Pain

[savage_rose]

Wicked and vicious! A sharp, cruel blend of lavender and pennyroyal.

If there's mint in this it's very, very faint to my nose. Basically, it just smells like astringent, bitter, alcohol. Totally not me...I like the sweet fizzies, but this is definitely not in that category. But if you wish you could smell like paint thinner, this might be for you!

[lucy gray]

In the vial: verrrrry strong, but actually kind of nice. A minty lavender.

 

On my skin: Ouch. I like pennyroyal, but not when it punches me in the face like that.

[angelicruin]

Two words sum up this blend while sniffing the imp....minty lavender.

 

On my skin though, the mint overpowers the lavender though and it ends up smelling like super strong toothpaste.

[Suu4LC]

Mint and lavender-with the mint being far stronger than the lavender. A bit toothpastey in the imp.

 

Less toothpastey on the skin. The pennyroyal is really intense in this.

 

Yeah, this is like, all pennyroyal-barely any lavender. And the minty edge is gone as well. Nope, not for me!

[Poenari]

Wow- the minute I opened the imp, the pennyroyal hit me in the face! Strong minty lavendar scent. I don't think I'll skin-test this one till I have a headache and need something strong. But my cat loved it- he is a mint-freak, and this is the first BPAL that he's actually come over immediately to sniff. None of the "Lick-it's" have attracted him. I'll have to find out if pennyroyal is in the catnip family!

[liquidtrance]

Totally STRANGE in the imp!! Lavendar.. maybe.. But whatever pennyroyal is is crazy-- smells sort of like eucalyptus with lime and musky leather. Definitely has the nose biting eucalyptus scent to it. A little smidge of minty-ness? But so musky, sour!

It's drying down and losing a bit of the musky quality (especially from a distance).. reminds me of mom's Deep Relief rollerbottle. Not really a perfume so much as a vapor rub sort of aromatherapy tingly smell. The lavender must be coming out because this has gotten MUCH smoother now. The pennyroyal is still sharp, but not musky. Cool!

[topazphoenix]

Lavender kind of flits around the edges, but the pennyroyal is clear, sharp, and sustained. Is true to its name. Evokes a sense of ongoing pain.

[TilHelvete]

My boyfriend's Mom got frimped some Pain and I asked him to sniff it and tell me what it smelled like and he went, "EUGH, painful. PAIN IS PAIN."

[sylvanusurban]

In bottle: Lavender and mint, but with a surprise chocolate note.

 

On me, wet: Bleah, mint with latex/burning plastic. Reiko Sazanami writes, “It’s like an over-sanitized doctor’s office, where something very bad is going to happen.” Well put.

 

On me, drying: Less offensively plasticky, but still toothpasteish with a chemical tinge.

 

Verdict: Not a friend to my skin chemistry, apparently. In BPAL, as in life, Pain is to be avoided.

 

[donnatron]

Imp: Yep. Pennyroyal. I know that scent.

 

Wet: Pennyroyal and lavender. The lavender almost imediately gets swallowed up by the pennyroyal.

 

Dry: So I just reviewed this because I had it on hand because I know that pennyroyal is the devil's herb on me. A sharp, biting pennyroyal mint scent over rotting vegetation. Pennyroyal is not my friend, yo. Vaguely body-odour-y and moreso as it wears on.

 

Throw: The throw itself is mildly minty. The up close scent is what makes it so very wrong.

 

Overall: No pennyroyal for me.

[sarajane]

I don't really like lavender. But I LOVE this.

 

Why? I like pennyroyal. I'm not going to use as perfume, but maybe to scent the room. It's very calming to me, for some weird reason.

[Saya]

This is a potent scent. Very minty, with a touch of Vick's Vapor Rub and a dusty touch. Not something I'd ever wear.

 

Rating - 1 out of 5.

[femmefatale]

Mint and....metal? Very weird.

The lavender is starting come out, and though I love lavender, this smells....weird. It has a very chemical smell to it.

 

Do. Not. Like.

[ErinZ]

Wet in imp: Mint with shades of lavender

 

Wet on skin: The minty aspect is getting sharper

 

Drydown: It mellows a bit, to a nice, herbal mint with a little bit of lavender in the background.

 

Wearlength: Fades to nearly undetectable within a few hours, but it's very nice while it lasts.

