Neutral

[Penance]

NEUTRAL
A flawless skin musk.

Origin:

5mL from the Lab.

Preconceived notions:

I'm really excited about this one, oddly enough. I have a skin musk scent from another company that's one of the (very few) non-BPAL scents that I wear even semi-regularly, so I'm looking forward to a BPAL scent along the same lines.

First sniff:

I can barely smell this. There's just the faintest hint of slightly powdery skin musk here, but mainly I get a noseful of nothing.

Wet on skin:

Still very faint, but I can smell it now. It's not as smooth as I'd expected. Instead it's on the powdery side and even a tiny bit sharp. More like freshly washed skin than (my idea of) skin musk.

Dry down:

That's better. Neutral stays extremely faint, but the almost sharp powderiness calms down, but it takes a few hours for it to reach that point on me. In the end, I'm left with a soft, gentle skin musk scent. It's very similar to the other brand's version that I love so much, but not as strong.

The bottom line:

This one is definitely best suited to layering. If it went straight from the bottle scent to the drydown, I'd probably wear this semi-regularly on its own because I love the simplicity and subtleness of it, but I think it's going to be used almost solely for layering with other scents and only when I've got time to let it work the kinks out, since the drydown takes a while to finish.

[Dark Alice]

Seriously...this is good shit! Clean, flawless skin musk with the barest hints of sweetness. I love it...and it will be in my next bottle order for layering!

[Cheri]

Neutral is pretty and reminds me a lot of Joyful Moon. I don't think they share any notes, but that's what I get from the drydown. Nice.

[meredevachon]

Almost every character I've ever played has been some kind of neutral alignment, so I had to get Neutral. Plus, I love what the lab has done with skin musks before. Really looking forward to this one.

 

In the imp: Very sweet, almost like a candied floral. WTH?

 

Wet: Not as strong, but still smells like a soft, simple floral (I rarely wear florals unless they're mixed with non-florals, so I couldn't say which one)

 

Dry: This one hasn't morphed at all.

 

Overall: Not at all what I was expecting. To the point, I'm thinking my smeller might be off. Neutral is...nice? And I could see how it would be good to layer with something else, but on its own, not really me. I'm really hoping a second try at another time will give me better results.

[filigree_shadow]

Smells like a fruit musk to me. It's sweet, and to be honest Good smells more neutral to me than Neutral does.

I like them both. I think Good and Neutral are the ones for me.

[ModderRhu]

this is beautiful. it's what i imagined and hoped dirty would smell like. it's a true, sophisticated clean scent. i recognize this note from beanman and beanwoman prepare to attack the vagina.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Yup, it's skin musk. Smells like freshly showered skin.

 

On: Very fresh at first. This smells almost as if there is something floral in there to me. As it warms up, the floral-i-ness is retreating in favor of - you guessed it - musk. This is definitely more of a layering ingredient than a stand-alone perfume. It is quite nice, though, and I will enjoy trying this in some upcoming layering experiments!

 

Later: Clean, fresh, just slightly floral musk. Nice!

[Little Bird]

Neutral smells like clean skin (not full-on soapy, but sharp, clean musk) and sweet, creamy, slightly vanilla-y powder on me. Almost a generic, creamy lotion sort of smell. There's something like a tiny hint of sweet, tart fruitiness as it dries down as well.

Neutral starts off a bit too sharp on me, but the powdery sweetness in the drydown is pleasant enough. It's a little too powdery-dry for me to wear often, but I think I'll keep my decant of this one.

[steelgossamer]

In the bottle: Clean, fresh, a touch sweet.

Wet: Exactly the same as in the bottle.

Drydown: it quickly gets a bit powdery, but also a little bit warm and spicy. It's soft and barely there, but it's there alright.

Dry: Clean, fresh, powdery, and light. It's a bit warm, and definitely suited to layering. I can tell that this is the same musk as in Beanman and Beanwoman Prepare to Attack the Vagina, which is a good thing . I could see myself wearing this alone for days when I want a little something on, but nothing that screams PERFUME at passerby.

 

[a_llb]

In vial: Blushing musk. 

Wet: Almost ozone-like, it's so sharp at first. It rapidly settles into a familiar, comforting skin scent. At times it reminds me of something I've smelled in commercial perfumes, though I couldn't say what it is. I think the comfort factor kicks in because it reminds me of my mom.

Dry: It may be a skin scent, but it is skin with a racing pulse, flushed with color. Just enough sweetness to keep it warm.

 

Verdict: Now that I think about it, I am pretty certain the familiar element I'm getting is tuberose. It's gorgeous, elegant and soft, but totally unexpected. That must be the 'flawless' component, and the florals other reviewers got. It's not as 'neutral' as I expected, but who would wear something like that anyway? True neutral would basically be a vial of water.

I like this blend, but then again, I am a fan of florals in general. One thing I like about Neutral's final stage is that it sinks into my skin in such a way that it almost doesn't seem like I'm wearing perfume- It feels like that's just the way my skin smells. Really well done!

[Iceblink]

My hopes were high for Neutral as I love skin musk; this definitely meets my expectations! It's clean, fresh, simple--skin musk with a powdery edge and maybe a touch of florals like others are saying. I was worried this would be too faint but it's actually got decent throw, too. WONDERFUL! I'll need a bottle for sure.

[zankoku_zen]

Fruit musk! And I'd say honeydew melon at that.

 

At least on me. And yes, one of the musks has to be white musk as it has a slight powdery edge to it and a touch of florals.

 

I'd be interested to see how this pairs with other scents, but not loving it on its own.

