Jester

[Gold Dust Kitten]

Huckleberry and red currant with the incisive bite of neroli.

I was excited after sniffing this in the imp and wet on my skin. Sweet, juicy red currants. Then it dried and went plasticky and cheap candle. How unfortunate, I really wanted to love this.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: huckleberry for sure.. red currant: check, no neroli here. It's VERY fruity and wet. almost like a blackberry and gooseberry were combined.

Drydown: The neroli had a really strange entrance.. it decided to smell like wet sneakers for a second (!).. shaking that visual, it does return to a nice huckleberry, currant mix w/ the sharpness of a dry neroli underneath.

 

Nice but not something I'll run toward. It'll go in my bpal roulette box: old projector slides box, so all tags facing down in the slots. I have to randomly pick a few, not knowing what they are, and wear them that day.. forces me out of sticking w/ old favs every day.

[plainjean]

I'm surprised I haven't reviewed this yet! It was one of my first BPAL loves and, thankfully, I've been able to locate a bottle after the discontinuation.

 

On me this is incredibly juicy and surprisingly complex for a scent with only three listed notes. It feels very red to me, which makes sense, I suppose! It's red currant with a slightly floral, tangy edge waaaay in the background. The huckleberry dances around, but the berry I get the most is the red currant. I don't get the fake vibe that so many people have gotten, but I suppose I can see how this could go plasticky with certain skin chemistries.

 

I do find it to be quite similar to Rosy Maple, though Rosy Maple doesn't have the cuddly redness of Jester. It's much pinker (which makes sense), but they do share the tangy-berry feel.

[Jazzi]

What?! No! Why is this discontinued? I got an imp sometime in July, but only recently decided to wear it ... How sad for me!

 

Review: Mmm ... Smells like an old bubble bath I used to love. It's warm and fruity, and darkish pink in color. I can't name the fruit. It's something tropical.

 

I almost smelled banana or something similar for a minute there. There's something sharp but pleasant, like pinapple, but I still can't name anything in particular. It's still fruity and lovely and pink. ... Is that bubblegum? No, thank God, it's gone. I'm going to have to cheat and look at the notes ...

 

"Huckleberry, red currant, and neroli"? That explains why I couldn't place any particular note; I have no idea what any of these smell like.

 

There is something tangy and dark, right around the edges there, and I can see how this could go plastic easily. I hope that doesn't happen later today! (I will edit my review if it does.) However, mostly it's fantastic and fruity and warm. I would wear it in summer, but I like it for winter, as well. I think it might be too strong for spring, and too playful for fall.

[saralaughs]

Very fruity sweet. Like cotton candy almost when first applied. Fruits do not tend to work on me well; they end up smelling like ghosts of the real thing; sort of fake and a bit off. This blend is no exception, except in the drydown. The neroli combines with the red currant to form this beautiful note that is quite alluring and attention worthy. The wet stage is a bit too much for me though.

[vige]

forethought and blah blahs:

this illyria was discontinued 8-13-10

 

in the bottle/imp:

sweet sweet berries

 

wet:

same sweets a bit more tart. super juicy almost mouth watering.

 

dry:

very little morphing on me, still very sweet berries. a bit of greenness is coming out but its still all about the berries.

 

overall opinion:

it stayed sweet and juicy with quite a lot of throw and staying power.

 

verdict:

neutral leaning to feminine. while i like it, it isn't the "perfect berry" which is a good thing i suppose since this is discontinued. i am going to send it to swaps so other folks can add another scent to their tested list. swap!

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Sweet, artificial red currant is all I smell on my skin. It's a bit too artificial for me at this point. It may just be that I have berry high expectations for my berry scent, but the artificiality makes me smell like candy.

 

Wet: Red currant candy drops, similar to the newly flavored cough drops. There is a little huckleberry there, but the neroli seems absent while wet.

 

Dry: Red currant with slightly more sour huckleberry and a hint of menthol and a little incense for some reason (that might be the neroli). It's still a bit too sweet for me, but it is a pleasant scent.

[fairestrocza]

Jester starts out very juicy. It has a much stronger throw than I generally expect for this type of blend. There is a candy-ish, little girl feel. After a while, it fades in and out of chapstick territory. ... and then *poof* it disappears. Glad I had a chance to try this one, but happy that I won't have to track down more.

[quintessentially]

Jester is so vivid, like plump purple berries and violent green leaves in the summer time. There's some kind of sharpness to it which makes me think there's a musk note there. I LIKE it but idk if I'll ever wear it. If I did ever wear it, it would be during an early summer day.

[freyasfae]

I received this in an Ebay imp lot - it's exciting as a BPAL newbie to get to try discontinued scents. I really liked this in the bottle, but on me, it is super sweet berries and it just gets worse as it dries. This was actually the first BPAL I had to wash off. I feel like I have crossed a BPAL milestone!

[Lucchesa]

Jester is berry, berry, berry! I was hoping for a little more of that incisive, bittersweet neroli to round things out, but it's sweet berry, more huckleberry than red currant, sweeter than I associate with either of those in real life. If you live for berry scents, this might be your holy grail; then again, it's awfully hard to find...

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Sweet huckleberry, almost sugared -- like huckleberry syrup or candy. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, I get mostly huckleberry with a burst of currant cutting the super sweetness. The effect is that it's more reminiscent of fresh, juicy berries than a prepared food. As it dries and develops on my skin, the currant very gradually increases in prominence until it's just a hair less potent than the huckleberry note. I never do detect neroli. 

 

It's a fun berry scent, though I'm not actually sure it's a "me" scent.