Shub-Niggurath

[emzebel]

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

Shub is definitely evil gingersnaps. Which is all well and good, if you want to smell like evil gingersnaps. Unfortunately, in the time between ordering this bottle and receiving it, I had the opportunity to try Gingerbread Poppet and discovered that I don't really care to smell like baking gingerbread, gingersnaps, ginger baked goods all that much, although I love the smell in a general way.

I was really hoping for a fresh ginger kind of smell, but ah well. The bottle has been swaped to good use.

[ShadowAngel]

In the bottle: Fresh ginger with a hint of sweetness underneath.

 

Wet on Skin: Oh no! This is lemon and fresh ginger. While it smells very clean, I would much prefer the spicy goodness that I keep hearing about. Panic...

 

Drydown: Aaaah, there the spices are. There's still that gingery tang, but the spices are really warming this up.

 

Some hours later: I smell of spicy goodness. I wouldn't say that this smells like gingersnaps, but maybe the spices that go into gingersnaps. It's sweet, too, but not overwhelmingly so. Definitely a keeper.

[Ajila]

Wet on me this was ginger and melted butter, when it hit my skin the butter scent seemed to plume up away from me, it was so rich. As it dried it got less rich and more spicy. There was also a brief period of the bakery smell that I get from Gingerbread Poppet, which was nice . Dry on me this is gorgeous ginger and dark spices, I didn't get any of the lemon some people to, but this is still an absolutely edible blend.

[Cagedflame]

This does indeed smell like slightly evil gingersnaps. In the bottle, it smells exactly like delicious buttery gingersnaps, but once it dries on my skin something herbal comes out underneath. In fact, it smells exactly like these "medicine cookies" I made that had gingernsnap spices, ginseng root, astralagus root, and licorice root in them/in place of most of the flour.

 

Incidentally, I find this gives me quite a 'charge' spiritually, even though it may not have been intended to do so.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Ginger snap cookie from hell. This is strong, strong. This is "Should I even put this on my skin" strong.

 

Wet: Ginger/incense woah! Strong. Way too strong for me. I think it's gonna eat me. It's spicy but still just smells like cookie to me. And mostly a ginger cookie. Very little sugar in this recipe.

 

Dry down: Tones down a little but it's still that breath of ginger snap cookie all hard and snappy. Spicy enough to make your tongue tingle and your teeth click as you try and bite through it until you finally dump it in milk to soften it. It's not a bad scent, but I'm not really one for smelling like baked goods, thank you very much.

 

Dry: Ginger snap from hell. If you like ginger and spice, this is where it's at. If you're like me, and the idea of walking around smelling like you're fresh from the oven is less than appealing, step back.

[Janie]

This is yummy. I can't add anything that hasn't already been written! It's a rich, spicy ginger delight - deep and powerful. Great throw, good lasting power. Glad I got this one - it was a last minute SiA order.

Edited August 14, 2005 by Janie

[girlmadasbirds]

i LOVE LOVE LOVE this spicy ginger scent! something about it reminds me a bit of sugar cookie. i think i may need another bottle...

[LupaWulf]

Shub! Shub! Shub!

 

I'm in Loooooveeeee with Shub. What a lovely ginger scent. Not too strong/overpowering, yet it sticks out nicely. I like it because it's not necessairly sweet on me. Just sort of noticable and addictive as hell! *covets bottle*

 

It's a lot more biteingly strong in the bottle, but as it drys down it LOVES my skin. The evil fangs and teeth melt away, and I get a happy gorgeous ginger which makes my inner cat want to purr.

[fallow deer]

I love the ginger in Shub-Niggurath, but it is so much more than a ginger scent for me. Underneath, I smell the resins (amber!) and the herbs which widen the scent out away from foody into something far more exotic.

 

If Al Azif is a mysterious dancer covered by floating veils, Shub is much more physical in her movements; you can see more of her skin and feel her body's warmth.

Edited August 18, 2005 by fallow deer

[quikslvr]

Ginger! start. Even dry, pure ginger--ginger of the sharp type, not the foody type. A touch of the spices from, say, Black Phoenix. Aggressive: possibly even masculine. What The Lion is to amber, this is to ginger. Focused yet complex.

[magdalene]

in the bottle: pure ginger, fresh.

 

wet on skin: The ginger gets tempered a bit by some resin note, making it darker and bringing it deeper. There's also a slight sweetness to it, but not as much in Gingerbread Poppet. This is definitely Gingerbread Poppet's evil twin.

 

dry: All of the notes mingle together in a glorious rush. The throw is nice, but unfortunately not terribly long-lasting.

