Malice

[slave1]

A profound, complex scent that encapsulates the joy one finds in another’s pain. Ylang ylang, clove, Indonesian red patchouli, and dark myrrh.

In Bottle: Myrrh and patchouli

On Skin: I’m a sucker for myrrh so I was excited for this scent. The myrrh is beautiful! It grabs me right away. The ylang ylang provides a nice spark of brightness in an otherwise dark scent. Sadly the patchouli and clove start to dominate and patchouli never does well on me. After about 10 minutes it turns very powdery and that is a trait I don’t like in a scent. Sorry. Edited December 23, 2005 by Shollin

[merebrillante]

In the vial: Patchouli, and is that sandalwood? No, apparently not.

 

On the wrist: New Age bookstore. So far, I'm not liking it, but then I never was one for schadenfreude.

 

Later: Fades away to almost nothing after almost five hours. Not sad to see it go. It wasn't an unpleasant perfume, but compared to the glories of Ophelia, La Belle Au Bois, Casanova and Depraved, well, it doesn't really hold a candle.

[girlmadasbirds]

all ylang ylang and myrrh. =( very floral and soapy.

[Miss Lynx]

I should really have known better. Ylang ylang is never good news, not on my skin. It's exactly the sort of high-pitched, sharp, overly sweet floral that my skin loves to amp, and comes across like the olfactory equivalent of nails on a blackboard to me.

 

But in this case, the other ingredients with it were mostly so earthy that I thought they might balance out the ylang ylang. I was wrong. That would be like trying to balance out a tactical nuke. The ylang ylang completely dominates this scent on me, as it has in every other scent I've ever tried that contained it. I can faintly smell the other notes in the background, but only barely.

 

Maybe if it had about 1/10th the amount of ylang ylang in it that it does, I would like it. In my ideal world, BPAL would have separate versions of all their scents for the florally challenged like me, which would have much-reduced levels of the floral notes, kind of like a low-carb version. But that, alas, is likely to remain a fantasy. Oh well.

 

Grade: D

[grrrlennyl]

at first: very warm and dark.

on: lots of patchouli and myrrh, with just a hint of sweet ylang ylang.

1 hour later: sharp and soapy with a dirty sort of earthiness. i don't like this.

2 hours later: yup. the dreaded red patchouli is going bad on me.

overall: yet another blend ruined by my skin's aversion to red patchouli.

[MissMorbus]

Malice: (bought 5ml unsiffed...very brave....I know)

 

In Bottle: Whoa...this is one strong scent. Its very floral, but also very sharp, I can honestly say I have never smelled anything like it. Whoever said it will knock you into next week was right. I was a little nervous, but I applied a little to my wrist.

 

Wet: Very sharp. I think what I am smelling is the clove and ylang ylang. The best way I can describe it is that it has the kick of smelling clove, but the sweetness of the ylang ylang. It has a very powerful throw. I really like it, but some part of me is still nervous, I think perhaps, because of the ylang ylang.

 

Drydown: The sharp floral sticks around for a long time. Probably an hour or so. Then it morphs into a sweet, incensy, woodsy scent. It still has a biting floral undertone, but it has been beaten into submission by the patchouli and myrrh. It isn't an incense shop type of scent, it is more of an outdoor festival where people burn incense constantly scent. It reminds me of going to the Ren. Faire.

 

Lasts: 8 hours or more...I dabbed a tiny drop on when I got home from work to get the sharpness again.

 

Overall: I love this scent. Its a very dangerous, risky scent. I have never had a scent change so drastically. I am glad that I was brave and ordered a 5ml. I love that it morphs, I am sad to see the biting floral go, but I am also relieved. I think that without the morph it would be too sharp for me to wear all day. I also think without the sharp beginning, I would be bored with the sweet incensy end. This is definately in my top ten.

Edited March 11, 2006 by MissMorbus

[loves_requiem]

Malice rox my sox...

 

I looked through the notes in Malice and Lampades...trying to figure out why the hell they are so similar to me...the dark, incensy bittersweet fruit part. bloody phenomenal. and Matron Malice (Forgotten Realms) is definitlry thoguht of by me when I wear it.

[arabella]

First Impression: Patchouli.

 

Dries down to: There's a floral note and some spice emerging. Finally, it all blends seamlessly together.

 

Additional Comments: This one is a real surprise - it's perfectly balanced and very lovely in an exotic way - alluring.

 

Lasted: A few hours.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[Shollin]

First sniff: Darkdarkdark and spicy.

 

Wearing: Spicy patchouli with a decidedly red overtone, which was nice... but it faded very quickly and didn’t make much of an impression.

[n0thing]

My nose does very, very strange things with this!

 

On smelling the bottle, i get banana milkshake (i know, wtf..), and then on skin it's just, ugh sorry, loo cleaner! Icky floral pot pourri spray type stuff..

