El Dia de los Reyes

[elinox]

Hot cocoa with cinnamon, coffee, and brown sugar.

 

First Sniff: Warm, delicious hot cocoa. Yummy!

 

Initial Wet Application: Something is mixing with the hot cocoa but I don’t know what it is. It’s making it more creamy than first sniff. Ew, and now there’s dry plywood: what the hell?

 

Dry Down (first 15 minutes): I’m guessing that the coffee is making this smell all dried out. I can still smell the cocoa, but it’s playing second fiddle to the plywood. I’m not getting any cinnamon spice at all.

 

My Reaction: Once this dried completely, this was still nasty plywood with cocoa hiding in the background. What a disappointment!

 

Rating: 1.5

[Jeni Mullen]

My scent palette: I'm a foodie that doesn't tend to like the lab's vanilla scent unless there's something sugary in it. Eat Me is one of my favorite scents along with Captain Lilith (more boozy but still sweet). I am slowly finding out that I don't like woods in my scents. I love FOREST smells (like pine needles, juniper, leaves, moss and grass) but sandlewoods, rosewoods, and things like cedar or oak just don't do nice things on me. I love Magnificent Autumn, Samhain and Druid! I like spices too as long as they aren't kitchen spices (like mint and sage). Frankincense smells a little like sage so I haven't been too happy with that in my blends either. Scherezade and Sapphics are my go to spice oils. My biggest no-no are florals. Lavender and Jasmine, ylang ylang and peony run rampant. That said, carnation and sometimes rose can be quite nice on me if they're toned down. I also am not sure about my take on citrus. Lime is overwhleming (but I liked it in Lily Witch despite the leather). Bergamot is nicer. Leather and hemp tend to give me headaches.

 

In the bottle: This really comes off as in your face chocolate.

 

On the inside of my wrist, wet: It smells like mocha. Chocolate and coffee....so yeah, exactly what's written on the tin!

 

Fifteen minutes later: Yuck! it's very bitter now, like plain, black, thick coffee. Don't smell the chocolate at all.

 

Thirty minutes later: Okay, now the chocolate is back! We've got chocolate covered espresso. The cinnamon is strong now, smelling more like raw bark than the ground up spice.

 

Verdict: This is my sixth Yule that really hasn't worked on me and in a very sad need to MAKE IT WORK I dabbed on some Snake Oil-- Now THIS is exactly what this scent needed! So I'll keep this one. It's got an Irish Coffee sort of smell when mixed with Snake Oil!

[fiddlehead]

This has been passing me by for years so I finally decided to go for it. I wasn't sure about it at first but the longer it sat on my skin the better it got. I wore it out to dinner and kept getting wafts of this really good chocolate scent with an almost wood or amber-like undertone. It faded after a couple of hours but I don't mind re-applying. It's well blended and comes across as just a really rich chocolate after the initial notes of coffee and cinnamon disappear. I'm not sure if I'm able to identify brown sugar but maybe it will appear next time. I think I'm going to get a lot of wear out of this in the winter.

 

 

 

Edited to add that this morning I dabbed some on my neck and got the cinnamon reaction even though I don't get a ton of cinnamon from the scent. I'll have to apply this on tougher parts of my skin like I do Gingerbread Snake!

Edited December 21, 2014 by fiddlehead

[Aviatrix]

2014 version!

 

Compared to last year's incarnation, the coffee is really the strongest note here, which is a little disappointing to me, as I prefer El Dia de los Reyes as a hot cocoa scent. I don't usually do well with chocolate scents, but the cocoa in El Dia is great, so I really wish there were more of it this time around.

There isn't much cinnamon; a little whisper flowing in and out of the scent, and the sugar just gives the whole scent a dark sweetness.

 

It has good throw and lasts a decent number of hours on the skin.

 

I will have to decide whether to keep my bottle or not, though...

