Iago

[paperdoll]

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

Initial Sniff: Strong leather and musk with a hint of vetiver and perhaps lime? Very masculine and dark.
Wearing: This starts out beautifully, with a smoky leather musk scent with interesting spicy and citrus undertones. Soon the vetiver overpowers everything, unfortnately.
Final Impressions: If only the wet stage lasted longer! I like vetiver, but this smells the same as every other blend that contains more than just a breath of vetiver... dang chemistry! I'll have to convince the boy to give this a try - he doesn't like earthy scents, but this is just too delicious!

[tempete]

Wet, Iago is VETIVER... and pretty much nothing else. As the scent dries, the vetiver allows the black musk to take over, which brings Haunted to mind. However, this musky stage is accompanied by a strong dose of leather, which is unfortunately giving me a headache. I can tell that Iago would be wonderful on the right man (or the woman with the right body chemistry), and since I obviously don't qualify, he's headed for the swap pile.

[pekeana]

Iago is the most masculine BPAL I've ever tried.

 

The leather is hot and wet, almost slimy with the vetiver and musk combination below it. It makes my nose tingle in a bad way, though, so... to a new home it will go.

[PennyPretty]

Iago came with my last order as a freebie (thank you lab!), I doubt I would have ever ordered this on my own. The idea of leather in a fragrance was not intriguing to me. Anyway, the first thing I had to do was figure out what the heck vetiver was - ok looked it up - its made from grass roots - so should smell like grass, a sharp smell maybe? Well I still don't know because I didn't get any of that, Iago came across as deep musk with a hint of leather. I didn't think I would like the leather, but I did, very sexy. Iago is too masculine for me to wear, but I would love to smell this on my BF. It is very sensual, deep and just hot! Ponders how to get the BF to try it.

 

ETA: Got the BF to try this, he loved it and it did smell very masculine and sexy on him! Ordered him a big bottle.

Edited April 29, 2005 by PennyPretty

[Ajila]

For the first ten minutes it was purely herby, then it was leather, as strong as De Sade, about 2 hours later I'm left with a very gentle vanilla and a slight herby tang. Very confusing .

[shadowsong]

dirty diapers and baby powder.

 

i don't know if it's the leather or the vetiver or the combination of the two or what... highwayman did the same thing to me with the dirty diapers. djinn has vetiver and it didn't do that, jolly roger and tintagel have leather and they didn't do that (although they didn't work for other reasons).

[AlectoNox]

I got leather, musk, spice and a touch of something airy. The vetivert didn't make an appearance for me at all. On the drydown the leather took on a more perfumey, rather than raw quality. I really enjoyed the musk and the 'red' feel to it. It's a manly scent that still manages to smell like a fragrance on me rather than a saddle shop, like some leather scents tend to do. I would love to sniff this one on a guy and see what it's like. Maybe compare and contrast with Severin while I'm at it, in my quest to find the perfect manly scent.

[voodoobaby]

In the vial: Aye. A little heavy on the vetiver. This tingles with evil.

 

Wearing: Within seconds the overpowering vetiver fades off, leaving a very dark scent indeed. I don't know what I'm smelling; it smells almost of pine. And then, a few seconds later, LEATHER! Oh, the beautiful leather! In fact, it's almost a single note leather, quite reminiscent of De Sade or even Hellfire. Mmm.

 

Later: Still mainly leather, but the musk comes out as well and gives it an almost incensey and, comparatively, kind of sweet feel. It smells hot and almost scorched, but just faintly.

 

Overall: Very nice. I would have liked a little more musk, but this is good as is. I could see it layered over Czernobog nicely.

Edited May 25, 2005 by voodoobaby

[tsarina]

Vertiver doesn't play nice with my skin. It's all I can smell and sadly it's not a smell I like. Though I think I can pick up the wet leather, in flashes. Alas, the broding evil is not for my skin.

[Reinaluna]

Iago: This is a really nice blend for a man. It is very spicy and sexy, I gave the imp to my brother.

[coulrophobe]

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I didn't find the vetiver very noticeable in this blend - which was a plus for me, as it's not a note that works very well on me at all.

 

I got pure dark musk and leather from Iago - definitely a dark, warm, sexy masculine scent. My chemistry tends to add sweetness to any blend, and on my skin it ended up smelling like a more masculine version of Loviatar, which I love. I definitely need to go find some nice man to slather this on. *drools*

[brownbear]

I agree with the other posts about this being a masculine scent.

