sprout

Preconceived notions: I looked up the notes as the scent developed, and I expected more florals but these were my impressions. I have no notes to guide me, so any reference to such is an educated guess at best! My imp was a gift and is of indeterminate age, so fresh imps may vary! I am guessing that my imp is quite aged, based on the condition of the label and the mellowness of the notes compared to other reviews.

 

In the imp: Wood chips in aqueous seawater. Perhaps? cedar (but not cedar hamster cage of doom), perhaps cypress instead given the mellowness of the wood? I like the wet phase.

 

Wet: Green leaves, fig leaf? (that isn't quite it, but my nose interpreted the flora as fig leaf!). I sense watery leaves and that wood note, which I am solidifying my guess as cypress. I perceive no floral at this juncture, no ice/Lab snow notes, perhaps a hint of salt...I rather liked this phase and wish it did not dry so quickly. It was fleeting.

 

Drying: Subdued, waterlogged floral notes emerge, lilies are my best guess, but narcissus could be right, not jasmine, not rose, not violet, not hyacinth or lilacs. I confound fig and carnation sometimes (funny thing, olfaction) so it could be carnation, but the floral notes are so faint and unfamiliar I cannot identify them and it is as if they are being watered down and perceived through mist and fog...

 

Drier: Scent maintains a slightly aqueous quality (but is different from other clean aquatics, there is no hint of aftershave here) and has perhaps the barest hint of ozone. I can sense a foggy and murky gloom feeling, and vetiver is definitely present, perhaps ambergris accounts for the slightly salty aqueous base? It becomes smokier, saltier and less floral as it dries. It sort of vacillates between clean aquatic (aged white musk?) and foggy and smoky vetiver.

 

Final synopsis: Niflheim definitely captures the theme of gloom and fog with a hint of waterlogged flowers and leaves. My experience was an interesting and unique aquatic that was not bracing, devoid of Axe or other aftershave associations (thankfully!), and slightly smokey on dry down. I rather liked it, but I am not sure I would have sprung for a bottle. This would be a wonderful atmospheric scent or a fragrance to wear on misty and rainy days. I am among the few & proud the lovers of vetiver, so I suspect I am in the minority on my enjoyment of this scent. Since it has been discontinued, I likely will not be able to locate a bottle anyway. I will probably frimp this away but it would also be good for layering with florals that need a bit of tempering.

My mint (cold) faves

Ultraviolet

Cathode

Nuclear Winter

Black Ice

Country of Eternal Light

Tokyo Stomp

Tulzcha

Ice (from Kabuki series)

 

I need to try Numb, Pain, Anesthesia, Snowblind, the Coil, Menacing Ionospheric, Lick it

In the bottle: Predominantly lavender with a floral backdrop (I purchased a well aged bottle on teh forum, which is why I think the lavender is not sharp and the florals are mellowed out)

 

Wet: Floral (not herbal, not camphorous) lavender with sweet lilacs and a bit of shy violet. These are soft and purple lilacs, like the early spring blooms.

 

Drying: Early on, prominant lavender, lilac and violet--purple flowers, no high pitched screaming or soapiness, the orris (or perhaps the sandalwood or both) provides a dusky quality, soft and diaphanous. The sandalwood is snuggly and grounding but not woody or overpowering. Gardenia and ylang ylang are either present in such small amounts or are so well blended with the other floral notes that I don't detect them. The violets are almost spicy and quite velvety. This blend is close to the skin with moderate sillage and a bit of sweetness from the lilacs but it is not a young girl's blend, more mature (not necessarily grandmotherly but I could see that scent association with the violets being old fashioned). Veil is calming and sweet without being overpowering floral or powdery. If orris becomes powdery on you, I guess this could be an issue, I usually find it soft and billowy. The florals are well blended and soft with the whole being meditative and somewhat soporific. The sandalwood grounds the floral notes well, and isn't as woody as it can be, it is like a nest in which the florals are held. I see the suggestion of a veil, as the impression is soft, tranparent cloth with the sandalwood weaving a tapestry for the soft floral notes.

 

Late dry: Predominantly orris which on me is a sweet, violaceous powder. The lavender burns off and there is mainly orris and violet with a little sweet left over by the lilacs.

 

Final thoughts: This is a well blended floral which is soft and slightly sweet. I like to use it for my sleep scent or on days where I just want to mellow out and calm myself. I am keeping this bottle. If your imp or bottle is sharp or too herbal, let it age a bit and it will become soft and mellow over time. I can usually wear lilac and gardenia, white florals are hit or miss, gardenia is often waxy or buttery, and violet is one of my favorite notes. If you are a violet lover or love purple florals, I recommend trying Veil.