 

Final impression: I like it. It smells like a minty herb garden, full of balms, mints, worts and lavender. It's a nice, bright scent for hot weather, for headachey days, or as a winter pick-me-up. I think I'm picking up the metallic bit that Femme_Fatale noticed, but having once had a garden with mints and lemon balm and detecting that scent element among those plants, my nose-brain translates it as a characteristic of the herb (I've never smelled pennyroyal before, so I can only guess).

 

 

[Sawasdee]

In imp: Very strong lavender with sharp mint.

On wet: Medicinal, herby, hints of peppermint tea, sharp lavender is still there

Dry: All mint, but softer now, definitely picking up on the toothpaste others have mentioned.

 

Do not like as a wearable scent, but would sniff if I had a headache, as I think it would provide some relief.

[voodoocatwoman]

I grabbed a random imp this morning and slathered some on without doing a sniff test first. After a second I started looking around to see where on my person I had spilled the minty fresh mouthwash. This blend is in your face MINT. Minty pain? I don't think I'd go quite THAT far but it definitely made my head snap back for a second. However, I was awake and no longer needed coffee. So that's a plus.

 

Hours later, I smell lavender with the tiniest bit of mint clinging for dear life. And it helped with a headache that was threatening to come on. If I can get past feeling like I washed my hair with Scope instead of shampoo, I actually kind of like this one. Sort of. Maybe. A little.

[ralenth]

Imp: Minty with a bite. Hmm.

 

Wet: Satan's scope - I kid you not. Minty and evil. Yum.

 

Drydown: Still sharp, but oddly metallic echoes frosted with mint.

 

Dry: Metallic and minty. It vacillates between the two, but Pain is cold, sharp and impersonal.

 

Overall: I adore lavender, but I didn't get any here. That aside, I really like this. Definitely a keeper.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Dirty feet smelling lavender and minty ash.... hum...

 

Wet: The feet smell goes away and it's all lavender and mint.

 

Dry: Lavender!! Herbal, purple, lavender, with pale leaves. Dry smelling. Simply lavender.

 

Overall: If I can get over the wet stage, then I'll definitely use up the imp! i love the smell of Lavender! Just dried lavender. Light, sharp, herby floral. A bit papery. I just love lavender, and this is the first (on the dry down) BPAL that is really one note!

[Aldercy]

A very appropriate name! I knew pennyroyal was painful to me, but I had to take a sniff anyway. Yep, I don't even get an ounce of lavender... it's all the harsh, sour chrome of dental instruments and musty, disintegrating, poisonous greenery... *shudder*

[devilot]

Pain

In the Vial: Minty? Is that what pennyroyal smells like? Ick.

 

Wet: Still strongly minty. Quickly shifting into something even more medicinal. Retch.

 

Drydown: Lavender now. And strongly herbal.

 

Verdict: Really not for me at all.

[voorishsign]

In the imp: a translucent oil. I've never smelled pennyroyal before and like devilot I'm getting a medicinal and minty smell.

 

Wet: More of the same. It's not even a particularly nice mint, more like the mouthwash they give you at the dentist.

 

Dry: Yeuch. Not quite as reminiscent of a dentist's office but still rather unsettling. Not for me.

[DeltaCat]

After the initial *WOAH STRONG* moments, Pain dries down to a minty herbal lavender. Not a medicinal (did I spell that right?) lavender, but lavender that smells like it came right from the garden. This one doesn't last long on my skin though.

[Venneh]

Hoooly shit. In the imp, this smells like this mint-type stuff you always run into at the dentist's office. Cleared out my sinuses all well and good, let me tell you. Small, small skin test, cause this scares me. On my skin, it's the same, and quickly goes to latex. ...Nice. Yeah, this one's not a keeper, for sure.

[HKB]

I actually really like this even though I'm usually not a fan of lavender. I didn't realize pennyroyal was so minty. It's not as strong as spearmint, and more herbal. Initially its very sharp and I can definitely see where it was going with the concept. It softens up a lot. It's a good "clean" scent that doesn't smell like laundry detergent or a cleaning product. It smells like a minty, lavender-y tea.

Edited March 7, 2010 by HKB

[hmelt004]

Yowch!! Sharp, minty...mintiness. Where is the lavender? We like you, lavender, please come out. I think it's been scared off by the pennyroyal.