#occupywallstreet

[greenranger]

Rock the protester cliché! This is a filthy friggin' patchouli, dark, deep, rooty, and strangely sexy, with cocoa absolute, tobacco absolute, and bourbon vanilla.

I love this scent, and I think I will love it more once the patchouli really settles in. I may have found my holy grail of patchouli/vanilla/chocolate/tobacco rich scents. On me it isn't doing anything sharp. It's just really strong patchouli to start, with the other sweeter scents tempering it as it dries. I could roll in this.

However, the absolutes have absolutely settled to the bottom of the bottle and are resolutely not mixing in. I'm working on it, but, it's like convincing my tea party friend that the corporations don't have his best interests in mind.

[Betula]

In the bottle: Very high pitched, woody patchouli. Huh. Well, it's supposed to be 'filthy', but somehow I thought that would mean it would be the more 'protester cliche', hippie patchouli. This is a kind I've never smelled before. I detect some cocoa as well.

 

Wet: The cocoa is gone. I... think what I'm smelling is all patchouli and tobacco, but it's so mixed I can't tell them apart. This is a very strange, medicinal smell. I'm reminded, for some inexplicable reason, of Iago- but this is less complex. I don't THINK they share notes... unless there's some vetiver in here.... Anyway, at this phase, it's a more grating version of Iago on me.

 

Dry: Christ on a bike, this patchouli will knock you down and drag you out. Where is that bourbon vanilla? Maybe the 'bourbon' part is a piece of what's contributing to the medicinal smell. The throw on this is considerable.

 

Later: This mellows out to a warm, medicinal patchouli that might be appealing on the right person- probably a man. I'm a bit miffed about this, because normally I LOVE cologne-ish blends. My skin works well with them, and I like a touch of androgyny from my perfume. But this stuff is too MANLY!! and sharp for me. There is a hint of burnt tires underneath it all, and the patchouli never gets to that earthy sweetness I normally associate with the note. Towards the end of the drydown it becomes sweeter and more bearable, but not really enjoyable. When it comes to smoky, medicinal androgyny I think I'll be reaching for Iago instead. What can I say? I like bad boys.

 

Edited for spelling

Edited November 8, 2011 by Betula

[porcelina]

this is the sexy patchouli from banshee beat with a delicious blast of boomslang-style cocoa. if you like banshee beat, or boomslang, or the black temple burlesque troop, this is worth a try for sure. sexy vanilla, cocoa and earthy patchouli with just a hint of tobacco sweetness. i'm glad i bought two bottles because i could see this being a classic everyday scent for me.

 

by the way, SHAKE OR ROLL IT BEFORE YOU WEAR IT. tried it without mixing before and it was totally different (all patchouli, no yummy chocolate). i like it much better now!

[sunshinedaisybliss]

I have been SO excited about this, and I've waited patiently for my bottles to arrive.. and they're here! Finally here!!

 

Why have I been so excited? Well - a couple of reasons; first, my love for Banshee Beat knows no bounds.. so I was hoping that #occupy is going to be like BB's naughtier, chocolatey-er sister. And second, because when Beth uses the words "filthy friggin' patchouli" followed by "dark, deep, rooty, and strangely sexy" I know we're in for a treat

 

I do not have a disappoint. I am so glad I bought more than one bottle, and now I shall set off on a quest to hoard several more, because I love love LOVE #occupywallstreet - it's exactly what I wanted.. it is a filthy friggin' patchouli that's dark and deep and sexy. And it's the perfect patchouli for my skin.. it doesn't smell mouldy, it's not too earthy, it's not bitter, it doesn't climb up my nose and assault my head, it's just dark and warm and sexy. Patchouli is definitely the dominant note here, and for the first few minutes on my skin it's pretty much all I can smell, but then the cocoa comes out.. and it's just the perfect mix - not too much so that it overrides or mixes weirdly with the patchouli.. the cocoa makes itself known, but never oversteps its boundaries - the patchouli holds its place as the star of this show.

