The Bow & Crown of Conquest

[VioletChaos]

Nobility and haughtiness befitting the Antichrist: sage, carnation and cedar with lavender, vanilla, white musk and leather.

in the imp: a light, citrus-driven men's 'cologne' sort of smell. reminds me faintly of Black Lace in it's men-association.

wet on skin: the citrus sweetens up just a pinch.

dry down: the leather and vanilla and carnation have all taken over making this blend smell *exactly* like the original formulation of the Body Shop's sandalwood oil :swoon:

in all: a beautiful all-gender fragrance, date-worthy in all the best ways!

[soonyi]

first sniff: I saw lavender and immediately thought I would not like it but the leather is very strong and sorta sexy. I like it.

 

WET: the leather is so true, it is so fucking sexy! The cedar is barely there, supportive along with the sage and carnation all detectable but none of them in your face. there is also a pleasant sweetness to the overall blend. if there is lavender in it, i cant smell it cos the lab's lavender is wholly unkind to me (kinda like diaper ointment)

 

DRY: sexy leather, tinged by the sage (and its not a foody sort of sage, thankfully) mostly. all the other notes are there supportively but this is a definite bottle purchase!!

[Josh]

I got this as a frimp from another forum member and was completely taken aback by just how good it is. The description contains notes I usually don't go for but this smells like Morocco meets Black Lace.. like a spicier version of Black Lace. It seems to have an almost 'regal' feel to it, very refined and stately. An earlier reviewer called it "gentle and noble", and I would say that's right on the mark. I really like this a lot.

[galleywest]

Revelations, 6.2a

 

6.2a: And the lamb offered to the horseman an imp of perfume, at which he did smirk, saying, "Yea, what girly-ness be this?" And the lamb, offended, did fling it down to where I did pick it up.

 

6.2b: I opened it, and it smelt of wonderous smoke and leather. "It is an accessory to the Bow and Crown," said the lamb, "for thou shalt be scented sexy whilst becoming victorious."

 

6.2c: He indicated I should try it out, and I did so, applying to my wrists as the beasts looked on, counting the notes as they emerged:

 

6.2d: The first to appear was the leather, for this was the soft, smoky scent. The second to appear was the vanilla, and this was sweet and soft. The next to appear was the carnation, which lent a spicy edge to the mix. The last to appear was the white musk, which agreeth with mine skin chemistry and smelt lovely, soft, and sweet.

 

6.2e: Upon the drydown, these notes remained prominent, and the leather burst forth eventually, claiming dominance over the scent as a whole. The vanilla stayeth in the running, and was delightful.

 

6.2f: And the lamb did say to me, "Not bad, right?" To which I replied, "Smells a bit like Perversion." And the lamb smiled and nodded, at which point I was smited for being frivolous whilst the world was ending.

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, The Bow and Crown of Conquest is sage, cedar, musk, leather, and vanilla. Dry, it's cedar and vanilla over musk. The lavender doesn't show at all, which is good since it doesn't always work on me. This is absolutely gorgeous.

[Greensleeves]

In the bottle: lavendar, cedar, sage and vanilla

 

Wet, on me: vanilla, carnation, cedar, leather

 

Dry, on me: leather, vanilla, sage, cedar

 

Dry, half an hour later: leather, vanilla, cedar, spice

 

Initially didn't like this upon first try, but it may be a keeper after all.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: The cedar and carnation stand in the foreground, making this seem rather sharp.

 

On me: Wet, the cedar spikes like it tends to on my skin. On drydown, though, the leather, vanilla and lavender do show up in the background. This is so perfectly blended that, once it's dry, I can barely tell the different notes apart anymore. It's rugged, but slightly sweet, it has a hint of floral without being remotely girly... I like!

 

It also seems to have decent wearing length, which is always a plus.

 

This one is going on my bottle list... it doesn't have high priority, but it definitely belongs on there.

[tativa]

wow, this one really surprised me. I was going through my imps trying to decide which to get rid of and was all 'I'll just try thing one on once..."

 

its pretty amazing... a non-foodie wulric.

 

Must try it on the man. It will smell amazing!

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Vanilla and leather with something herby and spicey

 

On Application

This immediately puts out sage and vanilla with a little kick of lavender. Very nice.

 

Dry Down

Wow. The leather and musk with the spicey carnation make an awesome combination in the initial drydown stages. The sage gives a sweaty muskiness. Very, very manly. The term "sultry" has been used in some of the reviews and I concur. Sex in a bottle!

 

Rating (0-5)

5

[diamondstars]

I poured an imp of this into my bath and instantly regretted it as I quite like it! I can definitely smell leather and mens' cologne, but it's somehow wearable in a feminine way too.

