Baby’s First Ballista

[zankoku_zen]

Roma Invicta, or something: oakwood, vanilla bean, and sugar cookies.

[ellocentipede]

Oh I love this one! It’s a sweet, woody delight in the same vein of Antikythera Mechanism, but Ballista is a bit smoother to my nose. The oak wood is a gorgeous, warm, base to the rich vanilla bean and warm, sweet cookie notes. The woodiness and sweetness are perfectly complementary and balanced. 

[Casablanca]

Surprisingly oak-forward!

 

Deep, rich oak -- an oak of antiquities -- set with a dish of vanilla beans. Perhaps for a spell. 

 

I'm barely catching any cookie. It's like a faint, sweet, fresh-baked fragrance drifting in from the kitchen, while you're studying at an oak desk. With a dish of vanilla beans beside you. The cookie scent grows as the blend develops, as though they've come out of the oven now.

 

Cozy, domestic, contenting.

[Poenari]

Warm sweet vanilla woods. Lovely.

[zankoku_zen]

Vanilla sugar cookies and oak. This one is a foodie blend based on wood. Medium throw and wear length.

[Vaporeon]

Defintely smells closer to my memory of what the Antikythera Mechanism smelled like a long time ago without smelling sort of burnt like it has recently.  The Oak note is lovely and its sweet but not overly foody. I'm getting backups of this. 

[Amazonia]

Well now, this is a gorgeous pretty beauty.  Smooth sweet vanilla, soft freshly baked cookies, and blond woods.  Wears a little closer to the skin.  I can tell it will be perfect for layering with some scents that I found too masculine/sharp/dark for my chemistry. 

 

Bottle.  

[RoseThornAndOak]

Yep, I will echo what has already been said about this one. It's a gorgeous sweetened woods blend, but not foody. Certainly for fans of Antikythera, No Man Is an Island, Cocoa and Oak Bark, and also tobacco fans will probably love this. All of those rank high in my collection and this is no different. I agree, wears close to the skin, and also agree, backup probably a good idea. ❤️

 

[doomsday_disco]

Baby's First Ballista is giving me strong Antikythera Mechanism vibes (only, it is much nicer than Antikythera is on me since there is no teak). It also makes me think of Arana and The Magician's Wand. It features a really strong oak note. I could have sworn there might have been some tobacco mingling with it, but perhaps that's just from associating it with the oak in Antikythera. The cookies aren't distinct on me, but it the oak is smoothed over by the vanilla bean. After several hours of wear, I get a slight root beerish quality to the oak. Not sure if my nose is drunk or if it is just my skin chemistry bringing that out, but I am here for it.  

 

The decant is a keeper, but I am thinking I may need a bottle of this before it goes away.  

[Beatrice33]

This will be a perfect pandemic comfort scent! It's soooooo smooth and cozy, a not-too-sweet vanilla grounded by some soft woods. It's "airy" rather than dense, simple in the best possible way, and sits very close to the skin. I'll need to slather, and I'm ready to. I love it!

[lookingglass]

Another gourmond for the win! Wet, I don't think "sugar cookies"; I wouldn't say this is "foody", though I do love BPAL's sugar cookie note. I'm reminded more both of AntiMech, as mentioned, (but much gentler), and Halos (without the fruit, but just as resonate). It's a soft, yet freshly cut woodiness that dries down warmly sweet. It just glows on the skin. I imagine it is exactly what one's hands might smell like after both eating sugar cookies and shooting off a ballista! Delightful, evocative, and oh, so wearable! 💘

[mishi-bear]

not too much 'cookie' to my nose, more vanilla and oak. reminds me a lot of Haloes.

[Ythik]

Wet this is very sweet on me, almost pure sugar cookie, with a bit of vanilla behind it. It's a very dry crumbly sugar cookie smell. Not like unpleasant dry cookie, but a pretty dry smell. Over time, I am getting a bit more of the wood here, but I'm not sure it's balancing out the sweetness enough for me. A solid choice for anyone who wants a delicious crumbly vanilla sugar cookie smell though. More time and the cookie does fade here a bit, though the lingering vanilla is fairly reminiscent of it, and it moves more solidly into a very sweet vanilla wood. I agree with everyone that it's reminiscent of Antikythera Mechanism, though this is definitely a lot sweeter, and it was too sweet for me.

[simpletwice]

Baby's First Ballista is definitely related to the Steamworks blends, particularly my beloved Antikythera Mechanism (teakwood, oak, black vanilla, tobacco). Like AntiM, it's a smooth, warm, wood-forward cologne, sweetened by vanilla. Slightly foodie, but not (to my nose) a literal interpretation of cookies. Unisex and professional. I will wear the hell outta this.

