Bellicose Clam Alchemy Lab

[voodoocatwoman]

If America’s political outlook doesn’t improve soon, this one is still a solid rebranding option.

 

Yuzu, pink grapefruit, King mandarin, white musk, and lemon peel.

 

Wow!  This is a WAKE UP...NOW! fragrance.  I love citrus scents, grapefruit in particular, and the very first thing I get is a squirt of super juicy grapefruit, yuzu and lemon.  Once it settles, the zing fades a bit and the mandarin and musk come out.   It softens and turns a bit soapy.  I like it.

[Nightmare]

In bottle: I want. To eat it. Or drink it I guess. Whatever. I promise I won't, but I want to. Such a pure lovely citrus blend, with the grapefruit at the forefront. I could sniff this all day.
Wet: The individual citrus notes are more apparent. Mmmmm, yuzu. What a good layering this is.
Dry: Calmer, and the white musk is there. Still clearly and wonderfully citrus, though they become less distinct over time.

 

If you like citrus... get this. Really. It wasn't even a question for me, since I love citrus and I love white musk, and this delivers exactly what it promised.

 

Edit: As I wore it out a few times, I found out that whatever white musk it has really, really doesn't agree with me longterm. Once it gets to the base, the white musk is super strong and makes me feel a little ill. I have no idea what's up with that because I have plenty of white musk scents from here, and none of them do this... :c The scent has become kind of unwearable for me, which makes me sad because I love the way it smells at first.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Nightmare

[trinitysite]

Whoa citrus! It's possible to pick out the individual notes, and I wanted to try this because I was especially interested in grapefruit and mandarin. They are there, super juicy, but ultimately the lemon peel dominates on me and it ends up being more of a cleaning product citrus. It seems to fade quickly. (However...my kid is into making bath bombs from my reject imps, and I think it's going to be a hit with her.)

[zankoku_zen]

Grapefruit + yuzu bomb. This is the grapefruit dream scent I've been waiting for. It's grapefruit and hints of yuzu and maybe mandarin. Super sweet and juicy. Love it.

[MonkeysInk]

This is a delicious, amazing grapefruit fragrance - like all grapefruit, all the time.  The other citrus comes through nicely, too, and it's all just totally fantastic.  This reminds me so much of the late-80s Body Shop grapefruit bar soap.  I got an imp from the forums and now I want an enormous bottle.  

 

Sadly, it does fade fast.  😥

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Ohhh, this is such a bright, juicy citrus scent! The pink grapefruit is the strongest, with the mandarin following closely behind. 

 

Dry: Unfortunately, this is fading wicked fast on me. (Like after 30 minutes, it's almost gone.) The scent is the same as the wet stage, but it's just not nearly as strong.

 

 

I really, REALLY enjoyed this scent, even though my skin ate it up. I think I'll end up adding it to a hair product; this scent will be perfect for summer!

[Lucchesa]

Grapefruit!  This smells exactly like the Method grapefruit spray I use on my kitchen counters.  That is a good thing - it's a huge mood booster.  Unfortunately, my skin ate up all the lovely juicy tart citrus in no time.  If this had any staying power on me, I'd be buying a bottle. 

[neuilly]

Lovely! Wet it's mostly grapefruit and yuzu. Over time the Yuzu is the most dominant note but I get flashes of all the citrus. Sadly it is rather fast fading but it would be lovely in summer. I usually wear Boabahn Sith in summer and this would be a nice counter point - similar but different. Definitely considering getting a bottle (I have an imp).

[Aveya]

I hate to be that person, but this smells like an amazing bathroom. 

 

Citrus scents are common in my shower so it's no real surprise. It's got a wet, juicy, zippy punch to it. Plus white musk always comes across a bit soapy to me. Add the two together and you get an AMAZING shower scrub.

 

.. That said I would totally buy gallons of this as a soap. What a perk-up! I might get a bottle to just keep me zippy.

 

Initial : this was a BIG punch of grapefruit and yuzu. Clears sinuses and made me sneeze lol.

Drydown: Sweetens up and softens out the zip as time goes on. Leaves a fresh, modern clean scent behind.

