Cranberry Cookie Bark Bath Oil

[Penance]

CRANBERRY COOKIE BARK BATH OIL
Shortbread, white and dark chocolate, dried cranberries, and a smattering of crushed candy cane.

Shea oil, olive oil, apricot kernel oil, fractionated coconut oil, rosehip seed, evening primrose oil, vitamin E, isopropyl myristate, glycereth-7-cocoate (derived from coconut), oleth 3, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume blends.

Origin:

Bottle from the Trading Post.

Preconceived notions:

This sounds incredible, even for a very selective foody scent wearer like me. I love the smell of shortbread (I've kind of been hoping that BPAL would do a shortbread scent for quite a while) and white chocolate. I'm learning that the Lab's dark chocolate note smells really, really good on me lately, too. I love to eat dried cranberries and if the cranberry in this smells true to life, then that would be awesome. Candy cane is the only iffy thing here. I'm not a huge mint fan and I'm really no a fan of the Lab's candy cane scents (the Lick It series). But I think it could work well in combination with the other notes.

First sniff:

Right out of the bottle, this is all shortbread and chocolate to my nose. It's mainly buttery, crunchy, rich shortbread but with an overlay of rich chocolate (I smell dark more than white, but dark chocolate does tend to have a stronger note to my nose). This smells wonderful. It's foody but not cloying in the slightest. In fact, it's not that sweet. It's rich for sure, but not sugary, really.

On the skin:

I use the bath oils as moisturizers rather than in the bath (I'm a shower girl, plus it feels like a waste of delicious scented oil to me to mix it with water and let it go down the drain, so I can't comment on how this behaves or smells in the bath, sorry!).

First of all, this feels nice on my skin. It's not sticky or greasy. It sinks in really well (and I don't have super dry skin) and it has a really nice, strong but close to the skin smell. The scent on me is almost identical to the bottle. Dark chocolate and buttery shortbread with just a touch of white chocolate. I don't really smell cranberry here, but I think it's just blending with the chocolate and shortbread and making it darker and deeper without standing out and screaming "Look at me, I'm fruit!" The candy cane really doesn't make an appearance at any point for me (which I'm fine with and even happy about).

The bottom line:

This smells so good. If this were a perfume oil, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. I'll definitely get plenty of use of my bottle of bath oil, though, since it makes a nice, light moisturizer and smells incredibly good. I think I might need another bottle of this since I'm not sure how long it'll last with regular use (I'm new to the bath oils and only have one other, Tricksy) and I don't want to risk it not making a reappearance next Christmas.

[Invidiana]

I am a huge foody scent lover at heart, and what more to get my bath in the foody holiday spirit than this! I couldn't stop huffing the bottle (or for that matter wanting to eat it). It's buttery from the shortbread and creamy from the chocolate--I get more white than dark chocolate--with a tartness from the cranberries and the tiniest zing of sweet mint. The bit of candy cane is not overpowering at all, just a flourish to finish it off. Now to find an edible counterpart...

[lamenteuse]

It smells like cookies! No, really, just like cookies. Not too sweet, with enough dark chocolate and a wee bit of dried fruit. Like a kitchen the day after you bake cookies, and all the warm flour scent has gone away, but that sweet cookie smell still lingers in the air.

[zankoku_zen]

Shortbread and white chocolate. Not too sweet, hint of fruit. Delicious!

[Akurarei]

It does smell like cookies!

I don't get any cranberry, but I do get the two chocolates & shortbread.

 

very festive & foody.

[Venneh]

Absolutely amazing. Both kind of chocolate, cranberry, and cookies. So good. Need another bottle for a backup, as I slather myself in this.

[starpixi81]

This smells exactly like cranberry oatmeal cookies! I only needed a teensy bit in the bathtub and my bathroom(and I) smelled fabulous! Just perfect for winter!

[Stephanielynn]

This is so delicious! Frosty cranberry cookies dipped in smooth creamy white chocolate with rich dark chocolate stripes.

