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smellsgood2014-03-29 09:55 am
synecdochic) wrote in smellsgood2014-03-29 09:55 am
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BPAL reviews: Odin, Dee, Ladon, Dragon's Heart, Dragon's Claw
[xposted from my journal]
Latest round of BPAL arrived yesterday. (Four full-size bottles of "stuff that was awesome" from the last order, plus another two dozen imps we ordered and 15-16 "frimps", aka 'free imps', where 'imp' = 'small tester'.) I promptly went for "variations on a theme" and (over like 15 hours, not all at once) tried a few of the ones containing dragon's blood, which is one of my absolutely favorite notes of all time.
This entry: those + a few stragglers from the last round.
Odin (reviews): "dry elm bark, amaranth, warrior’s musk, and Odin’s Nine Herbs of Power"
In the imp: dry and woodsy with a little bit of herbal background.
Wet on skin: on me, it goes very sharp and wood wood WOOD. On Sarah, it's all herbs and wet and green and growing.
Drying: I'm getting the musk at the edge of the throw, but in close it's all sharp herbal. Sarah's herbs are all mugwort and thyme, while on me it's all sharp and stingy (nettle and crab-apple).
I don't think I like what it's doing on me -- the herbs are too funky and sharp and unblended. On Sarah it's going powdery and woodish (the dry elm, methinks). On me now it's kind of rotten-herbish. I think I'm going to wash this off on me, ugh.
Dee (reviews): "soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods."
I tried Dee when the imp first arrived at the end of January, and got the sense that a bit of aging would help fix some of the problems I had with it. Trying it two months later:
After two months of settling down, I like this a LOT more. In the imp the sharpness has gone completely, and what I was smelling as toothpicks-in-nose pine is now the much more rounded rosewood. I'm not smelling the same warning signs of imminent powder, either.
At the edges of the throw I just got a vivid scent memory of the cologne our old neighbor used to wear (maybe something about the rosewood + leather?) but it was only in passing. It's about 15 minutes since I applied, so the leather is definitely blooming. I do smell something sweet, which I think is the hint of the vanillin from the "old parchment".
This is much better aged a bit, yeah.
Yup. It's past the 1-hour where it went powder on me before, and it's still smooth and warm and scholarly, no powder this time.
I'm getting a bit of the edges of Odin that didn't wash off completely even though I thought I'd killed it, so I'm going to try applying it to skin that didn't get any Odin on it and see if it stays well-mannered. Assuming it does, this is a definite "like, nearly love, but be sure to age it first".
Five minutes into the new application: Huh. The bits of damp-smelling herbs I thought were the dregs of Odin not having been washed off seem to be just as strong in the newly-applied bits on a part of skin that Odin never touched. I don't dislike it, it's just oddly wet-herbal. I'm wondering if that's the aged version of what I smelled as piney/evergreeny before? It's not quite rosewood, it's wet rosewood, like somebody had been using a rosewood box for storing mossy herbs (something about it makes me think the mugwort-type scent I got from Odin on Sarah, which is why I thought I was still smelling Odin's dregs) before washing it out and, still wet, using it for leather and old parchment.
Once the leather starts to bloom (which usually takes a few minutes on me) I lose the damp mossy herb *quite* as strongly, and now it's a much more refined scholarly gentleman, with hidden secrets buried beneath. I do like it a lot more now.
Half an hour: Leather and old books, with the rosewood underpinning it just enough to keep it from being librarian rather than library. This smells like a really good scholar's library now, with just a hint of danger underneath.
Four hours later, and it's settled into being a genteel and classic old men's aftershave at this point. The rosewood is dominant, with the hint of vanillin from the old books keeping it from being too stuffy and stuck-up, and it's still (even four hours later) got a very powerful throw that I keep getting ambushed by. I still like it a lot more than I did the first time around, but I don't think it goes past "like" and into "love".
(on a later date:) Tried on again today, and the "genteel and classic old men's aftershave" effect kicked in a lot earlier and was a lot more punch-in-the-nose and less genteel. I'm really indecisive about this oil. One minute I love it, one minute I hate it.
Ladon (reviews): "dragon’s blood resin, golden apple, apple blossom, white musk and hyacinth"
In the imp: The insides of Red Delicious apples, with the musk, a little dry and darker, behind it.
Wet on skin: Yep, apple. Apple apple apple. La la la.
Dry on skin: Apples, with the musk starting to come out pretty sharply. (Alas, it is the white musk that reads as "dryer sheet" to nearly every American who's ever done laundry, sigh.) I'm *finally* getting a titch of the dragon's blood, but only a titch.
I smell like laundry and apples. I'm not sanguine about the chance for this to recover in the wear.
10 minutes later: the apples have disappeared, and aside from a tidge of dragon's blood, I smell like Bounty. I like Bounty dryer sheets, but I don't want to smell like them.
