Devil's Night

[lorajc]

Devil's Eve, Devil's Night, Gate Night, Trick Night, Mischief Night; whatever your name for it might be, the chaos is still the same. Contrary to popular belief, this festival of pandemonium isn't unique to Detroit. Falling on October 30th, it is an evening of mayhem and destruction. On the gentler side, it may be celebrated by practical jokes, an egging, Ding-Dong-Ditch, or enthusiastic TP'ing of your most hated neighbor's trees, and on the more violent side, arson and vandalism. This is the scent of autumn night, fires in the distance, with a touch of boozy swoon, playful sugar and thuggish musk.

Well, this is nothing like I expected. I expected it to be heavier and it's actually very light wearing on me. Beth nailed it with "autumn night" as that's what this smells like with a ever so slight hint of sugary/booziness. It is not at all too sweet or too boozy though. They are just very soft in the background. I do smell the note that I smell whenever Beth has a scent with the description "Autumn Winds". I have no idea what it is but it is very evocative of just that. When I was walking outside yesterday, it was chilly and the leaves were falling and I inhaled deeply and thought to myself "now that's an autumn air" and now I've got that in an oil but it's made even yummier with the sugar. This is really lovely and I am glad I bought more than one bottle. I don't think it resembles the Hex (can't spell it) LE at all, so I think those who speculated that this would be close may be disappointed. Although, I can smell just a tiny comparison to it.

ETA: I'm noticing something spicy (almost gingerish) in this now. I don't know what it could be but this stage is really yummy. I just touched it up about an hour ago.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Smokey and acrid, which is probably the "boozy swoon", and a hint of musk. I like.

 

First on: The smoke is a pure smoke, not scented with any particular wood. It's just a bit hazy on the top of a scent I can't quite describe. I can point out the scents, but it doesn't describe how they all come together and the overall effect. It's definitely just the smell of autumn with a hint of booze, sugar, and smoke. Lovely.

 

Drydown: I think this is my favorite of the Halloween scents this year, though I haven't tried on the Pumpkin Patch yet. It's a very slinky smokey thing, with that little twinge of sweetness. It's a very light scent, but I want to keep sniffing myself.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in one word: Smoky.

 

In the bottle: Sugary musk! Interesting, but strange.

 

On skin, wet: Sugar, smoke and something boozy. This actually, strangely, smells foody. It reminds me of Sugar Cookie, without the cinnamon and vanilla.

 

On skin, dry: This is very surprising, and totally not what I was expecting. This is warm, sweet, and vaguely spicy. Like lorajc, I'm getting something gingerish, though I'm not sure that it is, in fact, ginger. But it's sweetly spicy, like hard sugared-ginger candy. The longer it's on, the deeper and smokier it gets. After a few hours, it reduces to spiced stale bar smoke.

 

Conclusion: I don't dislike Devil's Night -- I just don't dig smelling as though I've just stumbled out of a bar, so this isn't something I'd wear. I'm glad to have gotten to try it, though.

Edited October 17, 2005 by Aredhel

[Undine]

Weird--this is not at all what I expected. On me, Devil's Night smells like lemon sugar cookie with a hint of smoke--but not Samhain-ish, Hexennacht-ish, or Djinn-ish smoke; very sweet or even spiced smoke, more like some of the Carnaval Noir incense smokes. (I've never tried Sugar Cookie, so I can't compare the two.) Quite similar to Aredhel's appraisal, I think. Only, I'm not sure about booze and I wouldn't call this light, exactly, though it's not heavy either.

 

On drydown more of the spices (the mulled cider or wine sort) come out, and I think I smell cinnamon. I also get a light plastic-y Band-Aid note that I believe is the same one I got from Honey Moon.

 

Staying power and throw seem fairly average to good.

 

Really, really not my thing at all. I just don't like sweet scents, generally. But I would suspect that many people here might like it, especially if they liked the Carnaval Noir line generally (I struck out with it).

 

On my scale, 2 out of 5.

[Eros]

Wow, hard one to describe. In the bottle, lightly sweet with a touch of sharpness. There's something lurking in there that brought The Living Flame to mind. Doesn't *smell* like TLF, just a similar creaminess in the background somewhere.

On skin, a *very light* & sweet...coconut-like smokiness with maybe a touch of vanilla & sugared lemon. Not foody at all to me. The smokiness amps a bit after a few minutes & it's simply lovely.

 

It's a bit of a light'ish perfume, although that said, it seems to go up and down... Lightens up to almost nothing and a minute later, there it is again.

 

Beautiful blend!! Glad I've got another botle on the way.

[DarcyPennell]

Just got my order today and tried this on a half hour ago. I love it. Love. It's light, sweet smoke. "Boozy" notes tend to go out of control on me but this doesn't, it's very subtle. I think this is the perfect autumn scent I've been looking for.

[clstal]

Interesting.

 

This is vanilla sugar and smoky incense on me. I get the impression that it'll last a long time (my skin tends to eat scents pretty quickly, so this is a bonus) and in the 2 hours I've had it on it's not morphed. I like it, but so far I don't love it (will need to test several more times to be sure!).

