Death Cap

[medvssa]

A lethal poison bundled up in a dainty, innocent little package that was oft times found in ancient witches’ flying ointments and astral projection balms. A warm, soft, ruddy scent, earthy and mild.

This is the absolute star from the imp set of Rappaccinis I got today.

The first impression is vanilla and earth, nice, rich, slightly damp, non smoky or gritty earth and non foody or sugared vanilla. In fact, I detect the vanilla as such only when it is wet, it sort of blends in and just becomes something else as it dries down.

It is sweet in a way, but as it warms up the blend really does smell of mushrooms! I am a mushroom fanatic. I would add all kinds of mushrooms to all of my meals, and they are the cutest things ever... this scent is remarkable.

The moist smell of a damp bed of decaying leaves under the shadow of an autumn forest, and then the strange smell of the mushrooms that grow there. I love it much more than I imagined I would when I started to read the vanilla references (I am very scared of vanilla). It is masterly blended, soft, just a little moist, but not wet or cold, earthy in a comfortable way. I like this almost as much as I like mushrooms! Masterpiece

[The_Merf]

In the imp: This is certainly very earthy, but it's a sweet earth and not in the same way as a myrrh-laced imp of Dance of Death. I like the description above; this is a foody sweetness.

 

Wet: This smells like earth + sunscreen...like I had sunscreen on and played in fresh, upturned dirt.

 

Drydown and wear: Now this smells like sunscreen and lotion--it actually reminds me of Intrigue, without the smoke that comes from that oil's drydown. Coconuts, sun, a very warm scent, and an interesting oil.

 

Thanks to Tempest Teapot for the imp.

[Spastik_Kitty]

In the imp: Soft, sweet and musty

 

First on: Very soft and sweet, like watery honey, mixed with something musty, almost mildewy

 

After a bit: There is some type of cedar or fir in here, I'm getting a rabbit's cage that needs to be cleaned so someone sprayed some honey air freshener into it.

 

A bit more: It's turning a weird caramel corn with dirty rabbit cage on me now.

 

I might try this at different times of the month, because I love the sweet side, but not the soiled shavings part

[Voleuse]

On first sniff, this is dirt, moist and rich. As it dries, I do get a bit of resin from the blend, warm and faintly sweet. This is very light on me, however, and fades after five minutes. Alas!

[Ilex]

Sigh. In the bottle I get the nice sweet earth folks have raved about here.

 

On my skin... well, its as if I poured on a bottle of coconut oil tanning lotion and rolled around in some mushroom loam. It ain't pretty. The coconut sweet scent is doing battle with the earthy element and they aren't dancing together nicely, they are at loggerheads.

 

This was a disappointment.

[batsy]

In the vial: sweet dirt. Damp moss.

 

On the skin: Chocolate? Yummy. Oh yeah, chocolate. Weird. And dirt, fresh dirt when it's wet. Odd. Usually anything with dirt in it is bad on me. But I like this. Plesant surprise!

[AliBabble]

well, what i get here is sweetish dirt, and a very fungal mushroom smell. since i adore mushrooms, i like this. underneath is something coconutty. when wet, it's almost like a coconut rum, with dirt in it. as it dries, it's sweet dirt and coconuts. i usually don't care for the dirt scents, but this one i like! it's got a calm, happy smell, somehow, and captures the lovely smell of mushrooms well. when it dries completely, it starts to smell a bit moldy; this could be a problem. but i'm glad i got to try it.

[Lexie]

This one is foody and earthy, a combination I couldn't even imagine! It smells mostly like dirt and vanilla. I can also detect something coconutty. I was afraid of the mushroom smell but it's really faint, especially when dry.

 

At first I didn't like this one as it was rather musty. But after wearing it for a while I think it's actually quite lovely. Very unique scent!

[phedre]

In vial: earthy and warm. It's all round, with no sharp edges.

 

Wet: Earthy and soft. Lovely. Something sweet, but not cloying. Caramel maybe?

