Volt

[ami226]

VOLT
A living electrical battery, Volt plays the wiseass clown for his teammates, using humor to mask his awkwardness and his need for acceptance.

Leather with a shock of eucalyptus, green mint, elemi, ravintsara and lime.

Had to try this one! It has lime!!

On the skin: This is very tame eucalyptus! There is no herbal bite to it at all! Just a lovely coolness! Must be the mint and eucalyptus working together! There is also something slightly tart here which could be the lime, but since I am not getting a citrusy feel, it could be a different note. Also, there is a smooth, soft undertone that makes this blend smell quite good!

Both the mint and eucalyptus fade quite quickly on me and then there is an indescribable blend of tart and softness.

[Invidiana]

Wet this is all sharp herbal eucalyptus, mint and citrus, which is altogether very bracing and succeeds in making your eyeballs bulge out of their sockets. It's one of those "if you weren't awake yet, now you are" type of scents. The leather emerges fairly quickly, and while nowhere near as strong as DeSade is still too masculine for me taking the other notes into account. The sharp edges are softened somewhat as it dries down, and I can imagine it would play nicely with a guy but just isn't for me.

[fairnymph]

Tart and mentholic in the bottle! I don't get any apparent lime - BPAL citrus often is so weak I don't even get it in the bottle, and if I do, it vanishes within milliseconds 99% of the time immediately upon skin contact. But definitely the eucalyptus, appropriately shocking, but there's a sweeter, softer edge to that note or something else in this blend is softening the eucalyptus note so that it's not truly medicinal or harsh.

 

I shall update this review as I properly test all the new releases over the next 7-10 days, just an FYI.

Edited April 20, 2010 by fairnymph

[angelicruin]

Light mint, eucalyptus, & a splash of lime. Surprise hit for me. The eucalyptus note is very wearable on my skin and doesn't overpower. Same with the mint and the lime is just barely there in the background, but still distinguishable. I didn't expect to like this so much, but after trying it, a bottle of it had to come home with me.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

 

Wow - this is something a bit different from BPAL land! It's a lovely cool, refreshing blend.. I think it would be fantastic for anyone who has sinus or allergy issues, or headaches, as it has a very soothing and 'cleaning' quality to it.. like taking in a huge breath of clean fresh air in the middle of a snow-capped forest. The mint and eucalyptus aren't sharp at all - together they're very cool and soft, like BPAL's snow notes but with a herbal edge.

 

I had to look up elemi (a resin typically used in varnish and inks) and ravintsara (a camphoraceous oil used for headache/sinus relief) - now that I know what they are, then yep.. I can pick them out in here. I guess it's the ravintsara (combined with eucalyptus and mint) that made me think of this as a nose clearer! And apparently elemi can have a sharp, medicinal smell, but I'm not getting anything like that from Volt.

 

Oh.. and the lime! It's there, and it's lovely. It's not sweet (like the recent Dark Choc & Lime Truffle kind of lime), it's more a genuine lime with a little bit of tartness to it. The leather? What leather?!? I really am not picking up very much leather at all in here as a smell, but there is a sort of leathery softness to the overall effect on my skin so for me it's more a texture than a smell.

 

I think this will surprise a lot of people, it really is quite lovely and not at all the sharp/medicinal thing that I was half-expecting (due to the eucalyptus and mint). I can imagine slathering this on a hot summer's day, it's wonderfully refreshing and airy. And as I mentioned earlier, anyone who has headache/sinus/allergy problems should definitely give this one a try!

 

 

[edenssixthday]

Volt - In the bottle, this is bright, crisp, refreshing, and really nice. However, on my skin, it does the weirdest thing, and while I still smell the lime and eucalyptus and mint, for some reason, it entirely reminds me of what one of my dogs smells like after she's had a bath and blow-dry. It's certainly not a bad smell because I love snuggling my fluffy little puppy after she's had a bath, but because of the odd association, I couldn't wear it as a perfume. I really wish I didn't have this scent association with this blend because if I didn't, I think I'd really, really like it.

[femmefatale]

WTH? If I hadn't read the notes, I would have no idea there was eucalyptus or lime in this. It smells mostly of soft leather with a hint of soapiness and the mint bringing up the rear.

I am so heartbroken over this one. Luckily, I think dh likes it so it's going in his box. It's a good "work scent" for him, many but fresh and clean smelling.

[Dark Alice]

I need this. The lime and eucalyptus are goregeous! The leather is barely there and it is just wonderful. I need a bottle of this STAT!

[Saya]

This is mostly leather, eucalyptus, and mint. Starts off very strong, almost like a punch to the nose but fades quickly into a more manageable scent. Pretty masculine on my skin I'm not getting any lime at all which is what I was hoping for. I'll pass this imp along.

[tailoredshirt]

Yes, this is definitely a wake-you -up scent! Wet, I get a sharp men's aftershave/cologne scent from the mint, eucalyptus, and lime. Dry, I still get that menthol scent, but it's not as sharp. I'm not really getting any leather from this unless I sniff very deeply, and even then it's just a suggestion. I didn't think it had much throw, but then I caught a whiff as I moved my arm. Might be worth applying liberally, though.

