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juushikaTHE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM (GC, Phoenix Steamworks & Research Facility)
Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco.
I am exceptionally wary of tobacco, but reviews of this scent convinced me to try it despite my doubts.
In the vial: Dirty, smoky vanilla layered over cheaply lacquered wood, but there's another note here that I can't pin down. The scent is tolerable but a bit unpleasant—but it has the potential to develop into something lovely.
On me: Hello there tobacco. Immediately after application this is everything I feared about the scent: stale old cigarettes against cheap, dirty wood. Luckily the harshness of the tobacco fades within a few minutes, but something of it remains, dark and dirty. The heart of the scent is vanilla which reminds me distinctly of Snake Oil: thick, very dark, and not too sweet. As Snake Oil does on my skin, it also pulls a bit of a disappearing act, a savory-sweet elusive scent that haunts the throw. But even if it's faint, this reminds me very much of vanilla extract left so long in the cupboard that it's thickened and gone grungy at the cap and is accompanied by a hint of cheap, peeling wood.
Verdict: This is a dark, savory vanilla with a lot of potential, but I can't move beyond the mental image of too-old vanilla extract in a peeling cupboard. Perhaps without the tobacco or with richer, deeper woods, this would work for me. As it is, it's not quite offputting but I'm not won over. I suspect that aging will help this scent deepen and develop, so I'll hang onto my imp for a bit—but I won't be wearing it as it is now. (And for what it's worth, it smells absolutely nothing like Glowing Vulva to me.)
ETA: Five months later, and aging has done The Antikythera Mechanism some good. It's worse wet than it was before, dark and dirty and sharp, really just gross. But the drydown has grown better rounded and more robust: a smooth, time-worn, dark wood with aromatic vanilla pod, and the tobacco adding a dark haze. I'm still not in love with the tobacco—I like its darkness but it smells dirty to my nose (and not in a good way), so this isn't a blend that I'll wear often. But the rest of it is lovely, a dark and intimate scent, so this is worth keeping around.
TRICK OR TREAT '09 (LE, Halloween 2009)
The sticky sweet scent of candy corn! Even cornier for 2009! - cuz corny is how we roll at BPAL.
In the vial: Sweet but gently, so—the scent has a golden-orange color and a lovely warm, thick softness that keeps the sweetness under control. It's hard to describe, but I like it.
On me: For the first hour, this is a conceptual interpretation of candy corn: warm and golden, thick but with a soft, squishy sort of texture, gentle and really lovely. After the first hour passes, it becomes the precise, glorious scent of candy corn. I wasn't even sure what candy corn smelled like until I smelled this, and similarly I find it hard to describe. Soft, sweet, warm, plush, pure candy corn. I want to gnaw off my own hand, it is that accurate. Wear length is fairly long (5, 6 hours maybe?), but throw is sadly low.
Verdict: The golden warm scent on the drydown is wonderful, but the pure candy corn that it becomes is just breathtaking. It shouldn't, after all of these years loving BPAL, but it still surprises me when the Lab can pin such an elusive scent so precisely—but they do here. This is incredible and incredibly addicting. I was worried that even if it smelled nice, I'd have no reason to smell like candy corn on a regular basis. I shouldn't have worried. I want to smell like this all the time—and I am thrilled to have a whole bottle.
THREE GORGONS (GC, Salon: Exhibit II)
Egyptian amber, mandarin, tangerine, black pepper, tobacco, and vetiver.
Reviews of this blend have so intrigued me for so long (and I'm quite fond of the art as well) that I thought I'd splurge on a bottle, though I'm wary of tobacco.
In the vial: Plentiful citrus, a bit sharp—citrus peel, really, with the aromatic, airy quality of evaporating citrus-skin oils.