 

[GeorgeJr]

Great Cesar's Ghost ! This is the real deal here folks This is the reason that I'm here , loving the BPAL like I never thought I would love any kind of perfumes / cologne . While I'm aware that there are flower notes in this ( carnation & lavender ) , I feel they be being used more as a balancer for the other more pronounced ingredients . The main notes I get from this are the leather , cedarwood , vanilla & the musk . I'm not sure about the sage , as I have little experience with it . While I probably would say this in slightly more masculine , I do feel it would work quite nicely on most anyone . It has a good throw & makes me want to sniff myself all day long . As the day goes by , the leather & musk are the notes that stay with me the most . This is a sweet scent in all the right ways . Just perfection in a bottle .

[greenranger]

Well blended, on me. I can't really pick out notes on this one even though most of those notes are familiar to me.

 

Drying, there is a short while where the leather stands out, but, then everything blends together again. It's an elegant dress up perfume, to me, rather than something I'd pick out to put on on any ordinary day.

 

I do hope that it continues to behave on me, because sometimes sage goes out of control on my skin and clobbers everything else. So far, though, the scent is still very well blended, three hours in. This may be because most of the listed notes are things that tend to really like my skin and linger a long time.

[porcelina]

the cedar and vanilla make this kinda tombstone-y at first, and the sage stays blissfully hidden away. and oooh, the musk and leather come out nicely. i very much like the bow and crown of conquest. i think i might like it even more on my boyfriend.

[cam]

I definitely get the cedar and vanilla from this, with a touch of leather. A little cinnamon too; there's some spiciness. Had my husband try it first, and he found it a bit too generic-men's-cologne. Like, "Oh, it's men's cologne. That's nice." It's just not very interesting on him. On me, it's spicy and complex at first, and I had high hopes for it, but then it kind of disappears.

[Ohmaude]

In the vial this smells of sage, cedar and a hint of vanilla, but once it touches my skin this is all leather, all the time. It smells so good, but is giving me some gender-identity issues. I kind of want to have sex with the man-version of me. Ahem.

 

In conclusion, this is amaaaaaazing, and I think I'm going to sneak-attack my special man-friend with the imp and then have my way. This is, not, however, how I want to smell myself. Bow and the Crown is fuckin' sexy, damn. If you are a man or into masculine scents and reading this, take note.

Ohmaude rating: Oh.man. (in the literal sense)

[AthenaRose]

I'm stealing this from my fiancé because it smells better on me. He actually told me that it smells very feminine on me (yay!)

 

The Bow & Crown of Conquest is one of the first blends i've tried that has cedar in it that doesn't go strongly cedar on me. Initially, i'm reminded of Dorian, with the vanilla/musk, but i can smell something herby (the sage?) and a sweet creamy spicy florals (carnation/lavender) with the saltyness of the leather holding it all down. And the cedar is in there, complimenting the other notes, and not stealing center stage like it normally does. It all blends together so well.

 

 

He's not getting this one back, haha.

 

4/5

[sunflowereyes]

Frimp in my last order.

 

In Vial: I smell mostly lavender & leather. It made me scrunch my nose a little, but I was determined to look past that & try it properly.

 

Wet: Very leathery and musky! It is very masculine to my nose....if I had a guy I would slather him in this stuff & proceed to do very naughty things. So sexy.

 

Drydown: As it dries, the vanilla begins to peek its head out & turns this blend into a slightly sweet, musky leather. I am also beginning to get some random wafts of carnation. I quite like the way it ended up on me & am glad I didn't write it off as being 'too masculine' for my tastes. (Still want to find a guy to slather this on, though! )

 

ETA: The longer I've been wearing this, the more I am loving it. The Lab has really been outdoing themselves w/ my frimps in this past order...each one I've tried so far has been a hit!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2008 by sunflowereyes

[quigza]

This is a special Alicia vs Judy review! I am Alicia & I'll be posting our reviews

 

Alicia (me):

general review- This smelled fruity at first on me. Then...after drying, it smelled of confectioner's sugar. Then a couple hours later... sugar & something else.. maybe a little vanilla & spice.

Judy:

General review- Frankincense & fruit! Frankincense! More frankincense! Still, frankincense.

 

Edit to add: I tried this again today &it's morphed into something a little more sensible. I can smell the vanilla & leather. It's a nice combination. There's also a bite of sage. But, there's still an oddly fruity smell in there at the start.

This time around the sage irritated my skin a little

 

One more note. the musk does not come out at all on me in this. This is weird. Musk is usually amped on me.

Edited September 9, 2008 by Lemonlife

[crebbsgirl]

The Bow & Crown of Conquest made its way onto my big bottle list almost immediately after I opened my imp. In the bottle, it's a deep masculine scent and once I swipe some on my wrists I am in heaven. The vanilla and leather combine to form this awesome comfy scent that just makes me want to curl up on the couch with a fuzzy blanket and a good book. The lavender never came out for me, which was mildly disappointing but somehow, the scent made up for it. This is a warm and cozy scent, but I would not recommend it for someone looking for a conventional perfume.

[iiinterstate]

in the imp I smell mostly leather, which I love.

 

Wet on my skin it's leather and white musk, which I also love. It seems vaguely masculine at this point... I'm hoping the other notes will come out a bit and even things out.

