londonfrog

Perversion! It's one of my favorite GC scents. "Smoky rum and black tobacco with a whisper of steamy leather with a splash of crystalline chardonnay, layered over a sensual, sweet, and deceptively magnetic base of tonka."

In the bottle, Pepper is a light, bright, and sweet floral. Wet on my skin, the juiciness of the blood orange begins to show itself, and there are a few fleeting moments where I too am getting that bubblegum. As it dries down, it becomes very clean smelling. Pepper makes me think of the fancy floral soaps and starched white linens you might find in a countryside B&B. Maybe it's the pine resin (weirdly, I also suspect the berries - a tricky note for me) that's giving the textile thing. Maybe it's just the flowers. Whatever it is, it's just too clean for me to want to reach for this on a regular basis. I would wear this to a fancy tea party. My BF said that it smells like a "young grandma". Sorry, Pep. I know she would hate that.

IN THE BOTTLE: Oh…this smells just like a permanent marker. I’m having a visceral reaction to this part, which has been excellently described by others as industrial. I gave it a few weeks to age while I built up the nerve to try it on. To be fair to this scent, some of my favorite BPALs have started out this way - I hated it in the bottle, but ended up loving where it went on my skin (looking at you, Sherlock & Muddy Armadillo). WET: Yep, that’s a Sharpie. Where was this scent when I was in middle school and actually wanted to sniff those? Could it be the tobacco that is so aggressive? I thought I liked tobacco notes, but now the results are inconclusive. I wanted warm and chewy tobacco, and this is more like an airplane in the 1970's. DRY DOWN: It is indeed ivory-hued as the vanilla & amber begin to peek out from behind the archeological effluvium. It’s amusing how comforting the aftercare of the warm, sweet stuff is feeling after braving the BDSM that is the chalky rubble. It really is quite lovely once you get past that part. AFTER AN HOUR: I can still smell the Sharpie, but I can also smell all of the yummy amber, vanilla, as well as some tobacco & cacao. I only applied a small amount because I was so apprehensive about the initial “gasoline dreams” top note, but this test has at the very least inspired me to move it out of my destash pile and curious to try a more hefty dose. I can smell the comparisons with my beloved Muddy Armadillo, but I’m not sure this will ever enter into my top 10 like MA has. I would be interested to try it on someone else. WHERE I WOULD WEAR THIS: When I want to feel like a Titan of Industry, strike fear into the hearts of my enemies, but also have a snuggle afterwards. I own 51% of this Permanent Marker company. Now, come to Mama.

I second the bit that @VetchVesper mentioned about chemistry. You really have to try things on yourself to know. That being said, I thought I would chime in to say you might like to try Assassin. It’s my newest obsession in the BPAL catalogue. It is ironic that you can order this bottle with your choice of label that is either masc, fem, or nonbinary. It’s very sexy and it smells a lot like a more “traditional” men’s cologne to me than some of the other things in the BPAL catalogue. Good luck!