Jezirat Al Tennyn

[Stephanie]

The Dragon’s Isle: smoke and fire, earth and wind. The rage of the elements blasting over a primordial paradise.

On my skin, I smell spicy pine. Then something like the fresh bitterness of green tea. Then Brimstone with cucumber. Like a green vegetal, watery freshness on gravel.

I like it, but I was expecting more spiciness and less freshness.

(eta to add description) Edited August 11, 2008 by Shollin
fixed BPAL tags --Shollin

[aquazoo]

Nutty and spicy. Getting medicinal. Then it fades. Probably better for someone else.

[juniperus]

bottle: dark - fire and salt (?) and brimstone at eternal, smoke-filled, dusk

wet: the same - the smoke chokes me

dry: dirt- dry, sooty, ashy dirt (and smoke)

later: this is killing me here - something hates my asthma.

[rayvn1]

Salty aquatic rich with the smell of sweet, ripe fruit. This is very "tropical paradise" smelling. I really like it and it has just the right level of salty aquatic so my nose only goes nuts in a good way

[femmefatale]

This is so confusing. At first it was very green (pine? or something like it) and medicinal. Then it became slightly soapy and not so sharp. After a little while a sweet tropical floral came out along with something almost minty. It's omehow clean, dirty, green, and floral all at the same time.

 

I really really like this. I didn't get as much smoke as I thought I would, but that's ok. I can't wait to see how this morphs on hubby, though I think this will be all mine.

[Seadreamer]

In the bottle: Sea water. I swear. There's something almost seaweed smelling here. Mixed with the sharp sap of crushed leaves.

 

Wet: As if I had taken a handfull of crushed leaves and rubbed them on my arm. It's not herbs, but green, sappy leaves. And there's something deep and dark behind it.

 

Dry: It's.... gone. *sniffs deeply* Well, it's almost gone, with just a trace of sort of a generic "perfume" smell left after about half an hour.

 

This one confounds me a little. I don't love it, but I don't hate it. I like it better in the bottle than on my skin, but it's not bad, per se, just... different. I tried it two days in a row and can't come up with a more definitive description or decision as to whether or not I want to keep it. I think I probably will, unless I see it on someone's "must have" list. If they love it, who am I to keep it and be unsure about it?

[Iceblink]

This is a fascinating blend--it's all pumice and stone when wet, then salt water begins to seep in. Now after a couple of hours I'm getting strong pine/evergreen in there with the aquatic note. This makes me think of a spa--hot stone massage, hot tub, herbal treatments, the whole thing! Not something I'd wear as perfume but how amazing that this can be bottled.

[smokey188]

this smelt exactly like laudanum to me so much so that i think the lab must have accidentally mislabelled this imp.

[krystyn]

Right out of the imp, taking a deep whiff, this scent smelled wild and fresh and, yes, smokey.

 

There's a fresh aquatic note right behind some tall yellow grasses and something bamboo-like, and the brightness of fire.

 

On my skin, I am getting some of the same surprising mellow minty drydown that others have written about. It becomes much more aquatic and much less smokey and grassy, even though there is a hint of something scorched and mineral right close to the skin.

 

It's a lovely and complex scent, even though it's not something I'd normally wear.

 

(oooh, wait, now the dry yellow kindling grass is coming back a little, sort of wheaty and sweet against the cool mint. nice.)

[tdgnika]

In the imp, a spicy male scent. I can't really pinpoint it more than that, it just smells like a spicy Italian man to me. (Not that I've ever actually smelled any Italian men).

 

On the skin, it really throws a strong male cologne scent. It's nice and heady, but a little too 'basic cologne' for me.

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Smoke and ozone like whoa to begin, over a backdrop of something dense, green and earthy, even swampy—primordial is the word, all right. I'm in the middle of Jurassic Park, sans Dinosaur poo.

On, wet: Still some smoke, still ozone, still green, but I'm also getting some… sweetness? Wow, that's unexpected. Apparently there are some exotic flowers on the island or something.

On, dry: The smoke is retreating to the background, and the spicy-sweet resins and flowers are coming forward. (Is this dragon's blood resin? I haven't smelled it before, so I can't tell.) The ozone is still hanging out, and there's something fresh, like mint. This scent is really quite amazing and complex.

Later: The smoke retreats for good after about half an hour, leaving lush, spicy floral loveliness, cut through with a hint of sharp, zingy ozone and mint and ocean. It dries down to spicy-sweet tropical flowers and incense on me, which is not at all what I expected, though I'm definitely not displeased.

Overall: This is a completely wild, uninhabited island in a bottle, untouched by time—strange and strangely alluring. I'm not sure this is a big bottle purchase, but I like it enough to keep this imp.

