Shroud

[~AmusedMuse~]

Dry white sandalwood wrapped in thin woods, soft grasses and the lightest white flowers layered over cajeput and the warm, deep scent of embalming herbs.

My Impression: Okay I admit after reading the descriptioon I thought I would NOT like this at all, however, I found it to be clean,crisp & almost a purity of something soft and white...I love it ... but as with all lighter scents I wish it had more staying power

[sarahmarie]

I never would have ordered this on my own, I don't think - but the lab included in as a gift imp in my order, and I'm really glad they did. It's so nice. It wears very softly on me, but it has a surprising amount of staying power. I tested a teeny bit on my leg (down near my ankle - it's where I test things I'm scared of, though I don't really know why I was scared of this scent!) and I could still smell the spot when I sniffed there hours later. But enough about my strange testing methods - on with the review.

 

It was more floral and active wet, but it dries down into a very quiet, still scent that didn't move or change much once it was settled. I'm almost creeped out by how much this scent reminded me of cloth. It smells exactly like cloth to me, in a way I can't really explain, with a breath of flowers absorbed into or maybe floating around it. I am generally a little creeped out by the funeral oils, but this one dances around between creepy and calming in a really great, quiet way. I like it very much, and I think it paints a great picture.

[Hallows_Eve]

In the bottle: subtle and flowery, I smell lilies I think. Normally this would spell trouble since lily notes amplify almost as much as rose does.

 

On me wet: I smell the flowers, more certain that it is lily, and...oh no. I think I get some rose. It is not taken over yet- I still smell the herbal things besides. It reminds me of soap, just a little. Still pretty and likable.

 

On me dry: I am still getting the flowers- lily and rose. You know normally I would avoid both on me but somehow this seems more subtle and subdued. The other notes must tame it down. I am not getting any sandlewood at all though I wish I did.

 

It is a good companion to Embalming Fluid, which is my husbands favorite. I like Shroud much more than I thought I would and if I am right about the rose (white rose, of course) then it would be only the second one that doesnt choke on my skin (Eve is the other). Its pretty, light (once the flowers settle)- a springtime/early summer scent, I think.

[tart]

Shroud is dry and slightly sweet. The white sandalwood makes this blend very calming. It isn't my type of blend for a perfume, but it would make a nice room scent.

[greywind]

In the vial: flowers and sandalwood and a spike of green. The flower/greenery scent is a trifle sharper than I like, but we'll see what happens.

 

Wet: Lillies and sandalwood, switching positions of dominance back and forth.

 

Drydown: Strong lillies over sandalwood. I love the sandalwood in this, but I'm not certain about the strength of the flowers (which are a little too present for my liking). This blend has promise for me, but while I like it I'm not certain how much I'd wear it. I'll have to try the imp a few more times to decide.

 

Edited to add: after a month of waiting and three more wearing attempts, I really like Shroud. The flowers have become less pronounced, and it's a lovely blend of green and sandalwood. There's a big bottle in my future.

Edited September 15, 2005 by greywind

[Little Bird]

I really enjoy Shroud when I first put it on. It smells of dry woods and an almost green herbal scent. However, it quickly dries down to a perfumey floral scent and goes a bit powdery. This ends up being too floral on my skin. White flowers never seem to work on me...

[gangstaknitta]

In bottle: very woodsy and clean but not overpowering; there is a faint top note of herbal scents. Very light and clear.

 

Wet: this scent morphs into something completely different on my skin! It smell a lot like Neutrogena sesame seed oil, but not quite as sweet. It's warm and clean at the same time

 

Dry: very much like a cleaner version of the body oil. I dig it, but maybe not enough to buy a big bottle since I have so many others that I want to try.

[vyvyan]

Shroud smells like dry white flowers, faintly. There's maybe a bit of wood there, and the flowers are a little spicy, but the overall effect is dry dry dry. Hard to describe this! I like it, but I don't love it - it's too muted, or something, for me. Off to someone who will adore it.

[gangstaknitta]

In the bottle, this really smells like coppertone sunblock. It's simultaneously warm and tart (like citrus). On my skin it somehow morphs into lemon Pledge with an herby feel to it and lasts a really long time. Going up on the swaplist...

[herdivineshadow]

Shroud is a very clean, dry scent on me. After a few minutes it develops a more woody flavour and the sandlewood starts to stand out a bit more, but stays fairly herby.

[aedes]

Damn you cajepuuuuuuuut! *shakes fist in anger*

 

This scent seemed SO right for me, based on the description and other reviews. But on me, it turned to strong, green dish soap, just like Wings of Azrael did. The common ingredient: cajeput. I have no idea what cajeput is or what it's supposed to smell like, but one thing I now know is that it is my nemesis. Luckily, I think it's only in these two scents. But I'll still recommend the scent to anyone who doesn't get that dish soap reaction.

[Phaedra]

This was a frimp from the Lab in a recent order. Wet this is a sharp lead note- cedar? It goes on as cedar/pencil shavings mixed with dusty floral notes. After a couple of minutes a soft rose/lemon note comes out- similar to Delirium. This has a mossy undertone. It's okay but probably won't keep it.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Lightly green smelling

 

On me:

I had a feeling from reading the notes in this that this wouldn't work on me. Despite the fact that I adore sandalwood and herbs. This is very very DRY. It's got a dusty smell to it - not a dirty smell, but like a bowl of old herbs and dried funeral flowers have been covered in a thin layer of dust. It's certainly an interesting smell though, and I find that it smells very appropriate for it's name. You'd just imagine that a smell like this WOULD be called Shroud haha.

 

Final note:

It's got too much old flower and dusty dryness for me, but I think this would be appealing to a lot of people because it's an awfully unique blend.

