NVPR4

[fairnymph]

Very dark red-brown oil, a bit viscous. Red musk! and something citrusy-fresh, either lemon blossom or lemon peel or lemongrass.

 

On my skin, some sandalwood emerges as well as clove and a slightly mentholic herbal note - could be an aspect of the lemongrass, if that's the lemony note in this. Also some fresh ginger gives this a little kick. I get some of the same lily note from Parker Lily, which lightens this others red musk-heavy blend - though this is not at all what I'd call a floral blend.

 

On later drydown, some leather coms out as well as some sweet orange. It really shows more layers over time on my skin, and the lemongrass (my best guess) and ginger amp over time, keeping this very fresh and bright. Very interesting and unlike anything else in BPAL. In feel, it does remind me of Parker Lily and there's the same lily/red musk base, but this is fresher and more unisex.

[zankoku_zen]

Def. red musk, a hint of lily and a hint of ginger. As it dries, I get a more of the leather.

 

So ends up red musk + a soft leather.

[crebbsgirl]

Red musk and a hint of ginger and lily. I can't really smell the leather until much, much later in the drydown. This is surprisingly soft. I'm not getting any citrus to speak of.

[myth]

Hm, weird. A dark oil that seemed promising on the wand, but is weird and hard to determine on skin. I might smell red musk, maybe patchouli, also something high and a bit astringent that makes me think of a clear booze. A touch of cologne.

 

As it dries the cologne is shifting to a floral note and the high note has rolled off. There's definitely red musk in here, but it's being soured by the floral note. I no longer really smell the darkness that I thought might be patch, now it's red musk and a sour floral note that hovers somewhere between men's cologne and heavy perfume... sour like cheap cologne, oppressive like cheap perfume. Meh. Not even red musk can save this one on my floral-hating skin. Looking at other reviews I see people are getting leather out of this... that could account for the sour-cologne thing I'm getting, but I can't really say I identifiably get leather from it. It's developing a powdery sheen as it dries further and repeated sniffing is beginning to give me a headache.

 

When I come back to it after a while I can smell the leather more strongly, mixed with the floral, and the red musk still just in the background. The leather must account for the chemical astringency I got in the beginning; leather takes a while to settle on my skin, and tends to be harsh and weird until it does. If I really huff and fill my sinuses with this, it becomes almost smoky, and the floral note darkens and roughens until it almost makes me think of sage, but a quick sniff is more strongly floral-soapy. This is quite a shifty scent.

 

Ultimately it's a darkish floral and chemical leather over a backdrop of red musk.