Yog-Sothoth

[AlectoNox]

It was an All-in-One and One-in-All of limitless being and self -- not merely a thing of one Space-Time continuum, but allied to the ultimate animating essence of existence's whole unbounded sweep -- the last, utter sweep which has no confines and which outreaches fancy and mathematics alike. It was perhaps that which certain secret cults of earth have whispered of as YOG-SOTHOTH, and which has been a deity under other names; that which the crustaceans of Yuggoth worship as the Beyond-One, and which the vaporous brains of the spiral nebulae know by an untranslatable Sign...

The perfume of eternity in vast, unknowable space. A glittering oil, ephemeral, iridescent, and horrifying in its immeasurable emptiness. This is the scent of air and darkness.

Air and darkness is a perfect description for this. I received my bottle from chopchica, who picked it up at Convergence for me, many thanks to her.

Wet - in the bottle it smells clean and fresh, almost like dryer sheets (in a good way though!)

On the skin - it's hard to describe, but I can tell you what I *don't* smell. I'm not getting any florals or fruit from this. Maybe a small hint of something resiny at the bottom, but mostly just fresh night air. Someone asked me if it was ozoney like Lightning or Tempest, but I'm really not getting either an ozone or aquatic tang to this. Just a sort of 'blueness' to it. Like Nefertiti when it's completely dry, with a drop of Tide in it.

Drydown - it gets even more lovely when completely dry. It does smell dark, not not overwhelmingly so. I would say it's more like evening air than night air at this point. Very crisp, not cloying in the least, not too sweet. Just perfect.

Conclusion: I really like it so far. A couple more tests needed, and maybe a comparison with some other oils to find similarities, but it's a great scent. I'm glad I got some, and I just might need an extra bottle.

[Imbrium]

So this is what air and darkness smell like.

 

In the bottle: Clean, a little powdery, and slightly reminiscent of the lineny smell of Dirty. Actually, this smells like my grandmother did when I was little, which is a good thing; she always smelled like clean laundry and fresh air.

 

On: I'm having such a hard time trying to describe this scent, I have to agree with AlecoNox. It's not fruity, not floral, and not aquatic. It smells like fresh air, with a hint of something powdery in it, and it has a very empty feel to it, for lack of a better word.

 

Overall: From wet to dry, this doesn't change a lot on my skin. It's light, it's gorgeous, and, to me, it's very nostalgic. It's a very clean, airy smell, and has been on for almost four hours now without fading in the slightest.

 

I imagine, too, that this would be another one of those great scents to introduce people who are fond of commercial perfumes to Beth's blends. Something in it is reminiscent of expensive department store perfumes, but at the same time, it's unique, and amazingly beautiful. If Yog-Sothoth doesn't turn people into BPAL fans, then they're lost causes.

Edited May 21, 2005 by Imbrium

[sarada]

This is a very...spectral scent. Absolutely sparkling, fresh and clear, but it is nighttime air. Laundry hung out to dry in the sun all day cooling down in the crisp, cool evening. The lab surprised me with a sample of Dirty in the same order as this and I was able to compare them -- they do smell similar. Dirty has a bit of a teensy citrusy or fruity zing to it, to me, but this is just the scent of perfect clarity...a crystal sphere held up against a starry sky.

 

To people not familiar with the lab's oils it might resemble a sort of linen or dryer sheet smell, but there's nothing artificial or chemical about it -- and nothing sneezy either, which is an important point for me. It also does not become powdery on me...none of the Arkham oils do, which is spectacular. There is a lingering bouquet in the air as well, as though pale moon-colored flowers are blooming somewhere in the darkness.

 

Don't be afraid of the glittering irridescent darkness! This is a dark jewel hovering in the stratosphere -- if you like any of the "clean" scents this could very well be for you.

Edited May 22, 2005 by sarada

[Macha]

So how to describe Yog-sothoth?

 

You know, I honestly think Beth's description may be best.

 

This is scent that is not scent, perfume that is not perfume. As those before me have said, it is best described by what it is not. There are no flowers, no ozone, no incense, no fruits, no spices, no cloyingness. Towards the beginning, it's ever-so-slightly soapy, and does have some similarities to Dirty, but....gah. How can something be the scent of nothingness, and yet be so palatably present? This fragrance does have substance, don't get me wrong. From what I'd written someone might think the lab played a trick and gifted me with nothing so much as a vial of neutral oil, but there is a fragrance here. It is glittering, and iridescent and so very sutble.

 

As the scent dries, it sweetens a little, which surprised the hell out of me. It stayed crisp and transformed into the most delightful ethereal breeze, a nighttime whisper of secrets and wisdom. It has good throw, but this isn't a perfume that yanks your nose and demands you notice it. It had excellent longevity on me. Sarada said it best: this is indeed a glittering black jewel of a fragrance.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: How very odd. I am at a complete loss as to how to describe this scent. Air and Darkness is pretty dead on.

