Milk Chocolate, Cassia, and Bacon

[AmandaArcana]

Milk chocolate, cassia, and bacon.

OOOOO! I guess I was one of the few brave enough to give this one a try!

In the bottle: mostly I get the cassia with smokey goodness.
On me wet: at first it mostly cassia with the smokey bacon in the background.
Dry: Finally getting the chocolate now that the cassia has died down.
Overall I really like this one! However people with sensitive skin shouldn't use this on delicate areas. I used the back of my hand and the cassia burned my skin a little.

[het4377]

Oh, the Lupercalia chocolate box; how I love your diabetic-coma inducing sweetness and quirky flavors! Milk Chocolate, Cassia, and Bacon is the first one I've tested of the 2011 chocolate blends. Looking at my imp, I'm quite surprised that this isn't a dark chocolate blend - it's doing the stratification/settling out thing that I find indicative of a darker, fuller chocolate note.

 

Wet on skin: Thick, rich milk chocolate (verging on dark chocolate really), with a sweet bacon/salty note and a little bit of cassia-cinnamon spiciness present as well. It's a mellow, very earthy sort of cinnamon note, unlike anything I sniffed from the lab before! There is a little bit of skin irritation going on with this one (enough to make me REALLY want to itch my wrist), but it's totally worth it for the smell!

 

After a while: This is really nice, and I'm saying this as a person on whom chocolate doesn't always work. Still getting a whole lot of the rich chocolate, a touch of salty/greasy bacon (sounds gross, but it's SO NOT), and that wonderful earthy cinnamon/cassia. Medium throw, I catch whiffs of it as I type. Unfortunately, this is continuing to irritate my skin, there's now a little red round circle around the application area. not a deal-breaker, but not terribly pleasant.

 

Important Note: The dark chocolate in the blend does stain the skin a little, and the cassia/cinnamon is a definite irritant, and those sensitive to it might do well to avoid this blend or use it in a scent locket.

 

Final Verdict: After about an hour and a half or so, all skin irritation fades! Hooray! Scent is staying about the same, an earthy cinnamon and chocolate blend with a little bit of a bacon/savory/saltyness present at the edge.

 

Rating: 3.75/5

 

If you like this, try: Dark Chocolate and Pepper Smoked Caramel, Feast of the Greatly Revered Ones, Friday the 13th blends, Dark Chocolate Whiskey and Cognac Truffle, Candy Butcher

 

Using a slightly altered yeahbutnobut review formatting, because it is the epitome of awesome and helpful.

[IridiumFlash]

First of all, this oil requires thorough mixing. It looks like liquid dark chocolate. (And it stains the skin accordingly.)

 

As I feared, it doesn't really work on me. The chocolate note barely smells like chocolate. I don't think that I smelled the bacon at all. And something has gone funky plastic on my skin - I suspect it's the cassia, since it seems to have the faintest, cinnamon-y edge to it.

 

It's a pity that this scent didn't work for me, since I like the bacon chocolate bars.

[cfrancesca]

I get the cassia (I really love it in here), milk chocolate and the bacon is softer than I was expecting and a little salty and smoky. Definitely not for me, but it wasn’t as scary as I’d thought it would be.

[Venneh]

I don't get the chocolate so much here as I get the earthy spiciness of the cassia and the smokiness of the bacon playing into that. Light application, again. On my skin, all cassia, all the time, though there's a bit of bacon poking through.

[agirlnamedfury]

Love this. In the bottle and wet on my skin it's all chocolate and smoky/salty bacon. One it dries, the cassia takes the forefront, mingling with the sweet milk chocolate. Unfortunately the bacon all but disappears, which is disappointing. There is still a hint of smokiness, but I would never guess it was bacon if I didn't know. If the bacon were more apparent I think this would be my perfect, unbeatable fragrance, but as it stands I still think it's pretty awesome.

[VioletChaos]

In the bottle: My immediate impression is "Monsterbait: Underbed- is that you???" As with MB Underbed, the very first thing to be noticed is a strong hit of cassia/cinnamon, followed by some mellow, rich chocolate. at this point, I get no bacon smokiness.

 

Wet On Skin: The cassia is in full force at this point. As others mentioned, this is an oil that needs to be thoroughly mixed before application. Even doing that, the cassia is still dominant. For the record, my skin is generally sensitive, but I'm relieved to say I am personally getting no reaction from any of the components- whew!

 

Dry Down: The cassia settles down- but just a bit. This is still a strong cassia/cinnamon-driven scent, and the chocolate is actually less milky than, say, Bliss, and more dark/rich, as in Candy Butcher. The bacon and subsequent smokiness is, alas, only an afterthought on my skin. I was hoping for a far stronger presence than what I'm getting.

