The Coil

[Delirium1009]

The walls reverberate with a resounding boom as the mechanism is activated, and the boom settles into a hum with a deep, growling buzz. Purple-white and lightning-yellow streamers of electricity cavort over enameled copper wires and through gleaming glass globes; the room is set afire with corona spray, and bare fluorescent bulbs mounted on the walls blaze to life.

Ozone, eucalyptus and mint with purple orchid, passionflower, white ginger, and purple lotus.

In bottle/imp: Strong, sharp eucalyptus and mint.

Immediately on skin: This is a nose-clearing type of blend. The eucalyptus and mint are the strongest notes, creating something sharp and biting. In the background I can smell a little of the lotus, which mixed with mint always smells like cough syrup to me. It’s similar here, but the lotus is very light. There’s a sweetness here though that trumps the lotus though… the passionflower perhaps? It adds a note to this that takes it from something you’d take to feel better to something you’d wear. Ah, and the ozone is coming out a little as well… It’s not blending in as much as drifting above the other notes.

After a little while: The sharp eucalyptus and mint have softened considerably, and this has transformed into a crisp ozone and eucalyptus scent with a hint of mint and a background of subtle, sweet florals. The freshness of the ozone and eucalyptus are really nicely balanced now with the florals, and the lotus has really faded to the point that I can’t smell it any more.

Overall Impressions: This scent is so much nicer than I was expecting. At first it’s sharp, but it transforms into this unisex ozone/eucalyptus/soft flowers scent that’s very pretty and quite smooth. The blending is gorgeous once this dried down on me, and while I can pick out the ozone, eucalyptus, mint, orchid, and passionflower, the only one that seems to stray from the rest a little is the ozone, which sort of floats above the rest. The floral notes in this are subtle, but really add a nice smooth soft feel to the other overly high notes of the blend. This has a little bit of a masculine feel from the ozone (that's just my own opinion of that note though), but the flowers in this definitely balance that out. Very pretty, and definitely worth trying!

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is slightly minty and a fruity floral...subdued and elegant~

 

once applied the mint in this is the best the lab has created to date!! the throw is excellent and every note

is combined perfectly...the lotus, ginger and orchid are amazing...i am thrilled to pieces that this is a GC

blend and you bet i will be scoring a big bottle of this outstanding perfume!!!

[penemuel]

I do so wish I could smell the lab's non-sweet mint note. I can smell the mint in Green Tree Viper, Tokyo Stomp, and Lick it One More Time (haven't sniffed the other ones to know), but in blends like this it's almost non-existent.

 

I get a bright, sharp, almost brittle scent. The eucalyptus is intensified by the ozone and almost hurts my nose it's so sharp. The flowers seem to be hiding, although I'm sure they're contributing somehow. It almost smells a bit like bug spray (not a plus).

 

And all of a sudden on drydown, there's mint, peeking out from behind everything else! Come here, little mint... He's very shy.

 

This scent is very intense, and illustrates what it's supposed to. I'm just not sure I can weather the bug-spray stage to get to the rest of it.

[hipslike___cinderella]

Mmm, this is promising in the bottle. Yummy mint and eucalyptus with a hint of flowers ready to burst. Now, on my skin, I'm surprised, and a little relieved, that there's no screaming lotus here. This is a lower-level chill scent on me and I don't feel the cooling sensation that some blends give on touch. Unfortunately, this one seems to evaporate. At first it's a nearly herbal floral feel, but apparently passionflower and orchid don't stick to me. Not quite the punch I was hoping for; swapping.

[iiinterstate]

This is a really nice combination of ingredients. I don't know how else to put it. The mint is there without being toothpaste on me, and the ozone makes for a nice coolness. The florals and ginger are there but pretty mellow.

 

Not sure I need a bottle yet given the fact that I have a million ozone blends already, but this is very pretty. And I like the color (it looks light green to me)

[alicia_stardust]

The Coil is a very clean and tangy scent. It's cool but not cold. It's mostly mint and eucalyptus, but the orchid sort of lends it a lower pitched duskiness that keeps this from taking off toward being a sharp ozone scent. The lotus adds another cool colored floral to this but remains soft. I can't quite detect the ginger.

 

This is unisex and is a very nice, clean, energized scent. It has strong throw and long wearlength on me.

Edited May 10, 2008 by alicia_stardust

[savage_rose]

I knew The Coil would have to be one of the first ones I tried out of the Imp Pack. Its oil is a pretty green color .