 

After a few minutes of patient waiting, this dries down into a GORGEOUS leather/vanilla blend. I did almost think it was going to be too manly for me, but wrong! It took a little while, but the lavender and carnation amp up just enough to make this perfect. I need a bottle. I bet this will be spectacular aged as well.

[femmefatale]

In the imp it smells somewhat unisex so both hubby and I tried it.

 

On us both it briefly starts the same but morphs differently.

 

On hubby it's mostly musk, leather, with a bit of cedar and very lightly herbal? Sage or lavender??

 

On me it's leather, vanilla, with a bit of musk and the very *barest* hint of lavender (I think).

 

This is a beautiful scent and I love how we can both wear it while still being unique on each of us.

Edited August 31, 2008 by Femme_Fatale

[rayvn1]

Yeeeeeessss!!! Phew, I finally broke my mini string of "imps that didn't quite like my chemistry". This smells like smoky, leathery goodness Incredibly sexy! I think I may need to slather because it's very light. Not much throw right now at all. It's so intimately good though. Something sweet cropping up now. Doesn't whack me gently in the face with it's sexy dominance like Perversion does, but I know I smell good even if others can't smell it!

 

Such a keeper! Thank you frimp goddess! You broke the mini streak

[caffinatedangel]

In my most recent testings of new imps, I've stopped being an over-the-top critic and just sort of decided if I like them or not, lol.

 

The VERY first imp from BPAL I ever tried was Dee. Bow & Crown of Conquest is, to me, the female equivalent to Dee. Dee is masculine, a lot. It has a lovely man-pit smell

 

I was weary of trying Bow&Crown because of all the floral/herbal notes. Sage, Carnation, lavender? I dislike florals strongly, so put off trying this despite everyone saying that if I loved Dee, I'd love this. Finally I caved and gave it a try.

 

It's absolutely gorgeous. It's my new favorite scent. It's the same delicious Leather in dee. While dee has rosewood and leather, Bow has cedar and leather. Giving it a similar earthy(that wood scent. I fail at describing it. lol) gorgeous base, but instead of having more masculine notes it's softened by the white musk and herbal notes. However, they just soften it and don't overwhelm. They stayed in a lovely balance for me.

 

Of course, Vanilla is a strong contender as well, and delicious. (similar to Dee which has tonka, a spicy vanilla). Vanilla has shown it has a tendency to go sour and bitter on my skin, and so it was another reason I was weary, but in this blend it acted more like Tonka. That is, it was a slow bloomer on my skin but once it bloomed, it settled in perfectly and lasted for hours in a mellow but slightly tangy glow.

 

If you were like me, and weary of the floral notes, don't be. This is one of the most perfect leather blends. It's completely wearable on a daily basis, and also very gender neutral. (Only the feminine version of Dee, because Dee is so overtly masculine. Although it can be pulled off by women too) - This scent is gorgeous and sexy on women, and gorgeous and sexy on men.

 

This review is hardly helpful, lol. But I'm in love. I'll be begging for a bottle or two of this comes Christmas.

 

It has excellent throw - that is not too overwhelming, but not underwhelming either. Just a swipe of the tester and I'm set for the day. It lasted well on me (leather always has a lingering scent for me anyways) and when I worked out, the heat/sweat made it re-bloom. How gorgeous and relaxing while in the midst of stress.

 

A win, now I see why everyone pushed me in this scents direction when I mention liking leather. <3

Edited September 21, 2008 by CaffinatedAngel

[kjirstiben]

The Bow and Crown of Conquest... ahhh, reading through the reviews here, now it all makes sense. I had missed (forgotten about?) the leather note in here and wondered what it was I was smelling...

 

Initially on, this scent is very sweet--carnations and vanilla--but immediately the cedar starts to take over and it spends an hour smelling of freshly sharpened pencils (personally, I rather like this, but it can be a touch overwhelming just at first). Oddly, from farther away, it's all vanilla, but up close to my wrist I smell the cedar. This cedar/vanilla combination is reminding me a bit of Tombstone...

 

But then, as it dries all the way down (by a couple hours in), what I get is a smooth musky scent--actually I think this is the leather--with a wood backdrop. There is still sweetness, but it's no longer a vanilla sweetness; it's more of a musky/sweet warmth.

 

The scent stays with me throughout the day... even 14 hours after putting it on, it was a resiny, leathery, musky scent with a faint underlying woodiness.

 

A smoother, more polished version of what is rough-hewn and rustic in Tombstone, I think... I like it quite well, though I'm going to need to figure out what moods this will suit...

[milo]

I've been wanting to try this one for a long time, and I got frimped two from some lovely forumites This is such a great dude scent, I definitely get the cedar and musk, but am having a hard time picking out the other notes. On reading what's in here, they are scents that I love, so I'm not surprised that this one is fabulous for me. A little too masculine for me to wear, but my s.o will definitely be bombarded with this baby.