Tombstone

[heywilma]

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.

This is straight up sassafras and vanilla on me, and the vanilla is one that is verrry creamy. I don't get much of the woodsiness at all. It's got good throw – a drop or two goes a long way, and great lasting power. Tombstone has totally just dethroned Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener as my favourite sarsaparilla scent. Edited July 24, 2010 by heywilma

[Edeniade]

I got this as a frimp in one of my orders, and given my happy history with other Wanderlust scents I knew I had to give this one a shot.

 

In the bottle: At first the vanilla is super strong & smells like a vanilla hand lotion from The Body Shop I once had. Then the sassafras & cedar appear and it smells sweet but musky and instantly I get a striking mental image of a scruffy, grinning cowboy. Aren't cowboys supposed to smell like Old Spice or is that only ex-footballers now? Either way, I am entranced and intrigued!

 

First swipe: The throw of this is pretty good on me! I still smell the vanilla but now I can also pick out the cedar and balsam more clearly. I tend to amp wood scents very well, but often to my detriment as I'm not particularly fond of most woods but this doesn't seem too bad. The sassafras is hidden behind the woody notes.

 

Drydown: It's nice and woody without being overbearing, and sugary sweet with the vanilla and sassafras. A very straightforward scent that makes you feel a bit rustic. Don't know when I'd wear this, but it's nice! I'm not sure yet if it's entirely me but I'm sure given some time I'll be reaching for this imp for an extra dose of mischievousness!

Edited July 26, 2010 by Edeniade

[Antoinette]

I've been wanting to try this scent out for a while and finally ordered an imp which arrived today. It smells great!

 

First impression in the imp and on my skin is that it smells just like the insides of certain candy/saloon like shops in Old Town, Columbia, which is an authentic old gold mining town and state park in California that dates back to the 1850s. These shops sell sassafras by the bottle and smell great inside, always love visiting there.

 

Sassafras, vanilla and the smell of the wood that the store is made from - this is what Tombstone evokes and I adore it. It's quite atmospheric for me. Awesome! Bottle(s) needed, like now!

 

I will also add that The Anti-Saloon League is one of my very faves, if not my fave, but I think Tombstone is going to be a close second. Which makes me so happy since ASL is hard to come by.

[somethingducky]

I smell root beer float on me, but I still really love it. I was sitting in the car with my parents shortly after imping myself and they kept commenting on the yummy-ness of the air.

[renadams]

In the Vial: Wonderful, perfect blend of complimentary scent that retain their individuality, yet somehow create a whole new effect. Rich, dark vanilla, deep sassafras, and clear bite of cedar.

 

Wet on the Skin: Beautiful, dark sassafras root, with all the earthy woodiness and 'root beer' overtone you expect. A touch of vanilla (more raw vanilla bean than vanilla extract) rounds it out, gives it a creamy, foamy head. The cedar is a refreshing, crisp, woody background. Not getting the balsam.

 

Dry on Skin: This one stayed really close to the in-vial body on me. It is both warm and spicy, woody and creamy. I think of brewed sassafras served in a foamy glass wide-mouth jar, and a splash of it hits the wooden bar counter and soaks in.

 

I really love this and would like to get a 5ml of it. It's definitely unisex and unique.

[Incendiare]

Soft woodsy root beer is what I get out of the imp. Wet, although the cedarwood becomes much more identifiable, the sassafras still challenges it and tries to dominate. Eventually the sassafras wins, because while I'm catching whiffs of Tombstone, I think to myself that it's like woodsy root beer, not cedarwood with a touch of sassafras. Probably one of the most unique blends I've come across. I'm kind of sad that the vanilla is shying away, but perhaps with a bit of age, it will show up.

[vanillabean]

This is one of my first reviews, so I hope I do it right...

 

In the imp: Very creamy vanilla and freshly mown grass. I am assuming that is the sassafras. The green feeling overpowers and kind of tickles my nose. Not a fan in the imp.

 

Wet: Getting a little more vanilla. I like this scent more and more.

 

Drydown: Very sweet, very creamy vanilla grounded by a woodsy feeling and a hint of the greenness in the imp. I am in love.

 

UNTIL... *dun dun dun*

 

All of a sudden... BAM! Hello cedar. That is all I can smell now. Cedar over just the very faintest tiniest hint of that AMAZING vanilla I had but a moment ago.

 

Well, crud. I wanted to like this one.

