Gingerbread Poppet

[luxuria]

Warm, cozy gingerbread spiced with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon.

Another one I could have sworn I'd reviewed..In fact, I've looked at both pages several times because I'm almost positive I did! Oh well, here goes

This is quite spicy in the bottle. This is definitely not like any gingerbread I've eaten, but that's not a bad thing! I enjoy the spices, it just keeps it from being 100% food. One of the spices/notes is actually very UN-foody smelling..I wonder what it is.

I have to really slather this on to smell it on my skin..and it burns a bit. Ouchies. Luckily that fades.

It starts out just as spicy (minus that one unknown, strange spice) but mellows out into a more cookie or cake smell. Cinnamon is a very prominent presence but I don't smell any clove, unfortunately. and I'm not sure what nutmeg smells like, so..

Final impressions: This is festive to the max! While I wish I didn't have to slather it to smell it and it's not quite what I was expecting, I love it nevertheless. This would make an AMAZING room scent or homemade potpourri.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: I want to eat this scent. In the bottle it smells like liquid gingerbread cookies - sweet molasses spice. This seriously makes me salivate.

Wearing: The molasses fades right away, and I am left with a sweet cinnamon scent. Nice, but nothing special. It fades completely away within an hour or so.

Final Impressions: I will not waste this scent on my skin any more. If I keep it, I will use it in an oil burner to make my home smell fantastic!

[sarahj]

Gingerbread Poppet

 

in bottle: smells strongly of ginger and clove

 

wet: very spicy, not foody at all

 

dry: as it dries, the oil becomes sweeter and smells more like yummy freshly baked gingerbread. Lasts about 5 hours.

 

*funny story*: I was working at the Reference Desk tonight (I am a reference librarian at a university library) and a patron approached the desk. Before he even asked a question he said, "Are you guys baking something? It smells so good in here!"

 

verdict: This is a definite keeper! I only wish I had ordered more than one bottle.

[fallow deer]

Absolutely gorgeous!

 

A very russet scent, all ginger and spice at first then at the end of the day (it lasts!), a lovely soft warm doughy baking scent like you've just opened the oven after baking gingerbread men.

 

Very comforting in the evening, but also wearable during the day - would be great October onwards I think and I'll probably wear this until March comes along.

[amrita]

I also get lots of spice when wet and a sweet creamy spicy drydown-- sooo nice. Initially I thought that this scent would be too foody to wear, but found it to be so uplifting and enticing I didn't mind.

 

I had just applied some of it at work when a coworker walked into my office and got a faraway look in their eyes-- "What's that smell? It smells like... like... Christmas!"

 

I don't think it smells exactly like gingerbread (not the stuff I make at least, which is heavy on the molasses and has a sharper clove smell-- oh yeah, and it contains beer ), but that doesn't diminish its awesomeness.

 

And now for the sad news: I had only an imp of this-- I had it with me at an evening class, took it out to apply it, and I seem to have left it there because I couldn't find it anywhere when I got home! Hopefully this will just be a funny story when I FIND IT next week.

 

ETA: I was able to get a bottle of this-- and I was shocked and appalled to notice yesterday that it's almost HALF GONE! The oil is getting sweeter and creamier as it ages too... just really, really lovely.

 

Oh Gingerbread Poppet... I love you so. I don't want to have to ration you. Please don't go!

Edited March 1, 2005 by amrita

[Finny]

I love Gingerbread poppet, I only wish it it lasted longer on me.

 

On first applying I smell a wonderful bakery smell, mingling spices, and a sweet smell. It has a sweet, spicy smell, like real gingerbread. The soft squishy cake-like kind of gingerbread, that is best served with loads of whipped cream. It only lasts on my skin for a short time, 1/2 an hour or so, before the scent dissappears and I need to reapply.

 

I love the smell, I am just going to have to slather this one, and try using it in lotion to see if I can get it to last longer.