 

Dry: Gorgeous. Sweet and warm. Coconut and vanilla caramel.

[Avery]

I just got a shipment of new bpal goodies and I am happily trying them all.

 

As vanilla and I get along swimmingly, I have a list of all the vanilla BPAl that I want to try and Death Cap was a variation I was very intiruged by. Most scents I'm happy with just an imp to put on once in awhile, but I always know when a bottle is due... and I think Death Cap calls me to the slathering depths that only a bottle or two can fix.

 

In the bottle I can smell the mushrooms. On my skin this shifts into a less humid dirt note than the one I love in Penny Dreadful, but instead of the gingery perfume that lurks in PD I get a soft, earthy coconut vanilla. Wow!! This one feels like ME. I love it. Thank you BPAL, there's another GC that I can swoon with. love it love it.

[euterpe414]

On me this is a sweet earth scent. It almost has a nutty quality to it. I definitely smell the mushroom like resemblance- a light moist earth rather than the sharper earth in, say, Penny Dreadful or Burial. I am really enjoying this one, and it lasts quite a while on my skin, too. Yup, this one goes on the bottle wishlist!

[kaori]

in the imp: dirt.

 

wet: vanilla dirt! heehee.

 

drydown, initial: vanilla dirt, mint, vetiver, and...is that a lonely little patch of berries growing up in there?! love it!

 

drydown, much later: all of the above, but the sharpness of the berry minty vetiver flavor mellowed and softened out quite a bit. there's a floaty layer of incense smoke wafting over everything now...and it's a bit powdery, tho not offensively so.

 

 

oh wait, this is a mushroom? hrm. whatever, those sticky, sharp little mint berries are crazy good, mang.

[storme]

In the imp: whoa, earthy indeed. Like Zombi, without the rose.

 

On me, wet: hmm, vanilla coconut dirt. With maybe some vetiver.

 

On me, dry: yup, vanilla and coconut and dirt and vetiver.

 

Verdict: interesting, and nice, but I basically don't want to wear dirt scents.

[hipslike___cinderella]

Just from the imp, this is dirt. Dirt. Dirt. Something floral is hiding, something sweet, not heavy like Zombi. Gorgeousness blooms after this is on my skin... Some unnameable flowers... something rooty? Ruddy and awfully nostalgic, I get a clear and distinct memory from this. When I was very little my grandparents owned a lake house in the Lake of the Ozarks, in Missouri. This smells like a warm, earthy summer night, more specifically, the damp and muddy logs used to set off the grass from the sandy dirt. The log wall was as tall as I, and this smells like being close to the wood, inspecting for little bugs and rolly-pollies.

 

Yeah, you can picture me sitting on my couch, sniffing my wrist and swooning over my childhood.

 

It stays at this state for a long time, and eventually winds down to veviter (!). Yes, and I love vetiver too! This is such a winner. Unlike some dirt blends, this is completely wearable. I need a bottle.

[Castrensis]

In the imp: Dark moist earth with a veil of cedar. Moderately astringent.

 

On the skin: Vanilla almond cedar cookies. Extremely astringent.

 

Me judice: The astringent component I perceive is more a sensation than a scent - it's something akin to the sensation produced when you sniff an alcohol pad. It's exceedingly odd, and perhaps more a reaction of the scent with my nose than an innate quality of the scent. That alone makes it physically uncomfortable to sniff.

[eternalargus]

Imp: First thought, "Vanilla Dirt". Imagine my surprise when I saw so many others describe it the same way.

 

 

On Skin: I was worried about the dirt note, as Zombie actually ended up smelling, like well, a zombie on me, but this is like a rich healthy dirt, not graveyard dirt, and the vanilla compliments it well.

 

 

Dry: Pure vanilla heaven with a teeny bit of musk. Every now and again it wafts up a dirt note and I smell like I've been digging around in a garden full of vanilla orchids. Very nice!

