Embalming Fluid

[FriedaLove]

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

While wet on the skin, this reminded me of a cup of tea with a slice of lemon. Once dry, the musk comes out to sweeten this up a bit to where it's more like a creamy tea with sugar and a small hint of lemon. I do get the aloe but as a whole this just reminds me of a good cup of warm tea on a bright day. This doesn't have much of a throw on me so wearing it is purely for my benefit. It's light and refreshing, sweet but not overly so. I really enjoy this scent. I rated it a 5 in my stash and I think I may need a bottle of this. I'm now about to wear it to bed. I was afraid to try this as I usually tend to head more towards sweet and musky scents, but I'm very pleasantly surprised.

ETA: I might have spoke a little too soon. While this is still a lovely scent, it quickly dissipates on me to where I'm barely able to smell it when putting my nose right against my wrist. I'll try really slathering it on another day and see if that helps but I'm bumping my rating down to a 4 due to lack of staying power.

[Deliciousness]

In the imp: A cool, light citrus scent.

Wet on skin: I smell the tea, with a background of light lemon.

Dry: Oh my. Something is amiss. There is a note welling up from somewhere that ruins my wonderful lemon and tea experience.

 

I know exactly what this reminds me of, this is deja vu. I'm 10 or 11 and at my next door neighbors house. They had hamsters. Were playing with them in the den. It was warm and the hamsters and their cages had this specific smell, so close to that which that I am smelling on my arm. It's fur, urine and cedar chips.

 

Wow, I didn't even know that memory existed prior to smelling Embalming Fluid. I am surprised and a little disheartened at the same time. Surprised that I had this specific memory stored in my mush of grey matter that I call a brain. Disheartened that every time I smell this great scent, all I can think of is hamsters and pee. Damn.

 

I guess I need to keep looking for a suitable tea scent.

[ringmaster-red]

Note: I got this from a swap, so it might've been aged a bit.

 

In the imp: old lady perfume with a lemon kick.

 

Wet: green tea with lemon. it's very green, but a light green? after a few minutes, the aloe comes out and it becomes a fresh, chilled green tea with a little bit of lemon. I'm not getting any musk.

 

Dry: it's darker and more "old lady perfume"-y. it smells a bit dusty. maybe that's the musk peeking out? the tea is gone for a few minutes and it's just old lady perfume, but after another 10 minutes, the tea and aloe comes back and it's a cool green again. Lemon is gone. I can still smell the musk, but it's lighter. It becomes less musty-dusty, and more clean and herbal. Fresh-smelling again. The musk comes out again and the scent gets a little bit warmer after about 20 minutes. The aloe hides and only peeks out from time to time. It fades fast. Oh, it got sweet. Now it's a creamy, lightly sweetened green tea.

 

Pretty much no throw on me. I can't smell it at all, start to finish, unless I have my wrist up against my nose. It's pretty fresh, clean, and light. Not too bad, but probably not for me. I did test this when seasonal allergies were affecting me tbh, so I might test it again some other time.

[Poenari]

This was a lab frimp, and I tried it before reading the notes. It's a sweet green tea, with barely a hint of minty freshness, as if from a slight crush of a spearmint leaf. After reading the notes, I don't really detect the lemon, which is a good thing for me. This is a refreshing light scent with little to no throw, very soft. Would be nice on a hot summer day. It also reminds me a lot of my bottle of F5. This is a very nice scent, but not one I would end up wearing as I prefer my scents to be much darker and stronger.

[Mechanical Death]

This is a very bright scent.

I get lemon-lime from it. I don't smell the aloe outright but it's there adding a crisp slightly herbal element. The musk blends through adding some softness.

I can't decide if I would wear it enough to buy a bottle, but I do keep smelling my hand.

Mmm

[doomsday_disco]

This one is very similar to Shanghai, with its green tea and lemon notes. However, I think this one was stronger on the lemon at first.

 

It is a nice, light, refreshing scent, and it's perfect for the summer. It does not have much throw or lasting power, though, and faded after a few hours. This is one that definitely needs to be reapplied to last throughout the day.

 

I already have a bottle of Shanghai, so I won't upgrade my imp to a bottle. I think that Shanghai has more lasting power (although it sometimes needs to be reapplied as well, it doesn't end up becoming non-existent on my skin at any point -- the same cannot be said for Embalming Fluid). I also prefer Shanghai because of its honeysuckle note (which I adore), but this would be a great substitute for those who like the green tea and lemon in Shanghai, but can't do honeysuckle.

