Aperotos Eros

[a_llb]

Unloving love: benzoin, Indian musk, massoia bark, myrrh, ambrette seed, galbanum, bergamot, and fir.

In vial: Herbaceous evergreen, tinged with a bark-y bitterness. Reminds me somewhat of a taproot- supple, woodsy, earthy.
Wet: On skin, it becomes insanely musky, in the absolute best way possible. The myrrh is dirty & sweet, and there is a bright, tart edge from the bergamot, like dappled sunlight through the canopy.
Dry: The fir has gentled into a velvety base, supporting the resins most deliciously. I am getting the impression of ferns; deep green & brown shadows.

Verdict: At first sniff, I was afraid this would remain unforgivingly harsh on me as most evergreen blends do. I am so glad to say that isn't the case here! It softens exquisitely, and becomes an unaffected forest-y skin scent - I feel like I've just had a romp in the plushy undergrowth and am now laying in droplets of sunlight intertwined with cool green shade. It ultimately continues to sweeten on me, becoming rather incensed. I don't like that result as much, but I still love this enough to hold onto the imp indefinitely.

[Floria]

Fair warning - I'm getting over a cold right now, and likely to miss some nuances.

 

At first, on my skin, this is evergreen and dusty incense - like unburned incense sticks or perhaps incense ash. Given some time, this develops into an interesting blend of evergreen and the type of incense I associate with shops selling Asian imports and other exotica. It's not as as sweet as I thought it might be, and I'd consider it a unisex blend. Along with the occult-shop associations, it makes me think of mages doing a ritual in the woods or outdoor fantasy roleplaying.

[Larinessa]

Wearing this for the third day in a row (almost used up my imp) and I gotta say I love this musky myhrr on me. Sensual with great throw. Will need a bottle of this in my next order.

[Alia Kaitan]

I got frimped this from an awesome forumite.

 

It was all fir in the imp and while on wet.

 

However, it settled into this dark, dry, woody, incensy, musky glory. I believe my comment upon sniffing (once it was dry) was: 'Now that is some manly manliness right there.' Yes. On me, this is very masculine, and even though I am a lady who often enjoys wearing more masculine scents, this is even a bit too 'man' for me.

 

Really, really good though. I love me some wild forest man-beast smell.

 

A cousin of Luperci '11, though this is a little sweeter, more musky and sans patchouli.

[surf-tormented]

I got this as a freebie from the Lab. Apparently they took pity on me, since I had only enough money for a bottle of In The Forest. I asked nicely for an imp of this since I didn't have the cash and they gave me one!

 

I was curious about the ambrette seed in the blend. So here goes.

 

It's very bright at first drop! It reminds me of being outside and getting hit with a whiff of forest like freshness. There is something dirty in the bad of this blend as well, very earthy and dark. As it dries on my skin, I get a mix of Nag Champa and more trees, in might be the bark. A really thick musky scent is there which is my beloved ambrette seed, a plant with a musky property used to mimic civet, which is what I was curious about. I think the civet type note can put people off for it is an acquired taste. It has always reminded me of a spicy pumpkin spice mixed with musk, so I have always found it yummy.

 

It did stain my skin a bit since my skin is very light and I was letting a drop sit on it, so I guess blend it into your skin if you don't want a light bit of color there.

 

So glad I got to try this. I feel it is bottle worthy once my sample is done!

[melrose]

I am in love!

 

I smell like a headshop - musk, spices, a bit of chocolate.

 

I smell like an old hippie, which is great, since I am an old hippie!

 

Really lasts. This is the second imp I've tried in a row that belongs in my top 10 category - umm, I think I now have about 50 scents in my top 10.

[milo]

Hmm, I wonder if Indian Musk is the same as Red Musk, because what I'm getting is a TON of red musk here. I like my red musk as a background note as best, and I'm not getting anything else here but the musk. This is very similar to Scherezade and Marianne on me, but ultimately, this is a bit too musky.

[calivianya]

This is such a dark oil that I thought there had to be a lot of red musk in it.

 

And... red musk must be very similar to Indian musk, because this is RED MUSK! when it is wet on my skin. I can smell the sweet benzoin and dusty wood (must be the massoia) on my skin. This is really interesting so far.

 

Okay, something in this is going nasty. I am getting a serious nose wrinkling scent and I just sneezed. I think this one is really not for me.

[dreamingjune]

In bottle: Myrrh, musk, and a hint of pine.

 

Wet: Hello lovely musk, pine and resins! I am getting some of the vibe from Virginia, which is most likely the indian musk blended with the green fir note. This is really interesting.

 

Dry: Not hugely different from the wet stage, only with less fir and more soft resins and musk.

 

Overall: There is something downright feral yet quite feminine about this. Very unique with a pretty decent length of wear too.

