Dirge

[Kytha]

We do lie beneath the grass
In the moonlight, in the shade
Of the yew-tree. They that pass
Hear us not. We are afraid
They would envy our delight,
In our graves by glow-worm night.
Come follow us, and smile as we;
We sail to the rock in the ancient waves,
Where the snow falls by thousands into the sea,
And the drownd and the shipwreckd have happy graves.

Thomas Lovell Beddoes

Yew berries and cypress boughs, ropes of kelp and sea spray.

I haven't tried any of BPAL's other sea/themed scents, so I can't say how this stacks up to them for comparison. I tried this at New York Comic Con with no plans to make a purchase, but I ended up buying a whole bottle because I couldn't think of any BPAL scents I've tried that smelled like this!

In the Bottle: saltwater.

Wet: Salt and cut greens. There's an astringent quality on the edge of the salt that immediately reminded me of The Beer from the Marshwoman's Brewery -- which made sense when I looked up the notes, because they both have yew berries.

Dry: The cypress comes out here, but it's wood drenched in salt water -- like standing at the edge of a dock in the winter, or being underway on an old galleon. If you've ever been to a maritime history museum which recreates historical boats and their construction, this will immediately put you in mind of that. For lack of a better word, it smells nostalgic.

In Sum: A unique scent that stands out for me among all of BPAL's products that I've sniffed over the years. I would recommend it more as a room/atmospheric scent than for use on yourself, but it's immensely refreshing and bracing. If you want a little bit of the sea to keep in a bottle, this would be the scent for you.

[zankoku_zen]

Kelp, sea spray, and a touch of cypress. It's very salty aquatic, sort of ghostly, and sort of melancholic. It's a great aquatic - soft, very wearable, and gender neutral. Love the heavy kelp in it. Medium throw and wear length.

[Sylvilagus]

I got a decant of this one at the beginning of 2018, probably because I liked the poem and the idea of a ghostly maritime fragrance. I tried it right away and did NOT like it. The kelp did something on me that smelled like seaweed rotting on the beach at low tide—which was certainly evocative, but not pleasant. I kept it in a drawer for years. Recently, I decided to revisit it and see if the oil having aged (or my skin chemistry having changed, or both) made a difference.

 

In the decant: An aquatic single note, fresh and cool.

 

Wet on skin: Very aquatic-cologne-y. After a few seconds I can recognize something like oakmoss in the watery note. I'm still pretty new to this scent family, and I can't distinguish it as saltwater as opposed to freshwater.

 

Drydown: It starts to get soapy, but in kind of a nice way, like a fancy bar soap or a luxury shower gel. There's something astringent in the background, probably the yew berries, and maybe the kelp is contributing too. I think I'm getting a little cypress, but it's not very pronounced; I agree that these are wooden planks rather than still-growing branches.

 

Dry: The fancy-soapiness continues while the kelp emerges a little more. Thankfully, it's no longer giving decay! It's mineralic and salty, so now I can definitely tell this is seawater. The soapy, clean element and the outdoorsy, marine aspect balance and contrast each other in a way that's interesting, if confusing. Am I swiping mini bottles of shower gel from the bathrooms on a cruise ship, or is it an old wooden ship from which I've fallen overboard?

 

After three hours or so, the soapiness has backed off, and the other notes do something surprising. The minerals and astringency turn into a realistic seawater-on-skin smell. Now I smell like I've fallen overboard but gotten rescued, and I'm slowly drying off in the salty air.

 

Scent throw seems medium-low to me. I don't think this is a strongly gendered fragrance, but it might lean a little more masculine. I'm glad I tried it again and got to experience a less aggressive side of the kelp.