[quikslvr]

Soft, subtle, dry floral. Very soft. Mostly lily, and a touch of sandalwood. Then it goes into a more "perfume-y" phase, though it stays dry and soft in the process. After that, it sticks very close to the skin, and takes on a bit of a sour tone on me--I suspect the sandalwood's doing something weird (it normally amps on me) with one of the other bits of the blend.

 

Like so many other BPAL blends, whether I love them or not, this is very, very neat conceptually. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work on me in practice.

[AliBabble]

i'm intrigued by the idea of this scent, but it doesn't quite work on me; it starts off well enough - i get mostly the sandalwood, and i quite like this part. but when the other notes come in to play, it turns bad on me - maybe it's the herbs, maybe the flowers, but it becomes sort of musty-citrus-y mothbally, i don't know. it kind of wipes out the mellow woodiness which is so nice in the begining. if that part would have lasted longer, i would have liked it better.

[perfumediva]

dry herbs...

 

 

like dried twigs of some sort baking in the sun underneath some red clay? smells like baked clay sandalwood bark (Weird i know)

 

i smell clay..

 

i get a sense of light from this.. sunny but somber but not sad...just serious..meditative..

 

 

actually to me this smells of an old cold church with slabs of white marble inside--beams of sunlight coming through with sandalwood incense burning..

[Fefferbella]

Shroud is lovely. Deffinately something

I would have never tried on my own.

 

Sandalwood notes and I don't mix usually, but this is a crisp, clean, white sandalwood incense and something floral... maybe lillies.

[niter]

Imp

My first impression is an extremely light version of veil with an extra twinge of cedary wood scent and muted flowers.

 

Wet

This is very herbal and gender neutral. The mixture is fantastic and it combines the right amounts of green notes, spicey astringent notes, and woodsy notes.

 

Dry

This is going away!! Waaaa! Come back. All I have left is a woodsy whisper. Quite lovely reminant, though.

[metaldog32]

Shroud came to me as frimp compliments of the Lab..thank you very much!!!

 

Not something on my want/wish list but no worries...like to delve in to fragrances that are "outside" of my box.

 

Initial sniff from imp: Herbal jumps out..and fast on it's tail is dry and woody...no florals to speak of at all. A bit astringent..but nothing is clubbing me over the head.

 

Applied wet on skin: I get the dry sandalwood...and now the white floral...lily?? White rose??? These are not screaming in my face..it's just the melange of the dry wood, floral..and grass/herbal duo heading up the back.

 

Couple of minutes drying on skin: Floral is in the back now..with more of the woods/herbals doing their dance on my skin. As other reviewers have stated..I get a very "still" vibe from Shroud. The fragrance is indeed very quiet...not invisible..it just kind of hangs/floats if you will.

 

This stays close to my skin..not much throw at all.

 

Drydown: The white floral is here again..albeit a bit dusty..with the herbal/woody base giving it structure to peek in and out.

 

Bottom Line: Shoud does well in I think in almost any season. I really don't know how I feel about it. It's a nice enough fragrance..it just doesn't "move" me. There..I guess I just figure out how I felt about it. Hmm.... Very glad to have had the opportunity to try it.

[sookster]

oooooh....so pretty~~~~~~

it smells like a very cool type of wood on me......almost or close

to a freshly sharpened #2 pencil .... and i love that!!!!

but this is only upon initial application....

after about 1/2 hour this really warms up to a lovely bouquet of wild flowers ...

with some soft spiciness .... gorgeous.....

 

this might be a big bottle purchase sometime down the road....

[maewitch]

Grassy!

 

I think there is some vetivert in this. This smells like a combination of dry and fresh grass on me, which I assume is the sandalwood, the (I think) vetivert and the embalming herbs. I get no florals from this. I'm not hating the grass note.

 

The name suggested to me that this would be a more ethereal sort of scent, but this strikes me as fairly grounded. Soft, a little dainty even, but not ghostly.

 

It is strangely pretty.

[nekhbet]

As soon as this touches my skin it explodes into very heady white florals... not a good thing for me. I love white flowers... on their respective plants, but I have yet to find a white floral scent that compliments my skin chemistry.

 

Shroud's white florals are not 'light' on me at all. Very heavy and sweet... gardenia perhaps? Or maybe it's the lily. A touch of a csweet citrusy scent that could be magnolia. Whatever it is, it overpowers everything else. Very cloying.

 

As the drydown begins, the sandalwood comes forward. Wow, suprisingly true to the dried saldalwood pieces I have for making incense. Quite a lovely scent. It's still competing with the florals, which have died down some but are still very present.

 

As it fades, the white flowers fade altogther (thank goodness). The sandalwood seems not so dry now... instead it has taken on a sweet, carmelized note. Finally, now, a green and grassy fragrance comes through. This scent finishes off quite beautifully on me, but I'm not sure whether it's worth waiying through the initial white flower explosion.

[desu]

In the bottle: Fluttering, clean linen with ephemeral florals.

 

On my skin: Sweet florals. It smells nice, but there's not a lot of substance here for me. Too faint -- muted, as someone else called it.

[Finny]

Dusty dry sandalwood, over a green herbal mixture. It is lovely, and has a hint of dry floral going through it. Nice, but not quite me...

[Miss Lynx]

Oh, dear. Supposedly this is all woods, herbs and grasses, with just "the lightest white flowers" added, but all I get is the flowers. Loud, screaming, high-pitched, headache-inducing attack flowers.

 

I didn't have a chance to find out if the flowers would eventually fade to let the other notes come out, because in fairly short order it started giving me a headache and I had to wash it off.

 

*sigh* High, cold florals are my bane, which I suppose is why there's very little in the Funereal Oils category that works for me.

 

Grade: D