Narrow Opening

[Imbrium]

Rum, frankincense, leather accord, bourbon vanilla, champaca flower, and ambrette seed.

This is an interesting scent.

In the bottle, and first on the skin, I would have sworn that this had some manner of white floral in it, reminiscent of magnolia or gardenia or something. Those are florals that don't generally work on my skin, and I was a bit apprehensive. Perhaps this is what champaca flower smells like? I sort of imagined something a bit...grittier, I suppose.

After an hour or two, however, it settles into a musky sort of scent--a hint of the vanilla, a hint, still, of the floral, and the leather and frankincense. It's soft, and a bit sexy, but with a bit of sweetness from that floral still hovering around. Now, hours after first application, it has settled into something more of a second-skin sort of scent; I can barely detect it when I put my nose to my wrist, though it had a fair bit of throw earlier, so that I caught whiffs of it from my wrist as the afternoon went on.

In the end...I like this, the dry-down is lovely. But the initial hit of floral scent in the wet phase might be a bit much for me, I fear.

[sharkdiver]

I really like this one! at first, there was a bit of white flower impression, but that calmed down very quickly once it hit my skin. This dried down to a beautiful, refined black leather with a bit of the light white floral behind it. It's not sweet at all, but very "distinguished" it sort of reminds me of a very classy Master - a old fashioned man who wears leather, and who is respected, but is definitely not someone you want to cross...even though it makes me think of a man, I wouldn't say it's a masculine scent. I REALLY like this one! it get better the longer it's on!

[strahlend]

Frankincense dominates this scent for me. The leather is very soft, not the sharp new leather product kind.

 

The frankincense blends with the rum, leather and vanilla to give this a very inviting feel. I think it's the champaca mixing with the resin-warm backdrop gives me an impression of carnations.

 

This reminds me slightly of Midnight Mass and other blends that feature frankincense, but this is a whole new twist which warrants a try from people who like resins. I know I'll be ordering a bottle. This stuff is gorgeous.

[Eemia]

Strangely, rum isn't the forerunner here. I've ampped it in other scents so I was surprised it didn't jump out at me. Right away it's champaca flower and dark vanilla, no complaints about that. I love both of those notes and I've been having a minor obsession with champaca for the last few months. I thought with the vanilla this might have some sweetness but it doesn't. Overall it's more of a smoky incense with undertones of booziness. Sometimes I think I'm smelling hints of leather but its not a new leather jacket or soft and worn leather shoes type of leather that I can pick out easily. I can't explain what it smells like, only that I think that's what I'm noticing in the background.

 

It doesn't feel dark or too heavy for warm weather like I imagined it would be, given that these types of notes usually go that way on my skin. It doesn't have a strong throw but it has just the right amount of presence. Beautiful.

[Gateau]

This is boozy-incense-leather on me, and though I can pick up the floral and vanilla, they're not sweet and stay subtle. There is a sort of sour note that reminds me a little of old-fashioned library paste. When I first put it on I could barely smell it and had to slather a bit more on. Then once it dried it suddenly ramped up and threw off a lot of incense and sharp leather. I also got a minty note that, with the leather, made me think of Leather Phoenix.

 

I find this masculine, but not to the point where I couldn't wear it. It just doesn't really please my nose, so off it goes.

[Mellifluous]

This blend comes across very bayrum heavy to my nose, although that could just be because I dont generally like any rum scents XP. I do get a decent amount of champaca as well, but it really is in the backseat to the sweet/warm rum note. Sadly, the leather and vanilla in the blend only seem to make the rum note richer and sweeter, as opposed to being another layer to the scent. Overall, this is just a bit too close to a typical bayrum aftershave scent for my personal likings, but like I said, I am really sensitive to any rum notes.

[angelicruin]

Heavy rum and incense on my skin, with the leather note emerging as it dries. Quite boozy on my skin.

[Helas]

Champaca is a love/hate note for me. When it's light, it's a lush, slightly fruity, tropical floral. When it's strong, it smells like bananas. Narrow Opening unfortunately contains the banana-like champaca. It is heady and sweet, with a boozy intensity from the rum. I don't get any of the darker notes, like leather or incense. The vanilla comes out a little on dry-down but just makes the scent even sweeter. I was hoping for a tropical take on Liz, with champaca instead of honeysuckle, but this is just a very sweet but rather bland fruit cocktail scent that would have been at home in the Atomic Luau Lounge. Very disappointing, since I do like champaca when it behaves itself.