 

Wearing: This stays true to the bottle scent for several hours, then slightly sweetens. The sweeter stage is when it starts smelling a little like dryer sheets. Like dryer sheets, but without the thick oily aspect - this is crisper and darker.

 

Final Impressions: Strange and beautiful, and very unique.

[cricketshay]

In the vial~Ivory soap. Icky!!!! I'm trying it anyway though.

 

Wet~ Strong soap smell. I truely hate this blend. I could achieve the soapy scent by taking a shower. LOL!

 

Dry~Still icky soap.*sets imp free*

[Aurelius]

Wow. This really is bottled air. There's something unsettling about it.

 

This scent doesn't morph on me. It just sort of hangs there. It's vaguely sweet, and almost wet. It also smells...familiar. I cannot put my finger on it, but it's like I know this scent. I also don't like the scent; it's not unpleasant, it just honestly scares me. Honestly, I couldn't tell you why. I'm not associating it with a memory, nor do I have a problem with BPAL blends that have morbid or usual names. I just...honestly, I just don't want it on my skin. And while that may sound like something negative, I honestly mean it in a very positive way. I swear, Beth has bottled "unsettled."

 

horrifying in its immeasurable emptiness

Beth's put it perfectly. And that, my friends, is what freaks me out about this blend. It's utterly dead on.

[ChupaChup]

Yog-Sothoth to me is the smell of faded perfumes, very much like in Antique Lace (no vanilla though, sorry!). I can see other reviewers' comparisons to Dirty, there is that clean but faded linen smell. It is also nostalgic to me, it reminds me of the collection of perfume bottles on my grandmother's dresser with which I used to play as a little girl. All the perfumes were old and smelled almost the same to me, I think she kept them mainly because the bottles were so pretty. And for sentimental value.

[Northernminx]

I get a lot of very pale, clear musk from this. It's not warm or resiny but light and clean and...well yes bottled air and darkness does do this apt description. It's a little bit astringent as it dries down, but not soapy, more crystal and sharp edges still with that faded touch of musk.

 

This was strong to start but faded fairly quickly on me. I'm not sure I'd wear it a lot but again, one of the guys might adore this (more of my SiA collection is getting nabbed by friends. Enable enable enable!)

[Shollin]

Thanks to roesmoker for the swap, and to kellia for the entirely unexpected decant!

 

First sniff: A clean, chill emptiness. Yog-Sothoth reminds me of scenes from sci-fi shows, or documentaries about space travel, where the astronaut in his magnetic boots is standing on the hull of the ship looking up into… nothing. Just cold, distant stars and vast blackness. Stargazing from the ground is fun, and safe, but there’s something about the idea of looking out at the stars from Up There that freaks me out a bit, and Yog-Sothoth captures that perfectly.

 

Wearing: Perfectly crisp, clean and cold, and still more than a little freaky. I'm having the same trouble describing this scent as y'all are... it's so entirely indefinable. I think Northernminx's mention of "crystal" is right on the nose, though - it is vaguely reminiscent of soap or detergent, but there's a definite sharpness to the edges.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: i simply had to get a bottle of something described as "the scent of air and darkness". it's a perfect description, too, since i can't quite grasp this.

 

on: wonderful. very light and hard to grasp. something almost floral and almost salty.

 

2 hours later: still that slightly odd, salty scent. i love this!

 

6 hours later: considering how light this is/was upon first applying it, i'm amazed that i can still smell it. it almost has an effervescent quality to it now, almost sparkling. still a bit salty, but...wonderful.

 

overall: i am so glad i purchased a bottle of this. it's just wonderful. indescribably wonderful.

[gingersnapp]

I really wish I knew how to describe how unique and wonderful this blend is, but I don't really know how you describe it any better than Beth: "The scent of air and darkness." That pretty much sums it up. I don't know how she made those scents tangible and liquid, but she did.

 

Very unique, very beautiful.

[bloodlotus1]

Really don't know what else I can add but to agree with all the reviewers before me.

 

It starts off reminding me of Antique Lace without the creamy vanilla.

A breeze on a summer's night after everything has quieted & cooled down in the wee hours of the morning.

 

It also brings to mind the vastness of space, black & midnight blue with nothing but the distant, glittering stars for company.

 

Not floral, foody, herbally, or resiny. Not as sweet as Darkness or "clean" like Dirty.

 

It IS the scent of air & darkness without a doubt.

 

I love this scent & use it when going out at night, (by myself), & before bed when I need to unwind. It's not a "comforting" scent but one that makes me feel comfortable being alone & helps me to feel alone even when I'm not.

 

This is the marvel of Beth & her oils. She can somehow encapsulate a mood, a scene, an experience in a little bottle & that is true art. Thank you Beth!

