The Knave of Hearts

[Elfbait]

Crushed roses and blackcurrant tarts.

I purchased this bottle from a wonderful local retailer that carries BPAL, "Knows Perfume", here in Seattle, so I do not know how fresh or aged this bottle is. Anyway, here we go.

First, I am not a foody fragrance wearer, generally- they smell great on other people, and I'm told they smell great on me, but it's a matter of them just not suiting my temperament, for the most part. I am not a yummy, snuggly kind of person, maybe. So I was really taken aback by my attraction to this scent, and I am really glad that I acted on it.

In the bottle: Overwhelmingly decadent, wine-soaked roses, and something slathered in warm, salty butter. It makes me pull a face, but then my mouth begins to water. Alarming, yet tantalizing.

Wet on the skin: And then it was all wine and smoke and dark, glossy jam. It's as if roses and buttery pastry are waiting in the wings- I can smell the idea of them, but they are not fully present. One thing I know though, sight unseen, is that the roses in this scent are brazen, red goddesses of the garden and the pastry in this would entice an ascetic into good old-fashioned kitchen windowsill thievery.

Dry on the skin: Now the Knave is lush and pretty, but with all sorts of peculiarities that keep it interesting instead of unctuously foody and one-dimensional. The rose is right there, nearly confectionery sweet, but salt and hearthsmoke have touched the petals, and I can finally smell blackcurrant simmering in background, piquant and fresh, full of dark wine. There's a crusty, buttery pastry note wafting there too, rich and a bit salty, keeping the sweetness of the rose and black currant from running amok.

Drydown: Warm, sweet, smoky, buttery, rosey, and hypnotic, it lingers close to the skin and is very companionable. A little does go a long way, as well.

This fragrance feels like so much more than "Crushed roses and blackcurrant tarts"- it's a peculiar symphony of comfort notes swirling like smoke around one hell of a rose bouquet. If you can appreciate (or endure, though personally I loved it) this scent's vivid theatrical opening, the haughty eccentricity eventually gives way to something that's uniquely pretty and profound, all the more so for being just a bit off-kilter. I love it.

[peachtreepeartree]

I was very excited to try this! Philosophy's 'Falling in Love' perfume is one of my favourites - vanilla, florals & blackberry - & I thought that this might be a similar scent, with perhaps a more intense hit.

 

In the imp: sweet shortcrust pastry. Really sweet.

 

On my wrist, wet: pot pourri.

 

Drying: A sudden bloom of roses & blackcurrant.

 

Dry: Back to pot pourri again. From a distance there's a gorgeous sweet, jammy smell, but up close this smells stifling & artificial. Not for me, I'm afraid.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: away from wrist all I smell are sweet buttery pastries and black currant jam. Yum. Up close, sharp red rose distorting it and souring it. Experience translation: the ugly and sad underbelly of love.

 

Drydown: The tarts win! The rose mellows into the background while jammy dark currant and sweet butter sugar pastries take over. I really love this. It's like walking into an old school pastry shop with red roses displayed on the counter.

[cherrycherry]

That is most certainly the exact same cake note that is found in Eat Me and I'm very pleased about it indeed. The roses are there on the drydown for me and it smells... oh, it's just totally sweet and juicy and lush. It makes my mouth water. It makes me want to homemake a blackcurrent cheesecake and eat it in a bath filled with milk and rose petals. This is going to be one of my new favourites. I want to smell like this all the time!

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Imp bought on LiveJournal. Was going to wait and see if I got this as lagniappe from the Lab or an extra in a swap, but I was buying a few other things from the seller and it was cheap, so I grabbed it, too.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Anyone who knows me and my scent preferences knows that I despise roses. They're truly a note of doom for me. Only one rose scent has ever worked for me (and by "worked" I mean I could tolerate being around it for an extended period of time, not that I could wear it) and that was Rose Red. The only reason Rose Red worked was the sheer amount of greenery involved.

 

So, that being said, I'm hoping that the roses in The Knave of Hearts are drowned out by the blackcurrant tarts. Honestly, I have (highly unlikely) fantasies of a blackcurrant version of March Hare. I know it's not going to happen, but that's my little BPAL fantasy du jour.

