Sarah

[tinyvulture]

SARAH
(The Tomb of Sarah, F.G. Loring)
By half-past ten we were both getting very tired, and I began to think that perhaps after all we should see nothing that night. However, soon after eleven we observed a light mist rising from the 'Sarah Tomb'. It seemed to scintillate and sparkle as it rose, and curled in a sort of pillar or spiral.

I said nothing, but I heard the Rector give a sort of gasp as he clutched my arm feverishly.

'Great Heaven!' he whispered, 'it is taking shape.'

And, true enough, in a very few moments we saw standing erect by the tomb the ghastly figure of the Countess Sarah!

She looked thin and haggard still, and her face was deadly white; but the crimson lips looked like a hideous gash in the pale cheeks, and her eyes glared like red coals in the gloom of the church.

Unholy mist congealing into soft, white flesh, with black marble, remnants of liturgical incense, wolf's fur, and black flecks of froth.

I've never been the first to review a scent... here goes!

I had to try Sarah because of our shared name, and also because of the intriguing description. Black froth???!

For me, Sarah calls to mind an old, abandoned church. The windows have been broken out, rot and mildew have set in, and the only visitors are wild beasts foraging for food. The marble altar is cold and wet with a layer of fuzz growing on it. The incense smoke was so thick in previous years that it became embedded into the pews and wall hangings, never to fade away completely, but now it is combined with the dusty, funky scent of thick animal fur.

It's not an instant favorite. The mildew/mist note is kind of a turn-off, and the marble, incense, and fur notes are subtle and, at times, barely discernable. It's not a powerful enough scent, overall, for me to love it.

[herkissofshame]

There are only a few scents in the BPAL roster that register as "INSTANT FAIL" with my skin chemistry. Unfortunately, Sarah is one of them. While Sarah smells innocuous enough in the bottle (sweet, vaguely woody and atmospheric), on my skin?

 

"OZOOOOOONE. OZOOOONE. HI HI HI I'M OZONE OZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE."

 

...and unfortunately, that's all she wrote.

[topazphoenix]

My nose isn't sophisticated enough to pick up the medley of notes the description describes, but I also get ozone, like the previous reviewer mentioned. What makes this ozone unique for me is that it's not kick you in the face generic ozone, but rather soft ozone balanced by an almost musky sweetness. Unique.

[gingiemay]

For the first 45 minutes of wearing, Sarah yields an odd sour/damp/dirt smell that is slightly soapy (the ozone). Once this 45 minute period is over, it is an amazing sweet, musky scent that is at the same time cold and remote. This is a gorgeous scent on me and I am hoping that with some aging, I can reduce the soapy lead in.

[ami226]

On the skin: Incense, ozone, and ..... ? Reminds me of Countess Dolingen with a bit of incense.... I am afraid that the aquatic ozoneness doesn't really work for me.

[forspecial_plate]

I had high hopes for this. The notes in the description are just so odd! Well, let's see how it plays out. The decant is fresh out of my PO box.

 

Freshly applied, I thought of Devil's Night '06 right away. I'm smelling musk with some sort of candy sweetness. How strange! It's almost powdery but not quite. Obviously things like flecks of froth and black marble are more poetic descriptions than things that you will actually smell in this scent....unless you are swayed by your imagination, which could very well be.

 

As it dries, I'm......spellbound. This is like nothing I've smelled before. I'm still smelling a sweetish musk, and now there's a bit of peppery bite, too. This goes beyond gender-neutral into its own category altogether. Remember how I said you can't really smell the poetic notes? I'm backpedalling now, because yes, I can smell unholy mist, cold, black marble, and everything else in the description. It's amazing. I have a feeling the sweetness is coming from the incense.

 

Something else about Sarah.......to the casual observer (or sniffer), this might pass for a more traditional scent. I think some might find this masculine, but I really think it could go either way. I think you could wear this to work and get away with it, because it's soft, with not a lot of throw, and could trick people into thinking it's a traditional, and classy, perfume. It could also work for a formal occasion, because it has a bit of an austere quality.

 

All of this is is my long-winded way of saying that I love this scent!