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Sweet chocolate, so rich I can taste it on my tongue and in the back of my throat. Maybe a touch of cinnamon. Hot damn, never have I been so tempted to disregard the Lab's "for external use only"/"not for consumption" rule.

 

Wet: A definite hint of coffee and the sweetness is more clearly brown sugar, but chocolate is still the dominant note. So it's more complicated, and oddly enough my overwhelming desire to chug the bottle is somewhat lessened. When I took this on the rounds of my family, the result was generally "mmm cookies." Apparently there's a hint of vanilla in here somewhere?

 

Dry: The chocolate fades more and more to the background until it's a primarily coffee scent with some cinnamon - very sharp, but still a little sweet. Dammit, I want my chocolate back! This isn't unpleasant (well, maybe a little - I *do* prefer hot chocolate/tea to coffee), but I miss the scrumptious warmth.

[lady_pandora]

This is mostly powdery cocoa on me--like smelling the just-opened cocoa tin, rather than the finished drink. There's a bitter roasty hint from the coffee, and I think maybe a tiny dash of hot pepper? The undertone is vanilla, which comes out more as it dries down, and adds a creaminess to it. This is really comforting, like a nice warm hug in winter.

[Deliciousness]

2014 version

 

Imp: hot cocoa mix ... yum!

 

Wet on skin: Rich hot cocoa laced with cinnamon and coffee. Very realistic and edible ... I want to lick my wrist.

 

Drydown: The first 45 minutes or so is lovely, with the spices playing background and the chocolate oh so realistic. These notes burn off and I'm left with a very pleasant sweet hot cocoa scent.

 

This is reminiscent of Sue's Great old Poppet Show and The Other hot Chocolate on the dry-down.

[petrichorandleather]

2014 version

 

imp: mexican hot chocolate

 

wet: full on hot cocoa mix with cinnamon before being mixed with milk. I get no creaminess at all

and briefly encounter that unpleasant plywood smell, though it flees as quickly as it came,

thank goodness.

 

dry: milk chocolate bar sprinkled with cinnamon.

 

It's alright and I'll use my imp, but I am by far more enchanted by Gelt.

[agirlnamedfury]

AMAZING. I love chocolatey scents and this is a great one. It does seem to have a hint of coffee as well.

 

This is a new favorite and I've been wearing it a lot. It does seem to fade pretty quickly though, so it's a slatherer.

[squidhearts]

So, for Christmas this year, my boyfriend got me a latte maker. Because I'm basically a child, the latte maker is a glorified milk frother. I make my delicious foamy morning beverage with milk, sweetener, cinnamon, cocoa powder...and instant coffee. Specifically, cafe bustelo, because, like the cinnamon, I'm keeping in Latina up in here, and it actually does taste like coffee instead of freeze dried sadness.

 

2014 Dia de los Reyes smells LIKE THAT. And that's one of my favorite things ever, so I'm thrilled.

 

Wet: Chocolate, but definitely a Latin chocolate, with kick from the cinnamon and also the bite of something that resolves itself into coffee.

 

Dry down: the chocolate calms down a bit and the coffee surges up. There is also something butter/cream/creamer in there, somehow.

Edited January 29, 2015 by squidhearts

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Brownie batter. Seriously, if I close my eyes it smells exactly like there’s a bowl full of rich, buttery brownie batter right beneath my nose.

 

Drydown: Sliiiightly more grounded now, which means it now smells like freshly-baked brownies. Sweet, gooey, dark, and chocolatey. There’s a touch of something deeper, the coffee I’m assuming, that creates the effect of the almost-burnt corner bits of brownie. But mostly, I’m getting the ooey-gooey scent of moist, flakey, fresh-from-the-oven brownies.

 

Dry: The same, but less intense. The drydown had a ton of sillage, and now it sits a little closer to the skin. Scent-wise, it remains the same.

