Penny Dreadful

[donsixgun]

Also called Gallows Literature. A dime novel rife with melodrama, horror, madness and cruelty; a ten cent analogy of vice and virtue in conflict. Soft perfume evocative of noir heroines over rich red grave loam.

Well, this did two different things on me. The first time, it was cookies and dirt, Like Shub-Niggurath and Graveyard dirt combined. The second time, it was nothing but spicy perfume-y not-so-good-for-a-guy scents. I guess Ill just give this one up and be glad that I have graveyard dirt and king of clubs to give me that dirt/loam scent. Edited November 24, 2005 by Shollin

[CapricornSister]

Wet: I get Vice! Smells like a bit of chocolate and ginger....

 

Drydown: As it dries, the "chocolate" evolves into a subtle dirt smell and the "ginger" morphs into a sweet candy/floral smell.

 

Dry: On me this has a sweet, smokey feel to it. I get a similar sweetness as from Flower Moon, but not as strong. The dirt is lurking in the backrground and is an afterthought. It's as if I dropped my candy necklace in fresh dirt, picked it up and put it back on

 

On the 5ml wishlist it goes

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - dirt and perfume. The loam smell is strongest, but the perfume is very pretty.

 

Dry - Oh yes, at first the perfume starts out elegant, almost Noirish, and then the ginger comes out. Elegant and spicy, with a dirt background. Love! Another one that's not particularly strong on me, but I don't care, I need a bottle of this anyway,

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 5

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Imp from theshapeshifter.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I didn't order this when it came out because of the "soft perfume" mentioned in the description, although the "rich red grave loam" sounds wonderful. Looking forward to trying this.

 

First sniff:

 

Mmm, rich, loamy dirt. Like Graveyard Dirt but with more of a red clay feeling to it. I think I smell a bit of perfume in the far background, but it could be the power of suggestion.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Now I really smell the perfume. It's slightly sweet, almost chocolatey, but it blends surprisingly well with the loam note. I'm surprised by how much I like this at this stage, given that anything "perfumey" generally makes me cringe and/or gives me a horrific headache.

 

Dry down:

 

This smells so good! It's similar to Graveyard Dirt, only more clay-like with an overlay of, well, soft perfume, like gauze laid over a freshly dug grave. It's beautiful in a strange, unexpected way, with the perfume keeping the loam from becoming too overwhelming and the loam keeping the perfume from being too, well, perfumey.

 

The bottom line:

 

Beautiful! I'm going to seriously consider getting a bottle of this. It's definitely right up my alley.

[empi girl]

Just got this in the mail today from Whippoorwill. Thanks!

 

I've wanted to try this from the start, since I love the idea of a perfume named after Penny Dreadfuls!

 

And I am happy to say it is a keeper!

 

Wet, it is earth and gingerbread, and then as it dries the scents merge with a soft "perfume" (sorry, can't do better than that!). A little powdery perfume. The ginger becomes real ginger spice, like you'd smell in the spice aisle, and the whole thing is this wonderful warm, earthy, gingery softly perfumy (without the headachy "perfumy-ness") smell. Perhaps it is a musk that is making it all perfumy. Not white musk though, or red. I could see a little dark musk in here perhaps.

 

Anyway, it is a beautiful scent, and one I will have to get a bottle of. Very good for fall, winter.

Edited August 24, 2005 by empi girl

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression:

Wet, and woodsy earth. Upon drydown I can detect something slightly floral about it but the earth smell is the prominent note in this one. Not likely that I would wear as a perfume but perhaps it would make a lovely room scent. My scale of 1-5...

2.5

[coulrophobe]

Call me the etermal optimist, but I keep hoping that *someday* there will be a dirt fragrance that works for me. I differentiate the soil/loam/dirt scents out from just "earthy" - while a lot of the patchouli-based scents seem earthy to me, dirt is a whole 'nother matter. My problem is that it goes very dry on me... and as a result, ends up smelling like dry mold. Which leads to an "AAAACCCKK! Spores!" reaction in my little brain. But I digress. As Penny Dreadful seemed like a more perfumey dirt, I tried it.

 

Wet: Pure dirt.

 

Dry: The perfumes definitely come out in this one, and there's a hint of spiciness. But it's not enough to combat the dry, spore-laden dirty mold scent I get from the loamy blends. While better on me than Graveyard Dirt, Zombi and Nosferatu were, Penny is still just dreadful with my chemistry.

