Sin

[Mokiefraggle]

Thoroughly corrupted: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon.

 

Love this scent. Really love it. I find that all the notes balance each other out wonderfully, creating a sweet, resinous, earthy scent that lingers pleasantly on my skin. The cinnamon is a lot milder than in some spicy blends that I've tried, which I appreciate; I adore the note, but other blends I've tried with it often seem to have the cinnamon right up in the front, which can result in a scent more like cinnamon candies than the warmth I'm looking for. Sin is just right, and a pleasant all-around scent I feel comfortable wearing at any time.

[Teamama]

Sin is one of the "classic" GC scents that my skin chemistry drives into the ditch. In this case, the ditch is full of patchouli.

 

In the imp, Sin smells ultra-fantastic. The amber, cinnamon, sandalwood & patchouli are well-balanced, and it smells like my kind of jam to the max. Alas and alack, once Sin hits my skin, the patch becomes a wild rodeo bull, bucks the other 3 notes off, and tramples them into the dust. I am left smelling like I applied strong single-note patch. I tried an imp fresh from the lab, and an aged imp last spring, and both of them again a year later. Same results.

 

This is the only patchouli blend from the Lab that amps this way on me, thank heavens.

[CitrusFiend]

Thick gloopy red-brown oil. My imp is lab fresh. I don't get any cinnamon from this at all, just a sweet and creamy (amber and sandalwaood?) wet stage that quickly turns sour, and then the drydown is 100% patchouli. I guess my skin amps patchouli!

[porcelaincrypt]

First sniff when I received imp: Interesting. Strong. Deep. Dark. Reminded me a little of autumn or Halloween. Smoky! Opium maybe? A little bit masculine but I couldn't make out anything specific.

 

Second sniff tonight: Smoky cinnamon, completely! I didn't' get cinnamon the first time, which is strange. I absolutely love cinnamon but this isn't at all my usual sweet cinnamon sugar...it's so smoky and almost bitter. Again, I'm finding Sin a really interesting scent that piques my curiosity.

 

On my skin it's much milder than I expected. Not bitter but still not sweet. It was so bold in the imp but on my skin much more unassuming than I imagined, not at all in a bad way. I was anticipating it would be too strong on my skin but that isn't at all the case! I'm liking it! After about 10 minutes there is a gorgeous sweetness but not foodie sweet. Also the cinnamon didn't irritate my skin, which is a plus!

 

The longer its on my skin the more it makes me think of being in New Orleans last year, browsing in the voodoo and crystals/gems shops, it definitely has that vibe, because of the patchouli I'm guessing. Sometimes those shops can assault your nose but this leaves your skin with just the perfect hint of that type of aroma. I think on my next trip to NOLA I will have to bring this along with me. Sin will definitely be placed on my maybe list for full bottle purchase!

[Convallaria]

Frimp from lab. The cinnamon at the opening is dry and not very sweet. A lot of Lab cinnamon ends up reminding me of cookies, but not here - thanks mostly to sandalwood, I believe. It's what the name implies, red, hot and sensual. After a while, the cinnamon settles and sandalwood takes over. Well-blended, but doesn't last long on me. Throw is moderate, strongest in the cinnamon phase.

[roseus]

I knew I needed a bottle as soon as I opened the imp. The patchouli is smoothed out beautifully by the amber and the sandalwood. It's a thick, warm, rich scent. Heady and resin-sweet. I get just a dusting of a soft, sweeter cinnamon.

[mermaidjeans]

Expectation: I wanted at least one bpal sexy scent in my first order, and due to stock issues I only ended up with two (the other being La Petite Mort). I was ready to be blown away.

First Impression: candles, incense

Definitely strong on the patchouli and cinnamon for starters, from the imp - but not in a nose hurty way (though I did just start sneezing! Make of that what you will...). Wet on the skin the cinnamon kicks up a bit but I think the amber and sandalwood are already in play to keep it on just the right side of spicy. For me, amber makes everything warm and appealing and here it seems to lend a vanilla-like creamy undercurrent, or like a shea lip butter. Unless that's the sandalwood. And that's the thing, I could go on and on with my nose pressed to my wrist because I want to keep figuring out its secrets like an intriguing lover - not bad for a list of four notes.

I like Sin. A lot. I have yet to wear it out, but this is one that I put on at home just because I want to smell it.

Verdict: a keeper. Definitely sexy.

[lizabelle]

Hmm. I guess my reaction is "I don't hate it," but I don't think I would get a bottle. Amber seems to love going to powder on my skin so I get no gooey, resinous goodness; only a dry, dusty cinnamon/sandalwood/patch combo. While it's not bad as it is, I'm frustrated I'm not getting the resinous quality. It doesn't smell very sinful, unless it's the sin of leaving these lovely ingredients in a dusty room for so long!

[Clavis]

I've been wearing an aged imp of this for the past two days. Yummy!

