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In the old church, there was a back prayer room. In the corner there was a secret door to the crawl space under the stage- this scent smells like that space

Wet: opens with a heavy black inky cloud, very similar to India Ink. Boy describes it as “it feels like you’re opening the door to a place that hasn’t been opened in a very very long time”

early dry-down: the leather binding starts coming out. This is not a stiff leather, or a new leather- it’s the floppy soft binding of an old old parchment manuscript that’s been used and worn and loved.

late dry-down: on the boy it’s musty and leathery, fading nicely on the skin. On me, the ink makes a resurgence and sticks around.

Definitely in the vein of Two-Ply Bristol SN, Burning Book SN, India Ink SN

after getting a good feel for it- it’s almost the way I imagine the library of Alexandria might have smelled

In the bottle, this smells like the box of imps I keep on hand for responding to "BPAL? What's that?", or my first box of oils when I was trying everything and hadn't figure out my notes of love and hate yet. Everything- really truly.

 

I smell a little more like a minty-fruity-green and floral, though.

 

on: it's not unpleasant at all, but really is a mishmash. I don't get anything foody or earthy or dark at all though. it's staying with the red fruit/grapey type and a little herbal and a good dose of soft sweet flowers once dried down.

 

My theory is that I'm noticing those aspects most because those are the things I rarely ever put on my skin, so they are jumping out.

 

It's a crazy chameleon melange of a smell! I suspect this won't be going on my skin much, but I kind of really want to open the door when I get home at night and have this smell meet me.

I should preface my review by noting that I am a vetiver lover, and scents such as malediction and devils claw are among my favorites, along with a penchant for layering everything with the vetiver SN. I am also a heavy patchouli lover, so I was all kinds of excited to see the notes in this!

 

By the notes, this should be the most amazing thing on my skin. But it flopped for me.

 

Wet, it is a raw power with at least a 40 ft throw. But not a vetiver-power, or at least not the kind I would expect. I can smell the notes I love, but they are pungent as if they went to the gym 3x a day for a month and never once took a shower, then rubber their sweaty nethers on my nose. My dogs actually recoiled, and I did almost wash it off. But I'm nothing if not stubborn with a skin test.

 

Dry, same....

 

2 hours later, same...

 

8 hours later, THIS IS AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL AND STUNNING! I smell like a shadow of smoke and earth, a memory of fire and darkness. I am spirit, I am darkness, I am primeval beauty.

 

 

I have never had a vetiver/patch blend come off so foul on me. This also did have the strongest throw and lasting power of any oil I have tried, as I can still smell it on my skin 36 hours later. And it did turn beautiful and has stayed that way for at least 28 hours of it.... but those first 8?

 

Man. I just don't think it's gonna be worth those first 8 hours to me, unless I plan ahead and put it on before bed so the in-your-face can die down overnight.

Djinn is also nice for the smoke intense aspect

As a provider I wear only skin-scents with low throw, which on me are generally musks, resins, woods. As a patient if I know I need something particular, I usually reach for TALs first- things like fortitude and healing. Embalming Fluid is one of my go-to scents for general office type things medical

I was really looking forward to this one!

 

wet: it started out as a sweet, soft evergreen forest with golden mist. So beautiful, so promising- reminding me of my beloved Hamadryad, actually.

 

15 minutes later, dry: I want to cry. All the beautiful notes, and I love them, and they turned to Play-Doh on my skin! Play-Doh, I tell you! *sobs* I really want it to work for me so I'm going to try again during my time of month- how can these wonderful notes DO this to me?

Mod Note on review topic location: From BPAL's FB page: "...our con exclusives include a set of brand new Wig Sprays (in the style of our atmo/linen sprays)..."

In the bottle, Red Wig is straight up red musk. The complexities only started showing on dry down when I spritzed my sheets. The smoke isn't gritty really- it is more the smell of an all-nighter in a club, wafting hints of smoke, definite boozy note, and yes- makeup. i didn't actually love it completely in the bottle but it is really growing on me!

 

Not a note similarity at all necessarily, but it has a little of the "feel" or a similar vibe to what I got from F54. Only musky instead of juicy, if that makes any sense.

My take on this one is that it smells very very much like a Velvet Unicorn atmo. Candy pink fluff!