 

Verdict: This is how I want my life to smell after I've KonMari'd my house.

[theredkilt]

This is LOVE!!!! 

It reminds me so much of the Red Spotted Purple from the 2014 Metamorphosis line, minus the herbs and the hinoki wood.

If you ran out Red Spotted Purple get this! 

[astarinel]

Mmm juicy grapefruit and citrus! This is really bright, really tart citrus, not at all candied or sugary. Unfortunately, as citrus scents tend to do, the citrus notes fade fairly quickly leaving behind a soft, clean, slightly-soapy white musk with hints of citrus.

 

It's so hard to get citrus scents to last, and if this one could stay as it is at first, that amazing juicy blast of citrus, it'd definitely be a keeper. As other people have said, I'd really love a soap or lotion scented with this.

[mishi-bear]

A nice citrus blend. Grapefruit and orange. Unfortunately it fades really quickly on my skin and leaves behind a very light orange-y musk.

[milo]

I love pink grapefruit, but yuzu gives me pause, as it tends to make a blends dry and dusty on me.  First off, lovely pink grapefruit, and maybe a touch of mandarin.  I'm not getting yuzu, so I am very happy.  This is a lovely citrus blend from the lab, and I will certainly enjoy the imp when I go on my tropical vacation next month.

[doomsday_disco]

I was originally going to blind bottle this, but I was like, there's no way I will wear it in the winter, so I'll wait until just before it goes down and order it with any last-minute Yules.

 

Welllll, that didn't end up happening, because the Lab ended up releasing three other scents with pink grapefruit (Beware: Pickpockets!, La Joconde, and Basket of Abalone), and then I was like damn, I can't have them all, so I'll grab a leftover decant of Bellicose Clam and see how it goes.

When it arrived, I was ecstatic, because the oil actually looks pink, and the yuzu? IT'S THE SAME ONE FROM MY BELOVED LIGHTNING STORM HAIR GLOSS.

 

For the first hour, it's a yuzu and pink grapefruit party, with some mandarin and lemon peel in the background. It was GLORIOUS. If it had stayed that way, I would have needed a bottle for sure. But as time goes on, the white musk, mandarin, and lemon peel become more prominent, and they mingle with the grapefruit and yuzu to give it a clean, freshly-peeled citrus feel. It's not as amazing as it was when it was freshly applied or just in the vial, so it's probably one that's better for a scent locket. I can still smell it on me after four hours of wear, so I am glad it did not do the disappearing act on my skin.

I really like this and think it will be amazing to wear during the warmer months. I will definitely be holding on to my decant, and I hope to be able to track down more in the future when I have some spare change. I am curious to see how Basket of Abalone compares to this. I am hoping that one will be even better on me, because there's no white musk or mandarin involved.

 

ETA: Subsequent grapefruit/yuzu releases that I preferred led me to decide against hunting down a bottle of this and frimping away my decant, because I knew I wouldn't reach for this one over the grapefruit and yuzu bottles I now have in my collection.

Edited May 19, 2021 by doomsday_disco

[puellacaerulea]

This one starts off very fresh and citrusy, with the mandarin adding a hint of sweetness to the yuzu, grapefruit, and lemon. After applying, the white musk amps up a lot, balancing out the citrus and keeping it from getting too aggressive. By drydown, it's primarily a clean white musk brightened up with citrus in the background. Would make a great warm weather scent.

[alyelle]

In the imp: Gorgeous - pink grapefruit, gentle musk, and a sliver of peel.

 

Wet: Very similar in structure to the sniffie test; grapefruit and musk, a little powdery but prevented from being too talcum by the citrus. It's brightened by the lemon peel, and given a slight floral edge by the mandarin.

 

Dry: Smooth grapefruit top notes with a base of creamy musk. It sounds like it could be a room atmos from the description but absolutely is not at all.

 

8hr wear time with a medium throw.

Stars: ★★★★

[tinyvulture]

Extremely sour grapefruit, not sweet like I was expecting from the yuzu. Off to swaps, it’s probably a skin chemistry thing.