Shub-Niggurath

[Dracoo9]

The lust incense of a corrupted Astarte. A blend of ritual herbs and dark resins, shot through with three gingers and aphrodisiacal spices.

My initial reaction to this was: Wow gingerbread poppet? It smells very similiar and just as amazing. And being that I'm a foody lover I fell for this one instantly but it isnt emensly foody so I think those who dont like foody scents would appreciate Shub. Its on my wrist now and I can still smell it away from my face. Its so warm and comforting, a gingerbread scent.
5/5 Edited March 29, 2008 by Shollin

[Pika]

Wow, though I can't claim to know what "the incense of a corrupted Astarte" would smell like, this wasn't what I was expecting!

 

It's actually VERY gingerbread-y... that was exactly my first thought as well. In fact, as it wore on, I got very little BESIDES ginger. In fact, in my head, I was trying to remember the description, and thought maybe it was 5 gingers, which would account for the overwhelming smell. Three or five, it's plenty. GINGER GINGER GINGER. But there's also something richer in there, which makes it seem more foody and comforting. Buttery and spicier. It's a nice , heady fragrance.

 

I'm not really a foody type, so I'm disappointed not to love this as much as so many people do. Still, I think I'll keep my imp around. Or maybe try yet again to enable my gingerbread-scent-loving mom with it...

[Pincushions]

Ginger Ginger Ginger! How I love thee!

 

Shub is definitely more of a warm, sexy yummy, as opposed to, say, Gluttony which is just SWEET. When I first sniffed the imp I wanted gingersnaps suddenly...

 

The smell just makes me swoon over myself! It's so deep, warm, delicious and sexy, but I guess it's just my opinion because the bf "doesn't like ginger". Eff him!

 

The ginger is just so delicious and the spices round it off perfectly. The resins and herbs make it dark and brooding, but the ginger is what really makes the scent pop. I love it. I have to convince my bf to like it, too. Crappy shifts are made better by this smell. The musks and herbs make it feel kind of "sluggish," but (I repeat) oh-so-yummy! Definitely on my top 3.

[akiko]

Yay, gingerbread!

 

Imp: yummy ginger cookies

 

Wet: Ginger cookies with cinnamon?

 

Dry: ginger. This goes sort of plasticy/playdoh on me, but not revoltingly, so ... yay.

[stardreamer]

In the imp / fresh on: Sweet! In the same cake/pastry family as Eat Me and Cockaigne, but without the buttery note. A lot of the reviews mention gingerbread, and I can see that.

 

On drydown: Wow, I see why one of my friends is so nuts about this. It's still sweet, but now I'm getting a boozy note as well, which is unusual -- most of the time what other people describe as "boozy" reads as fruity to me.

 

Long-term: More spices now, as the sweetness fades back. Never got much in the way of "dark resins", which suits me just fine. Staying power appears to be about average, fading fast after 8 hours or so.

 

Bottom line: Definite keeper and probable favorite.

[persianmouse]

This smells like Nacho Cheese Doritos. In the imp, on my skin, dry, it's always Nacho Cheese Doritos. I tried leaving the imp cap off for a few days, to quickly age it, and still....Doritos.

 

Always, always Nacho Cheese Doritos.

 

And sadly, I do not wish to smell like that.

[nightbiscuit]

The sharp spicy warmth of the gingers are prominent at the moment of slather. As the blend dries, I think I can smell some depth from other spices (cinnamon? cardamom?), and a creamy sweetness unfolds. Delicious!

[SilverSerenity]

Oh, Shub, you've broken my heart.

 

This one just went wrong from the moment I put it on and my arm started burning. Eep. Not good! It's still kind of tingly an hour later.

 

And it smells just like gingerbread. Not fresh-baked gingerbread either, but the stuff from a gingerbread house kit. Fakey-ginger. It's also given me a headache. I'm thinking that I just can't do food scents, unless it's milk and/or honey, or fruit.

 

This one is going to be hitting the swap pile.

