Urd

[ChupaChup]

Muscadine, black and red patchouli, cereus and nag champa.

Urd smelled great in the vial, that lovely red patchouli of Snake Oil. When I put it on, I got grape (must be the muscadine), patchouli and cedar. The cedar really toned down the grape smell so that it wasn't too fruity and I thought I was going to love Urd. After about fifteen minutes, I could detect the nag champa and Urd began to smell like my favorite metaphysical bookstore, very comforting. At that point, I thought I was going to get a lot of use out of this imp. But half an hour in, all the lovely notes were gone and I was left with very dry cedar backed up by something "off" that smells suspiciously like lotus to my nose. I wish either the wet or the 15-minutes-in phase had stuck around, this one is getting swapped.

[tempete]

Urd was initially very musty and woody smelling. This soon died down to an smoky, incense-y patchouli that was sweetened and lightened somewhat by the muscadine. I really enjoyed this unusual combination, but unfortunately, it faded to almost nothing within 30 minutes or so. Given the nature of the notes and the namesake of the scent, I was expecting a more powerful, forceful scent. I guess that Fate doesn't like me very much and we will be parting ways.

[Scylla]

In the vial: Grapes 'n Patchouli -- Hippies in the Vineyard! I like it in this stage! I can also smell the "juiciness" of the cereus.

 

Wet, on my skin: The fruity grape smell fades and Urd becomes more incensey (I guess that must be the Nag Champa)

 

Drydown: The grape faded away completely and just left the hippie-ish smell of dark patchouli and nag champa.

 

I know lots of people love scents heavy on patchouli and nag champa, but they're a bit too incensey and heavy for me.

[girlmadasbirds]

oooh..this is wonderful! nag champa and patchouli with a hint of the smell of ripe grapes.

[voodoobaby]

In the vial: Grape popsicles! With something deeper underneath.

 

Wearing: Patchouli and grape popsicles! Woo! Quite a nice combination, actually. There's a faint hint of nag champa and something less faint and very woody. Maybe it's BPAL's patchouli, considering I got a kind of woody scent from Nemesis that wasn't cypress. This is so far very, very nice and very delicious.

 

This hasn't been on my skin for very long, so if it starts taking a drastically different route, I will come back and add to the review.

[janelle_hell]

i got this as a freebie in my order that arrived a couple days ago : ) i didn't order it myself cos although all the other notes sounded great,i don't usually care for patchouli. But,on me,the patchouli is indetectable,and i get a wonderful combination of sweet grape (like in the discontinued Bat's Blood,which i LOVE!),and lots of Nag Champa. The smell of Nag Champa that is unique to small,out-of-the-way headshops that have had probably hundreds of pounds of Nag Champa burned over the past 35 years or so. This combination reminds me of the good parts of my time as a teenager...grape Popsicles on hot summer days...visits to places where i was the only person in the room who didn't remember the 1960's,in search of rare,vintage blacklight posters,and cool beads for my art projects : ) i'm glad that whomever it was at the Lab who selected my 'freebies' this time around thought i'd enjoy this,cos i do! i'll definitely be using up the imp,and more than likely will be getting a 5ml with my next order!

[cuervosueno]

You know that feeling when you walk into an old incense shop or headshop, that has been there for a long, long time, and years or even decades of incense smoke have saturated themselves into the walls, and everything is infused with a thick mixture of every type of incense?  You get this waft of scent that just pours out of the store, and clings to you after you leave.

 

That is Urd. 

 

In the bottle, it is a mixture of sweetness and incense, kind of similar to Lust actually -- it has the same dry, incensy quality about it but I think that the muscadine gives it a bit more of a buoyant, sweet quality.  Once on my wrists, a magical transformation takes place, and I feel as though I have been steeped in incense since the 1960s.  It gets deep into my skin and settles there, and it burns like a hundred sticks of nag champa and patchouli, getting slightly lighter as several hours elapse.  It evokes dark, smoke-stained red velvet curtains and hand-woven tapestries piled up with colorful cushions.

 

This is definitely one of my holy grails, as a devout incense lover who wants to smell like a headshop.  The patchouli lends a dry, earthy quality and the champa does not become too overpowering -- but you definitely need to be a fan of those scents to be a serious Urd-wearer!

 

sorry for the long quote--but Sarada got this right on for me. This is exactly headshop (of the 70's for me). And anyway, I just learned how to quote....

 

I didn't think I'd like this. I avoid fruity notes usually and I almost always detest grape notes, but it is so hard to get them real.

 

But I like this a lot. At first I get the grape, but it is tied to a woody note that I realize really is pachouli blending with muscadine. The incense comes in later, an etheral smoky note grounded with the more earthy pachouli.