[Little Bird]

This bath oil is just a heavenly, foodie dream. I love the scent so much that I keep dabbing it on as a perfume (the scent is really strong and has tons of throw at first, and lasts for a couple hours that way). It really does smell like sweet, crumbly cookies, oodles of creamy white chocolate, and a hint of mellow fruitiness that makes me think of cherry. I was worried about the fruity parts being too sweet or too tart, but it's a subdued, cheerful, creamy scent overall. I get a hint of a hard candy feel at first, but it never smells outright minty to me.

 

In the bath, this is like bathing in creamy white chocolate and swirls of cherry cream. It's almost impossible for me to be in a bad mood when I'm smelling this. My husband usually hates foodie scents and says they're buttery smelling to him, but he even liked this bath oil.

 

Cranberry Cookie Bark actually layers really well with my all-time favorite bpal, White Chocolate & Strawberry <3. I'm very happy that I decided to just take the plunge and order a bottle of this.

Edited January 20, 2011 by Little Bird

[HerbGirl]

My favorite of the bath oils. This is a perfect white/dark chocolate mix with a hint of cranberry and the lift of mint - I don't smell mint, but I can feel it, if that makes any sense. I love this stuff (used it the other night in the bath - a little goes a LONG way!). Tried a bit as a moisturizer yesterday and it was divine. My only complaint? I wish I had more money to buy two more bottles before it goes away!

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Cookie goodness and chocolate.

 

Wet: Still lots of shortbread, but the chocolate is coming forward. And the cranberries are coming into play.

 

The dry-down: In the end, this is just heaven in a bath oil/scent. (I sometimes use the bath oils as though they were perfume oils.) A sweet shortbread cookie scent, packed with chocolate and cranberries. If there's any peppermint from the candy cane note, I'm not really detecting it per se, but perhaps it is acting as a balance note to keep the scent from being too overpoweringly rich, sweet, and foodie. If this came out as a perfume oil next Yule, I would purchase several bottles. It's just that good.

 

I should mention that I take showers, so I don't use the bath oils in the bath, but as a "lotion" after a shower. The bath oil itself was a bit thin, but soaked into my skin (which is a bit on the dry side in the winter season) rather quickly. And then there was a lovely scent for hours afterward. This might be good to layer with some of the chocolate scents from the Lab.

[PurringPulsar]

In vial: cocoa butter, chocolate and berries.
On skin: this becomes a lot sweeter-maybe a bit too sweet? I don’t smell much of the peppermint candy cane but I do smell the white chocolate, separate from the dark chocolate. The dark choc is slightly bitter but it’s overall a sweet fruity variety. The white chocolate is very sweet…it’s actually more of an oversweet cocoa butter scent, like in Palmers cocoa butter lotion? I find that a little cloying. It’s not the ‘posh white chocolate’ I remember from the Valentines chocolate scents, despite the presence of a sharp fruit note like cranberry. The cranberry is tangy, but it’s actually much sweeter than expected. The shortbread is very buttery, maybe a little too buttery for my tastes. Overall this smells so much like something I want to eat-cranberry, chocolate and candy cane on shortbread sounds delicious and I feel inspired to make my own-but as a scent, it’s a little too much. Maybe I should try bathing in this...

[Gin]

This is another bath oil I initially passed up. I couldn't get into it--cranberry cookie wha? But then my husband got a whiff of it at Dark Delicacies and wanted me to order it. To me, it smells like buttery cookies and dried cranberries dipped in white chocolate. It smells like winter nights when it's freezing and snowy outside but it's bright and warm inside, and everyone is in a good mood and we're baking cookies and getting ready for Christmas. This oil is the golden glow from the windows, the cookies on the cooling rack, the cranberry candle I'm burning, the feeling of love and excitement and good will.

[violetblue]

This is such a comforting, foodie scent. I did not get the crushed candy cane, which I liked because I am not crazy about mint in the tub.I got straight up shortbread cookies with a sweet fruity edge but not sour as cranberry can be. This is wonderful to use after a bad day because it's such a warm, happy scent. Very moisturizing and lovely.

