The Obsidian Widow

[lmaunu]

Tinkling tiny feet scuttle across a massive oak desk, navigating through a flurry of papers and a maze of discarded books, wires, and bolts. Glistening green venom beads at its chelicerae, and a ruby hourglass flashes from the creature's underbelly as it begins to weave.

Pinot noir, dark myrrh, red sandalwood, black patchouli, night-blooming jasmine, and attar of rose.

In the bottle, the pinot noir and myrrh dominate, but once I applied this, the attar of rose actually became the most pronounced scent on my skin. It reminds me of a darker rose scent like Blood Rose and Black Rose, both of which I love, but with hints of the jasmine poking through. It feels dark and resinous on, and is really beautiful! It's sexy and mysterious, too! Love it!

[CordeliaSeduced]

In the bottle, I would have sworn I was sniffing directly into one of the homemade wine bottles my family serves on holidays--it's dark, mysterious, and I have to wonder whether I'll be able to dip into it without calling it an early night. Once on my skin, it still smells highly of red wine, but the myrrh and sandalwood are also clearly present. Every now and again, when the wind is just right, I get a whiff of patchouli, but the body of the scent is pinot noir, myrrh, and sandalwood. Dry, there's a definite floral quality to it. The jasmine and attar of rose seem to powder everything over, leaving an elegant finish to an elegant scent.

While this really isn't an everyday scent for me, I can definitely see occasions where this would be appropriate. It's seductive and exotic (even though I think there was a phase during the dry-down that reminded me a lot of Avon's original Skin-So-Soft oil)! Not sure I needed the entire bottle I bought, but the label is lovely...

[Brianne]

This scent is like being smacked in the face by a bottle of wine lol. It was so strongly wine at first, and even now in the drydown, the wine is pretty dominate - followed by a very deep rose and what I believe is myrrh. A very heady, sensual sort of scent. Not for me but I can imagine a lot of people are really going to love the depth of this one!

[gypsysingleton]

This is all jasmine on me and we don't go well together (I was worried about that but the other notes intrugued me) yup all I'm getting is the two notes I don't care for - the rose and the jasmine... Nice intensity though and nice throw...

[Heavenlyrabbit]

this is incredibly pungent perfume.

 

The Pinot Noir is front and center, luring me in up until the JASMINE AND ROSE!!!

 

So those three afore-mentioned notes combine into a singular floral-booze that makes perfect sense with the patchouli and myrrh... but

 

But...

 

Mother of all that is Holy this is strong, pungent and not something I could ever wear. I am sort of jealous of those who can.

 

An updated version of the discontinued Black Widow.

Edited May 9, 2008 by Heavenlyrabbit

[savage_rose]

At first, the Jasmine acts like it hates me ("No Jasmine, don't go there!"), bit after about 10 minutes it smells quite lovely. Rose and jasmine with a blend of a bit of wine, a bit of musk. It's like dark satin.

[Iceblink]

I figured if anything could knock the evil jasmine into submission, it was pinot noir, so I took a chance on this one. And at first it was SO good...the wine smells awesome, the patchouli and myrrh give it so much depth...maybe jasmine was going to be a cheap date and be knocked out by the pinot? But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Jasmine turns out to have quite the tolerance and now, hours later, that is mostly what I smell. Why do we always amp the notes we despise???

[akuaa]

faded musty floral. it's interesting -- old, floral, slightly decayed, reminds me of my grandma's vanity. i bet it's rose. fascinating. it almost has an element of corroded metal or rotting wood. i do like the scent but i'm not sure that it's something that would fit on me personality-wise.

[tsukara]

Yay, new shipment! This is the first one I'm trying out, and the first Steamworks one I'm trying as well. Here goes!

 

In the bottle: Ah, wine and incense. Well, it should make for an interesting combination.

 

Wet: Whoa! Hello patchouli! The patchouli and jasmine have completely taken over, running away with everything else. Not unplesant, but it's just good that I don't mind smelling like a Buddhist or Hindu temple.

 

Dry-down: Ah! The wine shows up again! Followed by a very nice rose and jasmine duo (though more jasmine than rose, which, yay!), with something like incense in there too. Reminds me of the insides of temples in Burma in the midday sun, and dark mysterious ladies on the street, half-covered in veils. Beautiful, dark, and dead sexy.

 

The jasmine keeps trying to take over before being kicked down by the wine or the incense, in turns. It makes for a nice play.

 

Overall: This brings up all sorts of lovely memories of mysterious locations and people, making me in turn feel lovely and mysterious, ina very grown up way. The rose and jasmine blend nicely so that neither over-powers the other; the incense is balanced by the tang of the wine. Lovely! Exotic! I was afraid it'd be too boozy (since I'd never tried a scent with an alcohol note before), but it's not and I love it. Yay!

