Manilus Hurled from the Rock

[Drarra]

Frankincense, leather accord, sandalwood, Himalayan cedar, nutmeg, and violet leaf.

In the bottle: I smell sharp leather. There's a warmth of resin just beneath it, probably the frankincense. I think I just got a touch of the nutmeg, but it was so fleeting, I'm not certain.

Wet on my skin: Immediate: LEATHER! It's so leather. Yet even as I sniff, it's blooming. The sandalwood and cedar are coming out to play, and the frankincense is wafting between them with just a touch of the nutmeg. The nutmeg is so fleeting… yet I keep sniffing, hoping I will smell it again!

Dry: The leather has softened. The woods and frankincense have merged together, yet the leather still has enough presense to keep this from being a traditional incensy blend. This is different from everything I wear, yet lovely.

[Clavis]

Bottle: Leather.

Wet: leather, a floral greeness from the violet leaf, & lots of cedar.Smells almost like fresh Juniper. Emphasis on fresh.

Dry: The leather and that juniper-ish scent soften and the sandalwood and spice come out and merge with the rest. Lovely!!

 

I'll give this one a full 5/5. Maybe I'll get a second bottle. I'll second Drarra's comment. This isn't like anything else I wear... But that's all part of the BPAL experience isn't it?

Edited February 19, 2011 by Clavis

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

This and Dancing Koi were the two Lupers I was most looking forward to when I made my order. I'm so excited to see some non-girly Luper scents make it into the rotation because I tend to favor gender-neutral/masculine scents.

 

I love or like everything in here (although leather can be hit or miss, and so can nutmeg), except violet leaf. It's an unknown since I don't think I've ever tried a blend with it as a note before. If it smells leafy, it'll be fine, but if it smells like violet blossoms, it'll be a bad thing. I do not like violet flowers in my perfume.

 

First sniff:

 

Phew! I sniffed Manilus and set it aside (with a lot of sadness) as a scent that probably wasn't going to work if the smell in the bottle was any indication. In the bottle, I get a strong blast of very chemical-like leather. Not at all pleasant and it overpowers everything else in here. It's so intensely artificial smelling that I can't smell anything else around it.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Wow, that's a pretty big change. This is why I don't give up on blends before skin testing them. Once Manilus hits my skin, the chemical tone of the leather goes away entirely and it's replaced my a rather Dead Man's Hand-like leather combined with cedar, sandalwood and a bit of nutmeg. It's definitely on the masculine side and reminds me a bit of Pete Lala's Cafe atmo spray, which I happen to really like.

 

Dry down:

 

So much better than the smell in the bottle. Everything really unfolds once Manilus dries and I get leather (still reminds me of Dead Man's Hand and Pete Lala's Cafe), the resins (sandalwood and frankincense), cedar and a bit of spice. I don't think I'm smelling any violet leaf here because nothing jumps out at me as green or violet-like. Instead, this is a very brown scent. Rugged smelling but sexy.

 

The bottom line:

 

Stinky in the bottle, but very nice on my skin. Definitely an example of why you shouldn't write a blend off without actually trying it on. I've been wishing for a perfume that was in the same vein as Pete Lala's Cafe and I've found it. They're not identical, but they've got a similar rugged, masculine feel to them with the leather and wood and spice. Definitely a keeper.

[edenssixthday]

Manilus Hurles from the Rock - This is a really nice masculine/gender-neutral scent. It's very strong on the leather, which is a warm, well-worn, brown leather, reminiscent of Dead Man's Hand, reminding me of a western saddle and has a rugged "cowboy" vibe. The sandalwood, frankincense, and cedar give the scent a dry quality, almost dusty from the frankincense, but the nutmeg spices it up just a touch -- it's very faint, but gives it just enough texture to keep the scent interesting. The violet leaf is a really interesting addition -- on me, it's gives the scent the faintest hint of soapy greenery, enough that when the scent is still wet on my skin, the overall scent reminds me a bit of saddle soap. Fortunately, as it dries down on my skin, the soapiness goes away, and what's left is just this really awesome leathery scent with a nice base of wood and a hint of nutmeg (I seriously can't get over how that tiny drop of nutmeg pulls the other notes together -- amazing!) This reminds me so much of what I smell when I go in my mom's barn -- the strong scent of all the leather saddles and bridles in the tack room combined with the wooden railings and walls of the horse stalls, and the frankincense even gives it a hint of the dustiness that is present in every barn. Yet it doesn't smell musky and stinky like a barn -- it just has the good parts. It's rugged, sexy, manly -- if the Marlboro Man were a BPAL, this would be he.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this is mostly rich frankincense and sweet, smooth cedar. It reminded me of Cathedral and, once I slathered it on my husband, it smelled almost exactly like Cathedral for about ten minutes.