[taramarie]

On me, Shub-Niggurath is a sugar cookie with a hint of ginger. Unfortunately, the cinnamon started to burn so I had to wash it off. But it would be a great room scent.

[alicia_stardust]

This is red ginger with musks and a touch of something both regal and feral. This is another favorite of mine, and one that gets better with age. I turn to it whenever I want something warm and spicy and comforting. It projects far and I get a lot of compliments on it.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle gingerbread, straight up. it's a dead ringer for gingerbread poppet, only not quite as dry and crumbly.

wet on skin a moist, hot ginger, very comforting and almost foody.

dry on skin no morphing, it stays a warm, sweet ginger.

 

this is so much softer, warmer, and more cozy than gingerbread poppet, which i traded away a while ago. it also layers beautifully with some of my spicier lotions. this came as a frimp from a recent lab purchase and i'm glad it did. this'll be a bottle in my future.

[djsiberia]

wet/in the imp: gingerbread poppet only a lot more spicey and a lot less ramen noodle/indian food scenty.

 

dry: ginger and spice and everything nice.

 

i had just put some on my wrists to sniff and walked past my fiance to get something in another room. he followed me and said, "whatever you just put on it smells delicious".

 

i keep sniffing my locket and my wrists and it's super yummy and i think this is going to be a multiple bottle purchase straight away and i can't wait to see how it is once it's aged.

[Lavada]

It starts off as "Gingerbread Poppet-Xtreem " - sweet and fiery ginger but, as it dries down, a dirty quality to it appears. It's also somewhat powdery (blaming my skin chem + resins) and the whole effect makes me think of my dad. Disgruntled middle-aged/old man, sort of Vicks-y, cigarette-y...

 

...such a shame. Oh well. There's still War for all my ginger needs.

[strangemodegirl]

YUM!

 

Really, that's all I need to say. If you are a ginger lover, BUY THIS RIGHT NOW!

 

 

It does smell very similar to Gingerbread Poppet, but with a little more spice and a little less of the sweetness. A little darker.

[iiinterstate]

oh goodness, what too me so long to test this imp? I've had it sitting in my imp box for at least a couple of weeks, and its clearly made of awesome.

 

Definitely comparable to the smell of gingerbread, but not foody. I LOVE it! Resiny spicy deliciousness. Good throw as well, Shub is not overpowering, but it definitely has a noticeable presence.

 

This is a bottle buy for sure. Even my fiance says he doesn't dislike it (the highest of compliments). I can see this being one of my regular fall blends.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Very pale yellow oil. Sweet, foody ginger and spice. Reminds me greatly of Gingerbread Poppet. It's almost cake-like, buttery and sugary in its sweet foodiness. Gingers are strongest, but other culinary dried spices lurk. I'm not getting any resins or herbs.

 

Wet: Same. Sweet, foody, ginger and spice. Warm. Gingerbread cookies fresh from the oven, iced with sugary lemon-tinged glaze. Maybe one of the herbs is lemon verbena? It's an EXTREMELY faint citrus note, however. No incense or resin or other herbs.

 

Dry: Yech, as it dries a sort of artificial gross plastic note is emerging, as well as a piney sort of resin - maybe benzoin or storax? That would explain the sweetness, but I'm usually good at detecting those immediately. The sweet foodiness and ginger and now plastic overwhelm.

 

Later: Alright, it's got to have vanilla in it. It's just so, so sweet and it's going that fake vanilla candle way on me. But dark herbs and resins...HA...you lie, note description! Clove has emerged, my nemesis. Vanilla amps and amps; must run to sink.

 

Summary: Cloying super sweet foody, buttery vanilla and ginger, with slightly less potent cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg oven an artificial, plastic backdrop. A fake vanilla version of Gingerbread poppet. Very, very strong throw; almost impossible to remove.

 

I wasn't expecting to like anything with spices, but the note description is so awfully misleading in terms of how it reacted on my skin - I'm vastly more displeased than I anticipated. I'm hard pressed to think of a blend I dislike more.

