Tombstone

[chin]

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 one is very woody! At first, it almost reminds me of old foundations or treated logs … that dry, dark, creosote-y smell. I wonder if that's the sassafrass? It's absolutely NOT creosote, but that's what my brain associates with the heavy woodiness. After a couple of hours the scent is drier, still woody but more cedary/balsamy. After a couple more hours, the vanilla starts to come out ... then this is DIVINE. Cedary, balsamy, vanilla-y - it's gorgeous. Actually it smells like my ex He says it smells like Yosemite and tobacco. I gave my imp to him, and ordered a big bottle for myself.

[TheDarkMother]

On first whiff my intial reaction was...is that chocolate?? Then I realized...no...that is just extremely gooey, milky vanilla. Wow! Not even the vanilla extract smell, so I don't think of baking anything, this is thick vanilla, like if you could make a chocolate bar only out of vanilla, or warm vanilla milk. Mmmm.

 

On me...NOW I can smell the woodsy cedar! There is this aura of pure vanilla that I can smell when I'm typing, and then when I put my nose to my wrist, raw cedar! It kind of reminds me of burning vanilla incence on a cedar stick, but without that fake, imitation vanilla smell. I just can't get over the intensity of the vanilla!

 

I put a drop on each earlobe, and now I can smell the cedar, athough I really think that is going to be sandlewood...but it smells so cedary. This is like the perfect blend of sweet and smoke. I think this is the first real oil that I can truely say smells simply decadent!

 

Le Purrrrrr....

[ChupaChup]

I originally bought Tombstone for the boy and he didn't think much of it, even though I thought it smelled great on him. But I have to admit, it smells even better on me! When it first went on, I was afraid it was going to be too dry and woody, that the cedar would do what sandalwood does on my skin. But boy, that vanilla is strong. It wrestles down the cedar and they both blend together to become the most amazing aroma. It's kind of hard to describe, the vanilla's sweetness is taken away by the cedar and the cedar's dryness is taken away by the vanilla. I can't sniff out the sassafras by itself, or the balsam, but I think they must be the magic that makes this blend work. Once my imp is gone, big bottle for me!

Edited August 16, 2004 by ChupaChup

[nevermore]

Tombstone, on me, is a woody, slightly dusty vanilla. It’s perfect for putting on after many of the other scents have faded – it smells quite nice with Voodoo and Snake Oil. I don’t think I need a bigger bottle right away, as I made my imp into a solid perfume, which will last for quite some time.

[malanna]

This is a masculine scent. It smells a bit like root beer in the bottle, but on the skin, it's a dry cedar. Just woody. It reminds me of Anne Bonny in that sauna wood sort of way. It's odd, but I get wafts of a vanilla-y scent (I just know it's pleasant, since it's hard to pin down). When I sniff my wrist, it's just woodsy. Now, two hours later, it's faded (although my nose is a bit overwhelmed at the moment).

[Bard]

A friend of mine introduced me to BPAL when I mentioned that I was looking for a new fragrance. I had in mind something involving cedar and vanilla: a combination of scents I like to burn as incense.

 

"I think BPAL has such a thing," she said, and she pulled up the search results for Tombstone. It immediately caught my attention.

 

In the Bottle: My first reaction to this much-anticipated scent was, "Oh. No." In the bottle, it was muddy and dark. The cedar and balsam were overwhelming and the vanilla barely recognizable. I closed it, shook it vigorously, opened it and tried again. The vanilla emerged a little, but the over all effect was not the pleasant, warm cedar glow I was looking for. Disappointing.

 

Out of the Bottle: After reading the forums, I decided that I shouldn't pass judgement on it until I tried it on my skin. I put a little swipe on either side of my neck this morning. Sure enough, it was still heavy and dark, but on my skin, I could smell the sassafras and the vanilla. After 20-30 minutes, it mellowed into the warm sort of cedar scent I'd anticipated, with a hint of vanilla adding a welcome sweetness. This I could handle. Catastrophe averted.

