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shriekingviolet

Depraved

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A salacious, lecherous, leering scent - dirty and dark, slapped with a wet sweetness. Earthy black patchouli swelling with apricot.

 

At first it reminded me of caraway seeds. Then it boggied into pencil shavings and caraway seeds. I read the description and I think it is the kind of patchuli which is carrying on with my skin...it does not like it. I can believe that there is apricot in here somewhere (which adores my skin) but (alas) it cannot overcome the deadly duo of caraway seeds and pencil shavings in Depraved. So I'm deprived of Depraved.

Edited by Shollin

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Lagniappe from the lab.

 

In the bottle, it was intriguing. On me? It smelled of liniment. Moldy apricot-scented liniment. Bleah!

 

::tosses it in the swap pile::

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Fresh, this is very woody, dirty patchouli, and sweet, chewy apricot...kind of disjointed and disturbing. Aged about 6 months, this smells like skin, but better. Strangers have asked what I was wearing. DH is surprised it's even patchouli! It's dark, sweet, incensey, sexy, depravity. BIG BOTTLE WIN!

Edited by lookingglass

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Patchouli and Apricot... oh my.

 

I'm at a loss with this one. At first the scent is unsetteling on my skin.

 

Dark, rich patchouli and sticky-sweet apricots.

The contrast of sharp and sweet is so unque. I wanted to dismiss this blend and toss it to the swap pile, but I just can't...

 

I tested this imp a second time... this time it was more sweet, less bitter. I think I need a BIG bottle of this...

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Description: A salacious, lecherous, leering scent - dirty and dark, slapped with a wet sweetness. Earthy black patchouli swelling with apricot.

 

In the vial: Fruity

 

On the wrist: Ooh! Leather and woody. Sex-ay!

 

Later: Stayed with me all day, as all the BPAL scents have. The jury's still out on whether I'm allergic to it or not. I'll give it a couple of days and try it again. So far, this is my favorite of all the imps.

 

Update: Tried it again today, a week later, and no allergic reaction. Must've been a cold after all. This is one for my bottle wishlist!

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Wet: A handful of fresh dirt you just leaned over and picked up. Now I know where the rocky note in Black Opal comes from! :P

 

Dry: Stronger dirt, just dirt, no apricot. I guess this will be a swap.

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I really like both patchouli and apricot and found this to be an interesting combination. The patchouli is definitely dark and deep; the apricot rounds it out with just a *little* fruity sweetness. I like this but think it may be a little too "rough" for me, though I'd love to smell it on a guy. Too bad, as I don't think I'll be able to talk hubby into it... he snuffled the back of my neck and said that I smelled like an old lady, then said he liked Wanton a lot better! Ah well... maybe if I try layering this with something sweeter he'll like it more.

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got this as a freebie from the lab.

 

in the bottle: love the apricot!

 

wet: apricot with smokey patchouli.

 

dry: the way your heating vents make the house smell after they've been off all summer.

 

 

I've worn it a few times, but once the imp is gone I won't get anymore.

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I'm starting to really like trying to review a scent before reading what others say. :P

 

In Imp: Wood, slightly sweet

 

On Wet: Something almost fruity sweet mixed with wood. not strong, sweet is moving underneath

 

On dry/ing: Aww, they place nice together. :D One minute I'm getting the fruit, the next I'm getting the wood. Another one I like. Not for everyday.

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Caveat lector: I tried this last night and am basing my review purely off of memory. Normally I wear an oil as I review it, but I have a ton of new scents to test and review (hooray!), and this one was pretty simple, so I don't think I'll be too far off. Oh, and this was a frimp in a swap with the seriously awesome dawndie. :P

 

In the bottle: Patchouli. Hooboy, is that some patchouli. Might as well be patchouli single note for all intensive purposes; I'm not catching even a whiff of the apricot. It's strong and sharply woody, not unpleasant but quite powerful. (But then, I like patchouli.) This is definitely black patchouli, too, none of the slinkier, more seductive and subtle red stuff like in Snake Oil and Sin. It smells exactly like the ancient bottle of black patchouli essential oil I have in my cabinet, in fact.

 

Wet: Patchouli attack! After a minute or two, the apricot comes up and rounds this out nicely, sweetening and lightening the blend without really registering as a fruity smell unless you know what to look for. I do wish it would come out to play a bit more, but the patchouli still has center stage.