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Suntan lotion???

 

On me:

This is so wierd, I swear it smells like suntan lotion to me when it's wet on my skin. I LOVE THAT SMELL. I want it to stay that way, it's lovely. I get coconut for sure. And something earthy too but it's not in your face loamy dirt like with blends like Zombi. It's a sweet, subtle dirt.

 

Holy crap I LOVE THIS. I didn't even have this on my "want to try" list because I thought for sure it wouldn't be for me. Pretty much all the Rap's Garden scents hate me, why would this be different? But this scent is awesome. Vanilla dirt is a great way to describe, but I like to think of it as dirty suntan lotion lol.

 

Final note:

Thank God the Lab frimped me this! I adore this scent, I must have more - it will make a beautiful summer scent!

[eatingthesea]

i kiss bpal passionately for frimping me death cap, for it was on my upcoming-imp-pack list. i was debating on my last order between this and destroying angel, and i end up getting both in the same lot! wee. i'm not so good at reviewing oils overall since i'm still developing my bloodhound nose for particular notes, and rappaccini's garden is even more difficult because most of them are so...natural and singular. but i will try.

 

straight out of the bottle, i smell the vegetable section at your local grocery mart. hmm. once on, it begins to settle down and seem less ambiguous and definitely becomes more 'shroomy, fleshy. i personally love smelling earthy and slightly dirty (zombi's my favorite) so when i begin to pick up some dirt undertones, i am pleased. on me, death cap becomes almost smoky and wet - not dry - after some time sitting. okay, i now can picture this: camping out in the woods in an area particularly populated by fairy circles, stoking a fire that's blazing comfortably despite a light drizzle from above. and, ladies and gents, this is all very good. i can't believe it, but i'm going for a scent that doesn't have flowers anywhere. yummy. i can see how death cap is responsible for the majority of the world's mushroom-consumption deaths because of its delicious taste.

 

a perfect rendering of the real thing, me thinks. i hope destroying angel is just as much of a hit.

[CiCi]

When I was young I use to go with my mom once a week to the place where the mushrooms were grown and shipped out to the grocery stores. It was so much cheaper to get them there because they were not cleaned up yet and you would get them in a large brown paper bag. When you first walked into the mushroom house, it was really hot and humid and smelled overwhelmingly of mulch. Death Cap smells like mulch to me at first-there is no mistaking that smell. It is not overwhelming, but it is there. I kind of like it because it reminds me of the times I was with my mom. After a while, that tones down and I can smell vanilla making its way into the mix. It really is a nice scent that I must buy a bottle of.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Frimp from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: As a rule, I don't care for earthy scents.

 

In the Bottle: Very strongly earthy.

 

Wet: Strong notes of dirt tinged with green.

 

Drydown: A few warm and foody elements creep in, but it's still dirt.

 

Verdict: Definitely not for me.

[crimescenecleanup]

Death Cap is in my top 5 favorite BPAL scents, easily.

 

The first note I smell is wet clay or concrete. This is is one of my favorite smells. I grew up in the desert, and we had a room that opened to the backyard that was concrete block and clay tile. When it rained, this is what that room smelled like - fresh water and ground stone.

Or when you first cut open or unwrap a block of grey clay in a ceramics class (sorry - never took enough ceramics to learn what this kind of clay is called) this is the smell of very fresh, clean clay.

 

Underneath that this wonderful, er...fluffy? food smell comes up. But not a sweet smell. It screams vanilla to me, but that doesn't seem quite right. If this is a vanilla, it's the smell of a drying vanilla bean.

 

And then...mushrooms. Huh. whaddyaknow. One item I never expected to find, or like, in a perfume, but I did. All of the notes balance beautifully and none of them trump the others.

 

Although I'd be hard pressed to tell someone why, because I don't recognize any spice notes, it feels warm and comforting, with an edge.

