Penny Dreadful

[odalisque]

Also called Gallows Literature. A dime novel rife with melodrama, horror, madness and cruelty; a ten cent analogy of vice and virtue in conflict. Soft perfume evocative of noir heroines over rich red grave loam.

I'm so frustrated reading the reviews of earthy, spicy sexiness. I might have gotten to that stage if something in the loam accord hadn't been exactly the same as Crossroads' earth and moss, which I recently realized I'm allergic or sensitive to.

I got as far as dabbing it on the crook of my elbow before my sinuses started to ache and I began sneezing, and I had to scrub it off with dish soap and wrap the imp in a plastic bag to minimize my exposure to it.

Woe, woe is me and my allergies.

[inkaddict]

 

Wet: sweet and somehow unpleasantly sharp and sour at the same time.

On me it's almost like cola gone bad. That's the best description I can come up with. Ew.

 

Dry: I was hoping for the earthy spicyness, but my nose refuses to pick anything from it aside from sour cola. And it's *strong*. For the first time in my short bpal experience I literally had to run and wash an oil off, but this was making me sick.

I hope it's not the ginger that turns evil on me 'cause I love the smell of fresh ginger -it always reminds me of clean linens and sunny days.

Edited February 17, 2009 by inkaddict

[MisterShrapnel]

Woah, this is cool. It really is gingerbread and dirt. And a little patchouli? There is the barest hint of flowers too, buried six feet under. Overall it's quite soft, not an aggressive/very spicy scent or anything, but I really like it.

...

*fidgets*

I could use 5mL.

[magikalbrownies]

when i was a kid i used to hold pennies in my hand and play with them for hours because id fill up the ozarka jars with them...this smells like all those collected pennies and YES, i smell patchouli because its making me smell like dirt...

 

not a pleasant smell but it solicited a flashback from 21 yrs ago.

[anna1850]

This reminds me of Death Cap quite a bit. It's got a similar earth note. But I think Death Cap has the edge. Whilst that smelt like freshly dug earth, Penny Dreadul just smells slightly dirty. The perfume note's quite pleasant but I'm not really sure how wearable this is.

 

3/5 I'll stick with Death Cap for when I want to smell dirty.

[Suu4LC]

Yep, dirt scent-rich moist dirt with a bit of perfume. I'm not a dirt scent person, but this is kind of a pretty dirt scent.

 

A much prettier dirt scent then I would have imagined-a bit rich and spicy. It's not even fair to call it dirt, it's rich and moist-loam indeed. This isn't my thing, but I think this is one of the most accessible dirt scents Beth has ever made-it's a dirt scent for the non dirt lover. It's got a rich, earthy vibe with a bit of softness and femininity in the perfume aspect. Loses the wet dirt feel on drydown and leaves behind on a sweet perfumed/powdery earth scent. Very nice!

[bubblefish]

It starts off smelling vaguely like old perfume and then fades away into a slightly musty smell. But then it goes slightly sour on me and there's a hint of cat pee in the background.

[CynicalPink]

Imp: warm cologne-ish dirt

 

Wet/dry-ish: Well THAT was unexpected. Florals! Interesting floral, too. This smells like...the drawer that holds all of my favorite bubble baths and stuff! In a good way!

 

Overall: It's pleasant and pretty and oh so feminine. I like it! It's a lot more like commercial perfumes than most BPAL, but that's not a negative. It's something different and really comforting. Let's see if I wind up needing a bottle.

[blacklacestatic]

This will probably be my shortest review ever but all I get from this- in the imp, wet and through the drydown- is wet, green soil. Potent wet, green soil. Like I just rolled around in wet dirt. I don't get anything else from this.

[boxinghelena]

You had me at rich red grave loam!!

 

Penny Dreadful was the first dirt scent I fell in love with. A pretty floral dirt scent. Long lasting staying power on me but it could just be my skin chemistry. It tends to hold onto scents that last for hours.

 

And I love the name!!!

 

[ouch!]

After reading the reviews of this one I thought hmm what is this gonna be all about. I''ve smelled the dirt note in Singing Moon and didn't think it was THAT strange.

 

This has that same similar note at first..it smells like earth...but this is like sweet earth. It's bearable but it is definately unusual.

It fades after about 10 mins and this goes much sweeter and slightly powdery which makes me think there are resins in here somewhere (Some turn funny me) I think there may be some flowers in here too and there's alot of musk.

