Blacklight-Reactive Poster

[Bunny Butt]

There was a store about a mile away from the house I grew up in that fascinated me throughout my whole childhood. The façade was painted in insane colors, and it was covered with weird, leering cartoonish illustrations. We drove by it almost every week, and Id keep asking my parents what was inside there was nothing on the storefront that indicated what the store was about and theyd blow me off while making it implicitly clear that I was to never, ever enter that building.

When I was 12, I asked my parents to take me to the library so I could study. I waited about fifteen minutes to make sure that my dad had driven off, and then I walked over to the fascinating, forbidden mystery store.

The store was covered, wall-to-wall, in posters that glowed in garish fluorescent colors. Tie-dyed t-shirts, blankets, and flags were everywhere, and the cases were filled with what looked to me like endless rows of genie bottles. Peace signs were everywhere, and tons of merchandise was emblazoned with a plant I didnt recognize.

Before they shooed me out very kindly this was the scent that imprinted on me: nag champa, patchouli, and weed smoke.

 

Please do not smoke, eat, or huff this oil. Do not rub it on your gums, do not put it on your privates, do not vape it. It is a perfume and meant to be used as such. No funnybusiness!

(This perfume contains no actual weed. Zero cannabis. None. Zilch. What do I look like? A dispensary?)

Smelled last night at the lunacy but not tried on my skin, only on my friend. Holy Weed, Batman! was my first impression. Smelled like my parents stash when I was growing up, like flashback to childhood strong. My friend didn't smell weed at all only the Nag Champa and "something". Smelling on her, there was a definite hempiness with a soft nag background. It was quite compelling. There was a definite patchouli vibe but to me Marijuana and patch are interchangeable and complementary. It's not my jam but it wasn't offensive to a non-toker.

[JazzieCazzie]

I was massively looking forward to this one ... "head shop smell" is one of my very favorite scents and the description above just hearkens me back to my awesome teenage years growing up in New York City (though, that said, some of my favorite stores are elsewhere ... I think Loose Lucy still exists somewhere in the Delmarva beach area, and I remember a place I think was called something like Octopus Sunshine, also a hippie beach town area ... plus my beloved and long-gone Faces of Earth in downtown Amherst where I decorated my dorm room all four years of college ... but I digress).

 

Upon first application I was "oh God please don't make me wash this off" because to be honest the first note i got was ... well, sweat. And not hard-working person sweat but kinda ... well ... salty body odor. I was about to go out and hesitated because I was afraid people would stare at me and not in a nice way.

 

So I did a few little errands, emptied some wastebaskets, and waited to see how it would dry down.

 

Now, about 15-20 minutes later, it is quite lovely ... ALL the nasty in-your-face (and armpits) sweaty smell has disappeared and the scent is more faint and definitely headshoppy. (Okay, it's a little "sweatier" in the crook of my arm than on my wrist but that tends to be the issue with a lot of scents for me, so I will simply make this an apply-it-where-you-don't-create-body-moisture scent (goodbye, crook of arm and cleavage, hello wrist and neck).

 

I DO get headshop. I don't get as much weed. I am wondering if maybe the sweat smell is what weed actually smells like these days (I am pushing 60 and I know there's a lot of skunk weed out there, whereas I'm old-school weed smoker from back in the day when we had different varieties I think).

 

I like this and will keep it and I'll just be very conscious about when and where I wear it.

[kscha2017]

Ohhhh, yes, I get where JazzieCazzie is coming from with the description of sweat/b.o. I got that initially upon application - kinda like an acrid, cold sweat (Not fear cold, but temperature cold). It lasted only a moment or two and I do think that's the weed smoke. It reminds me of Ask The Nearest Hippie without the vanilla at that point. Nag champa comes out nice and sweet and warm right after, chasing away the cold, acrid sweat. Lastly, patchouli comes in gently to blend with the nag champa and tame down the sweetness a bit. I can't smell any more weed.

[DarkMagelet]

I was pretty excited to get this one; I usually dig the "hippie" incense scents so I thought, this one is for me!

 

Fresh in the bottle it has that very acrid cannabis scent (I'm a medical cannabis patient here in California, so I can pick it out). Oh man, does it give me heady nostalgic feelings of growing up near a college town with head shops on every corner. I love it already.

 

On the dry down it's definitely giving me a very sweet incense smell, I'm assuming the nag champa. It's very pleasant on my skin, and has a good throw. The boyfriend could smell it clear across the room. And let me just say this sticks around for a looooooong time. I'm not complaining! I haven't picked up a scent yet that lasted nearly as long as this so far. But I woke up the next day to get my morning shower and it was STILL going. It had died down to a very sweet, almost vanilla patchouli, but it was definitely still there!

 

Overall, I suppose it just has to work with your skin chemistry (I know other posters mentioned a "sweat" smell, I don't get that at all from my skin), and it definitely works for me. I love it and I'm stoked to see how it ages.

Edited May 3, 2018 by DarkMagelet

[Juliamon]

In the bottle: Yep, that's cannabis, like the smell of the dispensary (I'm also a patient as of the day this oil launched, which is why I bought it). But also the nag champa and patchouli. I will confess to not really having any experience with headshops, having been in one precisely once and having no scent memory of it, but I'm familiar with the scents.

 

Wet: That's odd. I don't smoke but I know what it smells like and this is definitely weed smoke as I know it from walking by the apartment of a recreational user. I'm a bit disappointed because I liked how it smelled in the bottle more, like the unsmoked flower. It's also overpowering the nag and patch. I can see where people would get a sweaty smell from it!

