Brimstone

[Argentwolf]

In Hermetic alchemy, brimstone is one of the Three Heavenly Substances, one of the primary alchemical Priciples. It represents the strength of will and the vigor of passion, and it is a symbol of the process of fermentation. A smoky, gritty blend, husky and gray.

Oh, wow! It took me a while to figure out just *what* this smelled like, but once I did I was in love. It smells *exactly* like those little round pieces of charcoal that you buy in rolls of six, wrapped up in white paper like Ho-Hos. (LOL) One can practically hear the gunpowdery crackle of it as it lights and gets red-hot. It's just the charcoal -- right before you drop the incense in. Absolutely fantastic

[GeorgeJr]

Another winner from the Brews section . I really love Brimstone . When I first tried it over a year ago , I had a " get that away from me ! " kind of reaction to it . But as I've hung around the forums & learned how to appreciate notes I wouldn't have back then , I came to realize I am actually a fan of the labs smoky blends . This is for folks who don't like Djinn or Umbra due to the cedar being too strong . It has a lot of the same kind of notes as those two , but in a much more backseat kind of way . This really is about the feel of heat & smell of hot minerals . It captures the theme so well that you'd be hard pressed to think of anything else after trying it .

[tajana]

Oh gosh. This one is intense. However, as usual, the strongest blends are the ones you can't stomach. The name gives it all away: as soon as I saw it I could predict that it wouldn't go over well with me. This is a really dramatic smell, but I'm not hardcore enough to wear this and have no desire to ever smell this again! Fresh out of the imp it's extremely pungent and a bit acrid... intensely smoky and charred, yet with a slight metallic edge. It's almost scary, but I dabbed a tiny bit on anyway. As it starts to dry down it's all vetiver, glowing embers, and other intensely smoky things, but not really woody... it reminds me more of charcoal than campfires.

[crebbsgirl]

On me this was a little too bitter and acrid. Almost choking in it's smokiness. I usually like smoky blends, but this was a little too dry for me. I prefer Djinn myself.

[wrestlingentropy]

Just got this as a frimp from the lab. Wow. It's definitely smoky. In the imp, I could almost swear I smelled beets (their wet earthiness), but as soon as I put it on my wrists, the scent was clearly a bonfire. Now that it's been absorbed into my skin for a while, it's still very strong, but has taken on almost a foody spiciness--like a really intense cinnamon or ginger. It's the first really cold day of the season in Chicago today, and this is making me feel appealingly warm and drowsy.

[PeshaRocha]

Wow! Got this as a frimp and immediately tried it as something different, perhaps unique, that I probably wouldn't have picked myself. And it's awesome!

 

In bottle -- Call the fire department! I didn't know you could bottle smoke. But very appealing, not acrid and dirty.

 

Wet -- Like standing in the smoke of a campfire when you're trying to keep the no-see-ums from biting, very nostalgic. Sharp woodsmoke, a hint of forest around you. However, it makes me sneeze if I sniff too vigorously--black pepper maybe?

 

Drydown -- Clean smoke, hardwoods, forest, slightest hint of sweetness, earthy, warm and comforting. (And no more sneezing.) Unique, lovely scent.

[skylarkza]

In the imp: Smoke. But it also has a hint of what I suspect will turn to cat pee on me.

 

Wet: Holy crow! No cat pee. Just dark, billowing smoke.

 

Dry: Smouldering embers. The smoke wafting up from them.

 

A while later: Slightly fragrant smoke. An amazing smoke scent that surprisingly works really well on me.

[KesHiro]

Frimp in one of my orders.

 

Hmmm. Not sure how I feel about this one. In the vial, this is very smoky. Maybe it has a touch of wood . . . I smell something else in there if I inhale deeply enough. Wet, it smells like smoky wet wood and continues to get smokier through the drydown and into the dry phase. I have visions of embers and a smoldering camp fire that has been doused with a bucket of water.

 

Very interesting, quite evocative, but not for me.

[hmelt004]

This reminds me of the remains of an evergreen log fire, pine and fir and spruce. Some of the needles aren't quite burnt up and give the smoke a clean, green quality

[SophieCedar]

Ok,, definitely gritty and gray, but this is a little wet on me and smells a touch of damp stone and ashes, like someone dowsed a campfire with water. (oh man I saw someone else said the same thing just now!). There's wet dirt, and dr. pepper at the start too. As it dries, I smell wet gray stones and wet dirt with lingering black smoke. and Dr. pepper still...? Interesting.

