Half-Elf

[Dark Alice]

HALF-ELF
White sandalwood, beeswax, white tea leaf, oud, and a hint of sophisticated urban musk.

Wet: Bitter...woodsy...and leaves.

Drydown: Soft leather, woods...and a hint of leaves. I think it's the musk and beeswax that is giving this a leafy feel. I am going half elf with good and see what happens.

With good this was a no go. The beeswax just stomped all of the Half-elf goodness out. BUT...with evil. Seductive naughty sex in the woods on a bed of leaves with a half-elf dressed in soft gorgeous leather.

[meredevachon]

The vast majority of my D&D characters over the years have been half-elves. So there was no way I wasn't going to try this one, even if I hadn't liked the notes. But since the description looked like something I would like, it made it that much more necessary for me to have it.

 

In the imp: Light, round, kind of a faded green.

 

Wet: This is softer than I expected, but not in a bad way. I agree with Dark Alice about the leafy-ness. Soft woods.

 

Drydown: The sandalwood kind of holds all of this together, with a lighter ghosting of beeswax and musk. Some brightness from the green tea.

 

Dry: After about 20 minutes this feels like it's settled into its final state, with the notes blending seamlessly into a soft, warm whole.

 

Overall: I could live in this. This is one of those scents where I feel like people are more likely to say "You smell amazing" than "Your perfume smells amazing". I keep sniffing the test site, and really, I'm just in love. I'm going to have to get a bottle of this, I can tell.

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Is my nose broken? I get a horrible chemical smell, like windex. I have no idea what is causing this. Whatever it is, it's high pitched and sharp and nasty.

 

Wet: I'm still getting "chemical cleaner" from this. Since I'm not familiar with beeswax or urban musk, perhaps these are the culprits? I can detect hints of spicy sandalwood and a lightness from the tea, but I just can't get past that bathroom cleaner smell.

 

Dry: The sharpness dies down and it does smell a bit warmer, a bit woodsy. But underneath is still an acrid musk. While not entirely unpleasant, this is definitely not for me. Both my nose and my skin don't play well with whatever is in Half-Elf.

[CiaoBonefish]

In the imp this is predominantly sandalwood and an overall woodsy leafy feel, can also detect some musk. It seems dry and almost bitter but not quite. Not amazing, but interesting. On my skin this immediately smooths out and becomes sweeter, thank you beeswax! As this dries the scent becomes much rounder and has this lovely soft woodsy feel. As this dries, the delicate nuances of the scent step forward. The beeswax is grounding it out and holding everything together. The musk is providing an almost smoky kind of dryness to it that plays with the sandalwood really nicely. The beeswax is definitely sweetening the blend a bit but it doesn't really show up on its own, very well blended in with everything. I can't really detect the white tea leaf either, but I'm sure it is in there somewhere making this lovely and leafy woodsy. Once this is dry it has sweetened up and is just this glowing warm woodsy sandalwood amazing-ness. Sorry for my lack of words to describe it but I have been kind of left speechless. I am a really big fan of sandalwood and beeswax so it is no surprise that I would adore this blend, but I had no idea it would be this lovely and blended so well. Lightly sweet, woodsy, round, a bit smoky, leafy and just glorious. VERDICT: I may need a bottle eventually

[calivianya]

I get mostly sandalwood from Half-Elf. The beeswax and tea leaf try to peek out from under all of the sandalwood, but are generally overwhelmed. I think I am also getting a bit of the urban musk, but I'm not positive. This is my second favorite of the RPGs so far and I will be keeping my imp.

[filigree_shadow]

Strangely, this smells like it has patchouli in it, to me. One of those sweet, resiny patchoulis. Not sure what in this is giving me that impression, but it's there for sure. I definitely like the sweet, earthy (but not like dirt), dry aspect of it. It's very well-blended and difficult to pick out any one note.

 

Definitely one I'd like to test some more. Really liking the initial test.

[chimera87]

I am also getting the cleaner smell from this. More specifically, I am getting a nail polish and remover smell. Straight from the imp. It calms down a bit on my skin and I can identify most of the notes, with the exception of the beeswax, and that's a big reason I bought this one. Love beeswax in any amount. Even though it smells better after it has sat on my skin, I don't want to go through the first phase of chemical grossness to get to the pleasant bit.

[StevenBoatman]

Errr, cigarette butts. I'm getting cigarette butts and ash from this one. I don't normally play as a half-elf (I'm usually a human), but I had hopes for this one! Oh well...