 

Dry: Finally the weed smoke settles down and the nag champa incense picks back up. It's more pleasant now, but I think my skin did the thing and ate all the patchouli. I knew it would happen, but I held out hope that there would be enough in the blend that I wouldn't soak it ALL up. Unfortunate, but such is life. I still appreciate the nag champa, but overall the scent is just less... interesting, I guess. It needs that dash of patch. As time passes the weed smoke loses the 'weed' component and becomes just smoke.

 

Probably wearable in public if you let it dry down first, moreso if you live where weed's a more common smell. Good longevity. I feel bad that I'll probably end up swapping this because of the disappearing patchouli.

[InaraRedCloak]

Released April 20, 2018; arrived May 5, 2018

 

In the vial: Yep, the bottle looks like one of those posters. I get a whiff of earthy incense and then stinky, wet greens. It's almost sickly sweet, then I get that creamy resinous nag champa. This scent is almost off putting in the bottle, but oh so very accurate.

 

 

Wet on Skin: Not so sickly sweet on the skin. The nag is melting into a cream like blend as it sits in my skin. Now the patchouli is coming out. It's very realistic, turning a little less stinky and more herbal on my skin. I'm loving the nag champa note, which means my husband probably won't like it.

 

 

Dry 30+ mins: This is becoming a very nag/patchouli blend, more like what I associate with that smoke shop scent. The nag is still very strong.

 

 

Worn 3+ hours: Everything has mellowed and faded out until I'm left with mellow, creamy herbal resin incense. I really like the dry down. I will definitely give this one a few more tries before I decide to keep it.

[Aveya]

I'll finish up this review once I do a full test, but had to stop in and give the first bottle-impressions. Cause first sniff? This is 100% stanky weed. I actually LOL'd way harder than I should have about it. Like, Guys- air-freshen the house this was a bad idea.

 

Alright real review:

 

Source: Lab Blind-buy.

Preconception: Literally "LOL Pot. *clicks buy* " I did secretly hope it would be warm and incense meets banshee beat with a dash of pot, for no rational reason.

 

Imp Sniff: Stanky weed.

Initial skin: LOL POT. I'll clarify - It's sharp, astringent, herbal, and sweet. "Sweat" isn't far off. If you're unfamiliar with weed this is also similar to say ... dirtier wet Sencha green tea? Algae? Somewhere in that astringent herbal realm.

Drydown: It gets less astringent and softer - but it sure takes it's happy time getting there. Someone unfamiliar with marijuana might find this stage enjoyable - but literally I couldn't wear this outside because my current State it's 100% illegal. Like, irrationally so (gotta love South Dakota). I'd manage to get my shit in trouble somehow.

 

Late drydown: Keeps sweetening up and gets closer to my "hopeful" preconception. I actually think this one might age pretty well? If the stank calms down with a little time (like other top-notes tend to) then this could be really legit beautiful and just a fun hint instead of full-on pot.

 

Going to keep this and take a gamble on time. If nothing else for amusing summer vacation days.

Edited May 13, 2018 by Aveya

[VetchVesper]

Dude. Duuuuuuuude..... This smells like weeeeed. O_O Seriously. Like.... I think I'm getting some nag champa in the background, but mostly it's green, acrid Maryjane. I was wanting more head shop and less pothead. Hmmmmmm.....It's funny, but I can't see myself going anywhere smelling like cannabis is ideal. Hmmmmm.....

 

I just got my imp in the mail. Perhaps it will mellow out a bit with time and I'll get more of the incense I was hoping for. Either way, it's a fun addition to my collection, and I'm glad I got a chance to smell it.

 

ETA: I ended up hunting down a partial of this later, because I do LOVE incense, and the weed note does calm down in this after a while.  It's still there, but it becomes more incense/headshop than full blown Grateful Dead Concert. 

Edited June 10, 2021 by VetchVesper

[zankoku_zen]

Huh. I get mainly patchouli and nag champa. And while that tends to be an association I have with potsmokers, its not like it smells like weed itself. There's an almost cedar like edge to this.

[LizziesLuck]

I don't know why I felt compelled to try this - I actually really hate the smell of weed. I guess this just seemed like a "must try".

 

WOW. That is accurate. It smells like someone is sitting beside me smoking weed. Faints whiffs of a really great patchouli note and some incense which I am really liking, but still overwhelmingly WEED. It's fading out as it dries. I think I would really like this without the weed, but with it....nope. Not for me!

[Poenari]

I received a bottle of this in a swap where I was gifted a ton of extras. I've wanted to try it so badly, and I'm not disappointed! As a member of the stinky hippie club  this scent takes me back to the headshops of my college years in the 70s. The weed note is strong at first, drifting out of the back of the store, but then the nag champa pushes it's way to the front of the shop. The patch is there to meld them together into the perfect head shop scent. This is exactly what I had hoped for, and I will wear it with care. I get it that not everyone appreciates this kind of scent, but I sure do!

[ziggystardust13]

So happy I had the opportunity to try this. First off, LOVE the label. The scent itself is one of those WOW scents that only BPAL can pull off. How did the exact smell of those things get in here? Perplexing. Dank. Nostalgic.

 

The Nag Champa pulls to the front the longer this wears on the skin. If you want an experience and not just a perfume, its a must try!

[fairybites]

This review is for the 2021 version!

 

I don't get any weed or smoke from this, it's just nag champa and patchouli. Definitely matches the atmosphere of a headshop! If you're wanting the weed smell the most, this might not be a good fit unless aging really changes it. I'm not too disappointed that I can't smell it, the patchouli and nag champa are great enough on their own that I feel like it's not missing anything.

 

The throw and wear length are pretty good, which is nice. And I have heard that the label does glow under black light, which is super cool but I don't have any blacklight bulbs anymore so I can't test that myself. 

 

This is normally not something I would have gravitated towards, but it's interesting enough to keep in my collection. It also helps that I love patchouli  and the name/label are really cool.