The Great Sword of War

[Caltha]

The Great Sword of War

Mandarin, tonka, saffron, black tea, cocoa, tobacco leaf, sanguine red musk and five classical herbs of conflict.

 

Mmmm wonderful, wonderful! Dry powdery cocoa and musk like the one in Scherezade, freshened by citrus. Absolutely edible but still interesting and complex. I get wood, cake, syrup and smoke with a hint of resins. Warm, dry, powdery and golden brown. Besides Scherezade I think it reminds me of Centzon Totochtin. A new BPAL favourite for sure!

[urraca]

Cocoa, tea, and mandarin to begin with. Tobacco leaf comes in later and so does the red musk. The five herbs of conflict must be what the drydown is --- this is my favourite part. The rest is a kind of incongruous blend of notes that are pleasant on their own but odd together.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: What a unique scent. I'm very excited to try this on. Clearly the cocoa and the mandarin are the most prominent notes. I don't know how, exactly, but this does manage to make me think of a very old sword sheathed in leather and covered with an old cloth.

 

Wet: Cocoa and orange sound so wrong together, but are really so right.

 

Drydown and wear: I really do like this. I'm not sure if I'd get a bottle of it, but I will definitely use up the imp. There are also herbs wandering around in the background that emerge after it has been on my skin for quite some time.

[filigree_shadow]

This is an oil that I expected to like because I love the listed notes, but I had a very meh reaction to it. I thought it would be kind a musky deep scent, and I mainly got tea and herbs out of it. I guess the "five classical herbs of conflict" are too dominant for me. It ends up being closer to what I like when it's completely dry, but I don't think I like it well enough to ever want a bottle of it.

[purrbox]

i got this one simply because a lot of reviewers likened it to freak show, which i *adore.* since this is not LE, i was hoping it would be similar enough to tide me over when my beloved freak show bottle eventually runs out (i'm dreading the day!). and in the bottle, this was VERY similar to freak show. i could definately smell the same cocoa note, and what seemed to my nose like the fig of freak show. this was virtually identical in the bottle, except gsow had a *tad* bit more of an orange tang to it.

 

well, once i got it on, the similiarity abruptly went away. on me, i get a whole lot of orange, with something herbal and incensey underneath (the ambiguous herbs of conflict, i assume.) once this is totally dry i don't get a whole lot of cocoa or tonka after the dry down, so i was a little disappointed, but it's still a nice scent. there's definately a touch of saffron in it, which blends nicely with the tangy mandarin. i think there's something resiny in there too, if i'm not utterly mistaken. dragon's blood or something very similiar to it maybe? if that's the case i suppose that would account for the strange red-orange color of the oil.

 

have you read good omens, by neil gaiman and terry pratchett? this scent totally reminds me of the war character in that book. i could see her smelling like this- scowling at you, with her hair blazing red. this is the scent you'd catch as her motorcycle screamed by, kicking up dust. (not that the scent is dusty, mind you, i'm just saying, this is the imagery i'm getting from it. )

 

i enjoy this one quite a bit. it's very unique, and as a few people have said before, i think it would work well on a man as well as a woman. it's weird though because every time i smell my wrists it seems to change a little bit. i keep getting whiffs of something totally different each time, but nothing that sticks around the next time i smell it! go figure! maybe it's those herbs again, conflicting with each other? hee. in any event, it's a nice blend, i'm glad i got a 5ml of it. also, i love the artwork on the label.

[Galatea]

In the Imp: Heavy, and yes even deadly. I think in the imp the smell of herbs and tobacco come though the most.

 

Wet: Sharp pierce of the mandarin is the first salvo, then it's a crashing three way with the tonka, saffron, and tea. On the way to dry this really warms up a lot.

 

Dry: This dries out to be a very dark, resinous smelling and heavy but not overwhelming scent. You definately don't get the sense that this is a foody blend even though it has foodish elements to it; no CHOCOLATE, only earthiness; no ORANGE, no VANILLA, only a slightly uplifting sweetness. This is very well blended indeed. By full dry down the tonka and musk do stick out the most.

 

Throw: Great, heady but not "knock you down if you share an elevator with me" heavy.

 

Overall: Love this one, surprisingly enough. For some reason I hadn't put this on my wishlist because I didn't think I'd like something that complex. I'm greatful the lab sent me this as a fimp!

It's just amazing how this blend goes from piercing herby, to pendulous resin, to sweet resolve. Perfectly named actually.

 

Rating: ++

[forspecial_plate]

Hmm....for a scent with so many notes...it's surprising that my skin only broadcasts 2 of them, mandarin and tobacco leaf. The cocoa is there in the background, just a little. There is an ashy undertone, maybe to the tobacco, or maybe that's just my mind playing tricks. It reminds me of an ashtray unfortunately.

 

This one's not for me. I'm glad some other folks like it, I can add it to my growing swap pile!