[Scarah]

Disclaimer: first BPAL ever tried! First review!

 

I think I now understand the theatrical concept art that is certain BPAL scents. From the description, I expected this to be particularly morph-y, and I was not disappointed!

 

Freshly applied: Astringenty, citrus cologne. I have smelled something just like this during the 80s. At least I don't have to worry about smelling like a head shop! I certainly do not smell wolf fur or incense.

 

Ten minutes later: I got fur! Seriously, fur! And not in a bad way, either. Like the very clean but unscented fur of a very beloved and well cared for pet. Almost not quite unlike musk in a way. Incense, too! The incense is very tentative and only whiffs in the background, so my head shop fears are again assuaged. Astringent smell is going away.

 

Fifteen minutes later: The flesh is congealing and it smells SWEET! It's the flesh congealing I know it is! Or, okay, maybe it's ozone. But it waited all this time to do it just now, just for me, it's Sarah rising from her grave I know it!

 

Half an hour later: The Seabreeze/10-0-5 smell is gone. It has all mellowed out into a mellony, citrussy, non-astringent, ozone-sweet, wearable scent. I still get the occasional whiff of the fur note here and there, though. I don't think the fur note is throwing at all, I only really notice it with my nose in my arm. Still, it is there at some times and gone at others.

 

An hour later: The whole thing is softening even more. The melons, the sweetness, and even a little bit of the fur are becoming all one thing now.

 

I was antsy to review this one while it was still all fresh in my mind, so I haven't been wearing it all that long. I'll edit later if anything interesting comes up, but things seem to have stabilized for the most part.

 

In conclusion: The fur note may not be for everyone, it can be a little salty-sharp once in a while. It didn't throw a lot for me, but if you put on a lot especially then your mileage may vary. The overall impression of this, if you are not searching for the fur and incense, is just sweet and mellony. I am uncertain what melons have to do with the short story, but there we are. I don't know how much I will wear this, but I am very happy with it as my first bottle, because it has my name on it and a cool label with skulls buried under rocks.

[theseagrows]

hm, the notes in this one are hard to place. it's kind of like a floral-ozone/aquatic, but for some reason, i kind of LIKE it...and ozones and i usually don't get along. i can't tell what sort of floral this is, but i like it. it's not a white nor tropical floral...but seems to be in the orchid/lily category. maybe lily, as it's too subtle to be orchid. i think i get the musky/incense note far in the background as a lovely supporting note. it definitely smells funereal, that's for sure! i like this, though it's not what i was expecting at all. not sure about getting a whole bottle, but i think i'll keep my decant.

 

 

[angelicruin]

On my skin, I am getting ozone and dirt. I get a soapy quality to it as well. As it dries, I am picking up a floral note. This isn't really anything I see myself wearing regularly.

[capnlizaveta]

I think I'm on record here as having asserted that ghosts are invariably moist and that there is no such thing as a ghost that is not moist, so I won't belabor this point anymore than I already have. They are just two concepts that go together, no matter what. Ghosts = moist. Period. I will not be convinced otherwise, ever.

 

So I'm pretty pumped that there is an aquatic vampire oil! Vampires are close enough to ghosts for me to be happy. Sarah reminds me a lot of J-Horror, which I also love, except that one is saltier. This is moist air like there would be in a cave or crypt, not the salt watery air I got from J-Horror. The mist and marble are most prominent with hints of everything else coming and going.

 

It's very pretty and soft, so you can be spooky without being scary. Like everyone around you will be vaguely creeped out but not know why, and also they will think you smell good, never putting the two together.

 

Also, this layers with the Lucy oil and Lucy in Darkness room spray EXTREMELY well, if you want to smell extra scary and vampirey.

[Monster]

In the imp: Fresh, clean, slightly soapy (but not in a bad way).

 

Wet: This is reminding me of Torture Queen...just less sharp and with a soft incense note. I would say this is falling into the ozone/aquatic range but is actually really nice smelling on my skin. This has a clean scent without going to dryer sheet or pure soap on me. I was scared of this after reading some of the reviews but I can't stop smelling my skin right now! I really can't pick out too many individual notes, it's a scent that's well-blended and makes me think of pale, freshly washed skin kissed with a gentle feminine perfume.

