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.

Cherry chapstick sweet opening. Gourmand dry-down blended very well. Hard for me to pick out particular elements, but I like it in the winter/cold weather when I want something sweet. It's not sickly sweet and has a bit of a dark "sinful" edge to it, so I appreciate it. I wouldn't wear this to the office. Spray on your scarf or jacket for nuclear staying power

C-could it be...? Is this the replacement to my lost love, Nest's White Sandalwood?? Sin & Pleasure is a creamy, sweet, and woody fragrance. It's got just enough florals in there to keep it from being too cloying. Truly unisex, and can be worn anytime, anywhere. This is full-bottle worthy for me.

Woody, creamy, and sweet almond with a touch of vanillic florals. The leather is pretty loud here but it blends so well with a boozy caramel and smooth sandalwood. Such a masterfully blended scent that manages to be non traditionally sweet and doesn’t feel cloying. Definitely full bottle worthy

Sin & Pleasure smells like a sexy casino - that's the best way I can describe it. Like cigarettes and bad decisions that you have a little too much fun making. Definitely leans more male, but the right badass woman could definitely pull it off as well.

What a beautiful fragrance not your typical vanilla but this is different take on bozzy vanilla and caramel absolutely beautiful

The scent: it’s very sweet. I don’t think I could wear this in even slightly warm and humid weather. You get the dessert like vanillic, caramely, almondy and boozy accords strongly at first and then also all through out the wear. It does get a bit less sweet and a bit more woody and calm after a few hours. Longevity: Eternal! I sprayed this on a blotter and got some on my thumb. Later on I wiped my hands with an alcohol wipe and the scent was still clinging to my skin even after wiping it. A few hours later, I went back home and washed my hands with soap BUT the scent didn’t go anywhere! Now, the next morning, the scent is still on my finger! I’ve never tried a perfume that had clung to my skin like this! This must stay on clothes for ever and ever!

It is surprising how differently this fragrance behaves on the blotter and on the skin. On paper, it is a rather banal confectionery flavour of caramel, vanilla and a drop of rum, where you can barely, on the edge of your senses, pick out oud and woody notes. On the skin, however, it is a completely different fragrance. The lusciousness fades quickly and there are distinct notes of rum, almond, wood, moss and ink. I can't see the ink in the notes, but I can clearly smell it, and that makes this flavour much more interesting. Unfortunately, it's still too sweet for my taste

smells like burning wood, patchouli, alcohol. reminds me of how a Buccee's smells...however, i really enjoyed this one and i thought i wouldn't

Such mixed reviews but my god I love it. My wife does as well. Perfectly unisex. Sexy but comforting at the same time. Gorgeous.

Sweet, boozy, almondy goodness. Dry down just amplifies it even more. Will be getting a full size bottle.

Almondy woody soft fudge. Reminds me of one of the Kilians

This has a chemical vibe in the very first seconds on my skin, but fortunately it turns into a conac (rum) and sweet caramel fairly fast. After a short while it just gets sweeter and sweeter, almost to the point where it is cloying, and emits almost a sunscreen vibe? Although, I think it would be waaaay to heavy to wear in the kind of wheather where you would need sunscreen. In the drydown it gets slightly dry, and the oakmoss shines thorugh for me, maybe I almost get to pick up on the leather, but it is nicely blended in there for a soft and velvet-y touch. I will say that the drydown here is way better than the initial spray, the rum shines and the oud and wood (which is what I bought this sample for) really ties this together. I feel like that is a common thing for BORNTOSTANDOUT fragrances. The start is a bit off, or too much, but the drydown blows you away and screams at you: I am a beautiful fragrance, give me a chance!!! Nevertheless, it is still way too sweet to evoke a feeling of Sin & Pleasure, unless the sin and pleasure is about gluttony and having way too much sugary treats whilst you hide away someplace outdoors.

you initially get hit by notes of caramel, vanilla, and rum and a faint almond shortly after-quite sweet. this then dries down to a smoky wood fragrance, which gave me a bit of headache if i'm being honest. while it is definitely and experience and delivers everything it is supposed to, i still don't think it's a special fragrance. it smells very generic once it settles. not bad though.

first and foremost, this is a sweet n vanilla-y perfume you detect rum and oud and everything else secondly, but it is not enough to make this stand out from any other sweet vanilla scents also if you get this on your clothes, it will last as long as you don't wash it!

It's a brand with excessive synthetics at the core, I didn't like it very much. Neither does this perfume. I prefer Mirabile, one of the vanilla-rom alternatives.

Sharp, synthetic, and headache-inducing. Boozy but not sweet (don't smell much of vanilla or caramel). Definitely not a safe blindbuy.

This is just a very strong vanilla scent. That's it.

This has the same dental office, latex glove vibes that I get from BR540 and the likes. I think maybe they are using ambroxan as their white musks. It's not as intense as in the BR540, but it's there and it is most noticeable to me in the opening. It develops into creamy white florals with a bit of sandalwood...and the latex gloves. I had to wash this off; it's a pass.

