The Spell of the Eastern Sea

[The Poison Queen]

I was far from home, and the spell of the eastern sea was upon me. In the twilight I heard it pounding on the rocks, and I knew it lay just over the hill where the twisting willows writhed against the clearing sky and the first stars of evening. And because my fathers had called me to the old town beyond, I pushed on through the shallow, new-fallen snow along the road that soared lonely up to where Aldebaran twinkled among the trees; on toward the very ancient town I had never seen but often dreamed of.

Sea salt, kelp, and twisting willows.

In the bottle: Beautiful aquatics and something just a little foody-woody.

Wet: Gorgeous, salty aquatic! The foodieness turned mostly into a spicy wood.

Drydown: This stays salty aquatic on me, it's really lovely but that little foodie note is just a tad disappointing for me, I will have to see if it ages out, because if it does this will be my perfect aquatic!

[HighPriestessIce]

This reminds me of Halloween in Innsmouth but with out the fish note. It's a dark, warm, smokey aquatic with something that strikes me as sugar for some reason. You can almost feel the grit of the salt in your nose.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: A particularly salty iteration of the ocean note common in many BPAL aquatics, with dark green kelp and gentler willow lending the sea salt volume and depth. Wet: Much sweeter on the skin. The ocean accord breaks down so that bits of it do lovely things with the willow, while other bits join the salt and kelp to lend a hint of briny darkness. The willow really sings here. Dry: Mostly salty ocean, with a kiss of willow.

[aphrodite]

This was really pretty and I adore the name (one of the best BPAL names ever, I think) and the label is exquisite. A somewhat sweet aquatic that reminded me of a few candles I've owned and loved over the years. If it were a candle I'd have bought five. But it amped so strongly when I tested it on just one wrist, I knew in my heart if I ever actually wore it for a day I would feel sick and have a headache by the end. It's just not the kind of smell I could handle amping around me all day -- a little too sweet. I was tempted to keep it anyway and try to let it grow on me because it really is lovely and again, the name and the label are perfection. But I let it find its way to someone who will hopefully not have to fight so hard to make it work.

[Astarial]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who detected some foodiness and some sweetness here! I gave this decant a sniff just after I sniffed Black Ice, and all I could think was ".....pastry??"

 

This is definitely a sweeter aquatic. It reminds me a fair bit of Cthulhu, but it's not quite the same... it comes across as more fresh water than salt water to my nose. Very gentle and entrancing.

 

Edit: On second testing, that foody smell is definitely salty, and it stuck around a bit longer this time. What it's paired with as a testing partner definitely matters - sniffed next to another aquatic it's definitely nicer than sniffing next to Black Ice.

Edited January 19, 2014 by Andyl

[TriGirlJ]

I'm getting the same foodie scent - it reminds me of buttered popcorn jelly beans. It's a shame because I really like this otherwise. I just can't get past the foodie undertone.

[zankoku_zen]

Ocean and willow. It smells aquatic, watery, and with a hint of salt.

 

Pretty, but not for me.

[brilliantcat]

This is absolutely gorgeous in the vial. Salty sweet clean water. I get the impression of a still, immeasurably deep pond, the breeze brings hints of it to my nose as I lie on the bank with my eyes closed. Sadly it turns to a dead ringer for ivory soap on the drydown. Still quite pleasant actually but I don't need a bottle. If this were a bath oil though I would love it.

[Sangria2]

In the vial: Dark, salty oceanness with an almost floral, sweet soapy undertone. It brings to mind standing on a beach before it rains, after having showered away all the sand and sunblock.

 

Wet: Initially the salt amps a bit, becoming more of a brine and blending with something green and almost lush. This part of it is AWESOME. 30 seconds later the salt pretty much disappears and I'm left with a ton of sweet, soapy cologne. It's reading masculine to me, and reminding me a tad of a lighter Casanova.

 

Dry: Properly dried, The Spell of the Eastern Sea is straight up Axe shower gel. I don't know which flavor of Axe, but I know it smells exactly like my husband after a shower. Perhaps a tad sweeter.

 

I guess I'll have to keep looking for an aquatic that actually works for me.

[Jangzonrice]

Wet: salty dark waters with the sweetness of old coconut flesh...sweet, but not overly sweet like young ripe coconut meat. Dry: the coconut sweetness fades away and is replaced by a willow green sweetness instead, still salty water smell though. Throw is good, I don't have to huff my wrist to smell it. Staying power is 5-6 hours without a fixative, so not bad. It's definitely a sweet aquatic scent, so don't expect anything dark and menacing here.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Salted air at the beach.

 

Wet: More like fresh water and willows drooping into the water.

 

The dry-down: Now a co-mingling of fresh and salt water, like in the marshes. I spent part of my summers growing up at my grandparents' place on the Intercoastal Waterway, and this brings back memories of sunning on the dock while the family went crabbing, boating w/ my uncle, exploring mud flats w/ my brother, and sailing w/ my parents. Thank you for that, Beth. Bottle for sure.

[Zii]

In bottle: A surprsingly fresh water aquatic. Smells very much like fresh pond vegetation with a hint of something sweet.

 

Wet: That sweetness revolved into a bit of salty ozone over a really remarkable aquatic. It is still a bit foody, but it it is much clearly a salt water note now.

 

Drying: The foody note amped a bit and is a bit sickly now. it's very much an odd aquatic, that's for sure.

 

Dry: Again, the sweet note sorted itself out and became floral. It is very sharp and high in it's scent profile, and is very much a sweet and eerie aquatic.

 

I don't find myself reaching for aquatics much, but this is a nice and interesting addition to my collection that I will be happy to keep around for a while.

[milo]

Kind of a sharp aquatic of the salt water variety. It's really quite odd at first. I could swear there was some kind of cookie note, but that fades pretty fast.

[aquazoo]

I get the saltiness, and the green of the willows. A little bit slimey.

[puellacaerulea]

BPAL aquatics tend to lean on the fresh, somewhat soapy side for me, or otherwise lean heavily on the sea salt. This scent is a wonderfully balanced blend of the two. I get a little bit of the sweetness other reviewers mentioned after application as it dries down, but it's subtle and not discordant. After drydown, it's all fresh (but not aggressively soapy) aquatic notes with a breath of salt air over top. It feels true to the way the beach and the wind off the ocean smell in the winter. I missed this during its original run, so I'm glad to have found a bottle on the Lab's Etsy.