[Suu4LC]

Guh. This is SO good. This sort of flew under my radar while the Yules were out (probably because I REALLY dont need more bath oil lol) but when I saw a decant of this up for sale I had to give it a shot. THAT WAS A GOOD DECISION.

 

This is warm, delicious, foody bliss. I mostly get butter buttery shortbread and chocolate. Just a touch fruity (barely though) and no candy cane I noticed: mostly just moist delicious buttery chocolatey cookie heaven. I've been stressed studying for finals and wanting to give myself a warm comforting treat, and a hot bath, a good book (Mort in the Discworld series) and this bath oil were JUST wanted I needed to relax and feel all warm and happy inside

[milo]

From wet to dry, this smells like dried cranberries with a bit of nuts. It actually smells like one of those bars you can get in a health food store, like a Larabar and the like. I really do not want to smell like this, but my husband likes it on me. He doesn't like it up close, but around me, he said I smell like chocolate. After a bit, some mint pokes out, but I really can't stand the smell of myself, I do like larabars, but don't want to smell like one. Off to swaps.

[karihan]

Oh my. YUM. That's what went through my mind when I first sniffed this on my skin. As with many of the other reviewers, I get mainly warm, luscious shortbread and creamy white chocolate, with just enough delicious dark chocolate to give the scent depth. The tang of the cranberries and the hint of mint (and thank goodness it's just a hint; I normally amp mint) add interest and round the blend out nicely. I've already snagged a 2oz decant of this, and if the Trading Post is kind enough to bring this back next Yule season (ohpleeeeeeze?) I will definitely grab at least one bottle!

[Schmoozy]

Chocolate and nuts. Huh. It smells absolutely delicious from the bottle, but once applied I get a quick blast of mint and cranberry and then it disappears. What is left behind smells very faint. Maybe I didn't use enough...

[Incendiare]

In the bottle, CCB smells more chocolately than anything else. It reminds me of the 13 blends. I don't detect any shortbread nor cranberries. On me, the cranberry pops out and is accompanied by a hint of nose-tingling mint. It's lovely but not what I imagined.

[inurbanus]

Just took a bath with my beloved CCBBO and decided I needed to do a review of it. I smelled this in person at Dark Delicacies last year during a trip to California but too concerned with buying perfume oil to get a bottle. Dumb! Luckily, I was able to get a bottle off of Ebay so all was well. In my opinion, this is one of the best foodie scents the Lab has ever produced. Buttery scents usually go rancid on me but the combo of buttery shortbread/cake, white chocolate, and a little bit of cranberry is wonderful! It really does smell like something I could just pick up and eat. I'm really intrigued by the white chocolate note - usually, white chocolate smells waxy to me but here it's creamy and fabulous. Maybe because it's backed by cocoa? Whatever the reason, it's divine. I've got my fingers crossed that the Lab will release a corresponding perfume oil one day.

[Leopard403]

Still working on my 8 oz bottle, and still as lovely as the day it arrived! I never got any clear notes from this; no moments of "I smell this" to "It smells like that." No, instead this is a wonderfully blended dessert in a bottle, even if it is a scent made for cold weather and holidays. And I'm so glad that candy cane doesn't go full-on mint!

[asterope]

Mmm, this is delicioussss. I also, get no candy cane in here. Instead, a beautiful white chocolate mingled with berry. It is so nice to know that not all berries go rancid on me. I was expecting it to be a little tart with cranberry but only just so. I smell like cookies, and that's exactly what I wanna smell like.

[theseagrows]

i don't tend to use/wear a lot of foody scents so i'm not entirely sure which type of chocolate i'm sensing here, but am leaning towards white chocolate. it's fruity white chocolate with a hint of shortbread. i don't really smell the candy cane but i sense it wayyyy in the background. this is very festive and i'm sure this would be great to use over the winter holidays.