Shub-Niggurath

[Digital_Hypoxia]

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

This was love at first sniff, followed by an immediate sigh of relief when I remembered that I’d picked up two bottles.

In the bottle, on my skin, and afterward: Sublime, citrusy, ginger- something like Gingerbread Poppet-but with more oomph.

GP was my #1 scent for a good long while; I stalked ebay, slathered, and mourned it’s looming demise. SN is just as good, if not better. I can’t wait for fall; this will go great with a fluffy sweater

ETA: Huh...

Over the past few days this has taken on a stale food smell on my skin. Kinda like old fried chicken, oranges, and ginger.

That's damn disappointing...

[Dark Seraphim]

Bascially, I smelt nothing more than ginger cookie no matter what I did with it. I didn't mind though as I liked it a lot. It doesn't seem to last long on me, but I think it would a great for other oil uses.

[LunaDragonGirl]

Mmmmmm....Evil Gingersnaps is right!

 

Got this in imp form in a swap...and MUST track down a bottle now!

 

In The Imp: Vanilla, cardamom, other dark spicy things swirl around reminding me of a large chunk of gingerbread cake, warm and fresh from the oven...with a nibbling undertone/background note of freshly cut/chopped ginger...fresh and green-tinged

 

Wet: Two distinct layers...top layer of freshly cut ginger...a sharp nibble rather than a painful bite, tinged with green...bottom layer is that warm from the oven gingerbread cake (Not cookies...it's more of a cake feeling)...dark, spicy, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, molasses.

 

Drydown: The two layers are merging wonderfully. When I sniff my wrist directly, I can still distinguish the two layers, but when I get whiffs as I go about my day, it's evil gingerbread cake happiness.

 

The freshly-cut ginger component makes this a great summer scent. It has a crisp, cool feel to it, but dark and spicy enough to make it through fall and into winter, where I imagine the warm, spicy bits will go well with a cup of hot cocoa and a snuggly kitty next to me.

 

[Finny]

Delightful. Sparkling fresh ginger jumps out from the bottle.

 

This is gorgeous. A bit of lemony ginger at first, then it dries down and the ginger, and other spices turn into spicy ginger cookies. The resins give it a deep smokiness on my skin, it gives a fantastic darkness to the blend. These are the cookies the witch in Hansel and Gretel made her house of...

 

I am so glad I got a bottle, and I am keeping it!

[lokelani]

WOW. Ginger ginger ginger. Strong, real ginger. With something a little incense-y behind it, and something --- nutmeggish? Clove, maybe? Anyway, it’s fabulous. I LOVE ginger and this is GINGER in all its glory. I can see myself wearing this a lot in the fall – it strikes me as more of a cold weather scent. Shub-Niggurath and Jack will be battling it out for my scent-of-choice this Halloween!

[LiberAmoris]

Shub-Niggurath smells just like a drink my mom used to make for me when my throat was sore: hot water with ginger and lemon. Add a touch of cinnamon and clove and it's Shub-Niggurath!

 

This is just beautiful, an herbal-citrus on me with a dark amber base that comes out after an hour of wear. I feel like there's maybe even a bit of patchouli in this, which makes it very sexy. I am so glad that I went on intuition and ordered two more bottles of this before Arkham disappeared. A definite top 10 scent for me!

[hologhost]

Courtesy of a swap with Sarada

 

 

In the bottle: Gingerbread with a dark under note.

 

On me: The darkness recedes and it's gingerbread alone. Warm and comforting. I love this! If it were still around, I'd be buying a whole bottle.

 

I'll have to cherish my imp so that I can smell this wonderful fall smell, year round.

[Penance]

First sniff:

 

Gingersnaps it is! Quite similar to Gingerbread Poppet to my nose, only more intense and less cozy smelling somehow. It's a strange combination of sweetness and deliciously evil ginger goodness and so far I like it.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Lemon and gingersnaps. The lemon is most likely the ginger in this since my nose confuses fresh ginger and lemon for some reason. I'm not a lemon fan even if it isn't really lemon, which is a shame since I really wanted to like this. I'm not having very good luck with the SIA scents for some reason, but I was hoping this might be an exception.

