No. 93 Engine

[blackdove]

Balm of Gilead, benzoin, frankincense, balsam of peru, beeswax, saffron, galbanum, calamus, hyssop, mastic, lemon balm, and white sage.

This is screaming chaos in the imp. I can't believe I hated it when I first opened it, but I did--it was just this hot assault on my nose.

*nod* Same. I had to quote this because your description's so perfect -- a "hot assault." The smell was initially so sharp that I was afraid to try it on my skin. I thought it'd come on too strong and then be impossible to wash off!

Glad I did though -- I can't really say more than what's been said. The sparking hot zinginess mellows out as the beeswax warms; the honey ages it years in minutes; the combination of herbs and sweetness is somehow richly comforting and whole. I even wish it had a little bit more throw and lasted a little bit longer.

I put it in my bath, too, and its hot steam smelled wonderful. Transformed my bathroom into something more spacious and rustic than it really is.

This is the first BPAL oil I've had that is cloudy in the bottle, though. I held the bottle to the light and noticed that the heaviest components are a darker color than the rest of the oil and were sitting at the bottom, so I rolled the bottle in my hands and shook it slightly to mix it up. The result smelled the same but went cloudy. I hope that's what it's supposed to do -- it may have been "refrigerated" on its snowy way to me this week!

[acidrica]

Oh~ yeah. There's the white sage. Delicious, delicious white sage. Even though this has 'lemon balm' in it, I can't smell any citrus at all. Just delicious beeswax, sage, and resins. This has really good throw, and reminds me of amber tubes and churning engines. With incense. It's really, really nice. It's very hot in the way it smells. Mmmmm.

[krissstephens]

it has a bite to it, and a smokiness on my skin, reminds me of gunpowder laced with a very complex cinnamon

Edited January 5, 2009 by Kristana

[shinkouhyou]

Oh, this is definitely one that's temperature-sensitive. On one wrist, I get peppery white sage and the clean smell of hyssop, but on the wrist that's been resting on the warm laptop, the sweetness of the honey and resin really comes through. After ten minutes or so, the "warm" side is a faint but beautifully blended balsam with hints of vanilla and something metallic, while the "cold" side is still very herbal and much stronger. This smells like a warm kitchen! I love it!

[kjirstiben]

Wow! I love this scent! I wore it two days in a row and can barely pry my nose off it long enough to write a review.

 

It goes on sharp and peppery (that's the frankincense), and as it dries down it's still sharp and peppery, but it's also metallic and sweet. There's a certain honeyed almost-sweetness that is the beeswax--I love this note!

 

After a couple hours, I had a momentary scare--it seemed to be going sour on me! However, the scent regrouped and reemerged in its final stages.

 

In its end stages, this is quite subdued, compared to its sharp, spiky beginning. The brightness of the scent has been softened, and the whole thing mellows out. It's a very nice finish, though I prefer the early hours of POW! that I got with this.

 

UPDATE (Jun 2010) - this scent is in my top ten, with good reason. I've worn it both on my skin and in a scent locket (it stays sharper and stronger there) and it's wonderful. I think aging it has made it even better, too. I may need a backup bottle (or three...)

Edited June 17, 2010 by kjirstiben

[Seismogenic]

I've had good luck with the Steamworks scents so far, and since I'd heard only the best things about this one, I decided to give it a sniff at Will Call, where I found it immediately impworthy. I'm coming into this review with high expectations, but also plenty of evidence that those expectations will be met!

 

In the imp: Warm beeswax with a vaguely lemony resinous tang.

 

Wet on skin: The beeswax is still the dominant note, sort of binding together everything else. The lemony aspect is fading, but something herbier is starting to come out.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry is about the same as wet, though with even less lemony and more herbs. The scent has definitely grown stronger in the drying process. At one hour in, it has strengthened even further and melded into a wonderful warm beeswax-resin-herb thing that, even though there isn't any actual metallic note listed, smells like gleaming gold or brass looks.

 

Five hours later: About the same balance as at the one hour mark, and not even that much fainter.

 

End of the day: The resins and herbs have disappeared, but there's still a good showing of warm beeswax left.

 

Overall: I totally understand why No. 93 Engine is so popular! It is a gorgeous scent, positively luminescent. I stand by what I said about how it smells how gleaming brass or gold looks. The beeswax blends everything together smoothly, though the resinous and herby aspects do stand out enough to keep this from being straight beeswax. It also has good throw (as far as I could tell), extremely long wearlength, and did I mention that it smells amazing? Definitely a keeper! No question.

[pinkpoodle]

I loooove this. It's a lot like a beeswax candle--warm, mellow, sweet. It would make a good room scent, too.

[Seadreamer]

OH... MY... GOD...