[Blood onmy hands]

While Elf is a misty forest full of berries and greenery, Half-Elf is more of a dry, industrial smelling scent. There's something like a hint of cold, medicinal menthol in here, something that gives off the impression of oiled gears and polished wood, and the oud and musk give off an impression of dark, dirty, well worn leather and bug spray (an association I often get from oud). It smells like a mechanic's shop to me, in a way. Wood, chemicals, hints of leather, manly musk, and dirty woods. The bug spray thing is overwhelming and sharp in the drydown, though, and I don't like the hint of vicks vaporub menthol.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Little Bird

[Iceblink]

Sandalwood and beeswax and yeah...something almost dirty and unpleasant in here too. Chemically. It's hard to describe but I think whatever musk is in this isn't working well on my skin.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Woody and musky, with a dull brownish edge that might be from the beeswax. Interesting in the vial, though this is probably the first in the RPG line that I've tested so far that doesn't yell "HI, I'M [CONCEPT]!!!" to me.

 

On: Woody and musky. It seems the wax has packed its bags and left the country. There is a slightly odd scent in the background... I'd liken it to turpentine, only it's not supersharp or overly unpleasant. Just... odd.

 

Later: Woody, fresh, slightly musky, and I'm thinking that the odd note *is* the beeswax, though it has lost the brown tinge and the turpentineyness and is now giving the scent a somewhat otherworldly sheen. Quite interesting. I'm not sure I love it yet, but I might come to love it with time.

[steelgossamer]

 

In the Bottle: Green, mossy, sandalwood, musk, and leafy stuff. This smells like the forest with a bit of masculine muskiness to it.

 

Wet: It's a touch sharp, but with a sexy herbal/woodsy kick. It hits the back of my throat like mint does, but without being mentholated smelling at all.

 

Drydown: Something really strange comes out in the drydown. I can't put my finger on it or adequately describe it. It just smells weird for a bit.

 

Dry: It has almost disappeared now that it's dry. The herbal kick is mostly gone, replaced by something vaguely musky and a little woodsy with a bit of something soapy underneath. It's a little bit aftershavey.

 

I have no idea how I feel about this one. I'll try it layered with other scents to see how it goes, but so far it's just a strange little scent that defies description.

 

[Gin]

Half-Elf is dirty and woodsy on me. It smells like gardening and mulch to me, and only gets drier and more woody over time.

[AnyseLawsBray]

In vial: Crisp sandalwood.

Wet: Oud, lightly spiced. A tingle of white tea leaf, perhaps a satchet of leaves tied with waxed string. 

Dry: The white tea leaf is still strong and very aromatic, almost herbaceous. The musk has started to creep in like smog, soft & cloudy. The sandalwood is still very much present, and seems almost bleached- very brittle and bone-white. It fades to a second-skin scent pretty quickly, a pleasant woody tea musk.

 

Verdict: I wouldn't consider myself a fan of sandalwood- but Half-Elf is not bad, I must say. The light, dry spiciness calls to mind mystical trade routes & trailing caravans across exotic lands, from the smallest encampments to the largest cities. I imagine that this might be the sort of life that would appeal to someone in between two races, who didn't feel like they really belonged- much like a Half-Elf, I suppose! It didn't have a lot of staying power on me, but even if it did, I tend to prefer less sharp scents- this was a little too dry for my taste.

[ljaylh]

I have no idea why this is happening.. but on me, Half-Elf smells almost exactly like Banshee Beat

 

I am getting a really strong vanilla vibe, which I think must be the oud interacting with the sandalwood and musk. And a gorgeous sweetness that I could swear is a dark patchouli. Half-Elf to me is woodsy, musky, and rich - normally I can find individual notes in my BPALs but I'm just not getting that with this one. It dries down into a beautiful warm scent and I'm kinda loving it. But seriously, if I didn't know what it was.. I would think I had Banshee Beat on.

[astarinel]

I was hoping I would really like this one, but it's just okay on me.

 

It reminds me a lot of Aziraphale, which I love, but with a different musk and more prominent woods. It ends up being just a bit too dry and woody for my liking, and the musk in this one doesn't love my skin the way the one in Aziraphale does. It's very light, pale, and woody, with a slightly bitter edge. I was hoping for more beeswax with some sweetness to cut the woods, but unfortunately it's totally absent on my skin.

