Plunder

[Mechanical Death]

The scent of a pirate's bumboat, overflowing with stolen wares: tea leaf, cassia, cinnamon bark, clove, allspice, sandalwood, tobacco, peppercorn, and nutmeg.

This smells so beautiful in the bottle. Spicy cinnamon tea is right.
The cassia picks up heavily on the skin which has an odd sweet smell, not outright cinnamon. I like it, but so far not I love with it. I layered The tonka sn over it, and it turned into all spicy rum snd almost amoretto smelling. Mmm i definitely need to test further-- i disnt give it dnough time to set up properly. Further review to come. Unfortunately I bought 2 bottles by accident. I don't know how I did that, but oops. If anyone would like to purchase one to try out for themselves, message me

[kythe]

Euuuugh I'm getting hit over the head with peppered beef jerky. The cinnamon is attempting to claw through underneath.

 

After 15 minutes it fades to a dirty and dusty take on cinnamon bark. I was hoping for cinnamon tea. To the swap pile!

[fufu_berry]

Wow, this is so lovely. I'm not a big tea drinker, but BPAL's tea note is generally really nice on me - it's clean without being soapy, just slightly herbal. On me, the cinnamon in this doesn't overwhelm, but blends in nicely with the other spices. It's peppery and cozy and clean and herbal. If anyone has ever had Good Earth tea, that's what it smells like to me. It's a great scent and a nice association. The sandalwood and tobacco aren't terribly present, but help to keep the scent from going too foody or spice-cabinet. Glad I got to try this in person and snag a bottle!

[keileya]

[Reviewed elsewhere, copied over for posterity!]

 

In the vial: cinnamon, cassia, and ... what is that? it's wet and oily and vaguely organic and ugh, I can't figure it out.

 

Wet on skin: still cinnamon, but amping whatever that wet and oily and organic scent is, oh god, it's DRIVING ME NUTS WHAT IS THAT

 

Dry on skin: OH IT'S WET TEA LEAF AND TOBACCO. Like, the way a black tea teabag smells after you brew it to hell and gone, then take it out of the cup. Unburned tobacco, too, like a freshly opened pack of cigarettes. The cinnamon backed off for a bit, and is now creeping back in a little, and it brought the clove with it. None of the spice-smells are too overpowering -- it really does smell like a pirate treasure boat after everything's been offloaded.

 

20 minutes later: Tea, tobacco, old wet wood, cinnamon, and a bit of pepper. This particular cinnamon makes it a bit more like walking into Yankee Candle in December than I'd like, but only a bit, and the tea and wet wood cut it enough to keep it smelling like a spice boat and not like a bakery -- it's more like a wood-of-the-boat-deck-after-being-rained-on scent. It's not a very foody spice on me, not at all.

 

T + 30 minutes: god damn it, I'm getting powder. My wife doesn't smell the powder on me, but I think the sandalwood stopped being wet wood and started being powdery

 

T + 1 hour: Yup, the sandalwood went to powder. Weirdly enough, it's not a bad powder -- this isn't Johnson's baby powder (which, consensus seems to have it, is dusty violet and tonka bean with a bit of musk), it's more like dusty aged wood powder. I'm not getting much of the spice anymore, just the sandalwood and a bit of the tea with a very occasional whiff of cinnamon or clove.

 

This is the first scent to go to powder on me that I don't find offensive, actually. I like it, but I don't love it. I'll will definitely wear again, and might even order another imp once we use this up (and I want to see what it does when it's a bit more aged), but it's not amazing enough to want a full bottle.

[SophieCedar]

Aye chiwawa... this is warm. If you like LUSH's Glugg shower gel spice mix or the long-lost cassia incense from AIRS.. this is for you. Honestly I'm saving this one for when I'm cold and achy. It'll dry me right out then make me sleep like a baby.

[velvet]

i was lucky enough to receive this one in a swap. its incredibly warm and spicy. I tried it last night and the initial wet stage is very nice and spicy... clove, cassia, cinnamon.... then it morphs through the middle stage into a very amplified and heady tobacco and woody scent, with cinnamon and pepper lingering about... then in the dry down it settles down into a pleasant powdery scent. my body chemistry is amplifying something in the middle stage. I am attempting to see if a smaller application will have better results. I really like it despite the intense middle stage.

[Morsigne925]

Wet/Imp: HOO this is the inside of an old wooden box right off the bat to me. Like one that once held sachets or spices; it reminds me strongly of just such boxes at my grandparents' house, actually.