On me it's very dark. I like the combination of the musk, leather, and vetiver. This is the first one I've tried with either leather and vetiver. I need to go find a lighter version of this for me and a guy for this.

 

ADDED Aug. 26:

 

I got this one in a swap about two months ago. Every once in a while i'd sniff the imp and consider trying it on. I kept thinking that it was too strong and masculine. "Maybe next time I'll try it."

So, finally today I did.

 

Wet: It is very dark, mysterious, musky, and sort of resiny/spicy.

On my skin: mmmm I don't know what I was afraid of before. It's a very sexy scent, but it is on the masculine side. It goes a little dark spicy on me. As it fades the leather comes out a little bit more. I didn't get strong leather from this. The vetiver comes out more too as it fades. I like it, but I think it would smell sexier on a man.

 

ETA: oops I'm a dork. I guess I did try this one already, but didn't know what to make of it, so I hung onto it awhile longer.

Edited September 2, 2005 by brownbear

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

ehh.... my brother sniffed this first and I think he had the same reaction I did. He said, "It smells like a grandma". And indeed it does, in that musky/overpowering/generic kind of way that I guess some grandmas smell like (? lol)

 

On me:

Ewww. Just ew. For a split second it smells nice with that musk, but then, what I'm assuming is the vetiver because I can't quite identify it, starts to make this smell really dusty and dry. I don't like it and in combonation with the leather, this ends up smelling like an old, dusty coffee table. Weird, but true. I had my fiance try this on just to see if it was just me, and it DID smell nicer on him with the musk more prominent, but it's still not one I'm crazy about.

 

Final note:

This doesn't have enough kick to it for me to like it, but I can see how other people would, especially if the leather note came out more on others

[slugbait]

I smeared this all over my fiancé before he went to work and he smelled of an extremely potent Lush Soak and Float shampoo bar. He wasn’t too happy with me.

 

I don’t get leather out of this one, just pure undiluted vetivert. Smelling the imp and comparing it with my bottle of vetivert EO, there does not seem to be much of a difference. Not that I don’t like vetivert; it smells lovely in certain blends. But in this it just slaps you in the face. Whew!

 

I thought maybe once I put this on, it might change a bit.

 

Nope.

 

I had to wash Iago off. Even after scrubbing, it latched on to me and my clothes. The shirt I had been wearing when sampling Iago still smelled like it after going through the wash. This has some definite staying power.

[Little Bird]

Iago smells very cold and masculine on me. Leather blends tend to disagree with me if the leather is the main note that I can smell. First on, Iago is all leather, reminding me a bit of De Sade. After a few minutes, an earthier and slightly spicy smell starts coming in around the leather. Then, within 15 minutes, it is all swallowed by a sharp musky smell. I had to wash it off. On the boy, it starts out all leather and turns into baby powder.

 

Iago is banished to my swap pile...

[Galen]

Vetiver has been mean and nasty to me lately - the vetiver note in some blends seems to have a strangely off-putting effect on my nose.

 

So I didn't expect to like Iago, and at first I didn't - all vetiver-y and strong and sharp.

 

Then the lid snapped on it, and my entire imp box became impregnated with the smell of Iago and I realised that I had been warming to it. I shouldn't really have been surprised - leather and black musk are two of my favourite BPAL notes!

 

So how do I find this? It starts out sharp and dark, but dries down in the most intriguing way to something just as dark but sweet (leather) and powdery (black musk). yum.

 

Perhaps not a clear favourite, but certainly something I'll chase down another imp of.

 

edited for silly spelling

Edited September 9, 2005 by Galen

[Voleuse]

I have no idea what vetiver is, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I like the color of this one--it's a nice orangey-gold. Iago is dark, mustier than I expected, but not in a dusty way. Masculine, I guess? Leather and a bit of wet. And musky!

 

My scent vocabulary sucks. It's a heavy scent, but it would be awesome on a warm, wet male, sitting next to a fire, or possibly up against a wall. Does that make sense? Like, under the right circumstances, this is a damn sexy cologne.

 

It's too strong on me, though, and I don't think I'd enjoy it on a daily basis. While I had it on, though, I couldn't stop sniffing my wrist.

