Lurid

[zankoku_zen]

Shocking, horrific, fierce, savage, sensationalized, luminous and hazy: black currant, Bulgarian lavender and white musk with a dollop of thick resin and a voltaic charge of ozone notes.

In the imp: blackcurrant, resin and ozoney mix.

On Skin: The resin is the most prominent, with strong whiffs of ozone. There is a sharp edge to it that I think comes from the lavender, and a warmth that comes from the black currant. There is something kinda masculine about this right now.

On Drydown: I can smell the fruityness of the black currant, but it's not overwhelming. The resin and ozone are still there.

After two hours: This has faded gently into my skin, a sort of musky warmth.

Verdict: I really like this. It isn't in your face, like I thought it would be and it's not as fruity berry as some of the other ones I've tried which end up being too sweet. I really am enjoying this one, especially in the drydown. Edited September 18, 2007 by zankoku_zen

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Lurid was not really on my radar until Eat Me made me realize how much I like currant as a note. Since then I've been tracking down blends, such as Bewitched, that also contain it. Lurid is an odd scent, and I know just why: white musk. Sometimes it turns to hairspray on me. It doesn't quite do that here, but it makes the currant...unsettling. Somehow. I know that's vague. It's not a bad scent, but it's just slightly too artificial for me, and that's got to be the white musk + ozone.

[supremegoddessofall]

I'm getting vaguely floral baby powder. Very musky. Ntt really getting the currant at all. It reminds me of EBM's timid little sister.

[mermaidrage]

Let me start by saying that, when I was creating my wishlist, Lurid did not make the cut. As much as I love lavender, the blackcurrant weirded me out and the ozone tipped the scale in favour of 'no'. This is the moment when I am so thankful for the lab's generous frimpage.

 

In the imp: Creamy, thick, heavy lavender but there's that frozen quality that I always associate with ozone. It's almost giving me a headache and I am WORRIED.

Wet: No ozone. Really. Now, the muskand the lavender are perfectly blended and I think there's some blackcurrant sweetening the deal in there but I couldn't pick it out for sure.

Dry: It's still a gorgeous creamy lavender but the ozone's back a bit more, giving the whole scent a cold, dangerous edge. It's incredibly sexy -- think of the silent woman in a tight black cocktail dress leaning against the bar with a vodka tonic in her hand and knife tucked down the side of her boot.

 

One day I am going to have a bottle of this.

[stardroptea]

In the bottle: I just smell soapy foamy lavender. It's made me slightly afraid to try it, because I'm not a fan of lavender, relly.

 

Wet on skin: It smells salty. Salty! Like, table salt tequila shot salty, without the promise of tequila on the other side. Not at all attractive on me.

 

Drydown: Hang on! Here's the black currant! Also, the ozone sharpness comes out.

 

Dry: It's... it's delicious! It smells so good! Like resin, and currant, and a tinge of white musk! I love it.

 

Lurid really is sensational! It starts off a dirty undertone, but when it hits its peak it sparkles like everything you could want to obsess over.

[Druby]

I am SO in love with this. I'm a big lavender and white musk fan, so this is awesome. In the bottle, the lavender is all I could smell. But the lavender and white musk work so well together when I applied it. I can't really smell the black current, but the ozone notes tend to be there lightly. Definately a must have bottle

[dorothy humbird]

Lurid was a frimp from the lab for me, and I'm glad, since I liked it better than most of what I'd actually ordered.

 

Without really remembering what notes were supposedly in Lurid, blackcurrant and lavender really solidified in my mind as the primary notes. Reading over the description I realize that there is some musk anchoring those notes, and a bit of ozone on the side, but for me Lurid is very much a berry scent.

 

Yet, this is one of those BPAL blends that just melds together into a fine aura of delight, with all the notes complementing each other in harmony.

 

I'll keep and love my imp.

[oh_the_horror]

In bottle: Soft white musk with a tiny bit of lavender.

 

Wet and drying down: It smells flat and soft. Very odd. I guess that's the ozone notes. Not so much a smell as an effect. I can barely smell anything. I keep thinking of antique electrical parts, with decayed bits of cloth, old brown imperfect glass and chipped and dirty brown porcelain. It's kind of a creepy smell and it makes me feel uneasy.

