Humbug

[zankoku_zen]

Vanilla licorice.

I get the anise and the vanilla... and it smells pretty yummy... but the vanilla is one of the types that goes to plastic on my skin chemistry.

Other than that, it was this licorice candy.

SAD that it didn't work out.

[Schmoozy]

 

Straight up vanilla licorice. It doesn't get any simpler than this. I find the anise to be more stronger than the vanilla which is just fine with me. Vanilla tends to react negatively sometimes with my skin chemistry, but this one is just lovely.

The licorice is sharp at first, but dries down to a slightly sweet/tart scent.

After awhile this is just a creamy, vanilla licorice and I adore it.

[Reaver]

This is possibly the best thing ever. You should have SEEN my plea for this one. I have no shame. It paid off though!

 

I LOVE licorice flavoured things. To hell and back. Hate the stuff, but things that are MEANT to be licorice are awesome. Anise, fennel, licorice, these are all things that I jump on when I see them in a scent note list. The best before Humbug was Absinthe. This is so different to all other licorice scents I've sniffed though - it's true licorice. Bright and black and sweet and bitter. The vanilla is slightly plasticky but that's just how vanilla seems to go on me without any aging.

 

I'm so glad I waxed lyrical.

 

"Bonjour Mister Tedwin.

I think that licorice is made of win.

This is a mix of verse and demand,

Because I don't just want what's to hand.

I appreciate you're busy

Because this season makes everyone busy.

I want 'Humbug'.

Please, 'HUMBUG!'

I shall stamp my feet until I get it

And yell and shout and cry

But licorice is made of win,

And that's the reason why.

Not the reason why my poetry sucks though. That's an entity all of it's own."

 

 

 

 

Edit; DARN! Forgot to say; 10/10! WANT MORE!

Edited February 5, 2009 by Reaver

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Oddly, I wood have said coconut

 

Wet on me – A slightly rubbery vanilla, although there is a clearness from the liquorice

 

Dry on me – It maintains that dry, rubbery vanilla note

 

Overall – Oddly (again), I quite like the rubber note that I get from this vanilla, but I think it does need something else to pep it up. I guess that would be the liquorice, but on me it doesn’t make much of a showing

 

[PurringPulsar]

In the imp: warm vanilla and anise.
Wet on skin: oh dear…this vanilla seems to be the sassafras-y kind that I don’t like.
Dry on skin: warm toasty vanilla dominates this, with a touch of aniseed which is highly reminiscent of Huesos de Santo. I love that anise note so that doesn’t bother me. The vanilla is something I’m not sure of. It’s a very gourmand and heavy variety. On the one hand this vanilla could turn out like the vanilla in Snowblind, Perilous Parlour or even Snake Oil, it has hints of those. But it also resembles the plastic-y vanilla from Love’s Philosophy and Stimulating Sassafras. Indeed, this even has a hint of that medicinal-plastic undertone that made me dislike those scents.
After a while: unfortunately the vanilla in here does seem to waver in and out of it’s plastic scent, at times smelling like vanilla plastic, at other times like a warm toasted vanilla biscuit with a hint of spice to it. eventually it winds up smelling too cloying and thick a vanilla for me, and reminds me of the kind of vanilla scent I really don’t like-the car freshener vanilla scent. that scent has bad memories for me.
Then after about 4 hours, it changes into something dramatically different. Snake Oil vanilla! For a while I was wondering why I kept smelling amber, or tonka, or incensey vanilla, and then I smelt Humbug. It’s changed from that cloying fake ‘magic tree hanging in the car’ smell into the deep, rich, sexy smoky vanilla bean scent I love, almost like a Bourbon vanilla, or the vanilla in Snake Oil or Antikythera Mechanism. Why couldn’t this smell like that all the way through? Why do I have to wait hours to get such a delicious drydown? Why??
Verdict: I’m so torn over this scent. the vanilla, at least for most of the duration of wear, is the kind of vanilla that put me off vanilla before I started BPALing, but after a few hours it turns into the kind of vanilla that turned me onto BPAL vanilla! The anise note isn’t a problem here, it’s really pleasant. But I smell plastic and chemicals in the vanilla at first, as well as sassafras (which I think is a note that doesn’t tend to work on me) and this plastic vanilla phase lasts for ages. And just to be a big tease, the scent turns to deep sexy Snake Oily vanilla at the end. Scents that do that (turn from hate to love, or vice versa) are even more frustrating than ones that just don’t work all the way through…but I think this one ultimately isn’t a keeper.
Is it a keeper? no, despite the gorgeous drydown!

