No. 93 Engine

[zomathesadist]

Balm of Gilead, benzoin, frankincense, balsam of peru, beeswax, saffron, galbanum, calamus, hyssop, mastic, lemon balm, and white sage.

of all the BPALs that didn't work on me, why did it have to be this one? I LOVE BPAL's beeswax note, and with the herbally resins, I thought for sure it would be divine. I was really hoping it would be an incensey relative to Luperci (which loves me).

At first, it truly is. It's sexy spicy honey. The wet stage is resiny with enough sweetness to keep the churchy smell away. It's magnificent.

AND THEN IT DRIES.

And becomes sickeningly, cloyingly sweet, with a dash of footrot. damn it!!!

I ask the CoPilot for feedback on all my BPALs. He loved this one wet, but as soon as it dried, he wrinkled his face and said, "Ew. You smell like avocados gone bad. And rotten tomatoes. Yep. You smell like rotting nightshades."



I'll give it another try, but I think it's going on to another home.

[veronicafranco]

in the imp, then on - STRAWNG sweet beeswax and resins. heady and sweet. i do really like the warm, golden, intense smell, but not sure i want to smell like it? ya know? i tested again the next day, and found i prefer this one if i only wear a drop instead of my usual press-the-length-of-the-imp-wand-to-the-arm thing. when old and faded on my arm, it's a lovely warm honey scent.

 

big kudos to beth on this and phoenix steamworks, the other of this series that i've tried so far, for making perfumes sooooooo different than any others i've ever smelled, but still so pleasurable.

[tereshkova2001]

Mmm! Honey first, then sage, and saffron. The saffron boggles me in a good way. It's like, who would make a perfume that smells like saffron? and get it so exactly right? Clearly, Beth would. The scent settles as a herbal honey, more or less, and is really delightful. I like this one.

[carrickfergus]

I found this one to be a very subtle scent, with its strongest note being something like clove. Unfortunately, after some consideration, I found that the overall impression is of something one might smell in a bakery, which I don't especially care for.

[Pika]

Wow, a very unique scent.

 

In the imp, it had a much sweeter scent than I expected. Herbal too. I can really pick out the lemon balm, which has me a little worried...

 

Wet on skin, I find it very hard to place each of the notes. "Well blended" I guess you'd call it, and it definitely gives me an "oily" impression, as in mechanical lubricants. Neat!

 

As it's drying, I get a more distinct sense of the balsam now, and the sage. An herbal, evergreen kind of scent. Resiny. The beeswax is a lovely complement to that, with a subtly sweet scent, not as strong as the honey note would be. And the lemon balm is lovely and faint, and not at all lemon pledge-y as was my fear.

 

Dry, this wavers, like it can't decide if it wants to go powdery. I think it's going to hang in there though. The "mechanicity" is lost towards the end, but the rest mostly remains. It's a very cohesive and complex scent; some of the BPALs "boil down" to a few simple, lasting notes at the end, and this one has not. It's staying very lovely all the way through dry down. mmm.

 

I have to say I'm not blown away by this scent as many others were, but it certainly is lovely. Definitely an imp-keeper. It seems more like an atmospheric scent to me, rather than a personal fragrance. But it is very nice.

 

(sidenote - Carrickfergus swapped me this very imp! Isn't it crazy how BPAL reacts to chemistry? No foody/clove at all here!)

[tamburlaine]

Let's start at the very beginning: There is only one note in here that I'm not particularly fond of. One note. And it's not even like I hate that note. I'm close to saying that No. 93 Engine is perfect for me, but I'm a woman of many perfume tastes, so I won't say that. What I will say is that this is the only balsam and beeswax scent I've smelled that has hit a grand slam. An atomic grand slam. (Just to prevent explosion from suspense, the only dubious note listed is hyssop. Not a big fan of hyssop.)

 

I'm a champion of those sticky balms and waxes and resins, those rich, earthy, spicy notes. Ooh yes. No. 93 Engine delivers. Duh. Most of the notes in No. 93 Engine are used as anchoring base notes: benzoin, frankincense, peru balsam, beeswax, mastic. They make this blend heavy and balsamic, bittersweet like molasses and spicy like toasted honey stirred with pepper and saffron.

 

I can't give enough praise to this blend. I've been waiting for the Lab to come up with a great balsamic blend and here it is. Hell, I've been waiting for a great beeswax blend but those things are few and far between; that beeswax (one of my favorite notes) is in here is just the perfume god smiling on me. A good balsamic blend should be in everyone's fragrance cabinet, and frankly I'm surprised BPAL hasn't come up with something as awesome as this before. No. 93 Engine? OMG I'M HOARDING THIS FOREVER AND EVER.

