Bezoar

[Delirium1009]

Copaiba balsam, Tolu balsam, hay absolute, cardamom, and hiba wood.

In bottle/imp: An empty scent with a finish of wet spices.

Immediately on skin: This is a very smooth scent. It smells of golden, spiced resins, but it’s slightly cloying on me.

After a little while: This scent becomes this subtle and golden, but still cloying, resin scent. I get something a little dry and powdery about this too though, which may be the hay absolute and cardamom. It smells like thick, oozing resins with some dark spiced powders sprinkled on top. Edited October 20, 2008 by Delirium1009

[lainevierge]

I agree with everyone who said this one smells like green olives. It felt like I had swiped brine across my wrist.

[cranberry]

At first the cardamom is most noticeable about this blend. Dry and spicy. This is so gorgeous. It smells of amber, spice and hay. Intoxicating. It’s a quiet blend, close to the skin. It smells so familiar though I can’t place it. It almost smells like there is sandalwood in here. Perhaps mysore sandalwood with cardamom and hay. I could smell this forever and never be tired of it. The only thing is that it is sooooo close to this skin. In order to smell it I have to be plastered right up to it. Perhaps I need to get crazy and slather it all over. Oh yeah, I could do that, it’s that good.

[doodlehum]

I'm a statue! I've got a smelly that turns me into a nice aged wood statue. By aged I mean, sat in a nice dry climate for decades, probably in some sort of temple because I've absorbed lots of interesting resiny smells. But seriously, I smell like I've been carved out of wood. Hooray!

[Schmoozy]

Smooth polished wood, that has sat in the hot sun for years. Hay absolute lends a a dry warmth, and it also gives Bezoar a a sweet golden finish. Spicy cardamom gives this blend a dimension all it's own, and leaves me huffing my wrist wanting more.

Sometimes with balsam I get a minty vibe, and at the beginning for a brief moment I swear I can detect mint. I had high hopes for Bezoar and I am not disappointed. This is beautiful.

Dry, warm, spicy, sweet, golden wood scent.

[PurringPulsar]

Bezoar

 

In the imp: it smells a bit medicinal, a bit like ho-wood…is that the hiba wood? I also smell cardamom.

Wet on skin: oh, this gets better! Now a vanilla-benzoin sweetness pops out!

Dry on skin: mmm, this smells really gorgeous! It reminds me of something, but I can’t say exactly what, but I think it reminds me of an incense or herbal blend of some kind. It smells of benzoin-like balsam with a soft vanilla aspect, which I think is the tolu or copaiba balsam. Ah, now I know what those mysterious balsams smell like. The hiba adds a slightly medicinal twist, whilst the hay adds a gorgeous golden dryness. The cardamom completes the scent with it’s warm, aromatic spice.

After a while: ah, now I know what this reminds me of. Ages ago I went to Brighton, visited a wonderful new age/pagan bookshop, and bought a room scent oil, I think it had an Egyptian name but I can’t remember what. I still have it…and this smells very similar, if not better! The warm, round sweetness of this scent gets even more pronounced, the woodsy scent fades but I also smell more of that wonderful hay note. It really does smell like straw warmed by the sun, but with those warm balsams surrounding it with sweetness. There’s a gorgeous amber-like nuance to the scent too, but it’s unlike any amber in BPAL. This scent is unique and fabulous.

The scent is quiet, but I can’t stop sniffing it, it smells approachable and gentle, it is very comforting, especially after a few hours when it’s sweet amber and hay. It makes me think of summer evenings, soft and balmy and golden.

Verdict: this scent is really wonderful, a gorgeous and golden scent which really shows off the wonderful hay note and enhances it with cardamom and some wonderful balsams that smell both unusual and different and yet oddly familiar. It’s almost like an amber scent, but very different to other BPAL ambers. It’s also very vanilla-like but, again, so different to other vanilla scents. the scent also reminds me strongly of benzoin. The cardamom is wonderful but other than the balsams, it’s the hay that wins me over with this scent-warm, golden, dry hay that I can’t stop sniffing. A surprise winner from the Wunderkammer, I think I need a backup of this unique scent.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Yes.

If you like this, try: Hay Moon, Dog Days, Viparalabda, The Lion, Gunpowder

[Little Bird]

In the decant, I smell this and my brain latches on to several different impressions (olives, warm wood, soft spice, and bubblegummy sweetness). And even with all of those odd impressions, I do think that this smells good.

 

On my skin, this smells so familiar, comforting, and wonderful. It's also incredibly subtle on me; I have to press my nose up against my wrist to smell it at all. Bezoar is a warm scent that reminds me of some amber oils that I own - the sort of amber that makes me think of dry, aged woods heated in a sunbeam, with a touch of vanilla-like sweetness. And also, yeah, it smells a tiny bit like salty olives on me, lol. Thankfully, I really like olives.

