Death on a Pale Horse

[enderfem]

The End of All Things: empty white musk and mint seeped with solemn lavender, doleful patchouli and vetiver, scythe-sharp yuzu and lime, with geranium bourbon, white sandalwood and calla lily.

Imp: patchouli and sandalwood. Smells like Death was at a head shop.

Wet: A dirty earthy smell with something soft underneath. This is the death that brings comfort, not vengeance.

Drydown: Oh, this is lovely. I thought it would be like samhainophobia, which is horrid on me, but this is soft and gentle and dark and lovely. Dirt and lavender, with a touch of lily. It also lasts like whoa.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I doubt I would have picked this on my own (although I thought about it after re-reading Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse recently!), but it was suggested for my earth-and-citrus loving boyfriend. Great suggestion--I love this! Yuzu is such a luscious, juicy citrus, and it has that extra sweet kick that you don't get with lemon (the lily seems to support it really well too). On me, Pale Horse is a bright yuzu topnote over a complex base--I can detect the resin of patchouli and a little vetiver and musk, but it's well-blended. This might be a tad sweeter than what he usually chooses, but I think he'll still really like it.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

This was one of the very first BPAL imps I ordered, and the very first one I tried, so the psychological thing is pretty strong for me: in a way, it shaped my impressions of BPAL perfumes. I'm really glad Death was my "first time" because if it had been, say, a couple of the ones which haven't impressed so favourably on me, I probably wouldn't have become such a fan of the Lab.

 

In the Bottle

It's clean and lemony and there's a coldness to it. It smells almost chemical but.. not. I think the lavender softens it out a little: either that or it's just that I'm getting used to cleaning products with lavender in them.

 

On Me

It's elegant, and while it retains that "clean" smell, it doesn't go to antiseptic, nor does it smell fake. I'm pretty sure that's the sandalwood and vetiver making their combination known to all: it's an interesting blend. I can still detect lavender, but it's not your conventional English Country Garden lavender-- it's an icy, almost angry lavender.

 

Awhile later: still there, that good old sandalwood and the sharpness of the vetiver. But other notes are coming through, too-- the lavender has dimmed a little, and there's definitely citrus in there, but the hazelnut! There really IS hazelnut in it! I'm pretty sure I can pick up the lily, too, it's that perfumey-but-pleasant-and-subtle deal. I'm not really seeing the mint.

 

Seriously, I'm in LOVE. This scent is perfect for me: it's not pretty, it's definitely not shiny-happy-goodness, and I don't think everyone's going to be jumping hoops to get some or smell some-- but it feels right for me. I like the "chilly" blends but this one is complicated, and there's a warmth and a softness deep down there-- the hazelnut and the lily-- but it's not the first thing you notice. I also love that it is utterly unisex-- I'm really curious as to what it smells like on the menfolk because I think it could have a totally sexy and intense edge.

 

 

 

Funny, too-- having first tried this last year, and finally reviewing it (I got me a bottle the other day!) feels weird. I noticed an older review where Hangingfire said it was similar to Shalimar. From when I was a kid, Shalimar has been my signature scent, so... well picked.

Edited March 4, 2008 by LadyLuckDoubt

[CrazyPretzel]

Initially the vetiver is quite strong in here, with that characteristic damp, decaying wood smell. As it dries musk and lavender come to the fore and smooth the blend considerably. I don't get citrus from this at any stage. When completely dry it's a smooth, masculine musky scent with a touch of sandalwood and some almost sour floral notes. Rather solemn.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Patchouli and lavender with a bit of soft herbs and lily.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a citrus lavender scent with a hint of mint, a bit of coolness from the white musk, and a subtle base of very light patchouli. It’s a cool scent, but twisted slightly and herbal. It has a very nice, solid base to it and an almost powdery feel.

 

After a little while: This has turned very masculine on me. It’s a dry musky scent with a lot of patchouli and lavender blending together, and a bit of warm sandalwood. With the white musk this has a cooler feel, but the hint of sandalwood gives this a gentle spice. Nothing else about this is gentle, though; the lavender/patchouli/white musk combo is very strong and sharp.