[whisperstilled]

I don't even need to go all the way through testing with this one. Slightly green vetiver land, with a touch of smoke, but mostly vetiver, which is one of my death die die notes.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Whisperstilled

[anastasia]

i had reviewed this in my head so thougt i had really done so

that said

sometimes the first thing that comes to mind is the funniest

this is a lawnmower in a shed. in every garage any gramma ever had. with the heavy door on springs.

but i like it. i would probably even wear it regularly - if there were not so many other great BPALs.

[milo]

Wet, very medicinal, kind of like detol. As it dries, I get smoke and vetiver. I'm really forcing myself not to wash this off (something I've never done to bpal's), but this one is not my kind of blend at all. Luckily it is not that strong on me. I'll enjoy it for it's heavenly significance, but other than that, I don't like the smell of Brimstone at all.

[Honey]

This is.. not my scent at all. However, I wanted to give it a quick re-sniff and try on my skin before saying goodbye for it for good.

 

 

Imp: Acrid! Like the smoldering ruins of a burnt brick-stone house. A bit like nail polish remover, too. Very.. sour and acrid, sorry. And smokey. Ashes. And leather!

 

Wet: Smokey menthol on an old leather belt.

 

Dry: Menthol leather. Buried in ashes.

 

 

Well, it is not as bad as I remembered it.. but, yikes, I could give it one star if there was some sweeter note to it like beeswax or opopanax. This is just tart and smokey and dark.

 

 

ETA: After several minutes (maybe it's my skin?) something sweeter comes through and levels the tart smoke. Hmm, this is not so bad actually.. not so bad. This is sort of how I would imagine Rogue smells like. Wait! Spices coming through! What's happening? Crazy! Must re-think rating..

Edited July 10, 2011 by Honey

[Helas]

I'm not too sure how to rate this one, because on the one hand, it smells absolutely disgusting, but on the other hand, with that description and a name like "Brimstone," I can't exactly complain of false advertising. If you're looking to surround yourself with the delicious aroma of hot cement and burning plastic, this is the blend for you (and who am I to judge? I like the smell of paint thinner and fresh gasoline.) I just happen to prefer my perfumes to be a bit more on the, er, perfumey side. Whic is to say, I'm just too square for this one.

 

One out of five stars.

[jkfagtongpun]

Ok, this is pure patchouli on me... maybe a hint of smokiness but I can't really get to it through the patchouli.

 

Unfortunately, I over did it with patchouli when I was 16 and cannot wear it. Ever. I even tried it on the Hubbo, even he said it was too patchouli and he's pretty forgiving. Sad me.

[catalyst]

This was the single most disgusting thing I have ever smelled.

It was ridiculously strong and industrial smelling, like chemicals used in some sort of process with metal.

 

I tried to wait it out and see if the oil changed on my skin, but no, it just continued to make me gag. And it was STRONG.

 

I desperately tried to wash it off several times. I only succeeded in spreading the smell all over my hands. This junk lasted for hours. I did not like it at all.

I wouldn't go quite that far, but yeah, it was gross and really strong. I got a metallic thing going on here too. There's nice burnt wood smell, like maybe sandalwood or cedar incense, and then there's the smell of a fire pit full of burned camping trash that's been drowned in the rain. This one's the latter. And I like earthy woody scents. Not this one. Yuck.

[SkySamuelle]

I just put this one on and I MUST say it- it 's far and beyond awesome. I am in awe. This is the scent you want on after something/someone kicked in you in the gut, to remind yourself that you are still kickass. This is what you want to wear when you have a trying day aead to give yourself that extra edge.

 

Brimstone is LIQUID FIREPOWER.

 

I adore it. It's strong, both in the imp and when you wear it. It changed its signature very little once it dried on the skin i must suppose it's a fairly good fit for my skin. It's smokey, maybe even a bit incensey but it's also a lot more than that. I am glad a friend gifted it to me because this one is among the imps i would never choose to try by myself.

[Antaria]

This one was a frimp from the lab. My biggest loves came from frimps - but this one ist just terrible, ugly and negative.

 

Wet it's pure medicine on me. Something you smell in hospitals and gives you the feeling that something is wrong and you want to run away, away from hearing some bad news.

 

Dry the medicine steps back a bit and makes the ashes and the fire come out. But not a nice, cozy fire, which makes you grab some cocoa and a book! No this is a mean, bad, vicious fire. It burns down your house and all the stuff you love and leaves you feeling empty.

 

This scent has such a negative vibe to it, that I almost feel scared and I really can't wait to wash it off. Something in it triggers some really bad feelings in me and turns my stomach into a big, hard stone.

