R.M. Renfield

[Ah Xia]

R. M, Renfield, age 59. Sanguine temperament, great physical strength, morbidly excitable, periods of gloom, ending in some fixed idea which I cannot make out. I presume that the sanguine temperament itself and the disturbing influence end in a mentally-accomplished finish, a possibly dangerous man, probably dangerous if unselfish. In selfish men caution is as secure an armour for their foes as for themselves. What I think of on this point is, when self is the fixed point the centripetal force is balanced with the centrifugal. When duty, a cause, etc., is the fixed point, the latter force is paramount, and only accident or a series of accidents can balance it.

Unhinged: moss, cumin, patchouli, Balsam of Peru, and neroli.

First review, here goes!

In the bottle, it smells almost sour and mossy. The cumin is quite noticeable. It's very different from the other BPAL I've tried.

Wet, it's very mossy and the patchouli starts to come out. It smells very masculine on me, like damp moss growing on the sides of a cellar, quite mysterious, especially with cumin as an unusual note. The sweetness of neroli starts to come out a bit and mingles with the other notes. It's definitely not a floral blend at all though. It does smell unhinged. Amazing! Patchouli lovers will like this, it's not mixed with much sweetness like a lot of other BPAL blends.

I'll wait and see what the drydown is like -- not sure I want to keep this one, but it is so very different, and I'm glad for the experience.

ETA: There's defnitely a dark undercurrent ( of madness? muhahaha!) to this blend, and now that it's drying it smells more "cologne"-y on me. It almost smells like some vetiver is in this, even though I know there isn't, making it smell a bit similar to Azathoth without the blast of nose wrinkling vetiver. Rich, mysterious, strange and secretive. As it dries completely, there is a lovely sort of slight sweetness to it, probably from the neroli. I can't stop sniffing my arm. Ultimately I'm not sure I would wear this but I'm sure it's perfect for someone out there...

[forspecial_plate]

Renfield is a weird one, that's for sure! He's spicy and very dry...spicy and mossy, and I would say leans toward masculine or maybe gender neutral...I do think some of the girls would like this.

 

I have worn it 3 times and got 3 different impressions/associations from it. It's kind of a twitchy or active scent, if that makes any sense at all. I did get a little of the neroli, which added just a little bit of sweetness. Not at all like Count Dracula which is kind of poised and brooding. Nope, Renfield is true to his character...unpredictable and...cagey, maybe? Could I be more vague? The second time I put on too much and got a harsh, almost chemical smell that reminded me of Scarecrow. That time I could definitely smell the cumin, which I like but can also be kind of too much for a body scent. Well, tonight I put on just a teensy bit..like 3 little dabs from the cap...and this time, the throw is kind of metallic. It keeps reminding me of blood....like real human blood, believe it or not. It's still spicy and mossy, but I think now I'm getting the overall scent in more of a blended-together way than I did before. Very unique and somehow works really well on me. I actually wore it to work.

 

I'm really glad I took a chance on this scent. Challenging and rewarding!

[blackfelicula]

In the bottle: I smell neroli paired with deep earthiness.

 

Wet: This is the olfactory equivalent of a screaming head. The neroli is incisive. The other scents give it a dark undertone.

 

Drying down: I think this may be too sharp for my tastes, at least so far. It is threatening to be soapy. The other notes are not very distinguishable except as a pedestal for the neroli.

 

Dry: Interesting, my huband thought it was a light and pleasant scent. Woah. I just took another sniff. The neroli is now quiet and a complex tapestry of notes is weaving its way to my nose. Damn. It is like it had a psychotic episode on my wrists, just to turn around and play nice.

 

Later: There was at least one more “psychotic episode” where the neroli came out and got in my face. This one likes to morph around quite a bit. It settled into a rough-and-tumble men’s cologne to my nose, but my husband thought it was more a husky feminine scent. This is true to its eponymous character.

Edited November 7, 2006 by blackfelicula

[euterpe414]

Wow. This is an amazing scent. Amazing in that when I sniffed it in the bottle, I got a strong visual impression of madness, decay and insanity. It really IS unhinged, I know that sounds strange, but, yeah, this is an odd, mental scent! I also got a strong impression of old old buildings, mold, moss and other plants crawling everywhere. Hehe, this scent is very appropriate for my neighborhood, where the building across the street from me is from the 1500s- lots of old maddening energy and decay.

 

Once it hits my skin and sits there for a while, the neroli comes out and sweetens up the cumin and patchouli (and other things ) I totally agree with people saying it is twitchy. This morphs quite frequently between a cumin-y scent and a more neroli dominated scent- almost like a more masculine Masquerade.

