Temple of Dreams

[Gaidig]

For use when working with the many Gods of Sleep, Dreams, and Nightmares.

In the bottle: Lavender & some savory spice that gives it an herbal tinge. Unlike others, I don't really think it smells like rosemary.

On me: The lavender receeds and the blend becomes less sharp and astringent. It smells cool. On drydown, as my body warms it up, the smell warms. I smell like sitting in a dry cedar paneled sauna; the soft smell of dry wood and faint smoke. This is very warm and relaxing.

1 hour+ later: I went to sleep pretty quickly, but upon waking I smelled faintly the same as upon initial drydown.

Impact on sleep and dreaming: I used this the night before election day, hoping for better sleep. Despite sleeping for only 5 hours, I was quite rested and I felt that I remembered more dreams throughout the night. The thing that struck me the most was that when I woke up, the covers were pristine, whereas I normally toss and turn quite a bit.

[toomuch]

Oh my, initially very astringent herbal. Perhaps the way to help us sleep is to clear our sinuses so we can breathe better. Oxygen is good. Very soon it dries down to a good balance of lemon and herb. In spite of the springlike scent, I found it very relaxing. I'll have to try a couple more times to see if it is bottle-worthy.

[papermaker]

I got this in my first imp pack because I have trouble sleeping. Not anymore and the vivid dream that come with it are interesting(to say the least)

In the imp: lavender and something herby. I will assume it is rosemary since that seems to be the consensus.

And that is usually all I get before I hit sleepy night night land.

In the morning it does have a light floral smell though.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Lavender sachet. Wet: The lavender is still dominant, though the entire thing is much greener and more complex. It smells of new mowed field, with herbs and wildflowers fresh severed by the blade. There is something rather like dry fungus underneath, which is actually pleasant. Dry: Gentle medium green scent with lavander on top.

[MisterShrapnel]

Though the scent itself isn't all that important, this one smells like lavender with some kinds of cooking herbs.

The first couple times I tried this out, Temple of Dreams mostly made it very difficult for me to get out of bed in the morning. I kept hitting the snooze button and it took a few minutes for the haze to lift after I finally stood up. That's probably an important part of it anyway, perhaps to ground you in your sleep and prevent you from being pulled away before the dream cycle starts.

Thus far this hasn't been as calming for me as I thought it would (in terms of "falling asleep"), but I remembered my dreams from last night! I've missed that part of sleep very much, soo...

I think this works best if you've got a healthy number of hours to sleep for the night, as otherwise it could add to the extreme grogginess of an already early morning.

[catattack]

Imp: Whoa! Strong astringent lavender!

Wet: Lavender and herbs

Drydown: Lavender and rosemary. The lavender is fine. It's the rosemary and other herbs that are too much.

Overall: This one won't put me to sleep. I think it'd help me to stay awake as it is eyes/nose burning potent! Don't hold this too close to your face when sniffing from the imp/bottle.

[angelicruin]

In the imp, it's strong lavender and sage. Just sniffing the bottle cleared my sinus'.

 

Wet on my skin, STRONG lavender initially overpowers everything else. Drys down to still strong lavender, rosemary, and a little sage.

 

I still prefer TKO for sleeping.

 

 

[Eros]

Huh, interesting this. While I do get the lavender and rosemary in the vial, along with a touch of spice...On skin it quickly morphs into something sweet, almost pink sugar-ish, with a tiny hint of vanilla The (non-soapy)lavender and rosemary fade until they're way in the background. Quite a lovely scent! I haven't tested its efficacy but will be sure to when I go to bed later. I've no doubt it'll bring me to a deep, peaceful sleep full of sweet dreams.

[rheherem]

In the bottle: Hm...very minty and herby. It's sharp, and I don't care for sscents like this much.

Wet: it's not as sharp, not minty anymore. I don't know what it is, but it's soothing. Sniffing it almost gives me a peaceful sense of well-being, haha.