 

ETA: Now that my bottle of GP is 4 months old, it is so much richer and stronger. It is still light and I have to slather it on, but it lasts all day now. It also smells so much better, it smelled great to begin with, but now...

Edited April 6, 2005 by Finny

[Sara]

Holy crap. This one jumps right out at you before swiping!! Definitely scared me off as I don't think I like gingerbread that much. So this was the last of the four LEs in my possession to be tried.

 

Wet: Very pungent peppery smell...spicy like Indian grocery stores and food. Not bad, not bad...not what I was expecting, but definitely not something to be shunned.

 

Dry: Hmm...there it is....the reason I don't like gingerbread smells that much. They smell like plastic to me. Every single gingerbread I've sniffed has this tiny little wiggling note that sticks to the back of my throat and conjures "plastic." On the upside, aside from the plastic it has a lovely warm, spicy candle quality to it.

 

Edited to add that this one settled down into an extremely faint scent...eventually it completely disappeared. I can't say when, mostly because I stopped noticing it 20-30 minutes after application - not so with other LEs I've tried.

Edited January 19, 2005 by Sara

[Diana]

I just finally got around to trying this Yule blend that's been sitting on my BPAL shelf for almost a month now. I'm easily distracted, what can I say?

 

In the bottle, it's really true to its name. It smells like yummy sugary gingerbread.

 

Putting it on, the spice scents take off running. It starts to smell a bit like gingersnap cookies, then as it dries it starts to smell very similar to the cinnamony Sugar Cookie.

 

Oh no! thinks I... Sugar Cookie smelled terrific in the bottle & initially but went all wonky playdoh on me!

 

But behold! no playdoh scent! The warm, sugary spicey scent remains even now, 7 or 8 hours later. Of course it is nowhere near as strong as it was hours ago, but it is definitely still there. It is really delicious & comforting. The scent in the bottle stayed pretty true to form throughout drydown on me, which is always a nice bonus. Glad I got a bottle of this one! YUM!

[jennwebb]

I am not very wordy, but it smells like gingerbread cooking over a fire, with a hint of firewood in it when wet. Then it dries to a rich perfect gingery cookie smell.

It is perfect. I love it.

[sethra]

I'm relieved to see a couple of comments about how the 2004 Gingerbread Poppet compares to the 2003 version. I have no way to compare them side by side, but just felt that either I didn't like the 2004 version as much or I was misremembering 2003 somehow (or my tastes had changed).

 

I had a 5ml of the 2003 Gingerbread Poppet and it was love at first sniff. So rich and gingerbread-y; sweet and spicy and . . . perfect. Like bottled gingerbread. I wore the scent a couple of times and then tragedy struck-- I dropped my 5ml bottle on the floor (hard bathroom tile). This was a different kind of bottle than we get now and the lid pretty much broke in a bunch of pieces and part of the bottle broke and most of the oil ended up on the floor and I couldn't salvage much.

 

So I begged for more on the forum, to no avail. And pestered the Lab folks. Was thrilled that Gingerbread Poppet was on the list of Yule LEs this year. Because though I've since tried many BPAl scents, none ever compared to The Poppet.

 

I ordered two bottles and when they arrived I was so excited and then . . . disappointed. Not as wonderful as I remembered. Still great, but just not as rich somehow. Unless my allegiance was just moving to Sugar Skull.

 

Add to that the heartbreak of Egg Nog (in the bottle, it smells floral to me; my boyfriend says it smells "medicinal" to him; neither thing is remotely Noggy, to the point I worry there was a mix-up at the Lab). Fortunately I like Sugar Cookie a lot (the other Yule LE I ordered).

 

Maybe I'll try layering Poppet 2004 with some sweet scents and see if that does the trick. Or I'll just hope that there'll be Poppet 2005 and it'll be more like 2003. (Dang that tile floor).