 

Dry down:

 

Still lemony gingersnaps...like lemonade and a plate of crunchy cookies. I love lemonade but I don't want to smell like it, unfortunately. I have no idea why the SIA scents seem to hate me, but this one doesn't seem to be an exception like I'd hoped.

 

The bottom line:

 

I wanted to love this, but I just can't. Lemon is not my friend, even if it's ginger in the guise of lemon.

[phoefromelsewhere]

Oof, evil gingersnaps it is. So far this just smells like Gingerbread Poppet's bigger meaner brother.

 

Whoa, an odd blend of gingerbread and fresh pure ginger. And...citrus? Hrm, at the moment it's not smelling like anything other than a cacophony of scents. Hopefully it will smooth out a bit.

 

I'm getting odd curry smells for some reason. There's currently gingerbread, gingery curry and lemon pledge in this. Which is nice and nauseating. Darn skin.

 

Sometime later: Ick, there's a not very nice food smell in the background. Ick ick ick. I think it's safe to say my skin has mangled this one completely.

[inkstone]

The wonderful Cricketshay sent me a surprise decant just because it was on my wishlist.

 

In the imp: Biting gingersnaps. It's similar to Gingerbread Poppet, except with a menacing edge. I like!

 

Wet: Sharp, biting ginger over spices. I... I think I like it! I have to be careful and not bury my nose in my wrist though. I made myself sneeze over ODing on the spices.

 

Drydown: The baked gingerbread forms a gorgeous background with the biting ginger atop it.

 

Final thoughts: I love this! Gingerbread Poppet was unbalanced on me -- mostly cinnamon red-hots and not enough baked goods. But this... THIS! I don't know what it is -- the resins or the herbs -- but the evil, plotting gingersnaps have won my heart.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Strong, dark, growling ginger – more of a cookie scent than straight gingerroot.

 

Wearing: Evil gingersnaps… absolutely. I think the trick is not to sniff it directly – because it’s too spicy on my wrist, but the aura is warm and comforting and very very nice.

[Barb25]

In the bottle - Spicy ginger goodness. Very yummy.

 

On me - it's very ginger, but not too strong or overdone. The ginger blends with the incensy/spicy resiny notes very nicely. It's kind of a more sophisticated Gingerbread Poppet, IMO. After an hour or so, it faded a into a nice warm, comforting scent. It doesn't have quite as much staying power as I would have expected, I need to reapply after about 3-4 hours.

 

Overall, it's quite nice, I like it a lot, but I'm not in love.

[cranberry]

there's not much to add to the great reviews already posted, but I just wanted to add a couple of observations and thoughts.

 

first, amazing ginger - this is definately one of the best SIA scents! strong, fresh ginger then changing to this amazing edible foody smell - gingersnaps! spicy, yummy, gingery goodness.

 

second, it's stong. you just need a little bit. and it lasts a long time! which is fabulous because it's usually only the scents I don't care for that last a long time on me. so that was a fantasic surpise.

 

third, it's spicy. because of this, in hot weather, if you put too much on, it gets pretty overwhelming. when it gets really hot or you put way too much on, in the extreme, it can move beyond overwhelming into just too much and it becomes physically uncomfortable - the spices and heat amplify each other and it feels like the scent around you is physically hot. I think this is interesting because I've been told that ginger tea is a good drink in hot weather to promote clear thinking, keep away the sluggish languorous feeling and what not. so, ginger on the inside - good in hot weather, ginger on the outside (in excess) - bad in hot weather.

 

it'll be a great fall-winter scent.

 

overall impression - definately a winner - thanks Beth!

[coulrophobe]

I only wish this worked as well on me as it seems to on other people, I so wanted to love the Shub.

 

In bottle: Er... that's kind of lemony.

 

On - wet: Er... that's EXTREMELY lemony. I think there's some ginger trying to peek out, but it keeps getting clobbered my the OMG, LEMON!!! scent.

 

Drydown: Oh, there some spice... hey! Bring that back! Where'd it go?

 

*sigh* After 10 minutes, Shub has left the building, leaving behind the vaguest hint of spice. Sadness and woe.

 

 

 

ETA: I'd ordered two bottles of this, assuming it would be the SiA I liked best. I swapped the bottle I based this review on, and the second bottle just arrived today. I don't know if it's a matter of my funky chemistry, or whether this bottle is from a different batch... but this one smells like spicy baked goods, rather than super-lemon. It's a dead-ringer for Gingerbread Poppet, actually. Bizarreness abounds!

