Laudanum

[mymymai]

The essence of the most debauched hunger encapsulated into a perfume. Desire beyond love, anguish beyond sanity. Nutmeg, sassafras, black poppy and myrrh.

 

ITI: It's smoky and black - that's about all I'm getting, but I really like it so far.

Wet: It's like peppermint, sassafras, opium smoke, and subtle myrrh. This reminds me of a hookah bar.

Dry: This one is also a scent that doesn't last long on the wrists, which surprises me as the intensity wet is so much. After only a couple of hours, the scent is softly sweet, like a very light, dainty apricot tart with a dusting of nutmeg. Ia actually really like how this changes. It's like a smoldering, exotic dragon when wet, but like a soft, feminine, comforting perfume when dried.

[DevilsCandyCane]

Found an imp of this today, I'd initially written it off as an 'oh HELL no, this is the weirdest shit I ever smelled!' but I thought I'd give it a go. Wet, it isn't perfume at all, it's straight up TCP, all antiseptic an anaesthetising and I get the feeling that if I licked it, my whole mouth would go numb. Then I get a bit of a root beer/cola syrup thing, then as it dries it smells like a dusty old Victorian apothecary's shop - still antiseptic and medicinal, but older and dryer and dustier, less harsh and numb-making, and as it fades there's almost a hint of something like rose...

 

So essentially, I get *none* of the actual listed notes bar sassafras, and it's so bizarre I would never wear it out, but it's definitely weird and fascinating and compulsive enough to be a home use novelty sniffy...particularly while I'm writing a Victorian novel with lots of drug abuse in it, heh, it's kinda perfect for that!

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Woooo, that's a noseful! I'm not getting any of the notes individually, just a strange, heavy soporific thing with astringent/antiseptic overtones. Maybe hints of rubber and nutmeg, but that's about as concrete as I can get.

 

Wet: I had a major imp spill as I applied this one, so everything is probably going to be amped waaaaaay up. My boyfriend says that he can smell the nutmeg from 2-3 feet away, and it's almost headache-inducingly strong right up close. Other than that, though, I'm getting a strange, fresh scent, like IceBreakers or any of the really strong breath mints. (I'm tempted to put this down to the sassafras.) Luckily, the rubber/burning tires don't transfer over, which I was afraid of. Now, it's obviously very strong, since I got about 20 times my usual dose, but actually kinda pleasant. I'm even getting whiffs of something floral/herbal/incense-y that may be the poppy and/or myrrh, but the aromatic breath mints are so strong that I'm having difficulty discerning anything else.

 

Dry: The fresh mintiness dries down over time, and the poppy becomes dominant. However, when I say "poppy", it really does smell more like jasmine - I blame the addition of sassafras to the poppy itself. The strength is still a little headache-inducing, but that's almost definitely due to the spillage.

[Veronica]

No, something in this smells like licorice or bandaids on me.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Sweetly medicinal, slightly astringent.

 

Wet on me: This...is not at all what I was expecting. I'm not sure exactly WHAT I was expecting, but this is a surprise. It's all sassafras and myrrh on me, which are combining and giving it this sweet, cool, almost minty-medicinal smell. This is triggering a scent memory...

 

Dry: AH-HAH. This smells like the little candy message hearts for Valentine's Day, specifically the white ones. As it continues to dry, it takes on a vaguely root beery note, but keeps that cool, sweet, almost-mint in the foreground. The nutmeg starts to appear after 30-40 minutes, which spices it and cools the initially high medicinal feel of the scent. It's very herbal, and the colour is pale, cool, almost pastel green. This is very unusual, unlike anything I've had from BPAL so far. I do like it, though.

[DoktorDandy]

In the Imp: Medicinal, herby, a little spice.

 

Wet: Not... sure... how I feel about this. Amping up sassafrass I think. There's something no good here, something that's making me pull this sneering, wincing face- I can't help it. Eek.

 

Dry: Dry indeed! Dusty, cry scent- not unpleasant, not my favorite. The end result is not worth the hours to get here. Medicinal sassafras is gone?- that's probably fine by me in this blend. Wondering what is triggering the "no" for me? Once it's on, there's no more spice so it can't be that. Can't tell if it's the poppy? Or the combination? I think I like some of these notes separately but together... maybe not. Sad, because I really want to wear something called Laudanum.

 

Tried again: Unfortunately no. It just goes to powdery, dry and sickly on me! It's almost okay! Something is just throwing it so it becomes unsettling. Glad I gave it another go, though.

Edited June 2, 2015 by DoktorDandy

[LizziesLuck]

So wet this is like....what the heck is that??? I had to go back and look at the notes because I couldn't pick out anything and couldn't remember why I had wanted to try it. Ick. Maybe it's the poppy combined with the sassafras that smells so bad when wet. Whatever it is, it's weird....