 

I'll wear it to tango tonight to see how my fellow milongueros like it. *eg*

 

I also slathered it on a hallmate of mine. It's similar on her, though a lot lighter. Very nice still.

 

Probably not a 5ml scent for me, but I think I'll probably use the imp up pretty quick!

[Reaver]

This is violent and abrasive but floral. Bizarre. This is the first jasmine and rose type blend that I've willingly or knowingly tried. I usually avoid them due to plain not liking them. I wanted red wine like Montresor and I got it! I will barely EVER wear this, but the label art is so beautiful I had to have it. I can barely find the patchouli in there anywhere, the other notes are too prominant and far too cloying for me to have the nerve to fight through them all.

 

This is a seriously dark blend, and I doubt I will be brave enough to wear it in the summer. Come winter, this will be at the front of my box due to being picked up every morning and then but back again with the thought of "No... it's not time yet..." in my head.

 

Obsidian Widow indeed. This scent is murderous and dark. Only to be used when you've got one thing on your mind.

 

Conclusion - I love it. Just not right now, thanks.

8/10

 

(And no, by 'one thing on your mind', I don't mean nookie.)

[alicia_stardust]

The Obsidian Widow smells like attar of rose and strong red wine in the bottle. As the oil dries, it takes on a very deep red quality and it smells just like a nice red wine. The myrrh comes out to deepen and darken the wine. As time passes, I get whiffs of the patchouli and sandalwood, and there is just a slight hint of the jasmine and rose.

 

I never had the pleasure of doing anything more than sniff a remnant of Black Widow, but the Obsidian Widow is very nice. It's red, dark, sultry, and has an edge of danger to it. Perfect execution, and I think the wine in this presents differently than any other wine note in the BPAL catalog.

[Pika]

I love the way this smells in the imp and wet on my skin... very intriguing, I think is the best word. It's a dry, sweet, almost unisex smell with a darker, unsettling edge. I really, really like it.

 

It wore really well for about 15-20 minutes, staying winey, dry and dark/dusty. But then it took a total death dive into powder!! I'm sooo sad. It is *ahem* not the best time of month for me to be testing oils on skin, so I'll definitely come back to this one. I don't hold much hope though. I'm afraid this must be one of the rose types that is instant powder on me. At least jasmine and patchouli didn't do any evil yet so far... here's hoping!

 

 

ETA: I forgot to add that I agree this is a different wine note than the one BPAL usually uses, but I like it just as much. And the myrrh darkening things up, genius! At least for the first few minutes.

Edited May 18, 2008 by Pika

[httpoo]

I was really hoping for the return of Black Widow, my all time favorite scent next to Noir. Same ingredients, but the translation was completely lost. This isn't anywhere near it. Has a good throw, but I should know better than try a scent that is "resurrected" or brought back under another name. They always disappoint.

 

Eh, oh well.

Edited June 9, 2008 by httpoo

[slave1]

THE OBSIDIAN WIDOW

 

In Bottle: Sweet, floral and lightly smokey

 

On Skin: This is a dark red scent in feel, very sweet and deep at first. The patchouli and sandalwood create an earthy base and give the scent it’s grit. The wine is dark and sweet while the jasmine adds to the sticky ripe feel. The rose cuts through all of that with a very sharp and sour note. It’s quite pretty, and feminine to me… but overall the rose just amps far too much. It has a moderate throw and average wearlength.

[greenranger]

I tested this today at work with no access to the list of scents in it. Looking at that list, I am amazed at how differently my nose interpreted this one.

 

I also decided that my skin was playing havoc with a couple notes, so I put a few drops on a bit of paper and tested that as well.

 

First, when I opened the imp, the first association I made with the scent was Thornton's chocolate covered turkish delight.

I did recall there was no chocolate listed, so I thought that was strange, and I also have not gotten the scent since from the imp or on my skin. It's gone.

 

So, the second time I opened the imp, I got rose and sage.

 

Wet on my skin, ROSE, sage and maybe metal and wine behind.

 

Drying, the rose begins to overwhelm all the other scents, and I am thinking, "Darn, I don't need another rose scent."

 

About an hour in, the rose exhausts itself from holding everyone else back, and I get a strong sage scent. Sunwarmed sage, like a very large bundle of sage, straight from a very sunny garden. I can tell there's a little wine there...not just booze to get drunk, but, wine you'd taste at a wine tasting(since I just did a bunch of that in Napa, that's familiar). So, the overall impression is a little like tasting pinot noir in a garden that is completely overgrown in sage, and people keep brushing up against the leaves and releasing more sage smell.