 

I really like this scent, although it is not one I would wear if I was the least bit nervous or anxious that day, since I think this scent would only exacerbate that. Very well done, very evocative!

Edited October 27, 2006 by euterpe414

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this is mossy with an almost salty sharpness, and very woodsy. I love scents that smell kind of swampy (yay Bayou & Whippoorwill), and this falls into that category for me. It's colder and not as floral as Bayou, and not as crisp or watery smelling as Whippoorwill.

 

On me... moss and dry, spicy woods. Renfield very much makes me think of playing in the woods in the fall, when everything is dryer, climbing on moss-laden rocks and weaving through barren trees. I get hints of a very light citrus in the drydown. The patchouli isn't strong for me, but is a grounding element in the background.

 

Renfield hasn't been getting much love, but this is a new favorite for me. I love blends that remind me of the forest settings that I grew up in... and the moss notes here are wonderful. I'd love this on a guy, and will be wearing it myself when I want to be transported back to the forest in fall

[eflort]

It really does smell like insanity in a bottle to me!

 

It's scattered scent, without a coherant thought, and a kind of panicked sweat smell comes out after I put it on. I'm not the best at picking out individual notes, but I do catch the moss. There's a spice that must be the cumin, but it doesn't smell like the spice in my kitchen

 

It's highly evocative, but probably isn't something I'll need to wear everyday.

[UploadedLobster]

Renfield is, indeed, batshit nuts.

 

At first this was a masculine mossy blend, a little neroli sharpness mixed in, and then two minutes later it turns to frickin' TUBEROSE? What the hell now.

 

Where's my cumin? Where's my balsam? And where's the damn patchouli?

 

I'm really disappointed. I had high hopes for it as a nice dark, earthy scent, and I especially wanted that cumin note. Nothin'. I don't know where this rose thing is coming from, maybe it's what happens when you combine neroli and moss or something, but it's unmistakably rose now. Fake, girly, froofy rose. Bath-salt rose. And it's not going away.

 

I hate it.

 

EDIT: the next morning, it's morphed into this hideous stale powder rose that makes me smell like an old lady who smokes and it still hasn't gone away MY GOD RENFIELD WHY MUST YOU SUCK SO BAD

 

Lobster Rating

Better than: a fork in yer eye

Edited October 29, 2006 by Uploaded Lobster

[nineveh]

I was expecting a lot of earthy elements from this scent, but instead it's dry wood, salt, and some spice. Kind of like a spicy Jolly Roger or a more subtle Anne Bonny. On me, it's pretty sweet and wearable; it smells like an herbal/woody men's light cologne.

 

As it dries, the cumin fades, leaving a very soft, natural scent that's still reminding me of the ocean without smelling like it.

 

It's not love at first sniff for me, but I like it. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to let this one grow on me, as it keeps making me want to sneeze when I sniff it.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

impsniff: black pepper and vetiver

 

skinsniff, wet: mouldy wood and smoke

 

skinsniff dry: flea-repelling chemical solution and that wierd smell that HEPA filters leave behind, with tinges of burned rubber.

[maijasu]

This smells dark and swamplike somehow. Must be the moss. It's an interesting interpretation, but not something I want to smell like.

[supremegoddessofall]

Neroli still doesn't like me, but that's not the dominant note here. The patchouli has an old and dusty feel to it, and I think mostly I'm getting the moss and the balsam. I could see this being an insane asylum. The cumin is adding a touch of spice to it, but overall I think this really isn't me.

[sarada]

I almost put Renfield in my first order because I'm insane for patchouli, pretty sure I like balsam of Peru, and often enjoy moss and neroli. I like cumin in cooking but thought it might give this too much of a savory/cooking kind of smell, since it's a bit of a strong, sharp scent that is good in a curry but not necessarily on its own.

 

In the bottle Renfield is strongly mossy, very much like Zombi or Burial without the rose/floral notes. I've smelled the lab's oakmoss and Spanish moss single notes and it does smell like them. It quickly loses this sharpness as it dries.

 

After it's been on for awhile the warmth of balsam and earthiness of patchouli come through. The sharp moss burns off and the cumin has become pleasantly dry and herbal. Neroli? I can't tell it's there...perhaps it lends to the sharpness of the moss.

 

That damp, almost sour mossy greenery gives way to the really beautiful part of this blend, earthy, still green and slightly sweet, just a touch of dry herbal spice. I think it's better on my skin than it would be in the locket, because my skin gives it a chance to let all that sharpness soften. I think it would give me a headache in a locket. But I think this might be the green mossy scent I've always wanted...Burial, Zombi and Omen all stayed too sharp and mossy but this morphs beautifully.

[Alchemy21599]

I received an decant of this from my lovely decantrix.

