Sin & Pleasure

Sin & Pleasure takes a view of sweet indulgence and maybe a bit of caramel gluttony, a drunken slosh of intoxicating booze, a heaping double helping of a sensual vanilla, some rich and arrogant woody notes and makes it into a quite unassuming-looking EDP concentration fragrance. I always thought, rightly or wrongly, that S&P was a BDSM-theme like Sadonasso by Nassomato but I see now it is a bit more of a study on the myriad things that humans do that feel good, despite them being (and partly because they are) sinful. If it sounds a bit messy and contrived, I admit I thought the same until I tried it. This was one of those where I was absolutely floored by how good it was. Totally unexpected. For me, this is easily amongst the best of BornToStandOut’s work. It is not one of the best known by them and that blows my mind as this is seriously important stuff. If you havent smelt this, you really should. If I had to describe it, I would say it is an absolutely colossal boozy and gourmand edifice that I loved on first sniff and its appeal only grew as the drydown continued. The opening hit is a robust dark rum that instead of hiding its denatured ethanol base, seems to display it with pride as if you were going to drink it. It shimmers in the way proper rum does. The heart is where the gourmand notes hit. Imagine an icecream sundae dessert of creamy rum and raisin icecream, vanilla ice cream, a sprinkle of almost burned, slightly biscuity toasted almonds and a scattering of toffee pieces, with a shot of 90 proof rum and a shot of cherry brandy poured over it for good measure. With a macerated cherry on top. That is what this smells like. How on earth it manages to stay even pretending to be unisex, I do not know. Who wants to smell like the end of a meal in Cheesecake Factory? Well. I am a hulking big ugly lump of a 46 year old, bald, tattooed guy with a beard (who doesn’t normally like gourmands) and I **adore** this. It seems almost an admission of guilt; a confession of something perhaps, to admit that to you. There are some florals as well but these are there to keep it fresh and stop the sweetness from becoming cloying and too much. The base notes are a patchouli accord that goes a little bit plasticky (in a sexy sort of way), a leather accord that is (probably) straight out of the box-you-don’t-talk-about-under-your-bed, and one of the loveliest uses of a gritty, sour, animalic oud you’ll ever see. The sandalwood is absolutely drop dead gorgeous here too. As if all that wasn’t enough, the drydown moves on the skin to add intrigue; from sweetness to leather and smokiness, from sticky dessert table to a table in a sexy dark swingers club where everyone is wearing masks. It ends up with leather, some plasticky/PVC notes, a little bit of latex from the cherry in this (it isnt in the notes but I can 100% smell it, same cherry accord as in Cherry Oud by Guerlain), booze and smoke. I don’t think I was wrong about the BDSM references here after all. We run the gamut here of a lot of the more fun end of the deadly sins list so I think the fragrance is well named. The beauty of this fragrance is the way the gourmands and rum notes are so heavy, almost unhinged and out of control, that you think nothing could keep them in check and the bottom notes astonish and confound in equal measure because they do just that in the loveliest way imaginable. It really is superbly well done and the blending here from Amelie Bougeois is fantastic. Equally impressive here is the sheer scale of it. The power is incredible. This is an absolutely monstrous fragrance that will achieve true immortality if you ever spray it on your clothes. One squizz will easily go 12 hours on your skin, projecting solidly the whole time. It finally goes to a skin scent around the 24 hours mark (after two showers!) but I only spray this sparingly so God knows how long it would last if you went mad with it. It lasts longer but with slightly less projection than Ombre Nomade or Oud Maracuja, if that is a useful frame of reference for you. Imagine a fragrance that is smoky, sweet, gourmand, leather, unisex, sexual, sensual, wearable, powerful, boozy and spicy but not too much of any of those things, and still manages to be beautiful, enjoyable and versatile at the same time. It is a very, very impressive bit of perfumery. Three Word Summary: Mountains Of Sins Scent – 9/10 Sillage – 8/10 Drydown – 9/10 Bottle/packaging – 8/10 Performance – 10/10 44/50

Oh, Sin & Pleasure. My signature, my constant. It’s not the fragrance I get the most compliments on, and it’s not even the sexiest in my collection (though, make no mistake, it is undeniably sexy). But it’s the one I love catching on myself the most, and that’s why I wear it more than anything else. Based on the reviews, It seems like it wears wildly different on everyone. When I first sprayed it on paper, I thought it was nothing special. I was sampling a handful from BTSO and moved past it without much thought, until later, I kept catching this divine, intoxicating scent in the air. I tracked it down like a truffle pig, only to discover it was this. The opening? Don’t love. It’s a headache-inducing cocktail of caramel, patchouli, and rum. It’s loud and sticky. But the dry down? Worth every second of endurance. It’s a rich, sweet, woody, boozy gourmand. It’s a glass of saccharine dark rum outside. Delicious, decadent, unapologetic as most BTSO scents. And it’s gorgeously unisex. I’d always longed for a fragrance that carried the musky pull of a great cologne without losing a sense of femininity, and this is exactly that. On a woman, it feels enticing, untamed, and confident without veering into immaturity. On a man, I imagine it’s equally provocative, if you can withstand the sweetness. This is for women unafraid to lean masculine, and men unafraid to lean feminine. a perfect middle ground of sensual rebellion. I keep telling myself I should find something more practical for every day, but every time I catch a faint trace on a sweater I wore last week, or woven into the blanket on my couch, I come right back to her.

The opening is nice, but it’s the drydown that truly wins me over. On my skin, this becomes a beautifully balanced woody, smoky rum with hints of moss, leather, and vanilla — blissfully free of the cologne-y sharpness that often spoils scents like this for me. It’s sweet, but the sweetness plays a supporting role — the woody rum is the star. I don’t want another “vanilla feat.” fragrance, but I do like it in the background choir. On me, it smells like something that should already be part of me. Intimate and moreish — like you’ve caught me mid-page in a heavy old book, lounging in a home library with a glass of rum in hand. It smells smart and classy... but like there’s a wild animal hidden underneath. VERY sexy.

This is one of the brand's most successful compositions. The contrasting concept of "sin" and "pleasure" is executed quite masterfully: earthy patchouli, oakmoss, oud, leather, and rum (well, how can you sin without alcohol ;) are contrasted with sweet caramel (maybe this is also a sin?), vanilla bean, almond, and ylang-ylang. The fragrance turns out to be complex but balanced, with wonderful woody and spicy notes. Perfect for the cold season. Longevity is average, the sillage is pleasant. Unisex.

Smelled this few weeks ago and I cannot stop thinking about it. The opening might be too strong for some but damn, the dry down and longevity is out of this world. It is gourmand but in a really rich, sexy, boozy way. I can definitely smell the caramel and the almond. For me, this perfume is 10/10 from start to finish. Also, 100% unisex. This perfume is for any person who is bold enough to wear it.