Agrat-Bat-Mahlaht

[Lavada]

Amber, cream accord, white honey, apple blossom, skin musk, caramel, and teak.

Huh. Caramel. I forgot about that until I opened the decant. For some reason it smells familiar... *tests*

...oh. *calmly chops hand off*

It was Incubus. Freaking (admittedly evil) celery salt. I'm going to blame this on how my skin translates the shared characteristics of caramel sweet/skin musk/bright floral (or in Incubus' case, herbal). Excuse me while I dispose of my hand. Edited June 27, 2008 by Lavada

[LunaLovegood]

Agrat Bat Mahlaht: Lovely on the bottle, but on my skin the caramel turns super sharp to the point of obnoxious. Not for me, sadly because I really really wanted it to work on me

[Leopard403]

I was expecting all caramel from this, planning on all foody and sweet. And it is, but to me, these apples have bite. Crisp, on top of the sweetness.

[mooncityminx]

In the vial: buttery caramel and apple blossom

 

Wet: Caramel, honey and the apple blossom. It reminds me of the lovely Poisoned Apple with caramel on top, and a floral. Very interesting, but not what I would have expected from the description.

 

Drydown: This is very yummy, a wearable caramel for those who love light florals. I'm not getting the amber or the teak however. I'll see how this ages.

[dronzeka]

Alas, this ended up all caramel, all the time. I got a little sweetness from what I think was the apple blossom, and by the drydown the teak tempered the caramel a little, but for me, it was too overwhelmingly caramel (I was hoping to mostly get the other notes). I shouldn't have been surprised, as this has happened with all BPAL caramel scents (I think particularly of Tiresias). If you like BPAL caramel, though, you should love this!

[ladyver]

in bottle: if red lanturn had honey - I want to eat it!

wet on skin: honey, honey and more honey, and then i see the teak and apple blossom.

dry: honey and teak with a hint of apple blossom. It takes a while but the cream accord finally comes out to help link the other notes.

 

this is a golden blend just like the pic - i like it - but will use it sparingly for a while because i would like to see if little ageing helps the notes blend a bit more

 

EDIT: in only a couple of weeks since i first tried this the notes are less separate and it has become really well blended - the teak is less sharp and the caramel is in the mix now. it is a golden honey blend with teak, caramel, apple blossom and cream accord making it delicious!!!!!

Edited July 4, 2008 by ladyver

[Athenae]

So gorgeous in the imp, all deep amber-y caramel, I slathered without testing and now ... my skin has swallowed all the amber and caramel, and amped the honey and apple blossom. I had hoped for foody and got floral. Nice floral, and not headache-y at all, but still, not me. My husband loves it on me, though. He's been sniffing over my shoulder as I write this!

 

I may try her in a scent locket, see if she stays truer to imp form there.

 

A.

[kelpsoda]

Wet, I can smell yummy caramel. After a bit, the caramel backs off and I get a fresh, sweet apple scent. This disappears far too soon, and I'm left with the skin musk, which smells very much like O. It's not bad, but too similar to O for me to keep around.

[bites_the_sun]

This turns into an acrid, bitter and quite unpleasant version of Red Lantern 08 on my skin. Had to wash it off after an hour because it was making me feel queasy. Shame.

[Kabooki]

I was super excited as this was my first bottle from the Carnaval

 

In the bottle it smells like a Tandy Caramel Apple

 

On my skin though it quickly turns into this dark chocolate caramel apple scent with this hint of something dirty on top of it. There are times when the apple really stands out and it becomes almost a chocolate floral, but for the most part it’s a very “dirty” or Musty scent.

 

I don’t hate it, I just don’t think I would wear it often. Going to see how she ages and take it from there

[filigree_shadow]

I really liked the imp sniff for this one, so I slathered it all over the back of my hand to do this test.

 

It's really big on apples for the first few minutes, but then it settles down a little bit. Still has a tart, crisp apple scent, but I can smell the caramel better. It smells quite creamy underneath the apple.

 

It's a sweet, happy scent. A little musky, but mostly playful.

 

This one's not going straight onto my bottle wishlist, but I will definitely keep the decant and try wearing it a couple of times to see how it works for me.

[LadyLuckless]

Oh the heartbreak. I was so anticipating this one, but it seems caramel is not going to play nice with me.

 

In the imp, she smelled like a too-rich dessert topping, and I was intrigued to see what skin chemistry and a few hours would do. Upon applying, sweet little Agrat screamed bloody murder from my wrists with an ear-splitting pitch akin to the whistling of a teakettle hooked up to the sound system at the Super Bowl. This went on for the better part of an hour. Then she collapsed into a heap of dirty apple-flavored burnt something or other. Sigh. Oh Agrat-Bat-Mahlaht. Away with ye, she-devil, you are clearly just too much woman for me.