I thought I would love this based on the notes. But I didn't like it when I first sprayed it. I thought it would grow on me. It didn't. It smells like body odor - like someone who hasn't showered for a while and is trying to hide it with a sweet-smelling perfume.

For me it smells sweet and boozy... not exactly my type of sweet and it’s definitely male; something in this perfume is super irritating on my skin which never happened to me before

Sin and Pleasure is mostly sin. But artfully so. It begins almost cherubic, like a lullaby: all almond cream and gentle light. A pastel dessert, maybe. Honeyed mousse spooned affectionately onto bare skin. There’s tonka here, maybe heliotropin and its powdery, marzipan dream that feels more texture than smell. It’s delicate, almost dainty. You want to lie in it. You think: this might be beautiful. Pleasurable definitely. Then it bounces off the reward centre of your brain and lands on the diametrically opposite. It is as if the perfume itself grew ashamed of its own sweetness. The scent slides into something denser, much thicker. A caramel drip, warm but too rich, sticky-slick like fingers on a glass of whiskey. There’s a moment, brief, where it feels indulgently sinful. Golden hour stuff. But the ash chars it all in a split second. Sweetness? Bitter. There’s smoke curling through a dark amber, something papery and dry and vaguely carcinogenic. Tobacco, probably, but ghosted with that scratchy oudy shadow. It’s not loud; it’s internal. Like a regret. Something sour, like white florals without bloom. A memory of a something untouched and just, pure, that chose rather wisely not to open. Beneath it all lies, vaguely, starch. Steamed rice clinging to the bottom of a burned pot. There’s a cool, parched mineral hum under the warmth, reminding me of, um, dry teeth on metal. Maybe Iso E Super doing something wrong. I don't know. I can't be sure. But I do know it ends in a way I don’t know how to sit with: all familiar things like sugar, smoke, skin, just turned several degrees too sharp. Alike its siblings, this BTSO offering doesn’t ask to be loved. It barely wants to be worn. Despite by disdain for its traditional practicality, it’s art, without a single doubt. In the way that art sometimes refuses to please you, this was a bottle that I couldn't stop thinking about it even when I hated how it made me feel. Sin and Pleasure: to deny this fragrance in favour of a more convenient, easy pleasure, that would be very simply a sin.

OMG. I love this. I want this. Not the nuclear hell of Drunk Maple (which I like, haha)- this is SO GOOD. Creamy, long lasting, sweet, airy... omg, I need this. This was all airy but creamy vanilla caramel woods/patch. No oud goes smoky or wet wood here. Even the rum is subdued. YAY! BUT- the airy delicious caramel milky mossy drydown is in the BR540 family- and S&P's drydown is almost exactly like Tribecca from Bond 9. So I truly don't NEED this given the cost. But I'm going to obsess. It's so good. (Drydown is like Milk- with Tribecca.) It did not have DMaple's power, but this was EASY to smell for 12+ hours. I just needed a few more sprays.

a sample of this has been sitting hidden away in my drawer for about a year now, i had completely forgotten what it smelled like and sprayed a bit on a test strip to refresh my memory and wow... i kinda hate it haha. to my nose it’s very medicinal like vicks vaporub without the minty astringency there’s a worn leather smell in the background that reminds me of my grandpa’s after shave with a little vanilla faintly lingering. not my cup of tea.

This is my favourite perfume, I can’t get enough of it! As someone who wore Angel by TM when I was 18 and now finds it nauseating, I find Sin & Pleasure to be like angels’ older, cooler cousin. It still has the sweet caramel gourmand note but the rum and almond note makes it such a rich, sexy scent.

Vanilla, dirty skin, rubber and a heavy amber component. A bit uninteresting actually, can't tell what this excels at. Edit: My skin was the culprit, this is actually very nice on paper. Caramelized almonds on vanilla ice cream with an equally creamy banana-like note that lingers.

Wow!!! I love this! This is definitely unisex especially the dry down with a strong masculine patchouli that is to die for.. so sexy! I love the caramel almond beginning so yummy and then the dry down... I will be getting a full bottle and share it with my hubby!!!

I recommend doing a wear test. I enjoyed the opening a lot so was almost convinced to buy a bottle, but as it dries down all the sweet caramel notes fade away and you're left with the smell of classic old school cologne that an uncle would've worn i n the 80s.

The fragrance is unisex but I feel like it can serve as a gourmand for men without being too sweet and remain grounded. Rum and mentholated lip balm at first then it settles into a muted sweet, warm, nutty, semi cozy dark fragrance.

Your boozy aunt, who works at the nail salon, had a few too many drinks before coming over to the family dinner so she sprayed some cheap vanilla body spray on herself to cover up the smell a little...but it's oddly addictive

I put this on and got a sweet blast of vanilla, caramel and Ylang Ylang. I loved it for about 60 seconds. And then, like the review below, it started serving me vapor rub.

It smells like vaporub when it dries down?