 

The tobacco is a bit lost for me - it's a note I often have trouble finding on my skin, and in #occupy it's just a slight hint of tobacco - not strong at all, just a soft tang. The bourbon vanilla is not sweet or sickly, nor particularly strong - like the cocoa, it sits nicely behind the patchouli rather than dominating it (I actually would have liked the vanilla to be more prominent, but I'm not complaining). It took about an hour for the patchouli to mellow out on my skin, and that's when I could smell the cocoa and vanilla at their best - it does take a while for the oomph of that patchouli to fade

 

So is this a sister to Banshee Beat? Yes.. but more in spirit than in fragrance. BB (on me) is all about the heady richness from the vanilla and hemp, with the patchouli underneath. #occupy (again, on me) is all about the patchouli, with the vanilla and cocoa underneath. So they both have that kickass hippie goddess thing going on, but actually they are quite different. Banshee Beat is what I would have worn for Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock in August 1969, where #occupy is what I would have worn for the Rolling Stones at Altamont in December 1969. And if you don't get those references, then you have no business wearing patchouli

 

EDIT!

Just adding this as a PSA a few weeks later - in an effort to get a bit more of a cocoa-licious thing going on with my OWS, I sat the bottle on its head and left it that way for half a day, figuring the cocoa would eventually release itself from the bottom of the bottle and mix a bit better with the rest of the oil. But what did I discover? The cocoa was STILL sitting at the bottom of the bottle! Even when it had been sitting upside down for hours!! So I just had to investigate this further.. I grabbed a plastic coffee stirrer and poked at the stubborn bottom-dwelling cocoa.. except that it wasn't soft mushy cocoa down there - it was solid. Yes, solid - like a lump of tar! When I pulled the stirrer out, it had a blob of black goo on it.. so solid that it wouldn't even wipe over my skin. I'm not sure what to do now - this stuff is probably never going to mix with the oil, it's pointless trying to mix it - I'll just have to hope that over time the solid glob of cocoa will be softened by the oil and eventually come free of its mooring at the bottom of the bottle. But the point of me telling you all this is that I didn't notice at first just how separated the cocoa actually was, and I'm seeing a lot of reviews with people saying they're not getting any cocoa out of their OWS - so check your bottle! Poke something down there - have you got a solid glob of cocoa goo too?

.

Edited December 7, 2011 by sunshinedaisybliss

[Poenari]

So is this a sister to Banshee Beat? Yes.. but more in spirit than in fragrance. BB (on me) is all about the heady richness from the vanilla and hemp, with the patchouli underneath. #occupy (again, on me) is all about the patchouli, with the vanilla and cocoa underneath. So they both have that kickass hippie goddess thing going on, but actually they are quite different. Banshee Beat is what I would have worn for Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock in August 1969, where #occupy is what I would have worn for the Rolling Stones at Altamont in December 1969. And if you don't get those references, then you have no business wearing patchouli

 

 

I'm so glad that I waited to review #occupywallstreet until after sunshinedailybliss wrote her fabulous review, because I don't think that there's anything I can add that she didn't say more eloquently. Read her entire review if you don't believe me.

 

The patchouli stays way out front, but the cocoa adds a luxuriousness to this that you wouldn't expect from a "filthy friggin' patchouli" scent. I love this scent, am so happy I ordered two bottles as soon as it went live, and definitely hope to get a couple more bottles before it comes down.

[ianastar]

I really thought I would love this based on the description and notes - I love patchouli, cocoa and vanilla and thought they would be amazing together. This was nothing like I expected. At first the patchouli was very strong, and there were other green/earthy notes coming out. Then the cocoa bubbled to the service, but just for a bit. Overall, I just wound up smelling like a dirty hippy covered in dirt. LOTS of dirt!!

[fiddlehead]

The illustration for #OccupyWallstreet is very appropriate. The first time I applied it, I got vanilla/patchouli. Really grassy dirty patchouli. A little cocoa if I really sniffed. It dried down into something very evocative of a barn, with damp hay and grass. Maybe some animal just out of sight. I can't really explain it better, but my family owned cattle and horses and something about the drydown of this is taking me back to childhood The second time I tried it I couldn't smell any vanilla or cocoa, just the patchouli and tobacco. I like it, and I like it on my hubby. I'll really bet it'll age well. I think I'm turning into a dirty hippie

[calivianya]

I think #Occupy is a little too much patchouli for me. I just re-tested after rolling the bottle again just to be sure, but the vanilla and cocoa never come out on my skin, and even the tobacco is barely there. I've let this set for a few days before trying it, so it's not that it's fresh out of the mailbox... it's just too much patchouli for me from start to finish. Oh well, I'm sure plenty of other people will love it.

