[Hominivorax]

A mélange of balsams, leathers, and raw vanilla designed to evoke images of unearthed secrets and dusty, ancient libraries.

I have to say, I was a teeny bit unsure about this one when I heard about it, but I am very, very glad I took a chance on a bottle. In the bottle, it's very...green and balsamy with a touch of vanilla underneath. Dry, it's a wonderful, very slightly vanilla-y leather scent with a touch of mustiness. This smells *exactly* like old books to me. I adore this one. :heart:

[fiddledragon]

In bottle: sweet, sap-y balsam and hints of vanilla.

On me: Oh, wow. This is faintly leather and faintly vanilla, but on me wet this is mostly amazing sap and tree and wood and resin and spice. This is what I keep hoping all those wood and earthy scents would smell like. This is like what I imagine breaking off a branch of a cinnamon tree would smell like -- the green woody sap combined with the spicy bark. The scent loses some of its juiciness as it dries, but it remains amazing.

This will only get better once the vanilla ages up a bit. I definitely need to track down a bottle!

[Leopard403]

I've given this a full wear once, and it smells like hay and dry grasses. Not a fresh scent, either. Not at all what I expected. I'm going to retry in a few weeks, because right now I don't think I like this.

[Upstart Crow]

Alas! My decant of this smelled like grass with a hint of vanilla bean on me. It's so rare that i have any BPAL fragrance smell utterly gross on my skin (normally there are just some whose smells I don't much care for, but which smell just fine). Where are the old books and musty libraries??? LOL.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: The balsams are complex and sharp. The blend underneath is rich and multifaceted. This is weirdly green and bright. The vanilla and leather are subsumed under the balsam but still present. Wet: Gentler on the skin, but still balsam heavy and complex. I’m really liking this and I can’t think of anything else like it. It’s androgynous and scintillating. Dry: It sharpens again, and ends up mostly balsam.

[crebbsgirl]

This one is a bit of a morpher. In the wet stages, there is almost something "funky" about this. I think it might be the greenness of the balsams that is causing this, which I have hope that aging will take care of. As it dries though, this scent really comes into it's own. The vanilla comes out more and the leather makes a rather understated appearance, while the balsams soften considerably.

[musichappens]

I was a little confused when I first applied this because all I could smell was grass, which I am guessing is from the balsam note. However, as it drys down the leather and vanilla seem to get stronger. The vanilla gives it a sweetness, while the leather adds dusty sexiness to it. This actually reminds me of the dim-lighted corners of the library where the much older, less popular books can be found. I've never smelled anything quite like this blend before and I'm while I'm happy I was able to, I don't think I'll be searching for a full bottle.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

This is very confusing to my nose! When it first went on, the balsam was very very strong - pungent, actually. For the first half-hour, all I got was licorice-y spinach. Yup, you heard it right.. licorice-y spinach

Half an hour later, the balsam has mellowed out a bit and now the leather's appeared - this is a strong, acrid kind of leather though - not sweet, and not soft - it's old leather that's been passed through many hands and taken on a variety of body odours and sweat through the years. I've met old books that do smell that way, so this is pretty spot on, but it's not a smell I'm particularly enjoying on my skin.

One hour down the track, and the vanilla is just peeking through.. this is a soft and natural-smelling vanilla - not the 'foody' type at all. But the dominant players here are the leather and balsam, the vanilla is fighting a losing battle.

I find that this smells nicer at a distance - when I lean in to my arm where the oil was applied and take a big whiff, it's just too strong on the balsam and leather. However if I wave my arm around about a foot away from me, it wafts a much softer smell through the air and I can smell the vanilla much more.

I'm not sure what to make of this, it's certainly an interesting one and not like any other leather blend I've tried so far in BPAL land. I'm reserving my judgement for now - I'm tempted to keep it and see how it ages, but I suspect that the balsam will only deepen over time.. however I'll keep fingers crossed that it softens instead and lets the vanilla come out more.

[ChildofTime]

I don't know what went wrong here. I was all set to love it, as all the notes in it sound freakin' awesome, leather and vanilla in any form love me, so when I got a tester of this, I wasted no time trying it out.

Sadly, I don't know whether the balsams just hate me or what, but it just smells pungent and I get none of the delicious leather and vanilla that I know must be in there somewhere. I like grass, but that isn't at all what I get out of this. This one broke my heart.

[damonkitty]

I wasn't sure I was going to like this one, but I was surprised to find it worked for me. In the bottle, it smelled strong of the balsam and resin smell so I instintly thought OH NO! I put it on though and the resin is mellowing out and I get the herbal, vanilla blend now. I really don't smell a lot of leather on me, but it may come out later as this wears. I was glad to get a hold of this one through a forum member since I was not sure if it was going to be restocked. I may have to pick up another bottle

[sharybaby]

This should have been spectacular on me, but somehow, it's absolutely horrifying. I will agree that it is longlasting, but to my nose... oh Lord. It smells foul, sour... like of like old garbage. I get no vanilla, no leather. Just... grossness.

[zankoku_zen]

Very green, very leafy, very woody balsam. Like a forest.

And it dries down to a leather musky cologne. Very masculine with just a hint of vanilla. Sort of a really masculine version of Liz.

[aquazoo]

Starts green, then old library books and vanilla. Crisp paper and leather. It's glorious!

[Christi]

The balsam is strong when wet on the skin. It's like a tree has just recently been cut down. Once that settles, the leather is dominant over a bit of vanilla. I've had it on for a couple of hours and the leather softened by vanilla scent has remained consistent.

For those that are turned off by foody vanilla, there is no need to worry about this one.