Without the apples to punch me in the nose, the scent's got zero throw, too, which could be due to me having applied on back of hand (some spilled when I opened the imp) and that's a really super dry part of my skin.
20 minutes: the hyacinth has tempered the Bounty Dryer Sheet a bit, and the dragons' blood is finally coming out. very faintly. very VERY faintly. I'm also getting a hint of apple again, but nothing like the APPLE APPLE APPLE of before.
40 minutes: I keep getting whiffs of something awesome, and I don't know if it's the Ladon or the "imp spit" from having been handling so many imps earlier. I think it's the imp spit, because straight up sniffing where I applied it with my hands in a fist and fingers tucked into my palms, all I get is very faint apples and flowers. I really don't think this is a winner, but I should probably try it again in a few weeks and doublecheck.
2 hours later: Bah, I really like the dregs (sweet without being floral). Definitely going to have to try this again.
Dragon's Heart (reviews): "dragon’s blood resin, red and black musks, a throb of fig and a sliver of black currant."
(Note: the oil is strongly red and will probably stain clothes if not careful.)
In the imp: strongly deep and organic, with the musks blending nicely with each other. I would totally believe this is the scent of a dragon's heart; it smells very body-like and animalic.
Wet on skin: Goes a bit sharp and evergreeny all of a sudden, more juniper than pine. Not sure why.
Drying: oh there's the dragon's blood. It's blending with the musks nicely, and the fig and currant are starting to come out to sweeten it.
Dry: Sweet, but the musk underneath it is keeping it a very challenging sweet, not a foodie or fruity sweet. It's the sweet end of dragon's blood, a very syrupy and resiny sweet. It's not quite as organic anymore -- I'm guessing the musk will come back out in the base, but it's taking a break right now.
10 minutes: Like just about everything with dragon's blood in it, it's got great throw on me -- I only used one swipe of the imp wand and I'm still smelling it pretty strongly even when my wrist isn't right up against my nose.
I like this, but I'm having trouble figuring out what's up with it. One sniff and it's all sweet dragons' blood resin, one sniff and it's the undertones/middle notes of dragon's blood, one sniff and it's the musk coming back out to play. I am getting the very, very faintest traces of powder around the edges (I'm guessing at least one of the two musks is one of the ones that goes powdery on me, dammit) but it's not *unpleasant*, just a very faint hint.
It's a very warm scent, and vaguely comforting, in the way that the presence of a very large dragon can be comforting. (To quote the one Fallen London pet: "I have a tiger. Do you have a tiger?") Again, I'm probably going to want to try it again in a few weeks when it's no longer quite so fresh-from-Lab to see if it blends better, because when you get a entirely different scent every time you sniff the same spot on your wrist there's something weird going on there.
As of now: like, but not love. This may change as it ages.
20 minutes: I cannot figure this out. One minute I think the dragon's blood has gone away entirely and it's ALL MUSK ALL THE TIME, one minute it's all the sweet end of dragon's blood and fig, one minute it's just the mid-notes of dragon's blood. I mean, I know BPAL fresh from the lab can have blending problems, but this is a bit much. At least I keep sniffing it to see if I can figure out wtf?
1 hour: It's faded down to dragon's blood and musk now and I *still* can't figure out wtf. I think these musks need aging.
2.5 hours: it has worn down into just dragon's blood. Mmmm, dragon's blood. I love dragon's blood so much.
Final verdict: come back in 2 months.
Dragon's Claw (reviews): "dragon’s blood resin and three sandalwoods."
In the imp: Entirely sandalwood. I don't smell any dragon's blood at all.
Wet on skin: a very light, soprano sandalwood that smells very sun-warmed and sweet.
Drying: I'm getting a hint of the dragon's blood now, mostly the sweet end, to go with the warmth of the wood. There's a hint of smokiness around the edges.
Dry: The sweetness and resin of the dragon's blood is blending beautifully with the dry wood of the sandalwood. it reminds me a lot of the Dragon's Bone, actually, only a little bit less complex. I really like it, but I think it might be superseded by the Dragon's Bone. I'll have to try a wrist-to-wrist comparison test sometime when I don't have eight billion oils on various bits of me :D
Ten minutes: Huh. Something very hot and metallic is creeping in -- it feels like warm iron. The dragon's blood is receding, too, so now I'm smelling iron over wood.
45 minutes: The dragon's blood crept back in after the hot/metallic/iron note wandered by, but more as "addition to". I really don't know what's causing that iron/metallic overtone! At any rate, I do like it -- it smells like a draconic blacksmith. I just don't know that it adds anything that Dragon's Bone doesn't already do. There will be comparison tests, oh yes there will.
