Tombstone

[Lambent]

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.

 

Got a frimp of this.

 

Fresh upon skin, it smelled somewhat dusty. It morphs into a mainly vanilla scent; the vanilla smells "dirtied up." I get the cedar looming in the background and a bit of that root beer-like sassafras. I'm not familiar with balsam, yet, so I can't say.

 

Not really my style of fragrance, unfortunately, although vanilla lovers might enjoy it.

[porcelaincrypt]

First time I smelled this in the imp my thoughts were: outdoorsy, trees, oak maybe? Something minty. Something sweet. A little reminiscent of How Doth the Little Crocodile somehow. The second time, tonight, I thought dirt, minty, sweet and a little smoky.

 

On my skin it's like a cool vanilla, not warm at all. And I definitely get the sassafras! It's all Vanilla Root Beer! In the imp it's more earthy, but on my skin it's sweet.

 

I like it a lot! A solid 8/8.5 out of 10. Guess I'm not surprised I enjoy this one since I love Vanilla. Slightly masculine but not overtly so. Not sure if full bottle yet, but absolutely on the maybe list!

[Casablanca]

Tombstone is the general catalogversion of Outlaw, a limited edition scent out at the moment. It's not the same, but it's similar. Less gourmand, more rustic.

Wet on my skin, Tombstone is fizzy vanilla root beer on a balsamic cedar background. Outlaw has more of a cream tone that drifts it into root beer float land. Tombstone is more like vanilla-flavored root beer (no vanilla ice cream) and red wood. It's like drinking a cool root beer in a wood shop.

The fizziness mellows out from its initial crispness within a few minutes, but stays in play. The blend lasts at least a few hours on me. A good scent.

[roseus]

Fizzy sweet root beer over cedar. Rugged, but not too masculine for my tastes.

[gloame]

I love this wet–smells so good. But the cedar note goes very ‘pencil shavings’ on me. Kathmandu does the same thing, but in a pleasant way. The cedar here just seems to overpower the rest on my skin and make me smell like an elementary school student.

 

ETA Where I'd wear this: Studying for the ACT

Edited July 16, 2017 by gloame

[freyasfae]

I got this as an imp with purchase, so not anything I would have ordered on my own and for good reason. I hate sassafrass, this one confirms it, which isn't to say BPAL doesn't constantly surprise me with notes I think I hate, but this is just not one of them. The balsam and ceder seem to enhance the licoriceness of the sassafrass, particularly when wet. It mellows out a bit as it dries and becomes more cedar, but not for me.

[Cali]

Nononono there's something inherently medicinal in here for me and I'm not a fan. I don't know why but I'm getting a black liquorice from this, and an overly sweet one at that. And that's about it really. Bleh.

[Nikki Scarlet]

A frimp! I've been curious about this one for a while but never got around to buying an imp, so yay freebie!

In the imp and on me, wet:
This is reminding me of something from my childhood but I cannot for the life of me recall what it is. I wish I could say that's a good thing, but this is a sickly, plastic sweetness so far.

On me, dry:
As this dries, I think the childhood smell I'm recalling is, like . . . old, chewed-up bubble gum smushed up under somebody's desk, paired with recently-dried root beer or black licorice, none of which is doing my stomach any favours. A warmer, dustier scent starts to rise up over this, which I can't identify, but whatever that scent is isn't really me, either.

Verdict:
Bleh. Sending you off to someone whose nose and stomach will appreciate you, little friend.

[urbanruralferal]

Wowsa. This is straight up root beer float when wet, getting a wee bit plasticky as it dries.

I slept through the middle dry down, but when completely dry it smells like super creamy vanilla.

I like it, but it's not the kind of smell I wear. I was hoping for more wood, and maybe the cedar made an appearance in the 2nd act, but for me to want to buy a season pass, I would like the cedar, or *something* with a little more grit, to be standing on stage at the end of the show.

[achildoftime]

Cedar and sassafras. It starts very woody, but it dries to a creamy vanilla. It's syrupy and very much like a root beer float. It is pretty sweet and isn't as fizzy as the sassafras scents often are. The woodiness doesn't completely go away, which is nice. It kind of reminds me of drinking a float at a wooden picnic table. I don't think I'd wear it too often, but I'll happily hold on to my imp.

[Melissa_Officinalis]

This one just works on me and is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

 

The first tie I sniffed it, it was WHOA CEDAR! So much wood - too much wood. I washed it off and let it set for a few weeks. Then, boom, the magic.

 

The next time I tried it, the cedar was still there, but nice, mellow, and maybe a little dusty. The sweet vanilla root beer is now front and center. And sparkly. Something about this actually smells carbonated and sparkly. I get tons of compliments when I wear this, as it gently fills my whole office, but isn't overpowering in the slightest.

 

I reach for this almost as much as I reach for Coyote, so needless to say I'm a superfan.

[sunreon]

Today I wanted to feel more comfortably me. Went with something that was likely to be deep in my comfort zone.

I forgot the description when I went to put it on. I thought it would be one of the Ars Moriendi scents.

so I was very surprised when it was really foodie.

but now i’m not.

and btw I love it.

It’s threatening to go plasticky on me but I’m pretty sure it’ll be fine.

i can really smell the vanilla and the sassafras, right front and center, slow and .... somebody earlier in the thread said dusty? yeah. Dusty. The wood is just barely peeking through. I'm hoping it will come out more as it dries. If it doesn't I might have to set it aside in favor of my beloved woodsy scents. Or try layering it with a wood-scented lotion or something. That sounds like a lot of work.

[SoundlessEchoes]

From my first BPAL order a few years back.

 

In the imp: Primarily sassafras and balsam to the nose, not aggressive, but straightforward. If this scent was a man, he'd wear his guns openly, shake your hand firmly, and look you in the eye to let you know not to trust him at cards.

 

Initial drydown: On my skin, the sassafras comes to a bold, sharp edge. Faint hints of balsam adds to the wildness, and the overall feel is of decidedly alcoholic rootbeer. DEFINITELY don't trust this man at cards, but he's not going to lie to you that you should.

 

An hour out: As time goes on, the sassafras sinks down into the cedar, but keeps a lovely edge. I feel like the gentleman beat me at cards, then bought me a stiff drink. I'm both mildly irritated and intrigued. The longer it's on (and it lasts!) the more the cedar and vanilla show through and soften it, as if we've been drinking together and become good friends.

 

This is definitely a comfort scent to me. Which... probably says something, since it reminds me of a scoundrel.

[ShleepySnorlax]

Note: when I first tried this months ago, it was all sassafras all the time. It wasnt something I liked, but I know the magic of aging!

 

Wet: heavy sassafras

 

On the dry down: mmmm. The sassafras now mingles and is tempered by a sweet, vanilla balsam*. I love this. I put this on after a shower and it feels like a very fresh, slightly sweet scent. Its wonderful.

 

This feels like a sweet, warm breeze through a forest at night, wrapped in a big comfy sweater.

 

Edit: looking at descriptions of balsam & cedar, I think it was heavy on balsam because it was a very green scent rather than woody. I'm not super familiar with the two (but I need more in my life!!)

Edited July 11, 2018 by GlassKoala

[Miss_Unicorn]

It starts off very vanillary with cedar on the background, and a hint of something I can't quite place.

It warms up to become more woody, and rugged around the edges. The vanilla is prominent, but without being sweet.

This scent balances between being foody and wild, and it confuses me! But in a good way.

The imp I got only contained enough for one test, and I might have to purchase a full one.