 

Hours later: The vanilla becomes prominent, leaving just a hint of cedar. The sassafras adds that welcome root beer scent that others have mentioned. It's almost too sweet at this stage. Almost. It still falls within my comfort range. I can see why some of the ladies find this masculine but wearable, while others find it too masculine. The balance between the cedar and the vanilla makes a real difference.

 

I can't say it's quite what I wanted or expected, but I'd have no objections to wearing this as a daily scent. It's a bit too casual for a formal situation, I think, but it's just about perfect for an average day. It's definitely worth a another try.

 

Tombstone Haiku:

Woodfires smell of home:

Haunting his dreams with her soft

Vanilla kisses.

 

 

Your humble and obedient Renaissance Man,

 

Bard

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Tombstone is a combo of vanilla cream soda and root beer served up in a newly built saloon that still has the sawdust on the floor.

 

Second Impression: I'm so pleased that the vanilla starts out and stays in this blend. I was worried it would get lost among the woods.

 

Final analysis: Rugged and masculine, yes but with a sweet core. A cowboy and a gentleman, perhaps?

Edited August 30, 2004 by andrabell

[NoirRosaleen]

This one I ordered for the boy, and to my delight it actually had staying power on him, unlike almost everything else I got.

 

On him, it's all vanilla and tobacco - but more of a sweet pipe tobacco, rather than the bitter stuff in the cigarettes everyone seems to smoke in the South It matches well with me wearing O, actually, and now if I can just talk him into wearing it occasionally, I*ll be a very happy camper

 

Kethry

[metterklume]

Ordered this for the boy, but he’s really not a scent person at all. I wore it yesterday on a day off running errands with a friend – I wanted to feel comfortable and happy but not fancy or prettied-up, and it was perfect. The root-beeriness of the sassafras wasn’t overwhelming, happily, though the woods are a little less present than I wanted them to be and the vanilla doesn’t register at all.

 

I ended up adding a tiny amount of Hamadryad to increase the woods and add a bit of spice – yum. Very yum. Also quite long-lasting – I touched it up yesterday around 5 pm and could still smell it in my hair about 24 hours later. Not an everyday-scent, but this will be another good winter scent. I would still love to see what this does on the boy. Would it be really naughty to apply oils to him in his sleep?

[Penance]

Got an imp of this from ChupaChup...

 

First sniff:

 

Cedar and something sweet, like creme soda spilled on sawdust. I know that doesn't sound appealing, but I really like the combination!

 

Wet on skin:

 

Both the cedar and the sweetness have increased in intensity, and it's a very interesting combination. I love cedar with a passion, so this is a very good thing. The "something sweet" I smelled seems to be turning into...root beer? That'd be the sassafras, which I also adore. This is a really interesting combination, not one I would have thought would work, but the result is beautiful! It's reminding me of the old Indian General Store in my home town where I used to buy wintergreen candies, root beer and mocassins. It has that same sweetness and wood combination that I loved when I was little.

 

Dry down:

 

Cedar and root beer! This is a really happy, carefree kind of scent for me. I love the combination, it's woody without being too dry and it's sweet without being cloying. The two balance each other out perfectly and the result is beautiful.

 

The bottom line:

 

Oh, yes, this is a winner. I tend to shy away from sweet scents, but the cedar in this has tempered it so that it's a lovely combination of...well, sawdust and root beer. I know that doesn't sound appetizing, but it's really a beautiful combination and one that hold a lot of good memories for me.

[Azrhiaz]

While I really enjoyed the sassafras note in Laudanum, here it's just too much. Wet, this is a thick, sweet, root-beer syrup on me, stopping just shy of being headache-inducing.

 

The drydown is far more pleasant with the cedar coming through, and it's a perfect cowboy scent. You can practically smell the dust on sunfaded denim and the swirl of tumbleweeds. Still, I don't think I could deal with the wet stage.

