Black Forest

[Shollin]

This is the captured scent of a cold, moonless night, lost deep within the darkest wood. Haunting and desolate, this scent evokes images of fairy tale tragedy and half-remembered nightmares. Thick, viscous pine with ambergris, black musk, juniper and cypress.

First sniff: So. Very. Pine. The essence of all that is pine. For any Buffy fans who remember Anya’s discussion of the world with nothing but shrimp… this is the world with nothing but pine trees. It’s the resin and the needles and… oh so pine.

Wearing: Yeah, I’m getting redundant here, but… pine. The description mentions “haunting,” and that’s a lovely word for this scent… it’s a dark, spooky forest, not actively menacing but still twitch-inspiring. It’s not as cold on me as the more wintry pine scents (Skadi, Mistletoe et. al.), and there’s a very intriguing something-else wrapped around the pure evergreen that tickles my nose.

[bodegaselkie]

In the bottle Black Forest smells much like everyone has said - pine. On me, the woodsy scents fade almost immediately, and the black musk and ambergis come out. At first I feared it would go powdery, but no, it stayed warm and musky and soft, with the woods in the background.

 

Unfortunately, I was hoping for a strong, piney, walk-in-the-woods kind of scent; I already have a favorite musk scent right now -- Corazon -- and Black Forest faded on me within a few hours. I'll probably swap this, since I don't have time to reapply a scent I'm not crazy about every few hours.

 

A note: several of you were talking about amber in this scent, but amber and ambergris are not the same thing. Ambergris is substance harvested from the intestines of sperm whales which is normally used as a fixative in perfumes. There's some information in the thread on the ambergris single-note, which is here:

 

http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=1025&hl=

 

And, of course, it's on wikipedia:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris

[JazzieCazzie]

Ordered as an imp based on the notes. Sadly, the cap to the imp broke off and leaked and by the time I was able to decant it into another imp I had only about a half imp left ...

 

BOTTLE: Sharp, sweet and spicy all at once.

 

WET: OK, this may sound crazy but it reminds me of what I would imagine the candy cottage in the woods that Hansel and Gretel come across would smell like ... yummy sweet candy but with the dark green pine scent intermingled.

 

DRYDOWN: Slightly fizzy, like cream soda mixed with Band-Aids.

 

On a scale of 1-5, I'd give it a 4 and would probably buy another imp or two down the road ...

 

REVISITED AND RE-REVIEWED MARCH 29, 2013:

 

After a hiatus, launched a project to not only revisit and/or review every single BPAL scent in my collection, but also -- since said collection has been dispersed alot over the years -- to reacquire certain scents I'd favorably reviewed and wanted to try again. So an imp of Black Forest was included in a February "impapalooza" purchase from the Lab.

 

IN THE IMP: Green -- the whole spectrum of green from pale fizziness to deep pine. But overall, in the imp, light, fresh and pungent.

 

Applied to wrist and crook of arm.

 

WET: Almost eight years later, either my body chemistry or my nose has morphed enough that upon application it definitely amps the pine. There is still the evocation of soda -- but the sweetness isn't as prominent AT FIRST. I'd call it, maybe Pine Soda?

 

DRYDOWN: NOW I get the sweeeeeeeeeetness. I'm still not sure what note makes it so sweet -- the ambergris, perhaps? The cypress, which tends to be sweet wood on me (not as sweet as cedar but still sweet)? I can see why I would have called it "cream soda and Band-Aids" but a more refined nose palate (combined with being post-menopausal, perhaps) would now describe it more as powder and piney fizz. And it gets sweeter and sweeter the more it dries down, but while that "powder" scent usually nauseates me, the green aspects of the blend offset it enough that it is a really yummy and unusual blend.

 

OVERALL: This is not a scent for every day or every person. But it is definitely a keeper for occasional use. Ironically, though the path to get to the scoring took a few different forks in the road, in the end it came out identical to that I wrote in 2005:

 

On a scale of 1-5, I'd give it a 4 and would probably buy another imp or two down the road ...

Edited March 30, 2013 by JazzieCazzie

[quimerula]

This one is a black forest indeed!

Wet: pine, juniper and cypress, pretty strong.

