Bohun Upas

[strahlend]

A deceptively tranquil scent: heady fruits, dry bark, and deep green leaves, enveloped by a dark and sinister murk.

Bohun Upas works really well for me as a Yule scent. It has some evergreen to it without being distinctly pine, juniper or other overt and sometimes sharp winter tree scents. I don't get a feeling of fruit, but this does have a mildly sweet element to it - so some kind of fruit could be here but indistinct. There is a feeling of muskiness in this blend but it's not overpowering or too intense - just enough so that it will mesh with skin and body heat to lend a warm feel. After a little while the fruits come forward a little more and I think briefly of spiced apples for a moment, but then the evergreen feeling comes back in. A while later I'm getting more wafts of some kind of warm spice - just a hint - and it's really lovely.

This is what I always hope winter tree and snow Yules will smell like, but they usually don't. This blend is a lovely combination of green/musk/sweetness that is inviting and comforting. This blend hits a perfect middle ground of not being too subtle or too strong - it's just right.

I've had this in my favorites box for a long time but it frequently gets overlooked - but I'm going to fix that. This is a beautiful scent for cooler months, it's going on the bottle list for sure.

[filigree_shadow]

I don't really smell any fruit in this. It's dark, dry, slightly green, and smoky.

 

After about 45 minutes, I kept catching wafts of it from my wrist, and I didn't know what I was smelling so I asked my husband if he'd just put on Samhain. That's kinda what it reminds me of from a distance -- dark and smoky like that.

[Usagi]

Imp: cologne; slightly sweet, with an underlying smokiness. There's also a wood scent, reminiscent of eucalyptus chips. I get barely a hint of spiced fruit and greenery.

 

Wet: smoky vetiver manliness, and spice.

 

Dry: sweet, green vetiver, a little bit of clean musk, and some spice in the way back.

 

This is delicious, and very relaxing.

If you like vetiver, give this a shot.

[countessmouse]

Dark, ripe, perfumy fruit with a hint of evergreen. Not getting much musk, but it's still early yet. Decent throw. Every once in a while I get a whiff and think "that smells good!".

[gniwle]

Mmm! Definitely green with a touch of fruit. Then there's some spice and woods underneath. This is gorgeous. It smells almost like a spiced wine you'd drink warm during colder months!

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Lagniappe from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I probably wouldn't have picked this one on my own, although it sounds interesting. I don't generally have great luck with the Rappacini's Garden scents, since they're mainly florals and I don't care for florals. I'm also not a big fan of fruit blends, so while most of Bohun Upas sounds good, the fruits have me worried.

 

First sniff:

 

I'm not really sure what I was expecting from this, but I don't think this is it. Bohun Upas, in the imp, is a dark, crumbly wood (it smells like redwood to me, actually) scent with just a hint of dark fruits. They're not really identifiable. It's more of an impression of dark purple-redness than an identifiable fruitiness.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Still dark, crumbly wood and deep purple-red fruits. It almost smells like there's a tiny touch of opium tar in this somewhere. It's got a sort of faintly sweet, resinous thing going on that reminds me of opium tar. I don't get any leaves from this. This tree's got no greenness. It's all trunk and (faint, unidentifiable) fruits.

 

Dry down:

 

No change from the wet stage. As fun as it can be to wear a scent that's a morpher, I actually prefer stability in my scents, so that's not a bad thing.

 

The bottom line:

 

I wasn't expecting to love this one, but it's actually really nice. It might even be my favorite of the Rappacini's Garden blends (my other favorites being Destroying Angel and Deathcap). I'll probably end up getting a bottle of this one.

[calivianya]

I have not had much luck with the Rappaccini's Garden scents thus far, so I did not have high hopes for this one. It initially smelled sort of like cologne on me, then it disappeared. I have a feeling it is hiding in my olfactory blind spot as the spot where I applied it isn't even dry and I'm having trouble. After a few minutes, I can start smelling it again. It does smell of dark fruits, but not candy-sweet fruits. These fruits are slightly sour and mean business. I'm not exactly sure what the sinister murk consists of, but it certainly does a good job of keeping this scent grounded. I can barely smell the bark, and cannot pick out the leaves at all. I just smell something slightly dark and mysterious.

[achromance]

Wet: Green and smoky deep woods.

 

On my skin: It instantly starts to morph, getting a more powdery scent, but not in a bad way. The woods are still there, but less deep and brighter. I'm also getting some floral.

 

After a few hours: All I'm getting is perfumey floral. Strange, considering that there shouldn't be any. Maybe it's the fruit mixed in with some of the other ingredients, or then my skin chemistry is just playing tricks on me.

 

All in all it's not the kind of scent I was looking for, even though the initial impression was very promising.

[maoric]

In the vial: Very sweet and fresh green plant smells.