 

The rest of the afternoon, I am attempting to get anything past the sage smell.

 

Then I come home and look at the scent notes supposedly in this and just shake my head.

 

Pinot noir(some perceived, partly it could be because I remembered that it was supposed to be there), dark myrrh(nope), red sandalwood(nope), black patchouli(nope), night-blooming jasmine(really nope), and attar of rose(definitely!).

 

No sage listed at all. Apparently all those scents on MY skin blend into something that my nose thinks is sage.

 

So, I try it on cotton...

 

I've looked at the notes again, though, and this may affect the way I perceive it as well.

 

Wet, on cotton, rose and pinot noir, and I think maybe a little jasmine is peeking out. The rest of the notes blend too well to pick out, at least as far as I can tell. This is much MUCH more balanced than on my skin. The rose isn't stealing the show completely, though it is still there. It isn't a "rose" scent on the cotton, so much as a scent with flowers, one of which happens to be rose. I still can't pick out the patchouli or the sandalwood, and everything is blending nicely.

 

 

Drying, on cotton, THERE it is...Jasmine! The rose and the pinot noir are now sharing space with the jasmine and I might be able to detect the sandalwood and the patchouli now, far far in the background.

 

On cotton, all the notes are blending into an elegant evening type scent. It feels dressy. The throw is pretty decent. It feels assertive, rather than shy.

 

 

 

So far, this is a locket scent for me. There's no point in wearing this one on my skin if I like it this much better on cotton. I suspect that unless it really grows on me over time, that the imp will be plenty, though.

Edited May 21, 2008 by Aerinha

[penemuel]

In the imp there is something that comes dangerously close to pee. I don't know if it's the jasmine or what, but it's not there on a light sniff. If I take a deeper sniff, there it is. Some kind of icky stank...

 

On my skin, wet, that note is still there. I hope it doesn't stick around, because that is very unpleasant.

 

Drying down, it's starting to warm up and become a wine/patchouli scent now, with some floral there in the background. It's getting a lot more pleasant, and I have hopes that this won't be terrible on me. It's definitely not a me scent, though, so I'll use up the imp and not buy more.

 

ETA: now it's dry and already fading a bit. The Lab's wine notes seem to do that on my skin. It's quite nice now -- the florals are well behaved and the patchouli is nicely spicy and warm against the fruity wine scent. Still not a me scent, but nowhere near the disaster it could have been.

Edited May 22, 2008 by penemuel

[LadyLuckDoubt]

I bought a bottle unsniffed because: a) Steampunk, Spiders! c) Rose and red wine!

 

In the Bottle

Roses with a dark, smokey, sexy edge, which is probably the pinot noir, and possibly-- violet? A dark geranium? I'm not sure, but it's floral. Yep, I'm going to love this.

 

On Me

Moist, lush dark red roses. They're sexy roses, too, playful and delicious and loud, but there's a hint of something intense bubbling under the surface. But... I amp rose. I'm really not picking up anything else, though I can distinguish that this isn't quite the same rose as, say, The Atrocious Attic (dusty and pretty), Love In The Asylum (smokey and cold) or Peacock Queen (Fresh-cut and dewy roses which smell utterly natural).

 

Yes, there is something metal in here some-fucking-where, but it doesn't jump out at me. It's like the wine: it's there and it's part of the bigger picture, but it's not the most obvious detail to spring to mind. I'm not getting the sage others speak of at all (which is funny: after trying Corazon, I thought I amped sage. Apparebtly not always).

 

It's rose with an interesting, dark backdrop which sets the stage for it beautifully.

 

Yep, I love it. I wore it to bed last night over Lush's rose deodorant talc and their ordinary talc (also rose scented) and you know what it made me think of? American Beauty. It's a coquetteish, but intelligent rose.

 

And I love it.

 

 

P.S. No idea where the heck the jasmine went, either: I tend to amp jasmine and jasmine tends to love me.

[bheansidhe]

Wet: a blast of malevolent red wine and dark rose. The alcohol note burns off within about fifteen minutes, at which point it becomes rose and jasmine anchored by sandalwood. Heavy, heady.

 

I don't know what variety of jasmine the lab uses for its other jasmine blends, but night-blooming jasmine (cestrum nocturnum) is not common essential-oil jasmine (Jasminum officinale or Jasminum grandiflora). Night-blooming jasmine, in this blend, smells much more like the jamine sambac (Jasminum sambac) of Kanishta, which I love, than to common jasmine , which hates me.

 

Drydown ends in myrrh and rose, anchored by sandalwood. Myrrh also hates me.

 

Throw level starts out *snort* WOOT ARGGGH MY NOSE MY NOSE heavy, then subsides after about 30 minutes (or my smeller goes numb). The florals go a little powdery. I'm sure the patchouli is in there as a base note anchor, but I never catch it.

