Embalming Fluid

[darkitysnark]

A light, pure scent: white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon.

Embalming Fluid

In the bottle:
Initially sweet fruit and flowers.
The second sniff elicits citrus and an aquatic note. On me aquatics tend to turn soapy, but the slight floral seems to keep that possibility in check, at least in this stage.

Wet:
The oil warms into an Earl Grey tea (edit: whoops, upon re-reading the description I see I'm on the wrong continent with my tea) citrus note. It's sharp and smooth at the same time. There's some other fruit lurking in the background... something red-orange and a little tart. Mostly this smells clean in a dirty sort of way. Like opening up a sumptuous hotel room to the crisp morning air after a night of debauchery.

Drydown:
It feels like this oil is at war with itself (or more like my sniffer is at war with my brain). The tea is still there, there's a cloying sweetness all around as well. I'm feeling a little repelled by this right now, but keep returning to check my wrists all the same.
:sniff:
"ew!"
:sniff:
"hm"
:sniff:
"mmmm"
:sniff:
"ew!"
repeat ad infinitum

2 hours later:
I think the musk is finally surfacing somewhat which relieves the unrelenting sunniness of the lemons. I'm still a bit wonky with the sweetness that has been rolling around the lemony freshness. I think this sugar-coated lemon-drop note is a bit over the top for me. Still, I can see why this is a favorite for light, clean, summery goodness. Perhaps the lemon, she is not for me.

Conclusion:
3.5 hours in, I can still pick up the tea/lemon/sweet/slight musk notes, but it's not as vibrant as it was. This will probably fade within the next couple of hours. This is firmly in the "maybe, but no big bottles" pile for me. Still, it's the best lemon blend I've tried so far (see also: Calliope disaster) which is saying a lot.

This was a freebie from the lab. As always I am astounded by their generosity, and grateful to have the opportunity to try blends that I might not have ventured out to try on my own. Thank you!

[surf-tormented]

Yummy. Reminds me of the GreenTeaTherapy Healing Garden spray I have for my pillows, except it has a citrus bite of lemon and a slight hint of musk. I am a green tea fan. I highly recommend this one. There is an almost grassy undertone to this and makes me think green, green, green like a forest with a lake within its trees and many waterflowers.

 

I have a full bottle of it and wore it tonight to a Christmas party. I bought it scent unsmelled and I am happy I did. Would work very good at the worksplace as well as a night out.

 

My only criticism of this, like many other BPAL oils, it doesn't last long and needs reapplying throughout the day.

Edited December 11, 2004 by Madame Nyx

[Ishtar]

Many many thanks to the Lab for adding an imp of Embalming Fluid to my last order, thus ending several months of dilly-dallying on my part. The description always sounded appealing to me since I love tea scents, but the name really turned me off ordering it. Silly, I know, but I am famous for my fear of mummies and, well, I couldn't bring myself to try it just because of the name

 

In the imp and wet, I would have had a hard time telling Embalming Fluid from Old Shangai. Same fresh, straightforward tea scent, very refreshing and crisp without being biting.

After a few minutes though, it developped into something clearly different from Old Shangai: a definite aloe note, less lemon and... damn! Soap! Argh. I don't know what makes Embalming Fluid turn soapy on me, but it unfortunately doesn't work on my skin

 

Shame because the initial stage was very nice. I would recommend it to all tea scent lovers as it surely would be lovely on someone with the right chemistry

[Rhian]

In the bottle

Sharp lemon, an undercurrent of green tea. It smells a little harsh.

 

Wet

The sharp lemon is still there... in fact, it's quite strong and bitter at this stage, and is overpowering all other notes. I hope this dries down soon and lets the musk and tea through!

 

Dry

Aaaah. So much better. This is, apparently, one of those scents that I wear (as opposed to it wearing me). It's naturally blended with my skin and is like drinking a glass of cold, sweet iced green tea with a sliver of lemon on a fresh summer morning, when there's a good breeze up. Or maybe it's home-brewed lemonade, with plenty of sugar, on the porch, while the wind blows through the trees and you're surrounded by green. It's fresh, invigorating, and I can't wait for summer to come so that I can slather it on!

 

Conclusion

I think I need a big bottle of this, but it's probably going to be a toss-up between this and Whitechapel. Having said that, the two are different enough to merit me buying a bottle of each... I'm delighted to find that I can wear citrus scents with no problem, though. I only put on a few little smudges of it, but it's lasted well for a few hours. However, I'd really like to have a big bottle and apply more, because what I am wearing is very subtle and has blended with my skin perfectly (though this is a very good thing). It goes perfectly with the Hemlock soap from Villainess, incidentally.

[sh1mm3r]

In the bottle: smells really fresh. I mainly smell the citrus and aloe.

 

Wet: Sharp lemon, aloe, and tea. I don't get any musk at all.

 

Dry: I can smell all of the scents, but they combine to be really fresh and clean. Not sweet, and not too heady.

 

Personally, the citrus-tea scent I prefer is Baobhan Sith. This one was a bit too generic in its freshness for me, and Baobhan Sith has the grapefruit-ginger element that I love.

