Embalming Fluid

[RobberBaroness]

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

 

In the bottle: Fresh and tart! Nowhere near as creepy as its name would suggest.

 

Dry: The lemon has overtaken everything else, in a sour, cleaning-product way. It's not a scent I dislike, but not really one I would choose to be surrounded with.

[Mermaid-on-Land]

Ok, so I basically tried this one because of the name and the fact that it seems to be considered a classic. I'm not a huge fan of 'light' scents. They fade fast on me and have no throw with my chemistry. Plus my personality doesn't really run towards subtle anyway lol. This is lemon very strongly at first but that fades within like 2 or 3 minutes. Now I mostly smell the aloe with a bit of green tea and possibly the musk. This is airy and refreshing, but I can already feel it fading. It's nice but not quite 'me' I think. The color vibe from this is a pale yellow-green for me. Well... actually I maybe, kinda take it back. About an hour in, it develops a surprisingly good throw! Not as much as a heavier perfume but pretty good for a light scent with my chemistry. I might change my mind. I mostly smell the aloe, tea and musk at this point (citrus *never* stays on me). I think I'll wait for a super hot day and retest. I wrote this off too fast, it's growing on me. Again, not quite 'me', but I occasionally like to change it up and wear something totally not my usual style and this imp would work for that. It has a cool, detached vibe, like someone no-nonsense with a platinum bob wearing a crisp white blouse to a business meeting.

[Convallaria]

The opening is pure lemon. It lasts for a long time before gradually bleeding into green tea leaf and aloe with hints of lemon. The drydown is clean white musk with lemon aftertaste.

 

It's okay but...I don't know. Maybe I expect too much from concept, but I wish there was something to hint at death or something mystical or a bit unpleasant medicine? If not human traditions, what about embalming in nature? It didn't have to be 100% match for an embalming fluid, but a component or two as a reference would have been nice.

 

The flip side is that it's a very approachable scent. It's rather similar to popular "fresh" scents my mother adores, so if you're looking to introduce someone who likes them to BPAL, this is one of the options. Great for summer, too.

[Joyleaf_]

This smells exactly like dryer sheets to me. Dryer sheets and pledge. If I wanted to smell like the inside of a laundry room this would be the exact perfume Id grab. As thats not really a feeling I want to invoke, Ill give this one a pass.

[Cali]

Fresh. The green tea and lemon being the most obvious to me in there. It's actually quite sweet for the slightly grim name it bears... Goes all lemon on my skin. Nice, but not for me.

[CitrusFiend]

Embalming Fluid is one of my all-time favorite BPAL scents! I get green tea and lemon, exactly as described, and once the top notes fade I'm left with a lovely soft musk. It smells very similar to the Lemon Tea perfume oil that the Body Shop used to make. I just wish the fresh citrus notes lasted longer than an hour or so on my skin.

[kattalog]

Wet: Strong lemon-in-green-tea scent. A mix between aritficial lemon and fresh lemon.

Dry: Artificial lemon. As in lemon flavored cough drops. There is some sprinkles of green tea somewhere but most of all its the artificial lemon. It even got that scent that surrounds cough drops or hard candy with lemon flavor.
At almost an hour in, its morphing to a very artificial, bordering to chemical/detergent lemon scent and in its process drowning any tea, aloe and musk.
it morphs again, half an hour later, into a sweeter lemon cough drop.
Already at 90 minutes embalming fluid starts to fade, and as the lemon note fades the green tea gets to show and during the last hour its green tea with lemon. During its green tea stage its very much a skin close scent where you have to stick your nose to the spot with Embalming fluid to notice it.

Dominant notes: Artificial lemon, green tea while its fading
Type: Fresh/citrus fruit

Lasting: 2.5 hours

Note: Lemon and citrus notes usually reacts oddly with my skin, so the artificial feeling and detergent lemon scent is probably because of my skin chemistry.

