Zombi

[bodegaselkie]

Dried roses, rose leaf, Spanish moss, oakmoss and deep brown earth.

Zombi is gorgeous. It's the elegant decay of a New Orleans cemetery, wet with rot and moss, with mist and roses and upturned soil. It's the scent of graverobbing, or someone rising out of the grave. At first it smells slightly rotten -- and then the roses and moss come in and take over. When I put this on my wrist it turned entirely to rose (then faded to very slight moss), but when I put it in my cleavage it stayed rosy and mossy. So elegant. I liked Burial, but I love Zombi.

[modesty_blaise]

I didn´t really expect this to be a scent for me, but I was so curious to smell it.

 

Just as I opened the imp, I was gobsmacked. I have such a newbie nose and have trouble detecting single notes, and a lot of the imps I have tried has smelled totally different to me than what I expected from descriptions and reviews. Zombi was my exception. Oh yes. I´m in awe, I can´t believe Beth managed to make something like this. It´s dirt and soil and gloom, with a hint of roses, but not the kind my skin seem to hate. This is dead roses, and it smells of rot and decay. It´s a graveyard. And at the same time, it´s the smell of me being a kid again, playing outside in the garden in autumn, after dark, crawling on the ground amidst the rottening leaves, playing hide-and-seek, winter´s right around the corner and soon my dad will call me from an open window and say it´s time for bed.

 

It´s not a scent I would typically wear, and I´m not sure it is for me, but I intend to keep this (well, I have two imps now, so one might go off to my swap pile) just for those special occasions or maybe just for smelling it in the imp. Well done, Beth!!

[AngelFireHeart]

Zombi,

 

I actually love this scent!

 

To me in the bottle, it smelled absolutely vile , but I tried it on my skin & the roses just come right through as it dries & it turns into a lovely scent, definitly one of my favourites (I feel a 5ml coming on... ), It smells to me like a wild rose garden left completely to nature, first off the strong smell of roses, but if you smell deeply you can smell a slight hint of damp decaying grasses & moss, but this is very much in the background. I absolutely adore this scent

[gingersnapp]

At first, this had the same bitter bite of Graveyard Dirt so I didn't think it was going to work for me. But it didn't take long for the mosses to soothe it and add a slight herbal note to the dirt, and the roses...

 

This actually ends up being a really beautiful scent. I'm glad I tried it, even though I avoided it for the "earth" note for so long.

[Lycanthrope]

In the Bottle or Imp:

Roses with a slightly muddy, dirty, somewhat repulsive earthen aroma.

Wet, on Skin:

Definitely roses... with my skin, I expect this to go shrieking rose on me. I get a whiff of very realistic, brown, moist earth. Oh goodness... two notes that do not sit well with me.

Drying Down:

Rose comes up, but it's a corrupted rose, the damp earth keeps strangling down its purity and I feel... ugh, ugh.

Dry on Skin:

Rose with that same dark undertone. Zombi doesn't change much on me.

Over Time/Longterm:

The earthen smell fades away faster than the rose, but then again, on me, rose stays, and stays. There's still a touch of the dirty mossy aroma hanging around to dirty the floral.

Final Verdict?

I feel dead when I put this on. No, seriously, I smell like death. Props to Beth for blending that feeling in a bottle, but Zombi gives me the chills. ooooooogh.

[arabella]

First Impression: Air, metal (or blood - they smell similar to me), damp earth.

 

Dries down to: Not much change except for a hint of the rose coming through. The mental image I get is a deep, damp hole, lined with stone and inset with metallic rungs that lead down, down, down without end. There are wild roses growing on vines twisted around and through the rungs and there's moss growing between the stones.

 

Additional Comments: This is another one that surprised me. The rose, which usually overtakes everything else on me, takes a while to come out. This is a very interesting blend. I'm not really sure how I feel about it, but I think I actually might like it.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 3 out of 5

[theseagrows]

wow, when i first brushed this across my wrist and smelled it, the first thing i thought was "whoa, this is weird, but i think i love it."