 

(By the way, my pic is "Yog- Sothoth" by Dave Carson.)

Edited June 27, 2005 by bloodlotus1

[olympia301]

 

This perfume reminds me of the planet Saturn-cold, elegant in its sad undertones, somber, transforming, and tingling. It is almost impossible to pick out individual notes, as others have said. I could possibly detect some sort of evergreen, but I could not swear to it. It's an exceptionally subtle scent, just when you think you are beginning to understand what makes it up, it changes and you are back where you started. To describe it in one line: it is slightly menthol-like and slightly herbal but perfumy. Very calm almost like being in a thick fog in the Pacific Northwest.

 

I would imagine that this one should be in a scent locket because it is fugitive after drydown, but again the scent is so subtle it might be hard to get it to broadcast it's smell in a locket.

 

This is very beautiful, and if you like fragile perfumes which aren't abrasive but are very clean, this is a wonderful invention. This one is great in the summertime, one of the coolest and most refreshing I have ever used. The only drawback is its tendency to stay very close to your skin and to diminish quickly, but not totally disappear.

 

Yog Sothoth is a great achievement and full of character. A gorgeous and inexplicable smell which flees; somehow it's a heartbreak but in many ways it's a tender triumph.

Edited June 30, 2005 by olympia301

[jessamynit]

I definitely smell vetiver. not sure what else. it's lovely but perhaps a bit too masculine for me... and one of my favorite perfumes is djinn!!

it's funny that someone said it's a comforting perfume for them; it kind of creeps me out a little. I will definitely give it another shot, though.

 

eta: my boyfriend told me "yeah, it smells a little too much like 'brut'"... I still think it's a nice scent, but I did get kind of a "I'm wearing men's deodorant again" vibe from it. off to the swaps/ sales!

Edited July 2, 2005 by jessamynit

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Hints of florals far away; there seems to be some sort of flower, growing far far away, that an empty wind has managed to capture it and pull it over here. It is a bit ozone-y as well, but by and large it is a fragrance of nothing. No specific thing comes to mind save wide open spaces and darkness.

On me: It is rather light and musky on the skin; it smells strongly familiar. It is so unusual yet recognizable. I think I expected something a bit colder for air and darkness; this is not a chilly fragrance at all. I'm not sure I'd call it glittering, either, but 'vast, unknowable space' certainly works for me.

[Digital_Hypoxia]

Wow…

 

This is probably the most difficult oil I’ve ever described; the notes are so shadowy.

 

I absolutely love this scent; it is an unmistakable wisp of ozone tied down by a complex and mysterious base. It is clean (somewhat soapy) salty, and unmistakably nocturnal-like the woods after a nighttime thunderstorm.

 

I almost wish I’d ordered two!

[Sistinas]

a review of Yog Sothoth

 

Vial ~ Like everyone else has said, a very clean scent, not getting the

dryer sheet smell, it is just remniscent of clean. My daughter thinks it

smells like shaving cream, but I know well that our sense of smell is

completely different.

 

Wet ~ not much different it is still a clean scent.

 

Drying ~ 20 minutes later it is still drying, guess I put on a bit much

since it was such a light clean fragrance. It is very hard to detect on

my skin.

 

Dry ~ It is just about dry, but I can hardly detect it at all.

 

Fade ~ you really have to sniff hard to find the scent, while I don't mind

a clean scent, I do not like to have to hunt it down.

 

Final thoughts ~ it is just meh. Not too impressed. On a scale of 1 out of

5: a 2

[Rheliwen]

Hmm, this one is potent out of the bottle.

 

It immediately reminded me of the box of antique avon perfume bottles I have in a chest that I got when my grandma died. It's like perfumed ozone. You know that "old lady" discussion going on in BPAL Chatter and how some basically say they smell more like the classic, heavy perfumes of bygone days (total screen diva perfume)? Yog-Sothoth is like that kind of perfume wafting through the upper ozone.

 

It also gives off a very strong color to me. Fuschia fading into royal purple.

 

Overall, Yog-Sothoth feels vast and limitless. It's not nearly as creepy as Darkness is, to me, but it still gives off that creepiness that space does.

Edited July 8, 2005 by Rheliwen

[lokelani]

Um...yeah.

 

Well, I agree with what many folks here said -- "empty" definitely comes to mind. Someone mentioned vetiver -- yeah, that might be in here, but I couldn't even venture a guess about the other notes. I've never smelled anything quite like this blend.

 

At first I was quite excited about it, but after a while -- it did, it started to creep me out. I don't know if it's the assocation -- I do like Lovecraft very much, and have been rereading his stuff lately -- but I don't *think* that's it, because I don't get as creeped out reading about Yog-Sothoth as I do wearing it! It doesn't morph, exactly -- I think it remains pretty true, it's just that my perception of it seemed to change a bit. It didn't seem so "clean" after a while -- something very disturbing crept in there. Yikes.