[symphonyinsilence]

Rum, leather and frankincense. Hell, it even smells a bit like cinnamon and pine cleaner!

 

No vanilla or champaca.

 

Was expecting so much from this.

Edited February 24, 2012 by symphonyinsilence

[sunshinedaisybliss]

The brightness of the champaca flower in combination with the waxy bright resin of the frankincense are the first things I notice in Narrow Opening when it hits my skin. The two together produce an a bright, golden toned floral-like fragrance, which sticks around for the first 10-15 minutes and is quite heady in an almost smells-like-baby-shampoo kinda way.

 

Thirty minutes in, and that initial floral business has faded away a bit.. the rum is here! I don't think the rum is able to do its usual spicy boozy thing though, because that frankincense has amped up quite a bit (my skin always amps that one) and it's really keeping the rum in check. Same with the leather - it's there, and I am picking it up as a fresh/sharp kind of leather rather than the worn/snuggly kind of leather - but it's really struggling to get out. Bourbon vanilla.. where are you? I'm just not loving this one at all - the things I wanted (rum, leather, bourbon vanilla) are not here, and the things I didn't want (champaca, ambrette, frankincense) won't go away!!

 

So here I am.. it has now been on my arm for 2.5 hours, and what have I got? The teensy tiniest hint of vanilla, and the barest suggestion of a sweet floral. But I'm really stretching to find those things - there's hardly any scent remaining on my skin. Overall, there's nothing about Narrow Opening that makes it stand out from other similar BPAL blends.. and I doubt I'll ever feel an urge to wear this one again. Totally not my thing

[surlygurl]

Oh yeah! This is an interesting blend. I almost didn't get a decant because only certain leathers work on me, and rum can be cloying. Well.....

 

Fresh on my skin, this is rummy frankincense, golden and, yes, cloying. And LOUD. Right away I get the champaca - more golden notes. The leather is there bringing the golden sweetness into (almost) submission. *%#*% unruly kids!!

 

After maybe 10 minutes the scent calms down and the smells that waft around me are beautiful. It's still on the sweet side (is this a theme for Lupers this year or what?) but pleasantly so. Reminds me of Port-au-Prince without the spices (and sweeter. Yeah). I have to retest this a few times, but it may be a bottle purchase. If it is, it'll last a looong time.

 

eta: this oil fades quickly on me. Soon after the intensity dies down, the whole thing fades out. Too bad.

Edited March 4, 2012 by surlygurl

[Larinessa]

Have been testing my luper decants several times before reviews, so this is after a day test.

 

on my skin the rum, leather, frankinsence and champaca are all present and accounted for. The throw is really quite good, but the wear length isn't the longest I have ever experienced.

 

However, while wandering a large fabric warehouse today I did hear multiple comments from other customers remarking that something smell 'quite good' and 'warm spicy scent' which I guess was me. so I guess it works well on my skin.

 

With its warm spicy tone I feel this will actually make a better fall/holidays scent for me.

Edited March 5, 2012 by Larinessa

[milo]

?? I'm so sure that I smell a night blooming jasmine here. This seems to be the only lab's jasmine that works on me, so this is OK. After a bit, I'm getting a nice musky sandalwood vibe along with the jasmine (or jasmine-like note). This is pretty, but a bit too heady at times, and I doubt I'd reach for it very often.

[dawndie]

In bottle: alcoholy floral

 

On skin: slightly boozy sweetness, but nothing overwhelming

 

Half-hour later: lots of frankincense and champaca, dusty and sweet

 

In conclusion: I was a bit nervous when other reviewers complained of too much sweet & boozy rum, as that's how Red Lantern ended up on me and I had to swap it away. I love that this blend has lots of champaca and frankincense with a little bit of booze, it's strong and distinctive without being too heady.

[karykeion]

Decanted by saralaughs!

 

In the decant: Sup there, alcohol? And vanilla, and I think some leather.

 

On me, wet: Ooh, this is really nice! It is more boozy than I would like to smell, I think, but I do like the rum note. I was also a little worried about the champaca flower and ambrette seed, since those were both in Body, Remember and that ended up smelling like nail polish on me. I think that same kind of sharp grossness is actually here too, but better-blended? Like, I can smell what I didn't like about Body, Remember, but it actually works in this blend instead of smelling yucky and out of place. As it dries I think I'm starting to pick up on a hidden musk note, which I am really fervently hoping doesn't ruin the entire thing.

