Sarah, the Mother Bear

[Balame]

SARAH, The Mother Bear

Practical scents - warm, nurturing, wise, and strong: tonka bean, soft brown leather, myrrh, white sage, gurjum balsam, Ceylon cinnamon bark, red sandalwood, sweet tobacco, and a touch of gunsmoke.

Ironically I thought I’d enjoy Sarah the most from the PD line since it seemed like it would be warm and smooth, but to the contrary it comes across very harsh, peppery and woodsy.

I would've thought pepper was in this if it wasn’t missing in the note list. Simply put, it smells like spicy bark with gunsmoke. Things sweeten up a little bit sweet thanks to the cinnamon, but for quite some time I can’t pick out anything like leather, tobacco or myrrh, which probably could’ve softened this up a bit.

It’s too much on my skin. I think anyone who wants to get a guy into BPAL might do well with this. After an hour or so it becomes less overpowering and I can finally smell some of the brown leather, but it’s almost disappeared at this point as well.

[Monday]

Super soft and supple leather with herbs and a bit of gunsmoke. This my favorite scent from this update but it has an unfortunate flaw: it has virtually no sillage. I keep slathering it in the hope it will stick around a bit longer but the scent projects only about one cm from my skin. It is a liiiiiittle bit stronger than when I first got it so I hope aging will help. I guess you could call it a skin scent.

This is one of those scents that you have to smell to ‘get’ it, the notes don’t do it justice.

[Dark Alice]

Epic fail. The sage turns the musk and leather into something NAUSEATING! Must. Wash. Off. NOW!

[Atrous]

Momma Bear is a real surprise for me. Given the notes I was expecting something gritty but still on the feminine side...like something a Tomboy might wear.

During my all day test I got really soft leather with an even softer swirl of herbs and spices. I swear I also get Orange Blossom from this blend. So much so that I kept reading and re-reading the notes to make sure it wasn't listed. All day long its orange blossom, first and foremost, with the leather; herbs; spices providing gentle support.

Momma Bear stays close to the skin. For a scent with leather, tobacco, & gunpowder, its surprisingly light and bright. Also, after a while the leather fades to practically nothing. Another surprise as leather usually sinks its talons into my skin and doesn't let go.

I am a bit disappointed as I thought this one would be instant love. At this point, I'm thinking of retesting once this ages.

[zankoku_zen]

So, I've been pleasantly surprised by Sarah, the Mother Bear. It is on me, a very pretty, soft and female version of Quincy Morris.

 

Soft brown leather: CHECK

Tobacco and gunpowder swirls: CHECK

Tonka and cinnamon: CHECK

Scary sage MIA: CHECK

 

Overall, I get a very soft brown leather with enough grit (tobacco and gunpowder) to let you know how tough it is, with enough soothing spices to make it comfy.

[milo]

This one kind of smells like orris root, though I don't see any in the description. Soft, powdery, and orrisy:) This reminds me of Staged Moon Landing, a bit, kind of moon-like, powdery and slightly florally. I'm not getting leather, tobacco, or spices. Weird. I wonder if I'm wacked or a mislabelled imp. Most likely the former, and wrong time of the month to be testing.

[sarahmarie]

I had a baby this summer and my name is Sarah, so this one just kind of fit and I bought a bottle. So glad I did! It's so comforting. It is semi musky/animalistic and a little bit prickly, but only in the safest, strongest, most soothing way. It's hard to explain! I can tell you I wear it to bed sometimes because it feels warm and comforting, and it wears close to the skin (not enough throw or strength to bother the baby!)

[stubbornfire]

I knew I'd love this, but I told myself to hush and let it dry down some and see if it morphs at all, etc. It doesn't - it's beautiful and I love it to pieces.

 

I don't get most of the notes individually when wet. It's all just a very - well, to borrow from the first reviewer, "warm and smooth" blend. Almost hot, honestly. Not a 'sexy' hot but it's.. Like a not unpleasantly hot summer day, somewhere with tall grasses growing, kind of scent.

 

The more it dries I think I get a bit of leather, but the big players are the sage, balsam, bark, and a bit of tobacco.