Brilliantly pink and bubbly, sugary-sweet and tangy. The head of fizz on this is filling my nose with bubbles. It has a wonderful lasting power and throws attitude everywhere around it.

sometimes the simplest things are the best. A grapefruit juice mimosa is exactly perfect.

I've skin tested this several times trying to figure out why it smells so familiar to me. It isn't exactly a "me" scent, but is so so pretty. I did side by side testing with xkcdl13, with antique lace, with Celeste.

 

It is un-lavendered TKO on me. Vanilla TKO. Sweet and pillowy and soothing, in a vanilla version. TKO on the other arm agrees.

Another Tobacco SN- I had to get it!

Where French Tobacco SN was heavy, sweet, and chewy, almost to the point of being foody on me, Bulgarian Tobacco is lighter, drier, almost a little smoky- still sweet but in a light softness rather than a caramelized feel.

This smells like walking into an excellent cigar and pipe shop, the dry but rich smell wafting from the humidor and the familiar comfort of popping the top off a jar of loose pipe tobacco.

I kind of adore it!

I was so hopeful for this one, but alas, it is not to be. In the imp I can smell that soft leather and vanilla and a wee bit of rose, so.... on to the skin

 

 

and....

 

 

 

ROSE ROSE ROSE single note ROSE! It obliterated all the beautiful complexity, and did not change one bit from the moment of application to an hour later when I had to wash it off. ohhhh well. I just can't wear rose notes without smelling like a florist shop.

I bought a bottle blind, and I'm so glad I did!

 

Wet, this is a sibling to Haute Macabre with patch, leather, and sweet almond. Also reminiscent of Badgers.

 

On dry down, the almond faded away and I was left with a soft, earthy leather that clung close to my skin. Low throw, and crosses that magical line from "that smells good" to "you smell good".

 

30 hours later, hot shower water hit the application points, and what wafted up then had faded on any identifiable notes, softly mineral ... The same kind of mineral note I got from black opal with a lighter touch and kinnabari with a lot more of it. I had actually forgotten about applying this until I figured out what that amazing scent was from. Yes, I stayed in the shower as long as I could for the smell!

 

Definitely a morpher on me, and every stage was glorious. I'm going to need more.

I get.... COFFEE. coffee coffee coffee, with some chocolate underneath. It is SO strong, I can't get it out of my nose- and those are both death notes for me. It's actually making me feel a little ill from being so overpowering.

 

Can't win em all... and this one hates me.

ETA: found The Inn being sold here http://www.bpal.org/topic/82867-velvets-rare-finds-emporium-a-series-of-important-updates/

Red Lantern gives me that impression. and then there is that RPG atmo spray "The Inn"...

I had to wear this one two days in a row to get a good feel for it. It goes on wet with a gritty patchouli blackness- the "dark and dirty" I associate with #occupywallstreet. That fades fairly quickly, leaving a black shadowy darkness. As soon as it starts drying, what shows up?

Juicy pink and red, plump and rich and full. It is lush and shining almost - or would be if the darkness weren't layered on top.

As the pink unfolds to a deep ruddy juicy- blackness sits right on top. So all day I would catch just little flashes of that, hiding behind the steady, sweet shadow that hangs on the skin. Medium throw although I wore it light, lasted about 9 hours for me.

This is very definitely appropriate to the name: the black bar covering up the juicy naughty bits!


Verdict from me: A darker, more contrasted and nuanced relative of Phantom Calliope. And I think I just might love it.

This may possibly be, if not the single best BPAL on me ever, definitely in my top ten. I am sad that it was limited to 100 bottles. That's going to make it a holy grail scent for me that's going to be hard to get more of!

 

This is the most incredible blackness I have ever worn. It slips and slithers in whispering shadows over my skin, with a sleek and smooth sensation. Vetiver and opoponax are my magical notes, that start strong and bold, then melt into a shadow of my own skin-scent. This has that essence, but the mandarin-mint-salt lightening it gives it a memory of Spider, which is what I go to as my professional/power scent. This allows me to be appropriate for the office, and still embrace my secret shadow-self.

 

Wet, it is fierce and strong and bold. Whatever it sees, it conquers.

 

Dry, it whispers. Remember, you are powerful, you are strong, you are dark and beautiful. And as the lighter and brighter hints make themselves more apparent- the blackness clings to me like wet silk beneath.

 

 

 

Verdict: I will wear this and love it. And wear it more. And when I have none left, I shall weep.

