Embalming Fluid

[Nia]

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

Mild. Really mild. Milder than Baobhan sith. So mild it's barely there. Where is the scent everyone raves about? I need to trace a comparison:

This: white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon.

Baobhan: Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger.

I detect no musk at all. The grapefruit in Baobhan did a better job than the lemon is doing here.

I have two options: applying the whole imp in one go, of swapping away. Let's find a better home for it.

[spelmermaid]

in the imp, the lemon and tea comes off pretty strong and sharp.

however, after applying the sharpness tapers off and what remains is a light, refreshing gentle sweetness. it is lemony without being too detergent-like, sweet without being cloying. i find it really comforting and uplifting. this might be my favorite bpal scent so far!

[valentina]

A BPAL classic that I hadn't tried, until now... In the imp and on my body, I found Enbalming Fluid to be a fresh, light scent. Initially the lemon blooms quite a bit, but only for a few minutes. Then the elements of this scent come into harmony, and I'm left with what is very much a classic "clean" smell. It doesn't smell like detergent, but it smells of green tea with a touch of lemon. The light musk provides a skin scent underpinning and I think the aloe may help mellow out the sharpness of the lemon. I found this scent to be the most similar to Dorian -- and while I love Dorian, the lemon in it amps and becomes too intense. I find Enbalming Fluid doesn't have a great deal of throw, but then it's not the kind of scent that I want to telegraph across the room to drive someone nuts -- however, I can smell it on myself and I love how clean I smell.

 

While I'm normally most fond of scent with dark, woodsy, incense and tobacco notes, I think Enbalming Fluid is the yin to their yang, and a wonderful alternative. I'm going to get a bottle for the summer!!!

[erraticprophet]

I'm a citrus fiend. I love everything lemon-scented. I knew I had to try this.

 

Initial Impression: Very green, clean, crisp, and lemon-y.

 

On Wet: Lemon and tea.

 

On Dry: A hint of musk appears. This still smells lemon-y on me. It's a very clean, crisp scent. I love this!

 

Final Impression: More musky now. It has an herbal smell with a citrus twist. I'm in love! I can't stop sniffing myself.

 

Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5): 5. I've already ordered a 5ml. bottle because I adore this so much! It's everything you could want in a citrus scent. Light, crisp, clean. Perfect!

[cvelis]

In the vial:

Lemon pledge!

 

On me:

It's a clean lemony scent. I don't get much else but lemons.

 

Final verdict:

Off to the swaps!

[Seelix]

I really wish this one worked on me, as in the imp it's a lovely fresh green citrus. But as soon as it touches my skin it morphs into an oil slick of oily, kind of lemony weirdness.

 

I will be using this one as a room scent, but it isn't going anywhere near my wrists ever again.

[Gwydion]

I say delicate and bizarre. I'm finding the peculiar mix of alien and familiar a little disturbing. The effect is floral and chemical all at once.

[greencat03]

In bottle: biting lemon and light musk

 

on me: Mmmm, light n lemony with the green tea and aloe adding a fresh green-ness.

 

Beautiful light scent, makes me feel all fresh and clean.

[laliloo]

A lemony scent (along with Shanghai and Phantasm that I got in my first batch of imps). It doesn't really work very well on me, like the other lemon scents. So sad. The lemon seems once again to drown out the other scents and makes me smell like I've just polished the house with lemon Pledge. Definitely a slight chemical twang to this that doesn't small nice on me. I shall pass my imp on to someone who gets on better with lemon notes, I think!

[tanyak]

I got this as a frimp...and kind of glad I did because I dont think I would have picked it out myself.

 

This smelled SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD...on my toddler son's t-shirt, where he spilled it after getting his hands on the vial.

 

My husband LOVED this in the vial too, so I may buy another for him to try. I will buy another period...but it may just be a room scent.

 

Sadly, the tiny bit I got out of it to try on myself turned to soap. Such strong soap that it made me choke! An hour into it I had to go and scrub it off because the back of my throught was so itchy and irritated.

 

WHY somethings smell SO good in the vial or on other things...but soap on me...UGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH!

 

If this had stayed true on my skin it would be total love.

[waternight]

In the imp: Green tea and lemon, with a hint of white musk.

Wet/Drydown: This scent is heaven. Pure and simple. The lemon sticks around for a few minutes, then fades.

Dry: Embalming Fluid dries to become a very predominantly green tea scent. In fact, it smells almost exactly like The Healing Garden’s Green Teatherapy, which I adore. And, best of all, the scent stays strong for hours! I only swiped one little swipe in the crook of my arm to test it out yesterday, and I could smell it wafting around me hours later. I adore this. I love it the way it is, but I want to experiment layering a bit of lemon with it too, maybe Phobos or a lemon EO. Embalming Fluid is a definite winner.

[hellomoonglow]

In the bottle: I am so excited to try this! It is a "me" scent: citrus and tea are my faves.

Wet: Exactly what I thought it would be - strong but in a clean, fresh way. I can see how some people would not like this if they like more dark or deep scents. This is a very surface scent, not overpowering but intense.

1/2 Dry Down: Same. More tea coming out now and lemon taking a backseat.