Edited June 6, 2008 by tamburlaine

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Piney, citrusy, resiny. Slightly sweet, quite herbal, a bit incensey. Fresh, but a little foody from the lemon and caramel-like beeswax.

 

Wet: Herbal-citrus-resin. Quite lemony. The benzoin and balsam mingle to provide a piney-fresh and yet slightly smoky and deep note. The sage is bright, and rather astringently herbal, as is the sharp resin of the mastic. Very herbal on the whole, more than I can pinpoint.

 

Dry: Saffron and frankincense provide warmth, spiciness, and the latter a bit of heavy sweetness, on top of the light caramel-honey of the beeswax. The mastic is a bit spicy, too. Overall, this becomes hotter, more smoky as it dries, especially as the lemon balm and brighter herbal notes fade.

 

Later: It really reminds me tremendously of burning copal at this point; it's heavy on the resins and incense. Still a bit of greenery from the sage and balsam, but otherwise, all the fresh notes and citrus are completely gone, and this is resin, smoke, incense. The beeswax has lost all caramel sweetness and is faint honeyed wax.

 

Summary: Hot, smoky, piney resins and incense, touched with true beeswax, spicy saffron and medicinal herbs. It reminds me quite a bit of Xiuhtecuhtli in the drydown. It does have a bit of a 'tang' to it though, which conveys the 'smoking engine' feel the name of this blend suggests. Masculine. Decent throw, good lasting power.

 

Definitely one of the better beeswax blends (beeswax often is simply SUPER SWEET CARAMEL on me), but this is not my style - too smoky and masculine.

Edited June 6, 2008 by fairnymph

[waternight]

In the imp: Light, spicy resins. Almost crisp. Beeswax is prominent.

Wet: Same as in the imp, but stronger and warmer. This is warmed beeswax, soft and maleable, that has been blended with the resins. There's a dry spiciness that's pretty awesome. A bit later, it sweetens up, as I expect from resins. Benzoin stands out, but this is essentially very well blended and smooth. This bears a strong resemblance to Anubis, though this is more creamy and less herbal.

Dry: Smooth, creamy resins. Creamier Anubis. I like it a lot, but Anubis is one of my true loves, and I don't need bottles of both.

[Miss Lynx]

Ooh, nice! I am a sucker for incensey scents, and this is one of the better ones. It's got that definite ritual/church incense feel, similar to Cathedral, Midnight Mass, The Pit & the Pendulum and Al Azif, but it's a bit lighter and more ethereal than most of those, with a light herbal/spicy overtone - a bit like Meskhenet the Vulture Maiden in that respect - and also has a touch of an almost fruity sweetness that complements the resins beautifully. Maybe that's the lemon balm? The honey/beeswax element also recalls Anubis, and there are times when it's a bit reminiscent of Jacob's Ladder as well.

 

All in all, this is a really beautifully balanced, evocative scent, though much lighter and gentler than its inspiration would suggest. It does come across as a touch masculine at times, but never to the extent that I wouldn't want to wear it.

 

It does smell more like a magical workshop than an engine of any sort, but I suppose that's appropriate to the 93 in the name. The only down side is that it doesn't seem to last very long... I wore it for an evening out last night, and I think I ended up re-applying it three times.

 

Well, if I keep using it up at that rate, I'm definitely going to need a bottle!

 

Grade: A

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Bottle

OMFG! I can smell beeswax! This is so cool! I love beeswax and wanted To Helen just because of it-- and it's in here too, and just YAY. I can detect something strong and astringent-- I assume this is the balsam or the 'balm-- there's a slightly lemony hint, but it's not cute, sweet lemon, it's a cold and intense lemon, just the way I like it.

 

On Me

Interesting. This is like The Antikythera Mechanism's more serious and less soft big brother. After a bit on my skin, the astringentness goes away and I've got beeswax and frankincense as well as a coppery, metallic edge and something really woody. But it's a dark wood-- teak again? Maybe.

 

It's a compliment-getter, too. My BPAL-curious friends think it smells nice on me and I got asked by someone "Mmm... what BPAL is THAT!?" (in a positive way) by someone not-BPALy. My six year old son likes it, too.

 

It doesn't have a REALLY long life and an intense throw on me, which doesn't bother me greatly because, hey, it's a GC, and I can just apply it when I need to.

 

I swear, I freaking LOVE this, and huzzah for the Steampunkies. No joke, I'm buying bottles of this stuff unsniffed, and they have, so far, ALL worked for me.