Purchased Maiden V2 full 5 ml bottle from the Lab's etsy page. I cannot recall testing regular Maiden from the GC yet, but I bought this unsniffed based on reviews. (for reference there are no notes listed for this version, however the notes listed for Maiden in the GC are white tea, carnation and Damask Rose.

 

Preconceived ideas: I have held off testing GC Maiden the released version due to concern the rose note will dominate and turn the whole thing soapy. This version sounds as if the carnations and honey could keep the blend less one dimensional and perhaps temper the domination of the rose note.

 

In the bottle: Rosy spices

Wet: Spicy floral rose, edge of powder

Early Dry: Powdery rose, spicy carnation, almost creamy, reminds me of Lucy's Kiss at this point or a spicier Alice

Late Dry: And the honey appears, just a hint of skank, which is how I like it! The rose is less powdery and the carnations are still bringing the spice.

 

Final thoughts: Yes, I will be keeping my bottle. Agree with reviewers who say this is somewhat akin to Alice (more spicy than Alice) and perhaps Lucy's Kiss. Think Lucy's Kiss plus carnations and honey. This is a good floral that almost becomes powdery but perhaps aging could temper that tendency. Add one to the spicy and almost creamy florals that works for me. I will get good use of this in Spring and Summer when I need a good floral scent that is not too soapy or powdery.

I love rose. Any suggestions for a current GC rose that's on the darker side? I already have Zombi and love it, but it's more earthy on me than anything.

Black Rose from Rapaccini's Garden.

Spellbound

Whip

?Mr. Nancy = lime and sugar cookies. Maybe layer for the wood note.

In vitro: Honey liqueur spiked with clove

 

Wet on skin: More honey liqueur, with black vanilla (if you have Black Vanilla Cardamon BO, like that but with clove instead of cardamon), only a hint of cinnamon (no skin reaction, I think it is quite light cinnamon) and the spices are seamlessly blended, hard to pick apart

 

Drying: Black vanilla, honey, clove receding, skin musk? this could be the honey, it becomes sort of animalic on my skin, like skin musk, fairly sweet at this point

 

Drydown: mainly vanilla with a hint of beeswax, similar to O or La Petit Mort--minus the myrrh

 

Late drydown: lasted 4-5 hours then smells mostly of honey, maybe a hint of vanilla

 

Final thoughts: Really, really good. I did not get any of the burning quality other reviewers mentioned, it could be a skin chemistry thing I guess. My skin loves honey and that was the main thing I sniffed, it was almost a mead like honey, languid, heady, with a hint of clove and spice. Clove can amp to overwhelming proportions on me, but it was subdued here. I thought this could go into craft store candle territory but it never came close. I thought there could be some red musk in here in the early drydown but that could just be how my nose is interpreting the honey note here. This is gorgeous overall, a spicy and sweet vanilla honey that never becomes too foody, too spicy, or too powdery. The late, late drydown was not quite powdery and I imagine this will age superbly and increase in sillage (modest for me) as well as deepen the honey and wax notes. Vanilla plus spice lovers must try this. I am a bit of a clove nut myself and this did not disappoint.

Lady of Shalott

Amsterdam

Fae

Alice

Pele

Regan

Ophelia

Queen Gertrude

Water of Notre Dame

Katharina

Lyonesse

Last Unicorn

Fairy Bites

Shill v 1 proto

 

In the bottle: movie theatre butter

 

wet: buttery butter, maybe popcorn

 

drying: caramel popcorn

 

30 minutes later: WTF--someone took my popcorn and left some violets in its place.

 

drydown: violet hand lotion with a hint of vanilla

 

final thoughts: wish I could keep the wet phase, loved it. i don't hate the floral hand lotion phase, I just want my damn popcorn back. maybe a scent locket? I will try that and report back if successful.

Source of test: frimp of indeterminate age

 

In vitro: sweet, sweet myrrh (oppoponax)

 

Wet: same

 

Early dry: oppoponax which is very sweet and resinous and a hint of leather, the resin dominates

 

Late dry: mainly myrrh still which is very sweet and resinous on me, a hint of leather and the amber adding a golden sweet and slighty woody aspect. tobacco note is MIA, probably I can't smell it because I amp oppoponax like its my job.

