Penny Dreadful

[indicolite]

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.

Note to self: no grave loam.

Ever.

Smelling like I just rose from an ill-maintained coffin is not my style.

I did smell the perfume once. Edited September 29, 2007 by Shollin

[silver_dollar]

First blast is extremely buttery dirt. Very... unique. Luckily, the initial butter phase fades relatively quickly, and it's mostly floral perfume after that. Eh, I'll keep the imp.

 

Rating: 2

[steffanina]

Penny Dreadful-

 

In Bottle: Ooh, the earthy smell. Stronger than The Premature Burial.

 

Wet: Very strongly earth. I can't help but continue to compare it to The Premature Burial, which had the earth tones but also that spicy sweetness.

 

Dry: There is almost a grape candy hint that comes out in this. It's interesting!

 

Overall: I like. More of a novelty though.

[Eros]

Not as strong a wet earth smell as in Zombi but definitely there, with a very light sweetness. Applied to skin it's the same as in the imp for quite a few minutes then the dirt starts to fade and a dry woodsiness(is that a word??), starts to emerge. It's very light, no throw really, and it doesn't stick around for very long. Nice, though.

[QueenFae]

This is a tricky one! When first applied it smelled nothing at all like I expected it to; it didn't smell dreadful at all! I detected soft, sweet notes; like white florals with something a little spicy underneath. I can barely detect the earthen note at all. After it dries down, the grave loam starts to show itself quite a bit more. In the end it smells like a toned down Graveyard Dirt over a light cinnamon / ginger note. A nice scent, but not my thing.

[astridclaire]

This is much, much lighter than I expected and dissapears on my skin pretty quickly. Before it vanishes though I get a mixture of sandalwood, ginger, vanilla, peanut butter, and hazelnut

 

It smells divine in the imp though!

[Vindaloo.curry]

Got this one as a frimp, along with Tweedledee.

 

In the imp:

Loamy, with a hint of the butteriness alluded to by many. Sharp spice.

 

Wet:

Pretty much faithful to the imp. Interesting.

 

Drydown:

OMG! What wonderful white pepper! Sneaks up from behind, grabs you by the back of the neck and gives a good shake! Sharp, without the harsh mineral bite. Ginger notes (hence the slight sweetness)--just a bit curry-ish. Freshly turned loam without too much of the green edge that rich soils carry.

 

Verdict:

Very evocative. May have to have a 5ml of this one. 4 out of 5.

 

Edited December 5, 2006 by Vindaloo.curry

[glass_cat]

I'm not sure exactly what I expected from this scent, but I was so intrigued by the description that I couldn't pass up trying it. It's been on my "I should get an imp of this sometime" list forever, and I only just now got around to actually ordering one and taking it out for a spin. This is quite lovely really. It's falling into the same mental category as Tezcatlipoca for me somehow. I think it's the rich earthiness mixed with edibles that is doing it, only Penny Dreadful smells like earth and ginger snaps to me while Tezcatlipoca was earth and dark chocolate. It's very warm, deep and spicy, yet still quite feminine.

 

I'm not sure if this is a reaction I'm supposed to be getting from this, but this is definitely a breed of comfort scent to me. It makes me want to grab my big book of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, some tea and cookies, and a blanket to go spend a lazy evening by the fire. I don't know that this is on my "bottle me now" list yet, but then spicier scents rarely are since I only wear them occasionally. I do adore this though. I'll definitely be pulling this little imp out when I need something a little different or intriguing.

Edited December 14, 2006 by glass_cat

[jessiesquash]

This smells EXACTLY like it is described and as I hoped it would! This was one that I wanted because of the name and was lucky enough to love it too. Rich upturned earth and that classic perfume that your great grandmother wore when she was young. Gorgeous! I must have a bottle.

[myoubi]

oh dear I wanted so to like it! sadly, I get nothing but musty, stale earth when I put this on my arm, and only the faintest hint of floral when I wedge my nose against my wrist and huff. Whyyy?

[supremegoddessofall]

Pure dirt with a touch of florals underneath. Strangely pretty - I don't usually like dirt scents.

[mmmitchell]

Penny Dreadful offered me quite the interesting nose trip.....

 

In the vial: This is the musty, mouldy smell of veryvery old books that have languished for years in an wooden trunk. I guess this is the "loamy" scent, but to me, it's old falling-apart books and wood.

 

Wet: The musty, murky, wooden-y smell is the strongest note. I definitely get an earlier reviewer's comparison to a poorly maintained coffin. And I agree....this is an interesting scent journey, but not something I want to smell like.

 

I sorta wrote this off as a one-trick pony until about an hour later when.....

 

Dry: Ah, there's the noir heroine's faded perfume. And this part is really very lovely....spicy, creamy goodness.

 

Verdict: I quite like the ultimate drydown on this one, and will enjoy my imp from time to time to get that.....not worth a big bottle to me, however.

[urbanruralferal]

yep, there's the dirt. My friend's eyes got wild as she likened it to Nosferatu, only not as disturbing. (But I haven't tried Nosferatu, so I can't say...)

After a while the dirt wore off and I began to smell like those weird hippie date cakes that some BPAL is like for me. ???

Unexplained mysteries, but completely unwearable.

Hurray for the meet n' sniff, I say!

