The Buffalo Man

[Casablanca]

Darkness; a sensation of falling-as if he were tumbling down a great hole, like Alice. He fell for a hundred years into darkness. Faces passed him, swimming out of the black, then each face was ripped up and away before he could touch it . . .
Abruptly, and without transition, he was not falling. Now he was in a cave, and he was no longer alone. Shadow stared into familiar eyes: huge, liquid black eyes. They blinked.

Under the earth: yes. He remembered this place. The stink of wet cow. Firelight flickered on the wet cave walls, illuminating the buffalo head, the man's body, skin the color of brick clay.

"Can't you people leave me be?" asked Shadow. "I just want to sleep."

The buffalo man nodded, slowly. His lips did not move, but a voice in Shadow's head said, "Where are you going, Shadow?"

"Cairo."

"Why?"

"Where else have I got to go? It's where Wednesday wants me to go. I drank his mead." In Shadow's dream, with the power of dream logic behind it, the obligation seemed unarguable: he drank Wednesday's mead three times, and sealed the pact-what other choice of action did he have?

The buffalo-headed man reached a hand into the fire, stirring the embers and the broken branches into a blaze. "The storm is coming," he said. Now there was ash on his hands, and he wiped it onto his hairless chest, leaving soot-black streaks.

"So you people keep telling me. Can I ask you a question?"
There was a pause. A fly settled on the furry forehead. The buffalo man flicked it away. "Ask."

"Is this true? Are these people really gods? It's all so . . ." He paused. Then he said, "impossible," which was not exactly the word he had been going for but seemed to be the best he could do.

"What are gods?" asked the buffalo man.

"I don't know," said Shadow.

Warm dark brown musk, woodsmoke, and deep pools of labdanum.

In the bottle, there’s a heavy, dark brown labdanum, imbued with a Faunalia sort of musk and a little smoke. It smells moody, weighty, and thick.

On my skin, this is so heavy brown animal. The liquid itself is dark brown. It smells musky, woody, smoky, resinous, and brown. This is the herd animal stamping on the plain, or the rugged man wanting sexy times by the campfire.

The woodsmoke smells to me like that from Baby’s First Krampuslauf, which is what I hoped for. I liked that note. Those who enjoyed that, or blends like Faunalia and Coyote, might want to try the buffalo, too.

[zankoku_zen]

Dark, smoky labdanum and musk. It's a heavy brown musk, feral and animalistic. Gender neutral into masculine. This smells like warmed animal skin and fur.

[whisperstilled]

Wet: Dark musk, almost spicy labdanum, and smoke. This is actually surprisingly sweet - I was expecting something more bitter. And holy crap, what throw! I just put it on my arm and I can smell it while I type.

 

Dry: Casablanca's comparison to Faunalia is very apt, that's by far the scent this reminds me of the most. It does sour a bit on the drydown and sharpen up in a way that cancels out much of what I love about the wet stage, but this is still a strong, powerful, uniquely shaggy scent. It's so weird - I feel like this scent should have patch in it, even though it doesn't, perhaps it's the woodsmoke and labdanum sweetness. Despite comparisons to other scents, this is definitely a rare breed of BPAL, and pretty unique. Really interesting.

[annemathematics]

sweet labdanum, woodsmoke that bounces between campfire and non-offensive almost ciggie-esque and the lovely musk from faunalia, coyote, ivanuschka, etcetc.

 

very lovely. that musk and labdanum are two of my favorite bpal notes.

 

this starts out with a nice strong oooomph but (freshly landed, keep in mind) faded away within a few hours. smokey sweetened musk still detectable at the skin, but not much waft.

[Dark Alice]

This by far is my favorite of the AG scents. Sweet woodsmoke, laudunum, and something else. It's just gorgeous from wet to drydown. Must order a bottle soon.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Pretty much labdanum single note on me right now, which isn't terrible. Sweet and sticky. Smells very warm, but there's a hint of something chemical underneath that I'm not a fan of. Hoping some smoke comes out a bit as it dries.

 

 

Dry: I REALLY like this. It's such a sweet, resinous, dark, rich scent. It's comforting and warm. I likely need more at some point (but not urgently, as this feels like a cold months scent).

[Dark Alice]

This scent is gorgeous. Lush warm brown musk, with a touch of something resinous with a hint of smoke. I LOVE IT. It's amazing!

[galahad]

In the bottle:

This was initially very vinegary straight out of the mail but it has settled down some. Still slight vinegar and labdanum

On the Skin:

Vinegar, soft musk and labdanum. The overall effect is somewhat aniseedy as well. I am really hoping after some aging this will smooth out and lose it's pickle note.

On the Drydown:

After 10 minutes or so, this becomes closer to what I was looking forward to - slightly smoky labdanum and warm musk. I see some hope for this in the future

[Elspethdixon]

Wet/in the imp - perfume-y (but a unisex perfume); slightly astringent, slightly sweet-musky

Freshly applied - sweet, sugary musk. Maybe a hint of woodsmoke? I cannot emphasize enough how sweet this smells. You know how Devil's Night from the 2016 Weenies was supposed to be "sugar-crusted musk?" This smells like what I expected that to smell like. I get maybe a hint of woodsmoke and animalic fur/hide right up against my skin, but the throw is all sugar-musk.

Five-ten minutes in - I'm starting to get hints of the labdanum/resin, but overall Buffalo Man is primarily sweet musk with a hint of smokiness. Throw is limited, and the scent stays close to the skin, but it's strong when I put my nose to my wrist. The animalic/fur musk that some people apparently turn into pickles/vinegar is clearly sugary-sweet on me.

Thirty-forty minutes in - The labdanum has come forward more, and the scent has gained an animalic aspect which is toning down the sugary sweetness a bit. But it's still primarily sweet musk. It's a close-to-the-skin scent, but very snuggly and pleasant.

By the two-three hour mark, Buffalo Man has faded to a sweet, powdery skin scent (powdery the way black musk sometimes goes on me, rather than powdery late-drydown amber or like orris). A faint hint of baby-powder-y skin musk lingered on my skin for the rest of the day.

I don't think I need a bottle, but this imp is definitely a keeper. Sweet, snuggly musk with a hint of woodsmoke. It does smell brown, but brown like brown sugar being gently carmelized, not brown like buffalo hide.

[Blood onmy hands]

Warm, amber-y labdanum that turns just slightly powdery on me, with thick, animalic musk (like a warmer version of black musk with maybe a hint of civet) and straightup woodsmoke, like standing next to a bonfire. Starts off strong and growly, but dries down to mostly that powdery amber veil on my skin.

[Joyleaf_]

This smells almost exactly like an ancient Horned God altar oil my old pagan shop had in the back for the covens sabbats. As I never wore that on my skin, the similarity starts to fade as the oil warms. This is much sweeter and warmer, less smokey and dark. I love the animalistic musk note, and I love civet and I wish this blend was heavier with that note on my skin. I will say that this has good throw, I can smell it as I type, and It is very comforting.