Akuma

[Nekomata]

Devilish temptation, as sweet as sin: blood orange, neroli, and raspberry.

 

Wet this smells fruity and green to me. Not sure why. It dries with more or a orangey-musky scent. Very sweet and light.

Edited April 13, 2006 by Nekomata

[strawberry_star]

I love fruity scents and this is a scent that is all fruit, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with that right? Wrong. It quickly becomes very dark on me to the point that it smells like the fruit is rotting. That really sucks, cause I thought this would be a safe scent for me to like! I don't know, my skin usually likes fruit. Maybe it doesn't like the neroli. But yes, this is going away. Hopefully a friend will enjoy it.

[amyw]

Got this as a frimp from the lab and tried it tonight.

 

Right away I could smell the citrus of the blood orange and the tartness of the raspberries. I'm not entirely sure what neroli smells like, so maybe I smelled it and maybe I didn't. Couldn't say. Then all the notes merged into one smell and I was very confused. It smelled so very familiar. What IS that smell?

 

Then I put my hand up to my temple to move my hair away from my face and had a moment of deja vu. Washing my hair. Yes, that was it! On me it smells EXACTLY like the old Aussie Moist shampoo smelled. I may keep the imp just for that reason.

[mermaidrage]

In the imp: Thick orange syrup, sugar crystals and the tiniest hint of raspberry.

Wet: Sugary-sweet, fruity, CANDY. Oh, this is candy! Or maybe dessert. The bakery near my childhood apartment used to have a fruit tart that this smells similar too... oh... wait. It's getting darker. I don't know what it is or what it smells like precisely, but I'm assuming it's the neroli. It's like the lights dimmed down to almost nothing and you're left with sexy, jazz-club citrus and berries.

Dry: It's still dark citrus and berries, but it's almost smoky and definitely dark.

 

This is lovely. Fruit with a vengeance.

[populuxa]

A sharp citrusy herbal in the bottle - I guess this is the neroli but it smelled more like verbena to me. It didn't really smell like any fruit in particular. After it dried, it was all orange and raspberry. It has the very natural fragrance of fresh fruit, rather than the candied sweetness I was expecting. Pleasant but I wish it had a little bit more gusto! Unfortunately, on me it was very faint to wear, with the neroli giving off the most throw.

[Em-]

At first this smelled very dark and sharp on me. But with time, it's become sweet and fruity with an almost intoxicating tinge. The raspberry is the most predominant note on me, but there are definitely other fruits here.

 

Probably not a bottle purchase, but an imp I'll keep around for when the mood strikes.

[urraca]

When I put this on it is at first almost harsh, kind of like an old fashioned expensive perfume, the kind of scent I associate with Annick Goutal. This is very odd, given the notes. Eventually the harshness dies down and the fruity notes come to the fore. It is never too sweet, but I do not like smelling like fruit, especially not like orange. It may be because of bad associations with orange medicine when I was a child.

[gwyllgi]

It starts out fruity and so sweet that it's almost too much, like sugared berries. As it dries, though, the particular combination of fruits becomes absolutely perfect, entirely too evocative of the oil's name.

 

Blood orange dominates this scent on me, with a hint of neroli for sweetness. The raspberry's barely there, flitting around the edges with an impression of berriness without actually smelling like berries. The blood orange under the sweetness of the other notes somehow gives it a hint of smokiness, which only makes this that much better.

 

I'd initially avoided this one as it sounded too fruity when just reading the notes. I received it as a frimp and have once again had it proven to me that I score better with frimps than I do with imps I've actually selected. This one's definitely going on the list for a bottle.

[cranberry]

Initial impression: wow – neroli! Behind the dryness of the neroli, there’s the sweetness and juiciness of the raspberry. I find neroli to be almost acrid – it has a sharp-ish scent that almost makes the breath catch at the back of my throat. There’s a slight sweetness to this scent and as it wears, the raspberry and blood orange become more prominent.

 

Wow, this is a strong scent. As it wears on, it becomes more fruity and the blood orange becomes stronger. It has an almost candy orange type smell. After a couple hours its all blood orange. Definitely a fruity scent for grown-ups.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: SweetTarts!

 

In the imp: Sharp, bitter neroli. Maybe a bit of blood orange.

 

On skin, wet: Lemon? How odd and surprising, but something very lemony!

 

On skin, dry: Sweet lemon, blood orange and bitter-sweet neroli. This is very fruity and sweet, much more than I'd hoped (though you'd have thought I'd pay attention to 'sweet' in the description). I absolutely agree that this is SweetTarts in liquid form, with an extra dash of citrus.

 

Conclusion/Notes: Too sweet and fruity while wet, and too lemony and SweetTart-y while dry for me to want to wear regularly (or, really, ever; not a fruity girl, me).

[portalkat]

I tried this on before I went to bed. I usually like to try on new things without looking at the description to see whether I am even close in picking out the different scents.

 

Wet - Very citrusy, some floral and another fruit, berry or cherry or something red. Something reminds me of Verbena.

 

Dry - It's starting to mellow out and I'm thinking orange with some white flower and berry.

 

After about a half hour, I could smell the orange with blossoms in the background and light raspberry over everything. The neroli gave it that slightly smoky floral note so that it didn't read so bright on me. When I woke up, it pretty much smelled the same, fruity and slightly floral, and there was good lasting power.