 

I'm a fan of booze (scents, though occassionally the real stuff :-) ) but I'm not getting that, here.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Smokey and musky yay!

 

On me:

Ooooh I love love love this! This is quite musky on me, and I do adore musk so this is working out pretty well in my favor so far lol. It has a general sweet smokey vibe going on with it, but I don't find it to be overwhelming - it just adds that "bonfire" feel to this. I can see where the "boozey swoon" comes from as well, because there is something sweet and alcoholic underneath this - it's just a faint touch of it, enough to make me think of drinking hot cider or the like next to a bonfire. And because of the airy lightness of this scent, it DOES come off very much like an Autumn night. It's just a truly beautiful blend, I hope that this might make a reappearance next year so I can keep on wearing it!

 

Final note:

I love it, plain and simple.

[riddel]

Devil's Night

 

Oh. My. God. You know how autumn air is all dead grass and crunchy leaves and smoky bonfires burning in the distance? Crisp, sharp, and musky all at once? This is that scent with a touch of sugary Halloween sweetness underneath. I can't wait to wear this outdoors this fall. I imagine it will mingle with the air around me perfectly, much like Dia de los Muertos does. And the label!

Edited October 20, 2005 by riddel

[Em-]

This is the first of this year's Halloween scents I tried, and boy is it lucious. It is like burning leaves, mixed with something wonderfully sweet...the musk on me is a sweet smoky one, not an animalistic one, and I had completely forgotten that there was booze in here until I re-read the description.

 

Yummy! So glad I ordered a bottle!

[inbigtrouble]

I only ended up getting two Fall scents: this and Samhain. Of the two, I definitely think this is my favorite.

 

This is heavily spicy on me; smells like cinnamon. I get a touch of smokiness, too. The sweetness of this is very light on me; spice and smoke are the overwhelming notes. It's funny, because the smokey note actually almost makes my throat feel like it would if you were inhaling smoke, a slight closing and burning, but not in a bad way, just realistic. I think I get a hint of dry leaves, as well. Sounds like it would be heavy, but it really isn't.

 

This is a keeper for me, but I think that as soon as the warmer weather comes in the Spring, I won't want to wear this anymore. While it isn't heavy, it is most assuredly a cool weather scent.

[Nepthys]

I'm so glad we were given such a long window to order the Halloween LE's, because now that I've tried this and fallen in love, I need another bottle. This is bewitchingly gorgeous. I don't get the boozy note others have; instead this comes out of the bottle smelling like cinnamon fried cake and then dries down to add an autumn night/burning leaf smell. Oh, it is so beautiful. If I was a billionaire, I'd order it for everyone. Funny, while Samhain reminds me of autumn itself, this is a much more Halloweenish scent.

[cranberry]

This is such an amazing scent!!! I fell in love with the description and I'm so glad that the oil and my expectations matched.

 

I get spice and a light musk. Kinda like the Shub Niggurath and Buck Moon mated and this is their love child. But the child definately takes after his father. The musk is predominant.

 

There's a bit of spiciness - sometimes I think ginger, then other times I think cinnamon. The musk is pretty light on me - it reminds me of the light musks in Buck Moon or Dorian. I don't really get booze or much smoke, but what smoke there is, it's a sweet smoke. I think the musk and smoke mix and give it this velvety, warm feeling. It's a very light scent and stays close, but I love it. Absolutely love it. I can't stop smelling myself. It becomes a second skin scent that is very sexy. Devil's Night indeed.

[Lorencita]

This is gorgeous! My mother stole it from me already. This is men & women around a bonfire, loving life & breezes of autumn chilling the air. This seems like such a fun & sexy scent. I have more bottles on the way!

[Little Bird]

Devil's Night was surprisingly good on me. Musk, booze, and smoke... sounded incredibly scary to me. It was the Halloween blend that I hesitated most on... and I think it might be my favorite.

 

This is like trick or treating in a bottle. The dry autumn leaves, chilled air, and sugary snacks.

 

First on it's mostly the dry leaves and a hint of incensey smoke. In the drydown, there's a creamy musk, sugary vanilla, gingerbread, and lemon cookie scent coming into play. I'm not getting any of the booziness, thankfully. Even in this rather foodie stage, the autumn leaves are strong enough that it's not overly sweet. It's foodie without really being foodie, if that makes sense.

 

Hours later there's just a hint of creamy musk and smoke left on my skin. It's just beautiful all the way through. This one is a keeper

[loveandprozak]

Hmmm... this one didn't smell at all like I imagined, conceptually or note-wise.

 

I had expected something that was sweet and somewhat chaotic smelling given the notes and my general conception of Devil's Night. Instead, this is a much drier, mysterious, and subdued blend.

 

I smell woods in this. Dry, barren woods that are not anything like the rich forests I generally smell in BPAL scents, such as Oberlin and Ice Queen. I'd normally be turned off by this amount of dryness, but there's a thick layer of bay rum on top of it that keeps me intrigued.

