The Organ Grinder (2006)

[wolfie13]

Almond milk, sarsaparilla, tobacco smoke, black patchouli and white pine bark.

In the bottle: Almond Milk and Pine

Wearing: Hmmm. This is so unusual, really. I get the same sweet almond milk (and it really does smell like a lighter more creamy variety than the straight-up almond in other BPAL) mixed about 50-50 with the pine scent and just a touch of sarsparilla. As it dries down I get some of the smokiness and it kind of takes the edge off the "loudness" of the other two strong notes. I do find myself wishing I got a bit more smoke and patchouli from this. (Though the close-up sniff reveals more of these elements.)

It's really quite unique. The only Bpal that would be at all similar would be Tombstone. But it's Tombstone with almond milk substituted for the vanilla and a smokiness added. I had great hopes for Tombstone and it's unique components, but my skin really amped the sweet vanilla too much on me. The sweetness is more toned down in this, making it not quite foody, not quite foresty - it's hard to explain!

Full disclosure: I just couldn't quite figure this one out initially and put it up for swaps right away. However, it's sitting here in my desk cabinet and I keep "testing" it and am finding it strangely unique and addictive. I'm going to go remove it from the list now!

ETA: Still wearing this and actually loving it more all the time! And am continually amused by all the haters down-thread. Maybe I should base my purchases on "most universally disliked" BPALs. With a few excptions, these seem to be the ones that work most often for me! Edited October 11, 2006 by wolfie13

[kraken]

Enabled by evilmistressoftoast...

 

In the Imp: A sweet almond scent punctuated by sharp pine.

 

Initial Wet: It's very almondy with the sarsaparilla sweetness following right behind it. Then the pine comes through along with a vague spiciness that must be the patchouli.

 

Initial Dry: The pine is very prominent, but not in a xmas tree sort of way. It's more of a cut pinewood scent. The vanilla-ish scent of the sarsaparilla lingers just under the pine and the tobacco just under that.

 

Drier Dry: The pine is not so sharp now, but dried down to a nice woodsy undertone. The tobacco and sarsaparilla mingle together in a lovely not-too-sweet warmth, reminding me of sweet pipe smoke. The almond is completely gone, or at least so subtle at this point that I can't pick it out anymore.

 

I was hesitant to try this scent because patchouli is hit or miss on me, depending on the blend, and I don't really like plain patchouli scent. So I got an imp of it instead of getting a whole bottle. On full drydown, it seems like a cross between Tombstone and Coyote, both scents I love. This one is definitely bottle-worthy before the Carnaval leaves town.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 1/5

Summarised in a word or two: Odd.

 

In the imp: Gorgeous almond milk, pine and smoke!

 

On skin, wet: Sarsaparilla, almond milk, tobacco, patchouli and bark (all of which I smell, amazingly enough) make for a very... odd combination. Sweet and unassuming, with a strane, cool bite to it.

 

On skin, dry: There's something unsettling about this. I don't think I like the way almond milk, smoke, and pine smell together. The longer it's on, the weaker the almond milk becomes, and the stronger the tobacco smoke and pine become, until nothing remains but those notes.

 

Conclusion/Notes: I love almond milk, and tobacco can be gorgeous on me, but the other notes don't do much for me, so I'm not surprised this didn't work out. I'll say this: I've never smelled anything quite like it.

[empi girl]

This morphs a wee bit on me. It starts out sweet almond milk, with a hint of pine and smoke in the background. It changes to soap, then settles into a soft, smoky scent, balanced between the pine and the almond. It is really nice, it lasts forever, but I have discovered that either the smoke or the pine note makes me a little ill, even if the scent is nice. Same thing happened with Perversion. This one is off to swaps.

[steffanina]

The Organ Grinder-

 

In Bottle: Pine, and I think I smell the almond.

 

Wet: Almond comes out very quickly and I like it. The evergreen is still prominent.

 

Dry: I like the sweet scent of this but the pine is an odd mix in it. Interesting, yes, but not one I'll use often.

 

Overall: Interesting but not a frequent flyer.

[hologhost]

In the bottle: almond and some kind of fruit note that isn't cherry.

