Velvet

[Finny]

Envelop yourself in the soft, sensual embrace of gentle sandalwood warmed by cocoa vanilla and a veil of deep myrrh.

Out of the imp chocolate and vanilla.

Uh-oh, vanilla and I don't get along. Within minutes of putting this on, I smell like vanilla with a wisp of cocoa covered sandalwood. A few minutes later, vanilla and more vanilla.

Why does my skin hate me?

[Sheila]

Right after applying, Velvet is strong chocolate. Then the sandalwood comes through, and like other reviewers, I thought it smelled like pencil shavings in this blend. Finally, after a couple of hours, the myrrh comes out to play, turning this into a mellow, sweet, gently spicy scent. It's very nice at this stage--and strangely, it reminds me of Snake Oil but with chocolate, not vanilla, laid over the spices. (Which makes me wonder if there's myrrh in Snake Oil?) Anyway, this is a rich scent, and if you want to smell like chocolate, I think you'll like it.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Cocoa in an unfoody way.

 

Second Impression: The cocoa scent in this is lovely, but unfortunately cocoa and myrrh don't play well with my skin. It's nice for awhile but the drydown goes all dirty.

 

Final Analysis: Happy I got to try this, it's lovely in the vial, perhaps I'll try this in my locket.

[warmfuzzies]

let me start by saying "eeew." in the vial this was so chocolatey, then on, it was like chocolate covered pencil shavings, with the drydown smelling like the teeniest sliver of chocolate lost on a giant hayride. this was the worst i have sampled so far. ick.

[amunnefret]

You'd think selling BPAL oils we'd get to try them all. Unfortunately it often doesn't work that way. We tend to buy only 15 of each scent at a time and some of the most popular varieties fly off the shelves as soon as they're up for sale - and really rather a customer gets it than we break a bottle open just for one test. Mostly its not a hardship. With such depth and variety of choice, not everything is going to appeal. Velvet was one of those - words like "chocolate" and "hazelnut" are frequently used to describe this scent. I LOVE to eat chocolate and hazelnut - mmm green & blacks mmmmm - but the thought of smelling like that doesn't light my fires.

 

Anyway Iain was sent a wee samplette by a generous Lushie - and purely out of curiosity tried a few swipes to see if it lived up to all its chocolately descriptives.

 

I feel exactly the same about Velvet as Luxuria so will quote her:

 

I LOVE this. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE        I cannot express my love enough!

 

This is without a doubt one of Beth's finest. Luciously delectable, elegant and richly layered. Yes there is something of the slightly bitter cocoa bean, yes there's a whisper of hazelnut but I'm not talking "eating" quality chocolate here. Blended with sandlewood and myrrh this chocolatey scent is lifted to euphoric heights.

 

Very sophisticated and sensual.

 

Definitely one of my all time favourite scents - ever

 

 

ETA: after the deliriously wonderful experience with an imp of velvet I decided to keep aside a bottle for myself. Oddly the 5ml bottle NO sandalwood at all, in fact it now smells like cocoa layered over a very light version of Black Forest. Especially disappointing because the sandalwood/cocoa combination is what did it for me.

Edited February 23, 2005 by amunnefret

[shelldoo]

i ADORE THIS ONE i may have to change my top 5 again

 

it is a lovely warm mishmash of chocolate and vanilla, on me i almost think the vanilla is stronger and it takes on a caramel type note, it is soft and sweet and amazing!

[autumnviolet]

rocketing to the top of my 5 ml list...

VELVET!!!

wet: cocoa/chocolate! rich, heavenly, milk chocolate!

on skin/dry down: wah! where the chocolate go? wah..wa..huh, that's the incense my mom burned when I was a kid...sandalwood? the chocolate morphs into...sandalwood?

a few hours later: I wish it was chocolate, but the mellow sandalwood with myrrh is both sharp crisp and soft pillowy. Love this, truly, truly original. Both hard and soft.

[leapylees]

Oooo... lovely.

 

This is more woody and spicy on me that chocolatey. At first it reminded me of bananas dipped in spicy cocoa but that rapidy mellowed down to woody spiciness, as all scents with myrrh do on me. There's a little bit of cocoa in there still but mostly it's spicy wood. Though jj_j's grubby schoolboy is also spot on!

 

needless to say, I'm getting a 5ml of this. Oh yes.