Edited June 25, 2008 by fairnymph

[Scanmike]

I am so glad I decided to try this. I read a review of Chimera, which prompted me to buy an imp. This is so so good. Very similar to Gingerbread Poppet, but a bit warmer and creamier. It's not as sharp in the wet stage, but seems to have more lasting power than GP. This is definitely a keeper and even though I promised myself not to buy anything else...I will make an exception for this. This is one of the first BPAL's that I instantly fell in love with. I love the smell of gingerbread and this is just perfect!

[innocent]

This smells exactly, exactly like gingerbread on me. No resins, no incense... gingerbread. I walked into a friend's apartment and was immediately asked, "Do you have gingerbread?" Yummy, though far foodier than I was expecting. I won't be getting more, but I'll use my imp on occasion.

[GeorgeJr]

Wow . This is one strong brute of a scent . I don't get the ginger bread as much as others when I'm wearing it . However , my GF had it on yesterday & I now know of what they speak . Upon my skin , it was more of a dark , screamingly strong ginger . Not really sweet , like something baked . It has much throw ( in the car yesterday I couldn't smell what I was wearing at all due to the GF being there too ) . All in all though it is one of my current favorites from the lab . Very unisex .

[kawaiiferreto]

Shub is proof that you really need to try all BPAL on your skin, and not dismiss a note purely because you've had problems with it in the past. In War and Saw Scaled Viper ginger went horrible on me. I mean really YECH as in I had to go wash it off because it was making me feel vaguelly ill.

 

Not so with shub. This really is glorious spicy yummy ginger bread. I know I've said I don't like smelling like dessert, but this is more rich and spicy than sweet; in short, it's a "desserty" blend I can wear. This is so good, in fact, that I'm almost tempted to hunt down a decant of War to see if my chemistry has changed (I know my tastes have!)

[Dark Alice]

I found this imp at work! (Of all places) and decided to review it.

 

In the imp: Gingersnaps (not a fan)

 

Wet on the skin: Evil gingersnaps!

 

Drydown: Smoky, gingery evil gingersnaps from the devils bakery!

 

Overall, if you like gingersnap cookies from hell, you will love this scent!

[darharper]

I included this in my last imp pack order. As I am a ginger fiend, I tried it first. It is really sharp in the vial, but, I think it will warm up once on the skin

 

It smelled sooooo good on. It warmed up and turned into a spicy, rich, dark, and slightly twisted ginger! Mmmm....sexy and not foodie (thankfully!).

 

Then the burning started! It must have cinnamon! I now have red welts all over my arms and my little heart is breaking. I know it isn't the ginger because I have so many ginger scents and wear it a lot. I might try it in a lotion, though. I have noticed if cinnamon is in soap or lotion form, I can do it. Oil form, not a chance.

[Heeroluva]

In the bottle I get vanilla, ginger, and a bit of resin. Wet the resin overwhelms for a moment then it smells like gingerbread. Dry it's still very much gingerbread, but I do get a hint of resin. I think I'll wear this one to work today.

[heysunshine]

Shub again proves that my skin amps the cinnamon.

 

This is the scent of a badass sexy gingerbread man.

[Iceblink]

All right. Let it never be said that I am not willing to give an oil a second chance. I first sniffed Shub right after it was made GC and it made me so ill I 1. wouldn't even put it on my skin and 2. went to bed early. (I got really sick after eating gingersnaps once as a kid and I have some lingering ginger issues.) BUT the Lab put a frimp of it in my order I got today and I thought...well, we'll see. Things change over the course of a year and a half or so, right?

Well. Shub now smells to me like Gingerbread Poppet. Warm gingerbread with something sort of dark in the background. It's...well, it's quite nice actually. I don't think I could ever wear this in a million years, though, since it would probably overwhelm me and also the spices won't like my skin (Poppet didn't either). But it smells good and would probably make a fantastic room scent. I'm glad I tried it again. Never say never!