Chad

[Numanoid]

"Everything okay here?" said a cop inside.

Shadow's first, automatic instinct was to say Yup, everything's just fine and jimdandy thank you officer. But it was too late for that, and he started to say, "I think I'm freezing. I was walking into Lakeside to buy food and clothes, but I underestimated the length of the walk"-he was that far through the sentence in his head, when he realized that all that had came out was "F-f-freezing," and a chattering noise, and he said, "So s-sorry. Cold. Sorry."

The cop pulled open the back door of the car and said, "You get in there this moment and warm yourself up, okay?" Shadow climbed in gratefully, and he sat in the back and rubbed his hands together, trying not to worry about frostbitten toes. The cop got back in the driver's seat. Shadow stared at him through the metal grille. Shadow tried not to think about the last time he'd been in the back of a police car, or to notice that there were no door handles in the back, and to concentrate instead on rubbing life back into his hands. His face hurt and his red fingers hurt, and now, in the warmth, his toes were starting to hurt once more. That was, Shadow figured, a good sign.

The cop put the car in drive and moved off. "You know, that was," he said, not turning to look at Shadow, just talking a little louder, "if you'll pardon me saying so, a real stupid thing to do. You didn't hear any of the weather advisories? It's minus thirty out there. God alone knows what the windchill is, minus sixty, minus seventy, although I figure when you're down at minus thirty, windchill's the least of your worries."

"Thanks," said Shadow. "Thanks for stopping. Very, very grateful."

"Woman in Rhinelander went out this morning to fill her bird feeder in her robe and carpet slippers and she froze, literally froze, to the sidewalk. She's in intensive care now. It was on the TV this morning. You're new in town." It was almost a question, but the man knew the answer already.

"I came in on the Greyhound last night. Figured today I'd buy myself some warm clothes, food, and a car. Wasn't expecting this cold."

"Yeah," said the cop. "It took me by surprise as well. I was too busy worrying about global warming. I'm Chad Mulligan. I'm the chief of police here in Lakeside."

The scent of a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

 

I'm first?? Ok then!

In decant, pure milk chocolate....simple as that!

On skin, very similar to The Other Hot Chocolate to me.....but, if memory serves, TOHC didn't last long on me and it had a low throw. So far, this one is a bit stronger and who doesn't love that?

Dry down, this is nice because some cocoa scents can get that dry cocoa aspect to it, but this stays pretty true to a melty chocolate on me. There is a hint of dryness, but not like other's I have tried. Medium throw on me. If you are a cocoa lover but not too happy about the dusty cocoa scent, you might like this one! Bottle worthy!

 

Ok...editing to add something. So, my son LOVES those Kinder chocolate bars. I was wearing this, he walked by me and said, "Do you have a Kinder?" I said, "No." He said, "Well, I need one now!" Guess that tells you how wonderfully chocolate this scent it!

Edited June 28, 2017 by Numanoid

[Jenjin]

Right after putting it on, it’s exactly like a foamy cup of milky hot chocolate. NOT a dark chocolate, or powdery cocoa, but a creamy, frothy-topped milk chocolate. YUMMY! After it settles for a bit, i’m getting some sort of honey candy. Yep, this is exactly like gorging on an entire Toblerone honey-chocolate bar. All creamy milk chocolate with that ooeygooey honey nougat middle. This is a sinfully decadent foodie! If you desire to smell like a big ole’ dollop of Toblerone melted in a cup, you will fall hard for policeman Chad, and want him to frisk you

Edited July 22, 2017 by Jenjin

[Soupy Twist]

A much purer, more beautiful single chocolate note than Bliss. You can practically smell the froth of the cocoa. Divine. If you like the Lab's chocolate note in El Dia de los Reyes, Candy Butcher, Gelt, and the Box of Chocolates from this year's Lupers, this is the pure stuff.

Not much throw, but that might be my skin chemistry lately, which has just been devouring everything.

[Deceitfuldescender]

In the bottle this is pure milk chocolatey goodness. On my wrist it is hot cocoa, milky chocolatw, maybe a little foamy, super smooth, creamy. Definitely not dry cocoa, or bitter anything. Surprisingly wearable.

[Little Bird]

I death matched this with bpal's Bliss and The Other Hot Chocolate, and NAVA's Devil Cake. Bliss is more woody and not as strong, but pretty close to Chad (except Chad is richer and kinda makes me think of dark chocolate brownies with a thick caramel swirl on top), and The Other Hot Chocolate really has more of a marshmallow scent to it by comparison. I initially like Devil Cake more and think it's more of a true chocolate cake smell, but after 3 hours, Devil Cake is gone and Chad still smells like fudgey, sweet, caramel swirled brownies.

