Lex Talionis

[olympia301]

 

The law of retaliation and perfect reciprocity: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, an arm for an arm, a life for a life. The essence of blunt justice: dark myrrh, vetiver, cardamom, violet, black pepper, sage, cedarwood and black patchouli with a clarion note of sharp white grapefruit.

 

The first blend that tempted me to buy BPAL. I fell for the name. My husband is a law professor and has talked about Lex Talionis for years. The Law of Retribution was actually an advance over what we humans had been using for so long in our history.

 

The scent itself was something else altogether! My first encounter with BPAL. It was massive hard-nosed vetiver laden with violet (which was fighting for its life) and grapefruit rasping away in the background. If there is sandalwood in the blend it's made into little spikes to stick you with. It felt more like it should be worn with full body armor rather than an evening dress, it was real martial.

 

This was perfume for amazons and I had to force myself to put it on every time I used it. Finally I swapped it away and had to come to grips with the fact that I am more of a sweet yet unique type of BPALer.

 

Oddly enough I was sorry to see it go. I will always think the name was great and am sorry that it didn't move me.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): This smells pretty herby, and a little sharp. I'm guessing pepper and sage?

 

Just On: It fades to just herbs mostly. Okay, I think it's sage, maybe I imagined the pepper.

 

An hour or two later: Still herby, and a little powdery. Some kind of flower perhaps that is turning to powder?

 

Around 6 hours: It's pretty faded, just a bit of powdery herbs.

 

12 hours: It's pretty much all gone, just the last vestiges of herby powder left.

 

Overall: I like this quite a bit, but I don't think it will get the love it should in my house. I just have to many others I love more. I guess that's good, as it's discontinued.

 

After reading other reviews: Wow, okay, so I didn't imagine the pepper, but my skin ate it. That's good, I'm not a pepper person. I certainly didn't get the grapefruit out of this, and I never got any other scents, but it wasn't too bad. I didn't get any cedar either. The sage and I'm guessing the violet is what went powdery were dominant.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 0/5

Summarised in a word or two: Vetiver!

 

In the imp/bottle: Sharp, strong black pepper and vetiver, with violet and grapefruit lying beneath.

 

On skin, wet: Dominant notes are black pepper and vetiver; I can't pick out anything else beneath them, as strong as they are.

 

On skin, dry: This is a very dark, heady scent, and not something very pleasant. This was still going strong an hour after applying, and would have gone longer, had I not washed it off. By then, it was still only black pepper and vetiver.

 

Conclusion: This was rather pleasant in the imp, sharp, dark notes nicely balanced by violet and white grapefruit. My skin took to nothing but the pepper and vetiver, unfortunately.

Edited December 18, 2005 by Aredhel

[Little Bird]

I've been wanting to try Lex Talionis for a while now. Sadly, it was discontinued about 2 days before I had planned to place an order for a bottle of it. Anyhow, a lovely swapper sent me an imp of it... so I can finally try it.

 

Perhaps I'm weird, but I LOVE black pepper and patchouli. If I could get a blend of nothing but black pepper and patchouli then I would be a very happy girl.

 

When I first apply this, it is black pepper in all its glory. So spicy and pulsing and yummy. Then after about five minutes, it softens and starts going sweet. Which is not what I wanted to happen.

 

I've spent the last two hours sniffing my wrist and hoping (PRAYING) that the pepper would come back. Or patchouli. Patchouli? Where are you?

 

This is violets, myrrh, and cedar. It is a soft and somewhat sweet smell. Not at all what I had hoped... so maybe it is good that I didn't buy a full size bottle when I had the chance. It starts out so strongly and wonderful though.

[magdalene]

received this as a freebie imp in one of my last orders.

 

in the bottle: the first time I smelled this, I absolutely hated it. I'm not sure what note offended me so badly, but I made a face and immediately put it away. I've given it a second try, so I can write a proper review, and this time around, it's not nearly so horrible to me. I'm getting a lot of cedar and sage, with a bit of grapefruit kicking around in the background.

 

wet on skin: the cedar warms up nicely on my skin, with the sage taking the backseat. The grapefruit never really intensifies, but it doesn't disappear into the back either.

 

dry down: there's the vetiver, which I've been waiting for. But sadly, no black pepper or violet. Oh wait, there's the black pepper. It's just a bit faint. The patchouli ghosts around for a bit, then slowly fades away. This is a fairly masculine scent, but not of the sort that would be utterly horrible on a woman. It's very clean, crisp and strong. Like a very fine aftershave, without any of the medicinal quality to the scent. It's not overpowering or sickly, just very clean.

[dcmo]

When wet this is very harsh and masculine smelling, but on this dries down much softer and really well blended to be a scent that could work for males or females. The violets soften the scent, and the pepper comes out more as well. Woodsy also. It always amazes me the way Beth's scents can morph from one thing to something completely different on drydown. This is really pleasant and a grounding and calming scent for me.

[Lycanthrope]

Very happy that I got to try this.

