kythe

Perversion smells like sticky sweet white wine on me

Another vote for No. 93 Engine!

Dragon's Claw! I also don't smell dragon's blood in it. It's sort of luscious yet implicative of warm smooth sun-dried wood.

I loveee the vanilla in Antikythera Mechanism. Dark, spicy, enveloping, and not foody at all.

Well, the lab sent me a bunch of Steamworks frimps as an apology for forgetting to include something in a previous order and now all but one of my top five is from Steamworks. Love this collection. At first, No. 93 Engine smells like herbal cough drops, not-too-sweet lemon bars, and soft beeswax. As it dries, it morphs into something delicious and soft reminiscent of spicy chai tea with hints of honey, lemon, and sage. Very warm and relaxing. Metallics don't show up on my skin so this doesn't smell mechanical in the least.

Mmm, anise and sweet dusty incense blended nicely with energizing men's cologne. Once dry the cologne fades out to the point that you wouldn't think "cologne" upon sniffing, but it still retains a scent quality reminiscent of cologne. The anise and incense combined have a beautifully complex and intoxicating overall effect anchored by the leather (soft, well-worn, unobtrusive, NOT like Whip's rank black leather jacket), which is helping make this a "my skin but better" scent. It's unisex with masculine associations, which I love -- it doesn't actually smell manly, but some people might stereotypically associate leather and dustiness with masculinity. I amp sweetness so your mileage may vary. I was hoping for more metallic/oil notes since the machine oil smell of a metalworking shop is one of my favorite smells. Sadly they never showed up. This seems like a refined, steampunky, suave version of Perversion prior to getting trashed. Might deserve to get upgraded to a big bottle... The lab initially forgot to include my Robotic Scarab in an order. When I followed up, they not only shipped me the missing imp right away but added TWO free steamworks imps! Best. Customer service. Ever.

A lab freebie! Smells like honeydew bitten down to the rind over something musky. It's spicy, dark, salty, and fruity without being sweet (again, the rind, but not the fruit). Evocative of swimming several feet underwater and looking up at the surface. Another wonderful scent adventure that I wouldn't wear as a perfume.

Lab freebie! On my skin it smelled exactly like bitter chopped eggplant. The drydown was dominated by rubbing alcohol. Scrubbed

Initially, very sweet molasses. It turns spicy and sweet, reminiscent of cinnamon but more floral. The wood + honey combination is wonderful. But it keeps morphing to this weird rank candy smell. Like a combination of spoiled meat and caramel. Something about this freaks out on my skin. Too bad, I do love molasses

Euuuugh I'm getting hit over the head with peppered beef jerky. The cinnamon is attempting to claw through underneath. After 15 minutes it fades to a dirty and dusty take on cinnamon bark. I was hoping for cinnamon tea. To the swap pile!

Starts off as extremely sweet marzipan that morphs to a spicy mixture of rum and almond liquor. As it dries, it smells strongly of potpourri, and hints at Christmas. I was hoping the booze would stick around!

Sort of a tart hard candy that morphed into fruit gummies and faded very quickly.

I get spicy orange and chocolate over warm, sunny dirt. The dirt started to dominate during the drydown. Nothing appalling, just not my type.

Mmm, this really does smell like absinthe. Sadly my skin completely swallows it and I can barely smell it after five minutes. Swap pile.

The scents that have worked best on my skin so far are smoke, leather, tobacco, and rum. Opium den was the next logical step. On skin it's languid, druggy, mysterious, with a hint of sweetness. There's a smoky burnt charcoal edge to it that gets stronger for a while until it's almost drowned the rest out. After 20 min, the burnt charcoal recedes and I get more sweetness and a bit of soapy floral that I'm guessing from the other reviews is opium. I typically amp florals but this one is respectably faint, like I used lightly scented bodywash. A hint of incense spice is coming out. At 40 min, very faint. Mostly charcoal left. Blends with yet negates/contrasts my skin smell in such a way that the area I test swatched is like a void if I sniff closely. Not in love, but intrigued enough to keep the imp.

Lab freebie! Rose and honey fighting for dominance. Wow. This is my first experience with the lab's rose note and it is spectacular. Like plucking a big, plump, perfect fresh red rose and bruising the petals. I thought I amped florals but this rose is not too sweet or overwhelming at all. Just authentic. The honey fades out on me soon after application. Damn, it faded to a light rose baby powder after half an hour. I don't even like florals and I'm in love with this rose scent. Time to go hunting for a longer lasting alternative...

I had high hopes for this because BPAL's rum and tobacco both work gorgeously for me, and my shampoo has a coconut scent. But I'm getting a strong smell of dollar store ramen from this, the rum floating despairingly underneath. Salty rehydrated chicken broth and MSG. Is Elegba trolling me? Gotta assume it's the coconut for now

Well, this was in my first BPAL order and I found out I amp florals and powder like nobody's business. Basically, the dreaded grandma perfume syndrome. wet: A cross between grandma's powdery bathroom and scented Anthropologie candles. drydown: Wow! It's really evoking summery warmth. Bubblegum, sage, earth, and some muggy warm air. Despite that I'm still getting half old-lady-bathroom. 30 min: Back to candles. 2 hours: Subtle now. It's transformed to a pleasant, juicy sweetness. Like a scented soap. 6 hours: A faint hint of that fruity scent. Interesting but didn't work smoothly enough for me.

wet: Sweet floral air freshener. drydown: A deep, mature, flowery sweetness. Very strong. There's an incredibly fresh and complex smell unlike any floral perfume I've smelled, perhaps due to the magnolia. Intriguing but too flowery for my personal taste. If I continuously sniff long enough to desensitize to the flowers, the dirt comes out. Dirt! How does BPAL do it? 1 hour: The flowers are fading, leaving behind a boozy, edible vibe. 2 hours: The booze and dirt are now balanced nicely with the flowers! I could wear this. 3.5 hours: Faded to a generic middle aged woman's perfume. Damn. A fun experience but not something I'd wear. Swap.

Initially, this had a strong undertone of men's bodywash/shaving cream that I hated. When I came back and tried it again it was the darkest, spiciest vanilla bean imaginable, beautifully blended with tobacco. There is a warm fragrance similar to freshly cut/planed wood in a machine shop, but without any of the wood dust or machine oil smells. Just that woody smell. It sort of hints at smoky without actually being smoky, if that makes sense. Perhaps I just expect smoke to accompany tobacco and wood shavings. It's unisex with masculine associations, but does not actually make me smell manly. My first and still favorite BPAL scent. Whenever I put it on I unconsciously hyperventilate to inhale more. It's extremely cozy; almost sultry but not in a sexual way. Not great for concentration because it smells so damn wonderful and relaxing.