Bram Stoker

[roseus]

Bourbon vetiver with opoponax, Italian bergamot, and hay absolute.

 

Smoky vetiver sparkling with bergamot, and a touch of hay underneath. This is SEXY aftershave to me.

[whisperstilled]

Wet: Sharp bergamot and vetiver. Normally the latter would kill it, but this is one well-balanced and sharp bergamot perfume. Gorgeous so far.

 

Dry: The hay is coming out as it dries, sweetening and adding a little spiciness to my nose. Unfortunately, what's beautiful when wet turns to a sort of damp-sweet hay smell as it dries. This is a great light cologne to start, but the second stage is just not as good.

[gloame]

Smells very outdoors and medieval. Burning hay and men's spiced cologne. The scent of a rogue.

Where I'd wear this: A 17th century pub crawl

[Bamels]

I think this was a frimp as I wouldn't normally order anything with vertiver in it. This smells like a male shower gel.

[cassiejaynebunk]

this is a classic classic mens cologne. i don't really know what else to say. swanky, upscale mens cologne they accost you with as you try to innocently walk through Macy's.

[monocainsheresy]

Citrus, light booze, and warmth from the opoponax and vetiver (except you I can't actually smell either of those notes).

Smells like champagne grapes taste - one of my all-time faves

[RobberBaroness]

Bitter grass with notes of citrus.  Not unpleasant, but I'd probably prefer to smell it on someone else than myself.

[biggnerd]

This is a soapy cologne.  Sweet bourbon vetiver and bergamot are the strongest scents to me.  

[IoPan]

Bram Stoker

 

I got some of this in the beard oil for my husband and he loves it. Smells great on him, too. Now I’m trying the perfume oil on myself.

 

In the bottle: Strong vetiver and a bit of bergamot. A distinctly masculine, “cologne”-y scent, but not unpleasantly so.

 

Wet: Holds the same characteristics wet as it held in the bottle, though I am getting the hay absolute now, too.

 

Dry: My skin chemistry amps the vetiver times a million, drowns out the other notes, and throws it all over the place. Even a little dab on my wrist is overwhelming the whole room! That is some serious vetiver, my dudes. Hopefully it settles down with time.

 

After 30 minutes: This one smells great when my husband combs it through his beard, but it just doesn’t work on me. I love vetiver, but on me, this is 100% vetiver and it is on a mission to murder you because you insulted its mama. I had to take it off with rubbing alcohol! Darn.

[skyturtles]

Here comes a slightly negative review, sorry. From the lab frimp I did get a bit of bergamot, but that seems to have disappeared rather quickly on my skin. I'm not picking up any hay. I guess that leaves the vetiver, though I have never encountered that particular plant in the wild and I'm no expert on traditionally male colognes, so this is just my assumption. It is a rather "masculine" scent, in my book. Leather and beards and gruff assertiveness. I also get a bit of powder / soap.

I don't associate myself with those male traits per se, so this just isn't the scent for me. I was expecting something a little more mysterious, earthy, and elegant, I suppose. Vampiric, if possible. Maybe I'll just give this to my partner.

I will say that it has a long lasting power. It sticks around without much fading.

Edited June 15, 2021 by skyturtles

[Rane.]

Have an imp of this. Smells like an expensive aftershave, but a gentle one. Clean bergamot, resinous opoponax, with the airy quality of hay. I'd wear this to make a first impression.

 

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Slightly smoky vetiver with a touch of brightness, either from the bergamot or the hay.

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, the bergamot jumps to the forefront, and it's a lovely sweet orange. As it dries, the opoponax comes out all resiny. There are bits of other notes flitting about there -- brightness from the bergamot or hay, smokiness from the vetiver -- but I'm getting resin as a pretty strong base. 

 

It's a very sophisticated, slightly traditionally masculine, resin on me. And I like resins, so I like this. But I also like resins, so I have a lot of them -- and this one doesn't strike me as particularly noteworthy in light of my resinous collection. 

[alyelle]

In the imp: Vetiver. So much vetiver. And a bit of bergamot.

 

Wet: Dark, spicy, and green with a hint of earthy sweetness. Bourbon, hay, vetiver and sweet myrrh; I smell like an 18th century gentleman. 

 

Dry: This has one of the weirdest morphs ever, changing from dark, sexy, and brooding to a sweet feminine vanilla like *that*. After 8 hours of wear, it's like being enveloped in a cup cake. The two experiences are so different, it's as though I switched perfumes halfway through the day. Strong throw, and a 10-12 hour lifespan.

 

Stars: ★★★★

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Cologney bergamot and vetiver.

 

Wet on my skin: This is almost a perfect balance of bergamot and smoky grasses once it's on my skin, and it is very much into "traditional mens' cologne" territory at this point. 

 

Dry: This blend doesn't morph a whole lot as it dries and wears, except that a bit of the bittersweet bergamot eventually burns off and more of the resin-smoked vetiver-hay combination comes out past the ~2-3 hour mark. I usually like high-end cologne scents, and I do like this one, but it's a bit too "traditionally masc" for me to really be interested in wearing it. There are only a few of those that I've tried from BPAL so far, and I guess we just added another one! Not quite my thing, but I can see older guys in particular enjoying wearing this! In fact, I'm getting a mental image of an ex-football player dad (the kind who'd consider Irish Spring to be luxury soap) picking out a "fancy" cologne to wear to his daughter's high school graduation ceremony and a nice family dinner afterward. Definitely a nice potential gift for dads and grandpas. Maybe drag kings, too. 

[ishmael]

Grassy bergamot, which smells a bit conventional but is extremely nice. There was maybe a hint of hay but barely detected it, it was all vetiver and citrus--which is fine by me, I love vetiver.

 

While it started strong it started fading after a bit and got less grassy--disappointing, given how many people said it lasted a long time on them. Tragically I think my skin just doesn't work well with vetiver. Even so it's nice enough I'll get a bottle.

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by ishmael

[Lucchesa]

Huh, I realized I never reviewed Bram Stoker.  Nothing bloodsucking here: this is the writer, not his creation.  I have a very well-aged lab imp, I'm guessing at least eight years old, and it goes on strong whoa cologne. It is never soapy on me as some have experienced, and it settles down quickly and lasts a long time.  Lots of smoky vetiver and a little grassy, maybe vetiver, maybe the hay; a little bergamot, I'm not making out opoponax or bourbon, but this is very traditionally masculine and sexy. I wear a lot of unisex blends and this definitely trends more m than f.  I like it, but you need to be comfortable with something on the masculine spectrum to enjoy wearing this.