Chellah v4

[boxinghelena]

Either I'm blind or Chellah v4 wasn't listed. I looked everywhere for this one and couldn't find it. I hope it was okay to add it here.

 

 

Chellah v4 is straight up dirt, loam, earth... smells like Graveyard Dirt to me but not as strong. I LOVE dirt scents so I'm very happy I took a chance ordering this off etsy without any reviews.

Edited September 14, 2011 by boxinghelena

[bloody sore]

I agree that this is very dirty. Wet, it's very similar to graveyard dirt, but with less tang. Dry, I think there might be a little bit of basil in this! Wonderful green dirty awesomeness.

 

ETA: on the fade out this got a little perfumey for me. Something else creeped in that I'm not too thrilled with. I will be trying this again for sure.

Edited May 30, 2011 by bloody sore

[saralaughs]

Very much dirt. I also think there may be a loam note in here somewhere. And spice. I'm not sure which but I don't think it's nutmeg or cardamom either. I don't like either of those and I like this. It's weird but very interesting and you want to sniff some more. It drys down to a spicy, cologne-like blend that has lost most of the dirt smell. I never knew dirt could be this nice! Still, not for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Chellah v4 reminds me a lot to Penny Dreadful. It has a rich loamy note, mixed in with a heady woman's spicy cologne. I think it may have some jasmine in it...

[PurringPulsar]

Chellah v4

 

In the imp: sweet loamy dirt, like VT The Lovers, or maybe Worm Moon.

Wet on skin: mossy stones, dirt and sweetness!

Dry on skin: this is really intriguing. It now smells less like the Graveyard Dirt type scents and smells more like a blend of sweet and lightly spicy notes, maybe a bit of musk or amber, and moss covered crumbling ancient stones! There’s still a hint of something mossy and earthy but it smells more like dry dusty earth mixed with the scent of hidden crypts and tombs, the cool air of underground chambers abandoned for millennia, with moss on the walls. However the dominant scent is a sweet sandy scent, golden and warm, like amber or maybe musk and spice? It’s really beautiful and adds something exotic and sultry to the scent. I agree with the Penny Dreadful comparison (earth and amber/musk perfume), but I say that it also reminds me of an earthy Morocco, but that could be because of the name…

After a while: ah, I’ve worked out why this reminds me of Morocco-it’s sandalwood! I smell a wonderful sweet warm sandalwood note, dry and dusty in a desert-like way, but with a hint of moss and weathered stone, and something else which is either amber or golden musk.

Verdict: I’m surprised there’s not more love for this. Maybe the strongly earthy/crumbly ruins/freshly dug soil notes are too much, but once they retreat a little, I get the most amazing sweet sandalwood musk and amber scent mixed up with the soil and worn stone fragments of an archaeological dig, hints of sand and dust too, maybe to evoke hints of the desert. There’s something almost like Morocco to this, under the mineral and mossy notes. This seems incredibly fitting because that's where Chellah is located. So this is almost like a dirty, ruined, ancient version of Morocco, or like a bottle of Morocco that’s just been excavated from the ground. It’s really unusual but I love it. I’m glad I went straight for a bottle of this and I’d like to see Chellah go live one day.

Is it a keeper? Yes.

If you like this, try: Penny Dreadful, Yorick, Vampire Tarot the Lovers, Morocco

[Little Bird]

Chellah v4 smells like damp dirt (more brown and not like black potting soil) that dries down to a hint of clean dirt (does that even exist?) and vanilla-floral-slightly-spicy perfume smell on me. It smells complex and womanly, a bit dark and exotic. It's a little on the foodie-sweet side of things.

I want to say that this reminds me of Storyville, but it's honestly been forever since I've tried that blend, and I like this more than I liked Storyville back then. I can also see the comparisons to Penny Dreadful, but this smells more complex and vanilla-spicy on me than Penny.

[ND¢]

One thing I hadn't predicted from reading the previous reviews is how LIGHT this scent is. I had to get right up on my wrist to smell it. So I slathered that arm like no other and... This does smell like Graveyard Dirt and recalls Penny Dreadful as well, but there's a hint of spice as previous reviewers have said instead of the flowers of PD or the 100% freshly turned ground of GD. My boyfriend was reminded of a 'moss' and a quality that I think others have referred to as loam.. it reminds me of my dad's old leather wallet and a ghost of spice all in one. As if this wasn't an unusual and fascinating enough scent (I almost felt compelled to keep sniffing and 'figure it out') as the drydown went on I started to notice what might have been the sandalwood previously mentioned. The combination of loamy dirt and a hint of earthly spice is a bit haunting, as portrayed so gently here. I'll definitely keep and appreciate using this, maybe layered with some delicate and simple sweeter SN that needs the depth this would bring it.

[Monday]

Dirt and a greenish peppery scent. The peppery bit is very interesting it's like a green clove trodden into the dirt.

It morphs into a softer scent, there is some moss there besides the spice and the dirt. The moss is going a bit sour like it usually does on my skin.

It ends up as a powdery dirt, moss and spice scent. I'm glad I got to try this but I won't need a bottle.

[DiZZysTARdust]

i received chellah v4 as a frottle. i am super intrigued by it and trying it on fresh from the mail, so it may need some resting time to fully come out. so far, other reviews are spot on about the dirt note. in the bottle this is fresh, crumbly dirt with streaks of something greenish/leafy. freshly applied the dirt stays very present, but as it dries there is definitely a sweetness of something else underneath the dirt, but the dirt note is so strong and fresh that it's really tough to ID. maddening, but in a pleasant way. the dirt note does fade somewhat as this dries to a more dusty top note at 10 minutes into the drydown, leaving a very warm, musky scent. really beautiful but well blended and hard to pin down. looking forward to retesting after some settling time

[sudenmorsian]

I got Chellah v4 as a frottle, too, and this is interestingly weird! Fresh and wet the dirt is dominating scent. It's like a pile of fallen, wet autumn leaves in the ground or swamp or something. I did not dare to try it to myself but my significant otter was more than happy to try it out. He too got a dirt note first. The weird thing is that it's not bad at all. There is something greenish and herbal making it cologne-like blend. He liked it 'cause it made he feel like Iku-Turso ("the eternal Turso", a malevolent sea monster in Finnish mythology  ) and I think the perfume really suits him. Very intriguing indeed. 

 

Edit: seven hours later Chellah haven't changed remarkably. It smells like vicious, wicked swamp monster that you can't stay away from.

Edited January 12 by sudenmorsian