Drying it calms down a bit, and I get the musk and the ambergris, which are the long lasting notes in this scent.

It's masculine, with an average lasting power.

[nineveh]

So this is pine, but on me, it's a soft, warm pine, not a sharp evergreen scent. I love the black musk in this one. It makes it so deep and soft. I guess the musk and ambergris are keeping the cypress and juniper (usually sharp scents on me) in check.

 

This is like Haunted, but in the woods: darker, a bit scarier, and more complex.

[melrose]

Wet: Hellooooooo, pine!

 

Near drydown: OMG, wonderful. Smells like a wonderful antique store filled with old wood furniture, in the middle of a forest with all the windows open - HG if this sticks around.

 

Far drydown: Gone, all gone in 2 hours. If I stick my nose in my elbow, I smell a yummy woody, powdery, spicy scent.

 

Too bad the staying power sucks, because it's lovely.

[Miss Lynx]

This was one of the first batch of four oils I received, from a forum purchase. And I really, really wanted to like more than I did. The very first time I visited the Lab's web site, this was the first scent that caught my eye and made me think from its description that I absolutely had to have it. So even though I already had an imp of it coming in my first official lab order (which should be here sometime in August), I ordered another via the forums because I just couldn't wait.

 

And yet... *sigh*

 

I knew I was probably in trouble from the first sniff of the bottle. It was so sweet. I really wasn't expecting that. Maybe it's the ambergris, but this was really cloyingly sweet to me, and the pine in it smelled artificial, like air freshener, not like an actual forest. On my skin, it didn't change much, not even hours later. Still smelled like sickly sweet fake pine. Considering the hopes I'd had for it, that was practically heartbreaking.

 

My partner did like it, though. Not on me, but on her. Even though her first reaction was "Wow - Pine Sol!", she liked it better on the drydown, and periodically throughout the day she'd sniff her wrist, declare "I am Tree Girl!" and strike a tree-like pose with her arms spread out like branches. So while it doesn't work on me, it may not end up getting swapped either... Though she did say later she thought it was stuffing up her nose.

 

I still hope there will be a foresty scent out there that will work on me... I don't know - Nocnitsa? Skadi? Hamadryad? Just have to experiment, I guess...

 

Edit (a few days later): Actually, it's starting to grow on me a bit. I tried it a second time yesterday, and the sweetness didn't seem so overpowering. I think maybe at first it was just really jarring because I wasn't expecting it to have that tone to it, but once I knew what to expect it wasn't so bad. The sweetness really does seem to fade after a bit, though I'd still call it more incense-y than foresty. So - still not what I was originally expecting, but I'm thinking I might end up liking it after all.

 

Edit the Second, six weeks later: Having let this one languish on my imp shelf for a month and a half, and consigned the second imp that arrived with my Lab order to the swap pile, I just tried it again, after having finally had the opportunity to try out Nocnitsa earlier in the day. Nocnitsa was, as I was warned, sweeter than Black Forest, but I quite liked it. So I decided to try BF again, having a better idea what to expect now, and... ta-da! I love it! It doesn’t smell fake at all to me now, and now that I’m used to the sweetness (and have made peace with sweet scents in general to a somewhat greater degree than before), it’s actually really nice. So, I've pulled the "extra" imp out of the swap pile and off my swap post, and am now contemplating a big bottle. Funny how these things can grow on you over time...

 

Revised grade: A - originally B

Edited August 31, 2005 by Miss Lynx

[termite_of_justice]

Open imp: Whoa. Vicks Vapo-Rub. That’s all I’m getting.

Damn it. I spilled already. There’s oil all over the side of the vial. Why is it so hard to open and close the darn things?

 

Wet on me: Pine. Pine, pine, pine. I just crushed a pile of pine needles and shoved them up my nose. (It tickles like that, too.) But wait, there’s a slight dry sweetness buried under the pine, that keeps it from being too ‘fresh’ smelling. It smells like pine candles should smell.

 

Dry: The pine definitely faded, although it’s far from being subtle. I get that ‘incensey’ scent again aaaaand…there goes the pine. It’s gone.

Whoa, I can’t smell any perfume on me, and I put it on less than twenty minutes ago.