Edited September 8, 2013 by dementia_divine

[psychocygnet]

In the imp all I smelled was lemon, but once it got on my skin all I smelled was tea. Herbal-ish green tea with touches of lemon and honey, to be precise- I didn't actually smell any honey, but it was so exactly like Arizona tea that I'd swear it was there. And it's been getting stronger every hour I have it on. The scent doesn't travel to the point where people are saying hello to me the minute I waft into the room, but it's got more throw than I expected- like a little tea-powered force field around my upper body.

 

All in all, it's nice, but I think I'd rather drink green tea and smell black tea, so I won't be going for a whole bottle.

[Miss Despair]

Beautiful, clean scent. Reminiscent of Bulgari Au The Vert, but sweeter (without being sticky or cloying), with more lemon. On me it's very clean without being outright soapy, and doesn't change much from the crisp, Arnold Palmer made with green tea type scent in the bottle, only with a touch more white musk. Decent throw but doesn't last terribly long.

 

I love clean smells, tea scents, and lemon, so this is one that I never get tired of. Perfect for hot summer days.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Bright fresh lemons

 

Wet on me - A pale green slight fizzy citrus muck scent

 

Dry on me - Nothing at all

 

Overall - Got completely eaten by my skin

[hexnut]

A frimp from a Will Call, tested blind. The oil is very pale yellow.


In Vitro Citrus, possibly floral as well.

Wet A pleasant but weak citrus scent. A few minutes on I thought it might contain grapefruit.

Drying Faint citrus with a soapy note.


Embalming Fluid was on my want-to-try list from way back, so I'm glad I received as a sample instead of buying it. That would have been a big disappointment.

[lunabee34]

My daughter and I smelled pretty much the same thing with this one: lemon and green tea. I love this scent. I agree with the forums that it smells much more like a commercial perfume than anything else I’ve smelled from BPAL so far. It’s citrusy; it’s light; it’s springy. It smells fabulous. I clearly love white musk. And yet, it fades so quickly (as do many of the scents I love the most from BPAL; anything light and herbally is almost guaranteed to disappear super quickly on me). I have found that moisturizing helps. Layering Bath and Body Works White Citrus shower gel and lotion underneath helps it last, as does layering with Envy. I hope I’ll have better luck putting this one in my new scent locket. If this had satisfying throw and endurance, I’d order a big bottle for sure, but as it is, I’ll have to pass.

[tyche]

I'm really thinking about trying this one. I love lemony scents, so it's probably right up my alley. An imp is probably the way to go, just in case it doesn't work on me.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: My first thought: "ethereal." Sweet, cool, and smooth, with hints of lemon, herbs, and maybe something vanilla-sweet.

 

Wet: The lemon and herbaceous notes are definitely much sharper. I could see some people finding this a great cooling scent for sticky, humid summer days; sort of the olfactory equivalent of a cool drink and a pool. But I like even my cool summer scents with a little more meat to them - this one feels much too faint even for that.

 

Dry: Pretty much fades to nothing after an hour or two.

 

I found this kind of a non-scent - it has too little personality to stick around. While I do tend towards the "less is more" theory with regards to perfume (too many olfactory-sensitive people in my family), this was too little even for me.

[ModderRhu]

I definitely smell a background of green, cool, jellylike aloe in this one. I think that and the musk are what gives this scent its lasting power. for such a clean scent, it sticks around a remarkably long time. it's not a sharp laundry type of clean, but a juicy and comforting one. it reminds me a little bit of Dorian. in fact I really enjoy wearing Embalming Fluid and Dorian together!

[agirlnamedfury]

I tried this years ago and remember wanting to love it because I loved the name, but it just wasn't for me. Anyway, I was re-organizing my imps and found this one again, so I figured it was time to re-test.

 

In imp: lemony and fresh. It's a soft, subtle lemon though -- almost like lemongrass.

 

Wet on skin: Definitely very bright and green -- reminiscent of grass and laundry detergent for me.

 

Dry on skin: If I had to guess I'd say I'm getting the white musk mostly, but I'm not very familiar with that note so I'm not sure. I really wish I was getting more lemon or something as it's not very bright, just subtle and sits close to the skin without much throw.

 

Verdict: This oil smells fine enough and I can see that some people would really like it, but I think it's just not my cup of tea. I'm pretty meh on it though, not a very strong reaction either way.

