Silas Ruthyn

[suki]

How marvellously lie our anxieties, in filmy layers, one over the other! Take away that which has lain on the upper surface for so long—the care of cares—the only one, as it seemed to you, between your soul and the radiance of Heaven—and straight you find a new stratum there.

Opium smoke, opium tar, mandarin, dark musk, patchouli, tonka, vetiver, and frankincense.

in the bottle: dark, thick opium in its various beguiling forms, a hint of deep musk and the vanilla-rich undertone of tonka bean.

wet on skin: the vetiver is coming out, but so far is staying put in the mix, unlike usual on my skin. the opium is still really heavy, sweet and rich.

dry down: everything is mingling and blending so beautifully that at the dry point, there is no way to really tell one note from the next. hints of all the above coming in and out in a glorious haze of sex, seduction and possibly lust-driven murder (or at least madness )

in all: good god- this is SO heady, sexy and rich that, shipping charged be damned, i may have to get a second bottle. total. love.


:heart:

[twilighteyes]

Woah.

 

In the bottle: Dark musk, Vetiver, frankincense. Smoky and earthy.

 

On my skin: Smoke! Eek! Burning nose! Vetiver! ouch!

 

Dry on skin: Whew. *feels nose* Back to the head shop. Dark, musky, smoky, incense. Well blended!

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle dark, sweet, and really beguiling with no notes really grabbing my attention. damn, this is fantastic.

wet on skin what, ho, vetiver! the tarry black opium note is well under the radar here and sharp, smoky vetiver is stomping all over everything. it's like smokestack in an opium den and not particularly pretty.

dry on skin vetiver gets all tired out from the stomping and settles down to smoke a little. it gets sweet again and really musky. the opium, musk, and tonka are ruling the roost here with a thorough grounding from the resins.

 

this blend, in the same scent family as schwarzer mond and hellhound on my trail (dark, sweet, masculine, sexy), has instantly shot up into my top ten. my test dot yesterday lasted about ten minutes before i got the bottle back out and slathered. throw is decent and wearlength is incredibly long. i dabbed some on last night before bed and fourteen hours later i can still clearly smell the opium-sweet musk, not just a random sweetness which is what usually lingers with BPAL. this is not only incredible now, but i guarantee it's going to age beautifully.

[milo]

Wet, this really smells dirty and smoky, and not in a good way. Gradually, the patchouli takes over, and whatever smoke there was is now gone. The patchouli fades fast, but the opium I found interesting, even though I didn't like it in this oil. I'm wondering what opium would smell like in a more feminine blend. This is not really a win for me, but still, interesting. Does not last long at all.

 

eta: 1 hour later, this has morphed into a sweet, smoky, musky incense blend. (pretty much one of my fave combinations) The patchouli has taken a back seat, and I'm liking this alot. If only it didn't take the hour to get to this stage, I'd get a bottle in an instant. Maybe age will cure this? Anyways, Silas deserves a second chance.

Edited February 28, 2009 by milo

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle and on my skin at first, this is mostly opium and vetiver. The opium is sharp, white, and cutting, and the vetiver is dark and smells like wet, rotting wood. As this settles on my skin, the opium dominates. I can smell a wonderfull, incensey sweetness underneath the opium for a while, but the opium smells like cheap hairspray on me, and just gets caught in my throat.

 

I had to scrub this off after an hour, because I just can't stand the opium. And, by then, the other notes had completely faded away and left behind nothing but opium smoke. Smelling it makes me feel like I'm choking on soap & hairspray. It's far too smoky & sharp smelling for me.

[wolfwynd]

I am completely in love. Oh goodness. It's sweet and smoky and total love. I don't usually like opium but in this it's absolutely beautiful. Of all the DD scents I've tried this is far and away my favourite. Mmm.

 

 

I've just got a bottle to go with my half an imp. I need more now!

[abejita]

By now, I know what BPAL will work on me or be to my tastes, and which won't. But every now and then, something surprises me. This should be an instant favorite for me, but my skin is doing something terrible. Something about the dark musk and vetiver are combining to make this smell not only overwhelmingly amp-y, but cheap and cologne-y. My skin chemistry is usually very cooperative, but every now and then a vetiver or a black musk will go off horribly on me. This is one of those times. I'm so sad, because, hello, opium, tonka, and frankincense should be the perfect blend on me.

