Troll

[agirlnamedfury]

A lurching, hateful, bitter scent. This is a gruesome blend of ghastly greens and blacks: vetiver, pine pitch, troll musk, black basil, clove smoke, and scorched cumin.

 

Another that I find "interesting" and can't stop sniffing at but I don't know how wearable this is for me!

 

There's definitely vetiver, which I haven't really liked much in the few blends with it I've tried, but the cumin and other spices in this also temper it. Still, this is definitely a bitter, strong scent. It's almost like a spicy, smoky swamp. I guess it's a well-named oil!

 

I'll be holding on to this imp and trying it again in the future, I think. I would love to smell this on a guy!

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Sweetly musky, faintly earthy.

 

Wet on my skin: Very much an earthy vetiver, with hints of something burnt and faint pine.

 

Dry: This dries to a sweetly earthy scent, loamy pine needle soil and sweet cooking spices. Very brown and a little green, and dark. Ashy, maybe. It's also got this musty note to it, probably from the troll musk, but which translates to my nose as forest mushrooms. It's a very, very unusual scent. Definitely not something for everyday use, but rather as a mood scent. Probably for cosplay/Ren Fest/LARP/etc.

 

EDIT: After being on for about 2 hours, this morphs...into body odor. Musty, mildewy body odor. Not good. Eurgh.

Edited May 21, 2015 by DiesMali

[Veronica]

This is sweet sap and evergreen pine. As it dries, a hint of soil comes out, but stays in the background and is rich and fresh. A lovely forest-y scent.

[Marla Moreau]

In the imp: something sweet and light... nothing like the description... I can't pick out any of those notes, but I like it. It's unusual. Not even a hint of cumin, yay... I despise the smell of cumin, bleh.

 

Wet on skin: Something sweet in the background (basil?), sharp, light evergreen in the background but not overwhelming. Foresty and complex, but light. The musks are not overbearing, neither is the vetiver. Wishing the clove was more prominent, not really getting it.

 

Dry down: Spicy forest, pine pitch amps a little. Getting an odd "wet dog" smell faintly. Clove comes out in a big way after a while. Sweetness dies. Pine pitch and cloves. I like it. But then uh oh... I finally smell the cumin, which is giving a slight B.O. effect... hate cumin - but fades really fast. Still mostly clove and pine pitch, which I enjoy. Sweetness comes back, must be the basil.

 

Verdict: I enjoy this scent, will seek out a bottle eventually, but there are many others on the bottle list ahead of this in priority. 3.5/5

Edited August 8, 2015 by MarlaMoreau

[LexieBlom]

Troll imp

 

Wet/Bottle - Lurching and bitter, indeed! Mostly vetiver and clove, with a tit of pine. I'm not quite sure what Troll Musk is supposed to smell like? Either way, I like it!

 

Wet/Skin (5 minutes) - Vetiver is still front and center, followed by pine and clove. There is a spicy muskiness that I really enjoy.

 

Dry/Skin (30 minutes) - The very same earthy, dirty, musky goodness as when it was first applied.

 

I love this. LOVE it. I don't know what it is about masculine scents I like so much, but I need more of whatever it is in my life.

[d0gbones]

In the imp: Sort of alcoholic, slightly piney, I can pick out the vetiver.

Wet: Minty? Very sweet pine and maybe basil.

Dry: Uh-oh, musk and cloves. Clovey musk. It's not gone off on me like musks usually do, and it smells fine, it's just not a very wearable scent for me.

[Casablanca]

Wand: In order, I get vetiver (lots of it), pine, basil and smoke.

Wet: This is a smoky, herbal and densely wooded black bog filled with vetiver oil instead of water. It's as cozy as camping with a comfortable fire in Mirkwood.

Dry: Spicy black musk with extra vetiver.

I like this. I'll enjoy the imp!

[LizziesLuck]

Wow! That's so interesting. Made me wrinkle my nose at first, but I immediately went in for a second and third sniff. Pine (which is doing that whole menthol thing it does on me), something sweet. I think I can pick out basil. and I actually like the troll musk (which I suspect is black musk). Very interesting! But not for me.

[Cali]

Phew! What a stinky creature of the night! I find all the notes pretty easily distinguishable, vetiver here ruining it for me again. Bah.
Doesn't morph too much aside from the fact that it's more earthy in the imp and more smoky on drydown.

 

Interesting and certainly tells a story, but, not for me. :')

[BridgeKeeper]

First BPAL scent I've ever tried. I was worried about how Pine-Sol-ey it smelled when I sniffed straight out of the imp, but once I put it on my skin...