[roseus]

The lemon is almost bitter at first, but then the tea comes in and softens it up. It's fresh and soft, but not as zingy as some other of the other blends that I would put in this category (Shanghai and Kumiho come to mind). Eventually the lemon fades out completely and I am left with a very quiet green blend.

 

Update: This time I don't get bitterness on application. I get more green tea than, before or at least I'm better at detecting it, green but with a bit of warmth. I agree with myself that the lemon isn't super zingy, and it leads to the blend being refreshing but in a serene way. 

Edited October 23, 2020 by roseus

[gloame]

Every time a frimp of Embalming Fluid shows up in my order, I try it again, just hoping that today will be the day. I see all your lovely reviews and excitement over Embalming Fluid and I want it to work sooo bad, but 5 years on, it's still just Lemon Pledge on me. *mourning*

[lizabelle]

This is lovely and fresh, but it has absolutely no throw on me. None. It's actually worse than Poisoned Apple, which is quite the accomplishment. I may get the bath oil version instead, because this would be so mood-lifting to soak in for a while. It's mostly lemon, alternating between tart and borderline-bitter and sweet like in lemonade. The aloe is lovely in this and mixes perfectly with the tea. If this was a drink I'd be guzzling it, whether it was tea, lemonade, or something alcoholic. Definitely summery.

[Pixie-elf]

This is BRIGHT. It turns in to bright sunshiny lemon!

...Then kind of goes in to lemon cleaner scent. Then kind of sweet lemon. Then back to lemony cleaner.

I can kind of smell the green tea. It's nice! I think it'd smell good on someone who isn't me.

[Fiam]

My skin chemistry is LUCKY with this one. Applied from an aged imp... Lemon, then it is reminiscent of Calyx by Perscriptives.

 

Not at first mind you, it was hours later, after exercise and in the 90 degree Florida heat. I'm wondering "who has Calyx on"? Oh hell yeah, Bottle Right Now!

[achildoftime]

Wearing this is like having a glass of iced green tea with a twist of lemon nearby all day. This is unbelievably fresh and lively. It has about a medium throw and gives me the feeling of a nice summer day. I love it lots!

[tdgnika]

In bottle:
light and floral, definitely get the white musk and tea but the lemon doesn't yell. Seems promising.

Wet on skin:
The lemon is now there, but it still smells light. Lemon is broadcasting a bit.

Dry down:
A bit broadcast-y of lemon and floral. It's nice and doesn't shout lemon pledge and urinal cakes, like many of the other lemon scents tend to do on me. It's a nice, light, bright sense overall, but it's not awesome enough for me personally to keep.

[Lucchesa]

Embalming Fluid really does remind me of formaldehyde. I wonder if I would have thought that if it were called "Lovers Drinking Tea at Sunset" or something like that -- it does have a bit of a Shunga feel -- but the association is there and I can't get it out of my head. Bright-tart lemon tea, astringent aloe, high-pitched white musk. This could be a great summer scent if it didn't make me think of, um, embalming fluid.

[Juliamon]

I managed somehow to end up with two imps of this from different sources, one fresh from the Lab and one of unknown age from a swap. I love doing comparisons of things so of course I had to test them against each other.

 

In the imp: I received the unknown-aged one first, and when I gave it a sniff all I could detect was a vague sourness. It made me a bit reluctant to sniff the fresh one when it arrived, but it turned out to be rather different: the sourness was distinctly lemony, and I could smell the aloe as well.

 

Wet: The unknown-aged oil is a well-blended mix of scents, none of them standing out more than the other, the sourness entirely absent. Very mild throw, but nice. (It also never changes from here on out, so it will be omitted from the rest of the review until relevant again.) The fresh one, on the other hand, comes out of the gate with a punch of LEMON, to the point of smelling like cleaning solution. I am tempted to scrub it, but I'm lazy so nah.