 

I'm glad to have a decant of Bezoar, and I'll have to think about getting a full bottle before the Carnaval leaves town .

[lysithea]

Bezoar is the most chai-like blend I have found. Still, it's kinda odd. Sniffing from the bottle, it's spicy. It smells exactly like the Classic India Spice Chai from YogiTea (the strongest spiced chai I have found). Cardamon is very present in the early/wet stages. As it dries, there is a definite creaminess/milkiness that comes through as well. I have no idea which part of the blend is coming forward at that point. At intervals, I can smell a slight woodiness (and the slightest twinge of pickleness that some have mentioned), but it stay deep and close on the skin. All in all, I am pleased to have given this a chance. Not sure if it will go into my more standard rotation, but certainly something I will reach from when I'm looking for different and unique.

[cuervosueno]

I get the cardamom and something vaguely grassy. There's a slightly plasticky, almost pickle-like edge to the spice (I think that's the wood doing something weird to it), and the plant matter is ominously ... uh... not fresh. Like it might be on the verge of mildewing, actually.

 

This one is not playing nice with my chemistry. Woe!

 

ETA: I just couldn't believe this one wasn't working for me, so I went back and tried it again. This time when it was wet it started out not just pickle-y, but salty green olive-y! There's something faintly grassy and something almost nutty going on underneath the awfulness -- but whatever that one horrible note is, I just can't cope with it. Off to wash my wrist!

 

this is probably closest to my initial reaction--whoa! what is that wierd pickle/olive scent? I get no cardamom, no hay....just this odd pickle scent.

 

I tried this when I first got some of these decants, and I tried it with a bunch of others...like heretic's fork, etc. I liked all of them better than this when wet....

 

But then, on that first try, I realized one was WONDERFUL!

 

And it was Bezoar....Once it dries, this is gorgeous....ambery, golden, rich. definately get the richness of balsam...and resins...It smells like a rich sweet amber vanilla, though those are not the actual notes--just an impression. Actually, it kind of reminds of of some incense I have that is honey amber....

 

I really like it.

[rayvn1]

This is almost medicinal on me. Very intriguing scent! It really smells like munched up hay with spices that have gone through some kind of digestion process. (I know that sounds like it would smell disgusting....but this is kind of nice) I adore Hay Absolute!

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle cloying and medicinal

wet on skin see above

dry on skin there's just a hint of spiciness here from the cardamom, but other than that it's sort of... plain and sweet. i can't shake that medicinal tang and this is a real no-go on my skin. wear length is alarmingly short on me, too.

Edited January 16, 2009 by ravenfeathers

[crebbsgirl]

This was a perfect woodsy spice on me. It was very much a skin scent, you had to get pretty close to me to smell it. Which isn't a bad thing. The cardamom was pretty strong when wet, but as it dried it blended beautifully with the other notes, softening a little so it wasn't overpowering in the slightest. I'm not getting anything medicinal or olive-y. I was worried that the hay would make this too dry, but it hasn't. It's warm and comforting and sexy in a understated way.

[Indigo78]

I somehow thought this was more of a polished wood scent, and opened it up without reading the notes/reviews beforehand. So, I was surprised to find that it's a bit foody in the beginning. It isn't heavy or buttery-foody, though, more cool with a peek-a-boo sweetness- like anise root. For all the color-smellers, I get a pale blueish-gray from this scent overall.

 

The cardamom is definitely right up front early on, but then fades to reveal dusty grass just beneath. When everything settles down, a very familiar overall scent takes over: I realized that the wood in this blend closely resembles what you smell in a sauna. I'll keep this...it's unique and different from anything else I've tried.

[tajana]

Wet, it's a delicious blast of rich cardamom... makes me crave some kheer or some chai. The most cardamom-heavy perfume I've ever tried. As it dries around, it gets, most appropriately, wierder. It's a mix of very dry and very, very creamy. There's sweet golden hay and wood, over ridiculously creamy base spiced intensely with cardamom, along with other notes I simply can't identify... a bit herbal/medicinal. Really fascinating. It's not something I want to smell like, but it IS something I like to smell, if you can understand where I'm coming from. I wondered whether or not to keep my imp, but after about an hour on my skin the hay really took over... the other notes were still there, but there was just too much hay. I tried it twice, and Bezoar developed the same way both times.

[Andrea912]

Ohhhhh......no...the cardomom is overpowering; reminds me of chai tea...