 

After reading the reviews, I knew I had to try this, even though the frankincence in it worried me. (Sometimes it hates me) And there was a moment when it went sharp and strong and I was absolutely devestated. That lasted about 10 minutes and then this scent turned into something so amazing it's hard to put it into words. My advice? Go, read all those reviews of people who are better at this than I am, and take them to heart. This is an AMAZING warm, just-sweet-enough, smokey, incense-y, beeswax-y congolmeration of utter perfection. This is different from every other BPAL scent that has worked for me so far, and I am utterly and overwhelmingly in love. I will be ordering a big bottle and my earliest (financial) opportunity.

[madmmx]

The notes in this one really intrigued me. After reading the reviews, I decided I needed to try an imp. The Engine makes me go all orgasmic and floaty! In the imp and on my skin, this is a mouthwatering, mind blowing blend of effervescent herbs, smooth lemon curd, and golden sweet beeswax. After a few hours, the metallic note quietly comes forward, and No 93 Engine morphs into creamy beeswax and shiny copper pipes.

 

Normally I'm a dark & spicy scent kind of girl, but I couldn't help but fall in love with this! It's energizing, spunky, and luxurious all in one! Will def be picking up a bottle or two!

[sunshinedaisybliss]

 

Like many others have said, I had no idea what many of the notes in No. 93 Engine smell like on their own.. it was the beeswax and frankincense that enticed me to want a bottle, which found its way to me via the sales page of the lovely SavageRose.

 

Now that I have it on my skin, I still have no idea what many of the notes in No. 93 Engine smell like on their own, but I don't care. I'm getting a beautiful warm and golden honey luxurious loveliness.. like novak69 said - this is sunshine in a bottle. It stays very close to my skin - I don't think it has a strong throw but I know it's there because every now and then I catch a waft of it.

 

A lovely soft and subtle blend that's so natural and non-perfumey.. I could wear it all day every day and people wouldn't realise I have perfume on.. they'd just think I have been gifted with extraordinarily nice smelling skin.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Kind of medicinal but sweet and warm – like some sort of cough sweet

 

Wet on me – It starts off like cola flavouring (not cola itself, but the stuff that’s in fizzy cola bottle sweets), but immediately it begins to harden as the woods come though

 

Dry on me – Weirdly, a kind of warm, bitter chocolate with a kind of woody edge

 

Overall – I think I’m going to have to give this one some thought, because frankly getting chocolate out of those notes is a bit odd

 

[forspecial_plate]

No. 93 Engine is pretty interesting. It starts out very herbal with resins and a very appealing, light beeswax note. I was a little wary of any kind of honey note, but the beeswax is actually really nice. I can definitely smell the frankincense, too.

 

Overall, this reminds me a lot of Minotaur, with maybe less resins and more herbs, but a very similar golden and glowing feeling. After a long while, this scent does veer towards something sweet and powdery that reminds me of honey, but isn't quite the same. It is really interesting and something that I would consider wearing again. I like it much more in the first 30 minutes or so, as opposed to the long dry-down, but it's definitely worth holding onto. If I end up giving it away, it's because it's a little too close to honey for my taste, and also I already have Minotaur which I think smells like this.

 

Edit: I forgot to mention, when I first put this on and it's still wet, I get a little bit of 'fizzy cola' scent, kind of like Schwarzer Mond. I wonder if there is some oppoponax in this?

Edited February 3, 2009 by Forspecial Plate

[QueenFae]

Sharp, penetrating, and mildly metallic. This does remind me of giant gears and machinery. When first applied it is very, VERY strong and zingy sharp. After a little while it dries into something softer. There is still a sharp edge, maybe the frankincense, lemon and balsam, but the beeswax turns almost powdery and soft.

 

An interesting scent, but not quite my thing.

[Tracelina]

This is...fascinating. In the bottle (purchased from someone in the forum), it smells like orange creamsicle soda. When I first put it on, it smelled like ginger ale. No joke. I even shoved my arm under the SO's nose to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Now, maybe 15 minutes later, it smells like, resiny, peppery ginger beer, plus the amazing incense that sometimes lingers in the air of occult shops. It's delicious. I'm so glad I took a chance and got a bottle of this! It's absolutely the beeswax I was hoping for in Ichabod Crane, but didn't get. It's incredibly complex and unlike anything else I've smelled, BPAL or otherwise.

 

As a side note: I just added a layer of Antikythera Mechanism on top of the place I'd applied No. 93 Engine. Steampunk magic!

 

 

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

This is a really weird, compelling smell...Ginger ale???...and beeswax candles??? Yup! Ginger ale and beeswax candles. It's more complex than that, though...I also get hints of all the other notes swirling around in there. Frankincense. Resins and incense. Spice. Sugar.

 

Not unpleasant at all, but...strange and beautiful! This is so unique and gorgeous - my favorite so far of the Steamworks line! A real winner, and a big bottle purchase, for sure!