[Little Bird]

On me, um, this smells like dying, wilting green grass... that has been peed on. There's something sour and not quite right here. As it dries down, this is dusty, dry wood (almost baby powdery on me at times) and a hint of smoky leather over that sour green smell. I keep catching whiffs of something that reminds me of clean men's cologne when I wear this as well.
I don’t know why this is so bad on me, since I'm normally all over anything that mentions balsams, leather, or vanilla :/. This doesn’t ever sweeten up on my skin (no vanilla that I can identify), but it lightens up a lot and fades away entirely after about an hour and a half.
All in all, I'm glad that I waited on a decant of this before springing for a full bottle, because this probably isn't something that I'd wear again. I might keep my decant and see how this oil ages, but I'm not too hopeful for it.

[cam]

To/on me this smells like absinthe with a background of vanilla and leather. It is so fabulous! I expected the leather and vanilla to take over, but they don't really... and surprisingly, I don't mind a bit. This is green and lovely. Old books and a glass of absinthe. Love it!

[Purrsnikety]

I received a decant of this recently, and I was so very excited to get to try this!

Once applied, I can immediately pick up the green balsam note. It's a little bit on the grassy side, and grass and I aren't the greatest of friends. Grass likes to give me headaches.

Behind the grass, I can smell all the yummy spices and vanilla, and the earthy dust motes flying around. It really is that grassy balsam note which is killing it for me!

Even as it dries down, and the balsam settles a little bit, I can still smell it. Even though it isn't powerful, it's a suggestive note. It conjures up the scent of grass, which then makes my nose wrinkle a little. I want to like it, and I even LOVE the background notes. The vanilla note is beautiful. Very wispy and fresh, almost like Antique Lace, Dorian, and Black Lace... but then the balsam kills me. I'm glad to have my decant, but I don't think that I will be needing a bottle I wanted to like this.

[Ellebelle]

In the wet stage this is ALL balsams. Vanilla who? Leather who? It's balsam all the way ... a kind of sappy, grassy, leafy scent. As it dries, the balsam fades some and the leather takes center stage. It's a suede-y kind of leather to my nose. The final dry down is kind of a musty, booky scent. I never really get any vanilla from this.

Jury is out - it could age well, but it may be for swap.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i guess it is appropriate, but this smells so freakin' odd!

on me, it smells like a reaaaaaaaally, reaaaally old, kinda dusty cinnamon stick (like this box of cinnamon sticks my mom has had since the early 80's. we keep them because we've always had them. they're almost more the memory of cinnamon than anything else at this point) and a very woody vanilla. and an eensy bit of freshly-cut grass - the kind of grass that grows naturally around here. some sweet, some bitter, and some wild onions.

[sirensea]

This is probably the strangest scent I've ever tried. It starts off very dusty and strong on the balsam. Someone else mentioned absinthe and I agree, it reminds me of a less sickly sweet version of Absinthe. Then, once it's dried, I smell... grass. Not freshly cut grass, but old, withered grass. And some vanilla.

...not for me at all. And it makes my skin prickle! I guess Ü and I were not meant to be.

[strahlend]

On me U was sweet and sort of dusty with some warm spices. I like balsam, vanilla, and leather - but this didn't smell like any of those things to me. Unfortunately this particular kind of sweet spice makes me feel kind of unpleasant. I really wanted to love this blend and I was really excited to get it, but it just didn't work out.

[Suusje]

I'm with Leopard403 on this one. It smells like hay. Nothing more, nothing less.....just hay

[doublehelix]

Freshly applied, I get pure grass! This is a very earthy/woodsy scent, reminds me of being outdoors and planting!
As it dries, I get a little of the vanilla note, and it actually smells a bit spicy. I'm not sure if I'm smelling leather, because i've honestly never smelled a leather bpal note/blend before...
To sum it up, woodsy, vanilla & spicey! After drying its nowhere near the initial OMG GRASS scent, which is good.

[sighanne]

As soon as I read 'library' and 'old books' in reviews and other threads, I knew I had to get this. I am not a librarian, just a library tech (sheet music cataloger, actually), but I love books very, very much.

Oh my goodness, it's amazing! It does have some aspects of old books, paper, and leather, especially in the bottle. On, it's divine! It has a very raw, woody leather scent, and the vanilla makes it sweet, but it's very well-blended, and spicy, as other reviewers noted. It smells beautiful on my skin, but I think that it would also be great on a guy. It has wonderful unisex possibilities. This is a keeper for sure. It's very sophisticated, and grown-up style of scent. This is LOVE.

[TulaMontage]

In the imp this is the raw scent of greenery! Clearly the balsam is the culprit. I never expected this at all!

Wet on my skin, the greenery just keeps amping to the point of no return, I think! I smell like freshly cut grass It is sophisticated greenery though, like the pristine lawn of a noble gentleman surrounding his country manor house.

Drying down this has a slight edge and a twitch to my nose. It's becoming headachey unfortunately. I smell absolutely no leather and no vanilla. I am gutted. I hoped beyond hope this would be a creamy vanilla leather on me as I tend to amp both notes. It looks like I amp balsam more than anything! I should steer clear of balsam blends in the future if I smell like a freakin field!

After a while, I finally pick up a sweet something or other... most likely the vanilla, but it's not the usual vanilla note for sure. The leather perks up a little too, but it's still smeared in balsam and both notes I hoped would be dominant are just not being allowed to shine!

This scent is just so strange. I don't think I could wear it, despite being intrigued by the sweet spicyness of it. I don't regard this as a perfume, more of a nostalgic trip down memory lane to when I used to spend my days and nights in library's, and how I adored the smell of the antique mahogany tables and old creamy leather chairs. I just wish U smelt like I remember the library! I keep longing for something more that just doesn't seem to happen on my skin

This post has been edited by TulaMontage: 11 May 2010 - 07:48 PM