The Two Old Men

[hexnut]

Sweet brown leather, cacao absolute, coffee bean absolute, and teakwood.

Blind tested on my right wrist, and accidentally slathered instead of dabbed.

In Vitro Pleasant but not strong.

Wet Immediate deep sniffing: sweet and spicy. An earthy note joined in a few minutes later for a very nice scent overall. Unfortunately it faded significantly by the twenty minute mark despite the relatively large amount still gleaming on my skin.

Drying Again with the plastic note. It's now one hour and twenty five minutes since application and what remains is vague and sweet with a faint whiff of plastic.


Despite the disappointing drydown I have high hopes for this on my hair and/or clothing, and I will edit to reflect further tests. Even on my wretched skin, the wet phase started out beautifully.

[radiantfracture]

This is a puzzling beast (or pair thereof).

In the bottle, I get strong astringent-sweet leather and something almost citrus-like, reminiscent of orange but also of green stems.

 

On my skin, the leather becomes sweeter, the citrus element flares, and then the nice oily teak smell expands through the other notes. Something sharp contrasts with the smooth wood. A peppery, slightly dusty smell rises.

 

I'm not sure how BPAL's cacao contrasts with cocoa or chocolate notes, but on my skin I never smell anything like chocolate. There is something faintly spicy, in a dry way, that comes with the pepperiness and that I can just imagine is a kind of unsweetened spicy version of cacao. If the citrussy element is green coffee bean, that accounts for all of the listed notes - but wow, they came in forms I was not expecting.

 

On me, this finishes as a peppery, astringent, dry and dusty wood with a trace of amber-like sweetness. It isn't remotely foodie -- the elements are considered in a completely different way.

 

I do get flashes of the plasticky smell mentioned above, which sometimes happens on me with cream or almond notes (though those are not listed here).

 

I'm not sure what I make of this. I'll be interested to read more reviews.

[Little Bird]

This is like a grownup version of Miskatonic University, and kind of similar to Pinched with Four Aces on my skin. It smells like a coffee shop in an old book store. The leather is sweet, slightly dusty and slightly vanilla-ish (the old books part), and the coffee & teakwood smells like different, dry coffee beans stored in an old wooden case. I don't really smell any cocoa, but it is a little spicy on my skin for some reason. Coffee beans and books.

[Numanoid]

Always harder for me to smell perfume in imp form.... but I will give this a whirl...

 

In decant - I think I am getting the teakwood....not much else.

 

On skin - Seems real cologny on me. Could be the leather and teakwood making it seem that way.

 

Dry down - Stays the same. Was hoping for the cacao and coffee bean would come out more, but I am not getting that. This is a manly scent to me. Not for me at all.

[Dark Alice]

Cologney but in a good way. I think I need a partial of this but no more or less.

[Elspethdixon]

In the imp: Cologne-y, with a hint of coffee

 

Wet, I got mostly a musty sort of smell, but after a couple minutes it opened out into leather overlaid/blended with something fresh and green. It's a very soft, clean leather smell, not the harsh leather I get from some of the other leather scents I've tried (the "whip leather" that took over skekNa the Slave-Master must be black leather). I don't get any teakwood or cacao, but maybe they'll emerge after I've had it on longer. I'll report back after a few hours.

 

Three-four hours later: I was hoping the coffee and teak would come out, ideally some of that gorgeous teak note from Antikythera Mechanism but without the vanilla sweetness, but it's stayed all soft, clean leather with little-to-no morphing, except for gaining a slight powdery sweetness around the edges. It wears very close to the skin and smells more unisex than masculine to me, not at all men's cologne-like.

 

Around the three-hour mark it started to fade, and now around hour four it's traces of soft, powdery amber with just a whisper of leather. So no teak or coffee or cacao (sadness), but I did get a good three hours worth of very wearable soft leather from this.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Elspethdixon

[roseus]

Initially this was very perfumey and confusing (though lovely). It was all just rich warm brown scents mingling and it was hard to nail anything down. Dry it's smooth, dry teakwood at the base with sharply sweet leather (I agree with radiantfracture's assessment of astringent-sweet). I get some warm rich coffee, as well as flashes of bittersweet cacao. It's definitely not foody though. This makes me think of the old coffeehouses where intellectuals used to meet. It's relaxed and sophisticated. This (in my mind) is in the same category as Dee, but much more romantic.

Edited March 14, 2016 by roseus

[Lambent]

Seems like there's a first time for everything. This is the first BPAL scent that has left me in a state of panic at the fact it's limited edition. It seems very subtle in the bottle and then on my skin it becomes this long-lasting, smooth, incredible composition. Like eyes-rolling-into-the-back-of-my-head amazing. I couldn't stop smelling myself; it's almost obscenely divine. No single note starts screaming and I'm thankful it never becomes foodie, cloying, or overly sweet. The leather, which is already smooth, melds so well with the cacao, coffee, and teakwood. I do agree that it has a cologne-like vibe, but perhaps that's also why I enjoy it so much--it's another scent that could work well for any gender, really. I'd definitely recommend it for smooth leather lovers. Now I wish I had the disposable income to buy a lifetime supply of this.

[yakiguri]

I totally agree that at first this is cologne with a whiff of coffee. As it dries it leans more perfumey, like Lurid Library with a drop of coffee, but the teak and coffee keeps it from getting too high pitched.

 

Curious on how this will smell on Mr. Elf. Glad to have my partial!

[milo]

Very cologney, with something kind of musky. This would smell great on a guy, but it's too masculine for my tastes.

[zankoku_zen]

Leather, chocolate dust, and a touch of wood. This one is a manly, smooth leather.

