Lord Ruthven

[Gwydion]

LORD RUTHVEN
(the Vampyre, John Polidori)
It happened that in the midst of the dissipations attendant upon London winter, there appeared at the various parties of the leaders of the ton a nobleman more remarkable for his singularities, than his rank. He gazed upon the mirth around him, as if he could not participate therein. Apparently, the light laughter of the fair only attracted his attention, that he might by a look quell it and throw fear into those breasts where thoughtlessness reigned. Those who felt this sensation of awe, could not explain whence it arose: some attributed it to the dead grey eye, which, fixing upon the object's face, did not seem to penetrate, and at one glance to pierce through to the inward workings of the heart; but fell upon the cheek with a leaden ray that weighed upon the skin it could not pass. His peculiarities caused him to be invited to every house; all wished to see him, and those who had been accustomed to violent excitement, and now felt the weight of ennui, were pleased at having something in their presence capable of engaging their attention. In spite of the deadly hue of his face, which never gained a wanner tint, either from the blush of modesty, or from the strong emotion of passion, though its form and outline were beautiful, many of the female hunters after notoriety attempted to win his attentions, and gain, at least, some marks of what they might term affection: Lady Mercer, who had been the mockery of every monster shewn in drawing-rooms since her marriage, threw herself in his way, and did all but put on the dress of a mountebank, to attract his notice -- though in vain; -- when she stood before him, though his eyes were apparently fixed upon hers, still it seemed as if they were unperceived; -- even her unappalled impudence was baffled, and she left the field. But though the common adultress could not influence even the guidance of his eyes, it was not that the female sex was indifferent to him: yet such was the apparent caution with which he spoke to the virtuous wife and innocent daughter, that few knewhenever addressed himself to females. He had, however, the reputation of a winning tongue; and whether it was that it even overcame the dread of his singular character, or that they were moved by his apparent hatred of vice, he was as often among those females who form the boast of their sex from their domestic virtues, as among those who sully it by their vices.

The father of all dandy aristocrat vampires: Aqua Admirabilis with polished boot leather and blood.

In bottle: Very aftershave. Lavender fougere and leather with a hint of the aquatic. Wet: Vaguely herbal. It’s an excellent masculine leather scent. The vaguely aquatic touch adds interest to the leather/fougere blend. Dry: Unusual. It’s still a leather dominant aftershave, but it has teeth and… powder. The blood is more noticeable. The whole effect is weirdly viscous and a little unsettling.

[ian]

this is by far the most masculine bpal scent i've encountered. its very potent and while wet the smell reminds me very much of an aftershave called Brut, that my great-grandfather used to wear. underneath, there is a sort of metallic tanginess to it that could be blood. once it dries the scent settles down a bit and i get the leather notes in there. overall, this scent makes me think of a bad men's cologne from the 70s...

[topazphoenix]

This is definitely very masculine and quite aftershave-ish for me as well. It's too strong, too sharp.

[GeorgeJr]

First of all , sniffing the bottle I could have it was so strong . Very much cologne/aftershave with a bit of a almost citrus scent in it . I let it sit all day today & am trying it out now , hoping it might settle from arriving yesterday . On my skin it is seriously strong , lot's of waft going on here . I am sitting here now about a hour later , and while it has calmed down a bit , it is still very strong . Gonna have to apply this lightly . Sadly due to allergies I only have half a nose to work with . Not sure about the rest of you , but I was curious about this aqua admirabilis . So I googled it and got this list of ingredients ... grape spirits, oils of neroli, bergamot, lavender and rosemary . Don't know that I really am getting much from that note other then the lavender , maybe some bergamot . I do get the polished boot leather , but not the blood . I intend to let this age a while & see if the blood does come forward , because if it does it will help level this scent out . Right now it may be too strong for me , & that's saying something .

Edit , about a half hour later - Now it's gone mostly soapy . Really gonna need to let this age ...

Edited September 14, 2009 by CoopieCat

[ami226]

Wow! Cologne and leather! It is different than Sacrifice, but kinda the same idea in my opinion. This scent has more of the cologne smell than Sacrifice though.

 

This isn't half bad and could smell excellent on the right SO.

[greenranger]

It took a while before I could really stand to sniff it. It started off COLOGNE.

 

It dries down, after an hour or so, to leather and cologne. It seems nice, but, more of a clean, manly guy smell than something I want to smell of myself.