 

In the Bottle or Imp:

Cherrywood, a deep, fruity wood scent. A blend of other slightly astringent notes, some citrus, some tea-like. Roiling blend of scents.

Wet, on Skin:

Definitely a pungent vetiver, deep and dark woodsiness. The darkness is giving way for a sweeter, murky amber fragrance.

Drying Down:

Deep, dark amber with spicy notes behind it 'pushing' it forwards. This scent has presence. Peppery, this is amber with fang and bite. Can detect a faint dark floral above all of the rolling resins.

Over Time/Longterm:

Deepens to a myrrh, still possessing some of that vetiver depth and the violet and cardamom pod powdery spiciness is becoming more and more apparent. The myrrh actually elevates a bit near the end, moving past being purely sticky resin and just imparting a unique warmth. Absolutely wonderful. Can't stop snorfing my wrist.

Final Verdict?

It's really a shame this is discontinued, because this would have been a 10 mL for me for sure. Any similar blends, guys and gals? With this wearing of Lex Talionis, I can say with confidence: vetiver likes me.

[shelldoo]

in the vial: vetiver strong, sharp dark

 

wet: patchouli, cedarwood, and a hint of occassional violet

 

as it dries it is not as pungent, when my arm is a bit away from my nose, i smell mostly the violet, but up close to "sniff" it is myrrh and patchouli w/ a hint of cedar.

 

this is lovely, dark, earthy, yet sweetened w/ the violet. very beautiful if not classically femenine.

[aidenraine]

A very strong scent that got up my nose very quickly, but the patchouli is quite prominent and I like that! I can smell the myrhh too! Mmmmmmm!

 

I think I really enjoy wearing Lex- it reminds me of other patchouli blends but it just lacks the sweet kick that is usually combined with one of those.

 

The vetiver is like an aftershock. When I pull my nose away, then I can smell it- it comes last with it's smokiness.

 

As this dries it smells increasingly woody, a very cedery scent mixed with something darker. Sometimes when smelling BPAL I don't detect any of the listed ingredients but this blend has them all popping out in turn.

 

The more this sits the more it kind of smells like sweaty armpit. Hmmmm I think my final verdict is "a good patchouli scent" but could be better.

[wickedgoddess]

Origin - believe it or not, this has been sitting around in my test pile since before it was discontinued.

 

Wet - a delicious incensy smell with a wake-up call of grapefruit.

 

Dry - as this dries I primarily get violet and cardamom. I love cardomom and loathe violet, so it's interesting to see them duking it out for supremacy. The grapefruit fades and eventually, all that is left is patchouli. Not darkly sensual patchouli though, this really is the dirty hippie smell that I have smelt once or twice before, but isn't what I normally associate with patchouli. An interesting, complex blend, but one that ultimately doesn't work for me.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 2.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Vetiver with a hint of grapefruit. Interesting.....

 

First on: Mmm...the vetiver has definitely calmed down and blended with the sweet notes of violet & cardamom. The pepper gives it a bit of a kick. I knew I'd like this one, but I finally got around to it, of course after it's gone.

 

Drydown: It's gone back to the original vetiver with a twinge of something else. I htink it's the grapefruit. If this could stay in it's middle phase I'd definitely have to have it. As it is, I like it, but I htink it would be better off belonging to someone who loves it.

[Lilithlefay]

This is really strong on me. Very cedar. Very very cedar. Much too masculine. This smells like cedar with a little patchouli and myrrh. Not much else. I can't smell the grapefruit until about 15 minutes into wear time. This is very spicy and woodsy. I would like this on a guy perhaps but not on me. Sad this is discontinued because it is a nice blend, even though it is a bit too masculine for my taste.

[Voleuse]

This is sharp and strong on first sniff, and the myrrh and patchouli stand out immediately. The vetiver emerges quickly thereafter. I wouldn't say this is specifically a masculine scent, but I can see how it might be perceived as such.

 

After a while, the pepper and cardamom start to emerge, and I catch hints of the other notes, every once in a while. This is really, really strong. I'm tempted to sneeze.

 

Over time, the patchouli strengthens with the cedar, and as the scent fades, it becomes a sweet patchouli and resin scent--the grapefruit, I think, tempering it.

[coulrophobe]

On me, Lex Talionis is vetiver, vetiver, and a bit more vetiver.

 

Sadly, vetiver makes me smell like I've been rolling around on the floor of someone's garage - motor oil and dirt. I can catch hints of the other notes as the blend dries down, but nothing ever really challenges the vetiver's dominance. This one just ain't for me.

[Silverstrike]

I got this as a frimp from the Lab. I'd never heard of it before, so of course, I had to look it up (that's when I found out it was discontinued/brought back to life).

 

First impression: Very cedary, with something kind of sharp, I think the grapefruit.

 

Upon drydown: The cedarwood isn't as sharp anymore, but something about it is still quite strong. Very woody (like inside a chest).

 

Three hours later: Gone!