3 hrs.: Sadly fading! I would need a bottle of this so I could apply frequently because I love the initial scent. This will be on my next big order as a bottle.

[stasha]

In the Imp: A lovely green citrus. Very light and clean.

 

Wet on skin: The lemon comes through strongly but luckily hasn't turned to cleaning solution for me yet.

 

Dry: It's exactly like the description for me. It's very pretty and light but I'm not totally drawn to it. I can see how this is a BPAL favorite though.

[funkmoppet]

I had expected to love this far more than I do. It has so much I love in it.

 

But the lemon in this really amps up to cleaning-product proportions on my skin. This does fade on the dry-down though, and I'm left with lemony musk with a touch of aloe. The dry stage is beautiful, albeit very very light.

 

I'll use the imp, definitely, but I think I have other blends (like F5) that are in this family that I like more than embalming fluid. I'll re-test it and see if I'm just having an off day.

[underline2]

Unfortunately, Embalming Fluid doesn't turn to lemonade on me. The aloe and lemon are the dominant scents and make it smell like a very nice smelling dish liquid. A wonderful blend... for cleaning.

[Tulliver]

This is only my second ever try (other than imp sniffing).

 

Vial: Fresh and citrusy and tea-y and everything it basically said it was. The musk was lovely. I tried this second, after Dorian, since elements of it were/are similar.

 

Wet: STRONG citrus scent, lemony but as lemon SHOULD smell. The must was also very prominent.

 

Dry: Settled to a gorgeous mix of the scents in the vial. I wore this when meeting a friend and she commented on the tea scent, so that was clearly the strongest throw, although I could still smell a real amalgam of the ingredients.

 

3 Hours: WHERE'S IT GONE? Faded FAR too quickly. This saddens me because I think I've fallen in love with this scent. I WILL be buying a bottle of it, but the short life is dismaying.

[Torrain]

Hmh. Starts out smelling like lemon and something mellow--I think it's the green tea. The tea and aloe come out over the next half-hour, and the lemon steps back; it's a kind of rich, clean scent. I can barely pick out the musk... my nose keeps slipping on it and wandering off after the aloe.

 

I... ah... accidentally drank half my imp of this. I'm ordering a 5ml.

 

L&c,

F

[Catmint]

I love all things citrus, and I love green tea, so I hoped I would love Embalming Fluid. In the imp it smelled promising -- very fresh and green, although more aloey than citrusy to me. Unfortunately it instantly turned to soap on my skin. Or some musky, aloey men's shaving gel. Rats.

[jbzoellner]

this was one of my original favorites, I loved the freshness of it! But then I tried it at several times during the month and... it hates me for about half the month I love enough other scents that I don't keep anything that doesn't smell great on me ALL the time... but this was lovely for a few days a month!

[ravenfeathers]

embalming fluid

 

in the bottle ooooh, very nice. i really like this. i wasn't sure on my first sniff at work, but my second, more thoughtful sniff was more effective. this is an intensely green scent, lemon and green herbs. it's perhaps a bit too light and i bet it doesn't have a lot of staying power. but it sure is pretty.

wet on skin lemon and green tea, an incredibly light, tart, almost ethereal scent.

dry on skin there's the aloe! it's lost its yellow lemon smell and gone right over to green. there's a little bit of a bitter fade that actually works with the tartness of the lemon.

two hours later completely gone.

[daiconharuko]

wet: HOLY CRAP LEMONS!!!

Dry: Okay, this smells very much like green tea with a hint of lemon. It smells almost exactly like the Elizabeth Arden green tea line. Very light and refreshing. I already have a ton of stuff that smells just like this, so I'm afraid it's off to trade.

[Elizabethm]

Smells lovely. A herby Green Tea with lots of lemon.

 

Very similiar to my l'occitane Verte so it's not unique for me and it fades alot faster. I'm grateful I got a little sniffie sample in an order from a forum member though since it seems to be a bpal classic.

Edited September 30, 2007 by Elizabethm

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Lemonade and sugar

 

Wet: Lemonade, sugar and tea. It's a crisper Dorian.

 

Drydown: The sugariness fades away. This is a really nice scent. Definitely buying a big bottle.

4.5 outta 5

[Lunaratu]

When wet this is extremely lemon and clean but not in a lemon cleaner way—in just a clean, clothes fresh from the washer type lemon smell. It’s rather nice. Dry it is just a mellower version of this same scent. It’s just…clean with a tiny hint of lemon. Pretty in a very subtle way.

Rating: 3.5/5

[naeelah]

Wet, this smells exactly like lemon verbena, to me. Very lemony and a little bit green. The lemony-ness fades a bit as it dries, and it has a more rounded, fresh, clean scent. It's sparkling and vibrant, and amazingly, it avoids smelling like Lemon Pledge.

 

And that's about it. It's fairly straight forward. It's a great scent for the concept. If you want a bright, clean scent, definitely give it a try. If you hate lemon, it will not appeal.

 

Because the scent is so bright, the throw is relatively good. I didn't have it on long enough to test wear life, but IME, scents like this tend to evaporate pretty quickly, so I expect wear life is shorter than average. The scent is bright, but not strong, so you should be safe with frequently reapplying.