Highwayman

[aymee]

Stand and deliver! Vetiver with gardenia, blood red rose, night-blooming jasmine, a dash of cinnamon and a faint hint of leather.

I received this as a frimp.

I didn't know what notes it contained when I smelled it, so I didn't have any preconceived notions. This was actually the first time I have ever smelled vetiver or any BPAL containing the leather note. I can definitely pick them both out, though...I'm assuming that vetiver is the herby greenness I'm smelling. The scent was definitely intriguing, so I had to apply it, even though it seemed too masculine for me.

On my skin, I could smell the vetiver and leather, with just a tiiiiny bit of florals. The leather smell is a bit weird for me, since I was a vegetarian for almost a decade, but I kind of liked it. Definitely too manly smelling for me, but I'd like to try it on my husband.

All in all, it's a unique and beautiful scent, but really not for me. However, I'm glad I tried it, since I have been avoiding blends with vetiver because of all the anti-vetiver posts. Edited September 30, 2007 by Shollin

[nancybridget]

All I get with Highwayman is vetiver and leather and yuck! I'm having the same nauseated reaction to this blend as I did to Depraved - feeling ill and running to the washroom.

[kourika]

Highwayman ended up smelling musty and sweaty on me, not really a scent I need to go out of my way to create! On the right person, I'm sure it's a lovely scent, but he's definitely not for me.

[dragonryder]

This sounded so awesome, had to try it, but it doesn't work for me. Vetiver like patchouli just doesn't seem to like my chemistry.

[ladymissspyder]

In bottle: sharp, penetrating vetiver and leather.

 

Wet: a very green incarnation of vetiver.

 

Drydown: oooh, now it's pretty! Spicy leather and a soft, lush floral.

 

Fully dry: light leather.

 

Overall: It's not my thing, but it's nice.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Vetiver and roses, I think.

 

Wet: Vetiver, faint flowers and a smooth dark leathery scent.

 

Drydown: I get vetiver thinly layered over roses and jasmine. There's a salty, grimy element from the vetiver and a smooth cleanliness from the very faint leather. It smells... black, somehow. Like it would smell in a very dark carriage with someone dressed all in leather and perfumed with roses.

 

Overall: It recalls a dark stormy night, the vetiver is quite gruesome and dark, the leather hints at violence and the flowers seem to sweeten the deal a bit - this Highwayman is sexy. It's a scent that I'm not sure I could wear myself, but it's dark and broody and quite beautiful.

[Nekomata]

Wet I was very worried I would hate this. The vetiver was there, as was the leather, but the jasmine was too. Jasmine is not my friend.

 

A few minutes on my skin and the jasmine was still there...

 

Another few minutes and...YAY! All woody, leathery goodness. Very nice!

[edenssixthday]

Highwayman - I got NONE of the scents listed in the description. From the first moment I whiffed the imp, to the first moment I applied it to my skin, the only thing I smelled was the most horrific scent I've personally ever experienced. There weren't any more moments after those first two -- I ran to the bathroom so fast and pulled out my strongest cleanser and had to scrub scrub scrub that horrific stank off me. I wasn't even about to give it time to dry down and possibly mellow out. I would rather rub cat butt on me than wear this stuff. It is by far the most digusting oil I have ever smelled. I can't believe someone actually thought it was a good idea to sell this stuff. Thankfully it was just an "extra" thrown into a BPAL imp order and I didn't actually pay for it or I'd be demanding my money back. Truly disgusting. Don't even go there.

[urbanruralferal]

I was intrigued by this one, and since I am trying every blend with vetiver, I had to give it a try. Normally I shy way away from rose, and jasmine is no friend to me either, but since this was a favorite poem of mine as a child, and because of the vetiver connection, (see above.)

 

I have to say that vetiver and rose are strange bedfellows. Not too pleasant, in my estimation. I always thought the highwayman was so hot, but if this is what he smells like, forget it. He comes off elegant, and, you know, dashing, and yet the danger is right there, not even under the surface. Not that I don't like some blade with my roses, but...

my first thought was, "unwashed." Maybe he has a string of Black eyed Landlord's Daughters along that long road of his...

