Black Pearl

[monocainsheresy]

Evocative of the sea's unplumbed mysteries. Gentle and lovely, but menacing and profound. Coconut, Florentine iris, hazelnut and opalescent white musk.

 

This is not something I would ever expect to love, but I do. Foodie-floral coconut. Sweet, warm, musky.

[artisjok]

Black Pearl is a smooth, silky coconut scent . I can’t really tell the other notes are there, besides the coconut. I imagine the hazelnut is giving it a warmth and more sweetness, the white musk is giving it the fluffiness and the great wear length, and the iris seems to give a touch floral and maybe the powdery note I’m getting at the drydown. 

Fancy yet cozy and summery at the same time. 

I’m enjoying it more than I expected! 

And yes, it lasts and lasts. 

[Shadowdawn]

So, I must confess, upon first sniff years ago when I first got this blend, I initially ignored it for seeming way too foody/nutty on the surface. (Because WHAM buttered, roasted hazelnuts in your face upon first sniff of the imp). I am now finding that my personal tastes are going through a bit of an overhaul, and I gave it a second glance. Then I tried it again, and it's actually lovely. Ultimately, once it settles, it becomes a creamy, smoky, tropical floral. 

Sniffing the blend right out of the imp, the scent of buttery hazelnuts (yikes, for me) actually completely obfuscates anything else that might be in here, making it seem much, much foodier than it actually is. Thank the heavens, almost instantly (within a minute or two) of hitting my skin, all the hazelnut/butter vanishes, petrifying itself into hazelnut wood way in the back. There is no foodiness to behold, and I am cheering.  Some of those sweet, warm floral blooms emerge, but the barest whisper of something like coconut husk, or incense, is making them seem like tropical blooms, even if they are not really tropical. Most coconut (Obatala, etc.) goes to plastic or soap (or both), on me, and this doesn't at all! It remains creamy and dry, grounded, and not too sweet either. I almost can't actually pick the coconut out once it settles, and it becomes beautiful, soft, and downy in the drydown (after the 'beach sand' phase-- because there are a few minutes where it is definitely the smell of a sunny beach through and through). Finally, almost no coconut remains, but leaves it the scent of clean incense. Woody, ethereal, fleeting. A real morpher.
I would say this is an incensey, sweet base, with dry coconut husk. Creamy and not too sweet. Black Pearl is a wonderful beach and summer scent (for those of us who don't really like fruits), but at the same time it is grown up, grounded, and sophisticated. Just floral enough to not be foody, not so floral that it goes to soap or powder. It stays close to the skin with a mild throw, but fades fast sadly. I can see this being a great mermaid fragrance for those who are not fond of aquatics (like me), and it definitely has a sense of pearl-like or opalescent quality in the creamy element. It's almost a vanilla-like, or vanilla orchid like scent, without having any actual vanilla. I do not find anything about it menacing, however, and that's a good thing for me. 

[Soupy Twist]

Musk all over the place. Musk in the bottle. Goes as orris? Iris? iris root? There’s a sort of dry, not-hairy coconut husk note as it dries (yes, Beth could make sure we smelled the hair if she wanted us to). It’s definitely “pearlescent.” Finishes as a musky floral.

[Verios]

This is everything I hoped it would be, on initial application - I get a sweet, nutty coconut that doesn't go suntan lotion, and I do believe I'm getting hints of the opalescent white musk as well. Hoping that the scent doesn't fade to quickly, or morph too much.

[JakkieTreehorn]

I dont get any coconut or Hazlenut at all which was a bummer as that’s what I was hoping for.  On me it’s all floral musk which is always a no go for me.  As someone who absolutely loathes florals though, this is one of the only ones I’ve tried that didn’t give me a raging migraine. It was as pleasant as a floral can get for me.

[torischroeder9]

I can't believe I've never reviewed this! It was one of the first BPAL imps I selected for myself (as opposed to someone enabling me), in... late 2005 or early 2006. This particular imp, however, is from a Lab order in early 2021. 

 

In the imp: A lot of iris, backed by coconut and hazelnut. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, the iris dominates initially, though the coconut is also starting to bloom. That said, either the coconut stays pretty soft, or the white musk is amping the iris because after this scent settles down, I get a floral backed by fuzzy coconut. Yup, this stays a creamy, fuzzy iris-floral on me, which is not what I remember it being. (I remember a lot more foodie hazelnut coconut in the past.) It's tropical beach-wearing floral, in the best way. 

[puellacaerulea]

In the imp, it's smooth and creamy musk with a hint of iris. The iris gets loud, sharp, and powdery on me after application, but fortunately it fades as it dries down. The end result is mostly a smooth, subtle, nutty musk -- I wouldn't have known coconut was a note if I hadn't read the scent description.

[fig]

Salty coconut and iris. Makes me feel like a lady pirate pretending to be a man 😎

[stainedglass_siren]

I would have never picked out the coconut in this if i didn’t already know… it has a sweet meatiness to it, like the meat of a coconut, without the “tropical” smell i expected. (thank god!) i also get a subtle floral note, which must be the iris. very round smelling!

it morphs as it dries on me and becomes simpler and more musky.

[Tamarinda]

I don't get any coconut from this. Like Jakkie, this is purely a musky floral. I don't hate florals though. I do get something a bit smoky which might be coconut or hazelnut. I like it though. It dries down into a floral lotion smell on my skin. Jergins maybe? I haven't used commercial skin products in ages so my nose may be misremembering. But that's how it lands on my skin: musky, slightly smokey floral lotion.