 

In All: A fine chocolate scent, the cassia and chocolate play in a lovely rich way, and if you missed out on MB:Underbed or just really love that scent and wished you'd hoarded it, here's your chance. I lament the missing bacon note, but I'm hoping perhaps it'll show up more after the scent has had a chance to age. In any case, I'm thrilled to have a whole bottle of this and will love it for all it's worth.

 

[Ondine]

Though cassia does not play nice on my skin and leaves red welts, I have grown to enjoy MB: Underbed. And when I sniffed my decant of Milk Chocolate, Cassia, and Bacon, I could kind of sort of smell a resemblance to Underbed, like the reviewer above. The chocolate is there and the cassia too but there's a weird burning smell in the distance that is very unlike Underbed.

 

Then on my skin, it was awful. Not only did it leave a red spot, it smelled awful. Whatever the bacon accord is, it's terrible on me Unlike other reviewers I amp the bacon to the point that it's like Gore Shock took over on me!

[pinkgyrl]

This is Monster Bait Underbed - almost a dead ringer - buttery, slightly spicy and rich chocolate - but the "bacon" lends a hickory note. The hickory/smoke note is very faint; I'm actually hoping it will burn off - because MB Underbed is one of my top 3 blends

Edited June 18, 2011 by GirlinDenial

[dreamingjune]

Wow, this is a surprise hit!

 

In bottle: Dry, amazing cassia note with subtle sweetness and a touch of smoke.

 

Wet: Almost like the cocoa note from Velvet with cassia. Definitely no bacon here, just a hint of smoke that goes surprisingly well with the cassia. For those expecting the cassia to smell like cinnamon it really does not, it is much more of a cuddly wood note as opposed to in your face, bitey, red hots.

 

Dry: A bit more sweetness popping out but I am not sure I would sniff this and think chocolate unless I was looking at the notes listed. As time goes by the cassia is a little less woody and a bit more reminiscent of cinnamon, only real cinnamon. Not at all like a synthetic cinnamon candy flavoring.

 

Overall: Still really blown away at how much I love this. I have wanted a nice cinnamon bpal blend for a while and I think I have found it, only with cassia instead. The best way I can describe this is: the scent of those cassia tooth pics from Whole Foods with a pinch of vanilla or cocoa. It does not have a ton of throw and seems to fade pretty quickly, but I am still in love. Very different from any other bpal I have sniffed.

[zankoku_zen]

Dry cassia, hint of chocolate. There's a touch of smoke, perhaps a whiff of something woody and a touch of chocolate.

 

This ends up being a very dry, spice scent on me, almost woody. Fairly masculine, actually.

 

PASS.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Smoky goodness, with a hint of chocolate. It reminds me of the old-fashioned smoke house, where the farmer would hang the ham, bacon, and other meats for smoking, or driving by a good ole BBQ joint while they're smoking the pork.

 

Wet: Now it's like the bacon and the chocolate are fighting with each other.

 

The dry-down: It turns into salty goodness, with some chocolate, and then it starts fading away. And now there's a hint of the cassia. It's a skin scent now. Might be good for the scent locket, as I like it best in the bottle.

[Little Bird]

This is by far my favorite of the chocolate scents for Lupercalia 2011. I was a little worried about the bacon, but I don't get anything meat-like, salty, or even smoky from this. There's something sort of dark, sultry, warm, and interesting underneath the sweet spice and silky chocolate, but I'd never even begin to guess that it was supposed to be bacon.

 

The chocolate here reminds me of Bella Lucce's Peruvian Chocolate Moisturizing Syrup, which is really decadent and lovely.

Cassia is one of those notes that can be overwhelming on my skin, but it's very well-behaved here. It lets the chocolate come out and be an equal partner instead of turning into an aggressive single note spice.

 

Milk Chocolate, Cassia, and Bacon is the only Lupercalia blend this year that I want a full bottle of. Delicious chocolate syrup and dark spice with that mysterious something underneath it all <3.

[midnight_aeval]

Cassia! How you hate me.. MB: Underbed made my skin burn, this one did the same. The scent, however, is surprisingly good.. smokey, salty with a touch of sweetness and spice. Really interesting and not in the same [ick] category as Gore Shock!

[Invidiana]

I have to admit this one smells really weird in the bottle, but don't let that put you off. It's a little discordant at first but dries down into a strangely addictive smoky chocolate scent with spice from the cassia that isn't too overpowering. There is a bit of saltiness from the bacon, of course, but this still remains a sweet and chocolatey enough scent without going into savory territory. It actually reminds me a lot of the Vosges bacon chocolate that I love so much, except with the addition of cassia.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Invidiana

[surf-tormented]

I got this in a decant, which was separated into a white oil and some brown gobs at the bottom.

 

It took a while to mix it all together, but once it was, I tried it.

 

i like it and I normally don't like BPAL chocolate in blends, especially the milk chocolate note. It always goes nutty on me, which smells bad to me.

