Diable en Boîte

[thekittenkat]

There are few things more disturbing than a Jack in the Box. A strangely sinister, unnerving holiday scent: redwood, bitter clove, tonka, hemp accord, and tobacco with peach blossom, black currant, and red musk.

 

Note that this is for the 2011 version.

In the decant: So well-blended that it's difficult to pick out notes, but overall I would say it was a woody scent tempered with something fruit-sweet.

Wet: A fruity wood.

The dry-down: The clove arrives, and it is bitter. There's also hints of the peach blossom, currant, and musk, but only hints, which is interesting, as those notes usually are very front and center on me. A strange morphing scent that will probably work better on the bf.

[Vega]

Revewing the 2009 version.

 

Sniffed: I smell light brown tobacco, mixed with a melange of woods, rich red florals and fruit. A dry, bright, and complex scent.

 

On skin: Diable en Boîte is a complex scent: it's rich and luscious, yet dry and bright, and quite red. Brown-gold tobacco -- warm and slightly gritty -- is the most obvious note, but I also smell touches of juicy peach, dry redwood, and clove. This scent morphs significantly: over time I get hints of hemp and red musk too. Overall, it's a gentle lush scent, with all the notes blending and harmonizing well, with tobacco the leading voice. Colour impression is a shades of crimson and vermillion. It reminds me of Changing the Shadows in dry fruitiness and colour impression.

 

Verdict: While Diable en Boîte is a fine "red"-coloured scent, it's ultimately not distinctive enough to keep.

[milo]

I remember not liking the 2010 version, but either my tastes have changed, or the oil has. I'm getting fresh, spicy greenery with a touch of maybe cranberry or mulberry with woods in the background. This is gorgeous, and I must read back to see what happened the last time around. This is sophisticated, fresh, airy and just a lovely blend all around. Must track down more!!

 

Unfortuneately, this becomes metallic on me. It is nice for the first bit though!

Edited September 8, 2012 by milo

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): I was expecting something more heady, but instead, I get sweet, juicy floral (peach blossom and back currant) with a bit of smoky musk (tobacco and red musk).

 

Wet: Peach blossom, black currant, clove, tobacco, redwood.

 

Dry: The longevity of this scent is limited. On second application and dry down, I get spiced clove, musk, peach blossom, black currant, and now tonka and tobacco, which rounds out this scent beautifully.

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Sharply herbal with a medicinal vibe. It's definitely scary!

 

Wet: Still medicinal in a way, though I can pick out the clove and redwood. It's reading vaguely masculine cologne to me at this point.

 

Dry: First and foremost is the bitter clove, a note I adore. It's backed by the woodsy redwood. I quite like it despite thinking Jack-in-the-boxes are absolutely terrifying. Nothing scary about this on the drydown, it's spicy woodsy goodness!

[tealight]

I ordered a bottle from 2009 on an impulse and started getting antsy about it after it arrived! I've had a streak of winners with untested bottles and I was so sure this would be the combo breaker.

 

Gut instinct you have served me well. I absolutely LOVE this. It's a curl of woodsy smoke from a clove cigarette lathered in smooth red musk and sweetened with peach blossom and currant. It's suprising how warm and pretty this is, but three years of aging has made this velvety smooth and complex. Nothing Jack-in-the-Box about it. The toothpick I used to test smells incredible too, much more redwood on than on me but just as nice.

 

People we've got a winner.

 

Ironically, 14/15 imps I've tested in the last few days were a resounding meh.

[ClareN]

On me, this is lots of peach, over a sweet-woodsy backdrop of redwood, hemp, red musk and tobacco. I thought I detected a hint of clove in the topnotes, but it vanished pretty quickly.

 

If you miss March Hare, the peach blossom note in this smells exactly like March Hare's apricot to me, though unfortunately there is barely any clove here. It reminds me of Depraved, too. The note is decidedly more peach fruit than peach blossom.

 

I love peaches, but I'm not a fan of smelling like peaches; there's something just fake enough about this note to make me think of peach-flavored candy, and I can't get rid of the "cheap artificial flavoring" association. I should've known better, since I always have this reaction to fruity scents. Fruit notes often overpower everything else to my nose. If you don't mind fruit, you may not find it as prominent as I do.

 

After a few hours, the hemp-tobacco thing gets stronger and it's quite a pleasant hippie-ish sweet smoke scent. It's definitely at least a 3/5.

 

I try not to hang on to scents I don't love, though, and this is still too much peach for me, especially in the opening stages.

[bellumed]

Lots of musk-wood-spice, and I can maybe barely detect peach blossom at then end. Masculine to unisex.

 

Ahh, okay, much friendlier on my skin. Lots more peach blossom! That’s what I like to smell. Peach blossom and hemp, interesting! I recommend this to anyone trying to find more hemp blends; I smell like a red-musky fruity hippie! I was totally prepared to put this one in the swap box, but it's surprisingly awesome.

