GingerGunlock

Shub Niggurath, definitely definitely. War in the Neil Gaiman collection is also very cookie-y to me and on me. I don't know that anybody else feels that way

Also, to me, Penny Dreadful smelled kind of like crumbly cookies, but not ginger cookies.

Anyway, while not an ocean scent, Goblin (in the Diabolus heading) is always a beach scent for me.

 

Ooh yes - how could I have forgotten Goblin!! It's like a naughty, sexy dirty beach romp

 

Man, and to think I have never tried Goblin! Must go update my swaps list and try to get some...

 

RiP (heh), I haven't tried Calico Jack.

 

GingerGunlock - What exit? 63 for me. Going "home" (we sold our house a few years ago, but still rent every year) to Barnegat Light later this summer; can't wait. Screw you, Sandy!

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I'm from New Jersey, right on the beach, but bought a house in Central New York. What was I thinking?

Anyway, while not an ocean scent, Goblin (in the Diabolus heading) is always a beach scent for me.

My fiance is allergic to all things floral. To my knowledge, I'm not allergic to anything. However, both of us were very uncomfortable when I had Nuclear Winter

Wrath.

I will pretty much always recommend Wrath and Shub-Niggurath. I also agree with the Whip recommendation; when I tried it, it was about equal parts fantastic worn-in leather with roses.

How does War age please? I've just received a fresh decant of this one and although I had really high hopes, I'm not too sure now whether I like it. To me it smells too much like Shub. I'm a big ginger fan and have tried most of the ginger blends listed here but nothing has worked so far... I think I'll go for Origins Ginger Essence instead as lab's ginger doesn't like me.

I'll have to find it and re-sniff to give you an up to the minute on the aging of War, but I found it was far more "dry" than it had been when it was fresh, with a slightly sweeter kick (from the honeysuckle, maybe?). It was certainly distanced from Shub for me, at that point.

Shub Niggurath is my ultimate favorite BPAL. It is gingerGINGER, and I almost always get compliments on it (I wore it today, actually...at work, a patron was getting out her library card and said pensively "I smell banana bread or something").

I'm thinking many people will cringe when they read this but - I'd recommend:

 

War (Good Omens) Red ginger, black spices, patchouli, honeysuckle, and three blood-soaked red musks...

 

she is mostly ginger on me with just a hint of spice in the beginning and the dry down is gorgeous - the patchouli, honeysuckle and musk comes out and joins the ginger and it is divine.

I only have a frimp of War, and I didn't like it when it was fresh. Aged, though, I do agree with this. Nice, warm ginger and patchouli. Silly me should've gotten a bottle last year or the year before to age!

The Robotic Scarab: Polished metallic notes, glossy leather, frankincense, star anise, and thin lubricating oils.

Smelled like an oily engine to me!

Goblin is very patchouli (at least on me), but it can also be very coconut. Not sure if that's what she's looking for!

When I first put Orc on, the throw is exactly like those Chowards violet candies that you used to be able to buy all over the place (Still available on Amazon, apparently, at the very least). Light, sweet, insubstantial, and vaguely potpourri-ish.

As it dried, the leather and vetiver started marching, together. The throw got a little greener, and if I put my face right into my wrist, it was all lovely vetiver-leathery goodness. When dry, the three didn't throw a whole lot, but blended together comfortably.

I've never actually played an orc or half orc, but this is a really good rendition, I feel. Gives me ideas for backup characters to what I've currently got running!

Currently, Wrath is my back the fuck off scent. "A scent aflame with rage, swirling in the red haze of hatred: dragon's blood spiked with black pepper, clove, and cinnamon." (though I just got an imp of Anne Bonny and that might work as such as well!)

I will say, regarding Czernobog.......vetiver seems to have a somewhat, ahem, arousing effect. So, depending. It might be a little less "I'll cut you" and a little more "come frolic in the dark pine forest". Just sayin'.

I tend to wear Goblin all summer long!

This is a review of the 2008 vintage

In the bottle: didn't smell like much of anything

Wet (and this is after a few months of aging. When the bottle was new, it didn't smell like much of anything on, wet, dry, in the bottle, etc.): smelled very much like a snowman Avon chapstick that I had in the 80's; it was just that kind of mint, which was very nice and I liked, because that's a scent memory that's stuck with me all these years.

Drydown: Very strongly of hospital. Just a sharp, pervasive, disinfectant sort of smell.

My fiancé had a very severe allergic reaction to slight contact with Nuclear Winter (2008) today. He kissed me on the neck soon after I'd applied (and this was the final "I don't know if I like this oil" application), and got some on his lips. He promptly got little hive-like bumps right there, was vomiting, and had a nosebleed. I discovered this right as I was getting to work, and when I settled down at my (not well ventilated) desk, I started to feel nauseas as well, though for me, that's as far as it got. I'm not really sure what did it, but thought I'd mention it for in-general sensitive folks.

In the bottle, this smelled like tea-y, lavender-y Snake Oil (I have not, unfortunately, encountered Dorian yet, but Snake Oil and I are asquainted).

