Severin

[friendthegirl]

Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the Father of Masochism and sexual surrender, had planned on writing six volumes of erotic literature entitled The Heritage of Cain. Only the first two volumes were completed, the more famous of the two being the notorious Venus in Furs. This novel tells the tale of a man, Severin, that enters into a relationship of slavery and increasingly debauched degradation with his mistress, Wanda. Dry black teas, Earl Gray, and leather.

This smells exactly like a glass of iced tea with the addition of a little lemon and a bit of sugar to add a sweet edge.

[thespring]

Starts as sweet lemon and dies as light sweet tea.

 

I think the leather adds a touch of soft roundness to the otherwise sharp lemon. The leather is quite faint to my nose though. The Earl Gray is so nice here, it's like very good quality leaves but dry, not ready to sip just yet I'd say this is probably the best tea scent I've ever tried.

 

I layer this with other BP beauties a lot and it adds a nice touch.

 

I really wouldn't say this was only for a man, I'm a girl and I love it

On a man I think this would be yummy sexy grrrr.

[darkitysnark]

Severin

 

A swap with regyt (thanks again!) that I slathered on this morning after applying Lush's Pied de Pepper clove foot creme, so my perception might be a bit skewed.

 

In the bottle:

Mild, sweet, light tea (Earl Grey) with a hint of lemon.

 

Wet:

The lemon and tea would be astringent if it weren't for a creamy spice note (which might be the Pied de Pepper). The lemon is on the verge of, but has not fallen into, the Pledge/cleaner/Grandma Sloop abyss that most lemons do on me. There's a gently insistent floral that is keeping him from falling. I'm not getting the leather per se, but there's the idea of something stronger holding this gentleman in check.

 

Dry down:

Being the scent-layering fool I am, I added melony Avon cuticle cream to the mix. Now I'm getting straight men's aftershave. The blend is coming off as nothing more than that straight forward bracing "Dad" smell. This reminds me of a time when I wore nothing but men's clothing to middle school and Bennetton Colors for Men and my mother pulled me aside and whispered urgently "You aren't turning into the gay, are you?"

 

Later:

Whew, aftershave is gone. And I think the leather is what saved him. He's tender and sweet, but not weak and syrupy. There's resolve in his submission.

 

Conclusion:

It's only been a couple hours, but I can tell this one is not going to last and waft and imbue my office with lemony tea whip goodness. This is a very private scent. One to be enjoyed alone or by only those with whom you are most intimate.

 

I'm either going to coerce the Mr. into wearing this one evening, or shall keep it for myself when I go out in drag. Lovely.

[Aurelius]

This is very light, a bit of tea with a little lemon. I really wish the leather would show up on my skin. This is very subtle. I'm not sure if this is what degredation would smell like to me, but if it is, I love it.

[wolfie13]

I just got this as a surprise extra in a swap (thanks IndigoWhatever!), and I must say right off the bat that I'm really happy to find a leather scent that I can wear.

 

My scent description is pretty similar to what others have said.

 

In the bottle: lemony (but not sweet) with a lurking edge to it

 

Wearing: The Earl Grey really comes out. It's the part of the scent that has the most waft around me. When you get closer, about 6 inches-ish away, it is a perfect

blend of the tea, lemon and leather smells, one nearly indigistinguishable from the rest. Really sniffing my skin, it's all leather and lemon. (It's interesting - many of the others that I wear are pretty much the same no matter how close you are.)

 

My skin definitely amps up leather, which is why I may get more of that than other folks. And also why this is more wearable for me than DeSade and some others which become ONLY leather.

 

Though I do like it on myself, I think i would LOVE this on a guy. I'll get back to you on that.

[phaedrine]

I gave severin a try because I do love both tea and leather scents. Sadly, it wasn't really much of either on me.

 

In the vial it was vaugely tea, but it was very, very lemon.

 

Mostly that's all I got, lemon lemon lemon. Rather than an Earl Grey, I got a cup of strong herbal lemon tea.

 

Finally, it was too strongly lemon for me and I ended up washing it off.

[Theravada]

The "lemon" everyone keeps referring to is actually bergamot, which is also a cirtus scent. Bergamot is the citrus scent/flavor in Earl Grey tea. Which explains my love of Earl Grey, because I adore bergamot. It's one of my absolute favorite scents.

 

I wore Bath and Body Works Bergamot Coriander exclusively before I discovered BPAL. Actually, I still wear it. I always get compliments on my Bergamot Coriander, especially from men. I have this theory that men actually enjoy more "masculine" fragrances on women and that women only wear those fruity, sweet, floral scents for themselves.

