Sugar Skull

[Honey]

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

OK, let's see if sugar and I can get along with this one..

Imp: Smells just like brown sugar. Very boozy, as if this was a rum and sugar mix.

Wet: Dark brown and rich. I am scared of the celery coming through, but Sugar Skull behaves for now. I can detect some rum raisins.

Dry: Very delightful. And here I thought brown sugar was poison on me. Smells like delicious caramel (not like toffee with that sour buttery note to it) and candied raisins or other dark fruits. Ah, only the slightest hint of celery - may appear later, may not. Reminds me of Cockaigne and Gluttony, so I guess sugar/caramel comes through the most in these scents on me.

ETA: I don't know what's up with my skin chemistry lately. Second time I tried this, it was all burned brown sugar on me.

[Tentabunny]

I just got my Sugar Skull (2008). Wheeeeeeeeee!!

 

Anyhow *coughs*. First whiff I caught was pure candied fruit to me. Sniffing the bottle again gives me overtones of booze. Mmmm, sweet booze.

 

I put some on my wrists immediately, and it still smells like candied fruit. No booze, though, or not much of it. I have my nose to my wrist now, and as it's drying I can smell more of the sugar. A dark, rich, moist muscovado sugar. Maybe candied fruits on a stovetop with a few tablespoons of brown sugar. It's sweet, but not overwhelmingly so, as the fruits lend an edge of tartness to the mix. (I pulled my nose away from my wrists to sniff the bottle again, and it smells like bubblegum. Is bubblegum a fruit? )

 

.....

 

*pops bubble wrap that Sugar Skull came in while waiting for it to dry*

 

.....

 

It's dried down to moist dark brown sugar with a hint of fruitiness now; hurrah! I wanted brown sugar, I got brown sugar. :love!:

[snapesgirl34]

This is for the 2008 version.

 

 

In the bottle – Sugary, with a sickly sweet smell of fruit.

 

Wet – Yep, that’s sugar all right. It smells sweet and wonderful. I’m getting the tiniest bit of fruit.

 

Dry – Warm, almost burned sugar. The fruit is gone. It still smells wonderful and lasts longer than I would have expected, but isn't at all overpowering. The sweetness actually reminds me more of Christmas than of Halloween.

 

Overall – This was my first 5 mL. So far I’ve been afraid to buy a 5 mL without first sampling the frimp, but I took the plunge with this one. Thankfully I ended up loving it. When my friend and I were making bath scrubs we added a bunch of sugarskull to the mix. The resulting bath salts came out smelling amazing, and really yummy, like sugar cookies. I love layering this with other scents, usually amber based ones, it adds that extra little bit of sweetness.

[Missy_killer]

Sugar Skull 2007

 

In the bottle: It's a boozy, slightly sour scent. Something in here reminds me of Glögg (sweet mulled wine) and BPAL's Eat Me. I can feel a headache coming just by sniffing the bottle.

On me: It's very raisin-like, dark, dried and sweet. There is also a bit of burnt sugar in this scent. It thought this would be a light scent, but I guess I'm very wrong, haha! The sourness that I picked up from the bottle is still there, and nothing I like.

 

Half an hour later: Still sour, boozy and raisin-like. With a touch of burnt sugar!

An hour later: This is not good on me. I've tried to fight the migarine long enough and I need to scrub this off now. I don't like the dark raisin and booze nor the sour note I get from it

 

This one will be up for swap/sale.

 

 

 

[lohengrin]

This is a review of an aged bottle (2006 version).

 

In the bottle: Sweet, yes, but actually this smells very boozy to me. Not sugared fruits, but drunken fruits.

 

On skin, wet: Booze. Sweet, like rum or a very sweet fruit wine, but definitely booze above all.

 

On skin, dry: There's a bit of spice to it now, it actually smells a lot like mulled wine.

 

After an hour: Definitely mulled wine--booze, sweetness, fruit and spice. This is way more of a Christmas scent on me than a Halloween scent. ^^;

[bpalscentsual]

Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, and then an earthy, fruity bit underneath. I smelled, to put it evocatively, like a Fig Newton all day. Really. I smelled like figs, or perhaps plums/prunes, just one of those deep fruit notes but candied with crystallized sugar. The sugar itself is very 'fresh' and cane-like, as if you were getting it from the wild instead of just opening your baking canister in the pantry and sticking your nose in it.

 

Not sure how much I'll wear it given everything else I'm in love with, but this is definitely a nice one.

[Gateau]

I have a 2006 decant plus a 2010 decant and bottle. Both give me that prune/raisin/fruit compote fruitiness, a certain booziness (like a rum or port wineyness), and a little touch of spice. The 2006 is deeper and a little boozier, which is quite wonderful. I actually don't get ZOMGsugar! from this; it's more like that slightly rummy scent you get if you stick your nose in a bag of brown sugar.

 

I really like it. It's richly sweet without being cloying, fruity without being specific, and boozy and spicy in a subtle way. It's foodie without smelling like FOOD, if you know what I mean.

