Bezoar

[othelloperrello]

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

Guy review:

I love this scent. The overall feeling I get is rare for bpals, it's a sweet, light scent that keeps telling me it smells like something specific but keeps eluding me. This has been going on for over a year, and I think that's just part of its mystery.
I get the cardamom coming out fairly quickly, and I feel it plays an important role in rounding this out against the balsams, the woods, and the hay. Such an incredible combination. The cardamom in turn is deepened by the woods, and the hay absolute adds what I can only describe as a golden glow that makes this surprisingly light, sweet, spicy and wearable.
I am a big fan of resinous, woodsy scents; to me this is the lightest, most golden of my beloved resinous blends. Playful.

[Blithgunde]

Bezoar is a wonderful spice resin. It's a chord of deep woodiness, cardamom, and high clear resins. They combine into a bright clear delicious scent that reminds me of what the inside of my violin case smelled like. I find I like to wear Bezoar on days when I have some little thing to celebrate: it being Friday, or dinner at a favorite spot.

 

And .. . I love the way the name sounds!

[dreamingjune]

At first sniff from the bottle I knew this one would be way different than other bpals I have tried. The balsam is lightly present, but the cardamom really pops out along with a fresh wood note.

 

On the skin: The cardamom is a definite top note, without being too overpowering. This cardamom really smells like an essential oil rather than a perfume oil. There is a light sweetness and subtle unique spice, with a wonderful balsam background that is starting to bloom.

 

Drydown: The cardamom fades and the single most amazing balsam blend I have ever smelled comes to the forefront. I recently fell in love with the copaiba balsam and peru balsam essence oils from dshperfumes.com. That copaiba balsam smells like a green and sweet sandalwood, while the peru balsam reminds me of a sweet yet earthy benzoin or amber. Together they make one of my favorite scents ever. Bezoar smells exactly like these two blended together. I am feeling rather lucky to have found Bezoar before I ordered the others from dsh. I have tried as many balsam bpals as I could get my hands on, and this one stands out in a serious way. This is also completely different from U Mutter Museum, as far as other balsam blends go.

 

An hour later: This one lasts too! It does not fade in any weird way or turn powdery or soapy. It is just pure awesome balsamy goodness. It is like the sweetest wood with the lightest resin. Not your typical bpal resin, more like smelling fresh resins or gums used for incense. Absolutely amazing. A definite 5 out of 5.

[WidgetAlley]

So excited I finally got this! I have been intrigued by it since the Carnival first arrived and was sad I missed it while CD was up.

 

Bottle: Mmm. Dry, spicy cardamom, golden hot hay, and something that smells woody like pine trees but smooth and round and sweet like vanilla (the balsams, I'd assume.) It smells like the Finnish cardamom bread (pulla) I like to make outside in a sunny forest.

 

Wet: At first, a huge burst of cardamom seed-- which is fine by me, since I love it! Then a gorgeous, milky, vanilla-resin smell with hints of dry grass and pine. It smells like a sugary, spicy, herbal hot drink.

 

Dry: A gorgeous, woody, almost bitter smell of resins, overlaid with cardamom and hay and that sweet not-vanilla. I quite like this, and it's very different from anything else that I own. The throw is slight and the scent itself is so close and natural it seems almost skin-like, which makes it a great choice for work or other scenarios where I don't want to surround everyone with a cloud of incense.

[Balame]

When this first goes on I get a huge blast of green, spicy and almost cinnamon-y cardamom.

 

It intensely reminds me of masala chai... when my husband's dad first visited our apartment he asked if I could make him this. My sister-in-law helped me simmer some milk, then we dumped a pack of herbs into it. EXACTLY like this. The milky backdrop, green herbs, sweet warmth. Very comforting and bright smell.

[Alaeidrel]

I'll say straight out: I'm a cardamom nut. Obsessively so. Remember the vanilla spice lattes starbucks had last winter season? Heaven for me would be just the spice topping in a spoon.

 

That's exactly what Bezoar does on my skin.

 

Wet I get a giant whiff of cardamom and balsam. As it dries the cardamom just amps and amps but stays grounded by the hay, and the balsam fades. I'm so in heaven.

[Poenari]

I was gifted a well aged bottle of Bezoar last year and although I tested it when I received it, I set it aside and forgot about it.  I was in the mood for something different today so I grabbed this to wear and review.

 

In the battle I could smell a blast of cardamom. Upon application, this scent is a very warm dry golden blend of woods and spice.  My husband refinish is antiques and when I walk through his shop there is always the smell of sawdust from the sanding area, But also the smell of the various pieces of old furniture, made up of various types of wood, that has been worn and polished over the years. Add in the spice of the cardamom and you get Bezoar.  The throw is not nearly as strong as I would expect from these notes.   I would love this scent on my husband, but as he smells wood all day it is not one that he would love to wear.  I am grateful for the bottle however.

[bellumed]

Spicy and, yes, smooth. Smells so tasty! Hay is a comforting, unsung note that I've been coming to appreciate more (see also: The Seekim, My Mommy in a Boat, L’Enlèvement), and the cardamom gives it a sexy kick. Witchy and cozy. Reminds me a lot of Third Charm.