[Lamia]

This reminds me a lot of my husband's deoderant. Spicy, sharp, woodsy, but there is something else lurking underneath, like a scent of a woman who, The Morning After, using her partner's deoderant instead of taking a shower, so that she can treasure the memory of last night's debauchery just a little while longer.

 

This complex and fascinating scent does fade, after about an hour, to a sort of cheap deoderant with some leather lurking around the corner. An extremely masculine scent.

 

I will see how it ages.

[edenssixthday]

Lord Ruthven - This is a strong aquatic cologne scent. It starts off fairly pungent and the blood note gives it a tang that's sort of "off" with the cologne and leather, but as the scent dries down, it turns into a really lovely masculine aquatic and leather scent. It layers quite nicely with Villainess Pearl Diver, by the way! I could definitely see this smelling fantastic on the right guy. It had great wear length, really sticks to the skin even after a shower, and the sillage is quite strong.

[angelicruin]

This scent is quite bitter and smoky on my skin. My skin is reacting very much like it does with most brimstone and/or vetiver notes, despite there not being either of those in this blend. This one is just a bit too intense for me and VERY masculine.

[penemuel]

Definitely masculine cologne like others are saying, but also an edge of... brown paper kraft tape?

 

...no, I don't get it either.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this smells like the usual men's cologne. Over this past weekend I was treated to a lot of guys on our baseball team abusing Axe body spray, and this reminds me of their taste in fragrances. It's kinda clean, kinda spicy, and very masculine. There's also a really smoky black leather fighting with the cologne.

 

On my skin, this becomes intensely smoky. My throat feels tight and it makes me want to cough or throw up :/. It's like someone took the black leather jacket off of a guy wearing axe body spray and set it on fire. Over time it's less and less cologne and more on-fire leather. This is probably the smokiest bpal scent that I've ever worn. It's so sharp and bad, it makes my head ache like crazy.

 

I definitely hate this blend.

[rayvn1]

Some day I will accept that cologne = vomit with my skin chemistry My husband probably thinks I'm a nut job now since I put it on my arm and started coaxing it along with "ok, you're doing fine!....goooood bpal.....wait, what are you doing?!...No! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Off to the swaps.

[thekittenkat]

In the imp: This is a sweet men's cologne.

 

Wet: Just a slight hint of something fruity in the blend. I sort of like this--it reminds me of a sweeter version of Lines/Hills, a Yule 08 that I adore.

 

The dry-down: A hint of leather and blood is slowly rising to the top. It's really morphed from what it was when it was wet, and that's very disappointing. I'm seeing it as unisex and will try on the bf.

[Tal Shachar]

I bought this solely because I love the whole Year-Without-a-Summer cadre, including the hapless Dr Polidori. Also, hope springs eternal concerning the lab's blood accord--I really want it to work instead of smelling like grape juice (Head of Holofernes) or steak sauce (Valentine of Rome and Mort de Cesar).

 

Lord Ruthven scores because yes indeed, that sullen lurking note does smell like blood. The aqua admirabilis is a very masculine cologne smell in the bottle, but on my skin it quickly gets an oddly sweet and musky-creamy note which I maybe would compare to Hunter Moon--that's the closest thing to leather that I get. (Bear in mind my skin makes a lot of things sweeter than they are.) This note overwhelms the cologne, paper covers rock. It's creamy leather and very subtle blood, the exact metallic-salty smell of blood, and a little strange because of that.

 

I like masculine scents so I approve.

[ralenth]

Wet: Leather, with a pinch of lavender.

 

Drydown: It's a bit like mixing Dorian and De Sade, though a bit more cologne and less tea.

 

Dry: Smoky leather, mmm, but the cologne is a bit more dominant. Theres almost an aquatic tang to the cologne.

 

Overall: No surprise that I really love this one. It's like Dorian took a dip in Fit of Artistic Enthusiasm and then put on his leather coat for an evening out. Definite win.

[aquazoo]

Starts all manly and leathery. I'm not getting the blood at all, just a nice cologne and leather.

 

[jade_starlight]

It starts out very much aftershave, but the leather stomps all over the aftershave very quickly. The aftershave never quite goes away but it's much fainter. It's a very nice masculine scent, but I don't think it's for me.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Light golden oil. Strongly herbal (lavender and basil?) cologne with some chemically slick leather and the rusty-iron sort of blood note. Potent and a little disturbing. Absolutely masculine but with a hint of sweetness that's slightly sickly.

