Pa-Pow

[Aldercy]

PA-POW
Such glorious faith as fills your limpid eyes,
Dear little friend of mine, I never knew.
All-innocent are you, and yet all-wise.
(For Heaven's sake, stop worrying that shoe!)
You look about, and all you see is fair;
This mighty globe was made for you alone.
Of all the thunderous ages, you're the heir.
(Get off the pillow with that dirty bone!)

A skeptic world you face with steady gaze;
High in young pride you hold your noble head,
Gayly you meet the rush of roaring days.
(Must you eat puppy biscuit on the bed?)
Lancelike your courage, gleaming swift and strong,
Yours the white rapture of a winged soul,
Yours is a spirit like a Mayday song.
(God help you, if you break the goldfish bowl!)

"Whatever is, is good" - your gracious creed.
You wear your joy of living like a crown.
Love lights your simplest act, your every deed.
(Drop it, I tell you- put that kitten down!)
You are God's kindliest gift of all - a friend.
Your shining loyalty unflecked by doubt,
You ask but leave to follow to the end.
(Couldn't you wait until I took you out?)

-- Verse For a Certain Dog, Dorothy Parker

Pa-Pow, Ted's best friend and companion for 17 years, passed away on September 1st, 2009. To celebrate her life and the joy she brought to all of us, we have created a scent evocative of bright days running through the grass and sun-warmed puppy fur dusted with California wildflowers. The proceeds from the sale of this scent will go to the Pasadena Humane Society so she can help care for the animals that were displaced and injured during this summer's Station Fires.

To find out more about the Pasadena Humane Society, please visit: http://www.pasadenahumane.org/.

Pa-Pow, we love you so much.

My first first review.

Pa-Pow is an amorphous, elusive scent in that it smells so tantalizingly familiar and comfortable, but yet I can't pick out individual notes very well. There is something in here that is so delicious and it's killing me that I cannot identify it... I'll report back if I figure out what it is.

For those of you concerned about the grass note, I don't think it's extremely prominent. If it is, it's a thick, earthy, golden grass-- not fresh, sharp lawn clippings. This grass belongs in a field, not in your backyard. And the flowers are not in your face either. They're the spicy, warm, brambly wildflowers that I remember from Coyote, but they're still not strong.

Overall, the blend smells fuzzy, snuggly, happy and just soaked in sunlight. This is probably the first scent that described itself has having a "sunny" component that I actually feel smells sunny. It's not like anything else I have. It's honestly probably one of my top ten favorites, at least judging from this first test. A really lovely tribute to a beloved pet. Edited October 19, 2009 by Shollin

[cfrancesca]

Pa-Pow is so beautiful! It's making me all weepy! *runs to kiss and hug her doggy*

 

Aldercy said it perfectly-a warm, sun-baked, snuggly, slightly green scent. It's a very comforting scent.

I was a bit worried about the grass note, but once it dried I couldn't really smell it. It's very well blended, hard to pick out the notes on this one.

 

It really smells like a happy doggy running around in a field on a beautiful sunny day!

[thekittenkat]

The bottle art is very sweet and precious--one of Puddin's doodles of Pa-Pow and her name in 60's Batman TV show word balloons.

 

In the bottle: Herbal, drying golden grass, and some faint florals.

 

Wet: The sun-warmed puppy fur note reminds me of Ivanushka. The grass is not fresh green grass, but more like wild tall grass that has been drying all summer long in the California heat. Sunny and golden indeed.

 

The Dry-Down: This is starting to turn sweet on me, I suspect from the wildflowers. A morpher on me, but I just view that as all the stages of a dog's life, from puppyhood to gangling teen to maturity. And even though it's not listed, I'm getting a faint vanilla note.

 

This is a sweet and wonderful perfume oil, and I plan on ordering a couple more bottles for myself and as gifts.

[stonechiper]

Dry sunny meadow grass, sweet wildflowers and that distinctive powdery musky smell of a dog cavorting there. Amazingly evocative, and a wonderful memorial to a dear one. If you loved Beltane I would give this a try.

[dronzeka]

In the bottle: fresh green grass! and a wee hint of flowers.

 

Wet: grass/flowers.

 

Drying: okay, there's a brief moment when I get a whiff of something...sort of yucky. Like, musk gone really bad. Wait, now it seems to be gone... phew!

 

Drydown: pleasant, if somewhat generic. On me, the musk is a little powdery, in a nice way, sort of like a nice baby powder. (Not like Gladdener of all Hearts, though, which has never smelled like baby powder to me.) There's a slight floral sweetness in the background. These flowers aren't big heady tropical things - they're little fresh wildflowers. As it dries further, I get more grass again - which, sadly, goes kind of sharp and unappealing on me, but if you like grass and it works on you, you'll probably like this. In the end everything blends together into a soft powderiness. It is quite comforting and soft.

[melange]

Bottle: grassy with flowers.

 

When I apply it, it's green and grassy, very grassy, with flowers and a hint of the musk coming out during the drydown. The green grass sticks around for a while on my skin, which I like.