 

On me: sweet. I think that odd almost fruity note I'm catching is...pine? Very unusual - but not in a bad way. I'll have to try this a few more times.

[Blood onmy hands]

When I originally opened all of my bottles and gave them a quick sniff, The Organ Grinder and the puppets were the ones that I liked best. It's a sweet, edible, milky almond note that reminds me a bit of some exotic danish and then a lovely smack of sweet pine. I grew up in a place called The Whispering Pines, and I love the evergreen notes that BPAL uses.

 

I hate almond (it smells like hyper, boozy maraschino cherries on me), but this almond milk is very lovely. I'm still getting a wee hint of something like sugared cherries, but mostly this is a sweet, milky, honeyed almond scent.

 

After 5 minutes or so... great, my nemesis tobacco is coming in full force to ruin this for me. I hate tobacco notes

 

Tobacco Smoke + Pine = forest fires. I smell burnt and suffocating. I had such high hopes for this one... dashed. This smelled so nice initially, but the drydown is unbearable for me.

[smallvoice]

I think I don't really know what sarsparilla is supposed to smell like, and I wish I did. It'd be nice to identify it. I love the balance of this blend. The creamy almond is unlike the usual almond note in BPAL (which I also love, but this one is gorgeous, too!), as so many others have stated. I also agree that this is truly unique. The patchouli is behaving itself; not overbearingly earthy in the slightest. The more this sits on my skin, the richer it gets. It doesn't morph, exactly, it just... sort of gets deeper. I think I might love this. I almost didn't get a decant! So far, this is the hit of the Carnaval for me- and it's one of my favourite descriptions in the story. Now I just have to see that it doesn't get funky here in a bit.

 

ETA: This is, I think, only the second or third scent I've tried with tobacco anything in it... and it seems to be a hit with my chemistry. Okay! I just forgot to comment on that. Too busy being amazed.

Edited September 25, 2006 by cordia

[absinthetics]

Unfortunately I am not a fan of either of the notes in organ grinder, and together I find the scent to be ... almost a little sour. The milk and the pine react together to accentuate all the things I do not like about Milk and Chaste moons, white rabbit, obatala etc.

 

If you're a milk fan, you should try this out. If you aren't though....

[maijasu]

This one starts out very almondy, with a hint of something very earthy, probably the black patchouli. I don't really smell the pine at all. The smoke does come out as the almond disappears. It's a very interesting scent, but I don't think it's one I'd wear much, so my decant will probably go off to swaps.

[midnight_aeval]

This blend is STRONG. I mean, it overpowers all the others I'm testing right now!

 

At first I get the almond milk and only the almond milk. After it has a chance to drydown I get a sweet pine scent with a hint of tobacco. Suprisingly I get no sasparilla which is usually the dominating note. Maybe it's the note that's making everything blend together nicely. It's not sharp in the least. Now it's mostly milky. Bleh, me and milky aren't friends.

[QueenFae]

I want to like this one sooo much! When I put this on my skin, I can smell this glorious, milky vanilla scent that is absolutely intoxicating. Unfortunately, the tobacco smoke is so strong on me that it spoils the lovely milkiness of the scent for me. If I could only delete that one note, this would probably be one of my favorites of all time, I just can't get past the pipe store note. I think on the right person, most likely a man, this would be gorgeous. It just hates my skin. I really like the almond milk note, and I hope Beth uses it in more blends in the future.

[batsy]

In the bottle: piney, almondy smoke. If that makes sense.

 

On the skin: Very very pine for me. On the dry down, I'm getting more sarsaparilla, which is making it a bit sweeter and taking some of the edge off the pine and patchouli. Another very manly scent.

[gaai]

Oy.....I can't stand this one........had to wash it off after 5 minutes....

 

So now I know that almonds and I are no friends.......unless they're über-sweet, marzipan scented, but even then I'm really picky......I think it's safe to say that if they don't smell like Dana O'Shee or Lush's Snowcake, they're not for me.

 

It's sad really, because I originally bought this for the man ( he's a Robert Johnson fan and the artwork was based on him, I read Macha tell us ) but I don't think I'd want to be around him if he smelled like this......

