Tombstone

[DenMother]

A celebration of one of the first commercially produced perfumes of America's Old West. A rugged, warm blend of vanilla, balsam and sassafras layered over Virginia cedar.

 

I had tried Tombstone last year when I didn't really know much about BPAL and even back then I remember loving it.

 

I was lucky enough to get an imp of this again last week and tried it with lots of excitement.

 

I am not disappointed, this is heavenly, it is wicked, it is creamy, dusty, sexy and hot!

 

Just buy it! Do it!

 

NOW!

 

 

*edit to add lab discription*

Edited August 3, 2007 by DenMother

[fiddlefox]

It is dusty, with a touch of sweet. Very interesting, smells a bit like play doh too though... it has a spooky touch to it...

[spessartine]

I wanted to like Tombstone so much. I love cedar, I love balsam, I love vanilla. Who knows what sassafras is, but I was willing to give it a go... In the vial it's a lovely blend of these, light and warm and grassy.

 

A minute after putting it on it turns to burnt rubber on me. Bah.

[Electric Maenad]

After the disappointing response to Dee and Twenty-One, I was a little hesitant to test any of the other imps I'd bought for my husband. About a month after the first two though, I managed to persuade him to try a bit of Tombstone.

 

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!"

 

This could have been custom-made for him, it smells so damned good. Pipe tobacco and roasted marshmallows and campfire smoke and rootbeer schnapps, only all blended together and a hell of a lot sexier.

 

Definitely getting a big bottle of this for his birthday.

[ClareN]

I love Tombstone. I knew I wanted it because I'm obsessed with Deadwood, and I must have all Wild West scents. It's not quite as rugged and manly as I expected it to be; it's actually really sweet on my skin, especially in the drydown.

 

The initial stage is sweet vanilla, cedar, and something almost like peanut butter - but not in a gross way. When it dries down, the wood notes fade and the vanilla gets stronger; it reminds me of slightly woodsy marshmallows. I prefer "gourmand" scents, where foody notes are combined with non-foody, rather than pure foody scents, and this is definitely in that first category. The soft warm marshmallowy scent sticks around for hours; definitely one of the better and more unusual vanilla scents in my collection.

 

There may be batch differences at work, because the sassafras is pretty light in the imp I have (although I would actually like it if it smelled like root beer, like in all these other reviews). I look forward to getting a bottle because I'm pretty sure I'll love it even if it's not the same as my imp.

 

This is in my GC top ten at the moment!

[cobblersmaid]

In the Bottle: wonderful, sweet and a little spicy. Must be the cedar.

 

Wet: sweetness is taking over

 

Dry: vanilla+ me=baby powder. Pretty baby powder, but still... Not classy.

 

Ugh I guess I need to give up on vanilla scents, but it is so pretty in the bottle. I shall have to try it on my hair and see what happens.

[hkhm]

imp: oh my! this smells like vanilla sarsaparilla! yum!

 

wet: wow... the cedar really comes out once i put this on! so we've got a sort of cedary vanilla scent.

 

dry: this is a very unusual scent. at once it's cripsly woodsy and syrupy sweet... it smells much more like an incense fragrance to me.

[bryghtrose]

Wet: A warm, thick, woodsy vanilla

 

Dry-down. The vanilla gets richer and all the other notes work to compliment it.

 

I didn't expect to like this scent at all, but I'm pleasantry surprised.

[Blupest]

This is one of my top ten favorites from the general catalogue. On me it is primarily an incensy warmed,smooth cedar. What I mean is cedar is the primary note but it is yummified by the vanilla and sasparilla..nothing sharp about this cedar, but on me it is very definitely the major note.

 

I first got this as a frimp from the lab and am so glad they let me try it. Left to my own devices I might not have been attracted to such a masculine scent based soley on catalogue description. But this is a warm and yummy cedar scent women can wear..this isn't crisp and cold as many modern men's fragrances seem to be.

Edited November 6, 2007 by Blupest

[cassandrakfreaq]

I am going to have to come back to this to give it a more thorough review. but needless to say I really enjoyed this. Als this was the first bpal scent I have ever tried that someone said they loved what I was wearing. More importantly it was my mother who has worn opium and opium alone since the fragrance came out. She wants me to get her a bottle of this now.