 

First sniff:

 

Not bad. I can smell some rose here, but it's mostly buttery pastry and black fruit. It actually smells more like blackberry to me than blackcurrant.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Same as in the bottle. The roses come out just a little bit more (unsurprising, since my skin apparently loves rose as much as I hate it), but not so much that this becomes a floral blend. It's mostly a soft fruit and pastry scent with soft florals floating in the background. I'm imagining a kitchen in summer, the windows opened to let out the heat from the oven, with blackcurrant (or blackberry) tarts cooling on the counter. There's a soft breeze blowing and it's wafting the scent of newly bloomed roses in through the window.

 

I have to admit, it's pretty. If it stays like this, I think I may have found a rose scent I might potentially be able to wear. Time will tell with this one, I think, unless it goes bad during the drydown (which has been known to happen).

 

Dry down:

 

The rose does indeed come out more as this dries, but they're still pretty understated. I don't know that I would call this scent foody or floral. It's both and neither, at the same time. If I take a shallow breath, I get buttery jam-filled tarts, which is wonderful. If I breathe deeper, I get a very realistic, slightly powdery rose with a thin layer of blackberry jam on top. That's prettier than it sounds, I swear.

 

The bottom line:

 

I'm honestly not sure yet how I feel about this. I think I like it, but I don't love it (the roses see to that). I also think I need more time to wrap my head around it and feel out this whole rose thing. I'm positive it'll never be a bottle purchase for me (if I liked roses, though, it would be because it's a pretty scent), but I'm probably going to keep my imp around.

[Lorna Brigid]

Well, it's official: BPAL cake likes me! Yay!!!!

On Wet: It smells exactly like a cake: a sweet, buttery, berry cake. The butter or tart never goes bad on me.

A few minutes later, a light hint of rose petals wafts through. It is subtle.

I agree with Panance, that this is neither floral nor foody, yet both at the same time.

I am surprised by how much I am loving huffing on my arm right now!

[Selenite]

I love roses. I love good gourmands. This however smells like something that should be used for a fall candle, not a perfume. The crushed roses that I was hoping for never really showed up and were stifled by all the foodie notes.

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: overly buttery oversweetened blackcurrant tarts? check. roses? not a sign. there's almost something peppery about it, if you inhale deeply enough, but maybe that's just me. I'm beginning to think I'm cursed with food scents.

 

On my skin: still nothing but the tarts, no roses whatsoever. nasty, syrupy sweet, maybe slightly rotted pie crust. again that something peppery (almost like they put nutmeg in the crust!) and blackcurrants, which I'm not a fan of already. still no roses, even on the dry-down. very strange.

 

Last thoughts: one could go into a diabetic coma just smelling this.

[Ryokumuji]

Buttery pastries with roses! I swear there might even be a little honey drizzled into this. I don't detect any blackcurrant or fruit in this scent at all.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's almost to the point of being too sweet and too buttery, but the rose keeps it in check. The combination of the pastries and roses also makes this perfume unique, which I like. It's not a combo I've smelt or a pairing I would have come up with. I could see myself wearing my imp, but I don't think I would use up a bottle of this one. Not a scent I'd want to slather because on me, it has a lot of throw.

 

Edit: After doing a long skin test of this, I don't think I can even see myself wearing the imp. It just gets so syrupy, sickly, sweet after awhile.

Edited August 9, 2011 by Ryokumuji

[lookingglass]

YUM! Fruity rose, deep spice, and creamy sweetness. I thought this would be just Eat Me with roses but it really has a different feel. It's less foody, more spicy, with a very voluptuous, velvety rose. It's very much like a loukhoum fragrance without the overt nuttiness that generally makes those scents a no go for me. I love it! Off with his head!!!

Edited August 10, 2011 by lookingglass

[sabrebabe]

In the bottle: Baked sugar, borderline burnt sugar. Seriously sweet, very sugary currants. Not much rose at all.

On me: Booze-y slightly burnt currant tarts. Still very sugary sweet. Slight touch of vanilla in the background.

Dry: Losing the burnt sugar smell and currants are finally coming through strong. Lightly fruity, with a Darkness to them. Still booze-y. Rum? Burboun? A sweet booze, no doubt.

