Oil and Pitch

[Spaztic]

It has been known since antiquity that looking directly at an eclipse can cause serious damage to the eyes. Islamic scholar, Al-Biruni, observed that you could minimize the damage by viewing an eclipse reflected in the surface of still water. In his Naturales Quaestiones, Seneca observed, Whenever we want to watch an eclipse of the Sun we set out basins filled with oil or pitch, because the heavy liquid is not easily disturbed and so preserves the images it receives.

Amber swirled in opoponax, black labdanum, and poplar tar.

Amber + Opoponax are the major players in this scent

It's a rather thick feeling resin fragrance and it's rather sweet on me (not sugar sweet), it last ALLL day.
I could see people who are a fan of the amber from Haunted and love opoponax really enjoying this one
The labdanum is probably in there, I'm not sure what it's supposed to smell like and when I looked it up it said "animalic" and my skin completely drinks up animalic notes...or I'm anosmic to it.

The poplar tar seems to add a density to the scent, even if I don't find it to stand out on it's own.
While I could wear this scent on a warmish day, I know it'll shine in all it's glory on those cold/brisk days that are coming to Canada soon enough

Other note: This one got me complemented a couple times by my boss, she had to know what it was called because it was so lovely. I didn't feel confidant enough to give her the bpal spiel so I told her "Amber and Opoponax" Edited August 27, 2017 by Spaztic

[patina]

As someone who is a dark resin lover, I think this is awesome. Myrrh and labdanum happen to be my two favorite scents so there you go.

Only drawback is that the poplar pitch can be a little close to pine tar and very very slightly like gasoline. It makes the scent less sweet than it would otherwise be. If you liked Schwarzer Mond, Streets of Detroit, or Schlaflos Frage Und Antwort you probably would like this. I think I prefer those scents, but this is still a good evocation of darkness with a pale corona of light.

Edited August 31, 2017 by patina

[JazzieCazzie]

IN THE IMP: Sharp and yet not acrid. The tar is prevalent but ever-so-slightly sweet and resinous so there is hope!

 

WET: Sharp, resinous and rich. Not sweet at all.

 

INITIAL DRYDOWN: Woody/woodsy, sharp but not acrid ... the sad thing for me is I'm not really getting the "oppo" which to me tends to turn "cola" and as such becomes one of my favorite notes.

 

FINAL DRYDOWN: Woody/woodsy and dark. I really really like this scent but it is somehow (I hate to put it like this but can't find a better way) too "masculine" for me.

 

A few notes ... it goes oddly "salty" on my wrist but stays truly resinous in the crook of my arm ... I'd love this on "my man" but he does not like smellies ... I think this would make an AMAZEBALL candle or atmo spray or even bath oil but I don't think it works for me as a perfume which makes me sad because it smells FABULOUS.

[strick9]

I am SO SO SO sad that I didn't order this with my Eclipse order. It's in my top 3 from that run. I got a frimp of this with a purchase from annemathematics (thank you!), and i'm absolutely smitten.

 

In the bottle it smells like a resinous woody pitch. It reminds me of playing in the woods and climbing trees as a kid, and getting sticky with pine sap and other pitch.

 

On, ugh. ON. The pitch falls into the background and becomes a whisper of astringency that balances out the sweetness and heaviness of the other resins.

 

The resins are so gorgeous in this, and I can't stop sniffing my wrist. LVNEA makes a cocoa/labdanum body oil that i LOVE, and the labdanum is clearly what i'm loving here. It's kinda funky, kinda piney, kinda raw honey. It's sweet, but not cloyingly so. As it wears, it becomes a bit lighter, and raw maple syrup smells start to develop. Sweet barks, trees, leaves, saplings. ugh. I cannot smell enough of this.

 

If you love resins and woody blends that *aren't*, and verge slightly on the side of old oak barrel, you'll dig this. I must find as many of these as possible. i'm SO SO SAD i didn't order this!

[lady_pandora]

Mmmm...if oil and pitch were perfume, this is what they'd smell like. Dark heavy slightly sweet resins. Reminds me somewhat of Event Horizon but without the high-pitched floral notes. I think I'm going to join the "wish I'd bought more of this" club.

