The Mandrake Charm

[Ghost of a Rose]

 

THE MANDRAKE CHARM

The Mandrake Charm, Henry Fuseli.

Mandrake root, olibanum, myrrh, hyssop, basil linalool, and lemongrass.

 

Wow, I'm the first reviewer! That's never happened before!

 

Info I found on the internet about Basil Linalool: A naturally occurring terpene alcohol chemical found in many flowers and spice plants with many commercial applications, the majority of which are based on its pleasant scent (floral, with a touch of spiciness.) The type of linalool that comes from basil is woody and lavender-like.

 

I chose this blend to try because I was particularly intrigued by the mandrake root. I have no idea what that might smell like.

 

In the imp: A clear, lemon-yellow oil with a greenish tinge. When I sniff the imp, I get wood. When I sniff the wand, it's a strong herby basil with wood coming in at a close second.

 

On me, wet: I can smell the basil and wood from a couple of feet away, before I even bring my wrist my to my nose to sniff it. Up close, it is similar but with a deeper undertone of earth and roots.

 

On me, just dried: Most of basil floats away within a few moments, and the overall scent softens considerably as it dries. The wood note is now the strongest, and it has a strange hint of tar to it. I'm guessing that's the camphoraceous aspect of the hyssop.

 

After 10 minutes: First a subtle grassy note appeared that could be either the lemongrass (without the lemon) or more of the hyssop. It only lasted a couple of minutes, and as it disappeared, the scent sweetened up a little. Until now it has not been sweet at all. Wood is still the strongest impression, with plenty of herbs (not including basil anymore.) A tiny bit of myrrh is starting to peek out.

 

After 30 minutes: It has sweetened some more, although it still isn't a really sweet scent. Now there's a faint whiff of lemon, more like lemon drop candy than the fresh fruit; and much softer than either. Wood, herbs, and a little myrrh are still the main notes. This is a very unusual scent.

 

After 1 hour: It sure has gone through a lot of changes! Now all of the unique notes have evaporated. For a while there is still a faint lingering hint of wood, but eventually that goes too, leaving a typical, slightly powdery, (and lovely as always) BPAL final-drydown scent of frankincense (the olibanum) and sweet myrrh.

 

There were no further changes, and the longevity of the blend on my skin was about average for a BPAL scent.

 

Verdict: A very unusual, unisex, blend. I'm pretty neutral about the fragrance, neither disliking it nor liking it a lot. But I do like that it is so interesting and unique. I'll keep the imp and wear it occasionally as the perfect antidote for whenever I get bored with my usual, favorite, scents.

 

My rating: 3 stars

 

ETA: My imp is a decant from schackjj, the Goddess of Decanters (to borrow a quote from another participant in our decant circle.)

[Dark Alice]

Dry dry dry! With the barest hints of lemon. A very dry bitter lemon sitting in dry grass. Evocative but not for me.

[edenssixthday]

The Mandrake Charm - This scent is bitter and rooty and earthy -- it's all mandrake and nothing else. It smells like some sort of weird-smelling linament. To my nose, it's just awful, but I don't tend to like mandrake or earthy scents.

[HerbGirl]

I smell Mandrake here, but I get a big burst of the Basil too. It is very sharp starting out, but mellows into a nice scent. Meh, it's ok...

[Little Bird]

I'm not a fan of herbal scents and have trouble wearing lemongrass, so it's no surprise that I don't really like this scent. Dark Alice's review sums this up pretty nicely for me. The lemongrass is sour and the root/basil/herbal tones are like dry herbs and dry grass. It has a bit of a bitter/medicinal quality to it at first, though it's very light and fades quickly on me, so it's not something that I had to scrub off. It's not something that I'd wear again.

[zankoku_zen]

Dark, rooty. I get an almost bitter/motor oil to this blend, which I wonder if it isn't the mandrake + myrrh working on this. There's a slight floral tinge to it, which I expect comes from the linalool.

 

Dark, spicy, oily.

[milo]

I'm finding a lot of these Pickman scents very woody and resinous. This one is no exception, very strong and pungent woodniness in the imp, but does settle down a bit dry. A 'rubber' scent comes out to, so it smells like wood and rubber. I'm glad I didn't wear this before going out, as this really isn't working, though I have to say, that rubber note I have not smelled before in any bpal, it really is awful on me.

