Azathoth

[icarus suraki]

Azathoth is the blind, idiot god who sits on a black throne at the center of Chaos. His scent is high-pitched and screeching, both impenetrably dark and searingly bright with the clarity of madness: tangerine, saffron, vetiver, black amber and cedarwood.

Damn. That's all I got to say. Damn.

I put this on in a hurry this morning but I'm glad I did, really. Putting it on was really very odd because I got a big shock of the vetiver (I think I'm part of the .0005% that like vetiver; I know it's not overwhelmingly popular) with all these weird twisty little wafts of other smells. I kept sniffing it thinking, "Is that orange? Is that chocolate? Is that tobacco?" Well, one out of three ain't bad...

Alas, the orange-chocolate-tobacco wafts don't last very long. It all seems to burn down into a dark, seething kind of scent. None of the individual scents seem very prominent, which is excellent, in my opinion.

Oddly, on me, Azathoth comes out smelling very similar to The Black Rider (a major favorite of mine; "black leather, oppoponax, tobacco, and black amber") but without the sweetness. I suspect this is the black amber present in both and I think that just goes nuts on my skin.

But Azathoth smells dirtier and, for lack of a better word, more disgusting (don't get me wrong, I like it, but there's something repelling about it). There's a sharpness, a physical coldness to it--as in, it stings a bit if I breathe in too much. I'm not sure what brings that on, but there it is--maybe the cedarwood.

It's a strong, strange scent. It's simultaneously murky and dark while being sharp and pointed and cold at the same time. Think of a wintertime swamp, maybe. That's the mix of cedarwood and black amber, I'm sure. It's not what I'd call a "pretty" scent, but it feels dark and powerful. And I don't object to that at all.

[Kuba]

???

I get no tangerine whatsoever. Saffron maybe brightens it up a little bit but that's it for the bright part. It's a very heave, dark scent. I mostly get vetiver and wood. I can't really detect amber. It is very similar to Sloth only it doesn't make me nauseous and I can wear it all day. I don't want to say it's lighter but maybe less murky? It just doesn't have that sickening quality to it.

I have to note that I just received it today and it's been through a transcontinental, hot journey so maybe the tangerine note will come out when it settles a little bit in my drawer? Who know.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Bright, almost golden.

Drydown: Bright cologne with a touch of woods and smoke. The amber and saffron are blended together at the center. I have a hard time detecting the tangerine, but it’s probably where the brightness is coming from. A bit more cedar and vetiver emerge as the minutes pass.

Dry: Primarily cedar highlighted by deep and smoky vetiver. The other notes bring an uplifting and golden energy to the cedar but remain mostly hidden in the background. In two words? Cedar cologne.

 

My skin and nose both love masculine wood notes, so this is a winner for me

[sisi33]

In the Bottle: Peppery, VETIVER! Oh, vetiver, how I love you! Tangerine. Let's go slather some of this ooooooon!

Wet: Vetiver, pepper, cedar and tangerine making it all wearable. No amber, thankfully. There is some saffron, but that's a good thing.

Drydown: I personally, don't think that this is very much a "screeching" scent. It is almost hot in nature, though. Like the Sahara bathed in the noonday sun. Saffron and vetiver. Slight cedar. I would love to smell this on a man. I'm positive that he would them be glomped by every female within a 5 mile radius. Medium-low throw.

 

5/5

Edited November 22, 2012 by sisi33

[4807]

Wet: Cedar, amber, slightly astringent and the most minuscule hint of floral, likely the saffron.

Dry: Cedar, more cedar and amber. It smells almost smokey.

 

I used only the tiniest touch of the oil and it is still going 18 hours later, even after sleeping. It isn't particularly strong right now, but still somewhat noticeable. It is a very masculine scent, but I like masculine/unisex scents.

[ccelaya]

Wet - cedar wood, amber

 

Skin - ceder comes out, very smoky. It reminds me of sitting outside by a campfire in the woods.

 

Dry - As it dries there is a slight hint of the saffron but the woodsy scents are too overpowering.

 

I'm not a fan of the woodsy scents but if you are this is the one for you.