 

Overall Impressions: This is definitely a masculine scent and not for me, but I can see its appeal for those who like this sort of strong blend. It has a lot of patchouli but it’s not gritty at all, and it has a cool feel overall. This is nicely blended and some of the notes are there, but don’t really stand out.

[DarkClarissa]

In Imp: Slightly piney for some reason. But very slight. Musky but with soapy sandalwood very prominent.

 

Wet: More pine (getting concerned – pine is not good on my skin).

 

Dry: Wow changed. Piney smell has gone (I think this was the mint fighting with some of the other notes). This smells like riding through the wind, slightly ozoney but with the smell of damp earth grounding the fragrance. Its warm, yet cold at the same time, an intriguing combination. After a while the lilly became very prominent – this now smells like a church during a funeral, or a graveyard with the freshly fallen rain evaporating off the funereal wreaths.

 

Verdict: I could wear this on a regular basis – very happy!!!!

 

Marks out of 10: 8

[oravannahka]

I'm pretty much sitting around, praying for my CnS to come, so I thought I'd review my old imps to take my mind off the wait.

 

Death on a Pale Horse was actually the first BPAL I ordered and it smells completely different depending on my cycle. Last time I tried it, I completely hated it but this time through it's more bearable.

 

Wet on my skin - really sharp, dry, and kind of unpleasant. It's a really medicinal smell which is a strange contrast with the other scent I'm getting: dirt. The vetiver is going nuts and it's completely dominating everything else.

 

Dry - The mint is raising its head. If I press my nose to my wrist, I can barely smell the sandalwood and lime. That's really refreshing. It's still really sharp and there's still way too much vetiver for my taste. I really can't pick out anything other than that. This is probably the least comforting scent I have ever sniffed.

 

Verdict - too much vetiver; still, I might put it on whenever I need a jolt.

[Brighid]

I'm not going to make any effort to pick out individual notes in this. All I know is that on me, it becomes all kinds of gorgeous.

 

Word of warning, if you wear this stuff and someone tells you that you smell fabulous and asks what you're wearing, you're going to get some pretty strange looks when you tell them.

[Lamia]

HOLY CRAP this is fabulous. In the bottle it was musky, opening the bottle became astringent. On my skin, it smelled instantly like dirt, then almost immediately became a light round scent. It smells like one of those really expensive handmade soaps that you find in a small boutique run by clever artists, something really self-indulgent that you'd never buy for yourself unless someone gave you a gift certificate. It's not my usual scent, think it's the florals that are scything (HA) through the patchouli, musk and sandalwood.

 

Yummmmmm...

 

Sadly, it's a quick fade. Applied at 8:45am, almost entirely gone by 11:45am.

[rconklin]

In the imp--musk and lime, with earthy notes. Wet, I get the unfortunate tobacco effect (ie. I smell like an ashtray)--not a clue what's doing that here, though the presence of vetiver is sometimes responsible for bad things happening to good scents (not always, mind).

 

As it dries, the ashtray effect lessens, and I get a very lovely musk--I can see how it is a white musk. The mint certainly starts to come out more and the patchouli evolves from generic-earthy, to a more distinct presence.

 

This one is a morpher on me...becoming a somehow creamy musk for a bit (calla lily and bourbon?) and then going a bit powdery and then yuzu and lime coming out with the mint.

 

It is certainly interesting, but I'm not sure that it is something I would wear...though I might have to give it another test or two to be sure about that.

[kjirstiben]

In the imp: Floral, resin, herbal? --Sharp

 

Initial application: Woodsy, pine needles and sandalwood over a dry, musky/powdery background

 

After a while: Dry x10... Dried resin, pleasant, not too sweet... it almost disappears

 

***And then it did disappear (after ~15 minutes), so I reapplied with a more generous hand.***

 

Eventually: This is all dry wood and powdery background, maybe some ozone. It faded into a dusty wood scent that is nice but not terribly exceptional.

 

Interesting experience... a frimp and not a combination of notes I would have thought to try. It fades away very quickly on me, with a faint dusty wood scent left behind.

[Greensleeves]

In the bottle: Pale, but not extremely pale yellow oil. Tangy, commercial perfume notes - this is usually how my nose identifies amber or musk since it doesn't work well with my body chemistry. I'm getting an aroma of something fruity like peach, nectarine or passionfruit, regardless of whether it is in the ingredients of the blend or not. Spicy undertone, could be a faint whiff of lavender - much fainter than I'd hoped. Overall the commercial smell is making me reluctant to want to put this on my skin, but not so reluctant that I'm going to skip it.