[Balame]

I just... wha? This is one of those BPALs that doesn't even smell remotely like the description to me. That's fine though, because this is stunning.

 

I guess my experience most closely mirrors Kris'. This blend isn't cologne-y or "manly" at all. I also don't get chocolate or coffee.

To the contrary I get a veeeery light sheen of teakwood, just a hint of something sweet and woodsy but exceptionally refined.

And I suppose the gentle warmth behind it is the leather, though honestly I'd never have guessed that on my own.

 

With all my other leather blends it's very obvious the note is there, but this is one of those fantastic skin scents you could probably pass off as naturally "you" with a coy wink.

It's subtle and wears close to the body. I was testing a few things at once and guessed this was just about every other blend before realizing it was Two Old Men.

 

The first picture that came to mind wasn't a lecherous duo; far from it. Instead I imagined an elegant lady in a steampunk-style dress sitting under a flowering tree on a spring day.

If you leaned close to her, you'd smell the sweetness of the tree diffused across her skin, the heat of her body and the remnants of perfume mingling with the worn leather cover of the book on her lap.

This is so pretty. I don't mean that in a girlish sense, but in a "Whoa, I need to stop and admire you" way. You smell this scent and immediately jerk your head back to get a better whiff.

I don't know what sort of magic is happening between this blend and my skin, but I like it very much.

 

Gentle, elegant but so beguiling. Like a noblewoman's embrace... did not expect this but definitely a favorite from this year's Lupers.

[unxolve]

Super bizarre. No chocolate, no leather, no wood? Maybe, sometimes, the very faintest sniff of coffee, but mostly this is cologne in a big way. The comment I got on it was "Well it does smell like two old men".

 

Not for me.

[Convallaria]

Well, this one seems to be a shapeshifter (a pair of?).

 

At the opening, I get coffee-flavored hard candy front and center and chocolate-flavored lip balm peeking behind. (Basically, "coffee aroma" and "chocolate aroma", not really that reminiscent of the real thing.)

Drydown: Tamed leather takes over, but the sweetness is still there. Very weak, almost goes missing at times.

 

Not getting the cologne vibe at all. To me, it's very middle-of-the-road unisex.

 

Verdict: The gentlemen in question seem more like they just shut down their bookshop for the night than two old scoundrels caught mid-revelry. Not a fan of opening notes on their own, but the complete picture on my skin is not that bad. Will probably wear because it would be hard to pass on to someone, it's so bizarre. Also because I need more perfumes without lethal sillage, I guess.

[MischiefofRats]

I have a decant of this that I got through a lovely forum member.

 

Honestly? I'm terribly sad I missed it the first time, and I hope to find a bottle someday. I really love this. And it really, really smells like an old man. Two of them, even. And I am honestly shocked that I want to smell this way, but this is so gorgeous. It's all leather and tobacco on my skin, faintly sweet, almost no coffee, and the teak is a blending note that ties it together. The sillage is, as others have mentioned, very low, and the scent disappears altogether pretty quickly, but my skin seems to eat most things in four hours or less so I'm not surprised. Even with the short life, I want more of this.

[Coldfire]

Decant: OMGS MAN!!! Swoon!!!!
Wet on me: really good smelling man, leather smoothed with the cocoa and coffee and teakwood.
Drying Down: more wood and leather but the cocoa and coffee are a delight in the back ground.
Dry: This is such total love! It dried into this fabulously masucline but warm and comforting leather/wood/cocoa/coffee love. Beth does magic with her leather notes!!!!! TO HOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Mmm. Sweet coffee is very dominant, with the cocoa. They meld together brilliantly, and without any creaminess that sometimes sours blends like this on me. The teak coming through is stunning (I ADORE teak). This is so so good. I thought it would be really masculine, but it's sweet enough on me and it's totally unisex. Almost but not quite foodie.

 

 

Dry: Interesting! Still lovely and sweet, lots of coffee and teak, but also a perfumey quality I was not expecting. It's really lovely. I adore coffee scents, I find them very comforting, so I can see this getting a lot of wear.

[Lucchesa]

I am so delighted to have swapped for a partial of Two Old Men. It is lovely: mainly one of the soft leathers I love so much plus polished teakwood, with hints of coffee and cacao. Unisex trending towards masculine, and as with my favorite scents in this category, I find it both comforting and confidence-boosting. It's going to be even better in autumn and winter. Not much throw (which is normal on me) but decent wear length.

[goblingrin]

A nice leather in the bottle, with a hint of cocoa. Once it dries on my skin its all leather and rather cologne-like. I adore coffee scents, so I'm a bit sad for it.

[Juushika]

In bottle: Masculine, cologne-y.

 

On me: The same, a masculine, cologne-like scent, a little sweet, a little spicy, herbal, airy, aquatic--but mostly just "cologne."

 

On cloth: Still the same!

 

Verdict: Is this leather? is it Old Men? I've gotten this scent from BPAL before, not strictly from their leather but often from their masculine blends. Whatever it is, it amps on me and/or I'm bad at reading its nuance; regardless, I don't like it.

Edited September 3 by Juushika

[LavenderCoffee]

This is a soft, sweetly unsweet blend that my skin seems to gobble up.

Teak tends to be slightly sharp on me but I only get that briefly here in the wet phase. I'm not sure how you get leather to be sweet, but it is exactly that, and well-worn. Coffee and cacao combinations are my jam, and I like those notes to be front and center, but here they are background players. It's not unlike sitting in your grandfather's chair, where untold cups of coffee and crossword puzzles have been finished.