Dead Man's Hand

[binkyboots]

... Our Dead Man’s Hand is the quintessential western scent: dusty rawhide and oiled leather.

ooh... I was so sad I missed this one, but happily was able to get a couple of bottles from the apothecary's cat

ok.. it's very leathery, like, just leather! that by the way is good, I like leather.

I think it smells like a tack room, clean (but not new) leather.

I think it might be nice layered, maybe with whip (to bump up the leather) or tombstone...

but it's awesome on it's own, I dont know how Beth does it

[Nisaba]

Isn't all BPAL supposed to be vegan? Because I swear, in Dead Man's Hand Beth has taken the side of a dead cow, cured it, stretched it, tanned it, then liquified it and poured it into a bottle. I love this. It's leather, through and through, and utterly gorgeous.

 

[elphaba]

This scent takes me back to my grade school days when I learned leatherworking in 4-H Club. It's the scent of thick, rough, brown leather...perhaps a bit grass-stained, but still fresh. This is an amazing rendition. I can barely believe I'm smelling something in a bottle instead of the real thing.

[Galena]

I still can't get over how well she does leather. there's cheap kinky leather, there's soft well worn leather, like a good quality coat, and there's this.

 

really raw leather. not long off the cow.

[Ajila]

This to me is walking into a shoe shop. At first it's very strong, almost uncomfortably so. It dries mellower on me. I have to admit that I like smelling this on me, but I'm not certain that I want to smell of it, if that makes sense.

[gingersnapp]

When I opened the bottle, the smell of leather and rawhide lept up my nose and made my eyes water, clinging to the back of my throat. I wasn't sure I really liked it much on, either, as it smelled very much like what I imagined a cowboy would smell like.

 

I kind of forgot about it and spent my afternoon buried in a book when I realized that the blend had morphed into the intoxicating smell of old, dusty leather bound books.

 

I don't know if I'm going to keep it to endure the five to six hours of drydown that I don't really like just to get to the couple of hours of book smell. But I think I might give it another try just to be sure.

[WaldorfSalad]

Hello, BPAL.

 

This is my first review of any oil, so I hope that you'll be kind.

 

My lovely wife LunaSea obtained a few imps of this oil for me, and I like it a lot.

 

To me, this oil recalls one of the "rites of passage" every boy goes through -- breaking in a new ball glove. I'm reminded of summer afternoons spent watching a ball game with my dad, rubbing neatsfoot oil into my new Wilson, pounding the leather with my fist, and wanting so badly to make that stiff new ball glove fold up around the ball.

 

I used to bury my face in that glove, smelling the leather, oil, and dust of the ballfield. It's the scent of summer, and of my father. As a guy, it doesn't scream sex at me, but it's more of a comforting scent. LunaSea likes it on me too, so I save it for at home or when we go out.

[rosered]

Pure leather! I sew with leather, and this smells like my workroom. I'm glad I was able to get a bottle for my husband, as it's one of his favorites! Layered with Graveyard Dirt it's even more amazing.

[Nehushtan]

Dead Man's Hand is one of my all-time favorite scents. As every other person has said, it smells like leather. I had given up on leather scents before I found this one; I was looking for natural leather, dusty and hot like a saddle, but all I could find was cold, cruel, unforgiving leather like De Sade.

 

This scent reminds me of John Wayne and the trickster Coyote and jackrabbits and horses and skies so wide they induce agoraphobia. It's dusty and dirty and rough, but wise, too, and if it had eyes they would crinkle around they edges...right before they shot you.

 

As the Duke says, "If you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow." Dead Man's Hand gets me by all three. I'm in love.

Edited September 15, 2005 by Nehushtan

[grrrlennyl]

at first: a very soft, worn, brown leather. it reminds me of this leather bomber hacket i wore when i was younger.

on: pure leather, soft and brown. i like this a lot more than i thought i would.

1 hour later: even softer. very nice. comforting and familiar.

2 hours later: still that cozy leather.

overall: this is just a fantastic scent. perfect on its own, but even better when layered with other ones.

[twistygirl]

Mmmmm, leather. Not cold, whips-and-chains S&M leather, but warm, cozy, snuggly leather. To me, it evokes the smell of horseback riding, of a well-worn saddle, without the accompanying equine smell. Cowboy indeed.

 

For such an earthy scent, it has a surprising amount of throw on me. Most earthy scents (and I think of this as an "earthy" smell, even though it doesn't smell of the earth itself), especially Graveyard Dirt, clung close to my skin, Dead Man's Hand wafts more, yet not so much to be overwhelming.

 

This is not the sort of scent that I would choose to wear - I'm more of a spicy-foody girl - but I would love to smell this on a man. It's got a very subtle masculinity to it. And even though I don't see myself wearing this, it is a fantastic scent. I might hang on to this one, just to sniff it from time to time, because there's something incredibly comforting about this scent.

[couscous]

So much like a leather jacket that it's almost scary. I mean REALLY, REALLY all leather, all the time. I think people should drop a bit on a blanket or something and feel the comfort of this. It's as true to saddle leather as anything you'll ever find- ever!

Edited September 29, 2005 by couscous

[zillah37]

Whew! Leather and rawhide. It caught me in the back of the throat as soon as I sniffed it. The boy sniffed it and made a face, saying it reminded him of leather car seats sitting in the sun. Which is not so bad, but not what I was hoping for.

 

I put it on me and for some reason, it smelled like Bed of Nails on me. Yes, it was leathery, but there was also a metallic tinge to it that made it impossible for me to wear.

 

It's exactly how it was described, just not something I can wear.

 

*sets aside to swap*

[Em-]

As others have said, this is pure leather. It is like walking into a well maintained barn full of well oiled saddles, or a really good western store where you can buy everything from a saddle to boots to feed to hats. It is rich brown cowboy leather, with trophy buckles, and handtooled boots, and the soft scent of an animal that just drifts...