Tried it a different time, got exactly the same thing. Who knows!

[dragonryder]

Normally patchouli does very bad things with my chemistry, but this blend tames it very nicely and does not overpower. I predict a bottle in the future.....

[elfmaiden]

This one really didn't change much from the imp to dry on my skin which is a pleasant change! I can really smell the myrrh and it's really rounded nicely by the patchouli so it isn't too too incensy. My skin loves it and the throw doesn't seem to be far, someone has to be right next to me to get a whiff.

 

I like my oil that way!

 

4/5!!

 

Jenn

[septima_pica]

Ahh, nice. See, this is what I was wanting from Anne Bonny. The myrrh and patchouli, as I thought they might, work together marvellously -- the myrrh being sweet and wet, and the patchouli dry and bitter. The ylang-ylang is a little odd, as it seems to waft an extraordinary distance, and when I smell it I feel a little light-headed, which is interesting. I seem to remember getting some sort of lotion bar from Lush that must have had a lot of ylang ylang in it, 'cause it's seeming familiar.

 

Too bad the clove doesn't make an appearance, though.

[moonarcana]

This is currently one of my favorite scents - it is soft and beautiful yet deeply dark and wicked all at the same time.

 

Sniffing from the bottle, a fragrant sweet ylang ylang wafts above the full breath of patchouli. When applied to the skin, the notes compete with each other a bit - alternately chaotic and harmonius.

 

As it dries, it settles into the most amazing warm and spicy floral. The clove is more noticable now, but it is well partnered with the patchouli incense and ultimately mellowed by the persistent blooming of the ylang ylang. Ylang ylang can be difficult to love, but I find this presentation to be extremely enjoyable.

 

I have to give it a 5/5

 

...and as somewhat of a layering note, Malice really rocks with a dab of Opium Poppy placed nearby.

[juniperus]

Bottle: the ylang ylang and clove are most evident, a hint of the patchouli behind.

Wet: more of the patchouli and the myrrh are tucked behind the ylang ylang, but promise more.

Dry: the sweet ylang ylang is still in the lead and threatens to take over as it is usually wont to do. it amps on me like jasmine, and about as often, too (eg 90% of the time).

Later: schadenfreude is irritatingly sweet, with the promise of darkness it simply doesn't deliver. somehow appropriate. hate ylang ylang - ruinous beast of a bloom...

[Eunice]

Another wonderful patchouli blend. I wasn't sure how the ylang ylang would react in this but I am very pleased! The clove is there but it is very very light, just enough to lend a little spice. The myrrh makes this nicely sweet. Malice has everything I love, spiciness and earthiness with just enough sweetness. Another addition to my large bottle list!

[PurringPulsar]

Malice

 

In the imp: smells like Lust, without the musk. Must be the myrrh, ylang-ylang and patchouli. Not much clove yet.

Wet on skin: mmm, love the myrrh and patchouli mix here, and the ylang isn’t too heady yet.

Dry: mmm, I like this! Now the ylang-ylang is a lot stronger but it’s nicely tempered by myrrh, which darkens and ‘thickens’ this floral note. Yup, that’s some good myrrh action I’m getting here. I can’t really smell the clove directly but I think I can smell its influence on the blend-it’s quite discreet here. This to me is like musk-less Lust. I really like it…there’s something here almost like rose as well, but that might be the ylang playing tricks on my nose. It also reminds me of Phantom and one of the TAL oils as well.

After a while: eventually the scent becomes a tad drier and earthier, probably due to the patchouli, possibly a hint of dry clove in there as well. The ylang and myrrh are still going strong.

Verdict: this is a lovely, uncomplicated, and deep scent. It’s like Lust and Phantom without the musk note, with the earthy depth of patchouli and myrrh grounding the heady ylang-ylang note nicely. I quite like the combination of ylang and myrrh in BPAL. It would have been nice if the clove note was a bit stronger but I really like this scent-I don’t like it as much as, say, Lust, but I do like this enough to keep the imp.

Emoticon rating:

[forspecial_plate]

Very sweet, slightly spicy. It's interesting to me that some people don't get the ylang ylang from this, because on me it's most prominent. I was actually hoping it would back off a bit but no such luck after a couple hours.

 

I thought I liked myrrh, maybe I do like it on its own, but with ylang ylang it just adds to the overall sweetness of this blend. I might try to find a myrrh single note just to experiment.

 

Very little of the clove comes out on me.....I think my mom might like this. I actually don't hate it, I could see wearing it to a formal occasion. I doubt I'll buy a bigger bottle unless my mom really likes it, in which case it would be a good birthday present for her.

 

ETA: I tried this again today, and I actually like it a lot more, although it smells the same to me. I'm not sure what changed my mind, but it's good stuff. I will keep it and wear it again when I'm in the mood for it.