 

Freshly applied: A warm note ramps up fast, with some green, young trees and a mild spice with some sweetness hiding around in the background.

 

Drying: Smells a lot like some traditional colognes I remember, though it isn't giving me a headache. Warm and ever so slightly spicy. The green/woods are on the backburner.

 

Later: Soap? Very, very faint in the background. Sweet scents have started to return slightly, but the warm, mild spice is the strongest. It's pretty good, actually, like if someone made soap out of a rich cider. Just not something I'd want to smell like all the time.

 

Something about this made my girlfriend cringe when she smelled it in the vial and very slightly when smelling it on me, though she says it smells better on me than in the vial (probably because it's much warmer on me). It's nice in my opinion, but I'll probably pass on buying this in a larger size

[perzephone]

I'm new here, so pardon any mistakes.

 

I requested Bohun Upas in an imp sampler, because the description appealed to me - I have a fondness for poisonous plants, and a poisonous tree was right up my alley. I really wanted to like it, but my first impression upon opening the bottle wasn't favorable. It smelled like drugstore alcohol-laden perfume slathered on a man. Like High Karate or something.

 

I decided, since most of what I've been reading on the forums here indicate the oils smell different on skin than in the bottle, that I would give it a try, and I'm so glad I did. The only 'real' perfume I can tolerate on me for any length of time is YSL Opium, and on me, that's what Bohun smells like - only sexier and more complex. Depending on body chemistry, I think either a man or woman could wear this and pull it off. I also couldn't taste the oil like I normally can with perfumes, which is part of why I don't wear them much - walking around all day tasting perfume.

 

Fresh on, BU had a sharp, clean, freshly-cut-wood scent to it, almost like cedar resin that stood out from the base tones. The base notes were darker, muskier and more like vetiver, myrrh, a hint of bay or bay rum. It makes me think of syrupy spiced rum. My perfume/oil vocabulary is fairly limited - I don't like fruits or florals so I don't know what things like ylang ylang or lily-of-the-valley smell like, but I could pick up some hints of tuberose or maybe spicy, clovey carnations.

 

Someone else mentioned burning & redness on their arm - yeah, I got that, too. I thought I was going to have a major allergic reaction to it there for a minute but it did fade away.

 

After a few hours, I couldn't notice the complexity of it anymore, and the Opium-like aura went away, but it left a very nice pure sandalwood scent on my arms.

 

This is definitely going on my wishlist for next payday!

[PumpkinGuts]

This one is so worth the drydown. It starts off deep, rooty, and cedary-- dark green plants and wood chips. Then... goodbye, wood chips, helloooo, sexy man smell! It turns into sandalwood and musk, and a trickle of aftershave. You can bet I'll be slathering this on my boyfriend (whether he likes it or not). Poison Ivy would totally smell like this; I'm sure with all the men she seduces she gets a little bit of that aftershave on her, too.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I've been on a BPAL buying hiatus because ever since the Weenies and Yules, I've been "meh" over everything the Lab had to offer. Furthermore, I never really thought I'd like anything from Rappaccini's Garden because I'm not into a lot of florals and haven't had good luck with frimps from this category.

 

I received Bohun Upas as a frimp in a swap, and to my surprise it knocked my socks off! It smelled like Christmas and dark berries in the imp. I love forest scents, so I took it a step further and put it on my skin. There is so much going on that it's hard to pick out everything, but there's some evergreen, chypre, eucalyptus, a touch of vetiver, and something like wine but not grapey. It could be rum? There's definitely a sweet boozy thing going on here. As it dries, there is a bit of opium tar, cardamom, and a smooth musk that doesn't smell "black" to me. I could say this reminds me a lot of some other perfumes all morphed together - Black Forest, Luna Negra, and Saqqara (prototype). I just layered it on my other wrist with Amaterasu v2 and......

 

This was unexpectedly beautiful, and I'll be making an order from the Lab for a bottle!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Mostly rich, complex fruit. The barks and leaves are soft and deliciously grounding. The musk does add a darkly sexual tinge to the main orchard scent. Wet: The leaves and bark are much stronger on the skin. It’s still fruit dominant, but not as much. This rebalancing works well for me. The musk is a dark untertow, but my already naturally musky skin works well with this instead of making it too much. It’s a luscious and sexy fruit blend that smells more like ripe fruit on the bow and vine than in the bowl, if that makes sense. There is something a little wild about it. Dry: Muskier and darker. I’m calling it musk dominant now, with the fruit remaining fairly strong, with a hint of bark and leaves haunting. I liked it best wet, but this is still quite lovely and it has decent throw fairly late into the process.

[milo]

Icy fruits and greenness here. This is fresh and airy, and would be great for summer. Kind of reminds me of Ondurdis.

