Antony

[Elemcee]

The embodiment of Classic masculinity. A warrior's scent: the green hills and grasses of the battlefields, the resinous incense from the prayers to his Gods, and a touch of the musky leather of his armor. Ambergris and frankincense with sage, and basil.

This herbs and leather. Very clean and, yes, very masculine.

It actually made me feel quite unfeminine today, which is fine because being a tomboy suits me when the mood takes me. I think I'll save it for days when I'm going to go traipsing off in muddy fields and castle ruins in old boots, though.

This scent suits adventure. Edited May 4, 2008 by Shollin

[klavierbarrette]

imp: WHOAH! i immediately backed off and got some on my lip in the process (how that happened i have no idea) i smelled something....yucky

 

on my skin though, the frankincense comes out and it makes it -better-. i have NO idea what ambergris smells like so that might have been what i didn't like. it layers nicely with the dragon's milk i have on to test? i don't really like it. smells like a spice rack.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Frankincense

 

On me:

This goes on very masculine and is immediately a sort of incensey/spicey man's scent. Ambergris always smells lovely on me and this is no exception - it makes me think of Dorian actually - sort of sweet and quite spicey. It's backed by the incense quality of frankincense and a slight green herbally smell which I think is the basil and sage.

 

I don't really get the leather or the grass, but the rest comes together beautifully and makes a wonderful cologne like scent.

 

Final note:

Very rugged and nice - this is a man's man's scent. I don't see a preppy guy wearing this, I see a rugged, rough around the edges kind of guy wearing this. It's an "older" masculine scent and very spicey and nice!

[Victory]

Wait, what? This has frankincense? And I'm not getting a headache? Amazing. I've got my mother's year old imp on, and maybe that's what's mellowed the frankincense.

 

Antony is much nicer than I was expecting. It's sort of golden and musky, but occasionally there's a flash of green-ness. I think it's the basil, but maybe sage and the grass. It's masculine, but I think very wearable for women. I agree with Brianne- while Vicomte de Valmont is more of a preppy guy, Antony is a man tromping around in the woods.

[lapillus]

In bottle: only a ghost of very faint flowers.

 

Wet: Oh, less faint flowers over something green and woody. A very light scent.

 

Dry: This is fun, it gets stronger and morphs again becoming juicier, although the sharp clean green remains. This is very nice – outside in a late spring field near a small copse of green trees.

 

Later: fades some but remains very nice.

 

Summary: Will enjoy the imp and it will be in the running for a light fresh scent for me.

[Naamah_Darling]

Resinous incense sweetens this in the bottle; there's an herbal, clean touch that lifts it up a bit. Subtle yet authoritative. This has immediate promise.

 

It goes on masculine and rich, fennel and basil over a base of incense. It's outdoorsy without being overly green or woodsy, clean without being soapy, and subtle without being dull. The incense lends a smooth roundness to it, a kind of well-groomed urbanity. The leather, and it is just a faint touch, nudges it just slightly into the "sexy" category.

 

As it wears down it becomes more roundly sweet and incensey, with the herbs firmly in tow . . . it's actually fairly feminine at this stage, but on a man it would be devastating.

[Silentlover]

In the Bottle: A masculine scent for sure. Spicy, but not in a "cinnamon" way. I'm no good with notes so I can't name which one this is. There is a sweetness here but it's not overpowering at all. Somewhere in the middle actually. I know its not "in the background", perhaps "off to the side" is a good way to place the sweetness.

 

Wet: Much more of the spice, less of the sweetness. Still very masculine and very similar to common male aftershaves. At first there was even a hint of something peppery, but that faded quickly.

 

Dry: Well now it's sweet again. But a male sweetness, if that makes sense. And I can barely make out a touch of something else way in the back but it comes and goes and I couldn't say what scent it could be, just something "hiding".

 

Later: Much more sweet which is a bit of a let down. But it's still nice and still masculine. That hidden note never revealed itself and I can't seem to find it as easily as I once did.

 

Final Verdict:

 

Nice, but a bit too similar to scents I've used before. I'm looking for something unique and this just isn't it sadly. Still, it'll be a good "hold me over" scent until I find something that is just right.

[jade_starlight]

Hmm, Antony is really interesting. It's herby without being overpowering, there's a bare hint of leather in the background, and as it dries it gets sweeter without losing that masculine edge. But the sweetness also keeps it from being seriously manly, too. And after the sweetness comes out to play, something lightly spicy pops up and starts necking with the sweetness on the couch.

 

Final verdict: I wouldn't use Antony very often, but I do like it and will probably use up my imp.