[Soupy Twist]

This was a frimp, and thank you SO much for this because it totally made up for the disappointing dragon's blood imps I actually bought.

 

Lemon in the bottle. Opens as lemon Pledge which becomes something much less artificial and sweet, and dries to a nice tea. Doesn't last long and not very complex, but a nice scent. (When I saw the name I was like, "really? a formaldehyde perfume?" and then I read the description and tried it and thought "WOW, that is probably the least apt name possible for something so pretty." )

[d0gbones]

For me, this was mostly green tea and aloe with the sliiightest hint of lemon. Usually lemon ruins everything, but here it's so inconspicuous and really complements the green tea and aloe. It's so fresh, clean and bright. Really uplifting, it'd be great as a room/linen spray too.

[DoktorDandy]

In The Imp: Vague, lemony, hard to pick up on anything I recognize, and nothing is standing out. Pleasantly neutral. Not much of an impression.

 

Wet: Green and limp. A green-colored Popsicle of unknown brand and flavor, gently melting in the distance, but attracting no bees. Something that should be masquerading as lemon Verbena if it shook it's tailfeathers and put forth a little effort. Flaccid citrus. Almost disappears from my skin within about 20 minutes.

 

After some exercise: Briefly and pleasantly perks up to a mellow impression of glass marbles and lemon drops & and a lazy, smooth green MEH. Despite how this review sounds, it's a laid back, friendly, endearing and entirely un-challenging scent. Warm weather appropriate. Looking at the notes for the first time I'm delighted to say that the tea and aloe make so much sense! Their inoffensive presence IS there but they get along really well and are unobtrusive, almost to a fault. I will certainly keep this friendly little imp though I'm not sure I'll be getting a bottle when it eventually runs out? Although this is nice, I think I want something with a little more drama as a personal scent.

Edited May 24, 2015 by DoktorDandy

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Shiny tea-citrus!

 

Wet on my skin: It's not quite soapy, but more like...cleaning solution. One of those organic ones with lemon and stuff, but still vaguely cleaning solution.

 

Dry: While this isn't a bad scent at all, I'm not sure I want it on my skin. It's very clean and crisp, almost sterile-smelling. It would make an excellent linen closet scent, and I thiiiink that's maybe where I will put it.

[ccelaya]

Bottle: Green Tea & Lemon

Wet: Aloe with a hint of green tea

Dry Down: Clean and sweet

The scent combination reminds me of a spa. Everything drys down into a clean fresh scent perfect for summer.

[LizziesLuck]

Frimp from the Lab! I am not a of "clean" smells, for the most part, but I love trying everything I can.

 

 

Wet: Lemony. Pretty much what I expected. It's really nice though, as far as clean type scents go. And while it smells clean, it does not smell like CLEANER on me, which is good. The tea note is evident and nice. Overall, I am enjoying this far more than I expected.

 

 

Dry: This smells pretty much the same as F5 did on me. Ok, but just not my type of scent. Glad to have gotten to try it though!

[ImpImpImp]

Finally I tried Embalming Fluid! This isn't my typical scent family, but after such rave reviews I wanted so much to join in on the love for this one. Unfortunately something goes badly off on me - I suspect it's the aloe. Not for me, but glad to know it now.

[freyasfae]

Beautiful light citrus summer scent, but there is something that lingers that doesn't quite work for me, like the pithe of the lemon which can be a little too pungent. After awhile that goes away, and citrusy white musk lingers, but then it pretty much goes away altogether in just a few hours.

Edited March 8, 2016 by freyasfae

[Casablanca]

Bottle: Green tea and lemon.

Wet: The lemon amps up, but I also get aloe now within the green tea. This reminds me of how By Kilian's Bamboo Harmony sits on me, with lemon replacing some of Bamboo Harmony's green woodiness. The part that seems like the musk softens this and blends it with my skin.

Dry: Lemon is strongest now. This has become lemonade with green tea in it, and a little aloe when I look for it. (We used to keep an aloe plant for sunburns. Very familiar with that smell!) After a half day, it's all gone.

[joopjoop]

Hmm, initially this smells very much like Shanghai - a strong lemon tea. But on the dry-down something goes off on me - maybe the combination of the musk and aloe? I usually like white musk but this is bordering on unpleasant - like sour skin. A little later the tea completely takes over on me as tea tends to do.

 

I can see why this is so popular but it just doesn't work on me. I'll stick with Shanghai if I'm in the mood for a tea scent.