Mandrake

[iamblackbird]

A plant of true arcane power, mandrake has been used in a multitude of ways by witches, magicians and thaumaturgists for eons to many, many vastly different ends. Whole pieces are carried for protection, or are used in poppet magick. Ground herb can be utilized in spells for money, lust or defense. The lore of the mandrake does not limit it to magickal use. The root was chewed as a simple anasthesia, and it has been widely employed as a sleep drug.

I will now content myself with dirt scents. I need to give them a rest! I had high hopes for Mandrake, but it was too rooty for me. I think I was looking for Graveyard Dirt, instead.

The root in this amps a lot, and I'm left with root, and little dirt. Yeah, kinda like a dirty potato.

[Coldfire]

Imp: earthy with wood undertones and slight green whispers

under those
Wet on me: more woody now and then earthy and then more whispers
of green.
Drying Down: More wood now and the earth seems to be taking the scent
of patchouli. Very little green now.
Dry: Mostly a wood. Hardwood it seems, with undertones of patchouli
when you breathe in deep enough and waaaay in the back as a ghost is
the green. I like this. Glad I got to try it.

[Dracoo9]

When I first put this on I coudlnt smell anything. So, logically I put more on. That was foolish. Now my wrist radiates dirt, which isnt exactly as bad as I thought it would be. I'm actually tempted to layer it with Nocturn and get a little dirty violet going I do kind of like it but I'm more of a spicy or sweet kind of scent person so off to the sales. 3/5

[Seismogenic]

This was another Lab frimp, and though it wasn't actually on my wishlist, it was one I'd been eyeing, since I tend to be a fan of dry dirty-rooty-naturey scents.

 

In the imp: Extremely dry, with just as much dusty dirt as there is planty/woody smell.

 

Wet on skin: Much the same as wet. There's a dry rooty-woody smell, mixed in with some soft dusty dirt.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, there's more of the same. The woody smell in question is pretty delicate, though I can't ID it exactly. The dirt is rather sweet and smells like it'd have a powdery silty texture. (Not that one can really smell particle size, even as a geologist! But I still say it smells silty.) At one hour in, not much has changed.

 

Five hours later: The scent has faded quite a bit, though it's still evident. By this point, the dirt aspect has pretty much disappeared, leaving a very light dry wood of some sort.

 

End of the day: If I sniff my wrist really closely, I still get a hint of very faint dusty wood.

 

Overall: Mandrake is definitely a relative of Badger, what with the combination of dry dirt and roots. Badger has more of a bite, though; Mandrake lacks the galangal. That said, I really like Badger, and I like Mandrake quite well also. It's a nice, extremely dry, almost delicate combination of soft woody roots and soft dirt. Definitely keeping the imp.

[ouch!]

This is really thick this oil! I thought there might be something wrong with it but...now I see the first review I see I'm not the only one!

 

This oil...unfortunately just smells like wood. And that's pretty much it. Like a plank of wood.

 

 

Not much throw...not much else.

 

 

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Colourless oil. Smells like cedar, very dry and very woody, and very simplistic.

 

Wet: I don't find this dirty at all, but maybe a tad dusty. Maybe a little rooty, but this is still CEDAR.

 

Dry: Extremely viscous, and never really dries. Cedar pencil shaving single note, to me.

 

[milo]

This is vetiver or cedar single note on me. Thankfully it fades pretty quickly. Off to swaps.

[isisonearth]

Cedar shavings and something damp an reedy. A little earth, a little green...strong throw.

 

I'm using it to scent some mandrake critters so I'm pretty happy with it.

[angelicruin]

This is very woody on my skin. I get the pencil shavings scent others report. I also pick up a bit of root & soil on my skin, especially as it dries.

[loubric]

I was curious with this one.

On me it smells kind of like olive oil and then turns into what lipstick smells like.

 

Oh well you can't win them all.

[voorishsign]

In the imp: clear, pale oil; a green, herbal scent with a touch of soil.

 

On wet: More of the same, though the soil isn't as strong.

 

Dry: Wood! Lots of wood. More like wood shavings. I don't know, not bad but not a keeper, neither as an herbal nor as a wood scent. Might put it in the oil burner.

[grnwoodtree]

Wet: Pencil shavings, wood shavings with something dry green and bitter underneath.

 

Dry: Oh, now I get it! It smells exactly like sterile soil...right out of the bag. With some dry wood shavings. Nothing else.

 

I was hoping this would change on me like all the others I've tried, but it doesn't.

 

The only use I could have for this is to try layering it with something thats too sweet for me. I just dont know. Its kind of giving me a headache now since I tried re-applying it.

[ami226]

This is very earthy. Smells like gardening! It isn't so bad, but I don't think I want to smell like dirt unless I am actually gardening....

[vige]

forethought and blah blahs:

i cant help but think of harry potter.

 

 

in the bottle/imp:

herbal and astringent. some what medicinal.

 

 

wet:

smells very much the same. sharp and astringent.

becoming more dry and woody. almost has a warm quality now . dusty and strange like a root cellar in a magical location somewhere. seems to be getting stronger.