 

The bacon and cassia cut through the chocolate somewhat, much like the BPAL chocolate blend, How Doth the Little Crocodile's wood notes cut the chocolate down from its sugary cocoa fury into something I can manage having on my wrist. The bacon is only woody smoke on me though, no meat note to be had. The cassia does smell like cassia though!

 

I do like this, I just wouldn't want to mix it all the time. The separation in this blend is a little gross to me and I would worry getting a brown spot on my clothes if I wore a lot of it.

 

It is a skin burner, if you have sensitive skin, you may want to try it in a locket first.

Edited April 5, 2011 by Madame Nyx

[karihan]

Ack! I love so many of BPALs chocolate scents, but the bacon note in this one turns to harsh smoke on my skin and overwhelms everything else. Definitely not to be, alas. Off to swaps with you, smoky fiend!

[filigree_shadow]

Smoky chocolate. Interesting. Because of the smoke, it smells a little like it has a wood note in it, to me. Cassia is usually a deal-breaker for me because I amp it a lot and I don't like it very well, but it's not overpowering in this one. It's right at the level where I wish it was in other perfumes.

 

Because of the chocolate and what smells like a wood note, this reminds me a bit of How Doth the Little Crocodile. Except this is a spicier scent.

 

ETA: The longer this dries down, the more I like it. It has gone from "eh, maybe I'll keep this decant" to "wow, that's really nice." I'm going to wear it for a day and see how it goes.

Edited May 22, 2011 by filigree_shadow

[milo]

At first, this is milk chocolate, bacon and a touch of smoke. It smells really edible, and I need to find a chocolatier that makes bacon chocolates. The smoke is kind of off-putting though, but it quickly fades and the cassia comes out. It finally ends up being kind of like a mellow spice scent, really cookie-like. Maybe a touch of chocolate now, the bacon and smoke are gone. Fun to try, but this really isn't my kind of blend to wear, though. I really want bacon chocolates some day....

[elinox]

First Sniff: Smoky dark chocolate. This is not the luscious smell of Bliss, but the almost-burned scent of dark, dark chocolate.

 

Initial Wet Application: Holy cripes it actually smells like chocolate bacon! The smokiness is making this an almost over-cooked bacon, but it’s still chocolate bacon nonetheless.

 

Beginning Dry Down (first 15 minutes) & Dry: As it began to dry down there’s a bit of a silky smell in this. However, there’s also something in this that’s...wonky and thus making my nose twitch. I think the cassia is causing the burnt smell and its reminding me of black pepper. Once it dried completely (about 15 minutes in) I was getting a strange, plasticy, lipstick smell underneath it all.

 

My Reaction: After reading some of the reviews I was concerned that the cassia would cause a rash on my sensitive skin. So far so good though (15 minutes in) and it’s only burning my nose like capsaicin does. There’s definitely a biting, salty quality to this, but I’m not enjoying the burning in my nose. Bonus points for originality, but burning is not cool. If only I could keep the initial wet application smell from all these imps, I’d be set!

 

Rating: 1.5

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Chocolate and green peppers

 

Wet on me - The smokiness from the bacon is really strong and oily with the chocolate in the background

 

Dry on me - The bacon scent does settle down eventually leaving a sort of smoked chocolate sort of scent

 

Overall - Apparently I amp bacon to high heaven (it lasts as well). There were times when the combination of smoke and grease was actually quite nauseating

[bellumed]

Oh, Milk Chocolate, Cassia and Bacon, you little weirdo. You are so intriguing with your chocolate and your pungent saltiness. On me, it's dry and smoky, reminds me of grilling in the summer. Cocoa powder kicks in later, and after a few hours, it’s all chocolate with a slightly smoky quality.

 

MCC&B is a really interesting blend that people shouldn't shy away from trying (well, sensitive skin aside, maybe) because of the odd concept. It was pretty understated and non-offensive once it got to my skin.

[aquazoo]

Milky chocolate goodness! Smoky bacon comes up fast. This is not working for me. Too much smoke.

[katharina]

In the bottle: The hickory smoke note of the bacon overwhelms. I can detect a bit of chocolate under it, but I have to look for it.

 

Wet: Oh! That's surprising! The bacon scent moves to background, becoming a smoky container for the chocolate and cassia.

 

Dry: Jesus Harry Christ! Why does my skin burn?! Oh, shit and red welts too??? I guess cassia and I don't get along. She smells lovely though, supporting the chocolate and being supported by the smoke.

 

This is a surprisingly beautiful scent. I actually wasn't expecting to like it, so now I am disappointed that it's left me with a rash.

 

For those of you wary of the bacon, there's really no need to be. Yes, you can smell it, but no, it doesn't overwhelm (of course skin chemistry being what it is, YMMV). If you have sensitive skin this may not be for you. Other cinnamon blends have not bothered me, but this one with cassia does. *shrug*

Edited March 4, 2021 by katharina
because grammar