[tsarina]

I expected Gingerbread Poppet to be sweeter. It reminds me of the Mexican gingerbread that one finds in bakeries in Texas. Mexican gingerbread is much less sugary, and has strong molasass and spice flavors. To me, this is the smell of Gingerbread Poppet and I love it. It's perfect for grey days to lighten my spirits.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: definitely gingerbread, but not overly sweet like cookies. more like ginger biscuits one would have with tea. i'm not sure i'll like this on.

on: not sweet. just gingerbread. it burned my neck a bit when i put it on, but i should know better than to apply spicy oils in sensitive areas.

1.5 hours later: so spicy and wonderful. i really like this.

4 hours later: this is still really strong. i can smell it wafting around me. it's very warm, but not too heavy. very festive. i love the spiciness of it. it's great.

7.5 hours later: still strong, but staying closer to my skin now.

overall: wonderful! i'm so glad i bought this. i'm also really happy that it isn't sweet. a great, festive scent.

[Gin]

Holy cow, this is spicy! I usually like spicy scents, but I feel like this particular spiciness should be tempered by a sweet note. Sadly, the sweetness that others mention never appears on my skin.

 

ETA: My nose must have been completely off before. I've tried Gingerbread Poppet again and I couldn't love it more! It's delicious! It's still spicy, but I definitely get a sort of sweetness about it as well. I take it all back!

[LiberAmoris]

Gingerbread Poppet reminds me of the spices, sans sugar, that are added to gingerbread, except that I also smell a lot of cardamom as well. For me, the overwhelming note ends up being cardamom---which is great, as I love cardamom so much that I make my own garam masala. That involves roasting cardamom pods with a bit of oil before grinding them up, which makes my kitchen smell amazing for weeks afterwards.

 

Like some of the other reviewers, GP irritated my skin if I wasn’t careful to apply it to the outside of my arm. I applied it once on my neck after a bath and it burned so badly that I had to wash it off and use an ice pack! Lesson learned.

 

Poppet’s a great blender. My favorite recipes are: Poppet + Sugar Skull, Poppet + Sugar Cookie, Poppet + Rose Red (really!), and Poppet + O. I also tried it with The Lion yesterday and it was smashing there as well.

[Rhian]

This is a hard one for me to review... the first time I wore it I was in bed, and didn't get to smell it for very long, but I loved what I did smell! Very intense, dark, yummy gingerbread.

 

The second time I wore it, it turned straight to play-doh, and I didn't wait longer than half-an-hour before washing it off.

 

This is the third time, and I thought I could detect the play-doh, but I'm not so sure! In fact, now I think I can smell clove more than anything, and I like it. But not on me. It's a little bit foody for my liking - however, this will be absolutely perfect for my oil burner, and I can't wait to try it in there, because this scent is genius. Like LiberAmoris above, I think it's just like gingerbread spices without the sweetness. I might try layering this with O to see if it softens it up enough for me to wear it.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Yummy. It's slightly less spicy than the gingerbread I'm accustomed to, but it still has the delicious familiarity of gingerbread men in a row dressed in uniforms of icing.

On me: It sharpens and becomes closer to the gingerbread I recall. As it dries, the sugar (brown) disappears and it becomes less like a cookie and more like a spice cabinet. Ginger and cloves and hints of cinnamon.

The longer I leave this on, the more plastic-y it becomes. Eew?

[requieminblack]

I knew I would love this one just from the name alone. I finally got my grubby little hands on a bottle and low and behold it is at first sniff!

 

Out of the bottle- OMGHOLYCRAPPYUMMYYUMYUM!! Smells exactly like my favorite Yankee Candle Spiced Pumpkin!!

 

After 10 Minutes Squeeeeee!!! Baking Gingerbread, fresh out of the oven!

 

After an hour As it settles I can smell vanilla mixed in with the ginger and spices. It smells just like Starbucks Gingerbread.

 

Summery Why is this a limited edition? WHY WHY WHY??!!! I think this and Jack may end up being my favorite BPAL scents of all time. Beth, pleeeeease bring this back!

 

Edited to add- After all the BPAL scents I have sniffed, nothing compares to Gingerbread Poppet. This is my signature scent.