Also of note, it's surprisingly consistent. The fact I haven't had to edit this umpty dozen times to describe what it just did should prove that! It's pretty much exactly the same scent it was 45 minutes ago.
Latest round of BPAL arrived yesterday. (Four full-size bottles of "stuff that was awesome" from the last order, plus another two dozen imps we ordered and 15-16 "frimps", aka 'free imps', where 'imp' = 'small tester'.) I promptly went for "variations on a theme" and (over like 15 hours, not all at once) tried a few of the ones containing dragon's blood, which is one of my absolutely favorite notes of all time.
This entry: those + a few stragglers from the last round.
Odin (reviews): "dry elm bark, amaranth, warrior’s musk, and Odin’s Nine Herbs of Power"
In the imp: dry and woodsy with a little bit of herbal background.
Wet on skin: on me, it goes very sharp and wood wood WOOD. On Sarah, it's all herbs and wet and green and growing.
Drying: I'm getting the musk at the edge of the throw, but in close it's all sharp herbal. Sarah's herbs are all mugwort and thyme, while on me it's all sharp and stingy (nettle and crab-apple).
I don't think I like what it's doing on me -- the herbs are too funky and sharp and unblended. On Sarah it's going powdery and woodish (the dry elm, methinks). On me now it's kind of rotten-herbish. I think I'm going to wash this off on me, ugh.
Dee (reviews): "soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods."
I tried Dee when the imp first arrived at the end of January, and got the sense that a bit of aging would help fix some of the problems I had with it. Trying it two months later:
After two months of settling down, I like this a LOT more. In the imp the sharpness has gone completely, and what I was smelling as toothpicks-in-nose pine is now the much more rounded rosewood. I'm not smelling the same warning signs of imminent powder, either.
At the edges of the throw I just got a vivid scent memory of the cologne our old neighbor used to wear (maybe something about the rosewood + leather?) but it was only in passing. It's about 15 minutes since I applied, so the leather is definitely blooming. I do smell something sweet, which I think is the hint of the vanillin from the "old parchment".
This is much better aged a bit, yeah.
Yup. It's past the 1-hour where it went powder on me before, and it's still smooth and warm and scholarly, no powder this time.
I'm getting a bit of the edges of Odin that didn't wash off completely even though I thought I'd killed it, so I'm going to try applying it to skin that didn't get any Odin on it and see if it stays well-mannered. Assuming it does, this is a definite "like, nearly love, but be sure to age it first".
Five minutes into the new application: Huh. The bits of damp-smelling herbs I thought were the dregs of Odin not having been washed off seem to be just as strong in the newly-applied bits on a part of skin that Odin never touched. I don't dislike it, it's just oddly wet-herbal. I'm wondering if that's the aged version of what I smelled as piney/evergreeny before? It's not quite rosewood, it's wet rosewood, like somebody had been using a rosewood box for storing mossy herbs (something about it makes me think the mugwort-type scent I got from Odin on Sarah, which is why I thought I was still smelling Odin's dregs) before washing it out and, still wet, using it for leather and old parchment.
Once the leather starts to bloom (which usually takes a few minutes on me) I lose the damp mossy herb *quite* as strongly, and now it's a much more refined scholarly gentleman, with hidden secrets buried beneath. I do like it a lot more now.
Half an hour: Leather and old books, with the rosewood underpinning it just enough to keep it from being librarian rather than library. This smells like a really good scholar's library now, with just a hint of danger underneath.
Four hours later, and it's settled into being a genteel and classic old men's aftershave at this point. The rosewood is dominant, with the hint of vanillin from the old books keeping it from being too stuffy and stuck-up, and it's still (even four hours later) got a very powerful throw that I keep getting ambushed by. I still like it a lot more than I did the first time around, but I don't think it goes past "like" and into "love".
(on a later date:) Tried on again today, and the "genteel and classic old men's aftershave" effect kicked in a lot earlier and was a lot more punch-in-the-nose and less genteel. I'm really indecisive about this oil. One minute I love it, one minute I hate it.
Ladon (reviews): "dragon’s blood resin, golden apple, apple blossom, white musk and hyacinth"
In the imp: The insides of Red Delicious apples, with the musk, a little dry and darker, behind it.
Wet on skin: Yep, apple. Apple apple apple. La la la.
Dry on skin: Apples, with the musk starting to come out pretty sharply. (Alas, it is the white musk that reads as "dryer sheet" to nearly every American who's ever done laundry, sigh.) I'm *finally* getting a titch of the dragon's blood, but only a titch.
I smell like laundry and apples. I'm not sanguine about the chance for this to recover in the wear.
10 minutes later: the apples have disappeared, and aside from a tidge of dragon's blood, I smell like Bounty. I like Bounty dryer sheets, but I don't want to smell like them.