 

Dry: I guess maybe there's some currant in there somewhere? Well this scent makes me feel oddly creeped out. It seems very serious. It's spicy, flat, musky and quite sexy. It's also masculine and not for me. I'll try it on my boyfriend at some point when I'm in a more stable mood. And now I need to wash this off.

 

I just wanted to add, for future reference, that I think this is irritating my sinuses and making me feel like I need to sneeze.

Edited December 14, 2006 by oh_the_horror

[Iceblink]

This is fantastic! Why isn't it more popular? The currant and musk are the most prominent but I keep getting lovely little herbally whiffs of lavender too. It all blends together beautifully. It's not too strong but it's definitely there.

I can see that this would smell GREAT on a man but it's a nice scent on a woman too.

[filigree_shadow]

The ozone is not nearly as strong in this as usual, it just gives the blend a nice kind of metallic perfumey aspect. I really like the black currant in this -- it gives it character but doesn't make the scent overly fruity. The white musk smells really good with the resin and ozone. The first time I tried this I thought it would be a good scent for spring, and I still think so.

 

Very nice. I like this a lot.

[Ciircee]

I don't know why this is called 'lurid'! It's such a pretty scent full of warm musk and currant and flowers, and fresh air (which is what ozone does with me, I guess). It's a very heavy scent somewhere into hour two or so--heavy in a humid-day sort of heavy, if that makes sense. It's lovely.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: This is a very difficult one for me to get a hold of. This just smells very fresh, with perhaps the slightest edge of berry. I'm going to guess that this is front the "ozone" charge.

 

Wet: This is rather fresh and clean in a "skin" sort of way. The berry is soft and "light red" (i.e., it's approaching 'pink' but doesn't quite get there).

 

Drydown and wear: The scent does not morph much from its wet start, although the lavender--which is so soft in this blend--does tend to come out a little bit more. For me, this is one of the most difficult BPALs to accurately describe. I know that the musk/ozone charge is doing something, but I'm not entirely sure what.

[lapillus]

In bottle: orangy pink, soapy

 

Wet: wet soap but beginning to resolve into interesting scents. Can smell some dragon’s blood and some florals.

 

Dry: loses soapiness (hurray!) and becomes lovely dry sweet scent with depth and complexity but without being too heavy. Not getting anything directly identifiable as black currant, but it’s probably the cause of the sweetness. Weirdly, I also end up tasting metallic salts. It's not unpleasant, just odd.

 

Later: 4 hours in it smells almost like a drier less sweet version of frankincense (still with a flavor of salts). It’s become a very unified scent, and quite distinct without being unpleasantly in your face. There is a very understated, grown-up , feminine power to it. At 14 hours there is final lingering sweetness which may be the currant.

 

Summary: Oh, I like this one a lot. I think it may have to go on my big bottle list.

[storme]

In the imp: wow, that's nice. Musky and fresh and sweet all at once.

 

On me, wet: soft black currant with a skin musk behind it, very faint.

 

On me, dry: this feels somewhat like a red musk scent to me - I think it's the way the resin and the currant and the musk work together. It's very faint on me, though.

 

Verdict: it's really way too faint on my skin, alas - and the lavender didn't show up as much as I'd like.

[vegasblueblood]

I got Lurid as a frimp on my first order from the lab and today I really felt in the mood to try it out. I was excited about the black currant and resin note, wary of the lavender (not really a fan) and ozone. In the bottle, it was sweet with lots of the musk and black currant coming out. Now, about 10 minutes after applying it, it has become very much like a men's cologne with a hint of sweetness. The more it dries, even as I type this up, the more the sweetness is emerging. It's a very interesting scent and in the last few minutes, I've caught hints of soapniess. I really hope it doesn't go soapy on me! I'm not sure that I'll buy a bottle and I'll have to try this one out a few more times before I decide if I like it or not.

[muselette]

Very berry on me, with a cool, clean breeze behind it. I get a touch of lavender in the throw, but the up close skin sniff is fresh red fruit. I like it more than I suspected I would at first sniff- this is an excellent hot summer night scent.

