Crossroads

[SophieCedar]

The forks of the road: an in-between place, sacred and tangibly magickal in innumerable cultures and faiths. This scent is dark with mystery, taut with power. A chill twilit garden of blooms over dry earth and mosses, heavily laden with incense and offertory herbs.

In imp: this smells like grandma's perfume. Something that made them feel contemporary and refined in the 50's and 60's. easily recognizable.

Wet: the fun kicks in. this is the warm dirt smell that does well on me and amps to high heaven. This turns a little sweet like Penny Dreadful.

Drydown: sweeter and the florals get headier. dirt is moist and gives me an impression of magnolias and honey mixed with clay and baked in the sun like a mud pie! Yay!

[Greenwoodtree]

The only thing I get from this is that A little old lady works at the Crossroads, and she smells like this. A very old floral perfume that is overpowering and awful on me.

Asked my husband what he thought: you smell like an old lady. Lovely.

[milica]

Jasmine of death.

 

I think I'm beggining to hate jasmine, it goes crazy on my skin. In this case, it started pretty strong, I couldn't get anything but. After few hours it got better, jasmine was still strong but I got some dirt. At the end, I got something herbal and some hint of inscence, but not enough, it was still strong jasmine after full 6 hours. Not for me.

Edited June 15, 2010 by milica

[obsidienne]

Crossroads starts off as a sweet floral with some herbal notes. The florals seem to be of the night-blooming type, including jasmine, but this starts off as a softer jasmine (I said "starts"). I seem to amp BPAL jasmine, which almost always completely takes over a blend once it's been on my arm for a while unless it has been used in severe moderation. I believe there is some rose (white?) in here as well; in fact, this smells a bit like a softer Nyx (I can smell myrrh) mixed with herbs and a bare bit of earth. The incense is quite subtle and not overt.

 

The concept for this blend is quite appealing, and I adore the imagery of crossroads (I watch too much Supernatural and love the idea of making a deal with the Devil at the crossroads! ;D).

 

As it dries down, the jasmine is trying to do that take-over thing, but the other notes are managing to hang on... barely. I like this, though it does still smell very closely related to Nyx. My imp has aged for about a year and has smoothed out; fresh, the moss and herbal notes were a bit too much and made it stab at my nose, but now it's a bit more friendly. The herbal notes fade in and out, sharpening the jasmine, then stepping back.There might be another white floral like magnolia or gardenia, but I am not sure what it is since I don't get to smell a lot of exotic or unusual flowers due to the climate in which I live, and BPAL gardenia doesn't smell like real gardenia to my nose.

 

The earth note is never particularly strong to me even after prolonged wear. The incense remains subtle, and reminds me of the incense in Morgause (a sharpness).

 

Kind of like this disjointed review, this scent is really a morpher. Ever changing, pulsing with scents. I like that a lot about it. I love a scent that smells alive. But overall, I am not sure how I feel about the scent itself. I'm going to keep it since it's fall and I love the concept of this, probably more than I like the scent itself!

Edited August 17, 2010 by obsidienne

[la belle dame sans merci]

I should love this. I've really been pleased with the other Wanderlusts I've tried and this one is up my alley: dirt and moss.

 

But... there's jasmine in this.

And I can't smell anything past that.

 

 

Bummer.

[Gwydion]

In bottles: This beautifully captures an evening garden. It feels cool and dew damped. I have no idea how they made it smell like water rich air, and chill, but it does. The flowers are complex and richly toned, mingling perfectly with the incense, very much evoking the sense of twilight. The earth and moss ground it and the herbal touch gives it a savory tang. If I wore florals, I would be in love with this. Wet: I’m guessi ng honey suckle and jazmine, but I’m not that good at flowers so I could be mistaken. Mysterious and erotic, the loam adds an earthly sensuality when mixed with these flowers and the natural musk in skin. This ought to be lightly brushed into the hair of a voluptuous brunette, to lure her lover to bury zhir nose in her hair. I keep thinking of Horace’s night garden with the lover chasing the laughing woman, through the maze of blooms to steal a kiss. Dry: Not surprisingly, my skin chemistry strips this away to vaguely floral drier sheets, which is one of the many reasons I don’t wear florals. Unless you’re skin does this to most non-rose florals, I wouldn’t worry about it.