 

After an hour, the leather is stronger than the vetiver and the flowers have wilted and their petals are souring, blown, blown...

So appropriate.

 

Unfortunately I got two imps of this coming to me (by mistake) and the second hasn't arrived before I will be attempting to swap off the first.

[Eunice]

Rose, leather and jasmine immediately. The rose fades away pretty quickly and is replaced by the gardenia. This smells lovely on but it just doesn't suit me. Still smells fine though!

[Elrianra]

In the imp, vetiver and gardenia in an overwhelming 'WHEE I'M SOAPY' manner. Ech. On, leather and roses... wtf? It gets tolerable - almost - after it begins to dry. Dry, it is dusty, worn leather and heavy-petal red roses. I can almost stand this but there is something in this so emphatically... well... MALE that my brain actually hurts trying to visualize this in response to myself. This is utterly and totally not for me, but is incredibly diverse, I do give it that.

[lookingglass]

I think this is a great name for something that smells like a bum that fell asleep under a parked semi at a truck stop. It is not even the slightest bit pleasent on me...

[PilotKitten]

A very masculine scent I think. My skin seems to really amp up the vetiver in this one. So much so that I’m not getting any of the other notes. A slight tint of the leather from Whip but not so much anything else. (On this note, I had to finish my review as I accidentally rubbed my eye with a finger that I had previously used to apply an oil… yeah… stupid. Don’t worry, I’m not suing BPAL and my eye is fine now… lol. Except for a little burning and a full berating cussfest directed at myself while I was rinsing it out, I’ll be fine)

[aestien]

Bottle: vetiver and leather

Wet: leather and vetiver, rose, gardenia, jasmine in the background

Dry: leather and vetiver, rose, cinnamon, jasmine, gardenia

Throw: medium

 

Wow. For me, this one is straight up sex in a bottle. Smoky vetiver and leather predominate, with just the slightest hint of the spice of cinnamon, the florals are not too powdery, just enough to vibrantly evoke this dashing lover. The leather in this is perfect. Definitely on the masculine end, but I like it on me in a very Sovay kind of way.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

with apologies to Stevie...

 

"A pale and violent rider" just about describes this perfectly.

Vetiver, white floral (jasmine, gardenia) with a very dry leather and the BPAL rose that turns into perm solution on me

 

 

".....Alas, he was the highwayman

The one who comes and goes..."

 

and so, yes, this will go live with someone else.

[spark]

Wet: Vetiver. And gardenia or jasmine, both of which have a tendency to become 500-Pound Floral on my skin.

 

As it dries on me, the vetiver fades into the background fairly quickly: always present, but more as a hint of darkness than HI I'M VETIVER. At this stage I probably wouldn't be able to ID it as vetiver if not for the initial wet scent.

 

Sadly, as it dries, the gardenia/jasmine does not let go. They're so heavy on my skin that the rose, cinnamon, and leather never make their appearance. Just heavy flowers.

[steffanina]

Highwayman-

 

In Bottle: I can't really pick out any one thing. It's all floral-spice unfamiliarness.

 

Wet: Okay, this is much nicer now. Very sweet; if I didn't know the names of what was in here I wouldn't know how to separate anything. I smell the rose but it's not at all what I think of when I think of rose. Much more robust and less cloying. Sweet and floral and spice in general. I don't think this is too masculine but it does make me want to go put on jeans instead of a dress, if that makes any sense.

 

Dry: Whoa. Okay, I keep sniffing my wrist to see if it changes, and about half an hour after I put it on all I'm left with is this intense sweet-spicy musk that is literally making me nauseated with every sniff. If I could wash my wrists off I would, but I'm in the car. So I make myself stop sniffing. When I'm not sniffing, the nausea fades, and I don't feel like I reek. In fact I like what I perceive I smell like--the odor-aura of me is a nice impression. And three hours after I've put it on, what's left is fine (and not musty at all). This is something I won't come back to often, but I won't get rid of it. The idea of telling myself "this one is okay, just don't keep sniffing at it" is too high-maintenance for everyday wear, but I'm thinking when I want to feel like there's a masculine aura on me I might bring it out.