 

If you don't like incense notes, you won't like Urd. I do like it, and like the throw--from a distance I can smell my wrist, its the faint scent of faded incense. Nice!

 

but I prefer The Caterpillar for my favorite incense note BPAL--The Caterpillar is sweeter, which I like. So likely I won't get a bottle of Urd, but I'm glad for the imp.

[quikslvr]

Dark and incense-y. Sweet, sweet smoke and earth. Beautiful in a headshop/new age-y store kind of way, but so not me. Goes grape-y occasionally, but mostly just patchouli.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Quite sweet, and maybe a hint of some incense.

 

Just On: The sweetness tones down, and the incense comes forth to mix in a gorgeous blend.

 

An hour or two later: More of the sweetness, but still incensy.

 

Around 6 hours: Leaning back towards more incensy now.

 

12 hours: Okay, I smell more of the sweetness now.

 

Overall: This does flip flops between being sweet and incensy, and I like it.

 

After reading other reviews: Okay, so muscadine is sweet, and the incense is probably the nag champa, or even the patchouli, or combo of those. This is an awesome scent.

[wickedgoddess]

Origins - Freebie from the lab.

 

In the bottle - this is so overwhelmingly grape, that I almost pass on trying it on.

 

Wet - Very grape, but with a bit of patchouli underneath.

 

Dry - As it dries, this just vanishes into my skin. Ah wait, there it is! The grape has mellowed a bit and I get traces of patchoulii and nag champa. This is surprising light for a patchouli blend, and fades completely away in about an hour.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 2.

[Witch's Dagger]

Urd: Fate

 

Preconceived notions: A sexy incense scent. Sounds great for me.

 

In the vial: Sweet dragon’s blood and cinnamon.

 

On me:

Dragon’s blood or vetiver and spice, and something soft and sweet (vanilla? amber?) It has a sense of timelessness - elegant in the sense of simple, beautiful, and effortless grace.

 

In 10 minutes:

Smoky, distant, ageless, dust, yet filled with life. Another excellent incense scent. I want to smell like this all the time. I wish I could describe it better.

 

In 20 minutes:

Sweet incense with spice. Exotic, yet calm. Definitely a skin scent. Very good for a priestess blend.

 

In 30 minutes:

Less sweet, but otherwise, about the same. Very dark.

 

In 40 minutes:

About the same.

 

In 1 hour: Still about the same, but sweeter. I recognize this - it’s the scent of some amber incense sticks I have (which are sweeter and heavier than the actual resin)

 

Overall:

This is wonderful and amazing. Definitely a keeper, maybe a big bottle. Exquisite.

(and maybe that “amber” was really the nag champa)

[nineveh]

For some reason, Urd started out as pencil shavings on me. I guess it's the nag champa. After a bit, the patchouli comes out, which softens the pencil shaving smell. Then I can also smell the muscadine as a dark, sweet scent beneath the patchouli.

 

I like this once it dries, but not enough for a bottle.

[donsixgun]

This is nice. Grapes and Patchouli. The nag champa isnt as strong as Id like it to be, but it still makes this a nice, earthy scent. Quite simply, this smells good.

[Janie]

I'm not a Fruit Fan, but the grapes do not force their way forward in this - they are polite and take a subdued yet easily recognisable role. As it dries, the patchouli comes to the fore. I don't get a lot of incense, sadly.

 

Good throw, so far it's lasting well. Pleasant.

[rainbow]

Urd smelled very much like sophisticated incense to me. It has that complex spiciness where you can't pick out individual notes that one tends to get from a really good incense. It's not smoky at all, at last not to me, it's more pure spice with just a very small hint of sweetness. This gives off a rust or amber-colored vibe. Definitely a rich brownish-orange scent.

 

Definitely the best incense scent I've ever smelled.

[Blood onmy hands]

Mmm... patchouli . I love how well BPAL's patchouli scents usually work on my skin. Urd is just gorgeous.

 

There is a sort of grape-like sweetness to this, but not at all a candied plastic grape, just a sort of subtle fruity tang.

 

The nag champa is sweet and incensey. The patchouli offers up that spicy dark quality that I love.

 

It's so lovely... a wonderful sweet patchouli fragrance. Even my sister (who hates patchouli) thought that this was a wonderful scent. I may have to get a 10 ml of this one.

[aidenraine]

Oh my god.... wow. When I opened my imp I first thought:

 

grape bubblegum- just smelling it from a distance.

 

On me it became musky really quickly and I definitely smell the patchouli, but it's still sweet.

