The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

[sharybaby]

Whiffs of cinnamon bark, almond, and spikenard surround a perfect fruit, whose scent is akin to a tamarind, with the grace of a fine grape, as warm and rich as a fresh fig, glistening red like pomegranate seeds, and as crisp as an apple.

I received a sniffie of this from a decant circle. Wow. Perfect timing. The summer is in full swing, it's hot as Hades out, and The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a refreshing, fruity respite. It smells remarkably like the teal-colored Kool-Aid from my childhood. Mom never bought us the Kool Bursts, but best friend Jackie's parents did.

[rayvn1]

Ummmm not so much. I don't get fruit or woods, really. I get Hallmark potpourri and then, soon after, it settled into plasticky hazelnut. Bad skin chemistry for this one.

[pseedie]

~~~The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil~~~

 

In the Imp: fruity fruit salad with something intriguing lurking...but the fruit hides the other notes in the imp...

 

Wet: oooh gorgeous plump ripe fruits...not too sweet, not too sour and not too recognizeable. Entrancing.

 

Dry: I would have been a goner in the garden of Eden. This is lovely on me. the spices are right where they should be with the fruits and they are not cakey at all.

 

Timelapse: Jayzus, it's still there! a little powdery, but still there nonetheless. A rarity with bpal and my chemistry! After 2 hours I did get nothing but cherry and orange lifesavers stuck together though...but it was a great 2 hours.

 

Verdict: hmmmm...to bottle or not to bottle......

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

 

Imp: apple, bark, fruit, warm

Wet on Me: apple but not green apple, fig, grape, tamarind I get it all….

Drying Down: I get an early fall vibe on this. Spice..but not overly spicy. Mostly ripe autumn fruits.

Dry: I get golden autumn fruits on this, warmed by a fall sun. Crisp. Juicy. Not overly sweet.

 

[mgrazulis]

Just a sniffie of this from a decant circle...chocolately Asian pear, lychee, tamarind, oh my! There's a musky quality, almost boozy. Rich--ripe--oozing--exotic fruits. The pear wants to stay around more than any of the others. May have to try an full imp to get a better nose on this one...

[siddal]

This is such an interesting fragrance! In the imp I get a sharp herbal note, mixed with red fruit. On my skin, the richness of the cinnamon, almond and fig combine to make a very warm and almost chocolately note, layered with the pomegranate seeds and apple. As it dries, the fig and herbs pop out again and mingle with the fruit. Sensuous!

[cranberry]

First applied, wet, this smells mainly of wintergreen or birch, and cherries or almonds. I really don’t care for it at this point. And something that is almost chocolate, but not quite. That doesn’t last long. There’s a soapy element here too underneath the almond, and touches of dark fruit. Now I can smell the apple and pomegranate too if I sniff hard, and it just seems really boozy and alcoholic.

 

It smells very sharp and strong, like an assault on my nose. Ick. I still don't care for this scent.

[AlarmAgent]

In Bottle - Light, sweet fruit. Pomegranate seems about the strongest, but it's hard for me to smell it without a bunch of incense or "darker" notes surrounding it--which is the way I usually smell pomegranate.

 

Wet on Skin, First Applied - Hm, well, I can see where the chocolate is coming from in other reviews, but it also smells sort of, a little bit, soapy. Like, maybe a very light chocolate-and-fruit soap? It's definitely pleasant, light, and inoffensive.

 

Dry, on Skin - The chocolate-ish vibe mellows out as time goes on, and it smells a lot more like grapes, pears and pomegranates. Not very sweet, and a little bit soapy--or rather, I should say, 'clean'. It doesn't smell like Irish Spring. No hairspray, no candy, just clean fruit. I'm not a crazy fruit fan, with the exception of citrus, so it doesn't do a whole lot for me--but if you like fruits that are otherwise hard to find in fragrances (like pear and grape, that actually smell like pears or grapes and not like candy or old wine), this one is worth a try!

[tinyvulture]

On me this is super woodsy, like pencil shavings or tree bark, with flourishes of citrus (the spikenard, I’m assuming) and unidentified fruit (grape, maybe?). I don’t smell any almond or cinnamon, none at all, to be honest. It doesn’t make me want to run out and buy a bottle or anything, but I always enjoy a nice woodsy scent, so I’m glad to have tried it.

[Ishtar]

Oh how interesting! It sounds like it would be a big jumble o' fruit, but there's much more than that going on below the surface.

 