Without the apples to punch me in the nose, the scent's got zero throw, too, which could be due to me having applied on back of hand (some spilled when I opened the imp) and that's a really super dry part of my skin.
20 minutes: the hyacinth has tempered the Bounty Dryer Sheet a bit, and the dragons' blood is finally coming out. very faintly. very VERY faintly. I'm also getting a hint of apple again, but nothing like the APPLE APPLE APPLE of before.
40 minutes: I keep getting whiffs of something awesome, and I don't know if it's the Ladon or the "imp spit" from having been handling so many imps earlier. I think it's the imp spit, because straight up sniffing where I applied it with my hands in a fist and fingers tucked into my palms, all I get is very faint apples and flowers. I really don't think this is a winner, but I should probably try it again in a few weeks and doublecheck.
2 hours later: Bah, I really like the dregs (sweet without being floral). Definitely going to have to try this again.
Dragon's Heart (reviews): "dragon’s blood resin, red and black musks, a throb of fig and a sliver of black currant."
(Note: the oil is strongly red and will probably stain clothes if not careful.)
In the imp: strongly deep and organic, with the musks blending nicely with each other. I would totally believe this is the scent of a dragon's heart; it smells very body-like and animalic.
Wet on skin: Goes a bit sharp and evergreeny all of a sudden, more juniper than pine. Not sure why.
Drying: oh there's the dragon's blood. It's blending with the musks nicely, and the fig and currant are starting to come out to sweeten it.
Dry: Sweet, but the musk underneath it is keeping it a very challenging sweet, not a foodie or fruity sweet. It's the sweet end of dragon's blood, a very syrupy and resiny sweet. It's not quite as organic anymore -- I'm guessing the musk will come back out in the base, but it's taking a break right now.
10 minutes: Like just about everything with dragon's blood in it, it's got great throw on me -- I only used one swipe of the imp wand and I'm still smelling it pretty strongly even when my wrist isn't right up against my nose.
I like this, but I'm having trouble figuring out what's up with it. One sniff and it's all sweet dragons' blood resin, one sniff and it's the undertones/middle notes of dragon's blood, one sniff and it's the musk coming back out to play. I am getting the very, very faintest traces of powder around the edges (I'm guessing at least one of the two musks is one of the ones that goes powdery on me, dammit) but it's not *unpleasant*, just a very faint hint.
It's a very warm scent, and vaguely comforting, in the way that the presence of a very large dragon can be comforting. (To quote the one Fallen London pet: "I have a tiger. Do you have a tiger?") Again, I'm probably going to want to try it again in a few weeks when it's no longer quite so fresh-from-Lab to see if it blends better, because when you get a entirely different scent every time you sniff the same spot on your wrist there's something weird going on there.
As of now: like, but not love. This may change as it ages.
20 minutes: I cannot figure this out. One minute I think the dragon's blood has gone away entirely and it's ALL MUSK ALL THE TIME, one minute it's all the sweet end of dragon's blood and fig, one minute it's just the mid-notes of dragon's blood. I mean, I know BPAL fresh from the lab can have blending problems, but this is a bit much. At least I keep sniffing it to see if I can figure out wtf?
1 hour: It's faded down to dragon's blood and musk now and I *still* can't figure out wtf. I think these musks need aging.
2.5 hours: it has worn down into just dragon's blood. Mmmm, dragon's blood. I love dragon's blood so much.
Final verdict: come back in 2 months.
Dragon's Claw (reviews): "dragon’s blood resin and three sandalwoods."
In the imp: Entirely sandalwood. I don't smell any dragon's blood at all.
Wet on skin: a very light, soprano sandalwood that smells very sun-warmed and sweet.
Drying: I'm getting a hint of the dragon's blood now, mostly the sweet end, to go with the warmth of the wood. There's a hint of smokiness around the edges.
Dry: The sweetness and resin of the dragon's blood is blending beautifully with the dry wood of the sandalwood. it reminds me a lot of the Dragon's Bone, actually, only a little bit less complex. I really like it, but I think it might be superseded by the Dragon's Bone. I'll have to try a wrist-to-wrist comparison test sometime when I don't have eight billion oils on various bits of me :D
Ten minutes: Huh. Something very hot and metallic is creeping in -- it feels like warm iron. The dragon's blood is receding, too, so now I'm smelling iron over wood.
45 minutes: The dragon's blood crept back in after the hot/metallic/iron note wandered by, but more as "addition to". I really don't know what's causing that iron/metallic overtone! At any rate, I do like it -- it smells like a draconic blacksmith. I just don't know that it adds anything that Dragon's Bone doesn't already do. There will be comparison tests, oh yes there will.
Also of note, it's surprisingly consistent. The fact I haven't had to edit this umpty dozen times to describe what it just did should prove that! It's pretty much exactly the same scent it was 45 minutes ago.
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