 

Its soft, sexy, decadent, and warm. Even though this is an amber blend it smells more like a musk with wood and a touch of chocolate after it dries. Yet it doesn't have the cloying sweetness or oily note of a musk. Likewise, there's no powder of an amber. I want to know where the chocolate comes from because its NOT listed. Yet clearly its there since Im not the only one noticing. Perhaps its the combo of the patch, wood, and cinnamon when it ages.

 

I wish I had a whole bottle of this. Alas, I do not, and I suspect a fresh bottle won't have the smoothness or the chocolaty note. A fresher imp I have, while certainly the same perfume, is noticeably less smooth and doesn't have that chocolatiness in the background. Sigh. Guess I'll have to get a bottle and wait 5 years...

[psychocygnet]

So, apparently, I have issues with patchouli. It ruined Madame Moriarty for me, and every other scent I've tried with it seems to turn into a vaguely unwashed stink instead of the earthy but lovely note other people seem to get.

 

I very carefully dabbed this on my lampshade, to get a sense of what this smells like before I let it play with my whimsical skin chemistry, and WHAM GAAACK PATCHOULI QUICK BEAT IT WITH A STICK BEFORE IT ATTACKS. Did my best to clean off the lampshade, and now I have this very nice cinnamony-ambery room smell, but apart from that cinnamon-amber end stage, I don't think Sin is going to work for me at all.

[Nikki Scarlet]

This was a frimp from the lab. The ingredients list didn't really speak to me when I saw it in the catalogue, but it does list cinnamon as one of the ingredients, and I would like to try a cinnamon scent. And who can say no to free?

In the imp and on me, wet:
. . . Whoof. That is a VERY smoky scent. Not really smelling any cinnamon. Just . . . smoke and something bitter.

On me, dry:
. . . Yeah. This just smells like me after I've been hanging out in a heavy smoker's house for a while. After some time passes, the amber starts to come forward and lighten it up a little bit, but it's not enough to save this for me. And even if I did love the scent, it doesn't seem to last very long on me. About an hour and it's just about disappeared.

Verdict:
Will probably swap this.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Nikki Scarlet

[gloame]

Not my favorite. It’s definitely a sexy scent, but the cinnamon overwhelms on me. If you wear cinnamon well and want a sexy scent, this is a great one to try. Patchouli, cinnamon, dirty weekends.

 

Where I'd wear it: On your walk of ~unashamed,~ after a dirty weekend

[fenharel]

i really expected this one to be STRONGER. throw and lasting power is almost none. i can hardly even smell this when i slather it on fresh. which is a shame, because i love what i CAN smell of it. sweet cinnamon, sharpened by patchouli and sandalwood. chewing cinnamon gum after smoking clove cigarettes. i wonder if my imp is just super fresh and this gets more potent when aged?

[achildoftime]

So, I put this on and the significant otter asked where I had gotten some Big Red gum. There is a lot of cinnamon for sure, but I think it's tempered by sandalwood. It just happens to throw nothing but the cinnamon. It just doesn't work for me I guess.

[doomsday_disco]

Yeah… I haven’t tried straight-up Sin before now (only Sin in the Pumpkin Patch).

 

In the imp: I’m getting lots of patchouli and cinnamon, with the resins in the background. When I first opened in the imp, I thought I was smelling red musk. It is not red musk, but I think the combination of the patchouli, cinnamon, and amber made me think that at first.

 

Wet: The soft cinnamon is the dominant note on me, followed by the patchouli, amber, and then, the sandalwood. It still smells like it has a musk in it to me, so I’m not sure if it’s an unlisted note or me just associating it with other scents that contain these notes and have red musk.

 

Dry: The cinnamon is softer now, but still a main player. I’m still getting the black patchouli, and there’s a lot more amber than before. I prefer this phase of the scent, since the resins are playing a bigger role.

 

Verdict: Sin is decent, but ultimately, not something I’d reach for. But I’m so glad I was frimped this so that I could try it after all these years.

[garbagewitch]

Sin starts out with a flash of amber, warm and sweet and golden, which is quickly overtaken by cinnamon and sandalwood. The cinnamon and sandalwood blend together seamlessly—sweet, spicy, and a little rough. Something about this sandalwood feels almost unfinished, like a carving that hasn’t been sanded down, and it’s gorgeous in a very raw way.

As it dries down, the amber starts to come back out to give it this halo of light golden sweetness. Between the amber and the cinnamon, it’s dangerously close to smelling like hard candy, but the sandalwood keeps them in check and prevents the whole scent from getting too candied. Beneath the spicy-sweet rasp of the other notes, something that has to be the black patchouli peeks out. It’s dark and earthy and smooth, and it tips Sin just over the line into ‘jump me!’ territory; I’m definitely going to have to try more scents with black patchouli.

