Blueberries, Cream, & Cardamom

[zankoku_zen]

No additional scent description provided.

[zankoku_zen]

I don't typically review scents as I'm decanting, but this smelled so good, I used the pipette leftovers.

As I was decanting, this smelled like the best blueberry muffins you could hope for. Or blueberry pie filling. Blueberry + some sort of baked good, definitely.

Now that I'm skintesting,  the blueberry is very much front and center on the wet stage. On the drydown, more of the cardamom cream starts to pop up. I end up with a cardamom cream with a whiff of blueberries. I still smell delicious. Medium throw and wear length.

[monocainsheresy]

The blueberry is very forward in the bottle but the cardamom cream is the star once it hits the skin. Thick sweet cream with mounds of cardamom crumbs - that comforting, doughy-plasticy autumn craft store smell. The blueberry hangs out in the background adding roundness and depth, occasionally coming forward in little spurts. This one is probably best enjoyed when the wearer is in motion - I get the blueberry more in the little scent trail I leave behind rather than smelling it straight off my skin.

 

Foody and soothing, and exactly what I was looking for.

 

[firefae]

I keep thinking I'll jump in and review scents here and then...don't. But for whatever reason, this one has compelled me.

 

Pre-wear thoughts: "Baked goods" smells aren't usually ones I reach for, but I've had some really excellent experiences with cardamom in general and at least *a* cream note the lab uses (I'm imagining there is probably more than one in their repertoire), and blueberries are just so summer-hopeful! I couldn't resist the possibilities, so blind-bottled this and am hoping it doesn't have any of the bready elements that I think have been my primary "no" component in baked-goods scents.

 

In the bottle: Creamy, dark blueberry. The cardamom is just a promise of spice in the background rather than an actual spice presence for me here. No bread! Feeling good about this so far.

 

On my skin: The cream shines for a wet minute, then the cardamom warms up and comes out to play, and then it all moves quickly into blueberry pie filling meets...wasn't there a blueberry-scented doll in the Strawberry Shortcake dolls from the 80's? This is tapping hard into some scent-memory, and I'm pretty sure that's the one. This is both cozy and playful to me, and I'm so glad to find I'm (so far, anyway) liking it as much as I hoped I would.

 

3-4 hours later: This hasn't shifted much. It's a little more doll-smell and a little less real blueberry/blueberry pie than it was 5-10 minutes after applying, but all three components are still hanging in there and still have a bit of throw (it hasn't had big throw at any point, and has contracted some over time since applying, but I don't have to search for it even now). Overall, this is a really nice sweet and cozy scent that I'm glad to have a bottle of!

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Blueberries. Ohhhh baby. Creamy, sweet, delicious blueberries. Almost like a cream cheese with blueberries scent. The cardamom is there, but it's pretty light; the blueberries are, by far, the strongest scent. 

 

Dry: So good. The cardamom is coming out a lot more, and it's basically hugging the other notes and bringing everything together. A little less sweet than the wet stage. Definitely foodie. 

 

This is different than some of my other favorite blueberry scents(Blueberry Sufganiyot, Blue Phoenix V.2, Blueberry Cream Pie, and Bones Trombone) - the lack of pastry note here and the addition of cardamom makes this one special.

 

Blueberries.. I love you. 

[Janis]

The blueberry note is amazing in the bottle. It is the freshest, most delicious realistic blueberry and I love it. Blueberries, cardamom, and just a hint of cream. I could huff the open bottle forever.

 

The blueberries and cardamom all but disappeared under some very strong cream once applied to skin, though this wasn't too unexpected. BPAL's cream and vanilla notes both amp and do all sorts of weird things on me. Blueberry cardamom makes a surprise resurgence later into drydown, but this time it's more of a sour, spiced blueberry jam. A couple hours later I had a skin reaction to something in this blend - the first and only time it's happened with any BPAL oil 😓

 

Although it doesn't agree with my skin, I really love the scent and will be trying to get creative with scent lockets and other ways to wear it.

[Snuffleupagus]

Delightful! I sat on my couch and buried my head in my blanket to huff all the gourmandy goodness. On the skin, I get the three notes standing out in equal measure, and it wears that way until it fades hours later. This one's a real sweetheart, but there's just enough spice to keep things interesting. 😉

[ajansuz]

Oh, if only what the bottle promised was what my skin delivered! The blueberry in the bottle is incredible. It truly smells like fresh blueberries with a hint of cream and spice, and other cardamom blends have done well for me in the past. In fact Gypsy was the very first bottle of BPAL I ever bought and is still gorgeous on my skin all these years later. This was blueberry for all of a hot minute and then something incredibly plastic and fake smelling. Almost acrid.

 

It kept that acrid quality for well over three hours, only finally eventually deciding to let some of the blueberry back up for air. The throw was big, too. Several hours later, I was left with something a little spicy and...OK. Not worth the stage it went through to get there. I'll probably use this in a scent locket instead, since I love the scent. Just not on me.

