A Very Grievous Murraine

[Dark Alice]

Brown musk, myrrh, and sun-baked leather afflicted by splotches of saffron and red musk.

This is just a beautiful brown musk with myrrh and a dash of red musk purring in the background. It doesn't last very long...but that's okay. It's amazing and I am a slatherer. There is the barest hint of leather in here...but mostly musk of glory! I love it!

[annemathematics]

in the bottle, I can smell the leather, the red musk and the myrrh. on the skin, I smell like sweaty musky leather. hot in the desert leather. toiling under the whips of egyptians leather. no dry cleaners leather. that said, I like this quite a bit. it smells better on others than it does on me, but it's a, uh, fun plague.
(can I call plagues like this fun?)

[Courtney North]

Saffron and red musk stood out in the bottle - could barely smell leather.

On me (fresh), the leather and saffron were the biggest notes - had to sniff deeply and up close to get any of the red musk.

Later on, the musk came through a bit more, the saffron was pushed back, and the leather stayed relatively the same (if not a little stronger) - the scent throw didn't fade much, either.

After going out to the store (warm, rainy, windy, and humid weather) for a few hours (I got a whiff of it every now and then when the breeze had died down a bit) and coming home to take a shower, I could smell a twinge of it left, so I'd say it has good throw and lasting power.

[savage_rose]

This reminded me of Sheol, a dark, musky, resinous sweetness. It dried very similar to how it was wet, but a little less sweet and more dry and incensey. One of those blends that would be amazing on the right person, but was just okay on me.

[MCS4096]

I've had a lot of trouble with red musk in recent years tending to overtake all other notes, but I was pleasantly surprised that it seemed to stay in check here. On me this is mostly a fuzzy brown musk and a glorious sweet spicy myrrh (that will forever remind me of Minotaur, one of first bpal blends I fell head over heels for). I dont get much leather, and I'm a leather lover. A waft of red musk and a dash of that odd savory saffron scent.

[Roogna]

an odd bite of musk? Sun baked saffron. Hint of myrrh, maybe hint of leather underneath, very close to skin and disappears in a few short hours

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: Vague spices.

 

Wet on my skin: Very faint, a little bit of musk and a little bit of spice. I can smell the saffron.

 

Dry: While this is faint when wet, it strengthens as it dries. This is a warm, dusty, brown scent with dusty saffron and myrrh swirling through slightly-sweet musks. There is a hint of that sun-baked leather, but mostly, this is saffron, myrrh, and musks. It's lighter than some of the other blends I have with these particular notes, and more warm and dusty than seductive. I like!

[strahlend]

First impression – very much that cherry red musk that reminds me of head shops.

Skin testing – same as in the decant. It's like a summertime red musk though because often times it is paired with heavier or spicier notes that make it seem rather thick. This is much lighter and more wearable. I'm not getting myrrh. Any brown musk and leather are soft and smooth. They do come forward after a few minutes, the musk and leather. But all together this still feels on the lighter side of musky leather blends and it is a welcome alternative to the super thick heavy blends those notes usually appear in. Pretty and nice. Much more on the incense side.

Late in the dry down it's still a lovely incensey presence wafting around. Long lasting, but never overpowering, an unusual combination. One of my two favorites in this series.

[zankoku_zen]

Brown musk, red musk and a touch of saffron with a hint of leather. So this is smooth, warm, and soft. I think it's the brown musk plus the hint of leather. The red musk adds a sexy dimension to this, and in general I find this much more approachable than alot of musky blends. In some ways, it makes me think of Heroine... if she were out in the desert. There's a definitely "dry" component to this.

 

So think Lara Croft in Egypt, and you get a general vibe of what this blend is like.

[stubbornfire]

This is so, so gorgeous and I will definitely have to get a hold of more than just my decant's worth!

 

In the imp I get the leather, red musk and..I want to say the saffron. On my skin it's everything together and it gets hard to pick out anything specific for long - one sniff is brown musk and spicyness, the next is red musk and leather, etc etc.

 

It's a little spicy, a lot musk-y, with a touch of leather. Full on gorgeous. Love, love, love it. ❤

 

Spoke too soon... Not even half an hour later the whole things died down to brown musk and saffron. It's still rather nice, but Strong, and I miss the red musk and leather. 😣

Edited May 1, 2015 by stubbornfire

[razzlecupcake]

I love this. I smell like a headshop in the best of ways. It... Makes me want to wear lots of eyeliner? Idk. So glad I bought a bottle, will probably grab a backup before the plagues go down. ) I totally recommend!

[d0gbones]

In the imp (decant): gone-off perfume and curry? Um...

Wet: Musky myrrh and coconut. Is there coconut in here? Whatever it is, it reminds me of a scented My Little Pony I had as a kid. Hm. Most of these notes are new to me and I'm having a hard time separating and identifying them.