I really don’t like this one: it hits all the things I don’t like in a perfume: sweet, sugary, fruity, somewhat flowery and vanilla. Goes into the trade pile.

[WidgetAlley]

I love the IDEA of roses and foody scents but neither ever really works on me. Oh well, hope springs eternal!

 

Imp: Rich, thick, spicy and incredible blackberry jam, a crumble of pastry and bright lush roses. Holy moly this smells great! I hope it works on me.

 

Wet: Lush, soft, slightly powdery but not unwearable rose at first, along with a really fantastic spiced currant and berry scent and just a hint of incredible sweet pastry. This isn't buttery-weird-plastic-soap on me like I'd dreaded, at least not yet-- it's a wonderful, unusual, fresh-floral-fruit-touch of spice and sugar that's perfectly wearable as a perfume. Ohhhh man. This is indeed in the same vein of wearable foodies as Eat Me, and I love it!

 

Dry: A lightly rose-y, mostly blackberry and spice perfume with a hint of buttery crust. Yum! This is far too spring-y to be wearing now, but I'll definitely save my imp for spring and maybe even invest in a bottle. I'm so glad this worked on me!

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Pastry and a tiny bit of fruit.

 

On skin, wet: Pastry and roses.

 

On skin, dry: I'm having trouble smelling this at all past The Red Queen further down my arm. But what little I can smell is all roses and a hint of pastry, still.

 

After an hour: Swallowed up entirely by The Red Queen. But since I was amping the rose and pastry notes right from the start and getting no currant at all, I don't think I'll bother re-testing this one.

[Klepz]

I detest rose scents, and while I've tried many different kinds, none have worked for me. I do love foody blends, though some pastries tend to smell like chicken curry on me, and blackcurrant is my favorite fruit in the world.

 

In the imp: Blackcurrant - sunwarmed or perhaps heated in the oven until they're just beginning to release their juices - and a thick, lightly sweetened pastry crust. Not any rose that I can smell.

 

On wet: A beautiful womanly perfume dripping with juicy black berries and a syrupy pastry.

 

Dry: The rose becomes extremely sweet. This is sugary rose and syrupy blackcurrant pastry in equal measures. Not for me, but if the rose mellows with age it might be something I would wear.

Edited February 4, 2012 by Klepz

[whitsunweddings]

I cannot say enough good things about this one.

In the imp: Roses, jam and butter.

Wet: Delicious jam with roses underneath.

Dry: Roses (behaving themselves for a change), with sweet glossy jam and buttery pastry at the edges. It's weirdly not cloying (as foodies often are on me), which the roses are probably responsible for. It's not foody, or floral, or fruity - it's just YUM. I love it so much I've made it my first bottle order

[PixieSkull]

Oh, Knave of Hearts, you sounded like a dream. "Similar to Eat Me" was an enticing thought to me, since Eat Me is amazing on me. Now, I don't know.

 

Roses - none, nowhere.

Blackberry tarts - nope, unless it was soapy burnt caramel crust.

 

Wet: Not a lot of floral, a little sweetness. No discernible rose.

 

Drying: Super-sweet. Oh, no. Like gluttony, I get sickly sweet burnt caramel.

 

Dry: Powdery/dusty caramel, somewhat buttery, just no pastries. Blackberry tends to smell dark and a bit like wine on me, but I got none of that beyond something sharp under the soapy bit. Friends and hubby agreed on separate sniff sessions that it was soapy with buttery, burnt caramel. Given away already.

[brilliantcat]

The rose is frightening me but some of the other reviews have given me hope that this might just not to turn to ROSEROSEROSE on me. In the imp, it's buttery crust and foody. Hope remains! On me, it's definitely a foody tart but with a hint of rose. No godzilla rose stomping everything else to oblivion! Oh, I LIKE this! I'm getting hints of the black currant now. It's gourmand vs. foody to me, due to the addition of the rose. It's like a picnic in a rose garden where you just get a whiff of the roses from time to time. I have found a rose I can wear! This is a morpher too, how fun! The black currant is coming out and it's very juicy and sweet. There's still a hint of the crust and the tiniest sniff of roses. Wow. I really, really like this!

