The Knave of Hearts

[lizabelle]

Crushed roses and blackcurrant tarts.

Wow! This is a surprise favorite for me from the Mad Tea Party collection--Dormouse is still number one, but this might be number two. The cake note here is almost identical to the one in Mari Lwyd, and similar to the one in Eat Me; it's heavy and currant-rich, almost closer to scones than true cake for me. The roses here are pink and yellow, and similar to Cherokee Rose SN on my skin. Almost lemony, fruity roses (although many of BPAL's roses end up rather fruity on me) with a sweetness I've only smelled in other "pink" rose scents. The overall effect is that of a true tea party, with little cakes on a pretty table in a rose garden. I love it!

[Katillac]

I actually hated this the first time i put it on. All i could smell was super red roses and butter. Like an old lady holding a jar of melting butter.
​But I wanted to try it again.
[2nd and 3rd were 1 month apart, same weeks so my cycle didn't make it go crazy]
2nd time I still had the red roses and butter, but there was a sweetness coming in.
​3rd time...sweet Christmas, this is niiice. Not too foody, not too buttery, not too floral..it basically morphed into the perfect "what are you wearing?" smell on me.
​
​It's just so hard for me to pin down. It still doesn't smell like rose on me, and not like tarts (so I can't say "oh it's a buttery rose water berry tart smell").
It's for sure sweet on me, though.
​So for those who are iffy about roses, or berries, or buttery tarts...get an imp of this, it might surprise you over time like it did me.

[spikyfairy]

I know that BPAL's cake note doesn't work on me, but I wanted to try this frimp out of curiosity, & because I do love rose.

In the imp it's all buttery pastry. Argh, do I even want to put this on my skin? Once I do: Yep, spiced butter. That's pretty much it, no currant, no rose, just the top layer of a crumble.. Once it's dry, the butteriness calms down slightly, and I can almost smell the rose. But it's still mostly pastry.

I liked this a little better than I did Eat Me, but I just can't do these cake-y scents.

[gloame]

Wow, what? This smells like chocolate and spice to me. Nathan says it smells like holidays. Really really lovely. After a second application, I get that bready note like in Mari Lwyd—a bit of fermentation. Ugh, I fucking love this.

Where I'd wear this: New Year's Day, baking for luck

[Mufasa]

I was kind of disappointed in this scent, I adore eat me and I thought it would be like eat me with a subtle rose in the background but instead I get a sickly sweet brown sugar + berry syrup and a very in your face powdery rose. Sort of like if you mixed an aged skull candy with a powerful rose its a nice scent mind you, but it's not really MY scent

[Lucchesa]

I didn't have high hopes for Knave of Hearts because the pastry note tends to be a disaster on me. And wet, it was all I got, weird sweet buttery pastry that amps out of all proportion to anything else. Just like spikyfairy, I got no currant, no rose. When it dried, it became significantly more pleasant, and just as spiky could almost smell the rose, I could almost smell the currant. On me too, this was definitely better than Eat Me, and I'm glad I got to try it, but I'll be passing this imp on.

[RobberBaroness]

I can officially say, between this and Blackcurrant Sufganiyot, that the blackcurrant note is too strong for me. It's all I get in this, sweet like jam or a lollipop, with no rose to be found.

[patina]

Very sweet, almost warm berry syrup, sometimes with an odd savory note from the roses.

 

This seems to have a medium wear length and despite the overwhelming sweetness, I really like it. Wearing it outside I occasionally got whiffs of a pale purple berry scent. The currant is not as perfumy as it usually is on me. I sort of regret trading off my bottle a few years ago now.

[follis]

Wet: caramel, roses and something I can't pick 
On: so, smells like pastry in that floury way. But it's a weird mix with rose and blackcurrant underpinning it so it seems less foody. The combination is quite confusing for my nose. 
Drydown: more pastry, doesn't actually morph much on me. Still just as confusing. Slightly less floral so I like it better but not for me.

Good throw, long wear

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Oooo; rich, buttery pastry! I'm picking up a little bit of the rose, but oddly enough none of the blackcurrant. 

 

Dry: Still not getting any blackcurrant, which is a shame. The buttery pastry scent is still the dominant scent, with the rose still trailing behind.

 

This is pretty alright, the combination of rose + pastry just isn't my thing.

[artisjok]

Knave of Hearts starts out very buttery pastry with a hint of berry. The Rose is presents as a note that slowly draws the scent out of foodiness. Unidentifiable for a while, then revealing herself to be the Queen note, ruling over all. At some point, after I had taken my hand away from nose and gotten distracted, I check again. The scent smells so close to rose + tobacco scents I’ve tried- Encampment of Shepherds & Lycan Lace- like exactly. So strange! I’m actually diggin’ this. Those scents were slightly repulsive to me at first, yet, after settling and more frequent exposure, they’ve become compelling and enjoyable. 