 

Edit: did a two-wrist comparison with Antikythera Mechanism. Baby's First Ballista has a much more pronounced "steamworks" phase when wet, where the pungent aromatics of the wood are in the forefront, and then a sweeter more vanillic drydown. The oak really shines in this! The vanilla cookies give it a familiar, comforting base but the complexities of the oak really pop here. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by simpletwice

[ModderRhu]

I expected this would be a nice vanilla foodie balanced by oak, and it is in the bottle. On my skin is a different story. 

 

It’s pretty much pure oak on my skin without a hint of vanilla or cookie. I think I’ll let this age to see if that helps the issue, or try it in a scent locket. 
 

This does last a long time on my skin. I might try layering it with Metal Twins on top, since that one is pretty much pure vanilla on me. 

[feyofthefellwood]

I love Haloes, so this seemed like a safe bet and I was right. This smells very similar in the bottle and on my skin, with the oak and vanilla being pretty balanced. It's maybe a bit on the sweet side as it dries down, until I'm mostly left with vanilla sugar and a whiff of oak (skin chemistry differences are so weird). It doesn't last very long on my skin at this point, so I'm hoping the longevity will improve as the oak and vanilla age. Compared to Haloes, I actually find this a bit sweeter? Haloes is kind of dolled up with the floral, fruit, and spice notes, whereas this is more straightforwardly vanilla. Haloes makes me feel kind of haunted and otherworldly; in comparison, this makes me feel classy and put-together.

[fairybites]

This is very true to the scent description: warm sugar cookies and vanilla bean! I'm not a fan of the pretty low throw on this despite how great it smells. The wood takes a while to appear on me, a couple hours after it dried down.

 

Tempted for a bottle, but I don't think I'd wear this on it's own much. This seems like it'd make a good layering scent. 

[LizziesLuck]

I cannot resist the combination of vanilla and oak. Lately the scents I reach for most are simple, familiar scents with few notes. So this really called to me. In the bottle it is straight up cookie dough, but as soon as it warms on my skin, the rich oak and syrupy vanilla come through and it's basically exactly what I hoped it would be. Smooth, sweet, rich. It's almost boozey. So so good. A keeper. The oak keeps it from being a gourmand, on me, but it's still lovely and sweet. Reminds a bit of Antikythera Mechanism without the tobacco. Lovely!

[tinyvulture]

Love at first sniff!!  Beautiful oakwood note, all warm and woodsy, sweetened by vanilla. I adore the lab’s oak  I wouldn’t call this blend foodie -- the wood is definitely the prominent note.  Plus, my 12-year-old thinks the name is cool.

[supreme_c0rt]

Wet in the bottle, it's a very sweet vanilla/wood gourmand. Chewy, a little salty, and extra buttery, like a synthetic cookie dough. As it dries the foodie-ness gives way and the oak blooms, settling into a slightly salty vanilla-oak. There's a delicate floral quality that emerges at this stage, like vanilla orchid. Combined with the gentle salt note, it's lovely. I blind-bottled this hoping that it wouldn't be too foodie and I'm glad to report that it isn't. It's a nice entry point for someone interested in foodie notes but doesn't want to smell like a bakery. 

[lakeplacidskater]

This is one of my new favorites! Almost gourmand, (thanks to my beloved vanilla and the sweet sugar cookie note) but not quite.

 

In the bottle: Sugar cookie with a woody background to keep it from getting too sweet. It smells almost like cedar but I know it's not....

Wet: Mostly oakwood on me but the vanilla and sugar cookie softens it a bit. It is almost a "cologne" scent but the other two notes save it.

 

Dry: The vanilla surfaces followed by the sugar cookie scent. Alas, it doesn't last long....

 

This one has low throw on my skin, but it's very nice anyway. I bought a backup! 

[Something_Diabolical]

Even though I'm not necessarily a fan of oak this one's quite lovely. It still reminds me a bit of furniture but it's well balanced by the sugar cookies and vanilla. 

It's very sweet when I directly smell my wrists but when I get the occasional whiff and already forgot I wear perfume I think "mmmhh what smells so nice". 

Also this scent seems to remind me of something I cannot put my finger on.. and I guess it's the aforementioned "furniture" aspect I get. It's almost sparking some kind of childhood memory but my cobwebby 24 y/o brain has lost the main part. 

 

I think I'll use up my decant but won't be upgrading to a whole bottle. 

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Something_Diabolical
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