[VeganSquid]

In the bottle it smells mostly of sweet black fruit tarts, with a hint of rose. It is very similar to Eat Me V6 except with sugared roses added.

 

When first on it has a sweet buttery rose sent, with a light black fruit background. As time goes on the rose comes out more and the tart becomes a heavy cake with berry icing.

 

When I first discovered BPAL this was my favorite sent. It is a good introduction for anyone who likes very sweet foodie scents.

[becca_s]

This starts out very, very sweet. Luckily, the sweetness fades a little bit. As it dries I can't believe how much this scent actually resembles pastry and roses. It smells like real baking! A strong scent that lasts for ages, and very true to it's description.

[stellamaris]

Bought, unsniffed, off Etsy. So happy I did because this is really The Best Cookie Ever. With Roses. What possibly could top this?

[Mechanical Death]

Got my bottle from a ebay buy along with quite a few lovely imps (thank you white rabbit! ) I had been eyeing this bottle from the Alice collection for the longest time and was very excited to try it out.

 

When I opened the bottle I caught a strong whiff of sweet syrupy, almost butterscotch perfume. I do smell the black currant ever so slightly, but no roses. My

Fiancé who was sitting near by caught a strong whiff of it as soon as I opened the bottle-- this stuff is strong!-- he said he got vanilla and citrus notes from it.

 

Wet on the skin the cakey sweetness amps up and it smells exactly like eat me, but it quickly begins to morph. The black currant starts to blend and amp and starts to settle into something less foody.

 

For a few minutes it goes into a wierd pie-vommit smell. I was really worried it would end up not working because I love all the notes in here individually.

 

However as it reaches it's dry stage at about 10-15 minutes in it turns into a dusky resinous rose with deep sugared fruit notes. Slightly reminiscent of plum notes. The butterscotch is still there, but much more in the background as if it had been drizzled over the tarts.

 

If foodies are your thing and you want something a little understated or sophisticated for a foodie perfume, you will love this.

 

It turned out much different than the perfumes I tend to wear, though I think this one will grow on me quite a bit.

 

Overall 3.5/5 average. may gift/swap and keep a small decant.

 

Edit:

So I thoroughly changed my mind on this one.

It grew on me a lot over the day. I kept catching wafts of it even after I thought it had faded-- yum!!!! Sexy vanilla jam and spiciness! I applied abut more(though it was still there, I just wanted it to be stronger in strength) before going out with the fiancé that night-- I decided I'm keeping it.

 

I almost put more on today but I told myself no, I have others that need testing! I have a feeling I'll be reaching for this a lot. I may need a second bottle >.>

 

5/5!!!!

Edited September 1, 2012 by Mechanical Death

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Juicy blackberries and red, thick roses. There is a distinct warm pastry quality to this as well.

 

Wet: Now, it’s candied blackberries in a vanilla-infused tart (heavy on the cream) with just a hint of roses, as if in a vase in the middle of a table.

 

Dry: I get very little rose once dried. The scent smells like fresh pie straight from the oven, but the kind of pie you can tell you’ll be working off for weeks. There is a hint of berry, but it is very much cooked currants.

[lavenderfrost]

Frimp that came with my bottle of Peacock Queen. Nice, but not me. Lots of baked goods, not enough rose. I'm not a fan of smelling like literal desserts, so this is up for swaps.

Edited January 4, 2013 by lavenderfrost

[GoddesShel]

This is a bottle I ordered unsniffed on the basis of reviews and knowing what I like .

 

In the bottle: BUTTER!!!

 

Wet, on me: Buttery pastry

Drying: Oh, here's the roses! Hi, roses! I'm hoping for more currants and less rose when it's completely dry...mmmm and I seem to be getting my wish. This one morphs. One sniff I get roses, the next a delightful jammy pastry. If I move my arm, I get pastry, if I put my nose on my wrist, I get roses!

 

But entering the completely dry phase, I'm getting a nice blend of all three components; fruity currant, light rose, and buttery pastry. I like!

[zewtsuit]

The most delicious, tart-pastry thing in the imp. So yummy it made my mouth water.

 

Luckily, since I'm not a fan of rose scents, my skin is amping the sweet tarty smell more than the rose, which is taking a backseat to the blackcurrant here. This is so, so delicious. I want a bottle!