 

Final thoughts: this is very nice on me, the leather is behaved and I wonder if aging will just increase it's glory. now, I am torn, as Streets of Detroit is my go to scent for sweet resinous myrrh. i am now trying an application of wet Black Rider on top of the few hours old spot to put the heart notes and the top notes together but it doesn't work to get more leather. I am surprised at the comments of man musk above from other reviewers, I get no musk here and I tend to amp it. Also, maybe because my skin loves leather, it is very light here, my skin absorbs it and broadcasts the myrrh so my scent is mostly sweet and actually quite feminine although I could see either sex wearing this. if some aging brings a little more leather to the forefront, I could see buying a bottle of this. I hoped for more leather, preferably the De Sade kind. The leather here is like a new jacket, no wet leather or chemical ickiness, it is quite natural and slightly smoky, but faint.

Two more to recommend:

Nocnitsa

Talvikuu

Unfortunately all are discontinued or limited but here are my recs

Spirits of the Dead

The Unicorn

Asphodel

Enraged Bunny Musk

In the imp: Pennyroyal predominant (if you have never sniffed pennyroyal before, it smells like mint!)

 

Wet: Pennyroyal amps over a tea note like Dorian minus the vanilla, add lavender and the barest suggestion of lemon, very pennyroyal predominant through much of the wet phase, and it throws and lasts longer than mint notes do for me

 

Early dry: Here goes the black musk! Interestingly, I get a hint of chocolate as well, the York peppermint patty candies come to mind; if only that stage would persist we'd have a favorite here but black musk takes it into "feral" terror-tory. So, perhaps eating a York patty and sipping some black lavender tea with a hint of lemon a few hours after a skunk has passed through. Sorry, black musk definitely has a funky, almost skunky quality, not so good on me.

 

Late dry: Persistent pennyroyal, the citron faded, tea and lavender are gone, the black musk is domesticating itself slightly. This stuff (musk phase) lasts and lasts and lasts.

 

Next day dry down: Muskiness of the black musk is absent and the spot smells slightly sweet and fresh like just shampoo'd hair. This stage is nice but has no sillage.

 

Final thoughts: If the black musk could be swapped out for "skin musk" or the musk in Ivanushka or Buck Moon, or Monsterbait musks, this would be heaven in a bottle for me. I love the York peppermint patty and lavender/limoncello tea quality but the black musk is just a little too funky for my taste. Nevertheless, I found myself huffing rather compulsively, if only for the grasshopper smell--the (Keebler) minty chocolate cookies? My aversion to black musk could be a hormonal issue so I will skin test at different time to see if that changes. Not sure about it, I don't think I would need a bottle--however aging could tame the funkiness of the musk. This was test of a frimp received with bottle purchase from the forum, so no telling how old it is. I don't exactly hate black musk, and I rather like animalic odors, such as real skunk (and civet!) but I don't want to smell like "man funk" and I wonder if this has an unfortunate association with men's body sprays (shudders at the thought of smelling like Axe) and I am not sure if it will smell appealing to others. I will save the imp for sure to retest, and hope the black musk will mellow a bit. If the black musk (with aging or different skin chemistry due to hormonal changes) mellows a bit, I would invest in a bottle. I wish black musk worked for me, and I am not sure if it does or not. This could definitely be unisex, and if you are a female who doesn't find black musk scents too masculine, works either way. For men, I think this would be quite heavenly.

Would anyone be interested in a 'Review Chaos Theories' swap thing? I'm absolutely crap at figuring out notes, but I'd be willing to send decants of what I have out so long as other people reviewed and ALSO sent them out to be reviewed as well.

 

I've got 3 gourmands and an oriental that I really want other people's take on!

I'd love that. I haven't ordered chaos yet, waiting for lunacy update, but I am ordering some decants. I think it would be a whole lotta fun.

So does anyone have any recommendations for something similar to Eldritch Drunken Constellations? On me it starts as a pale pulpy white-green that dries into this amazing green musky spicy ambergris that almost hearkens to the dry-down of my Mikado Saloon HG. I bought it on whim for the name and now I LOVE IT.

 

I've tried Kumiho and while it starts very similar it dries down to a dry astringent ginger which is nothing like my beloved EDC. I've also tried Yha'Nthlei which I figured should have been almost a dead-ringer given the similar notes but it goes straight up floral soapy on me.

 

Is there another GC scent I'm missing? I can't imagine anything could be closer than Yha but could be wrong. Does anyone have more experience with Yha'Nthlei? Does it lose the soapiness as it ages and allow the ambergris to come out?

Shoggoth?

Taking the opportunity to pimp Lenus Mars. The chamomile is gorgeous paired with a blue type musk. I almost hesitate to mention it because it is my sleeper love from the Luper update and I want to hoard him but you asked so I am telling.

 

For chamomile and honey, check out the atmosphere spray, Burning the Blue Dark Around Their Moons, it is heaven in a bottle!