 

Overall: I'm not sure what vetiver smells like, but mainly I get cedarwood (I think), which is basically mellow but a little sharp (which I realize sounds contradictory); the grapefruit disappeared on me pretty quickly. I don't think this is something I would have chosen for myself (anything with patchouli I've generally tried to avoid in the past, but perhaps I'll be exploring my BPAL options now) but I did enjoy it.

[QueenFae]

Ughh, vetiver and myrrh, my two mortal enemies. Unfortunately this one goes all vetiver on me, with a dash of myrrh. I can't smell the grapefruit or any of the other lovely sounding notes at all. I end up with sort of a dried leaf pile smell, like decaying earth. Very masculine. Just not for me, I'll have to find my bottle a more appreciative home.

[AliBabble]

lex talionis is wonderful, in my book. out of the bottle - it is heavy on the black pepper - i love black pepper. a touch of the grapefruit, and the candy-ish violets. wow. this scent is full of contradictions, but to me, they work like a charm. it seems almost severe at first, but it immediately becomes so grounding and comforting with its earthy undertones - the myrrh, the vetiver (which is not overly-strong), dusky sage and cedarwood...it's a well-blended scent. i don't know if it's the cardamom giving the spiciness a subtle, mellow sweetness, but it's quite soothing. the patchouli is in there, adding sweetness too, but not too much. just a rich, warm, NATURAL-smelling scent (but not in a "hippy" way). this agrees well with my chemistry...it feels nurturing - very balanced.

[zenvodunista]

i had hoped this might be the single cedar i could wear, but no. a brief and fleeting moment of pure resin/wood warmth is followed by the cedar becoming stinky boy BO on me.

 

*sighs*

 

will pass it on to the BF. maybe he'll wear it.

 

n.

[hangingfire]

In the bottle: Vetiver and pepper.

 

On, wet: Dark, dark scent. Mostly the vetiver, patchouli, and pepper. This is strong stuff. The myrrh sweetens it, but doesn't lighten it at all.

 

Drydown: The intensity tapers off, but it's still a dark, moody blend.

[SeaMonkey]

dark dark dark and moody. All Vetiver and patchouli, then when it dries black pepper. I think I'd have to be in a special mood to wear this

[sookster]

straight up from the bottle i get a hayoooooge noseful of cardamom, black pepper and a

twist of violet!!! hubba,hubba!!!

upon application the myrrh and patchouli pop right out....and a bit of what could be

cedar but i am thinking it is the cardamom turning more cedary with the other notes.....

this is absolutely beautiful!!!!!

after awhile the myrhh, black pepper, and violet come together to form to the most

whimsical threesome that i have ever encountered

 

long lasting and beautifully incensey i am so honored and thrilled to have been able

to land myself a bottle of this astonishing perfume.....

 

[Alchemy21599]

In the bottle: Myrrh and vetiver over a dark, complex base. Very masculine. This will be DH's first BPAL!

[Miss Lynx]

This one was a bit of a disappointment. A lot of the notes in it sounded really good to me, but ultimately it fell prey to skin's tendency to amp florals.

 

It smelled very interesting to me in the bottle, and when first applied, but as soon as it settled into my skin a little, the violet rose up and took over. I could still smell the other notes a bit, but they were definitely background presences. It was defintely The Violet Show.

 

More than anything it reminded me of a somewhat more complex and interesting version of The Raven, which is not a bad thing, but not really a me thing either. That one was very violet-dominanet on me as well. As with most scent containing rose, if it had had about half the amount of the floral, I might have liked it, but as it was, it's not for me.

 

Grade: C+/B-

[kettu]

Nearly everybody seems to have smelled the vetivert, but that's not what I got from this bottle at all! IN the bottle, yes. On my skin, everything disappears and all I get is some weird powdery violet-sage combo. What a disappointment! I wear vetivert, cedar, and myrrh really really well, but I didn't get any of this. Not even pepper or patchouli. I sad.

[knudbrox]

I'm back and forth on this scent. Part of me loves how simple and sharp it smells, the other part is bored with the simplicity. Lex Talionis is a very black-and-white scent.

 

In the bottle, it's all about the black notes--patchouli and myrrh--with a sharply-delineated edges, the clean note that I can only assume is the grapefruit. On my skin wet, it doesn't change much. Still strong patchouli, but with a spicy note that I think is the vetiver.

 

As it dries, the patchouli fades. It takes fifteen minutes to a half hour for the patchouli to nearly completely leave. Lex Talionis turns spicy and a little floral-sweet--vetiver and violet and grapefruit with a bit of myrrh, maybe the cardamom or black pepper poking out.

 

I barely smell the cedar, except as perhaps a faint woody base under the black notes. The grapefruit never asserts itself as a foody or citrus scent--mostly it stands as a white note to put sharp edges on the scent.

 

My girlfriend keeps mistaking Lex Talionis for Torture King, which makes a little sense--they share some smoky, earthy notes, vetiver and patchouli--but it's not very accurate. Lex Talionis is very chiaroscuro, sharp edges with layers of black at the bottom and white at the top, whereas Torture King is much smokier, much less defined, much more mutable with many more colours muddling together.