To me, this is the bath oil version of El Dia De Los Reyes. Sweet, cinnamon cocoa. Also reminiscent of Underbed, but heavy on the hot chocolate scent.

 

Nommy!

Editing!

 

Now: I have one bottle from the first release and two from following releases. I'm doing a side-by-side just to see if there is a difference. There is.

 

First release:

While wet, impressions of a slightly dusty, dirty essence to me- the same as climbing dripping wet out of a swimming hole and lying down on a wet rock in the sun. A little wet, a little mineral, a little dirty and musky. It evokes a really strong scent memory to me.

 

Dry it is a grey powder that lingers faintly, with a soft whisper of tobacco and smokey sandalwood- dusty and old and lovely.

 

Second release:

Wet: oh, watery! heavy on the ambergris, with the other notes taking a back seat.

 

Dry: The balance seems flipped from the first, with the immortelle and benzoin front and center and ambergris backing them up- shadows of the more earthy notes.

 

They are definitely not separate scents, but the balance is shifted somehow- whether by formulation or by aging, I don't know. I'll probably test again in a few months to see if the second release ages into what the first currently is. If it doesn't, I'll let those ones go and just keep the one.

Yesssss. This is simply stunning. And for me also, it wars with Sin for the most loved. This is for me, both comforting and inspiring, and I love it to death. I have waist-length thick hair and have been loving this- it's the red musk that is delicate enough to be work-safe, but dramatic enough to keep me in a happy place as long as I am wearing it. I only wish I could have gotten a bit more.

In the bottle and wet on my arm, I actually made my "ew, why did I get this again?" face. It was all - stale tobacco in a rusted tin, maybe?

 

But once it's dry? ohhhhhhh. Oh, my. I don't get any orange here at all. This is a lovely licorice, faint and light, much like Le Pere Fouettard. It clings to darkness and shadows, heavy and dragging, and more than a little evil. The tobacco is tempered by the musk and myrrh to give an aura of sweet, heavy darkness and candied whispers. This has made me all but swoon.

 

Here's the thing- tobacco notes usually hate me. French Tobacco SN was horrid on my skin. This, unlike almost any other tobacco note ever, works. It blooms and blends into a whole scent experience where the notes are nearly indistinguishable from one another. If you're someone for whom tobacco doesn't usually work, and you liked Le Pere Fouettard for its dark licorice, you may love this.

For me this is mostly anise. Which is great, because I love anise, licorice, absinthe and such. It make me think of a pomander ball with star anise in place of clove, and a little bit of smokiness.

 

It is bright and warm and comforting and invigorating all at once, and I want to surrender to it and sink down into a cloud of this, close my eyes, and surrender to vivid, vibrant visions in my slumber.

This one on me started out REALLY pungent. Almost unpleasantly so, and I suspect that was the balsams. I was about ready to discount it- but you know... always give it a chance. And then I started reacting to it- a bright red spot on my skin for about 10 minutes, which is odd since I regularly wear inferno, uranus, autumn cider, and such things known for reactions. That calmed down. And so did that first blast of WHOA!

 

And now I like it. A LOT. All dried down 30 minutes later, this is a dry, woodsy, cinnamon resin. It reminds me of Egg Moon and TAL Exodus Anointing Oil. There isn't any sweetness to it at all really, but it's also not "oh, hello spice!" like walking into a spice shop. It's more of a dry desert scent.

 

So I strongly dislike the wet stage on this, but the level of gorgeous that comes with the dry-down makes that half hour completely worth it. This is one that I really want to see how it ages, also. I suspect that it is going to be even better with some time in my cool, dark, aging drawer.

The leather-lover in me just fainted dead away. It kind of reminds me of Captain Cully a little. a soft and woodsy suede.

It reminds me more of my dad. I finally found my blend that is exactly my reminder of dad smell. This smells like his sunday suede jacket that he kept hung in the closet with a block of sandalwood in the hanger and cedar on the shelf above with his ties. So the fact that this is a "Dad" smell inherently means leather and wood- which is freaking delicious!

Saint germain smells like his skin+aftershave. So the two (which I just had to smell together right now) are exactly the smell I remember from cuddling up against him and dozing off with his arm around me during sermons on sundays growing up.


I don't see myself wearing this all the time because I don't necessarily want to pull out that scent memory on a daily basis, but I will not ever be giving this up. There will forever be a decant of this in my box of treasured memories in smell.