Famine

[penemuel]

Sleek black tea, tobacco leaf, frankincense, lilac, and white musk.

Wet and when first applied, this has a lovely sweet (I smell honey) black tea/tobacco/spicy scent that as someone else said is reminiscent of Chergui.

Then it dries down, into something rather unpleasantly sour. I do get the vomit edge to it, but it's almost more like a very, very stale ashtray. I'll try it in my clocket at some point, but this is definitely not something to wear.

And now I'm heading to wash it off...

[filigree_shadow]

This scent reminds me a bit of the Dogs Playing Poker series... maybe because of the tobacco leaf. It's dark and musky, but it has a sweet haze over it from the frankincense. It seems like I can't really smell the lilac, which is disappointing because I usually like that note.

 

Personally, I'm not a big frankincense fan, but I'll hand this over to my husband and see how he likes it.

[greenranger]

This smells sweet to me. Syrup and tea and...resin? The frankincense is being very quiet in this one so far. It's usually pepperier than this. I'm also not smelling anything floral yet, unless the lilac is merely the sweetness? I don't know lilac well so I don't know.

 

Drying, it is fading. It's now a very faint tea and tobacco scent, with a very faint spicy kick that might possibly be the frankincense.

 

 

I wanted to like this one. The notes sounded great. I'm just not sure that this combination is working for me.

[Sapphy]

I mostly get the black tea and tobacco in this, though it does have a musky sort of haze too. It doesn't go too ashtray on me the way tobacco sometimes does (and did in His Station and Four Aces, which I was afraid this would smell like), possibly because it's tobacco leaf rather than just tobacco. I also don't get any lilac, though there's a slight tinge of sweet that I assume is the frankincense. Very nice--would be VERY sexy on a boy.

[evegrimm]

I just received a decant of this, and it sounded intriguing (from the other reviews). Unfortunately, my skin chemistry is weird, and I smell nothing in the way of tea in this. It reminds me a lot of the salty-wood scent I get when wearing Port Royal, without the spicy-sweet and perfume to balance it out.

 

This is going to sound crazy, but stick with me: like Dracul (but to a lesser degree), this scent smells like Neutrogena products on me! (But only sometimes.)

 

Mostly though, it's smokey.

 

As others have mentioned, this is more masculine than many of the other BPAL scents.

 

I don't think I'll be wearing this again.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Tobacco, lilac and musk. Sweetish but a little thin and sharp.

 

On Application

Frankincense and musk. Resinous and slightly peppery.

 

Dry Down

Very dry, dusty and thin. Famine, indeed. No sweetness at all now and the frankincense seems to have taken over. This is quite musty and odd. So far not a favourite but willing to give it another chance.

 

Rating (0-5)

3

[stillalive]

warm incensey tea.... masculine but not so much I couldn't get away with wearing this for a cosplay.

[jehrichardson]

In the Bottle: Bright musk with a leathery note of tobacco and just the barest touch of floral (lilac). Lighter than I expected, but then again... this is Famine we're talking about. Smells outdoorsy - like fresh air.

 

On the Skin: Musk, lilac and frankincense. Very very nicely blended. This is very sophisticated. It's not much like it, but it reminds me of Wanderlust Manhattan

 

After a While: Musk and tobacco and tea.

 

Verdict: Yum! Who knew famine could be so delectable?

[rayvn1]

Yikes! I get the vomit when I first apply. In the imp it smells good. On the arm....yup, vomit. Then it dries and it's all smoky tobacco goodness except there's still a hint of the dratted vomit in the background. This is the first BPAL with frankincense in the listed notes so my skin may not like that element.

 

This is really frustrating because I was SURE I would love Famine. I was dying to get a bottle of this one, although now I'm kind of glad I checked out the imp first. I'm going to hold onto this and hope it works out later...

[mayze]

Famine's definitely on the masculine side, and has the same sort of slinky dark power Crowley has. If I sniff too closely initially, it's overpowering but it calms down quickly. After a few minutes it doesn't spike through my nose and is instead a soft incense scent. Frankincense is dominant, but the lilac (and possibly white musk? I'm not sure) makes it soft enough to be unisex. I love the faint whiff of tobacco Famine is releasing as I type.

[ephemera]

In the bottle this smells really yummy. Tobacco & lilac and frankincense goodness. On my skin it just goes straight to white musk. It does not stop, it does not pass go, it does not collect $200. It just hits musk, skidding in sideways. *pout*

Edited December 23, 2008 by ephemera

[cuervosueno]

In the imp this smells just like what I wanted, smoky sweetened black tea. On me, though, it is WHOA! Lilac attack! There is a bit of tea under it, but mostly crazy lilac soap.

