Strangler Fig

[superpopkid]

A glorious parasite! Once the seeds of the Strangler Fig find root in the bark of a tree, snakelike roots erupt and reach graspingly at the sky. The Strangler Fig then sprouts numerous epiphytic vines that strangles and surrounds its unwilling host, and finally snuffs the life from it. Rooty, woody, with deep green tones.

Obligatory new person disclaimer: I'm still getting the hang of this and have a hard time picking out notes. All the oils smell harsh just sniffing out of the bottle, so we'll skip to the wet stage.

Wet: It's a mix of something sweet and unpleasantly astringent, almost like rubbing alcohol. The sweetness in kind of nondescript and seems overwhelmed by the astringent smell.

After about five minutes: the alcohol has turned into something that smells a lot like cedar to me, but may not actually be cedar. The sweetness has gotten spicy and warm, but not especially deep. I can't really identify it as fig. The alcohol smell is still there just a little.

After about twenty minutes: the alcohol smell, if that's what it was, seems entirely gone. I tried burial last night and there are echos of the same woodsy smell, but there's a much drier, warmer, spicier feeling to these woods.

After an hour: the sweetness has gotten spicier and creamier and is blending beautifully with the wood smell. It's like sitting at sunset by a pile of freshly wood, smelling a baked dessert from a nearby window. It's a golden-brown, late fall afternoon smell.

Edited to note that this had lots of staying power. I put on sometime early afternoon and I still smelled woodsy and sweet the following morning.

Overall: I really didn't enjoy this at first, but it got richer, fuller, and more pleasant with time. I wouldn't buy a bottle but I'm keeping the imp.

UPDATE - After two or three wearings, and testing a bunch of other scents, I keep coming back to strangler fig. I'm not noticing the astringency I did when I first tested, (maybe because I know what's coming next - that warm, creamy woods-y smell. I really love it now! Edited November 16, 2009 by VitaminA

[Ohmaude]

Have you ever stood inside a Strangler Fig?

 

In the rainforest, the plant eventually chokes out the tall tree that it has wrapped itself around like a lattice. The tree itself dies, and disappears rather quickly thanks to decomposition and the work of industrious termites and other insects.

 

What is left is this hollow tower of fig, with hundreds of large vines entwined over each other, leaving the space where the tree once stood, stretching up into the canopy above. You can climb inside and see the round circle of light above.

 

I swear to god this smells like that damp, tropical wood. Not much fig, but green, sappy wood.

Edited September 6, 2009 by Ohmaude

[Graphica]

in the bottle: Thickly sweet with a green undertone. The sweetness reminds me of root beer.

 

on wet: Still sweet and thick. Mostly just sweet. The green note has disappeared.

 

drydown: Still sweet. A touch of powderiness.

 

one hour later: I really want to wash this off. There's a heady sensation that makes me think of walking into a too warm, enclosed space where there's a lot of greenery, like an orchid hothouse. I'm not saying it smells like orchids, just that I get a sensation of a scent that might be enjoyable if smelled faintly blowing on a breeze, but which is too much, almost claustrophobic, on. Makes me want to throw open the windows.

 

end of day: Didn't make it to the end of the day. Washed off.

 

compared to official description: I don't know what rooty smells like, unless you're referring to spices; though I did get a sense of rootbeerishness, so maybe there's a sassafras-like element here. Woody? I'm sure there's an element of that here, but it doesn't stand out. Mostly I get a powdery sweetish green. Heated, heady, thick.

 

notes: This had throw on me, in the worst possible way. Take that with a grain of salt: If it were a scent I enjoyed, I might not mind the throw so much (though I don't like throw in general).

 

Lagniappe. Definitely not one I would have thought of choosing myself. The dice didn't roll so well on this one.

Edited October 3, 2009 by Graphica

[MamaMoth]

What a pleasant surprise! I never would have thought to try this, which just proves the genius of frimpage.

