The Antikythera Mechanism

[LateOne]

Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco.

 

Got this as an imp off ebay.

In bottle: Syrupy sweet woods.
Wet: Dark vanilla, almost caramel.
Drydown: More woods, still very sweet.
Dry: Rich sweet woods with a bit of tobacco.

Not the manliest scent, but something a guy can pull off if it sits for a while. Would work with anyone, really. Not going to pick up a bottle, but it's a good scent.

[lucycat]

This scent is strong. On first application, the teak and oak predominated on me, making it very woodsy and masculine. I was disappointed; I got this hoping for the vanilla. After reading some of the rave reviews here, I liked the whole idea of this scent and wanted it to work on me.

 

I'm so glad I happened to take a shower late in the afternoon and then reapply The Antikythera Mechanism very lightly: just one swipe of the imp wand in the crook of each elbow. Now, a few hours later, the woods are balanced by a sweet spiciness. It's neither overpowering nor too masculine. I can't really pick out the vanilla, but I think it's sweetening and grounding the other notes. This is much more what I was hoping for.

 

My first application, as with any scent I'm testing for the first time, was only two swipes of the imp wand on each arm. Lesson learned: even that little was too much.

 

I think this will be even better after some aging. I won't need a bottle because with such light application required, the imp will be plenty.

[mymymai]

ITB: Gorgeous teakwood, nearly freshly polished, and faint tobacco.

 

Wet: The teak is both comforting and almost minty, but the scent is soothed further by the vanilla. However, I'm not getting any tobacco.

 

Dry: Now the tobacco and vanilla combine to provide a smoky and creamy haze over the teakwood. It's a perfect rich, woodsy scent.

[tharsei-thanate]

Ok, I had gotten an imp of this ages ago and when I tried it it was awful on me. I put it aside and forgot about it but recently I've been retesting blends that haven't worked and some of them have actually started to smell nice on me (maybe because I cut down my coffee intake?), so I may as well give this another shot!

 

In the imp: A mix of tobacco and teak. Veeery polished, I can almost smell the shine. There's also small hints of oak and vanilla. This isn't that bad, actually.

 

Wet: There's a gorgeous blast of tobacco but then something not so gorgeous goes charging after it. I guess the polished teak but the polish takes on a sort of chemical quality that wasn't present in the imp. Also the oak is emerging a little, too, and it's a bit... wet? Musty? Basically not pleasant.

 

Drydown: I feel like this blend is trying to smell nice, like the tobacco is fine but the other notes are just weird on me. I can feel this lovely warmth behind the chemical polish and vague mustiness but it can't break through.

 

Dry: It's gotten a bit better, the tobacco is amping while the other notes are fading, but it's still weird. It's like. I dunno. I know I've been saying chemicals and mustiness but it has the feeling of metal and motor oil, which is perfectly evocative for a steamworks blend but I am just not digging it on me. It's making me feel a little queasy, tbh.

 

Further on: Oh, that's better. Warm, sweet tobacco with only a touch of that metal-and-oil weirdness. This is more tolerable, for sure.

 

Verdict? Well... I guess I don't hate it as strongly as I did the last time I tested it, but it still just doesn't quite work on me. A shame, really.

[Erinofhere]

LOVE THIS!

It's a bit too masculine for me but we got the big bottle for my husband. This smells sexy on him.

He amps woods and tobacco but he amps them in good ways. The vanilla rounds all of this out and just makes him smell yummy .

[bubastis]

wow! Tried this blend for the first time today and it is my favorite so far,competing with skuld. I get a very strong but somehow sweet Tobacco scent,with a hint of wood and ever so delicious dribble of vanilla.I personally don't find this masculine at all,it smells very sexy to me.My husband (Nihil on the boards) came in when I had just put it on and immediately started sniffing me Then of course he wanted to try for himself,and lo and behold...lemon pledge mixed with dishsoap?? Skin Chemistry in action,it's a weird thing.

Looks like I will not have to share the bottle once I get one

[nihil]

In vial: Vanilla and tobacco.

Wet: Lemon pledge.

Dry: Vanilla air freshener with a hint of tobacco and woodchip.

After a few hours: The unpleasant tone has faded and it's mostly smoke and vanilla. Great, but not for me.

 

Not suited for my body chemistry it would seem. However it smells gorgeous on my beautiful wife -Bubastis- with the more masculine wood and tobacco smell being balanced by the strong vanilla scent to create a sultry perfume.

Edited November 1, 2013 by nihil

[scarywhitegirl]

Opened the gifted imp of this one this morning, and I was concerned about how long my friend might have had it. All I smelled was alcohol (or something burn-y), and I thought maybe this had aged too long.

 

As soon as it was on my skin, though, it was amazing. I couldn't pick out the individual notes until I looked up what they were, but as soon as I read vanilla, I knew why I liked it so much. Not getting much identifiable tobacco (which is probably good, since it's not a scent I'm overly fond of). It's still throwing lightly (3 hours after application), so that I get occasional sniffs when I move my hands. This is going on my MUST ORDER list!