[Miss Lynx]

At last -- I finally got hold of this one after wanting it for months! I originally discovered the Lab while Springtime in Arkham was still up -- which was part of the initial appeal, as I'm a huge Lovecraft fan. This was the main scent from that group that I really wanted, but didn’t have the funds to order at the time, and by the time I did, SiA was over. And Shub's in demand enough that it can be tough to find. But I finally got some...

 

...And my initial reaction on sniffing it was disappointment. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. I love spicy and incensey scents in general, and ginger in particular, so I didn't think I could possibly go wrong with this one, but my first reaction when I put it on was that it was harsher than I expected and almost burned my nose, and then once it settled in a bit, it smelled disconcertingly "foody", in that unpleasant, fake-smelling way that those scents usually seem to smell on me. I wanted it to be the ginger equivalent of Chimera, I guess, and instead it was smelling like cheap Christmas gingerbread potpourri.

 

And yet... As it dried down, I started to get more of an incensey feel to it, and it really did begin to approach a Chimera-esque level of greatness -- just before it faded out entirely. Well, I wasn't having any of that, so I applied it again, and heavier. This time the foody phase seemed to end earlier, and the lovely incensey phase stuck around longer. It still faded fast enough that I ended up having to reapply it a third time before the day was done, but by that point I was beginning to quite like it.

 

So, the verdict... It's not as much of a disappointment as I'd originally thought, and I'd still pounce on a 5 mL if one came available at a manageable price. But I still don't like it quite as much as I thought I would. Not enough to rank it among my very top favourites. The different notes don't seem that well integrated, the initial ginger blast is a bit harsh and over-the-top, and that foody phase really sucks, though at least it doesn't last long. But the drydown is gorgeous. It's not quite the perfect ginger scent I was hoping, but it's a noble effort.

 

Grade: B+

 

ETA: I just tried a different imp of it, after a friend recently gifted us with it, and it’s really different than the original! Not so different as to make me think either of them was mislabelled -- I can tell it’s still the same notes, but they seem to be in different proportion to each other. This one is not quite as sharply gingery, not at all foody, and it has a warm musky tone to it, and I like it so much better! The ginger is still there, but it’s not overpowering -- it’s more balanced with the other notes. It makes me think of a gingered version of Scherezade. This version is a definite A! I don’t know if it’s just the natural variability you get in any oil mixed by human beings, or aging, or what, but if I knew it would all smell like this, I’d sell my firstborn for a bottle!

Edited November 6, 2005 by Miss Lynx

[Loligo]

This starts out on me as harsh, raw ginger. As the other notes bloom, it becomes disconcertingly masculine for a while -- I think maybe it smells like some version of Old Spice deodorant that my husband sometimes uses. If I wait out this phase, I really like the rest of the drydown: warm dry gingersnap spices, with just a teeny hint of something vanilla-like to sweeten it (but not *nearly* as sweet and rich as many of BPAL's sweet scents).

[Avery]

I Shub.

 

In the vial to me this smells like herbs and fresh cut ginger. Wet is has a sharp gingery bite, and quickly warms up to smell like fresh ginger cookies. I *totally* relate to the "Evil Gingersnaps" description because there is a sharpness under the surface, but built upon a layer of sweetness. This is absolutely delicious, and not at all how I would anticipate the black goat of the mythos to smell. If she does, she is a perverse diety indeed. Regardless, I must find a bottle. It is my quest.

 

[Monster]

Yet again another instant favorite.

 

Wow, if Gingerbread Poppet came out to play in the spring/summer...this is what he'd smell like

 

Shub is all fresh ginger root with a hint of citrus. In the vial, on my skin, and as it dries down this scent remains the same.

 

I really wish I had ordered a bottle of this. Sadly, I only purchased two things fron the SiA collection.

I'm really happy to have this imp, however. It's definilty going to be loved down to the last drop ^^

[gangstaknitta]

In bottle: very, very ginger with an earthy undertone. The ginger is not sharp like fresh ginger, but like a mellow, lightly spiced ginger.

 

Wet: this smells like candied crystallized ginger. I also think I detect some sugared lemon. It's a very interesting foody-but-clean scent.

 

Dry: that lemon note came out screaming and now it smells like sugared...Pledge. I had such high hopes.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: I smell mostly green herbs. ^^;

 

On, wet: Odd, it's somehow... citrussy. o.O Very much so, in fact. Lemongrass, maybe?

 

Later: Yup, that's lemongrass, now with a base of fresh ginger, not cakey ginger. Not at all what I was expecting! Not that I'm complaining. Until such time as the grapefruit scents come back, this will do nicely for a citrus scent with kick!

[darklorelei]

Unfortunately, I was a disappointed in Shub. I definitely got the spicy ginger, which was nice, but there's definitely a base note that disagrees with me, which tends to be the problem with most bpal for me. It's not...full on vetiver, but something grassy/herbal.