[Extispex]

This has been on my wishlist to try for a while. I finally picked it up in a swap and I kinda wish I hadn't, because it just adds yet another bottle to my growing list of needs.

 

The Illyria line has been good to me. I like all the Illyrias I've tried, and I LOVE most of them. Turns out I love this one too.

 

In the imp, this is light resins to me. A little too pretty and not at all manly.

 

But mmmm.... wet on my skin it goes all amazing. The leather and grasses I love SO MUCH from Black Tower are in here, but the mood is entirely different. Black Tower is so dark and stormy, where this is much brighter. After a moment or two I begin to get a hint of the sage and the frankencense, and Antony takes on an almost clovey aroma.

 

No, very clovey. ... where'd that come from?

 

Dry, Antony is unexpectedly light on me. Herby and grassy, with a touch of sweet resin and just the barest hint of leather for depth and warmth. Earthy and sensual, without being heavy or brutish. I really really love this. And I really really need a bottle.

[ClareN]

Wet on skin: A foresty scent with sweet herbs, leather, and if I'm not mistaken, oakmoss, which is one of my favorite notes. I don't usually think of scents as masculine or feminine - many of my favorites might be considered masculine - but this one does make me think "manly".

 

Drying on skin: This quickly turns sweet, to the point that it almost reminds me of toasted coconut or vanilla. I think this is an incense or resin note turning sweet on my skin. The foresty herbal scent fades and it seems less masculine than it did.

 

Later drydown: Continuing with the sweet incense - the kind that makes me think of incense sticks, not church incense in a censer (I prefer the churchy incense). If anything, this has gotten even sweeter (keep in mind that my chemistry turns most things sweet), although a man wearing this scent would not raise any eyebrows. It is faint, but not at all artificial, blending with my skin very nicely. I can still detect the oakmoss, making this somewhat similar to Robin Goodfellow. It also reminds me of Parliament of Monsters (with a similar sweet incense note) and Possets' Scented Gloves (the soft herbal feel).

 

Verdict: This is quite nice, but what I really want is a stronger version. It lasted 11 hours or so, but was pretty faint and close to the skin the whole time. I want Antony with the volume turned up, stronger and darker.

[minervaish]

Illyria's one of my favorite categories of BPAL because the scents are so consistently evocative of Shakespeare's characters, and Antony is a great example of that.

 

This is definitely the smell of Shakespeare's Antony, not (if you happen to be a fan) the Antony of TV's Rome series. The Frankincense and ambergris convey the smell of a patrician who was at the baths in the morning with scented oils, but the grasses and leather let you know that he's been out in the field with his troops since then.

 

Something, I think it was the basil, read as anise-like to my nose for the first hour or so, but in a really nice subtle way. Definitely makes me want to try it on a certain nearby man!

[KikuPeach]

(This is a review without my notes handy, so indulge me.)

 

Antony smells clean and sexy the way a guy in a well-worn flannel shirt over jeans with two day's growth of stubble does. He smells of outdoors, but not 'woodsy' per se - in a word, gorgeous.

 

The leather and ambergris really ground this, and the basil really greens and cleans it up, keeping it from being muskmuskMUSK with no respite. As great as this smelled on me, and as much as I will purchase more in the future (probably in imps, though, as it's not my 'signature' at all), I gave this one to my brother, who also smells great.

 

Masculine without being harsh, very classical, very Shakespeare. Recommended.

[madeleine]

The only scent i got out of Antony was the frankincense and ambergris. Which was nice, don't get me wrong, but I would have liked to smell something of the green and growing things. It came off rather less masculine than I think was intended as a result.

 

So if I ever just want an ambery perfume, Antony's where I'm going but...

[taramarie]

Antony on me smells like sage and basil, with a hint of frankincense. On me, this is definitely more neutral than masculine. I love Antony, I just wish he were stronger.

[Gwydion]

This is a thick scent, though not smothering or heavy. It's actually pretty much as advertised if you can imagine it, masculine in a way that suggests slightly fae ancient world warriors. I'm liking it, but not in a knock me over sort of way. basically, this is a pretty decent cologne, but not a grab your hind brain and shake it thing like Perversion is.

[pinkpepper]

Wet on skin: Irish Spring all the way. . . . Wait. There's some Very Warm, almost sour note coming in. . . . And then fading again as fast as it came! Huh. Weird.

 

Dry on skin: I smell earth and grass and . . . man. There's a little basil in the background. It smells like going on a walk or for a picnic with a very manly man. It's a weensy bit 'sweet cola' ish, but it doesn't bother me. It hasn't got bad throw either.