On me: Immediately on the skin this is citrus and Egyptian amber, the former golden and bold, the latter taming it and providing a warm, smooth base. A lot of the citrus burns off pretty quickly, shedding the sharpness to leave behind a subtle warm golden glow. The darker notes kick in during drydown—I mostly get a spicy, dark, beautiful black pepper, but there's also a broader sense of grounding shadows from the vetiver. The tobacco may contribute to this sense of shadows, but thankfully I can't pinpoint it specifically. Scent-color is, well—just look at the Klimt image. Throw is low, and wear-length is short, dying down to just a whisper after an hour, disappearing completely after three.
Verdict: This is nearly exactly what I imagined from the notes and the image the scent is based on. It's subtle golden citrus on warm amber, shadowed over by pepper and a touch of vetiver. The citrus fades a bit more than I'd like, but other than that this is what I hoped for and expected—except that the scent has such a low throw and short wearlength that's it's a bit of a letdown. Glorious as it is, it blossoms and fades so fast that it's more of an experience in scent than a wearable perfume. I may have to try applying more next time, but as it is my only regret about this scent is that it's gone so quickly.
BIEN LOIN D'ICI (GC, Ars Amatoria)
The Scarlet Woman, aglow with sensual indolence: red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents.
In the vial: I don't like it, but I can't pin down notes. It's resinous (so benzoin, probably) but it has an odd, off-color, musty funk. Unpleasant.
On me: On skin level it's red musk, flushed and warm, but thickened by the resin/caramel combination which gives the scent an almost malliable texture and makes it cling to skin-level, thick and sensual. The throw has more of the honey's sweetness and is actually quite lovely. This one improves through the first hour of wear time, growing warmer, redder, and increasingly sexy. I want to like it (and often do!) but there's still something a bit funky about the resins that doesn't quite work for me. Scent-color is russet; throw is low, but wear length seems pretty healthy.
Verdict: This isn't quite what I expected. Bien Loin d'Ici is pretty bad in the vial, and though it much approves on the skin it retains some of the vial's funk. This is a deep, red, sensual blend, warm red musk thickened (but not too heavily sweetened) by caramel and resins. It's promising, but it's not quite me, and the resins seem a bit off to my nose. I suspect this blend may age well, so I'll hang onto my imp—but I don't see myself wearing it any time soon.
Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco.
I am exceptionally wary of tobacco, but reviews of this scent convinced me to try it despite my doubts.
In the vial: Dirty, smoky vanilla layered over cheaply lacquered wood, but there's another note here that I can't pin down. The scent is tolerable but a bit unpleasant—but it has the potential to develop into something lovely.
On me: Hello there tobacco. Immediately after application this is everything I feared about the scent: stale old cigarettes against cheap, dirty wood. Luckily the harshness of the tobacco fades within a few minutes, but something of it remains, dark and dirty. The heart of the scent is vanilla which reminds me distinctly of Snake Oil: thick, very dark, and not too sweet. As Snake Oil does on my skin, it also pulls a bit of a disappearing act, a savory-sweet elusive scent that haunts the throw. But even if it's faint, this reminds me very much of vanilla extract left so long in the cupboard that it's thickened and gone grungy at the cap and is accompanied by a hint of cheap, peeling wood.
Verdict: This is a dark, savory vanilla with a lot of potential, but I can't move beyond the mental image of too-old vanilla extract in a peeling cupboard. Perhaps without the tobacco or with richer, deeper woods, this would work for me. As it is, it's not quite offputting but I'm not won over. I suspect that aging will help this scent deepen and develop, so I'll hang onto my imp for a bit—but I won't be wearing it as it is now. (And for what it's worth, it smells absolutely nothing like Glowing Vulva to me.)
ETA: Five months later, and aging has done The Antikythera Mechanism some good. It's worse wet than it was before, dark and dirty and sharp, really just gross. But the drydown has grown better rounded and more robust: a smooth, time-worn, dark wood with aromatic vanilla pod, and the tobacco adding a dark haze. I'm still not in love with the tobacco—I like its darkness but it smells dirty to my nose (and not in a good way), so this isn't a blend that I'll wear often. But the rest of it is lovely, a dark and intimate scent, so this is worth keeping around.