 

 

[UploadedLobster]

Okayokay. Get this: Troll and Kathmandu have a baby, and it's Jezirat Al Tennyn.

 

There's the high-pitched smoky rootiness of Kathmandu complete with the little tart sniff of galangal, and the charred-stuff-and-dirt of Troll. It totally works. It makes for a really gnarly blend of earth and wind and fire; Yngwie Malmsteen probably smells like this.

Yngwieeeeeeeeee.

 

Yeah, I dig it. Gotta go walk into some wind with a big coat on.

 

 

Lobster Rating

better than: air guitar windmill

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

Yngwie Malmsteen probably smells like this.

 

y'know, i can TOTALLY imagine that he would smell like this.

it is earthy. dirty. masculine. full of *uNF* and grunts and growls and getting leaves in your hair and mud on your knees.

 

 

yeah, i like it.

[othelloperrello]

It's true, this IS a fascinating scent to review.

After ten minutes it's just settling in, so I guess we can start with its throw which is close to the skin (3-5in for the test dab) and dense.

My initial on-the-skin impression was Mystically sweet heavy musks; crunching steps through a holy barnyard or am I among juniper? Definitely pinefloor, but not cedar.

I jive with sarada, who said,

" It strikes me as kind of a menthol scent at first, a strong impression of heat -- but also steam coming off of hot rocks.

Mists shroud a pine forest, but it's not winter -- it's warm, and the air is thick and humid after a rainstorm.

Now it's a block of ice melting in a cave in a tropical jungle. Maybe some sort of prehistoric beast is frozen inside, and coming back to life?

After the menthol scent dies down, it has a sort of damp, mineral smell to it with some impressions of dark greenery...not floral, not sweet, just once again like some sort of evergreen, but not frosty pines.

This is definitely worth trying, for the experience, and I think it could grow on me as a fragrance if I didn't just have so many to play with these days! Abstract, conceptual scents like these fill me with the greatest anticipation and excitement whenever there is an update."

 

5 minutes: After the pine fades, yes hot smoldering rocks and "the rage of the elements over primordial paradise". And perhaps blossoms emerging through the cataclysm, even now.

 

Earth & steam, water and rock. I really like HOW Beth achieved this blend, it seems she went at it with a full range of elements that combine for this unique effect, including a hint of her signature sulphuric note that I saw in Maoi, from the Atomic Lau Lounge 3/2008, which I tried first; I really like how lightly it is used here and I feel it makes it more wearable for me.

 

The lasting scent on my skin is a scent strongly earthy but sweet and light. I could see combining this with stronger scents for a good full effect.

---

 

Like to continue reading the reviews to find specific notes that are in this blend.

 

 

[GeorgeJr]

I'll start off by saying this is easily the most bizarre scent I have yet to review . So be warned . Of course , if you've been reading the other reviews of Jezirat al Tennyn , you may understand why mine will be possibly confused as well . I can sum it up in one way , for a quick , easy to read review . I can say that this is a very element heavy scent . To the point that I have gotten all 4 elements in my nose a various ( and sometimes the same ) times since applying it . It remains a smoky scent , but it also has a strange mix of ozone & aquatic going on that is both strange & wonderful . And the smokiness is much like it is blowing off of hot rocks indeed . But it never overpowers the other notes at all . I will also say that I too thought of Laudanum when I first smelled it , but that is only because it has something in it that is similar . It has a little bit of that sassafras note to it , but I almost hate saying that because this really is so much more then a 1 note scent . This is a incredible balancing act of a scent .

[Veronica]

This starts off green and almost pine-y, then morphs into salt water, I get little smokiness. It is a very fresh scent however, I almost feel like I just took a splash in the ocean and can practically feel the lush garden beckoning me from around the corner. A beautiful, interesting scent, but not something I'd ordinarily wear, as it's pretty unconventional.

[pseedie]

Jezirat Al Tennyn

 

I'm going to forego my usual format to tell a story that relates to this fragrance....in 11th grade I had to take a public speaking class, and we had to give a 5 minute demonstration speech. Because I was a "horsey" teen, I decided to show how to wrap a horse's leg that had been strained. My friend decided to act as "horse leg" for me, so in front of the class, I slathered a horse linement called "Absorbine" (menthol and camphor-based) onto her leg and then showed the appropriate way to wrap the leg to support the ligaments and tendons. I had just barely finished my speech when my friend let out a shriek and started yelling "oh jayzus!!! This burns! This BURNS!!!" We got her out of the wrap and down to the gym locker room asap to rinse the scorching stuff off her poor poor leg, but if we would have lit her on fire instead, and then rolled her in the dirt to put the fire out, this frangrance is what she would have smelled like on the bus home from school. So, not particularly a great fragrance for me, but it sure brought back a memory!!