 

I will try it again tonight, just to see if it was a weird random reaction. Otherwise I think I'll swap my imp. Because as intriguing as it is, I really don't see myself wearing it. I *do* wish I could smell it on someone else though, to see if it behaves the same way on them. Unfortunately, no one I know is into perfume that much...maybe I could "accidentally" spill it on someone? LOL.

Edited July 8, 2005 by lokelani

[yeahbutnobut]

Yog Sothoth

 

In the imp: hmm. Interesting. this smells clean and fresh, with a hint of floral and maybe a hint of forest, it has a soapy feel, but it's also quite nostalgic, like the smell of one of my aunt's perfumes or soaps.

Wet on skin: yup, still soapy, but not in a negative way. I swear there's a scent in this that reminds me of a forest at night. And it really does smell like something I've smelt before.

Dry on skin: my mum smelt this, and she said it reminds her of an old perfume. And indeed it does. It has a soapy scent that reminds me of something but I can't quite put my finger on what it is. It's very clean, fresh, cool, slightly powdery-it's not minty though. There's a hint of white florals here, or maybe even white musk. Maybe some pine, herbs or another forest scent. Unfortunately I'm not getting the 'dark unsettling vastness of space' feel from this scent. I just get a scent of soap or clean linen that brings back memories.

After a while: the scent gets cooler and fresher as time passes. It still has that powdery quality, but I think the 'night air' scent is coming through, the 'soapiness' seems to tone down. It is very airy, like linen sheets hung to dry in the breeze, there's a hint of something like ozone, but not storm or marine ozone-maybe more like the upper atmosphere ozone layer? It has the 'air' smell, but I'm not getting the 'darkness' aspect, this scent is very bright and white to me. It has a scent of white flowers blooming at night, with a bit of white musk.

After about half an hour or so, there seems to be a sense of the 'scent of nothingness'. The light white floral scent still lingers, but there's a smell that precedes it that seems to smell of…nothing. The only thing that I can describe it as is a void, a cleaning and cooling of the air, slightly like air conditioning, but more natural than that-maybe this is the vacuum of space scent that people describe?

After a few hours it smells a bit like...warm soap bubbles. There may be some pine here as BPAL's pine turns to Badedas on me, and now this smells like Badedas bubbles floating through space!

Verdict: this is a really hard to pin down scent, indeed. But there's one thing it reminds me of-a more ethereal, ozone tinged version of perfume, soap or washing powder that one of my old aunts or babysitters used to wear or use. (Rheliwen's description of antique perfumes in ozone is spot on) It's clean, fresh, light, powdery, with white florals and maybe white musk. It has an airy, luminescent quality, at first it's a very 'white' scent to me. To me, this scent has a sense of nostalgia. It reminds me of something familiar, like something I know I've smelt before, even though I don't know what it is. It doesn't feel unsettling. It does, however, develop a sense of mystery, as the scent progresses…I soon notice this 'vacuum of scent' preceding the powdery florals I smelt before. It's hard to describe but this is probably that 'scent of space' people describe, it's like night air, or ozone, but more cold and 'empty' than that. However, I prefer Nuit as my night air smell, but this one is really complex and baffling to me. I'm not sure if it's a favourite, but I think this may be a scent that will grow on me.

Edited July 9, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[Koumori]

Yog-Sothoth comes across to me as a cool musk; I'm not good at distinguishing individual notes, but I get a floral sense from the rest of it. It's clean and crisp, and stays very true and strong on me. Individual notes are hard to pin down. It's intriguing.

 

However... it also smells exactly like a particular bar of soap that my parents for some reason had sitting around in their linen closet when I was a little kid. I must have kept digging it out because I liked the smell, but that's all I can think of when I wear this.

[chopchica]

This was very very soapy and chemical on me, with an eventual fade into some sort of flower scent. I'd debated over buying an entire bottle back when SIA was still up, and I'm really glad I went with my gut here, because it's just really not my kind of thing.

[emzebel]

Eep...my imp of this is not at all what I expected. I was hoping for a clean, fresh, airy (yet dark) kind of smell. Unfortunately, from vial to skin, my brain and chemistry translated this into "horrible-over-cologned-man-making-me-sick-on-the-subway." I suspect that if I wore it for more than 10 minutes it would start to mellow into something interesting, but unfortunately, before it moved into that stage, my eyes started painfully watering.

 

Ah well. At least it's just an imp...

[isyche]

I caved and bought a bottle of Yog-Sothoth on ebay after reading the reviews and being intrigued by the whole "creepy, vast air and darkness" concept.

 

Sadly, it's just vetiver on me, which I can't stand. It's a light vetiver, not as bad as some have been, but not what I wanted -- it is kind of manly-cologne-ish. The bottle scent is more interesting, but my skin kills it. Ah well.