Iago

[rayvn1]

Malevolent, dark and shadowy: sinuous black musk, wet leather and vetiver.

Wet on the skin it was like a punch in the face the vetiver was so strong. As I scrolled through the review pages it started to settle down (thank god!), I mean I really like vetiver, but that was too tooooooo much vetiver. Now the leather is starting to warm up and the vetiver is a crawling, clawing note just behind it. It's still pretty strong when my nose is right to my arm, but the scent rising off my skin is fantastic! The throw on this puppy is great

oooh, making my mouth water now - this is getting better by the minute! Bad man holding a riding crop

[innocent]

Iago should have been awful on me. The second vetiver touches my skin it transforms into ashtrays. While there was still a hint of that acrid unpleasantness in Iago, there was also a sweet, masculine warmth to the scent. I want to attribute that to the black leather. It was nice enough that I'll start looking for that note in other blends - hopefully without his buddy vetiver.

[msbcozad]

Iago

 

Iago has been in my trade box for a very long time. Leather + vetiver + black musk = YUCK in the imp and YUCK on me. Leather + vetiver + black musk = the opposite of YUCK on my husband.

 

We'll just say that a good time was had by all and he wants me to order a bottle of Iago. Obviously, the imp is no longer in the trade box and he's not allowed to wear this scent outside of the house. Nnnnngf.

[Magpie]

OK...here goes with Iago.

 

I ordered this expecting it not to work. I just really, really wanted to smell it, and hoped desperately. I don't own any scents with vetiver in, and don't like hugely dark scents, so this is an experiment.

 

In the imp, as with every other time today I've sniffed it, it smells flat and woody, nothing like leather, so I guess it must be vetiver. It's kind of sandalwoody for some reason, I'm not quite sure why.

 

On: Oh, there's the leather! The woody, vetiver smell is fading with a kind of enticing, musky deliciousness. It does kind of smell like leather, but proper used, old leather, not sweet leather and not that kind of waxed leather in most leather jackets. Sadly, it's not really me, but it might appeal when I'm feeling naughty or smell good on the bf.

 

Some experimentation later: This works significantly better on the bf. He really really likes the scent of it (even on me, and I disliked it on me!) and it goes to a lighter leather on him, not as dark but sexier. Yummy, and sexy, just not for my skin!

[smokey188]

every note in this is a favourite with me so this is absolutely stunning on me. The black musk and vertiver keep the leather from going soapy and the leather keeps this scent from being too dark. This goes straight into my top ten list!

[mooncityminx]

In the vial: dark and resinous, woods and incense

 

Wet: resinous woods and incense smoke, there is the musk. Is that leather? What a serious cologne.

 

Drydown: Whoa, that's a lot of leather, but underneath there is still the incense and woods. It's a nice complex but dark cologne. Nice. Very masculine.

[crebbsgirl]

Apparently my skin is particular when it comes to the lab's leather notes. Or maybe I just have odd associations which prevents me from enjoying some of them. Wet, the vetiver was pretty strong here. As it dries, the leather and musk comes out more. Now, certain leather notes remind me of my early years as a dancer, and going into costume shops to try on shoes. The tap shoes especially had a distinctive patent leather smell and wearing this I am immediately thrown back there. It's not necessarily a bad memory, but not one I want to relive every time I wear a scent. Overall this blend was a little cologney, dark and deep. I normally like those kinds of scents, but I won't be wearing this one.

[ephemera]

This was a frimp in my lastest Lab order for 13. I was hesitant on it, but figured I'd open it up and try it out. Unfortunately, I wouldn't even put this on my skin. The wet leather and the black musk combined made a really terrible smell to my nose. Not at all for me.

[MrGrey]

When I first apply the scent it's all a wet leather scent. After a bit, the musk mixes in to form a great blend. After a couple hours the musk will die down and the vetiver will mix with the leather. So far, this is one of my favorites.

[reverendsquid]

In the imp - Vetiver and musk. Surprisingly sweet.

 

Fresh on - Still vetiver and musk. The vetiver hasn't gone mad on me as it sometimes does, the musk seems to be holding it in check very well. I didn't really expect to like this, but I do. It doesn't even feel very masculine to me.

