Midnight Kiss

[mgrazulis]

Eternal desire, unquenchable passion: red musk, cocoa absolute, Nepalese amber, red sandalwood, aged patchouli, nicotiana, and blood wine.

In the imp: cocoa, sandalwood, musk

Wet: spice, incense, cocoa underneath wine

Dry: patchouli, nicotiana (tobacco flower--this scared me in the notes, but it's not offensive and quite pleasing, although it adds a sinister touch to the Kiss!) very much like Tezcatlipoca without the leather. Berry wine notes on the outside. Musky, warm and seductive, very full-bodied! Dark and hypnotic.

Quite a morpher. It's not a favorite of mine, but I am lured in with the cocoa, musk and patchouli. I actually like how this turned out. I nuzzled it all day long. The imp will stay with me for now.

[La Soldier]

Wet: It smells very sweet to me. You can definitely smell the chocolate. I always thought immediately about cherry cordials.

 

On the Drydown: All the spiciness of the patchouli comes up at once and the sweetness disappears. I call this one a concept perfume because it matches its name well. very shoujo manga-esque. the sweetness and warmth only lasts for a second, and then they disappear.

 

Dry: the faintest bit of sweetness remains, sleeping with the spiciness that's left. no hint of chocolate or cherry.

 

Overall: I think I'll wear it in Japan when I want to feel like a manga shojo princess. haha.

[Epiphany]

I should have known better....

 

In the imp: bitter-sweet cocoa with tobacco and musk...this is not a good sign. However, I couldn't just go without testing it--that's the fun, right?

 

This is one of a hand full BPALs that I've had a viscerally bad reaction to: the "oh god get it off! get it off! why won't it come off!" reaction. It was a sickly boozy resinous sweetness with tobacco...and red musk. NOT good for me. And, naturally, one that clung for a good long time.

 

Heh...that description probably sounds amazing for some people...which just goes to show how different we all are.

[Andrea912]

I smell no cocoa whatsoever; all spice and musk. Incense; not me.

[isisonearth]

In the imp it smells like an expensive nightclub, cigars, chocolate martinis and wine.

 

When first applied to my skin the cocoa amps up along with the patchouli and a stomach churning wine note.

 

As it dries the amber and sandalwood peek out. From a about a foot away it smells gorgeous. If I get too close to the spot I applied it really repels me. I'm not sure what to think of this one. Applied sparingly I guess it works.

 

Much later on I start getting that cherry cola scent other people have been mentioning.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the bottle

It's sweet and vaguely fake, like artifically-flavoured lollies. There's some plum in there. I'm not detecting cocoa at all, getting more of a cute fruity smell with a touch of red wine.

 

On Me

It deepens, and musk and cocoa come racing out with a vengeance. YUM! As it dries, the cocoa tones down, and the fruit appears-- it's a yummy fruity musky blend with a touch of darkness.

 

Intense, dark, and yet sweet and quirky, but it's a definite cocoa rather than smooth creamy chocolate-- there's a twinge of bitterness in there that you just don't get with, say, Wulric or Candy Butcher or Bliss.

 

It's awesome. LOVE this stuff.

Edited July 26, 2008 by LadyLuckDoubt

[voodoocatwoman]

This goes on like a fruity cola drink. Cherry cola? Dr. Pepper? After it dries, the sandalwood comes out to play. I like it.

[milo]

Wet, very sweet, nutty (must be the cocoa?), foody to the extreme. Settles down a bit, and the musk comes out on drydown. A bit better, but I'm glad I just have the imp.

[Pookstrell]

Nom nom nom nom. This is like a subtle, toned-down and grown up Hollywood Babylon. The musk, which is beautifully grounding and voluptuous, underscores the rich berry-like dragon's blood. Now here's the amazing thing... this has cocoa in, but I can wear it!

Normally I reduce chocolate to mouldy cardboard, but not this time. A first! This is one of those classic BPAL 'red' scents which makes you feel sexy but want to snuggle at the same time.

[anguissette]

I put it on and went out for dinner.

As I was walking down the street I kept getting delicious wafts of chocolate. Strong throw. That smells like chocolate. Happy so far.

Then the cherry began to appear and all I could think of was chocolate covered cherries, and wow these notes are extremely well blended.

My boyfriend liked it which is always a plus. I think I'll start hoarding this stuff.