[paradoxicaljlb]

Once again, jasmine or something like it doesn't play nicely on my skin. The sharp, floral aspect dies down after a while, but I still smell nothing in the earth, moss or herb category. I do detect something dark and resinous, but mostly just something I suspect is Doom Jasmine.

[Pyewacket]

provenance: this was a frimp with my first order

 

In the imp: flowers and herbs, a little sweetness with something underneath, incense?

 

On wet: Some flowers, cannot distinguish which yet (I have no formal training), some darker herbs and incense. Smells ritualistic. Like walking on crushed herbs.

 

Drying: Flowers, herbs and incense. So far I am not getting the moss or dirt unfortunately. Subtle, not so much a full blown ritual as an offering left at the roadside.

 

Bottleworthy?: very wearable. Not on my most desperately wanted list but I would still very much like to have it in a bottle.

 

Edit to add: ok, so it turns out that deciding to touch up with this one at work after a lunch time walk is not a good idea. Not a good idea at all. My skin amped up the florals (I think I detected mainly jasmine) and I spent the rest of the afternoon dodging 'what is that smell' questions from my cubicle neighbours. Not crossroads' fault of course, just (for me) warm skin + bpal = exponentially increased throw.

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: certainly herbs, fairly strong ones, and a little bit of that chill garden with dry earth. very autumnal in mood, not joyous or hot like spring & summer. the moss is actually quite nice and isn't the moldy wet kind of moss either. more graveyards than forests, if that makes sense. I don't really smell any incense, which is probably good b/c it's usually quite strong. this is not sweet in any way.

 

On my skin: still dry dirt and maybe a bit of florals (but still not sweet ones). it's mysterious and quite strong, so don't overdo it! it's not sharp or unpleasant, just reminds me of taking a walk at night. I still get the graveyard vibe. however, there's something in it that comes out later and makes me sneeze. I have no idea what it is, but it smells a little powdery as it ages and reminds me of old-lady department store perfumes.

 

Last thoughts: I like the mysterious graveyard vibe at first, but since it dries to sneeze-inducing powder, it's not one I could wear again. maybe the incense is to blame?

[Balame]

In the Imp: Seems like a very light gardenia.

 

Wet: I do get the "twilit garden", sort of a juicy but verging on overly sweet floral. Still reminds me of gardenias, but I believe jasmine is there as well. Not smelling incense or complex earthy notes.

 

Dry: Weird, still never moved past those two florals, though they softened a bit and got powdery (not in a bad way). Even though I don't loathe this, it isn't for me.

 

Overall: A surprisingly typical, pale floral blend. I was expecting some intricacy from BPAL's "loamy" notes but never found any of that, or the smokiness of incense.

[Missy_killer]

In the imp: This smells like Baba Yaga and The Bow and Crown of Conquest mixed together to me. A bit men's cologne and herby, without the iron/blood that's in Baba Yaga. And something that makes my head scream "no".

On Me: I was very surprised that it was all floral on me. I thought it would continue being a herby men's cologne but nope. Very sweet floral, something that reminds me of potpurri and of course a little old lady. It's not a "nice" floral to me, it's sharp and sweet which I do not like.

An hour or so later: It has started to fade a tiny bit, but it's still old lady wearing sharp, sweet, floral perfume while she's sitting in a bath of potpurri. I am not a fan :c

[donkehpoo]

Wet: An old woman stomping around in her garden. What is that? Jasmine? Gardenia? As well as something strongly herbal...

 

Dry: Yep. An old woman who rolled around in her flowers. The herbal scent is gone, but this is still.. well... no me gusta. I wouldn't try this unless strong florals work well on your skin.