 

 

dry:

very warm, dry dusty and woody. a little soapy? a light spiciness.

smokey.

 

 

overall opinion:

on me this becomes a very dry smoky wood scent with flashes of a green sappiness. borderline incense. it would make a lovely room scent.

 

 

verdict:

neutral leaning to masculine. it's just not for me, off to the swaps.

[boomtownrat]

This was a lab frimp.

 

In the vial it's mostly the smell of damp earth that has been churned up, so that you can still smell the grass under the primary scent of soil. Wet on my skin it smells a lot like a combination of vetiver and just a bit of cedar, but later in the dry-down stage and when it's completely dry there's also a sweetness that reminds me of neroli. About an hour after I've put it on, that sweetness is all that's left on my inner wrists, but on the backs of my wrists I do get a hint of cedar.

 

Mandrake is perfect for springtime, especially an overcast day like today. Its earthy, woody feel appeals to my Taurean nature, but because it doesn't last long I think I'd have to give it a 3.5 out of 5.

[mymymai]

ITI: Green, just a little bright, but that is made much more subdued due to the earhty notes surrounding it.

 

Wet: Dark, earhty mandrake with thick loam underneath. There is also just a little spice that comes out as well.

 

Dry: It’s super faint, even after reapplying 4 hours ago. There is a faint, sweet greeness to it, but I have the strain to smell it.

[wishingwell]

Oh, man. Honestly, I have a hard time describing what this smells like because it makes me sneeze -- and not just little sneezes, but huge, unrelenting chain-sneezes. Others have said it's faint, but apparently I amp something in this because it's extremely strong.. even after washing, if I sniff where I applied it I start sneezing again. In the imp, it was more green than dirt, and it made my nose tingle.. so I didn't have high hopes, but I never would have expected such a violent rejection from my sinuses.

 

I guess I'd have to say it's medicinal, masculine, and yes, very heavy on the dirt. Kind of like a mix of clay and peat, which makes it kind of.. smoky? I suppose this might be good on a guy who wants to smell like a hard day's work.

 

I've never had a reaction like this to BPAL before. Off to wash my hands again.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Vegetal and earthy. Like a bulb with dirt clinging to it.

 

Drydown: Bright green at first. It smells just like raw green beans with a touch of menthol in the background. It becomes sweeter and fresher until it almost smells like an evergreen.

 

Dry: There's still a touch of the menthol/evergreen in there, but now it’s primarily in the earthy/dirty/dusty category. It almost smells like cedar or tobacco but it's more subdued than either of those are on my skin. It reminds me of Colonial Williamsburg - Specifically like drying herbs and tobacco hanging from a ceiling built with unfinished wood and a touch of hay and dirt and leather in the air.

 

 

 

 

7.5 out of 10 bones

Edited June 21, 2013 by BoneBone24

[BlueberryPie]

The closest point of comparison I can think of to this is The White Rider. They smell very similar to me, which is weird, considering The White Rider smells exactly as its description -- "white leather and sandalwood". Mandrake is somehow darker than The White Rider, a bit more dirty and rooty. But otherwise, they are scents in the same general category to me. And while I didn't dislike The White Rider, it was never a scent for me -- personally, I just gravitate towards girlier scents of the fruity, sugary sweet persuasion. So while this isn't a bad scent by all means, if you're into this sort of thing, it's not really "me".

 

If scents are a colour, this would be a dark mossy green, mottled with brown.

 

SCORE: 4/10

[inhumation]

My friend and I both tried this on and agreed on the description of its peculiar smell: plastic action figures, straight out of the box.

[Veronica]

This smells like graveyard dirt. Dark, earthy, mossy green.

[Marla Moreau]

In the imp: plastic/nothing... I don't get it... it's like I'm sniffing canola oil or a plastic toy (or a plastic toy IN canola oil), nothing woody or rooty or earthy or dark or complex. Bleh. I love dirt/soil etc. scents... this is nothing like that.

 

Wet on skin: Man, this is viscous... and still smells like single note plastic, or maybe a bit of pencil shavings (but not at all strong)?

 

Dry down: I don't understand how anyone would like this, but to each their own... I get more of the above. It's less of a scent and more of an idea. I feel like I rubbed some melted plastic on my skin. No throw, very sticky. Not changing at all.

 

Wow... this is going to be the first BPAL scent I'm giving 0/5 stars. Ick.

Edited August 8, 2015 by MarlaMoreau

[FeralFae]

Whoa these reviews are so conflicted. I get no pencil shavings or plastic, just a fresh, earthy soil smell with maybe a bit of wood in the background. This is so, so comforting. I haven't tried any of the other GC dirt scents so I might have to give them a try if they're half as good as Mandrake!

[LizziesLuck]

Earthy, rooty, woody. Interesting! I always like this sort of scent as a room scent, but it's just not something I really want to smell like. It does remind me of cedar a bit, so I can see where others get "pencil shavings", but to me it smells much more of the outdoors that that. There's a warmth about it that I quite like. I know I would never wear this, so I will pass it on to someone who might like it better. Glad to have gotten to try it though!

[JTobias]

Imagine the wet, earthiness that emanates from a tough root broken in half, a fresh root.