The Black Rider

[tailoredshirt]

Black leather, oppoponax, tobacco, and black amber.

In the bottle: Oh., I think I'm going to like this. I get the amber and the leather, and there is a bit of floral in there somewhere? I don't know what the other notes are supposed to smell like, so perhaps that's what I'm getting.

Wet: The leather comes out a bit more when I apply it. I love the black amber. I fell in love with it when I tried Doc Constantine. It's sweet and buttery, and it doesn't go to powder on me after a couple of hours. And like Doc Constantine, Black Rider is a leather/black amber blend, so I already love it. I think the amber is a perfect complement to the leather, sweetening it and rounding it out.

Dry: As it dries, I get the leather more and more. It's a bit sharp, but not overwhelming yet. And after a little while, it dies down a bit. I don't love this as much as I love Doc Constantine (sorry, I can't stop comparing them), perhaps because Black Rider is more leather and no musk. I like this blend and will definitely keep my imp, but I probably won't wear it much since I already have a similar blend that I prefer.

Overall: Leather and black amber. Thumbs up!

ETA: This is actually quite different from Doc Constantine. At the beginning, it's amber and leather, with a bit of tobacco that makes me think "sour." But just barely, and it doesn't ruin anything. After a bit, the tobacco dies down and the amber-leather shines through. It's very clean and sweet and just gorgeous. I put it on the top of my hand right before I got in the car, and the air conditioner blowing right over my hand let me smell the scent while I was driving. Guh, I'm in love. Edited May 20, 2010 by tailoredshirt

[donnatron]

Bottle: Amber and leather and lots of dark, smoky frankincense.

 

Wet: The amber amps up and almost goes play dough on my skin. The leather is a little plastic-y at first but that quickly dies down. It almost smells like there's sandalwood in this--maybe the tobacco? There is something a little citrus-y here. It might be the amber--some ambers are like that on my skin.

 

Dry: Sexy as hell. It's a dark, smoky leather grounded by a spectacular tobacco/frankincense/amber base. Very dark and skin close and mysterious and... sexy. There is no other way to describe it. I want to do bad things to me and I smell good all the time! It's a marginally evil sort of scent. Not necessarily that I'm out slaughtering people by the millions but this isn't a scent one would put on to go volunteer at a soup kitchen. Things are going to go down and there might be a little blood.

 

Throw: Mild to moderate. It's skin close and warm but lingers a long time.

 

Overall: Love it. Intensely.

Edited May 11, 2010 by paperrose

[midnight_aeval]

I've had these imps, oh, since the scents came out, but knowing leather you can't test them all RIGHT away. They age/morph/change so much after the first couple months.

 

Now this one is much more me. Spicey, warm, dark and smokey. Crowley type leather in here... I have a feeling my husband would love to wear this one too. Probably will be a bottle purchase!

[verbranden]

In the imp, I get a rich, leather amber - definitely black leather. On my skin, the opoponax and tobacco become more prominent with a bit of wear, mingling wonderfully with the leather and amber notes. With me, this scent doesn't morph so much on me as just becomes more rich throughout the day - though the amber does seem to rise to the top eventually (though that is most likely my skin's super amber amping tendencies). It is rather unisex edging on masculine and I'll probably get another imp for my husband as I can imagine this also smelling wonderful on a man.

 

This is an instant favorite and definitely will be getting a bottle on my next lab purchase.

[Molls]

There are only a few leather blends I like... CC Female, Liz, Perversion, Loviatar... but I am adding this one to the list. Soft leather, sweet amber - pure

[filigree_shadow]

With a note line-up like this one has, I was pretty sure I'd like this. I do.

 

The leather actually takes a backseat to the other notes, and the amber is behaving itself and not turning powdery. It's a deep, shadowy, dry scent -- not too dark, and not loud. The amber rounds it out nicely, and gives the whole thing a soft feel.

 

Very nice. Quite sexy, in an understated, growly sort of way.

[Wwindy]

Something about this reminds me a lot of Clockwork Couture: Male -- I guess the leather note must be similar?

 

It's a strong, sexy scent, but not as rich or complex on me right now as CC:M. Maybe once the imp has aged a bit...

[sarielswish]

In the vial, I swear to god there's rose in this. I smell leather and roses. This is what I expected Whip to smell like. Color, red so dark it's almost indistinguishable from black.

