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The Dark Side of Earth: deep, brooding forest scents, including juniper and patchouli. The scent of upturned cemetery loam mingling with floral offerings to the dead.


cold & dirty(!). i really like this.

at first, that cold, piney, menthol scent (i'm thinking it's the juniper) really put me off - i loathe such notes - but it eventually settled down and took a backseat to all the loamy goodness. i love loamy scents, and there was even a short stage where this oil strongly reminded me of villainess' grundy soap, which i absolutely love love love. i don't get any one particular flower, either, but there i definitely notice a floral in the air after a while, and it softens up the harsher edges a bit. faint flowers and wet soil; night time in the moongarden. just beautiful.

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First sniff was very strong for me, and reminded me of pine sol. Once I put it on, though, it started to smell really complex and good. But still like pine. Which set off my sinuses really badly. Oops! I don't even know what note did that so I can avoid it. Oh, well. I really wanted to fall in love with this one. :(

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This was a lab frimp.

 

In the imp, dirty loam with a menthol, medicinal tang that was very strong. I was seriously concerned about even putting that anywhere near my skin, but since I've determined to skin test every BPAL that comes my way, I bit the bullet.

 

Wet: Patchouli like woah! Menthol settling down into a more sappy conifer note, like rubbing sticky spruce needles over your skin. Loamy dirt, makes me think of oakmoss, and a little bit of heavy rose. Actually? Kind of digging it by this point. It's way more complex than it was in the imp. There's also something deliciously smoky, maybe a touch of vetiver.

 

Dry down. This is a dry, rich scent. The rose floral floats atop the deeper, darker patchouli, and the tree sap is almost oily. I'm a sucker for the dirtier BPAL's, and this one really rocks. After I use up my bottle of Malediction I need to get me some of this. Super surprising hit of the frimps from this order. 5/5 on my skin.

 

Good throw, long lasting. Can't stop smelling my wrists and the crooks of my arms. I bet this would age beautifully.

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Pungent juniper and pine trees and some dirt. It's like the smell of concentrated forest, which is interesting to smell. I think this would have been something I could wear, but there's a menthol note that's turning it into Ben-Gay.

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Hmm...juniper is sometimes alright on me, but I'm not really too big on patchouli or...loam. Curious to sniff this though! In the imp, this is mostly deep dark earth/wet dirt and juniper. As I said, I do enjoy juniper, but I'm not a wet earth/mud/dirt kinda gal.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. I would almost swear there was vetiver in this when I put in on my skin. Vetiver is my "death note" so to speak. And I definitely smell it here, though it may just be that the mix of notes is tricking my nose into smelling vetiver. Overall I get that vetiver smell, patchouli, wet dirt and almost no juniper as this dries :( A very different scent on my skin than in the imp. All that juniper is gone!

 

Yeah, honestly this dried to a dark earthy vetiver scent. Not for me!

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I am not good at picking out scent notes, but I am going to try to review this the best I can. I really wanted to love this oil, but sadly it was pure pinesol on me:( It stayed that way until it was all the way gone too. I hope it might have just been that imp though. I have another on the way, and when I get it, I will update. If it's the same though, they will go into a swap pile.

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Smells on my skin like it does in the bottle- like my face is pressed into wet forest dirt. I love it, but I would onyl wear it very specifically- it's deep, and dark, and earthy, very rich, and very beautiful. I like it a lot- 4 out of 5.

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I have a horror of all things death-related so no matter what the notes were, I could never bring myself to order this. I was frimped with it and had to steel myself to try it - and I'm so, so glad I did, for really quite significant reasons. I LOVE this scent, and it's the green one I've been looking for. It's like Robin Goodfellow with far more staying power and no playing around. This is the scent of long walks with a big ruck-sack, on your own, on a track deep in leaf-litter, the greenery all around you.

 

But most of all this made me realise how I have really grown out of the fear I had of burial and death, and how the greenness and outdoors and being part of the cycle is really all how I feel about this now.

(I guess you'll have to read all the other reviews to get a better idea of what it actually smells like ;) )

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Wet: Lots of sharp juniper, and maybe a bit of dirt.

 

Drydown: Sweeter. Deep evergreens, cool juniper and just a hint of warm patchouli.

 

Dry: Mainly a chilly menthol, but there is definitely a serious dirt note near the forefront as well. Very earthy and cool. Like a fresh grave dug in the middle of winter.

 

 

 

 

7.5 out of 10 bones

Edited by BoneBone24

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I really loved this in the vial. And wet on the skin as well. But then something happened and my chemistry completely gobbled up the gorgeous dirt, loam, and patchouli. And all it left me with was soapy pine-sol in it's place. :cry2:

Edited by rawgirl75

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This started off promising, very fresh pine and juniper. However, after a few minutes a really nasty note like rotting vegetation popped up - I'm think it's one of the unnamed "floral offerings" as those can go really off on me. Had to wash it off, definitely sad about this one.

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I grabbed a random imp for testing, and today it was Burial!

 

Wet, on my skin, it was really fresh. Judging from the name, I was expecting something dark or heavy, but this was a totally different interpretation of burials! As it dried, the florals came out strongly, and there seems to be something incense-y in the background.

 

Interesting scent, but probably not for me.

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I'm testing this with a little trepidation, since so far any dirt/earth scents I've tried end up as dirty wet corn cobs, and as much as I like corn, corn cob is not a scent I tend to wear on purpose.