In the bar the red patchouli incense took over, which was also nice. But once outside I could swear the chocolate notes came back.

Definitely on my favourites list, I thought this was a great scent.

[rayvn1]

Mmmm very sweet and thick smelling in the imp.

 

Wet I could immediately smell the cocoa. This is my first foodie scent so I'm curious how it will turn out!

 

Dry I get what reminds me of the syrup that's combined with fizzy water to make Cherry Coke. Thick and syrupy - but thank god not like cough syrup! I'm crossing my fingers that it won't go anywhere near cough syrup...

 

I think this one is a keeper. Sonnett's right and it makes me think of what a little Anime girl would wear too, which is fun since I'm always in the mood to watch Anime!

 

Now if they could make a Cowboy Bebop blend for Faye and Spike....

[caffinatedangel]

My little imp of this stuff is naturally a bit old by now, but I still gave it a try.

 

In the imp it was solid cocoa. I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself.

 

On skin, it changed a bit. It was a lot like others had described: cherry cola. But not so much cola, it was a lot of chocolate. It was dark, deep, heavy chocolate yet light, bright, cherry tang. It was a bit offsetting, as the two didn't meld together very well on me. It was ok, and certainly unique, but not quite me. The cherry had too much pop, and the chocolate was too dusty somehow.

 

I imagine a lot may have to do with age. But it was interesting.

[angelicruin]

Bottle: musk & wine

 

Wet: Blood & smoke are most dominant

 

Dry: Cocoa & musk

 

Interesting, dark, haunting scent

[birdiefu]

The coca smells divine in the bottle, but like most BPAL cocoa/chocolate, as soon as I put it on, it disappears into thin air . Other than than, this scent is *so* close to Blood Kiss, which I love. That blood scent (with some cherry and clove and red wine) is pretty much the same, with yummy musk. Midnight Kiss is just a touch drier, which I thought might have been due to a different vetiver (it smelled vetiver-ish at first), but as it dried, I'm pretty sure that is the nicotiana.

 

I like this even though it is almost the same as Blood Kiss on me. I can see wearing this when I want a different vibe, as I do like what the dry, smoky nicotiana does with the other notes. Long-lasting and medium throw.

[msbcozad]

I had the oddest experience with Midnight Kiss. In the bottle, it's a decent-enough perfume scent. When it's wet on my skin it stinks of stale cigarettes. I almost gagged. Most of the forum reviewers state they get a cherry cola or cocoa smell. How very bizarre. As it dried down, though, the musk and sandalwood came out and I couldn't stop sniffing my wrist. I'm willing to get past the initial ick so I can enjoy the yummy dry-down.

[crebbsgirl]

Wet this scent bore a striking resemblance to Blood Kiss on me. I think it's probably the wine note. As it dried the red musk started to show up a little more. However, the weirdest thing happened. It went all grape on me. Like, Grape Crush. In fact, my fiance from across the room told me I was making him crave grape soda. So, I don't think I'll be wearing this again, as Grape Soda is not a scent I would like to smell like.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Rich, musky cocoa with the vague idea of fruit whispering around the afterscent. It’s endlessly deep, and very intriguing.

 

Wearing: The immediate skin-scent is completely devoid of cocoa; it’s more of a swarthy patchouli muskiness, and on my left wrist there’s still that hint of unspecified fruit. Within a couple of hours, it’s completely gone. It was lovely in the bottle, but it doesn’t stick to me at all.

[Myrrha]

Wet on skin -- The red musk plus amber combination reminds me of Fenris Wolf. It is warm and beautiful. There is a mint note but that passess quickly.

 

As it dries -- The patchouli begins to get out of hand and dirties up the scent. Something in here is absolutely hypnotic and I keep sniffing my wrist. It must be the Nicotiana. It is a faint wisp of floral scent amongst the musk and patchouli, gorgeous.

 

Drydown -- It stays musk plus amber and patchouli with a bit of that dry elegant floral. It is gorgeous but I don't think the musk plus amber and patchouli combination is how I want to smell. If there was more of the floral and less patchouli or none at all I might like this one a lot. It lasted about four hours on my bpal-eating skin, much longer than the sweeter and lighter scents I prefer.