[astarinel]

I quite liked this one, although like some of the other RPGs, it does feel a little simple as a stand-alone scent.

 

It's just a soft, sweet light musk with a slightly powdery edge. Nice and clean, but a little simple on it's own and I'm not sure I'm fully into the layering here! It seems like a good idea but I don't need so many more bottles... >.<

[VioletChaos]

This is hands-down the RPG I've liked the most thus far. I also get the candy-fruit vibe from this. It's no morpher and stays true from application to dry down. Honestly, the thing it smells like most to me is the old formula for Betsy Johnson's signature scent. The one that came in the pretty round bottle 15 years ago. This is nearly a dead ringer for that, and considering that scent was one of, like, 3 that I ever enjoyed from a traditional perfume standpoint, high praise indeed.

 

Because this doesn't morph, I'm guess it'll make for excellent layering with all sorts of other goodies. I can't decide personally if I need a bottle or not, but I'm glad it's a GC and I don't have to decide about that right away.

 

[Ryokumuji]

A sweet clean musk. I don't think I would wear this on it's own, but the RPG scents are meant to be worn together anyway! Can't wait to combo this with the other RPGs I like.

[mineralgirl]

This is beautiful and I think, bottle worthy. I'm a foodie but there is enough sweetness in this to balance out the floral component I'm getting. It smells clean and sweet.

[tailoredshirt]

This is much sweeter than I was expecting. Someone else said "candied florals" and that is exactly what I'm getting too. Very sweet floral musk with an edge of fruitiness. In fact, this is more like sweetpea on me than it is skin musk. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of sweetpea. I was hoping this would be a good one for layering, but it's not working for me.

[milo]

Hmm, this doesn't smell like skin musk at all to me. I remember that note from Velvet Nudie and The Illustrated Woman, and I don't get that here at all. What I do get is a white floral, kind of like gardenia. Either I'm crazy, or skin musk smells like gardenia.

[ajansuz]

Third time is the charm. After having to wash off two new RPG tests today, I was a little leery. I shouldn't have worried.

 

In the imp, this is soft, sweet, and gorgeous. A floral musk. To me it smells a little like heliotrope.

 

Wet, almost identical to the imp scent, a sweet, floral musk, very pretty.

 

Dry down, I really amp the floral in this, which I don't mind because it's pretty. I'm curious to see how this layers considering how strongly the floral is coming out. On me at least, it's way more flower than musk and not at all what I'd consider neutral.

[CiaoBonefish]

In the imp this is fruity and a touch floral with a hint of soft muskiness. On my skin it stays kind of juicy and fruity for a little bit and then this goes surprisingly floral on me, but not in the nauseating way! It almost smells like really light non-heady pretty jasmine musk? After this has fried down it is mainly really light floral that vanishes in an hour pretty much. Really nice when I can smell it but rather disappointing that it fades so fast. I'll have to try this layered and see what happens!

[porcelina]

neutral is really, um, neutral. it's a pretty, clean, very simple skin musk, just like it says. i think this will layer really well with other blends- it's a lovely musk, soft and slightly sweet without any powderiness that sometimes accompanies its brethren.

[karihan]

Someone was kind enough to frimp me a decant of this, and I knew right away I'd have to get a bottle!

 

In vial: Fresh, soft musk with a tinge of fruity floral in the background.

 

On wet: Much the same. I don't get the sharp note that other reviewers have mentioned; this is very fresh and clean.

 

Drydown: I smell like I'm fresh from a shower that included a fruit-and-floral-scented body wash. No soapiness, but just a hint of the juicy scent is left to tinge the gently sexy skin musk. Moderate throw, and it lingers for hours too.

 

Conclusion: Neutral is definitely bottle-worthy for me, and I'll layer it with more than just the other RPG scents, I'm sure!

[PixieSkull]

This is amazing on me. Hands-down the best non-complicated light mus scent I have ever worn.

 

It starts a little sweet and almost fuzzy and dries down to a very slight fruit note (melon like Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat) and a true skin musk. Perfect from start to finish. I am in loooooooove!

 

This will layer well with rogue and halfling for my long-running D&D character, may add a drop of evil in there.

[judas_kiss]

Okay, it has been a long time since I've written a review, but here goes:

 

In the imp: sweet musky goodness. I was a bit afraid of this scent straight from the imp, as I feared it would be slightly too sweet for me in a bad way.

 

Fresh on: sweet, powdery skin musk with just a whisper of a throw. You know, the kind of perfume you smell slightly on the wind of someone's passing. This is NOT a "crazy throw" scent that will come around the corner before you do. Also, what I like about this is that it is lightly feral. Like a feral kitten. Sweet, fuzzy and adorable, but believe me the woman who wears this has claws and WILL use them if/when necessary.

 

Dry down: more of the same, only a bit "cleaner". The skin musk is very strong now, but it is "hazy", not piercing.

 

I think this scent definitely has captured my favorite alignment to play (Neutral, of all varieties) because it is sweet, yet feral and totally wearable. It is the type of scent that I myself will buy a bottle of and definitely enjoy due to its simplicity. I'm not sure I would layer it as my body amps the CRUD out of some musk. I will likely wear it solo and feel simultaneously demure, yet ferocious. Rawr.

[HerbGirl]

I thought I was smelling a bit of a Lily, but someone upthread mentioned Tuberose, and I think that's more accurate. I'm not big on florals, but this is one of my favorite oils...a very nice light musk with a hint of Tuberose, or maybe Lily... love love love...and I'm so glad that I got my bottle in the mail today! 9.5/10