the honey musk. My skin loves musk. The lemon is coming out for a peek now too. It may be too early to tell, but I suspect this one is a keeper.

 

Later: It must be vanilla that turns scents into synthetic rubber Barbie doll on me. That's where this one has gone, although the musk held it back as long as it could.

[Voleuse]

Cocoa is the top note initially, with the fig and lemon following shortly thereafter. It's more complex than that, of course, but my nose can't distinguish them. If I sniff closely enough, I sometimes catch tonka, and sometimes honey and vanilla. This is a dry and sweet and dark scent on me, complicated and surprising.

 

After a while, it gets a little smokier on me, and the musk creates a lovely halo of scent. It doesn't have a lot of throw--I'd have to slather it. It's delicious, though. I'm glad I have a bottle.

[harmonyfb]

This was beautiful! In the imp, it was a slightly-sweet smell.

 

Wet, it was all sweet caramel, but as it dried, a fruity-ness developed underneath the initial sugar smell. Dry, an hour or so later, it was spicy, almost a cinnamon-smell, warm but not sharp. Dry, several hours later, there was a sour-edged smell that I assume is the fig (not unpleasant, though).

 

I have to admit, this isn't what I thought it would smell like, but I really like it.

[loves_requiem]

I MUST HAVE MORE FREAK SHOW!

 

In the beginning, it reminded me pleasantly of cherry vanilla pipe tobacco...

 

them WHAM.

 

Chocolate covered roses with a pomegranate jelly center.

 

I still get a warm tobacco-y smell from it as well...so its setting up an entire montage in my mind.

 

MUST GET MORE...SOMEHOW....

[filigree_shadow]

On me, this is strongly tonka and cocoa bean with bergamot and pomegranate. It's beautiful -- it smells sweet and smooth at the same time. This is what I wanted Kunstkammer to smell like (that one went disappointingly cough syrup).

 

I have to be careful with lemon because it tends to overpower on me, but I can't detect it in this blend. And I sort of wish I could pick up more fig, but on the other hand Freak Show is fantastic as it is.

 

I will be on the lookout for more of this one. When I want a non-apricot fruity blend (apricot is my favorite), this is the one I'll reach for.

Edited February 22, 2006 by filigree_shadow

[GypsyRoseRed]

In the bottle, this is very foody - just like figs and chocolate, although I don't think chocolate is listed in the ingredients. On my skin, it's a quite mild, warm, spicy second skin scent that hangs around for about 3 hours. Very pleasant and interesting. I think this would make a nice everyday perfume, if I had enough of it.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Such a great name...Freak Show. I'm really curious about these notes. It's pale-orange in the vial. On me: hey now, that is *almost* wonderful. Cocoa and vanilla are divine together, especially with honey, but something is off...and I think it's the fig. Beth's fig has no love for me. The lemon shows up after a bit, and citrus goes well with the dessert notes. I think, though, that I'd rather just get more Velvet, which has the same dry-cocoa note and doesn't have that slight wonkiness to it.

 

*sings off-key*: Super-freak, Super-freak, smells super freaky!

Edited April 4, 2006 by Laurel the Woodfairy

[tamburlaine]

Not alarming, no. Familiar, but not intimate. Freak Show comes out at me with the cocoa bean first and the vanilla and tonka (as those notes usually always hog the spotlight), but then the pomegranate appears and... well...

 

Freak Show reminds me of those kosher jelly rings my family always gets at Hanukkah. Chocolate-covered fruit jelly candies. You know, I guess it IS intimately familiar.

 

I have to admit that I'm a little upset that I'm not getting the bergamot, musk, or fig more; I had hoped the dry-down would show Freak Show to be a little more earthy or animalic, but it's all sweetness and all gourmand on me.

 

Still, I don't regret having a 5 mL of it!

[GemmaCat]

Ooo, this is delicious!

 

At first it's all gooey, sweet honey and vanilla, but as it dries down I get the lemon and pomegranate emerging, evening out the sweetness and making the whole scent pretty, rich, and uplifting.

 

A definite favourite, and another wonderfully blended scent!

[Jettcat]

I get only a brief whiff of the cocoa, it settles down with tonka note wrapped up in the lemon-honey and I'm not sure if what I'm smelling is fig, but it's a warm note.

If this gets made available at the next Lunacy, I'm getting a bottle.