 

As it dries - The leather is coming out now, but only if I sniff my wrist. I've never worn a lot of leather clothes, so it's hard for me to say, but this smells like new leather to me. I can see that wet leather might have a more intense smell, but my days of dating men with leather jackets are long behind me, and I don't really remember the smell that well. Whatever it is, it's nice though, and mixes well with the musk and vetiver.

 

I only bought this out of curiosity, but I'm glad I did. This is mainly woody and slightly herbal musk on me, and very nice it is too. My only complaint is that it isn't very strong, and fades in couple of hours.

[GeorgeJr]

Further proof I shouldn't ask my GF what I smell like . She sniffs & says " baby powder " . I say " you need to stay away from babies " .

 

So , my review is a totally different opinion than hers . I immediately get the leather more then anything out of this . Unusual for me as usually I get other notes first in anything with the BPAL leather note in it . As it dries I am getting leather mixed with vetiver . I'm really liking this now . I'm hoping that eventually I'll be able to pick out the musk , but am not noticing it yet . I may be back to update this review after work today , but as of now I can see a bottle of this coming my way in the near future .

 

And a quick add on to my review . On my long daily drive to work today , the leather pretty much went away all together . Leaving me with a lovely combo of vetiver & musk . Even later at work , I swear Iago took on a almost vanilla kind of note . Very sweet , but not really sugary . I really was digging it when that happened . So I still feel I'm going to be ordering a bottle of this in the near future .

Edited May 28, 2009 by CoopieCat

[ekolmus]

In the bottle: Oh yuck! This smells chemically and awful.

 

Wet: Pee-yew! Chemicals!

 

Wet, 1 minute later: The bad smell has turned into a really strong tannin note that's burning off quickly. Also, TOBACCO. I guess that's the vetiver.

 

Wet, 2 minutes later: The leather and musk notes are coming up to the top. This smells cheap and sleazy, like dollar-store cologne on an unshowered construction worker.

 

Dry: Now I can't stop sniffing. The individual notes have stopped bickering and merged into lovely smoky leather. So manly! Num num num. My cat is sniffing interestedly at my wrist, too. I have to say, the horrendous drydown is worth what this ends up smelling like.

 

[Evengloam]

Bottle: Whoa. vetiver. I know you're happy to see me, but calm down a bit. I can't smell much past the vetiver, except for an occasional whiff of leather. Very strong.

 

Wet: Vetiver calmed down a bit, thankfully. I can smell the leather and black musk now.

 

Dry: With the vetiver getting nice and settled, I actually kind of like this scent now. Everything mixes really well together. I smell something that reminds me of anise, though? Weird. I'm going to guess that it's the vetiver and musk. Very masculine.

 

1 hour in: I'm still getting the anise-like weirdness. Not complaining, though. Very much a man's leather scent. Not to the point a woman couldn't wear it, but I envision a man every time I smell it.

 

5 hours later, I couldn't really smell it anymore. I'm really indecisive on whether or not to swap this. I do enjoy how it smells, but I'm not really sure it's me.

[tragedy]

Its funny with my hatred of vetiver... well maybe not a hatred but more a ... watchful distrust, that I get so damn many vetiver frimps

I try them anyways and occassionally I'm pleasantly suprised.

Iago is once of those times.

Although this is a tad too masculine for me the vetiver does stay nicely in check, chained, caged, beaten down... and the blend turns into a lovely leather that doesnt smell burnt on me like most bpal leathers.

yay! surprises are nice!

[stellans]

While on a total leather kick these days, I have to say I love the rough darkness lent to this blend by the vetiver and black musk. Its description as 'sinuous' was very well-thought of, because that's exactly what this is: sinuous. The character for which this blend is named is very well served by his namesake scent, because it is a powerful, dark and has that delicious hint of evil.

Edited June 1, 2011 by stellans

[Invidiana]

This is definitely one hell of a sexy blend for a special guy--dark, shadowy, mysterious and loaded with lip-smacking evil --and while I love to smell it, it's just too strong and too butch on me. Maybe it would work applied with an extremely light hand and layered with some vanilla. However, I'd definitely consider getting a bottle for my future boyfriend...whoever that is.

Edited November 6, 2009 by Invidiana

[voorishsign]

I must say I am torn. Iago is a tricky little bastard, somedays the vetiver positively reeks on me and other times he's more mellow and covered with a mild creamy note that my brain is deluding itself into thinking smells faintly of vanilla. But he's one of my favourite Shakespearean characters, so I'm keeping the imp - just for those days when I feel I must be extra ambitious.