In the imp, it immediately reminded me of... pink bubblegum. But as soon as it came into contact with my skin, it started morphing - first into fruity chocolate, as several reviewers mentioned, then into something woodier (cedar?). Finally, the various fruits come to the fore.

 

After drydown, the fig, pomegranate and a grape note all combine into a big, juicy red fruit scent. The three notes I was looking forward to the most - almond, cinnamon and apple - are MIA.

 

It's a nice scent, but I think I was expecting something more delicate and more grown-up. I only received it earlier today, though, so I may give it a few days to settle down before trying it again.

[cuervosueno]

I like this! In the imp and wet it begins quite woody, but with a bit of undefined fruitiness too. I also get whiffs of soft cinnamon. As it dries and lingers, the wood softens and the fruit is more prominent. When I wore it earlier today I had no idea what kind of fruit might be in it, but simply that there was some. After reading the description, I still don't pick out tamarind or almond or fig--just a bright fruitiness that is not grape--more red if that makes sense. There is a slightly bubblegum note, which makes it seem more like a candy fruit than a real fruit (but it is not too sweet--the wood and herbal notes keep that under control). I also get the slight chocolate vibe people mentioned.

 

What it reminds me of is Alecto--wood, slightly astringent herbal note with something that reads as berries (in Alecto). It doesn't really seem that close to Alecto, but to my nose they might be cousins.

 

I like it!

[Venneh]

In the imp, I think I'm getting the cinnamon bark and the almond; almost no fruit, sadly. On my skin, the bark disapears happily, but I'm getting almond and some kind of darker fruit, not entirely sure there. We'll see how this turns out. Ends up being mostly dark fruit, not really my style.

Edited February 25, 2010 by Venneh

[edenssixthday]

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - I didn't actually think I'd like this with my general bad experience with a number of the notes in it, but overall, it's a beautiful, fruity blend. The first note I notice is the apple, and even though I can't usually wear apple well, it smells really good on me! It blends beautifully with the pomegranate and fig. I think this would make a nice scent for my locket or oil burner, as after 20 minutes on my skin, it gains a flat, stale, and slightly powdery quality.

[Amoraexcena]

Imp: Apple, grape and something gritty in the background- definitely the cinnamon bark. It's more woody, bark-like, than any other cinnamon I've found in BPAL. It's not Lyonesse, that's for sure.

 

Wet on Skin: the tartness of the pomegranate is now apparent and the richness of fig just envelops you. What's interesting is that the throw on this smells like a mouth-watering juicy ripe purple fruit. Close up on the skin, it's spicier, slightly woody, and has a bit of an edge.

 

Drydown: The tartness of the pomegranate and tamarind fade a little, leaving a softly glowing sweet fruit-juice-cloud-throw that's pretty impressive in strength and longevity. It's not like it's unbearably strong on my skin either... really intriguing. Images of a sunset in the Garden, licking the juice off your fingers after a long day of harvesting the last ripe fruit, leaning back against the bark of the tree...

Edited March 11, 2010 by Amoraexcena

[SueTigger]

I wore this fragrance yesterday. OMG! So good! Fig and, well... mostly fig on me, with a whiff of cinnamon and some notes of almond and pomegranate. I loved the way it smelled from first application to when I went to bed. (I was still getting faint whiffs of fig, cinnamon and almond by bedtime.) This could easily be an everyday scent for me. Yeah... I need a bottle.

 

The thing that totally cracked me up was that I kept sniffing my wrist all day yesterday! It was pretty funny. My co-workers must have thought had had one too many questions about benefits or something. LOL

 

Sue

[strahlend]

I'm really surprised this isn't a more popular scent. I don't normally even like fruits, but this one is a favorite.

Starts out with a dry and musky sort of feeling - like the feeling of dry autumn leaves inhaled at the same time as a crisp apple. Dries down to a warm fig/pom/apple scent that is neither too cloyingly fruity or too heavy. I think I would enjoy this scent most in the fall, but it could easily be a year round scent.

[capncait]

I definitely get an apple/fig hybrid on my skin, but no pomegranate here. something smells like chapstick to me? oddly waxy yet creamy. I can detect the almond too, but no cinnamon. i won't really need a bottle of this.

