This smells exactly like it's described. A perfect rendition of the scent of dried roses,darkened by oakmoss. i like this perfume because it smells like the heart shaped box i keep my most treasured letters in. i put,like,half the sample bottle into a 7-day votive candle and it's made my bedroom smell *luxurious*.

Zombi
#1
Posted 17 January 2004 - 03:24 AM
This smells exactly like it's described. A perfect rendition of the scent of dried roses,darkened by oakmoss. i like this perfume because it smells like the heart shaped box i keep my most treasured letters in. i put,like,half the sample bottle into a 7-day votive candle and it's made my bedroom smell *luxurious*.
#2
Posted 17 January 2004 - 05:21 AM
Sorrowful and decaying. Like wilted flowers at an unattended gravesite.
After Wearing It:
I stand by my original impression. I did like that the roses here definitely smelled like the dried variety, which I prefer, and the earthy background made this one interesting, though mournful.
Final Thoughts:
It's something that I'd have to be in the mood to wear though, but I definitely would like this as a room fragrance, especially for special ritual occasions. It was nice to find a rose scent I'd wear again as well. Yay!
#3
Posted 18 January 2004 - 04:32 AM
#4
Posted 18 January 2004 - 12:28 PM
#5
Posted 18 January 2004 - 08:59 PM
#6
Posted 19 January 2004 - 08:55 AM
#7
Posted 24 January 2004 - 08:32 PM
First impression
Roses, no doubt about that, I cannot smell the soil, but definitly there is more to it than just roses because I had a rose oil once (bodyshop) and it doesn't even come near.
After while
It stays long without changing much from the first sniff. I like it but to me it's not really an exiting smell enough to buy a bottle.
edited to say: Unbelievable what changes you go through with BPAL scents. In the first review (bold) I stated that Zombi is not really something for me. That was written when I tried it first day. After finishing the Imp I became convinced, MUST have a bottle and 5ml is NOT enough

It is so crisp, juicy, lickable, somehow I am tempted to drink it. It´s secret, hauted, and makes me feel spooky. Also gives me an awearness of the dark and haunted. Want to walk on a old graveyard wearing this..
Edited by quinkel, 23 February 2004 - 08:58 AM.
#8
Posted 26 January 2004 - 07:25 PM
#9
Posted 27 January 2004 - 12:56 AM

#10
Posted 18 February 2004 - 06:23 AM
wet ~ My first impressions were of dirt and spice. Clean, freshly turned earth.
drying ~ The spice scent morphed into drying, slightly off flowers -- overly ripe roses that are just starting to die.
dry ~ The scent starts to decompose into a more zombi-like jumble. Individual scents become indistinct, as if the undead has risen and the earth, moss and roses have pressed together beneath its force.
aftermath ~ This is not a morning scent. I'd probably wear this to a performance: a play or a friend's choral concert; perhaps an evening wedding. Some dignified event after sundown. It's a wonderful scent for putting on airs. I could picture feeling that I knew more than others while mingling among them and leaving a haunting scent curling behind me.
#11
Posted 18 February 2004 - 07:12 AM
Wearing: This did not change much at all on my skin, or when going from wet to dry. I feel like it really affected my demeanor - I had a very Serious, Unfunny Girl attitude all evening.
Final Impressions: This is a beautiful scent that provokes powerful imagery. I don't know how much I will use it, but I will definitely keep it around just to sniff the bottle every once in a while if nothing else!
#12
Posted 26 March 2004 - 04:14 AM
it's interesting, but i won't be buying a bigger bottle, and i don't know if i'll keep the imp.
#13
Posted 27 March 2004 - 08:50 PM
#14
Posted 14 April 2004 - 03:34 PM
I feel like I should be walking through an ancient cemetery after a cool fall rain, with freshly unearthed coffins surrounding me and decay everywhere.
I think Beth definitely got this one dead on...it's amazing how she can evoke such imagery from a blend of scents.

#15
Posted 16 April 2004 - 02:03 PM
Wet it's very earthy mixed with decaying leaves (a good thing I promise!), blended with a slight floral tone. As it dried I noted as others have the over-ripe roses, just ready to be scattered to the winds.
When totally dry it's a sweet rose with a hint left of the mossy dirt notes left. Not my favorite scent, this is still one of the better rose blends I've smelled so far.
#16
Posted 11 May 2004 - 11:53 PM
On me: Dead Roses and dust. I can't decide if I like it. I sort of do, but I sort of think "Is this for me?" The scent seems familiar. Like going through a great grandparents home, but something darker is lingering underneath. Creepy and tempting at the same time.
On my husband- less rose and more earthy where I was more the opposite. I wouldn't have imagined that it would be a masculine scent, and if it smelled on him like on me, it wouldn't be. But his chemistry tends to overpower florals and take on other notes instead.
#17
Posted 21 May 2004 - 05:08 AM
Of course, when I got my order at first, I was too overwhelmed with scents and excitement, and the first one I tried was Persephone, which had a not so pleasant effect on me -- it turned into a roses and babypowder scent, which was nice, but not what I wanted. So Zombi fell to the bottom of the pile, in fear that it would also lose the other notes and become a heavy rose/baby powder scent.
In the Bottle
Oh, that's roses alright! Not the drippingly sweet roses of Persephone, but still heavily sweet. And there's some murkiness to it, but the rose is so strong and such a turn off for me at this point that I don't want to smell it further.
Wearing It
When I apply it, it takes a small amount of time to settle down and dry, but immediately my skin does what I naturally expect it to -- it suddenly discovers the rose oils and amplifies them beyond belief. It's this beautiful rose smell, but *nothing* (not even a hint) that resembles earthy smells. Just roses. To my relief, there isn't much of a baby powder smell, not compared with how Persephone reacted, at least. Just a small bit.
I was tempted to let it sit for a while to see how it developed, but I'd already done so with Persephone and I wasn't in the mood to spend another day with an overpowering rose scent around me. If it behaved at all like Persephone, it wouldn't have faded very quickly either -- all the more reason to wash it off after a half an hour. When I washed it off, it was still strong and flowery with just a hint of powder.
I'm discovering more and more that I'm not a fan of roses, despite the fact that my skin chemistry picks them up and runs with them. If I did like roses, I'd be in luck, because I would have found an oil that lasts all day and all night, but alas... I used to be fond of roses, but the more floral scents I smell (Persephone, Viola, Zombi, etc.), the more I find that I'm not a fan of traditional rose scents. Pity, because I was really banking on this one. Fortunately, Beth has *so* many other winners that it's hard to be too dissapointed.

