Freak Show

[TulaMontage]

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.

 

Bottle: Caramelised fig drenched in rich melted milk chocolate

 

Wet: Extremely foody... very true to the bottle.

Dry: Exotic slurpy pomegranite jucies sit on the surface of this rich and heavenly scent pool.

Woaza I simply adore this scent. It's deep, rich, sensual and good enough to eat. Although, the bitter lemon makes it not so safe for consumption. A complex yet expertly blended scent which makes me feel freaky and frisky.

[VioletChaos]

in the bottle: lovely milk chocolate with fresh fruit juice mingle fabulously

 

wet on skin: wow. the chocolate is still there, but everything else, especially he fig an the lemon are co-mingling. it is becoming hard to pick out notes, though- this is *really* well blended.

 

dry down: this is just. amazing. juicy fruit, creamy, but not over powering chocolate: this is pure win.

 

in all: sexy, freaky, foodie but not a knock-you-over variety, this is SO perfect, i can't believe i had to wait this long to aquire a bottle. this gets my highest recommendation.

 

 

 

:D

[PinkoCommie]

I wish I had never even sniffed this. Not even a whiff. Because now, having sniffed it, I am forced to spend the rest of my life hunting down every bottle, decant and drop of the stuff. Who knew freaks smelled so great?

[Coldfire]

This is a partial bottle I got from a newbie pack I ordered

 

 

Bottle: Chocolate first, with all the other notes all

pushing to be out and smelled.

Wet on Me: Starting to smell like chocolate powder

with fruity undertones

Drying Down: it smells muskier now to me. Fig &

powder then faint lemon and bergamot

Dry:Powder now with a dark & musky scent to it. I

smell the fig and tonka.

Throw/Stay: slight throw and decent stay to it.

 

Glad I was able to try this scent. Not sure if I'll move heaven and

earth to grab all I can of it.

[DARKBEAUTY28]

Wet: Strange indeed. Extremely foody and sweet. I recognize cocoa (thought it was caramel at first actually) but not much else.

 

Drydown: Still foody and has an almost nutty quality. Could it be the tonka?

 

I like this scent but the fruits aren't very pronounced on my skin. It is almost too well blended, but smells nice. I'm not crazy about this and had higher hopes for it. It almost smells like coffee sometimes when I sniff it.

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: Dude. Just... look at those notes. Just LOOK AT THEM. Fig, pomegranate, cocoa, vanilla, honey musk and tonka = yes please. Lemon, bergamot = Why not? Calamus = what on earth is that, exactly?

 

In the bottle: WEIRD. Just... weird. It's fruity but without any of the body I normally associate with that... it's not sweet but it's not un-sweet... it's dark and light in equal measures, a hint of warmth, a hint of sharpness... weird.

 

On the wrist, wet: Sweet, fruity, slightly musky, slightly sharp, slightly heavy. This is busy and confusing, which I do kinda like, but... this is confusing to the point that it makes me feel slightly unwell.

 

Twenty minutes later: I'm beginning to think fig doesn't love me - it always goes fuggy and sweet and PURPLE on me. Nevertheless, this is intriguing - it's a study in opposites. I can't decide whether or not it's a warm or a cool scent, fruity or not, whether there's a hint of sharpness or a hint of dusty honeyed resin. Sometimes I sniff and get a distinct honey and vanilla on top of the fruits, other times it's dusty cocoa and a tang of lemon and tonka. I'm gonna have to give this another test another time, because I just cannot decide.

 

Verdict: Keeper... for now.

 

Tl;Dr: A bizarre, confusing blend that shifts from one extreme to another.

[kikithepirate]

To me, this is an even richer version of Eat Me. I am totally and completely in love with it, and sort of wish I'd never gotten the imp! It's slightly warm, slightly fruity, but not so much that you smell like a scented candle. Mmm.

[livingdead71]

When I first sniffed this in the bottle, it gave me a bit of a headache, and I was worried I wouldn't like it. Well, it made it's way into the rotation today, and I love it! It's actually very soft and pretty on the skin. I smell the fig and cocoa most and a little of the pomegranate. I can't really pick out the lemon or vanilla, but I love both of those notes, so I'm sure they are contributing in some subtle way to the overall beauty of this scent. I'm really glad I took a chance and got this on ebay. It's really a gorgeous scent!