 

Wet: Stronger lavender mixed with powdery, incensy spice.

 

After a few minutes on skin: Citrusy lavender incense, faint clean herbal notes coming through. This is better than in the bottle, the heavy, perfumey, overblown chemically commercial notes I was getting from the bottle seem to be gone. This blend now reminds me a little of Gaueko, as I'm getting a faint smokiness from the combination of notes, but it's more fruity and not quite as headshoppy, though I think this is strong enough that if worn on more than one place (it currently adorns just one wrist) it might irritate someone who has chemical/perfume sensitivities.

 

After first hour: As the scent gets more mild I'm reminded a bit of Villain as well, it has that same sort of pleasant soft lavender and citrus tang. I think Villain does it better, but at the same time, this scent seems to have a bit more throw on me. Now I'm getting more floral notes and smokey sandalwood and patchouli a lot more clearly. I cheated and found out what was in this so I would stop saying incense and smoke as I'm trying to learn to better identify notes.

 

After two and a half hours: Strong patchouli, musk, and sandalwood, faint citrus, very little floral left, but still quite a strong scent, considering that my skin tends to eat most things I've put on so far. Sadly, the scents that remain the strongest are the ones I like the least in this blend.

 

After 5 hours: Faint sandalwood and patchouli, and not much else.

 

Final Verdict: The smell is quite pleasant on my skin, but it isn't the scent memory that I would like people to associate with me, nor is it the kind of thing I would catch a whiff of on myself and suddenly feel happy to be alive. It isn't 'me.'

Edited July 18, 2008 by Greensleeves

[Mishinka]

Hmm. This came as a free imp with my last order. It's growing on me.

 

It is indeed a very sharp scent in the imp, lavender and minty, musky florals. It smells like a lovely men's cologne.

 

When I first put it on I smell lavender and patchouli, and now I definitely get geraniums instead of just flowers. There might be just a hint of lime in there, too. I'm also picking up something a little piney, though I'm not sure where that note comes from. But there's definitely pine there, and it gets more pronounced as it dries.

 

The scent turns woody and floral after an hour or so, and is a much more feminine scent than I'd expected. Don't know if I want a bottle, but I'll certainly wear it again.

[Kimbernunk]

This was a imp from a friend on one of our occasional imp swaps. I don't think I would have ordered it myself, but I'm glad I've gotten to try it. Wet, it smells like lime and mint and something woody (but not a clearly defined wood). When I first put it on it was all sandalwood and vetiver, but after it's settled down a bit it's a soft sandalwood and white musk scent that gains sweetness from the bourbon. It has peppery moments and citrusy moments, which seem to alternate every now and again - this is definitely a morpher. It's a very androgynous scent (at least one me, but my skin tends to make everything smell very sweet and sugary so that may be why). Overall, I quite like it.

[theseagrows]

what an interesting scent this is. it strongly reminds me of something i have smelled before, but cannot place. it has an ethereal ozoney quality but there is an underlying sweetness and slight fruitiness from the yuzu. the lavender and white musk are the base of the scent, and the patchouli and vetiver are very subtle. i like this more than i thought i would, but i can't decide if i would actually wear it or not.

[gchris]

In Vial: Sharp and woodsy

 

Wet: The sweet scent of something mellow mixed with wood.

 

Dry: Incensy. Still mellow and soft.

[melrose]

In imp and on, wet: Lovely, mysterious, a little masculine, fresh, a hint of spice.

 

Near drydown: Gorgeous, but I have to bury my nose in my skin to get a whiff.

 

No far drydown - it disappeared in less than an hour.

[charshark]

In the imp: Mint and lavender. Sort of smells like dirt to me for some reason.

 

Wet: Patchouli with a hint of lavender and the tiniest hint of mint.

 

Dry: Some sandalwood comes through and the lavender mostly faded away (which is good). I can also detect lime and musk.

 

Overall: A little bit too masculine for me, personally, but it would smell great on a man.