[Seajewel]

Unfortunately, I get little to no blueberry on my skin after two skin tests. It's all cardamom with some cream. Which smells yummy, but extremely simple. I wouldn't mind trying more scents with cardamom as I like it well enough here (though I'm wary of whether it might cause a skin reaction), but it doesn't justify a bottle. It does have great longevity. I could still smell it on my skin the next day. 

Edited July 1, 2020 by Seajewel

[DigitalCoyote]

Wet: Juicy blueberry.  I hate blueberry but I'd give this blueberry a try.

 

Dry: Blueberry and sweet cream with a hint of plastic toy on the end.  

[Foodie]

Wow!  This blueberry note is awesome!  Smells so much like a realistic bunch of blueberries, that kind of mintiness they have.  Within the first 10 minutes the blueberry is still around but takes a backseat to the creamy cardamom.  But I don’t mind!  It smells delightful and I’m glad I got a bottle.

[Zorra]

In the decant I smell a blueberry note and a cream note. On my skin the blueberries leave within half an hour, leaving me with the cream note. I do not like a cream note. Unfortunately, cardamom never showed up.

[Little Bird]

I have the opposite experience of some of the other reviews.  I get no cream or anything milky or vanillic.  Starts off like a sweet blueberry candy and dries down to all cardamom all the time.

[deadlyves]

This is straight up blueberry pie or maybe blueberry cobbler, though there's not really any crunch to it. Fresh but baked (probably because of the cardamom) blueberries, a sweet cream, and that lovely cardamom smell that makes things smell like a baked good. 

 

It's strong and lasts a long time, too!

[bambi]

I actually don't get a baked-good vibe from this at all! In the imp, I smell fresh blueberries, a cream smell that smells more like cream cheese or sour cream, and the sweet spiciness of cardamom. On my skin, the cardamom takes over for a few seconds until it starts drying, after which I can smell each of the notes again. The cream note loses that sour note, and it becomes almost a creamy skin note. The cardamom lightens, and the blueberries are fresh, weaving in and out, never very strong. It has a very low throw on me, and it doesn't last for long, but it's very beautiful.

[fairybites]

I have to be honest, this is kinda disappointing. This has been incredibly hyped up and I love the Lab's blueberry. It's lovely for the first few minutes after application, but it takes no time at all for the blueberry to fade away and the cardamom cream to be more prominent. And that alone isn't too bad, it still smelled good and there was faint blueberry traces in there. But as it fades, which it does quickly, it is close to being a "my skin but better" type of fragrance. 

 

I'm tempted to try this again, I did have a partial imp to test this with after all. Maybe if I had more to apply, I would have gotten a better experience. The scent is wonderful, the longevity was really lacking in my case. If I ever get more of this and have a different experience, I'll update this review.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Ooh! This has the same rich, dark, syrupy blueberry that I love in Blue Unicorn Moon - not a candy blueberry, but a genuine actual fresh blueberry smell. YAY!

The cream isn’t sweet or sugary, and very neutral rather than buttery or milky. YAY! 
 

The cardamom is unfortunately a bit too much and it feels a bit itchy on my skin. BOO!

 

So - two YAYs and one BOO! But cinnamon, cassia or cardamom are always problematic notes for me so that’s pretty much what I expected with this one. The blueberry has a strong throw though, so thankfully the cardamom only really bothers me when I smell it up close - if I wave my arm around, I can make my very own little cloud of blueberry cream scrumptiousness 👍🏼

[SurrealReality]

Basic idea: very sweet, gourmand, creamy, spicy, fruity.

Notes I can pick out: sugared cardamom, blueberry syrup, and gourmand vanilla (later becoming cream).

 

The cardamom in this is very distinctive. Immediately recognizable as cardamom, not clove and definitely not cinnamon. It seems sweeter than a lot of cardamom notes though, so I'm calling it sugared. Unfortunately, the blueberry is just too sweet for me. It's definitely not fresh blueberry or blueberry lollipop. It's like blueberry syrup - just about as sugary as a blueberry note could get. The vanilla is also pretty sweet/rich. After about two hours, the vanilla eventually turns into the lab's wonderful cream note (same one from Reflected Vulva, Glowing Vulva, etc), adding a much needed sour edge. At that point, this is gorgeous. Two hours is too long to wait though.

Edited July 11, 2021 by SurrealReality

[daemonrabbit]

I got a sample of this, and in the vial, it’s amazing. Super realistic blueberry, sweet and tart at the same time. As soon as it hits my skin, the cardamom takes over, and that realistic blueberry vanishes with a slight fake-fruit trace, though it’s still fairly pleasant, but eventually something happens to the scent that makes me feel queasy. I had such high hopes, but it’s probably for the best to not like something that’s so hard to find!

Edited January 4, 2023 by daemonrabbit

[ND¢]

Excited to try this after reading about it. Generally agree with previous reviewers... blueberry is gorgeous in the bottle and disappears or recedes quickly into the cardamom, which is slightly less HOOOONK than Amber & Cardamom and about on par with the well blended harmonious cardamom of Nightingale. The cream sits between the two, lightening the cardamom (which I agree feels sugared) and making me want more blueberry.