 

It was still brightly piney (almost minty in quality), with some deeper notes to round it out. As it dried it the straight-up-pine smell dissipated, leaving the earthy smell of the forest floor. Like I decided to go camping and laid laid right on the ground. It's not really the sun-warmed-pine-needles-on-the-dirt smell I've been looking for, but it's still lovely. Definitely a keeper.

[Jeena]

In the imp: WOW. VERY piney, and clovey, and wet? Maybe the vetiver ... Very strong, almost off putting.

 

Dry on the skin- Soo much better. Its a mellow, sweet clove, with the same dusty note from Lear, but more toned down. I don't really smell musk, vetiver or basil at all in the drydown.

 

Overall- I used to be very put off by this scent, but it's been aged a few months now, and I think that's helped to make it a warmer scent. I LEFT it on my wrist all night, and I could still get a small whiff of it when I woke up, so definitely at least 8-10 hours of wear! I love wearing it in the fall, or whenever I wanna smell like a spellcaster from some fantasy movie

[Spaztic]

I don't hate this like I thought I would hahaha

When I put my nose to my skin I get the cumin and I'm not a fan of cumin, but it sticks close to the skin

The pine pitch, what I'm guessing is "troll musk" and clove are what waft off the skin..pretty neat

I don't think I'll need a full bottle though

[Lucchesa]

OK, don't laugh, but when I bought this in a batch of imps from a forumite recently I was thinking it was an RPG scent. And I want to try them all. Even the nonexistent ones, apparently. Once my order arrived, I realized my mistake and read the notes, which I was sure would be dreadful on me. So today I was putting together some imps for the member in Portland who is collecting for a domestic violence shelter, and I grabbed Troll. Opened the imp. Sniffed. Thought, yep, awful. Vetiver Pine-sol. But I have this policy of skin testing, so I put on a dab and went about my culling. Strong stinky vetiver, smoky pitch, not me at all, safe to give away.

 

I sealed up the package, started making dinner, and about an hour after application got a whiff of my wrist. What was that smell? Could it be... Troll??? Oh, man, Troll had morphed into something really interesting and, dare I say, beautiful. It finally made me understand why some people love vetiver. It was dark and smoky but not obnoxious; the pine had receded and the spices had come into play, smoky and sexy. My husband still wasn't crazy about, but I liked it a lot. I can't imagine using a whole bottle, but I definitely plan to get my hands on another imp.

[fizzbangdangcharade]

Oh boy, this one I have a love hate relationship with.

 

In the bottle: That smells kind of like...a urinal cake.

 

Wet: Still urinal cake..with a hint of alcohol. So....drunkenly dared to use a urinal cake as cologne?

 

Warming: Less alcohol, and I think this is starting to morph a little...still not overly pleasant to my noise but getting less gross fake pine smell

 

Drydown: Now it's starting to smell more like a really nice mens cologne. All those spices are coming through wonderfully, riding on a current of a scent I'm not sure of...but it's something I've smelled before in other "masculine" scented stuff.

 

Fully dry: None of that gross fake pine/urinal cake smell left. It's all spice, and man. If this didn't spend so much time smelling so nasty to me, I'd buy more. I got this as a frimp, and gave it to my male roommate. It starts pretty much the same way on him, but spends less time there. It really only needs to warm on him before the spice and cologne comes out. So at least he can enjoy this one.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: This is an aged imp, and the green notes stand out to me the most. I am getting the musk, basil, pine, some cumin, and a little clove smoke.

 

Wet: The basil is the dominant note on me at first, and I’m also getting the musk, pine, and some cumin. The pine is gaining strength as this sits on my skin, and now I can smell the clove smoke.

 

Dry: Musk mingled with basil, pine pitch, cumin, and a bit of clove smoke and grassy vetiver.

 

Verdict: I had put off trying this one for years since I was afraid of the vetiver and descriptors like troll musk and scorched cumin. But Troll is not nearly as menacing as it sounds. It’s not for me -- I am not sure I want cumin in my perfume, and I wish it were more forest-like on me -- but it’s a lot better than I thought it would be.

[RedPersimmon]

Spicy, pine-y, and foresty. And then: bug spray.

[cyborgutena]

I really wish this was as lurching and hateful as described because honestly: scent goals.