 

Need to get rid of this and apply something poitive, warm, cozy.

 

Wow, never had such a bad reaction to any BPAL ... like a nightmare.

[hexnut]

BRIMSTONE

 

This review is more incoherent than usual, but in my defense I was convinced that I was testing Jack ("...true Halloween pumpkin, spiced with nutmeg, glowing peach and murky clove.")

 

In Vitro Strong and spicy - nutmeg?

 

Wet Strong clove/nutmeg, slightly sweet.

 

Drying Fading but still spicy, with a hint of fruit sweetness emerging at the ten minute mark. Twenty minutes later I characterized it as "dark spice and peach". Nothing that smelled like pumpkin, but surprisingly good and something I would wear to evoke Autumn.

 

Hair A bit on the end of my ponytail went immediately to nutmeg, which remained prominent for a good long while. In contrast the scent from my wrist was a deep, almost sour peach with spice. I liked both very much. Many hours later the sillage from my hair was a sort of bitter clove - again, liked.

 

BIG surprise when I finally unrolled the label. Talk about smelling what you want to smell! At least I didn't hallucinate pumpkin that wasn't there. Despite my chagrin at my latest blind review failure, I love Brimstone and it goes on my bottle list.

 

 

43

[ajansuz]

This was a lab frimp with my last order.

 

In the imp it lives up to its name. It's a smoky, fiery scent without being sulfuric. It makes me think of charred wood with flame still licking the underside.

 

Wet: Lemon. Really strong furniture polish lemon and teak. No smoke, no fire. I have no idea what happened or what note in this is going crazy with my skin chemistry, but wow is it disappointing. I intensely dislike most citrus scents. There's also something really resiny like pitch.

 

Dry: The lemon lingers. It's sweet lemon with pitch. This didn't work for me at all.

[vthesiren]

Holy cow, this is strong. I only applied a dab, and that's enough to make my eyes water.

 

Smoky, burning green things. Vetiver and... sage? This really reminds me of the smudge sticks I saw people use when I went to ritual. Nostalgia!

 

I'm not sure when I'd get a chance to use this, because again - strong. But there's something about it that makes me feel like a total badass. Looking at the other scents mentioned in this thread, I'm going to have to check out Djinn.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Smokey and gnarly. Ash, earthy, grassy, and a touch metallic.

 

Drydown: Oh, that's definitely vetiver. Smokey, green, and earthy. There's definitely a sweet menthol quality mixed in with the grittier notes. It smells like the color slate. Surprisingly comforting

 

Dry: Stone and soot and cool earth. A stunningly dark vetiver tempered by sweet and chilly menthol. Maybe a touch of clove too?

It conjures a visual of glittery green ash and blue metallic stone.

 

 

8 out of 10 bones

Edited March 16, 2022 by BoneBone24
(updated to include more recent impressions)

[ferocissima]

in the imp: fresh, cold morning in a pine forest. Sweet vetiver, the scent of cologne, diesel from a truck, and some engine grease.

 

On my skin, 5 minutes: strong vetiver interspersed with wafts of cedar and ozone. My skin smells like fruit without a name, sweet but metallic. This smell is smoldering. It's powerful and really sexual, in a cosmopolitan androgynous way. If the character Desire in the Sandman series had a scent, this would be it. It smells like the fires of hell will open any minute from under my skin. Big wafts of smoke start to come out. I can see the ember analogy--- cold, icy ground with the last of a big fire going in the very center. It reminds me of the energy and smell in the air at a metal show, like I could drink a couple beers and have some real fun in a pit. This is what I imagine Dio and Joan Jett smell like naturally all the time.

 

After drydown: this has a long throw and is a head turning, heavy scent. I love it. My skin amps all bitterness/spiciness. The smoke has died down and the vetiver has become the prominent note, mixing with cedar and pine. It softened a bit and is the best soft-grey smell I have ever encountered. I love how it feels equally ember eyed she-demon and ginger snaps/tobacco/cuddling in comfortable flannel next to the fire on a winter night. Kinda like a more medicinal, androgynous Shub-Niggurath?

 

Love it. Really unexpected and totally appreciated. Frimps are amazing!! Thanks to the lab.

[calivianya]

Definitely smells like I'd imagine brimstone to smell. It smells like burning dirt and rocks - what I imagine lava would smell like. I definitely agree with the ash comparison - I really don't get much else. I wish I got more myrrh or pepper, because I think I would really like it if I did. As it is, single note ash is boring.