[LateOne]

Just got this today on a recommendation, and being a Lovecraft fan, I couldn’t say no.

 

In the bottle: Vetiver with a bit of the tangerine mentioned in the description.

On wet: Tangerine. That’s it. First thought: “Please don’t make me smell like an orange…”

Drydown: Vetiver and cedarwood kick in, tempered by the tangerine.

Dry: Cedarwood and vetiver – a woodsy cologne.

 

There’s plenty of woodsy scent here, but not so overpowering that you smell like a walking pile of mulch (unless that’s your thing, in which case, go for it). As a guy, this is the low-throw cologne I’ve been looking for. Excellent!

[sunlitgarden]

In the imp: Manly, resiny-woody, a bit bitter with the vetiver but not overpoweringly strong. A bit of sweetness to it, too.

 

On my skin: A rare blend where vetiver isn't totally doing the "campfire remains" thing on me. A sort of opopanax-y bitterness to it.

 

Smelling a bit more "burnt" as it dries, but not unpleasant. Kind of makes me think of sitting by a fire, rather than rolling around in ashes - I assume this is how vetiver is normally supposed to smell, rather than what it usually becomes on my skin (which is gross).

 

Not sure I would actually wear this, but I like it

[Manon]

This is really gorgeous.

Wet it smells very vetiver (which smells like myrrh to me too), so if you don't like it (why not?) then might not be a fan like everyone else has said.

 

I cannot stop sniffing myself, the more it dries on me, the sweeter/softer it gets and the more amber notes I smell. Even though it starts off quite masculine, on me it doesn't feel that way. I got this in an imp and mgiht actually consider getting a big bottle of this when it runs out!!

[nihil]

In Vial: Vetiver, black amber and cedarwood equally.

Wet: Confused, rather generic scent. Hard to pick out an ingredient.

Dry: Still confused, but the cedarwood and vetiver does come through a little.

 

Most of the BPAL oils dissipate rather quickly on my skin, but this one lingers. It's a little too intense and muddled, but after a while I sort of like its heady, smokey character.

 

 

Actually wrote a song years ago named "Seething Nuclear Chaos". Do not know if it really fits the scent, but I like to think so

http://voidwork.bandcamp.com/track/seething-nuclear-chaos

Edited November 7, 2013 by nihil

[plexaure]

This is the first perfume I've felt the impulsive, utter need to review, even though (while I'm still relatively new to the BPAL world) I've tried a pretty fabulous selection of scents so far.

 

In my travels through the lands of perfume oils, I've discovered something very strange- my skin chemistry tends to warp scents to something altogether different than their intended purpose.

 

Why am I mentioning this, exactly?

 

Well, immediately upon application, dear lord Azathoth turns to a befuddling blend of unmistakable sassafras, also known as none other than the signature scent of root beer.

 

Albeit a more complex root beer than the cloyingly sweet blends found in your average supermarket.

 

Then, after a few more minutes, the vetiver and cedar come in and balance out the sweetness, which steadily fades into the background as this dries down. Eventually, the vetiver and cedar are firmly in the foreground, with a hint of something sweet to round it out.

 

This seems to have a better staying power on me than a lot of other perfumes, which is really great, considering how much I'm starting to adore it. I'm not a huge fan of vetiver (especially after trying Saturnalia, which I thought was fine, but those around me were appalled by its somewhat unusual vetiver and violet blend) but I don't hate it either? However, in this blend, it's beautiful and smooth and grounding, and I think I could learn to adore it. I also love the cedar a considerable amount more than I thought I would. It seems to work very well on me, which is fantastic.

 

This comes off as a somewhat more androgynous, bordering on almost masculine scent, which personally, I don't mind at all. Just be aware of the fact that it is most definitely a very dark, heavy scent, if you're not a fan of things like that.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't get any of the citrus tones at all, which was pretty sad. And as far as saffron goes, I'm not too sure that I could pick any of that up either? (Note that I haven't tried much of anything else with saffron thus far, so I could most definitely be wrong.)