Will need to full bottle this.

[zankoku_zen]

Milky powdery hot chocolate. This is straight up sweetened chocolate - no woods, no marshmallow. Chocolate.

 

For all you Bliss lovers out there.

[agirlnamedfury]

Swiss miss! In the packet, before it's even mixed with milk. Tasty enough, but not my favorite of the (many) chocolate scents I've tried as it's definitely a lighter, powdery, more artificial type of scent.

[BuxomM]

This reminds me of muddy puddles and the other hot chocolate. It smells powdery, chocolatey and a bit sweet, like huffing an envelope of hot chocolate mix. A keeper, but too similar to the others. I'll have to try a side by side test.

[LiberAmoris]

No matter how many chocolate scents I try from the Lab, I always want more. Chad smells like hot chocolate, specifically a packet of instant hot chocolate. I have plenty of happy memories of instant hot chocolate from camping and early winter morning lifeguarding shifts, so this works for me.

[tansy19]

This is strait up Swiss miss hot chocolate both in the bottle and on my skin. It's exactly what I wanted.

I have to add this bc it was adorable. I was dabbing some on and my husband said "mm smells like brownies" and smiled. Now he's started to steal my oils to enjoy for himself.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Immediately super comforting. Smells like the dry hot chocolate powder to me (with the little marshmallows in it!) more than when it's mixed with hot water or milk, but still very nice, very soothing. Yummy. Makes me want hot chocolate!

 

 

Dry: Powdery chocolate. Still a pleasant scent, just not something I would reach for. Really glad I got to try it though!

[Aveya]

Oh wow, this is 100% Swiss Miss. Maybe a dark chocolate version of Swiss Miss, it's almost more realistic melty chocolate than Swiss Miss :D.

 

It has great throw and doesn't do any weird chalky funk. Usually chocolates are a HUGE miss for me, especially from the lab. But this one is an amazing treat. Love it.

[follis]

Testing 2017 decant in bottle. 
Wet: Chocolate and something a bit like musk-- marshmallowy maybe. Slightly Mint? Seems to smell cool to my nose. 
Dry: Damn, why do chocolate scents smell a little bit plastic on me? Sometimes not. Very much of the same. Still chocolatey in a way. Still has that chill to it. 
Later: Similar to Bliss chocolate, and a bit icy. Short life and throw. 
Chocolates seem to have such short throws on me and can go plasticy. I hoped this one would sit better. Overall I like it but more for sniffing than wearing, due to my skin chemistry. 

Edited March 15, 2019 by follis

[doomsday_disco]

I tested this while deathmatching it with The Other Hot Chocolate and Muddy Puddles.

 

Although I always thought of The Other Hot Chocolate as a creamy, frothy hot chocolate, but it is quite different from this scent, which I would also describe as a creamy, frothy hot chocolate. I'm not sure if my skin chemistry is just wonky lately or what, but I detected a cherry-like fruit during the wet stage of The Other Hot Chocolate, which I had never gotten before, while deathmatching it with these other hot cocoa scents. Not sure if it is a fluke or not, but I can say Chad is more like Muddy Puddles than The Other Hot Chocolate. By the end of the day, I get lots of cream from The Other Hot Chocolate and it's not as strong as Chad or Muddy Puddles.

 

Both Chad and Muddy Puddles are like Swiss Miss hot cocoa, but Muddy Puddles is the kind with the little marshmallows, so it's sweeter than Chad. Somehow, Chad ends up smelling less like cocoa made with a powder and ends up being more like hot cocoa made with a bar of chocolate by the end of the day. It's also the strongest of the three (Muddy Puddles is second as far as throw goes, and The Other Hot Chocolate is last in that department).

 

I don't feel the need to upgrade Chad because it is pretty similar to Muddy Puddles, buuuut if I didn't already have two bottles of hot chocolate scents, I would be debating it! I'll be hanging on to my decant, though.  

Edited September 16, 2021 by doomsday_disco

[Redeim]

This goes on so chocolatey, and really reminds me of Gelt. The main difference is while Gelt is purely chocolate, this one has a hint of a milky mix that, as doomsday_disco says perfectly, reminds me of Swiss Miss hot cocoa. Like, if you told me BPAL took Swiss Miss and mixed it in I'd 99% believe you! (The 1% is because I know that's not what they did. I feel like it'd go on the skin brown if they did.) I mixed it with Spiced Pumpkin Cider before it had a chance to dry down (first time trying it; they blend nicely!), so that part of the review will be for another day.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Redeim