[sunlitgarden]

Sugar Skull (2010 version)

 

I was hoping for something really candy-sweet and fruity, but on me, Sugar Skull smells more boozy than anything else. It's a little too much for me, and I have ended up not really wearing it, so I'm sending my bottle on to a new home.

[chimera87]

I am REALLY going to have to take the time to read all of the reviews later, as I am curious if anyone had the same reaction as I did. In the bottle, it actually smelled really faint. Sugary with a hint of unidentifiable fruit. When it was first applied it just smelled faintly sugary. I thought there was NO way that ANYONE could smell this on me. I.Was.Wrong. Within a couple of minutes it continued to get stronger and stronger, until it enveloped the whole room. I had only applied it to one arm at this time. Just on the front and back of my wrist. This smells nice, but I swear to God it reminds me of Posset's Peeps oil! Seriously! Which I love. Only this is stronger, and the oil base with Possets has never been awesome on me, it makes it smell off after an hour or so of wear, which is why I normally use them in scent lockets. Anyway, this isn't a total twin of it, but it is so very similar to me, and even to my family. This also reminds me of things like circus peanuts. I really amp the "candied fruits" and I definitely smell confectionary sugar.I really like this, but not sure if I will wear it often, as it seems to go really overpowering on me. Time will tell whether this is a keeper for me. This is still a great blend and I can see why so many people love it. I love the fact that it lasts hours and has amazing throw with only a little put on. I figured it would be faint. I love blends that I do not have to reapply often, they save me so much money!

[stellamaris]

2012 version, bought on the recommendation of my best BPAL pal, who is my scent nemesis, the dialogue usually being "I thought this was vile, you will love it!"

 

This is delicious sugary sweetness, like the sugar in L'Heure Verte, but also very lemony. So good. It's rich but light, it makes me think of stained glass sugar panes...

[Mechanical Death]

In the bottle it smells incredibly sugary and boozy. A bit like port wine or a dark wine sangria with lots of fruit and brown sugar.

 

On the skin it smells the same almost. I swear I smell amaretto. It has that same type of warmth.

 

It loses a bit of the boozy aspect when it dries, and settles into just warm cuddly and very very sugary, tempered by the candied fruits. I'm wondering if some of them are chocolate covered because I totally smell the tiniest bit of cocoa. Yum!

 

This is a scent that smells almost identical to what you get in the bottle. On the skin, for me it's just warmer. It lasted all day too and was quite strong.

 

It's a cuddly scent I feel, it wraps around you and comforts you with the scent of snuggly sugary candy goodness and the fruits temper it enough to make it sophisticated.

 

Yum

[HerbGirl]

Ack! I was hoping for sugar and fruits out of the 2012 but I get ANISE and sugar...oh well. :-(

[Rshields]

2012 version:

 

Lemonheads candy and powdered sugar! Reminds me of Lolita too, does Bpal still even make that blend? Hmm..any how

this is a sister to Lolita for sure. I like this lemon, it's not "Pledge-y". Perhaps more of a summer time scent

than a fall scent. Not so sure if I need a bottle, glad I got the imp though. My first Sugar Skull sampling btw,

so I can't compare it to previous iterations.

[sargeismydog]

Lemon scented sticky bat! a bit toned down with a pinch more vanilla...

[Dovahkiin]

This review is for the 2012 version.

I have to confess that I do not like the smell of this in the vial at all. It smells like sour fruit, stale bread and celery - not what I expected at all. I really didn't want to put this on my skin, but I had to give it a fair chance. I put on a very small amount... and MAN, it's strong.

 

On my skin, it's registering as very sour fruit - think lemons and unripe oranges, but without the all the acidity of citrus - or like a sour, unripe kiwi. Something smells like it's burning, but I don't know if I would identify it as sugar. There's a thick undertone of something my nose picks up as "bready" and it's sort of choking me, making the back of my throat feel all dusty and puffy. Ugh, this is not going well at all.

 

A few minutes later that celery-esque smell is coming out more, which is exactly the opposite of what I had hoped it would do. This is just... not good on me. Not good at all. I get no warm brown sugar, no caramel, no candied fruit... It's like charred celery soaked in lemon juice.

 

I'm jealous of those of you that get yummy, toasty brown sugar from this scent.

[zeldaZ4]

Didn't really smell much in the imp. Vaguely sweet and lemony, but not what I expected. When I put it on WOWZA! Reallllllllly tart lemon candy! Mouth-puckeringly tart. That lemony candy smell lasted about an hour, then the whole thing turned to maple syrup. Bleccch! LOVE maple syrup, but I don't want to smell like I dragged my sleeve through a plate of pancakes. I guess that's the burnt sugar note that everyone's getting, but I just got pancakes. Kinda Misk-U pancakes. And those pancakes lasted all day. Great if this scent works for you, but not so great for me, ha ha!

 

I'm 0 for 2 on my 2012 Weenies, ha ha! On to imp number three!