 

Overall rating: ✦✦✦✦✧

A high 3.5 stars, which I'll round up to 4. Although not the type of scent I'd normally go for, this would be amazing in the winter, and lovely on a crisp fall day as well. I'll definitely be saving/aging my imp, and I would definitely contemplate buying a bottle sometime later on.

 

(Cross-posted to my new perfume blog, Maligned God.)

Edited April 25, 2014 by plexaure

[Lunasariel]

See, this is why BPAL is hands-down my favorite perfume company. Oh, BPAL, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

• The Christmas-morning-meets-the-lottery surprise that is frimps. Not only are you cool enough to throw in a vial or two (or, in the case of my latest order, 14) that would normally go for $4 a pop, but they're completely random, too; thus, the ability to try scents that you would have never in a million years thought to buy for yourself, and discover some gems along the way.
• The way BPAL oils react with everyone's individual skin chemistry. This can occasionally be a bit of a drawback (as in the case of Venustas, where the promised lovely mysterious fougere turned to pure soap), but sometimes, you take something that smells terrifying in the imp, and on your skin it blooms into something new and strange and wonderful.

 

In the imp: My first reaction? I quote: "Yikes." A big ol' punch of what I assume is vetiver, with an overtone that BPAL so aptly describes as "screeching" - something high and bright and a little headache-inducing. Shall we say, it did not entice me to wear it.

 

Wet: I was actually pretty trepidatious (shut up, it's totally a word) about trying this one on, after the initial visceral reaction I had. But the vetiver (if that is vetiver) calms way the hell down pretty much immediately, allowing the tangerine to emerge as the dominant note. Eventually it evolves into a surprisingly pleasant woodsy/citrusy/spicy (roughly in that order) blend that I immediately associated with cologne for some reason. Whew, I didn't expect it to become anything near this nice! In fact, it's really growing on me as a masculine/unisex scent.

 

Dry: ...You guys may not believe this, but Azathoth goes from "screeching" to "pleasantly masculine" to "warm woodsy amber" in like two hours. I almost can't believe I'm saying this, based on the strength of my initial "EW NO ugh what the hell is this???" reaction, but a full-size bottle is going on my wishlist.

[MautheDestroyer]

This is one of the rare times I have NOT liked a BPAL scent. It just goes to show that even the best have some that just don't fit for you. (And BPAL *is* the best, IMHO.)

 

Imp: Cat pee.

 

On me: Cat pee, just more mellow.

 

Didn't keep the imp. I think it was the combination of the tangerine with the musk (which tends to go powdery on me), and vetivert tends to either be awesome or hate me, and this time, it hated me.

 

Don't think I'll get this one again.

[petrichorandleather]

If Azathoth oil had a personality it would be dark and broody, sitting alone in a dank cave next to a bonfire.

This is dominantly vetiver, I don't really get anything else apart from what smells like woodsmoke.

It's pungent and smells 'dirty'. I think I get a bit of pepper as well. I'm just not a fan, it's a very interesting

one to sniff though!

[Veronica]

Looking at the scent list, not sure why I wanted to try this...In the bottle it is amber and spice and vetiver. Wet, it is vetiver!!! AH NO!!

[agirlnamedfury]

Eeep, no. I'm somewhat new to perfume so I'm not 100% sure what vetiver is supposed to smell like, but.... I think that's it. I do get a lot of cedar as well.

 

This isn't like "OMG get it off!" repulsive, but it's not something I would want to wear.

[LexieBlom]

Azathoth bottle

 

Wet/Bottle - I definitely get "screeching." Tangerine, vetiver and cedarwood are front and center. Dark, sinister, with a sickly resin sweetness. Very unisex, i like this.

 

Wet/Skin (5 minutes) - There's the saffron, snuggled behind the cedarwood. There's still this thick, sickly sweetness that i can't put my finger on. The throw on this is ungodly, i can smell it still with my wrist down at my side. It's lovely.

 

Dry/Skin (30 minutes) - What was once a sharp, screeching blend is now soft, warm and smooth! Cedarwood, saffron and vetiver pair so well together, yet they're all so different.