 

 

If I was a foodie, I would give this one crazy high marks. Unfortunately I'm not, yet I seem to amp all the foodie notes! In this case, the foodie-ness was tolerable, but I wish the cinnamon and coffee had more of a presence.

 

7 out of 10 bones

[milo]

The best kind of cocoa you can imagine at first. It really smells like the richest Belgium chocolate ever. After a bit, more spices, less richness from the cocoa. Still, it's pretty good, and foodies will be all over this one for sure. As for me, it's evocative, and makes me want to drink one of these, but I'd never consider this to be a perfume I'd actually wear. I don't understand the foodie obsession, and wonder why anyone would like to smell like cookies or whatever.

[Soupy Twist]

In the bottle I get cocoa and cinnamon. It goes on as cinnamon, and then quickly turns to brown sugar. After a minute I get the cocoa, and it continues to be a mix of cocoa and sugar for the next several hours, with a little cinnamon on the edges. Marvelous, despite not getting any coffee scent. I bought a bottle unsniffed, and it has fulfilled all my hopes.

[vanilla323]

El Dia de los Reyes 2013

 

This is one of my most favorite "drink" scents from BPAL. I wish I could buy the actual drink it smells so good. This is the perfect mix of cocoa and cinnamon. That's also what you smell big time when you sniff it. When wet the coffee note comes out a little more but its mainly cinnamon and cocoa still. The dry down brings out the sugar and coffee mostly and it's so good. One of my favorite coffee scents.

[Missy_killer]

2013 version

 

In the bottle: First it smells like artificial milk chocolate, which is a shame. Then there's a nutty appearance. Roasted hazelnuts! Usually everything supposed to smell like "hazelnut" to men smells very burnt and unpleasant, but this doesn't. And I'm surprised that there's so little sweetness showing up.

 

On: Chocolate again, not a perfect one but it's better than the one I got a whiff of in the bottle. It's not very sweet and it still has that roasted nut-vibe. Then I think the coffee sneaks its way in. Just like with hazelnuts, coffee generally always smells burnt/cold, but this doesn't do it's usual nasty stuff either. It's quite pleasant.

And then the brown sugar peeks its head through and I wish it would leave us alone! It's giving this a bi-note that I can't explain, but I don't care for it at all.

 

All in all I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this or not. I wish the chocolate was creamier and the brown sugar would go away. The nutty and coffee works on me for once, so those are more than welcome to stay!

[LizziesLuck]

2013

 

 

Wet: Amazing. It really smells just like Mexican Hot Cocoa to me, or Hot Cocoa with Cinnamon. I get hints of coffee as well.

 

 

Dry: This is not what I was expecting at all. The cocoa is just a rich hint in the background. The cinnamon comes to the forefront, without being overbearing, and it's sweetened perfectly by the brown sugar. And you really can tell that it's brown sugar, not just random sweetness. The blend gets a hint of nuttiness from somewhere as well. I don't get much coffee, but that could be the rich nuttiness in the background. On me, this is like Café Mille et une Nuit and Midway had a beautiful little lovechild, and Monster Bait: Underbed raised her. Quite complex, foodie while still being perfumey. I am really enjoying it and am excited to add it to my Winter rotation!

[freyasfae]

2015 - I got this in a Yule decant circle

 

I wanted to give this one a shot because I almost liked Bliss on me, but it was ultimately too sweet (which I don't particularly care for milk chocolate anyway so it was true to form), and because I was hoping it would smell like the Mexican hot chocolate I get in Santa Fe. Well, it's not quite that, but it is still delish. El dia de los reyes lacks the chilli powder kick of Mexican hot chocolate - it smells more like someone took some Swiss Miss, but doctored it up to make it not so cloying. Thus, it's got this sort of nostalgia of Swiss Miss, but grown up with spicy cinnamon and a touch of coffee. I won't be buying a bottle of it, but I will definitely use up the imp, especially on days like today where it is dreary, rainy, and wet outside, and I want to feel dry, warm, and cozy. It also has excellent throw, I am sitting at my office desk ensconced (but not overwhelmed) by cinnamon-y cocoa powder.

