Niche line By Kilian has launched Playing with the Devil, the latest addition to the In The Garden of Good and Evil series (see In the City of Sin, Forbidden Games and Good Girl Gone Bad).
Here, as with the rest of the series, he uses the concept of good & evil as inspiration for a modern fruit-led composition. And as with the three previous scents in the series, naughty always wins out.
Playing with the Devil was developed by perfumer Calice Becker; notes feature blood orange, black currant, peach, lychee, pepper, pimento, cedar, sandalwood, patchouli, rose, jasmine, tonka bean, benzoin and vanilla.
By Kilian Playing with the Devil is available now for pre-order at Luckyscent, 50 ml Eau de Parfum, $245.
(via luckyscent)
I’m trying to imagine what this could possibly smell like from that list of notes. Thus far, I haven’t been moved to try this particular Kilian series, but if they come out with a “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”, I’ll be right in line for a sample! 🙂
They are very fruity. So far I have only really liked a very small percentage of this line, but they’re all well done.
I was just thinking, Why do these all have to be so fruity?? Taking the garden metaphor too far? I love BK’s florals but I get the ones in this collection mixed up.
Well, if you think about it, he kind of has all the other bases covered with the other series, right? I mean, he might as well do fruity as anything else.
I think fruit for The Garden of Good and Evil makes sense. The box has a snake on it, and the titles are full of words/phrases like “Forbidden” “Good girl Gone Bad”, “Sin”. I think the immediate connotation is the Garden of Eden. Besides the snake, the other image associated with the Garden of the Eden is a fruit. If you want to represent the concept of temptation, something sweet and juicy makes the most sense (especially for the Judeochristian world). I don’t like fruit, but By Kilian has a few others that interest me, such as A Taste of Heaven.
It’s a very fun rose once it settles down. lychee and rose are bridged really well by the spices with the pimento (allspice) especially. Good amount of sillage, enough to overwhelm everything else I had sprayed on my arm.
Thanks!
I’m hoping this has more of an emphasis on a fresh fruity tone, with the peach, blood orange and lychee, but is given body with a lot of pink pepper, patchouli and jasmine. The rest can sit in the back seat. My skin is weird and brings most fragrances alive, so I hope it sits on me that way.
The notes sound more interesting than some of the others in that line. I was seriously underwhelmed by those in the white bottles. In fact I made a boo boo and after getting some samples, had meant to buy fobridden games (the one with opponox) instead accidently picked up city of sin and was so bitterly disappointed. Expensive juice and underwhelming. Hopefully this one is an improvement on those three! Such a shame to waste such a gorgeous bottle on such underwhelming juice.
I wasn’t crazy about most of the series so far, but I’ll probably give this one a try. The only one I’ve liked is Good Girl Gone Bad, but even that one I can’t imagine shelling out the money for it.
Another one? I recently got samples of the initial 3 scents. None of them were outstanding. “In the city of Sin” smells like a more fruity and girly version of Hermès Un Jardin sur le Toit with a touch of incense. “Good girl gone Bad” smells like grapefruits drenched in flower syrup and “Forbidden Game” is an artificial smelling, sweet fruity mess. I would not pay more than $80 for more than any of these so called “luxury” scents. They really don’t smell very precious.
I also recently received samples in the mail of the first three scents. Free, unexpected samples are always a fun thing to find in your mailbox; however, I’ve been fairly disappointed. I liked City of Sin at first, but it quickly became too sweet. What I’m most disappointed in though is the lasting power. Maybe it’s just my skin that’s eating the scents, but I get no lasting power, even with a few spritzes. The only one I’ve really liked in the whole by Kilan line thus far is the Rose Oud, which again, suffers from not enough longevity and therefore is not worth the price (for me at least).
LOVE It Already! 😉
Maybe it’s because I wasn’t raised religious, but the whole Good vs. Evil, temptations, etc., theme just makes me want to roll my eyes! Honestly, who cares?! I don’t need a perfume to give me permission to do something “naughty!”
It might have more of a charge if the bottles were decorated with inverted pentagrams or goat horns or something! As it stands its a fairly restrained and conventional rebellion: one can almost hear them say,
‘something to appeal to that sense of “naughty”; we want to channel their desire to be individualist, wicked, daring – but appeal to a wide demographic (after all our prices are already outrageous) which means not scaring anyone off.’
And yes, its 2013: the series might better be called ‘Beyond the garden of good and evil.’
Yes, mainstream naughtiness–sort of the perfume version of Hot Topic–mall rebelliousness!
And, I don’t need someone else to define what “naughty” is for me, anyway.
Does take away from it somehow, doesn’t it?! Sanctioned naughtiness.
The names are just lame. The notes seem nice enough..but I am one of those that if I hate the name enough..yep, I won’t buy it!!! lol. No Garden scents for me.
I didn’t like the others in this series. I’m not a fruity-spice-floral kind of gal. In fact, the only By Kilian I really love is Love & Tears. But WOW – just got my sample of Playing With The Devil and I’m surprised. It’s luscious, warm, rich, spicy, and sophisticated. The closest comparison I can think of is Delrae’s Bois de Paradis, which I’m crazy about.
Try to pretend you did not hear the name. Just sniff….it really is remarkable stuff.
I must be getting old, as I haven’t liked anything by Kilian since the Arabian nights series, I kinda feel let down by this fruiy frolic, this is serious business,kilian!!!!!!! and I feel a line like his should be giving a little more complexity considering the hefty pricetag, I do love the packaging tho, but for me its penny gum ball juice leaves me cold