[porcelina]

tombstone is the surprise hit of my most recent order. typically if there is cedar or any other wood in a note i will amp it to high heaven. here, the cedar (which i do love, just not as a single note perfume) stays subdued under the sweetness of the vanilla and sassafras. it doesn't smell rugged to me, it smells warm and comforting. it's wonderfully unisex that way... gosh, i REALLY love this. i may just need to find a bottle.

[erraticprophet]

Initial Impression: vanilla, cedar

 

On Wet: vanilla, sassafras, cedar

 

On Dry: same notes only more smooth and blended, more mellow

 

Final Impression: yummy sweet!

 

Rating (on a scale from 1-5): 4

[nightchild80]

In the Imp (wet): Nuts? Why am I reminded of roasted nuts?

 

On facial cotton (dry): I am still reminded of nuts...

 

On me: Nuts... I can't put my finger on it, but it's almost like a mixture of peanuts with some other nuts. I must be weird.

[megank4]

This is so maddening. This smell reminds me of something so badly, I just can't put my finger on it. Worse, I can't even decide what general category it reminds me of- another perfume? food? a person? a place? a beauty product?

 

Anyway, smells very good on me, doesn't seem to change much. One of those scents that lingers faintly all day long.

[akiko]

This is a weird one. I got an imp through the forum, and it smells nothing like what I noted on my sheet at will call (all wood, no sassafras.)

 

Imp: Wood. Cedar, probably.

 

Wet: Woody, but there's some sort of spiciness in there.

 

Dry: Cedar and vanilla. Where's the sassafras? I love root beer.

 

I suppose I can chalk it up to batch variation that this is almost entirely wood, because the tester at NPE smelled like old west + root beer. I'm also finding that certain wood notes go crazy on my skin (like in Red Queen.)

[ranyart]

I've been intrigued by this blend since I started bpaling in October, but didn't get a chance to try it until yesterday.

 

In the imp: vanilla/cedar, and I suppose I'm smelling sassafras? I'm not familiar with that note. Very nice.

Wet: Cedar! with a hint of creamy vanilla. At least in the first few seconds, I adore this.

As the oil dried, I started to remember what sassafras smelled like from nature hikes as a kid and was able to pick it out more. The cedar was prominent, but the delicious vanilla kept me from just smelling like a cedar chest.

It was warm and rugged and sexy as hell, and had amazing staying power. Sadly, many oils mostly vanish on me within four or five hours, but ten hours later I still had a good bit of scent close to my skin.

 

I haven't had a lot of luck with pine-based oils, which I had high hopes for when I started buying bpal, but cedar seems to work really well on me.

 

I may need a bottle of this. My partner highly approved as well, so that's an extra bonus.

[Josh]

Tombstone is a lot like Snake Oil except slightly more masculine. I actually prefer it over Snake Oil for this alone, but also because it lacks the playdough vibe that (fresh) Snake Oil has.

 

Also of interest is the oil itself, which is 100% translucent and thicker than anything I've seen, including aged Snake Oil. Speaking of which, I can't wait to see how Tombstone ages. Another bottle-worthy scent.

[jparrack]

The first wanderlust scent to actually work on me

 

Wet: I was prepared to be disappointed. I smelled like incense. Again. Yet it rapidly faded and the cedar smelled like cedar and not vanilla. The vanilla stayed strong and mellow, just the way I like it.

 

Dry: The cedar smells so true and perfect, just like the inside of the cedar chest my grandfather made for me. And the vanilla hangs right in there with it. The cedar and vanilla morphed very little from the wet phase, except to mellow and deepen, and the sassafras shyly peaks out from behind these two behemoth scents on occasion.

 

Verdict: I honestly think I would enjoy it more as a room scent, but it is a lovely perfume and I find myself sniffing my wrists again and again just to check it out. That's the usual sign for me of a winning scent.

[Christine Daae]

In the imp: Cedar! Smells like wood shavings, mmm-hmm. Another one I got in search for the perfect vanilla in which I can't smell any vanilla (gar!).

 

First applied, cedar is still the dominant note, with a bit of some warm, creamy vanilla underneath. And I do detect a bit of the sassafras! Hello root beer!

 

The cedar tones down a little bit, but is still the base of this scent. The sassafras lends a sharp sweetness, and the vanilla smooths the whole thing out. I don't know if I'd be able to pick out balsam if it jumped up and down and waved at me. This isn't as vanilla-y as I expected/hoped, and it's a tad masculine on me. Off to the sale/swap pile with ye, Tombstone!

