The Obsidian Widow

[djsiberia]

Pinot noir, dark myrrh, red sandalwood, black patchouli, night-blooming jasmine, and attar of rose.

i can smell the pinot noir. unfortunately jasmine is killing the scent for me. whever this appears in something, it always smells sour and then add it with rose and i get smelly plastic band-aids.

[Gin]

The Obsidian Widow

 

Musky and dark. I don't get a lot of wine, it's mostly musk and myrrh. There's floral note in here, but nothing I could pinpoint, and a sour note. Not my sort of scent.

[Saya]

I received this as a frimp from the lab. It's not something I would have ever picked out on my own, several of the notes don't usually agree with my skin chemistry, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

 

Wine, patchouli, jasmine and rose are all notes that I'm not a fan of. At first I was surprised. This was a dark, rich scent that was well blended. Once it dried however it turned into this sour, dirty smelling blend where the patchouli and jasmine relentlessly assaulted my nose.

 

Not for me!

[Calicopocket]

In the bottle, it's like a wine bottle smacked me upside the head. If 'decadent old spinsters that enjoyed their booze too much' was ever an official scent, this would be it. Cheerfully, I slathered it on myself.

 

Very heavy, the dark wine and roses fought a war on my skin before the alcohol backed down. After a few moments, I smelled like the most gleefully gaudy bouquet on this side of the planet. Not for everyday use but I can definitely use it for a couple of characters and I can completely see the 'steampunk' aspect of it. Definitely a scent saved for an aristocrat. I feel like speaking with a drawling British or snooty French accent when I wear this, haha!

 

I may just have to buy a bottle of this when I use up my imp!

 

 

[cleske]

I find this upsetting purely because there is rose in there that doesn't become too sweet or sour on me, but I think the sandalwood is ruining it for me. There's something about this one that sticks in the back of my nose, and it reminds me of the bottom of that glass of wine (you know, the one that was officially One Too Many.)

 

ETA: since I first tried this I've discovered that it's the patchouli that I dislike.

Edited August 16, 2009 by Charlene

[isisonearth]

Imp: Yuck! Wine and patchouli are overpowering. Bravely I'll try it anyways.

 

Wet: Strong jasmine and not in a good way. The Widow is overwhelming me.

 

Dry: Had to wash it off. Too much for me to wait.

[Diva Urd]

In the imp: WINE! Strong, strong, boozy wine, made from bulging, overripe grapes, with a hint of leather in the background.

 

On me: Wet, it's all wine with something almost rotten in the background. I got scared at that point. Thankfully, the rotten-ness goes away pretty quickly and the scent turns into something predominantly floral, made heady by wine, anchored by a tiny bit of patchouli and sandalwood. This is complex and interesting, and has quite a bit of throw - not for the faint of heart!

 

After four or five hours, it turns a slight bit dusty, possibly due to the myrrh, but the wine keeps the rest of the scent alive, and I still enjoy it quite a bit.

 

Very nice. This one has earned a spot on my bottle list.

[Monster]

I received this as a frimp with my last Lab order. I wasn't planning on trying this one since the notes look scary to me but hey, the Lab has surprised me before so I'm going to give it a whirl

 

In the imp this is all wine and jasmine. *cough*

 

On my skin the first thing (of course) that shows up is jasmine. I have enjoyed a few jasmine scents in the past but, I'm not so sure this is going to be one of them. It's a touchy note for me.

 

As this dries the jasmine is still dominant. Behind the stinky diaper jasmine I can smell a lovely rose which is sweetned by the wine note. Overall, this is a very "perfumey" scent on my skin.

 

Myrrh and wine blended together have never sat well on my skin and by throwing jasmine into the mix this oil was doomed from the start.

Oh well, I'm sure I'll find a good home for it

[tacey]

I was so hoping this would be on the pinot/myrrh/sandalwood side of things...but on me, it's all rose & jasmine. They were strong enough that I didn't even bother waiting for the rest of the blend to show up -- I know better, once QUEEN JASMINE is in control. So I washed this off and tried a different imp from my untried pile.

 

All's good, right? Well, a few hours later, Sri Lanka (my replacement imp) is starting to fade, but I'm getting wafts of JASMINE again! After a soap-and-water scrub and several hours! I really should just give up on that note...it takes over on me.