Wait, it’s there, but barely. It’s a faint, spicy-smoky scent, that's a little bit dusty; I can only smell it if I attach my nose to my wrist and breathe.

 

I don’t know if it’s the amount I put on, or the fact that my skin just doesn’t keep scent well, but I know that no matter what my skin does, there is no way I can use a scent locket with this, or run the wand through my hair. It’s much too ‘Christmassy-pine’ strong by itself. *sigh* I was really looking forward to this one, too. I suppose I'll try again another day.

 

Edit: I just washed it off my wrists, and I think that (HOPE THAT!) it's my nose today, because after I rinsed all the soap off I sniffed my wrist to make sure all the Black Forest was gone (I was going to go try my luck with another) and the dark spicy note was still there (is that ambergris I'm smelling?), and I couldn't smell my soap at all.

*crosses her fingers* Oh please, please, please let this be an allergic reaction to Black Forest! I don't mind not smelling it, as long as my skin doesn't suck it up!

 

Yeah. Definitely an allergic reaction. I popped open the imp of Snake Oil, and I couldn't smell anything, save the barest hint of sweetness. Thanks, Black Forest. I love you, and you hate me.

 

In between wet and dry: I added a bit more on my wrists (and didn't eff up with the imp this time!). This is the perfect blend of pine and spice. I forgot to mention how cool this feels on my skin. It's like a tingly, cold feeling on my skin, and it smells luscious.

 

Edited again because I'm stupid. And in love. Okay, Black Forest is officially M'm m'm good. I tried it again, along with Rosalind on the other wrist (which, for some reason, I always think is named 'Josephine' and searched fruitlessly for in Illyria;)), and it was CHRISTMAS TREE! CHRISTMAS TREE! CHRISTMAS TREE! for a few minutes until it mellowed out into a nice blend of what smells like cedar (because of the spices) and a dry, spicy sandalwood? scent.

OH GOD I'M IN LOVE.

I think I want to let this mellow 'til fall or winter, though. It's definitely not a summer scent; it's not sultry and thick, it's spicy and bity. Yum.

Edited July 25, 2005 by termite_of_justice

[Nox Eterna]

Black Forest

 

In ther vial: A cool crisp day in a pine forest

 

Wet on: Cool,sweet bayberry

 

Dry on: Something spicy, cinnamon? And pine. Like cookies for Santa under the

tree.

 

Overall: On me it's a cool freah scent like a wintery forest, out looking

for the perfect Christmas tree where nocnitsa seems

like a spring forest. I like it alot, especially for the cooler weather that

I really hope will be here soon.

[oatmealneko]

Black Forest means exactly two words to me: Pine Sol.

 

And I scrub off very quickly.

[Celogrl]

Oh how beautiful this is. Cypress especially, pine and juniper make this a reflective mix that makes me feel like I am standing in a deep forest. Sadly, the only thing not working about this is that it disappears almost immediately. I think I'll have to slather- it's too lovely to miss.

[AutumnQueen]

Just got this one in the mail a couple of days ago, and I can tell it's going to be a favorite.

 

In the bottle: Very strong pine, with an almost camphorous note.

 

Wet on: Piney, but not quite as strong. The cypress and juniper have popped out, too.

 

Dry on: Ooh. Sweeter than I expected it to be (must be the ambergris), but not cloying. The musk is also coming through. The evergreen scents are very light, and I almost wish the pine had stayed around a little stronger, but this is delicious.

 

Overall: It reminds me of the forest around the apartments I lived in while in Germany. It would rain often, especially in autumn, and when I would walk out into the woods, I could smell the pine and decaying leaves. This is what Black Forest smells like to me (which is fitting, considering I lived very near the real Black Forest).

[Blood onmy hands]

Black Forest smells like a very spicy evergreen forest on me. It has an overall cool, dark and lost feeling to it. Like being lost in a forest as the sun is setting.

 

This reminds me a lot of those car fresheners. You know the ones shaped like little pine trees that people hang on their car mirrors? I like it. I like Skadi and Mistletoe a lot more for pine scents though.

[sookster]

Upon application this is a deep, lush fresh pine .... with some sweetness to round it out....very deep....I am not sure if I like this as a perfume.