 

I am so happy that the lab recently sent me an Imp of this with an order. It deserves much more praise than I gave it in my first review. I don't know what changed....I don't think the scent changed. Maybe my tastes have changed, or I'm better able to appreciate the scent's subtleties now. Whatever, it doesn't really matter. This is a deep, spicy and almost earthy orange scent. Very appealing to me now and doesn't go ashy or dusty on me any more. Lasts a long time, too. I bet someone standing next to me would just smell orange or citrus. But I don't care! I smell a nice, complex scent that I want more of. I will eventually have 5ml of this!

Edited February 1, 2007 by Forspecial Plate

[kakiphony]

In the imp: Deep and earthy with a musky base. I think the earthiness is from the tobacco.

 

Wet on skin: Musky and deep. The tobacco is definitely the top note in this blend on application for me.

 

Early dry down: The tonka is rising to the surface and lending a deep, sweet note to this blend. The mandarin begins to peek out from the blend and lends a little boost to the earthiness, making it shimmer a little. At this stage, this is extremely lovely. It's bright from the mandarin, and yet soaks right into the skin with the musk and tonka, making it a highly personal, morphing blend. It's clean, yet deep. I keep sniffing my wrist and it seems to shift and change with each sniff -- and each change is equally calming, energizing, and plain lovely.

 

Late dry down: Ah, this blend breaks my heart. After another half hour, the lovely mandarin, comforting tobacco, and deep-sweet tonka have been shoved aside by the musk and herbs. The musk has come on strong and now smells like cheap men's shaving lotion (it's the musk that always reminds me of my grandpa, who wore Aqua Velva), and the herbs are lending it a sharp and bitter top note. If only the lovely notes that first appeared sat on a different base I think this could be a glorious blend. Unfortunately, the musk is too much for my chemistry to handle. I think this would be exquisite on me if the Mandarin, tonka, saffron, black tea, cocoa, tobacco leaf sat upon a base of the patchouli in Vixen. But, alas, this is simply not that blend and so joins the scores of others that just don't quite work.

[kwsix]

In the bottle: I smell dark chocolate, tobacco leaf, and musk. It smells rich, earthy, and slightly masculine.

 

Wet: Aaaaack, yuck, what happened? I'm overpowered by artificial lemons, and I don't like it at all. The lemons not only smell artificial, they smell angry. Where are they coming from? How does mandarin translate as lemon, especially when I didn't smell any citrus in the imp? Maybe the herbs of conflict have something to do with it. I know I'm definitely in conflict with this smell. I somehow resist the urge to scrub my wrists raw. I am desperately hoping that the drydown will bring something tolerable. It smelled so good in the bottle.

 

Dry: Oh no, nothing has changed. I can't smell anything but lemon-scented bathroom cleaner. If this were a natural lemon scent, I might be able to tolerate it. As it is, I'm really looking forward to never having to smell this again. I avoid smelling my wrists for a half hour. Unfortunately, time isn't on my side. I find myself analyzing the scent, trying to decide if it reminds me more of lemon scented Mr. Clean or Lemon-Fresh Pine-Sol. After 45 minutes, I give up and douse myself with rubbing alcohol until the smell is gone.

 

Summary: Now I understand why this is the sword of war. I would be warlike too if I had to go around smelling like this all the time. Someone compared this to 13. On me, this is the total opposite of 13. I LOVE 13, but this was nothing short of a disaster on me. I hate to admit defeat, so I'm tempted to try it again in a few weeks (months?), which I know deep down is an irrational thought. Oh well, at least it goes down in history as the first BPAL that smells like ass on me. Lemon-scented ass, mind you.

[nevermore]

I'm going to have to agree with the many comparisons to 13 - I find that The Great Sword of War is very like it, with the orange/cocoa/tea combination. However, I find it much less sweet than 13. In the bottle, it's mainly orange and cocoa. On my skin, some tea and tonka are added to the mix. I don't really get any musk, herbs or tobacco at all, which is fine with me. I have a bottle of both this and 13, but I find myself wearing Great Sword of War more often, because it isn't as sweet/chocolatey.

[gypsybaby1]

I should have read through *all* of the reviews before putting this on my wishlist.

 

I had visions of a dark, sultry, spicy blend with the strength of an immortal fury behind it - I am woman, hear me roar and *don't* piss me off!

 

But, unfortunately, I never sniffed chocolate, orange, musk or anything. It went straight to lemon verbena on me. Do no pass go, do not enjoy the olfactory emanations. Not that I mind lemon verbena at all, I love the scent. However, this just kept getting sharper and sharper. It just didn't work on me

 

Off to the swaps pile it goes!

[maijasu]

This reminds me a whole lot of Scherezade--must be the red musk. It also smells vaguely spicy, dusty, and fruity. I like it but don't love it.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

smells like a cross between those orange-chocolate candy oranges and 13.

 

neither of which am i a big fan of.

[shellyshells]

The Great Sword of War:

 

What a bummer. I love tonka, but this blend just ain't for me.

Smells like some Thai dish, but I don't know which one. I get lemongrass from this. Weeeird!