 

I can see this becoming a comforting and strengthening scent for myself. I always wear my perfumes for myself primarily, but there are still ones that I wear more than others to places like work. I know that these are generally unobtrusive and 'clean' smelling scents unlikely to upset anyone/most likely to appeal to most people. I would wear Sarah anywhere. And I would wear her for me. And I would not give a single damn who liked it or what anyone thought about it. Bad days, weak days, sad days, I think Sarah will help a lot.

 

I will definitely remember to get a bottle when I can. And a back up bottle. Or three.

[rayvn1]

Definitely warm and nurturing. Sticks very close to the skin. There's a sweetness to it, but primarily it's warm leather and a tinge of sage. Very nice, and I'll probably hold onto my decant to see how it ages.

[LizziesLuck]

Initially I get a blast of sage, and I don't enjoy it, but it burns off almost instantly and the cinnamon and Myrrh come to the forefront.

 

They don't last either though, and are eventually replaced by warm leather, a touch of Tonka, some woodiness and a bit of sweetness. I actually really like this once it's dry, but I'm just not sure if it's "Me". I will likely give it a full day test before I decide if I need more.

 

Also, as an afterthought, I actually think this is rather unisex.

 

 

ETA: Feb 6, 2016 - Second testing. Final verdict: It's just "ok" on me. I can't see needing more, and I'll be passing my decant on to someone who will hopefully love it better.

Edited February 6, 2016 by LizziesLuck

[hiddentwilight]

I ordered this somewhat on impulse. I love leather/tobacco scents, and the concept of the scent is really appealing. I was definitely not disappointed. It starts out very smokey, with the sage and gunsmoke notes, but dries down to warm leather and tonka. As a previous reviewer commented, this scent stays really close to the skin. There's not a lot of throw, and the scent unfortunately fades after a few hours. But, while it's there, it's quite lovely.

[Little Bird]

This is a soft, close to the skin scent for me, even though the notes are usually bold, heavy ones. It's a soft, warm, suede-like leather, smoky sandalwood incense, and dusty wood scent. If it stayed like that, I might order a bottle of this, but the cinnamon creeps in during the drydown and gives it a dusty cinnamon potpourri smell that I'm not loving.

[Aveya]

Source: Lab

Preconceptions: Yawn-fest. I dunno why but I was so un-interested.

 

Imp: I dunno what I smell. It's like, nothing?

Skin: Surprisingly lovely what the heck. It's almost sarsaparilla-esq, but if it were cinnamon based. Vanilla backing, smokey hint. What the heck why is this so amazing.

Drydown: Oh no. I sniffed it all off. It's gone. There's nothing. I can only sniff it by merging by face with my arm via bending laws of physics.

 

Verdict: Lovely western cinnamon scent - but no throw. Super close to skin

[Nemo]

I let this one sit for a bit, before I tried it.  Wet, from the bottle: Brown, supple leather.  On my skin: Brown leather. It's a very rich scent, though it doesn't last long. It reminds me strongly of getting new braces. All the buckles jingling and the leather so shiny and fragrant. I'd sit down on the floor and figure out how to get them on, while Bob, my calico cat, would climb into the braces, and  bat the straps, and chew on all the leather covered edges.

 

  I will hang onto this for a while and see if any other notes come forward after ageing.

[VetchVesper]

Wow, this one deserves more love. It's fairly light and unobtrusive, but very complex.  It makes me think of cool mountain air, sun warmed dust, and wafting gun smoke. Very dry, powdery (but not baby powdery), with a decidedly smoky edge that grows stronger and grittier on me with wear.  

 

The leather is brown and well worn; the cinnamon is well behaved; the sage gives this a freshness.  It's really a very smooth, comforting, and gender neutral scent that makes me think of someone who don't brook no shit.

[Cali]

Getting a good mix of all of the notes, i can pick them out independently but they work together very well too. It's a somewhat darker scent (like a veeeeeeery soft/deluded version of reptoid dominion), but it's more of a hippy-shop dark on me than 'evil' or nighttime-y. It's an embrace of a very nice-smelling person you trust.