 

Dry: Pretty much the same. Fibrous black patchouli, a little woody, a little sharp, made wearable and, actually, pretty nice, by the apricot. This sucker is strong, good throw and lasts for ages; straightforward, and doesn't really conjure up any images or emotions for me, it's just a scent. If the two notes were equally balanced, I think I'd love this. As it is, I'm debating: I don't have a lot of Imps for everyday around-the-house wear, and this might be good for that... but then again, I might find something I like better in a swap. We'll see. Either way, this is a fantastic blend for patchouli lovers, and elegant in its simplicity.

Edited by WidgetAlley

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In the bottle: musty and sweet.

 

Wet: sweet fruity, fresh, with the musty smell (patchouli?) underlying it all.

 

Dry down: pencil shavings, just as if I had opened up the sharpener to empty it out after sharpening a pencil! Magus did the same thing.

 

30 minutes: pencil shavings.

 

Conclusion: smells just like Magus on me when all is said and done.

 

Rating on my skin, this is a 3.

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Depraved

 

In the imp: sweet, round, lush ripe apricot with hints of earthy patchouli depth.

Wet on skin: the apricot gets juicier and tangier, still with patchouli.

Dry on skin: wow. It's a simple, yet unusual combination but I think it seems to work. Earthy, dirty patchouli, smoky and dark, contrasts nicely with sweet, plump, ripe apricot, an apricot bursting with juice. It's delicious!

After a while: I find that the patchouli simply deepens and enhances the ripe, rich scent of the apricot even more. This isn't hippy apricot that I expected, it's more like an autumnal apricot scent, the patchouli adding it's smoky, pleasantly dirty scent to the sunny apricot note. What I like about this is that the apricot isn't too sweet.

Verdict: patchouli and apricot may seem an odd combination, but in this scent, they work really well. the patchouli adds depth and earthiness to a wonderful apricot note which smells so real, so sweet and succulent, sun ripened and bursting with juices. The two notes play very nicely together and the patchouli isn't too noticeable here, it works nicely as a note that enhances the lush apricot-which, thankfully, isn't over-sweet. I think this would be a nice scent for late summer-early autumn, it has aspects of both seasons to it. It's not a favourite of mine but I like this a lot better than I expected, and I will keep the imp.

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I love apricot and much like peach, it smells good on me and lasts a really long time. Normally I wouldn't wear patchouli unless there was something something sweet tempering it and that is definitely the case with Depraved. The apricots and patchouli is a wonderful combination. It's a dirty sweetness. It strikes a raw sensuality chord with me.

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In the Imp - Initial sniff: Dirt. Another sniff: boozy patchouli finishing with a menthol tinge into the apricot.

 

On Skin Wet - dirt then apricot on a backdrop of the patchouli with a hint of booziness as it starts to dry.

 

On Skin Dry - Exactly what the description says apricot and patchouli

 

 

Well, its true to the description on my skin. I just don't know if I like it or not. I'll have to try it again when the husband can smell things again (sometimes he's the swing vote).

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mmmmm. heavy juice laden apricots and rich black soil....as orchardy as it sounds...its like SEX in

the orchard. its kinda disturbing, but very sexual to me. maybe i REALLY love apricots or something....the patchouli in this is marvelous...deep nd dark and very very earthy.

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Heh, my review was eaten in the Great Forum Outage of 2006, so I'll try to recapture all the contempt I had for this scent. There is definitely a soft scent of apricot, but it was smothered by this awful cigarette smoke smell (Mr. CG said it smelled like dirt). I gave it half an hour, just to see if it would evolve or change at all. Nope. I washed it off with Coalface but I could stll smell the cigarette smoke. I took a shower. Still there. I scrubbed my wrists with rubbing alcohol. Better, but still there. Conclusion: this scent, along with Twinkies and cockroaches, will survive the apocalypse. Too bad I can't stand the smell of it.

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There are scents I have no interest in trying, not because of the description but because of the name and my personal associations with the name. Things like Embalming Fluid, Shroud, Juke Joint, Malice, Othello, De Sade... and Depraved. Thanks to frimps, I'll end up trying some of these anyway :P

 

I was shifting imps from a nifty little cardboard box into a less nifty but more sturdy wooden box, and Depraved was the leftover imp that wouldn't fit, so I gave it a try. Its caramel yellow colour does suggest something not entirely savoury. After five or so scary experiences I'm now able to open imps without spilling them all over myself, so I was able to sample this one carefully. I sampled and sniffed and jotted down initial impressions before going back to read the description, and discovered that my great big nose is not as clever as I thought it was.

 

In the imp: Coconut and... cocoa bean?

 

Wet: Bitter chocolate and burnt nuts.

 

Drying: Yummy homemade brownies with a crunchy crust on top and a sort of creamy taste underlying the chocolate, my favourite kind of brownie.