 

Dry: As this dries it gets more and more beautiful. Sarah is really working well with my skin chemistry. I can still smell the similarities to Torture Queen. Again, Sarah is a lot softer, curvaceous, prettier....less harsh. The final drydown is an almost powdery amber mixed with clean-smelling notes and incense. Hmmm, I would even say this smells a bit like a more ozone/aquatic version of Antique Lace.

 

Overall: A sure winner for me! I disagree with the other reviewers who say this is BIG ozone notes. Ozone/aquatics typically do NOT work for me but I will be purchasing a bottle of this in the near future.

 

If you're afriad of ozone, don't let the reviews scare you away! Sarah is worth a try...really, this is a beautiful scent!

Edited September 21, 2009 by Monster

[Suusje]

This is very pretty. It's a peaceful scent, I don't know how but sniffing it makes me feel calm. It does have an aquatic feel to it and it really is lovely. But it might be a bit too grown-up for me, I don't see myself wearing it often. But it's still lovely and I'm definitely keeping the decant.

[Dark Alice]

This is a pretty aquatic floral. Where the wolf's fur comes in..I will never know. But it is very lovely. I think I will stick with the decant though.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Startling. It smells like tanned furs mold, and pencil shavings, with an aquatic men’s after shave over it. I’m not sure about this; it may be too intense for me. Wet: Better on the skin, though still smelling faintly of rot. The mist/aquatic fragrance is certainly unusual. The incense is understated. I think it’s the fur giving me trouble. Dry: I’m really not liking this. Something just smells wrong, like hairspray smells wrong. I can’t put the words together properly to describe just what’s bugging me, but I think this one’s a no go.

[satinworship]

I'm so jealous of the people who get fur from this!

This was the only halloween scent I was dead set on getting, based on the description it sounded so awesome.

I was expecting this to smell like damp wolf fur, with coldness and slightly sweet/smoky parts to it. But on my skin this just kind of goes "bleh". I'm going to give it a few more tries, because it's not bad, per say, I was just really hopeful for something specific from this and it kind of let me down.

It smells like gender neutral musk, kind of sweet, and golden-yellow amber resin. Nothing really sticks out, nothing really gives me any mental images, its just an overall decent everyday scent that isn't too masculine or too feminine.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this smells like aquatics and something dark, dank, and earthy, like a damp vetiver smell.

 

On my skin, this is soapy ozone and a dark, earthy something. It doesn't smell appealing at all on me. As it dries down, it gets kind of smoky, like a hint of charred wood fell into the mix. It reminds of Erik, which I also hate.

 

Sarah is just too soapy and too dark/dirty smelling for me.

[Katherynne]

I am getting aquatics and soap and .. incense?? How bizarre. Truly, it's bizarre. I am going to give this a few more tries, but so far ...:

 

soap to start out with

incense cuts in and gets cinnamony or something

water rolls over the whole thing and makes it cold & damp.

[femmefatale]

This is yet another surprising one for me. I get mostly a deep aquatic with a hint of something dark like incense. It's actually more masculine than I expected, but very nice. I'm not sure how often I will wear it, but I'll keep the decant.

I'm also curious to see how it smells on dh.

 

 

[thekittenkat]

In the imp: Ozone with a hint of incense.

 

Wet: A bit soapy. There's some sweetness, probably from the incense or more likely the wolf's fur, unless it's a skin musk. The ozone disappeared the moment this golden oil hit my skin.

 

The dry-down: I really wanted to like the Countess, but so far she's not playing nice with me. Ah, well, typical for a vampire, eh what? Glad I got to try this, with its poetic description. Just too perfumey, or something. It gets a little sweeter in the drying, but there's a floral note that I don't like, possibly lily?

[Lycanthrope]

I must be crazy, or my skin must be so.

 

Sarah is a moist rocky metal scent to me. It has that same cold feel as Metal Phoenix and Kataniya (to name examples) and a touch of the oily scent of several of the Steamworks series. My chemistry must be weird, because this dries down on me to the scent of cold rocks. Fairly awesome, but I don't think I need to get more than what I skin tested.

