Bard

[Invidiana]

BARD
A ridiculously charismatic blend of bay rum, honey, and white musk mingling with the scent of harp wood and lute strings and the twang of horn brass.

How do I love thee, Bard? Let me count the ways. I love your clouds of vanilla, your light, white florals, your sheer musk. There is definitely vanilla here, but it is not a buttery or foody or overly sweet vanilla but an airy nonfoody vanilla that does have something of a cloud-like quality. I would say it's more a vanilla orchid than anything else. It's difficult to pick out exactly what floral notes are in here; they start out fresh and dew-covered, even a little green, but dry down soft with a slight (pleasant) powderiness. Definitely white florals for the most part. I think I pick up some lily of the valley and a trace of iris, but there must be other types of white flowers in here as well because it's too complex to just be those two. Later on in the drydown I pick up the musk, something that must involve white musk since I can detect that pure, clean-but-not-soapy scent in here. There may or may not be skin musk in here too, difficult to tell since it's so well blended. The musk(s?) give it a slight warmth but on the whole I would say this is neither warm or cool, the same type of neutral feel as Thieves Rosin but an entirely different scent. It's on the feminine side of unisex and also really uplifting. I swear when they're released I'm getting all four of these.

[ReallyZeb]

My Bard is the one slumped in a corner after too much bay rum and an excess of Hey Nonny Nonny ... my skin should love this but instead I get stale sour sweat

 

I'm going to hang onto it for a few weeks and see if it starts behaving itself.

Edited November 27, 2012 by ReallyZeb

[zankoku_zen]

Bay rum, honey, hints of wood and vanilla.

 

You know, I think this one you could ACTUALLY wear without need of any other thing layered on it.

 

It's got a touch of spice, slightly foodie, and a nice slightly masculine base.

[AnyseLawsBray]

In vial: Sparkly vanilla.

 

Wet: A splash of honey, velvety and soft. A serenading bouquet, I don't know which flowers but they are pretty.

 

Dry: It's like a dusting of barely floral powdered sugar.

 

Verdict: At some moments it's like a more floral version of CC Female. Those who enjoy blends such as Lyonesse, Womb Furie, and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale will probably adore this.

[NorthenLight36]

Oh wow. I get a vaguely fruity wood scent from this and I love it. Recieved this as a Christmas gift and was a bit wary of the intense fruit scent in the bottle, but it softens to a sweet wooden scent very quickly and I was instantly in love.

[miss_rynn]

This smells super similar to Hony Mone on me; kind of a sweet fruit and herbed honey.

[yakiguri]

Mmmm, yummy woodsy vanilla honey musk with just enough spice from the rum to give it a little kick. I agree that this could easily be worn on its own as a close skin scent. Bard actually strikes me a more masculine O. Every now and then I get a slight metallic note that must be the "twang of horn brass", though I wish I got the strings (linen I suppose?) more often. This should be AWESOME with more aging.

[Blood onmy hands]

I was hoping that the bay rum and white musk would make this more unisex/sexy-masculine leaning, but it's all super-sweet, cloying honey and a hint of soapiness (like men's shaving cream).

A lot of the RPG scents wind up smelling cheap on me and reminding me of soap/candle making oils, and this is like a very sweet, sickly sweet, cheap honey with a waxiness and burning plastic quality to it. It doesn't smell at all like a high quality oil and gives me a headache after a few minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited July 9, 2013 by Little Bird

[milo]

At first, kind of incensey with cake. At this stage, it reminds me of that Weenie or Yule, was it Soul Cakes? Can't remember right now. Anyhow, it morphs into a honey spice blend, which I'm rather enjoying. Now it's more in the line of Door, Sara Pezzini, and Liz. I like this, but don't need anymore, as I do have decants that are very similar to this.

[ajansuz]

This is a very naughty and mercurial bard. I like!

 

In the imp, it's fairly straightforward, a spicy honey. The bay rum is heavy on the bay, and there's a freshness to it that has a playful quality.

 

Wet, I can easily see where some say this is a more masculine O. The honey has that deeply sensual quality to it that I associate with O. The bay comes on strong, more bay, less rum, and the wood note comes out to turn this even more toward the masculine.