[misfitroxy]

Upon first whiff, I'm catching a wet dirt scent combined with an odd salty sweet kind of perfume. After swiping my wrist, I can detect just the slightest bit of floral peeking through. But that's overwhelmed by an unpleasant, stale popcorn covered in rancid butter kind of smell.

 

There is obviously something in this that truly hates my skin. I can barely bring myself to keep sniffing it! I don't think I've had this bad of a reaction to anything yet (to the extent that it drowns out any prospect of other notes). Beyond that, I'm getting no spice, no earth, nothing beyond a sickening sweetness and staleness.

 

I'm going to have to wash this one off because even if it's gorgeous one hour from now, I simply cannot stand the first phase. Miss Dreadful will be leaving my house swiftly, just as cruelly as she came.

[gangstaknitta]

In bottle: light florals and a bit of spice over fresh, wet dirt

 

Wet: on my skin it gets a little sweeter--I think because of the spice, which my skin tends to amp up anyway. It's a little musky, but in a naughty girly kind of way and that yummy dirt smell is still in the background

 

Dry: it dries pretty light--just the right amount--and smells like sweet dirt with just a hint of spice. I'm keeping this one around for a while.

[13bodies]

In the bottle this has a piercing sweet smell with a bit of spiciness underneath.

 

On, the spiciness moves to the foreground and it's like the wet brown spices that cling to the side of the mixing bowl when I'm making gingerbread. So far, so good.

 

Then the perfume comes to the fore and my skin amps the hell out of it and my chemistry turns it into cheap drugstore cologne. This stage induced a migraine both times I tried it.

 

Drydown is spicy perfume and it burns my skin a bit.

 

I wanted to like this so much. I had to stop wearing cologne years ago because of migraines, but until this none of the BPAL scents ever bothered me. This works well on a friend of mine so at least it won't go to waste.

[Splendid Molerat]

Penny Dreadful is like watching Hitchcock for the first time -- well done!

 

I can apply it to the backs of my fingers, up to the knuckle, and no further -- it really does give me the horrors.

 

This is a corn-fed, golden-haired girl who met the wrong man, and was left for dead in a shallow grave off in the brush somewhere. She clawed her way out, recovered, changed her name, and has lived alone ever since. Anyone who got close enough would notice a smell of wet earth that never quite faded.

[Avery]

I'd have to agree with Splendid Molerat's interpretation (though I'll be nowhere near as poetic! ). There is definitely something a little creepy going on here... a murky sweet decay sort of scent. This is the first BPAL "Earth" smell I have tried, and while I did really enjoy it, I was (surprisingly, since I'm not at all squeamish) sort of unsettled the whole time I wore it. Simply... uneasy. To my nose it does smell like vanilla gingerbread grave. Sweet yet menacing.

 

ETA: I have changed my mind on this perfume and now actually really enjoy it--for the right mood and place. I realized this when I was moving out of my house and cleaning and getting really dirty... I put on Penny and it was PERFECT. It was delightful to smell like dirt while being dirty. Any time working with dirt I think there's some joy to be had by this. FUN! fun and creepy, yay!

 

ETA2: I really enjoy Penny now. Not sure if this is an aging thing (her, not me) but I LOVE to wear this scent when it is raining, it makes me feel just... part of the weather, in sync. Of course, outdoorsy activities are great for this too--gardening, hiking, etc. It's just a very grounding, earthy scent. Yum.

Edited November 9, 2012 by Avery

[Firewaver]

This smells like chocolate wafers, initially. A rich smell that isn't quite true chocolate, there's an odd undertone that smells a little metallic and a little bakery-esque at the same time. I know that sounds weird.. but it's weird in a good way.

 

It's spicing up a bit as it dries.. this is very nice! It has a vaguely earthy smell, but it's not dirty or murky. Just a little earth with spices and chocolate.

 

Definitely one to ponder when it comes time to make a bottle order. What a pleasant surprise!

[moon_lemming]

In bottle: Hmmm, it reminds me of dirt and soft perfume mixed together. I think I smell a tiny bit of ginger in the background. It's exactly right for a blend called Penny Dreadful.