Edited August 1, 2005 by coulrophobe

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Hello, Ginger!

 

Just On: Sweet ginger, but not too sweet. I see where the comparison to Gingerbread Poppet comes in (I tried SO hard to avoid reviews and such).

 

An hour or two later: More ginger than anything.

 

Around 6 hours: Okay, it went through the last of the ginger, and left.

 

12 hours: Gone.

 

Overall: I can't decide. This might be a total keeper, as in never pry it out of my cold dead hands, or it might be something I'm not as fond of. Gonna have to try again later.

 

After reading other reviews: Satan's Gingersnap? Not quite, to my nose, but still damned good. I'm so wavering back and forth on this, I think I need to put my bottle away for a month, and then try again, totally fresh. I have to figure out if this is an absolute fanatic need to get oil, or one that I feel so-so about.

[aidenraine]

In the bottle I was a bit worried- it smells like the too-sweet gingerbread cookie scents that many small soap retailers use. I love gingerbread but I like it darker and spicier.

 

On me this has a dark, almost woody undertone to it. It still has that slightly too-sweet aspect to it.

 

Hmmm doesn't seem to be getting any muskier or spicier. Still sweeeeeet.

 

After some time... still too sweet.

 

Alas, I like my ginger without sugar.

[spanishviolet]

This is the best perfume I have ever smelled, period!

 

I was a bit worried when earlier reviews mentioned lemon, since I don't generally care for citrus, but my fears were unfounded. The first sniff was lemon ginger, but the lemon seemed to be keeping the ginger at its peak freshness, much like squeezing lemon juice on cut apple slices would. The initial gingery smell was all bitey goodness, the sort that makes my blood sing & makes all my senses seem to expand (ginger, my ultimate aphrodisiac ).

 

As it dried, I could smell more of the underlying resiny goodness, which reminded me of the drydown of one of my earliest favorites, Black Phoenix. The resins give it a fuller, deeper scent than the yummy Gingerbread Poppet, which smelled tasty but a little thin on me.

 

The whole time I was wearing my Shub, I wanted to curl up somewhere & spend hours sniffing my wrists. And it wasn't just me - my Guy, who used to always say my perfumes all smelled "pretty good," now says, "it smells nice, but not as good as the one you wore the other day" (Shub-day!). I'm treasuring my imp, happily obtained from the wonderful Blood onmy hands, and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my e-Bay bottle. If only I'd gotten back into Bpal buying a few months earlier!

[donsixgun]

I was hoping for a fresh ginger smell, but instead, it smells like gingerbread. Im assuming the spices and herbs are doing it (nutmeg?). It a tad too food-like for me, and Im glad I got it for my sweetie, not me. It does last forever though.

[tesao]

in the bottle: fresh, spicy, wonderful ginger. this is the REAL deal.

 

on my wrist, wet: ginger, ginger, ginger!! with loads of lemon.

 

on my wrist, dry: there is a hint of something sweeter, now. with more spice -- but all deliciously blended. the lemon has faded. not gone, but blended into the background.

 

drydown: this is lovely. all of the individual notes have now faded and blended and morphed into something faintly spicy and delicious. not too sweet, not too strong. subtle and elegant. imminently wearable.

 

overall: YUM. although i wish that the ginger stayed with me longer, i also wish that i had gotten more than one bottle of this superb example of beth's and the lab's skills!

Edited July 30, 2005 by tesao

[Eros]

This is to DIE for!!!

 

In the bottle, warm gingerbread and cinnamon spice. Same when applied but softens a bit and a beautiful medley of incense and exotic spices starts to emerge. There's a bit of fresh ginger, just a touch, lingering in the background. As the day wears on, the notes above are made even more beautiful by the addition of a lovely, subtle, almost vanilla'ish creaminess.

Not foody, not *too* sweet. Has a slight similarity to Snake Oil after a few hours.

Exotic & lush...Exquisite!!

 

I'm of the opinion that this should be made part of the standard catalog

Hey it's good to have dreams!