 

Conclusion: I love it! The imp's a keeper, but there will be no bottle.

[Josh]

A classic department store cologne aimed at the "manly man", despite coming off as more of a "boy trying to smell like a man." Antony, like Dee, reminds me of what the guys at high school doused themselves in back in the 80's. Very one dimensional in comparison to the rich complexity of something like Fenris Wolf. I'll be giving this imp away.

[spiralmissy]

If Antony were a real man - hell, even if a man were wearing Antony (maybe even a woman) I could be persuaded to do some very, very dirty things.

This smell was pure sexy - purely sexy and sexually pure - from beginning to end.

 

In the imp - verdant. outdoorsy and manly. herby with a touch of traditional cologne and clean man sweat. in a good way, really.

Wet on skin - the musk and leather is more evident and the herbs fade. yes, it is does smell like men's cologne. but, the best men's cologne.

dry on skin

the smell stays true to its notes, but mellows and warms. so that it smells like your man has spent the day hunting in the woods, in his flannel and leather, and has come home to rest in front of a fire. you snuggle up against him and just bask in this smell.

 

Conclusion:

I hope I can convince husband to wear this. it is sexy. i think it will have some benefits for him. for me, it may be a bit too masculine to wear in most situations, but i might just put it on when i am staying in the house. either way, i am keeping the imp. while a bottle might not be in the immediate future, i might try to track one down later.

 

general scent: 10/10 - one of the sexiest i have tried

for me?: 6/10 - too masculine for my every day use (and i like gender-neutral/masc. smells)

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this has the warm resin-y-ness of the frankincense with a kick from the basil.

 

Once I put it on, the sage and basil come WAY out - very fresh.

 

When it's dry, it's mostly frankincense, but the herbs give it this awesome freshness that's really unique among the scents I've tried. My ultimate reaction is MMM. I definitely find it more neutral than masculine (which is good, because I love it and my boyfriend won't touch BPAL.)

[stardreamer]

Meh. I think what I'm mostly getting is the frankincense, modified slightly by the herbal notes. It ends up smelling a lot like a nice commercial men's cologne. Not much throw after the first half-hour; I touched it up midafternoon, so no good estimate of staying power. Bottom line: not bad, but not me. Off to the swap pile.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle smells dark green, like pine trees

wet on skin there is a strong evergreen waft, but not quite pine-y. looking at the notes, i'd say that's the sage and resins battling it out.

dry on skin it's undeniably masculine with a heavy but not unpleasant cologne aspect, not the clean, fresh masculinity of some of the other BPAL unisex blends.

[filigree_shadow]

I've had this imp in my imp box forever, and I'm not sure why I put off trying it. Probably the sage and basil, which don't usually agree with me. Maybe I expected herby or grassy.

 

It does smell a bit herby, but not in a bad way at all. It does seem very masculine to me, which is what it's supposed to smell like! At first it was too soft to be described as rugged, but it had an outdoorsy quality to it that I liked a lot. But then the frankincense amped up on me and took over the scent. I don't think frankincense behaves that way on my husband, so I'll hand the imp over to him and see if he likes it.

 

I put quite a lot on for a test, and it's not all that strong, so I think it's one of those scents you have to get up close to smell. Which is fine.

[CrazyPretzel]

In the imp it's kind of refreshing and soothing and green, and reminds me of the witch hazel lotion my grandfather used to put on after shaving.

 

On me: GUH. Frankincense sharpened by basil and sweetened by ambergris; reminds me of a slightly darker, muskier Arcana. Ambergris goes a little sour on me after a while - it doesn't love me as much as I love it - but I can't wait to put this one on the boy.

[zankoku_zen]

This is a fairly masculine scent. I get the frankincense note pretty strongly. It does remind me a lot to Arcana, but sweeter.

 

Unfortunately, this is too masculine for me to wear and the DH is not interested in this kind of scent. All works out well, although Anthony caused me to have my first imp incident.

[Argentwolf]

In the imp I can detect incense with a great deal of sweetness to it...the sweet herbs and grasses, perhaps. As it goes on, it gets more of a woodsy tone to it -- the frankencense, perhaps? Over time, as it dries, it turns spicy (and most stereotypically manly) to me.

 

Overall, it's a nice scent...while it does not scream 'HI I'M A DUDE' to me, that's fine with me, as most of the 'mainstream' male scents have a nasty overspiced air to them, while this is a lot more mellow and subtle...and besides, I like wearing it. I'm half-tempted to smear some on the BF and see what effect it might have.