[Vonotar]

Hi everyone! I placed my very first order from BPAL based on the reviews right here of this particular scent. I've only dabbled in colognes and scents in the past, and I'm still quite new to the whole idea.

 

Now, I was so excited when my bottle arrived I opened it in the office of the apartment complex I live in. One of the ladies there said it smelled like a cleaner, which was slightly discouraging, but I had read enough here to understand that bottle scents do not a BPAL experience make.

 

When I got home, I applied just a tiny, tiny amount to a wrist and reveled in the woody, slightly vanilla smell. As it dried, I caught the tobacco and what I'm supposing is the oak and teak. Smoky, expansive stuff.

 

I'm fairly confident that I've not come across anything quite so awesome before. I'm interested to get some reaction the next time I'm out and about. I'm quite pleased!

 

Edit: It really puts me in mind of Robert Frost:

'The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.'

Edited November 22, 2013 by Vonotar

[XShear]

Started off smelling very cloying and full of spice (I imagined this was the teak). However, on the dry down the teak and tobacco seem to fade and smooth out, bringing out a slight vanilla smell that's not very sweet. Not really what I expected the scent to be. Think I might pass.

[quickdrawkiddo]

This is very vanilla-tobacco-y on me, especially on the initial application. Yum! Not a ton of throw but it does stick around for a good long time, and the woods start to come out a bit on the drydown. Not particularly masculine to my nose, but then tobacco notes tend to be more sweet on me anyway.

[Mokiefraggle]

Oh, my gods, this is amazing. I want a bottle, like nao. And another bottle to slather on my fiance, preferably. This is just that good.

 

In the imp, it was a little bit cologne-like. Very woodsy, very smooth, with a light hint of sweet tobacco and vanilla. Oh, do I want to smell this on my man, but I also want it on myself. I love woodsy scents and vanilla scents practically best of all, and this one is definitely a great mix of both.

 

On my skin, any of the mainstream cologne aspects of the scent are gone. Smooth, sun-warmed woods, a light hint of tobacco intermingling with a sweet trace of vanilla. Masculine in a good way, and still something I could easily wear...I find I rather like the masculine quality of the Antikythera Mechanism, as it's a slightly old-fashioned sort of masculine quality. Gentleman's masculinity, not at all aggressive or in-your-face, but elegant and warm.

 

My bottle list is growing by leaps and bounds this year, and this one is definitely right near the top. I think my wallet just cried a little.

[Teaker]

Quite interesting and evocative! And nothing at all like what I was expecting. This is very masculine, although I suppose some people would consider it unisex. But to me it smells like a mans cologne.

What I find most interesting about it is the wood. I've never smelled teakwood before, and it's nothing at all like sandalwood. It really does smell dark and polished, like an actual piece of wooden furniture.

I'm not a huge fan of the sweetness in this- I don't know if it's black vanilla (which I've never smelled before) or some combination of the other notes, but I get a sweet medicinal smell from it. Another scent that I get the same thing from is Hypnose by Lancome. It reminds me (and I don't mean this as bad as it sounds) like a veterinarian's office. You know that sweet disinfectant smell when you walk in the door? It's like that. Or the inside of a rubber glove, but sweeter. It's not bad, just a little odd.

 

I'm glad I got to try this, since is so wildly popular. But I can safely say it does nothing for me. It could smell quite nice on a boy though. I imagine it on a studious boy with dark, unkempt hair and glasses, and the perfect skin chemistry to get rid of that weird sweet chemical smell.

[cvelis]

On me this is all lovely sweetness woodiness, I'm in love. At first it was too sharp, then it dried down and I can't stop smelling my hand. Love it! I'll likely add this to my bottle list.

 

Thanks Beth!

[doublehelix]

This is a beautifully dark scent! I was frimped this from a lovely forumite

 

The teak wood and oak is very prominent in the vial and when wet, on the drydown the smokey vanilla becomes more prominent... Still quite woody, though. Ugh, this is gorgeous! It definitely is a very sexy, come hither scent,

[keltiejean]

This is so sweet, in a different sort of metallic way. I think this would be deadly sexy on the right male-identifying person (not that I like to put genders in fragrances, but that's who I can see wearing this).

 

The tobacco is right up at the front, almost obnoxiously for the first 15 minutes. Once the initial screeching wood and sweet tobacco calm down, your left with a sexy, woody scent. That's when the vanilla really comes to light, and its a gorgeous. You still get that metallic note in the back, but it's not as in your face.

 

I'll pass, as this is just not a me scent (and Im not crazy about the first 15 minutes) but I'd love this on the right person.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Something woody and sharpish, like fresh-planed boards. There's a touch of something sweet, and something maybe even a little boozy (although that may be the tobacco by association). Pleasant enough, if a bit of a departure from my usual sweet-amber-resins

 

Wet: Strangely, the wood gets much sharper - I would guess cedar or fresh sandalwood, without looking at the notes. Warm, dark vanilla and a smokier, much more identifiable tobacco also come through, keeping this from smelling like Ikea. The woods calm down over time and blend wonderfully with the vanilla and tobacco - these woods are indeed lovely, dark, and deep.