 

Dry: Turns very fruity underneath (I'm crazy for apricot), and somehow suggests a supple leather coat and a burgundy leather library chair, the creaking of leatherbound books opened on a large desk, a bit of mustiness.

 

After about a half hour: The lovely fruitiness has faded to faint traces, but then, so has the rest. This one hasn't spread across my skin the way other scents have, and its throw is weak.

 

Overall impression: Patchouli smells like brownies on me? Can that be right?

 

I do want to think of this scent as depraved, salacious, leering, and rife with lecherous promise. But instead I get "third grade bake sale" and a bowl of apricots in the library.

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In the imp: There's something bitter at first sniff, but a lovely sweet fruit underneath. A sweet apple? A dusty, sweet apple?

Wet: All dusty and murky sweet apple-like fruit.

Dry: The dust has gone, leaving a deep, juicy fruit. I can DEFINATELY get the apricot through and through here. It reminds me of some peach/apricot soaps I had a few years ago.

 

Category: Fruity

Rating: 4/5; The fruit was lovely

Overall: I couldn't stop sniffing this scent. It's so lovely and ripe! While the patchouli wasn't gross, it complimented the sweet apricot very well. While this has only the two notes listed, it's great in it's simplicity. I must say that this scent lasts and lasts! I had this on my wrist and it lasted through washings strongly. LASTING scent! Reminds me a bit of Fae.

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*fanfare* Ladies and Gentlemen (and other possible Gentlebeings around), Diva Urd is proud to announce that she has found a scent with a strongish fruit note that actually works for her!

 

On me, this is a beautiful mix of the two notes, none really overpowers the other. I would have never thought that apricot could complement patchouli (especially black patchouli) so well! It freshens up the scent and gives it something youthful, but the patchouli keeps it from being childish or overly playful and turns it into something rather sensual, instead.

 

This is absolutely lovely - and it lasts forever. Definitely bigger bottle!

Edited by Diva Urd

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I was really hoping this would work on me, but it just got so cloying. The patchouli with the apricot just were not a good combination for me. The apricot became very pungent and almost sour. I don't think I'll be wearing this again.

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Depraved

I'd call this BPAL generic, it's warm and oriental with a patchouli sharpness and herbal bitterness. It dries to plastic fruit with a bite, smoky almost, and cosy in a weird way. I like it, but I don't know why.

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Too too sweet apricots, like a really fake apricot air freshner. This combined with the patchouli - well they didn't so much combine as start a war on my wrist each fighting for attention in the worst sort of way :P

 

I amp fruit scents really badly, and they always become sickly sweet or candy-drop citric acid sharp and this was no exception, and the patchouli which I usually love just made it smell like dirty amped up apricots! DH's comment "It smells like someone has dropped a bottle of chemicals in the garage" sort of summed it up :D

 

This is SO not a keeper. Was washed off my arm and put into the swaps pile ASAP

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Source: Imp from Lab

 

Since I had never worn any patchouli scents before, I ordered Depraved to jump right in and see what it was all about. I mean, c'mon... depraved. How can you go wrong?

 

In imp: Wow! That is some dark, dank patchouli!

 

Wet on Skin: All I can smell is extremely earthy patchouli. Very black, sharp, wet 'digging in the dirt' smell.

 

Initial Dry: I can smell a faint trace of the fruit when I stick my nose up to my skin now, but only the patchouli can be smelled from farther away.

 

Later: The patchouli is less agressive, but not exactly mellow. Apricot is still peeking out when you get in close to sniff, but not noticeable otherwise. Me to Loverguy: "Hmmm. Well, I smell like strong patchouli I suppose." LG: "Y'know... patchouli's not a bad thing to smell like *arches eyebrow*" :P

 

Final verdict: Hmm. I don't feel much like *me* in this dark patchouli, so I doubt I'd order it again, but I'm still game to try some of the other Lab blends that might be more complex than Depraved. AND I think I'm going to hang on to the imp and let it age, to see if it changes how aggressive/sharp the patchouli is. :D

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Bottle: bitter, dark patchouli, oddly reminiscent of damp, black tobacco...like a pipe that's been left in the rain.

Wet: same, no sign of the apricot, yet.

Dry: the sharp bitterness has lightened up, some, and if I really try I can detect a hint of the apricot, but it's barely there.

Later: warm and rich on me, the bitter faded and the apricot just added a little complexity, no real fruitiness or sweetness..but you know me and my unfortunate patchouli associations...still, it was nice and mellow after a while.

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