 

 

 

1/5

[ianastar]

Wet - very soapy smelling

Drydown - definitely getting more of the dirt and mossy scent that other have mentioned. I'm kind of digging the mossy notes of it, and the florals start to rise a little, but mostly mossy smelling on me. It's different, something I might keep and dry again but probably won't be a fave.

[littlesparrow]

This was another frimp from the Labbies

 

In the imp: Very strong jasmine...that's really the only note I can pick out

 

Wet: Jasmine and something herby and witchy-smelling. It's sweet, heady and earthy all at once. (Why can I only describe smells in words that end in y?)

 

Drydown: I'm getting incense along with the herbs and jasmine now.

 

The verdict: I seem to be in the minority in liking this! It's not my favourite but I like to wear it when it's raining because it reminds me of the way the air and the grass back home smell after it rains. It's magical and mysterious. My perfume-hating boyfriend likes it on me too so that's a plus!

[calivianya]

I think there are some batch variations with this one. I've received two as frimps from the Lab recently and one is a clear goldenrod while the other is more orange. The orange one is fuller-bodied and richer in the imp while the yellow one seems more green and wet. I think the yellow one is missing some of the incense - it goes on light and springy and stays that way. The orange one is still springy, but there is a faint breath of incense underneath. Neither are really my thing, but they are fairly different scents. Interesting.

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the imp: Oil is clear and a golden dark yellow. At first I smell 80% jasmine and 20% incense, but almost instantly it morphs into an intensely green and herbal scent instead, without a trace of either jasmine or incense. Fascinating - I can't wait to see what it does on my skin!

 

On me, wet: Jasmine is decidedly the dominant note, but here it coexists simultaneously with the greenery (mosses, grass, and/or herbs), which almost equals it in strength. And the earth note is far more obvious than it was in the vial. Especially after a couple of minutes, this is virtually a balanced triad between the jasmine, greenery, and soil notes.

 

After 10 minutes: Still much the same, although the jasmine is gaining over the other notes.

 

After 20 minutes: Same as above.

 

After 30 minutes: The jasmine is starting to fade, so that the greenery and earth notes are now equal to it again. And I seem to be picking up a hint of other florals now, although not strongly enough to identify what type of flowers they might be. They add a nice touch.

 

After 1 hour: At about 45 minutes,, the greenery and earth notes vanished so that the scent was pretty much all jasmine, with just that hint of other florals. But now a bit of incensey spiciness is starting to also peek out as the jasmine continues to fade. What's left of the jasmine is now even soapier than it normally is, and rather plastic as well. This isn't my favorite phase for this blend. I hope the incense base notes will come out more strongly to rescue it.

 

After 2 hours: As it turns out, it is the other florals which first come to the rescue. When the jasmine dies down, their beauty is finally able to shine out, although they remain very soft. I think gardenia might be one of the other flower notes that smell so pretty. As it gets closer to the 2-hour mark, the incense notes do become more of a presence, yet they stay in the background.

 

After 3 hours: The fragrance has stabilized as it gradually fades. It settles into a blend of lovely mixed flowers with a subtle accent of incense. The incense never does become a leading player in this.

 

After 5 1/2 hours: There is a faint trace remaining of mixed florals, a little incense, with perhaps just a wisp of smoke.

 

 

Verdict: The jasmine is too strong in this to rate a bottle-worthy 5 stars. But overall this perfume is quite nice, especially in late drydown when the gardenia and other florals take the stage. I'll keep and enjoy my imp.

 

My rating: 4 stars

[milo]

This smells pretty much like a TAL blend to me at first. Herbal, kind of florally, slightly sour. Dry, turned powdery, which makes me think there may be some jasmine or rose here, maybe both. I may use this in ritual work, as I feel like I'm in Crossroads in life right now, but otherwise, this isn't my type of blend.

[sisi33]

In the Bottle: Light floral, with a hint of incense.

