The Black Temple Burlesque Troupe

[Little Bird]

Cacao, black musk, and tobacco absolute.

In the bottle (and on my skin), this smells sweet, dark, slightly earthy, and *amazing.* It sort of reminds me of aged Hurricane mixed with Boomslang. It has that rich, deep, resinous cocoa smell that I get from Boomslang, with the dark earthiness that reminds me of Hurricane.

I don't normally like tobacco (it can smell gritty, dirty, and gross on me) or black musk (smells like cheap men's cologne on me), but somehow this blend just smells awesome. I think that the sweet smoothness of the cocoa is rounding out and softening the dark muskiness, while the tobacco adds a gorgeous, earthy, almost resinous smell. It smells sort of like a manly version of Boomslang. My husband doesn't like to wear foodie, sweet scents, but this smells dreamy on him. He actually likes this scent and didn't think that it smelled too chocolatey.

I love this scent <3. I'll need to get a full bottle of this for the hubby (and for me to steal from him every once in a while). Edited February 14, 2010 by Shollin

[tartchef]

Mm, this had potential... The cocoa translates to snappy, fruity dark chocolate - like the Terry's chocolate oranges I used to get in my stocking. The tobacco absolute is gorgeous & leafy & sticky, but there's that damn black musk The longer I wear this, the sweeter it gets, and not in a tasty-yum way, either.

 

[odalisque]

Ooooh, so much love and so much sad. Burlesque Troupe ladies, why must you tease me?

 

Wet: Uh, stale. I was not hopeful when I first smelled it. Like a powerful cologney, stale tobacco (by which I mean, not stale cigarette smoke, but like tobacco plus a sort of rancid-oil edge. A hint of very dry, raspy cocoa, like the cocoa in Velvet.

 

Drying: OMG this is nice! Where the heck is that spicy stuff coming from? I wonder if there are unlisted notes in this because I could totally believe I'm smelling patchouli, or ginger, or both. It is DELICIOUS. After a while, I smell what I think is the black musk creeping around the edges -- something with a similar nosefeel to the musk in Morocco, without actually smelling at all like that musk, if that makes sense. A little fuzzy or velvety. It sweetens the blend up.

 

Dry: This just gets sweeter and sweeter and sweeter, powdery and more powdery and even more powdery, until it's pure baby powder. *cry*

 

I am going to try aging it, I think, to see if it calms down and gets better at staying somewhere in the inbetween stage where it's not stale and cologney and not overwhelmingly powdery-sweet.

[zankoku_zen]

Unfortunately, the black musk turns powdery on me. It's like cocoa powder, but sweeter.

 

Meh.

[abejita]

On me, this is so close to Boomslang that it's not worth having a bottle of both. The chocolate note is identical on my skin. Boomslang has the added benefit of a Snake Oil background, so it wins. Nice scent, but not for me.

[DigitalCoyote]

The notes in this sounded interesting because of the combination and because I was looking for something to wear when belly dancing. When I opened the bottle this morning, I thought I'd hit the jackpot and felt the same way while it was still wet. I was a walking chocolate goddess, literally (instead of how it's used in that creepy pickup line way)! No -4 F day is going to bring me down smelling like that. No sirree.

 

Then it started to dry: the tobacco was a great compliment to the cacao.

 

And when it dried some more, I fell out of love.

 

On my skin, this eventually became light incense and industrial strength baby powder.

 

I'm not ready to give up on it, so I'll try aging it for a bit.

[pinkusmaximus]

I liked this very much when I first tried it, but upon a second application, I wonder if I liked it because it reminds me so strongly of my all-time favorite BPAL scent, Boomslang...and I don't think I need any more scents that remind me of Boomslang, since I have approximately 1,117 bottles of that stashed away in anticipation of the end of the Carnaval. They don't smell exactly the same--Troupe is less sweet and the cocoa note is more subtle--but they're so similar in feel that I don't think I need both. Don't get me wrong, this is lovely and sexy...but it's not all that unique among the many other dark, musky, sexy BPAL scents I already own and love. I might purchase a bottle just to give my Boomslang army a break, but I don't feel the need to stash this one.