Edited February 4, 2005 by requieminblack

[anshara]

In the bottle: Gingersnaps. Heavy on the ginger.... YUMMI

 

On me, swiped on wrist wet: Yummi!!! Gingersnaps.... I want milk and cookies now....

 

Drydown , almost instanteneous: Yum!!! Gingersnaps with a hint of lemon.... I'm hungry.....

[summer]

I felt like something sweet, foody, and comforting today, so naturally I reached for Gingerbread Poppet. In the bottle, I smelled yummy buttery sweetness! However, once I applied it to my skin, the foody sweetness went away, and this became sharp and gingery. This is not some frosted gingerbread cookie; it's REAL GINGERBREAD, made with whole, fresh ginger root. What a surprise! Because I felt like sweetness, I put a bit of Sugar Cookie on top, and the combo was .

 

Overall, I'm not sure what I think if this! It's sharp and spicy, but not as warm and reminicient of a bakery as I thought it would be. So I'm not sure how often I'll wear it as a perfume (on its own, that is). I KNOW, however, that this is going to be an absolutely to-die-for room scent, so I plan to use it mostly for that.

 

[sh1mm3r]

*looks around for ice cream*

 

Delicious! Smells just like fresh gingerbread, made from scratch. I want it to be yule forever!

 

Thanks to the lovely velvet for decanting an imp of this for me in a swap. I only had the fundage to order one yule LE, and chose Snow White.

 

Now I want to track down some sugar cookie so I can try layering like summer suggested.

 

[Longstofly]

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet! This is the most delicious smelling oil I've tried yet.

When I ordered it I was worried that it would be too sweet but thankfully there is a nice spicy kick that balances it out nicely. It doesn't change much on my skin. Stays nice and spicy sweet (but not with cinnamon, which is great becuase I loathe the cinnamon of doom scents) on my skin just as it smells in the bottle.

 

The only issue is that it makes me hungry when wear it! ::drool::

[Aurelius]

Yum!

 

This smells just like gingerbread. It even smells warm! This is a lovely scent, sugary with just a pinch of spice. It makes me hungry.

[purely_cosmetic]

This is making my chest feel a bit tight, but Im determined to give it a proper review - for about a week Ive been just sniffing it in the bottle going "Hmmm!!!!" then putting it away. I made my housemate and PAL guinea pig mark wear it last week, and it smelt GOOD.

 

 

HOWEVER. I would say that a VERY TINY bit of this goes a LONG way. I..er..used a bit too much on mark, and he positively left a TRAIL of gingerbread fumes wherever he went in the house. I'm not kidding! I could retrace all of his footsteps!! He said that he liked it but that it was a bit overpowering.

 

In the bottle, this smells EXACTLY like the ginger biscuits I used to at as a child. On my skin I get a lemon note coming through as well...so it's like a spicy lemony ginger - it's VERY nice! I've not worn it long enough to say how it fades, but I'l update later!

[halowrites]

I was sent an imp of this by the delightful Cats

 

I smell spices, yes-- but instead of making me think of gingerbread, this scent is strong tea with milk, and the mixed fruit loaf my Nana used to bake. in fact, every time I sniff my wrists, I am surrounded by memories of my Nana, and all the wonderful and comforting things I associate with her.

 

this is absolutely beautiful, and I anticipate it finding a place beside Dragon's Milk as a comfort scent for me.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Thanks to Theravada for the decant! That is definitely gingerbread. Thick, chewy, spicy gingerbread. I think it’s been in the oven just a little too long – the edges are ever so slightly burned, but it’s a good burned (I’m weird that way; I actually prefer my popcorn a tiny bit scorched and my cookies extra-brown around the edges).

 

Wearing: I love food scents that don’t immediately make me hungry, and Gingerbread Poppet fits that description wonderfully. Maybe because I’ve never been a big fan of gingerbread (I prefer chocolate-chip cookies any day, preferably with nuts!) The wrist-scent is a bit too cinnamony, but the aura is warmly comforting-spicy and fabulous.