[HoneyHoneyNY]

I love ginger the flavor, and the smell. I eat ginger candy, drink ginger tea, and make my own "ginger ale" When I heard about this blend (alas, too late to order it) I knew I had to hunt it down. I got this courtesy of a swap (Thanks assedai!)

 

In the imp I smelled the prickle of ginger, and not much else. It didn't smell like fresh ginger to me, but more like the ginger syrup I like to make. Like Ting Ting Jahe, the chewy ginger candy I get in the Asian market maybe. Spicy and sweet but not super sweet.

 

On my skin, I initially get strong ginger with something citrus-y behind it. Like ginger syrup poured over lemon curd. As it dried, I got a softer more caramel-like ginger, and the other spices come out as well. This doesn't smell like gingerbread to me though. This is definitely ginger, but not cakey to me. The longer I wear it, the more I think I'm smelling the resin in this. The ginger loses some of its prickliness, and there's something almost reminiscent of sandalwood hiding under the ashes of ginger, along with the hit of citrus-ness that I can no longer definitively call lemony.

 

I love this because on me, it's is gingery, but not foody. It's sophisticated. It starts out all hot and prickly ginger, and then burns down to something soft and sexy. This will definitely be a scent to keep me warm over the winter.

[slugbait]

I’ve been eagerly awaiting my SiA order after reading all the raves of Shub Niggurath. I’m happy to say it does not disappoint!

 

In the bottle had the tantalizing aroma of gingersnaps, but without the sweetness of molasses. This smells drinkable. I made a few other people sniff this and they thought it smelled like cinnamon rolls, the pleasant smell of baking, Christmas-time, and of course, gingersnaps.

 

First day wearing: This starts out smelling like fresh ground ginger. After applying my skin felt sensitized, but the burning sensation went away after a few minutes. As it dries, I pick up on some incense overtones, while the ginger still has some kick. Dry, it still has spiciness that warms up and is so lovely. I feel like a walking gingersnap. This makes me very hungry! I was SO craving gingersnap cookies after wearing I had to buy a bag. Shub Niggurath smells just how they taste.

 

Second day wearing: Still smells spicy, but after an hour, I can smell musk. The ginger starts to fade and it reminds me a little of Satyr and scary enough, the musk in Czernobog. Is there even any musk listed in this? Hopefully it won’t ruin this blend and turn to into poop.

 

After waiting it out, it doesn’t turn into Czernobog’s spicy poop twin. It has a sweet muskiness similar to Satyr, not as bold, though. This could be the super sexy feminine counterpart to Satyr (Satyr = smells like clean spicy/sweet goats; Shub Niggurath = The Black Goat of the Woods – a coincidence?), or it would probably smell good layered together. Hmm. I just might try that on the boy...

 

Overall, I'm loving my bottle of Shub Niggurath. I'm enjoying the different stages it goes through. I’m really wishing I would have purchased several bottles.

Edited August 2, 2005 by slugbait

[QueenFae]

I was surprised when I found out there was ginger in this, because it comes out really citrusey on me. I was thinking strong orange with a green herbaly, maybe even lime-like base. Now I realize that my skin morphs ginger into citrus, weird! It's a lovely, innovative, fascinating scent, but I'm not sure if it's for me. The longer I wear it, the more it softens up, and it might turn into something that suits me a bit more.

[maewitch]

I can't even describe how perfectly lovely this scent is. My skin loves ginger and boy does ginger love it back.

 

There's a hint of something citrusy in this, not quite lemon, and the ginger is incredible warm and sexy. But unlike some ginger-citrus perfumes I've tried in the past, it doesn't go too sharp or astringent. In fact, it warms and deepens the longer it's on my skin, becoming this incredibly erotic, spicy-but-not-quite-foodie skin scent. And then it disappears from my skin, and yet somehow manages to linger in the air around me, so that I keep catching wiffs of it. This baby is pure magic.

[couscous]

i really wanted to love Shub-Niggurath, and I definitely see how people would adore this one. On my skin, it was almost exclusively gingerbread, with heat. It dried down to get sweeter and even more foody, like ginger CAKE, and at times it smelled a bit like a candle/craft store during the holidays.

 

Boo. I wanted Shub to be more of a savory ginger, kind of along the lines of Pele.

 

I swapped her within two days