[paintednightsky]

2012 bottle straight from the lab.... Wet smells like strong sugared alcohol. On me it is more subdued-smells like pure boozy rummy sugar to me. There really isn't much more of a description than that. On me, the scent stays the same. It doesn't really morph. I was really hoping to get more fruits out of this. Doesn't smell too complex. Almost like it is missing something. Maybe use as a layering scent? May get better with age. Can't say it is a bad scent. Just that it needs a lil something more.

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: I just had to try this to see what all the fuss was about, but I'm thinking this will be too sweet for me.

 

Wet: Fruity sugar, no hint of burnt sugar.

 

Dry down: Sweet mellow sugar.

 

Dry: Sweet sugar.

 

Final thoughts: I don't get a lot of fruit, just a lot of sugar. This is a little too one dimensional and too sweet for me.

 

Verdict: Off to the sales!

[flyby]

2012 vintage.

 

Wet, I get glace fruits and a sudden scent-memory of tutti frutti ice cream. I haven't had tutti frutti ice cream in over 20 years, but I want some now, because this is that exact mixed glace fruits scent.

Wet on skin, the fruits sort of bloom, and within seconds this is turning really fizzy and effervescent! Whoa. It is drying down into sherbet lemons. And other sherbet fruit sweets. Tutti frutti sherbets!

 

Conclusions: 1) This pretty much stays at the tutto frutti sherbets stage, although some of the sharpness of the sherbet eases after a while. 2) Sherbet doesn't look like a word any more. 3) I need to go buy ice cream and candy.

[witchling]

when wet this smells like some kind of candy i remember from when i was a kid, but for the life of me i cant remember what candy. the smell of this almost makes my teeth hurt at first! it must be some internal scent memory that im associating with eating too much candy as a kid or something. anyway, at first it almost sickened me but once it dries down, it becomes warm and brown sugarey. it still smells super sweet but it becomes bearable to me. the scent fades pretty fast on me though, not much lasting power

[TheMistWalking]

Sugar Skull: 2012 Version (about 4 weeks old).

 

I was giving this a little time to get settled -- because it's a bit of a morpher on me -- but it hasn't changed too much over the last few weeks.

 

It starts out with a burst of licorice and lemon, but the lemon drop smell quickly overpowers the licorice.

After a half hour, the tartness of the lemon begins to fade, and a maple scent emerges.

By 45 minutes, it's definitely sweeter, and the lemon is mostly gone.

An hour in, the scent is more of a caramelized sugar with a hint of maple. That's the scent that lasts the longest, but it's rather light.

By an hour and a half, it's definitely a skin scent, and even that only lasts another hour or so.

 

I'd like to see how this ages. It'd be nice if it picked up some strength and lasting power. Also, I've noticed that 'morphers' don't always stay that way on me. Generally, the notes will merge more over time, and/or one of them will emerge as the 'victor.'

 

(I'm rooting for the maple and browned sugar.)

[bellumed]

Oh, man, Sugar Skull. This is a tough one. In the imp and wet, I don’t care for it at all. It has a very odd scent that’s kind of fruity and maybe boozy—it’s not good, but I wouldn't say it smells like licorice. Anise has a very particular (and godawful) scent to me. However, as Sugar Skull dries on my skin, I do start to like it. It’s a sour lemon candy, like a Lemonhead, with just a tiny and bearable hint of the old booziness lingering in the background. No staying power at all, though; it was gone within two hours. I guess I’ll just keep the decant?

 

Try this one if you like Lolita.

[boomtownrat]

I ordered this on the day the 'Weenies came out this year and have inexplicably neglected to review it. So the bottle is now a couple of months old, and it hasn't changed much from that first wearing. Maybe it's a little deeper.

 

In the bottle and wet there's a sort of rum-soaked raisin scent, but when it's dry on my skin there's a brown sugar smell at the forefront. Other than that, I can't really say that it morphs. It has pretty good throw, in that I can smell it wafting up from my wrists. Nobody has commented on it unprompted, and my husband doesn't have a great sense of smell but he said this is "nice," which is what he's said about at least 75% of my BPALs.

 

This has a lot of texture -- I can almost feel the granules of brown sugar. My colour impressions of the scent are caramel and violet (I must stress that I mean the colour violet, not that I smell the flowers, because if I did I couldn't wear this). I love sugar skulls and this scent lives up to that name.

 

Sugar Skull is one of the 2012 'Weenies I have worn the most and I might need a backup bottle before they come down.

[ianastar]

I get the sugars, but I get a little bit of spiciness and syrup. I dont get any of the tartness of the fruits like I had hoped. I'm still waiting to see if I 100% love this or not.

[milo]

I've never really liked Sugar Skull in the past. I don't like the combination of brown sugar and dried fruits, I guess. This one is a bit different from what I remember. I'm getting the brown sugar, but it's like it's being baked very slowly with the fruits. Not quite caramel, but there's a 'toastiness' to the quality of the sugar. Not so fruity anymore, and I'm getting some spices, which I don't remember smelling in previous incarnations. So it's baked sugar and spices on me. Still not what I would wear, but to me it is an improvement with the added spices and less fruit.