TRICK OR TREAT '09 (LE, Halloween 2009)
The sticky sweet scent of candy corn! Even cornier for 2009! - cuz corny is how we roll at BPAL.
In the vial: Sweet but gently, so—the scent has a golden-orange color and a lovely warm, thick softness that keeps the sweetness under control. It's hard to describe, but I like it.
On me: For the first hour, this is a conceptual interpretation of candy corn: warm and golden, thick but with a soft, squishy sort of texture, gentle and really lovely. After the first hour passes, it becomes the precise, glorious scent of candy corn. I wasn't even sure what candy corn smelled like until I smelled this, and similarly I find it hard to describe. Soft, sweet, warm, plush, pure candy corn. I want to gnaw off my own hand, it is that accurate. Wear length is fairly long (5, 6 hours maybe?), but throw is sadly low.
Verdict: The golden warm scent on the drydown is wonderful, but the pure candy corn that it becomes is just breathtaking. It shouldn't, after all of these years loving BPAL, but it still surprises me when the Lab can pin such an elusive scent so precisely—but they do here. This is incredible and incredibly addicting. I was worried that even if it smelled nice, I'd have no reason to smell like candy corn on a regular basis. I shouldn't have worried. I want to smell like this all the time—and I am thrilled to have a whole bottle.
THREE GORGONS (GC, Salon: Exhibit II)
Egyptian amber, mandarin, tangerine, black pepper, tobacco, and vetiver.
Reviews of this blend have so intrigued me for so long (and I'm quite fond of the art as well) that I thought I'd splurge on a bottle, though I'm wary of tobacco.
In the vial: Plentiful citrus, a bit sharp—citrus peel, really, with the aromatic, airy quality of evaporating citrus-skin oils.
On me: Immediately on the skin this is citrus and Egyptian amber, the former golden and bold, the latter taming it and providing a warm, smooth base. A lot of the citrus burns off pretty quickly, shedding the sharpness to leave behind a subtle warm golden glow. The darker notes kick in during drydown—I mostly get a spicy, dark, beautiful black pepper, but there's also a broader sense of grounding shadows from the vetiver. The tobacco may contribute to this sense of shadows, but thankfully I can't pinpoint it specifically. Scent-color is, well—just look at the Klimt image. Throw is low, and wear-length is short, dying down to just a whisper after an hour, disappearing completely after three.
Verdict: This is nearly exactly what I imagined from the notes and the image the scent is based on. It's subtle golden citrus on warm amber, shadowed over by pepper and a touch of vetiver. The citrus fades a bit more than I'd like, but other than that this is what I hoped for and expected—except that the scent has such a low throw and short wearlength that's it's a bit of a letdown. Glorious as it is, it blossoms and fades so fast that it's more of an experience in scent than a wearable perfume. I may have to try applying more next time, but as it is my only regret about this scent is that it's gone so quickly.
BIEN LOIN D'ICI (GC, Ars Amatoria)
The Scarlet Woman, aglow with sensual indolence: red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents.
In the vial: I don't like it, but I can't pin down notes. It's resinous (so benzoin, probably) but it has an odd, off-color, musty funk. Unpleasant.
On me: On skin level it's red musk, flushed and warm, but thickened by the resin/caramel combination which gives the scent an almost malliable texture and makes it cling to skin-level, thick and sensual. The throw has more of the honey's sweetness and is actually quite lovely. This one improves through the first hour of wear time, growing warmer, redder, and increasingly sexy. I want to like it (and often do!) but there's still something a bit funky about the resins that doesn't quite work for me. Scent-color is russet; throw is low, but wear length seems pretty healthy.
Verdict: This isn't quite what I expected. Bien Loin d'Ici is pretty bad in the vial, and though it much approves on the skin it retains some of the vial's funk. This is a deep, red, sensual blend, warm red musk thickened (but not too heavily sweetened) by caramel and resins. It's promising, but it's not quite me, and the resins seem a bit off to my nose. I suspect this blend may age well, so I'll hang onto my imp—but I don't see myself wearing it any time soon.
