Mars Alator

[macabre_fae]

MARS ALATOR

Mars the Huntsman

Sweet fig and vetiver.

This one is interesting for sure, but is definitely more masculine in my opinion and not wearable for me.

The vetiver is very pungent and is the first thing I smell. The fig is barely there, and it's having a very strange effect on the vetiver. I am smelling smoke, woods, figgy wine and roasted meat? I know, that sounds very strange, and it may just be my skin chemistry.

My verdict is that I'm interested to see how well it plays with others, but because of the strong vetiver and the roasted meat effect, this guy is going to swaps.

[stellamaris]

Surprisingly, I would have never picked this one for myself, but I was gifted a bottle of it, and I love it. It works really nicely on me. The vetivert is very strong at the top, but then it turns into a nice wine sort of scent (must be the fig) that is quite pleasant and almost like Dragon's Blood. The vetivert gives it a nice earthy thing, it's quite dreamy.

Thankfully, I do not get any meat here, and it's not too boy for me.

Edited March 1, 2015 by stellamaris

[Haltija]

Adore this!

 

You would think that with vetiver being one of the main notes that it would stomp over the fig, it doesn't. It's actually quite refined on me and the fig is able to blend through the harshness very smoothly. The fig almost turns the vetiver a little effervescent to me. I really like this a lot. Oddly, it doesn't read as super masculine on me at all. Not that I would mind if it did anyway. Winner without a doubt! (:

[zankoku_zen]

Sweet fig perfume. This to me is almost like a sweet fig SN. I get a tiny bit of vetiver, which sort of grounds the fig, but in general this is a sweet figgy blend.

 

Deliciously sweet fig. Now to ponder whether or not I need to smell like fig all the time.

[Teaotter]

In the imp: Loud, stompy vetiver. (I love vetiver, don't get me wrong, but sometimes it is very mean to the other notes in a blend.)

 

Wet: Fig, so very much fig. I can't smell the vetiver at all any more.

 

Drydown: Still mostly sweet fig, but the vetiver comes out in the background, making this a spicy, slightly smoky, slightly grassy fig.

 

General impression: a basket of plump dark figs and sticky fig juice all over my hands, while standing in knee-high dry grasses with a hint of a bushfire in the distance. Simpler than Figgy Puddin and not as pie-spiced, but definitely in the same family.

[cuervosueno]

I like this a lot. I love vetiver and fig, so it was a no-brainer to try. It starts out with a lovely vetiver, smoky and quite strong and powerful (almost can't smell the fig at all), so people who do not like vetiver will not like this. But one think I know about vetiver EO is that it has a heart of sweetness: if you can get through the smoky dryness, there is something very sweet in the center like green grass at the heart of the dried grass. Because of the fig, that is what this reminds me of when wet: the secret heart of the vetiver showing itself, shyly.

 

For awhile, it is all sweet vetiver, but eventually that strong--Mars like?--not fades and the fig takes center stage. It does seem like dark, dried figs, rather than green figs, but I'm speculating on this some because I'm not terribly familiar with what real figs smell like. Anyway, it is now sweet and figgy and lovely, and I'm just crazy about it. It reminds me a bit of The Grave Pig, which also has a fig note, and I'm going to compare them later.

 

I'm a sucker for simpler scents, like a lot of the older BPAL blends. I like to be able to pick out the individual notes, and often to me there is a great deal of complexity in a single note, and I enjoy being able to smell that. This perfume is right up my alley because of that--I can enjoy the changes in the vetiver and the fig as the scent wears, and I get a lot of the complexity of the vetiver in this blend.

 

I will probably get a bottle of this!

[elbow]

This is very figgy on me, the sweetness grounded by just a touch of smokey vetiver. I adore BPAL's fig note, and the vetiver brings a depth and richness to it -- a very nice balance on me.

 

I like the way it smells on my sweetheart, too, but he wrinkles up his nose at it, describing it as terrible and plasticky. Noses: they're weird.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Sweet fig and vetiver. Both very distinct.

 

Wet on skin: Same. I don't know if I'd have identified the fig without knowing it was there, but that's definitely vetiver darkening it.

 

Dried down: Ok, the fig and vetiver are blending together a lot better now. I still smell both parts, but they smell like they belong together now.

 

Throw: I get almost nothing unless the scent is a few inches away from my skin. What I do get is vetiver.

 

Verdict: *** This isn't bad, but I don't think this is for me. A little too much vetiver for my tastes.

[alyelle]

In the imp: dark, spicy vetiver. A perfect counterpart to Venus Victrix

 

Wet: I swear, vetiver is one of my best friends. Our optometry student says this smells like candy canes; to me it smells like fresh ripe figs and cold forests. The ultiate in winning combinations! ♥

 

Dry: ... this doesn't actually have time to morph - after about 2 hours, it's vanished. I reapplied it at midday and it was gone again by the time I finished work at 5pm.

 

The throw is medium-to-strong, but the overall life for me rarely exceeds 3 hours, even when I slather. For that, I need to knock off half a star; otherwise it would have been perfect.

 

Stars: ★★★★½

[milo]

All vetiver at first. Surprisingly it takes a back seat after a short while and fresh fig dominates. I like fig, but paired up with something darker. For a change, I wish the vetiver was a bit more present here. Sweet and juicy. I like this, but not enough to upgrade.

[unxolve]

Ahhh, fig! As others have said, the smokey vetiver is strong at first, but quickly melds beautifully and smoothly into the fig.

 

Fig always smells a little like a christmas craft store to me, and is a warm, spicy fruit. The "meaty" review scared me off from ordering a decant, but I shouldn't have second-guessed myself on this one. Sweet, sophisticated, a little smokey and wonderfully-blended fig.

[grnwoodtree]

On first sniff I said to myself, ahh, a sweet tobacco, right out of the humidor...and it stays that way.

 

The fig is dominant, and I a going to try adding more vetiver E.O. to see what happens...because I LOVE VETIVER.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Sweet fig undercut by vetiver.

 

Wet: More fig,but the vetiver keeps it from being too sweet.

 

The dry-down: Not really much of a morpher, as it's the sweet fig only slightly tainted by the rich dark vetiver throughout.

Edited June 21, 2015 by thekittenkat