[Mishinka]

There's this little town near me, Yellow Springs. Antioch College is/was there and the town clings fast to its quirky, artsy roots. Until pretty recently, you couldn't tell in most of the town that it wasn't still 1972. It was sort of this island of liberal politics and individuality in rural Ohio. I wanted to live there so badly when I was a hippie-wannabe in high school

 

No. 93 Engine smells like Yellow Springs.

 

Not like any specific place there, not even like it actually is now, but like how I remember it smelling when I would go there with my aunt and grandma when we went to visit and it was this strange, wonderful place where all the stores had cats and smelled like incense and spices.

 

in the imp, I get mostly sage and sweetness, maybe a bit of citrus. .

 

But on, it is exactly Yellow Springs when I was seven or eight. It's sweet and spicy, with a rich, slightly earthy tang that's probably the frankincense. It lasts, too--I put this on in the afternoon and I still have some honey smell clinging pretty strongly to my skin.

 

Fantastic! Love love love.

Edited June 15, 2008 by Mish

[anardana]

An amazing scent. Warm beeswax, with the addition of spicy resins and sharp citrus and herbs to keep it from being too food-y.

[oakmoss]

It starts out with a sweet tanginess reminiscent of star anise and clove, then morphs through a cedar/sandalwood phase, but still with the clovelike undernote. No trace of lemon at all on me. It settles down into warm resiny goodness, a dark golden spiced sweetness that reminds me of both of carnations and of burning copal. I could see this being used ceremonially as well as an everyday perfume. Really, really beautiful.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Fragrantly herbal. It took a while to cach the scent in the bottle.

 

On Application

A hint of lemon over a strong balm of Gilead prescence. I can also detect the sage.

 

Dry Down

This is the first scent I have tried with beeswax and I am suprised it is really detectable. I like! I am really glad the lemon from the lemon balm isn't too overpowering. Lemon has to be my least favourite note. This is quite a crisp fragrance with some warmth in the background (saffron, frankincense and benzoin). This gets sharper and drier as it wears. I would classify this as a unisex scent. I like this very much.

 

Rating (0-5)

4.5

[Myrrha]

The first thing I can smell is the "engine" aspect of it which surprised me as I didn't expect it to be so literal. It is a kind of oily metalic scent but that makes it sound nasty which it isn't.

 

The beeswax and resins were wonderful for about five minutes. It really smells magical, I mean it smells like a magical blend or ritual oil. Familiar. There is some cinnamon or other spice in here as well as the resins.

 

Then the beeswax went away and the resins seemed to break apart and become thin and high and soapy. My body chemistry does not seem to be right for this scent. Too bad because it is lovely.

[filigree_shadow]

I'm really not very familiar with most of the notes listed for this scent, so I'm not going to be very good at describing it. It actually reminds me of well-oiled machinery, in the best possible way. Not like dirty old gross equipment! It's a sharp, strong scent, and it makes me think a little bit of pencils, and metal, and herbs. I think the resins in it are what's reminding me of a sweet, oily, almost sticky scent.

 

This may sound weird, but this smells like a sacred scent to me. Something that would be used in a religious ritual. It has a pureness to it that I enjoy quite a lot.

[marared]

I'm not sure what it is about this scent, but just like Carnal (which doesn't have any notes in common with this) my skin sucks it up on contact. I can smell it fine in the imp, but there's almost *nothing* on my wrist, despite two swabs in the same spot. I can pick out a little bit of lemon and a little bit of balsam. After a few minutes it tries to escape the black hole of my pores, and that might be the beeswax, but I can't smell anything unless I put my nose right up against my wrist.

 

Which is too bad, because this is an *interesting* scent...

[heathercaley]

I got a sniffy frimp.. and had been dying to try this!

 

At first it smells very fresh and clean.. like a spa. Very much an herbal lemon balmy scent. As it dries down, the lemony balm starts to fade and sweet beeswax makes it's appearance.. mmmmm... a non foody sweet herbal honey drool worthy scent pops at me... this is a gorgeous honey incensey shmorgasborg of love.. and I need more!!! This sniffy isn't going to last long. Big Bottle purchase is imminent!

Edited July 2, 2008 by Purrsnikety

[Indigo78]

Need to start off by emphasizing that the "warm" scents don't "go" for me... The Lemon in this saves it from being a spicy, warm fuzzy disaster for me. In the imp I smell spices at first, then after another deep whiff or two I get Lemon. About fifteen minutes later I can't shake this association with Ogun (minus the Melon note). The Citrus, peppery bite, & overall yuminess of it....If you're skin & nose are like mine, No. 93 is a stronger, "honied" version of Ogun - with a slight metallic finish.