[Teaotter]

This is sweeter than I was expecting it to be! There is a blast of something sharp and herby when I first put it on. But it settles into something almost fruity, something that reminded me of citrus candy. Yeah, I don't know either. Sweet herbs on top of something a little sour.

 

Several hours later, it's mostly myrrh with some herbs.

[Ilex]

This is all lemon grass and basil linalool on me. Its like lemon scented air freshener or a lemongrass laundry detergent. Its very sweet smelling. A clean scent but sugary.

 

I can only barely smell the myrrh, but sometimes myrrh is a problem for me- it makes me ill and sneezy. Which is what its doing here.

 

Mandrake from the Garden is one of my very favorite BPALs. I was hoping for more mandrake, a lot more mandrake and hyssop. But nope. I'm only getting the top notes here, and they are going soapy. Going to wash this off now.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Basil, myrrh and olibanum give a nice sweet fresh scent.

 

Wet: Much as when sniffed.

 

The dry-down: Only a hint of the lemongrass came through, thank goodness, as it usually takes over any scent that it's in. Does not seem to morph, which makes it nice. Lovely scent for spring and summer.

[Vega]

Sniffed: A rooty, earthy resinous-herbal scent. I'm reminded somewhat of Nefertiti.

 

On skin: When wet, The Mandrake Charm is initially dry and somewhat astringent. This edge softens with drydown, and the scent becomes distinctly herbal with an earthy flavour (as opposed to a leafy kind of herbal). I'm not familiar with the mandrake scent, but this does smell like a root! I also smell olibanum, hyssop, basil and a touch of lemongrass, all blending well to make a single, distinct scent. The herbal edge continues to become gentler over time; overall, this blend smells austere, cool, with a calm and quiet presence. It has a distinctly feminine flair, despite being strongly rooty and earthy. It's similar to Tzadikim Nistarim and Nefertiti; The Mandrake Charm could be a less sweet, cooler version of Nefertiti. Colour impression is brass, or a very cool golden colour.

 

Verdict: Quite a distinctive scent, pleasant to smell, but is not quite my type of perfume to wear.

[mymymai]

ITB: This is green and pleasantly earthy from the mandrake and basil linalool. There is also a disquieting floral after the initial scent that is discernible, which must be the hyssop.

 

Wet: Earthy and spicy in it's herbiness. The scent seems to amp the mandrake the most on my skin. Other notes are harder to pick out, but I think I get a little basil linalool, lemongrass, and a faint impression of olibanum, but it's mostly a mandrake show.

 

Dry: The mandrake is still dominant, but it settles down some with olibanum and a little lemongrass. I wish the myrrh was more prominent, as it would add a wonderfully resinous tone to this green and eathy scent.

[ObliqueRed]

Dry and woody-herby. To me, a very neutral scent, neither pleasant nor unpleasant, neither masculine nor feminine.

[mandragora369]

I had to have this scent given my name, which is Latin for mandrake.

 

Wet: this is a strong green astringent scent. There's a faint trace of basil, but not really strong.

 

Dry: as it dries down it gets more woody. For someone who likes rooty, earth scents, this one is really nice! It kinda smells like a mandrake root. Herby, rooty. Wonderful!

[Supertrooper Omni]

I wasn't ready for this scent when I first encountered it, and put it away for later, which is now. Mandrake charm is a really distinct scent, and now probably faded a lot since it's initial release. It's rooty, but also airy and suggests aquatic.

 

So the scent doesn't strike me as outstanding or strong, and while it was initially more challenging it's actually a really calming, tall refreshing glass of water. More like a light cucumber water + fresh cut potato smell.

 

During the initial application, it went on a bit more bitter-root scented, like the smell of a cellar. The scent changed from musty basement, bitter, to watery- herbaceous, airy, green, fresh watery celery stick but I'm also smelling the olibanum-hyssop-myrrh smelling vaguely leather-ish all blended in there as it settles down. 

 

Really unique and calming. 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Supertrooper Omni