 

It is a scent that makes me a little nostalgic for visits to my grandparents' farm in Oklahoma, and it is ascent that I think would be lovely on my husband. But it is not a scent I can see myself wearing, to be honest. It is almost too evocative for me, and too much leather. I'm really glad to have tried it, though...

[Orodemniades]

Erm, leather. Not one of my favorite scents...unless you add saddlesoap and warm horse, of course.

 

Otherwise, next!

 

Oro

[Little Bird]

Dead Man's Hand smells to me exactly like the store where I buy my brother's work boots. All of the leather and suede. It's somehow warmer and softer on me than De Sade. I envision this as brown and soft rather than black and hard.

[Wrenlet]

Okay, it looks like I'm alone in this, but along with the OMGLEATHER! I smell clean, sunwarm horse in here

 

[SeaMonkey]

The description is right on. Oiled rawhide leather.

 

Its all leather, like being in a leather store and you fell into a display rack of leather. It gave me silly thoughts of the leather sketch on SNL.

 

I'm not a big leather fan. Once it softens, its easier to deal with, but I had to swap this one

[malanna]

Leather, but a dry, light brown leather. This also has a layer of clean air over it and grass stains on it. It really does smell like new rawhide (or what I imagine new rawhide to smell like, as I've never smelled new rawhide before). An interesting scent, though not for me.

[BlueStar]

I just got a bottle of this and since I am catching up on my reviews here we go.

 

Oh my fucking God this roxxor!

 

Wet on Skin: Having spent time around horses and tack rooms I can confirm that yes, in the bottle and on first application this smells like horse tack and harness. I keep playing Garth Brook's "Rodeo" over and over in my head.

 

Garth Brooks -- "Rodeo"

 

His eyes are cold and restless

His wounds have almost healed

And she'd give half of Texas

Just to change the way he feels

She knows his love's in Tulsa

And she knows he's gonna go

Well it ain't no woman flesh and blood

It's that damned old rodeo

 

Well it's bulls and blood

It's dust and mud

It's the roar of a Sunday crowd

It's the white in his knuckles

The gold in the buckle

He'll win the next go 'round

It's boots and chaps

It's cowboy hats

It's spurs and latigo

It's the ropes and the reins

And the joy and the pain

And they call the thing rodeo

 

She does her best to hold him

When his love comes to call

But his need for it controls him

And her back's against the wall

And it's So long girl I'll see you

When it's time for him to go

You know the woman wants her cowboy

Like he wants his rodeo

 

Well it's bulls and blood

It's dust and mud

It's the roar of a Sunday crowd

It's the white in his knuckles

The gold in the buckle

He'll win the next go 'round

It's boots and chaps

It's cowboy hats

It's spurs and latigo

It's the ropes and the reins

And the joy and the pain

And they call the thing rodeo

It'll drive a cowboy crazy

It'll drive the man insane

And he'll sell off everything he owns

Just to pay to play her game

And a broken home and some broken bones

Is all he'll have to show

For all the years that he spent chasin'

This dream they call rodeo

 

Well it's bulls and blood

It's dust and mud

It's the roar of a Sunday crowd

It's the white in his knuckles

The gold in the buckle

He'll win the next go 'round

It's boots and chaps

It's cowboy hats

It's spurs and latigo

It's the ropes and the reins

And the joy and the pain

And they call the thing rodeo

 

It's the broncs and the blood

It's the steers and the mud

And they call the thing rodeo

 

Drydown: Mmm you know what this smells like over time. Wealthy, stinking rich people's leather. It smells like the coat section of Marshall Fields. It smells like money! I abso-fucking-lutely love this fragrance!

Edited December 12, 2005 by BlueStar

[judas_kiss]

Wow, this is leather, BLACK leather. This is the leather of a gun-slinger's gun belt. It is very sinister and yet comforting at the same time. I have always adored the smell of leather. I agree this has a richness about it which brings to mind pricey leather gloves and soft, calf-skin jackets. Gorgeous, and truly sexy on a man, believe me!

[gangstaknitta]

I am completely in love with this scent. Really, it's the only thing I love as much as Queen Mab.

 

It is everything I wanted De Sade to be.

 

My loins are warm for you, DMH.

 

De Sade is like walking into to a fancy English saddle shop. DMH is the smell of a worn leather saddle, covered in dust, warmed by the sun.

 

It's so damned good. And I can layer it with anything. I'm going to be buried in it, dammit.

 

Beth, please bring it back, please. Just once. That's all I need...one update with it...then I'll quit, I swear....

[filigree_shadow]

Leather. Warm, sexy, Marlboro Man kind of leather. Rowr.

 

It smells a little sharper, more like De Sade, on my husband than it does on me. I think it smells better on me! But he won't let me keep it, even though I love it!

 

In reviews a lot of times I say something like "This one is not for me."

This one is FOR ME!

 

Please please please bring this back! Me and gangstaknitta alone will make it worth your while!!!

[aedes]

*HONK HONK!*

 

Leather, bi-yatch!

 

Such life-like leather I could barely believe it. What Rose Red is to roses, Dead Man's Hand is to leather.

 

Leather lovers, this is your holy grail.

 

I think I'm going to spread it on leather articles in my house to amp their scent. Wow!

[Ryvre]

In the imp: Plastic-like. My boyfriend says it smells like a department store, and I agree.

 

Wet: Leather! It's softer than DeSade- more like suede. This is oddly sexy.

 

Dry: Leather with an odd aquatic undertone.

 

I jumped the gun and bought an imp while it was still in the wet stage, and I don't really like it now that my skin chemistry has had it's way with it. Bad skin!