Nephilim

[isisonearth]

... Holy frankincense and hyssop in union with earthy fig, defiled by black patchouli and vetiver, with a chaotic infusion of lavender, cardamom, tamarind, rosemary, oakmoss and cypress.

Strongly cedar on me. It really overpowers the other notes. Even in the drydown other woodsy things come out but still...cypress, cedar, oakmoss maybe just the slightest bit of meaty fig...very masculine.

Not for me but it is my hubby's #1 favorite BPAL for himself.

[Iceblink]

Wet: so much vetiver!

Dry: much nicer--dirty, earthy patchouli and a sweet/spicy note from the fig and cardamom. This feels like a dirty version of Gomorrah. This imp must be fairly aged since the patchouli is so dominant. I like this a lot--it's got great throw and lasts for ages, and fig is always a winner on me. Awesome!

[Coldfire]

Imp: dark earthy. Vetiver is all over this

Wet on Me: Vetiver over patchouli. Defiled by vetiver is right.

Drying Down: The patchouli is valantly trying to make an

attempt to over take the vetiver.

Dry: Finally the vetiver recedes to the background and

I’m left with the lovely patchouli and frankincense. Man vetiver does bad things to me.

[donnatron]

Imp: Rosemary, cypress and cardamom. Strong and foresty.

 

Wet: The patchouli strengthens and I get a bit of weird sweetness underneath a strong, borderline eucalyptus scent. I think it's the rosemary. It's very fresh and clean but blends oddly with the woody base.

 

Dry: Nephilim has an extremely long drydown before it's pleasant. It's tolerable after a few moments but still not pleasant. The vetiver and patchouli blend together into an amazing soft, smokiness. The fig lends a bit of sticky sweetness. The other notes are fresh and led by the rosemary and cardamom. It's a bit sharp but an interesting, evocative scent.

 

Throw: Strong.

 

Overall: I like it. Warm and woodsy with a perfect herbal bite. It morphs considerably and has an interesting and evocative drydown. It's definitely a time-and-place scent. Not something I'd want to wear where I'll be in close quarters with others and not really work appropriate but definitely good for Saturday mornings and crisp winter days.

[odalisque]

There is a lot going on in the description of this scent! I was doubtful of all the different notes working well together, but I gave it a try ... and unfortunately, I was right, ultimately I just don't think this blend works.

 

Interesting that so many other reviewers have said the vetiver was overwhelming in the wet stage. For me, wet, it was sharp, sharp, sharp (the black patchouli maybe? patchouli sometimes goes sharp on me) overlaying a jumbled confusion of other notes that didn't gel.

[lilirose]

To me the vetiver is the lead note, with a tang behind it that’s a bit spicy. Vetiver and tamarind. I’m usually a fan of vetiver but this one kind of bugs me- it’s almost foody, but not in a pleasant way..sort of like leftover curry that's been left in the refrigerator too long.

 

Verdict: Not for me.

 

[diamondstars]

This one smelt a bit menthol-y to me. It's not my type so it's off to the swap box for someone else to love.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is a strong woodsy patchouli blend --- with a hint of... fig? It's a smoky kind of blend, with a strong wood and patchouli base (it doesn't smell dirty... just like patchouli). The hint of fig lends it a bit of sweetness.

 

For the offspring of angels and humans, it's very apropos.

[jrk1857]

Oh, dear. I smell like an ashtray filled with wet menthol cigarette butts. Something here deeply disagrees with me. And, as it dries it gets more and more like cedar. No lavender, no fig, no pretty.

[asciident]

Wet: Sour musk - vetiver, I think, is ruining things.

 

First on: Same still. Yuck.

 

Dry: Unchanged.

[rayvn1]

Hyssop, my love! This is a great oil on my skin. It has the notes of win including hyssop, frankincense, vetiver and patchouli. Just snarly enough to be interesting with a deep, dark body to the smell that is sweetened just a hair by the lavender and fig. Keeper!

[ouch!]

Vetiver...yep..there you are. Big and bold and dominating. I really hope this isn't the shape of things to come because there are so many other notes I want to have a chance to shine.

 

The vetiver stays there. It does fade when the oil is dry but it's still the most dominant note. This blend smells very earthy and slightly incensey. I'm not getting any of the fig...or herbalness at all.

 

I'm not loving this blend...I was hoping for a bit more but my chemistry is messing it up. I'm not having much luck recently with chemistry..grr!

[tragedy]

Imp trial run....

 

Wet: I cant figure this one out, Its a chaos blend of scents, but at the same time something is oh so familiar. Its a powdery herbal almost alchohol smelling blend. astrigent? a little.

 

Drydown: mentholy lavender and fig... I like it, makes me want a cigarette

 

Nice chaotic smell... I like things that are hard to figure out!

[liquidtrance]

WOW!!! I didn't smell this right when it went on, so it's half dry now, but it smells like an amazing mix of wood (cypress?) and sweet fruit (fig?). The cypress is not pencil shavings at all, but seems to have backup maybe from the rosemary. It's almost like woody bubblegum scent. So different! but surprisingly nice. There's another hint of something that seems a bit herbier still... Too many notes in this blend that I don't know off hand tho to name.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Dark, dirty vetiver with just a touch of the lavender and rosemary to lift it

 

Wet on me - Still mainly dark, dirty vetiver, although with a slight green feel

 

Dry on me - The vetiver fades and the blend become softer, greener and more herby

 

Overall - Once the betiver dies down its a relatively pleasent soft herbal scent, but I can't get over the vetiver

[Ashmedai]

My first review here - yikes!

 

In the bottle and wet on my skin, it *stung* and smelled very medicinal, with hyssop and frankincense overwhelming anything else. Frankly, if I hadn't been set on actually trying the more unisex scents, I would have skipped this one right then.