 

Wet on my skin, I can smell the leather distinctly, which is unusual. I'm wondering if the 'rose' note I'm picking up is a combination of the oppoponax and the black amber, though. The tobacco is standing out nicely, which I like. I'm usually pretty fond of tobacco notes, though.

 

10-15 minute drydown - So far, it's drying to leather and tobacco. Very nice. If it stays like this, it's a definite bottle purchase. It's reminiscent of Parliament of Monsters, but without the incense-y notes, so a little softer.

 

30 minute drydown - Slightly powdery, but not in a bad way. Amber has a tendency to dry that way, but it wasn't unexpected. I think this is a definite bottle.

[meredevachon]

With leather, tobacco, and amber, I had to try this. Of the three Riders, I figured this would be my favorite. In case you aren't interesting in the tl;dr... I was right. It's amazing.

 

In the imp: Tobacco-sweet and the chemical I associate with the Lab's leather notes.

 

Wet: The tobacco and amber make this very sweet (but not in a foody way) almost immediately, with the leather coming up through the sweetness.

 

Drydown: I wouldn't know opoponax if it bit me, but the rest of this is exactly what I would expect.

 

Dry: Oh dear lord and lady, this is good. Maybe not enough to get into my top 5, but def top 10 material. Leather warmed by skin and sun. Round richness of the amber. Sweet and a little earthy from the tobacco. All blending together harmoniously. Enough throw that I don't have to keep my nose stuck to my arm, but not so much I feel like I'm calling attention to myself (in other words, perfect for me). Lasts for hours. Yeah, I love this one.

[Argentwolf]

I want to love this scent but...I'm just not getting much out of it. The leather is so soft and faint; it has a faint smokiness around it. I'm just not getting much throw out of it at all, and it doesn't hang around for very long.

[zmulls]

I love leather. I really like tobacco. I *think* I like oppoponax (I like Godfather Death and that may or may not be the oppoponax I'm reacting to).

 

But....sigh. It barely registers on me. Leathers generally like me, Iago and (LE Lupercalia) Enkhesapolos are perfect. But this is light and fades quickly.

 

I think this would be a good leather scent for a woman who wanted a leather but didn't want to reek of it as a matter of course.

[SophieCedar]

I deadened my nasal passages due to excitement about my newly arrived GC order...yay. This is partially from memories of sniffing it when 1st arrived last night.

 

Wet: This has a similar nasal feel/ experience as Perversion and Chimera. It hits all the same spots and causes the same feral drooling eyes rolling into back of ocular cavities goodness reaction. Deeper and darker. Strong buttery dark leather and tobacco with wet sticky amber. Wear this when out on the town some night... You're guaranteed an *ahem!* intriguing evening.. It's Perversion for the difficult to seduce... Perversion may be too obvious and would scare away your victim, but this.. hmmm.

Drydown: creates and keeps an atmospheric cloud around me. I could stay in this bubble for quite a while...sigh. It's all my favorite things from any old downtown area.. the tobacco shops with chess boards and old leather.. bars from the 17 and 1800's with velvet curtains, embellished wallpaper, copious amounts and selections of absinthe, chartreuse, scotch, and dark corners.

Edited October 16, 2010 by SophieCedar

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from spiresinthesnow.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I've had my eye on this one for a while now and kept putting off trying it. Everything in here other than the leather should be a nearly guaranteed win (unless the amber turns to baby powder). Leather is an iffy note for me, though. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I love it and sometimes it makes me a little sick (which I assume is because I stopped buying leather for moral reasons years ago and the smell weirds me out at times). The Black Rider has the potential to be perfect for me, though, so I'm looking forward to trying it.

 

First sniff:

 

Tobacco, soft leather and a tiny touch of amber. It's not the usual amber note that I get from the Lab, though. It's definitely a darker scent, in terms of feeling, rather than actual smell. I like the darkness of this scent. It's not dark the same way vetiver and resins can be. Instead it's sort of gloomy and mysterious.

 

Wet on skin:

 

The leather puts in more of an appearance once it hits my skin. It's a soft leather, suede-like and old, not fresh, new and shiny. It's not like Dead Man's Hand, though. Worn-in, but not dried out and cracked. I still get plenty of tobacco and amber, too, and just a touch of resin. I love this. It's gender neutral, soft and lovely.

