Evil

[Dark Alice]

EVIL
Smouldering opium tar, tobacco absolute, green tea, black plum, kush, ambergris accord, ambrette seed, and costus root.

Seriously...I need to be EVIL! Malificent from Sleeping Beauty Evil...cause this is what this smells like. The green tea and tobacco really keeps this plum grounded and the ambrette and ambergis from becoming a floral ambery nightmare. On its own...this is a winner...but I can't help but wonder what will happen when I layer it with something else.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Evil was one of the scents that jumped out at me as something I absolutely had to order. Most everything in it is something I love (opium tar, tobacco, black plum), something I like (kush, ambergris, ambrette seed) or something that should be okay (costus root). The only iffy note is the green tea. I love the smell of real green tea, but I find the Lab's not to be too harsh and lemony. I'm guessing that the tea won't put in too much of an appearance, though, with all these other heavy notes to weigh it down.

 

First sniff:

 

Not good. This smells nothing like what I'd imagined. Instead of a delicious, dark scent, I get super strong, powdery, sharp old lady perfume. The only other scent I've had this sort of a reaction to is Romanti.Goth, which also has opium tar and plum together but doesn't share any other notes. There's no reason why plum and opium tar together should combine to create this sort of a scent, so I don't think they're the culprit. I've got no idea what the deal is with Evil.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Still the same. Super sharp, powdery and perfumey. I was hoping for something dark and smokey and resinous and...evil. This isn't it.

 

Dry down:

 

More of the same. I'm thinking that the green tea is part of what's giving me fits here. Evil's sharpness does remind me of the way that the Lab's other strong green tea scents smell, although it's much more complicated than most. Maybe my nose is broken, but I think that this must just be a case of personal scent preference (with a lot of the blame going to the intense green tea note) since the previous reviewer obviously loves Evil.

 

The bottom line:

 

Not for me, sadly, but it's moving on to a new home with someone who loves it, so everything works out in the end. I'll stick to Silas Ruthyn for my evil opium tar scent cravings.

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Tobacco and opium! Very smoky, I can't really smell anything else.

 

Wet: The smokiness is settling down. I'm getting a slightly sweet astringency which must be the green tea and plum. The batch I got is well blended - no individual note is dominanting.

 

Dry: Wow, not expecting this! It dries into an earthy amber that is musky and a bit floral, with hints of smoke and tar. Very interesting, for an "evil" scent, it's ultimately rather light! If you're looking for an opium/tobacco scent, the beginning blast is here, but it doesn't seem to last. This is actually fine by me, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how nice this Evil is!

[ajansuz]

In the imp, very strong blast of opium and tobacco. I couldn't pick anything out beyond that, and I was a little worried, since opium can give me a headache.

 

Wet: Something deliciously astringent cuts up through the opium and tobacco cloud. No headache. Just glorious, very grown up, sophisticated perfume. If this is evil, it's Wall Street or boardroom evil, not a mage in a back room trying to conjure forth a demon evil. I adore it.

 

Dry down: The scent doesn't really morph much on me at all. It kept a medium throw and lasted about six hours before going down to something soft and floral. I can't wait to start playing around with the layering.

[Iceblink]

I amp opium. Like CRAZY. This has not changed with Evil. It's very dry opium--is there amber here too? It's faintly sweet from the plum and tobacco but I'll agree with previous reviewers that this goes powdery perfume on me very fast and stays there. I can smell how this WOULD be a great, sophisticated statement perfume on some skin, and I may age this imp a bit to see if the other notes will become more prominent with time. Reminds me a bit of Darkness from the GC.

[strahlend]

First sniff impressions: very plush smelling, lilies, opium, musk, reminds me of velvet and heady flowers and other decadent things.

 

Skin testing: the green tea is giving this plush scent a lift and suddenly I feel like I'm in an import store smelling a bunch of incense, wooden boxes, and tea all mixed together. Oh, wait a second. All of a sudden it's turning soapy. I think the green tea took over, I don't even know how that's possible. Now instead of plush and exotic I smell like a generic, floral, soapy, mess. This seems to be a skin chemistry issue since it smells so good in the bottle and for the first few moments, so I'm going to try it in a scent locket and see what happens.

Edited June 2, 2011 by strahlend

[Aldercy]

I didn't like this at all in the imp-- just smelled like weird chemical smoke-- but it does better things on the skin, which is good because I was really looking forward to Evil.

