The Knave of Hearts

[Caerphilly]

Crushed roses and blackcurrant tarts.

In the imp: Vanilla gingerbread cookie candle. With sugar on top. Yummy!

Wet: Similar to the bottle. Smells more like a candle now than like an actual cookie, b ut still good.

Dry: Smells pretty much as it does in the bottle. No morphing here.

Overall: Not what I expected at all! I don't get roses, which is why I wanted this imp in the first place. No powdery floral here. This is all foody. And unlike 'Eat Me,' This scent stays true from bottle to drydown on my skin. No strange vanilla and no burning cinnamon/ginger. And this smells like a vanilla gingerbread cookie. Definitely a foody scent I could wear. And It lasted all day! One of my favorite Alice scents!

[Suu4LC]

Wow, this smells AMAZING in the imp-the blackcurrant tart scent is sooo delicious-rich berry and pastry deliciousness, and just the right amount of rose (yes, it's there, but not IN YO FACE). Definitely on the foody side.

 

Omg. This is amazing. It's mostly delicious foody blackcurrant tart, with this overlay of soft roses. Hrmm...but as it dries, the rose REALLY starts amping. ]: Rose is hit or miss with me, and it looks like it may be too intense here-it's taking over the lovely tart scent!!!

 

Overall, this went a bit too rosy on my skin. I like rose, but only in certain ways-here I really REALLY loved that wet smell of 75% tart and 25% wafty rose goodness, but on my skin it went the greedy rose ate up my yummy tart!! On the right person I really think this blend could be magical, but not for me ]:

[Ruffian]

This is a yummy scent. From the imp it smells very pastry-like, and more foody than Eat Me even. On my skin and in the dry down it's sweet jammy roses. Loving it.

[kirayna]

All I'm getting from this is pot pourri

Edited November 4, 2009 by kirayna

[Alexanne]

• If this oil had a color, it would be a redish orange, like the color of rose jelly - if it were to ever exist.
• The first note I smell while drying is the currants. I never really liked currants at the forefront, so this is meh for me.
• The rest of the notes, in order is rose, and a little bit of vanilla musk as well.
• Dry, it makes me sneeze. Maybe its just because of other unrelated allergies though. Now the rose makes a comeback, and takes center stage. But not without the currants trying to break out again. Eventually they give up, and all that's left is a musky rose sitting quietly on my skin. The musk is a very sweet musk, almost like sugar. But not foody in the least.
• The scent made me feel self-conscious of my red nose because of my sneezing so much. But ignoring my nose, it makes me feel sorta feminine - like I need to put on a dress and comb my hair (I just woke up, thus the hair is up in a knotty bun). Also, like I just washed with some fancy hotel soap.
• This lasts only a little while. Half an hour going strong, then after that it fades for maybe an extra hour while clinging to skin. The fade is annoying because it goes soapy.
• The throw was almost non-existent. This is a very intimate oil.
• Verdict: This was a frimp, and I am glad that I tried it - now I know that I might be able to handle Beth's rose note! But it amps very much so on me until it almost reminds me of soap. Maybe it will grow on me if it were to last longer/throw better, so I'll age it. But at this point, its a no go.

Edited November 10, 2009 by Alexanne

[donnatron]

Imp: It is almost unnerving how well the lab manages to capture the bakery scents. This smells exactly like blackcurrant tarts. I get a faint hint of the rose but overwhelmingly this is buttery crust with a sharp tang from the currant.

 

Wet: The bakery aspect amps up upon application to the skin and the initial phase of the drydown is an almost unbearably strong buttery pie scent. The roses start to come out and smooth out the overwhelmingly gourmand quality of the scent.

 

Dry: A nice balance of foody and rosy. The tarts smooth out and this now is a buttery (not a repulsive buttery, just a really realistic pie crust scent) with blackcurrants and maybe a rosewater glaze or something. Really young and cute and a little flirty maybe? I like it in a Platonic sense in that this smells like its supposed to and I find the scent pleasant but I would probably never wear this because it's just not my style or the image I like to project.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: It's fine. If you like foody scents and you like rose scents this is probably a blend that you want to try. It's definitely an experience just to smell that pie crust scent. A pretty scent but not one I'd wear on a regular basis.

[angelicruin]

Buttery baked blackberry tart on my skin. I don't get the rose until it's almost fully dry. Nice, and a close cousin to Crumpet Rebellion.

