Death on a Pale Horse

[Veronica]

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.

 

This starts off a syrupy sweet floral with a hint of bourbon. Something in this just smells like sugar!!!!! over all the other notes.

[misspaul]

When this is wet, there is a glorious moment when you can pick out most of the notes in this. There's a bit of lime, mint, lavender, musk and patchouli that adds up to quite a lovely scent. But, on me, once this dried I was left with mostly patchouli. It was a beautiful, creamy, almost sweet patchouli though. I guess that was the effect of the other notes. I like it. But I'm not sure I need it.

[PrinceofcatS]

I absolutely hate patchouli, except very, very rarely, when it's smothered in other notes and in something specifically trying to evoke dirt or woods, so when I got this as a frimp I already knew I wouldn't like it. But I sort of hoped I would since i was super curious about all the apocalypse scents back when I first discovered BPAL, and I am discovering that I adore lavender pretty much all the time. I actually come very near to liking this, so I'm sure it's actually quite beautiful.

 

After a limey stage post-application, almost all of the notes in this come out rather sweetly. Lavender, sandalwood and patchouli - but less terrible on me than most, sort of a softer, paler patchouli? - with a growing sweetness that I can attribute both to the flowers (I love lily and if not for the patchouli I think I'd love the blend for this mixture!). There's a sort of otherworldly windswept feel which I think the notes contribute to in general, but the musk and mint are just like a chilly overlay, and then there's a kind of dark undercurrent from the vetiver. I wouldn't call this desolate or forlorn though I can see how it lends to that; it's pensive and pretty, and leans masculine only in that it's not overtly feminine - not overtly floral, sweet or anything else, but the musk doesn't dominate the way "masculine" scents feel like on me.

 

It's a real pity about the patchouli because I actually really liked this. It's like a lying on a tomb in a white dress reading baleful poetry sort of scent. Listless, but holding your attention with its unusual prettiness.

[roseus]

Started out pale and wispy, with mostly dry white sandalwood. Dry the vetiver and patchouli form a strong, earthy base but not heavy. The blend is buoyed by white musk and lavender. I do not get any other note specifically, but overall this is an herbal, dry and solemn scent.

[Casablanca]

A nice blend for the concept. Death on a Pale Horse begins lavender-strong, with the lavender medium-sharp, with patchouli, pale musk, green citrus, and lily evident. I find a little mint and sandalwood when I hunt for them.

As Death dries... er, does this have orris in it? I feel like I'm mainly smelling an orris-patchouli-sandalwood mix, with a cold breath of lily, after drydown.

Two hours later, it's mostly gone. Death has passed.

I'm glad I tried this, even though it's not for me.

[LizziesLuck]

I have wanted to try this forever, because I love the name, but the notes really haven't called to me much.

 

 

Wet: Wood - No...cardboard? Hazelnuts!? WTF am I smelling??

After looking at the notes, I am smelling lily (cardboard on me), sandalwood, and the vetiver (which is sometimes nutty on me). Something green peeks through. Something herbal, maybe the lavender? Not identifiable as lavender though. This one is perplexing and intriguing.

 

Dry: Quite soft. I get mostly sweet, nutty vetiver. I love this version of vetiver, but with other notes, and stronger. It's pleasant, just not wowing me. Weird that of all the notes, I am left with vetiver - my skin usually eats it within minutes.

[achildoftime]

I was really, really hoping that the citrus notes would take the lead here, but I wasn't that lucky. Vetiver really just took over and turned it into a smoky mess on me. I amp vetiver, so I shouldn't have been that surprised. Sometimes it behaves, but when it doesn't it's tragic. Oh well, off to the swaps.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: I'm getting the white musk, geranium, patchouli, and some citrus. It's really strong on the white musk, though.

 

Wet: The white musk reigns, and I'm also getting some florals (the high-pitched geranium and white lily for sure) and patchouli. The patchouli mostly just adds some warmth to the scent and isn't as strong as the musk or the bourbon geranium.

 

Dry: The white musk and florals continue to reign for a really long time.

 

After a few hours of wear, the musk note calms down significantly, and so do the florals. The white sandalwood has appeared, and the patchouli has gotten stronger. I'm also getting a bit of smoky vetiver now.

 

Verdict: I was hoping to get some mint and lavender from this, but neither of those really played a role on my skin. This one isn't really my cup of tea, but I'm glad I got to try it.

[milo]

Light, fresh and airy. If death smells like this, sign me up! I'm getting light musk and florals, with a touch of lavender/mint. This one smells like spring, nice to try, and would be a great blend in the heat of summer to cool off with. Nice, but I'll just keep the imp.