Red Musk, Sugared Amber, and Red Berries

[Silvertree]

No further description.

[HerbGirl]

I was so excited for this. I have tested it twice and had the same experience both times. This seems very tame for the notes listed and I actually can't smell red berries at all. The dry down is a kind of sweet, faint red musk and it must be a different amber than any I have smelled because it doesn't read as amber to my nose. Meh.

Also, there were folks talking about this oil being milky or opaque and seperating but mine is NOT.

 

Eta - I am jealous of the third reviewer! Sounds like they got what I had hoped for. 

 

Eta 08 Jan- there is a slight hint of berries now, actually there is a slight hint of the three listed notes now. Have to bring my wrist to my nose to smell anything. Why so light?

 

Eta - after reading later reviews, I bet I got a dud. Sad.

Edited January 21, 2023 by HerbGirl

[Jenjin]

***Editing YAY to add that when I reviewed this I was on the tail-end of recovering from a moderate case of Kraken (covid). I thought my sense of smell hadn't been affected, but I wore this again yesterday and it was STRONG delightful and bright red musk. Juicy, tart and wow this morning i'm still getting little whiffs from yesterday. I'm still not wild about how cloudy it looks, but really, how often to I hold my bottles up to the light and squint? almost never. Who cares lol. Anyhoo, this is so good and the sugar is the cotton candy kind and super yum. If you love the idea of floofy red musk sugar, grab this before its pulled forever. 

(My head was stuffed with evil below) 
What I was hoping for here didn't happen. I am obsessed with Sugar, Poppy Tar and Red Current, and was hoping this might be similar. 
This is an extremely close to the skin scent, I can barely make anything out besides a very faint musk. Along with this, my bottle is also very murky as mentioned above. The oil is separating and doesn't look like ANY other BPAL I have owned. It appears to have been possibly tainted with something that oil doesn't mix well with, like water? Not sure what to do with this one besides tucking it into the dark to see what grows from the murk. 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Jenjin

[elissamay]

OOB this is ALL red berries for me. Almost to a Hubba Bubba strawberry bubble gum extent.

 

Note: My bottle was cloudy when it arrived, and reading reviews made me take a look at it now that it's been sitting. Definitely separated into a cloudy, milky bottom (1/4) layer and a clear top layer, so shake well if you have it stored.

 

After a good shake, wet on skin it's still all strawberry bubble gum, but as it warms, the edges get fuzzy with ambery musk. I think this one will be amazing for adding some sugared berry oomph to other favorites, but may not be something I wear on its own.

[frizzlechicken]

This one definitely needs to settle! When my bottle first arrived it was all screechy berries. I almost sold it off right away but I decided to wait. I’m glad I did because after a few weeks, the red musk and sugared amber both showed up and blended in beautifully. Now it’s a gorgeous festive red musk blend on me. Definitely has a holiday/winter feel to it. A little goes a long way on this as it has a strong throw, but I’m really glad I kept it. I like it a lot. 

[Threemoons]

I let mine sit for a while before trying, based on what people wrote here.  It's wonderful on me.  In the bottle:  Berries, I want to say black currants, with a hint of amber.  On, wet:  More berries start to come out--blackberry?  Raspberry?  Hints of something non-berry and darker starts to bubble up, along with a few bright sparks of almost candy-like berries.  Drydown:  After several hours, the red musk and amber start to show up; after a day of wear it settles into a very soft amber and almost pink-red musk.  A morpher on me!  Low throw and medium wear length.  

[Little Bird]

I absolutely love this scent and I've been wearing it so much this past month.  I hope that there are more sultry, sweetened red musk blends like this in the future.  It's absolutely perfect on my skin, like red musk cotton candy with a background of the kind of deep, cool toned, resinous amber that makes me think of looking at a pitch black sky full of golden stars and wafts of beautiful, sugared incense.  The red berries meld into the red musk for me and give it more of a candied, playful vibe.  BPAL's red musk is one of my favorite notes because it's fruity-red-wine-like, smooth, warmly sexy, and slightly vanillic on my skin.  The red berries meld into it pretty seamlessly for me.

This kept reminding me of BPAL's Carnaval series and today I realized why - it reminds me of the original Mme Moriarty and Midnight on the Midway's sugared incense.  It's not a dupe for either, but it feels like it would fit right in on BPAL's macabre midway (in the best way).

Fun, bold, sexy.

[Casablanca]

Dark and red fruitiness against a sultry backdrop of sugar and red musk.

 

The fruits bring to mind red and black currants, raspberries, and blackberries. The predominant color of the blend is red, and a lot of it against the red musk... but there is some lush fruit-juicy darkness to be had here, as well.

 

To my delight, the sugar stands out. Ung, sugar.

 

This is a strong blend, which I'm enjoying in its early phase... but I'm also kind of waiting for the red musk to turn to stinky midday Pennsic tent sweat on my skin (if you know, you know). But these sugared fruits make me happy.

[AnOfferingToTheNight]

It really is fascinating how a persons skin chemistry can interact with these scents. On me, this scent is almost all berries all the time with a very light musk finish. On my best friend however, the berries are definitely the first scent but that sugariness and musk comes out much sooner. 

 

Smells great on both of us though. Highly recommend. 

 

[MamaMoth]

my bottle is also very separated, with a cloudy layer on the bottom. i gave it a good mixing first. 

 

when first applied, i'm actually getting a big sugar plum vibe here. maybe not exactly plum... sugar currant? smooth red musk and sugar (whatevers).  

 

as it dries, a lovely amber starts peeping out. a little powdery to start, but then giving me hints of resins (labdanum? benzoin?) and vanilla. its distinctiveness is short-lived, though. in the early drydown, first the berries sink down into the red musk, then the amber does. everything melds with the red musk. it's fruity, sugary, and ambery, but it's primarily red musk for a while.    

 

given more time, the red musk calms and releases its clutches on the amber, which unds up being the dominant note on me. where this blend lands is somewhere red, musky, and perfumey with amber. what started off almost childlike and sugary-berry-forward has now become quite mature, with a sexy air of femme sophistication. 

 

i wasn't entirely sold on this one when i first tried it, so i've been giving it a nice rest. the situation has definitely improved, and given the notes, i'm inclined to think i think it might continue to do so!

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by MamaMoth

[WhatAHoot]

This one has had a nice, long rest, and while I like it, it's not the "love" I thought it would be. Personally, I just might not vibe with amber as much as I used to. This starts out bright, red, and juicy (love), but the red musk quickly starts to have a powdery edge (thanks to the amber) that I don't love. It results in something more powdery than I expected, and there are a few minutes where it's more musty than musky for me. 

 

The end result is pleasant, but it might be nicer for those who don't like their red musk / fruit combos as LOUD and juicy (my love). 

Edited March 5, 2023 by WhatAHoot
Fixed wording

[zankoku_zen]

Sugared berries. Sweet. Medium throw and wear length.