[ellebelle]

The smells like what I wanted Blackberry Jam and Scones to smell like. It has the warm bakery feel, but the addition of the rose stops this from being too unbearably foody. This isn't something I would reach for all the time, but it is definitely something I would like to have in my collection.

 

Oh dear, I need another box.

[reynardine]

In imp: Almost a cake scent?

 

Wet: Weird! Cake scattered on the grass.

 

Drydown: Okay, this is a strange scent. I’m getting foodie and I’m getting floral at the same time. It’s like a refreshing food scent?

 

Later: Moderate throw, but I just can’t deal with the dichotomy of foodie/floral. It’s nice, but just not me. Trade pile.

 

[lilwhiterabbit]

In the bottle the Knave smells like buttery, fruity tarts with a hint of something sharp in the background. I'm guessing that's the roses, though it doesn't smell particularly rose-like to me; it's a bit sharper, like grass.

 

On me I start to really smell the roses in full force and the berry smell takes a backseat. The buttery scent is almost completely gone, so it smells like roses and blackberries. I sort of wish there was more of the 'crust' of the tart, but overall the scent is very refreshing. Immediately after application, the Knave is super strong on my skin, but it seems to fade quickly, or I just get used to smelling it more easily than most other scents. After about ten minutes I can only detect the barest hint. I like it, but I don't think it's a real 'winner' for me; I'm not madly in love.

[doublehelix]

in the bottle: buttery toast with jam

 

wet on skin: the butter smell is still present, and the fruits have faded quite a bit. the butter note is so overpowering I can no longer smell the fruit!

 

dry on skin: Still buttered toast. I get little, if any fruity at all...

[coraline]

This was quite a pleasant surprise. Normally I amp rose badly, but here it behaves, blending in nicely with the blackcurrant and buttery pastry notes. Yummy and worth a bottle purchase.

[pinkstardust420]

unfortunately this one didn't work for me. the rose was too much for me and gave me a headache. the over all blend itself went a bit sour on me. so sad

[Invidiana]

Oh sigh. Wet this was all lovely and cakey with a hint of fruit and then...something goes terribly wrong. Rose usually behaves with my skin, but one of the other notes, and I have no idea what it is, turns the rose in this into carnation. That's right, exactly like The Giant Carnation of Doom. It just becomes more and more cloying until I finally have to scrub it off. What a shame.

[CiaoBonefish]

This scent was quite a bit too rich for me I think. Other have compared it to Eat Me, but I find Eat Me to be much, much lighter. But I can see where the comparison comes in. This scent it to me in the imp a very very rich combination of sweet cake dripping with sugar and butter and a touch of caramel. The roses are there but only so much. No tart yet.

 

On my skin the richness of the cake subsides a little and roses step forward. I'm also getting a little bit of currant right now. Overall it is alright, but like I said the combination of the buttery heavy foody-ness and rose is too rich for my nose.

[fairnymph]

Light golden oil. Super foody, buttery, rich, sweet & cloying TONKA, followed by jammy black currant and faint whisper of roses. This makes Eat Me look not foody at all, that's how buttery and tonka-heavy this scent is!

 

Much better; lighter overall (it was scary potent in the imp) and more balanced; a lot more rose especially on my skin, but more blackcurrant, too. The tonka has morphed from straight TONKA-BUTTER to a more complex foody note that approaches actual pastry, this is sweeter on my skin, but in a more realistically foody way, as opposed to the fake over-the-top smell in the imp. Still far too foody and rich for my tastes.

 

Thanks to my skin's predictable tendency to amp florals generally and rose particularly, this is becoming nicer and nicer over time. The roses really do smell slightly crushed to me, somewhere between fresh, lush, almost fruity red roses and dried, crumbled almost powdery roses from a saved bouquet - very evocative. The tonka has amazing, receded or been pushed to third place in this blend, and as noted earlier has morphed into a much more pleasant sugared-pastry type of note rather than the initial FAKE BUTTER & SUGAR SYRUP SN. The black currant is somewhere between wild, brambly berries on the bush and jam, so altogether this scent really does have a feel of tarts stolen hastily in a garden somewhere.

 

Not much morphing after a few hours; this settles solidly into lush red roses with a crumbly edge over wild black currant jam filled buttery, sugary pastry. It's definitely foody, but with enough rose to cut the richness, such that ends up being a very well balanced scent on my skin in the final drydown. Still too foody to for me, but conceptually perfect and well-crafted. Excellent throw and longevity, too.