 

Dry: Within 15 minutes that lemon cleaner smell has calmed down and let the other notes join the party. The overall scent I get is lemon Snapple iced tea, watered down a bit to be less syrupy sweet, with a background of white musk and aloe keeping it fresh and chilled. A perfect summer drink. Very nice, I can see why this is a popular scent. Stronger throw than the aged one.

 

3 Hours On: Uh.... it's gone entirely. Well, the fresh one at least. The aged one is still there, still the same, just ever so slightly lighter now.

 

4 Hours On: Why did the lemon come back?? The lemon came back with some of the musk. It's barely there, but it's there.

 

I am frustrated. I hate the opening of fresh Embalming Fluid, and I hate that it flakes out after a couple hours, but that middle part is lovely. The aged oil is a skin scent the entire time, with basically no throw to speak of, but it lasts and lasts. I was hoping I could pass one of these along, but figuring out which one is proving a challenge. I'll have to run more tests once the weather warms up and becomes more suitable for this sort of scent.

[thebarricadebabe]

I got this on a very hot and muggy day and wore it for a job interview, received a compliment the minute I walked in the door, and aced the interview. So obviously, it's very magical stuff.

[monocainsheresy]

In the wet and early dry stages this is lemon-scented bathroom cleaner. After about an hour the lemon calms down and the white musk and green tea start to come out. Very low throw.

[Brigdh]

In bottle: Tea and lemon, a very foody scent, but pleasant and clean.

Wet: Lemon is still the strongest scent, with something tangy and green - maybe the aloe? Great summer scent.

Dry: Gone. Absolutely no scent left within an hour. Oh, well. It was pleasant while it lasted, but way too brief to be wearable. 

[DigitalCoyote]

I put this on before I read the notes.  I was expecting it to have a heavier chemical smell so I was pleasantly surprised. 

 

Wet: Lemon.

 

Kind of dry: lemon and tea with this vaguely minty/herbal green action.  I'm guessing it's the aloe rather than its juicy insides.  This lasted longest.  By the time it was dry dry, it was gone entirely.

[fairybites]

100% bought this for the name, I mean who wouldn't want to smell like embalming fluid? But wow, this is so much nicer than I expected and may get a bottle upgrade with more testing.

 

Starts off heavy aloe, but the tea note and lemon are more present with drying. It's a clean scent, like a little bit of aftershave but softer. Plus the slight bit of citrus from the lemon, but this doesn't turn powdery or chemically on me.

 

Only downside? It does not last terribly long, literally within 10 minutes of applying I can tell the scent is fading some. Not completely gone, but the lemon disappears almost completely. Tea and aloe are the most prominent for the rest of the time it's on my skin. And with the lemon barely hanging on, the scent turns slightly minty.

[a_bear]

White musk and I don't always get along, but it mostly behaves in this blend. Very fresh and clean, borderline soapy even for me, and I have a pretty high tolerance for so fresh they're soapy scents. Mostly white musk and aloe with a bit of lemon. I don't get anything I recognize as green tea.

[tinyvulture]

Green tea, aloe and lemon. There's a creamy note, also, like a lotion. I love these bright, clean notes. Reminds me of Shanghai. Feels like something I would put on after a shower on a hot sticky day, to continue feeling clean and refreshed.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: Exactly as described, this scent is light, clean & fresh! The notes are all easy to pick & fairly evenly balanced.

 

Wet on skin: The green tea is taking the lead as the main note, but the others are still there too. This smells really refreshing! 

 

Dry on skin: Slightly "dusty" (can't think of any other way to describe it) now, but still nice. 

 

After a few hours:  A dusty, faded green-tea scent. Very different to how it was wet.

 

Verdict: I’m surprised that it went on so nicely but changed so drastically after dry-down. I think I’ll save this for use in a scent locket, because apparently it doesn’t play nicely with my skin.

[Rane.]

Have an imp of this. A simple clean tea & lemon smell. The aloe adds some soothing sweetness to it all.