 

like everyone else said, it smells like roses and fresh turned dirt. or the way dirt smells after rain- roses, dirt and rain. i think it's very strange, but i love it. it's the most unique scent i've smelled from bpal so far.

Edited August 19, 2005 by theseagrows

[WidgetAlley]

I got a dab of this on my finger from opening a very full Imp, and I have to say, it's not what I was expecting. It fits the description perfectly-- it is, indeed, roses and dirt-- but I wanted deep, rich, black earth... like a freshly turned garden after a rain. Instead this dirt is red and decaying and musty and really rather unpleasant... even a little eerie and sickening, and waaay too strong for me. It certainly does justice to its name.

 

After sniffing for a few minutes I washed my teensy drop off, because I was already wearing Florence and I didn't want to mix the two. I'll give Zombi a proper wrist test at a later date, and see if I get that mossy, slightly earthy rose that seems to spring out on the drydown... but if it stays like it did the first time, roses and polluted earth, it's for swaps, I'm afraid.

 

[later] I can't even bring myself to try this properly... it makes me feel suffocated and nauseous. Props the Lab for creating such a wonderfully evocative scent, but it's off to swaps with you, my lady!

Edited August 19, 2005 by WidgetAlley

[squalorholla]

Wow. I'm loving this, though I have no idea why since it's really kind of gross. The initial impression is pure dirt with a hint of mildew and a green, twiggy element; then the roses slowly, slowly take over. There's a little bit of a powdery thing happening with the drydown, but even though I usually despise powdery scents Zombi is so delightfully weird that I can forgive it. It also seems to fascinate my cats.

 

This is certainly the wrong time of year to be wearing this stuff. I'm putting it away until November.

[lookingglass]

I didn't want to try this one on as soon as I got it, because it was evening, and I didn't want to go to bed smelling like a zombi! Too scary!

 

But...DH put it on! I could smell him, wafting through the house. A fresh zombi

 

There is no sweet, rotting flesh smell, thank goodness, that would probably be associated with a zombi. The earthiness is very haunting, deep, rich and lovely. But it is sooo rosey, even on DH, that I don't think we'll be wearing it very much...maybe to scary movies or on Samhain. It has tremendous throw.

 

Lying in bed...I cannot sleep next to a zombi!

[sarahj]

Zombi

 

in vial: roses and soil

 

wet: same

 

dry: roses, dry leaves, and soil (not just any soil, but good, leafy, composted soil)...my husband (a former spelunker) says I smell earthy like the inside of a cave (this is a good thing, he says)

 

verdict: long lasting with great throw...I think I need a big bottle

[sookster]

zombi is some mighty strong fragrance

 

upon application, i smell earth....deep, wet earth ... just like when you dig...that's what pops out first....then something green and lovely.....

 

what i adore about zombi the most is that while she is very strong and provocative ... bordering sinister, just give her time.....my absolutely fav part of zombi is the drydown after several hours .... the smell warms up so splendidly and beautifully with my chemistry....turns more of a garden with earth that has been warmed by the glorious sun....and a few pansies thrown in for good measure.....

 

don't pass zombi by if you want something with serious "oomph" and a total uniqueness

[Monster]

Woah! Wet soil in a garden. Rich, rich, dark soil. This is incredible!

This, to me, smells like the forest after it rains. It's fresh and clean (despite the fact that it smells exactly like wet soil).

 

The dried rose comes out after I apply this to my skin. I'm not usually one to like rose scented oils, but this one really works well with the other notes and smells incredible on my skin.

 

Wow, I think I just found a new favorite. Zombi is incredible. I'm definilty buying a large bottle of this.

Edited September 6, 2005 by CourtneyLynne

[Miss Lynx]

I had thought I'd like this, because I usually think of myself as liking earthy scents, but I am beginning to realize that there is well and truly such a thing as too earthy. Or maybe the wrong kind of earthy. This was definitely my least favourite of the seven scents I tried last night from a friend's collection, to the point where I had to flee to the washroom and wash it off me.

