Who’s Afraid

[Silvertree]

Snowy coconut, hazelnut, cocoa powder, and spun sugar.

[Nepthys]

This goes on wet as a syrupy hazelnut. After a few minutes, the faintest cocoa comes to the surface and that's how it stays. Not getting any coconut at all.

 

I could smell this anywhere and know it was BPAL. If you like the Lab's baked goods/pastry scents, you'll like this.

[wolf_truffles]

The coconut and hazelnut have morphed into a snowy hazelnut, which is the strongest note. The cocoa is very powdery. Actually this whole scent is! But not "powder" as in baby powder, but literally if you open a tin of powdered hot chocolate. Then imagine adding a sort of white powdered hazelnut to it. That's the scent!

[dancingchair]

Coconut and hazelnut are a great combo here. It's rich and nutty and smooth in all the ways I want a coconut perfume to be. The cocoa powder is the perfect addition, but it's blended nicely with the other notes so the whole thing is like coconut nutella. I don't get much spun sugar.

 

I've been looking for a gourmand coconut perfume and this is it.

[MolyH]

This is a hazelnutty hot chocolate to me, not much coconut. It's an aggressively sweet hot chocolate too, like always, reminds me a little of Hershey's. I wonder if the lab will ever make a bitter black chocolate one day. That would be really cool.

[samanare]

Nutty, foodie hazelnut. Hazelnut is the strongest note in the scent. I can't pick out the coconut, but I think it's adding to the nuttiness of the scent and I almost get a butter quality that mixes with the sugar and cocoa powder to produce a baked goods edge to the scent. Overall, I'd describe this as a warm, very nutty, slightly gourmand hazelnut scent. I'm imagining roasting hazelnuts in preparation for putting into some baked goods. Pleasant, but not a winner for me. I was definitely hoping for more coconut.

[Little Bird]

"Who's Afraid.  Me, probably, now that you've asked that question without any context at all." - Made me laugh outloud when I was first reading over the Yule update, and then this sounded absolutely delicious, and it does not disappoint at all.

Rich, velvety hot cocoa made complex with hints of soft, warm hazelnut and buttery coconut.  And then...

No one else has mentioned it at all, but the drydown of this totally reminds me of Cerberus (one of my original bpal loves from back in the day and if anyone has any of this gem left, feel free to contact me and I will buy it from you and absolutely cherish it), which has notes of "chocolate, musk, fig, walnut, juniper berry, cubeb and rum."  It was chocolatey and snuggly and the cubeb berry had this lemony tone to it that somehow worked with the chocolate and nuttiness.  Something in Who's Afraid (the spun sugar?) has a lemony twang to it that just delights me in the drydown and tricks me into thinking I'm wearing OG Cerberus.  No one else has mentioned anything citrusy, though, so maybe my skin chemistry is doing something weird and amazing here. 

This would still be a love for me even if it was only thick cocoa with hints of hazelnut and coconut, though, so I'm super happy with this hot cocoa.

[jensdays]

Immediate impression - lots of sweet, dry cocoa. Hints of hazelnut in the background. I’m hoping the coconut comes out more, but this is pretty good right now.  Dry down - it’s like a fancy Almond (hazelnut!) Joy.  Good chocolate, sweet, sticky coconut, and just a bit of nuttiness. 

A couple hours in, it’s a soft, powdery cocoa.  Decent staying power, not much throw at any point.  It’s light, and pretty, and I’m happy with it.  

Okay, 5 hours, and I can NOT stop sniffing my arm.  I’m not even sure how to describe it, it’s not cocoa, coconut, or hazelnut, but it’s all of those things and more.  It’s not foody, but it’s definitely gourmand.  It smells rich, expensive, amazing.  I’m literally smelling my arm every couple of minutes because it just smells so freaking good.  I wish it had more throw, so I wouldn’t look like such a weirdo here, sticking my nose in the crook of my arm over and over.

[tinyvulture]

This blend reminds me of the chocolate-covered coconut cream eggs they sell at Easter. The sweetened coconut and powdery cocoa are the strongest notes and they blend beautifully. The nutty warmth of hazelnut is faintly present in the background. Definitely a foodie blend. If you love a Mounds or Almond Joy, here’s a sweet treat you’ll love.

[doomsday_disco]

I get a lot of foodie coconut and toasty, slightly lemon-y spun sugar from this, with the warmth of the hazelnut and a dusting of cocoa powder. It's not chocolate-y enough on me to be a full-on cocoa scent, and it's more along the lines of a magic bar without the crust and sweetened condensed milk and with some cocoa powder dusted on top of it instead of any chocolate chips. I'm not typically big on coconut in scents, whether it is the foodie or the beach variety, but I really enjoy how the spun sugar in this plays with the coconut, particularly during the first hour of wear. And I like how the hazelnut just adds a nice, nutty warmth to it without making it smell super rich.

 

Of the scents featuring birb art in the Yule and New Year updates, this one is probably my favorite. The decant is a keeper, and I'm debating a bottle. (Plus, I love the name and the art!)

Edited February 22, 2023 by doomsday_disco

[MamaMoth]

ok wow, that sugar is SO lemony, i was not expecting that at all!  the hazelnut is rich and almost buttery, but the cocoa is sweet and dry. the coconut is dry too... like dried flaked coconut to me. with lots and lots of LEMON sugar, which sounds like it shouldn't work, but it really does! 

 

eventually most of the lemony-ness burns off, but enough remains to keep the sweetness kind of...  sparkly? it's such an interesting accent, and over time it really lifts the other notes out of a purely foody place.  i went into this expecting a rich, indulgent nutella/coconut bomb. and don't get me wrong, it's hella sweet.  but this is a gourmand *perfume* in that it smells delicious but not 100% edible. i don't want to gnaw on my arm, but i kind of want to just dump this out and roll around in it. kind of a surprise hit for me here. 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by MamaMoth

[saralaughs]

Snowy coconut, hazelnut, cocoa powder, and spun sugar.

 

First applied, this is dry cocoa and coconut. Hazelnut adds to the nutty, dry cocoa.

 

And then there's citrus. It reads as lemongrass to me as there is a green aspect to it that lemon doesn't have. It's not overwhelming but it's there, in the background.

 

This ends up being a nutty sugar with a bit of dry cocoa with a coconut/lemongrass in the back to liven it up. It reads as a clean cocoa. 

[Cali]

Stronggg hazelnut, soft coconut-cocoa that reminds me of a bounty bar. No spun sugar for me. :c

[CitrusFiend]

Who’s Afraid is all coconut when wet, like toasted dry coconut flakes. As it dries it goes through a bitter stage which I guess is the snow note? And after that it settles down into a delicious, light and nutty chocolate. I love it!

[daemonrabbit]

Overwhelmingly lemongrassy for me, with a slight creaminess. Unfortunately not a fan.