[JenM]

 

in the imp: sweetness, almost unbearable sweetness, and musk. Possibly myrrh. Then afterwards an olfactory that makes my nostrils sting.

 

on the wrist: woody and musky, and a hint of something that is definitely not aniseed but reminds my nose of it. Also--that sharpness? is it mint? It's something olfactorily similar.

 

After an hour, the strength of those notes is even stronger, but at nearly two hours it's mostly gone. I don't think this is my scent, even though it's got plenty of personality. a 6.

[Seismogenic]

Today, I am wearing a shirt with a picture of a volcano on it. I think this is reason enough for me to be trying this oil (out of the many untested imps sitting on my desk) today.

 

In the imp: Truly bizarre! I think there's pepper in there, and possibly also cinnamon. It's definitely more on the fire side than on the rock side right now. Possibly also some ozone? I'm really not sure!

 

Wet on skin: Is that...salty and fiery at the same time? It sure is! Huh. At this particular moment in time, I have to confess that it reminds me a bit of smoked salmon, though at the same time not overtly fishy. I just can't think of other things that are both salty and smoky. I'm no longer convinced of cinnamon, but I think there still is pepper.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, this is still salty smoke, and it's still incredibly bizarre. I don't think I'm getting ozone anymore at this moment, but there's starting to be something drier under there, which I'm suspecting is going to turn into volcanic rock, since the wind, water, and fire have already been represented thus far. At one hour in, there is more of the dusty stony stuff going on, but still only in the background of the salty smoke.

 

Five hours later: Now, it's mostly volcanic rocks and vapors. The ozone that I smelled way back in the beginning seems to have also been hiding behind the salty smoke, but now that those notes have mostly dissipated, it's back, though secondary to the rocks. It's a little like Moai at this point, though softer. Maybe pumice rather than fresh basalt.

 

End of the day: Gone.

 

Overall: Jezirat al Tennyn is definitely one of the most bizarre BPALs I've tried to date, and yet it manages to be exactly what the description says. There's the salt of the ocean, the ozone of the wind, smoke from the fire, and there are volcanic rocks. I have no idea how Beth did that, but it's definitely all there, and I am duly impressed! I do wish the salty smoke stage hadn't lasted so long relative to the stage with rocks, and I resultantly probably won't wear this terribly often, but I'm going to hold onto it anyway because I love the concept and the trueness to it.

[annanwater]

I'm having a difficult time thinking of a way to describe how this smells on me. It's like sharp minty motor oil and strong men's cologne (not good men's cologne, really bad men's cologne). It's absolutely horrible. This is the first BPAL scent I've run into that has just gone completely and totally awful when it comes into contact with my skin. So bad that I had another first--I washed it off immediately. It's really too bad, I loved the concept. :-(

[stillalive]

uh oh. I put this on without looking up notes first and ICK! =/ it's like a woody minty smell that makes me want to scrub the skin off my arm. I am *not* a mint person.

[Evengloam]

Really does smell like scorched earth and stone and soot. Also getting something salty, like a sea breeze, and a bit of fruit. Becomes a little more herbal as it dries, though I'm not good at picking out notes as of yet. Green, spicy, and fresh. Surprisingly wearable.

 

I'm not totally sure if I want to use up the imp on me yet. It didn't turn out horrible on me at all, but I'm not sure if it fits me. I know I'll at least use it as a room scent, though.

[redderz]

In the imp: Musky and smoky.

 

Wet: Mint and smoke.

 

Dry: This is going all out minty on me, and quite green and mossy. Like a forest on fire. Quite masculine!

Edited August 31, 2009 by redderz

[strahlend]

In the imp - something sharp and smokey. Like a campfire in a bottle. Neat!

On the skin - mint? why mint? I like mint, but I wasn't expecting to find it here.

A little later - band aids? something kind of earthy and smokey is mixing with something antiseptic and medicinal and it's making band aids for me. Kind of a neat trick, but not what I'm looking for.

[Janegodzilla]

Oh my god, menthol! This scent came to me as a frimp, and I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be for me when the whiff I took from the imp nearly burned out the inside of my nasal passages. Even once it was on my skin, it was all menthol, all the time. A few other things emerged as I wore it -- there was something that smelled like dry, gray stone, almost like pumice, and at one point I caught something kind of swampy and brownish-green -- but for the most part this was just a blast of pure, unadulterated menthol. I have to admit that it made for an interesting experience scent-wise, because I've never smelled anything that was so fiery and cold at the same time (it's like a volcano erupting in Antarctica, basically), but it's still not for me.