 

I agree with the comments a few other people have made about it smelling musty and mildewy. Earthy it may be, but not a healthy kind of earth. It's sort of a cross between half-worked compost and wet clothes that were left in a locker way too long... I can smell the rose note in it too, but despite my skin usually amping florals, it's not very strong, and just adds a faint ovetone of sickly sweetness to the overall impression of unwholesome decay. And while I suppose that's appropriate for zombies, it certainly wasn't a scent I wanted on me.

 

Grade: D

[Nachtwulf]

Bottle: It's definitely a different sort of rose than say Moon Rose (which is light and sweet) or Whip (dark and thick). It's harsher, more acidic, though tempered by the background notes. I can definitely pick up the moss (making it kind of green and damp), but I don't get any dirt out of it at all. Which is just as well.

 

Wet: .... I smell.... Pledge. I swear, it goes lemony-sour. ._. It's like furniture polish.

 

Dry: Well, less like Pledge and more like roses. It still seems a little sour/acidic, though. I like the rosy quality of it when dry, but I think it needs something else to 'underpin' it so I don't get constantly reminded of 'slightly stale rose potpourri'.

 

 

Final: I dunno. I may give it another chance later (I want this to like me!) but I think it's probably too astringent for me. The sour undertones really don't seem to work on my skin well. I think it does pull off the 'withered funeral arrangement' thing well enough, once it's dry, but I'm not sure I want to smell like funeral decor.

[theshapeshifter]

Yay! I'd almost thought I wasn't meant to have Zombi, as a friend had promised ages ago to send along an imp, but it never arrived. However, it turned up today after over a month in the mail!

 

In the imp: Earth, but a richer earth than Graveyard Dirt, and something sweet.

 

Initial application: Yes!! This is the earth I was hoping for in Graveyard Dirt (which was a bit too dry for me). I'm tentatively delighted, but worried about what the rose may do, since it's usually a note I shy far away from.

 

Drydown: Here comes the rose... but wait! It's a rose that SMELLS LIKE ROSES, not like rose perfume! (which is interesting, given that this is dried rose). It's strongly rose for a little while, then mellows into the perfect earth/rose blend; I'm not really conscious of the moss, but I suspect perhaps it's helping keep the rose under control.

 

Wow... a huge hats-off to Beth for creating a rose scent that my skin likes!

[aessedai]

I found this rose scent to be faint to start, and to fade quickly on me. There are others that work far more nicely on me, so I will stick with them.

[erikasilverstein]

Got this one as a frimp -- and it is not something I would've ordered on my own (not a floral person).

 

On my skin, it starts very rosey. Then morphs into a moist, decaying, wet-soil, rotting vegetation smell -- and the rose is always there in the background. It smells almost like a rain-soaked garden that hasn't been tended in a long time. Very true to the description, anyway!

 

I swear, I can still smell it nearly 12 hours after initial application -- and that was only a swipe along one wrist. Strong!

 

Why is it that the scents I wouldn't wear (florals!) are always strongest -- in terms of throw and lasting power. While the ones I love seem to fade within a couple of hours, almost without fail (except Jack).

Edited September 28, 2005 by erikasilverstein

[LyndaM]

How is it possible that there is an actual dirt note present in Zombi? Literally the smell of turned earth. The earth note was all I could smell in the imp, and I was fascinated but reluctant to put it on.

 

Wet, the dirt stayed front and center, and was eventually joined by a hint of dead, dry rose petals. The rose was very faint and didn't stay with me at all, it was just little whiffs in between huge wafts of dirt.

 

Dry, the rose was a more noticeable presence, but the earth note is almost overwhelming and just isn't me. It lasted almost forever, after washing I can still smell a bit of dirt on my wrists. Zombi is definitely just as described. It brings to mind new graves with the funeral flowers just begining to decay.

 

It didn't work for me at all, but I can see where others might love it.

[AngellicMystique]

I really wanted to love this, but it turns out I'm having the "No, but we can still be friends." talk with myself.

 

I get a few whiffs of rose and moss, but mainly black dirt. I smell like I've been gardening under rosebushes, which is okay, but not an odor I want all day.

 

I'll pass this on if it smells better on somone else, but I think I may keep it just to go see The Corpse Bride.