[ophidiae]

I have two reactions to this scent

 

As a blend, I like it. It is dry, dusty wood, sweetened with vanilla and overlaid with the rugged bite of sassafras. Reminds me a bit of a root beer float, which shouldn't be sexy at all and yet somehow is. This would smell wonderful on a man, OH yeah.

 

As a representation of the town of Tombstone, however, it just doesn't work. I used to live in that part of Arizona, and Tombstone is one of my favorite places on earth. I've gone dancing in the Crystal Palace Saloon, walked the boards of the Birdcage Theater, drunk many a toast at Johnny Ringo's grave. This scent doesn't even come close to capturing the spirit of that place... at least, not for me.

 

Is this a good interpretation of the Old West in general? Yes, absolutely. Is it the Town Too Tough To Die? Alas, no.

[donnatron]

Imp: Wood and sharp sassafras. It smells like when you're travelling in the West and you come across an old ghost town that's been turned into a living museum and there's a candy shop or candy section in the gift shop.

 

Wet: Cedar and sassafras. The sassafras immediately goes hardcore rootbeer on me, and while I love the scent of rootbeer, the cedar is not playing nicely.

 

Dry: This is definitely a patience scent. After about an hour it dries down into this sweet, slightly heady but also sultry and strong wood/sweet perfume. The cedar has calmed down, the vanilla has bloomed into this delicious sweet base and the sassafras is still bright and mellow. This is beautiful.

 

Throw: Good. The throw is definitely a lot more woody than the up close scent.

 

Overall: If you are the patient sort, or you are good at getting distracted after putting on your oils, this is a good scent to try. It will reward you.

[tartchef]

If you liked the concept of Kathmandu, but found it too medicinal, Tombstone might be a more wearable alternative... there's that same cedar & rootbeer element, but without the Ace bandage O_o This is a lovely, cuddly scent on me, faintly masculine & comforting. Like wrapping up in my husband's sweaters when he's out of town... Sweet & woody, with a nice dry edge to it, and a beautiful drydown of vanilla & sandalwood. Not the thing to wear if you want to attract attention, as it hovers very close to the skin, but just the thingfor a quiet night in...

 

My husband gave Tombstone a test-drive yesterday, and it was verging on horrible with his chemistry On me, the notes all blend together, but on him, they stay very distinct & jarring, the vanilla & cedar clashing terribly. He smelt like he was 15 & had been slapping on his mum's potpourri oils

 

So. A lovely scent on some, but certainly sensitive to individual chemistries...

[smallvoice]

I totally get the comparisons to Love's Philosophy. This, on me, is like a less sweet version of Love's Philosophy, but still wonderful. I remember sniffing this in '06 and wrinkling my nose and thinking, "Eww! Cedar!" as I tend to do. Cedar has a habit of going pencil shavings on me. It seems to work nicely in this blend, and I may have to wrangle up some Antique Lace to see about layering the two. It smells like spiced cream soda. It lacks a bit of the creamy quality of LP, and some of the richness, but quite a good comparison- and really, an excellent scent.

 

I would love to find more scents in this family!

[CordeliaSeduced]

I was anxious to try this, because (a) I love sassafras, and ( anything named after an Old West towne automatically conjures up images of Soiled Doves and dusty saloons that I've been finding awfully glamourous lately.

On first sniff, I was not disappointed: I got strong sassafras and vanilla, rich and sweet. It smelled remarkably similar on as well, and remained exactly as such for possibly an hour.

...and then, Cedar mosied on in, gun 'a firin'. I like cedar, really, I do. But apparently not on my body. I dabbed this on before going to work, and just an hour or so after being there I started to catch whiffs of something like lumberjack body odor every time I got close enough to my wrists.

 

I wanted to like this so badly, but ended up using the mechanics' SUPER STRENGTH exfoliating soap to scrub the living hell out of my wrists just to get the cedar off. Granted, the smell of anything at work often makes me sick, so I'm going to give this another shot soon before making a final judgment. I also think this might work much better as a room scent. I'm tempted to mix some into a spray to use on my carpet or around my desk since I think my body is just reacting poorly to the cedar.

[prrrplegrrrl]

In the bottle, it smells straight up like a [clean] hamster cage... all cedar. I'm so glad I gave it a chance (as with so many other oils!) because it dries to a delicious vanilla cake scent! It's not too sweet either, I think the cedar mellows it out.