 

Hard to say if I will want to wear this or not... surprising shift, though! 

Edited November 15, 2019 by artisjok

[Hades_Girlfriend]

Got this as a frimp, yay lab! ❤️

 

I thought this would be quite a strong fruity/berry floral, with emphasis on the rose and didn't buy it, because that didn't stood out as much to me, as some of the other blends - but both in the imp and on me at first, this is something licorice-ish, coffee (maybe even those coffee and cream sweets?), something a bit salty and maybe even doughy and buttery. Maybe even some brown sugar or  molasses or something caramelly, but not quite caramel? There is some kind of deep rich sweet tartyness to is as well, the blackcurrants probably. After a while, the roses start peeking through - not too overwhelmingly rose, but just a nice, red rose behind it all. The true licoricelike smell and also the coffeelike smell faints a bit at this point too, but it still has a slight note of it. The licorice comes back a bit at drydown and it is more licorice then, than anything else. This is darkly sweet, like a blackcurrant tart would be. Even sticky. And very strong and rich and deep. I kinda enjoy it, but it is also a bit much to me, I feel too sweet in a too sticky kinda way, but because the sweetness has a depth to it as well and is complemented very well by the tartyness, the coffee, the licorice, and the fattyness of the buttery/creamy notes, it is indeed very interesting. There is something gothic, or dark, about this kind of sweetness. It is a mix between a very summery, but also a very wintery scent to me. I don't think I will buy a bottle of this and I don't think I will wear it often - I normally like my sweet scents very "youthfull", where this is more "mature", and I like my dark scents not sweet at all, but this has both - and more. Which I like and am very intrigued about, but not sure how to wear. Maybe, I will find a way, I could see it becoming an unexpected fave with time somehow! But for now, it is 5/5 for uniqueness and intriguement, but 3/5 for wearability for me personally. 

 

EDIT! I will have to change my statement about this one. It is so strong and heavy and so much smelling like butter and bakery stuff, that I get physically ill from it after a while (and it just won't go away even after sleep and baths ... ), so it is at the most a 2 for me. It has even smelled up my whole perfume draw ... 🤣 It is still an intriguing scent, but it just gets to much in the end for me, since I don't enjoy the heavy foodiness aspect to it. But a great idea!

Edited December 19, 2019 by Seifos

[torikitty]

Huh! I haven't reviewed this yet. I think this is hard one to nail down, and reading reviews kinda skews my perception of it. This might be the only rose scent from the lab that I can stand, and I can tell I'm still amping it. So, yes, rose, but like rose perfume sprayed on linen. This reminds me of my grandmother's house. The currant tart definitely turns this on it's head, though. I don't get sweet bread, I don't get juicy berries. It's like someone took a red currant linzer cookie, and mashed it into a linen napkin that had been sprayed heavily with rose perfume. And I'm sure my chemistry is heavily affecting my perception of it. Turns out, this is GREAT mixed with The King of Hearts, and turned into an atmo spray. The berryness and pastry really comes out then, and feels more like raspberries, with the rose and rosewood from King, just supporting it.

[fairybites]

The rose note in here is pretty faint, I get the blackcurrants the most. The tart resembles powdered sugar to me. It gets a little play-doh like with time, I don't know what is causing that. Not my favorite from the Mad Tea Party line, but certainly not bad. Would have loved to get a strong crumbly bread note and a little bit of a stronger rose scent.

[LavenderCoffee]

I was pleasantly surprised by this one, and would not have picked it out for myself - it smells like four and twenty Peacock Queens, baked in a pie.

 

Which is to say, the blackcurrant is barely there to my nose, and the rose is the deep dark infinite red rose of the Peacock Queen, and there is a delicious sugary pastry crust! I would eat this, if it was a real pie, and not a perfume.

This is what I wanted from the Sugar Cookie Peacock Queen from Yule 2021, but the sugar cookie note did not agree with me. 

[ShadowEtienne]

This is one I likely never would have tried if it had not been gifted to me in a forum order as an added on imp. There are some folks in my circle of BPAL enjoying friends who have it, but foody and I are rarely friends, and there are so many other things to sniff and test.

 

I'm really glad I got to sample this though! Miraculously on my skin, it's not food, though it does smell like a lovely drink (this is an important distinction for me). It's still a little sweet for my tastes, but I could see wearing it from time to time, and I could see some really lovely layering with it.

 

On me, it settles into a lovely homemade blackcurrant and rose syrup mixed with something a little fizzy and a little creamy. Its sweet and rich, but there's nothing giving me pastry, more like cream Italian soda.

 

This is fascinating! 

[Reedsong]

So, I get the rose, blackcurrant, and butter-crust thing.

 

But at work, we cleanse patients' skin with wet wipes of 2% chlorhexidine gluconate. And after the rose/currant/crust dies down, what's left on my own skin is CHG-wipe smell.

 

No indeed. Hard pass from me!