Dry: Still very herby, and a little too strong for me. And yet I think I'll use it at night. Not a day scent by any means, but very good for bedtime. It makes me think of shadowy castles in the clouds. Very quiet and soothing.

[Wwindy]

Another BPAL lavender that just doesn't work on me, much to my dismay. This smells <i>amazing </i>in the imp, but turns on my skin into medicinal eucalyptus with a bright harsh edge. Might be good on fabric, though!

 

ETA: Aha! I've discovered the secret! The trick is I dab this one on my husband: It smells wonderfully herbal and soothing on him, and it makes us both sleep better. Ta-da!

Edited May 6, 2011 by Wwindy

[crebbsgirl]

I couldn't leave this one on long enough to work with it. I think it was rosemary or something that just went bad on my skin. It was sharp and disturbing.

[topazphoenix]

This is almost exactly how my lavender essential oil smells, with a little bit of sage and rosemary. It's sharp and slightly medicinal, but also cool, fresh, and overall quite pleasant.

[skylarkza]

To me this smelled like lavender, basil, rosemary and thyme. A little bizarre, yet pleasant.

 

However, I got it as a frimp and put it on without first looking up what it was. And I started to feel quite dozy. So I came on here, saw what it was, scrubbed it off and reapplied it that evening.

 

Firstly, I slept REALLY well. I woke up feeling much more rested than I usually do and woke up after only 6 hours of sleep before my alarm went off (unheard of). Then I went away for the weekend and for the past 2 nights I have had the most vivid, crazy off-the-wall dreams and I can remember them and dream right up until the point where I am woken up (both times I have been woken by my friends' toddler deciding it was time that Aunty woke up) and yet am still quite rested. Any naps I have taken, I have fallen asleep quickly and woken up VERY awake. After using this oil once, it is like the quality of my sleep has just improved dramatically! I think I got it on my pillows and am smelling it as I fall asleep (I took my pillows with me).

 

What amazes me is that this is not a TAL, but seems to be affecting my sleep. Perhaps t is just the placebo effect, but even if it is, this is awesome.

[sarielswish]

In the vial, very herbal. Colorwise, I'm getting the silvery green of rosemary and white sage. Pretty clean smelling.

 

Wet on my skin, it smells like the herbs you put on roast chicken... Quite pleasant, actually. I'm getting mostly lavender and rosemary, possibly some white sage or basil.

 

10-15 minute dry-down - I'm getting lemon basil now, along with the lavender and rosemary. This is certainly not one I'd wear on a day to day basis, but for dream work or a linen spray, this would be quite nice.

 

1 hour dry-down - Very herbal, very green. I like it, but not to wear as a perfume, I don't think.

[morinpm]

This was one of the first imps I ordered from BPAL, and I don't regret it for a moment! It's been very soothing to make a ritual of putting it on before bed. In the imp I get a lot of lavender; when it starts to dry, I smell something rather more herbal--possibly rosemary and basil? After that, who knows; by then I'm usually asleep and dreaming (and I have definitely noticed that I'm remembering more of my dreams lately). Suffice it to say there was a 5ml bottle of Temple of Dreams in my second box from BPAL!

[donnatron]

Imp: Lavender and cooking spices. Maybe basil or rosemary? Maybe both. Very dry and herbal.

 

Wet: Temple of Dreams goes on strongly lavender with a bit of a savoury herbal edge. This is not a gentle lavender. It punches you in the face and steals your wallet.

 

Dry: The more savoury herbs come out and this is a gentle but vaguely unnerving scent. It's relaxing, just not very pretty. Green and herbal and lavender without being too sharp.

 

Throw: Average.

 

Overall: I'll try it tonight and see if it works. However, even if it works a charm I would never wear this if there was someone else in my bed. It's really borderline unpleasant.

[SophieCedar]

I would call this Oneiroi's manly half.

 

In Imp: Lavender, pine or cypress?, eucalyptus, and a sweet sage maybe?

 

Wet: same but warm

 

Drydown: the eucalyptus smell sticks around and softens a bit. Nice herb bouquet and this sweetens a bit (my skin?). I would prefer to use this in a bath or facial steam rather than on my skin.

