Malice

[contrary_wise]

A profound, complex scent that encapsulates the joy one finds in another's pain. Ylang ylang, clove, Indonesian red patchouli, and dark myrrh.

I've been wearing lots of fresh, clean, clear spring scents from the lab lately in honor of the warmer weather of the season. But today I wanted to go for something different. My random pick from my stash of untested imps was Malice.

Different indeed! In the imp: woody, slightly dusty patchouli. Very different than the dirty earthy patchouli in Depraved.

Wet on skin: It's that dry patchouli and some floral. Iris, maybe, to my nose. That must be the ylang ylang. And a powdery note too.

Drydown: This feels very dry and powdery, but not unpleasantly so. The myrrh is definitely present since the poweriness also has a little sweetness. There's a hint of spice and the patchouli is much lighter. I like Malice; I'm not rushing out to buy a bottle but I can see myself reaching for the imp again on cold dreary days. It's a warm scent, something to wear when I want to feel cozy. It's a far cry from the maliciousness of it's name.

Thank you to the lab for helping me expand my scent horizons yet again!

Edited to add lab description Edited April 7, 2008 by contrary_wise

[donnatron]

Imp: I get a predominantly patchouli scent with a touch of spicy clove and myrrh resin.

 

Wet: The patchouli is all "HEY YOU GUYS!" while the other scents take their time to sort of stretch and unfurl and get familiar with my skin.

 

Dry: This describes malice perfectly. It's deep, intense and earthy with a touch of spice and resin. It's very well blended and settles down to a sort of single scent on my skin, rather than separate patchouli, myrrh, etc...

 

Throw: Polite enough.

 

Overall: My boyfriend likes wearing this one because he calls it "The schadenfreude stink." I think it works better on his chemistry than on mine, but it's an interesting scent. I think it's better suited to winter, but it could work nicely on a rainy day.

[GingerGunlock]

I got this as a frimp with my last lab order, and I was very excited, because it was on my "to test because of clove" wishlist.

 

Well, something kind of weird happened. When I put it on, it was at first a little bit sharp in a vaguely floral sense, which I assumed was the ylang ylang (I'm not all that familiar with ylang ylang, but wikipedia tells me it comes from little yellow flowers that look like starfish. Which I can get behind). "Okay," I thought, and went to work. After being at work for a little while, perhaps a half hour, I was kind of sniffing the air going "what smells like cotton candy?" I sniffed my wrist, and the inside of my elbow, and got patchouli, and a bit of myrrh, and a bit of that what-I-think-is-ylang-ylang. No clove. No cotton candy against my skin, though. I pulled back, and got the whiff of cotton candy again, so I guess that's what the throw of this was with my chemistry.

 

A little while later, I no longer smelled cotton candy, but only myrrh, which is okay, because myrrh and I get along. As for the clove, I think I have the misfortune of loving and seeking out a note that my skin never amps ever. This was an okay blend, I didn't dislike it, but it didn't love me either.

[glass_cat]

I got this as a frimp with my last order as well. Usually when I first get my orders, I give all the frimps a tentative sniff right away so I can kind of decide what I might be in for and when might be an appropriate time to take them for a spin. I wasn't sure what to think of Malice. In the imp, it actually smelled kind of masculine. I almost gave it to my boyfriend for his stash instead, but I decided to try it first to check. The notes seemed like something that would work better on me than him.

 

Patchouli is kind of one of those notes that I don't really love. I can deal with it in a blend if it's not too stong, but I'm definitely not one of those "oooo PATCHOULI" people. When I first swiped Malice on, all I could smell was patchouli, so yeah... I didn't expect to like it too much. After it had a chance to settle a bit though, it got much sweeter. The patchouli was still there, but instead of making the blend smell too dusty, it deepened it a bit and helped make it feel "malicious".

 

After it settled even further, I could smell mostly the ylang ylang and the myrhh on me. The patchouli almost completely took a hike, which actually kind of disappointed me because I thought it really added something to the blend as a supporting player. At this stage, Malice smelled sweet, thoughtful, and languid. It's pleasant, but I'd love to smell more of the clove to spice it up a little. Damn skin chemistry.

 

Overall, I do like this blend, and I will certainly wear it again. This particular scent is the type of thing I really enjoy wearing to bed or to relax, because I did find it quite calming despite the fact that it's supposed to embody malice. However, on me it's a bit heavy for the warm weather we're starting to get, so I doubt I'll be wearing it out of the house much.

 

Big bottle? Nah. I like this, and I'll finish my imp, but I have similar blends that I far prefer and already possess bottles of. It's a very nice, pleasant scent though. Despite the apparent lack of any rose notes, it actually reminds me most strongly of Ouija and Rose Cross, two of my very favorite GC scents.