 

Tombstone smells much better on my boyfriend. On the drydown everything is playing very nicely together all swirly and wafty and.... just nummers. No big bottle for me though.

[Suu4LC]

Oo-two of the notes in this I love-vanilla and sassafras (squee!) but two I am no fan of (balsam and cedar)-wood notes tend to amp and overpower on me =/ But if they behave in this, it could be amazing.

 

In the imp, this smells like what it sounds like-sweet vanilla, sassafras and woods-I'll admit I can't tell the difference between cedar and balsam, but it smells cedar-y to me.

 

Yeah, on my skin I just loooove the vanilla and sassafras-omg if it was just those two I would be SO in. I just don't love cedar. From far away I mostly just smell vanilla and sassafras, up close I mostly smell cedar.

 

You know what this reminds me of? Love's Philosophy! A more subdued LP + cedar. On full drydown, the cedar actuall seems to retreat a little bit more. This is really a lovely blend. The wood is never TOO woody (lol), though if you like wood (lol) this may not be enough wood for you (snerk). It really really does remind me of Love's Philosophy, so if you are wondering whether that blend is something you should try to find, get an imp of this and imagine it without the cedar at all. I wouldn't need a bottle of this, but it's a great blend.

[beturtlement]

Imp: Immediately when I cracked open the imp, this smells like a perfume, drink, or /something/ so very familiar from my childhood, but I can't place it... it's driving me batty. I literally paced around the house, with my nose buried in the imp, going, "What /is/ this?!" (not at all helpful, but it had to be noted.. lol)

 

Wet: To me, this smells like overly sweetened, flat rootbeer/birchbeer. Actually, wait- scratch that.. it smells like rootbeer that's been spilled on a table or counter, and left to dry, but is still tacky and gooey. *giggles* But.... in a good way. (And not regular rootbeer- a rootbeer I used to get as a kid that was totally clear and had a more pungent sassafras flavor.)

 

Dry: As it dries down, the sweetness calms down a bit and I get more of a manly woodiness from what I'm thinking must be the cedar and/or balsam. It's starting to edge on the more "man's cologne" type, which isn't what I had expected from first, sweet sniff. And I'm still trying to wrack my brain what this reminds me of, too.. *bangs head on desk*

 

It's extremely pleasant, albeit not something I'd wear.. very intriguing, actually. If it were a little less sugary, I'd like smelling it on a man. The throw, from a distance, is still that sweet, soda'ish scent (sans fizz); the more woodsy, masculine notes only noticed when I sniff real close.

 

(On a side note, while I haven't smelled it in maaaaaany years, I wanna say that the sweetness of this reminds me of the men's version of the original Joop that my step-father used to wear. Has that sorta vibe to it. But dammit, that's not what my initial scent-memory was; must continue to wrack brain and sniff myself.)

[Floria]

Mostly vanilla and sassafras, with the other notes making it more brisk and bracing, especially when I first applied it. Apparently the Old West smells like really good root beer.

[mxtine]

Imp: Vanilla and cedar

Wet: Vanilla, sassafras and cedar wood. I can detect balsam at this stage.

Dry: OMG melty vanilla ice cream root beer float grounded by cedar! It's almost spicy, too.

 

This is really lovely. It's the same vanilla I smell in aged Snake Oil and Snake Oil Bath Oil. Pure heaven. I initially tried this perfume in an imp, which was super thick making me suspect it was aged. There is still a little sharpness in my Lab fresh bottle, but this is going to be fantastic after a couple months in a dark corner of my BPAL box.

[Vega]

Sniffed: Sweet vanilla, made mellow and cozy by the woods and balsam.

 

On skin: Sugary vanilla infused in a deep, woody-resinous base. (No root beer for me, thankfully.) Simple, laid-back and comfortable, like a warm blanket or familiar worn-in clothes. Tombstone doesn't have much nuance or body, but what it is is really, really good. It's a sturdy, no-nonsense scent, and lasts long on my skin. It definitely evokes the "West" (with less "Wild") in Wild West: a tranquil frontier town, or a cowboy's simple life. Colour impression is a earthy, cozy brown cream, like old ivory or weathered leather.

Tombstone is in the same sugar-vanilla family as Black Opal and Antique Lace, and would be the masculine version of vanilla (while the other two are more womanly).

 

Verdict: I really love Tombstone! However, the vanilla is of the sugary variety, which is just a bit too sweet for me. I have other vanilla blends that I like much more, so I always end up overlooking this. Even so, it's a beautiful scent and another fine specimen of BPAL artistry!