 

Far from chaotic or playful, this scent is more remniscent of me of a final credits scene in a campy slasher flick where all the campers are missing, the fires from the previous night have burnt out, and the sun hesitantly sets on the all-too-still scene of half-drunk bottles of booze, empty tents, and abandoned camping gear.

 

It's very evocative, and something that I'll probably keep around for the "right mood" even though it's not my normal tastes.

[Finny]

Mmm, this is wonderful. Chill air, with a hint of smoke. Boozy snd sweet. As it dries, it keeps the smoky coolness. At the end the musk is very soft, the smoke is faint, and the leaves come out.

 

Definitely a keeper.

[luxuria]

This smells like slightly boozy apple cider in the bottle! Not like straight-up apple cider, more like...airy spiced cider, if that makes any sense. On my skin, it's still got the cider quality, but add in more of the airiness and some smoke and a touch of woods. It almost smells kind of cologne-ish, but not in a bad way. This is VERY unique, but I like it a lot.

[Imbrium]

First on, this is smoky sweet, like vanilla, rum, and bonfires.

 

If that weren't nice enough, it turns into musky autumn air, like - sex in the woods, by a roaring fire. It's just slightly sweet, and really, really sexy, and given the opportunity, I just might want to bathe in this. It's everything I wanted Hexenacht to be, and then some.

[imaginepageant]

In the vial: An overall nutty scent, with a definite edge of booze, though not overwhelming to the point where it smells like a bar full of alcoholics. There is a soft smokiness to this as well, but thankfully not the sharp, bitter smoke I get from most blends classified as smoky. And the more I smell it, the more I think there's something like clove or cinnamon in it, spicing it up. This is really nothing like I'd expected Devil's Night to be!

 

Wet: Nutty, nutty, nutty... and a bit of neroli. As always, my skin brings out the musk, making this a bit darker and heavier. Oh no, oh god no!—it's turning into gross old man smell! NO, NO, STOP THAT!

 

Dry: Yes, it's gross old man smell, similar to the result I get from Fire of Love. As minutes go by, it's starting to smell less like that, but the hint of it is still there, taunting me. The sugar is coming out, along with more musk.

 

An hour later: It's very faint now, but what's left of it has changed from gross old man smell to... gross old man smell smeared over with butter. I swear, my skin not only amps any butter note to infinity, but creates a butter note in blends that don't even have one! Otherwise, it's grown a little sweeter, but still retains the unpleasant musk.

 

Overall: My skin has been turning everything into butter lately, so I'll have to retest Devil's Night before I make any decisions about it, but I'm fairly certain I'll be selling this bottle. How terrible that the one Halloween blend I decided to buy unsniffed (after considering between it, Sugar Skull, and Dia de Los Muertos for hours) seems to be a mistake.

[olympia301]

 

Cute bottle and good name. I was interested to find a smokey scent and was very happy to get this one. Wet, I get that corn smell that is rambling around this year's Halloween blends, and a little bit of menthol or lavender. I am not detecting much in the way of smoke. It's more like a mild aftershave with some corn component. It doesn't change much on my skin and I am having a hard time picking up a theme here other than the corn. It isn't a disagreeable scent, but to my nose it just lacks character. I think it is a bit masculine but not very strong. Not bad but not great to me.

 

I also think Devil's Night is a first cousin to Buck Moon.

Edited October 19, 2005 by olympia301

[pekeana]

Devil's Night came out of nowhere and surprised me.

 

In the bottle, it smells sugary, boozy, and leafy.

 

On me, it smells like bonfire smoke (the good kind where you're dancing around in your Halloween costume around a pile of leaves that's going up in smoke) tinged with the deeeeep, crackling scent of leaves that have lost their clorophyll. After a while, a bit of sugar, booze, and musk come out to play, but it's mostly crackling fire.

[carolinachiquita]

I didn't really know what to expect with this one. I expected it to be a lot heavier than it is on me, it smells like an autumn. I don't know why or how it just does, it is sweet and boozy and slightly smokey but at the same time its a fresh and clear scent - yes I know that sounds weird but its what it is like to me. I really like it - (Might have to sneak another order of this one in!!)

[Avery]

Uh oh.

 

I'm hoping I can chalk it up to a funky chemistry today (not tomorrow please!) and that my most awaited Halloween fragrance is going to stay how it smells on my skin in the first hour: it was delicious--warm, boozy chocolate musk being carried on a chill autumn breeze with dry leaves skittering around in the background and not turn to the musty sweat of a delinquent boy throwing eggs. Oh please. I am afraid, as this is what it transformed into!

 

this may be my first real BPAL heartbreak. Will update with either decision to swap or (hopefully) my change of heart.

 

ETA: Nope, this scent is not for me. After the sweet and enticing drydown, all I get is "thuggish musk" *sigh* Already swapped.

Edited October 24, 2005 by Avery

[spanishviolet]

On me this is sugar, musk & spices. My roommate said I smelled like yummy cookies.

 

I get a hint of smoke and only the tiniest echo of booze once it dries down. It's a little lighter than I was expecting, and fades in a couple of hours, but what a delicious couple of hours! Definitely going to need some more before this goes away!