[mineralgirl]

I bought this for my husbands stocking because I thought the notes seems kinda manly.... It's actually less masculine than I was imagining it would be!

 

In the bottle I get cacao straight up... on my skin the black musk comes into play with just a slight hint of the tobacco to round it out and it's quite nice. I think this will really smell good on him. I also smell something a little citrusy .. not sure where that is coming from. it's a lemon rind sort of edge. I have no idea why.

 

The bad news came later.. it turned so powdery that it lost me on drydown. If I had gotten Boomslang like others did, I'd have been happy! However.. I am hopeful that the boy's chemistry can overcome the powder monster ... I'll let ya know after the holiday!

[Deyja7]

Im not good at in depth note-picking, i usually end up associating with other scents i do/not like. This i do like.

I like it better in the vial, as once i put it on it just turns chocolatey. It's absolutely lovely, when first applying it the word that came to mind was lucious. Dark and scintillating.

Once it dry's on me it just smells like Boomslang, but a little sweeter.. Like a chocolate flavoured candy.

[musichappens]

This starts out as a dark smoky chocolate, yum! However, after about 5 minutes it turns all powdery on me.

[alioth]

During the day I wore Boomslang, and now tonight I'm testing BTBT, and I have to say that they're nothing alike on my skin. BTBT starts out dark and bitter, mostly unprocessed cocoa and rich wet tobacco. Dry, the chocolate takes a backseat, the tobacco dries to something very pipe-tobacco pleasant, and the musk comes out to play. This is dark and sexy and a little bit smoky/dusty, somehow very much a temple burlesque troupe. These are some slinky dancers, but they're priestesses, for sure.

[Iceblink]

Whoa. I see what all the fuss is about here. Loads of dry, sexy black musk to open with the cocoa sweetened by tobacco coming out on the drydown. These are three of my favorite notes and they blend wonderfully! This is great; I need a bottle.

[Schmoozy]

 

Musky cocoa and tobacco. It is slightly sweet, kinda dry & dusty and extremely sexy.

Cocoa is the only thing inside that is similar to Boomslang. Other than that, the two blends are worlds apart. This is kinda sharp and astringent, while boomslang is creamy and velvety.

Definitely bottle worthy, but not multiples.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

 

This is everything I was hoping for.. and more - it's completely true to the listed notes, and ridiculously smoky and sexy.

 

The cacao is very languid and dark, not at all sweet or foody, and combined with the black musk it's amazing. I think the tobacco absolute is fairly subtle, but it gives the blend a little lift and a slight incense-y sort of vibe. It fades fairly fast on my skin though - after about 30 minutes it's much more smoky, musky and dry than it was when first applied and it's sweetened up a bit too.

 

I too am a huge fan of Boomslang, and I can see how the comparisons have come about, but to me the two are quite different - the Snake Oil part of Boomslang makes it sweet and vanilla-y where Black Temple never goes there - the black musk keeps the sweetness in check.

 

Very, very nice.. this is a lovely blend for anyone who loves their BPALs dark and sultry.

[brwnpaperhag]

Oh noooooooooo.

 

This is everything I wanted it to be. Honestly--I had some weird phantom scent imaginings of this, and now that I'm sniffing the real thing it makes me so happy.

 

I guess I amp sweet things, because I get chocolate. Chocolate and sweet tobacco, like someone is smoking from a pipe and the smoke is curling in the air, rich and dark and chocolatey. Or like I went camping, and melted the chocolate by the campfire and I'm licking it off my fingers standing downwind of the fire pit.

 

I can't help but think of See's Candies...it's like I walked into one of the shops and there's smoke in the background. It ends with a deep, dry, and woody finish. It's dark, deep, and wonderful. I love this so hard and I need more.

[sirensea]

In the imp: Whoa, cocoa! Not just a little, but a LOT. Yummy!

 

Dry: As others have pointed out, this is not a foody chocolate. It's more musky and dark, like pure cocoa powder instead of the sweet milky stuff. The tobacco gives it an edge that is strangely delicious.

 

I don't amp it much, so I'm passing it along to someone that will enjoy it more, but it's very nice either way.

[cyberpuff]

In the decant: I get pipe smoke and cabinet, of the medicinal kind.