 

I love opium as a note and this definitely delivers it. A surprising amount of juicy red plum gets through the haze as well. I also gets bits of the green tea (very clear, clean and almost floral against the sticky darkness of the opium) and murky ambergris. Only a hint of-- almost honeyed-- tobacco. It combines into a very rich, deep scent (deeper than any of the other RPGs I've tried-- I was beginning to wonder if they were all deliberately light to make for better layering) with a lot of different scent families combined into one warm, enticing whole. It is not actually particularly wicked-smelling, but it is dark and powerful. I really, really like it.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Mhmmmmmmmm, smoky opium, ambergris and a hint of plum... it seems it's GOOD to be evil

 

On: Smoky, fresh AND sweet at the same time. It also has a nice amount of oomph to it! Ohh yeah, this one is shaping up to be a winner on me. I wonder how it layers with "Dwarf" *is TOTALLY an evil dwarf~* ... to be tested later!

 

Later: Smoky plum. Delectable even as a standalone perfume. It's like... "Bensiabel" and "Event Horizon" had a love child. I think this is meant to be on my bottle list.

Edited June 6, 2011 by Diva Urd

[Sultaana]

This is a subtle evil. The honeytongued backstabber, the sabotager, the sexy stranger that sleeps with you only to steal your secrets. It smells like a den of sex and deceit and I cannot believe it is a real smell. This is TOO good.

[AnyseLawsBray]

In vial: Dark and grassy.

Wet: Thick black opium tar, and a smoky aura of malevolent vegetation. It actually reminds me of a few blends I've tried from Rappaccini's Garden. 

Dry: A touch of black plum and faint green tea with a sheen of aquatic ambergris.

 

Verdict: Oh, this is bad. In a good way of course... but oh so bad. It is mostly an herby almost aquatic on me, which is a little unnerving. It brings to mind a cauldron filled with venomous ingredients & evil intentions. I can't keep a mischevious grin off of my face when I smell it- hmmm..

[zankoku_zen]

Opium, green tea and tobacco on wet. As it dries I get more of the plum and it turns into a more sophisticated, older woman perfume. Sort of what I would imagine Dior's Poison would smell like having never actually smelt it.

 

Deep, rich, hypnotic.

[astarinel]

Unfortunately, as with most blends containing opium notes, although this is complex and interesting in the imp it's not likely to stay that way on my skin.

 

This is dark and resinous and a little smoky, but the opium goes sharp and musty and sort of unpleasant. As it dries, the fruit comes out a bit more, sweetening it up a little, but it ends up still being too smoky and bitter on my skin. It's kind of perfumey in an odd way, and I wish I could smell it without the opium, but it's definitely dark and appropriate for the concept.

[tkannon]

The opium is very sharp on me, to the point of hurting my nose when I sniff it. After reading all of the reviews, I knew it was going to be a stretch for this to work on my skin. Oh well, I don't play evil anyway!

[milo]

This is STRONG musk, it actually fit's the name quite well. It smells evil to me! I'm getting a bit of tobacco and lots of musk, it kind of reminds me a bit of Interfector. This is really masculine, but I still like it. I'd like to cuddle up to a guy wearing this, but it is just too masculine for me. There is an underlying sweetness here, kind of like a tough guy who is really a softy at heart.

[Blood onmy hands]

I was really curious about how all of the listed notes would play together in this, but they kinda just.. don't. The opium is super-strong in the bottle and it's the only thing that I can really smell once the oil is on my skin. Smoky-sharp opium with that perfumey/clean edge that it often has on my skin. It reminds me of 80s metallic hairspray smell and bad, cheap musk. Like the locker room from hell with girls spritzing on tons of cheap, chemical-y products.

 

I love having this to sit next to my bottle of Good (the collecting tendencies that I have :/) but I don't think that I'll ever wear this or use it for layering. I've never thought to myself that the only thing my other fragrances needed was a touch of opium, lol. Just too sharp for me.

[patina]

In the imp, this is so powdery, old-ladyish and perfumy that I don't want to apply it.