[rayvn1]

Oh Silas! This is love Sexy, dusty, musty and spicy. Dark scent that has a masculine edge to it. This has pretty much every note I love blended together fantastically! I'd keep it even if I didn't love it so, since it reminds me of Silas the vampire in Gaiman's Graveyard Book

[GreenSpine]

The first fifteen minutes of this one are sharp and a bit overwhelming - not horrible, but not good either. But once it settles down it's more than amazing enough to make the wait worthwhile. It's dark, unusual, powerful, and sexy.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is a nice, sweet masculine blend. Sexy, dusty, older English gentleman type.

 

Off to slather on mr. zeezee!

 

ETA: The prototype of this strikes me as slightly grittier and smokier. Definitely some smoke (vetiver?), frankincense, and I'm thinking green musk.

Edited September 21, 2010 by zankoku_zen

[Lamia]

Oh my. This starts off masculine cologne, and turns to thin leather and machine lubricant. I thought that perhaps I'd applied Edward Hyde by mistake. Vetiver starts to shove to the fore after about 2 hours. This reminds me a lot of ...? (not Toad) It smells like a Gaslight Fantasy gentleman who spends a lot of time tinkering in his laboratory.

 

Husband first said it smelled of "nothing", and then on second sniff he offered "Cinnamon and pepper". I think he's nuts LOL Boycat likes this too.

 

Throw is lovely.

[greenranger]

In the bottle this smelled dark, dark, dark...

Vetiver, and musk, and just pure darkness.

 

On me, it's still very vetivery and musky. Vetiver is usually ok on me, but, this is strong vetiver even for me.

 

Drying, it begins to seem more mellow and smoother. I suspect the opium and tonka are warming up and mellowing things out. Slightly.

 

I usually like the darker, smokier blends, but, I may have actually found the limit of what I can comfortably wear.

 

I won't let go immediately, as I am curious about what a few months aging will do to the scent. However, I really don't think I'll be wearing this.

Edited December 28, 2009 by Aerinha

[hersphinxness]

When patchouli and vetiver are bad, they are so very, very bad. But when they're good, you get pure dark sex, like Silas.

 

Wet, it's very sharp and smokey and musky. It's also quite strong. I can pick out the frankincense remarkably well, it's like a little bit of church in the middle of something naughty. It's almost too much, but has just enough tact to keep from reeking.

 

Dry, oh sweet, smokey opium! This is a very well blended perfume, however, and all the notes behave and support each other's best sides beautifully. It's dark, rich, sweet, and incredibly sexy. The opium lingers the longest and even hours later I can smell that distinct opium note.

 

I can't say how much I love this. It's a unique, complicated scent that is definitely not for blending in!

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from Dark Delicacies.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Everything in here with the exception of the mandarin is great for me. I'm a huge fan of dark scents. I love patchouli and frankincense and I like vetiver, musk, tonka and opium, especially opium smoke. I'm expecting something dark and brooding and probably smoky.

 

First sniff:

 

This has a certain sharpness to it in the bottle, that I'm guessing is the opium tar. I can also smell the vetiver and musk loud and clear. This is, indeed, a dark scent. It's mysterious and not at all nice smelling (and by that I don't mean that it stinks; I mean it has that sinister air about it that some BPAL scents have). This is probably going to be a winner as long as the sharpness disappears on my skin.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Initially, this is all vetiver, musk and opium tar. It's a smoky, deep purple/charcoal/black scent. It makes me think of dusty, dark velvet curtains and mysterious figures in black. I really like that mental image. Although I'm not a dark person (I'm actually very cheerful most of the time), I tend to love dark scents, stories, locations...you get the idea. I like this, although it's definitely a commanding scent and not something that would be appealing to everyone at this point.

 

Dry down:

 

This is a surprising scent. It goes from very heavy and musky to something similar in feel, but different in smell. As Silas Ruthyn dries, I get more and more opium smoke (which smells incredible, by the way, smoky and slightly sweet), frankincense, a bit of earthy mustiness from the patchouli and a haze of sweet, almost vanilla from the tonka. This smells like an old Victorian mansion to me. But not the dried flower arrangements and tea in the parlor type of Victorian mansion. This is a dark, dusty, not quite abandoned one (lived in by a seldom seen but often smelled opium smoker, who probably has a penchant for velvet smoking jackets) with heavy velvet drapes, crumbling tapestries and an air of not-quite-rightness about it.