 

So if you haven't guessed it by now, Severin is the closest thing to my Bergamot Coriander that I've found in the BPAL line. It's a sharp, distinctive citrus scent that isn't so masculine or uninviting that most women can't pull it off. And men adore it. If you have problems with your guy appreciating your BPAL, try wearing Severin around him.

 

Also, the black tea and bergamot are strongest here. As a strict vegetarian, I really don't enjoy the smell of leather. I don't think that Severin is a strongly leather scent, like Highwayman or De Sade or Whip.

 

This is one of my favorite "sleeper" BPAL scents. It doesn't get a lot of attention, but I really think that if more people ordered imps of it or snagged it in swaps it would be more popular than it currently seems to be.

 

I need to work on acquiring a bottle!

[shelldoo]

wow in the vial is lemonhead candy

 

wet yup lemonheads good thing i think they are yummy

 

drying i get hints of tea and a wiff of leather here and there but lemon is dominant...i love wanda and i am forcing dh to wear severin

[voodoobaby]

Reading the reviews, I was hesitant about this one. However, since I love tea and leather and already had Wanda, I figured I might as well give it a try.

 

In the bottle: Strong and citrusy. This is quite a bit sweeter than I imagined it would be.

 

Wearing: This is kind of funny. When I opened the imp to sniff it, a little got on my thumb, which I absentmindedly wiped on my wrist and forgot about. A few minutes later when I crossed the room and rested my chin on my hand, I smelled this floral, almost candylike tea scent, and I thought to myself, "Wow, what smells so good?" It took me a while to figure out that it was me. OK, yeah, I'm slow. Anyway, like I said, this is still citrusy, vaguely floral--but not too much so--and sweet. As promised, there's the tea, and just a wee hint of leather. And also, this is kind of sexy, but it's a very subdued kind of sexy. It's like the guy you see around town every once in a while, and you think that maybe you're attracted to him, but if so, you have no idea why.

 

Later: Gah! Gone in two hours. Darn it, and it was so nice. Well, keeping the imp, which I will promptly use up from reapplying every couple of hours.

[britgeekgrrl]

At first, I thought "Why would I want to smell like tea? I drink enough of it as it is!" But then I was amused by a thread over on "suggestions" talking about Harry Potter scents which suggested Severin for Snape. I'm an HP fangrrl and easily amused, so I picked up the imp out of curiosity.

 

In the vial: bergamot doing it's best "No, really, I'm a lemon!" impersonation. Citrusy, bright and green.

 

Wet on the skin: the bergamot continues trying to act like a citrus fruit, but the disguise is slipping.

 

15 minutes: Ahh, there's the bergamot, and the leather is manifesting, too.

 

30 mins: a nice, crisp balance of bergamot and leather and that little hint of citrus - very crisp and clean. It very much matches the description given by the lab.

 

I don't know if this is meant to be gender-neutral, but I'm going to sneak this onto my husband and see if I like it on him, as I think I might - I like it when fellas wear crisp scents so...

 

My only complaint is that this scent doesn't last very long on my skin - almost totally imperceptible after an hour - so I might follow the suggestion offered by others and make a lotion with the oil, and see if that helps matters a bit.

 

Even if this one isn't a hit with the hubby, I think it's going to end up on the 'buy a 5ml' list.

 

- Johanna

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: I can smell the tea, a hint of leather, and something citrus - either lemon or grapefruit.

Wearing: This is predominantly citrus on my skin. As it dries, I smell like iced tea with lemon slices floating on top. It fades quickly.

Final Impressions: Iced tea is good to drink, but not to wear.

[helarctos]

LEMON.

 

Something about my skin chemistry just amps up the Lab's lemon. I can smell nothing else in Severin.

 

I was hoping to get a waft of the refinement that others are able to detect in it. All I get is strong, strong lemon.

[HappyLoveJoy]

Severin Lemon drops at the onset, moving to lemon-lime. I smell the leather quite pleasantly after 10 minutes and I realize I've smelled this before because it makes me feel strong emotions. It's the way my husband smells after shaving with Edge gel shaving cream and I hug him close and smell his face. The leather represents the embodiment of him because leather once contained life. This is truly a love potion for me.

[couscous]

Good Lord, I love this one. Thank you, labbies, thank you for throwing this in!