 

Significantly different from what I expected, but mechnically sweet & sexy.

ETA: Loonnnnng wearlength, average throw.

Edited July 2, 2008 by Indig0

[PurringPulsar]

No 93 Engine

 

In the imp: ohhh, sweet gorgeous amber-lemon resinous incense!

Wet on skin: the lemon balm and sage pop out, as does the frankincense.

Dry on skin: oh yes, this is fabulous! This is one of the most beautiful incense scents ever! The frankincense is rich and gorgeous, and so is the beeswax, which in here smells just like church candles. I also smell other, more mysterious resins in here, a hint of spicy saffron too. The lemon balm adds a sweet gentle lemony scent to it all, but doesn’t get in the way of the glorious resins. The benzoin is beautifully sweet, almost like amber. And there’s a hint of gentle smoke to it all. This smells golden, sacred, magnificent. I think the lack of myrrh makes this lighter and more radiant than most incense scents.

After a while: the lemon sweetens even more and the beeswax now gains a honeyed quality. The resins are still as wonderful as before and the scent overall still smells golden, almost solar. The resins now are also very sweet, the benzoin, I think, is that sweet ambery stuff that is also in Jacob’s Ladder and Thalassa, a rich benzoin resin. And the frankincense is wonderful. I just can’t stop sniffing myself, this is so beautiful.

Over time it gets sweeter and more honeyed until it turns to a gorgeous light amber-frankincense resin with hints of hyssop and calamus, a soft smokiness like the incenses are smouldering a little, and it’s all topped with a dusting of powdered honey and lemon sugar. I also get that lovely brassy amber scent that I smelt in Robotic Scarab and Aelopile, a metal note that works on me, and possibly a common base for the Steamworks scents? The drydown after a few hours has a woody feel to it, like honeyed resins over gentle smouldering incense woods. It now reminds me of a lighter version of Cairo.

Verdict: pretty much every incense/resin heavy scent that Beth does, I adore. She just does them so well. This is yet another olfactory orgasm of resinous love. This doesn't have the heavy note of myrrh, as a result this is a brighter incense scent. golden beeswax mingles with wonderful frankincense, exotic sweet balsams, amber-like benzoin, a touch of saffron and lemon make the scent even more golden and brilliant, the herbs add a drier aspect. It evokes shades of brass and gold without smelling too metallic. It’s the scent of a sacred machine, an engine anointed with holy oils. The mix of balsams and incense then develops honeyed tones and sweetens a bit more, never losing it’s resinous richness. This is a breathtaking scent and I cannot wait to see what a bit of age does to it. I will never, ever get bored of BPAL resin scents, and I can never have too many-this incredible scent is proof of that.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Oh hell yeah.

If you like this, try: King Cobra, Heavenly Love and Earthly Love, Cairo, Philosopher in Meditation, Great Cry in Egypt, Ahathoor, Robotic Scarab, Aelopile, Hand of Glory

Edited July 2, 2008 by yeahbutnobut

[AEris]

Wow, this is a strange one. It's unique and familiar at the same time.

 

Wet, it's all pine trees, but it dries down with a fierce complexity.

 

It's warmly herbal, with powdery sage and spice. Something about it smells a lot like my grandmother's house.

 

It's fascinating and evocative, a work of art. It's not something I would choose to wear as perfume personally, but I can tell from the reviews that it will meld with others' personalities perfectly!

 

3.9 out of 5

[medvssa]

Bliss in a bottle, the moment I opened the vial I knew it would go right up into my favorites list. And then I tried it on, and as it dried I only liked it more. And more. And MORE.

 

Really Amazing Stuff.

[lucy gray]

Once dry, it was strangely heavy on me; it smelled mainly like a thick and buttery beeswax with something else that I couldn't quite place -- it could have been the sage or the metallic note. I felt as if I had smeared a Burt's Bees hand balm all over myself! Overall, not for me.

[starwild]

Imp: Lemony beeswax

 

Wet: Lemony beeswax with some kind of herbs underneath

 

Dry: Still mostly lemony beeswax, which is sort of like faint honey, and some resinous herbs. Maybe a slight tinge of incense.

 

I'm sure honey lovers would adore this. I find it...okay? Not my favorite from this line, but warm and very pretty.

 

EDIT: ...I take it back. This is delicious and yummy. Especially layered with Antikythera Mechanism.

Edited July 23, 2008 by starwild

[thelaurenator]

This is, in a word: SINGULAR.

 

Really outstanding and gorgeous. Wow.

 

I get: earthy resins, and sweet beeswax with a creamy lemon note. This is stunning. I love it. Need a big bottle!