Lawful

[Mechanical Death]

Rigid oak, blue chamomile, rhubarb, and fig leaf.

 

In the imp it smells very herbal, like chamomile tea and leaves, with a touch of sugarcane sweetness. Must be the rhubarb. Uncooked rhubarb has a similar smell. between that and strawberries.

On the skin it turns almost unpleasant at first. I can't quite place what it is I don't like. It's not turning per say-- no plastic, no stank, it just has this funniness about it that I don't like to begin with.

as it dries further it blooms nicely. It reminds me a bit of Alice. It's very soft and innocent. The light chamomile, which dries to a soft herbal floral with that hint of honeyed pollen and sweet sugared notes, and a mild powdered earthiness underneath. Very pretty.

I don't get the sparkly impression others have likened to it, but it's definitely a soft girlish perfume.
Not for me though, but I'm glad I got to try it.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: Oak! Oaky oaky oak! Like oak barrels before they're filled with chardonnay or whiskey. Behind that, something a little sweet, and bitter but pleasant chamomile. A very natural smell, not sugary or perfume-y at all.

 

Wet: Oak oak oak oak CHAMOMILE rhubarb! A buoyant, lovely rhubarb, tart and gorgeous, and all backed by that super herbal, super woody oak and chamomile. Oh, this is gorgeous. Pretty and earthy and fruity and tart and yes, bubbly!

 

Dry: It smells, in a great and non-alcoholic way, like rhubarb and herb wine that's been aged in oak. It's herbal, floral, woody, and tartly fruity all at once. This is absolutely gorgeous, and like nothing else in my Imp box. It's present, but subtle and unusual enough that you would never think "perfume". The imp is staying with me!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Oak dominant, with lots of smoke. I am not familiar with either rhubarb or fig leaf, but I’m getting two distinct leafy garden scents, one sharp and one sweet, so I’m guessing that must be them. I am hesitant to label either. Anyway, they are gorgeous and fascinating with the oak, the sharper note enhancing the oak, the sweeter smoothing the blend. The chamomille is unfortunately pervasive, but is playing well with the other elements while in the bottle. Wet: Still Smokey oak dominant, the chamomile, which is second strongest supporting the smoke. The other plant elements are a bit overwhelmed, but present. I really wish I could smell them better as I like new smells. This is possibly the best use of chamomile I’ve encountered, but I’d still have liked less of it. Dry: Chamomile with rhubarb and fig leaf support. I’m still not and likely never will be a chamomile fan, but this really works to the point I can actually wear it. This may not sound like an endorsement but it is.

[milo]

Cologney in a fresh kind of way if that makes sense, kind of outdoorsy. Unisex and fades within ten minutes on me.

[mymymai]

ITB: It smells like oak leaves with a dash of rhubarb and chamomile tea.

Wet: It's earthy, but in a very appealing way. I can pick out each of the notes, which are relatively balanced. It reminds me of a wood cabin in late fall for some reason.

Dry: The oak recedes to reveal a candied fig and rhubarb scent laced with gentle chamomile. This is rather pretty.

[lucycat]

This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

In the imp: Oak.

 

Wet on skin: Oak with a fruity sweetness from the rhubarb and possibly the fig leaf.

 

Dry: The same. I never do smell chamomile, which doesn’t really surprise me, because I amp wood notes, and I think the oak is drowning out any chamomile.

 

Lawful veers very close to a too-sweet, heavy, craft store potpourri scent, but manages to avoid that. It’s pretty and…foresty?

 

I’m glad I had the chance to try this.

[Aviatrix]

In the bottle, this is pretty much all oak.

 

On the skin, the rhubarb takes over and it becomes OMG RHUBARB for a while, until it settles into a nice blend of chamomile and rhubarb with the dry and slightly vanillic oak in the background.

 

This is so lovely!

[Lucide]

When I first smelled this half a year ago, I was a bit on the fence about it. It was super sweet (rhubarb and something almost strawberry-ish) with a strange undertone. I threw it in the 'try again' pile and did not think about it for a long time.

 

Yesterday it was the first beautiful and sunny day of the year and I realized that all my BPALS are warm/hippy/bakery scents that are more suiting for cold weather. So I dug some imps out that where more suitable for spring time. I found a whole four of them! One of them being Lawful. And, long story short; it is THE PERFECT springtime scent for me! The super sweet rhubarb is a bit toned down and the fig is more present now. It is a fresh, herbal scent with a sweet side. Really lovely!