 

Also, this scent is so convincingly foodie that my dog was fascinated by it and after prolonged sniffing of my wrists, attempted to lick it off me.

[Nyx_DevineNight]

2013 version

In the bottle: Coffee, cinnamon, brown sugar, cocoa. I smell it all.

Wet: The coffee is by far the strongest note here. But I also smell the rest of the notes as well.

Dry: The coffee tones down just a little and allows the hot cocoa to come out a little more. I can also smell the cinnamon more now as well. The brown sugar is still there, but more it the back. I like this much more than anticipated. I don't normally like the smell of coffee, but this scent really works for me.

[sunlitgarden]

2015 version, bottle fresh from the Lab.

In the bottle: Yum! This is a rich, almost nutty chocolate primarily, with some warm cinnamon and a bit of coffee. It smells like something delicious you could get at a coffee shop, or even just the coffee shop itself with their roasted beans, cocoa, spices and goodies.

On my skin: Oil is clear. There's a little more cinnamon on my skin than in the bottle. It smells like the most wonderful concoction of a fancy mocha drink with a cinnamon sprinkled on top. The throw I get from this is mostly chocolate, but if I stick my nose up to my wrist and sniff I get more of the cinnamon and coffee. For a coffee scent, this works on me; unlike Pumpkin Latte, which was a little bit too much like I actually spilled a drink on myself, this is more like just having it nearby and catching whiffs of it regularly. Michi and I agreed: sniffing this is actually kind of better than the real thing, because it's like those first delicious tastes over and over again. I know that when I order this kind of rich drink in real life, it ends up kind of being "too much" by the end of it and I feel kind of sick.

This definitely ranks among my favorite chocolate scents, along with Bliss, Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Cardamom, Rum and Ginger Truffle, Boomslang, and Mayan Chocolate with Annatto Seed, Anaheim Pepper, Cinnamon, and Vanilla Bean. Yum!

[bridgetvoid]

in the bottle this just smells SO good to me. rich dark coffee and chocolate with a slight undercurrent of cinnamon. however when i wear it the cinnamon amps like woah and reminds me of altoids. i think i'm gonna have to get a scent locked for this one because i adore it in the bottle.

[Casablanca]

2016

 

I got to sample this with my friend as one of her decants.

 

My tastes don’t usually run gourmand, and I don’t need more chocolate blends, but this one is kind of special on me. When my friend and I compared, this one was intoxicating (almost spiced dark rum-like, along with the listed notes) on my skin, but a little bit flat on hers. Strong throw.

 

I get all the notes. They’re just really good together, and I wish a hot mug of it were in front of me. After work…

[roseus]

I love this so much. Up front I get a enormous amounts of rich dark chocolate cocoa. It's sweetened a little bit by the brown sugar, and I get warm, delicious (and not bitter) coffee underneath. This is one of those scents I wish I could eat.

[CitrusFiend]

2016 version. Smooth, rich dark chocolate with a slight nutty undertone. Delicious!

[gloame]

2009 version, imp'd

 

Hot chocolate! ...And then booze. This is like after the holiday dinner has been eaten and the adults have slowly transitioned from regular hot chocolate to ~special~ hot chocolate. It's warm, gooey, deeply chocolatey. Not a bottle for me, but worth keeping an imp to hand.

 

Where I'd wear it: Holiday parties

 

ETA compared to Yule 2015 version: 2009 is chewier, gooier chocolate. 2015 is drier, more adult chocolate.

Edited July 16, 2017 by gloame

[achildoftime]

2013 version

 

This is the snuggliest hot chocolate that I have the misfortune of not being able to drink. It's rich and spiced with cinnamon. It smells absolutely delicious, but I'd rather my kitchen smell like it than me.