As it dries down, it starts to smell intensely of woodsmoke with a tiny hint of sharp black leather. It's like I threw a strip of leather on to a bonfire. I like most of bpal's leather blends (De Sade, The Red Rider, The Traveller, Bow & Crown of Coquest, and on and on), but this leather accord doesn't smell good to me at all. I was hoping this would be a clean sort of black leather and sweet violet, but this smoky, perfumey leather isn't working for me at all...

Manilus smells very harsh, smoky, and unpleasant to me.

[cfrancesca]

This one starts off strong on the worn, suede-like leather (I haven't tried Dead Man's Hand, but it does remind me of the leather in Quincy Morris), with the nutmeg, frankincense, cedar and sandalwood present, but remaining in the background. After a short while, the leather moves back and the nutmeg, frankincense and woods amp up and get slightly sharp. It really does smell like cowboy scent at this point. I think there might also be some very soft musk in here. Though the leather ends up taking a back-seat at on me, I still find it's the most leather-heavy blend of this year's Lupers. It dries a little powdery and sharp on me.

[Invidiana]

This reminds me very much of how Sacrifice ended up on me; raging cedar and manly De Sade-esque leather. I really can't pick out the other elements because those two amp so strongly on me. I do imagine it would be sexy on the right guy, meaning one who doesn't turn it to hamstercage cedar like I do.

[dreamingjune]

In bottle: Crazy leather VILF action.

 

Wet: All I can think about with this one is VILF. The leather note is extremely similar between the two scents, and stands at the forefront in both blends. On me this is a terrible thing, but I'm sure great news for others. Other than the leather I notice the brightness of frankincense along with the wood notes. The nutmeg is present but very subtle, and I detect no violet.

 

Dry: The leather is calming down just a tad and the wood notes along with nutmeg are coming more to the front. This is quite an awesome blend, I just wish for a more subtle leather note.

 

Overall: I would describe this as leather with bright wood notes. I could see comparisons to Cathedral or An Altar to Cold, Rigid, Dreadful Deather here. I do think it smells most like VILF, only without the sex appeal. It has more of an old library or cathedral sort of feel.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Oh dear, it's that sharp chemical leather note.

 

Wet: Much the same as in the decant.

 

The dry-down: The leather note has been tamed a bit, but I'm not sure by what. It's mostly still stomping about in big stompy boots. Where's my frank, my sandalwood, and my cedar? I'm rather saddened by this.

Edited March 19, 2011 by thekittenkat

[milo]

Wet, this smells pretty much like Door. A slightly herbal honey with a touch of smoke. Wet, the leather comes out, and it now is very close to Sarah Pezzini now, though not as strong. Not sure why I'm getting the honey vibe here, I can't see anything in the notes that would even resemble honey. I like Door and SP, but have enough of both already, and this is much to similar to get a decant, let alone a bottle. This also fades REALLY fast, and is very faint within an hour on me.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

For the first 15 minutes or so, Manilus keeps messing around on my skin! One minute it's all leather and sandalwood goodness, the next it's a weird lemon/floral thing, then it goes back to leather again.

 

Finally, after about half an hour, it settles into a nice soft leather with a hint of nutmeg - slightly powdery from the sandalwood. The cedar is very soft, but the frankincense is definitely there - being a bit annoying actually.. it's a bit too much for my liking, and it's overpowering the other notes. There's a freshness in here as well, which is probably the frank again plus the violet leaf, and that bright/fresh element seems out of place - the whole blend feels off-balance somehow. The leather/sandalwood/cedar/nutmeg are merging together really nicely into a soft and mellow brown fuzz but the frankincense and violet leaf keep coming in and going LOOK AT ME which just kills the mood.

 

I think the frankincense and violet leaf should have been hurled from the rock, leaving Manilus to keep the other lovely notes. I dunno.. I don't hate this, but I'm annoyed at the dissonance that this combination of notes produces on my skin.