[muhrrynn]

Well, I guess I've been rolling the wrong alignment. Lawful and I just do not mix. By the first smell, I thought I would enjoy this, but the moment it hit my skin it smelled so much like the bottle of echinacea goldenseal supplement I sometimes take that I couldn't even wait for it to dry; I had to wash it off to ward off the involuntary clench reaction of my throat in protest. Needless to say, I'm disappointed. I quite enjoy fig notes, and I was hopeful about the rhubarb. Alas, it is not to be. I shall have to roll another alignment.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Outdoorsy, like bright, tart grass...but better than that sounds. Very fresh, with an herbal earthiness.

 

Drydown: Happy and spa-like. I’m not familiar with rhubarb, but if that is what I’m smelling, it must smell very good! It's very similar to a tomato leaf soap whose scent I positively adore. Bright, but supple. Almost sweet, almost citrusy, and a little bit grassy.

 

Dry: Fresh, happy, and well-behaved. It smells like a beautiful herb garden and some sort of rhubarb & fig leaf beverage concoction….which is to say it smells sort of like strawberries and radishes and lemon verbena.

 

 

 

If you’re at all curious about this one, run - don’t walk - to your nearest BPAL ordering screen

 

9 out of 10 bones

Edited October 8, 2014 by BoneBone24

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: The oak note jumps out at me first, but I also get the other notes from this as well.

Wet: Woody, herbal, and somewhat fruity. At times, I think I get more oak and fig leaf, but at other times, I think I'm getting more of the chamomile and rhubarb.

Dry: This one is fruit-dominant on me now, with the fig leaf being the most prominent note, although the rhubarb is definitely present as well. The chamomile note remains, but the oak note seems to have taken a background role. I don't get much of the oak note in this phase.

Verdict: I think this one could be good for layering, but I really don't see myself wearing this one on its own.

[anaengel]

This review is solely as an oil warmer scent. I have allergic reactions to oak, so I'd rather not have blisters. I got this bottle a couple of years ago as a gift from the lab and have never reviewed it. Silly, bad me. So, without further ado.

In the bottle, this is very strongly of oak. It almost wants to beat back the rest of the scents, but the chamomile is fighting for all it's worth to get out and be known.

Once I get it heated a little, the oak starts to play much nicer and allow the others to come out. Then, I get the rhubarb being all fruity and excited. The chamomile is pretty soft now, but letting itself be known.

Closer to the end of the burn (I do a two hour max on any oils I burn) the scent turns into the feeling like I am outside and sitting by a fire without the smoke. It's a warm woodsy and the grasses under burning and someone made some camper pies. It's the type of burning fire where you've got the fire going, but you still are burning the perimeter to make it a regular burn spot, so there's still the dirt and grass and such that needs to be scorched and you should keep an eye on it so it doesn't get too big. But, it's a good scent to smell, in my memories.

I like it and really do wish I could wear it on my skin. I can only imagine how nice it would be.

[hammy]

In the bottle - Wow, that’s strong. This oak is definitely rigid.

 

Wet - Weirdly, as soon as it hits my skin I’m getting straight chamomile. I usually like chamomile, but this blue version is pure funk on my arm. I liked Lawful better in the bottle.

 

Drydown - Vegetation and blue chamomile. I’m thinking the vegetation is the rhubarb. Doesn’t matter, since the smell has already gone to weird chamomile hell. I can’t find the fig leaves. Too bad, since I love them. This is a damp and incredibly sharp scent, and the blend is bringing out the very worst things about my beloved oak. If you like Twisted Oak Tree, there might be something in this for you.

 

Verdict - I understand that this is a layering scent, but I can’t sit through that chamomile nonsense again. Blue chamomile (and maybe rhubarb) just made my naughty list, and not in a fun way. Swap.

 

Note - MUCH easier to take when layered with other RPG scents, but still not for me.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: A surprisingly complex scent: vegetal, woodsy, and herbal, more or less in that order. I found the woods especially interesting - most of BPAL's woods bring to mind either fresh-cut plywood or well-tended furniture, but this is more the smell of living wood itself.

 

Wet: The wood is more definitely oak now. Specifically, oak wine barrels - my father is a winemaker, so I grew up around scents almost exactly like this one. (He also used old barrel staves as barbecue fuel, so I'm also getting some of that.) The green/herbal/vegetal notes are also resolving themselves into chamomile, or at least leaning more definitively herbal. There's also an unexpectedly sweet note, almost definitely vanilla - where did that come from???

 

Dry: It dries down into something herbal-sweet, with the oak hanging around in the background, providing some support but never really coming forward itself.

[Teamama]

In the imp, I was not able to pick out any one note, mostly it smelled sweet and oddly chemical.