Edited April 18, 2008 by glass_cat

[savage_rose]

It's a really nice, balanced blend...a light floral, myrrh, are perfectly balanced with the patchouli and the deeper spices. It has little throw, but it's still sexy and spicy, just mellow. I like it.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Sweet, sweet cloying resin, incense, and spice. Clove and myrrh dominate.

Edited May 3, 2008 by fairnymph

[charshark]

In the imp: Strong patchouli and ylang ylang.

 

Wet: Sweet clover with spicier scents of patchouli and myrrh. Definitely some ylang ylang in there too.

 

Dry: Mostly dried to patchouli and myrrh.

 

Overall: Not my favorite and not my least favorite. It's okay.

[Lamia]

Soap. Nice soap, but soap. Has a bit of a snap to it, I guess that is the malice coming through

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: This is what my dad would say a hippie smells like!

 

Wet: Patchouli, myrrh and clove. Don't really get ylang-ylang.

 

Drydown: I am really surprised, but I like this. It's spicy, dark and sexy. It always amazes me how Beth can make me like patchouli.

3.0 outta 5

[AthenaRose]

This was a frimp, and far from anything i would have chosen on my own, but fun and educational to try, for sure.

 

In the IMP: Sharp, bitter and strong. First impression is i'm probably not going to like this one.

 

Wet on my skin: Sharp piercing floral. Overwhelmingly floral. Yikes.

 

Drydown: Floral floral floral. There may have been hints of clove somewhere in there, but they were overpowered by the ylang ylang, which is dissapointing.

 

Dry on my skin: It's mellowed out a bit and warmed by the myrrh and patchouli, but it's starting to remind me of Opium or Esté Lauder's Beautiful. Must be the ylang ylang. My fiancé says i smell like an old lady, or a grandma. I have to agree. It also reminds me of Red Door, which my grandma used to wear. Ylang ylang does not work on me. It goes all potpourri bathroom airfreshener on me. It is somewhat relaxing though. And after many many many hours, the floral fades into a pleasant myrrh... but it takes way too long to get there.

 

This is an educational reminder that i should probably stay away from florals. It's not horribly unpleasant, but it's not anything i would want to smell like, so i'm giving it a 2/5.

Edited July 14, 2008 by AthenaRose

[voodoocatwoman]

Malice is very interesting. It has a sweetness that is undercut by a feral sharpness. I am also picking up a bit of an herbal quality. I like it.

[writergal969]

Hm...patchouli is not my friend, but the cloves are trying to convince it to chill out. Spicy and powdery, the myrrh is making it sweeter to my nose....but as it dries down I get spicy baby powder...and strangely a whiff of Deep Woods Off or something too. Ack.

 

Not for me, off to swaps:(

 

2/5

Edited August 7, 2008 by writergal969

[Iceblink]

I wanted to love this--I love every note in it! But it smelled very...*burnt* on me. Dark and ashy. Not sure what went wrong there.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Patchouli and ylang ylang… though there’s something very smoky in this that’s almost in my scent blind spot as well.

 

Immediately on skin: This is dry… and smoky in a way that I can feel in my nose but not really smell. Predominantly this is ylang ylang and very deep patchouli with a bit of sweet depth from the myrrh.

 

After a little while: Oh, this has softened nicely. The scent now is softly smoky with sweet spices and a base of very smooth patchouli. The clove is a little bitter, but mixes in nicely. This scent has a very warm feel to it, but dark.

 

Overall Impressions: This blend is sharper at first, but it settles into a nice smoky, spiced, slightly sweet, and very earthy blend. The patchouli in this is the rare kind that doesn’t turn to dirt on me, which is nice.

[anguissette]

When I inhaled really deeply I could understand why this way called Malice, but it just isn't for me. There was definately something cold and sharp lurking under the usual BPAL dark scent smell. Still, swap pile for me. The scent did was it was supposed to, just not my style, even if it may suit my mood at times. Also patchouli and I do not make a happy pair so that turned me off at the beginning, but it did mellow eventually. But with so many great scents already, I don't feel the need to sit through such an unpleasant dry down process.

Edited August 20, 2008 by anguissette

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Floral with a patchouli background.

 

Wet: The myrrh comes up immediately, darkening and spicing the floral. This has a lot of potential.

 

Twenty minutes: "Dark" is the word here: dark myrrh, dark clove, even the patchouli reads dark. Very little left of the floral. This is intense and very moody.

 

One hour: Still very dark, but not as intense. I like it a lot, but I'd have to be in just the right mood to wear it. It's not cheerful, or even particularly sexy.

 

Two hours: Pleasant, but no longer dark or moody. At this level, I could wear this every day with no second thoughts.