 

Not really my cup of tea..

[redderz]

In the imp: Very foody! That's odd.

 

Wet: Ginger and... dirt. With a hint of floral. I'm confused by this scent!

 

Dry: I'm not really sure what to think of this. It does smell perfumey, but also foody. Brain is confused!

[rayvn1]

It's dirt! DIRT!!! I've been looking for a good bpal dirt scent that works on my skin and doesn't turn into mushrooms for so freaking long I thought the perfume would amp and drown any hint of dirt, but this is just dirt through and through (with a slightly sweet tinge, to be sure). O happy freaking day!!! I can't wait to try this with a rain scent to see if I get the "just rained on dirt" smell that is my holy grail. O frabjous day, calloo callay!

 

It's late. I'm excited, what can I say?

[revinn]

This is sour soap to me in the imp, wet, and dry on my skin.

[milo]

Wet, this is like a strong invasive weed that you've pulled out of your garden. Very bitter and acrid. As it dries, this fades, and we're left with dirt, and maybe a touch of soft floral perfume. The perfume part is nice, but overall, this blend is not for me.

[arsenicsauce]

This is strangely foody on me. Wet it smells like stale movie popcorn, and as it dries I get something kind of juicy, a berry or currant? On top of spicy ginger and a dirty patchouli note that I'm not fond of. I like patchouli but this one is more grubby pencil shavings than loam. Hopefully someone out there can use this better than me.

[angelicruin]

Wet on my skin, I get overly-buttery popcorn. Goes a bit spicy ginger as it dries, but still have that icky butter popcorn smell to it that lingers. This goes to the swap pile, I'm afraid.

[impolight]

Lovely!

Cheerfully green...

Remniscent of, 'Zombi'.

Tearose? Rosewood? Oakmoss?

Dust and a hint of leather...

Perfectly captures old-timey theatrics and parlor-tricks.

A fireside leer.

A Lady's gloved hand hanging out of an inadvertently opened steamer trunk.

[Amaroq]

Penny Dreadful smells like taking a walk through the woods after a snowfall, and it warms up when it dries, like sitting by a fire post-walk. Very enjoyable.

Edited December 14, 2009 by Amaroq

[KesHiro]

Frimp in one of my orders.

 

Wow! I'm going to say right now that this is not a scent I will ever wear, but kudos to evoking the image I get when I think of the penny dreadful novel! This is probably the first oil where I immediately thought "Book!"

 

In the vial, I smell an herby, dirty musk. It's not bad, but it definitely smells like perfume and dirt mixed together. Wet, I smell florals, something loamy, and something like tin. I'm not sure if my nose is broken, since no metal note is listed, but it's there in the background. The drydown goes through this bizarre metal floral stage before finally settling into a musky floral with hints of dirt and tin in the background. When I smell this, I think of pennies, old book pages, women's perfume, and graveyards.

 

The final result is something I'd describe as okay. It's quite interesting as a scent concept but it's not for me.

[MamaMoth]

Wet, this is dirt and cakey ginger; like buried cookies. How odd, but compelling!

 

As it dries the ginger gets less and less cookie-like, and eventually just fades to a faint sweet spiciness in the dirt. A generic florally smell comes out of NOWHERE to take it's place. Meanwhile the dirt note has backed off greatly. This ends up earthy and rich, sweet and gently floral, and just the tiniest bit spicy.

 

Not my thing. But oils like this are why I <3 BPAL.

 

 

[Geminirubyshoes]

Massive amounts of dirt with deep, rich smooth musk underneath. After about 15 minutes there is no more dirt on me just the underlying notes which only get deeper and darker the longer its on. Words cannot express how much I love this. I like to wear it on cold,rainy days. It also reminds me of something my mom wore when I was little. Penny Dreadful is awsome.

[DeltaCat]

Hello dirt! I love the earthy tone. There is a slight spice on drydown though which actually turns me off a bit. Not terrible, but probably not a purchase.

[SophieCedar]

Love it!!!

 

Another frimp. Much sweeter than expected.

 

In imp: dirt and florals

Wet: boom! girly sweetness pops out. I guess the unexpected twist in the story.

Drydown: lovely flowers that I can't place my finger on. everything else is still there.

[whisperstilled]

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.