Wet, the oak reveals itself as the source of the "chemical" smell. It's not the sweet, woody smell I know from laying or sanding dry oak floorboards, and I've never smelled green oak wood. The rhubarb note is nice.

Overall, this is pretty subtle, not a lot of throw. I don't think I can wear it, through, because I'm feeling a little queasy from it.

Yep, had to wash it off.

Edited July 29, 2015 by Teamama

[aquazoo]

Kinda naughty for being lawful. It’s a little leafy, but fades really fast. I get dill.

[stellamaris]

Well, this is 100 percent Boy Juice, no unisex here. I deemed it Awful, and gave it to my son. Smells very good on him. Pass for me.

[LizziesLuck]

Never tried anything with rhubarb in it, so I'm fairly excited to try this!

 

Wet: Really interesting! The oak is a bit overpowering at first (and I'm not a fan of oak) but then the other notes come into play and it calms down a bit. I think the fig leaf must be the greenness I'm getting from this. It's really interesting. Not sure yet if it's something I would ever wear, but really interesting. I think a woman could maybe wear it? But it does read fairly masculine on me.

 

Dry: This is better dry. It's really unique, very green. Woody. A bit tangy. It's not something I could wear, but really glad to have gotten to try it. Might be really great on a guy.

[Kay Torres]

In the imp: All oak all day...

 

Wet: I'm picking up the chamomile. The rhubarb, oak and fig leaf are more impressions than they are scents that I can pick out... there's a tartness, there's a sweetness, there's an impression of wet green-ness and wood. Thank God the oak isn't killing me like it has in other blends.

 

Dry: For a very few wonderful minutes, this smells realistically like working outside in an herb garden. The only thing missing is the smell of dirt. Unfortunately, after that it turns into those scented plastic fruit toys. Not sure what note is doing that.

[Coldfire]

Imp: wood and green
Wet on me: mostly the wood notes
Drying Down: wood with faint traces of the chamomile
Dry: This smells like my grandmother's armoire did when I was visiting her growing up. Love it~

[puellacaerulea]

In the imp, this is really intense, sharp oak, with something slightly herbal and spicy in the background (maybe the chamomile?). For some reason it reminds me of the smell of old, polished church pews. The rhubarb comes out in a big way after it's been on for a bit, making the overall scent surprisingly sweet -- the difference between what I'm smelling on my wrist and in the imp is huge. The end result is a sweet rhubarb that's grounded a little bit by the oak in the background. It reminds me a lot of Libra 2016, with the morphing in reverse -- Libra's aggressively sweet in the bottle but gets balanced out nicely with the wood notes after applying, while Lawful gets almost too sweet as it dries down. I don't think I need a 5ml of this, but this is one to consider if you like sweeter, strawberry-esque scents.

[roseus]

In the imp: intense, dry, woody oak and intensely herbal chamomile.

 

Wet: Woody, boozy, and a little sweet. There's something pine-y too.

 

Dry: Smells like bad gin. Boozy and sharp, with pine-y cool edge. Giving me a headache which is rare!

[Lucchesa]

This looks like a really aged imp; it came in a swap. Exactly one imp containing rhubarb -- this one -- has ever passed through my hands, so I was curious to try it. Wet I got mostly oak and chamomile. Eventually the fig leaf comes into play, not as fruity as the regular fig note, and what must be the rhubarb, kind of tangy, a little sweet. It's an interesting blend, wood-fruit-dusty chamomile, no throw on me and not particularly long-lasting. I don't see this getting much wear on its own but will try layering with the other RPG blends.

[monocainsheresy]

OAK, which develops into a smoky, glittering combo of woods, fig, and strawberry rhubarb 

[garbagewitch]

Wet, Lawful smells just like the efficascent oil my mom used to rub on our stomachs when we were feeling ill: dark green, cool, and strongly medicinal. The main ingredients in it were camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus oil, so I have no idea how it’s doing that.

 

As it settles down, it gets sweeter and smoother, becoming more of a gentle woodsy-herbal scent. It’s a very calm, soothing scent, sort of what I imagine an apothecary on the edge of a forest might smell like: cool, faintly sweet, and gently medicinal. All the notes are pretty well-balanced, but it definitely gets more woodsy as it dries down—I’ve never thought of oak as very distinctive from other woods, but I think it stands out pretty well in Lawful.

 

Overall, it’s subdued but pleasant, and I can see this working well for certain characters. I probably won’t buy a full bottle unless it layers amazingly well with something else, but I’ll definitely be snagging another imp if/when this one runs out.