[ND¢]

Simply put, my all-time favorite incense scent. This is well-blended in the way characteristic of Beth's best blends, gentle and comforting. Reminds me of being plunked down in a friendly little head shop, and my boyfriend and I both love it. Good thing it's a GC-- we are going to stock up and start these aging, because if they smell this good now, I can't wait to enjoy them a couple years down the road.

[JazzieCazzie]

Been awhile since I've done full-on reviews (and I did a LOT of them back in the day), so forgive me if I'm a little rusty at this but since I've just been updating, spread-sheeting and adding to my imp AND bottle boxes, no better time than to review everything that fell through the cracks in the meanwhile, since I'll be trying new scents every day now!

 

I don't remember when I bought this imp (it could even have been a frimp but, based on the notes I reviewed AFTER testing, I'm sure I chose it myself).

 

IMP: Dark, SHARP, woodsy with a tiny touch of the medicinal. IOW, my kind of scent but a little harder around the edges.

 

WET ON WRISTS: Not as "dark" (which was more of an image than anything) once it hits skin. Not what I would describe as fresh or golden, but there is SOMETHING in there that softens the woodsiness, sharpness, tincture and rounds it out, makes it a little lighter. It reminds me of something else that I can't put my finger on (but am sure once I read reviews I'll be all "DUH!")

 

DRYDOWN: My body still plays SOOOO nicely with incense-y scents and this one is no different. It doesn't go wonky on me, but it doesn't have major throw either.

 

Definitely a keeper imp and one that, if frimped with again, I would absolutely retain in my imp box rather than putting into the "swappable" pile but probably wouldn't buy a big bottle simply because I have other favorites that are so similar.

 

4 out of 5

[kolibri]

Lab frimp; received Feb 2013 (with my shipment of Lips Full of Lust and Laughter).

 

 

In the imp: Looks like sorghum syrup, a rich and earthy honey-brown. Opened it upon receiving it, and it smacked my nose around. When am I gonna learn to leave it be for a few days post-shipping?... Subsequent in-the-imp sniffage revealed a deeply rich and well-blended product - high notes of evergreen floating above a sea of spices and incense.

 

Wet: Whoa, this one's got throw. A little dab'll do ya. Lots of spice. Reminds me of raisins soaked in spiced, mulled wine.

 

Dry: Rounded, sweet notes of vanilla and sweet cream butter. Less raisin, more tree sap and burned myrrh. Still very spicy.

 

Later: This one has throw that just won't quit. A little body heat, and it rev's up again.

 

 

 

Overall: I immediately wanted to slap this on my man. It works on me, but I think it would be best worn during night time events, while he could wear it any time or place. Since I really amp the spiciness in this, I think less is more with this one, so subsequent wearings will be more conservative in application.

[kaberett]

In the imp: Spice, smoke, wood - rather piney.

 

Wet: Pine sap - freshly-sawn logs, warm in the sundlight, and awdust. Rich and woody and spiced, with a hint of citrus blending with the sharpness of the pine.

 

Dry: Sawdust and sap and sweet-scented fire and musk. And trees. I like warm wood! Hurrah. I'm not sure quite when I think it's appropriate to wear this one, but I'm looking forward to finding out :-)

[OctoberGwen]

Oh, my skin loves Aperotos Eros. This is definitely my kind of scent!

 

Indian is one of my favourite musks, as it turns out. It has a deep, sweetish quality that hints at civet but isn't quite as animal- smelling. That is mostly what I get here, after the first minute. (Freshly applied, there is sharp weirdness happening on my stained-yellowish wrists.) Thankfully, this dissipates quickly and I am left with just a dusky, musky deliciousness. I don't really pick out the fir as a separate note, but it's probably lending a nice woodsy quality to the resin/musk party.

 

This is for certain turning into a big bottle for me. I fucking love it.

[KakashiMorph]

This is an aged imp.

In the bottle: Spicy and musky and delicious. We're off to a good start!

On my skin: Wet wood that is about to start rotting combined with spiciness. I think it's the benzoin that gives the about-to-rot note (not sure what it smells like)? It is certainly one of the resins, I just don't know which one (because I don't know what they smell like). It is pleasant though. I think I can smell some of the bark in the background too. I am not getting any bergamot at all and even though I can smell wooden notes, I can't spot the fir either ( and I know what it smells like). It smells like resinous wood at the moment which is quite pleasing to me. After a few minutes the wooden notes pull slightly back and I am left with a glorious wooden resin scent .

Drydown: Resin. Not sure if it's the benzoin or the galbanum ( or a combination of both) but it's nice and resinous.

Edited May 4, 2013 by Kashi

[Acayde]

I promised myself I would test every BPAL scent that came my way, death notes or not.

 

Bottle: Resin and pine, deep and woodsy. Surprisingly nice.

 

Wet: The fir starts to sour on me and the musk starts to overpower.

