The Black Tower

[TereFaerie]

A sepulchral, desolate scent. Long-dead soldiers, oath-bound; the perfume of their armor, the chill wind that surges through their tower, white bone and blackened steel: white sandalwood, ambergris, wet ozone, galbanum and leather with ebony, teak, burnt grasses, English ivy and a hint of red wine.

As usual, wine turns sour on me. I want to like this one, but it has one note, the wine, maybe, that just doesn't jive with my skin chemistry. But ozone usually doesn't work on me, either. This one just had too much going on, I fear. Edited January 10, 2008 by Shollin

[akiko]

Uh, OK... this smells like rose. Seriously.

 

Imp: An unusual smell I can't place.

 

Wet: Rose soap. No idea where that came from.

 

Dry: Still rose soap. There must be some shared ingredients with Delphi, since that turns into rose on me, too.

[Apple]

I approached The Black Tower with both fear and hope. When I discovered BPAL, it was one of the first blends to go on my wish list. But then I tried several other blends containing wine and/or leather and discovered that the BPAL versions of these notes don't always work very well for me. I guess my skin swallows leather, because I usually can't detect it even in the leatheriest blends (e.g., De Sade), and wine has a tendency to turn into disgustingly sweet grape candy on me. By the time I finally got around to trying The Black Tower, I was filled with trepidation and certain it wouldn't work on me.

 

But I was wrong! Wonderfully, gloriously, fantastically wrong! The Black Tower smells just like its description; the fragrance is incredibly evocative. It is a black and green scent... smoky black leather entwined by sharp green ivy and splashed with rich red wine... it has many layers and is deep and piquant, dark and bright. The effect is far from desolate or sepulchral, though - it's sexy! It reminds me of Nosferatu, but with leather instead of moss.

ETA: Cross-posting this from the "Aging BPAL" thread:

 

Ugh, The Black Tower does not age well at all. After a few months it loses the wine note and develops a very sharp, medicinal quality... with an undercurrent of funky sweat. Ewww. I had read reviews wherein people mentioned smelling something medicinal, or hyper-masculine, or sweaty, and I would always think, "Huh? What? Not my beautiful smoky-sexy-winey-unisex leather!" Now I see what they were talking about, and I have to wonder how old their samples were.

 

It's obvious that the wine note degrades, but I'm wondering what is amping up all sharp and sweaty...? I haven't noticed this with other leather or sandalwood blends (if anything, aging seems to improve them), and I would assume that ebony and teak would get better with age. So I'm guessing it's the galbanum, ozone, ambergris, "burnt grasses," and/or English ivy.

 

In the future, I'll be sticking to imps fresh from the Lab, rather than buying bottles or swapping for imps of unknown age. And I'll be using up those imps promptly!

Edited January 22, 2009 by Apple

[Suu4LC]

This was sour, metallic, and perfumey in the imp.

 

Oof, it doesn't get any better on my skin. It's too dirty, too masculine, and there's just some note in there that is turning my stomach.

 

It's like a football player rubbed on a bunch of strong perfumey cologne and then played a game of football, sweating and rolling around in grass and dirt...this is what he would smell like. Do not want.

[Shannihilation]

In the bottle I'd swear this has chocolate in it. Boozy chocolate. I'm guessing it's actually the red wine and the teak maybe.

 

On my skin it initially is a sharp, sweet, cold scent. But as it dries it warms up and gets slightly dusty and incensey. It smells really good. And it has pretty good wear time too. I put it on at around 9:00 am and at 5:15 pm as I write this I can still smell it.

[Nightroad103]

In the imp: I really smell the sandalwood, ozone, and hint of red wine.

 

On me: I wasn't so crazy about it when I first put it on, but I kept smelling it throughout the day and -- I love it. Normally, sandalwood tends to be somewhat overpowering of other smells on me, but in this oil it wasn't. I was pleasantly surprised. The ozone and red wine ended up being the most noticeable smell on me, with the burnt grasses and ivy softening it.

 

I'm definitely buying a bottle whenever the imp runs out.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Wine and ozone with a bit of fresh grass.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a lot smoother when I put it on. The wine is the strongest, with the woods blending in and then a touch of leather. There’s an salty clean quality from the ozone as well.