[Little Bird]

I couldn't even stand to smell Zombi when I first put it on. It was the worst sort of perfumey rose on me. Pure overpowering headache in a bottle.

 

After about a half hour this turns colder and greener though. The rose is still there, but softer and in the background. When I smell it, I do get the image of moss clinging to heavy gray tombstones. It's more bearable once it calms down, but I still don't love it. I like my fragrances to be spicy and warm. This is a chilling wet moss sort of fragrance. Plus, I catch whiffs of black dirt every once in a while, and I hate that smell in a perfume.

 

Zombi just isn't me. I like my fragrances warm, spicy, cheery, and edible, lol.

[Cesare]

I'm not usually one to exclaim about what a sorceress Beth is and what magic she weaves with her amazing oils.

 

Don't get me wrong, they're great perfumes, very unique and wonderful. But I tend to roll my eyes at reviews saying things like "It is like unto black magic how she gets these smells into her oils!"

 

That said... whoa, it's seriously impressive how much Zombi smells like earth and dead roses. In the bottle, the earthy odor is strong and really does remind me of a graveyard, while the rose has an almost sickly-sweet smell like decay.

 

Drying down, the earthy tang goes weirdly sour while the roses stay the same. Then it goes back to something similar to the wet scent.

 

This is where I do have to tip my hat to Beth. I don't know how she did it. I really do think once Zombi dries, it smells specifically like dead roses-- dried out, colorless, crumbling to vague sweetness with a hint of earthy rot.

 

Gradually within ten or twenty minutes, the dirt scent fades out and this becomes like old-fashioned rosewater. It makes me think of something my grandmother would've worn back in the forties and kept til today as a reminder of youthful glory, even though it smells pretty damn weak by now.

 

I don't know if this is something I'll ever want to wear, but I also don't know if I could part with it. I'll probably keep it as a room scent, because I find it very atmospheric and interesting in its wet state. Really glad I got this one, just for the experience of trying it.

 

This is a great oil for the BPAL skeptic to smell, because it showcases some of the most unique qualities of BPAL oils.

[Wench457]

Wow, I didn't expect to like a scent named "Zombi," but I love it! Initially, it smells like astringent lemons to me, but quickly mellows down to a lovely, light rose. Quite evocative, and very nicely balanced.

[Fefferbella]

Zombi turns to lemon scented cleaner and dirty on me. The lemon note is very pleasant, but the dirt is very unsettling.

 

Sadly, this one is off to the swap pile.

[PurringPulsar]

Zombi

 

In the imp: rose, and deep, decomposing earth-but not yucky decomposition…this is the decay of plant matter and moss growing on it…

Wet on skin: whoa…the rose in here is really strong, as is the soil note.

Dry: this smells of heady, rich rose, wet soil and leaves, and MOSS. And I mean, lots of moss. This is a very intriguing and unconventional fragrance, a very unique spin on a rose perfume…this isn’t just the scent of planting a rose bush, these are roses laid on a freshly dug grave, the earth, the tomb moss, the funereal blooms can all be smelt here. The earth note is almost mushroom-like, it really does have a feel of decay to it.

After a while: the rose note in here is delightful but I’m not really digging (geddit?) the soil note…I love a lot of BPAL wet soil scents (Penny Dreadful, King and Queen of Clubs etc) but in here, it smells a bit, erm, too decayed, almost like mushrooms…which is interesting but it makes me smell like, at best, I’ve been gardening and planting a rose bush, or at worst, things are growing on my skin…however it is very true to the name, if anything!

Verdict: this is another example of the uniqueness of BPAL…this smells like fragrant rose petals strewn on wet soil and damp, decayed leaves and moss. It’s a very interesting scent-and freakishly authentic. A bit too realistic for my liking-though I enjoy the smell of wet soil and moss most of the time, in this one, it’s a bit too much…a bit too much death and decay for me to wear as perfume, but very evocative of the name, that’s for sure! I do think it would make a great room scent though, and I’ll stick with Penny Dreadful, Queen of Clubs and even Graveyard Dirt (which to me is a much lighter dirt than this) whenever I want to smell earthy and dirty without smelling like I’m, well, dead!