[lacyjae]

Yeah, I had no idea what to expect, either. Half the reason I got it. It's very nice, and pale and misty, and a bit of incense. Very faint and ghostly. It doesn't seem to change much, but oddly, I like it. It's a very close, personal, secretive scent.

 

 

[Apple]

This smells SO familiar, and I just can't put my finger on why. I think (but I'm not sure) that Sarah might remind me of the drugstore perfume I wore in 8th grade - Skin Musk by Bonne Bell (later by Prince Matchabelli and then by Parfums de Coeur). But it's been 20 years since I last smelled that blend, so my scent memory/recognition may be off.

 

Anyway, on to the scent. Straight out of the bottle and wet on the skin, I detect a spicy-soapy-floral note (some kind of lily?), and... what's this? A dried twig-and-crackly-leaf note? Divine! I never smell the "autumn leaves" note in any of the BPAL blends that purport to contain it, and here it is making a surprise appearance! I'm delighted. But that lily note (I'm guessing Lily of the Valley/muguet) is competing with it, and they're sort of shoving each other around on my wrist. I'm rooting for the leaves.

 

Unfortunately, the struggle continues and the combined scent is very commercial-smelling, dry and sharp. It's not unpleasant, and I haven't decided how I feel about it yet. I really didn't know what to expect from Sarah based on the description, but I was sort of hoping for either a musk and incense blend or an ozone and stone blend... or some magical combination thereof. I'm not really getting any incense and certainly no ozone, but I must be registering some musk, and there is a bit of the BPAL "stone"/"cellar"/"clay" note here. But it's that spicy-soapy muguet note that wants to dominate, and it's upsetting the balance of the scent for me.

 

Hmmn. I think I'll hang on to this for now and give it a few more tries. Sarah is very different from my usual scent preferences, and I think I may be feeling like she just isn't "me". But I do kind of like the scent, and my husband gave it a thumbs-up as well. So maybe I just need to give her some time.

[Aldercy]

Oh, elusive. Very elusive.

 

Sarah is one of those scents that has no real-life comparison. It doesn't directly remind me of anything I've smelled before. It's shadowy in that it has rather dark aspects to it, but also bright, fluid highlights.

 

Mist, yes, but it's not aquatic, more of an overall texture for the scent. Flesh, yes, and it's a bit like the cool, distant skin musk of Giant Vulva. Stone, yes, and it's a very slick, glassy stone. Incense... not so much, but I believe it's there; among all the intense, mirror-bright smoothness of this scent there is a little grit... something with a slight peppery, antiqued feeling. Fur... well, not the fur I recognize in Ivanushka, but maybe a very silken, silvery impression of fur that mixes in with the pale, musky flesh note. Black froth, no.

 

Extremely interesting, and a possible 5ml purchase.

[lilacea]

First thing that hits me when I sniff Sarah is vanilla flower! This can only mean good things, vanilla flower dominated blends are gorgeous to my nose, they are usually such lovely light feminine florals. This isn't an intense blend, it's light and soft. There's something like silver birch here, a counterpart to the softest floral perfume, and it reminds me of the discontinued Empyreal Mist, but less sweet and a lot softer. It's a very clean scent to, one of soft, freshly washed skin. There's the faintest wash of musky floral incense sticks, the indian kind. It's wispy and light and very naturally pretty.

[Kimbernunk]

wet: generic department store men's cologne

 

dry: the mist note is the most noticeable to me - I love and adore the mist note beyond the bounds of reason, so I was happy that the mist was the strongest. It's like "wet gray floral non-ozone fresh air" if that makes ANY sense to anyone else. The mist floats over a base of skin musk and fur (which is a note I'm coming to appreciate quite a bit). It's a soft scent, slightly sweet, and definitely damp - not soaked, not even really a true aquatic, but softly wet anyway.

 

The throw was pretty close to my skin, but it lasted for HOURS. I could still smell it the next morning when I held my wrist up to my nose.

 

Happily, I love this stuff, like I thought I would, and have proved to myself for about the tenth time that it really is worth skin-testing everything.