 

On wet: Same as above. I smell no coffee or chocolate.

 

Drydown: Oh hey, I'm getting the extra baby powder that others have noticed. Way too powdery for me to be happy.

 

I really wanted to love this one. I think it's that black musk that hates me. I am perplexed that I pick up none of the loveliness, through any of the stages, that everyone else does. I'm going to give it another week and try it again, but I may have to pass this one on to someone who can work it better.

 

[hkhm]

bottle: strong black musk and a hint of cacao.

 

wet: this is very sexy. dark, thick musk over cacao with a curl of tobacco smoke. i think that this blend will only improve with age.

 

dry: this dries to mostly musk and tobacco but there a cacao hint in the background. so glad i splurged on a bottle!

[ElectraV]

As a burlesque dancer and lover of all things Lovecraftian, I had to have this scent.

 

In the bottle: Musk and cacao

 

Wet: Earthy chocolate. Definitely not a foody scent

 

Dry: I'm getting exactly how it's described- cacao, tobacco and musk- which I'm pretty impressed by considering my creative skin chemistry. It's surprisingly delicate, and a sexy chocolate rather than a foody one.

[damonkitty]

Crazy thing about this scent is I was not sure about if I liked it or not, but I got multiple compliments on how good it smelled. One of my co-workers asked me for a sample so she could try it out on herself. I always like sweet chocolate scents. I had my hopes this would be one of those, but it is way more complex than that. I was told that it smelled like a powdery scent on me. I wanted more chocolate . I may have to keep this in the end because I got such rave reviews on how good it smelled on me. I am learning to break outside of my foodie scent box and try other blends.

[Redillon]

This scent is very cool!

 

In the bottle: COCOA with just a hint of tobacco.

 

On the skin: Cocoa fades and out pops the Musk. Luckily I love musk cause this is one feral scent.

 

Dry down: The musk amps on my skin and the staying power is very strong. A little goes a long way. I'm very intregued by this scent. I'm glad I got a bottle!

 

Definitely, not for the faint of heart.

 

I am getting the powdery note. But I kinda dig it with this one.

 

I'm a little worried what's gonna happen at Easter time when all those feral chocolate bunnies get a whiff of me. I'm gonna be beating them off with sticks! Chocolate ones!

Edited December 17, 2009 by PuppetMistress

[Invidiana]

This is a gorgeous darkly sexy scent and has both a gourmand side and a deep, smoky side, a combination I absolutely love. The cocoa is dark and holds its own, and the dark musk and smoke are the perfect supporting notes. A very "me" scent

[AliBabble]

hmm. not sure about this one...at first i got the boomslang thing too...i did not like boomslang, and sold it off...i thought this one might be better though...the cocoa fades away, but i am left with the same "leather shoe" type smell that boomslang and snake oil does on me...i can tell it's probably good for those who like boomslang and snake oil. on me though, it's not a love. oh well....

[ow1goddess]

I will weep bitter tears on this one, because I thought I would love it- it sounded like Crowley but with musk. I'm really glad I didn't buy a bottle (no matter how much I like the art), because this hates me.

 

I get no musk, at least not recognizable musk, and no chocolate at all. I get stale cigarettes, something like fusty old fur coats, and perhaps a slight ghost of lemon toilet cleaner on the drydown. Hideous. I might try to age the decant I got to see if the musk comes out or the tobacco backs down.

[reynardine]

Note: this isn’t one that I was attracted to through its notes, but I’ve been sent two samples of it and everyone raves about it, so I thought I ought to at least give it a try.

 

In imp: smells like dark chocolate

 

Wet: whoa, nasty mess of smells. Powdery chocolate, some musk and what I guess is tobacco? I’m surprised my allergies haven’t kicked in (tobacco usually sets them off), but maybe it’s the smoke that gets to me?

 

Drydown: Now it starts morphing? Weird. Almost a sharp, clean scent like alcohol? Wait, that is fresh tobacco. Overpowering everything.

 

Later: It turned extremely sweet on me, almost floral. I’ve no experience with black musk, so I’m not sure if it was that or just me amping tobacco.

 

Interesting experience, but not a scent that I’d wear. Off to swaps with this one.