 

Wet: It smells the same wet as it did in the bottle, only with more perfume and less dirt. It's morphing rather quickly, though.

 

Dry: In the first part of the dry stage (about fifteen minutes in), I can smell more ginger and a nibble of chocolate. The "dirt" smell keeps it all grounded. It's nice and spicy. I'm really enjoying it.

 

It becomes more perfume-y as time goes on, with the dirt taking the background. It seems to have stabilized after about forty-five minutes as a nice gingery perfume. Soft undertone of chocolate, tiny bit of dirt mixed in. Such a strange combination, but I think I love it. I don't have time today to let it age any further, but I don't think it will morph anymore, so I'll just grade it at this point. If, in the future, I find that long-term wear changes it, I'll edit this review.

 

Should it stay or should it go? STAY. And in the spring after all the holiday craziness has passed, I'll probably buy a 5ml. I don't love it as much as I love 13, but I do love it and all its strangeness.

[LiberAmoris]

I'll concur with earlier reviewers, Penny Dreadful is reminiscent of Graveyard Dirt and Gingerbread Poppet. I also get a lemon note that no one else has mentioned...so it's probably just a phantom note created by the combination of other things.

 

There's something very compelling about Penny Dreadful---something that reminds me a bit of the effect Nosferatu had on me. It's a lovely blend, but it feels like there's a harrowing backstory behind it, something lurking, a plotline gone awry. Like a character who fell out of her story and into another one. A character who shut a door quietly in one book...while in a separate book a door closed with no hand on it. I don't think I could wear this often, but I'll keep the imp to remember what dread smells like.

[bloodlotus1]

Like LiberAmoris I too get a hint of lemon...ginger, dirt, lemon & just enough floral to keep this from being foody.

 

I was a little scared of the grave loam as Zombi didn't work too well on me but this is very rich & red as stated in the description. I also always get a faint dirt smell from the ginger blends but again, this is nothing like that.

 

The ginger is true & the florals are not too perfumey. This is a lovely scent & I'm glad I bought a 5 ml unsniffed.

[tempete]

Penny Dreadful is the love child of the Queen of Clubs and Shub-Niggurath on me. The description gave me no clue that it would be OMFG amazing on me, or that it would immediately attain Top Ten status.

 

The scent starts out with a blast of earth notes like those in the Queen of Clubs, but accented by rich, dark chocolate. The latter note is gradually supplanted by a gingery spice which is reminiscent of Shub-Niggurath. As the scent continues to dry down, a vanilla note is swirled into the mix, but the base provided by the earth notes prevent the vanilla or spice from turning Penny Dreadful into a foody blend. The final addition is the addition of a rich fruity sweetness that reminds me of Queen of Clubs.

 

I don't think that my review does this beautifully complex, morphing blend justice. It's one of those scents that is shockingly underrated and under-recommended. So what are you waiting for?

Edited October 16, 2005 by tempete

[SeaMonkey]

In the bottle, its very......sharp

 

On my skin, it changes a lot. I get chocolate, some earthyness. It makes me want to keep sniffing myself.

[atomic*orange]

In bottle: Right, there's the Loam...but I didn't expect chocolate. Hmmm...and scratchy spices.

 

Wet, on skin: Slightly chocolatey and spiced. Rather like, but not as rich as, Tezcatlipoca for a moment, and something about the spiciness makes me feel like the roof of my mouth is

coated in peanut butter, the same effect I get with Ulalume. Thankfully this fades away in a few minutes.

 

Dry, on skin: There's a soft perfuminess lurking there. It's kind of spicy and a touch powdery. I'm getting the dirt, too, and the imagery is really coming together. In time it turns to pure powder. I see a beautiful young dame cornered in a powder factory by her jealous lover, and brutally tossed into a vat of talc. Adding insult to injury, it's dirty talc. That vat hasn't been rinsed out in ages. It's suffocatingly deadly and our doomed dame never stood a chance.

 

Okay, so I'm sort of getting the imagery. I like the concept but it doesn't work on me.

[bristlecone]

This is one of those scents that I love so much that I can't wear it often, for fear that I'd get sick of it. There's all kinds of good stuff in here... dirt, flowers, spice (ginger and possibly cinnamon too?), and chocolate, which I'm not sure I can smell but I'll take everyone else's word for it. The dirt is my favorite part; unfortunately it's also the first note to disappear, so I have to resist the temptation to keep reapplying this all day. This is a real winner for me and sooner or later I'll need to get a full-sized bottle.

