Bears of Berlin

[PurringPulsar]

Even in utero, Lilith had a full head of hair. She looked like a Monchhichi when she was born, and from the moment I first saw her, I called her Bear. She’s my Baby Bear, Bunnybear, Bearington, Beanie Bear. I made up bear bedtime stories for her – we still tell each other bear jokes all the time. Every time I see a bear video or meme, I save it for her, my little Princess Bear.

 

While we were in Berlin, we made a point of taking photos with as many Buddy Bears as possible. They’re intended to symbolize peace, tolerance, and understanding between religions, nations, and cultures worldwide, and Lilith knows how important that is – especially now.

 

Sweet buttered rum, brown musk, wildflower honey, tonka bean, labdanum, and clove.



In the bottle: buttered rum with a bit of honey.

On the skin: is there cider in here? I smell something reminiscent of a crisp fizzy apple. But it’s predominantly the buttered rum, which isn’t as strong and cloying as Kill Devil or Grog were on me. This rum is sweet and caramelised, a dark spiced rum with golden honey on top. The whole thing reminds me of a mix of hot mead, mulled cider and rum punch, like what you’d have at a European Christmas market. The clove isn’t blatant, but its warm spiciness seems to enhance the scent’s festive feel. The weirdly cider-like note then tones down and the rum and honey melt into each other really nicely. The labdanum is there, that syrupy resinous base grounding the sweeter notes, and I think there’s a hint of tonka (in here, it has an almost woody smell) and furry musk too.

Over time I smell more of the musk, it’s similar to the musk in Black Bear Moon, but without the berries. It definitely smells furry though, a bit like the brown fuzzy musk in the Little Brown Cat. The labdanum’s sticky sweet scent seems to enhance the treacle-like undertone of the rum. The tonka’s a bit more prominent as well.

Verdict: a winner! This is a cosy fuzzy scent that is perfect for the winter months. It’s also one of the few caramelised/rum-based scents that I can pull off.

Backup? Maybe. But I think I prefer Berliner Dom Antics as my favourite Berlin-themed scent of the collection (that I've tried so far).

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

this could very well have been called Gingerbread Herr Drosselmeyer '05.

 

 

i don't like rum. or the rum note in scents.

but Butter Rum is one of my favourite candy flavours... i've never actually had buttered rum in real life but the recipes i've seen for it sound tasty.  i don't wanna make a batch of it just for one sip to see if i like it, though.

 

i don't get anything Grog-y or really even anything at all booze-y out of this.  it is vaguely foody, in a late-December-holiday kind of way.

 

 

 

[Missanneshirleyofgg]

In bottle: boozy, with a lovely Musk.

 

On skin wet: I pick up a burst of Musk at the beginning of application, and its soft and fuzzy and such a lovely "my skin but better" scent. It's so good. Booze is burning off and now it's all this warm fuzzy skin Musk. So pretty. 

 

Dry: Now I get a similar cider vibe. The spice is coming forward and it's this odd mulling spice but not apple. Interesting, I like this.  It's a skin hugging scent on me.  Low throw, but intimate and cozy. Glad I bought a half bottle of this one. ❤️ 

[zankoku_zen]

Boozy rum, musk, and a whiff of honey with spices. This one is a surprise. Low throw, but good wear length.

[Aveya]

Ordered: TPP Decant Circle

Sniff: Edible sweet delicious honey

Skin: Super heady honey.

Dry: brown sugar and honey. Really thick, sweet, and foody. I never really got any other notes - just a sort of general fuzzy/musky/foody thing with HONEY globbed ontop.

 

For me this didn't last over three hours with any throw. After 3 it's just a faint skin-scent of caramelized honey, if that's a thing.

 

 

[Teamama]

Om nom nom. I was hoping 2 things when I ordered a decant:

1. For the clove to be held in check ( I usually amp it,)

2. For the honey to be prominent.

I got #1, which is super-rare.  Instead of #2, I got the world's sweetest brown musk, rolled up in cuddly butterscotch labdanum with just a wee hint of clove. Tonka, rum & honey aren't much in evidence on my skin, but I don't mind. 