 

This is what I kept trying to urge Eden into, but it never bent to my will. Creamy, sweet, earthy, green, figgy, woodsy. There's no bitterness to this, it's so smooth.

 

This is the bizzaro mental image I get from Strangler Fig: A creeping vine, covered in fat, fuzzy, green pods. If you were to pierce one of the pods, a thin, milky substance dribbles out. If you could sniff that substance, it would smell like Strangler Fig.

[backthatelfup]

In the Imp: Sweet, like spiced honey, but mild. Yum.

 

Wet: Sweet, kind of woody but very feint with something...kind of...waxy coming out of the back.

 

Dry: This smells like...when you open up a tube of lipstick? Just a touch sweeter. But still. It's one of the things I dislike about lipstick and it doesn't fly on my wrist.

 

Oi. I had high hopes for this one.

[loubric]

In the Imp it smells like coconut pizza. On me … Pure olive oil

Next …

[Schmoozy]

 

Creamy, green, earthy, woody. I detect a smidge of honey mingling alongside roots, dirt and figs. It doesn't get any better than this.

[KimeePlus2]

In the bottle: I'm gonna get weird looks for this I'm sure, but all I can smell is... Thai peanut sauce. Ridiculous!

 

Wet: Same as in the bottle... Straight thai peanut sauce.

 

Dry: You guessed it! Thai peanut sauce ...and... basil. Yeah, two things I adore the crap out of, but not particularly something I'm comfortable with smelling like. I must have some ridiculous body chemistry issues.

 

Verdict: I wanted to love this, REALLY, I did. However, it just makes me hungry for basil vegetarian salad rolls and peanut sauce from the tasty Thai restaurant up the street. Alas, a bottle of Strangler Fig will NOT be purchased so I'll have to find a good home for this lovely imp, but thanks for the lunch idea! :-P

[aquazoo]

I get dust and dirt first. The dust settles and I get the wood and vines.

 

[grnwoodtree]

A very interesting scent, to be sure!

 

When I had 1st tried the imp, it was too much for me, and I've let it sit with the other imps awaiting testing for a few weeks now.

 

Today after showering off all the other scents Ive been testing, I tried it.

 

It is like fresh cut tree boughs, the saplings, the suckers, those ones you want to kill...I grew up with a fruit tree orchard in CA, and am familiar with the scent of cut suckers. So Im impressed since this is Strangler Fig, a parasitic force of nature.

 

The greenness has a light sweetness, and I was scared because I caught whiff of cedar, but its not amping, TG!.

 

I am getting powderiness, which i really dislike and attribute to cedar...but the fig in this is also JUST LIKE the Fresh, slightly unripe figs I would pick off the ground in our orchard. Really interesting...kinda cool!

 

Not sure if I will buy more...will live with this imp for a bit and see how it smells later. If the greenness and sweetness arent overpowered by powder, its a definite keeper.

 

EDIT - later i realized the cedar was overpowering the other scents I love..which sucks! I dont want a cedar scent...I want the earlier green fig. Oh Well!

Edited April 2, 2010 by Greenwoodtree

[moon_lemming]

Strangler Fig starts out as an earthy sort-of-figgy woodsy scent, with the littlest bit of hairspray at the top. It reminds me of blends like The Steeple. It's not the same, but it seems to be in that family.

 

On me it's a perfumey vanilla/cedar blend. It TOTALLY morphs, and the cedar (one of my ampers) becomes a monster. Hmmm. It's not horrible, but I'm not head over heels, either.

[tailoredshirt]

[Aged imp, probably 2+ years old]

 

This was a really pleasant surprise!

 

Wet, it is earthy and slightly sweet. But this is an herbal earthy, rather than something that smells musty or like dirt. It is a bit milky, as others have said. As it dries, it gets a bit sweeter and milkier. I'm not a foodie person, but this is working for me because it's not overwhelmingly sweet and it still has that herbal quality to it.