[Monday]

Wet I smell liquorice and wood. Where does that liquorice come from, it may just be the sassafras 'cause I have no idea what that smells like.

Dry it's mostly a heady, woodsy vanilla which reminds me a bit of Snake Oil. There is still a bit of liquorice in there.

I don't care too much for liquorice and the vanilla is a bit too much on the heady side for me. Will probably keep the imp around to see if it ages into anything less liquorice-like.

[calivianya]

Tombstone's vanilla is intensely foody on my skin, which I was not quite expecting. It smells for all the world like this cinnamon nougat I just had some of this morning. The sassafras and cedar are just adding to that impression, sassafras being foody on its own and cedar smelling almost spicy on my skin. I don't really get the balsam at all - just super foody cinnamon nougat. Wow, my skin chemistry is strange.

[elinox]

First Sniff: Wet leather.

 

Wet: Leather with a hint of sarsaparilla. As it started to dry down, I got vanilla peaking through which was nice.

 

Dry: The leather turns to a dusty, dry smell, very reminiscent of an old west town. The vanilla mixed with it softly so it’s not as pungent a leather as I got with Jolly Roger.

 

My Reaction: Once it had dried completely there was a lovely faint vanilla smell that mixed nicely with the leather which reminds me of the vanilla Yankee candle, only much softer and pleasing to the nose. The vanilla and faint sarsaparilla really made this one true to its name too. It’s the old west, dusty dry streets with horses nearby in an old saloon with plenty of whisky and good sarsaparilla.

 

Rating 1-5: 3.5

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: Snake Oil, Pour Homme. Seriously, it smells quite a bit like Snake Oil, though less exotic and more masculine. It's smoother and drier than Snake Oil, and has a warm, woodsy feel to it. It's delicious!

 

Wet: Oh my god. Is that... mint? It must be the balsam, but yes, it smells like mint. This is the warm, creamy vanilla mint I have been searching for! And that woodsiness is still there, too - always a good thing for me. THIS IS SO GOOD.

 

Dry: Warm, creamy, woodsy, vanilla mint oh mah gaaaaaaaaaaah. As time goes on, the vanilla fades somewhat and it gets more woodsy and rugged.

 

An Hour Later: The balsam has come around and realized it should smell like balsam, not mint - more or less. There is still a subtle mintiness about it. And the vanilla is more of a general sweetness than vanilla. Mainly, it's a soft yet masculine, sweet woodsy scent.

 

Overall: I'm thrilled to find the type of vanilla mint I love - even if it's not actually mint. This will be slathered on the boyfriend tonight, though if it doesn't work on him, I'm definitely keeping it for myself. It's not at all what I was expecting (and I'm sad that I didn't get the sassafras at all), but I love it anyway!

[lavenderfrost]

This is definitely mens' cologne, but more of a gentleman's blend (as gentlemanly as one can be in the wild west, anyway) than a rugged outlaw blend. It's pretty much straight-up vanilla cedar on me, if I had a guy in my life I'd definitely make him try it.

 

Another frimp for my "hypothetical future bf" stash.

[DeCuvieri]

In Bottle: Wow. I will be wafting Tombstone from the bottle in the future, not straight-up sniffing. This one can stun elephants in large doses. There’s solid mint, but it’s not as sharp because of the vanilla. Cedar is detectable too. Despite first concerns this actually doesn’t smell like spearmint gum or toothpaste though.

 

Wet: Creamy mint at first, but it backs down. After about ten minutes I can tell the sassafras is coming to the front because I smell like vanilla and root beer. Oh lord, I am a walking root beer float.

 

Dry: Smooth, spiced, and creamy. The mint and root beer is gone, leaving me with mostly vanilla and what I suppose is purely sassafras. It’s nice, but not something I would wear myself.

[virusq]

Oh man, I love this smell! It started kind of like damp cedar and it wound up a buttery vanilla/sassafras. I keep catching whiffs of something delightful that reminds me of those little root-beer barrel hard candies.

 

It’s delicious. Definitely on my bottle list!

Edited July 2, 2011 by virusq

[invisible iris]

In the imp I smelled plasticky vanilla/sassafras/cedar, and freshly applied it was basically the same. As it dried, it went through a long rootbeer Dum Dums phase that wasn't pleasant. Really sweet and kinda fakey.

