Jump to content
Post-Update: Forum Issues Read more... ×
BPAL Madness!
Monday

Streets of Detroit

Recommended Posts

Black musk accord, Ethiopian myrrh, and motor oil.

 

For me this is start to finish beautiful. It's almost soapy on me but not quite. I just gets tons of black musk and sweet myrrh. The motor oil I really only smell for the first few minutes and it's not something harsh and gross it's just a light almost plastic smell (I mean it smells like oil but that's the best way I can describe it in this scent) which goes away really quickly. This scent lasts all day and has glorious throw. I wore it to work and had several of my coworkers ask what I was wearing because they wanted it!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is UNBELIEVABLY beautiful. I just received a bottle and since the day I received it, haven't been able to wear anything else. The motor oil in bottle/wet is fascinating (how does Beth do it??), as is how it changes and blends with the myrrh and musk into something just unbelievably beautiful. I find myself smelling my wrist for hours: I don't have words to really review it properly, but it might be the best scent I've ever smelled from the lab. Decent throw and long stay, which is great, because I both can't stop wearing it and can't imagine running out of this scent. Tragically, it's now out of stock - or I would have bought 10 bottles.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I grabbed a bottle when it was restocked for a very short period of time.

 

When it settles on my skin, i get a whiff of a snugly coca-cola fuzzy musk, WHICH i remember vividly smelling already in Satyr. As the oil dries, the myrh comes out and smooths out everything. Really pleasant and comforting.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I managed to get my hands on this the other day. Honestly, aside from it being a discontinued bottle at this point, the only other draw for it was the motor oil note. Motor oil + me seem to be a perfect match at the moment (I now own several where motor oil is the predominant note).

 

I have no idea what black musk smells like on its own, but that and the myrrh seem to be tempering the motor oil. Like others have said, the perfume oil itself is even a bit viscous and thicker than my other oils. The blend is very dark and resinous, almost sweet when it opens on skin. I can smell the motor oil not far off, but this becomes very soft when it's drying down. Nothing like what it is in the bottle. The oil drops to the background a bit, letting the musk and myrrh come through a little more clearly.

 

It's definitely dark, sexy, and a bit mysterious. Initially when I purchased this, I had half a mind to resell it, but I'm definitely keeping it for myself now for sure.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was thinking of snagging a bottle of this in the restock, but then realized that the bottles are now up to $32 per 5ml (and $32 for a tablespoon of oil is starting to get way too rich for my blood), so I pulled out my old decant instead. I never really got the motor oil note in this, and I still don't. The black musk is still very prominent and goes slightly powdery on me. The myrrh is sweet, syrupy, and cola-like, but there's also something here that reads very headshop/nag champa on my skin, which myrrh usually doesn't do. In the drydown, there's something like gritty, dirty, hot tar or charred, chemical black leather, and I'm wondering if that is supposed to be the motor oil. All in all, I think I'm ready to let go of my thoughts of owning a bottle of this.

Edited by Little Bird

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I feel fortunate to have been able to snag a bottle from the recent restock. I don't know why, but I think "goth shop" when I smell this. Probably the black musk. It's well-blended, with the smoothness of the leather peeking through over time and a grittiness from the motor oil that is paved over with the myrrh and musk. It threatens to get powdery at times, but thankfully never crosses the line. It's so evocative and so sultry! :wub2:

 

EDIT: Must warn people, though, that Streets of Detroit has a powerful throw so it might offend people who aren't used to these heavier, resinous, murky scents.

Edited by Kris

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A lot of these OLLA scents are heavy on myrrh and incense. I LOVE THAT. This is a very strong oil, and it first it's a blast of myrrh and black musk...which translates into a fuzzy black incense. Then the motor oil, and MAN is this sexy. I will FOR sure always be tracking down a bottle of Streets of Detroit! Top faves. This is an incredibly sexy scent.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As someone who grew up in the Detroit area, I've been wanting to give this one a try since it was released. Excited to get my chance!

 

Wet: This has a strong 'headshop incense' thing going on that must be the combo of the myrrh and the black musk. I do indeed get something faintly motor oil, but mostly it reminds me of some of one of the many old-school hippie import shops in the college towns I've lived in.

 

Dry: I definitely agree that this is one of the musks in Smut, and now that I think about it, that's the scent it reminds me of most strongly. This is black musk, myrhh, and basically nothing else. I don't get any motor oil, but it's definitely a dark, incense heavy scent. Not for me, but I'm thrilled to have had the chance to try it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
In the Bottle:

Sweet, powdery black musk


On the Skin:

Black musk forward with the motor oil just peeping through to take the edge of the powderiness. The myrrh is there but not overly evident


On the Drydown:

I expected this to be grittier but it is quite black musk dominant. I do quite like it and it believe it needs a lot of aging. Has a bit of an 80's vibe

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

2018 version. Reminds me of the Blue Nile perfume oil that I used to buy at the goth shop back in the day. Rich, tropical gardenias, dark musk, and medicinal myrrh. This is what I would think the color indigo smells like.