Dry: Musk, leather and I swear I can still smell coconut.

[sprout]

Sorry, I'm getting a bandaid scent here. It's a nice red musk straight out of the gate but then I get bandaid musk! This could be an unholy alliance of the musk, saffron, myrrh, and my interesting chemistry. Unfortunately I cannot unsmell it. I get the leather, and it does smell like its still on the cow which is sweating in the sun. Then the myrrh sweetens things up and it isn't good with the Band-Aids and sweaty cow. I really had an urge to scrub this away!

 

On late drydown this is sweet resinous myrrh. On the way there, I smelled brown and red musk and it melded nicely with the leather which softened and smelled like a calf or brown suede gloves for a brief time and less like a sweaty cow baking in the desert sun. That was nice, but it didn't last. This one really morphs.

 

Another interesting olfactory experience is this plague and it evokes the concept of a diseased cow brilliantly, but a little too close for comfort! I'm interested to see how this ages as I believe the notes will blend together better as time goes by however the wet phase is a repellant to this nose and as to be expected the myrrh dominates the late drydown and lacks complexity due to my skin tendency to amp it.

 

I'll age it and retest of course to see if it can shake the band aid smell, but for the nonce, I can't see wearing it for real. It smells too much like a diseased cow sweating in the sun, covered with Band-Aids and oozing. Brilliant in concept but scary in execution.

Edited May 22, 2015 by sprout

[lady_pandora]

This starts out incensey red musk with one of the notes registering as a red fruit initially (not sure if this is a quirk of the red musk, or maybe of myrrh, which is sometimes raisiny on me in the early stages). Then I get a subtle little kick of smoky leather; the fruitiness fades, and it's incensey musk with a bit of leather and it's glorious. Sexy as hell.

 

Unfortunately, it turns into almost a Red Musk SN, with only hints of the incense and no more leather. I've been amping the hell out of red musk for a few years, and with the exception of a few miracle blends, it's getting to be like the jasmine phenomenon: it's a note I like, but that I amp enough to drown out the differences between blends. I'm keeping my decant, because I love the early stages and don't mind the red musk drydown, but I think I'm going to scale back on buying red musk blends until I make more of a dent in what I have.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Sweet dusty spices. t makes me think of a sweeter version of cherezade or Morocco.

 

Wet on skin: About the same.

 

Dried down: Mmmmmm.......... leather and myrrh. This is pretty awesome.

 

Throw: I'm getting a little bit of throw from this. It's nice. Leathery.

 

Verdict: ***** Yay! Another happy scent for me!!

Edited June 6, 2015 by Magycmyste

[rayvn1]

Mmm. I amp red musk, so this is primarily a mix of musks and a hint of leather. It's not terribly strong, (that's partly because I have an aquatic screaming off my other arm), instead it's warm and pleasant. Sexy, even. The leather is getting stronger as it sits on my arm. Keeper.

[mymymai]

• ITI: I was expecting more leather to this scent. Instead, I'm met with comforting saffron set against myrrh and red musk. The leather is almost an after-note, succumbing to the warm tones of the musks and resin.

Wet: It's similar on my skin with a touch more leather, but there's something that reminds me of a good root beer. Interesting.

Dry: After a number of hours, the scent is dusty, the myrrh largely burned out, the leather certainly sun-baked. I get it now. What a brilliant progression!

[Mokiefraggle]

Wow, I am really behind on reviewing my BPAL stock. I've had this for ages, and haven't written about it!

 

I'm a musk fiend, I admit. Red and brown musk, in one perfume? I was all over this, not to mention the myrrh and leather. I don't recall ever having any other BPAL with saffron as a note, but I like it in cooking, so I'm willing to give it a go here.

 

It's definitely a strong, throw-heavy scent, with a lot of musk in the foreground, and leather that does indeed smell like it's been sitting out in the sun to bake. Smells like my leather jacket when I've worn it in late spring, when it soaks up the sun and just radiates that warm leather smell. The myrrh is dusty and a bit dry, and it all works together amazingly. Not sure if I'm getting the saffron, but it's a lovely scent on the whole. It stays warm musks and leather on my skin the whole time, and doesn't wear off easily. I'd easily have bought another bottle if I could've afforded it.

[LizziesLuck]

I received a decant of this as a frimp, really excited to get to try it!

 

 

Wet: Myrrh and musk fighting for dominance. Not a lot of leather, and just hints of saffron. Really nice, a little masculine.

 

Dry: The leather really come out, and it's not one of the Lab's leather notes that I really care for - too masculine on me. This is a nice scent, but it doesn't suite me at all. I am really glad to have gotten to try it!

[Cali]

Oof! This is a lot like Mme Moriarty to me, just a tad earthier with heavy saffron.

Saffron hates me unfortunately, but damn this is a very sexy, dusty blend and fits the concept perfectly.