 

It took a while, maybe an hour, but the plastic eventually receded into cedar and balsam. Then this got really good. I love cedar combined with something edible & sweet, and this is cedar with the caramel/herbal sweetness of vanilla sassafras. The throw of this smells so nice, even better than when I stick my nose up into it. It wafts a wonderful woodsy caramel sassafras.

 

Verdict: Warm woodsy comfort, sweet vanilla sassafrass, just this side of foody. A great scent for a low-key, color brown, autumnal kind of day, if I can make it through the cloying and plasticky wet phase.

[Viridian]

Imp: sweet (but not too foody) vanilla, and a little smoky with something that reminds me of cigars, almost, but isn't tobacco. Must be the cedar or the sassafras?

 

On skin: oh, there's the cedar! It's very very woody, almost sharply so. I can pick out an herbal sharpness, too. There's kind of a dry feel to the scent that makes me think it'd be nice on a man, but I don't think I like it on me.

 

Dry: after a few minutes the sharpness calms down. It's still a little bit of a dusty scent, but now the vanilla is stronger and almost... flat/stale smelling rather than warm and complex. I think it's the cedar doing that, because dry dusty smells don't work that well on me and tend to mute down every other note in a blend under their dustiness. Every now and then I get a whiff of something minty. I can see this being nice on others, but something about it isn't quite right on me.

 

ETA: on the final drydown this is exactly like Love's Philosophy on me, once the cedar is gone. If only it hadn't gone through that weird dusty stage!

Edited July 18, 2011 by Viridian

[KittyHawk]

This is my first ever BPAL thanks to the wonderful Maljen and my very first review! I hope I can do this justice despite my untrained nose, as it is just gorgeous on my skin.

 

In the imp, it smells very woody, but it is a very dusty wood; it is quite sharp and almost smoky. I definitely get the vibe of an Old West town when I smell this. Specifically, it reminds me of Frontiertown in Cedar Point, right near the hand-dipped candle shop where a hint a vanilla breezes against the cedar. All sorts of childhood memories are flooding back to me now. Love.

 

Wet, it smells really similar, though the vanilla is starting to come out, as is the sassafras. This is complex, comforting, and lovely. Nose is attached to wrist.

 

Dry, my nose is still stuck to my wrist. The cedar has calmed down a bit and had taken on a musky quality; sassafras remains in the background, but it's definitely still there. The vanilla has taken center stage now; this is so lovely.

[ajansuz]

 

I was frimped this and extremely excited, because I had been wanting to try it for a while anyway. It's full of notes I love, and I thought for sure it would work on me. In the imp, it smelled lovely, understated vanilla, cedar, and something a little green and herbal.

 

Wet: Plastic. Horrid plastic fake vanilla that burned my nose.

 

Dry down: I was more hopeful. The vanilla settled to something more natural but still more foody than I care for in my vanilla blends. The cedar amped really nicely and started to work well with it, and the balsam picked up to a nice evergreen note. No hint of root beer, though, not even a tiny bit.

 

After about an hour, the plastic was back in force. That particular vanilla has to be different than the one in Gypsy or Black Opal. Those played really nicely with my skin chemistry. This is a disaster on me, like a fake, plastic-y cheap vanilla candle. SO DISAPPOINTING.

[Circaea]

My Tombstone is an imp, from the sales forum, of unknown age.

 

This is becoming my signature scent. There's something about it that I almost crave, and I feel a little undressed without it.

 

Goes on all bitter-medicinal, like I remember Snake Oil being, and goes through a dry, dusty wood phase that reminds me of the desert ranch where I took horse-riding lessons as a kid. Then the vanilla and sarsparilla come in. I don't agree that it's a man's scent. I would describe it as unisex. It's just a soft, warm, dusty, salty and faintly sweet smell that's like skin, but better. I'll be getting a bottle of this (after payday!)

[yakiguri]

This scent on my skin is more evocative of Cold Stone (the ice cream shop) rather than Tombstone. It's straight up creamy sweet vanilla, and if I didn't know any better I'd think it was a single-note vanilla. Maybe I amp it? I like vanilla, but I like cedar too, and it would've been nice to catch more of the latter and less of the former.

 

Strangely enough it smells highly similar to Tombeur (my absolute FAVE) on my skin, but with Tombeur there's something dark and sinister hiding in the background that Tombstone distinctly lacks. Tombstone is sweet sweet sweet rather than rugged with Texas handlebar 'staches. I'll keep my imp but I'll pass on buying a bottle.