 

Too bad.....

[sookster]

omG....

straight sniff from bottle is sweet butter and pine....

oh yeah, oh yeah!!!

once applied this is hayoogely almond, pine and sweet sugary goodness...

gotta be that almond milk and sasparilla....delightful!!!!

it turns smoky and a touch tobacco...holy shit....this is a scent just made

for me!!!!!!!!!

 

i cannot believe how wonderful this smell just melds with my chemistry....

 

i feel so fortunate that i know which scents from the lab work with me now

as well....i knew this would work and goodness, gracious does it ever.....

 

beth, yet again, never ceases to amaze and delight the olfactory senses....

bravo, my dear...

[slave1]

In Bottle: Sweet, smoky pine

 

On Skin: I smell the pine right away, but it’s not that crisp tart pine, it’s a very sticky sweet pine… like concentrated sap. It’s actually quite yummy. Ok, it’s the sarsaparilla that’s yummy. I want a sarsaparilla signle note! The almond milk is also delicious, so creamy and decadent. This scent is like a rootbeer float in a bar in the mountain town of Deadwood. So interesting!!! So many levels! And the patchouli doesn’t hate me again. Is patchouli suddenly deciding to smell differently on me? Usually it smells dirty, earthy and slightly rank, but here it’s just dark and smoky and combines with the sweet tobacco smoke perfectly. This scent is a great masculine scent for a man that doesn’t want to smell like the normal department store scents. It’s completely unique. I’m making my husband try this one for sure. Sadly the almond milk (my favorite note) fades the quickest. I’d say this is mainly a pine and smoky scent. Light to medium throw, short to average wearlength.

[ND¢]

This was pine and an undertone of salted nuts (? I know... but I can actually smell the salt) on me. I like the pine; it is more of the sweet pine slave1 mentioned and not the sharp medicinal tone I usually get from blends containing pine. That part was very good. I think the 'salted nuts' are the almond milk and sarsaparilla, and somehow the combination of pine and salted nuts... I wanted to like it but had a rather strong reaction to it, so I think it should be swapped to someone on whom it smells like it was meant to (unless it was meant to be downright unsettling.)

[Lorencita]

This is a very interesting scent. I put it on and its milky, sweet, yet very dry. I like it, but Im not sure how much I would actually wear it. I decided to make my mom try it, without telling her the name.... she had a very strong reaction to smelling it. She sinffed her arm, and her whole body dig a jig-like dance it was uncontrollable, everytime she would sniff, it would be almost convulsion like! Very strange. Then she asked, what is this called, I told her & she started laughing... she was like "no wonder I felt so jerky everytime I smelled it!" She said she liked it, but she wasnt sure it would be something she could wear in public, due to uncontrolled body movement!!! LOL!!!!!

 

 

ETA: I tried this for real today & I am shocked! This time, it is milky almond with a hint of sweet pine. I really like it, the pine lends a freshness to the milky almond note. I dont really smell the black patchouli, but there is something that I cant identify that makes this grounded. This is very lightly spiced, just enough to five it depth. I love this scent... its so unique. I hope people give this a couple tries, cause it really is incredible.

Edited October 2, 2006 by Lorencita

[nightbird]

the description for this one sounded delicious, so I was excited to try it. however, almonds amp terribly on my skin, and on my husband I just got a lot of smoke. not a winner for either of us.

[eggplant]

first applied this is a strong almond scent. It immediately turns into a smokey pine, and while it's delicious in its own right, it's not something I want to wear on my skin. I'll try this in the oil burner over the holidays.

[sarada]

Tobacco smoke, black patchouli and white pine bark are just about the three best things in the universe, in my book. There's really nothing better. I could die happy with nothing but bottles of those three substances to smell.

 

Unfortunately, almond and milk are the bane of my existence. It's not an allergy, just an intense dislike. Almond pierces my brain and churns my stomach. Milk always, always smells sour to me. Almond milk is a queasy headache of a proposition and I'm immediately turned off by the smell floating atop this amazing piney woody bouquet.