 

The bottom line:

 

It's a very rich, evocative, dark scent but not as heavy as a lot of similar scents are. This is actually what I envisioned from Romanti.Goth, but while Romanti.Goth was a complete failure for me (powder, powder and more powder), Silas Ruthyn is a winner. It's gender neutral to my nose, but I can see it being pegged as being on the feminine side of gender neutral on the drydown (in spite of it being named after a man). Personally, I think it would smell wonderful on a man.

[dreamingjune]

In bottle: Hello Obsession(for women), is that you?

 

On skin: Yup, this reminds me a ton of Obsession. The opium is really the star player here. I wish the other lovely notes, especially the patchouli and vetiver were more prominent.

 

Dry: My skin just eats this one up and all that is left is a perfumey wisp of opium. For me this is not a good thing. There might still be some tonka fighting for attention but it is extremely subtle.

 

Overall: Way too light for me, and way too much of an old lady opium blend. If you want opium, this is definitely a blend to try.

[mxtine]

I'm always on the prowl for sinister, dark & sexy scents, so I had to have this. The only note that was questionable was mandarin, but there's mandarin in Velvet Panther and it works so I wasn't too worried. Wait...vetiver scares me too, because there's a fine line between good and bad with vetiver.

 

When I opened the bottle to sniff, I was smacked in the face with a murky vetiver single note. It almost has a rotting wood smell to me, and its she same vetiver that scared me away from Blood Kiss until it aged...and this bottle is 2 yrs old. Since I've learned to not immediately dismiss this note of evil, I apply it to my skin. This is when the magic happens--now it's rich, dark, incensey and sweet. It reminds me a lot of all the other "black" scents I love...Panther Moon, Velvet Panther, Black Lace, and Butter Arsenic...but different. I can totally agree with the Obsession similarities, which is a perfume I haven't smelled in years. I love opium but it can have a hairspray-ish smell, but the frankincense and tonka really smooth and sweeten this magnificently.

 

Silas Ruthyn started out really iffy, but has become an instant favorite!

[crimsoncrushedrose]

I was sooo happy to get this one! My fiance bought it for me. <3. On to the review!

 

In the bottle: Sweetly smoky, with an underlying edge of darkness.

 

On me, wet: VERY smoky and sultry, a

complex array of sinister sweetness. Gorgeous!

 

On me, dry: The patchouli has emerged (I think my skin might amp that substance) but is not overwhelming. Beautifully soft and smoky, makes me picture decadence, tattered and deteriorating. I love it so far!

 

Rating: 5/5, we'll see what he thinks! Hopefully he loves it. <3

Edited August 10, 2012 by crimsoncrushedrose

[mymymai]

ITB: It smells clean, slightly cologne-y with lingering trails of opium smoke swirling around.

 

Wet: It's thick and smoky with opium tar and vetiver with earthy patchouli, musk, and a hint of tonka. Oh, this is nice!

 

Dry: After 16 hours, the scent is very faint a combination of frankincense, tonka, and musk.

[Trickster]

Oh, boy. Silas Ruthyn. This scent is unlike any other BPAL I've ever smelled. I had to have it, since vetiver, tonka, musk, frankincense, and patchouli are all usually love notes for me, and I always want to love opium (even though it often dislikes my skin chemistry). I was unsure about the mandarin, but I don't get any mandarin anyway, so it doesn't matter, hahahaha.

 

In the bottle: sweet musky opium.

 

Wet: Opium and swirls of frankincense and patchouli, with a hint of vanilla-tonka sweetening it.

 

On the drydown: Basically the same as wet, deepening and sweetening and darkening.

 

I never get any of the vetiver, which is a shame as it's one of my top favourites, but all in all I am NOT sad that I own two bottles of this! It's really unique among my scents.

[Lucchesa]

Silas Ruthyn is lovely, dark and deep, with smoky vetiver and smoky opium blending seamlessly. I only get the darker notes, not the citrus or tonka, though they may be contributing a rich sweetness. But unfortunately, my skin drinks it up in 45 minutes. After that it is a faint, lovely ghost of what might have been. If this is your note family, though, you should definitely try this -- it's beautiful, and you might get Mymymai's 16 hours instead of my one.