 

As it dries, bay rum really dominates. I was somewhat disappointed at this stage as that's not one of my overall favorite fragrances. However, it isn't done! After several hours, the honey reemerges, not in its O incarnation but more like the honey from Yewberry Infused Honey. It has that lovely herbal quality I enjoy so much in that blend. The throw is medium, the staying power impressive. Bard is complex enough to stand on its own merits. I'm curious to see how it will blend with some of the other RPG imps, too. Of the class interpretations, this is one of my favorites. Very true to its namesake.

[mistressfizz]

Honey dominates this one for me, the dark amber kind, almost like maple syrup. It's thick and sweet, with a swirl of musky vanilla. It actually has a slightly nutty note, which might be the woods. Overall it's warm and inviting. As it dries, I do get more of the rum, a high pitched spice that's almost a bit sour, weaving into the dense honey.

[Joyleaf_]

Fpr me, this Bard is a bit of a charmer. Definitely the mercurial silver-tongued variety of bards, this scent just sweeps me off my feet. I get a deep musky vanilla note with a spicey-ness that surprises me. As it dries down, the bay rum blooms on my skin, and it mixes with the musky vanilla. The notes swirl together and leave me breathless.

This may have influenced me to start a Bard character on my next game of DnD...

[Lucide]

All the notes of bard sounded fantastic and honey, vanilla and musk are usually wins on me. Not this bard. I smell soapy, strange honey and something flowery on the background. And it stays that way, it does not morph at all.

I wanted this to work so bad, because I am planning on playing a bard in a Pathfinder adventure.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - A warm herbal honey and an almost coconutty wood

 

Wet on me - A waxy herbal honey scent with a touch of sharpness from the bay rum

 

Dry on me - A beery, hoppy scent of honey

 

Overall - I like it but it's not something I would wear

[Rip]

In the imp I can smell both bay rum and honey. Wet on the skin it's warm honey. As it begins to dry down it settles into a warm, spicy honey with the occasional whiff of honeysuckle. Once it's had a little time to dry the honeysuckle goes away leaving the warm, spicy honey scent. Quite nice but a bit heavy for my personal tastes.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Rip

[Aviatrix]

This is very faint on me, but there is one note - and I'm not sure which one - that goes a bit iffy on me, slightly sickly sweet. It reminds me somewhat of the note that ruined Thieves' Rosin for me, but here it's to a lesser degree.

That's all I'm getting, unfortunately

[alterosen]

On application, I get musky vanilla with honey & maybe a tiny hint of white floral. As it dries, the honey gets a beeswax aspect to it & a slight tangy spice.

 

Pretty & feminine - I'm not getting any bay rum or woods. There's no way my husband is even going to try this on.

 

But honey lovers should be all over this one.

[KerylRaist]

For the first six hours I couldn't tell the difference between this and the Light of Men's Lives. They both had that soft candle wax vanilla thing going. But, eventually, after six hours of wear, the musk came up and this is luscious.

 

I like the vanilla stage, too, but the musk is especially nice.

[blu°]

Oh, this is lovely. It starts out all boozy honey and woods. I thought I smelled pipe tobacco, too, but must be the booze and woods. The first impression was of a warm, boozy, snuggly-manly blend, but then a pastel-pink candyish fizzy note emerged, that smelled really lovely, too, and now my nose is hooked to my wrist and I'm trying to make sense of it.

 

The fizzy note turned out to be the bay from the bay rum, I think. It became stronger and more recognizably spice. At first I thought it was cinnamon, but then I realized it was the bay.

 

I've only had it on for 10 minutes or so, so not sure where it'll take me, but right now I am enjoying it a lot. And I usually shy away from foody blends. I think I get along with Bard because there is not cream or butter or anything terrible like it in here. Just spicy booze and honey balanced by the woods and metal notes and musk.

 

ETA: Later on, the bay really dominated the blend, and it was all a bit much with the manly spiciness. It was pleasant to smell but is not a perfume I'd feel comfortable with on me on most days.

Edited January 11, 2015 by blu°

[false.azure]

Testing lap frimps from my last order.

 

In the imp: Honey, rum, a bit of musk, and something slightly buttery.

 

Wet on skin: The honey is there, as is the rum, but a bit of spiciness comes out. The musk is there, but it's not overwhelming, and so far it isn't turning sweet or powdery, or sweaty on me. This is a good sign. There's a little bit of wood in there, way in the back, but I'm not sure what type. I'm not getting the vanilla that others have mentioned, just the honey and rum for the sweetness. The more it dries, I'm starting to get a little bit of the metal from the horn. It's lightly floral.