 

About three hours along: this really is puppy fur. Not a stanky dog who just rolled in something, not cat fur, but... puppy. It tugs my nose down to it as if to say, sniff me, sniff me! Somehow, the side of my wrist gets closer to powdery while the top of my wrist has a little more puppy.

 

I also love the label with the cute artwork with the "Pow!"

[saralaughs]

This is a beautiful, comforting scent.

 

When first applied, it's grass. Not sharp grass, but a sweet almost green grass. After a bit, there is this inclusion of musk (maybe?). It does smell sort of...furry...but good furry, like comforting furry. Warm and playful yet loving. This is that scent.

 

As it gets further into the drydown, I get more wildflowers but it is still mainly grassy furry baby in the sunshine. Lovely and I'll keep it when I need to be warmed and comforted.

[Kimbernunk]

I like it. I LOVED it for about the first hour, while the grass was really strong and the puppy fur* and wildflowers** were much lighter. I've been wearing it for about three hours now, and it's much more strongly soft puppy fur and wildflowers with a little bit of sweetgrass. It is a ridiculously cheerful happy scent in either version. I like it dry, but really love it wet, so I'm thinking I may scent locket it.

 

*I think the fur note is the same in Sarah and which is the little bit of something in Sarah that goes slightly sweet on me. I really like it - it's reminiscent of the skin musk note, but slightly different - warmer and cuddly

 

**I'm 99% sure this is the same yellow-ish floral in June Gloom '09, which I LOVED

 

[goblinshark]

this is SO amazing, I wish I had purchased more than one bottle. grassy, flowery without being FLORAL, and vaguely reminiscent of Hay Moon, which is my favorite lunar blend of all time. A+, will wear often.

[Astarial]

This is just so... at peace. It smells like going out into a field on a warm, sunny day, and lying down in the grass. Some of the grass stems are crushed under your weight, and their sweet scent wafts up and mingles with the soft smell of the wildflowers. As it dries, it's like a playful puppy sneaking up on you and poking its adorable head under your hand for petting.

 

D'AAAAAWWWWWWW.

[twilighteyes]

In the bottle it smells very similar to Dog Days of Summer.

 

Wet on skin I am getting a mixed floral and green. Not "green GRASS" like A Blade of Grass, but just a green feeling with a slight hint of grass.

 

On drydown it goes to sweet mixed floral.

 

Darn skin, I wanted Sun and Puppy Fur!!!!

 

Such a cute label!!!! Thank you Beth and Puddin for turning the loss of a beloved pet into an opportunity to help other animals in need.

[LBJ]

I get clover hay from this - no fur and no flowers, but I don't even care b/c the hay smell is so delicious.

[ClareDeLune]

I get a mix of dry grasses, sweet wildflowers, and the smell of burying your nose into the clean fur of a pet. It's lovely and comforting and a great tribute to Pa Pow.

And the label? Adorable.

[Eimeria]

I just got this today and love it so much already. It truly is the smell of a sunny day, very grassy on my skin, with a hint of floral. The smell is familiar and comforting, like I'm snuggling up to my own dog after a romp in the meadow.

Truly, my holy grail scent. I'm in love with it.

[MCS4096]

I slathered this on this morning and it was initially entirely dry grasses. As it dried down I finally smelled some fur musk and flowers.. but the whole lot faded fairly quickly. Warm and comforting

[cyberpuff]

This is one of the most bright and cheery scents I've experienced from Bpal!

 

In the bottle: Florals and dried grass. Clover flower and baby yellow blooms.

 

Wet on skin: I really want to try to stay specific with notes on this, but it's hard! Once I get it on my skin, I get an indian summer morning, with the sun drying the dew on the dried hillside plants. If anyone can help me with what those notes are, please do!

 

Drydown-20 mins later: The fur is there, at least I think it's fur. It's a warm softness that's rounded out the florals.

 

An hour later: It's barely there, but it still smells like a happy day.

 

My verdict: Everyone should own a bottle of this. Buy it for your friends who think all bpal smells the same/like hippies/like a headshop. There's something mainstream, almost commercial about this one, but that's not a bad thing, it just means it's accessible to a wider audience. I will probably buy a couple more bottles of this to give out at xmas.

[Little Bird]

This perfume morphs quite a bit on my skin. It starts off smelling green, grassy, and slightly fruity-sweet. My husband said that it smelled like green apple skins, and I can agree with that. It reminds me of crab apples and green grass. I would love this to pieces if it stayed that way on my skin, but it morphs and goes into a really powdery phase on me. It's like a sweet, earthy, powdery, cozy musk + baby powder drydown. After about an hour it's not so baby powdery; it's more of a dusty brown scent, slightly musky, with a bit of smooth sweetness (not sugary-sweet at all, just on the sweeter side of things).

 

I really want to love this scent, but I only really enjoy the first five minutes or so when it's green and grassy smelling. It doesn't have a great drydown on me, and it doesn't have much throw or staying power either. I'll keep my bottle, though, if only for the sweet label and beautiful sentiment behind it.

[zankoku_zen]

This is a very warm, golden grass blend. It's got a warm fur kind of smell, which made me think of Ivanushka. This is the scent of a happy dog that has come in from a walk outside, sun sticking to its hair and it just flops down on your bed and smiles at you, and looks at you with those deep, dark eyes shining with love and loyalty and you can't help but smile back.