 

This is a cool, refreshing scent that would be really nice for summer. Not sure if I'll spring for a bottle, but I'm definitely keeping my imp!

[Little Bird]

Volt is all sweet, candied mint with bracing menthol in the bottle and on my skin at first. It's like a very sweet peppermint candy. I can smell hints of a refreshing lime as well, and it makes me want to lick my arm.

As it dries down, this takes on a fresh, watery-spicy men's cologne sort of feel that reminds me of The Sea Rat for some reason. In fact, Volt is like Sea Rat Lite on me somehow, with the refreshing mint and lime making it light, summery, and cleaner smelling. The leather adds a subtle, smoky darkness that I wouldn't even be able to identify as leather without reading the list of notes.

 

I really like this, though I do find it very masculine. Sweet, watery men's cologne with bright mint and lime, something spicy, and hints of smoky, woodsy leather. I'm going to hand over my bottle of Volt for my husband to wear this summer.

[good_mourning]

Maybe I'm broken. In the imp, I smell practically nothing; maybe a whiff of leather that might well be my watchband. On my skin, same thing. Directly on a pulse point, if I bring my wrist right up to my nose and huff, I get a very faint whiff of a Vicks Vap-o-rub type scent, but that has already faded to practically nil in the time it took me to cap the imp, load the forums, and find this topic.

 

Weird. This is the first time I've ever encountered an 'invisible' BPAL.

[surf-tormented]

In vial and wet on my skin: Smells like toothpaste. It reminds me of Escential Essences Energy oil. Or Ultraviolet without the violet. Just Ultra then?

 

Drying: I don't get much lime or other notes in this. I get an eucalyptus note, mint and a very slight light leather. I was hoping for more leather.

 

Overall: It smells a bit like manly toothpaste. From the description, one would think the leather would be the dominant note, then the mint. But all I smell is somewhat refreshing toothpaste and that isn't really what I was hoping for. The leather note, if you can smell it, is no more than a wisp at best on me.

 

Passing the imp along to someone that has the skin chemistry to bring the leather out more.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Madame Nyx

[milo]

Wow, I never would have guessed that there was leather in this blend. I don't get any, from wet to dry.

Wet, this is quite minty and fresh with a touch of aquatic. Dry, still kind of fresh. Reminds me of the smell of a clean guy, actually. Just a bit soapy, but sudued, like he's dried off some. This isn't bad, but I'm not wowed. Try this one if you like clean, shower fresh blends.

[zankoku_zen]

Mentholic male cologne with a touch of leather. It dries to a very expensive masculine soap on me. Clean, male, soapy.

[Schmoozy]

I have to agree with others. This is quite masculine. That being said, it smells like Mr. Schmoozy in the summer. Whiffs of well worn leather mingling with mint and eucalyptus. It's like leather with a muscle rub. And since this is how he smells all the time this imp will definitely be worth keeping. I can see myself huffing this like mad whenever we're apart.

[hazakaza]

This is the BEST leather EVER! I love this scent.

 

First off, I have to say that my boyfriend uses Blade deoderant in the scent Diablo, and it smells PRECISELY like this. I know this because I got volt, tested it, wore it a few times, and then sniffed him one day (after a trip to the store where he bought new deoderant in that brand) and he smelled precisely like Volt.

 

That said, it is a very very masculine scent on me, but also a very sexy one. I'm a slatherer, but even I only need a dab of this stuff to say fresh and fragrant. The lime and eucalyptus are gorgeously blended and stick around for ages, and the leather plays nice underneath them as a clean and sexy undernote. I guess it's a bit soapy (my boyfriend says so, anyway) but I don't really get that. I get clean, fresh, sophisticated, dastardly, sexy sexy cologne. LOVE it.

[virusq]

Man, I wanted to love volt. Unfortunately, it turned into a bizarre men’s aftershave on me. There was absolutely no hint of eucalyptus, mint or lime, which were the notes I was hoping for. Instead, I got a very strange flowery/cologne scent. Very disappointing.

[catalyst]

It starts out okay, but I get sick of it really fast. It's all mint, lime and eucalyptus, you have to really dig deep for the leather. I have no idea what the other two ingredients are. Overwhelming and not something to wear when you're trying to eat, unless you're eating lime gelatin and mint juleps.

[fairestrocza]

I tested this decant again without referring to the notes at first, and when I did look them up, I was very surprised. Volt basically smells like Well-Groomed-Man - I think it must be the lime that I'm picking up and associating with a shaving gel my dad used to use. I do not detect any leather, although it might be what gives this a warmer feel than I would expect from the other listed notes. I do not get any of the nose-clearing or tingling sensation that I generally associate with mint or eucalyptus. I didn't take notes back when I first tried this imp, but to my recollection, I like it a lot more now that it has some age to it. It is not a very *me* scent, but I can't wait to put it on my husband, and maybe even get him a bottle.

[filigree_shadow]

I am never a fan of eucalyptus and very often not a fan of mint, but... I like this. It mostly smells like leather with a fresh, brisk, cool green overtone. I can smell the lime for sure. And yeah, it does smell masculine to me, I guess because I must have smelled men who kind of smell like this. But I still like it.