 

Anyway, it's a very bracing mint initially, but it soon mellows. Mint is in the forefront, but the ozone makes it less sharp and gives it a dreamy quality. And I can catch a hint of floral in the background. Soft, sweet mint! Heavenly.

[Alchemy21599]

The Coil is a really interesting blend.

 

In the vial it was mint, with something deeper, possibly the orchid, a a marvelously electrical charge of ozone.

 

Wet on Skin: this blend is quite minty. Spearmint or cornmint, not peppermint.

 

Dry: A wonderful refreshing blend, great for warm weather.

[Reaver]

This is FRESH mint, not candy mint. It's absolutly delicious and the florals soften the edges of it. The ginger is not too strong, and stops the mint from becoming too chilling. It's just light and a really pretty fragrance. Totally unisex and it epitomises freshness.

 

I don't get ozone as the first note in the blend. This is pure, just picked mint leaves. Maybe even the Ginger Mint I have in my garden. I love the imagery from the scent description, but the colours should be green and white, like the colour of the oil in the imp!

 

Conclusion - Keeper, but I don't know if it's a bottle. I don't know when I'd wear it, except for a waking up boost!

8/10

[lysithea]

There's a little bit of mint there, but it's not overbearing or prominent. The mint gives it just enough lift. The florals in this blend also meld together harmonically. There's something that's reminiscent of Utrennyaya to me (osmanthus, Damascus rose, violet, delphinium, white mint, palmarosa and white sandalwood), but I don't exactly know why. Overall, the blend is clean. I don't find it harsh at all. There's is a little something on the backside of the blend (white ginger perhaps) that keeps it from turning into flat, OMG soap scent on my skin. So that's a plus!

 

Overall, I find it a pretty, clean scent.

Those that like the clean BPAL scents (I include White Rabbit, Envy, Cathode, Tempest, & Ultraviolet in this category) will probably like this blend as well.

 

Throw is below average.

Wearlength is short to medium.

[zomathesadist]

I've come to realize that I love BPAL's mint notes, especially at work or in the middle of a long hot summer. =) I love finding a fragrance that I can still wear even if I have a headache.

 

the oil is a pale green, almost like Belladonna is. in the imp, it is strong sharp mint. Nice.

 

wet on skin: Mint-ayyy! I like it. I smell fresh, without smelling soapy. And it's refreshing me, too--I love mint scents on tired, stressful days.

 

drydown: it sweetens up considerably, but still remains minty fresh. I really like this! and I took in my GINORMOUS bag o'imps to work yesterday, and three of my coworkers loved it. One of them (she's quitting smoking) kept sniffing it and said she found it really soothing. =) maybe I'll give her my imp to keep in her bag.

 

yep. The Coil rules. I probably won't get a bottle for a while, but this is one of those oils you keep around because even if you don't wear it every day, the perfect day to wear it will roll by and you don't want to be without it.

 

in a nutshell: MINT! sharp, bracing mint and eucalyptus notes tempered by softer florals. less than average throw, but long wearlength.

[maribouquet]

I mostly smell the ozone, mint and ginger. Light and clean but with the tingly feeling of charged air. I like it.

[gchris]

Calling all mint Lovers!!

 

In Vial: The most wonderful light mint.

 

Wet:Very crisp. This mint mixed with the ozone gives this a crispness rather than smelling "minty". There is something else in the background that I wish I could identify but This blend is incredible. This also smells a little bit like mint gum but not as sweet. If you love mint you MUST give this a try!!

 

If I were on an island and i could only take one blend with me, THIS would be the ONE!

[tereshkova2001]

I wasn't sure about this one either wet or freshly applied, as the mint, ozone, and eucalyptus didn't quite seem to get along. But it's dried down to mostly ozone, with the white and purple flowers adding a nice soft background.

[carrickfergus]

Holy moses this is awesome. Eucalyptus and mint and metallic.... you can TASTE this scent. It really is an experience.

[waternight]

In the imp: The eucalyptus and mint are strongest, but not sweet - this is quite herbal.

Wet: Peppermint tea! This smells like Celestial Seasonings Peppermint tea! Herbal and delicious and not overly "minty"... ozone shares the stage nicely - they combine well. A light, sweet floral note creeps in, somewhat tropical and juicy. The floral aspect softens the mint and ozone, but I wouldn't call this a floral scent. Rather, an herbal ozone with the softness of a floral.

Dry: The florals amp up a bit, and this ends up as a floral-herbal-mint. It's much softer than I expected, not really sharp or electric.