#18
Posted 21 May 2004 - 05:52 AM
Didn't know it before, but even though I am a virgo, I have a ton of fire in my chart. May be why I am drawn to those heavier spicy scents. Steve has a lot of earth in his chart.
He loves this on me. I tolorate it because he loves it.
I have the same problem with most rose scents. They turn into rose and not much else. The rose in this is, as others have said, much drier. I do get some earth with this too, which is unusual, because of the rose and all.
In the bottle it is exactally what the description states. Earth and roses. Wet, it has a strange earthy tang with dry roses over the top. I start to like this one when it dries down. It gets a little more toned down, the earth scents relax a little and the rose comes out more.
I will probably buy a big bottle of this because he likes it so much, and I have a feeling that it will grow on me over time.
#19
Posted 09 June 2004 - 12:05 PM
Second Impression: This reminds me of the end of the rose growing season when there are just thorny stems left and dried petals and leaves decaying into the once-rich soil. It really does evoke sadness.
Final Analysis: I really like this one, even with the sad twinges. It's earthy yet very pretty.
#20
Posted 10 June 2004 - 05:03 AM
#21
Posted 20 June 2004 - 07:54 PM
To my nose, the earthy note of this made the rose way too "high" and cloying, exactly what I have NOT liked about other rose scents in the past. Hubby took a couple of whiffs and pronounced it "too heavy". I was afraid this would end up giving me a headache so, for the first time in trying a new BPAL frangrance, I took an alcohol wipe to it... and it didn't budge. I left it alone after that, figuring I'd give it time to see how it developed. Now all I can say is that my cleavage smells like dirt and rotten roses. Bleah.
#22
Posted 09 July 2004 - 08:43 PM
One sniff of the imp of "Zombi" was enough to send me into orbit! The roses! The moss! The Earth! Especially that earth scent - I'm a Pisces, but I get off on the smell of freshly turned dirt in the garden. (Must have something to do with my Taurus rising.)
When I put it on my wrists, the predominant scent after a few minutes was that of dirt and roses. Mostly the dirt. Then the roses. Then the dirt again. I couldn't stop smelling my wrists!
After awhile, it began to settle into the scent of roses, but not roses in bloom, but roses slowly dropping their petals onto the ground. Still a bit of the earthiness, but becoming more like dust and decay. Still couldn't stop smelling my wrists. I had the overpowering urge to pull Huysmans' "Against Nature" from my bookshelf and to pretend I was a Decadent and to lay on my chaise longue.
Finally, in the end, the roses won, but they were decayed and dying roses. Morbidly delicious. I cannot wait to order a 5ml bottle!
#23
Posted 12 July 2004 - 10:14 PM
At first sniff o'the imp, I got roses and dirt. It is the perfect perfume for a funeral. Which seems like a strange thing to say, but is true.
When I put the perfume on, the Oakmoss came out. REALLY came out at first. I was Oakmoss and rose, and I was briefly disappointed because I couldn't smell the soil. But, luckily that earthy dirty smell made itself known shortly. Maybe it had just been there in the background all along, waiting for me to realize that it was there to support the whole thing.
This is so beautiful and lush and dark and just what I needed.
#24
Posted 13 August 2004 - 11:53 AM

Wet: Damp, fresh earth and decaying roses. Anyone ever see the movie "Frailty?" This is what I imagine the rose garden next to the Meiks' house smelled like.

On drydown: dry rose potpourri
Not my thing, but interesting. Will be heading for the swap pile.
Edited by Scylla, 19 August 2004 - 09:59 PM.
#25
Posted 19 August 2004 - 03:30 AM

Wet: smells like spicy potting mix – urgh!
Dry: the real "dirt"-iness wears off a bit, leaving a gentle earthy spice.
Verdict: I’m not sure what I was thinking when I ordered this, it pretty much smells exactly as you’d expect from the description. Not my thing at all, although much respect to the Lab for creating such an incredibly strange scent!
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