 

Wet: More leather - brutally sharp - on my skin and the cologne/herbs are a bit soapy. I think the sweetness is from the basil note and a little bit of fennel - it reminds me of this ayuverdic tea I drink with both those. I imagine Le Pere Fouettard lovers would enjoy this, maybe? Irony-blood note holding, going a bit to nutmeg as that note does on my skin.

 

Dry: Increasingly sharp and soapy. It's like De Sade mixed with a really nasty cologne. The cologne part reminds me greatly of another BPAL scent - oh I know! - the Mr. Hyde/Dr. Jekyll DD scents. Especially Hyde as it has that blood note too. I'm pretty sure there is cumin as well in this. And all 3 scents have the sickly sweet herbal cologne base. Ugh.

 

Summary: Chemically-powdery leather, sickly sweet, herbal, and soapy cologne, with a hint of nutmeg-rust. It does fade in throw over time but it starts out very potently and has good longevity. Really not my sort of thing at all.

 

[zankoku_zen]

Agreed with the herbal cologne assessment, mixed with leather and yes, blood and that trace of cumin that gives it an almost peppery edge.

 

I might give this a whirl on mr. zee_zee, as it is strangely compelling...

[Schmoozy]

 

Herbal leather with the tang of metallic blood. Definitely masculine, and I love leather and herbals, and together they work really well. Unfortunately I can't get past the addition on the metallic blood note, and ultimately it ruins the blend.

[Invidiana]

I was a little nervous about this one, but finally caved because of both my love of vampires and the blood accord and knowledge of what wonderful things dragon's blood does on me. The gamble was worth it. Again, maybe it's my skin that amps sweetness--and dragon's blood is sweet and turns into a deep spiced berry on me--but Lord Ruthven isn't butch on me at all. I'm really getting that wonderful sweet and spicy blood accord at the top, with shadows of leather and a faint whiff of cologne in the background. I'm not letting any guy borrow this when it comes out as such a deeply sexy womanly scent on me!

Edited November 7, 2009 by Invidiana

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Decant: Man! Men's aftershave/cologne. Astringint without bitter or tart or overly sharp.

Imp: More MAN! Men's scents are so clean and fresh and snuggable to me.

Drying Down: Start to get that leather note in there now. Man and Leather go together and under my nose it just glows!

Dry: All men's cologne and leather. This scent just rings my bell. I want to slather this all over my man and just jump his bones!

[surf-tormented]

This perfume oil layers fantastically with Skeem's Cypress Bark spray. I think the timeless scent of the Aqua Admirabilis mixes well with the spice and wood of the Cypress Bark, like an old aristocratic vampire in a fancy dank coffin. Then the perfume morphed into a great smokey leather scent. The "blood" part of it is probably hiding in the spice of the Cypress Bark. I will try this after I shower and see if the blood comes out.

 

I don't get cheap men's cologne from this. I get a feeling of Paris in the early 1700's. It's clean without being soapy. Fresh without being minty or too airy. The smokey leather and spice make it very unique for this style of perfume. Plus it has a very distinct citrus note I really enjoy, leather and citrus is a nice match up.

 

I highly recommend it if you like Dorian, Severin or Whitechapel scents. Smells great on me, probably would smell even better on a man. My boyfriend would never let me slather it on him, so right now, that idea will have to be mystery to me.

 

It's a good perfume to smell while watching O Brother, Where Art Thou? Which I am right now. It smells old timey and from a bygone area. Now if only there were vampires in that film.

Edited December 17, 2009 by Madame Nyx

[Ajila]

In the bottle - A sharp, green, mossy scent

 

Wet on me - An astringent aftershavy sort of scent, without the notes I'd be inclined to say a fougere

 

Dry on me - An odd combination of the aftershave notes and something candylike

 

Overall - Too astringent for my taste

[GeorgeJr]

Wow , I don't get aftershave or cologne from this at all . I do get soap , sadly . With just a bit of spice of some kind underneath . But over all , this one is pretty disappointing for me . About half way through the day it get to a point where it wasn't so much soap , and the spice was quite nice at that time . But the it faded out all together . I don't get blood or leather from this at all either . Oh well .