troublehunter

The 'non-apple' version:

I had some preconceived notion of what Black Lace would smell like. A friend told me it was pretty 'perfume-y' when first sniffed and applied, but after dry-down, it's a nice substitute for Antique Lace.

She was absolutely right!

I received a bottle of this before an imp, and upon sniffing, I almost instantly decided it wasn't for me. My nose isn't very good at discerning notes at all, and this just smelled like perfume to me. It's quite strong and smells exactly like what I'd expect perfume to smell like.

It's the same when I applied it, and quite strong.

After reading reviews, I see some other people have had some morphing happy after 10-15 minutes. It seemed to take about half an hour for me, but it did indeed morph. The scent settled into something really pleasant and really, really reminiscent of Antique Lace. Sniffing it after an hour, I pretty much couldn't tell the difference between the two laces. (Again, my nose isn't so great at discerning scents so how similar they are is probably exaggerated here, but to me, it's a perfect substitute!)

I'm anticipating myself being too impatient to wait out the half hour for this to settle and might not end up using Black Lace enough to justify owning a bottle. It's absolutely perfect after it morphs on my skin, though!

I've been looking around for a leather scent to really fall in love with, and while this doesn't seem to be the one, I do quite like it.

In the bottle: Soft, soft leather and underwhelming honey in the background. Underwhelming being a good thing in this case, because I find the smell of honey very easily overwhelming and a bit gross when it's strong. The light honey here is just perfect and I think it works well with the soft leather. There's also a light, clean scent that I believe is some sort of really warm, refreshing musk.

Applied: Something woody that I didn't smell in the bottle comes out a bit and the honey becomes a bit sweeter, but tinted with the wood. The leather doesn't feel quite so soft and cuddly here, and more like proper leather. It still isn't quite the leather scent I'm looking for, but it's undoubtedly leather. (Also, after a while, the honey comes out a bit more. Still very calm, not overwhelming, and extremely nice. Even though the leather is dominant, at this point I think I like this as both a leather scent and a honey scent.)

I like this scent a lot, and like it more and more as I keep sniffing at my wrist. It could be-- borderline love? But it still isn't the leather scent I imagine as perfect, so I guess I'll have to keep looking!

This was my first ever BPAL purchase. The notes drew me in and...

In the bottle:

I was physically unable to make myself hold this bottle up to my nose for more than a second, which is absolutely not as bad as it sounds. The sweetness that rises up from this bottle was overwhelming for me, but it was still a good sweetness. Just-- well, very sweet. I'm fairly certain this is simply because of the sheer volume of the perfume in the bottle because I was frimped a sample of Miskatonic U, and it wasn't nearly as overwhelming in the imp as it was in the bottle. (Of course this could be due to different aging times or any number of other things, but I do think the overwhelming-ness of the bottle was simply caused by the fact that it was a whole bottle of the stuff.) That hugely overwhelming sweet smell aside, I couldn't really find the other mentioned notes. I had hoped to get the 'dusty tomes' and I suppose the lack of it is my only complaint when it comes to this scent, but the amazing, for lack of a better term, deliciousness of the Irish coffee is more than enough to make up for it.

Wet, applied to skin:

For a moment or two, the sweet scent is still quite overwhelming and covers all else. Then something that seems like it could be the 'polish' of the polished oakwood halls comes out. The Irish coffee does stick around, though it's much smoother and easier to handle when applied in small amounts. It's just a very pleasant, sweet scent now and I could hardly stop myself from sniffing my wrist when I first tried this.

After some time:

It fades away relatively quickly, but rather than disappearing completely, this scent settles into something lighter but definitely still present. The Irish coffee is still the predominant note for me, but it's just quietly loitering on my skin rather than leaping out screaming pay attention to me. This stage lasts for hours, and it's very nice.

...and I wasn't disappointed! Overall, this was what the notes promised. Irish coffee dominates and I didn't personally catch much of the other mentioned notes, but I was still happy with this as a foodie scent.

In the bottle:

The faintly floral scent of the aftershave leaps out at me through the brass. It's a bit full on here, but exactly as advertised. I didn't quite except to find the aftershave to be as strong as it is in this blend. Which isn't, strictly speaking, a bad thing. (After trying Galvanic Goggles and The Robotic Scarab, both of which I liked better when applied than in the imp, I was really very excited to actually test this one out.)

Wet, applied to skin:

The brass comes out a bit stronger almost immediately. The faint, floral scent of the aftershave is still present, and the balance is a very nice (equal parts of both scents, I believe) one.

After some time:

This has dried and mellowed out to something very, very lovely and at this point is by far the favorite of the scents I've tried so far. The words that come to mind are sweet, warm, and sticky. (Almost like sweat, but I'm hesitant to actually use that word because it really comes with a gross connotation that doesn't apply to this scent.) I've seen references to 'bay rum' upthread, but that isn't something I've smelled before so I'm not entirely sure if that's the same sweet scent I'm getting. For lack of a better way of deciding it, it's just a very nice (and warm!) sweet scent.

Overall, I do agree that this is a rather masculine scent (though it does seem to end in something unisex). Through testing other scents, though, I've discovered I really do enjoy masculine scents. This one works very well for me, and I'm so glad to have snagged a bottle.