[theseagrows]

this was a surprise hit for me! first it started off by smelling like almonds (or some other kind of nut) and dirt, which i wasn't too wowed by, as bpal's almond note smells weird on me. soon the almonds disappeared and only dirt remained. now that it's been about half an hour and i get a great spiciness with a hint of dirt in the background. it's not cinnamon spicy either, i have no idea what it is, but i love it!

Edited January 30, 2007 by theseagrows

[Eemia]

I was so excited to try this one because I loved the description and the notes sounded so interesting. I'm not disappointed at all....in fact it's even better than I thought it would be.

 

The first time I smelt this on my skin I thought that it smelled exactly like old books....you know that dried up, slightly musty, yellowed paper pages kinda scent? It's a scent I have clear image associations with because I collect old books. Then I realized it was the grave loam I was smelling....very dry and dirty with an earthy scent. It is so rich smelling layered over that perfumey scent that emerges after a few minutes.

 

I wish I could describe that perfume underneath but I can't. I can't pick out any particular notes, only that it smells slightly floral and a teeny bit sweet, but sophisticated at the same time. Just like what I picture a spunky female sleuth in a sixties paperback would wear layered underneath her fitted turtleneck sweater and pencil skirt.

 

*sigh* so, so pretty.

[alliekat13]

In the imp: very strong dirt note, and very strong perfume.

 

On skin: dirt over old lady perfume. It's like someone broke a full bottle of perfume in the dirt and mixed it around a bit to make a perfume mud. The scent of the perfume never really comes out fully over the soil, but you can tell it's there, and this scent lasts forever on my skin. The throw is great too, and eight hours later, a whisp of the soil smell is still there, and I get this patchouli vibe too. I do not like this, but people who love earthy scents will defenitely need to try it.

[Punkylarue]

On first whiff this smelled of popcorn, posies, and potting soil. Odd but very good. On applying the salty smell was gone and the dirt faded which kinda bummed me out. Then a spicy floral scent came through that made me think of incense. It is not over powering nor offensive which is good because I normally detest anything floral. This is good. I asked the ol ball chain what he thought and he said "Ummm incense!" He liked. He also HATES perfume. I have had this on for a few hours now and it is still going strong. This lasts on me. It is lovely and I can't stop smelling my wrists. The longer this is on, the more the spice seem to pop. The floral is still there but it is soft and breathy and beautiful. This is very womanly. It is together and self assured while screaming trainwreck. This is a beautiful mess. I love it.

[baranoouji]

At first, I smell like flowers slathered in butter! Then, I smell like flowers and gingerbread.

 

(I cannot get over the BUTTER EATER smell!)

[mooncityminx]

In the Imp: Mildew.

 

Wet: Now I can see how what I am perceiving as mildew might also be described as that smell that potting soil has, but it's not earthy enough. Potting soil has a warm earthy smell with some substance behind it, this is not it.

 

Dry: The lovely floral comes forward but not enough.

 

 

It's as if I'm going through an antique bureau and I open up a beautiful box full of letters and vials of perfume and everything looks so lovely except that there is mildew speckled across it all. Ick.

[isabella]

this reminds me of Nosferatu, but instead of wine and roses, it has some kind of drug store perfume spilled on it.

 

its nice but not me.

[eatingthesea]

this has quickly become one of my top favorites, one reason being its complexity and mysteriousness. any scent that evokes certain memories or feelings of wistfulness for no apparent reason or obvious connection is good. i like to have that kind of psychological involvement with my scents, beyond the happiness of my olfactive gear! thusly, i cannot pinpoint what it is about penny dreadful that agrees with me, but it just does. it is creamy-earth strewn with fading flowers. that is my best attempt at pinpointing it. there is something ginger-y about it which gives it a kick, which i can appreciate. i will say that zombi has influenced my love and desire for all scents earth-based and so whenever i find a bpal description flingin' dirt or grave loam or whatnot at me, i get happy. and i'm a literature sl*t, so this scent just fits. this scent, for me, is akin to one of those relationships that you enter with ease and peacefulness because it's just meant to be, and both of you know it without saying a thing. mmmm

[willowtreeling]

I can't believe I haven't written a review on this! I *heart* Penny Dreadful. It was the second Bpal that I loved to wear. It smells like sweet carmel/ gingery dirt cookies...and a bit rosey....and old fashioned and nostalgic. It lasts longer on me and is a bit stronger on me than other perfumes.

 

After not wearing it for a while--as it seems a fall fragrance, or at least cold weatherish--I was walking by this grassy knoll at my work and I inhaled deeply and realized that there was something emanating from lawn that smelled like Penny....mmmmmm.

[funkmoppet]

Wet there's a strong blast of very woody soil. Immediately made me think of a Library with old musty books on polished wood.

 

Upon dry down, the flowers come through without amping past the lovely "loam" smell. This is just blended so well, and is very much a library scent to me - with warm sun streaming in through the windows. Which is wonderful!

 

I love it.

 

Yup, big bottle.

[steelfaerie]

For me the dirt came through immediately, very strong - flowers in the moist, black earth - it was instant love.

 

Unfortunately I'm getting a little bit of the butter now on the drydown, and it's making me feel uncomfortably like a movie theatre employee. I'm not getting any of the perfume on me, but the dirt is very, very pleasant once the butter scent eventually fades away.

[LadyBug]

This has a spicy sort of scent...maybe cinnamon...but maybe not. No, some other spice. Very warm and red smelling. I would like this better in the winter when I'm cold but want to be reminded of warmness. I do smell a little vanilla or something sweet which I like. I wouldn't buy a bottle and will probably be swapping my imp.