 

I am really curious about Nicotiana now... what a great note.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Swoonworthy! The same wine note that makes Lilith smell so good to me in the vial is here. On third try, I can make out other notes, mostly the cocoa absolute. But this smells magnificent to me, which of course means it will fail utterly.

 

Wet: The cocoa is more noticeable than the wine now, but the musk is giving it competition. This smells warmer and less fruity-sweet than before, with a grassy sweetness. This needs to blend a bit, but all the notes smell great together. So far.

 

Twenty minutes: Something about this says Mme Moriarty to me. I think it must be the red musk and patchouli.

 

One hour: This still has a Mme Moriarty tone, but there's more sweet fruitiness in it, very grapey. No sign of the cocoa, but I think the amber is trying to put in an appearance.

 

Two hours: The grapey note has blended with the cocoa note, and it's kind of an interesting mixture. Still get the musk-patchouli combination, too, but the foody notes dominate

 

Three hours: Oh, I really like the blend now. It's got patchouli, musk, cocoa, a grapey note, and a warm unidentifiable base. Nothing predominates, and it comes across as warm, sweet but not at all cloying. I could see really enjoying this if it hadn't taken so long to get to this wonderful point.

 

Five hours: Warm musky well-rounded fragrance with a cocoa tinge. That sweetness has gone away pretty much entirely. What's left seems determined to stick around a while, and I like it a lot.

[V294]

My imp is a bit old but here goes.

 

Wet: It smells pretty strong but I'm not sure what it smells of exactly. It's reminding me of Samhain...probably the patchouli coming out. It's a bit strong

 

dry: it's getting a bit sweeter now, a nice complex scent.

 

overall: it's not bad at dry down but I don't see it being a scent I'd wear much. I'm thinking the patchouli is just too strong a note in it and overpowers the others. I might keep 1 of the 2 imps I have, I'm not sure.

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Cocoa and a very fruity wine

 

Wet on skin: The cocoa turns up its nose at my skin and disappears, as always. The red musk, sandalwood and wine love me (also as always) and carouse merrily during the drydown.

 

Dry on skin: I get about two hours of a boozy, heady floral before Midnight Kiss turns to single-note grape.

 

This was interesting; the drydown process was actually quite lovely. At least the cocoa didn't throw a tantrum and ruin the whole thing.

[Monster]

Out of the imp: Chocolate covered cherries!

 

On my skin: BAM! Red musk right away! It's mixing with the cherries and patchouli to create a of cherry incense sort of effect. The chocolate is almost compleltey gone at this point, the resins are dominating over it.

 

Dry: It's sort of ended up a sour, old cherry smell mixed with incense with dried, spilled red wine (you know the scent of it spilled on your clothing...dried...1 day old when you're about to throw it in the wash.)

 

Overall: I'm not so sure about this one. Based on all of the notes, I SHOULD like this but the combination of them all just isn't working for me. I think this would be perfect if the cherry and wine notes were removed. Oh well. It's not bad...just not for me.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

I only just discovered this through the sales thread and decided to take a chance on it.

 

Now I'm a cocoa kinda gal all the way - the mere mention of a chocolate or cocoa note and I'm unable to resist. So imagine my surprise when Midnight Kiss turns into a musky grape/berry bubblegum on my skin! Yep - bubblegum, but the purple kind rather than the pink, so that's the blood wine? Maybe?

 

So bearing in mind that I'm getting grape bubblegum which is vastly different to what the previous reviewers have said.. I can still sense the musk, amber and sandalwood - they're lurking like men in trench coats in the darkened back corner of a smoky bar, intimidating the bubble gum blonde who wants to get up and dance on the table but holds herself back.

 

Patchouli seems completely absent, and I'm really not sure what nicotiana smells like so I'm not sure if it's present. But either way, I love this - just the perfect blend of sweet and smokey - it stays on my skin for ages and wafts around beautifully.

[asciident]

Wet: Chocolate and floral.

 

First on: Just faint chocolate now...

 

Dry: It's barely there now. Too bad, it had potential.

[zee]

After sniffing this in the imp I happily slathered it all over, not checking the notes as I wasn't in front of my laptop. And WOW. Hello new favourite! It definitely does what it says on the tin, I felt totally sexy. No cherries for me, I got plenty of cocoa with musk and a berry wine note. A definite contender for a bottle, if I can track one down.

 

And it provoked a pretty great reaction from my boyfriend, too!