[cometgirl21]

I was frimped this by a generous forumite and I've been hearing so much about it, I couldn't wait to try it out. In the imp this smells like lemon. On me, it stays pretty much the same. It smells like the Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger tea. I'm definitely going to be keeping the imp and would consider a bottle when I run out. I see this as a nice summer scent.

[catatonic1242]

In the bottle: Spicy and smoky, with just the barest peep of something softly lemony in the background.

 

On, wet: I'm getting something that almost smells like black pepper and lemon.

 

On, dry: Engine oil and incense. And... lemon Pledge?

[tziporra]

Got this imp as a freebie from the lab.

 

In the vial: Sweet and herbal. I have to try this one before anything else, but I'm not optimistic because herbal scents are generally too green on me. I haven't read any of the reviews, BTW.

 

On: All sage for the first couple of minutes. Then.... smoke. Sweet sweet smoke. Is the engine a fire engine? A. MAY. ZING. Sweet and warm and smoky. Like wearing a sage smudging stick, but entwined with honey and incense.

 

I MUST HAVE A 5ML OF THIS RIGHT NOW.

 

Love.

 

Tzi

[freneticfloetry]

In the bottle: This is sharp. Reminds me of a blend I've smelled before, but my brain can't pinpoint exactly what because my eyes are tearing.

 

Wet: WOOD. Peppered, vaguely metallic wood. This is all balsam and a dash of pepper when wet on me (damn you, skin chemistry, and your tendency to amp anything remotely tree-like!) and suddenly I know what this reminded me of in the bottle - Doc Buzzard. On, it's kind of the Doc meandering through Tombstone. Strange. And overpowering. And did I mention woody? I cannot smell the oil for the trees.

 

Drydown: Hmmm. Something... interesting is happening. It's still screaming wood, but the pepper has given way to herbal and there's something sweet in there putting up one hell of a fight. Could the beeswax be a contender?

 

Dry: Oh wow. I could cry right now. The beeswax and frankincense (and a whiff of lemon that comes and goes) have chopped down the evil trees - they're still littering the forest floor, but this is so much more resinous than I ever would've thought it could be. Smoky and a little sweet, with the tang of lemon and lumber behind it.

 

I've found a woodsy blend I can wear!

[ealasaid86]

In the bottle: I'm getting lit beeswax candles.

 

On my wrist: No beeswax just frankincense. I now have a smokey, incense covered wrist.

 

Verdict: I was hoping that the beeswax would stick around because I love it so much. I don't care for incense heavy scents so this is going into my swaps.

 

[fiddledragon]

In the imp: sharp and herbal and sliightly alcoholic

 

Wet: mmm...sage and honey and lemon balm, and maybe the saffron spicing it up a bit. I smell like an awesome spice cabinet. Normally herbal things go weird on me and lemon-anything takes over, but this is *lovely*.

 

Dry: Still mostly sage and lemon balm, with the honey keeping it from going too dry. This is a close cousin of Dee and Succor on me, only without Dee's leather or Succor's olive oil. That same hot, dry, sweet spice. It makes me feel happy and clear-headed. I can't wait for the saffron and resins to age a bit!

[batsy]

I'm quite excited to try this, as it was a frimp from the Lab with my order. I didn't think I'd ever try this collection.

 

In the vial: Lemon Pledge but with a metallic tang. And a heavy dose of sage.

 

On the skin: Yow, way too much sage for me. I barely get much else, except lemons and benzoin. On the dry down the frankincense was stronger then the sage and it had kind of a dusty smell, making the back of my throat burn. As intriguing as it sounded, and as interesting for what it triggers for mental images (I don't know why I'm thinking of the time-traveling train from the 3rd Back to the Future movie but I am) I just doesn't work for me.

[riflmom]

This was my first bottle purchase -

Wet it's quite sharp and metallic. But on dry-down the beeswax comes through to mellow it down a bit. I don't get a hint of lemon. Love the sharpness of the sage!

Makes me want to go build something!

[Jenn2D2]

In the vial: sharp, tangy scent - to my nose, like a sharp Dr. Pepper - with a beautiful background of honey and resin

 

Wet: the tangy scent is still very strong, but the lemon, honey and resins mix in a bit. Very reminiscent of freshly cleaned brass handles on polished wood.

 

Dry-down: a warm glow of honey and faint hint of polished wood that lingers for hours.

 

With all of the positive reviews, I pushed through the sharp scent in the bottle, and am glad I did! This lasted a long time on me, and after about an hour, settled into a magnificent fragrance. Very little throw, but for this, that felt appropriate.

[dreadpiraterustypants2]

 

 

sage and beeswax! quite a viscous feeling, like the engine grease~ oh wait! there is a metallic edge, like a worn penny- gorgeous~