[TPOD]

First of all, let me say I received a testable bottle from the lovely and generous ifinena

 

I can smell chocolate and fruit in the bottle. Wet on the skin is where the fun begins. There's that honey+musk = sex note that makes O and Skuld smell so fabulous to me and so vile to others. Only in Freak Show it's, well, freaky.

 

If O is clean, wholesome, summery boinking on a hot deserted beach, then Freak Show is the wee hours at a San Francisco S&M club. Very, very dirty and disturbing. Honey, musk, fig and cocoa like I have never seen them.

 

Once dry, Freak Show puts on its sensible shoes and goes to work at the Public Library. No one is the wiser about the wild inner core because now it smells of soft and gorgeous, lemon, bergamot and vanilla. Nothing could be more prim and proper.

 

Amazing. I'd really like to have a full bottle of this.

[ouch!]

The wet stage of this makes my nose crinkle, I'm not too fond of cocoa in perfume and that's what jumps out straight away, it's there though...and then it's gone. Then it's a very musky almost nutty blend, that reminds me of Sed Non Satiata I can also detect a slightly boozy note too, but I have no idea what that is.

This is a kinda freakshow of a blend because it after this phase has passed it changes again completely...

 

It changes to a much more perfumey blend, Bergamot is noticable. No vanilla which is a shocker for me as that is the note my skin chemistry amps the most.

This is now a more slightly fruity/perfumey blend, that's not very special in my eyes.

 

I'm so thankful I got this a s a frimp from a wonderful forumite because I know how difficult the Carnaval Noir blends are to obtain. It is however, not a stand out scent.

 

[Indigo78]

Honey + Tonka + Bergamot + Vanilla = . The others I am not sure about, like pomegranate and calamus. Cocoa and lemon are usually either saviors or deal breakers on me. We'll see how this goes.

 

Acetone? There was a sharp, familiar note that I perhaps wrongly assciate with carnations and/or nail polish remover. Thankfully it drifted away within the first five minutes, and this now smells nothing like it did wet. Could have sworn I smelled the cocoa that others have mentioned when I opened the imp, but not on my skin. Nope. Not at all. On me this becomes cotton blossoms and cotton candy all spun together. Very simple in a shade of pale, pale pink that becomes sweeter the longer it wears.

 

I expected something named Freak Show to be...erm...louder? It's okay. Nice surprise. Wish I'd been around when it was released.

Edited December 21, 2008 by Indig0

[donnatron]

Bottle: The intriguing honey musk from Lady Una with some sharp pomegranate and bergamot.

 

Wet: The cocoa bean is the predominant note--it's very earthy and sensual. I think I catch a hint of the fig. The pomegranate goes a bit sharp and the honey musk all but disappears. Also getting a very clear lemon note. It's very well balanced--a lot of super sweet ingredients tempered by some lovely tart fruit and some earthiness from the cocoa bean.

 

Dry: The notes are there. I can very distinctly smell the pomegranate and the lemon and the honey musk and the tonka. However, the general impression I get from it is... uh... cuddles. This is the sort of scent I'd like to be wearing while snuggling up with someone dear to me in front of the bay window while watching a thunderstorm. It's a very mood specific scent (no it's not. I wore it today to go for a random drive with a friend who is special but not someone I cuddle with. However, my platonic ideal for the scent is the previous scene described). It's very warm, fruity, a little flirty and very, very cute. I love the lemon in this. I'm not really a big lemon fan but it so perfectly tempers the rest of this scent and really offsets how wonderful each note is. The cocoa also adds an almost dirt like base to this that makes it so interesting. An intriguing and wonderful blend.

 

Throw: Good.

 

Overall: I love Freak Show. I really, really hope that CN gets resurrected as Carnaval Diabolique rolls out of town because this is definitely the sort of scent I would love to be able to stock up on.

[amyw]

I got this in a swap and it's YUM. The fruit notes are more prominent in the bottle, to my nose, and it smells a bit sharp. On me, however, the honey, cocoa (which smells more like chocolate than cocoa at this point), and vanilla come forth and sweeten this blend, and the only fruit that I'm sure I smell on myself is the pomegranate. With perhaps just a bit of fig... and all that's more than fine with me. It reminds me a lot of a few of the 13s - a chocolatey, fruity, vanilla scent. That makes it sound more foody than it really is - it obviously has foody notes but it isn't that foody, to me.

 

I it.

[devilot]

Freak Show

In the Vial: Figgy that somehow translates to my nose as patchouli, but a nice kind. Cocoa.