 

Dry: Far from the Ikea that threatened earlier, this is now the den of my grandfather's house up in the wood that his grandparents built themselves: deep and warm, dark and full of the smell of smoke and that sweet smell that wood gets over time.

[Minh Scent]

Hands down, my favorite scent so far. Between the teak, vanilla and tobacco, it is my version of heaven. As with many of the BPALs, it gets a nose wrinkle when first applied. I am not sure why so many of the scents do this with me, but I have found if I wait just 5-10 minutes, something magical happens; indeed I understand why "alchemy" is part if the name. Ordered a bottle. It lasts 8 hours on me and has a respectable sillage the first 4 hours.

[Veronica]

In the bottle...this smells like a Chinese furniture store my parents used to take me to, so I guess it must be teak. It's spicey and warm and woody and not at all for me. Dry it stays the same..Chinese furniture store and spice shop. No thank you!

[agirlnamedfury]

All wood and nuttiness. There's the sweetness of the tobacco and vanilla, but it's definitely not your usual sugary vanilla, it's darker and more subtle. Sexy and androgynous. I like this, but think I would have to be in a particular mood for this. I somehow ended up with two imps and don't know if I need to keep both!

[sarandipitee]

Chewy syrupy dark vanilla and a more aged oak, probably due to the tobacco. I hated it when I first tried the imp out 4 months ago but I'm thinking I need a bottle. Will need some aging to smooth it out a little since while I'm dogging the sweetened oak, the tobacco is a little harsh.

[Fish That Swims]

In the imp/off the wand: urgh, dirty sort of citrus on wood, kind of like furniture polish? I do not love it.

Wet: still somewhat unpleasent, but warmer, and slightly cleaner

5 min: woodier, "ruddier" maybe, but still astringent, becomes rounder and moister after 10 minutes the astringency goes away. Now I can smell a nice fat vanilla and wet sort of tobacco, underneath a dusty wood.

Dry: ooh the vanilla is gaining a carmel-y momentum. Nice. It keeps getting warmer and smoother and 30 minutes in is downright lovely. The woods and tobacco (I think?) are weaving in and out over the vanilla.

You know what? I actually like this. I received this as a frimp at least a year ago and couldn't stand it. I've gotten it out to sniff it a few times but never really had the patience to leave it for the 20+ minutes it needs to bloom on my skin. I probably still won't have the patience to reach for it often but I'm glad I have it.

[Myrrha]

Fresh frimp from the lab- thanks!

 

Wet: I would think this has some elemi in it. I can smell that lemony, high sour tang. Mostly it is wood, I can definitely smell the teak.

 

As it dries it sweetens, must be the vanilla. The lemony sour note lessens considerably within five minutes or so. It is smelling like cake would smell if it were made of wood. I don't like it on me at this stage.

 

Dry: sweet wood, cigar boxes! Yummy and interesting but not something I want to smell like. It conjures the picture of a nice man in a library with lots of wooden furniture.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Myrrha

[lady_pandora]

For personal-quirk reasons, I don't really like to smell like tobacco, and so I hadn't tried Antikythera Mechanism until now, when I received it as a frimp. I'm a big believer in trying ALL THE FRIMPS, so here we go!

 

Antikythera starts out incredibly sweet, and makes me think of nothing so much as a flat soda. It's a vintage soda, to be sure--it's like something a Victorian pharmacist would hawk for its dubious medicinal properties, but is probably just full of booze, opium, and coke. It smells a little like root beer and a little like Dr. Pepper and a lot like anise. It definitely makes me think Age of Steam, but not necessarily in the way the Lab planned!

 

At the one-hour mark, I can start to pick out wood and tobacco. It's kind of like a scent version of an optical illusion at this stage. If I go looking for the anise soda, I smell that, and if I go looking for wood and tobacco, I get that. At two hours, the soda quality has mostly gone away and it's wood/tobacco/vanilla from there on out. I am not a tobacco fan in general, as I mentioned, but this one could sell me on the note. It's really nice. It's like a Victorian gentleman's study. It stays that way from there on out.

 

Then, the morning after, it's still hanging around a little, in a light, almost soapy form. It smells like woody hippie soap, very nice.

 

This is really nice, and I think I'll keep the imp; I'll use it for costuming, I'm sure, even if I don't reach for it often otherwise, and I'm also curious how it will age.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Somewhat unpleasantly chemical, like furniture polish.

 

Wet on my skin: A few moments after this hits my skin, it changes from furniture polish into the furniture itself. Bright, shiny-polished hardwoods with tobacco smoke in the air.

 

Dry: This doesn't change a whole lot from wet to dry, once the initial shock of chemicals subsides. It's rich, resinous teak with a bit of oak, smoky tobacco, and just a hint of warm vanilla. Not sweet vanilla, though - it's fresh, woody vanilla beans/pods. This is a very pleasant scent on my skin as it warms and wears, and I'm once again glad to be one of those women who can pull off wearing the more masculine scents.