Although I could see adding a drop of two of this to a scoopful of potpourri during the Holiday Season which is precisely what will happen.

[McPagangrrl]

This one starts out a little "hmm...what was I thinking?" but by the time it dries it turns into a mysterious pineish dark mossy scent. I can pick out the pine but it isn't as in your face on me as it has been on other posters. There is a soft bit of sweetness. I second (third?) the notion that it isn't like skipping through a sunny wood on the way to grandma's house. This is sneaking through an ancient and mystic wood at midnight.

[cupide430]

Black Forest

 

Deep dark pine. There's something heavy behind the pine which mellows the sweetness of pine and makes it darker and more bitter. There is something a touch astringent behind the deep dark notes and the pine. A bit too heavy for me, but very evocative.

[aessedai]

I love tree-y scents, so right away I knew this would be a good one on me. The musk really grounds the pine and softens it. Very lovely, and, like others have said, wistful.

[tweakano]

Got this as a frimp, yea! To me Black Forest smells like The Hunt - the woods, the night air, energetic, masculine, wild - *ahem* sexy! I catch myself re-applying it then calling my husband for some reason. Slowly becoming my favorite. Hope to buy the 5ml soon!

[Lori]

Sniffing the imp: Mmm...a very beautiful pine and cedar smell. It reminds me of walking in the forest up at a lake I used to go to in the Spring in Manitoba.

 

Wet on wrist: PINE!! Very strong pine! Not quite a pine sol smell, but way too strong as a perfume. It does smell more like a cleaning fluid at this stage.

 

Drying down: Still the same as when wet. A very strong cleaning fluid pine. Nice and crisp, but suits my floors more than my skin.

 

Dry: Ok, the musk is coming through now. It has softened it a bit, but just a bit. I don't like wearing musk so for me this one is a no-go, as it is two scents I don't want to wear. I wish it would have stayed more like the initial scent as it would make a lovely room scent, but I have others I like better, even, for that, so off to swaps!

[hangingfire]

In the imp: Oh MY. The pine, juniper, and cypress notes are right up front there, although I can detect the ambergris and musk in the background. What a lovely, wild scent.

 

On, wet: Not so piney now; sweeter and muskier with the pine in the chorus instead of as the leading lady. It gives a delightful freshness to the musk and ambergris.

 

Drydown: Pine, musk, ambergris, in more or less equal measure. It's a dark, spooky scent: nighttime in a dark forest, and catching a whiff of smoke from a fire.

 

I LOVE IT. This will be an awesome winter scent, when it finally gets cold enough for it here in Texas.

 

Edit, hours later: Hmm, not much of the pine left. But the ambergris and musk just keep on keepin' on, and I like it. Good stuff.

Edited October 5, 2005 by hangingfire

[malabar]

Rush of pine upon opening and for the first 15-20 minutes on my skin, which is great. Like many of you, I also found the dry-down disappointing: baby powder and not much else. Seems like a defanged version of Loup Garou.

[pekeana]

Hello, wintertime woods! Putting on Black Forest makes me remember trampling around in the snow and ice in the woods. It also reminds me of someone, and I don't know who. *shrugs*

 

It's similar to Jabberwocky, and Skadi.

 

Um... that's all she wrote. Will be giving the imp to one of my siblings.

[pinkpoodle]

I'm loving this. It's actually quite warm and cozy because of the black musk. Yeah, it's piney when first applied, but that fades pretty quickly for a very balanced scent. It lasts a long time on my skin and stays pretty consistent throughout the day, which is great. I'm gonna need a bottle of this!

[inkmonkeys]

I get a very woodsy piney blast up front, then it settles down to a rich black musk.

 

I'd consider a bottle, but since I already have Dracul (this is very much like it), I won't need a Black Forest bottle yet. This is like a much less complex Dracul, and I would have enjoyed it more if the pine hung around somewhat longer!

[carolinachiquita]

I thought that the initial smell was meh - its too green and foresty. It is a very dark scent and there is an undercurrent of something mentholly with it too. Hmm. No after about 5 hours it didn't really change - i was hoping the "mentholly" smell would come out more but it didn't - It is way too green for me!