 

Golden puppy love indeed, and a fitting tribute. This blend is very obviously a labor of love.

Edited November 6, 2009 by zankoku_zen

[filigree_shadow]

I've worn this a couple of times since I got it, even though I don't like the wet stage very much. I'm not a fan of grassy, herby, or green scents, and that's what it smells like at first. It's not soft grass, it's sharp. But when it's dry, it's lovely on me. Soft, floral but not in-your-face floral, pleasant... like summertime in a meadow. I keep being surprised at how different the wet/dry stages are because I think this one is the biggest morpher I can remember.

 

I never met Pa-Pow, but I love my own dogs tremendously, and smelling this scent makes me think of the very special bond between a dog and his/her person. I love it just for that reason, but I also like wearing it and being reminded of my little furbabies.

[Jammies]

Beth, I say this in all love and respect, but damn you for making me cry.

 

Those of you who know me know I lost my heart-dog, my fifteen-year companion, Stormy, aka Bigfoot, in May of this year. In the last moments of his last day, in the vet's office, I buried my face in his head, and said to the receptionists and friends who where in the room with me that Stormy never "smelled like dog" unless he was soaking wet. His fur was always sweet-smelling.

 

One whiff of Pa-Pow and I was right back there, with my nose buried in Stormy's fur. I'm sure it's not an exact replica, but it's close enough to make me cry for my loss, for Beth and Ted's loss and to smil through the tears at remembering all the joy Stormy brought me and which I am sure Pa-Pow gave to her humans.

[Venneh]

I had someone do a WC pick-up for this one, and I'm really eager to test it out, even though I have a very strong suspicion that like most others in this thread, I'm going to end up crying.

 

In the bottle, this smells like an open field in summer; sun, grass, flowers. On my skin... this is smelling like grassy cologne. What? No, no, no, I want this to work on me so bad... There's a rambunctious little puppy in here, I can smell the fur, and it's and the wildflowers are trying so bad to fight the grass on me, but the grass seems to be winning out. Agh.

 

This is still an amazing tribute scent in the bottle, and it still makes me feel a little weepy. So many hugs for you, Beth and Puddin'.

[Frills]

This is amazing. Puppies have this indescribable, warm-skin-soft-fur scent that seems to go away when they get older. And this scent has that in faint whiffs. I didn't think that was possible.

 

Mostly, it smells like grass and sweet flowers and I think there's some apple blossom in there? Something as sweet as apple? I don't even know but it's delicious. And then, when I turn my head, sometimes I smell soft puppy on top of it all and it's just...guh it reminds me of being a kid, romping in the back yard with my Sheltie puppy.

 

This bottle is truly worth every cent.

[kattharia]

PA-POW....... Ahh yes, I knew this would be a keeper. If I didn't like the not,which I do, I would love It for what It means. PA-POW will forever be, In my mind at least, my Rosie scent. Two days after my bottle arrived, The end came for Rosie, my 13 year old dalmatian. Rosie had a somewhat difficult later life, and by the end had lost use of her back legs. I wore this on our last Vet. visit, It just seemed right

I also am happy to donate to rescue organizations because they are so needed now. I have a 6 month old puppy as a foster now waiting for his "forever home".

In the bottle, this is warm sunny grass, I smells golden to me, like an early summer day. It reminds me of playing with my puppy in the yard.

Wet, the grasses sharpin a bit, this is my least favorite phase, I begin to worry that this is NOT going to work, no matter how hard I try.

Ok, the softness is back, with just a hint of wild flowers! Very wearable, with a rather low throw.

I want to thank all involed in this, Ted, Beth, Dr. Horstmeyer the best vet ever! and S.C.G.R.Rescue for giving me the oppertunity to help another wonderful dog.

[KesHiro]

A lovely and fitting tribute to a beloved family member . . .

 

In the bottle I get fresh green grass with the faintest hint of florals. Once I put it on, the warm puppy fur aspect begins to come out and mixes beautifully with the grass and flowers. I do find that the grass tries to overpower the other parts of the oil; for about ten minutes, this really sharp and scary celery note came out. I mean, it was SHARP. I actually looked around, wondering why I kept smelling freshly chopped vegetables. Fortunately, it fades back to a soft grass note after the main dry down phase.

 

After that, I'm left with a soft floral with a faint powdery (in a good way) scent. It's a bit like baby powder . . . if they made high end, sophisticated baby powder. It's clean, soft, fuzzy, and cuddly and does a wonderful job of conjuring up memories of playing with a puppy in the garden during a warm, sunny day.

 

Thank you so much to the lab owners for sharing this with us.

[greenranger]

This started off all grassy and I was worried, because I really have enough green grassy scents(2 is more than enough for me).

 

Then I went off and did something else for 15 minutes or so, and when I sniffed the spot again, the grass was gone...or morphed. Or, rather I can still smell the grass on the spot on my upper arm, but, on the back of my hand all I smell is sunlight and clean fur. It isn't a strong scent, but, it's a clean skin scent.

 

Fresh, happy, and clean.