Upon Man and Upon Beast

[stellamaris]

Dry patchouli and white sandalwood oozing with lesions of labdanum, wet red cherry, and opoponax.

This one is super strange, but some how very wearable.
First of all, the oil is a very dark grey. Looks like motor oil.
It's heavy and complex, but approachable. I have been wearing this everyday since I got it.
That is all.

[annemathematics]

in the bottle there is cherry and heavy wet patch. once applied, the cherry disappears on me and doesn't return. this is not a fruity scent. not a foodie scent. nope, not at all.

 

this is, in fact, the heaviest, funkiest patchouli I've ever smelled from a bpal. the sandalwood is woven in close with the patch and is adding to the mayhem. it's so strong on me that I maybe shouldn't wear it out, even here in the former hippie heaven of the bay area. however I am smitten with this funky beast and I fully intend to keep this around and wear it often and see how it ages. I know we all gush about how every bpal will age and they almost all astound us, but I think that the life of this scent will be epic. the labdanum is nicely present (mmm!) and adds a bit of wet texture. this is a very beautiful, rich labdanum! the opoponax, however, is all ninja and hard to find.

 

I love the name of this. I can't wait to tell folks what I'm wearing.

 

eta THIS SCENT and the banshee beat/revenant rhythm have unleashed in me a fearsome craze for all of my bpal patch scents.

 

and after about a month, this one has shifted a little bit.

still cherry in the bottle, and now also a little cherry detected when wet, but when this scent has dried down, the cherry is mostly noticeable in adding juiciness to the texture. the patch is a leeetle bit mellower and the sandalwood is ever so slightly more pronounced. although I think this will age well, I don't know if I'll get to find out; I'm addicted to this stuff and my bottle may not last very long.

Edited May 12, 2015 by annemathematics

[bulletslc]

This one is extremely dry. Even the cherry comes across as dry and tart. My nose interprets this as barn hay or old school hairspray. :-\

[Haltija]

I can't pin down what it is about this one but it instantly turns my stomach when I put it on.

I can't handle it at all and it's sad because in the decant it's so nice. ):

[DJ Sin]

This is almost a single note of patch with a cherry top note that fades away.

 

I am love with this one!

[mystery213]

In the bottle, this smells oddly of dry dog food.

When applied, it becomes very white sandalwood and patchouli heavy with a background of labdanum. I get almost zero cherry of any sort, which was really what I was hoping for. This is, as stated above, not foody or fruity whatsoever. It is a very dry, woodsy smell, with the slightest touch of something sweet lurking in the background.

It dries down to an almost straight up blend of patchouli/sandalwood on me.

[Deliciousness]

In the imp: Woah, what striking color - it's an inky brownish black. Cool! Scent wise, it's patchouli and a slight hint of cherries. So excited, I love cherry!

 

Wet on skin: Patchouli. Very wearable, but pretty much a single note patch with lovely soft edges - like Goblin (I didn't get any coconut from that one either).

 

Dry down: It's only after the three hour mark where my nose can pick up a slight nuance of a cherry/slightly sweet hint in the background of this scent. It's very faint and I have to put my nose to my wrist to really detect it, as it's so faint. Otherwise, I'd just say this was a nice, wearable single note patchouli.

[Geminirubyshoes]

Dry, dry, dry! This may be the driest blend I have ever tried.

 

I actually do like this in the wet stage but when dry it smells EXACTLY like warm animal fur. Like a wolf has been laying in a bed of cedar chips. Not for me but I think this would smell amazeballs on a boy..

[MCS4096]

This one does have a fascinating color! Actually, the whole set of Plagues was fun to decant because there were some different colors there..

 

I agree that this is a very dry scent. I was expecting some juiciness from the cherry (especially with the "oozing" description haha), but I get a freaking ton of patchouli and labdanum (of which I am unfortunately not a huge fan) with a bit of dessicated sweetness from the cherry. I wish the opoponax was more present because it would add bit more resinous sweetness to the blend.

 

As it dries on me it becomes quite strong and unisex leaning masculine. Woody, dark, and intense. Not for the faint of heart but if you're into heavy duty patchouli with some subtle nuances, this might be up your alley.

[strahlend]

First impression – this one is hard to pin down. It does kind of smell like lite patchouli and cherries, but the notes in the decant are rather elusive.