I have to agree with the association between this and an old, kinda hippie-ish shop. It brings me right back to an old Deadhead, hippie wares store in my hometown ... this was the scent of many different kinds of incense combining. It's insanely powerful, a scent I can only describe for myself as "moving".

 

This falls into the extreme obsession category. LOVE.

[oakmoss]

In the first moment of application, this is Goofy Grape -- don't panic! This phase lasts mere seconds, and then the patchouli surrounds and embraces the purple, so it's not really fruity anymore, but smoky with just enough sweetness. It feels very opulent and jewel-like to me, a mature scent (no, not "old lady" ) -- just grounded and wise, as Fate should indeed be. I also liked it as a dream oil, and had vivid and memorable dreams. My only problem with this blend is that it seems to disappear very quickly, even when I slather. It's on my big bottle list, but maybe I should get a couple....

[Thorne]

Patchouli and incense. Mostly patchouli. I didn't get anything else, but I like patchouli and incense, so I might save this for fall and winter, when I'm more likely to wear heavier scents.

[Tess]

One of my favorite goddesses and it has nag champa in it! The joy!

 

In the vial - This really is grapey. There's some red patchouli in the background, but it's a grape juice smell.

 

Wet - Not QUITE as grape, but it's still really sweet grape with patchouli. Don't know if I'm going to like this...

 

Drying - As time goes on, the grape is leaving, which is a Good Thing. The black patchouli is coming out to join the red, but I'm only getting the barest hint of nag champa. Come to me, my incense!

 

Dry (1 hour later) - The grape is nearly completely gone and the nag champa has come out to play. Really, this smells of a dry, smokey black patchouli and nag champa mix.

 

Overall - I really do like it, although it makes me sad that this is so dominated by the incense notes. It will most likely go on my big bottle list, but I'll give the old imp a few more tries, first. This smelt exactly like a New Age shop!

[Dark Sparkle]

This was a really fun scent to try because the grape pops out at once and says hello, only to leave my skin seconds later. Then, pencil shavings make their announcement for a couple of minutes, and then again, poof! - Patchouli and Nag Champa takes the leading role - this is almost like Tour de France !

 

After 20 minutes or so, the muscadine makes a comeback and mingles in the background with Patchouli and, especially, Nag Champa in the foreground.

 

I really love this scent - up close on skin it is very sweet - away it just smells like Nag Champa and, yes, Headshop with a capital H! This was also the first comment I got from wearing the scent .

 

This really lasts a long time and wafts a lot - a real attention seeker this one.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Patchouli in strength, and musky grape. Dang, is that muscadine (which I kept mis-reading as masculine) strong or what?

On me: Apparently muscadine is only in the bottle and initial application, it's gone now. All that's left is the incense of nag champa and mountains of smoky patchouli.

[olympia301]

This one is not me at all. Very heavy, rich with patchuli and grapes, very earthy and in the dirt. I can see how the earth loving people out there go bananas for Urd, unfortunately I am not one of them.

 

It is indeed well crafted, and someone said it does smell like their favorite occult bookshop, and so it does...and I mean that as a great compliment. It is comforting and a little naughty at the same time. I salute the use of grapes in the blend, that was gutsy and unusual.

 

Maybe you are a person who has the exact opposite of my tastes, if you are then grab Urd, you will be glad you did. I will be putting it out there to be snatched up by you.

[Northernminx]

Well I've been carefully avoiding this one as patchouli and I? Not so much.

But I swiped this last night and I am fairly happy to say that it wasn't as patchouli as I thought it would be. This was a dark, strong herbal and earthy scent but there was a touch of rich fruitiness under that with my chemistry. Strong and lasting, and a little bit too earthy for me, it was still fun to try.

[valentina]

In the imp: Very grapey, the same kind of winey grape that I first picked up out of the imp when I smelled Wanda or Blood Lotus.

 

Initial application: More grapey wine, plus patchouli. But since I love, love, love dark patchouli, I'm a happy camper.

 

Dry-down: The Nag Champa has now kicked in. There's a predominant woody-resin smell, with patchouli wafting around the edges. But because I burn Nag Champa and patchouli incense when I meditate, this is a very soothing. It is not a sweet, light fragrance -- very robust.

 

3-4 hours later: The incense note has finished being dominant and I'm getting a bit of all three major elements of the blend. It is head shop-y, but not in the sweet lotus incense way of Blood Lotus -- this head shop is burning Nag Champa.

 

Urd was one of those fragrances that I was very anxious to try, and it's going to the top of my "buy a bottle" list. Obviously, the head shops of the '60's and '70's have somehow insinuated themselves into my body chemistry.

 

valentina