 

ADDED July 8:

 

What kills me is that underneath all that horror, I can smell Beth's glorious apple blossom note, and I WANTS IT.

 

That is exactly what happened to me! I've never tried Beth's apple/apple blossom note, but I could smell it under everything else and I could tell it was gorgeous. I wanted to dig through all the other notes to get at it like a dog trying to get to a bone!

Edited July 9, 2008 by Shollin

[pamplemousse]

I loved this in the imp. It was pure caramel for about the first 10 minutes on my skin. And then when that went away, a strange incensey smell came out, even though there's no incense in this blend.

 

I smell like church. Like being by yourself in an old church, with sunlight coming in and warming up the wooden pews, and looking inside old wooden cabinets and smelling that slightly musty old-cabinet church smell with just a whiff of Holy Water.

 

How strange is that?

 

It's not really unpleasant, but it's definitely not what I was expecting.

[PurringPulsar]

Agrat Bat Malaht

 

In the bottle: apple, very strong apple covered with caramel and cream.

Wet on skin: whoa, this is very heavy on the apple! Now I also smell the honey and a sharp, almost gardenia like floral?

Dry on skin: burnt caramel and an apple note that for now smells like sour but authentic apples, but I fear will turn soapy. On top of the caramel apples, a load of honey and cream is poured. It’s quite a yummy scent, but the caramel smells very burnt to me, and there’s a floral scent, possibly the apple blossom’s floral side, which is not agreeing with me at all. Thankfully the cream isn’t sour at all. But where are the amber, teak and musk? All I’m getting are the gourmand notes, and they are turning strange on me. and I don’t smell any resemblance to Glowing Vulva here.

After a while: after a moment of ‘oh damn, it’s Sugar Slathered Candy Apple, right down to the soapy apple and cloying toffee’, the smell has calmed. The apple isn’t turning too artificial on me, and the caramel isn’t amping too much, there’s a bit more honey. Now I can smell the skin musk, adding it’s velvety pale powdery scent over the whole scent. But I’m not crazy about the slightly burnt floral scent I get here…it seems to smell a tad soapy. With the caramel, it’s like the whole scent isn’t sitting right on me. It’s like this scent can’t decide whether or not to be foody. Where are the amber and teak? It reminds me a bit of Les Bijoux, but I prefer that one thanks to the peach, resins and rose. The apple blossom in here isn’t really agreeing with me.

After a few hours I’m left with something much nicer, a honeyed apple scent softened by a skin musk reminiscent of Tamamo No Mae. I really like this now.

Verdict: I had high hopes for this, hoping this would be a bit like Glowing Vulva meets Harikata, not too heavy on the caramel and with the apple blossom being subtle and gentle like it is in Cupid Complaining or Brisingamen. I love the art and the quote on the card she comes with. But this scent failed on me…the apple blossom was warped by my skin into some mutated fruity-floral with burnt and soapy tones to it, the cream and caramel turned heavy and cloying, the amber and teak went into hiding from this chaotic jumble of floral and gourmand. It was dissonant on me. the drydown was nicer, when the skin musk came out and the honey calmed the apple down a bit, but the agreeable drydown takes too long to get to after a couple of hours of evil toffee apples. I’m afraid that this lady does not agree with me at all.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? No, sadly.

If you like this, try: Desire, Cupid Complaining to Venus, Verdandi, Les Bijoux, Eisheth Zenunim

[rhapsody13]

At first, when this is wet, its all scary sweet caramel.

 

Then it starts to dry and becomes an apple blossom slap on the face, with a tiny drizzle of caramel.. I can hardly catch the teak, amber, or honey..

 

Finally after a while, everything sort of comes out and mingles. I can't tell if I'm just sniffing too hard, or if its really calmed down (you know when you smell something too much, and you lose the scent altogether). Its pretty though. Ooo..

 

And its fun! I actually really like layering it with other scents.

[Andrea912]

No caramel, but i still like it; creamy yet bright; perhaps the apple blossom? Don't love the amber, but it's sutble, so...

[alicia_stardust]

This is a beautiful and foody honey-caramel blend, but it's not heavy or cloying. The skin musk adds a sensual aspect, especially when the apple blossom also shows itself. I get a touch of the teak and cream accord but they remain in the background and seem to enhance the honey and caramel. I know the amber is in there but it doesn't really stand out to me as long as the caramel and other notes are taking center stage. One thing that really strikes me about this blend is how well it reflects the artwork for it!

