Third Charm

[Alethia]

There’s magic afoot: fiery red musk, luminous elemi, East Indian patchouli, champaca flower, cedar incense, ho wood, and hemlock accord sweetened with a peculiar sweet honey.

Thoughts before testing: Out of all the Weenies I decanted, I was the most excited to try this one. It sounds like it should be made of complete win!

Wet: Sweet red musk, patchouli, and just a hint of woods. This is really pretty wet.

Dry down: The red musk does a KO on all the other notes, and Third Charm turns into a red musk single note.

Dry: Yep, still just red musk. Pretty red musk, but not what I was hoping for.

Final thoughts: This might be a hormonal issue, because this week everything I've tried with red musk in it has turned into a red musk SN. More testing is needed!

Edited to add: Even after nearly a year of aging, the red musk still overpowers everything else on my skin.

Verdict: Off to the sales. Edited September 26, 2013 by Alethia

[lainevierge]

I understand all the Snake Oil, Womb Furie & Infernal Lover comparisons here. Third Charm is definitely in the same family. I would say if you're a fan of those scents that this one certainly should be added to your collection.

 

It doesn't smell to me like it will deepen with age in the same way you can be sure Snake Oil will and it's missing the overwhelmingly creamy honey that Infernal Lover has.

 

The patchouli and the woods everyone has been mentioning are definitely coming out on me. I can even smell something akin to dead leaves somewhere in the background. Lovely autumnal red musk blend!

[Gwydion]

In the bottle: Red Musk dominant with strong patchouli and elemi support. Think sticky sexy resiny musk. The champaca is lovely support. The woods and hemlock form their own, more complex faction, dancing with the first and the honey ties it all together. It interesting and intense, but I’m already suspecting the red musk will be too strong with my skin chemistry. Wet: Surprisingly, the hemlock makes its move, doing startlingly lovely things with the honey, champaca, and the musk. It’s more femine than I’d have guessed and a little weird on me, but I am thinking this would be gorgeous on many women. Dry: really pretty on the dry down with elemi, ho wood, honey and a touch of hemlock lingering.

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Rich red musk, with muted sweet honey underneath

 

Wet: I can definitely pick out the red musk and a soft golden honey, but otherwise, all the other notes melt together into a lush, thick warmth, earthy and resinous. Normally I don't like honey blends, but it doesn't have that sickly sour vibe here. Instead, the honey lends more of a viscous texture than a scent.

 

Dry: There are hints of spice and eastern woods when dry, something almost like sandalwood mixed with smoke. The comparisons to Snake Oil are more apparent to me in this phase, but this is sweeter in nature, with a deep core of red musk that stays strong to the end. This feels very exotic and romantic, a rare honey blend that works on me!

[Mechanical Death]

I also get the snake oil comparison that others have posted. It's much sweeter from the red musk, a little berry or wine like, and I also catch something like chocolate.

 

It's like chocolate, wine, honey snake oil with a tiny bit of insence. Yum

[theseagrows]

at first sniff, i thought "red musk" and that was it for a few minutes. i kept thinking, "oh another warm, sultry red musk scent. i have tons of these already!" but then i waited a liiiiitle bit longer and the honey and champaca start to come through, and it becomes quite beautiful. luckily this honey works well on me. a lot of times, BPAL's honey note turns dry and straw-like on me, like in O, but this honey is sweet and pretty and soft, without being too sweet. definitely a keeper!

[crebbsgirl]

This is primarily red musk and champaca on my skin, with hints of honey and patchouli in the dry down. The red musk is extremely strong on here, and I think it might benefit from a bit of aging. I get the comparisons to Snake Oil and the Infernal Lover, but this isn't nearly as sweet on my skin.

[PurringPulsar]

Third Charm

 

In the imp: yes, this is a Snake-ish musk scent with honey. It reminds me of Womb Furie, but a bit muskier.

Wet on skin: the musk develops an odd ‘peanut’ smell, not so sure about that-I think that could be the cedar or the patchouli (sometimes those notes are oddly nutty on me).

Dry on skin: this could go either way…the musk is incredible, rich and heady and sweet, darkened by patchouli, with a honey note that smells more like beeswax or honey incense. I love the way those notes interact, it reminds me of the Infernal Lover but much better because the honey is more obvious. But the champaca, along with that weird peanut smell and something vaguely herbal (the hemlock?) seem to want to turn this scent against me. There is a hint of something almost ‘dragon’s bloody’.