[zankoku_zen]

Sandalwood which sort of smells like cedar, patchouli, and a whiff of masculine cologne. This is fairly manly on me, and very earthy.

 

Would probably be dynamo on the right guy.

 

Hmmm, off to take advantage of mr. zee_zee's wrists!

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Half-Elf didn't sound very appealing to me when the RPG scents were released. I'm not much of a fan of the Lab's beeswax note or white tea and "sophisticated urban musk" sounded like it would be perfumey/cologney, but the reviews sounded great (I love woodsy/sandalwood scents), so I ordered a bottle hoping that that's what I would get. Fingers crossed!

 

First sniff:

 

Hallelujah, the other reviewers are right! This isn't the sweet perfumey scent I was afraid of. All I'm getting here is musky sandalwood. It's a dry, woody scent with a nice backing of what smells like some sort of light musk, maybe skin musk. It's subtle rather than heavy like most scents I wear, but I like it.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Same as in the bottle. Musky sandalwood.

 

Dry down:

 

I absolutely love this. For serious. It's super simple but really nice. To me, this is the sort of scent a hippie would wear if they got a job in the corporate sector. That probably doesn't sound that appealing, but I swear it is. It's still a nice sandalwood scent, but the musk makes it more sophisticated and lightens it up.

 

The bottom line:

 

I'm glad I read the reviews on this one before writing it off completely. A surprise winner! I'm definitely going to need a backup bottle or two.

[Lethran]

In bottle: The musk and sandalwood form a dominant team, very dry and sexy. The beeswax is particularly lovely, as is the white tea leaf. It is a touch polished wood, but in a good way. Wet: Sandalwood beats out musk, with the beeswax rising. Musk would be a strong third with the other elements mostly subsumed. Dry: Mostly sandalwood with a touch of musk and tea.

[whisperstilled]

In Imp: Sandalwood and something a little acrid that made me wrinkle my nose. If I didn't know better, I'd guess there was vetiver in here. Maybe the oud? I'm not familiar with what oud smells like, so I really don't know, but something is kind of sour and dark lurking in the background.

 

Wet: This is a little better on the skin, but there's still something weird in the background I don't like and can't place. The musk is there, but overpowered by the sandalwood.

 

Dry: Much better as it dries, but still not quite the hit the other RPG scents I've tried are. The beeswax sweetens it at the end, so this one might be worth a longer length test to see how it does over the course of a day. It dries down to a very dry sandalwood with some musk and still some dark weirdness. Not terrible, but not great. 3/5

Edited July 8, 2011 by Whisperstilled

[lunaticana]

ieuw! I smelled like Tramp from Lush oh no, no bottle for me, I liked the proto so much better

[milo]

At first, this smells like mild vetiver. Kind of medicinal. Dry, more sandalwood, but still the bite from the vetiver, and pretty resinous. This really isn't my kind of thing, but I'll definitely try layering it to try to temper the dryness of this blend.

Edited July 9, 2011 by milo

[ajansuz]

In the imp, it's dry sandalwood with a bitter, herbal note beneath it. There's something almost medicinal, or minty. I wasn't crazy about the thought of putting it on my skin thanks to the bitterness.

 

Wet, this went straight to generic men's cologne. It wasn't a horrible smell, but way more masculine and commercial than I care for. I didn't think it would smell good on my man, either.

 

Dry some of that impression went away. It's still very masculine, much more masculine than I'll wear. The tea makes it refreshing, giving something of a minty quality without the actual bite of mint. The musk is sweet and light. I'll try blending this with some of the other scents, but I can't see wearing it alone.

[mxtine]

Initially, this smelled like a leafy white musk. Then it all went horribly wrong. I don't know what "urban musk" is supposed to smell like, but it's like a chemical leather smell on me. This doesn't seem anything like a Half-Elf to me, I prefer the prototype.

[yakiguri]

As much as I typically play half-elves, I couldn't bring myself to like this blend, at least not on its own. I was sure it wouldn't work on me due to the white tea leaf and white sandalwood, and yup, Half Elf went herbal, sharp, and bitter on me. The oud didn't help, and so on its own Half Elf leaves me between meh and blegh.

 

HOWEVER, layered with a softer scent like Good or Neutral (or all together!) Half Elf transforms into a spicy soft musky floral with amazing sillage and staying power. I can't stop sniffing the inside of my arm. Love! A bit of earthiness with a dash of the ethereal, just as a half elf should be. I can't wait to try other blends to layer with this, and will definitely be buying a bottle.