whisperstilled

I'm not usually big on cologne type scents. I'm very particular about the kinds I like. And while in the imp it's more standard cologne than anything else, it sweetens on the skin really nicely. Wet: Gunpowder and cologne, as advertised. Not nearly enough leather as I'd like, but them's the breaks. Dry: As it dries, it sweetens up. The gunpowder becomes a backdrop, the cologne comes to the fore, and a little sweet leather peeks in. It's much more subtle than I'd expect for such a masculine scent. I wish my skin didn't suck it up so much, since it fades quickly. Overall--good masculine scent, but nothing earth-shattering. Better than the average BPAL cologne scent, but a little too faded. 3/5.

The new and much coveted Rivet Goth, if you can get your hands on it, would be a good fit. It smells like oil and leather--and more like oil than leather, at least to me. It gave me the sensory experience of walking into a hardware store like ACE, where they don't carry lots of wood (like home depot), so you get hit hard by that unadulterated oil smell when you walk in. Really interesting and odd, and, as it sounds, perfect for what you described.

This one is a total surprise hit. I took a risk on this one because of the opium, wool, and leather notes, all of which I love. What I got was one sexy scent! Wet: Spicy sweet opium and wool with some leather. The bay rum is barely there, for the moment, and just serves as a nice extra masculine backdrop. Dry: The leather comes out more and mingles with the opium for one hella sexy combination. Add to that the wool note from Ichabod Crane and we so have a winner.

The last of the scents I picked up as samples. What awesome bottle art the Neverwhere scents have! Imp: Rose, floral, with incense and musk. This one's pretty well-blended. I'm having difficulty picking out individual notes. It's a really intriguing scent, actually, sort of tangy and odd. The incense gives it a steady background note and grounds it, keeps it from being too light. Wet: Wow, there's that incense coming off me like a tidal wave. The florals are the background now. It's gone a bit plasticky though, unfortunately, so I'll let it dry down. Dry: The plastic has gone away, but so have all the things I liked about this one in the imp--the tangy floral and ylang ylang and violet leaf. It's gone pretty straightforward incense on my skin, and while I do like incense, I wish there was a little more going on. Still, that's my skin chemistry's fault, not the scent's. A really nice scent. Not a rave rave rave need a bottle type scent, but quite nice. 3/5

Witchblade was another of the samples getting given out at the BPAL booth, so I had the opportunity to take it home and try it in my hermetically sealed scent-testing environment. Or, you know, my bedroom. Imp: Frankincense and musk! As advertised. Wet: A little amber and...is that vetiver? Could be the 'antediluvian, sacred metal.' Dry: A touch of musk, and definitely that distinctly peanutty vetiver smell, with frankincense laid over it. Not my kind of scent, I'm afraid. Smells like vetiver and a head shop. Not horrific or anything, just not my style. 2/5

At the con, Beth described this as a "pretty traditional oriental," which is accurate as far as I'm concerned. This is a well-blended scent in which the individual notes are hard to pick out. I picked this one up from the samples available at the booth, so I figured I might as well review it for the folks waiting on their C2E2 decant circles and the like. Imp: Some rosehip, a dash of plum blossom, which I personally quite like. The sandalwood is laid back, with the incense coming in stronger. The scent together has a tangy, almost lemony smell. Wet: The sort of lemon backdrop persists, but as it dries the plum comes in really strong and amps off of me. Dry: It becomes basically plum and incense with a little sandalwood. All in all, a nice scent but nothing I desperately need a bottle of. 3/5

What an odd scent this one is. I had a hard time identifying individual notes in the imp, aside from dirt and a kind of sweetness. Wet, however, it turns into dirt, a breath of florals, and tobacco. Strong tobacco, too, like the villain of the tale ground their cigar out into the earth of their poor victim's grave.

Sarah is the of my life, and one of my favorite BPAL scents. Why more people haven't tried it is absolutely beyond me. It's crisp, musky, and soft, like white fur dusted with church incense. I have yet to come across another blend quite like it, and it is very wolf, as well as deep and complex. I can't pick out individual notes, but I have no issue with that. This smells a lot more like a sexy vampire to me than SGA ever has (sorry Mr. Gaiman!)

I had fun trying this one, since I specifically avoided the scent description to see if I could figure it out on my own, and I did! Overwhelming sweetness in a good way. Honey so thick I can taste it. Maybe a hint of chocolate? It's like grenadine, exactly. Like smearing grenadine and a hint of cream on the skin, and I mean that in a good way. Not for the faint of heart, not for those of you who can't handle a little insane sweetness, but Bloody Mary is a sugary girl who seems to want to kill me with cavities more than a knife.

I picked this one up solely due to my American Gods love. Sweet and floral with a little bite, but pretty mellow. On skin it's much spicier. I can definitely smell the jasmine, which I didn't get at all in the bottle. It smells like midnight in a garden--appropriate. It goes very jasmine after a while--it seems I amp the stuff, and while I like it, I'm not into the fact that it overpowers everything else. Into the swaps!

In the imp, I get bourbon with just a hint of mint. Alcoholic, but not overpowering. Pretty much the same on my skin. Just okay. I can't say I'm a massive fan of bourbon, but the scent is alright. Not something I'd buy.

In imp: Leather, incense. Wet: Green with leather, likely the moss. Dry: It fades very quickly to a sort of soapy leather. Liz is still a much preferable leather scent to me. This feels like its less-attractive cousin, but I will keep it hanging around just because it's got such a good, strong leather note.

Sexy. As. Hell. If this is what a boy librarian smells like, I want one. Starts off with a good amount of patchouli wet, then dies back and I get more of the lavender. I get no leather really, which was a bit of a disappointment, since I love leather, but the rest of this totally made up for it. Really well-blended - aside from the lavender, it's hard to pick out individual notes, particularly with my brain simply screaming that it is not one thing I am smelling, but gorgeous, attractive librarian man. Absolute keeper.

BUBBLEGUM WHOA. So strong that a cloud of it smacked me in the face when I opened the imp. It dried down within ten minutes to something else, something delightfully complex and feminine. Debauched perfume stolen from mom's dressing table, perhaps? With a touch of booziness as well. Love love love.

Lavender, amber, a bit of pine. I get no caramel at all, really, but maybe a touch of the vanilla. this is a beautiful, beautiful scent. I fell in love with it immediately. It smells like clean, friendly man. Not very sexual, just masculine. Gorgeous.

I get really strong patchouli and musk. Tiny, tiny bit of vanilla, but I don't get the plum or the pomegranate at all. I amp the vanilla the more it dries. Not something I'd wear, though, too soapy patchouli.

My first review! How fun. Musky chocolate in imp. Bittersweet and dusty, like cocao baking powder. Wet: I get more of the cream, less of the chocolate. Dry: Sweet but not too sweet. Goes soapy and plasticky, but still smells basically the same as it did in the imp. Not bottle material, I'm more fond of gluttony if we're going to talk chocolate. Unfortunately, this one just didn't live up to the hype.