[Mishinka]

My sister lives in Providence. When I go up to visit her in the summer or fall, we go out to Newport and visit this candy store on the harbor that has all sorts of bizarre imported things--violet and rose pastilles, sesame hard candies. Last time I was there, I found mint julep taffies. Then we had to leave because it was about to rain.

 

That's what The Coil smells like. Mint Julep taffies before a summer storm.

 

The first things that jumped out at me in the imp were crazy strong mint and a green, herbal smell. Actually, the smell was about the same as the color, that delicate sage/mint green.

 

On I start to notice the ozone and the florals. It works out to this sweet mint, with the mint fading away first. It leaves this very green, crisp scent behind. I had to sniff my wrist a few times to decide what I think of it, but I like it so far.

[slave1]

THE COIL

 

In Bottle: Medicinal

 

On Skin: It starts very “Numb” like to me, which I think smells like anti-fungal foot cream. Not the best thing… but as the scent develops the florals come out more and it becomes a bit more like soap. The ozone is clean, the eucalyptus is sharp. The florals aren’t heavy, just a light perfumey feel. The white ginger is an interesting spicy feel… a cool spice as opposed to a warm spice. It has a light throw and is a pretty subtle. Scent. It fades pretty quickly on me so I’d say short wearlength.

[zankoku_zen]

This was minty fresh and metallic, very cool and airy. I loved it in this stage, but the drydown turned into cool dryer sheets.

 

Nuts.

[ClareN]

Damn, I LOVE The Coil. I was not expecting that at all...in fact, I don't even know why I ordered an imp of it, since I'm not crazy about mint and there are very few florals I can even wear. But this is just amazing. It starts off a cool, calming mint with light herbal notes and ozone. As the mint fades, the floral notes come out more strongly and it evolves into a beautiful, soft, clear floral. Not too sweet and not at all cloying, heavy or powdery - just elegant, pale green or electric blue florals. The throw is excellent for the first hour or two. It gets quite faint after three or four hours, but I will happily reapply all day since it is GC.

 

I will go through my imp and most likely buy a bottle when it runs out - the gorgeous artwork is a great incentive to buy a whole bottle! I've only tried six of the Steamworks scents so far, but this is my second favorite (after the unfuckwithable No. 93 Engine). Love this series.

[Little Bird]

None of the notes in this are notes that I'd say I really like, though I do sometimes have good luck with orchid and lotus.

 

First on, The Coil is mostly ozone with hints of eucalyptus and mint, which unfortunately smells like crisp dryer sheets and a medicinal, menthol-y coolness on me. In the drydown, the mint & eucalyptus seem to fade on me, bringing in a slightly soapy, floral quality. I smell like breezy, floral dryer sheets.

 

The Coil isn't unwearable for me, but it's not something I'd ever reach for either.

[Jilara]

Wet it's mint and ozone. There is something vaguely herbal in back that is probably the eucalyptus, but reminds me more of a local wild plant we call yerba buena. A friend describes this stage as reminding him of an old toaster warming up.

 

Drydown brings out a caraway-like backnote and something metallic. Most of the mint and ozone morph out of here at this point. Dry, on me, it turns to herbs and caraway on a tin plate. Seriously. Then it starts to fade away.

 

Verdict: I like the wet stage, but not the dry. Oh well, there are other Steamworks scents that work on me.

[filigree_shadow]

I smelled the eucalyptus and ozone in this straight off. It definitely has some tang to it. The eucalyptus backs off after a few minutes, and then I get a minty scent that, mixed with the ozone, smells kind of like a minty fizzy alcoholic drink to me. Like gin and tonic and mint. But I bet it's just the ozone giving me that impression.

 

It's refreshing, cool, and crisp. The floral notes come out a little later but they don't dominate at all. It ends up smelling a bit like a soap scent to me, but that's probably because usually I only use mint-scented products in the shower or bath.

 

I truly do like this scent, but whenever I smell it I just sit here wishing I had a scrub with this scent.

[kythryne]

Sniffing from the imp I got so much mint that I set it down and went to make sure it didn't contain pennyroyal before applying it. Very, very sharp mint/herbal/green scent. On my skin, though, it almost disappears! I'm normally not a heavy slatherer, but I think I will make an exception for this one because I really like it and want to be able to smell it. It morphs from the sharp herbal to something very cold and crisp and also soft somehow. It reminds me a little of Pele, which is probably the white ginger and florals -- the same sort of tropical warmth, but tempered by icy herbals. I think this may become a regular summer scent for me, because it feels delightfully cold and fresh without being medicinal.

[Andrea912]

Yuck. It smells like mouthwash. I smell nothing remotely purple.