 

In the imp: Sharp and floral with a little sweetness (like wine or grapes) and a little "dirt"

 

Wet on skin: I'm getting a sharper, camphor scent now. At the moment, this is quite pleasant. There's still a hint of the dirt, but it's more like incense ashes than corn cobs (I'm guessing it's more patchouli than dirt). I am REALLY hoping it stays that way - I'll finally have found a dirt scent I like.

 

Dried down: Still the same, but a little more floral again, and a little softer.

 

Throw: I'm not really getting much of a scent while typing on my laptop, but when I sniff my wrists, the camphor and floral scent really lingers.

 

Verdict: **** I really, really like this sent a lot, but I don't know if I'm going for love yet. I think for this type of scent, I might still like Namaste better. Both are camphor-y and bring back happy childhood memories of running around at my temple. I'll have to try them both again. But I'll definitely be holding on to what I have.

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This one to me smells like digging in a rose garden :).

There's fresh roses here, and dried, crunchy rose petals, and DIRT!

I can't believe it, but this actually smells like dirt. I've never had a perfume before that smells like actual dirt, and I'm amazed and awed ;). I love this purely for it's interest factor, and while it is wearable, and I'm seriously considering buying a bottle, it'll be more because it's just so cool, than that it smells beautiful. 3.5/5 ;)

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In the bottle - Damp soil and a touch of pine

 

Wet on me - Green mossy loam

 

Dry on me - It faded really quickly on me

 

Overall - Not really my cup of tea

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ITI: I'm more intrigued by this scent than I had anticipated. It's very much a loam, rich and moist, followed by the lovely and sharply green juniper and evergreen note, but there's an interesting smokiness to it as well that I'm really liking.

 

Wet: It really does smell like there is some labdanum in this blend just against the juniper and evergreen notes. The loam note hoovers just underneath while the lightest impression of floral keeps the scent from becoming too dark and somber.

 

Dry: As it dries, it's just a wonderful symphony of florals -roses, lilies, and another white, slightly spicy floral - underneath a deep loam and a smoky veil covering it all.

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This was the scent that got me hooked on BPAL :)

 

I love wearing scents that invoke emotions, ideas, times of year and Burial is my go-to Autumn scent. It reminds me of rotting leaves and loam with just a hint of a dry, musty, crypt.

 

Even though it is a bit musky it isn't heavy like most musks. Though it does have a powerful scent and lasts on me for a very long time.

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For the first ten minutes on my skin, I get *pickles*. Sharp, dill-y, crazy pickles from a barrel in a deli. But if I wait that out it goes away, and I get fresh turned soil and a hint of flowers on wind. I wish I got the pine and juniper everyone else goes on about, that would be even better. Still, I love this and likely will need more.

 

FYI: it smells strikingly like Clinique's Aromatics Elixir, but less 'musty' and doesn't give me a headache. So if you ever tried that one and wanted to love it but you just couldn't quite make it happen, try Burial.

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Dug up an old imp of Burial - Initially I think "Whoa pine sol!" I don't usually have a problem with juniper so I'm thinking it's the combo with the patch. It settles down a little more after an hour or so but it still smells a little bit too much like cemetery dirt. Not sure that makes any sense, but it smells woody like coffins, loamy and dusty. I'm okay with wearing this for the day, but this is not something I'd reach for on a regular basis.



This might be a more fitting scent for the fall. I could see combining this maybe with Autumn Leaves and Haitian Patch HG. Will save what's left of my imp and give it a go later this year.


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This was a frimp from the Lab, and I didn't expect to like it. I figured it would either go straight dirt--like Zombi without the rose--or it would go manly aftershave. But this, folks, is why you always try the frimps! This is diiiivine.

 

I can't make out every note I'm smelling here, but I smell mint, and pine, and general woodiness, and I can envision being in the "forest primeval" with trees so old I can't see the tops of them. I don't get dirt at all, just green green green, and while these notes sometimes go too dudely on me, here they are perfect and gender-neutral.

 

It gives me the same feeling of primal peace that I get from smelling Midnight Mass, actually. I thought this was just a vibe thing, but then dabbed Midnight Mass in a different spot and huffed them in close succession, and I think they actually share a note, something in the wood family.

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Popping the cap off this was like taking a whiff of a big old bag of potting soil. Yep. Dirty dirty dirt. My eyes say oil, but my nose says that nearby there should be a thick black warm heap of compost.

 

I don't know if I'm brave enough to put this on. ...Maybe later. I'll...edit if I do.

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This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

In the imp it’s juniper and patchouli, equally balanced with neither dominating. They’re both strong. The loam comes forward when this is wet on my skin, though it may also be that this is just a very earthy patchouli.

 

For a brief while when this is first applied, the juniper makes it smell like a strong cleaning product. It settles down to clean, fresh juniper and woodsy patchouli, balanced by the earth note.

Close to the skin, there’s a warm spiciness under those woods, but I never do smell any floral. Burial is beautiful and also very masculine to my nose. It’s not very me, but I would love this on a man.

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Burial imp

 

Wet/Bottle - WHFOO that juniper! Can't really smell much else, honestly. Just juniper, juniper and more juniper.

 

Wet/Skin (5 minutes) - More juniper, and...wait, is that Rose?...Oh, no.

 

Dry/Skin (30 minutes) - Dollar store rose scented soap and juniper potpourri.

 

DAMN YOU, ROSE...Well, even without the rose, this probably wasn't a winner for me, but you know...Rose.

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