[olympia301]

Iago reminds me a great deal of Laudanum but it is a good deal sweeter and easier to like right off the bat. No mental adjustment needed. Very masculine, not for my collection but would smell great on your villian. It's a great blend of black musk and vetiver, and it ends up having an undeniable licorice like part thanks to the combination of the two. I would say it is an exceptionally successful man's blend.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Sigh. I really wish this smelled like sex-with-a-bad-boy the way some of y’all have described. Instead, the vetiver – as it usually does – turns it into a swamp. And not sex in a swamp, either. Just a swamp.

 

Wearing: OK, this is better. On my skin it’s less dank, more leathery. There’s even a weird hint of chilly mintiness floating around the edges… dunno what’s up with that. This leather seems to be more Dead Man’s Hand-ish than De Sade-ish; it’s the smooth saddle kind rather than the rough jacket kind. I do prefer DMH to this one (and I can't even wear DMH - I keep it around for nostalgic sniffing purposes), so it’s off to swaps… but I’m glad I got to try it, and glad the vetiver reined itself in when it got out of the vial.

[Medici]

Vetiver and baby powder.

 

Man, that's unfortunate. True, I'd relegated the imp to the back of my "to test" pile - but in the bottle I'd had high hopes.

 

The vetiver came up fast but subtly, and it's barely dry - but all I've got is baby powder.

 

 

I'm going to persuade my S/O to give this a go - hopefully it'll smell better on him than on me.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: So that's what vetiver smells like! Hmm, interesting.

 

Wet: This is sharp and it is indeed masculine. This is the first BPAL scent that I've tried that almost seems like too much for me. I'm not usually a cologne person, but I would like to smell this on a man.

 

Drydown and wear: Oh my. Here comes the leather, and as it comes out, everything settles down. This is exceptionally strong, but I love wearing it. I kept sniffing this test spot on my arm. I need lots of this.

[quikslvr]

Iago and I aren't getting along already, I can tell. Too dark, too vetiver (very masculine). Settles into some very nice leather, but it's also very dark. This isn't the pleasant, soft leather I've gotten out of some other blends--this has been aged hard. The black musk joins the leather at one point in a very sexy way. A very evocative scent, but totally not me in the day-to-day. Special events, perhaps, but that's about it. Now, this on a boy, on the other hand . . . maybe I'll save it for just such an occasion. Mmm.

[aedes]

I just had to add my hash mark for the "sexy as hell" pile. Very black leather jacket. My boyfriend who normally eye rolls my scent obsession really liked wearing this, saying he'd gladly wear it to work. Wearing it myself, well, I smell like a sexy, sexy man. I wouldn't dare wear it to work lest I spend the whole time locked in the bathroom with myself. *ahem*

 

....

 

Actually, I don't think I'll let my guy wear this to work. I don't trust other women enough.

[hangingfire]

In the imp: Musky, animalic, lifted by the vetiver.

 

On, wet: The vetiver is stronger now; the musk recedes a bit. Not really getting any of the leather notes, but that's okay.

 

Drydown: Vetiver and musk, on and on. It reminds me of Dior's Eau Sauvage (probably the vetiver base note), only wilder and earthier (the musk).

 

It's a powerfully masculine scent, but I really like it. I'll keep the imp around.

[herongale]

pre-conceived notion: as I have said elsewhere, this Shakespearean line doesn't particularly appeal to me, but I got this as a freebie imp from the lab. Maybe they know something about me that I don't know?

 

in the imp: okay, this reminds me of... *scratches head*...*snaps fingers* The Shadow! *pulls out imp for side-by-side comparison*. Yes, there is a distinct similarity. But Iago is darker, richer. This is not like a hobbit warren or a hope chest: this is some greasy warlord's hidden hunting cabin in the woods. I think the vetiver is what give me the citrusy polished-wood undertone that is similar to the lemon zest... er, verbana, from the Shadow fragrance. And I'm guessing it is the musk here that is reminding me of the "darkest patchouli" there. Remember Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast? This is what he probably smells like: male and cologny and stinky. It's an attractive and simultaneously off-putting scent... perhaps too rough for me.

 

wet: I tried this twice. I wanted to like this as a possible scent for Dante to try. However, both times it gave me a piercing headache.

 

drydown: Ouch, ouch, ouch.... I had a hard time getting to sleep last night and it was all IAGO'S fault.

 

verdict: probably a great scent for a certain kind of disreputable man. But, um, not for me. The headache cinches it, too... it's not for Dante either.

 

post-conceived notion: an interesting blend, BPAL! I salute you! I am just sorry it makes me queasy.