 

Four hours: This has long since fallen back to almost nothing. Curious after such a strong and intense beginning. Too bad; I kind of liked it.

[sirsaber]

when it first went on I was thinking....rats...floral... but the darker scents tempered this to something almost sinister with a hint of bite I would guess from the clove. A decent autumn scent that to me reminds me of withering flowers.

[Vespar]

Huh?This one smells exactly like Lust on me.

Ofcourse they share many of the same notes,like the ylang ylang,myrrh and patchouli,though I think Malice is a little sweeter (why everything turns into sugar on me lately?) and just a tad more spicy.The drydown is a soft,musky note,with the myrrh barely making its presence known.It is indeed a lovely scent and I love the almost black color of the oil.I'll definately use up my imp.

[mochi227]

One of the first imps I ordered and still one of my favorites. I used up this imp before any other.

 

In the imp: spicy, biting (ylang ylang predominates)

 

Wet: Myrrrrrrrrrh! With the sharpness of the ylang ylang. They duke it out! They sneer at each other! The make angry hot love and collapse into a tangled heap of sweat and smiles.

 

Drying: I get cinnamon, although that must be the clove. It's a hot scent. A hot, dry wind. A hot, dry wind with cinammon candies and cloves coursing in the air. It throws! It carries! It stings my neck! Oowwww red skin. Oooh it's passing now but WOW that's some hot, powerful oil.

 

Dry: Lasts and lasts and lasts. I don't quite feel malicious when wearing this but I do feel sexy. Unlike some other reviewers have stated, I do not get the tropics at all. There is the floral ylang ylang, but I get a hot dry wind, what I imagine the surface of Mars is like. Mars is an energetic planet. It is the Red Planet. It is the planetary ruler of Aires, the hot, cardinal, fiery, ram. Malice is cardinal strength. It is complex, but not evil. It is misunderstood passion.

 

Verdict: One of my oldest and most favorite BPALs. I'll probably order a bottle one day. Lasts long, throws strong. 4.5 out of 5.

[OhioSky]

I don't know why, but this just is... okay. I wanted a dark, twisted scent like Perversion in this and I was a bit disappointed. It's a nice scent, but not as dark as promised.

 

It smells like... I guess that's clove in the imp. I don't know. I've encountered all these other notes before and like them, but something in here is wrong. After I put it on, that wrongness calms down and becomes manageable... and then the florals appear. I hate florals. These are somewhat tolerable, and over all it's a nice scent, but it has some weird phases before it gets to a point that I like. I might try this a few more times, as I'm a bit confounded as to why it changes so much.

[crebbsgirl]

Ok, I think ylang ylang and I have a problem. We're fighting. In a big way. You see, Malice is everything I could want in a scent. Yummy clove. Earthy patchouli. Resinous wonderful myrrh. And then... ylang ylang. Why do you have to be so loud ylang ylang? I just wanted to love you. And what did you do? You kicked everyone else in the blend out. You made it so sickly florally sweet I had to wash you off. Well, ylang ylang I've had it with you. We are through!

[MCS4096]

I got this as a frimp, but after reading the description I'm very excited to try it *muahahaha*

 

In the Imp: Patchouli and ylang ylang.. unfortunately I think I've discovered its the "Indonesian patchouli" in this and Bloodlust that have the same nauseating affect on me We'll see..

 

Wet: Hmm.. it's ok. The florals come forward a bit more.. a hint of cloves perhaps. The patchouli is a tad BOish

 

Dry: The ylang ylang is most predominant at this stage for me, I'm not really getting cloves at all and unfortunately all I can think is "Bloodlust" which was soo terrible on me. I think this is a pretty nice "dirty" floral.. but my brain is making that Bloodlust association automatically

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

Mm, patchouli mixed with a light touch of ylang ylang.

 

First on:

Ylang ylang, red patchouli and a little hint of myrrh that makes this oddly bubblegum-like.

 

Dry:

After about 10 mins, this is a dry myrrh and patchouli scent. Pretty much incense, really.

 

It goes a bit soapy later on... Probably the red patchouli disliking me – only the red kind hates me.

 

Finally:

Passing this on...

[twilighteyes]

In the imp, ylang ylang and some myrrh.

 

On my skin, medium dry not sweet patchouliiiiiiii and myrrh.

 

Dry on skin, sweetens up a bit. Maybe the clove helping the patchouli out? The ylang, myrrh, and patchouli have blended enough now to not be single notes.

 

Yum!

[rayvn1]

This is a dark and spicy blend with a faint hint of the ylang-ylang - although I wouldn't know what flower it was if I didn't have the scent description in front of me. Not really sure how I feel about this one. It keeps swinging between soapy, floral, and spicy goodness. I'll have to try this one again later.