 

However, my chemistry seems to do wonderful things to it, especially the opium. Tobacco has a huge throw on me and this is no exception. It mingles with the green tea and opium to create a yellowish, lingering haze that's just a bit stifling. It's like being in an evil conference room, (or maybe a smoky back room in a bar) next to a business woman with overpowering (but good-smelling) opium-plum perfume. I'd say it almost smells corporate, except it's too sexy for that. Sexy in a very deliberate, aggressive way. Whoever said the musk had an 80's vibe was right.

[GeorgeJr]

Something about this scent is very green to me . Not sure what it is , but it's sweet as well . As far as smoky scents , this is not up there with other , smokier blends I love ( Devil's Night & others ) . It's mildly smoky at best . Dammit , what is that green I'm getting ? It's not the tea , I think . Though I suppose it could be . In all honesty , this isn't what I would envision Evil as smelling like . But then again , my idea of Evil no one would probably wear It's quite sweet for one thing , maybe the better to lure in the unsuspecting ? It is quite dark as well . I'm not getting the musk as strongly as others seem to be . Gotta love different body chemistry's . I am getting the tobacco underneath other stronger notes . Over all I'd give this a 3.5 out of 5 . Not bad by any means , just not great for my personal use .

[mxtine]

Opium tar always reminds me of Dior's Opium. Evil is dark powdery incense, almost like Romanti.Goth, but it's not as cloying. This also has a sweet plum that keeps it smelling less "old lady" and more fresh. I don't think it's really evil, but definitely dark and mysterious.

[Antoinette]

Mmmmmmmm, this smells yum yum. I'm not confident that I can pick out all the different notes in this one, but what I do get is an almost sweet, dark and smoky scent. I think I'm recognizing the plum, tobacco and opium tar. Gorgeous combo. Looking forward to layering this one with other RPGs.

[SophieCedar]

I love opium tar and tobacco but green tea can make my nose burn fiercely. No exception here. I can make out plum and kush too, but the combination of green tea and ambrette seed is causing a reaction... I'll have to enjoy this in small amounts.. from a distance... later.

Edited August 28, 2011 by SophieCedar

[Monster]

BAM! It's that opium tar note that I love so much from Romanti.Goth...dark, thick, smoky, resinous beauty. Underneath I smell the black plum which gives me the image of smoke and fire burning against a deep purple sky. I can think of at least 4 different zones in World of Warcraft that this smells like! So awesome! I seriously can't stop huffing my arm. I need to stop before I pass out from perfume bliss. I knew I was going to fall in love with Evil. I'm not sure why I was so conservative and only ordered an imp to start. A full bottle will be on it's way very soon! I will be adding this to my regular weekly perfume line-up.

 

[Lorna Brigid]

Evil, who knew you smelled so clean?!?

 

Srsly, it must be the ambergris and the tea making it cool and astringent. I don't get any plum or ambrette, and just a hint of the opium.

Huffing and huffing, and I know I like you, I just cannot decide how much!

After awhile past the drydown, I realize, you know what this reminds me of? It smells a lot like Black Butterfly Moon!

I wonder how this would smell on me if mixed with another RPG like Mage or something...

[angelicruin]

I find that I like the smell of evil.

 

Opium tar and plum notes steal the show, but I also get whiffs of the smoky tobacco, tea, and ambergris notes.

 

I may have to keep this imp and consider something more in the future.

[tdgnika]

First try:

 

In the imp (full disclosure, I have a cold), it smells like green and dirt, but a very good, earthy smell. Wet on the skin, it's throwing something I can't identify, maybe opium?? A sweet, but somehow dark, pleasant smell. This definitely captures evil so far and brings to mind a seductive devil's face beckoning from the shadows.

 

Second try, without a cold:

In the imp, it's awfully sweet, but there is still that earthiness behind the sweet smell. Wet on the skin, it's lighter than

I would expect, sweeter, but with a slightly dark tone. On dry down, it's a flowery incense smell that many BPAL oils dry down to for me. It's okay, but not worth keeping.

 

Much lighter and more floral than I expected. I actually liked it better when I had a cold, but it seems silly to keep an oil to wear when I have a cold.

[Doc M]

On me this is 30% opium and tobacco - the combination smells smoky, moreso than vetiver, and 70% plum - which comes across more like red currants. Somewhat mysterious, but I thought evil would be... Well. More exciting and less pleasant.

 

No more straying to the darkside for me... Maybe I should try cleric or paladin instead... Hm, do I do like the idea of sniffing Dragon Age's Alistair. All. Damn. Day.