 

Anyway, I got this Imp for a friend to go with our old-west RPG, so no worries. When Bordello arrives I'll be sending her the set.

[yellowrose]

Initial sniff: rootbeer. Vanilla where art thou?

 

Wet: rootbeer in the forest. More rootbeer than the sweetness of sarsparilla, which is what I expected based on the description.

 

Still wet: YOW! Vanilla zooms in almost immediately. Just a tinge of cedar around the edges. Wholly different scent when up close on it -- more trees. Vanilla when doing normal activities (nose not buried in wrists).

 

I'm liking this, but I'm thinking it's more of a playing out scent for gigs than an everyday scent. The SO claims to like this better than what has been my favorite vanilla scent, but wants us to continue the search for a scent. (His vote remains with Dragon's Bone.)

 

Drying (after 30ish minutes): very heady scent. Later ... seems more vanilla than anything else. Much later ... vanilla with hints of cedar. Could probably stand to be reapplied after another hour has elapsed. Neh. Doesn't really need it. Seems to have nice staying power.

 

Is a big bottle in my future? Perhaps. Errr, prolly.

Edited November 11, 2004 by yellowrose

[chop-chop]

Tombstone remained pretty darn consistent with me through first sniff to hours after application. First whiff I get nothing but vanilla with the leathery/woodsy (or woodsy/leathery) undertone. It's a good scent but I was a little disappointed that I couldn't detect any root beer as I had hoped. I'll just chalk that up to the luck of the oil-mixing gods.

 

After application the vanilla is good and strong while the "This is wood? It reminds me of leather so much" scent hangs around to dirty up the sweetness of the vanilla, which is already less sweeter than your normal vanilla. As time goes on the vanilla burns off a little bit and the "dirtiness" starts to stand out a little bit more. All in all, it's a sweet but tough scent. Perfect for the cowboy that writes poetry when he's not shooting cattle rustlers!

 

Shoot, another scent I have to add to my "Get a Bigger Bottle of" list!

[grrrlennyl]

tombstone

 

at first: this is interesting. sweet, but dark, in a dusty sort of way.

on: weird. a warm vanilla, and...a bunch of other stuff. these are definitely scents i haven't smelled before. however, there's something i don't like at the end.

1 hour later: hmmm...sweeter, but a very interesting sweet. i'm starting to like it more. actually, it's lovely.

3 hours later: sweet, but with something smoky. i didn't think i'd like this, but i do. the cedar seems to be behaving itself so far.

6.5 hours later: soft, and more sweet than smoky. i like this. there isn't too much going on, but it isn't boring in the least.

overall: this is a really odd scent. masculine, but not really. i'm not sure i'll get another imp, but i'll enjoy using this one.

[feline.by.design]

I expected this oil to be darker in the bottle, but Tombstone looks only lightly coloured to me. :::shrugs:::

 

In the bottle and when wet, the cedar just rises to the top, reminding me of sawdust. The vanilla seemed like it was being beaten down by the predominant cedar smell.

 

After about ten minutes, possibly less, the cedar calms down and takes a backseat to the sassafrass and vanilla, reminding me of drinking warm root beer in a wooden box. It's better this way than the previous cedar sawdust smell, and it is rather masculine although a woman could pull it off and do so with style.

 

But women can pull anything off, can't we? *wink*

 

I bought this imp with the intention of giving it to either my roommate or my boyfriend, but if I wasn't, I would likely keep the imp. Tombstone smells GREAT once it begins to dry down, and it sticks to the skin rather well. However, I won't be tempted to keep it for myself, and I'll have to warn the person whom I will be giving to to not to wash it off if they are unhappy with the cedar smell at first whiff. Definitely one an individual must let morph on the skin for at least a little while before making judgements.