Wet, I get both the fresh play-doh aspect that Snake Oil will often display, and a soapy thing that I think might have come from the lily of the valley. I don't typically wear anything with florals in it, so that's just a guess. I was a bit worried at this point, but let it ride.

Dry, I get middle-aged Snake Oil with the vanilla, tea and the herbal lavender bolstering it in a smokey sort of way. The lily of the valley seemed only to have made its appearance in the wet stage, and the fennel isn't separately apparent to my nose at any point. On me, the scent is long-lasting, and the throw is very personal, as compared to the wide throw that I typically get from "plain" Snake Oil.

This is a lovely blend, and I hope it'll be available every year on Lilith's birthday!

In the Imp: Dragon's blood, to the exception of all else.

Wet: The dragon's blood is strongest when it hits my skin, but this dragon's blood is a bit more laid back than what I find in, say, Wrath. A little softer, and the throw is a bit more flowery. I'm not quite lilac, like some people, but it is rather a lily scent; hyacinth, maybe? There is a hint of the sandalwood tempering it further.

Dry: The sandalwood(s) really come into their own in the drydown, and go hand-in-hand with the dragon's blood, making a sort of sweet but spiced wood scent that's approaching powder but not quite there. It's a rather mellow scent on me, and seems like it would be a comforting one.

In the imp: a smoky, acrid, and kind of pine scent. Very strong.

Wet: just a single swipe from the imp wand has a lot of throw! Very smoky, evoking campfires, beach bonfires, burning the old wooden toilet seat in the wood stove that one Christmas (to my stepmother's chagrin), and a foresty earthiness. I've never gone to pick out my Christmas tree at an actual Christmas tree farm, but that's what this kind of brings to my mind. If that Christmas tree farm were to be on fire

Dry: the pine notes that my skin was amping (or imagining) are starting to back off, and I'm getting a cedar scent that reminds me a lot of The Yew Trees. If the Yew Trees were on fire. Because Czernobog set it (that's my Vetiver reference, get it?). This is a slightly sinister scent, but not one that makes me feel threatened, but rather makes me feel a little bit wicked.

Somebody mentioned earlier in the thread mentioned using this as a room scent while running a hell-plane D&D session, and I totally dig that. I can see the Pit Fiends now! I don't think this is something that I'll wear as a daily scent, but I'll probably keep my imp around and swipe every once in awhile for Faustian inspiration.

On me, Zombi is a perfect dewy, full-blown roses scent. The throw doesn't seem to be overpowering, and I get a little bit of dirt and moss in the background, enough to remind me of the rose garden in the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo, North Carolina. I know it's supposed to be dried roses, but on my skin is smells like fresh-plucked velvety petals.

Unfortunately, on me, Omen remained a little too deep and mysterious. It was lovely myrrh-patchouli in the imp, but as soon as it hit my skin, all the notes muddled together and tried to come up at once, leaving me with a "perfume" impression, but not one of a blend.

Wet: a lovely, mossy, spicy blend, with the vanilla and clove wafting up in the background. I really gravitate towards patchouli blends, because the fiancé likes patchouli, and I'm wild to try anything with clove in it (no pun intended ).

Dry, the pepper, cloves, and vanilla really smooth out nicely with the patchouli. This is a blend that I wore consistently when I first got it, then forgot about it, and forgot how much I liked it. I didn't realize I hadn't reviewed the Wild Men, and that's why I tried it again, and I'm glad!

In this blend, I can't really pick out individual notes. Amber, perhaps? Cypress? My lovely clove? I love this scent in the bottle, on my skin, in the drydown, in my clothes the next day. Mort de Cesar is what I wear in a variety of moods, often if I'm going for a "classy vintage" sort of look that day at work. It's got good throw without being the typical spicy blend that I sort of like, and it, ironically, is nearly a comfort scent. Political assassination with knives, comfort, sure, that makes sense. Right? I'm sorry that I can't really talk about the notes, but they really blend together so well it leaves me with more of an impression of the scent, rather than "ooh, clove!" or "grapes".

In the imp: This (resurrected) smells remarkably like Plunder to my nose, with a bit more pepper.

Wet: Three Witches remains like Plunder on my skin, which was cinnamon to the excess of any other scent. And, like Plunder, it's a dry, cinnamon-broom sort of cinnamon. On the dry down, the sharpness of the cinnamon mellows out, but the clove never really surfaces on my skin.

I was very happy for the opportunity to try this legendary scent, which I've heard about since first coming to this board, and it's a mixed blessing that it didn't actually turn out to be my Holy Grail scent.

I've gotten Titus Andronicus three times as lab frimps, and I figured it was time

So far as the notes go, I expected to like the blend quite a lot. Frankincense is a definite favorite of mine, and I also react favorably to musks. Amber, I haven't really had much experience with. In the vial, though, and on the skin, I didn't really get fireworks. It pretty much ended up like single-note Frankincense to me, which I like, but didn't end up having any depth, just lingered light and sweet on my skin all day.

I might be weird here in my vetiver love, but Czernobog. Also, more normally, Shub-Niggurath, given the aphrodisiacal spices and all that.