 

After a little while: This isn’t nearly as masculine as I was afraid of. It’s definitely on the unisex side, but it’s very complex and rather sweet. The red wine is still strong, but this is very ozone-dominated and that is now the strongest note in the blend. It’s a very heavy, strong mix of ozone, red wine, and leather with a touch of ivy on me after wearing for a little while. There’s also a touch of woods, but it’s calmed down from when I first put it on.

 

Overall Impressions: This blend is on the unisex to masculine side, but I think it would be very wearable for a woman. My chemistry amped the ozone, but the wine, leather, ivy, and wood sneak in there as well. It’s very complex and quite the experience; it smells dark and strong, like the description suggests.

[CrazyPretzel]

Everyone else's review of this make it sound so interesting and complex - on me, it was practically a leather single note. A very hot dry leather like De Sade. After a hand-washing I can smell a lingering trace of ozone where the scent was.

[donnatron]

Imp: Men's aftershave.

 

Wet: This could go either way. These are notes that can either go heavenly or deadly depending on the source so let's just cross our fingers and pray. As it is, it smells sort of... manly. But sexy manly, like he applied his aftershave and then touched his still wet face to my skin.

 

Dry: This is pretty delightful, actually. There's a dense, sweet woodiness to it, the leather hasn't fled into the distance, the ozone peeks up every now and again, and the wine is not being poured too liberally. This is really wel balanced and intense. It's very sexy and while I can see a man pulling it off during the day, I think this is just too jaw droppingly hot for me to saunter into work or class leaving a trail of this in my midst.

 

Throw: Just perfect. Enough to keep people sniffing after me, but not so much that I choke them as I pass.

 

Overall: Hot hot hot hot. Leather is my new best friend (except for Severin, my best frienemy). This is phenomenal. I think it needs to be worn out to a jazz club where I will drink red wine and people will have to get into my personal space if we're going to have a conversation.

[VioletChaos]

note: i've yet to meet an ozone-note scent that likes me, so let's not get our hopes up on this one...

 

in the imp:

 

wet on skin: more of the same- cloying perfumy smell.

 

dry down: well, the leather is there, which is neat, because yes, it smells just like leather. but the ozone is there in a strong way, and i simply can't deal with it.

 

in all: one for the swaps, as predicted :shrugs:

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, I get red wine wafting from my neck, but on my wrist, it smells like tobacco, which I know isn't listed. Dry, The Black Tower is wine, tobacco, maybe some leather, and woods. It's very masculine on me, but I love it.

[hkhm]

imp: lightly sweet ozone.

 

wet: this goes to metallic and ozone and something dry and burnt. it's an excellent interpretation just not my usualu sort of scent.

 

dry: there's the leather. this is a very dry, dusty leather scent. very little metallic and no ozone. much nicer once dry.

[ladyver]

in bottle: wine, sandlewood, teak

 

wet on skin: ivy, the woods & something i can't pick (ozone maybe?), reminds me of polished wood - in a good sentimental way like an old piano or newly restored antique funiture

 

bit later: leathery scent comes through, though the woods and ivy still dominate

 

at least 2 hours later the burnt grass shows through with slightest hint of something sweet which might be the ambergris &/or wine

 

to me this is a unisex, if not a masculine scent - but is very light and warm so i am going to keep this imp for myself

[megank4]

Agree that this is just too much. It starts out okay, but then has some strange under note that I don't like.

Maybe if it were:

white sandalwood, ambergris, galbanum and leather with ebony, and teak

[Czarina]

Source: Lab frimp with my Worm Moon order.

 

This one is like Tintagel off its meds: it's got armor, leather, wine, and plants, but it just seems so...unhappy. Desolate is a good word.

 

I love the ambergris note in it. This really is a beautifully evocative scent.

 

Without knowing the "narrative," as it were, I'd have a hard time discerning the notes. Well-blended and balanced.

 

ETA: this has a very strong throw. Wow.

Edited April 23, 2008 by Czarina

[seamor]

A lab frimp. Thanks, lab!

 

This is great scent, and oddly doesn't strike me as at all desolate. Solitary, perhaps. A bit wild. Definitely outdoor. Makes me think of hawks. Also makes me think of my erstwhile husband when he came home after a day out doing construction work (back when we were very, very young). Mmmmmmm ...