[bellumed]

Nostril-clearing pine and oozy sap, tickles my nose. I can see what other people are saying about it as a Yule/Christmas scent, though if I were to use it as such, I would prefer a little less of the woodsy feel. What others are describing as “fruity” is where I’m getting the sap, I think. It’s a little too thick and plant-y for me to see it as fruity. Actually the word I keep thinking of is “stinksap,” haha. It is indeed quite pungent, though it doesn't smell bad. Maybe it’s just the woods and the Yuletide quality, but this reminds me quite a bit of Samhain. It’s a pleasant smell but not one for me. I just can’t do “forest,” apparently.

[mymymai]

ITI: I sniffed this one without knowing the notes, so I wrote down that it seemed like the scent contained a nice but disquieting combination of peach, strawberry, and a muskier, aninmalistic tone underneath a mint or juniper.

 

Wet: I still get the animalistic tone, but it's mingled more completely with strong, very ripe fruit. It still seems like there is peach and a touch of strawberry here, but I'm also getting grape, but wine grapes. Just over all of that is pungent but almost mint juniper or evergreen. I think I actually like this one. It's strange, but interesting.

 

Dry: It mellows out quite a bit, but it still retains much of its evergreen notes along with a faint sweetness from the fruit. Very nice.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Dark and foresty with a drop of sweetness.

 

Drydown: Woodsy-fresh with an undercurrent of tangy-sweet berries (raspberries?). Cool and misty green notes, along the lines of juniper and eucalyptus, over darker woods. If this scent had a color, it would a dark teal.

 

Dry: Deeper and more atmospheric as it dries. A soft smoke has taken the place of the berry note and the overall scent has become fuzzy. Fuzzy sweet woods.

 

 

 

 

7 out of 10 bones

[Edreaiar]

This starts green. A freshly cut plant, but with a slight artistic interpretation.

It's sharp without being harsh, and faintly sweet, like sap. Orange is coming to mind as a color, though I'm not sure whether there's any citrus in this. Maybe it's more as a "sunshine through leaves" thing?

There's a faint woody note supporting everything. This is lovely wet, even if it's not something I'd wear.

As time passes, a drier, almost spicy note comes out- that background woodiness, pumped up. It's reminiscent of cinnamon, though I doubt it's that.

Looking at notes: The fruit and musk together must make the sense of spice + warmth. I did pretty well! I like this, but I don't think I'll ever wear it. Also, it reminds me of cooking stores?

Edited December 10, 2014 by Edreaiar

[Ishtar]

What a complex scent... it is far less foreboding than I would have expected based on the description. It starts off fruity, cold, and a bit musky. It could almost be one of those Yule snow blends.

 

The iciness disappears all of a sudden, though, and Bohun Upas turns into a warm, powdery sweet scent with a pronounced "artificial" edge to it. It distinctly brings dryer sheets to mind - still a far cry from sinister, but not exactly what I look for in a perfume either

 

Still - it may not be great on me, but it's not unpleasant per se, and the way it morphs through drydown is quite a trip! I would recommend trying it if you get a chance, as it looks like this one varies a lot depending on skin chemistry.

[lucycat]

This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

In the imp: Evil Christmas tree? Though the notes say leaves, I smell an evergreen. It’s slightly sour, and there’s a hint of berries.

 

Wet: Evergreens.

 

Dry: My skin amps wood notes, and that’s what happens here. It’s such a strong evergreen/pine smell that it comes across as very masculine. After the oil warms on my skin for awhile, the musk and berries become apparent. The slight sourness I detected in the imp remains; this is not a sweet, cheerful Christmas tree.

 

Bohun Upas would be great for a guy who wants to smell like sinister Christmas trees.

[Veronica]

I get primarily dark, spiced woods from this--pretty sure there is some vetiver in here. Not for me.

[White Raven]

Wet: Fresh pine needles and something sour.

 

Drydown: Sourness goes away and the pine becomes more apparent. Smells like one of those pine car fresheners

 

Dry: The darkness slowly seeps in and transforms the innocent pine scent into something more sinister. I'm getting dried berries, woods, and some spice. A nice suprise since I wasn't liking the air freshener top note.

[Malaena]

It smells like fruits that have gone off. It's now gone into a powdery stage. This is not for me!

[aquazoo]

That murk shows up first. I get the bark and leaves, dry leaves.

[freyasfae]

Dark fruits can be iffy on me, and this one is better than most, but once it dried down it was mostly a generic perfume on me. Not necessarily a bad thing as a generic perfume from BPAL is still rad, but considering my huge collection, I think this one can go to swaps.

 

Also, this is probably the first scent I haven't loved from Rappiccini's Garden which are just divine on me - the dirt, green, and herbs with a lingering toxicity, excellent, but this one is still pretty darn good.