[moonslipper]

I was delighted to order this - a totally worthwhile cause wherever you live in the world.

 

I happened to open my package, and this bottle, sitting next to hubby on the sofa and he had to actually leave the room!!

 

Strong, earthy, not much patchouli on first sniff, but as someone else already said, a strong hint of vetiver. Oddly, I also get some mint. So, so strong.

 

Wow! Too much for me! After washing it off immediately (hubby was truly allergic and headachey after the brief sniff), and several hours later, my wrist smelt lovely! Ah, too bad. I will definitely see how this ages, perhaps it will mellow.

[naeelah]

Man, they aren't kidding about this being a major, filthy hippie patchouli. I'm a newly converted patchouli fan, so it might be a little extreme for me.

 

First, be sure to roll your bottle thoroughly before applying the perfume. The cocoa absolute sticks in the bottom, so you want to make sure the oil is blended.

 

It primarily smells of patchouli in the bottle. On the skin, it's much the same -- a mega dose of thick, dark, dirty, rooty patchouli. It's a little bit similar to High John root (as in the conjure blend High John the Conqueror).

 

As it wears, the filthy rooty quality gradually lets up, and it turns into a patchouli more akin to the gentler one that I've come to like in certain BPAL blends. I can smell a hint of vanilla rounding it out, especially as the rootiness lets up. The chocolate is quite subtle. I'm not sure if I'm picking out the tobacco or not. There is something sharp about the scent when it first goes on. Sharp in the way that some earth has a certain metallic quality. I don't know if this is an aspect of the tobacco or the patchouli. The tobacco certainly seems to be an earthy variety, rather than a lighter, sweeter pipe-like one. (In fact, when the scent first goes on, it's not wholly unlike cigar smoke.)

 

So in short, this is PATCHOULI that is enriched by the vanilla, cocoa, and tobacco. It gradually softens and develops more nuance as it wears, so if you don't like the mega-root scent fresh out of the bottle, give it a little time, and your skin might make it more agreeable.

 

I'm sure that this will age beautifully, and I like it once it settles down, so I'll give it time. I hope that the other notes become a little more forward with time. I was hoping for a more even blend of all 4 notes. For now, I'll layer it with Boomslang or Sachs (or something like that) to make it smell a little more like what I hoped it might smell like.

[inurbanus]

At first the patchouli is way too "gnarly" for my taste (which I kind of suspected would be the case!) but after about a half an hour it mellows into a smoke and resin scent that I can tolerate a lot better. Unfortunately, the notes I was really interested in - the cocoa, tobacco, and vanilla - don't make an appearance. Maybe I didn't roll my bottle enough or maybe they'll come out in time as this ages. I'm willing to wait and see because I have a feeling that this could be really amazing with time.

[orata]

Insanely strong, almost medicinal patchouli, with an almost nutty tone to it. SO strong. Serious patchouli, like a musty kick in the face. I think the tobacco is making it a bit sharp. Cocoa and vanilla never made an appearance on me, as far as I could tell. I was about to kick my decant to swaps when I found it can be quite lovely if layered in a tiny dose with some strong, sweet vanilla (I'm using Solstice Scents Cenobite)--not as creamy/nutty as Banshee Beat due to the missing hemp note, but still a nice way to cut the sweetness of one and temper the earthiness of the other.

[milo]

Yup, this is patchouli alright! Not really getting much else here, but from what I remember reading other reviews, I think you have to roll the bottle, and I don't think I did. Pretty much a earthy patchouli on me, very much like the Urban Outfitter prototype UOH34. Wishing the vanilla and tobacco was there, but maybe that will make an appearance with some age. Unless it changes, I don't think I'll keep this one, as the UO prototypes are pretty similar. Will keep, though for a few months to be sure.

[stellans]

O.M.G. This blend is a patchouli-lover's dream come true! I love it, love it, love it, and now I'm happy I popped for 2 bottles. I rolled the bottle well, as others have recommended, and sure enough, the dark murkiness at the bottom blended into the lighter top portion. When I opened it up, patchouli was all I could smell though upon application, the cocoa absolute didn't take long to make its presence known. Not much tobacco nor bourbon vanilla yet, but I imagine with aging those two might show up eventually - though if not, I won't mind too much because...PATCHOULI! I guess I'm just an aging hippie pie-wagon chick after all, because I do love me some patchouli when it's well-done, and BPAL patchouli is always well-done. Four out of 5 stars for this very well-done patchouli blend!