[leapylees]

In the bottle: Mmm... lemony. It's like something lemon scented but there's something behind it, the tea perhaps? This is wonderful, though it's unlike the earthy scents I'm most fond of.

 

On: This very quickly became extremely sweet. Too sweet in fact. Most of the lemoniness disappeared very quickly leaving a too sweet lemon sherbet scent. This is far too sweet for me - in fact, every time I catch a whiff of it it makes the nerves at the sides of my mouth tingle (a sensation I hate). This is just too cloying and sweet for me.

 

After a few hours: thankfully it's faded quite a bit and most of the sweetness has gone. Now it smells slightly musky, but also a little like generic men's aftershave.

 

Overall: Not one for me. Too sweet and similar to big-brand commercial perfumes that I'm not fond of. I'm disappointed as it smells so great in the bottle.

[nevermore]

On me, Embalming fluid is mainly tea and lemon, no musk at all. It's light and refreshing, and very cooling. In fact, it smells alot like the iced tea from the coffee shop around the corner from my summer job, which is why I find it so refreshing. I really have to slather myself in it if I want to smell it though, which I suppose is expected from such a light scent.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Take two. Places everyone and, for god's sake, don't spill it everywhere this time. This is the lovechild of Severin, The Dormouse and Wilde, which means that it's perfect. It's fresh and crisp with tea and lemon so present that it's just terribly lovely.

 

Wet: Aloe and tea with that lemon scent backing everything up nicely. Also my favorite muck of them all: white musk is here for extra kicks. This is so nice and light. Very much with the aloe and the lemon is not nearly as overpowering as you could imagine it to be. The tea note just rises above everything else and soars.

 

Dry down: Very much green tea and aloe, with just a hint of the musk and the lemon behind it. This is a little more confident than Dormouse, quieter than Severin and more shy than Wilde. It's beautiful and lovely and I needs it.

 

Dry: This scent stays with you for a while as I know from my previous experience in which I almost dumped the entire imp on myself. It is a lovely scent, though, that I'm going to need more of down the road. It's so much aloe and green tea. The aloe reminds me of how we used to have aloe plants around the house. I used to love to break off pieces and get the juice all over my hands. Put this in the big bottle list, baby!

[Serenity]

Initially, I like this. It smells like a lemon facial astringent solution.

 

On dry down though, something that seems like the musk or aloe is all that remains and it's not something I really want to smell like.

[teza]

Mmmm. I love pairing this with Baobhan Sith on days I don't wear Queen of Diamonds or try a new scent. Seperating it from Baobhan Sith is hard, so I have to go back to my first written review of this:

 

Oh, sweet, sweet lemon. This is beautiful. It is citrus that blossoms before fading and becoming part of the whole: something sweet and soft and clean and faintly herbal-floral. The musks just make this oogy-happy.

 

On further consideration, that isn't very helpful. It starts of sweet -- like a candy lemon drop, only subtly different. It is DEFINATELY sweet on application, though, and faintly astringent as said above. The citrus eventually fades and a few hours later I sniff my wrists or catch a waft of scent of dry, warm, soft green as the musk, aloe and tea blend wonderfully.

 

I'ma gonna get a 10ml of THIS and a 10ml of Baobhan Sith and a 20ml bottle and pray I don't spill as I pour and roll in happy citrus sweet mellow goodness.

[autumnviolet]

Embalming fuid is puzzling. I cannot pin the smells down.

Wet: good sharp lemon.

dry down: I smell an aloe note, a sweet musk smell, a bit of tea, and a sweet lemon. I wish there was more lemon.

But I really like this for Spring. Light, but not too light.

[harlequin]

As one might expect, this one starts out smelling very aniseptic like. The lemon is very sharp at first, mixed with the musk and a hint of soothing. Being that top notes disappear quickly on me, the lemon fades down pretty fast and leaves a smooth scent behind in the musk and aloe. I think my nose has trouble picking out tea notes, but from time to time I do believe I can sense it peeking it's head out.

 

Definitely a very fitting scent to be called Embalming Fluid.!

 

Verdict: highly diggin' it. makes me want to go rent some Six Feet Under dvd's.

[Aurelius]

I wasn't sure how much I'd like this one. Some blends with lemon tend to turn lemon rind-y on me, and I feel like a piece of rotting citrus. Luckily this is not one of those blends. This is clean, lemony goodness. It's soothing yet strong. I feel refreshed and ready for whatever may come my way when I wear this. One of my favorites.

[Nemesister]

As soon as i sniffed the bottle i got a sense of deja vu........it took about 30 seconds to realise it smells exactly (ok, well, as near as...) like clarin's eau dynamisante

 

this will be gorgeous in summer. it doesn't last long though

[Morgan]

First Sniff: Citrusy and clean.

 

On my skin: Embalming Fluid smells very fresh and clean. It initially smells like a popular cleaning product on my skin.

 

After 1 hour: The lemon has faded a bit and the musk and tea have come out. This smells gorgeous.