 

Not sure about the sarsaparilla, it might be contributing to that initial sour milky almond that turns me off.

 

Ahh, but it dries down to something completely different. Now it is like Golden Priapus. It's a soft golden vanilla pine. A glorious green-gold, shining, pure and clear. Gorgeous pine backed up with a touch of wood and earth. No more almond milk. Now it is a lovely thing to behold.

 

I don't think I would wear it though because of the early stage...it's hard to get through. I think I might just get Golden Priapus in a bottle some day, to get that same delicious pine. Some day, my tobacco, patchouli and pine scent will come though!

[juniperus]

Bottle: OMG sweet, the sarsaparilla and almond milk like nutz.

Wet: much the same, fruity and milky and sah-weet.

Dry: smoke, patchouli both joining in. that slightly sweet tobacco reminds me of Grandpa's pipe...immediately I associate the smell of Old Spice with him, as he always wore the after shave, but pipe smoke...yeah. The patchouli in this reminds me of the ashtray with fresh tappings still warm.

Later: I really think black patchouli dislikes me, vetiver-lite - it's morphing into bitterness and ugliness in a similar way. I really had to get this one - my grandfather's handle on the CB years ago was Organ Grinder. Sentimentality. Alas, it's really and truly terrible on me.

 

 

eta: on a whim tried again and I think hormonal issues were amping the patchouli...it didn't morph to that unpleasant 'later' stage this time. *whew!*

Edited October 18, 2006 by Juniperus Intrepidus

[Avery]

I had high hopes for the Organ Grinder. In my mind, it was perfect--patchouli (which BPAL taught me to love), sasparilla, pine... the almond milk had me nervous, and I guess for good reason. In the first stage on my skin (wet, about 30 minutes) it was reeeaaaally good too--sweet, smokey, piney, and delicious. I did not get strong patchouli. But funny, through experimentation I had already happened upon a layering combination that smells *just* like the stage of Organ Grinder that I really love, but it dries down better: Tombstone + (just a drop of) Talvikuu. I swear it is the same sweet piney deliciousness, but instead of turning into kind of a sour milk acrid smokey smell on the drydown, it's honey vanilla pine (on me)--I feel like I'm in a different time and place, a magical forest, a safe palce. Funny how scent can transport you that way. YMMV with this combo, but I will definitely stick to the Tombstone +, and save my money for buying another bottle of the beloved (tombstone is definitely in my top 2 of gc scents) instead of the OG. I still can't wait to try Golden Priapus!

 

Oh well!

[crescentwench]

I was excited for an almond milk scent, since i love the smell fo it. This smells sharp in the bottle with that strange note that gave me an "off" feeling in schwarzer mond. I can smell the hint of almond milk. When i sniffed this when i first got it i had a head cold and could only smell the almond and was really psyched that this was going to smell how I had hoped.

 

trying it now with an unlclogged head I'm amping the pine like nuts. and it's one of the only scents i'm really allergic too. i had hoped the almond milk would mellow it out enough to not bother me. but no such luck. i shall go scrub my arm now.

[cuervosueno]

I really wanted to get a bottle of this for the art alone, but I was wary of the notes, so I got an imp in a decant circle instead.

 

Good call, and I'm afraid I'll have to forgo Macha's gorgeous artwork on the bottle.

 

in imp: very odd. smoke and something sweet.

On, I like it though. It's like smoke and sassafrass, and maybe a hint of buckskin? Smells like a man--I don’t mean a manly scent, but like a man wearing leather, who smells of smoke and something else sweet, as if he’s standing in a field of sweet herbs. Gorgeous! Guess I do need a bottle. i keep smelling it. I’d also like to smell it ON a man.

 

Later: hmmm....something slightly foody in it too, but it is not a foody scent. But its....odd. And strong. My initial enjoyment has turned to dislike. Everytime I move I smell it and I don't like the oddness of it. there is something bitter in their too, and milky which reminds me of bitter sap from a a plant. I can't explain it any better than that.

 

I tried it one more time, and the second time I didn't even enjoy the opening scent. I really wanted it off me for some reason.

 

Ok, guess it's not me after all.