Edited July 28, 2006 by Forspecial Plate

[filigree_shadow]

When I first got into BPAL for some reason I kept getting imps of Malice. I got several frimps from the Lab, and I got frimps in swaps too. At one point I had six imps of Malice -- and my entire collection was only about 70 imps at that point.

 

I keep giving away Malice and it keeps coming back... I just wish I liked it more than I do. As much as I like patchouli, red patchouli doesn't seem to work on me very well. It smells a little sour. I do like the sweetness of Malice, and it's definitely not in the "must swap now" category, but it's also not in the "must get bottle" category. It's pretty much sitting solidly in the "meh" camp, with a couple of plus points for the myrrh.

[em_h]

Wet: Woah, this one is almost scary. Very dark and sharp and harsh. All the notes are good on me normally, but right now it's on the verge of burnt plastic. Many of these notes need a little time to develop properly, though, so I'm prepared to wait.

 

Drying: Still pretty harsh, though a softer note is coming in from somewhere, probably the patchouli softening up. I don't know, it's freaking me out a bit though.

 

Dry: It does soften quite a bit, though the harsh edge (I think it's the myrrh) lasts a long time. I like the drydown well enough. On me it's actually not very complex, though; it just goes from dark and harsh to soft and a bit powdery.

[fairy]

I wanted to like malice, but malice decided it didn't like me. I opened the imp and the top broke off. I had an extra empty imp vial and had to pour it in there. Then I couldn't get the *new* lid on. It was a 20 minute exercise in patience. Anyhow, it's a decent scent, kind of heavy and spicy, not entirely my thing, but because of the point the imp made with me, I think Malice needs a new home

[edenssixthday]

Malice - Wow! I had no idea what a pretty scent this was going to be. The very first thing I noticed was the strong, spicy scent of clove and in that respect, it reminded me a lot of Blood, except instead of blending with Dragon's Blood, the clove was blended with something woody and incense-like. After the clove mellowed out just a tad, I thought for sure the scent I was smelling was patchouli, but then it smelled kind of dark and husky, and I decided maybe I was somehow confusing patchouli and myrrh. Then I read the scent description and I was right: it's both patchouli and myrrh! The scent is gorgeous and I can't stop sniffing my skin! I notice around the 2-hour point that the blend begins to soften and mellow a bit, and the spicy clove has moved into the background of the scent. At this point, it's smells mostly like incensey wood and I occasionally get a lovely, unexpected waft of the scent despite the fact that it's faded a bit. Around the 3 hour point, I notice the scent is still there, but continues to fade. However, this is when I notice the bright and almost citrus-like crispness of the ylang ylang in the blend that I couldn't smell earlier when the other notes were overpowering it. Around the 3.5 hour point, the ylang ylang and myrrh are the strongest notes. Around the 5 hour point, I keep thinking I smell LUSH Karma. I was wearing it yesterday, but I have showered since then. I smelled in a restaurant at lunch and then I smelled it walking down the Pearl Street Mall and then I smelled it in my office. So I smelled my arm where I put the Malice, and I realized 5.5 hour old Malice smells remarkably similar to LUSH Karma. Guess who just found a new layering combo?! I really like Malice and will be hanging on to this one. It's über-sexy and I love it! Oh, and 9.5 hours after I applied it, I can still distinctly detect the scent on my skin, although it no longer wafts around me.

[shellyshells]

Malice- In the imp, the smell expressed is darkness and malice.

 

I detect the ylang ylang right off. Once it dries down the patchouli, myrhh, and ylang blend really well together.

 

I don't know if I'll get a big bottle yet, cuz all the LEs are occupying my attention, but this imp is definitely a keeper.

[maribouquet]

This was a frimp from the Lab, and one I would never have chosen for myself because I do not like patchouli.

 

Or so I thought...

 

Wet: Patchouli and myrrh. And this indian red patchouli is different from any other kind I've smelled before - it's woodier and calmer and I almost like it. Archaeologist rather than hippie, if that makes sense to anyone other than me.

 

Drydown: On me the patchouli is gone within 10 minutes, and I don't mind. Then the myrrh comes out to play with the ylang-ylang (another note I thought I didn't like and was pleasantly surprised by)...and this is warm, spicy and wonderfully satisfying. Sort of like digging your fingernails into someone's arm...(um, not that I would really do that now that I'm not five years old on a playground. But I remember when we used to basically hurt each other for fun, with "indian sunburns" and the like. And you know what? It was fun. Malice!)

 

*puts on bottle list*

[Mollywogger]

It's so strange how tastes and body chemistries change our perceptions of scents. For example, Malice has quickly become one of my favorite BPAL scents -- I love the rich, warm spiciness with the sensual ylang ylang, and it lasts all day.

 

I adore this scent. Can't wait to get a 5 mL.