Half-Elf

[aquazoo]

White sandalwood, beeswax, white tea leaf, oud, and a hint of sophisticated urban musk.

 

Warm and leathery. It doesn’t throw very much. Pretty and earthy.

[roseus]

Oooh this is absolutely fantastic! I liked this a lot better than Elf.

 

In the imp: deep oud, with light white tea leaf and soft beeswax.

 

Wet: the sandalwood comes out giving it a clean vibe, and the musk is giving it a leathery vibe. Almost bitter.

 

Dry: Mainly oud, musk, and sandalwood. It's woodsy and bitter, but somehow light and clean. It's glittering, but not in a ethereal way. Like the glimmer of sun on water. It's soft and natural. Decent staying power and throw.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: A bit astringent, but quickly this becomes sickly sweet, I think from the beeswax. Some of the tea and musk come through. But it's just soooo sweet! And very perfumey as well. I am not caring for it so far.

 

 

Dry: This is not nice on me. The combo of white tea and white musk with the sweetness of the beeswax is almost nauseating on me. Not for my chemistry, or my tastes! surprising, because in theory I love tea, musk, and beeswax, and sandalwood and oud generally don't give me any issues.

[Cali]

Ah, I was wondering what that bittery-sweetness is, beeswax!
This is just a lovely masculine-leaning scent with something dark and woodsy- (and I mean forest-y) in there. It's sort of evil.

On my skin it amps up the sandalwood it becomes far more leathery but holds on to the sweetness of the beeswax.
Very interesting~

[Casablanca]

Bottle: Soothing tea and light sandalwood.

Wet: The same, light and barely resinous, blending well on me.

Dry: Light sandalwood and musk. Barely there.

 

I was wary of the oud, but I don’t find anything here like the heavy ouds I’ve smelled before.

[joopjoop]

A whole lot of sandalwood to start - and a bit bitter wet - but settles down quickly and becomes a very nice sweet musky beeswax with a hint of resinous wood. I guess I haven't tried that many wax scents because it's a new experience for me.

 

I'm not sure it is really 'me' but I am intrigued to give it another test and to try some other wax scents as well.

[gillytin]

While wet, Half Elf smells a lot like the mineral spirits we used to clean up the ink at the printing press shop. It's definitely got that chemical feel wafting up my nose.

After a few minutes, it takes a back seat to the sandalwood and calms down into this almost crisp and clean scent that I can't help but like.

There's also a hint of leather that gives this scent a surprisingly much warmer feel. As far as similarities go, it's basically a less sweet and more cottony version of Tokyomilk's Excess.

[sth0]

I stupidly sniffed this imp and, despite immediate dislike, went ahead and tested it. Because RPG. And for science, yes.

 

I think the "urban musk" must have the rank, nasty patch BPAL sometimes puts in stuff or the oudh used is nasty. Whatever it is, I smelled like dirty, skank nasty something. Maybe a gross plant or tree. Not skunk, skunk smells pleasant compared to what I smelled like. Maybe it is my chemistry but whatever it was, it was all kinds of wrong on me. To the point I was upset thinking people could smell it even after I scrubbed it off my wrist. It left a psychic taint. This was not how I wanted things to go down! Honestly, this was more like straight up Orc or Goblin Butt.

 

My quest to find an RPG scent that suits me continues...

[ShunnerOfHugs]

This smelled like very sweet, very dry wood. Towards the end of the day it started smelling like dryer sheets, but just for a little while before it faded. I'm not sure I'll wear Half-Elf by itself often, but I think it might be interesting layered with other scents. Maybe Bard...

[Spaztic]

I had loved this one when I first got the frimp.

I put it into my "to buy" pile but it's sat there for a couple years because I spend all my bpal money on Limited Editions lately.

So this is a review of a rather aged Half-Elf

I like the fresh better as with age the Oud becomes waaaayyyy more prominent and that was my least favourite part of the sent.

Fresh it's all sandalwood, beeswax and urban musk, it's a little weird but super cool.

I just can't do strong Oud though, it gives me a headache and smells sweet in a sickly way (to my nose but I know a lot of people love oud)

So now that I know how it ages it's off my to-buy list. There's no way, with the size of my collection, that I would be able to go through a full bottle before it turned too "oudy".

I will probably order a fresh imp with my next order though and continue to do that for as long as it's available

[lizardskin]

"Urban and sophisticated" is the right description for this one. Where Elf channels a living forest, Half-Elf is all refined, polished woods--a city dweller. It also feels a lot more unisex than Elf.

The wet stage is a little sharp, but it doesn't last long, and settles down into a nice light sandalwood-beeswax. There's something else in there lending it more complexity, but I can't tell if it's the musk or oud. I was a little worried that the oud would go weird on me (pencil shavings), as it has in other blends, but I haven't had any problems.

I haven't had much luck blending it with other rpg scents, but honestly it doesn't need it. It's a fairly simple blend, but it holds its own.

[Coldfire]

Imp: beeswax and tea
Wet on me: i'm getting sophisticated alrighty. more tea leaf and faint sandalwood. giving me a smile
Drying Down: THIS is what handsome smells like
Dry: holy heck I'm in love with Half-Elf! it's soooo handsome!