[iriedanym]

At first sniff, I was like "Dear gods! I bought potting soil?!". Never one to go merely on one sniff, I tried again, and realized what I was smelling was the red loam. I dabbed a bit on my hand. Wet, it still smells like dirt. When it dried, it became spicy dirt. After a half hour, the dirt smell goes away to be replaced by cinnamon (it smells like those cinnamon hard candies).

 

Hmm. I wasn't sure what to expect with this oil. I think this is one of those scents to wear every once in a while, because it doesn't scream "me!"scent.

[TroubleDoll]

I like the damp soil smell in the beginning. As it dries, is is sweetened with a gingery note. I think this is very nice for fall.

[ABrokenAngel]

In the Bottle: I’m not sure what’s in this since it’s not listed on the BPAL page. But this is what it smells like to me. It smells like dirt and flowers. Crisp dirt. Moss covered recently upturned dirt. It’s nice. And then there’s a light bit of flowers in the background. Almost like that moss covered dirt had been harboring some sort of floral and then the flowers had been ground into the dirt.

 

Wet: Smells the same. The dirt smell is more pungent though. I’m not sure if I like this. Although I’m a little goth girl, I’ve never wanted to smell like an old musty graveyard.

 

Drydown: UGH……..the flowers have come out to play and it’s not nice. It’s heinous. It literally reminds me of when I went to see the graveyards in New Orleans and it was rainy. The dirt had turned to mud and all the memorial flowers had been knocked over by the wind and ground into the mud by tourists. SOOO going to the swap pile.

[yeahbutnobut]

Penny Dreadful

 

In the imp: soil! Lovely damp soil…and cocoa? Maybe woods, or nut notes? Sandalwood maybe?

Wet on skin: this is lovely! I'm getting earth, and also a scent that reminds me of Velvet-cocoa and sandalwood?

Dry on skin: wow. This is quite similar in feel to Queen of Clubs-damp earthy notes, like rain soaked soil, but with gorgeous scents bubbling underneath. I'm thinking vanilla now…I'm pretty sure it's vanilla or amber that's causing this gorgeous sweetness. I think sandalwood is in here. And for some reason, I keep thinking cocoa…or maybe a fruit or floral? Whatever's in here, it's absolutely gorgeous.

After a while: the earth has faded and now I get a sophisticated womanly perfume scent which has amazing throw…I kept getting whiffs of this wonderful sweet vanilla like scent but close to the skin, it's reminiscent of a really grown up, well made perfume. I'm thinking there's amber here, vanilla, maybe a bit of musk? Sandalwood or rosewood maybe? Maybe a dark, smoky grounding note-like myrrh, tobacco or even vetiver? I can't tell, but I really like this.

Verdict: I never thought I'd be into the scent of soil, but thanks to Beth, I can't get enough of it…her earth/dirt note reminds me so much of my garden after it's been watered. This scent has that earth note in front, and has a similar feel to Queen of Clubs. The scent under all that earth is gorgeous, intriguing, and sophisticated…I'm not sure what's in it but it's sweet, rich, and grown up in scent. I'm thinking vanilla, amber, maybe sandalwood, or something else-possibly even cocoa? Whatever it is, it smells lovely and as the dirt note fades, it smells like a really posh perfume (that's a good thing). It's a gorgeous scent and I love the concept of taking a mature perfume scent and spiking it with soil-only Beth could pull it off so well! Fantastic stuff, I may consider getting a bottle.

[Blood onmy hands]

When I had this many years ago, it was like dry, dusty dirt and gingerbread cookies. Nowadays, Penny Dreadful is more sharp and musky (the imps I've gotten over the past year or so). It's almost painful for me to wear now, like a hot chemical smell that gets stuck in my throat. Really warm, chemical-y musk with hints of what smells like dry, red dirt. I guess that I can still smell the spiciness, but it's a hot and unpleasant spice rather than being sweetly foodie and wearable for me.

 

Penny Dreadful really reminds me of accidentally getting perfume oil in my mouth - unpleasantly perfumey, gross, and clinging... it sticks with me like that.

Edited February 13, 2012 by Little Bird