 

[melrose]

In imp: Very heavy scent, foody and sharp.

 

First on: the blackcurrants are overwhelming. This doesn't smell good at all on me, but I'll wait a while, hoping for roses to appear.

 

Drydown: The blackcurrants faded slightly, and I get a whiff of fresh roses. Not bad.

 

Far drydown: The roses went away, the blackcurrants are back, and there is a stong smell of nutmeg overpowering everything else. VILE.

 

I had to scrub it off; it was making me nauseous.

[RhinestoneHousewife]

In imp: Rosey and buttery.

 

Wet on skin: Buttery cake and a little bit of rose.

 

Dry on skin: very pretty, the rose is soft and normally I don't like roses. The buttery cake is still there but it's settled down quite a bit.

 

Verdict: Bottle worthy! Not like Eat Me at all. Eat Me is more floral and foody but Knave Of Hearts is definitely roses and foody.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting rose and spicy blackcurrant pastry. Mmmm. On my skin, it's that spicy blackcurrant pastry, and really nice. We'll see how this goes. Ends up being a nice fruity spicy pastry scent, definitely giving it the full skin test.

Edited April 16, 2010 by Venneh

[Antoinette]

I got this as a frimp from the lab and was excited to get it!

 

In the vial : I smell the black currant and something else foody.

 

Wet on skin : Reminds me a lot of Eat Me but the black currant is stronger.

 

Dry down : Buttery! Oh my gosh, this is yummy. Still reminds me of Eat Me but more rich/dense. Still getting mostly black currant and butter, no rose at all.

 

Dry : Three hours after applying on my wrists and it still smells yummy. Never got any rose from this, but I'm not complaining. This is a lovely foody scent on me but I think I prefer Eat Me. Will definitely use up this imp but not sure I'll need a bottle.

[FathomBelow]

In the imp: Very foody in a dark way, almost like Bread-and-Butterfly. No rose or currants yet!

Wet on skin: Still yummy, sweet, strong, dark (by that I mean caramelized) cake.

Dry on skin: The cake scent is still strongest, but with currants underneath giving it a fruity, juicy twist and glimpses of the rose very "high" in the nose.

Final opinion: A nice scent, and the name makes it great. I'll probably use up the imp and I wouldn't mind a bottle. This would be perfect if the rose were stronger.

[tawaen]

Without reading the description, I would never have placed rose in this blend. Now that I've seen that, though, I can smell it faintly.

 

This started off as "Woah, flaky buttery pie crust," and dried down to currants alone. The initial application and pie smell is almost overwhelming, but it only lasts maybe half an hour before it calms down to a tart, fruity and (very) faintly rose scent. The dry-down last for a considerable time, but it comes on it's own. When I smell where I applied, I don't get much scent at all, but occasionally when I move I get a nice splash of berry goodness.

 

If you can get past being bashed over the head with a bakery, this turns into a fresh and subtle scent that lasts all day.

[Leah703]

In the imp: Buttery cake with just a hint of sour currants

 

Wet on skin: The rose comes out and mixes with the butter and cake

 

Dry: I amp rose like crazy so this is all rose and maybe just a hint of cake if I sniff my wrists closely.

 

This is one of the few bpal blends with rose that I can wear since my skin nauseatingly amps it. I'll keep the imp.

[DifferentDances]

Imp: Weird smell. Not sure what it is.

Wet: Still weird, but vaguely familiar. I think this reminds me of the Eat Me or Drink Me scents. Slight ozone overtone?

Drydown: Very very faint, slightly sour, foody/cakey/thick.

Dry: Slight fake foody smell.

 

Rating: 1/5 I was hoping the roses would offset the foodiness, but I guess me and baked good scents are just not going to be BFFs.

[undream]

alice's adventures in wonderland is one of my favourite books, ever, and so of course it is a goal of mine to try each and every one of the mad tea party scents; so much gratitude to obsidienne for giving me the chance to try this one!

 

that said, while i am so glad i was able to test this one out, i never really got any rose out of it? (&rose notes are always an incentive for me to try a scent!) as well it is ultimately a bit too foody for me; i'm not exactly sure what foody thing/combination it is i am smelling, but it does not play well on my skin.

 

off with his head! to a better home(!).