[isabella]

started out very fruity and beautiful then turned into fruity flavored dryer sheet....off to swap.

[jiggahava]

I'm getting lavender, with some of the sweet fruitiness of the currants. Then the musk and ozone come out, giving this a breezy light summer day feeling. Very lovely with a nice bit of throw. The imp stays.

[Shahmeran]

In the imp: There was something really familliar in this that I couldn't place at first. After re-reading the notes I realized it was 2 things. Lavender, which I've always loved as a room/candle scent, and blackcurrant, which I've always loved... as a candy flavor ;D So right away, good associations. Which helps.

 

On me, wet: o.O the candy is gone. It's lavender soap. I think it's the ozone doing the soap thing, but I'm not entirely sure what ozone smells like on it's own, so I'm guessing.

 

Dry: Hm. Lavender and fresh clean laundry, with just a bit of black currant sweetness. It's definetly not unpleasant, in fact I rather like it, but I think I'd rather have my pillow smell like this than my body. In fact that's a good idea... I may have to make a linen spray with this one

[pastrydeity]

This one is delicious on me. Seriously, it's making me hungry. I was worried since I've been having trouble with musks lately, but on me it's all so well-blended that I get a hazy, sweet berry scent and can't quite pick out what's in the background. I'll try it a few more times, and if it stays this good I'll definitely be getting a bottle when the imp runs out.

[mspixieears]

Beautiful blackberry musk when wet on skin – absolutely gorgeous and better on me than Philosophy’s Falling In Love, which was a blackberry musk fragrance that didn’t like my body chemistry although I adored it. There is absolutely nothing lurid about this fragrance whatsoever! The blackberry, or rather blackcurrant, strengthens as it dries on skin which is just delightful to me. The staying power is also phenomenal and it is much more lasting than many BPAL fragrances I’ve tried. This is still discernible on my skin the morning after – it was applied the night before! I might be wooed into getting a 5mL of this!

[funkmoppet]

Huh. That's very odd. I first tested this last night, and now again this morning and it's decided to behave differently on me.

 

Wet, I love this. It's a nice lavender and resin blend with tart berries, and had it stayed like this I wouldn't have hesitated to make a bottle purchase.

 

Dry down: Last night, it went berry sweet. I liked it, but the boy didn't, and since I have my fruit fix with a stash of Fire Pig, I was happy to leave it at the imp.

 

Today, however, the dry down has gone to sweet floral powder, and I'm liking it a whole lot less. So much so, I'm going to wash it off.

 

I know it's the resin, but why it behaved last night and not this morning is a mystery I'm unlikely to solve. Either way, Lurid might wind up in the swap pile.

[rainbow]

I was very excited about this one as I just love the scent of blackcurrant. Unfortunately, my skin has this tendency to amp musk, and that's precisely what it did with Lurid. I ended up getting almost no blackcurrant and all musk. I smelled very masculine, and not in a good way. *cry* If you don't have a musk-amp problem I bet this is great, as it smelled fantastic in the imp- a nicely balanced, not-to-sweet blackcurrant. Oh well.

[somnambular]

This sent is absolutely breathtaking. If Lurid had a color, it would be deep, dark plum.

 

Wet, it is positively bursting with blackcurrants. After awhile, the lavender takes the edge off and adds a hint of herbiness. The musk and resin lend depth to the blend's sweetness and make it more than just another fruity perfume. This is a real winner. Beth never ceases to amaze.

[Pendragon]

Lurid reminds me of Imperial Leather soap. Ick! It hasn't changed much between the imp or on my skin. Its got a kind of old musky scent to it that reminds me of an old man's bathroom... not an image I need!

 

There is something that keeps making me smell my wrist... maybe because it reminds me of that soap. Regardless I think it's the cause of this oncoming headache, so I'm going to go wash it off. Definately not for me.

 

Pendragons's approval: 1.8 out of 5

 

ETA: The scent still lingered on my wrist after I gave it a good couple of scrubs with soap. I hope I don't have to go to sleep smelling this!

Edited December 31, 2007 by Pendragon