 

This wears long and strong and a little goes a long way.

[inurbanus]

This one was a total shocker -- out of all the CD decants I'm trying, I expected Agrat to smell the worst on me, because normally caramel and I don't get along. While the imp smells strongly of rich, buttery caramel, when I'm actually wearing this one, I can't smell any of it! All I get is some really beautiful apple blossom with a little bit of cream and honey. This is one of the sweetest BPAL scents I've ever tried, but I love sweet scents, so I'm not going to complain. This one feels really playful and girlish -- perfect for Spring. I think I'll have to get a bottle of this one. For lack of a better word, it's charming.

 

4/5

[Lycanthrope]

Frum. Caramel and me do not get along. Overall, after I've worn this for a while, my impression is the scent of sweaty skin, musk, and butter. Yum, right? My history with apple blossom is also probably to blame.

 

Now I smell like a touch like a drunken buttery whore.

 

I guess there are worse things to be, but... sadly, the wrong bits of this fragrance amp and the right bits that I was hoping would play together, do not.

[akiko]

Mmm. Yet another caramel-sweet foom.

 

Imp: Holy sweetness, Batman! Caramel and honey.

 

Wet: Honey comes on strong, followed by caramel and cream.

 

Dry: Caramel, cream, and maybe teak?

 

I hope this stays nice and doesn't turn plasticy like caramel notes are wont to do on me.

[tartchef]

All the references to Red Lantern & Gluttony had me - I abhor that sticky burnt caramel note, as it amps to high heaven on me. But, sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone, so against my better judgement I'm skin-testing Agrat...

 

Argh. SO maddening. The caramel & teak are putting up a thick veil of smoke & scorched sugar - I smell like that day I put a gallon of apple cider on the stove to reduce & promptly forgot about it, returning an hour later to a pot of this bizarre smoking cider charcoal What kills me is that underneath all that horror, I can smell Beth's glorious apple blossom note, and I WANTS IT.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this screams CARAMEL with a hint of crisp apple-y goodness.

 

On my skin at first, all of the notes start struggling with each other, but not in a bad way. The caramel continues to dominate with a silky sweetness, the apple blossom adds a tiny hint of refreshing apple (that I wish was stronger), and the skin musk makes the scent a bit perfumey overall. Every once in a while, I catch a whiff of teak that I don't enjoy. Teak smells sort of like rotting, dank, dark wood on my skin.

 

In the drydown, this starts to smell a little bit like one of the old apple scents from Bath & Body Works (country apple, is that you?). Perfumey, musky apple with the added sweetness of a creamy caramel that almost smells a bit salty at times.

 

I really want to love this, but I honestly think it's too musky/perfumey/unnatural for me to pull off. I feel like I slathered on musky country apple lotion and dabbed on a tiny bit of caramel perfume oil that is fading fast. It just gets too sharp for my tastes as the caramel disappears (and I get a hint of something like burnt rubber every once in a while that I'm not loving either).

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Salty, musky caramel.

 

Immediately on skin: This is very much a salty caramel dominated scent. But there’s other things going on too like a touch of florals from the apple blossom and a perfumey note from the teak. Honestly, this reminds me of being in a Yankee Candle store and leaning in to smell one of the caramel scented jar candles, but still being able to smell the other stuff all around me. There’s a lot going on and it doesn’t seem well blended.

 

After a little while: Something in this smells nutty to me, and it’s bugging me. It’s sort of the same note I get in Gingerbread Poppet, Bloody Mary, and Pumpkin Cheesecake… and I don’t like it. This has settled into a nutty, salty caramel scent with a slight creaminess and a hint of perfume and musk lurking about.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent really didn’t do anything for me… the caramel is odd on my skin and this develops a weird nuttiness. It’s slightly perfume-y, but it doesn’t mesh with the rest of the scent for me. This was definitely made to suit someone else’s skin chemistry.

[Dormouse]

I really expected to love this. Les Bijoux and Harikata are right at the top of my favourites list so you'll understand that all the notes sounded so perfect for me.

 

In the bottle it smells like MVJBA Spring Training meets Les Bijoux and I was all excited to try it on. For a brief moment the apple blossom and honey sang on my skin but they were quickly overpowered by cloying burnt caramel with an odd rotten tinge to it. Sadly this amped and then stayed and stayed until I got so fed up smelling it that I went and washed my wrists. Even more sadly, after washing, my wrists smelled of musk and honey gorgeousness giving me an idea of what someone with compatible skin chemistry would be smelling.

[herbhealer]

Delicious, creamy decadence, may I even say sinful?