[edenssixthday]

I am so glad I "demanded" this during the Inquisition! It is everything I hoped it would be -- a sweet, creamy vanilla, with a heavy edge of anise. It is absolutely an amazing scent. While it gets a "plastic" scent on my skin after drydown from the vanilla, and even though the anise scent turns a little cola-like, I have to sniff up close to detect it. The sillage doesn't contain any of the plastickiness, just a yummiful perfectly-balanced vanilla-and-anise scent.

[sharybaby]

Holy cats, this is good. It's brilliant in its simplicity: vanilla + licorice, and the perfect balance of each. It makes me feel snugly.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

OMFG! This is licorice! Maybe I shoulda done my homework before buying this decant because I put it on and was not expecting black licorice and vanilla, but that's okay because I LOVE LICORICE and I love this and it's a wonderfully pleasant surprise! Thankfully, this doesn't go cloying on my skin at all and stays rich, true, and deep all the way through the dry down. Yum! This is rich, creamy, black licorice and smooth, sweet vanilla and smells amazing on me. Very unique and I can see why it's so sought after! A+

[milo]

This was frimped to me by a very generous forumite, everyone is so nice here!

Wet, this is Ouzo, a boozy licorice liqueur, I'm loving it so far!

Dry, an uber sweet, cloying vanilla dominates with a touch of the licorice now. This is the vanilla of Love's Philosophy and Tokyo Stomp, which ultimately turns into plastic scented doll that's been left in a hot car all day. So sad, damn my skin chemistry.

[wintersmelody]

This on me was pure black licorice. I got no vanilla or anything just licorice. I swapped this one out pretty quickly!

[TilHelvete]

Being late to the BPAL game, I missed the naughty/nice inquisition but was fortunate enough to sniff Snowblind, Bah!, Gluhwein, and Humbug at the DD trunk show. I noticed that in the bottle, Snowblind and Humbug had a similar quality... a kind of creamy wetness that seems to stick to your nostrils. It must be the vanilla... it's different from BPAL GC vanilla which I ADORE. Whereas the vanilla in Golden Priapus and Snake Oil smells truer to an actual vanilla bean, the vanilla in here smells much creamier, more candy-like.

 

On me, Humbug is a very creamy anise. It reminds me very much of these hard, white, sugar candies that had an anise seed in the middle. Nestled into the creamy, vanilla exterior is the bite of a gorgeous, crisp anise seed. Unlike the previous poster, this was mostly creamy vanilla on me, tempered by the anise. It's almost identical to Snowblind, but with anise instead of mint.

Edited July 14, 2009 by TilHelvete

[BuxomM]

it's vanilla and anise. It's very soft, a bit floral vanilla at first then anise comes out, but not very strong.

[RaeiNarcissus]

So, I just got an imp of this for swapping purposes, licorice and sassafrass don't tend to be in my favorites, but hey, it's here, everyone was clamoring for it last year, lets give it a whirl.

 

I put this on, went to a friends house, and an hour later i'm smelling my wrists going.......mmm........ crap.........this is really nice..... it's like a happy vanilla party and licorice is hanging out in the backyard, the licorice is REALLY subtle, but in a hey, i'm still here kinda way. And it LASTS. It's 10 in the morning and it's still hanging in there. Dang this has staying power.

 

Not swapping this anymore.

[devilot]

Humbug

Whoa licorice. Er, more licorice. And, um, yeah, more licorice. Where is the vanilla at? So glad I got to try this much-loved blend, but I v quickly swapped it away. Bit of a heartbreaker, this one.

[CitizenBree]

I do not like licorice, so I was worried about this, but it is really nice. I expected a strong anise like I got in Pink Mood but it wasn't at all. It was really delicate. And the vanilla is so creamy. I think it can get a little playdoh-y, but it seems like with age it would be really nice. I'm a huge vanilla fan and since that is the most prominent note, I would risk the playdoh to keep trying this.