 

Wet: Cocoa. Slightly fruity. I think I detect the honey.

 

Drydown: Sort of creamy. Slightly earthy and somehow fruity, but not a bright fruitiness, a very mellow sort.

 

Verdict: Lovely blend, but it's not unique enough for me to keep this decant or hunt down a bottle. I'd love an empty 5ml, though, at least for the fun name/ label art and BPAL history aspect.

[Venneh]

In the bottle, I'm getting fig, pomegranate, bergamont, and cocoa bean. On my skin, this is fig and pomegranate and bergamont, and a touch of lemon. Not really my thing...

[Autumnsky]

In the Bottle: Herbal and sharp...bergamot, lemon and calamus (which I'm blaming for the "antiseptic" factor.) Reads medicinal, but not unpleasant.

 

Wet: Sharp, juicy, weird. I'm smelling the fruits here, and traces of vanilla.

 

Dry: Dries down to something incredibly wearable, with the cocoa/tonka/musk notes at the forefront.

 

Not my favoritest ever...but I wear it from time to time to keep things interesting.

 

(Edited for typo)

Edited July 13, 2011 by Autumnsky

[Mechanical Death]

Oh sweet heavens!

 

I am in love! The boy loves this one too- he wanted to lick my wrist! haha!

 

Deliciously dark candied fruits, heady and sexy, slightly spicy, almost incense-y. Love love looooove!

[White_rabbit334]

in the bottle: chocolate, pomegranate, lemon

 

on skin: immediately starts smelling like lemons and pomegranates---maybe linen? I'm getting a distinctly...clean scent from this, maybe even a tea.

 

10-30 minutes: Chocolate, pomegranate, something darker.Maybe the fig? Vanilla, maybe the honey musk are starting to come out. I finally looked up the notes; I know what the tea-impression is now! It's bergamot! But it's more or less dominated by the pomegranate on my skin. I definitely get the tonka but it's an undercurrent, and not a dominant player.

 

hour in: Pomegranate, honey musk, hints of lemon and tonka. The vanilla adds a creaminess that's VERY well blended. It's almost a single-note at this point however; pomegranate dominates all!

 

Overall, 4/5 for me---one of the few fruity blends I enjoy. If you're leery about chocolates, try this one! It just adds depth and is barely detectable otherwise. It's what made me brave enough to try other chocolate and cocoa scents, admittedly!

[brilliantcat]

I'm having a very difficult time picking out notes in the bottle. Pretty sure I can smell fig and cocoa and maybe honey? Wet on me, it's zingy lemon, cocoa, fig, and something dark and earthy. Patchouli isn't listed but I swear that's what I get. The lemon is super tart and verging on sour, it's mouthwatering actually. It does calm down really fast though and I can barely detect it. Now I'm getting pomegranate (I think) and perhaps the honey musk? It's very faint. This dries down to a figgy pomegranate with no honey musk, vanilla, or cocoa TBH, I'm kind of disappointed. It smells good of course but isn't anything special on me.

[LizziesLuck]

Fig is one of my absolute favourite notes from the lab, and Freak Show is my favourite fig blend. On me, it's fig and chocolate. Chocolate usually turns to weird plastic on me, so it's a miracle that it's so beautiful in this blend. Will always be a favourite.

[tristessa]

Definitely an "intimately familiar" smell for me. This is SO good aged, guys. I mean... so good. Mine is in the cobalt bottle and I haven't put it on in many years, maybe 2008 being the last time I even looked at it until today. OMG OMG OMG OMG. It's just deliciously aged. I smell this and think it's what snake oil's freaky sister would smell like-- but not sure. I've never actually worn Snake Oil and sadly, it's not able to be purchased now, so I wouldn't know. I've just been told it's got that same feeling.

 

It's definitely a cocoa or fig scent with a lemony-afterthought and weirdly, to my brain, that doesn't sound so good as a scent I would ever want to wear. Yet, when you put it on, it's so *familiar* and comforting? But then with a little edge, perhaps that's the pomegranate?

 

I love this blend, and it gets MUCH better with age. I don't remember liking it that much back when I bought it...

[paperflowers]

Freak Show reminds me of Bordello's big sister. It's complex and changes after a few hours. One of the things I like best about it is the scent throw. I was working the other day while wearing it, and overheard my clients having a discussion about how good the Halloween decorations smelled! (it was me!)