Anyone have anything similar for "The Gentleman" from Yule 2012?

(A dapper cologne, distant and refined: white musk, lime rind, and rosemary water with tobacco leaf and lilac.)

 

After a weird, unpleasant drydown, it turns into a delightful cologne, slightly sweet and herbal and almost candy citrusy. I'd like to recreate it or something similar without hunting it down.

 

I already have (and love) Whitechapel, but on me it's primarily powdery white musk. And Dorian and Jareth just turn into a sugary mess on me. No luck with Mr. Nancy either. Maybe Villain?

This is a long shot but maybe Doom of Beauty? Nice and crisp, has rosemary. Not as floral as you would think for a luper. Its green, Old World, and refreshing but not sharp or heavy on ozone.

 

And, I have never smelt it, but Phantom Time Hypothesis could fit the bill...

Reviving this- read through, and wrote down a couple of less scary suggestions...

 

I'm not a big patchouli fan. My papermaking teacher's supplies always smelled so strongly of it, and my mother loves Lush's Karma Kream (I loathe it!), and in general most patchouli seems to drive me away.

 

I do however, trust the variety the lab seems to have. What made me start wondering is the TINY half full imp of Count Dracula I was lucky enough to get. It's supposed to have black patchouli in it, but I ADORE it (and mourn that I can't get a bottle) and I do not smell what I think of as patchouli at all. I tried baba yaga today- not bad, but it had some of the patchouli note that I'm not overly fond of, but not terrible either? Certainly not as gaggy as Karma kream but eehh Just not what I wanted.

 

Any suggestions? Count Dracula really threw me with how wonderful it was. Maybe there's some patchouli out there that I won't loathe?

Have you tried Nosferatu? Patchouli is not a listed note but it has a Count Dracula vibe and smells ungghhhffff. Al-Sharain and Blood Countess are in the same vein. VILF evokes the vampire from the grave too. A sexy vampire from the grave.

 

Also, I find the patchouli in At the Mid Hour of Night to be less headshop and more "pure." Maybe because its white patchouli? If you like leather, I'd suggest the White Rider. Final long shot suggestions are Malediction, Vixen, and Carnal. I find these blends to temper the patchouli so its less hippie and more vampiric.

 

I like patchouli in most of it's incarnations, be i5 woody, dirty, or my favorite, floral! Don't get me wrong, sometimes I want to smell like a tree hugging hippie but I feel patchouli can smell good without that "vibe"

Thank you both for suggestions. Must try all those--getting through the general catalog is hard!

 

I'll fish for suggestions too. My top scents:

Half Elf v 5

Bakeneko

Fenris Wolf

Tamamo no mae

OLLA Ava

Notes I like include most florals except rose, most woods, red or blue musks, tea, stone fruit like apricot or cherry, vanilla, honey, resins and patchouli

Notes that ruin the blend are rose! although I keep trying, melon, cucumber, white musk, ozone, cumin, allspice (but I usually like cardamom and cinnamon), galbanum (unfortunately)

 

you must try countess willie, the witch queen, and bordello

 

I'll fish for suggestions too. My top scents:

Half Elf v 5

Bakeneko

Fenris Wolf

Tamamo no mae

OLLA Ava

Notes I like include most florals except rose, most woods, red or blue musks, tea, stone fruit like apricot or cherry, vanilla, honey, resins and patchouli

Notes that ruin the blend are rose! although I keep trying, melon, cucumber, white musk, ozone, cumin, allspice (but I usually like cardamom and cinnamon), galbanum (unfortunately)

 

If you like Fenris Wolf you should try Coyote (The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk).

They share the warm wooden notes mixed with sweet undertones of amber and musk.

Sorry, I'm getting a bandaid scent here. It's a nice red musk straight out of the gate but then I get bandaid musk! This could be an unholy alliance of the musk, saffron, myrrh, and my interesting chemistry. Unfortunately I cannot unsmell it. I get the leather, and it does smell like its still on the cow which is sweating in the sun. Then the myrrh sweetens things up and it isn't good with the Band-Aids and sweaty cow. I really had an urge to scrub this away!

 

On late drydown this is sweet resinous myrrh. On the way there, I smelled brown and red musk and it melded nicely with the leather which softened and smelled like a calf or brown suede gloves for a brief time and less like a sweaty cow baking in the desert sun. That was nice, but it didn't last. This one really morphs.