 

It's pretty and light and something that I would wear in the spring and summer. I don't know whether I would get a 5ml, but I would definitely use up the imp and perhaps get another here and there.

[RavenVelith]

One of my favourites, this is! I just never reviewed it yet.

 

In the bottle: Sweet nummy juicy orange. And I mean sweet. Most oranges are "BLAHHHH I'M BITTER AND SWEET BUT I'M GONNA BE MORE BITTER AT YOU HA HA" but this one is like "Love meeeeee! I'm sweet! <3" But there's a hidden sharpness which my nose is picking up to be the sharp orange-y neroli. No raspberries yet!

 

Wet: Pointy sharpy neroli shows up more, poking my poor blood orange and making it...well...bleed, I guess. But I still like it. :3

 

Dry: My favourite part. The orange is pretty much gone and now it smells like a raspberry sweet tart candy. Like those powder sweet tarts by Willy Wonka? So good.

[BrightRedScream]

I can do a review of Akuma very quickly, it reminds me of Fruit Loops the cereal, and that's what it smells like on me.

It's VERY sweet....very candy-like.

 

It's nice, but not really for me.

[Eunice]

This is not sweet or fruity at all. There is an orange blossom scent but it is so faint. I'd swear there was white pepper in this also. I read the other reviews and I almost think I have a mislabeled bottle from the Lab. This just can't be Akuma in here.

[evilbee]

This is so sharp & stinging, like grapefruit juice shot right up your nose. As it dries it turned into cruel, orange jollyranchers. Where were the raspberries?

[sofiaviolet]

In the imp: Citrus! It's a fairly red scent, if that makes any sense. I don't smell the raspberries.

 

On me: The citrus fades right quick, leaving plain old neroli. Really sharp. It does not work with my skin chemistry.

[kunoichi]

Since akuma basically means demon in Japanese, I was expecting something much more sinister, but it’s just gorgeous! In the vial, it smells strongly of neroli and presumably blood orange; not particularly sweet with the possibility of being sinister. Yet on my skin, the raspberry starts to come out, giving the orange scents a sweet, delicious boost. It becomes lusciously sweet rather than sinister!! After a few hours of being on my skin, this is a sweet, soft fragrance of delicious, faded fruity goodness. Mmm, so pretty!

[opaleyes]

::grins:: Devilish temptation is right. If there's something I buy almost as much as bpal, it's My Little Ponies. This smells like the ones I had as a kid. It's soft and sweet and fruity, without smelling like plastic. This is how my ponies smelled after hours of abuse with hair detanglers as I groomed their tails.

 

I was worried I wouldn't like it when I first put it on. Wet, it was very very bitter on me. As it dried it was very bright and fruity, but now it's just soft, gentle, and sweet. I feel like I'm 8 again, laying on the floor of the playroom. I might need more of this.

[edenssixthday]

Akuma - Sweet and fruity, this is going to become a staple in my BPAL repertoire. The orange and raspberry blend so perfectly well together that it’s hard to distinguish between the two. This is a fresh and fruity scent with moderate throw and moderate staying power. I’m looking forward to layering this one with Bliss!

[Neely]

In the bottle: cherry flavored sweet tarts.

 

Wet: Wow, instead of raspberry or orange I get CHERRY. This smells like those cherry sour candies rolled in crushed sweet tarts and pixie stix. I think I am getting cavities.

 

Dry down: still cherry sours in crushed sweet tarts.

 

30 minutes: cherry sours in crushed sweet tarts. Most BPAL scents morph, even if a little. Not this one, stubborn one this.

 

Conclusion: cherry sours rolled in crushed sweet tarts all the way, with a little OJ at the end to wash it down. Not for me, skin chem did not like this one at all.

 

Rating 1-5, on my skin this is a 1.

[Melantha]

This was a generic sweetness, with something I didn't like winding through it. It was okay, but there are other sweet blends, like Bordello, that I love, so I won't be reaching for it.

[wanderlustlover]

In the bottle and I can most definitely smell the bitter-ripe orange strong, but the moment it hits my skin this blend transforms. It's suddenly syrup and cotton candy sweetness, like an incredibly sweet luscious raspberry cordial with nothing else attending it. Very seldom did the other notes peak out. I do think this is amazing but it's something I'd use with amazing rarity, just like how often I go to eat that kind of dessert or drink. This may end up in the swap pile, but it is good.

[maijasu]

In the imp and wet on my skin, this was a bitter, bracing, crisp citrus scent. As it dried, it sweetened and softened into something almost candyish. I've never seen a scent morph into something so different! I really enjoyed both stages though, and I feel a 5ml may be in my future.

[nancybridget]

This is a berry, citrus, woodsy infusion of goodness to my nose, with a gourmand note like caramel or almond or vanilla draped throughout.

 

Akuma reminds me of those square lollipops I would get from the bank as a kid.

[thecaitycat]

In the bottle: Straight up orange. Not even sweet, really. Very sharp. :-/

 

Wet on skin: A little less intense, but still nothing but orange.

 

Dry on skin: Aaaah, now we're talking. It's much sweeter when it dries down and I smell a hint of berry in there along with the orange.

 

Verdict: I'll use up the imp, but I don't think this is one I'll be getting a bottle of. It's nice, but not really "me".