 

Dry down:

 

Sweeter and more blended. I still get all the notes, but everything swirls together to make a scent that's dark and mysterious but soft, like well-worn velvet. The tobacco and leather are the main players here, but the soft amber puts in a strong background appearance. The resin is very faint. I absolutely love this.

 

The bottom line:

 

I'm so glad I tried this one. It turned out to be an instant favorite and I see it getting a lot of wear. I think it would smell awesome on my husband, too, but he's not much of a scent-wearer and I'm keeping this one all for myself.

[forspecial_plate]

This sounded wonderful.....but.....something turns soapy. Spicey soap. I am attracted to "black" flavored notes but pretty often, they end up turning on me (except black musk....I wear that pretty well). So, I'm blaming the black amber and maybe opoponax, but who knows really. Just not for me.

[MamaMoth]

You know when you're testing a billion imps, and suddenly one of them morphs on you and becomes wonderful, and you're frantically sniffing through a pile of imps trying to find the one you dabbed on the pinky finger of your left hand?

 

Yeah, like that.

 

I'm really not a fan of leather scents, as they tend to smell like a swimming pool liner to me. (plastic-y and chemical-y) So while I adore opoponax and tobacco, and am a fairweather friend to amber, I never tried The Black Rider because leather is just such a big no-no for me. Well huzzah for frimps, and trying things I'd never otherwise.

 

At first, this one does have that synthetic-smelling leather tang on top that I'm not so fond of, but also darkly resinous and sweet underneath. The leather stays dominant for the first few minutes after application, and the scent falls very firmly in the masculine category for me. But then magic starts to happen. The leather calms down greatly, and just lends an earthy warmth to the overall scent. The amber and opoponax are definitely in the forefront here. Sometimes amber can have a fakey kind of overwhelmingly perfumey smell to me, but here it is beautifully resinous, sweet, a little bitter (in a good way,) and softly dry. (Because it's "black" amber, maybe? Further investigation required.) The tobacco lends to the overall sweetness, I think, but I can't pick it out individually.

 

Warm, sweet, dry, and cozy. Dark but not overwhelming or intimidating. I would say it ends up being unisex with masculine leanings.

[Richek]

This was actually the first BPAL scent I ever tried. A good, masculine base scent.

 

In bottle- It hasnt been said that I have seen here, but I found it to be a little soapy and sweet smelling. There was a faint powdery air to it as well and I didnt get much, if any, of the leather that many other are smelling.

 

On skin (wet)- It keeps much of the soapiness but the sweetness goes mild and then fades entirely quite quickly. Nothing really stands out at this point and the leather is only faintly in the background.

 

On skin (dry)- There is a little more bite from the leather and tobacco but much of the soapiness dominates the smell. That sounds like a bad thing but, in fact, is quite good. The whole scent mutes itself quite a lot when dry the result is a subtle blend that feels very clean but masculine.

 

The best thing that can be said about Black Rider is that it mixes very, very well with other scents. Its subtly means that it will provide a good base and mute some of the more overpowering fragrances that might be mixed with it. I mix mine with Galvanic Goggle and it makes for a wonderful and masculine scent that has caused my female friends to repeatedly huff the areas I have applied it.

[Helas]

This is what Axe would smell like, if people had taste. The leather is definitely on the cologney side, but the sweet, dark, resinous touch of the opoponax brings it to a whole other level of sophistication. This is the first blend I have ever tried that features black amber, so I wouldn't be able to recognize it, but there is a kind of honey-like and almost syrupy spark of sweetness in the background that I really enjoy. The tobacco is discreet and contributes to the overall smokiness of the blend.

 

The Black Rider was a freebie in my second Lab order. I would never have pegged myself as a leather fan before trying it, but I am a little obsessed now, although I doubt that I will find another blend that I will like as much as I like this one. It is definitely masculine but in a mysterious, remote, aristocratic sort of way; a scent to wear with a lace shirt and Venitian mask, and a gun hidden beneath one's velvet coat.

 

Five out of five stars.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Sweet, smoky leather. If it wasn't for the sweetness in the vial, this would be "Loviatar"... promising!

 

On: Now THAT's the leather I have been looking for ever since "Loviatar" and "De Sade" were discontinued! There IS this very prominent sweet note that somewhat keeps me from enjoying this fully, but maybe it'll go away upon drydown (or at least weaken somewhat).