[moon_lemming]

Heh, in the imp Temple of Dreams reminds me of Elmer's Glue and a bundle of savory herbs.

 

On my skin, aaargh, I know this scent. It's eucalyptus-y with a savory herb that I CANNOT REMEMBER but I totally can at the same time. It smells kind of like an herbal VapoRub. As it dries it starts to smell more like lavender than eucalyptus.

 

It dries down to mostly lavender with a bit of savory herbs sharing the space. If it was a bouquet, it would be 80% lavender and 20% whatever that herb is. I still gets whiffs of something medicinal every now and then.

 

I haven't tried this at night yet; if I do I'll edit this post.

Edited March 9, 2010 by karen

[milo]

I put this on before I went to bed last night, in case it knocked me out. Wet, this is strong mentholly eucalyptus with a touch of lavender. It pretty much remains the same, but as it dried, I could swear there was a touch of smoke here. I was pretty wired when I went to bed, as I had just finished watching an exciting hockey game, (YAY Canucks!), and I had accidently drank some Aztec Cola which was light coloured but contained caffeine. In spite of this, I think I was asleep within a half hour, and I generally am not a great sleeper. As far as dreams, they're pretty wacky anyways, and nothing really stood out. I'll definitely keep the imp, and if it continues to put me to sleep fast, then I'll probably get a bottle.

[lunchboxmonkey]

As others have said, this has a definite herbal note, with lavender. As it dries I get an almost creamy lemony scent with cooking herbs (basil? sage? rosemary?). Its a strange combo, but not bad. I did put it on right before bed, and the only dream I can remember having is one where I was dismayed that James Woods (where did he come from? ) was playing Doctor Who Anyway, I think its a bit too herbal for me, and I'm not a huge fan of lavender, so this one goes in the swap box

[ladyl]

this was a frimp. i was hoping to get a good night's sleep but alas, besides the lavender, it's amping ylang ylang on me... instant nausea headache!

[thebirdofhermes]

Okay, so. I've tried this before bed three times, and I have to say it actually does help me sleep, surprisingly. Unfortunately, because of this, I really can't do a proper review, since I can't stay awake using it long enough to get the full drydown. (And I'm NOT putting anything that soporific on in the middle of the day.)

 

I will say that in the vial and initially on my skin, it is straight up lavender. Evil, hateful, quease inducing lavender. So I keep my wrists away from my face for the first ten minutes. Once the oil sinks in, though, it becomes a very sweet, soft, powdery herbal sort of scent. I can't really pick out any specific herbs in it, since my skin mostly makes it that sweet powder, but the herbal component is kind of like sniffing a bunch of dried herbs all mixed together. So, I can see where people say rosemary or basil or sage... but I just don't get individual herbs like that.

 

Past that, I'm usually asleep fast.

 

I will say that I really cannot wear this when I only have a limited amount of time to sleep (such as a nap), because it keeps me asleep for a good 12 hours. Which, considering half the time I'm actually sleep deprived, isn't so bad... but it's definitely not a sleep blend I can use if I don't have that half a day to sleep. Two of the three times, I got some pretty amazing dreams. This most recent time, I didn't remember any dreams, but to be entirely fair, I also had a migraine and was having an impossible time falling to sleep in the first place. So, I used Temple of Dreams to try and help me sleep. It worked like a charm.

 

All in all, I'd say this is a blend I may end up getting a bottle of, just because it works and works well. I think I can ignore some initial lavender-ick because of that.

[Venneh]

Herbally citrus and lavender, same on my skin and gone in five second because of it. Yah.

[Altaira]

Clean smelling; dry gasses and herbs (lavender, maybe sage?) cut with lemon. I haven't tried sleeping with it yet.

[Gin]

Lavender and something sharp and astringent. Eucalyptus, maybe? I'm not a big fan of lavender, but I do think the Somnium blends work.

Edited March 26, 2011 by Gin