 

Aaaand as it dries, it gets sweeter and sweeter. Completely dry, it is too sweet for me, but it still smells like it comes from something real and natural, which is nice. I think this would be good layered with something wet and green, like a jungle scent.

[Torrilin]

Wet: something sweetish in the amber/vanilla range, a bit of powder, a bit of spice. No green, no roots, it smells very generic.

 

Later: spice like Snake Oil, vanilla, powder, and a fig note. On me it smells very conventional. There may be ve-ry delicate hints of vetiver. It would be good if I wanted a vanilla scent, but there's pretty much never any circumstance where that's a priority for me.

 

****

 

Analysis time! My skin likes vetiver. Loves the stuff, and turns even vats of it into a delicate, soft green-ness that melds with my skin. There is probably vetiver in here, because unlike most Snake Oil impression stuff, this melds pretty well with my skin. There is probably a touch of carnation or clove as part of the "spice"... both of them have a green/mint overtone, and thus work well with my skin. I'm starting to suspect that fig is another green overtone note. On me, it's a blends in with the skin generic sweetly fruity scent. The most notable thing is the blendy, since my skin doesn't handle a lot of sweet scents well.

 

There is probably some patchouli like in Snake Oil, but after comparing with some other scents, I think the "vanilla" impression is actually tonka bean and musk.

 

It's a really cleverly constructed scent. Probably not bottle worthy.

[bloody sore]

This was a pleasant surprise, at first. I was frimped this in a swap recently, and it was amazing in the imp. Earthy, a little sweet, a lot like death cap, one of my all time favorites. It continued in this manner for about the first hour on my skin. A lovely slightly sweet earthy smell. But after about an hour it did some morphin', and a strong honey note came up, along with some baby powder, neither of which I care for. In the end it was soft earth smothered in honey and baby powder, an epic FAIL.

[Evilynn]

in the vial: earthy, green. fig

wet on the skin: earthy green fig

drydown: This is a bit of an odd fish. I wonder if there is a hint of cassia in it, because the oil feels a little warm, and it reminds me a bit of Pais de la Canela.

 

I won't get a bottle of this, but it is intriguing.

 

3/5

[raisin]

This starts kind of sweet, like dark syrup or fruit, but it dries down beautifully into a sweet earthy blend. There's a faint bitter dustiness in the background, but mostly a fantastic slightly sweet amber/dirt.

I'm definitely going to hold on to this one. It's beautiful on its own, and it might come in really handy for layering.

Edited July 9, 2010 by raisin

[mxtine]

Earthy. Decaying wood, figs, and fresh cut green grass. Very interesting. I like to sniff this but I can't imagine smelling like it.

[starfish327]

in the imp: there's a faint sweetness but it's quite faint and i don't get any other note impression from the wand.

 

wet: a blast of sweet fig grounded by something faintly earthy.

 

dry: the fig fades, nothing but amber/dirt left. very powdery.

 

i love fig, it's one of my favorite notes. i wish the fig lasted longer than what it does on my skin but the powder note isn't offensive either. i'm going to try layering this under a couple of my other fig blends to see if i can more fig out of this.

[ianastar]

I get the ripe, fruity fig right off the bat. Reminds me of a sweet fig spread/chutney.

 

On the dry down I get more of the coconut which adds some warmth to the scent, and the dirt smells and woody smells are starting to come out.

 

It's kind of a fruity, green scent with some of the more earthy dirt and wood smells. Very pleasant.

[Sabir]

This was very sweet and green on me, and didn't change much over the course of the day. I could swear there's a minty note swimming around in there, but maybe that's just me?

 

Overall, moderate throw and good lasting power. I'm not in love, but it's interesting enough to keep the imp around.

[zagadka]

This was thrown in as a sample from the labbies....something that I would NEVER have picked out on my own.

 

When it arrived, it was cold from being in the mail. Upon opening it was overwhelmingly green, earthy, and pungent. I was thinking "Fig?! Where is the fig?!"