 

If this scent was an image, it would be a moist dirt path through a fairytale forest, edged with rings of plump mushrooms, leading to gingerbread houses and little girls in red cloaks with picnic baskets full of fresh baked pastries.

Edited June 23, 2007 by crimescenecleanup

[Neely]

I have been lusting after Death Cap and her sister Destroying Angel ever since Beth added them. I love poisonous anything, plants, fungi, snakes, spiders. I find their beauty enhanced by the fact that they could kill you in a myriad of unpleasant ways and this facinates me (goes against the whole evil/dangerous is ugly while good/helpful is beautiful). And I can only guess Beth may have a similar fascination as well, LOL.

 

I also find it amusing that I knew what Destroying Angel was, and it is used in a Murder Mystery series put out by PBS, with title of same. My parents found it amusing that I knew what it was because of BPAL! So smell great and be educated! Thanks Beth! *smacks self to quit tangent and get on with the reviewing.*

 

In the bottle: creamy coconut and fresh earth.

 

Wet: freamy vanilla and fresh turned earth. I am in love!

 

Dry down: fresh moist earth with a creamy/spicey undertone.

 

30 minutes: creamy vanilla with a hint of spicey fresh earth.

 

Conclusion: vanilla with a hint of spice and fresh earth is soooo lovely. I love this and must get a big bottle from the lab.

 

Rating 1-5: on my skin this is a 5.

[furygrrl]

In the imp: Dirt...something faintly sweet...an almost spicy underbite - taken all together, I'm reminded of pickled beets!

 

On wet: Beets in a cellar! The dirt note is still very strong, and there's also something that totally reminds me of what the basement in my childhood home smelled like.

 

Drydown: A dry, almost burnt woodiness and a soft vanillic undertone has taken over. There's still a hint of beet dirt lingering, but it's in the backseat now, more than happy to be chauffeured around by its fellow notes. Hmm...strangely enough, I'm reminded of hot erasers! That smell you'd get after furiously scrubbing your pink-tipped pencil butt against an incorrectly answered math question? On my skin, Death Cap Drydown IS THAT SMELL!

 

Overall: Well, I like the scent of dirt well enough, but I'm not much of a beet fan (I'm the only non-beet eater in my family, actually), and this blend is seriously screaming BEEEEEETS!!! - when it's not reminding me of one too many nightmarish math exams, lol. Too bad that woody-vanilla drydown wasn't more intense! 2/5

[cuervosueno]

I really dislike most dirt scents because they always smell like......beets! as the reviewer above has noted. So awhile ago I got a frimp of this, sniffed it, said huh, dirt, and swapped it away. Then I got another frimp--as if it were a hint from the lab: put it on, don't just sniff it from the imp! So I did.

 

And lo and behold....I like this! Vanilla dirt is a good way to describe it, though as others have noted, that's not quite it. It is like sweet, clean earth, like potting soil. And there is a slightly clean mushroom scent to it as well. But there is from the beginning, a hint of spicey vanilla, which is delicious.

 

And like others, I found this scent oddly comforting, and put it on before I went to bed last night, so I could fall asleep to the earthy sweetness. When I woke up, I could still smell it, but all that was left was a slightly woody vanilla. It does smell like there might be a touch of wood in there--cedar shavings?--but mostly it is this earthy vanilla spice (and I love me some vanilla!)

 

Final verdict? This morning I was pondering what to wear. I wanted something sweet and delicious. Bloody Mary? Velvet? Milk Moon? Then I thought I want that wierd-ass Death Cap!

 

So that is what I think of it as: that wierd-ass Death Cap that actually smells good.

[hellomoonglow]

In Imp: Strong! Not something I think I’d like.

Wet: Smells like my parent’s boat when I was a little kid. Mildew. And it’s barely there, but I smell powder. <<< Cough! >>>

½ hr Dry Down: There was no ½ hr. dry down because I had to wash this off immediately. I so wanted to like this because I like the name, but this was a no-go for me. I’m getting a headache.