Sugar Skull

[kawaiiferreto]

Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits.

I love sugar notes, so I had to try this (especially since I passed on it last year, and in 06.) This smells exactly like it said it would: sugar and candied fruit. It was pleasant, but a bit flat and uninteresting on me. My favorite sugar blends are all sugar PLUS something else (floral, wood, etc), so I suppose it's to be expected that this feels like it needs a little something else. I also don't generally like scents that smell like dessert and nothing else. Overall, a nice scent, but not for me.

On a side note, this stuff lasts and lasts and lasts. The next morning I can still smell the sugars very strongly (the fruit has mostly disappeared.)

[IronMollyBlack]

On me, this starts out as brown sugar. I'm not getting any fruit. As it dries, I start to get a bit of the "burnt" note, as someone else mentioned. Weird. I think I'll be happy with just an imp.

[charshark]

This is my first experience with Sugar Skull, so this will be a review on the '08 version, of course:

 

In the imp: Brown sugar starting to boil in a pan (caramelizing!).

Wet: Brown sugar with cotton candy floss.

Dry: Maybe it's just me, but I don't really detect fruit in here that much. Eh, I guess I get a hint of banana, but that's about all. To me, it smells like good cotton candy mixed with brown sugar.

Overall: I like it and it lasts a really long time on me. It's cute.

Edited September 21, 2008 by Charzie

[greenranger]

2008 version.

 

Sugar, brown sugar, and incense....except....

 

It's reminding me of something I can't quite place. It smells like something sugary sweet that I haven't had since I was about ten. I just can't recall what! Maybe, possibly something like Pop rocks...or Pixie sticks? Something I haven't had in a very very long while.

 

Throw is moderate, and it lasts pretty well on me.

[fairnymph]

2008 version

 

In the bottle: Perfectly colourless oil. Indeed very sugary! Brown sugar jumps out the most to my nose, with a burnt sugar/caramel/molasses tang, but there's powdered and white sugar too. Almost boozy. Wisp of fruitiness.

 

Wet: Much lighter and gentler, though still quite sweet. Less of the darker sugary notes. Now I get more of a sugar cane note predominantly, with its fresh, almost woody undertone. I swear I almost get a smooth herbal note too!

 

Dry: Still no fruit, but incense (?!) is emerging, smoky and dark, and greatly reminding me of a Buddhist temple I once visited. A hint of spice now too - clove? A bit of the caramel note has returned, too.

 

Later: The incense, spice, and caramel notes keep amping, and it's gaining a much darker feel as a result. More throw than wet, too.

 

Summary: Burnt sugar, molasses, smoky incense, spicy clove and a hint of fresh sugar cane. Sweet, but not at all cloying; more menacing than saccharine. The only constant is a certain booziness. On the feminine side. Great throw, fabulous lasting power.

 

Not my style but really fascinating to test! Where the hell is the fruit?!

[Poenari]

The 2007 version was my first try of Sugar Skull and I fell completely in love with the brown sugar/caramel/incense scent of it and bought multiple bottles. I still have one backup bottle, but thought I'd better try a decant of the 2008 version to compare them and decide if I need a bottle of 2008 as well. I think I do! 2008 is slightly fruitier at first, though on my skin it seems to dry down the same. This might simply be the difference between fresh and aged Sugar Skull; it's been long enough that I can't remember if my 2007 had that same initial fruityness when I first wore it. If so, it disappeared with aging. If not, then I'll be happy to have each version.

[lizardqueen]

2008 version:

 

From this I get primarily brown sugar, with a whiff of the candied fruits. I think I saw someone refer to the scent as being reminiscent of Yankee Candle, and I have to agree. I get a little bit of a burnt sugar scent once the oil has dried completely on my skin, but it's still very sweet overall, and there doesn't seem to be much throw. I really wanted to love this scent, but I just kinda like it, enough to keep my decant (...probably), but not nearly enough to buy a bottle.

 

Indeed, I find this to be a bit of a BPAL Rorschach test: I smell this and think, needs more spice (others smell it and say, aack, too sweet! Others smell it and say, oooh, perfect!). So, even though I don't love it, smelling it has been instructive! Off to try to find something spicy amongst my other Halloweenie decants...

[trollgirl]

Sugar Skull 2008 smelled like raisins and incense with a sprinkling of brown sugar. But mostly raisins.

 

After about ten minutes, I smelled like a rum-soaked fruitcake.

[arithmetock]

HELLO BROWN SUGAR! In the bottle, this is so sweet it almost makes me light-headed. It settles a bit on drying, but this is quite a sugar rush (obviously). I can't say I particularly love it; I suppose I need to be in just the right mood to wear it. Either way, I'm keeping the bottle.

[BelladonnaBarbie]

Oh my gosh. This is not for me. On me it's maple sugar with a deeper woodsy quality (I think the fact that it leans towards molasses-y brown sugar amps up the woodsiness, too). It's also almost ridiculously strong and only gets stronger with time. I've washed my wrists three times now and it's still going strong. I can be prone to headaches/queasy stomach from too strong of scents, and if you're like me, I'd suggest not getting a bottle of this. If you're into super-sweet scents, go for it. Just don't slather, I beg you.

Edited September 28, 2008 by BelladonnaBarbie

[Ravenclaw79]

Wet: Candy? It smells like sugar and a little like bubble gum, the fruit-flavored kind.