[lunalight7]

Upon first application the chocolate is overwhelming. However, it disappears quickly and Velvet is all sandlewood incense on me. Might be pleasant as a room scent but not really my thing as far as perfume goes. Of course, I understand BPAL well enough now to know that I must try it again in the future....

[amrita]

I do not like the smell of this when wet. It smells of strangely buttery chocolate. But in just a couple minutes, the butteriness goes away, and an effortlessly balanced blend of sandalwood, cedar, vanilla, and cocoa reveals itself. It smells *so* good. It's decadent, unique, and comforting. I don't get a whole lot of myrrh from this-- just enough to echo that salivatory twinge you get when you smell something very edible. It doesn't change noticably as the hours go by. This is one of my favorites!

[joseybird]

Ceder, ceder, ceder!! Why do I get ceder from this? =( Ceder dipped in dark chocolate...ugg...dry and powdery...I had such high hopes for this one, but no go. Pencil shavings is a perfect descriptor for this one, as has been noted many times.

[olympia301]

 

Got this one from a swap. I had opened it and smelled. It smelled bad. Ugh. But, You have to try them on, right?

 

After it hit my skin...Pure Bliss, go figure. The parts of cedar I love are here, the parts I hate are not. Lots of chocolate with vanilla winding its insidious way around here. I am told there is sandalwood in it all, it is overpowered by everything else, or it was put in with such a delicate touch that is just serves to keep it alive on your skin without intruding. Blended in perfectly.

 

The myrrh? I never smelled it so well woven in with another smell. True genius to recognize the relationship between myrrh and chocolate. There is a set of sub smells which do relate, they were found and together they are so much more luxurious than merely the sum of the parts.

 

I too love this smell.

 

(somehow there is a remembrance of Wilde, the part I fell in love with, here but it just gets better on my skin, unlike Wilde).

 

I really love this smell. Mmmmmmmm.

Edited February 12, 2006 by olympia301

[kmasden]

Ohhh, I so wanted to love Velvet and totally did in the bottle and for the first few minutes on my skin! Why oh why do woody scents come out on me and drown out everything else. They are so nice in combination with other things Velvet started as chocolately goodness with a hint of sandalwood and then the sandalwood took over and within an hour I couldn't stand to sniff myself because it was just so dominating.

 

Ohhh Velvet, you would have been sooo perfect. Almost want to add an imp of bliss(which I don't love) or gluttony to this and just see if I can somehow get the sweetness with less sandalwood. alas - I don't want to ruin perfectly good imps with my lack of expertise. I hate my skin chemistry!

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- Chocolate

 

After 10 minutes- At first this was all deep dark chocolate. Then the sandalwood started to slowly waft it's way through very gently. Who would have thought that sandalwood and chocolate would blend so beautifully together?

 

After 30 minutes- Now the myrrh has come through in full force and taken over. The chocolate has faded and it is now all sandalwood and myrrh. Nice, but I liked it better in the chocolate phase.

 

Summery- Velvet is a really nice chocolate blend but I like Centzon Totochtin better. Off to swaps.

[HappyLoveJoy]

Velvet- (sandalwood, cocoa, vanilla, myrrh) Oh, how I wish the cocoa would stay on top. it's awesome right from the vial. a rich, two-dimensional chocolate that smells like so much more. The myrrh makes it earthy, the vanilla keeps it sweet and creamy and the sandalwood nudges the cocoa to the side, which is too bad for me. I really like this one a lot. Velvet really _is_ velvety.

 

ETA: Looking back I didn't do Velvet justice with my review. I love it so much I now have a small bottle and will be getting the big bottle when it's time to re-order. On me it has amazing staying power. It's so rich, dark and creamy and when I first put it on I sometimes think I smell coconut too. A deep toasted coconut. When it dries down it is such a beautiful sandalwood scent that still has the ghosts of the cocoa and vanilla hanging around. It's perfect for me. Heck, if I were a BPAL oil I'd be Velvet.

Edited June 22, 2005 by HappyLoveJoy

[orangepaas]

Cocoa and marshmallows, with a hint of darkness underneath. This bears a tangential similiarity with Lush's floating island bath melt (must be the cocoa + sandalwood?) I mean it just about encapsulates a S'mores. It's not particularly musty to me.