 

Severin smells...well, severin smells like Earl Grey tea with lemon. Sharp, slightly sweet, tangy lemon. But its complicated enough, perhaps because of the leather note, to not smell like a Demeter reconstruction or something. This isn't a singular experience-this is a perfume.

 

Light, refreshing, dead sexy. I adore it.

 

Suggested for people who love tea, love bergamot, or love shaving cream-y type, clean scents.

 

If you really can't take lemon, do not be fooled and think the tea will tone it down. It won't But if you are ambivalent about lemon, I'd give this a try, because it truly is lovely.

[Finny]

Leather and earl grey tea.

 

Leather is one of my favorite notes, this has leather, leather =

 

This also has bergamot, and a wonderful dark tea note. It is a fantastic combination. The bergamot is lemony, very refreshing against the leather scent.

 

It dries down to a smooth leather scent, most of the lemon note fades on me, but that is the problem with citrus, it is fleeting.

[anmorata]

Severin:

Wet: Grapefruit? Lemon? Some sort of citrus.

Drydown: scent almost immediately fades, and I can barely detect the citrus.

Longterm wear: Not once did I ever get leather or tea out of this scent. Severin faded within 10 minutes of application and never returned. Sad.

[surf-tormented]

Reminds me of a pantywaist sort of male drinking Earl Grey tea. Think Wesley from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yeah, you just want to beat him and make his day.

[theshapeshifter]

In the imp: Bergamot, and lots of it! This is a good thing.

 

Initial application: Bergamot with an extra twinge of lemon.

 

After a few minutes: Can catch a whiff of the leather - not as pronounced as I would've hoped, but a great partner to the tea scent.

 

Staying power: Alas, virtually none. It's been a little less than two hours since the initial application, and an hour ago I applied a little more - even a few swipes of the imp wand through my hair - and I can barely detect it. I'm going to slather on some more before I leave for work in the hopes of getting it to hang around longer, but at this rate the imp will be gone in a flash.

 

Love the scent, but don't think it will make my big bottle list, simply because I'd go through it too fast.

[SoapyRN]

Lemon and tea. Then leather. I thought it was very light in both they staying power and the actual blend.

 

Nice, but I am glad to have Dormouse for a stronger Earl Grey blend.

[cormeretrix]

i was scared that this was going to smell like whip or de sade; overwhelming leather. happily, it did not. it's a surprisingly clean scent to me; citrus and sunshine and clean sheets in the sun.

 

very nice.

[jett perilous]

Holy.

This is the best thing I've smelled probably ever.

 

In the imp I wasn't too impressed. It smelled citrusy, which, as people are saying above, must be the bergamont.

When I put it on, there was still the strong bergamont smell, but I could also smell the tea and the leather.

On drydown, the citrus smell fades away, leaving a nice light tea and leather scent. What I like about the leather is that it's not the harsh leather from Whip, or the dusty saddle leather from Highwayman. It reminds me of a soft, pink leather bookmark my grandmother once had.

 

This is a definite purchase for me.

[scourgeotheseas]

Severin

 

On me: First lemon, then it settles into the bergamot flavored Earl Grey tea blend I was expecting. Just fantastic!

 

Unfortunately, it disappears really quickly on me. It's a great scent, so I might try making it into a spray or mixing it with lotion. Just lovely!

[itsuki]

First impression: Very pleasant earl-grey tea, with a hint of bergamot. A clean, refreshing scent. Wakes me up!

 

1 hour later: I have to press my nose to my wrist to smell it. The smell fades quickly, and I crave for more.

 

Overall: Beautiful scent, but I wish it lasted longer!

[olympia301]

Lemon and leather, just beautiful. This is a subtle scent and the lemon which was chosen is really gorgeous; not the sharp and cheap rind type, but something that contains the sweetness within the sour like a Meyer lemon. You will have to search for the leather, and may not detect it at first, but it's there lending a wonderful sophistication and depth to the lemon. I wish this scent would last longer, it is pretty fugitive, but the fleeting nature of it is worth the pain. Buy a big bottle of it to compensate.

 

Please Note: This is one blend that really should be worn in a scent locket. If you wear it that way its staying power is almost unbelievable. I could smell it distinctly for well over 24 hrs when I had it in my silver pendant.

Edited May 9, 2005 by olympia301

[quimerula]

Tea, delicious and fresh tea is the very first impresion I have.

 

I can pick up the bergamot in the Earl Grey, and as it dries down goes deeper and darker, but still chaish.

 

A gorgeous unisex, perfect for summer days.