Teapapa says when it's freshly applied, it reminds him of his father's pipe tobacco. I'm loving it, but I bet it will be excellent on him, too.

[doomsday_disco]

In the bottle, the honey, buttered rum, and brown musk are the notes that leap out at me.

 

On my skin, I get the notes mentioned above, and then the clove emerges, as well as a syrupy, sweet labdanum. These notes all mix together to create a honeyed, fuzzy buttered rum cider type of scent. The honey is a thick variety and is the most prominent note on me. I was worried that the buttered rum would be too sticky sweet and strong, and that the labdanum would give it this cola vibe that would clash with the other notes, but neither of those things were problematic. I seem to have had the same end result as Aveya: a thick, sweet, foody scent. It's kind of like a honeyed toffee on me, like if Winnie the Pooh were scooping honey out of a honey jar with a chunk of toffee. But I still get some of that cider vibe that other reviewers have mentioned.

 

This is more pleasant than I thought it would be from the list of notes. It definitely makes me think of bears because of the prominence of the honey on me, and I'm glad that I got to try it since it is a Berlin scent! I will be hanging on to my partial, and I look forward to seeing how this ages.

Edited March 15, 2019 by doomsday_disco

[DiZZysTARdust]

I got all my lilith yules and travelogues decants at once, and they've been sitting in the envelope waiting to be tested. tonight's the night to sort them out, and bears of berlin has the honor of being the first one tested. i took a real chance with this one. that hot buttered note made me think instantly of the generic, super fake buttered popcorn fragrance that i hate. i honestly have no idea why i chose to add this in, but all i can say is i adore it. no nasty fake food up in here. the clove and honey are very prominent, kind of smoothed over by a butteriness and a little vanilla from the tonka. from a distance the honey is more noticeable, and it's a very clear, non-plasticky honey. the scent warms as i sniff it straight from my wrist. i wouldn't really classify this as foodie. definitely warm and resinous and even somewhat comforting, while not overly sweet. as it dries it becomes somewhat similar to a pumpkin spice or fall spice candle for me, except not really any pumpkin or vegetal notes. it's still nice, and i'm glad i took the chance for chilly days when i need to warm up and get stuff done, but i don't think i'll need a bottle. i will be interested in trying this again next fall to see how it's aged

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: A luxuriously spiced, buttered rum, with emphasis on the "buttered." The spices are subtle but present, and the butter is REAL butter, hot and melting - the kind you get in extremely fancy restaurants, in a little crock. No preservatives, dyes, or additives here, and as DiZZysTARdust mentions above, if you're afraid of a movie theater popcorn-ish note here, fear not! That butter note is dominant but not omnipotent, and the honey is also putting itself forward - so much so that I almost want to call this a spiced mead scent instead of rum.

 

Wet: Ah, there's that brown musk! It's not quite the same warm-kitty-fur note as in Coyote, but it still produces a warm, cuddly effect, especially as it melds wonderfully with the honey. Overall, the scent moves away from foodie land and more towards something resinous. The tonka and labdanum make themselves known, and that wonderful buttered note takes a big step back - it's still present (although it does a slow, graceful fade as the scent dries down), but no longer the main player.

 

Dry: It goes through an interesting spiced honey phase, with musk playing backup and some lingering warm creaminess from what could be either the butter or the tonka. After about three hours, it settles into a surprisingly hippie-reminiscent musky clove scent with a hint of honey, and my nose wants to say there's some patchouli in here as well, but it's likely just my very hippie upbringing talking. There's definitely some tonka, or perhaps labdanum, to smooth things out, but it's more of a background note. Huh, this was a turn I didn't expect, but I'm glad it ended up here! It's a warm, comforting, textured scent.

[purestmaiden_]

I found this scent to be very sweet and cloying on my skin. The brown musk, tonka, and clove were nowhere to be found- it was all buttered rum and sweet, sticky honey. It had great throw and long wear length. I liked it, although I don’t think I will reach for it much.