What You Want and Being Happy Are Two Quite Different Things

[zankoku_zen]

The knife’s blade of temptation: sweet pomegranate and fig, carnal tuberose, tobacco leaf, and a trail of smoke.

[Dancing Raven]

First time being first! Hopefully I do it justice.

Wet: Cherry/lemon cough drop. That must be the pomegranate along with unlisted eucalyptus? Usually I don't like to smell like cold medicine, but this is actually kind of pleasant in an odd sort of way. 

Drydown: The cough drop smell goes away after about 5 minutes. The pom is reading as sweet cherry on my skin. The eucalyptus remains (she must smoke menthols). It's definitely more on the feminine side, though on the right skin it could be gender neutral. It takes about 10 minutes for the tuberose to come forward. There's nothing carnal about it. It's a lovely, creamy tuberose - big, white, and sweet. If you amp tuberose and don't love it, beware. I adore it. It's present on my skin, but not cloying or overwhelming. There is something that reminds me of anise lurking just beneath the tuberose. At a distance, this smells almost tropical. The pomegranate is lending a juiciness to the scent.

20 minutes in: The tobacco leaf is adding a hint of smokiness (very subtle), and I'm getting a whiff of something root beer-ish. I think the tobacco is blending with the tuberose to create that impression. The tuberose remains buttery smooth. The pom has all but disappeared on me. I think there may be some musk in here because there is something that wants to go powdery, but hasn't. I amp powder notes, so if you're afraid of it going that way, it's probably safe to try. It reminds me of Serge Lutens Datura Noir (which I own and love), as well as some Frederic Malle scents. It smells like a high end commercial fragrance, which makes it totally safe for work unless you're in healthcare. 

It's all tuberose and (non powdery) musk from about an hour in, and it stays that way for about 3 hours. It ends up smelling fruity from the fig, and possibly the pomegranate, in the base. I'm not really getting any tobacco or smoke, which I was hoping for. It's fresh out of the mailbox, though. I think if it's given some time to rest those notes will come out. If not, it's still very pretty.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Summary: Fruity pomegranate and tuberose are the main notes. I will update if it changes after it settles. 

ETA: Throw starts out moderate, and becomes low after about the 3rd hour. Wear time 6 + hours.

Edited September 13, 2020 by Dancing Raven

[rhonorv]

Wet: 100% agree on Dancing Raven's cough drop appraisal. It's a medicinal fig when wet.

 

Drying: This is morphing so much, and it's wonderfully interesting! I get little licks of pomegranate over the fig, and within a few more minutes it gets quite smoky-rosey. I've had bad luck with the lab's rose scents so far, but this is lovely -- nothing thorny or sharp here

 

Dry: There's a greener edge (tobacco leaf) to this now that it's been on for about an hour. Still lovely, but almost completely different from when I put it on. It gets quite light and close to the skin, but it sticks around. It's a very elegant scent.

[Ythik]

I got a very strong whiff of cigarette smoke right off the bat when I put this on, but that was quickly overtaken by the very strong fruit smells, leaning more into the pomegranate sweetness at first.  As it dried the tuberose started to give the pomegranate a bit of soft floral creaminess, but the cigarette smoke keeps floating up every now and then.  A bit more time and the pomegranate settles back a bit and the earthier fig smell comes forward a bit more and starts to play a bit with the scratchy tobacco.

 

Overall, this feels very accurate to the character. The creamy floral and fruity smells give this a very feminine edge while the tobacco and smoke give it a more masculine tinge, and the result dances around in a very any and all genders kind of place.  The smoke is also definitely cigarette smoke, which my brain is fairly convinced is not a smoke I like much, but it melds so beautifully into this blend that in practice I find it confusingly seductive.

[zankoku_zen]

Pomegranate, tuberose, and a whiff of fig. This one is a creamy floral and pom blend. Good throw and wear length.

[roseus]

This smells like a very sexy vampire lair to me. The deep red fruits (a bit of biting tartness from the pomegranate), with heady tuberose and I specifically get candle-smoke in the imp. On my skin I get a bit more of the tobacco leaf, rich and warm. It gets a bit less fruity on my skin, but all the elements sort of swirl around. This is very addicting to sniff. 

[artisjok]

What You Want and Being Happy Are Quite Different Things, indeed. 
Upon application, this is a bright red pomegranate with tuberose trailing behind. Once it starts to dry, the pom loses it’s place, and it’s a tuberose smoke, with a touch fig, and maybe a bit of tartness in memory of the pom. Totally different tone, as the name suggests. 
Surprisingly, a little later I get more pomegranate! Then, is does that disappearing act, again. It is very interesting. Not sure if I can smell the tobacco leaf among the smoke…
This is probably the most pleasant tuberose I’ve experienced.

 

I’m tempted to keep the decant for that alone, though will I actually wear it? What do I want? Maybe I will do a full day wear just to see what happens.

Maybe happiness is an elusive pomegranate, weaving in and out of perception. 

[LavenderCoffee]

Freshly applied, the first notes that hit are cigarette smoke and tuberose - I can't normally hang with tuberose, but it is blended with the smoke in such a way that both scents are more appealing together than separate. As it dries, I get more pomegranate and fig, and I keep sniffing myself. I did not expect to like this quite as much as I do!

[theredshoes]

Oh how I wanted to love this. I ADORE pom scents. The BPAL pom note does tend to turn a little sharp on me, especially after a while, and I think that's why I got a citrus feeling from this scent all the way from first slather to drydown. I think the pom was softened up by the fig or tuberose -- I kept getting wafts of sweet and sharp citrus that were not that tangy -- more like those clear citrus candies. A kind of sour note came out with the drydown, maybe the tobacco leaf or smoke. This had fairly good throw and LOTS of staying power. The smoky note started to give me a headache so I washed it off with dishwashing soap -- twice! -- and this scent was still hanging on, and did for hours after washing. Sometimes I layer a sweeter scent over the BPAL pom notes, but that mix just didn't work in this bottle -- the sharp pom note and creamy tuberose? sweet fig? blended into a kind of weird artificial fruitiness.