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This scent was way too manly for me (and I'm not even a girly-perfume type!). I liked it, but couldn't imagine wearing it (and my boyfriend agreed). I think it could be the pine that made me feel that way? I'd definitely encourage any men (or anyone wanting a masculine scent) to try it, though!

-Rae

Wow, this one smells -exactly- like a soft green forest to me, complete with slight moss and flower accents. I mean exactly- you know how you smell after you've been picnicking or hiking in the woods all day, and you come in and think "Wow, I still smell like outside"? It's just like that.

I'm totally missing the cinnamon element other people mentioned, which is good because I think that would go oddly with the rest of the notes. Overall, Hamadryad would make an awesome room scent or linen spray, but I can't see myself wanting to smell like a forest! This one's getting gifted.

-Rae

Awesome, awesome scent. Really good staying power- I put some on at 4pm and was still smelling it at midnight!

I mainly smell mellow flowers, faint tobacco, incense, and a bit of chocolate (the bitter Mexican kind). Oddly, it reminds me of perfumes I've smelled on Mexican women- I wonder if some of the floral elements are the same? It also smells very much like a botanica, or the Santeria section of an occult store- always a plus to me!

-Rae

This isn't a scent for everyone, definitely- the girl who gave it to me (a sweetheart on the BPAL LJ community who felt bad for me because my car got broken into, and wanted to do something nice for a stanger- bless her heart!) hated the scent. It is definitely quite strong- when my boyfriend smelled it, he stuck his nose right up to the wand-cap, and then sneezed! Funny. He tried it again at a reasonable distance, and liked it.

The scent on me stays fairly true throughout drying- my skin must have a fairly neutral chemistry, I guess. It's definitely a womanly scent- not womanly like matronly, but very grown-up, not girly at all. Oh, and it's very red! Not in physical color, but it really makes you think of red things when you smell it.

There's a faint hint of cherries, but to me it's mostly spicy (cinnamon- almost like Red Hots candies), and...what's that fragrant wood, the one that people make chests out of for the smell? Redwood? Cedar? Whatever that is, it's a strong note here.

So, in conclusion: not for the meek, and not in large quantities! But definitely an unusual, idiosyncratic perfume. Makes me want to run around yelling "Off with their head!"

-Rae

Oh man do I love this scent. It smells almost exactly the same in the bottle as on my skin, and the scent doesn't change much on drydown. To me, it smells -exactly- like pumpkin pie, complete with a sweet vanilla whipped-cream top note. The sweetness mellows out a little upon wearing, a little more like pumpkin bread or pumpkin soup than pumpkin pie. It's also a very nicely long-lasting scent.

I think the burning tire/dirty sock/bitter/nauseating element in this scent may come from the nutmeg. I don't smell it myself, but the description says it's there, and when I make holiday food I have to go -very- light on the nutmeg, or else it smells (to me) like public bathrooms! No idea where I got that association, but I suppose on some people the nutmeg can really stand out, and in that case I'd totally understand the vileness.

Personally, I can smell the pumpkin and the vanilla more than anything else, and since I love pumpkin so, this one is totally a keeper. I'll definitely order more to keep me smelling warm and tasty this winter.

-Rae

Pele is one of my all-time favorite BPAL scents. I like scents that smell "warm"- light in summer, heavy in winter. Pele is an awesome summer scent for me. I don't smell any powder or soap in it- just clean, rich flowers- Hibiscus, Passionfruit flower, things like that, with a little bit of light spice (probably the ginger).

I don't think of myself as a "floral" person, but this is just not-girly enough for me, so if you're normally leery of florals, definitely try this one. I agree that it doesn't seem to be the raging-volcano Pele; althoguh this scent has lots of character, it's a happy scent, not a tempestuous one. It's Pele on a good day.

-Rae

...do you pronouce all this Lovecraftness?  I read some stuff on the different pronunciations of Cthulhu,  but how in the world do you pronounce R'lyeh?  Or Nyarlathotep?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Answer: you don't.

No, seriously. Apparently Lovecraft just made up his Ooky Thing names by smashing random letters on the typewriter- like going askjhfdjhsd on a keyboard. He never actually intended them to be pronounceable, because part of the whole thing about them is that they are Names That Must Not Be Said. And anyway, they aren't part of any human alphabet, so you'd probably have transliteration problems attempting to write an Elder God name in English. The whole pronunciation issue only came up much later, when his books got fans and they started trying to talk to one another about his books. Kind of like Autechre (an electronic-music group). So people can try to deduce proper pronunciations all they want, but there is no original correct pronunciation inherent in Lovecraft's writing.

I actually have no documentation for this; it's just something I heard from several people, and it makes sense. Grain of salt, and all.

-Rae