[skylarkza]

In the imp: Smoke from a peat fire and leather. Actually pretty yum.

 

Wet: Tobacco smoke and a stale brandy stain on leather? YUCK! I think my skin has issues with vetiver. At least it does not smell like cat pee this time.

 

Dry: Cigarette smoke. Ugh... I hope this changes. At least the old alcohol smell is gone.

 

A while later: Not as bad as before. The smoke has calmed down to a trace of old fire smoke - like after a bonfire. There is something creamy and leathery. Not really for me, but I would love to try this scent on a willing male participant. This imp might just be kept for attempting to enable the next poor bloke who dates me. Or to help get into character for my next subtle-semi-sexy-male-villain when I run a game. But sadly, not me.

[aquazoo]

Dirty dirty pachouli. It lets up enough that I can finally smell the leather. There are some other really nice leathers out there, though, without the initial fight with the pachouli. The leather and musk are nice, though.

[Deiicide]

Hello vetiver, how are you doing? You have musk have musk and leather there? Can I at least smell them. No? Well, I'm sorry for that. It's a very dark themed scent, almost murky in it's plan. It almost reminds me of my chaos theory. I'm going to have to pass on this one, a bit too dark for me but I'm glad I got to try it.

[donnatron]

Imp: Leather and vertiver and evil. It smells like Highwayman without the lighter contrasting ingredients.

 

Wet: Sweet fancy Moses this is strong! Like head slappingly strong. It goes on with a searing leather/vetivert combo and the musk which is usually pretty dominant on my skin is nowhere to be seen. For about five minutes after application it smells like burning pleather. Yeah. There be plastic here.

 

Dry: Smoky, smoky leather. At least the plastic scent is gone. But this is hella leather. Not a nice leather, an evil, sweaty sort of leather that smells like a saddle that just came off of Satan's personal workhorse. This scent is eeeeeeviiiillllll, yo. And it's just really unpleasant on my skin. There's an acrid, man-sweat thing going on here that just does not sit well on my chemistry. All of the elements work separately on my chemistry (at times, there are always exceptions, there might be a misbehavin' trifecta here) but this combo is just ungodly on me.

 

Throw: Ample.

 

Overall: Not for me. I actually dislike it enough that I think I wouldn't even want to smell this on a guy or anyone else's chemistry even for curiousity's sake. Too animalistic and too... creepy for me.

[Greenwoodtree]

As with Othello, I am not getting what others have written.

In the imp: its a dark masculine fragrance - promising!

 

on my skin: Its almost immediate - an earthy baby powder scent - wow, so disappointing!

 

I do really well with vetiver and leather, but the musk must be turning to powder and killing off the others...my husband even says it smells nothing like the imp.

 

Later: just barely smelling the leather and vetiver...a weak note overpowered by the baby powder!

 

Okay, and this is now finishing off with a slight Greyhound bus potty deodorizer smell - just like what Red Rider had at the beginning of it...what is that??

Edited March 16, 2010 by Greenwoodtree

[jett perilous]

In the imp the scent reminded me of a tattoo parlor. Not a seedy one, but a clean, bright place with colorful people and smooth leather chairs. I got a little herbiness that turned into a sunblocky scent. Not the coconut kind, but something that you catch a whiff of on a crowded warm beach. Maybe that's actually the musk? More sun-warmed than dark to me.

 

About 30 min later I'm still getting the sunblocky musk with the leather. It is pretty masculine so I'll see if the fella would want to try it.

[stitchpirate]

I'm going through as many BPAL leather perfumes as I can, I love BPAL's leather note, but I've been having a hard time finding something that I like the other notes in as well. This is no exception. The leather is very strong and very nice, new, fresh leather (not old worn leather, which is nice, but that's not what this is). But something goes wrong on me. I get leather with cheap lavender soap. Like dollar store hand soap. It could be the vetiver? The leather note is lovely, but the soapy part sticks around even as the leather fades. I don't like it.

[cfrancesca]

Iago reminds me of Haunted but with leather and thankfully just a hint of vetiver.

Edited April 1, 2010 by cfrancesca