 

Later: The sweetness does mellow a bit, and now I quite enjoy this. The leather DEFINITELY has the same feel as "Loviatar" did. I'm not entirely sold on a bottle upgrade yet, particularly since the sweet vibe teeters dangerously on the edge of powder on me, but the imp will stay.

[Drarra]

Fresh in the imp: Wow. This is a dark, slightly leathery scent. Oddly, I can't identify any of the notes in it. I was expecting something slightly sweet, but this is not sweet. I'm impressed.

 

Wet: On my skin, this is less leather and more resin. The resins have sweetened, and I can tell they are the sweeter resins. The tobacco is giving this the slightly dusky, smoky feel.

 

Dry: Wow. I really should have tried this on before now. This is getting warm, spicy and delicious. As it dries, the soft leather is coming out, combining with the delicious tobacco. This is wonderful. The oppoponax is really blending with the tobacco beautifully in this blend.

 

This is a dark, mysterious leathery blend. It combines three things I love: resins, leather and tobacco. I've found a new love.

[Larinessa]

I lusted after this blend for quite a while, and now that I have it, I'm on the fence. In the bottle and wet on the skin there is something sharp and chemical like going on with the leather. Perhaps because its fresh, or maybe because it is, indeed, BLACK leather. On drydown it disappears, leaving a far more subtle note. The amber is the best I have ever smelled. Period. The oppanox adding a bit of depth to it. No tobacco detected in this blend. I'm going to let this bottle sit and age for a bit, and see what happens. I by no means have any desire to get rid of it, but I hope some aging will improve the initial stages of it.

[Lethran]

In bottle: The oppoponax is rather strong and bringing out a chemical quality in the leather, while the amber is doing that cottonelle thing that amber sometimes does. The effect is rather unfortunate. Wet: The tobacco comes out on my skin and tries to make a bridge between the elements. This is a big help to the leather which suddenly pops as a distinct element instead of breaking down into components. The amber starts smelling like amber also. The oppoponax stays rather sharp, but is now an edge rather than overwhelming, It’s still not as good as some of my other leather favorites, but it’s not bad. Dry: Mostly leather with some amber.

[theredkilt]

there's a Guerlain quality about this scent, i still can't put my finger on it, but it got me hooked. I get a green/ distant citrus/ leather type of vibe. Very intrigued!

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Musky and dark, with a backdrop of chemicals and smoke

 

Wet: Tobacco comes out strong, the leather is high pitched and sharp. Overall, this is very much a dark cologne. There's something slightly sweet, almost like sweat or skin musk. I think that might be the oppoponax, it does have a faintly resinous trace.

 

Dry: The leather disappears. The tobacco settles down. Now it's powdery amber with a swirl of smoke. It doesn't smell bad, but it's not amazing either. A decent blend, but probably not something I'd frequently wear.

[Maleficium]

IMP: leather, amber, musk and smoke.

 

WET ON SKIN: leather, but defnitely not as masculine and dark as Iago. I'm not sure what other smell I'm identifying here, but it is prominent, dark and wonderful. Something else is rising dark and sweet, like...shaving cream but in a good way. Warm, sexy and spicy!

 

DRY DOWN: Drys to a warm, tobacco leather smell. There's something else I'm smelling, but again I do not know how to articulate it. This is a much fresher leather scent. The only other one I've smelled is Iago, and while I was very very into that scent it was a little too masculine. This one is lighter, sweeter and more subtle and I could imagine myself wearing it often.

 

will certainly put it on my list of big bottles to buy

[kakiphony]

In the imp: Leather, but sharp and with a bit of cologney feel to it.

 

Wet on skin: Leather -- not deep and rich, but fresh fresh and stiff -- with something almost citrus-like behind it.

 

Early dry down (about 10 minutes): This has already faded to become a very subtle skin scent on me. I'm not getting much throw at all. The leather has become deeper and a touch sweet, and there is just a touch of tobacco. This smells like I imagine the inside of the closet of someone like Allan Quatermain.

 

Late dry down (about 45 minutes to an hour): This has faded to almost nothing on me. I guess I have to slather it. It's very sad because when I get up close to my wrist, what lingers is a nice, warm, slightly rugged leather with a hint of sweetness and woody tobacco.