Edited November 28, 2011 by stellans

[Little Bird]

My husband and I both usually enjoy patchouli fragrances (love Banshee Beat, even), but this is a medicinal, gross sort of patchouli ("putrid" is the word my hubby used to describe it). I don't get any of the cocoa, tobacco, or bourbon vanilla. There are a couple drops of cocoa absolute hardened along the bottom of the bottle, but not enough to matter or even mix into the rest of the oil.

 

I was hoping for more cocoa and vanilla, but this is all woody (a bit like a sour cedar note), mentholic patchouli that's not as rich/deep smelling as the patchoulis that I enjoy. There's something almost bright and plasticy about this scent for me. Hard to explain. It's thin and bitter rather than rich and earthy.

 

I thought that I might use my bottle for layering with other scents, but it's gotten more sour smelling to me over time... not a keeper at all.

Edited January 4, 2012 by Little Bird

[Ondine]

I guess I got one of the cocoa-light bottles because mine is pretty much all patchouli all the time. I like it, but I was hoping for something a little less single-note, more like one of the Urban Outfitters protos or Banshee Beat with cocoa. There are no discernible bits of cocoa in mine. Oh well.

[zankoku_zen]

Loads of dark patchouli, sweetened slightly cocoa and vanilla. This is dark, rooty patchouli.

 

PASS.

[lilyliza]

This is definitely one for the patchouli lovers. The other notes are just there in the background to make things interesting, but the patchouli is the main player here- it's nearly like wearing single note patchouli. I like it, though- I'm a big fan of patchouli, and I like the way the other notes blend. Plus, when the patchouli finally dies down a few hours later, I'm left with a spicy but soft cocoa and vanilla scent...mmm. I think this would probably be good for layering too.

[Kamanjah]

I, too, have a bottle with a layer of black goo at the bottom. I just stirred things around with a toothpick and came up with a glob of black. It didn't want to dissolve back into the oil, so I just rubbed it on my wrist, where it went on practically dry and none of it went onto my other wrist when I rubbed them together.

 

I applied this earlier today and did roll the bottle because it's been pretty cold in the house and I've noticed I need to mix most of my scents to get the full fragrance since some oils get thicker when they're cold. The first time I applied it, I thought I smelled hay as I put it on, then it dried to a dark, dirty patchouli with maybe a hint of vanilla. Then, for about an hour it smelled loamy. After two hours, it softened up a bit. I never did smell cocoa, but can sense the tobacco under the patchouli.

 

It was at the three hour point when I dug around with the toothpick to see what was on the bottom. I still don't smell cocoa on the wrist that now has black stripes but that wrist is sweeter smelling than the wrist that didn't get any goo. I'm still getting the loamy scent on the one wrist, but the 'dirty' wrist actually smells much cleaner and the fragrance much more balanced. I'm just going to leave my 'stripes' on since I'm not going anywhere today and I quite like the way it smells.

 

I'm wondering if warming the bottle in my pocket for a while might warm the cocoa up enough to mix in. Will post back if I decide to try that. I have to do that when I want to use vetiver (and some other oils that thicken when they get cold) in my burner.

[sarandipitee]

This is single note down and dirty patch. I do have some chocolate sediment in the bottle and I rolled this baby but nothing but patchouli is on my skin. Even after 20 min of dry down, it's just patch with a faint tobacco edge. I'll try it again and keep rolling the bottle, but I have a feeling this will have to age as long as Snake Oil for me to truly love it.

[Voleuse]

This is straight-up patchouli on me, and intensely so. There's a woodsy sort of aspect to it--the tobacco, maybe--that keeps it from becoming too intense. Over time, the cocoa starts to peek through, and it's definitely the globby dark cocoa of Boomslang (and I mean that in the smell sense, not just the literal blobbiness of the cocoa absolute). This makes for a neato headshoppy blend that I like, smoky with peeping hints of sweetness. That said, it's definitely as strong as everybody says it is, so if you shy away from patchouli in general, this might not be the scent for you.