 

-doreen

[darkitysnark]

Tombstone

 

Whoa, nelly! This one keeps morphing on me (in a mostly good way). Let's begin:

 

In the bottle:

I've started taking multiple sniffs of BPAL in the bottle lately, as it seems even in that small space of time that different notes can be drawn out with consecutive inhalations. At first I got the lichen/mossy/earthy dirt smell. Then, will additional sniffs, I started drawing out a clear, bright, sweet smell... I thought it was the vanilla, but it was sharpened by something else to make it more assertive and insistent.

 

Wet:

Hello vanilla! Wow! I think I went a little heavy with this one, and it turns out to be a stronger scent anyways, so I was completely bowled over by vanilla. Just as quickly as the vanilla knocked me over a nice calm woody note (cedar) sort of swept up behind. Interesting.

 

Drydown:

Here's where it got even more interesting. The vanilla morphed into sarsparilla sodie. At the same time the cedar got drier and darker and something like myrrh tickled the back of my throat. At one point I got an unpleasant myrrh/playdoh combination, but that was quickly enveloped by the sarsparilla.

 

In fact, I've had "sarsparilla" going through my head for the last two hours.

 

Aside: about 1.5 hours into wearing, I got my second unsolicited compliment (the first was for Morroco, and actually, it was the same person). She stopped by my desk and noted "something smells really good over here!". I almost gave her the imp then and there due to the weird playdoh period. But I held off. Something about Tombstone has got its hooks in me and I want to try this one at least one more time.

 

Later: I'm only about two hours into it, but I can tell that this is going to be an all-day long-lasting affair. The myrrh/playdoh is gone. There's a delicious, warm, manly vanilla that sort of wafts up while I'm typing. It seems to carry my body heat with it. Every once in a while I get a bit of the cedar wood. I have not detected the bright, minty note since huffing the bottle.

 

Conclusion: wow. This was a freebie from the lab. I'm glad they included this as it was probably a few orders down in my list of priorities... but this definitely has me curious about the other "vanilla" scents (Snake Oil et al) since this traditionally foodie scent has been treated so well.

 

Now I gotta go find me a sodie pop.

 

ETA: about 11 hours later, the scent is still there, albeit very faint. The Mr. couldn't really pick it up due to a cold, but I have decided this one's a keeper. When his schnozz is back in working order I'm going to have him try it out (and then probably ravish him)

Edited December 1, 2004 by darkitysnark

[sh1mm3r]

From reading other posts, I am once more convinced my body chemistry is wacko. This scent is not masculine at all on me. And not woodsy either.

 

Wet - okay, I smell some woods, but also vanilla and a sweetness. It reminds me a lot of the honey vanilla lotion I used to wear all of the time.

 

Dry - root beer float, but not too sweet. It's not the sticky sweet it could be, I think the woods help with this, but they are not in the foreground (for once!).

 

I LOVE this scent on me. I feel sexy and feminine with it on. Definitely will need to purchase a larger bottle.

 

And I would never have tried it had my friend not had an imp. You just can never tell!

[diabolique]

i can't really say anything that hasn't been said. this is musty and sweet. it's exactly how i envisioned it to smell, and i LOVE it. lovelovelovelove. my boyfriend is going to smell so good.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I gave this to Brian for Yule, and I LOVE it on him!!! He should do his own review, but here are my impressions: Tombstone smells like the cowboy who is the narrator in The Big Lebowski. Yes, you know the one. He's a sweet old guy in full cowboy gear who turns up in bars and orders sarsparilla and gets his long white moustache in it. This oil is warm and sweet and delightful, a Hollywood cowboy with a heart o' gold. It's also *strong*; the whole apartment smelled deliciously of vanilla and rootbeer after Brian applied it. And there's just that touch of cedar peeking out to make it a little more manly (although you girls can totally wear it). Tombstone is a rootbeer-float toast to the man who likes tough-guy old Western movies but is a total softie at heart.