 

This blend is an absolute mindfuck. It's dark and sinister, but at the same time it's comforting and calming. It's bold and powerful, but it's soft and smooth. It's beautiful, but there's something almost terrifying about it. What the hell is going on on my wrist? Whatever it is, I never want it to stop!

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Non lemon/lime citrus! Oh noooooo!

 

Wet on my skin: *bracing self for blast of Costco orange cleaning wipes* ...Huh. It smells...good? Saffron-citrus with a bit of sweet, powdery amber.

 

Dry: I kept waiting for this to do the dreaded shift to cleaning solution, but I do believe the combination of amber, saffron, and vetiver saves this on my skin. Citrus + aquatic goes horribly, horribly wrong on me, but I'm starting to think that maybe citrus + amber/spice might have the occasional chance, based on this and one other recent surprise. I am so tickled by this, because I've been wishing more of the Arkham scents worked on me, and this is the last one I would've expected to work? It's a triad of tangerine-amber-saffron, spicy, warm, and sweet, with just a tinge of the cedar and vetiver. Once it's been on a good ~6 hours, everything but the amber and cedar have faded, and it's now a lovely skin scent. It's actually fairly light and pleasant on me through its whole life, so maybe my skin is the Borg (bringing order to chaos).

[freyasfae]

I got this as an imp with an Ebay imp lot, along with several other spicy scents. I am quickly learning they are very iffy on me. Sometimes, I find with some BPAL's that the wet is so pungent for me that I don't care how good the drydown is, I cannot get past the scent when it is wet. This would be one of those. Wet on me this is all citrus which the vetiver and cedarwood team up with and are like CITRUS CLEANING SUPPLIES, yeah!

[LizziesLuck]

Orange is so iffy on me. Generally terrible. Mandarin is for sure a no-go on me. Maybe tangerine will be ok?? I try anything I can anyway, so here goes!

 

 

Wet: This is STRONG. Woods and oranges. The wood is leaning towards pencil shavings, but the orange hasn't turned to powdered cleaner yet.

 

 

Dry: I think the amber has made this into something I don't hate! The wood still isn't great on me, but the orange didn't turn into gross chemicals. It's still not my thing. I think it might smell nice on a man, actually.

[d0gbones]

In the imp: vaguely tangeriney but mostly cedar and vetiver.

 

Wet: Really smoky and slightly citrus.

 

Dry: It's not nasty, but it definitely smells like burning wood and just a jumble of other slightly sweer notes.

[Casablanca]

The first impression on my skin is smoky saffron and cigarette-tray ashes, tinged with tangerine. Vetiver's usually my friend, but this vetiver is having a bad day. I can only imagine that this must be what vetiver smells like for people who hate vetiver.

 

After a minute, I get just a tiny hint of amber and cedar.

 

What an odd smell. I like all these notes separately, but they aren't working together on me at all, and don't improve on my skin over time.

[Feste]

I regret that my first "review" is not a positive one, but this one smelled so off to me that it left me mystified. A couple scents (e.g. Brown Jenkin) have smelled bad to me in the imp, but smelled good after I put them on. This one, however, smelled so "nope" in the imp that I couldn't bring myself to try it on my skin. I scribbled down this note about it:

 

"Like a motel room where someone's been chain smoking menthol cigs :("

 

I'm guessing it's the vetiver, which I don't seem to favor, reacting with something else in the scent (the tangerine maybe).

[Coldfire]

Imp: cedar and tangerine
Wet on Me: mostly cedarwood with that faint whiff of tangerine
Drying Down: cedar can be such the pushy lil scent. I love it but it can take over a party!
Dry: this is the all cedar party! well not quite all cedar it has a slight tempering of a powder-y note from the amber that keeps it from being really sharp fresh cut cedar. It's not unpleasant but I don't need an in your face cedar oil.

[roseus]

In the imp: The cedar and vetiver come off as rough and smoky. Like standing in front of some smoldering cedar planks. There's is a hint of tangerine sweetness underneath, but not much.

 

Wet: Still mostly charred cedar.

 

Dry: Charred cedar with little bit of fiery saffron and a tiny hit of sweet amber.

 

Overall: Too smoky and woody for me!