[jewelbug]

Imp: Weird, spicy, funky root beer with an “off” greenness. I'm concerned, but swipe anyway! The reviews of mega cardamom are a siren song...

 

Wet: The “off”-ness is definitely not my thing. I can’t quite put my finger on what it smells like, but its…wrong…somehow. Savory--cat food mixed with rotten pickled ginger? A sushi side under a fizzy sasparilla cola sort of smell. There is also a hint of a citrus. What the heck is the savory weird smell...it is…yes...akin to pickles or olives, as some have mentioned before me.

Dry: Okay,now I can smell richly spiced woods and amber(amber note kinda like that in jacob's ladder)…and olive/pickled ginger rot. T0 make matters worse, after about 30 mins on, this takes on a synthetic burning smell (but only on my upper arm, not on my wrists).

 

Overall: I was hoping this would be the cardamom to end all cardamoms, as it was for others, but sadly, this is just all sorts of funktastic on me. I hope the next home loves it more!

[milo]

Two words: Spicy rootbeer. This kiiind of reminds me of Schwarzer Mond or Uncertain Horror, but with less incense/darkness to the blend. OK so far. After a bit, there is more woodiness, which makes this less desirable to me, I liked it better wet.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

ummm... pickles and sasparilla?

[mimosa]

Bezoar

 

Wet - sweet beautiful spicy cardamom, makes me want to eat my wrist or make kulfi. This smells just like kulfi, sweet and creamy with tons of cardamom. This is my favourite stage but it fades far too quickly.

Dry- still cardamom, with wood now and just a little cream

 

Overall- this is a winner, just wish it had more more staying power

[reynardine]

Received as a decant frimp from a forumite. Thanks for the chance to try this!

 

Hay, with a touch of balsam. Nothing much else is coming out. Very light, barely there.

 

Fail on me, I'm afraid. Will pass this along as a sniffie to someone else.

[MamaMoth]

This is very interesting. Spicy cardamom, a little bit of resiny balsam, a little bit of hay. Overall it does have a golden tinge, but there is a kind of freshness to it. In fact while it's in the imp it almost has a bit of bitter lemon zing. Not the actual lemon scent, but the zing. That goes away pretty quickly, but it leaves behind an airy, very pleasant woodsy/grassy/spice scent. It's not incensey or cloyingly spicy or foody.

 

Unfortunately, the throw is almost nonexistent. I have to almost touch my nose to my skin to smell it when it's wet. And what little scent there is dissipates within about 15 minutes, leaving behind the sliiiiiightest little bit of cardamom skin scent.

 

I confess I'm disappointed. I would have liked to get up close and friendly with this scent, but it leaves me hanging before we can even get past the introductions.

 

[lookingglass]

Wet, the copal is sweet, sharp, and resinous. The cardamom keeps the lift as the tolu smooths everything out and turns the blend more creamy. Dried out Bezoar is polished wood, like the handel of a well worn pipe.

[fiddledragon]

Warm, dry, round, golden, tart, hay, cardamom, balsam. I tried Bezoar to see if it had the same balsam note that I love in U, and I was not disappointed :-) It doesn't have U's sweet sexy leather-vanilla thing going on, but Bezoar is a lighter, more focused version. And with cardamom! Normally my skin eats cardamom, but in this blend it comes out beautifully. The camphorous tone of the cardamom blends nicely with the hay and balsam. Fresh, it's almost exactly like wet pine resin with cardamom, then the balsam deepens and some hay and a touch of wood comes out. I can see this being a luscious layering blend to dry out something overly-sweet or add depth to a floral.

 

Bottle for sure :-)

[impolight]

:::BEZOAR:::

 

How does one employ it?

Well, at first one should think to smell unforgivably incredible...

Aside from that the essence that is Bezoar does seem as though it has the power to still and to nullify the hastening of death.

Bezoar is ridiculously good.

Bezoar is a close relative of Hay Moon...While Hay Moon suggests sweet, syrupy pastoral torpor, Bezoar gleams with mysticism, with power. Bezoar supplants a calculated and much sought after intrigue in place of an escape.

Bezoar has the bizarre quality of a statue that seems to follow your movements across the room.

Bezoar is an ancient and underestimated intellect.

On the skin, Bezoar hardens and lends a chilling degree of imperviousness to the wearer.

The Balsam and the Hay Absolute in Bezoar come together to unleash a frightfully convincing coax.

The Hiba wood note is ominous and alluring.

The Cardamom is the most shy note of the bunch, yet lends delicious green polish when it apppears.

Awesome!

Unisex.

5/5!

[ami226]

On the skin: Loads of cardamom!! Whoa! I really like this one! Cardamom and woods. Kinda rootbeerish. Very interesting. Will need to test some more!