[Monster]

Arghh! I cannot afford to keep up with all of these amazing scents I missed out on while I was getting a divorce!

 

Upon dirst application, Diable en Boîte smells like late summer after a rain storm. This starts out as a strong peach blossom and tobacco. As it dries, the peach subsides a bit allowing the redwood and clove to come through. It's mildy sweet and spicy with a warm base of wood notes. The red musk in this is extremly light, however, on the dry down I can detect it when I inhale deeply.

 

In the final stange, the peach and clove are the stars of the show. There's almost a tea-like quality to this. In fact, I think I have a spiced peach tea that smells a bit like this. The sillage is strong but not intrusive and it has a 2 hour wear time before you need to reapply (my skin eats up peach scents though).

 

Overall, another win and a future bottle purchase if I can track one down. Gorgeous!

[LizziesLuck]

Nobody else yet this year, eh? Well I missed it other years so had to try 2015:

 

 

Wet: I don't know what I'm smelling. I can't pick any notes out clearly. But instead of making this feel well blended, I am getting a "muddled" sense from this. Like when you mix a bunch of really pretty colours of paint together hoping for something glorious, and you just get brown. There's something a little salty coming through. Not really sure why. I like all these notes. The only thing that was iffy was the redwood. But all I am getting is....I don't know. Going to let this dry and hope good things happen.

 

Dry: Well this got a whole bunch sweeter, but it is also still weirdly salty. Smells like the Lab's "sweat" note is in it. I seriously can't pick out any of the listed notes. If anything it's a little fruity - maybe the peach blossom? Because it doesn't smell like currant (a fave of mine) I do get some woods. But no tobacco, no red musk, no Tonka, no hemp. Salty peach blossom is my final verdict. I don't hate it, but I am disappointed that my skin chemistry turned all of those amazing notes into this salty mess. Not for me! Glad I tried it though.

[Bunny Butt]

eBay from the lab. In the bottle, interesting. I get the saltiness, wood and clove. No red musk or fruitiness. On me, Bounce dryer sheets. I don't hate it but I don't get it either. Why does everyone else get these lovely levels of scent? I know why. I'm the weird one. Good throw and wear length at least.

[agirlnamedfury]

Bitter and medicinal, forest-y while wet... after the drydown, it smells like a chlorinated pool. I don't see myself wearing this.

[ramblingrambler]

Yule 2017

 

In bottle - woods

 

Wet - woody woody woody woods

 

Drydown - woods.

 

If you're a fan of woods (but not the foresty kind), this will be right up your alley. I can smell almost nothing else unless I'm practically touching my nose to my skin, and then there's a lovely smokey muskiness (likely hemp) that hits me.

 

Nice but extremely linear and not what I was expecting.

[VetchVesper]

The tobacco note is what I smell most prominently in the bottle, but on my skin, the redwood becomes most prominent. It smells laquered and similar to the wood in the Red Queen. I can still smell the tobacco, and it's the chewy kind. It mixes with peach. Chewy, fruity tobacco and dark wood. This might be quite nice on a man. I don't get tons of red musk, though I think I do detect a hint. I'm surprised I'm not smelling any clove. This is interesting, but not a love. I might keep it around a while though, and see how it ages. Woods like cedar and mahogany don't generally wear well on me, so I'm surprised this one is behaving as well as it is.

 

Edit: I've been wearing this today outside and it's very cold, and I must say, this is behaving gorgeously. It really is a winter perfume I guess. The red musk and peach blossom is most prominent on my skin now, with the tobacco and woods serving as a deep and luxurious backdrop. Very sexy. I could see this on a femme fatal or villainess.

Edited January 17, 2018 by VetchVesper

[torischroeder9]

This is for the 2009 version.

 

In the bottle: Red musk and sweetness, I think from the currant.

 

On my skin:

 

It's now more apparent that the sweetness is currant; it and the red musk swirl around together on the initial drydown. I can start to pick out moments of the clove, tonka, and tobacco, but they serve to accent the base blend rather than to overtake it. Then a little bit of peach blossom, and my arm starts to tingle just a bit, which may be from either the redwood or the clove.

 

 

Oh -- the tingling must be the redwood, because in the next stage of the drydown, this note starts to make itself more known. For me, it's a beautiful grounding balance for the red musk and currant, and it has me thinking this scent would make a good unisex scent (prior to this, the currant's sweetness was lending itself toward the feminine, at least on my skin).

 

And ultimately, this is where the blend stays for me. The other notes may be minor players, but this is primarily red musk, redwood, and black currant on my skin. It's actually a very pleasant and harmonious blend -- deep, heady, and definitely a cool weather blend, but nothing particularly sinister or unnerving for me. It has pretty strong throw and long wear life on me, as red musk blends tend to do.