 

Overall: VERY conditional, but I won't get rid of it.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: This is really indistinct. It's hard for me to get a handle on anything here. I usually find vetiver very distinctive, and I'm surprised that I cannot detect it.

 

Wet: I'm really surprised by this--I get a melange of flowers that I suppose is slightly dampened by the vetiver. I don't catch much of the cinnamon or the leather.

 

Drydown and wear: This starts to smell a bit stale on my arm, like the leather, which emerges, is doused with sweat. It also vanishes quite quickly.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial, I mainly get vetiver, with a slight undercurrent of leather and a tiny bit of rose.

 

On me, the vetiver at first goes rather astringent, but after a short while, the other notes peek through. It's not bad, but not really a favorite.

 

On my husband, the astringency (is that a word?) of the vetiver sticks around for longer, but when it finally softens, it actually smells rather nice on him. He gets more of the leathery goodness than I do, even though I could have done without the pinch of cinnamon.

 

All in all not bad, I'll let him use the imp and then he can decide if he wants more. I personally like other scents better on him.

[Precis]

Tragically, this scent just did not work. I ignored the many warnings in these reviews because I really wanted a scent that reminded me of Noyes' poem by the same title, but wishful thinking apparently wasn't much help!

 

In the imp, Highwayman smelled horrible, but that's standard fare for vetiver scents, so I put it on anyway, waiting for it to warm up and unfold into the doubtlessly complex and lovely scent the Lab had in mind. However, the leather and vetiver just stunk this scent up; none of the florals or cinnamon came through, it smelled like grassy motor oil. It was so horrible that it wouldn't even pass as an acceptable masculine scent (unless the wearer had magic skin chemistry or something, I guess). Furthermore, I love what vetiver usually does and I like the scent of leather in real life, so I don't know what happened here at all.

 

This makes the second scent that I've trashed after trying over 50 imps. Tragic, I tell you!

Edited September 5, 2006 by Precis

[supremegoddessofall]

Flower-scented leather. Interesting. More of a man's scent.

 

Score: 3 out of 5

[arcticwolf]

ITB: Holy jumping Vetivers, Batman!

 

Wet: Vetiver, leather and smoke. I know smoke isn't in the description, but dang it all, I smell smoke!

 

Dry: More vetiver. And a tiny dab of cinnamon and floral, but not much. And still that tasty leather/smoke smell.

 

Definitely a man's blend. It is very commanding, and dark. And oh-so-divine on a man, I imagine.

[sofiaviolet]

Vetiver and leather. So far, the gardenia hasn't shown its plastic-y self. The rose comes out a little; this is like a male version of Whip. I neither smell nor feel cinnamon. Unfortunately, the vetiver is too strong and ooky.

[fridythirteen]

I bought this one for my boyfriend, and couldn't wait to get it on him. He usually does well with spicy green florals, and I was intrigued by the prospect of the leather scent.

In the Imp: WHOOOOOO VETIVER! Plus a soapy leathery smell which reminds me of painter's brush cleaner, the block kind that comes in a little olde-timey plastic tub.

Wet: Still vetiver, with a piney edge somewhat reminiscent of a citronella candle. The leather scent is beginning to assert itself, and it's strangely evocative of new car smell. As a result, I am beginning to get a headache. I get no cinnamon or rose at all.

Dry: Boyfriend suddenly says, "Deep Woods Off! I was wondering why this smelled like summer!" and holy crow, he's right. On him, it smells like Off! and wet leather and cheep hooch. More like The Hoboman, sadly. Or like The Shantytown Boyscout Jamboree.

 

I could imagine this smelling really good on a big, rugged, burly, outdoorsy type --someone who loves chopping wood and wearing flannel. Sadly, it couldn't be more wrong for my guy. Oh well. There is always Casanova.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is just loaded with vetiver

once applied this gets rather soapy...a strong lathery floral;

slight wafts of leather...very unique blend...the jasmine

tends to come forefront a bit too much for my tastes but

i am certainly thankful to have been able to try this imp