 

Drying: Getting to be more sweetly cinnamon-y as time goes on, but keeps the old wood scent around. Again this would make a really interesting candle/atmosphere scent to me, even if I wouldn't wear it as a perfume. Will have to deliberate on whether to keep it around!

[agirlnamedfury]

Wet: It's difficult to describe exactly what this smells like on me. Something about it is very fresh and aquatic, and there's also a green herbal quality, but it's really hard for me to pick out individual notes. I can definitely smell cassia, but it's definitely the woodsier type as opposed to a spicy cinnamon.

 

Dry: It loses some of the aquatic quality and seems much woodsier, and is still mostly cassia. Still not getting the tea or much else I can identify, but I like it.

 

 

This isn't one that I had an overwhelming reaction to, but it's pleasant. I might have to wear it a few more times before fully making up my mind.

[Teaker]

This is a beautiful scent, very much like Bengal or the Dodo. It's almost all cinnamon on me, which I love! However, it has a strong tea note. It smells like black tea to me, and I really don't like tea. Plunder was close to being a hit, but I'll stick to the tea-less Bengal for my spicy cinnamon needs.

[DiesMali]

This was sort of a blind test for me, as it was a free imp and I hadn't yet found this one in the shop or reviews. I had no idea what I was about to smell!

 

In the imp: ...Spices. Clove and cinnamon, and tea?

 

Wet on my skin: The clove, cinnamon, and allspice were the first things to come out to play, and I loved it for those right away. Clove is one of my favourite notes, especially in BPAL blends.

 

Dry: I love spicy scents like this, and I am SO glad the lab sent this imp! This is a warm, woody blend of spices that smells like my spice rack. And then there's the tea, which makes the whole thing smell a lot like chai. Which isn't a bad thing at all, as I love the scent of chai much more than I enjoy the taste of it. So now I get to smell it without having to drink it! Win-win situation. I may end up ordering a bottle of this, especially to wear when it is cold outside and I want to feel warmer. Arachne of Lydia is kind of my go-to for that now, but this may end up as an alternate for such occasions.

[plexaure]

I want to start this out by saying- I am so damn disappointed. Not because of the scent itself- that gets an easy 7-8/10 stars- but because it seems to be the first BPAL scent that's made my skin itch/burn like a fire ant bite.

 

If it wasn't for that one little fact, this would easily be in my favorites. (One more reason to get a scent locket, I suppose.)

 

Anyway, I only kept it on for so long, so I don't have a very extensive review of any sort. However, what I got from the scent while wearing it was almost like a slightly earthy chai tea, transmogrified into perfume form. It's spicy without being bitter or overbearing, and not sharp at all, toned down near perfectly by the other notes. And most of all, it's warm.

 

It's absolutely lovely, and I really wish that my skin didn't react so badly to it. From the (short-lived) impression I got from it, it's definitely a scent that I would recommend to those who like warm scents, or those who like scents that go heavy on the spices.

 

(What a damn shame it won't work out as a perfume, in my case. )

[Soupy Twist]

In the bottle I get fresh tobacco and something woody, maybe teak? It goes on as tobacco which has been smoked a little. There's a slight lime note (not listed, but you know those sneaky pirates), which turns into spices and bay rum (also not listed... but you know, pirates!). Ends as a lovely spicy tea. Unfortunately it vanishes on me after an hour.

[d0gbones]

In the imp: Cinnamon, but sweet rather than spicy.

Wet: Big Red chewing gum!

Dry: Same. All I'm getting is sweet cinnamon. I wish the other notes were more prominent, apart from thh sandalwood, that can stay where it is...

[Musamea]

In the imp: smells a bit like the inside of a spice cabinet, wood in the background and a blend of peppery spices and a hint of dry tea leaves in the forefront; very soothing

 

Wet: A blast of pepper, cinnamon, and clove, very dry and woody spice

 

Dry: sweetens up just a little bit and the spices stop feeling quite as dry, the pepper fades back and now Plunder's a clovey/nutmeggy cinnamon and sandalwood on my skin, with the clove as the star of the show. I don't really get any tobacco.

Extreme drydown: clove and sandalwood

Verdict: Keep and explore layering. I bet Plunder would layer super well with Samhain and some of my other autumn scents that I wish were warmer. I'm glad to finally find a blend that has the clovey yumminess of Jack and March Hare without the weird popcorn smell of the first and the discontinued sadness of the latter!

[LiberAmoris]

Plunder is all tea leaf and tobacco and a cornucopia of spices on me, very true to the description. It isn't until it fully dries down that it really blooms on me, but when it does, it's oddly satisfying even though spice-forward scents aren't usually my thing. This reminds me a bit of Bengal, as this is also a cosy, spicy skin scent.

