The Butterfly

[Teaotter]

Fuzzy brown tonka bean, golden amber, bergamot, and petitgrain.

 

Note: I think this is a very aged tester; the oil is quite thick.

Wet: This is very light. I'm barely smelling something spicy, maybe cinnamon. Reading the notes now, I'm confused about there that came from, but it definitely smells like cinnamon to me. Weird skin chemistry, I guess.

Drydown: This takes a while to bloom on me, but gradually, the vanilla/tonka comes out, along with the bitterness that bergamot usually has on my skin. It still smells like cinnamon to me, strangely enough.

Dry: This has a throw that is a gorgeous cinnamon-vanilla that reminds me a great deal of Chimera, but closer to the skin I get the resinous amber and the vague floral that bergamot eventually turns into on me. Right up against my skin, I can smell the odd metallic bitterness of the petitgrain, but if it's in the throw, it's only as a hint of complexity under the cinnamon-vanilla I'm getting.

The throw is very low, but utterly delicious.

[Monday]

Pretty pink oil in the vial. Opens with gorgeous bergamot and spice on my skin. Oh my I really like this one it's like a better version of the Lion which was too faint for me to actually keep it. It is fuzzy and happy.

When it dries the bergamot is tempered a bit by the tonka and there is a slightly powdery edge to it. Very nice!

[Ajila]

In the bottle - A kind of hazy bergamot

 

Wet on me - I guess it must be the petitgrain but there's a really earthy almost metallic note under a slight sweetness from the tonka bean

 

Dry on me - A lighter, sweeter, green fruity scent with a sweet musk undercurrent

 

Overall - Very pretty, but not really something I would wear

[ami226]

On the skin: A brown/green scent. Really interesting. I'm not quite sure which notes I am smelling. Must be the tonka, bergamont, and amber combo? This is a fascinating scent! I don't think I have ever smelled anything quite like this one.

 

After a bit this one turns pretty sweet/kinda brown musky with a hint of green still hanging around.

 

Really different, but it isn't something I would wear.

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Ugh, sharp petitgrain with tonka. It smells like green foxtail stickers.

 

Wet: It's much more behaved with with a balance of the petitgrain with strong bergamot, amber, and tonka. It does remind me of the gentle and delicate texture of butterfly wings.

 

Dry: It's much better dried. It's mostly brown, fuzzy tonka with amber and bergamot. I'm relieved!

[JazzieCazzie]

Received a partial imp as a gift in a swap.

 

IN THE IMP: Honestly? Generic perfume. I'm not getting a read on anything here.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: On first sniff, nothing. There's nothing there. I put on MORE on wrist and crook of arm and sniff again. I have to sort of huff it to get anything. So it's very faint and very light but certainly nice. Sweet, then a faint resiny floral.

 

DRYDOWN: This is so, how can I put this, subtle that it's hard to describe it specifically. I can't slather it because there wasn't enough in the imp to do that. I like it okay. It doesn't make me want to order more so I can actually, you know, wear it.

 

OVERALL: I feel like I have to give this an incomplete in terms of the experiential. I definitely appreciate people sending partials because usually there's enough to figure out if you want to actually buy some, but it's why I am not a fan of sniffies and when I get them I just immediately put them into the giveaway pile ... I know a lot of people love them but for me they're just frustrating because you can't even really try them so they're just a tease (OBVIOUSLY just my opinion). In normal circumstances, there would have been enough in this imp to test and decide. But the scent is so faint that there wasn't.

 

On a scale of 1-5, I think it's a 3. Maybe even a 3.5

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: The bergamot leaps out at me, supported by the brown notes lingering in the background.

Wet: The bergamot is the most prominent note. The amber seems to be getting stronger the longer this sits on my skin, but the bergamot is still the dominant note. The other notes come together to create a 'fuzzy' background.

Dry: The bergamot continues to reign, with the other notes contributing to that 'fuzzy brown' feel.

 

Several hours later, the amber seems to be all that remains.

Verdict: This is pleasant, but I don't need a bottle of this.

Edited August 18, 2014 by dementia_divine

[aiobhan]

It really is fuzzy and warm and brown. It smells of mostly amber and bergamot when wet, but warms to a gentle soft, smooth, warm sweetness with just a hint of bergamot. I can definitely smell the tonka more as it warms, which is lovely.

[DiesMali]

In the Imp: Odd. Sort of musty, like dried citrus peel potpourri in a room full of dusty antique furniture.

Wet on my skin: The amber and bergamot notes are most powerful right now, but they're softened by the fuzzy tonka bean and what I assume is the petitgrain.

Dry: This is a light, warm, and somehow fuzzy scent on me. On my skin, it seems to fade quickly, but then I realise that it's still floating in the air around me as I move. Tonka and powdery amber are now the primary notes, with the bergamot still giving it that little touch of citrusy spice. It's like the dusty bergamot of Earl Grey tea, though, rather than the fresh fruit. I'm not sure what petitgrain is, but there's a vaguely woody note in here that I think must be that. Overall, it's a very pretty, soft, and warm scent.

[aquazoo]

I get the lilac and violet. The cocoa butter in the white chocolate is there, too.

[savage_rose]

Such a happy, jumping scent. It smells like green, growing newness. It smells like enthusiasm and passion and the joy of being alive. It ends up going a little soapy on my skin after a while, but it's a lovely happy kind of scent. Really different from the usual scents.

[celestia]

♔ The Butterfly

 

In the Bottle: Tingly citrus and perfumey amber

 

Wet: I immediately get a bright pop of citrus from the bergamot, which I can only describe as quite sweet and lemony. It’s a little sparkly rather than fuzzy. It’s very bright and quite sharp- but not to the point of smelling acidic. I get a tiny hint of something sweet and a little creamy underneath. It’s a caramel and sunshine yellow scent but does not actually smell caramel or sweet.