Edited by RedPersimmon

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I bought this because I'm loving the Lab's motor oil/grease note, unsure what to expect.

 

I definitely didn't expect this to nag champa incense over this layer of smooth darkness in the background.

 

Somehow this smells boho, elegant and a little dirty (in a "not dirt" sort of way) all at the same time.

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Streets of Detroit is a black musk party on me, sadly. There's only a bit of powdery myrrh behind it, and just a drop of motor oil if I go looking for it... otherwise, it's hard to detect under all of that musk. :( 

 

I'm glad I got to try it, but the musk is too intense for me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good lord, this is incredibly strong. It's dark, a little dirty, and very thick, with throw and lasting power for days. Black musk often has a slightly lemony tinge to me, and that aspect is present here; the combo of the musk with the myrrh and motor oil is very intense. I'm learning (slowly) that oil notes are a bit iffy for me at times, and this isn't really increasing my confidence in it. Once it's dried and has been on for a while, the motor oil fades and I like it a lot more, but the oil makes me almost a little queasy while it's damp. It's odd, because the throw is captivating. What I smell from a slight distance is absolutely fantastic, but when I sniff close up, blergh. It's like, on me, it's a scent that was meant to be smelled by someone else. And it lasts forever: it lasted through a shower, it beat my fairly strong lotion into submission, it wore through the night and was still strongly present when I woke up. It's just a beast. The only thing I can think of that I have that begins to compare is Minotaur, which is also black musk & resin, but that one is a baby compared to this, and the other notes mellow it out a lot.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is the scent of being a teenager in the late 90's, and goth shops in the city that smelled almost exactly like this.  It's uncanny.  I actually bought this from someone on Facebook expecting something I would probably be gifting someone (since the notes seemed perfect for them), and then...I sniffed it.  And remembered very vividly walking into some of those stores that I haven't seen in over twenty years.

 

I really don't know what the sweetness is from, maybe the myrrh?  But it's just this strangely sweet, incensey smell that is so very reminiscent for me of those old shops even more than Thorns straight up clove.  I kind of want to bathe in this stuff now.  I might need to buy several more bottles.  Unbelievable.  I can't say I smell much leather at all except maybe at the very end, though, so anyone looking hell bent for leather may be disappointed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Purchased in 2021, and have only had it for a month now, but it's all black musk for me, in the bottle and on my skin.

Silver lining is that this is how I finally figured out black musk doesn't work for me (and also explains my trouble with Night from the Who Can Fight... collection). 😅

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

In the bottle: Black musk and lots of rich, deep myrrh.

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it's just like in the bottle. As it dries, the black musk tempers it and makes it go just a little powdery.

 

It evokes stickiness, but I don't actually get any motor oil.

 

I have never smelled a street in Detroit like this, but I like it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

i was not so sure about this one at first.  goes on heavy and oily, dark and murky and sinister.  obscure reference ahoy:  for me it's conjuring up the character armus, from the star trek episode skin of evil.  (he's basically a sentient tar monster who kills one of my favorite characters. 🥺)  it feels opressive. 

 

i put it away for a while, and decided to revisit today.  i feel... more favorable, but the association is still there so idk.  this go-round, it dries down to something i'm more inclined toward. sweet, musky, resinous. still murky. just a hint of that citrusy black musk thing happening.  

 

i think i might wear it when i want to feel like a badass, dangerous bitch.  which i do occasionally.  it's still slightly unsettling, but sometimes i want to project that. like a burbling oily chuckle coming out of a dark corner when you thought you were alone.  

Edited by MamaMoth

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I love this so much that I have moments of, "This is it, this is my one true BPAL. I don't need any other smell," every time I wear it. I'm not sure what it is about it, but it's just perfection. 

 

For me, it's a shimmer of motor oil floating on pools of inky black musk, with sweet and resiny myrrh blooming as it dries down. It's sexy and gritty, and it lasts and lasts. I think the throw is good, but I kind of don't care. I only care about smelling this one myself. It has the built-in vibe of, if you don't like it, go eff yourself.

 

I'm inclined to try this layered with Autumn 1990 to see what happens! (But that means I will wear it again this week and then I risk spiraling into wanting to wear it every day!)

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My seventh BPAL purchase. Dark, sweet, and heavy with a resinous, grapey incense, this one lasts for hours and hours! Over time a powdery note emerges which is quite pleasant. I’m not getting any motor oil. It is possible that the note I’m interpreting as incense is what the Lab titles “musk.” Possible hints of vanilla and/or amber. Has a myrrh note reminiscent of the Lab’s Blood, hinting at the same gooey, syrupy, voluptuous cherry, and a little jasmine. Definitely a winner that I look forward to enjoying for a long time to come!

Edited by QueenProserpina
Additions

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×