To me, this is more comforting than truly sinful, though it is pretty sexy. It smells like snuggling up in the flannel shirt of someone much sturdier than you, like running away to the mountains with someone who makes you feel safe and protected. It smells like shuffling out of a cabin still half-asleep to see someone with rough, capable hands chopping wood, haloed by the morning sun.

Wearing this makes me feel like the buff, capable flannel-wearing lumberjack of my dreams. Would recommend to anyone who wants to smell like Steve Rogers ripping a log apart with his bare hands.

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Dry and woodsy. I can pick out the sandalwood and patchouli.

 

On my skin:

 

The sandalwood comes out first, but the patchouli is quick to catch up. The cinnamon creeps in a little, just enough to provide an accent note. The result is woodsy and earthy, with just a touch of spice. The throw on this is pretty low on me, which is just as well since I was hoping the cinnamon would play a more central role.

[torikitty]

Creamy, sweet sandalwood. Cinnamon is really hard to pick out, and the amber isn't taking over. The patchouli is just light enough that it's enhancing the sandalwood, instead of overpowering it. In the end, I think the amber ends up killing it for me. It goes sickly sweet, and it's not enjoyable.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Carrie

[JakkieTreehorn]

Initially I thought, This is incredible, probably one of the best perfumes Ive ever smelled. I can smell each of the notes individually but they all blend into a very dark and sexy scent. Definitely a date night scent. And then when dry I get straight sandalwood that is SUPER strong....so much so that I gives me a terrible headache. I dont think I will be able to wear this ☹.

 

April 2020 update:  I decided to come back to this now that it’s aged a bit as it smelled soooo good on a friend.  Now I love this.  The sandalwood is no longer jumping out.  In fact I can’t really pick out the individual scents at all.  It’s just dark, sexy and sweet.  Love this now and bought another too age while I wear this one!

Edited April 23, 2020 by JakkieTreehorn

[Juushika]

In vial: You know how a BPAL box can gain that de facto amalgamated BPAL scent? This smells like that.

 

On me: Cinnamon comes out on the skin to give this a distinctive spicy red warmth. But amber/sandalwood/patch is still the heart of this scent, and it's very much generic BPAL. It's pleasant but powdery, warm, dry, well-rounded, but entirely missing a top note; the cinnamon feels very samey rather than cutting through it. This clings close to the skin.

 

Verdict: A fairly unambitious, unremarkable scent, but the truth is that sometimes I root through my collection, unsure what to wear, wishing I could just wear that amalgamated box scent. And now I can!

Edited November 1, 2018 by Juushika

[spookyumbrella]

Sweet cinnamon and amber goodness! I get a fair amount of sandalwood and just a teeny bit of patchouli.  Its sweet, but not foody sweet, and probably because of the cinnamon, quite warm.  Would probably be overpowering in hotter weather.

[skyablazing]

Oh no, is the amber going to do the bad thing? On wet, just an overwhelming amount of amber, with a hint of cinnamon. I only like amber as a supporting player so this isn't ideal. 

 

On dry down, we hit a phase of 100% Imperial Leather soap before the cinnamon comes to the forefront in a way that is actually quite pleasant. Unfortunately cinnamon over Imperial Leather isn't quite what I look for in scents, so I am going to wash this off.

[monocainsheresy]

This is so many of my favorite things - I love love love this scent!

Starts out with sandalwood + cinnamon, and a wee bit of hippie patchouli. The "musky sweat" that Lucretia mentioned is actually one of my favorite notes, and it's mostly from the cinnamon, with the patchouli helping it along. This is not a dry cinnamon - it's bright and wet and almost smells like dragon's blood sap. Murky liquid amber in the background lends a beautiful note of gold.

[starbrow]

Juushika nailed it - this is "BPAL box", classic old-school Lab resins, gothy and incensey, nice and rich, with a cinnamon note that stands out among the rest. Fortunately or unfortunately, the other three notes are such staples of BPAL blends that this one kind of ends up smelling like the drydown of every resiny BPAL ever, with a little cinnamon from Satyr or Chimera thrown in. Both of the blends I just named end up having more personality, I think. Sin is good, and I will wear my decant for sure, it's just not unique enough for a bottle for me.

[Juliamon]

This is one of those situations where, if I were still a complete and total perfume newbie, I would gush over how perfect Sin is. Everything blends together so well, it's all notes I enjoy (well, I mostly tolerate cinnamon because it's just awful when used heavy-handed in a blend), it's present without absolutely suffocating me, it has that BPAL vibe I love. But a couple years down the line, I'm finding it a little bit lacking. The cinnamon is at the perfect level, but it's not really enough to make me pick it over any number of other sandalwood/amber/patchouli fragrances I've amassed. Still, I appreciate its lightness where most would wish for more strength and will hold onto my imp for occasions where I might be craving something simple and reliable. Or maybe to give to someone just getting into BPAL, if they already know they like patchouli. I regret waiting as long as I did to give it a go, and now I'm curious to try the variants that are out there!