 

Drydown: The tonka and amber are rounding out now, smoothing the scent so that it’s not so sharp. There is a little creaminess to the tonka bean, almost like a very light vanilla. The bergamot never really subsides and on me amps more sharply than I’d like. The amber in this phase is also quite powdery, a little sweet and quite glowy and bright.. most likely lended by the citrussy bergamot. It's a happy scent. There is also a woodsy note peeking out from the petitgrain that I wasn't able to detect during the wet stage. The tonka bean mixing with it kind of makes it smell like a brown musk of sorts?

 

TL;DR: Sparkly brown, woodsy musk and glowy citrussy amber.

[Juliamon]

In the bottle: lots of petitgrain and some bergamot. Gives off a masculine vibe.

 

On my skin, my first reaction is that this is a very "BPAL" scent. Upon asking myself "okay Julia but what does that even MEAN" I think it's that there's a good mix of resins and other elements that are exactly the sort of BPAL blends I usually gravitate towards. So of course it's gonna smell like a BPAL box to me! What makes this one stand out, though, is the use of tonka in place of the usual vanilla. My wrists amp vanilla and it often absolutely dominates a scent for me, especially in amber blends as BPAL's amber struggles on my skin already. Tonka, however? It behaves well, offering a vanillic buttery sweetness without suffocating the other notes. It also is remarkably fuzzy, bordering on musky. The bergamot comes out a bit more to add a nice zestiness. As a whole it's actually very gender-neutral. Very zingy and loud at first though, better suited to someone more extroverted than me unfortunately, even though it dries down to a lovely soft amber. It breaks my heart but I may need to pass this one along. Maybe I'll save a decant though...

[Lucchesa]

The Butterfly on me is a bright, sharp bergamot with amber and some chewy petitgrain.  I'm not sure I'm finding the tonka at all.  It's funny, my first BPAL love was Alice, with milk & honey, carnation, rose and bergamot, and it's looking like the only one of those notes I can reliably wear is carnation.  The others are all iffy on me, and my taste has gotten darker and more unisex.  Here the bergamot is just too bright and high-pitched for me. It's better after about an hour as it all settles down into a kind of citrusy warmth, and it's definitely an upbeat scent, but it isn't me.  

[artisjok]

Both my partner and I smelled the Dead Leaves note from the vial, yet that disappeared quickly. 
It starts of very citrusy and warm, yet an interesting twang to it. I’m assuming this is the bergamot. 
As it dries, it becomes pretty powdery on me, though not unpleasant, and still keeps that citrus overlay. 
Lasted a long time with good throw, yet isn’t something I’d reach for. Super glad to finally try this Butterfly, though! 

 

[biggnerd]

When I first put this on, it's sweet sparkling bergamot.  It settles down to a beautiful sweet grassy tonka, which I love.  I think the amber and bergamot are propping up the sweetness and the grassiness of the tonka.  This is a comforting and very sweet scent.  

[freyasfae]

I get the slight, delicate fuzziness which seems at odds with the citrusy bergamot. I suppose that gives it the sense of erraticness that does capture the butterfly from the book. I can't decide if I like it enough to keep it...which also seems apt.

[starbrow]

The Butterfly is one of my alltime favorite expressions of bergamot that truly capture the essence of that oil in perfume form. Wet, it is vibrant and shimmering green with that fuzzy-lime smell that is classically bergamot, no doubt enhanced by the petitgrain but without the bitterness petitgrain can sometimes have. Here, the citrus is just shy of sweet, with a kiss of tartness, and fuzzy fuzzy fuzzy. The tonka is like a chocolate popsicle, it's so very fuzzy. The golden amber is a warm, sunny haze setting the bergamot-colored butterfly's wings sparkling.

 

The drydown gets more snuggly the more it sinks into the skin. The Lab's tonka is my dream: the softest, dreamiest blanket to wrap around one's shoulders on a cold afternoon. This is the tonka I remember from Tonka Bean, Black Tea, and Vetiver trio. It's so nice. With time, the woodiness of the petitgrain peeks out too, never turning bitter, but a bit like a gentle cedar. The bergamot stays soothing and fuzzy, beginning to end, just like In Splendoribus Sanctum.

 

Rarely do bergamot perfumes do what the essential oil does to me. Most perfumes take it in a cologne direction, attacking my nostrils and doing the opposite of calming. A good bergamot, like The Butterfly, has an instant tranquilizing effect on me. In combination with the other notes here, especially the tonka, this blend is one of the snuggliest BPALs ever for me. 

 

I would wear this while: doing some serious snuggly hibernating

[tinyvulture]

I get a fizzy drink, light citrus (bergamot) flavor. Sweet hints of tonka and amber start to appear. It’s cute and energetic like a butterfly! But bergamot isn’t really my jam.

[ghoulnextdoor]

The Butterfly is fizzy and effervescent, somehow both airy and earthy, the petitgrain so lemony and peppery, and the amber so honeyed…they’re so sweet and playful together. In the bottle, it’s deeply loamy–that sweet, dark, earthy scent that I love so very much!– but on the skin, the scent lightens in such a strange way that has to do with the absence of shadow more than any direct brightness. It is velvety and opulent, but it’s finery worn in jest.

[Weirdgirlpilled]

This smells like warm blanket. Fresh out of the dryer, definitely a bit worn. Not cottony, not at all, I just mean that wearing this feels like being wrapped in a soft warm blanket. I think its the tonka and bergamot, both of which are central players on my skin. Really nice!!