After a while: thankfully it’s the red musk and honey that seem to win, and I’m glad because champaca tends to do bad things on my skin, but not here. For now the musk and honey, and a bit of patchouli, are the dominant notes, and they smell wonderful. The nutty scent seems to be less obvious now.

Typical, just as I say that it’s not nutty, the peanut butter scent comes back. Drat. And it was so promising before! It then keeps swinging between nutty and musky.

Verdict: I love the red musk here. Love love love it. Combined with the honey, it makes this scent a sibling of Womb Furie or the Infernal Lover, but it’s even richer and sexier-a honey dusted musky incense rather than the purer red musk of IL or the Snake Oil vanilla of WF. But there’s something off about it-weird notes of peanut butter (I’m guessing a weird reaction with the cedar or patchouli), hemlock and champaca seem to get in the way at times, spoiling the glorious honeyed red musk. It’s a bit disappointing but I’ll give it another shot, because I want it to work on me!

Is it a keeper? maybe-I certainly need to retest it!

If you like this, try: Womb Furie, Infernal Lover, Bien Loin D’Ici, Sed Non Satiata, Lust

Edited October 20, 2012 by yeahbutnobut

[fufu_berry]

This smells awesome on me - it doesn't really change much from wet to dry. The honey, champaca, and woodsy incense are most prominent on me; red musk seems to play more of a supporting role, making the scent more "rounded," if that makes any sense. It has great staying power - been on for eight hours so far and still going strong, but not too overpowering. I can't compare it to Snake Oil since I haven't tried that (I know that's tantamount to BPAL blasphemy, but vanilla and I are mortal enemies), but it's not too sweet or too dry. Trying to decide if I need a bottle!

[flyby]

Provisos for this review are that I amp honey to all hell and gone, and also red musk to some extent.

 

Wet, I get red musk and... red musk. And some more red musk.

Wet on skin, the honey starts to come to the fore, combining with the red musk - and yet there's also definitely a 'background red musk' thing going on, hmm. There are hints of the other notes, the patchouli isn't coming out strong at all but giving some depth I think, and there's hints of woodiness as well.

Dry, this is very much honey and red musk on me, almost a honey musk or a sweetened red musk. I think I could wear this, unlike other honey notes, because the red musk is tempering it and making it less of a single too-sweet note, but I'll probably have to death-match it against the other red musk blends I have to see if I really need a bottle.

[cometgirl21]

This was everything I hoped it would be.

 

When I first apply this it's all honey, all the time. I was really disappointed initially. However, the honey is soon mixed with gorgeous red musk and incense. To me this is like the Infernal Lover is burning some incense and it's hoard worthy.

[ajansuz]

In the bottle, this smelled a lot like the 2011 bottle of Smut I have, a very strong, grape-y note in the red musk with some underlying spiciness. The honey comes on really strong, too, almost cloyingly sweet.

 

Wet: Red musk. HUGE blast of grape-y red musk to the exclusion of anything else.

 

Dry down: The honey amps up until it's very sweet. Fortunately, on the skin it's not as cloying as it was in the bottle. I usually amp patch. I can't find any of it here. This smells almost identical to Smut on my skin. Not that the comparison is an unfavorable one, as I like that. I was just hoping for something different from what I already have.

 

Throw is medium. Lasting power is long. This stayed strong all day without much morph at all once it was dry. I'm hoping age tames the red musk down some so that it's not so sharp and fruity. It did that for my other red musk scents.

[ModderRhu]

This smells so much like Womb Furie on me. I wish it would be dirtier! I do know it will get better with age. Hopefully the dirty patchouliness will come out soon.

[DrKate]

This smells a lot like Womb Furie on me too just with lots of red musk added. Unfortunately I don't like Womb Furie so I'll have to age this a bit and see if the honey starts to behave itself. I adore red musk btw, I just really don't like honey.

 

EDIT: I think this bottle must have been super fresh when I received it because the honey has calmed down now and I'm getting lots of the lovely woods. Definite keeper, I'm glad I retested

Edited November 9, 2012 by DrKate

[zankoku_zen]

Red musk, honey and patchouli. Which aren't really three of my favorite elements. The combination is lovely, and if you're a fan of any of the three components then this is a winner.

 

Rich, dark, sultry.

[fiddlehead]

This is definitely a RED MUSK blend, at least at first. But oh man, the longer it's on the better it gets. There are wafts of patchouli but then I'll get whiff of something like "O". The notes seem to balance each other out so none of them takes over. I cannot wait to see how this ages. It's already really lovely and sultry smelling

I may have to add another bottle to my next order.