[Greenwoodtree]

Finally got to test this! Im shocked to not smell ANY of the listed notes - all I smell is a sweet floral. What in the world?? Is this the tea leaf amping?

Sheesh - how disappointing. I hope it does something better when I retest in a couple days. I had such high hopes for this. Most of the other RPG scents are great on me.

[Lisa Ing]

Afternoon tea with cello accompaniment at your distant cousin's hunting lodge. It would be absolutely perfect here, but the cleaning staff is very aggressive with the Pine-sol.

[lizabelle]

I honestly can't decide how I feel about this. On me it's very dry and powdery, almost dusty, and I'm not quite sure what's doing it. If you didn't show me the label on this one and asked what RPG scent I thought it was, I might guess Thieves' Rosin--I haven't smelled that one yet, but this definitely has a powdery resinous quality. There is a bit of woodiness but I couldn't pick out the woods as oudh and sandalwood, which are normally very distinct on me. It's a very blonde/off-white kind of scent; blonde woods, soft resins, powdery musk. Not really my thing.

[Mattmillnerr]

Very delicate, delicious earthy notes. I can smell grassy fur, musk, leather and something boozy. Almost exactly how I'd expect WoW Night Elf starting land (moonglade? I haven't played in so long) to smell. Doesn't throw too much on me, is rather subtle but I like it.

[kajacana]

Definitely getting oud, beeswax, and sandalwood, but it all blends together into something warm and woodsy. The initial smell in the imp was kind of leathery, then it went sort of astringent on my skin, but the drydown is smooth. It smells clean and snuggly, like a freshly washed blanket that someone folded and left sitting by the fireplace in a log cabin in winter. I'm a big believer in the gender neutrality of scents, but I gotta say this seems like more of a guy's scent to me.

[achildoftime]

This feels like a fastidiously clean scent. Not like soap, but when I smell it I think of high-end art galleries that aren't high traffic. It feels urban and chic, but also kind of empty.

 

The tea and the beeswax are the strongest notes for me, with a musky edge to it. It's very non-obtrusive and just gives an air of sophistication.

[torikitty]

Bitter and woodsy, with a hint of beeswax. It feels similar to Imaginary Authors Slow Explosions, except instead of cedar, there's another wood poking through. I'd like to say this is unisex, but my husband amped the beeswax. I still think some guys could make this work. It reminds me of being in a warm, mostly-wood bookstore in the middle of winter in Colorado. There's the hint of wood, the ever-so-slightly sweet smell of paper, with warm tea sweetened with honey.

[monocainsheresy]

A distinct and medicinal leaves note which combines with the incenses to produce an almost leathery aura of herbs and musk. Think of The Black Rider or Iago, but much softer and woodsier, like Robin Goodfellow.

Edited January 28, 2019 by monocainsheresy

[semuelle77]

This is definitely my favorite RPG so far. I’m honestly not sure what oud smells like, so I can’t speak to specific notes. To me, after a not great wet stage, Half Elf turns into a light scent that seems to become part of my skin. I kept getting subtle wafts of it throughout the day. It made me think of freshly bathed skin, cleaned with the most amazing smelling soap. The kind that you buy at a little boutique when you are on vacation and ration the rest of the year to make it last as long as possible. Heck, it may smell a bit like a soap I buy every summer in Cape May that is made in France and contains musk. I’m going to wear it again tomorrow and slather a bit to see if I can up the throw and life of the scent. This is absolutely going on the “need to buy” list.

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Oud, then sandalwood, then something that starts to soften those notes. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it's oud, the happy, non-stenchifying kind. As it dries, the oud is still going strong, though I can detect the beeswax mellowing it a bit. Given more time to develop, the beeswax continues to strengthen, becoming a balanced scent with the oud. The result is some nice oudy pungency, smoothed out by the beeswax. 

 

This is smooth, and just a bit spicy, and deep. It probably blends brilliantly with any number of RPG scents, but I'm most excited to pair it with some lighter blends. 

[RoseThornAndOak]

Frimp from the Lab, I get a nice spicy woods smell, clean yet dusty in a way. I really like this. I don't get cigarettes or stinkeh p'oud. The sandalwood seems dominant. Very nice! I will keep the sample for sure, may get a bottle eventually. It is hard to describe how nice this is!

Edited January 10, 2021 by RoseThornAndOak

[Lucchesa]

Apparently I never reviewed Half-Elf.  And frankly, I've almost never worn it since first testing it, and I have no idea why not.  It's excellent.  If there's oudh, it's exceptionally well-behaved.  I get sandalwood polished with beeswax and a gentle musk, but it's one of those scents where it's hard to identify the notes because they meld together so well -- I would never have guessed oudh and thought there might be some benzoin.  It has that polished feel.  Classy.  Totally unisex, which is my jive.  Good throw at first, medium wear length, highly satisfactory. 

[Something_Diabolical]

There is a stage, shortly after application, that was really pretty to my nose. I think it was the beeswax that came out. Seems to me I like beeswax. 

Unfortunately this turned stanky on me in the drydown. Must be the oud. 

It smelled like a rotting piece of wood that was dried. Sometimes it gave me also the impression of really old milk chocolate that you find several years after expiration. (doesn't really smell like chocolate but it's the sweetness from the beeswax mixed with the stanky wood scent)

 

Nope not for me.