[zankoku_zen]

Frankincense and leather. The leather accord is more along the lines of DeSade, although less harsh and synthetic. It softens considerably on the drydown but this is essentially an all leather scent on me.

 

Pass.

[Roogna]

I wish this were stronger on me. It's a very nice scent, but it's sooooo faint and soft. I went back and slathered it on my arm, but I can only smell it when my nose goes to my wrist or the occassional random waft as I move.

 

In the imp I get more wood, but on my skin it's sandalwood and leather. but it's so faint I REALLY have to take a good long sniff from my wrist to get that wonderful leather note. (it's been on for 2 hours with no morphing and no getting stronger).

 

I like my scents to be a bit more noticable, but it's quite nice!

 

*edit - another 90 minutes later and the leather is coming out more! i'm hopeful!

Edited April 28, 2011 by Roogna

[Amoraexcena]

I bought this for the S.O., who I like Dracul on as well as sweeter ones like Dorian. I think I have a new favourite though, because lately I like darker scents.

 

Wet: yes, I suggest everyone brace themselves for the initial blast, because this one needs to settle before it shines.

 

Dry: I think this has a tiny bit of the same musk as Black Temple Burlesque Troupe. Black musk... oh how I love you. I love Manilus because the woody aspect isn't overpowering (cedar sometimes goes pencil shavings on me but this is behaving), the leather isn't overpowering, the resins don't go powderey at ALL, and it's kept fresh by violet leaf (no violet flowers, I love violets (FAITH<3) and would recognize it if it were in here). I also get a tad of something metallic-smelling. I wish it were a tiny bit more spicey -a dash more nutmeg- but it's very, very comforting. Manilus is a great unobtrusive all-purpose nonsweet fragrance. I will like it more on the boy but I'll probably steal some for layering with BTBT, which smells awesome, btw.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: The leather in this is brown-ish and reminds me of "The Red Rider", but this smells a lot less overwhelming in the vial. None of the other notes stand out in the vial.

 

On: Now I get frankincense and sandalwood softening the harsh edge of the leather. There may be a hint of violet in there, too. No overt cedar or nutmeg, which is fine with me. Quite nice, though I don't know I absolutely need a bottle.

 

Later: Brown leather, everything else seems to have left the building. It's okay, but I don't need more.

[porcelina]

in the bottle: STRONG leather and sharp violet leaf.

 

on my skin, the frankincense and woods are more noticeable, with dusty cedar and sandalwood at the forefront. at first, it's mostly a dry scent, and at times i think it smells somewhat chemical. that fades after a time, but manilus retains a slightly bitter edge, even as it dries and becomes softer and more resinous.

 

i like this, and i think it will age well. the leather does not overpower once it's on my skin, and the notes eventually blend to be a dark, powerful scent (a little goes a long way).

Edited August 16, 2011 by porcelina

[catalyst]

Oh hell yes.

 

I can't believe more people aren't catching the cedar note. After about ten minutes the cedar calms down, but it's still really up front in a perfect blend with the other woods and the leather. This is one of the most perfectly balanced blends I've come across yet. It's woody but warm. The White Rider is just refined white leather and sandalwood only, and I can detect more of a soft suede leather in this, like moccasins maybe, plus the woods. I don't know if I get the violet leaf at all, but then I don't really know what that smells like.

 

It makes me think of some kind of cedar lodge, like a native or viking building maybe. Very earthy and warm and alive, but without any dirt smell.

 

It seems masculine to me, but then I've learned that a lot of women like scents most would consider masculine. It's definitely not feminine. Once again I've managed to find a limited edition that's hard to get that's made it into my top five. *sigh*

 

The hunt for a bottle at a price I can afford begins...

Edited July 30, 2012 by catalyst

[brilliantcat]

Bottle: Soft fuzzy leather with a hint of astringent floral, perhaps violet?

 

Wet: Wet leather with a hint of sugared floral. It smells delicious, though I think I'd prefer the dustier leather with the floral. We shall see what happens when it starts to warm up and meld.

 

Dry: Full-on warm and leathery, purrrrrr! It's like being hugged by a rugged cowboy! Snuggling in an oversized armchair in a cozy library! Hnnnnnng... this is so good!

[aquazoo]

That’s a lot of leather, and I get the sandalwood and cedar, too. It takes a while, but mellows into a nice leather.