 

and those does remind me slightly of verbena, which is a nemesis of mine.

 

Well, I'm lucky I don't get the vomit scent, but overall this doesn't work for me.

[catatonic1242]

In the bottle: Tea and musk. Kind of a watery smell, in the best kind of way.

 

On, wet: I get the tobacco and the lilac, and although I'm not usually a lover of florals, I like this here. This is very nicely blended, with all of the notes playing equal parts -- no one stands out, but I can pick them all out.

 

On, dry: Musk and frankincense are the dominant notes, but there's a sweetness in the background that has to be the lilac. It gets a little powdery at the end, which I don't love, but it's not a dominant oil at all -- you'd have to get up close to me to smell this. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing...

Edited February 21, 2009 by catatonic1242

[Dark Alice]

Normally tobacco and white musk are wonderful on my skin...today they work to my detriment. I have a sweet smelling cat pee on me...must now go wash hands...and pray I never run across this again.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Rich golden oil. Surprisingly sweet and a little smoky - lots of black tea and frakincense, with an edge of tobacco and slightly cologney musk. I barely get any lilac - though I do get a faint soapy tinge.

 

Wet: A bit darker and more masculine - more frankincense and especially tobacco, with the tea note still very strong. It feels sophisticated & intense. Still faint lilac.

 

Dry: I feel like there's a licorice/anise note hiding with the frankincense. The tobacco in this goes a bit stale on me, and smoky in sort of a bad way, like cigar as a note does. Combined with the sweet heaviness of the frankincense, I find it sickly.

 

Later: The white musk holds, but doesn't amp to the point of competing with the dark notes, and the lilac is a bit heady, but doesn't turn to soap ever. I feel like a lot of the tea fades, but it could just be that it's overwhelmed.

 

Summary: Sweetly smoky, stale cigar tobacco and woody frankincense, with heady lilac, white musk, and black tea below. Definitely masculine, heavy in feel, with moderate throw & longevity.

Edited June 19, 2009 by fairnymph

[voorishsign]

Oh, the cruelty of it! This is the single best thing I've ever smelled and the perfume I'd use for myself, if only my skin wouldn't eat it up in a record half-hour no matter how much I slather. Am heartbroken.

 

It's masculine, deep and slick without being overpowering. It's the gentleman in the dark suit sitting in the corner of the room smoking a slim cigarette and drinking tea from a paper-thin bone-china cup. The lilac, which I was worried about since my skin amps it and I don't like it, barely makes an appearance, the tea and musk scents are very strong and the tobacco leaf gives it a sturdy base.

 

If only it would last . . .

[misscoldheart]

Oh man, I love this!! I was expecting this to be somewhat like Ashlultum since they share some similar notes, but this is much different although very beautiful!

at first, there's something very sharp there...Almost lemony, but I can't quite get what it is...It quickly fades into a beautiful tea, sort of woodsy scent and I can detect a bit of musk. I'm getting the barest bit of lilac and..vanilla?? could it be? I'm not quite sure what the sweetness is, but its so nice! I do agree this could be unisex, although my husband better keep his hands off this bottle cuz it's ALL MINE!!

[Venneh]

In the bottle, I'm getting the lilac and white musk aspects of this amping, almost to the point of powder. On my skin, Famine is that lilac and white musk with the tea note deepening it a bit. Hrm. We'll see what he does. Ends up amping into a powdery floral musk, and then away quickly after that, sadly. Not quite for me.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Venneh

[Dark Alice]

Slightly fruity, dry tea and lilac scent. The tobacco and white musk give this also a baby lotion vibe. So....High end Johnson and Johnson baby lotion with hints of fruit and lilac.

[angelicruin]

I hate to say it, but it smells like pee on me. Based on the notes, I would have thought this one would work well on my skin. Yech, need to wash this off NOW.

[heywilma]

This is overwhelmingly sour on me, I definitely see where the 'pee' likeness angelicruin mentions is coming from. It has absolutely no throw, but that's probably a good thing given how bleh it smells. Pass.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Partial 5mL bought on LiveJournal.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Famine sounds like it could be really, really good, but I'm still a little worried. White musk can go wrong on me and I don't normally do florals. But lilac is an exception. I have the Blue Lilac single note and, while it's not something I reach for often, I do really like it and enjoy wearing it now and then. So I'm not as worried as I would be if it were a different sort of flower lurking in here.

 

I'm still hoping that Famine isn't overly floral, though. If it smells like all the other notes and goes light on the lilac and musk, this could be true love since I'm madly in love with black tea, tobacco and frankincense.