[blackrosepassion]

In the bottle I smell Chocolate and mandarin thats sparlks memorys of my first chocolate orange and jaffas at the movies theres something else there too but I can't put my finger on it. It smells warm and slightly spicy though. On first impression in the bottle this smells too strong for me and I really don't think it will work on me.

 

After five minutes on the chcolate smell has retreated a lot its still there but is a background note. I can now smell a combination of fruit and spice - I guess that would be the manadrin and the saffron. Its not as strong now and is wearable.

 

Conclusion: After a few hours on it is still fruity and spicy I like it but not enough that I would buy it for myself,

 

HOWEVER

 

My boyfriend tried this one on and I really think it works better on a man then on a woman on him I love the smell of it and think I might have to get him a 5ml bottle of it next time I order from the lab.

 

 

Blackrosepassion

 

It is now the next day after my boyfriend and I tried this scent and I have to laugh. I got up this morning to find my imp missing and a note sitting where it should have been. It seems that my boyfriend liked this one enough to kidnap it and take it to work with him - Oh well at least I know what to get him for Christmas now.

[nancybridget]

Orange, dragon's blood, and maybe a type of sandalwood and cocoa. I'm reminded of CSP Amore de Cacao. Yum, sexy!

[surlygurl]

The description of this scared me a bit (tobacco leaf? Red musk? herbs of conflict?), but I decided to face my fears so I purchased a bottle from a forumite.

 

Wet: Lemons. Not sweet, not sour, just ....lemons. And something else, but what?

 

Drydown: Same

 

Overall - Ruby red lemons, diced, on a bed of warm corn tortillas.

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: sweet, foody, spicy, and herbal all at once.

wet: Tonka, Mandarin, and a cocoa/saffron mix.

dry: sadly, it gets soapy perfume-y powdery after about 1 1/2 hours. eeewww.

[steffanina]

The Great Sword of War-

 

In Bottle: Orange and musk. Almost pine.

 

Wet: Lemon like lemon furniture polish.

 

Dry: I am not fond of this lemon furniture polish thing.

 

Overall: Not for me.

[goddessrobyn]

In the bottle, this smells DIVINE... dark and sultry... sexy... powerful... exactly what you'd want the Great Sword of War to smell like...

 

for the first 30 minutes, I could not stop sniffing my wrists (which made getting dressed and eating breakfast quite interesting...)

 

then... suddenly and without warning... my perfume turned into Blood Amber... seriously... I smell exactly like I'm wearing Blood Amber... which I like but does NOT go with my mood for the day... luckily it smells nice under a liberal spraying of Perversion...

[lanablade]

In the imp: Uh oh. I think I smell either dragon's blood or Myrrh, neither of which I like. Other than that, I smell mandarin and tea.

 

Wet: Aaaah. Attack of the ampage. There's definately myrrh or dragon's blood in here. Thankfully it's only amping enough to make overwhelm the throw. If I sniff close, I can still smell mandarin and tea.

 

Dry: Whatever resin/herb it was in the wet stage that smelled like my arch nemesis', it's mostly gone now. I can smell musk, tobacco, sandalwood and maybe those herbs and something fruity.

 

I'm relatively certain that I'll pass on a bottle of this, but it is pretty to wear occasionally as long as whatever amps during the wet stage keeps to itself.

[zorazen]

This one smells lovely on me. Thick and rich and just smelling it on my skin makes me happy. I wear this as a pick me up. And I love telling people that I'm wearing The Great Sword of War. It's also my "I feel like kicking nine kinds of ass today" scent.

[supremegoddessofall]

On me: Strongly herbal. Getting some citrus from the mandarin, but not as much as I would have expected. However, it's still got a Pledge feel to it, which I often get from citrus scents. Moderately musky. Touch of tea, not really getting the tonka, tobacco, or cocoa.

[phedre]

in vial: there's a sharp herbal note to this, softened by tonka and mandarin.

 

wet: cocoa comes out, but not strongly like in 13, it's more of a perfume note than a food. black tea also appears. The mandarin and herbs fade. Definitely some tobacco leaf. Mandarin comes out again, stronger this time.

 

dry: the sharpness is amped. This is very herbacious with the smell of mandarin peel. The myrrh keeps this sweeter than it should be, and makes it all very lovely and balanced.

 

I like this a lot more than I expected.

 

An hour or so later: The mandarin has really amped up on this. The herbs are still there, but the blend itself has gone so citrusy, I'm amazed that it's the same oil I applied.

Edited December 24, 2006 by phedre

[Salvia_spathacea]

When I first sniffed this in the vial I could smell mandarin, with a hint of the tobacco and black tea. The black tea was particularly recognizable. So I went and put it on and it smelled mostly like mandarin, but with something rich and spicy waiting underneath. Unfortunately, once the mandarin fades my skin seems to have soaked up almost all the scent and I'm left with something that smells really good, but is very faint! But on the whole I do like the scent and the citrus doesn't go bad on me so I really can't complain too much. I'll just reserve it for times I'm free to sniff my skin at close range a lot!