 

Dry on skin: The more it dries, the less I get the sweetness, and the more I get spicy-musky-rummy-woody goodness (in about that order of strength). The horn twangs occasionally, but not often. It's a warm, spicy kind of a scent that smells pretty yummy on my skin. The florals are softly breathing in the background, with such a soft breath that I have to search for them. It dries down to be pretty spicy on me, which I'm kind of liking.

 

Verdict: I guess white musk is a good musk for me, and bay rum is a note that I would have never tried on my own, but wow, it's actually pretty nice! The lab got it right for once with their frimps (I usually get really unlucky ). This is the only one of the RPG line that I've tried that I think I would wear. The scent retains a bit of its honey sweetness on me, but it isn't overpoweringly sweet, which is good. The sweetness does prevent it from going too masculine, though, so it's a little disappointing on that front, but it's still a pretty solid unisex scent.

[DevilsCandyCane]

The wet stage is odd, I get brief, strange hints of wood and metal, but happy that mostly disappears once dry, and it's all about the soft, silky honey-vanilla, with perhaps the tiniest hint of white floral in the background. This is just such a lovely honey scent! I am on a hunt for a holy grail honey scent, and this isn't quite it, there's still a hint of wood in the background making it more grounded and less sticky-honeytastic than I'd like, but nonetheless it's beautiful

 

Definitely not at all masculine though, I was surprised by how pretty and feminine this scent is - bay rum usually makes for a lovely boysmell, but this...is not that!

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Mostly spices and honey, with perhaps just a hint of boozy backup. It's a very sweet, rather creamy scent, but with just enough bite to keep it interesting.

 

Wet: First things first: the woods are now actually distinguishable, and the bay rum definitely becomes dominant. Overall, it feels drier and less sticky. There's still an almost-creamy sweetness hanging around, but now I'm tempted to say that this is as much the white musk (or even the rum itself, which often reads as rather sweet on me) as it is the honey. This is a scent that settles into your skin and makes itself right at home very quickly.

 

Dry: It shifts woodier and woodier as time goes on, until it's pretty much a wood scent with some sweet accents (honey and/or white musk and/or bay rum - difficult to tell at this point). I kinda feel like there's still a musky note in there somewhere, but my nose is terrible at picking out musks.

 

EDIT: After several hours, I'm really getting all the The Lights of Men's Lives comparisons. It's a bit spicier and woodier than TLoML, but it's definitely in the sweet-smoky-beeswax neighborhood. Maybe that's the lute strings coming into play?

Edited April 1, 2015 by Lunasariel

[Balame]

Definitely similar to Lights of Men's Lives. A little heavier and boozier overall, with the honey and white musk providing a decadent base, but it's still a gentle scent. Bay rum usually likes to turn into a cloying sugary mess on me, but it's behaving here. There's something vaguely floral, a bit of vanilla, even dusty woods ("harp wood"). To me this is a bard dressed to the nines and singing in a lord's serving hall, all the guests laughing and celebrating, eating their fill. The rum with honey makes it come across as mead-y, which fits the theme nicely.

 

This is a rich blend, but it still comes across as earthy and unpretentious. I feel like it's a good "traveler" scent as well. In that way it gives me a similar feeling (even if they don't smell totally similar) as Tristran. There's a hint of wildflowers on your jacket, the road's dust on your shoes, a trace of mead on your lips, and the body musk from your eager audience. Evocative and perfect for its inspiration.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Balame

[lady_pandora]

I put this on, and shortly thereafter was thinking, "Wow, I love this!" And on the heels of that, "And it smells familiar!" And then it dawned on me that it smelled like Lights of Men's Lives. Apparently, I'm amping the vanilla and honey and turning into a LoML clone. Doesn't really change much either. So while I think this smells amazingly good on me, it's close enough that I don't need more of this--I now have 2 imps of Bard, a partial imp of Lights of Men's Lives, a full bottle of Lights of Men's Lives, and a bottle of Alma Venus, which also turns into LoML after a few hours on my skin. I'm probably set for a while.

[annemathematics]

Soft rich vanillic woods with a honey note that rises up and then behaves on my skin the way beeswax often does, which means it moves front and center. It's a pleasant warm beeswax scent from that point on.