[donnatron]

Bottle: Damn. That is PATCHOULI. Deep, dirty and pretty intense. It's unusual compared to my usual patchouli-heavy blends (more rooty and earthy than, say, Masquerade or Depraved) and I'd be intrigued to know what variety it is. I also have a layer of cocoa at the bottom of the bottle. I have rolled this bottle for probably a total of 45 minutes and the cocoa is still mainly separated from the blend. Hmm :/

 

Wet: Okay. I freaking LOVE patchouli and this goes on a little too intensely patchouli for my taste. It's really, really dirty patchouli with the faintest hint of tobacco overtop. A little ashy.

 

Dry: The wet phase is thankfully brief and it dries down to a deep, incense-y patchouli with a very faint warmth from the vanilla and tobacco. The cocoa is pretty absent. It's still a... interesting scent? A really intense patchouli scent with some supporting elements from the vanilla and tobacco although neither are identifiable as such.

 

Throw: Strong. Lasts for freaking ever as well.

 

Overall: This is my Sunday afternoon scent. It's too dirty for wearing at work and my boyfriend absolutely hates it. It's a love it or hate it kind of blend and I think it's best for me to wear it when I'm just going to chill out and enjoy it on my own.

[bpalscentsual]

1/27/2012: #occupywallstreet

 

Previous scents: Dove deodorant.

 

In the bottle: Something sharp. I can’t smell anything besides something metallic.

 

Testing method: Two swipes of the wand against the inside of my left wrist.

 

Immediately: Phwoar. What the hell is that?

 

Fifteen minutes: Oh. It’s the patchouli. It’s a perfect patchouli, rooty and earthy and a lot like a wet stone buried in dirt. Unfortunately, this is the blend that made me discover that I don’t enjoy smelling patchouli, or smelling like it, and I can’t take anything else from this blend. Had to wash it off and slather Severin over my wrist to hide it.

 

Overall: Well, at least I know I don’t like patchouli now. Take one down, pass it around, with the imp moving-on thing.

 

DISCLAIMER: Due to differences in skin chemistry, inherent olfactory powers, and other scents that an individual might use throughout the day (i.e. scented deodorants, shampoos, room sprays, cooking odors), these oils will smell different on every individual. This review is only intended to illustrate my personal experience wearing it throughout the day.

[n3m3sis42]

In the bottle:

Whoa! Dirty hippie, for sure. I'm smelling something earthy and strongly woodlike.

 

Wet:

Mossy, dirty, pencils. Bleh.

 

Drydown:

As this starts to dry down, the wood calms down a little bit, and I am catching hints of cocoa and... Pine Sol? It's not really a Pine Sol smell, but that's what my brain wants to say it is. Despite that fact, it's not wholly unpleasant so we'll see what happens. Further into the drydown, the woodiness re-emerges, but this time it's more cedar than pencils.

 

Dry:

Hmmm, still getting dirty, woody hippie. I'll hold onto this one and see how it ages.

[boomtownrat]

I didn't really think I liked patchouli all that much until BPAL. Previously I had associated it with Deadheads and the local head shop, like most people probably do. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just not my thing.

 

Then, at Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law gave me a Yankee Candle plug-in fragrance that she said was called Patchouli - she loved it, but she likes to swap them out regularly and since I liked the way it smelled, she gave it to me. I ended up loving that stuff so much that I searched high and low for a BPAL that would smell close to it, because I want to smell like that myself. Based on what I could find of the notes in that YC fragrance, I thought #occupywallstreet would be pretty close. I only received it today and I was so keen to smell it that I couldn't wait for it to settle down. So far I do think it's close enough, and regardless, I love #occupywallstreet on its own merits. Earthy-sexy scents appeal to my Taurean nature and I like that I was able to support the cause in some way (chronic pain issues and other practical considerations make it unfeasible for me to join the protests physically).

 

My bottle does have the absolute congealed at the bottom, but I can still smell the cocoa in it anyway, in the bottle and on my skin. Patchouli is certainly strong in this, but it's such a good quality that its potency doesn't bother me. The vanilla smoothes out the slight medicinal scent. I can't smell much tobacco, but maybe the oil needs to settle more.

 

Putting #occupywallstreet on the front or back of my wrists is really nice, but putting it in my, uh, cleavage is even better. When I put it there, it almost seems to bring out more of the vanilla. My husband likes this on me, but I think Snake Oil is still his favourite (mine too, for that matter, but I do love this). Even a soak in the bathtub with a (lightly) scented bath oil didn't wash off #occupywallstreet, and I can still smell it eight hours after I applied it. This should age gorgeously. I'm already thinking of buying at least one back-up bottle, maybe two.