[Hawke]

Smells a little woody in the imp and a lot perfume-y, like something that might be commercial. That department store scent always makes me nervous.

 

Wet on skin, the "commercial" fades a little and there's a powdery sweetness that wafts up from my wrist. Nothing I can put a name to, but at least the sharp edge is gone. This gets strong fast when it's warmed by body heat. This is a very floral scent, oddly feminine for something meant to represent a Horseman.

 

Ultimately this turns into a soft, powdery floral on me. It's perfectly pleasant, but not something I would find myself reaching for or wearing on anything like a regular basis. I am just not Death's kind of girl.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Lily and herbs. Pretty....but there's the dreaded patchouli.

 

Wet: I can't get over the patchouli.

 

Dry: Still can't get over the patchouli.

 

Overall: There's a lovely scent in there. I love lily. The herbs make the lily not so sweet. But I hate patchouli and it's distracting me from the other scents. Not for me.

[brettashley]

Oh dear. I was excited to try this (I've been meaning to try all of 'Come and See' because they sound amazing) and received this as a frimp from the Lab - so YAY LAB!

 

Unfortunately, the entire blend was taken over by the Patchouli for me.

 

Wet: Smells... I can smell the mint, and the vertiver. not bad.

 

Drying: Hm. There is a creeper lurking around and I think he hasn't washed his hair in days. (Sorry but in Berkeley, Patchouli = unwashed hippie. For me, anyway.)

 

Drydown: patchooouuuli. urgh.

 

I had to cover it up with some lovely Lillith Victoria. (Save me, LV! You're my only hope. )

[Miss Lynx]

Interesting... Dry and a little earthy, with just a faint touch of sweetness. Not at all unpleasant, though nothing about it really stands out strongly. It does smell like more of a men's scent, but not to such an extent as to make it completely out of place on a woman.

 

There's a bit of a lightness to it, an almost ethereal feeling, which is pretty nice. And the sweetness seems to be coming out a bit more as it settles into my skin, which may be partly a skin chemistry thing -- my skin often tends to sweeten scents a bit, particularly those containing musks and florals. The patchouli and vetiver are just subtle background presences here, not dominating the scent at all. Probably the strongest notes are the sandalwood and white musk.

 

Overall, a light but complex scent, which would be a good choice for a man or androgynous woman who wants a scent that's subtle enough that it's not going to stand out like "Hi! I'm wearing perfume!" but still smells interesting and not generic. You could safely wear this in a corporate office or a goth club.

 

Grade: B/B+

[jehrichardson]

Spicy musk. Patchouli follows with it's minty, licorice tang. Ugh... here comes the vetiver - bug spray in all its glory.

 

No citrus.. none of the other notes. Musky patchouli and bug spray. I'm sad - I was excited for the citrus and the complexity.

 

Sorry lab, it's a clunker. A bit of a relief... we can't like all of them.

[MissMercurial]

This was frimped to me oh-so-generously by artofsuicide

 

I was expecting good things from this since it's got a couple of notes I tend to like a lot:

white musk, mint,lavender, yuzu, lime, and white sandalwood. However, the patchouli/vetiver/calla lily/geranium bourbon ganged up on me. A few seconds into the wet stage I got...baby diapers. Strange, I know, but that's the best way I can think of to summarize that powdery-baby-nursery-slightly-discomfiting smell.

After that it calmed down with the white musk blending it up with the rest, but it wasn't the clarity I've come to associate with white musk - sniffing this on my wrist gave me a slight headache.

 

Overall, not a fan of this 'un .

[Dianora]

This was frimped to me not once, but twice. I took that as a sign and looked at the notes and started to get a bit excited-- patchouli? Sandalwood? Lime? Oh hell yes. I was a bit concerned about the vetiver and bourbon, but there was too much good stuff packed in here to ignore.

 

In the imp this is sharp, but in a good way. The vetiver and patchouli are whip-like, but the lime makes it interesting. I slathered some on, and got a nice whiff of the sandalwood. Funny thing about bourbon and it's cousin bay rum. They eat everything. Less than half an hour later, all I could smell on my skin was slightly bitter nothingness. A void where all the lovely things should have been. It was a bit of a disappointment, but with a heavy heart I consigned these imps to the "for swap" tin.