 

So, I don't think that will help many people, but if you're one of the jasmine-cursed tribe, beware!

[rayvn1]

Oh jasmine, you so love me and I so hate you The jasmine note takes off from the get-go and doesn't let up. A bit of wine and myrrh leaks through, but this is straight to the swaps unfortunately.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

quickie review before i send this bottle off to a new home:

mulled wine and jasmine - once on my skin the rose disappears

without the jasmine, this might be delicious! (but i hate jasmine, so YMMV)

Edited September 17, 2009 by TrailerTrashPrincess

[hkhm]

imp: smoky wine. very pervasive myrrh over wine. not grapey at all.

 

wet: between the rose and the jasmine the other notes in this scent don't stand a chance. i'm a trainwreck of florals.

 

dry: the rose is extra-soapy on my skin in this blend. i love the name of this oil and had tiny hopes that perhaps this would be a rose scent i could wear. alas, it was not to be.

[Janegodzilla]

So far, this has been the most feminine of the Steamworks scents. The rose does its usual thing on me and amps like crazy, but the jasmine is a nice counterpoint to it and keeps it from going too crazy. I noticed the wine note mostly when the oil was wet; once it dried down, I didn't get much wine at all, which made me kind of sad. A scent locket might work really well to keep the pinot note around. Overall, this is surprisingly pretty and feminine, with the non-floral notes giving it a little more depth and complexity than I think it would've had otherwise. I don't know that I'll need a whole bottle anytime soon, but the imp will certainly be nice to have.

[arsenicsauce]

I've been wearing this for a while but I'm having trouble reviewing it, because it seems to be composed almost entirely of notes I hate and I don't know why I like it so much. It's very "dark" to me. The wine is very prominent when wet and continues being loud throughout, but it doesn't smell like the usual "wine" note to me (grape juice, DNW)- and I'm not sure if that's because it's a different note entirely or if the myrrh is making it darker and less foody. Rose and jasmine are there, but despite a soapy spike at the beginning they behave. Not sure, again, if that's because it's "attar of rose" instead of rose straight-up, or the black patchouli and myrrh and wine are conspiring to keep it earthy.

 

Very very rich and with strong throw, this is one you apply in tiny amounts. I'd want to be wearing something slinky and dark with this, it's very feminine and decadent in a way that'd feel weird in the everyday. I might go for a partial of this but I can't imagine using up a whole bottle.

[HamletsKeeper]

Wow! That is some serious J&J baby powder in a vial. This is the first scent that I have ever smelled at BPAL which does the baby powder thing for me. Who knew that fluffy white talc is actually rose and jasmine and pinot noir? This is rose & jasmine heavy. Sandalwood is trying valiantly to save it but sorry myrrh just took it into powder territory.

 

Overall I find the steamworks to be very traditional perfume in nature which I suppose is the Victoriana aspect of it. Yet I really expected something far more left field for such a cool concept. My expectations for this scent was something very sharp, with a strong dry wine note and dark exotic base. This is straight up traditional florals which are overpowering and cloying on my skin. Sickly talc from a vintage cardboard and tin decanter, depicting a corsetted lady, gold scrolls and handpainted roses.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting the pinot noir and the myrrh; it seems really similar to either Lilith or Loviatar, and those didn't work that well on me. On my skin, it's pretty much sandalwood and myrrh. Maybe the wine note will come out again? We'll see how this goes. Ends up being pretty much straight up sandalwood and myrrh; not much for me.

Edited January 4, 2010 by Venneh

[surf-tormented]

This is my favorite of the Steamworks I have tried. It smells like cold bronze metal coupled with incense, dregs of wine and musty floral offerings.

 

Though I am passing my imp of it on, I will get a bottle of this in the future. It has a good throw, lasts long and it's just so metal and cold, like a spider mechanism.

Edited February 11, 2010 by Madame Nyx

[aquazoo]

Spicy minty wet, but mellows quickly. A tad dusty, which may be the patchouli and sandalwood. I get that hint of jasmine and rose.