[TheIceMaiden]

After almost two years of looking, I've finally gotten to try this! This is such a simple scents, lots of gorgeous vanilla and just a little licorice. The only unhappy thing about Humbug is that the throw is light and the staying power isn't too long, no more than a few hours. But I love it anyway.

[saralaughs]

Very anise/licorice. And black licorice, not red or any of that sort of stuff but black. I'm not a fan of anise, black licorice, or that sort of smell (or taste!). I wish I was though. The vanilla is the same that I get from Snow White, only stronger.

[virusq]

I have had really good luck with anise and vanilla based smells through BPAL, so when I saw VANILLA LICORICE, I squealed a little.

 

I have to admit that I was a little shocked when I opened the imp. I was expecting a very sweet anise smell, for some reason, and this was straight up black licorice. Licorice, to me, tastes amazing, but kind of smells like dirty feet. I was hesitant to put it on, based on the first sniff, but I've come to learn that perfume shifts and changes, so I applied it and waited.

 

First off, I can smell it all around me, in my hair and clothes, in my car. It's strong and ever present, but not pungent or overwhelming, which is a very charming quality. The dirty feet smell gave way to something a little sweeter, too. Still not quite anise or vanilla, but a creamy, candy smell.

 

It has been a few hours and it has definitely dried down and blended. This is generally when scents turn into baby powder on me but, instead, Humbug has mellowed out and relaxed a little. It's still there and it's very pleasant.

 

I'm not sure I'll invest the time required to search for a bottle, but I'll definitely keep the imp around for a change of pace. Very nice.

[coldandsleepy]

To me, this is like sticking your face in a bag of licorice allsorts and huffing. I can't really explain it but this is NOT an anise scent to me, even though there's licorice. It's not overwhelmingly black licorice-y, but more a layer of mild licorice and then a layer of that creamy vanilla-y sugar-y stuff that you get on an allsort. Vanilla is usually not a good note for me and there is vanilla by the bucketful here. And yet... I love it.

 

It remains unchanged after 3 years of aging... still straight up all sorts to me. Still lovely.

[MiasmaResonance]

On my skin this is the sexiest vanilla EVER. The licorice is there but is so subtle it blends into the vanilla seamlessly, leaving it, as previously stated, a sexy, sexy vanilla.

 

Must get a 5ml. Must. There is a 5ml of this... right?

[filigree_shadow]

This smells only faintly of licorice/anise on me, which is awesome because that's exactly how I like anise to be -- just a hint. Faint. It smells mostly of vanilla. Specifically, it smells like Snow White. I feel like if you put a drop of Kabuki into an imp vial of Snow White, you'd get this. That's what it smells like on me. Which, I have to say, is really not bad at all. I'm not going to say it makes my eyes roll back in my head or anything, but... pretty damn good.

[vanilla323]

This is simple and delicious! It's a gorgeous vanilla mixed with a perfect amount of anise. Amazing throw and staying power too! This is a major LOVE! The hubby doesn't like it though reminds him of black licorice, which he is not a fan of but I am lol

[Missanneshirleyofgg]

In bottle this is all vanilla licorice (all yum) it is sticky. Like a licorice vanilla taffy pull. yum.Almost caramel like, it is gooey. OmG.
 

WET, more licorice and the vanilla has receded.  Rather dry, less gourmand at this stage. More unisex right now, not foodie to me at all. Reminds me of the fresh fennel seeds that are available for digestive purposes at indian restaurants. 

 

Dry,  little more candy vanilla now. The sticky taffy from bottle is gone and now I am getting actual fennel candy. Whatever residual vanilla that's coming out to play is expressing itself as a hard candy shell on the fennel seed.

 

My favorite stage of this is definitely in bottle. It made me order fennel seed candy from amazon. So, I guess i do have a warm association with that scent. Interesting to see what I wear this with, and how often I reach for it.

 

 

[fairybites]

I was surprised to check the forum and see what description this scent was. I definitely didn't get any vanilla and licorice when I first applied it, it reminds me of a woody scent. But as I am smelling myself again while writing this, I definitely see the vanilla licorice. I'm not sure what note made it smell woody to me when it was wet. The vanilla is a lot stronger than the licorice on me. I like it, but I've got enough vanilla scents and licorice ones that I'll be fine without upgrading this.