 

Dry: The fir actually evens out to a nice woodsy scent. Very deep and reminiscent of cedar. What spoils it for me is a faint whiff of cumin and other cooking spices. It doesn't smell bad, but mixed together with the fir/cedar scent, it smells weird on me.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Acayde

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Straight red musk with perhaps a hint of something floral in the background

 

Wet on me - An oddly sweet powdered incense smoke scent, it smells as if something is burning and not in a good way

 

Dry on me - A smooth, warm red musk

 

Overall - This was pretty much a straight red musk on me, which meant I liked it more than I anticipated, but I didn't love it

[tinyvulture]

On first application, it reminds me a lot of Black Forest, one of my all-time top five BPAL's. A deep, dark forest (only fir in this case, compared to pine in Black Forest) with warm, animal (sweaty!) musk. Then the sharpness of the fir needles fades out and Indian resins and spices appear. I don't notice the myrrh but the sweet benzoin is particularly strong. A lovely dark, mysterious scent that's right up my alley and my husband loves it as well.

[AirAmIJH]

In The bottle, on the skin, as it fades

 

A Bizarre combination Noxzema/Phisoderm, Latex/Band-Aids and Neosporin/Preperation H. With a hint of Mint with Mentholatum and Artificial grapefruit/SQUIRT flavor; Tums and children's chewable vitamins.

 

Slowly things fade and I'm left with a woody, powdery "cool-aid" feel. Smells reminiscent of a well stocked medicine cabinet in a Sandalwood paneled bathroom.

 

It is just soooo odd. Not sure how to, or if I can, assimilate or articulate its affect.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Sharp, strong evergreen.

 

Wet on my skin: Very strong fir, almost too strong, like standing in the green needles of a freshly-hewn tree full of sap.

 

Dry: After this wears a bit, it becomes a gorgeous sappy, resinous, musky fir scent. It's more green and sappy than a couple of my other evergreen blends, less earthy and a bit more spicy/sharp. THEN! Then after a few hours, this already gorgeous thing does something magical. This thick, strong musk comes out and tempers the sharp fir needles into this ...deliciously musky-dusty-pine-resin unlike any in my growing collection. I'm a fan.

[Veronica]

I get sweet incense spices over a note that is dank and awful, I think it's the combination of woods going off on me.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: Fir, musk, and bark. The scent is quite dark (as well as the oil itself).

 

Wet: Hello, fir! I am getting the same notes that I got from the imp. I feel like I'm sitting beneath a fir tree that has been deprived of water. I'm not sure if this is more reminiscent of a tree trying to survive wildfire season in a dry state, or a Christmas tree that shouldn't have been kept in a livingroom until the end of January. In any case, this is a dry coniferous scent.

 

Dry: The musk, myrrh, and galbanum are more prominent now. The fir, bark, and resin notes dominate the scent.

 

Verdict: Not for me.

[Bassmastadroog]

In imp: Bergamot maybe...something super yellowy orange fruiting it up in there...with some old wood smell. ^Bowling alley (old) for sure

 

Skin: Ugh. I DO NOT...I can't...that yellowy fruit. It smells like an old cabinet with that fruit rotting inside. Strong cedary scent. Definitely sap, I don't smell any incensy like myrrh...it smells a bit like my old house I lived in with my four other roommates...I want to like this and it is definitely evoking certain images of old woodsy intrigue but as a perfume oil it has a scent to it that is gross on my skin though interesting as a house or room smell.

 

Dry: I can't smell like this. I like that it has gotten good reviews from others though. Its a cool scent...I would definitely take it deep into my lungs if I walked into a room and it smelled like that...I just don't want to wear it.

[cassier]

12/26/15 - This smells like linen to me. There's more there, but that's the overriding impression I get. I like it a lot.

[Teamama]

Aperotos Eros. Frimp with a forum purchase.

 

Oh my! Oh, wow! I need to buy 2 bottles, stat! This is musky wood paradise!!! I imagine this will age bee-yootifuly!

 

Ok, reining in the exclamation marks.

 

I'm getting the fir and bark, and the musk. Some note is tricking me into smelling nutmeg, but I don't know which. The fir is realistic, and melds beautifully with the musk. This is now my favorite musk scent.

 

It's really rich, a little goes a long way. It lasts a long time, and stays consistant, from application to dry down.

 

It's warm, and woody, and I love it. Another GC win!

 

Edited to add:

This has aged beautifully. The musk in AE is the most reactive of all my BPAL blends.  On a couple of occasions I've had to wash it off, because something about my skin chemistry that day has reacted to make the musk skew "sweaty/funky." Fortunately, I can usually catch that response by dabbing a tiny amount on my inner elbow. I  AE, & accept that I can't just throw it on. It's worth the extra step.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Teamama
Skin Chemistry