Wet: Sandalwood? and violets. Slightly creamy. Pretty. Maybe a hint of loam under there.

Drydown: Low throw. Mossy goodness is coming through. Still getting violets, and citronella in food form? Does that make any sense? Is there such a thing? No, there isn't. Sadly, this is turning out to be nothing special on me.

 

3/5

[catalyst]

.

Edited July 30, 2014 by catalyst

[Atrous]

Right out of the bottle this smells very floral. I'm not good at individual floral scents but I think it's jasmine that I'm smelling. Not very hopeful since florals don't usually like me.

 

Wet: Yep, Jasmine and sharp greenery. For some reason this reminds me of the South. Ah, thank goodness; moss and dirt are coming out.

 

Dry: This is everything that the description says it is. Dirty, mossy florals with a touch of herbs and incense. I could swear there is mint present because of the way it cools off and clears out my nose. I think I've found a floral scent that works on me. Yeah!

[elinox]

First Sniff: Crisp lilies but I just know this is going to fade into nothingness...

 

Initial Wet Application: Freshly laid lilies on a grave; lite and slightly melancholy.

 

Beginning Dry Down (first 15 minutes) & Dry: As it began its dry down, I can detect some Spanish moss which seems to make the lily somber. I also got a weird note of lemon which I hope goes away soon.

 

My Reaction: The initial lily scent is beautiful, but so very faint on my skin! Once it had some time to settle though it went powdery soft and was too faint for me to enjoy. I have a feeling Zombi, which I should be trying soon, will go much the same way as Crossroads.

 

Rating: 1

[miamaslegi]

I really, really wanted to love this. Really and truly. Chill twilit garden? Dirt? Moss? Incense? Yes, please.

In the imp and wet, initially, on my skin, this was a heavy, heady floral. I couldn't pick out any specific flowers, but it didn't smell like jasmine to me. After a minute or two, however, this turned into a heavy, heady floral and poop. Not the, "Oh, I don't like this, it smells like crap." kind of poo, but like someone or something laid a turd on my arm. Like actual feces, which my roommate thought was the most hilarious thing ever. Usually, if I'm testing a scent and don't like it at first, I keep it on anyway just to make sure. This is the only BPAL in my several years of BPALism that I have had to wash off because it actually smelled foul.

Boo on my skin/nose.

[Deliciousness]

In the imp: A lightly sweet floral

Wet on skin: Lillies( ?) and something fresh and green, like a meadow.

Drydown: Humm, reminds me of another blend I've tried, but can't place which one it was. This blend remains green and floral, with lilies, or a soft jasmine tone.

 

I wish I got more insence, or earthy moss or even dirt. As it stands, this blend is teetering dangerously toward the "soap-y" side.

And my fears were just confirmed ... my husband said I smelled "good, like soap". Ugh, not exactly the olfactory experience I was hoping for.

 

Edit: House of Night, is the blend this one reminds me of, except a touch less sweet and with less incense.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Deliciousness

[mymymai]

ITI: I'm getting a strong, heady floral with touches of incense and light, slightly bitter herb. I'm not sure about this. The floral is a bit strong right now.

 

Wet: It's stronger than I would like in the floral department. There is definitely that oppressive, musky jasmine note that the Lab uses along with spicy carnation, rose, and incense. There is a touch of light sweetness, but I can't get over the soapy tones that are emerging.

 

Dry: The jasmine is just too much for my skin. I need to remember that. However, I do now get the earthy notes along with the spiciness that I think is carnation, some faint green, but the incense is all gone. This is a pass for me.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Clean, fresh, and deep. There’s a sweet floral component that smells a bit like lilac or honeysuckle.

 

Drydown: Dark, woodsy greenery with a bit of earth and the lingering scent of jasmine. There’s a touch of smokiness and dankness in there too. Every so often I catch a whiff of berry-like sweetness.

 

Dry: Nighttime, outdoors, just after a summer rain.

 

 

 

 

 

7.5 out of 10 bones