 

It isn't something that I would wear myself, but slathered all over a lovely man, now …

[soonyi]

i, too, got this as a lab frimp...

 

wet, i get a clying thick darkness of galbanum; so strong that it is choking me. galbanum is the sort of bitter, strong scent that is guaranteed to plunge me into migraine hell--'enough to kill this snake'. washed this OFF.

[akuaa]

lily/herbal floral. almost kind of grassy? colored gray like twilight. *reads* interesting that i got close with that assessment. i can smell the wood, and the ozone. other stuff, i have no idea.

[Lamia]

In the bottle, light, fruity (plum? fig?). Bottle opened smells like Juicyfruit gone bad. Wet: Bad juicyfruit goes away, replaced by fruity scent with a snap.

 

I'm guessing the fruity scent is the red wine (and ambergris?). The snap is the ozone.

 

An interesting scent. Not a daily wear, but we'll see how it evolves.

 

Drydown, the leather comes out.

 

"the perfume of their armor, the chill wind that surges through their tower" is a good evocation. This is a cold scent with some distant depth. To get all poetic an' shit, this makes me think of the shadows behind a cairn. Not a scent for a date LOL the wood and leather and ozone grow stronger, the fruit and sweetness are fading.

[Indigo78]

In the imp this is berries and greenery. Like a freshly opened bottle of unaged wine. On the skin wet it goes to wine spilled on newish metal, very boozy and sweet. Something reminds me of anise and linoleum.

 

I can smell the grasses and sweetness as time passes, and this ultimately hints at asphalt? Or latex paint remover?

 

The dry down smells like a roofer at happy hour on my skin. I can't wear Black Tower, but can see the attraction. Will be swapping.

[brsis]

Initial Thoughts: Ambergris, leather, ivy, great! I know already that I really like those. Woods and grasses so far haven't done it so much for me, and ozone and I... disagree somewhat. I'm hoping for something cold and distant and slightly masculine from this (Most of my masculine scents are quite passionate, so I need a 'cold' one)

 

In the imp: I hope I like it - I managed to get it all over my keyboard opening it!

 

This is like a good men's cologne - there isn't much 'green' in this scent but I can detect grass and ivy. The ambergris is quite low-key, but I'm fond of it and good at picking it out.

 

On the wrist, wet: My, that's hard to place. I think this is definately the woods and the grasses going into action... mmm, and the sandalwood too. The ozone is just starting to do it's soapy-clean thing - pity, really, for a bit there it was really quite pleasant.

 

Fifteen minutes later: Manly soap. Alas, ozone does not love me - and unlike some other notes that I dislike, it seems it can't bring itself to fade into the background. I do kind-of get the grassy-ness and a bit of leather over the top, but this reminds me very much of Singing Moon in that the ozone just gives it too much... soap.

 

Verdict: Swap pile

 

Tl;Dr: Grassy leather, but prominent ozone which turns to soap.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Rich, herby and woody

 

On Application

As above. Definitely "feels" wet to me. Complex and disturbing.

 

Dry Down

Quite minty to me. This has such a cool, dark quality to it. Starts to sweeten up 5 minutes into the drydown. The winey note comes though about 10 minutes into the progression. Man, this is cold - I am getting goosebumps! I am seriously getting very cold here. I keep looking to see where the hell that cold draught is coming from. Very spicy, woodsy, minty, winey. Complex as hell. I love it!

 

Rating (0-5)

4.5

Edited June 21, 2008 by galahad

[Andrea912]

Nothing but sandalwood and leather on me...

[Coldfire]

Imp from friend

 

 

 

Imp: Ozone! and herbal-y!

Wet on Me: Ozone and leather! And ghost

whisper of ivy.

Drying Down: Leather first and then the woods

come out to play bringing the burnt grasses with them.

Dry: Leathery woods with ivy and grasses. And the

ozone comes back into the background.

 

This is an interesting scent. I'm on the fence about it. Not sure

if I like or dislike it. Or if it will hit the rehoming pile.

Edited July 15, 2008 by Coldfire

[isisonearth]

It starts out a complex scent picture...wine and wood, ozone sharp metal and trampled fields. Very evocative but not in an entirely pleasant way.

 

But wine does not play well with my chemistry. As it dries I'm left with mostly stinky red wine with a touch of herbs. This one will need a new home.