[SophieCedar]

I've been eyeing this one for months but was too afraid to try it because of the attar of rose. Thank you to a swapper for sending it to me!!

 

Very beautiful blend of pinot noir, myrrh, jasmine and rose. These elements flow and peek in and out of the picture. it's really dreamy!

[impolight]

:::THE OBSIDIAN WIDOW:::

 

Ah, Obsidian... Neat stuff! The first experience had with this stone was in Junior High School...

This neat, black stone broke like glass, and looked light-purple when held up to the sun...

It sliced through a leather belt like a straight-razor through plastic film, forever altering the thoughs about surgical steel...

And it came from a Volcano!

Why didn't people find more advanced uses for this stuff?

 

(fast forward, 23 years into the future)

 

It figures that The Lab would find the coolest way possible to call attention to this extraordinary stuff with this extraordinary fragrance.

Upon first opening the bottle of Obsidian Widow, the Pinot Noir is, of course, the first noticeable thing about this particar formula...

However, it is easiest to imagine the stuff being imbibed in a hyper-technological fortress built into the side of a volcano by a super-genius wearing patent-leather boots and a Rose in Her hair...

The Obsidian Widow is rich and rubicund...

Take the best reasons you have for admiring and collecting the Phoenix Steamworks editions, centuple them, and you have the beginning of your journey into The Obsidian Widow.

On the skin, The Obsidian Widow amps and glitters. Somehow, this gets richer still; not only showcasing the wonderful succulence of the Rose and Jasmine, but emphasizes the Myrrh in such a way that the sweetness could very well be in the same family as... Chocolate!

The Phoenix Steamworks line has no disappointments thus far, and continues to wow with The Obsidian Widow.

While this fragrance would probably be geared mostly toward Her, a gallant, dashing and self-assured host would certainly wear this while having the entire party in his thrall.

Superb.

5/5!

[hmelt004]

The jasmine and rose and myrrh attack first, and my nose doesn't stand a chance! But this is a steampunk blend, so I am determined to see it through. Where are the wine and patchouli? The sandalwood comes out as it dries, fortunately, and the wine seems to be lurking around the edges. This is not an "old lady" perfume, but it is definitely too old for me.

[Usagi]

Imp: rose and sandalwood

 

Wet: rose and something fizzy; slightly powdery. Is that jasmine?

 

Dry: jasmine and rose, but in a wearable way-- with just a hint of sandalwood in the background.

 

This is a little too regal for me. Nonetheless, Obsidian Widow is a lovely scent.

[FelicityTwitchell]

Wet: wine and patchouli??

 

Transition: dry wine sandalwood , jasmine with a hint of rose, I'm not sure if I smell the myrrh

 

Completely Dry: I still smell the patchouli foremost followed by the floral. I think I might like this one once it has aged though. I haven't smelled aged patchouli yet (I don't think so). I am also curious if the florals will become more grounded by the sandalwood with age. So not for right now, at least.

 

A While Later: slight sweat smell joined the mix

 

Much Later: Sandalwood mixed with Sweat, yuck, and of course the sandalwood part washed off but not the sweat smell.

Edited May 16, 2010 by FelicityTwitchell

[milica]

I didn't have the notes list when I tested this scent, and I think I'm getting better at detecting them. What I wrote down was "jasmine and something sour, maybe wine". And that's all to it, on my skin at least. Wine very rarely goes well with my skin and I tend to amp jasmine. And now that I see red sandalwood and pachouli on the list, I'm so sad that I didn't get any of those. Just sour jasmine. And I remember that I got something metalic too, but only for a few minutes.

Edited June 3, 2010 by milica

[4807]

In the bottle its all pinot noir and sandalwood with some very slight floral undertones. As soon as it went on my skin, though, it turned straight into rose with some very slight patchouli undertones. This is a very strong scent and I will probably have to wash it off before I go to bed so I don't give my boyfriend a headache.

 

The scent in the imp almost had me convinced to buy a full bottle, but I'm glad I didn't. This is a nice scent, but heavy florals aren't exactly my thing.

 

Edit to add: Its been about two hours and it has shifted to a grapey scent with very light floral and wine undertones. And it has been about half absorbed my my skin.

Edited June 14, 2010 by AgentOrange