 

Now I'm glad I tried it. After it dried, the oak moss, patchouli and vetiver came forward. Definitely scents I like. An hour later, lavender came out and for a quarter hour or so, it smelled kind of soapy, but then it seemed to all blend into a very nice warm, spicy, woody scent that's a little on the sweet side. Unfortunately, I didn't get any fig at all, but all in all it's a great scent. I like!

 

[Hestia]

Oh god. I died a little. Drool.

 

I just listed a load of imps and this was supposed to be in the box. I had smelled it once in the imp and couldn't bring myself to try it on, it was so medicinal. I was fairly new to the game (still am, really!) and didn't realize just how much something can morph on the skin. I am so glad I tried it! It's not getting sold now! And I think I will go double check the rest of what I dismissed on wet sniffage.

 

in the vial- sharp medicinal! wowsers, clean the sinuses. very green and herbal. Vetiver and lavender.

 

wet on skin- vetiver is amping! I love vetiver, fell in love with it years ago in Ergo's Zoysia Grass candle, and I love it, but it's a little nauseating when it amps on my skin.

 

10 minutes in- this wigged me out. It almost completely disappeared, and I thought it was already done and I was sad....

 

15-20 minutes./drydown- Yumyumyumyum. Patchouli, round fig, dry herbal spice and dusty woods. My favorite things and it works on me very well!!!! It's not super strong, but I am going to slather it on one day when I am not sitting in my pjs at 8:30. we'll see if it lasts longer.

[batsy]

In the imp: Definietly got the frankincense going on. Kind of dark and dry like smoke, too.

 

On the skin: Oh, that's rosemary. A very dry, woodsy/earthy mix. I'm sure the hyssop and oakmoss are what's making my eyes water. After the dry down it went all patchouli on me. Meh.

[Reaver]

Straight on, this is the normal vetiver-based green cloud with super strong astringent throw. Thankfully, I know my skin and vetiver and gave it two minutes. Were I new to vetiver, it would have been washed off and discounted. After this, it's still quite astringent but it's almost a medicinal calming smell. Frankincense always smells calming to me as it's usually so sweet and I have so many good associations with it, and combining it with lavender makes this a really chilled scent. It's bright and clear due to the vetiver and cypress but it's so comforting as well. I wouldn't recommend this unless you know that you get on well with a few of the notes though - this scent seems to have every big-name failure in it, save for rose.

Give this one time on skin. It's a morpher.

 

7/10 I like this and it's for times when I need a clear head without blasting myself with happy go-go scent.

[Siberia]

This goes on very strong and sharp, with a little bit of herbal bitterness. As it dries down, it gets much sweeter. I got this as a frimp with an order, and I was trying to figure out what it smelled like without looking at the notes. My guess was completely wrong, of course. On drydown, I would have guessed lemongrass or vetiver, sandalwood, and amber. Haha, not even close.

[bellevivre]

Ive got to say, this is the most interesting one i got in my first batch of Imps.

 

In the vial, it really is evocative, to me, of a dark, ancient forest, maybe where a tree has just fallen over and exposed some fresh soil- there's a depth to this I love... I didnt really think it was 'perfume-able', though...

 

ON, I adore it. somehow a spiciness comes out in it and tempers the soil scent and it smells just ancient and mythic... (hah! like its namesake!)

 

Unfortunately, its noon, and it's pretty much gone on me... I think my skin just eats scents. It goes powdery, then disappears...

 

This may be my first bottle!

[Leopard403]

This was too much like cheap incense for me to even test on my skin. Goes to the swaps pile.

[stellans]

For such a rough start, Nephilim sure has a lovely finish! When first applied, the medicinal scent nearly makes me want to wash it off but something is strangely attractive about such a non-pretty scent, and I bear with it. Possibly the hyssop is the cause of the unusual medicinal note, because I quite like frankincense normally. I was hoping for a bit more patchouli and vetivert, but the description of a 'drop' wasn't an understatement. On the drydown, a really pretty sweetness ameliorates the harshness a bit, and makes this blend very nice to wear. This must be the fig, and there is just a slight hint of the lavender promised, but I really don't smell cardamom or rosemary (a shame, that). I do like this blend very much, even if the patchouli and vetivert and the other spices aren't much in evidence, because the total blend is lovely at the finish. This is a bottle-worthy imp, I do believe! 3 of 5 stars.

Edited May 5, 2011 by stellans

[voorishsign]

I was frimped this and I'm so happy I was! This reminds me a lot of my other all-time favourite blends, Loup Garou - it's a pale, soothing woody scent, a beautiful cypress, but darkened by the vetiver, black patchouli, fig, tamarind and cardamon. The rosemary is distinct, as is the moss. Gorgeous, just gorgeous.

 

Definitely bottle-worthy, but I want to wait for the release of Neverwhere to see how bad the damage is there before daring to order it. But it's certainly on my list.

[starfish327]

 

in the imp: without a note list i know that it's ceder and lavender with a couple of other herbs thrown in for good measure and a good dash of vetiver to boot. it smells like a smoky version of an herbal blend that i used to use for my woolens. it's a good smell but it's STRONG.

 

wet: all smoky and woods- strongly cedar with vetiver and incense. not sure that i like it at this stage.

 

dried- wow am i glad i waited. this won't make it to my all time favorite list but it's really really good regardless. it's incenssy and spicey but it's sweet too. i've never tried a blend with fig but if this is the sweet note i'm going to have to track down more. the lavender is there but it didn't do the bizarre meaty thing that i've gotten from the last few blends (the last couple i tried turned to steak and flowers, very weird). this is the type of dark blend that i like.