 

On me, dry: Interesting and pretty! Sweet and leathery and less full of rum than at first, which I appreciate, being a college student who doesn't like the idea of smelling like alcohol in class. I think I'm going to give it a full run and see if I like it. I don't love it, but it's a pretty okay perfume.

[sharkdiver]

re-testing this one...and I really like it! I liked it initially too, but now, It seems like the type of scent that just wraps around you, and melds nicely - it's not all up in your face, but it's there, and it's...inviting.

 

To me, THIS is what I hoped Perversion would smell like

[zankoku_zen]

Rum, leather, hints of vanilla and frankincense. This is a heavily RUM based scent, with the leather acting as a grounder and then swirls of everything else.

 

Being neither a rum nor leather fan, this isn't for me. It's kinda piratical, manly, and leathery.

[stellamaris]

I kind of love this one, I keep reaching for it again and again. It's not particularly feminine, but not so very Boy Cologne either. The notes are well blended and behave, even the leather is subtle, not Bash You Over the Head Leather, like for me in In the Forest.

It's a little salty, resinous and mouth watering, medium strength. Love it. Yes.

I've come to the realization that booze notes are fantastic for me, I was afraid of them as a BPAL newbie because I did not want to smell like McSorley's at 7AM (which I have smelled BTW ) but with the success of Perversion (which is all win for me, but so much sweeter than this), Kill Devil and The Obsidian Widow, I intend to belly up to the bar...

Edited April 16, 2012 by stellamaris

[yakiguri]

Narrow Opening starts off with a lush, heady white floral that I'm thinking is the champaca, but then within half an hour devolves into rum and fruit with a dash of nail polish. I guess ambrette is a note of doom for me as I'm sure it's the culprit. No leather, no frankincense, no vanilla. Boo.

Edited April 21, 2012 by thatbrownelf

[porcelina]

narrow opening sounded amazing except maybe for the rum which is after a dealbreaker for me- except bay rum, which i love. but to my surprise and delight, it works! it's a very sexy leather, vanilla and resin blend with just a touch of sweet rum (more like bay rum than a foody or boozy rum) and musky ambrette seed. i love it.

[Little Bird]

Narrow Opening is mostly a sharp, perfumey floral. The rum and resins make it smell warmer and sweeter in the drydown, but I'm not really getting any of the leather and vanilla, which is what I was looking forward to. I get champaca flower (which smells oddly like iris or tuberose to me here), rum and frankincense...

[filigree_shadow]

This is one of the ones that has some notes in it that I usually avoid (rum, frankincense), but has other notes that I love (leather, vanilla, champaca), so it's worth trying because you never know which notes will be stronger and which ones will be barely there.

 

I gambled and lost on this one. It's a sour-smelling rum & ambrette, I guess. I don't smell leather or vanilla or champaca... it's mostly boozey. It's not for me.

[mymymai]

ITB: Bourbon vanilla, ambrette, and champaca flower. The combination smells like a floral banana smoothie to me.

 

Wet: Champaca flower...oop, there's that banana again. Okay, now that I concentrate, there's bourbon vanilla, ambrette seed, and the tiniest dab of leather. It's somewhat spicy if I had to categorize this scent.

 

Dry: Okay, less banana now and more champaca flower, ambrette seed, bourbon, and light frankincense. It's nice, but not awesome.

[theseagrows]

i've wanted to try this for a looong time and finally got a decant of it. at first i get mostly rum, champaca and a white floral note. there is also a hint of nuttiness in here, from what, i don't know. the nuttiness and white floral aspects die off and i think i am getting a lot of ambrette and then the frankincense really amps up and turns to pencil shavings on me, as the lab's frankincense note often does. then it dominates and all i get is pencil shavings with a hint of champaca. it dries down to vanilla, champaca and is still dominated by frankincense. the frankincense finally lets up when the perfume is almost faded away and this point it's a pretty smoky vanilla-champaca. unfortunately overall, my skin chemistry is not playing nice with this one.

Edited February 15, 2021 by theseagrows

[vthesiren]

I'm getting the same weird white floral/nutty notes as others - I suspect that the champaca and frankincense are not playing nice with me. A shame, because I was looking for this one for a while because of the leather/rum/vanilla in the notes. I was definitely hoping for something a tiny bit sweeter. I'll let it sit for a few days and try again.