 

Another interesting olfactory experience is this plague and it evokes the concept of a diseased cow brilliantly, but a little too close for comfort! I'm interested to see how this ages as I believe the notes will blend together better as time goes by however the wet phase is a repellant to this nose and as to be expected the myrrh dominates the late drydown and lacks complexity due to my skin tendency to amp it.

 

I'll age it and retest of course to see if it can shake the band aid smell, but for the nonce, I can't see wearing it for real. It smells too much like a diseased cow sweating in the sun, covered with Band-Aids and oozing. Brilliant in concept but scary in execution.

Predominantly black pepper and smoky vetiver on the wet phase and initial drydown. The tobacco is present as a base, but to this nose the result is a smoldering cigarette. While interesting in concept, this isn't something I wish to smell on my body as fragrance. Interestingly, it does convey a sensation of buzzing in an olfactory sense; it's like television static-slithering, aggressive, malevolent and smoky.

 

About 90 minutes into the experience, I get a waft of delectable black vanilla combined with toothy tobacco. This is exquisite and tempts me to buy at least a partial for aging purposes.

 

In conclusion I cannot overcome my aversion to the smoking cigarettes association. Maybe because as a child I was exposed to second hand smoke and was averse! This is sad because as single notes this should work for me in theory but alas the cigarette is repelling. The tobacco vanilla phase is gorgeous but never merges with the slithery and smoky partnership of vetiver and pepper. If this ages to have the sweet vanilla tobacco scent ast the forefront I will hate myself for not having a bottle but that phase just doesn't last and isn't worth the angry, cacophonous buzz on the road to drydown. Agree with the reviewer who says this would be killer as an atmo spray!

This really combines quite a few elements very well. Nonfoody vanilla, dry woody sandalwood, mellow green resinous balsam, with a hint of smoke and cedar. Frankincense is well balanced and slightly lemony but the other notes keep it in check. I can pick out all the elements but none clash or overpower. The vanilla is predominant but its a great blanket supporting and sweetening the whole.

 

Of course I love this, its all resin, wood and vanilla and I'm all about that bass. In total its woody, sweet, vanilla sandalwood with a hint of green sap, smoke, and cedar chips. The drydown is mostly vanilla sandalwood. Yeah, I blind purchased a bottle but what I did not anticipate is needing a back up.

No dust detected, this was mainly wood and resin for me. I've no frame of reference for what olive wood smells like, but the wood note here is aces. I would have predicted that the blood accord in this would have been amped by my unique and frustrating at times chemistry but it's very subtle. There's a hint of leather, I'm guessing a resin. It isn't overwhelming dragon blood like I thought. Also, this is not dusty, dry or musty either. Acacia evidently per fragrantia database is mimosa. I think I can distinguish that, but more so it lightens and mellows the juniper, which I love even if it can be sharp and spikey. Here, it's very sweet and evergreen.

 

All in all I am pleasantly surprised to like this decant. I'll retest to be certain but this could become a bottle purchase. I love juniper and it's the star here with a lovely wood support of I'm guessing olive wood, and the acacia floral, with a hint of DBR and whatever is the clay notes. It's a mellow, sweet, woody resin with hints of blood, leather, stone, and ghostly floral. I love the complexity here. Little throw but it lasts and doesn't morph very much after the early drydown.

Not sure if its the green sandalwood or the balsam that it steering this into slightly too green and loud on me. I love sandalwood however I think my skin chemistry sometimes doesn't do it justice. Initially this is a soft mint and vanilla. To my displeasure, the drydown gets progressively stronger and greener. It becomes a sharp and nose prickling note that evokes men's cologne. Ultimately this is too masculine for me to wear, and I usually love leather, wood, metal, citrus or fougere. Matcha was absent for me. I've retested three times, hoping for different results.

 

I'm disappointed because I anticipated a more foody, perhaps lacey scent with the sandalwood and vanilla combo. Never judge a blend by it's notes is my take home lesson here. I'm hoping aging well mellow it out, but my expectations are pessimistic.

No cherry here. I'm compelled to add that I had just a drop in my sniffie to skin test. I wish I had a full decant because this was surprisingly good. I may need to hunt down a bottle. Initially it was high pitched like department store, alcohol based perfume then it became a lovely, sweet resin that was cuddly and soft. The cherry note came off as moisture but not syrup or juice, just mildly sweet and wet. I suspect the labdanum gave it the high note at first. I cannot pick out patchouli or sandalwood as they blend to make a resin that is greater than the sum of the two. The drydown is almost musky. The patch is more woody than dirty or floral, which can be any of those three on me. I would describe the whole as a nonfoody but sweet and slightly woody resin. It hugs pretty close to the skin and lasted about six hours, which is impressive since I only had a drop to test!