[witchling]

i bought this unsniffed based on the reviews and after wearing it all day today, i already decided i must order my first backup bottle of anything. the honey in this comes across very faint to me and the red musk isnt even that strong. i can see the snake oil comparison though this is quite different. i get some kind of spiciness and faint incense smell. i think this is what i was hoping samhain would smell like. its a perfect scent for autumn though i can see myself wearing it year round

[Monday]

On my skin wet: Bubblegum? No wait there is the honey aaand it's gone sour. Honey notes do not play nice with my skin chemistry. I get red musk, honey and something herbal and green which is probably the hemlock. So far it's very close to Laurel Honey.

On my skin dry: The cedar amps and becomes seriously nostril clearing. The honey is still there and the red musk but they both are in the background. Not bad but I won't need more than my half decant.

[milo]

This kind of reminds me of Witch Dance, though not as complex. I'm getting red musk, kind of spicy, not as incensey and smoky. Not getting that red fruitiness that is often associated with the red musk note, which makes me happy. This is a more spicy, less fruity Infernal Lover. I'm finding that the 'newer' red musk blends that the lab does are not as 'in your face' red musk anymore. I was going to write this one off, as I find it is pretty similar to Witch Dance, which I"m planning on buying, but I keep getting whiffs of something pretty nice, and it's me! So the throw is a whispy red musk, slightly spicy, sexy, and mysterious. I'd like at least a decant to experiment more, maybe even a partial. This one kind of grows on you!

[joyfulgirl]

this is a dead-ringer for smut, in my opinion. third charm is a bit more complex, less boozy and less tooth-achingly sweet, but something about the combination of notes registers like the cherry in smut, and the red musks are exactly the same. it's lovely, but i'm not sure i need another red musk-heavy scent. i'll let it settle for a few days before i decide.

Edited November 15, 2012 by joyfulgirl

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Definitely reminiscent of Snake Oil, but sweeter and smoother.

 

Wet: I am quite reminded of SO but the hemlock adds a dirty green touch and I sense a bit of the cedar incense creeping in. Those notes combine to give this a chilliness I hadn't expected.

 

Dry: This definitely reminds me of SO and Womb Furie but with a slightly bitter undertone from the hemlock, smoothness from the honey, and woodsiness that isn't present in those blends. I will probably want a bottle of this, especially as I expect it to age beautifully.

[dawndie]

In bottle: sweet musk

 

On skin: blast of smutty musk, pow!

 

Half-hour later: dirty honey has appeared, with a bit of wood and dusty champaca

 

In conclusion: this reminds me of several favorite blends -- Womb Furie mostly, but also Snake Oil (obviously) and even Hellion with the patchouli and champaca flower. Another classic blend.

[lahdeedah]

I haven't reviewed anything formally in a long time, but Third Charm is pulling me out of retirement as my new BFF deserves more praise.

 

I've worn it several times now. Usually it smells like a love child of Smut (minus the booze) and Womb Furie. If you love either or both of those, you're probably going to love Third Charm. If you don't.... perhaps not. It is sweet, incensey and deep. The red musk is not playing around and takes the stage first with power and intensity, while honey slowly dances her way forward. Lasts for quite a while and dries down to a lovely sweet powdery honey incense.

 

I did experience one time wearing it where it surprised me by highlighting all the woods and resins, which was a fun twist. But usually I cannot really smell the elemi or cedar. At any rate, I love it to pieces. It is definitely my favorite BPAL in the last year or so by a mile.

[filigree_shadow]

The red musk is the most identifiable and definitely most long-lasting note of the bunch. I agree with lahdeedah that it reminds me of Smut, but the red musk in it keeps me from thinking of Womb Furie too much. The honey isn't loud. If you like red musk, this one is a must-try. It's kind of a dry, slightly hazy red musk.

 

It's nice, but... I'm a big fan of BPAL's red musk note, and I already have several RM blends. I'm not sure if this one surpasses others I already have. It's good, though.

[bergamot_bliss]

In bottle: Red musk is dominant, but I also am smelling the patchouli. And…is that the honey in the background? Oh, and there’s the hemlock! Hemlock loves me. This bodes well.

Wet on skin: My first impression is a mix of Witch Dance and Lead Phoenix, probably because of the red musk and hemlock.

Drydown: It is getting more autumn-like and woodsy. I think that’s the cedar incence and ho wood. Red musk and hemlock still dominant.

Dry on skin: I think I need to give this a little more time to settle, because it still smells slightly disjointed. The wood, incense, and hemlock are dominant, but the sweeter honey and champaca flower are coming out as it continues to sit. In any case, I love it. Gorgeous fall scent.