 

I really like the parts of it that are mean and smoky and spicy. There's just this sweet note that I really don't like very much. I'm not sure what it is. Weirdly, I now think it might be the scorched cumin and/or black basil? It's really hard to describe... maybe BLUNT sweetness? Given how often I register 'sweet' when other people don't, I think it might just the way I interpret certain planty smells.

 

I really like the smokiness that crawls out after a while. Letting it age a bit seems to have allowed the notes to separate a little more, and either the sweetness has toned down a little or it's just easier for me to separate it from the rest when I smell it.

Edited January 4, 2020 by cyborgutena
updated after coming back to it

[Mister Azure]

A brutish guest worth having over for a meal and a brew. 

 

This scent has a subtlety aroma of pine. It’s not overwhelming or harsh. It’s very pleasant and not like someone just grinded pine needles into the skin. The clove and cumin are a happy marriage in this with the vetiver and musk being the pleasant neighbors that come over a lot. 

 

Initially I thought it would just be something of a pine sap scent with spices but this takes on a full and completely unique expression and body of it’s own. I have found myself wearing this a lot more than expected. I only have an imp but it is being used up very fast. 

 

Clove and cumin are two scent notes that seem to agree very well on my skin. This only proves this point. The pine is so damn delicious on me with this blend. I really need to get a full bottle.

[Llanval]

this was oos when I first got into BPAL in 2019.  It JUST came back into stock, so I jumped and picked up an imp to test and boy I am not disappointed.  Troll is decidedly not a traditional pine forest, tho.  The pine pitch is almost subtle here, giving the impression of a forest you'd smell while building and lighting a fire. The cumin, basil and clove lead and dominate, giving this an almost campfire cookout vibe.  I don't mean charred meat or wood, but the spice of seasoned wood being split and stacked, then burned, with you and a mug of winter cider or wassail near by. This is such a Yule vibe, I love it.  This scent lasts and lasts and lasts. it lasts hours, and it is a heady, sweetly smoky herbaceous experience the whole way through.

 

Nothing of this scent is hateful, lurching or bitter. This is beautiful, soft cozy Yule fire log. If your skin can handle this, it is absoultely worth the experience. If you're afraid of pine pitch, try it here because it's not loud at all. I am sooooo excited to see how Troll plays out in this year's Lilith scent, Bridge Trolls.

[fairybites]

Very dark and woodsy. I'm getting tons of clove smoke, cumin, and pine. I keep thinking patchouli is in this but I don't see it in the notes. I'm not picking up any basil, but everything else is in here as far as I can tell. 

 

It's not a bad scent at all, but I don't think I'd wear this super often. My imp is aged, so I'm curious what this smelled like fresh.

[MolyH]

You know how people use photoshop or instagram filters to make themselves prettier? This smells like someone did that to my hubby's body odour. I'm definitely getting a big bottle. It's delightful dark pines and smoke and a hint of spice. It honestly fits in perfect with the dark autumn rain outside.

[CitrusFiend]

This was a really strange one on me! It was a single note pine when wet, then as it dried it turned into a sweet berry musk. There aren’t any berries listed in the notes so I have no idea where that came from! It doesn’t smell dark or bitter at all. I think my skin has a tendency to amp sweet notes.

[patina]

I keep trying this one. Mostly it smells like a very waxy basil scented candle on me. There's a smudge of smoke from the vetiver. There's something that might be pine. It's a little spicy but in a maddeningly faint way. It's slightly sweet and entirely unsatisfying on my skin.

 

On the right person it has the potential to be a nice green men's/ unisex cologne, so there's that.

[asoursweetsixteen]

~~frimp review~~

 

on wet, it's very tree smelling, the pine and clove come through very clearly. the cumin also adds a bit of spice which I think is really nice (rhyme!). overall very darkly earthy and musky with a hint of spice which is very fitting. it's leaning very masculine.

 

upon drying for around half an hour, it smells pretty similar. it calmed down as perfumes usually do, but the motif of spicy, dark woods is there. it's pretty nice, I definitely don't dislike it, but it's not one I'd reach for to wear on a normal day out.

[Tungerine]

This is AMAZING. It's immediately one of my top 5. I have spent half an hour so far waving my arm in front of my nose.

 

In the bottle and for the first few moments on my skin, it's quite bitter. I smell musk, spices, and petai beans (of all things - I think it's the bitterness!) I personally like it during this phase, but I understand why people wouldn't. The bitterness quickly recedes to a level that I think is close to black tea. It's very warm, woody, musky, and spicy. It's not a green scent to me, it's black and rich brown.

Edited March 16 by Tungerine