 

First sniff:

 

Oh my God. This is amazing! If I hadn't looked at the notes, I'd swear there was leather in here. It has to be the tobacco, because it's super rich, deep and dark and smells like the most amazing cigar shop ever, but it's so dark and so deep and rich that it's confusing my nose a bit. I think I'm a little thrown off by the fact that it reminds me just a bit of Hellfire and Hellfire has both leather and tobacco. This is a serious scent. Very sophisticated and masculine. I almost always lean towards gender neutral or masculine in my choice of scents, so that doesn't deter me in the slightest.

 

It's hard to pin down any other notes here because the tobacco is so strong and so attention-grabbing. I don't think I'd be able to tell you, by sniffing this blind, that it had frankincense, black tea or anything else in it, but, knowing the notes, I can see this being a cigar infused with rich black tea. The frankincense could be there, hiding in the background, as could the lilac and musk, but I'm not getting them.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Very little change from in the bottle. The florals don't come instantly charging to the surface, which I was a little apprehensive about. I have a tendency to amp florals (particularly rose, but I haven't tried many lilac scents, so I'm not sure if that's true of it as well), so there was a very real possibility of Famine going from OMGAMAZING tobacco to OMGHEADACHEINDUCING florals in the blink of an eye.

 

Dry down:

 

This so good. Like ridiculously good. Better than any other pipe tobacco scent I've ever tried from BPAL good (and that's saying something). I thought there was a good chance I'd like this, but I didn't anticipate falling so hard for it. I'm in love with Famine. Completely and utterly.

 

Dried down, I still get a rich, strong, dark tobacco, like a really expensive cigar steeped in black tea, but I wouldn't confuse it for leather anymore. Instead, it's still that amazing pipe tobacco/cigar store scent, mixed with just a little bit of musk. The lilac never does put in an appearance and the frankincense isn't making itself known, either, although I think it could be there somewhere, hiding under the tobacco and tea.

 

It smells like a sexy, confident man. But I'm evidence that it smells amazing on a woman, too (but, then, I think all scents are gender neutral if you want them to be and have the confidence and personality to pull them off). Famine screams confidence and sophistication on me. It smells like someone who commands respect. It makes me feel confident. And it's wearable. I don't feel like I'm wearing something that's incongruous with who I am, in spite of the fact that I'm normally anything but confident.

 

The bottom line:

 

Famine went from "could be good, could be bad" to "this is incredible" in the time it took me to unscrew the cap and take a whiff. Hellfire used to be my favorite super strong, masculine tobacco scent, but Famine just stomped on Hellfire's back climbing over it to get to the top of the list. This is going to be a hoarded scent for me, without a doubt.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Ethereal frankincense and lilac, and a brown/black tobacco note. There's some sharpness too - that might be the tea.

 

On: I dunno whether this is a psychosomatic reaction, but... this scent makes me hungry! That aside, it smells hollow, a bit gritty and a bit girly - chainsmoking model? I kinda like it, although I'm not head-over-heels for it.

 

Later: I like the frankincense/lilac combination, but the tobacco makes it smell a little off. The tea has left the building. If sniffed from further afield, the wrongness is not as easy to detect, only if I get close. I will have to ponder this one some more, so I'll keep the decant.

[yakiguri]

Like many others, I'm on the fence about this scent. Luckily I don't get the dreaded vomit note, but frankincense is pretty dominant on my skin and can veer quickly into something nausea-inducing. A shame, since when the resin calms the eff down Famine turns into what would otherwise be one of my favorite tobacco blends. The tea, tobacco, and lilac definitely make this a drier blend than I normally prefer, but the dash of leather and musk keep it from going too brittle.

 

If only the frankincense wasn't thrust so much into the forefront, I'd definitely pick up a bottle. I'll most certainly keep my decant though, and may grab a partial if I see one.

[Wren12]

Ah...Good Omens is one of my favorite books and this line is turning into an unabashed success for me.

 

In the bottle Famine has a high lilac note, with soft musky undertones.

 

On wet, as it warms, the tobacco becomes more pronounced, but not like a cigarette, more of the actual plant (if you know that smell.) The lilac begins to recede here and quiets down. The tea note becomes more pronounced, tannic as black tea typically is, but in wonderful proportion to the almost sweetness of the tobacco and lilac.

 

On dry it really shines. The musk becomes more assertive and the frankincense sweetens and resonates with the rest of the notes, leading an incense like quality to the blend. The musk is really amazing in this blend, and I find the whole to be pretty gender neutral. It is a darker, warm scent, which I think will get better with age. It's just so nice.