Skin testing – warm and sweet patchouli. The resins are lending a bit of sharpness to the background. A few minutes later and something more astringent is coming forward, smells like vetiver, but must be the opoponax? A few minutes later and things are mellowing out again, but still predominantly the kind of astringent, sharp opoponax mixing with the dry patchouli. It's a dry patchouli without any the sweetness. And that seems to be where it sits in the late dry down, dry sharp resin with a bit of dry sharp patchouli.

[stubbornfire]

Goooorgeous.

 

In the imp, it's a dry cherry.. Like a cherry incense. I guess that's the patchouli? (you can see how little I really know about anything notes/scents related from all of my plague reviews, haha).

 

On my skin, it's something different- it's woodsy, but a sweet woodsy smell. The cherry is gone completely and it's just this sweet woodsy smell! Googling says that is likely the labdanum or it and the opoponax.

 

It's not what I expected from smelling it wet, but I think I really like both stages equally. If I can manage a bottle of this before they disappear I will certainly try. I'd love to see what a bit of age does to this.

[zankoku_zen]

Dry cherry, patchouli and sandalwood. It's a dry sandalwood with cherry and patchouli thrown in. It smells dusty, dry and very desertlike.

 

Or perhaps better thought of as Indiana Jones in the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[fetish911]

I got no cherry what so ever from this. It's all super dry sandalwood and patchouli... Cedar chips! Poster above me said this is "warm fur and cedar chips " is spot on description for me too. Also one of the driest bpals I can recall trying. I kinda like it!!

[d0gbones]

In the imp (decant): Cough syrup. The kind that's been lurking on the shelf for ages.

Wet: The cough syrup's calmed down to a tarty cherry and something resinous is taking over.

Dry: Still getting the odd waft of cough syrup, but it's basically just sandalwood.

 

This one's somewhere on the border between fairly masculine and heavy womens' perfume. Not a keeper for me.

[sprout]

No cherry here. I'm compelled to add that I had just a drop in my sniffie to skin test. I wish I had a full decant because this was surprisingly good. I may need to hunt down a bottle. Initially it was high pitched like department store, alcohol based perfume then it became a lovely, sweet resin that was cuddly and soft. The cherry note came off as moisture but not syrup or juice, just mildly sweet and wet. I suspect the labdanum gave it the high note at first. I cannot pick out patchouli or sandalwood as they blend to make a resin that is greater than the sum of the two. The drydown is almost musky. The patch is more woody than dirty or floral, which can be any of those three on me. I would describe the whole as a nonfoody but sweet and slightly woody resin. It hugs pretty close to the skin and lasted about six hours, which is impressive since I only had a drop to test!

Edited May 22, 2015 by sprout

[milo]

I like patchouli, and I like cherry, but alas, the two do not go together well in my books. Mismatch not made in heaven.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Cherry and incense. I'm enjoying that combination more than I thought I would.

 

Wet on skin: Primarily the wood and incense.

 

Dried down: Wood and incense. I like it, but I'm missing that cherry I was getting from the decant. Never thought I'd be saying that.

 

Throw: Not much. Maybe it'll grow over time.

 

Verdict: *** I'm not sure this one is for me, yet. Perhaps I'll change my mind if he cherry comes back, but I have other incense scents that I would reach for over this.

[mymymai]

• ITI: The red cherry, sandalwood, patchouli and opoponax are all clearly evident in the vial, although the combination of the three remind me of a sweet Dragon's Blood. I do wish the smokiness of the labdanum was a bit more evident because the scent is a bit too sweet for me as it stands.

Wet: Ah, it's much more resinous on on my skin, much less cherry, which I'm enjoying. The laudanum is now thick and pendulous, lending the sandalwood and patchouli a more ominous and foreboding tone.

Dry: Ah, this is the thickly resinous scent for which I was hoping. Swaths of patchouli coil around the opoponax and sandalwood, woodsy and intoxicating. The cherry adds just a touch of sweet that keeps the scent from being entirely too earthy.

[LizziesLuck]

I received a decant of this as a frimp, and am quite excited to try it!

 

 

Wet: Dark, gnarly patchouli (black patch, I would guess), and cherry. Interesting combo! Something is giving off an almost tobacco-like vibe. Super interesting. Really dark. Very unique. I am diggin this so far, a lot. The other notes are keeping the cherry from doing that whole cough syrup thing it sometimes does on me. This niiiiice.

 

Dry: Patchouli and sandalwood. I love patchouli, but I generally like it when it's with something sweet - I find that helps lend it some femininity. Unfortunately, once the cherry in this dissipates, although the scent I am left with is quite nice, it's too masculine for my tastes. It's super earthy though, and I think would smell fantastic on a man.