[ShannonElisabethJones]

First BPAL scent ever (for me)!

 

In the bottle: Sweet and fruity. I thought it was going to be too sweet for me.

Wet on skin: I kept getting this toasty vanilla or caramel whiff. Couldn't smell the fruit. Pleasant nonetheless. Not too sweet as I'd feared.

Dry on skin: Voluptuous and a little spicy. The fruitiness came back and the toasty warm whiff stayed.

 

Overall, I really like it. I love how I keep getting little snatches of scent each time I move.

 

 

ETA: I wore this a few days later and all I got was OMG SUPERGRAPE. I was disappointed because it was nowhere near as spicy and complex as before. I loved it so much the first time, though, so I won't give up on it yet.

 

ETA again: I now have to wear all these scents on my clothes and in my hair because I break out if I wear them on my skin. Anyhoo, this smells as good as it did the first time when I do that. Yay! No more OMG SUPERGRAPE!

Edited October 2, 2010 by Sionann

[milica]

This is one of those fruity scents that don't do well on my skin. It's slightly woody in the begining, but after few seconds becomes too sweet and sour, it must be grapes and pomegranate. And in two hours goes straight to sweet, candy like, girly perfume kind of scent. Mostly fig and a bit of apple, I think. Too much sweetness for me to wear and not enough spice.

Edited September 30, 2010 by milica

[Caerphilly]

in the imp, smells of light fruit. Definite pomagranate and apple. Maybe a bit of the fig, but it's not as heavy as in other scents. It's like a natural smelling fruit punch. Not too sweet and heavy and artificial, but not as natural smelling as just a fruit or juice. On the skin, I smell a bit of lemon. Or powdery lemon musk. And still the fruit. But it doesn't get nauseatingly heavy and sweet. A bit creamy. I like this one! I;m more of a rose or honey person, but I might keep this imp! It's lovely!!

[Altaira]

Fruit, but with something dry and almost smoky - probably the almond. The smokey-ness wears off after a few minutes and then this smells just like a cherry lollipop. Then after about a half hour, it smells more like sweet-tarts candy (dry dusty sweet). I won't wear it again, but I might like it on someone else.

[grrrlennyl]

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

 

On: Fresh and brightly sweet fruits like apple, fig, grape, and pomegranate. Actually, lots of grape.

2 hours in: Mostly grape with a powdery feel.

5.5 hours in: Still a powdery grape scent. Not a syrupy-sweet fake one, though, which is good.

Overall: I was surprised that the grape took over in this blend, but it was really nice and different.

[FathomBelow]

Like spiced dried fruit. When wet, the fruit is mostly grape, but as it dries the grape is replaced by fig, with the apple and pomegranate running throughout. The pomegranate and tamarind give the scent a twist of tartness, so this doesn't smell too much like something bought at Bath & Body Works. The spice is foody but not too aggressively so, quite mild, and almost dusty - not like Christmas pudding but more like oatmeal spiced cookies that are a few days old.

 

Overall, this scent is pretty but lacking in charisma. I'll probably only need the imp.

[JLH]

I ordered an imp of this in my very first order. I will fully admit that while I liked the idea of an unusual blend of fruits and other elements, I ordered it because I thought the name was freaking cool.

 

In the vial, it smells quite green (is that the spikenard? what IS spikenard?) with a background of fruity apple. Interesting. My roommate remarked that this smells like jellybeans (?) but I'm going to chalk that up to his allergies!

 

Wet: Wow, this smells TEMPTING. Very juicy, drippingly ripe fruit! The apple and grape are lush and full. The fruitiness is tempered by the dry cinnamon bark and tart tamarind, as well as some tartness from what I think is a hint of the pomegranate. I don't really get any fig from this, which is a shame, because I love fig, but this is so delicious I don't care. As it dries, it gets a bit less juicy, but remains dominated by the fruit.

 

After an hour or two the fruits have mostly died down, and now it's mostly the cinnamon bark and some gentle almond, with some of the apple still hanging around.

 

This is a lovely and unusual scent. It probably wouldn't be an everyday scent for me, but it is very sensual without being heavy.

[Gin]

This was so faint on me at first, I wondered how anyone was able to smell anything! I get apple and grape and then fruit blossoms, something spicy (presumably the cinnamon bark), and a lovely juicy orange sort of fruit wafting over it all. It's so good! It's also fruity-foody without being loud about it.