[surf-tormented]

Ah, the agony and the ecstasy.

 

The ecstasy: Oh, the root beer flavor. Oh, the sassafras tingle. It smells so strong, so fresh, so joyous. I could bathe in this stuff! Could this be a bottle sale? The wood is coming in and it is sassafras and cedar...hooray.

 

(1 hour later)

 

The agony: Tombstone has turned into a woody Snake Oil on me. It has the spicy scent of that oil or Morocco with vanilla and wood on top of it. The vanilla is getting really strong. I don't like vanilla at all and was hoping through luck the vanilla was to the back of this one.

Where is my beloved sassafras? It's gone!

 

Verdict: Tombstone is great if you love Snake Oil and wish to have a woodier version of it. The root beer gives it a nice kick in the beginning. Unfortunately, this one smells a little too close to Morocco for me and the vanilla is way too strong for me to handle. But I loved the sassafras while it lasted. Must look other oils with sassafras in them!

 

Trading the imp to someone I know will love this!

Edited January 13, 2005 by Madame Nyx

[Northernminx]

A sharp fresh whiff of cedar and some sassafras at first, this is dry and evocative of saloons and tumbleweeds. A rugged, masculine smell that slowly sweetens with a touch of vanilla. Definitly old bar rooms and six shooters. This was lovely but I found it a touch too masculine for me so off to swaps.

[Rheliwen]

Mmmm, what a comforting scent!

 

In the bottle:

 

I mostly smell cedar, but there is a tinge of sweetness lurking in the background.

 

Wet:

 

Vanilla and cedar. My skin really love to amp up vanilla for some reason. Good thing the cedar is willing to go to bat with it, otherwise this would be pure vanilla on me.

 

Dry:

 

Oh good! I can smell the sassafras now. It makes a nice subtle sweet smell. I almost think this should be a wanderlust because I get images of the old Tombstone: wood plank sidewalks, leather, dry and dusty streets, men drinking and smoking tobacco at the saloon.

 

Verdict:

 

I didn't think I'd fall in love with this and expected to send this off to the boy. But I think it's definitely gender neutral...and I want to keep it! It's simply and warm, comforting scent.

[tsarina]

In the bottle, it smells like vanilla and cedar. The cedar scent is exactly like the cedar growing around my part of the world, and so it instantly reminds me of many an afternoon spent running around outside.

 

On my skin, there's a sharp burst of cedar and then it mellows. It fades in and out of the blend, always reminding me of its presence. The vanilla and sassafras come out more. It develops a very warm, enjoyable scent that stays with me for some time. At times, it almost smells like rootbeer and cedar wood.

 

This scent earns me many compliments, though curiously no one seems to pick up on the sharpness of the cedar.

[tempete]

This scent earns me many compliments, though curiously no one seems to pick up on the sharpness of the cedar.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

:raises hand: The cedar note definitely hit me in the wet stage, though I could detect the vanilla lurking in the background. Then, the vanilla note intensified and the sassafras note came out, so that I smelled like a combination of wood, root beer and baked goods. These elements didn't blend together well on my skin, so it was a bit disconcerting to smell so many disconnected notes emanating from the test spot. The foody notes mostly disappeared in the final drydown, leaving behind some sugar, so that I smelled like sweetened wood in the end. None of the stages of Tombstone suit me, so this one is going to the swap pile.

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- A smoky saloon with cedar wood floor and walls!

 

After 10 minutes- Wow, this does smell like the old west! Tombstone smells like my Great Uncles vanilla pipe tobacco mixed with the smell of my Great Grandmothers old cedar floor house in Texas. There is a hint of cigarette and Bourbon in this too. Hee Haw!

 

After 30 minutes- The Vanilla pipe tobacco and cedar smell is still going strong. All I can think of now is that old house filled with cowboys smoking and drinking.

 

Summery- I like this one a lot but I don't think I will order a big bottle. The imp will be enough to last me for a while.