The Top

[burymestanding]

Blood red rose, indigo musk, opponax, and tobacco tar.

In the bottle: Smells very much like some sort of hard liquor? Maybe whiskey? No idea where I'm getting that from, but there you have it.
Wet on skin: Totally different from in the bottle. Smells almost exactly like nag champa incense, but with something a little citrus-y in the background.

 

Drydown: This is a very incense-y scent on me and I love it. It's REALLY similar to nag champa incense, with the rose hanging out in the background. I'm not a huge fan of roses, but this is an incense-y rose and it's so nice. Slightly powdery, but in a really good way, and definitely not in the in-your-face way at all. Just a little softness is all. Reminds me of a fancy lady's rose-scented soap.

 

This bottle is going off to a friend, but I am almost 100% certain I will be getting another for myself. I love the incense scent family, and this is substantial with decent throw without being overwhelming. This would be an excellent hot weather option for my fellow incense lovers.

 

 

[DevilsCandyCane]

This scent seems to be reeeeally unpredictable on my skin, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it!

 

The good bits - the rose note is gorgeous, in my collection so far I only have pink and white rose scents, which are beautiful, but it's a very fresh, light, innocent rose. This rose is much muskier, darker, sexier and more mature. There's a smokiness to it, and it is genuinely incensey - when most scents are described as 'incensey' here, I never get it, most people seem to mean frankincensey churchy smells, whereas when I say incense I mean pagan shops burning nag champa, and this nails it - it smells like a goth's bedroom, and I adore it - there's the dark romance of the blood red rose, the velvety gloom of the indigo musk, and a gorgeous waft of freshly lit incense.

 

Now, on the bad side, occasionally the musk here goes way too animalistic and smells a bit like a dog's bottom, which naturally, I can do without , and it's bloody devastating mixed in with such a gorgeous scent! Last week when I was testing it though, and repeatedly getting the poopy dog note, I was on my period, and now I'm not, and my skin's being its normal self, thank Cthulu there's not a poop to be found! I can see it being a serious skin chemistry gamble though, this scent - I really need to test it in my scent locket and see what happens there - if it's a raving success I'll come back and update this review!

 

Overall - gorgeous incensey goth roses...but with occasional unwanted visitations from Poop Musk. For me, never to be worn while period-ing!

Edited February 24, 2016 by DevilsCandyCane

[LiberAmoris]

I'm loving The Top. All four notes come through, but the result is something that smells less like four notes coming together and more like 'rock 'n' roll rose'. This is a rose that's lived a little, y'know? This is rose with the faint smell of cigarettes in her hair and smudged eyeliner, who travels the world and then when she gets home, throws her girlfriend's black leather jacket over a long white t-shirt to get a big bottle of mineral water at the corner bodega. It's self-assured, a true don't-f*ck-with-me rose.

 

Definitely incensey and a little perfumey (again, that blend of downtown and uptown), but also smolderingly sexy. The drydown, once the musk settles in, is BEAUTIFUL.

[annemathematics]

the top is a big scent. sensual, drippingly dark rose over heavy musky incense syrup. when wet, something throws out a slightly off-putting vegetal note: something swampy that's been boiled and left out and is starting to turn. this mischievous note pops in and out for the first few minutes, but doesn't stick around. please do not let the tiny moment dissuade you from embracing what is a very fantastic perfume.

 

as liberamoris states above, this is a rock'n'roll rose; to me it evokes 70's era, drop out of society, hop in a vw van, travel from show to show, name drop indian gurus, experiment with drugs and sex, be vegetarian but wear only an oversized vintage fur coat, make underground comics and sit around surrounded by art under blacklight bulbs. it's not the stinky hippie, it's the rock'n'roll muse/supergroupie smell. it's pretty cool and unlike any other bpal I have tried.

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: Musky vegetation, almost smells a bit 'off'. Like a pile of rotting leaves or something.

 

Wet on my skin: Strong blast of red rose, followed by slightly-powdery musk. Thankfully, the rotting leaves don't stick around on my skin.

 

Dry: This is a heady, sexy, musky rose on me. It's slightly reminiscent of Black Rose, but richer and actually even darker. Red rose and indigo musk are prominent on my skin, with the tobacco and opoponax backing them up and making them both smokier and darker. It's a deep, deep red with dark grey, almost black smoke charring the edges of the rose petals. Absolutely gorgeous on my skin, and I'm SO glad to have found another indigo musk love - it's the best musk on my skin, but so few blends have it! This will definitely join my "I'm going out and want to smell as sexy as I feel" collection of BPAL bottles.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: There's something almost cola-like about this (the opponax?). It's really dark, kind of gritty, a bit sweet. Interesting. I haven't smelled tobacco tar as a note before, but I think that's what I am mostly getting here. I certainly don't pick up much of the rose, other than a hint of soapiness.

 

 

Dry: Pleasant. The rose comes out and is very sweet, the musk is dark and powdery. It's quite nice, but it's not amazing on my skin, and I have a lot of other rose blends that work better on me. Glad I tried it though!

[freyasfae]

Oh, isn't this sexy? I have many roses, but most of them are softer, more respectable types. This one is not respectable at all, in fact, she flagrantly mocks respectability. I like her.

[theseagrows]

this starts off with a musky weirdness. something smells a little bit too animalic, but i'm trying to wait through it. thankfully it's gone in 5 minutes or less! after that i get a beautiful dark red rose, musk and opponax. this is like a musky red rose, one of my favorite types of scents! eventually i get more tobacco, which adds even more depth and beauty to the scent. ahhh i really love this and might need a bottle...it has a similar feeling to gypsy queen but it's less spicy there's no candle wax (if i am remembering correctly.)

[zankoku_zen]

Roses, musk and tobacco. This smells oddly enough like Red Rose from the BPTP Red Rose/White Rose combination. Less tobacco, more musk. Much softer. Good throw and good wear length.

[Convallaria]

On me, it starts as herbs (opponax) with a little bit of dry, "polite" tobacco. ("Polite" meaning not actually smelling like ashtray the way they used to do it in 1920s/30s.) Then the rose spiced with musk comes through and takes over. The drydown is mostly musk.

[twilighteyes]

This has aged beautifully and really smells a LOT like heavy incense.  I love it!!!  Medium throw.