All the Dust of the Land

[mystery213]

An infestation of Ceylon cinnamon bark, black patchouli, tonka absolute, bitter almond, and frankincense.

Ah, the cedar in this blend makes me want to cry. Every other note is stunning! Perfect! It smells like cinnamon cherries drenched in patchouli in the vial. But then when I apply it, cedar barges in with it's whole 'I am Cedar! Hear me roar!' thing and just about overtakes the blend. I amp cedar in a ridiculous way, so on other people this may possibly be all of the beautiful, spicy, tonka drenched patchouli with cherries (bitter almond) on top that I had hoped for, but on me, it is mostly just a resins/patchouli/cedar dominant blend. I am tempted to let this hang around for it bit to see if aging the patchouli and tonka helps to override the cedar, though I do fear I may be waging a losing battle with this one.... Edited April 23, 2015 by mystery213

[Atrous]

This one has a church incense vibe to it because I tend to amp frankincense.

The Frank is strong in this blend; its the dominant note, but the other notes give it depth and richness.

Resin with a pinch of spice, the slight haze of vanilla, and a touch of creamy sweetness lying on a bed of earth.

All the Dust is a nice addition to the incense/resin family.

[annemathematics]

I was worried this might go to cinnamon red hots candies on me, but that note is actually nicely restrained. it adds a sense of heat and a sweet spiciness, but doesn't take over the blend. there is a nice swirl of resins and a sweet almond note, and the whole of it is gorgeous for 15 minutes before my skin devours it completely.

 

Spoiler

 

eta, something about this scent makes me think it would go well in this movie (and I know it's different than the book, but I like both, ok?)

 

Edited April 23, 2015 by annemathematics

[Balame]

I generally don't like almond in BPAL for the sharp cherry-ish scent, but thankfully the note is subdued here. It does go on super cherry at first, but it quickly relaxes into a pleasant milky almond. On me this blend is surprisingly light. I figured it might have a little "hot candy" kick from the cinnamon bark, but it's actually an elegant spiced wood made smoother by the tonka.

 

It's kind of like an improved hybrid between Goatweed Leafwing and Question Mark, minus the citrus. But where QM turned kind of powdery and grandma on me, this is a wonderfully subtle woodsy blend with the slightest hint of incense. The frankincense is very soft, and I barely register patch when I smell this. It's kind of nice because while I enjoy patchouli, it tends to dominate, and that's not the case here. This is definitely it's own thing and not simply "another patch blend."

 

Fully dry I get a sweetened almond/dust/wood combo. It's not particularly dry like I imagined it would be, but that's okay. It verges on being just a bit too sweet for me, but I'm pretty sensitive to those things. It is nice to have found another spice blend that doesn't go crazy on my skin. I think with some aging the almond/tonka will chill out and this will become even nicer, so I'll probably snag a bottle or at least a partial to horde for later.

[barilace]

I love BPAL's almond note. And this starts off with that and it was so good for around 5 minutes there. But then after awhile it just becomes patchouli on me - which I am not very fond of. Sad pants.

[savage_rose]

This smelled so good in the bottle, sort of dry incense with almond. But as it started drying down, it became plastic almond. Sigh . Th

[zankoku_zen]

Bitter cinnamon, dusty patchouli and frankincense. This smells like dry, dusty, cinnamon. Low throw, average wear length.

[strahlend]

First impression – lots of almond.

Skin testing – goes on smelling acrid, sharp, kind of unpleasant. Pungent patchouli, perhaps? After a few minutes it does start to calm down a bit, as is the way of our people. Still not an appealing scent. The bitter almond and black patchouli with the bitter cinnamon. It all combines into a pungent mess. No thank you.

[lady_pandora]

This is a morpher, on me. It starts out predominantly cinnamon with something a little lemony, which I think is an early stage of the frankincense. Then, it does kind of a two-part thing, where my first sniff of it smells like dusty cinnamon and wood but there's a "back end" that I smell a moment later, like an aftertaste, that's kind of a funky sweat smell. I think this is something the patchouli is doing. At this point I decided i didn't like it, but at about 45 minutes, I suddenly realized the throw was a GORGEOUS frankincense. The skin scent was still a little wonky, but a little later, finally got it together, with the cinnamon/wood predominant and the patch behaving better. So it seemed like a really nice incensy dry cinnamon scent, until it pulled one last morph and went to kind of a men's-cologne place that reminded me of what Voodoo did on me.

 

After the first 45 minutes, I think this objectively smells good on me, if there's such a thing as objectively smelling good, but after a few hours it turns into something that just doesn't fit me personality-wise. I think it's "working" but not for me.

[Allumina]

This certainly fits the description. On me, this is a very dry, woody blend. It's dusty, but more in feel rather than an actual dust note (like, say OLLA Adam) The cinnamon starts everything up, but the main note ends up being the patch, with the frankincense (which usually goes off on me, but playing nicely here) adding some background support. It's similar to Mandrake, except more smooth wood and less pencil. I tend to amp sweet notes, so it's always nice to find blends that resist that. I don't get much almond or tonka. It's odd, because it ended up being pretty simple, and yet somehow it's giving off a vibe of being... elegant? I guess? I felt like I was wearing classy men's cologne despite it being gender neutral and not cologne-y at all. Maybe the hidden notes are contributing. Very nice.

 

This would probably layer well with Grievous Swarm.

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: Spicy, almost too-sharp woods and a bit of cinnamon.

 

Wet on my skin: A rich, thick, spicy mixture of all the listed notes.

 

Dry: Really, I can pick out all the notes, and they're all beautiful in this. It's warm and dusty, and the cinnamon isn't too strong, just enough to give it an extra kick. As it dries, the frankincense, tonka, and patchouli become dominant, in that order. The rest add to the body and spice of the overall scent. I'm already quite fond of this, as someone who likes woods and incense/resin. It's dusty-brown in colour, very evocative of that which inspired it.

[d0gbones]

In the imp (decant): Almond. Slightly bitter almond.

Wet: Marzipan. So basically, still almonds.

Dry: Slightly powdery almonds and a little frankincense.

 

I'm not getting anything else, which is A Good Thing because me and cedar don't get along at all. This has ended up being my favourite by far, though not enough for a full bottle purchase.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Ooh, this i pretty. Sweet and incensey. Dusty cinnamon and patchouli.

 

Wet on skin: Still dusty cinnamon. It's going to the almonds right now and frankincense yet. This is pleasant.

 

Dried down: Almonds spiced by cinnamon and a hint of frankincense.

 

Throw: Tiny bit, not much.

 

Verdict: **** 1/* I think I'm going to go ahead and get a bottle of this. I'm not completely in lov, but I think that might have to do with the number of scents I'm trying on now.