BPAL - Freak Show
A strange, disconcerting embrace... to some, alarming, and to some, intimately familiar: fig, pomegranate and cocoa bean with lemon, bergamot, vanilla, mellow honey musk, calamus and tonka.Limited Edition Carnaval Noir scent, bottle is (Shudder) three years old.Initial thoughts: Dude. Just... look at those notes. Just LOOK AT THEM. Fig, pomegranate, cocoa, vanilla, honey musk and tonka = yes please. Lemon, bergamot = Why not? Calamus = what on earth is that, exactly?In the bottle: WEIRD. Just... weird. It's fruity but without any of the body I normally associate with that... it's not sweet but it's not un-sweet... it's dark and light in equal measures, a hint of warmth, a hint of sharpness... weird.On the wrist, wet: Sweet, fruity, slightly musky, slightly sharp, slightly heavy. This is busy and confusing, which I do kinda like, but... this is confusing to the point that it makes me feel slightly unwell.Twenty minutes later: I'm beginning to think fig doesn't love me - it always goes fuggy and sweet and PURPLE on me. Nevertheless, this is intriguing - it's a study in opposites. I can't decide whether or not it's a warm or a cool scent, fruity or not, whether there's a hint of sharpness or a hint of dusty honeyed resin. Sometimes I sniff and get a distinct honey and vanilla on top of the fruits, other times it's dusty cocoa and a tang of lemon and tonka. I'm gonna have to give this another test another time, because I just cannot decide.Verdict: Keeper... for now.Tl;Dr: A bizarre, confusing blend that shifts from one extreme to another.