 

Drying: Very sugary, just like opening a bag of sugar and taking a whiff. It's not bad, but I don't know if I'd really want to smell like a bag of sugar all day. It does smell tasty, though, and it makes me kinda want to bake something.

[Lyrical]

In the bottle: Brown sugar and fruit in a Christmas cake kind of way. Less boozy than 2005, which didn't have fruit at all.

 

Wet on skin: very strong, rich, dark fruit - as in the dried fruit used in a yummy rich fruit cake. A touch of creaminess too, which grows stronger as it dries.

 

Dry on skin: there is a smoky, perfumy quality to this that takes it out of the realm of simple foodies. It's rich, dark, sweet and lovely! In comparison to 2005, this is much creamier and fruitier, with a touch of bitterness, but recognisably a new incarnation of the same scent. As always, good throw and long-lasting.

[letsrunaway]

Very sweet and a little perfume-y. I've never tried the previous versions, but this is definitely a bottle worthy scent! It's sugary though very different from sticky pillowcase and treat #1 which I feel share a different, stickier sugar note. This one seems more grown up.

[whimsitini]

My mother, who has classified my BPAL collection as bizarre, (She likes some of the scents on me. But was pretty shocked by the volume I tried.) actually had a pretty nice description of Sugar Skull.

 

It smells like a stone passage way that hasn't been opened in a long time. Not musty, but something fruity in the air.

 

Wet: Really strong sugar smell and more fruit that I remembered from previous versions. Great because I don't really like smokey notes.

 

Dry: Still pretty sugary.

 

After a few days it rather loses the potency and reminds me of maple syrup, although that could just be me getting used to the smell. My favorite fall scent.

[aquazoo]

It's a different sort of sugar than I expected. Maybe that's the candied fruits. It's a nice scent, super sweet! The fruits are fermenting a bit now.

[delicate_fangs]

Alas, no fruit ever shows up on me. It's just caramel-corn sugar, slightly burnt.

 

I had such hopes for the candied fruits, and I keep testing it, hoping that this time they'll be there, but no such luck.

 

Oh, well. Such is life.

[petrina678]

i just cant take this.. in the bottle or on my skin.. IT MAKES ME SICK!

 

I so badly wanted to like this. the description sounded like what i would love. but it makes me ill. i had to wash it off!!!

 

its the underlying not that makes me sick. something spicy or herbal, i cant say what it is. but i really cant stand it.

[maromi]

no fruit shows up on me either and that's what i was hoping for. all i get is sugar, sugar and more sugar and not the kind of sugar i want to be smelling.

[Dark Alice]

This started out beautifully! Gingerbread, sugar, and incense. (wet in the imp and on the skin) now folks, the incense has taken over and turned my sugar into burnt gingerbread. (I think its the incense)I am going to have to wash this off, but I am glad I got to try it.

[Delirium1009]

2008 Version:

 

In bottle/imp: Rich punch-like fruit and mulling spices.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells very similar on me to last year’s Sugar Skull. Except I think this one might be a little fruitier. This is a deep red/pink/purple fruit scent. It’s very juicy, rich, and sweet. It smells almost like punch. Oh, but wait… a perfuminess is coming out now, making this almost floral. It’s very sweet, and almost smells more like candy and sugar flowers than fruit after a minute or two.

 

After a little while: Rich, sugary, fruity… so wonderful! I love this scent. It hasn’t changed since it settled into that slight perfuminess on my skin. It has a definite candied, crusted sugar quality to it this year that’s not as thick as last year’s.

 

Overall Impressions: I love Sugar Skull, but I don’t like this year’s version quite as much as last year’s, and I have 3 bottles of that already. This one is a little less thick than that, but still retains a juicy dark red fruitiness and sugary quality. It also has a light perfumey overtone which isn’t bad, but I prefer the other one.

[blktauna]

in the bottle: burnt sugar and brown sugar

 

wet: Burnt brown sugar with a bit of barely there candied fruit.

 

dry: gooey burnt sugar

 

Not at all what it sounded like. No fruit and far too thick and heavy.

[milo]

At first I really liked this scent. After I put it on, though, the sweetness just amped like crazy drowning out the yummy incense. I really don't like the combination, and sadly for me, (great for those that love this), it lasts a VERY long time. Very glad to have tried this though.

[maika]

In the imp, sticky sweet, with a hint of toffee.

 

Wet, this is VERY syrupy, with a hint of something else...but what? That shall remain to be seen, I guess...it's not fruity, more like a spicy something, but nothing I can fully identify right now.

 

Dry, I smell maple syrup. While I appreciate the job that was done on this, it's really not me...I need me some dark and spicy goodness to go with my sweet, and I just can't find it here.

[LaurenO]

Review for the 08 version: This is very pretty. It's a lot sexier than the description might suggest. I can't really smell the fruit, or pick out notes - I just get a general sweetness, but not candy like Sticky Pillowcase. I'd say that Sugar Skull is SP's sophisticated big sister.

[tinyvulture]

this reminds me of one of my GC faves, kill-devil. it’s got that same treacly molasses/caramelized brown sugar scent, only with the addition of a subtle fruitiness in the background. not like fresh fruit, more like fruit-flavored hard candy. if you don’t like extremely foody scents, you may find this too syrupy and sugary, but i think it’s happy and comforting.