 

Final verdict: Tea scents very rarely work for me. But this was one that did. It blends perfectly with the musk and citrus.

Embalming Fluid isn't one of my favorites, but it's definitely in my top 20.

[MartyGreene]

My first BPAL, and I'm a little disappointed.

 

In the jar, and applied to my skin it's just lemon. No tea, no nothing. Just lemon. I like lemon, I like lemon a lot. I'm the kind of person who rubs lemon peels on her skin to smell like lemons. But I really wanted tea.

 

After it dries and subdues, white musk. Exactly like The Body Shop used to sell (or maybe still do- not sure). Lemon is gone, still no tea or aloe.

 

What this really smells like to me- are the rubber dance floors we have in the studios and on stage for dance shows. This smells EXACTLY like that. I forget what kind ours are... they aren't harlequin I know that...

 

I really wanted the tea.

 

Under my Demeter Earl Gray Tea spray this is really nice. I'm wondering if BPAL ever made a single-note of tea (earl gray or black would be suitable), which I can add to Embalming Fluid to make it tea-ier, and more along my expectations.

 

Overall thoughts? I like it... just not as much as I hoped I would.

Edited February 8, 2005 by MartyGreene

[Nutterfly]

My brother suggested a smelt like a tramp (of the loose women kind) when I wore this. Nevermind! Glad I bought the 5ml blind!

 

In the bottle: This is a lovely scent! Very sort of lemony, and there’s a hint of sugar in there (How I guess I imagine sugar to smell over, the actually smell of sugar!). The downside is it smells a little like CIF bathroom cleaning fluid. (I don’t care though!).

 

Wet: It gorgeous on me, and keeps the scent from the bottle. Yummy

 

An hour later: As its dries, it changes slightly. I can smell the lovely lemon/citrus notes, but that sweetness has gone. What I've now got is a darker version of before. Still very lovely!

 

Few hours later: This scent fades quickly on me - compared of Dragon's milk etc. Its now a faint citrus, with a rounded sort of generic perfume smell to it. Won’t last much longer!

[Mofo]

I'm re-sniffing my arm because I can't make it out.

 

In the bottle I first think it reminds me of store bought brands like calvin klein Truth and that blue one from Kenzo as all those scents to me say 'Fresh'. Re-sniffing I get lemons, musk and something I can't figure out. Now re-reading the ingredients it makes sense it's a the green tea and aloe that throws and yet makes it. They are scents that I have round me but in the mix confuse my nose

 

Wet when first applied I think I smell like lemon disinfectant but from my quick acquaintance with BPAL and regular perfumes - never trust a perfume when it's wet, it needs time to settle.

 

Dry - it reminds me of what I smelt in bottle, lemons, musk and something confusing.

[plumerai]

In the bottle: Bright, sharp, lemon, crisp, clean, a slight herb, nice green tea undertone. Didn't smell the musk at all.

 

Wet: Lemon was overpowering. Then the herb kicked in (I'm not sure what aloe smells like; perhaps this is it), softening the lemon. No green tea at all yet. Breezy, refreshing.

 

Drying: Green tea comes back, as does musk, to the point where the lemon is actually an undertone. Musk takes top note, but it's very tidy: sheets on a line, early summer, children running around under the sheets, backyard gardening. Lots of white and yellows, from bright yellow to pastel to sun. Lemon rind, a hint of baby powder. Carefree.

 

An early reviewer said that this was one of her first BPAL oils to smell like a department store fragrance, and I agree. But a really really good department store fragrance! I think it's the clean simplicity of it that lends it that feel.

[shelldoo]

in the vial a clean citrussy scent

on it becomes all green tea

 

as it dries i get a green tea and hint of something akin to pepper

 

it is a very green clean, soft scent,

[Barb25]

Oh dear. Embalming fluid turned into an absolutely horrible fake lemon cleanser smell on my skin. I had to wash it off.

 

I'm disappointed, I had high hopes for this one.

[luxuria]

All the BPALs I've tried from my last order seem similar to another scent at first sniff..this one smells like Sudha Segara in the bottle. Slightly sweet but clean.

 

On my skin this just smells like soapy lemons. The tea component is really nice, but this is overall too reminiscent of bath products for me. It doesn't morph on dry-down, just gets less strong until it fades to nothingness.

[scourgeotheseas]

Embalming Fluid

 

In the bottle: Fresh lemon, in the best sense.

On me/wet: At first it smells of lemon zest, but it soon becomes darker and sharper. It seems to get "greener", too.

 

Drydown: Getting muskier and still lemony. I don't get any hint of the tea, which is too bad. It’s a pretty scent, but I don't see myself wearing it often.

[anmorata]

Embalming Fluid:

 

Wet: Very lemony.

Drydown: Fades to green tea w/ lemon. Very nice.

Longterm wear: Very nice, and potentially a big bottle.

[girlmadasbirds]

out of the bottle, this had a fresh, green herbal scent with a hint of lemon. on my skin though, it reminded me of elizabeth arden's green tea perfume...which does not agree with me. i'm in the process of swapping it.