[pickman's model]

I just want to say that this is hands-down the greatest scent I've ever experienced.

 

On me (like everyone else), I get gingerbread. Sexy, evil gingerbread. There's a lot of spiciness to this one, but also a nice grounding, which keeps it away from the "cinnamon hearts" territory. A nice touch of incense too.

 

But seriously, that whole aphrodisiac thing? Oh hell yes. Random stangers hit on me. The mate can't stop snuggling me. Boys, girls, young, old, this thing makes everybody like me.

[zenvodunista]

starts off like an evil Gingerbread Poppet and then it turns to...

 

citronella! of all things!

 

well, i was worried from reviews that i was going to have to hunt down a bottle of this, but luckily for me, that's not the case.

 

*phew*

 

n.

[darkitysnark]

Shub-Niggurath

 

Tempete was kind enough to pass on an imp to me since I've been slow to take on any LE's (for fear of falling in love with one/all of them). This one almost got me. Almost.

 

In the bottle:

Sharp ginger and nuts. Yes. I know there aren't any nutty notes in this, but there's something to the foody quality of this oil that makes me want there to be nuts for some reason. Maybe not the astringent tang of almond, or the earthy base of hazelnut, but there's just something there that says... nuts.

 

Wet/drydown:

Gingered Tapioca. Spicy, foody, yummy!

 

Later:

It's more gingery than anything else, but I can pick up the spices underneath. It feels like this is all top notes and bright colors without a base. I took an afternoon bath which wiped out the oil I had on my skin and in my hair, but up until then, this blend seemed to have medium to fairly strong staying power on me.

 

In conclusion:

I liked it. I didn't love it, but I'll definitely use up this imp. The Mr. gives this a "that's interesting", which is high praise from him as he normally can't tell the difference between my oils.

 

I do want to seek out more ginger blends now, though. Yum!

Edited October 9, 2005 by darkitysnark

[Voleuse]

This is a pretty color. The palest pumpkin orange. On first application, this is very ginger, with the slightest bit of sweetness. I want to compare it to gingerbread, but it's not that--it's spicier, more raw, and the herbs come out quickly.

 

The sweetness fades over time, until it's purely herbs and raw ginger. Hmmmm. A nice scent, but not one I'd wear regularly.

[AngelFireHeart]

Oh My word,

 

After reading all the Christmas update, I was in the mood for christmassy things & muchly looking forward to recieving my Gingerbread Poppet. I recieved an impy of this in the mail this morning from the lovely LoraJC, & it smells of Gingerbread with Lush's Spank me with Saplings jelly! WOW That's exactly it! I can't believe it! It's sooo amazing. I adore this scent, sadly though, the imp is my only shub, so I'll have to use it sparingly for special occasions only, God I love this scent though! I find after a little while as it dries a buttery note comes out, this is just one of the most gorgeous scents ever!

[Firewaver]

Oh dear, i think i've just come.

 

I love this stuff to death, it smells like sexy gingerbread. There are few things I love more than gingerbread... I've been searching for gingerbread scent for as long as I can remember wanting perfume. Though I've never been able to get my hands on a gingerbread poppet.. this will more than do for now.

 

It's so spicy and good. The ginger isn't light at all.. This isn't the sweet, spicy ginger of bengal, it's a sharp kick in the ass ginger than reeks of sexiness. It melds so well with the resins, it's just got a smoky, musky gingery smell that is simply irrisistible. My boyfriend isn't a bpal fan, but he had to admit that Shub was awesome.

 

Man does this stuff have some throw, too. I only rubbed a bit from the rim on my wrist and it's really taken over the smells in this room. I love it.

 

This is what I wished Buck Moon would have smelled like.

[Nachtwulf]

Bottle: This is kind of acrid to me in the bottle, to be honest. Not sharp and unpleasant like things with ozone, but not the green/spicy scent I was expecting. I suspect the ginger is trying to crawl up my nose and stab me in the brain.

 

Wet: Okay...that's better. The ginger's still overwhelming at first, but then it seems to dry back to... to... you know, I think it's somehow really WRONG that something named 'Shub-niggurath' reminds me of Christmas, but it does. It's winter evergreen mixed with the faint scent of baked goods. It's not uber-foody... it's got sweet-spice notes in it, but it's not /sweet/, like Chimera or Bengal.

 

Dry: The cedarish qualities return a bit...the closer you get to it, the more evergreen/moss it gets, but the throw remains sweet ginger-spice. I tell you, it smells like a Yule scent!

 

Not that that's bad. I like it. I only have an imp; I dunno how much I'll actually wear it... but it's a keeper.