[roseus]

This starts out quite herbal on my skin, and sweetens up as it dries. It's dark, heavy resins but not in a bad way at all. It stays a little green and herbal on me, I want to call it rugged almost.

[Jenjin]

Wow, bottle sniff is all tar along with something I can only describe as 'grease monkey'. This is all butch-in-a-ballcap just after working under the hot engine. I don't get much amber and it just comes out gritty on my skin. I can see why this is beloved, mostly because it is so transformative, but its not even close to something I could ever wear because i'm amping all sorts of petroleum notes and longing for the resinous opoponax swirled amber. I wish I was tough enough to wear this, with undercut blue hair, destroyed boyfriend jeans and Baphomet t-shirt, but it's not meant to be.

Edited October 28, 2017 by Jenjin

[Anne Taylor]

this is like no other BPAL I've tried before, and I LOVE IT. It's a slightly sweet tar but with a bit of an engine grease undertone (maybe it'll go away with aging but I honestly like it). I'm regretting not getting a full bottle...

[zankoku_zen]

Amber, tar and woods. This smells like a oil soaked raisin on woods. Yup. I definitely smell raisins. But dipped in lamp oil. Medium throw and wear length.

[LizziesLuck]

Apparently I somehow forgot to review this! (I just tested my decant and immediately purchased two bottles of it...)

 

 

Wet: There is a blast of woods at first (not a fan) but then that is immediately overtaken on my skin by deliciously dark, syrupy opoponax and labdanum. Mmmm. Then, the magic really starts when the amber peeks out- on me, this smells just like the amber from Hesiod's Phoenix. Which I adore. Only this is even better. I know some folks thought this smells like Streets of Detroit - I believe that may be due to the word "oil" in the title? They share no notes, and don't smell even remotely similar to me. Just my two cents.

 

 

Dry: The wood pretty much disappears (which I am so grateful for) and the opoponax and labdanum fade back a bit, and this become all about the glorious amber. I really just want to slather in this daily. I bought two bottles, and I am not sure it will be enough.

[forspecial_plate]

I get it now....at first I was mostly picking up on the 'oil' aspect that some other people mentioned above, and I couldn't identify anything 'ambery' about this. I came back to it today after resting for a few weeks. Now I'm getting mostly labdanum, which to me has a really strange scent, like a deep wine resin scent, but it's definitely ambery.

 

This smells great and I'm glad I kept trying it until it worked! It's like a stripped down amber scent profile without any vanilla or any of the 'sweet' parts.

 

I think that people who can't wear amber because it turns to powder, might have better luck with this because it's like the parts of amber that aren't powdery (I could be wrong about that).

[Lucchesa]

Oil and Pitch is an extremely apt name for this blend. I'm not getting any sweetness from it at all, just a lot of woody resin with a machine oil vibe. The poplar tar seems to have overwhelmed the amber and everything else. Dark and deep and interesting, but I think I would need some of the syrupy sweetness of the opoponax to emerge before this could be truly wearable for me.

 

Perfect for cosplaying a steampunk villain with extravagantly curled and waxed mustaches.

[saint_gawain]

Ohhhhh, I love this. Dark and rich and warm. It starts off resin on me and deepens into a sweetness that I think is the labdanum. Really wish I'd gotten more than one bottle.

[Juliamon]

This is a dark oil, along the lines of Snake Oil. Be wary of staining.

 

In the imp: I think the reason this originally flew under my radar is because of the poplar tar note, and just based on sniff alone my wariness was justified. This is all grimy, dusty old wood, like a consignment antique shop. Not something I want to put on myself, but imps have deceived me before...

 

Wet: OH GOD. This is FUCKING AMAZING. BPAL's amber hides on me when wet, so right now this is all opoponax and labdanum, and sometimes I ask myself "do I really love resins as much as I claim to?" which this is replying with OH HELL YES. There's a faint smokiness/woodiness, probably from the poplar tar, but mostly just an incredible resin incense.

 

Dry: The amber finally warms up a bit, pushing away some of that woodsmoke and letting the resins sweeten up a tad. It is still by no means a sweet blend though!

 

Light throw, great longevity--I could still smell it the next day. This came out of nowhere and slammed itself into my top 10, but it's so rich and warm I want to save it for colder months when I need a mood lifter. That is, unless I can track down a bottle...