[Fyre_in_Winter]

Count me into the pencil shavings club! Although in Velvet it's more of a fleeting thought, rather than the jab-you-in-the-nose of Intrigue. The vanilla really saves Velvet for me. It's a smooth and sweet, yet very dry vanilla that is grounded by the sandalwood and myrrh. The myrrh and cocoa make a very interesting and complex combination, and I'm happy the cocoa takes a backseat in this blend.

 

It incites the urge to burrow my face into a thick black velvet pillow. Very, very beautiful scent.

[Mofo]

blurgh in the bottle I don't like it - I can't make out what it is but I don't like it but I do trust the BPAL scents to develop and this sure does. It has a lovely soft sandalwood truly Velvet - I guess the vanilla & cocoa do their job so it isn't just sandalwood that comes out but they don't jump out at you either.

Lovely, soft and just like it's name, Velvet.

[misfitroxy]

From the imp, this is pure milk chocolate heaven. But a darker milk chocolate, like Green & Black’s organic. MMM.

 

Wet on my wrist the incense blends start to come through. But they’re not overpowering the chocolate just making it spicy and rich.

 

This is an overtly warm scent. It’s turning slightly woody the longer I leave it on, giving me impressions of damp mahogany. I’m really enjoying the oil’s complexity. I can’t really imagine an occasion where I would wear this other than to ward off chocolate cravings. It’s everything the description says, though – soft, sensual, and something you want to wrap yourself up in to ward off the nasties. Totally lush.

[Nemesister]

I was expecting to love this but both in the bottle and on my skin it is overly strong sandalwood. I like sandalwood but not when it is so overpowering! it actually makes me feel ill.

 

I so wanted to like this given the vanilla (my fav scent ever) and the cocoa but i didn't get any of them.....

 

I've bought about 12 5/10ml bottles so far and most were bought blind without having smelled the imps and only 2 of them have been ones I've not liked and wanted to swap so my ratio is still good lol

Edited March 21, 2005 by Nemesister

[blaqpearl]

I really wanted this to work for me because I wanted a replacement for one of my favorite perfumes, Angel. But to no avail, this didnt quite do it for me.

 

In the bottle it smelled great for me. So I slather it on this morning and I wish I was just a little more gentle with it. It has a suffocating scent. It brings back memories of my childhood for me sitting in his hot car during the summer. He used to use this car deoderizer that smells very similar to this.

 

I wish the sandalwood would come out more. I am not getting any of that. Only vanilla with a hint of chocolate and something else I can put my finger on, possibly the myrrh. I love every note in this but I guess the balance is not working for me.

 

Definitely has great staying power.

[Fury]

I've always loved the word velvet, its ability to ilicit an immediate sense of depth and softness, a weight and a headiness all in one, of which the Lab seemed to perfectly capture. While chocolate resonates through the entire wearing, it begins much stronger though a more natural scent than striking.

 

Once dried it becomes more even, more woodsy, on me arising the sandalwood deeply but a beautiful offset to the seeming milk chocolate. Overall it is quite comforting, one of the more subtle chocolate scents- my mother couldn't even place a note a while after I'd applied it.

[MondoMacabre]

Well here goes my first review.

 

Since I like chocolate/cocoa/vanilla scents, I was hell-bent on loving this. Sadly, it did not work out that way.

 

Wet, Velvet smells very nutty. Upon drydown it reminded me of marijuana resin then faded into a dusty, smoky powdery sandalwood on me. I definitely got the aforementioned pencil shavings.

[quimerula]

Wet is cocoa and vanille, with a light sandalwood and myrrh undertone.

 

As it dries it switches upside down, and I can't smell the strong foody notes because they're very subtle now. It goes deeper and a bit darker, lovelier IMO.

 

It's a perfect myrrh and saldalwood scent with something more that keeps it interesting and not as dry as they would be on their own.

No chocolate scent for me, thanks!

[Essay 28]

In the bottle: warmly cocoa with a whiff of something sweet and interesting.

 

On skin initially: baby oil or suntan lotion, especially the strong Coppertone brand.

 

After an hour: It didn't stay on that long. The lotion smell sent me immediately to the bathroom to scrub it off. Since I had the same sort of "lotion" reaction from Zephyr, I'm thinking the note that is turning to lotion on me is sandalwood, so I'll avoid oils with that for now. Definately a swap item.