 

Today, I was looking at my meager bottle collection thinking that they all smell similar and didn't feel like wearing any of them. Then, I remembered the like, 100 imps I have! DUH!

 

I opted the bottle again and it had mellowed...a lot. It was still a tiny bit earthy and sour, but I could smell the fig in there. It was sweet, but not like most fruity forward perfumes which give me a headache. There is a softness to it, a pinch of powder, vanilla, maybe some sandalwood and patchouli? Its a little feminine but I could definitely enjoy smelling this on a guy, too.

 

Overall impression is that its fresh. Its juicy without being cloying or sugary. The dry down is interesting, it looses much of the juicy top notes and actually reminds me of the smell of powdered sugar. Light and sweet, but still not cloying.

Edited January 13, 2011 by ECLECTIC

[FathomBelow]

Got this as a freebie from the Lab.

 

In the imp, it smells a lot like Death Cap - that scratch-and-sniff chocolate scent. On my skin, however, the fig becomes immediately apparent and grows in strength progressively as the chocolate scent becomes weaker. Finally, after it dries, it smells just like Eden and Tweedledum on me - a sweet, dusty, slightly green fig. It seems like scents that have fig all turn out the same on me - at least they turn into something quite pleasant, however, not something bad.

 

Overall, Strangler Fig is quite nice and I'll be keeping the imp.

 

Edited for grammar!

Edited January 14, 2011 by AmberApple

[arabello]

I'm not sure if this is just because I have a fresh bottle, but on me Strangler Fig smells like those really fake spicy-pot-pourri scented candles you get at the dollar store. This might be my skin chemistry or what-not, but I get no sap and no greenery (which i was really hoping for), moreover it's more spicy (in the worst way) and "creamy" than fresh and green.

 

Wet and In the Bottle I get a blast of almond smelling stuff with some organic-soil smelling substance lurking around the bottom if i sniff REALLY HARD.

 

Drydown: smells like fakely scented candles and vaguely like new-age store with a hint of soap. This is nothing like the description and nothing like the other reviews!

 

Verdict: Fairly disappointed, especially since most other reviews painted a perfume reminding them of trees... all i got was the really cheap-smelling candles 'n' stuff aisle at your nearest 2 dollar store. I will be trying this again a few weeks later though, I'm not ready to give it up yet. Hopefully there will be the miraculous change in fragrance which I've heard can happen...

[jkfagtongpun]

The name is appropriate - never seen a real life strangler fig but the scent was very thick, hot, humid, choking and sweet. Almost a chocolately-wood sweet. It was ok, but not for me. In the end I had to wash it off, it was too much!

[Klolly]

I got this in a swap and I'm really looking forward to trying it. This sounds like something I'll enjoy.

In the imp: Smells kind of astringent. Like window cleaner sprayed in dirt. I think I smell patchouli too.

 

On wet: There is a loud dirt smell with something bitter mixed in that smells scratchy. As it is drying the dirt smell which seems

like patchouli mixed with something else, is starting to get softer and the bitter smell is growing.

 

Dry: This is beginning to smell just like baby powder on me. Finally the bitterness has faded and so has the dirt. I'm left with nothing but a smell identical to baby powder. I'm bummed. I really thought I'd like this one.

 

Several hours later: I'm going to have to give this one another try later when it's not my time of month because maybe it's PMS or something but I haven't liked any of the three last imps I tried, including one I've previously liked. This actually did start to grow on me (no pun intended) after awhile. When it first got that baby powder smell I thought the name was perfect because it was choking me, after it calmed down some I felt that although it reminded me still of baby powder but it was much nicer and sweeter, kind of like Burts Bees baby bee scent as someone else mentioned. On me there was absolutely nothing green about this like I had expected there to be. It was very brown. My ten year old was sitting several feet away right after I put this on and said, "something smells good. It smells curvy, or swirly." When I gave get my arm to sniff she loved it and thought it smelled like flowers. Weird.

Edited August 31, 2011 by Klolly