 

I predict this one will rely on your individual skin chemistry for success or failure (even moreso than other Lab blends).

[tinyvulture]

When I first apply this, it’s all wine. Grapey, syrupy and sweet, yet tart. Then the powdery notes of myrrh, jasmine and rose come out. I’m not picking up the patchouli and sandalwood. The jasmine is quite strong, and the spicy floral blends well with the wine and myrrh. A dark, sexy, womanly perfume. Reminds me of something nice my grandmother used to wear.

[tereshkova2001]

Wine, and rose, and the dark resins, are what I first picked up on. It stays pretty true to that, with the resins fading into the background and the rose mostly enhancing the wine. I love BPAL's wine note. This is rich and dark and sexy. Fabulous.

[theal8r]

In the imp: sharp, rose really attacked my nose (I tried this in spite of rose.) There was an intriguing depth to it -- I assume the pinot noir as it had a winey feel to it.

 

Wet: It smelled exactly like these crazy perfumed paper things I got once for Christmas. You were supposed to make flowers with them. I couldn't stand them and quietly tossed them (with my poor dad's approval, as they gave him a raging headache).

 

Oh, lord, the throw on this is amazing. Sadly, I'm wishing my arm was in another room.

 

Dry down: some warmth starts to come out in this, but the rose is still so very much present I can't really stand being in the same room with it.

 

Sadly, this one is not for me although I adore the name.

[thatpirategirl]

This one appealed to me in its description because I like Pinot Noir, even though I generally dislike wine scents. Combined with rose, my arch-nemesis, I was having my doubts as I sniffed the imp.

 

On my skin? Holy moly. The rose and wine are crazy-sexy when toned down a little by the patchoulli and sandalwood. It's extremely dark and smoky, and for some reason this type of scent always reminds me of vampires. I got a twinge of my usual rose-headache as I first put it on, but everything has been fine since then. As the myrrh and jasmine begin to come out, it becomes sort of coy and playful. I love scents that have such personality to them.

 

As wonderful as it is, and as much as it convinced me that roses and wine can be my friends, I'm still not convinced I'll ever have an excuse to wear something like this. This is what you wear when you're getting ready to go seduce immortals. I just go to the library and stuff. o_o

[Miss Lynx]

Judging from the description, this looked like one of those scents that might just work nicely and be really pretty, or might turn into screaming floral death, all depending on the proportion of the various notes. It's got rose and jasmine, which my skin loves to amp, but also patchouli, sandalwood and myrrh, all of which are among my favourites and can balance florals really well. And then there's the wine, which can kind of go either way on me.

 

As it turns out, it's kind of in between, but leaning a little toward the SFD side, sad to say. The incensey notes are not strong enough to really offset the florals that much, but it does have an odd sort of sour undertone that balances the killer sweetness just a little -- maybe from the wine? Unfortunately, said sour undertone smells a little like cat pee on my skin. So on the whole we have tons of flowers, with just a hint of incense, and also a bit more than just a hint of cat pee. Not really a winning combination.

 

However, after it's settled in for an hour or two, the cat pee fades, and the incensey notes come up more, and I begin to get a bit of a sense of what this scent could be like, if my skin didn't amp the florals... Or what it might eventually be like if it ages for a while. I've found in the past that aging tends to work wonders on scents like this -- florals get mellower with age, while notes like patchouli and sandalwood get deeper and richer.

 

So, not so good right now, but I think I'll tuck the imp away and see what this one smells like in a year's time or so...

 

Grade: C+ now... when aged, who knows?

Edited June 8, 2008 by Miss Lynx

[zankoku_zen]

Given the notes, I expected this to be some sort of BPAL gone wrong scent for me.

 

It started off sweet - when I first opened up the vial, it was a sweet wine scent I got, very boozy. After I applied it, the sweetness started to burn off, and more of the florals started to creep in. Oddly enough, the jasmine is not too sharp nor is the rose overwhelming. It's like the other notes have colluded and kept them under lock and key.

 

Oh and the black patchouli? Doesn't smell like BO on me. Huzzah!

 

Really, this should be some horrible scent on me. Instead, it's dark and sexy and lightly floral without being too in your face, just whiffs really. The patchouli is at the base, grounding everything. It's shiny and glossy, with a hint of danger.

 

Wonderful.

[dixiehellcat]

I get a dark rose scent from this both in the imp and on me, without much else coming out. I was so looking forward to the other notes, the wine and sandalwood and patchouli in particular, but nothin' but rose happening so far. Still, it's pretty nice. I'll keep the imp, not sure if I'd want more.

Edited June 9, 2008 by dixiehellcat