[LizziesLuck]

The sweet spiciness of this reminds me a lot of Alice's Evidence, which is all spice on me. It's mostly cinnamon with hints of the other spices. Gently sweet. I quite like it, but have lots of other spicy scents so I doubt I will need more.

[theseagrows]

thank you frimp from the lab! it starts off spicy with the cassia and cinnamon most noticeable. i get this weird sort of polished wood thing underneath, which i think may be the combination of cassia + sandalwood, but i'm not sure. i don't really enjoy cassia, it's not for me, and this scent is very strongly cassia on me, unfortunately.

[Rachel L. Fox]

Plunder, where have you been all my life? This scent is so gorgeous and pirate-y. It smells like exotic spices and tea heaped in a wooden treasure chest aboard a ship...I also smell salty sea air, but maybe the scent is so evocative of pirate treasure that my nose is making that part up. Honestly though, it's so amazing. My only complaint is that is doesn't last indefinitely and that I can't replace my own scent glands with this.

[joopjoop]

This is great - smells amazing and so so piratey! I feel like I should curl up with an adventure book or a fantasy novel while wearing Plunder - it's cinnamon spices, tea (a tea I like) and just a hint of wood. ummm, I love it.

 

Unfortunately while my wrist is fine, the skin at the inside of my elbow is fiery red and itchy - probably the cinnamon although this is the first time I've had that reaction.

 

Bummer. I will try again and apply more sparingly and failing that I will use it as a room scent. Because as I said, I looooooooooove it!

[Cali]

Ahh, I LOVE this in the imp!! This smells like the 5th of december, the night when Sinterklaas (the Dutch version of "santa claus") and his helpers give the kids their presents and candy.

My skin amps up the tobacco and it gets way more woodsy, and it loses a bit of it's sweetness, so any sort of foody kinda dissapears, and with that, the sinterklaas vibe. At least it takes away from the effect. That said, this is still very very nice and when dry, it's more of a christmas, essential oil you'll find with the diffusers that usually get a lot of attention on commercials around that time of year (but might I add better. Nothing cheap or ususal about it).

 

Not sure I wanna smell like this for longer then an hour, but it. Is. Lovely! This would be perfect as an atmosphere spray.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Cali

[madscientistdh]

Okay. This is the first cinnamon/cassia blend that has actually been painful on my skin. Mostly my chest. That being said, it would be a lovenily gentle room smell when used in moderation. I smell like those cinnamon oil soaked brooms they sell around autumn... the pain is enough to make me want to wash it off though. Be forewarned if you have doubts about having sensitive skin.

 

On the bright side, my co-worker complemented my scent. I think I smell like the old cigar box I have in storage, mixed with cinnamon spice tea and a touch of something creamy. This scent mellowed nicely over time, but my chest is still uncomfortably warm and pink where it was washed off four hours ago

Edited September 16, 2016 by madscientistdh

[maudlinrose]

Overpowering cinnamon - and not the spicy true cinnamon that I love, but the artificial cinnamon candy cinnamon that ruined Wrath for me. Some people love it, but this is how cinnamon ended up on my no-no list. It smells exactly like cinnamon chewing gum/hot red candy cinnamon.

[Casablanca]

Strong spiced tea! The leaves seem like a mix that may include a little black tea, but mostly green. Kind of a smoky green, like a gunpowder, that blends into a little tobacco. Otherwise, I smell lots of spice, including the allspice. But in this blend, tea dominates on me.

In the drydown, I find the sandalwood, but it blends well into the spices, and I don't find its edges. Plunder takes on a dry, grainy quality at this point, on the edge of dusty, but not powdery. It mostly fades from me in a couple hours.

I like this, but I'm not drawn to bottle it.

[CitrusFiend]

This is a warm, dry, spicy cinnamon tea scent. Smells exactly like walking into a high-end tea shop or opening a box full of different kinds of tea. It's nice to start with, but after a few hours my skin chemistry makes some component of the blend turn sour.

Edited January 7, 2017 by CitrusFiend

[lizabelle]

In the imp: Woody and spicy. There's a LOT of nutmeg

On skin, wet: Still very spicy, with the tea starting to emerge and calm everything down

On skin, dry: Oh my goodness, it's chai tea with milk and honey. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this blend, but it turned out to be quite warm and sweet. The spices are surprisingly mellow and everything blends together into a cohesive whole beautifully. I must get a full bottle of this; it could easily become an everyday scent for me.