 

 

Dry it's not really weird at all. I can totally pick out the sassafras (which I love) and the Myrrh (which I have a love/hate relationship with). Not getting any nutmeg, and just a whiff of poppy.

 

I don't hate it and need to wash it off, but I don't feel the need to ever wear it again, either.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: Sassafraaaaaaas, and then some nutmeg. I can't really smell the other notes. The sassafras is pretty potent.

 

Wet: Sassafras, accompanied by a bit of nutmeg. It mostly smells like sassafras, though, and I'm reminded of root beer barrel candies (although this scent isn't as much like those as Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener is).

 

Dry: Sassafras, nutmeg, and what I think must be the black poppy note (because it isn't the myrrh).

 

Verdict: I do not like this one at all. I normally like sassafras (at least, I like it in Tombstone and Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener), but the combination of the sassafras and black poppy in this one is so off-putting that I just want to scrub this off.

[Mermaid-on-Land]

Ooooooh I'm loving this so far! Right out of the vial it's very medicinal, in a nose-tingling type of way. This quickly settled down but still has that edge to it. It actually smells vaguely antiseptic somehow, but not in a current way. A previous review said that it smells 'OLD, like being transported to another time', and that explains it perfectly. It makes me feel like I've visited a Victorian doctor's office haha but, like, in a good (wearable) way? The sassafras gives it a definite root beer feel, but like old fashioned root beer that you would've bought at the general store for a penny, before it was made exclusively by Pepsi/Coke. (random fact I found out: these types of medications used to be given to kids using sassafras flavoring to disguise the bitter taste, I wonder if that was the inspiration here!) It's not sweet to me, at least not totally, and not at all foody despite the root beer comparison. I think sassafras is on my list of favorite notes now. I get a hint of nutmeg. The throw is good, I can smell it fairly well standing/moving by my desk. Also a coworker told me she liked my perfume and said I smell "sweet and sassy" lol, so the throw is noticeable. It mellows and sweetens as it dries, and the myrrh comes out a bit. It lasted a good 12 hours or so, losing it's throw around the 6 hour mark. This tends to get categorized as a masculine scent, but I would classify it as more unisex in my opinion, and it doesn't smell cologne-y at all. It's extremely unique and evocative. This is actually my overall favorite perfume out of all the ones I've tried so far!

[Casablanca]

Freshly applied: Hey, sassafras! It's funny to think this root beer note could come from the sassafras tree in my yard, the one that the black Eastern swallowtails swarm over. Maybe butterflies like root beer?

This is very nearly a fizzy root beer single note on me at first. I think I'm getting a little flower in the background.

Over time, I start to smell the nutmeg and a little myrrh. They seem to grow right out of the root beer, as if they were a part of it.

Laudanum is intriguing (I like the nutmeg note in root beer), but since I have Tombstone and (soon) Outlaw, I don't feel I need a bottle of this one.

[roseus]

Um.. I'm getting toothpaste. Like peppermint toothpaste. In the imp, wet, and dry. I don't know what is going on with my sniffer but apparently my guy's is broken too.

[torikitty]

Wet: Dry sassafras. Like if you took the sugar out of rootbeer. A bit medicinal, as well.
Dry: Definitely feels like a male scent. It's strong, unsweet, a bit mysterious, and medicinal.

[Lucchesa]

Being a Lizzie Siddal fan, I wanted to love this, but for me it was horrible. Mentholatum, which I didn't expect from the ingredients. I was going to give it half an hour on my skin to morph into something bearable, but I don't think I lasted ten minutes before scrubbing it off. Not for me.

[Cali]

Just getting something you'd get at an apothecary, a grim mixture. It goes a little sweeter on me as I wear it, but I can't really pick out notes. Maybe the myrrh? That tends to amp on me anyway. Somewhat sweet liquorice?  idk. Weird, not for me.

[sudenmorsian]

Reading the reviews it seems, either you hate Laudanum or you love it. There's a lot of reviewers who didn't like it, and I kinda understand them - this is unique, a bit weird and strongly medicinal. And I love it for that. 

 

Laudanum is very well blended and it's hard to pick out any specific notes, but let's be honest too: I'm not very familiar with the given notes. It reminds me of liquorice, but it's not only that. It's herbal, mysterious and unisex, if not masculine. It's like dry, medicinal chai spice, with nutmeg and opium, there's also something smoky in it. Myrrh gets stronger when dry and sweetens the scent a bit, but this is not a sweet scent at all. 

 

This smells exactly as you would expect something named Laudanum to smell like.