 

In the vial: spicy, mossy and decidedly manly. Hooray for unhinged laboratory assistants, muhahaha!

 

Wet: Very complex. The patchouli and moss are wonderful together.

 

Dry: I love this scent. I think it is too masculine for me to wear out of the house, but I will keep my imp for sniffing purposes...and in my fantasy world I will use it to enable Eric Szmanda

[PilotKitten]

Patchouli and something sweet. A hint of a herbally brown/green scent wafts in the background as well, but I'd be damned to know what it is. Very faint on me.

[Inanna9]

dude. I get straight-up bug spray from this. At first I thought it was just from the associations I have with Renfield, but no...it's a cross between old-school Off Mosquito Repellant and a slightly softer version of that stuff you spray at wasps. I'm not kidding. However, by the looks of everyone else's reviews, it appears to be my chemistry playing what it thinks is a clever joke on me. Bug spray. Very funny, me.

[yeahbutnobut]

RM Renfield

 

In the imp: mossy cumin. I can really smell the cumin here, and it contrasts with the green, wet moss.

Wet on skin: spiced moss! Very unusual indeed. There’s a very faint hint of neroli.

Dry: this is a very unusual scent indeed. The dominant note is moss-this isn’t the soft, powdery-green scent of oak moss that I like, this is damp, green, wet and marshy moss, this is like Spanish moss, very much like the one in Bayou. It really dominates the scent, and over it is a bitter, spicy, savoury cumin note.

After a while: still very mossy. The cumin just adds dry heat to the moss, but it’s an overpowering green wet moss scent, it smells humid and muggy but also piercing and a little bit crazy. I can’t smell the other notes. It stays like mossy cumin until the end, it doesn’t change much. Very swampy.

Verdict: when it comes to moss, I like the subtle drydown that oak moss provides, but I think my skin seems to amp Spanish moss these days. I think that’s the moss in here, because that’s pretty much all I smell-damp, wet, green swamp moss. A really ‘agitated’, edgy moss note made gritty by cumin. I suppose that could be considered unhinged. But it’s just all powerful, all consuming green moss on my skin. I don’t smell the neroli or patchouli much, and I have no idea what balsam of Peru smells like so I can’t say if I smell that. I’m not too keen on moss being amped up to that level and I think this scent may be a lot better on a man, so I think I won’t keep this.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Probably not.

If you like this, try: Bayou, Dracul, Zombi

Edited November 7, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[edenssixthday]

R.M. Renfield - This is dark, musty and very masculine. I use cumin in my cooking a lot and always think it smells like B.O. (I love the taste, not the smell!) Unfortunately, I recognized the cumin in this right away. It definitely gives this blend a bit of B.O. scent. The moss is the other dominant note – very wet and slimy. The patchouli makes the scent woody and husky. Overall, it’s a very manly scent that I think would be phenomenal on a guy if it weren’t for that weird cumin-B.O. scent that it has to my nose. I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass this one on. The sillage is quite strong as is the staying power.

[mornatasare]

YESSSSSSSS.

 

I love cumin, patchouli is my friend, and moss and I get along nicely. Yet Renfield makes them all blend in this mad, mad way that is positively delightful. I was quite tempted by him, but my skin seemed to eat the smell by two hours into my day. Ah fleeting madness.

[Caltha]

R. M. Renfield

Renfield is an odd one. I was curious, but afraid of the pear. And yes, it's there to give an odd, watery, fruity, schampoo-ish quality to the scent. Other than that it's spicy and warm and sweet and quite musty. Musty enough for rotten or mouldy pears, I'm afraid. And a bit soapy. It's not as bad as it sounds, I'm more indifferent to it.

[Athenae]

Balsam, balsam, balsam on me. No cumin, no neroli, no patchouli, just the balsam of a middle-aged man's aftershave, and it doesn't change, it just gets lighter.

 

I'll have to sneak some of this onto my husband, as the wintery blends (this reminds me of Talvikuu) are heaven on him and soap on me.

 

A.

[azhure]

In the vial: I definitely get the mossy scent. It's quite unusual.

 

Wet: This is quite a green scent on me initially - I can't pick out individual notes at this stage.

 

Drydown: I could swear there was some musk in this - maybe it's the balsalm? It sweetens on me as it dries, and becomes something quite lovely - almost a hint of possible salvation for our bug-eating lunatic? I like it.

[Charlee]

In the Bottle: Dark and dry, patchouli and a little cumin.

 

Wet on skin: Mmmm patchouli and the cumin's getting a bit louder

 

Drydown: the CUMIN is SHRIEKING and POKING me in the eye and has become acrid pit funk.

 

Charlee <-- devastated

[jewelbug]

Imp: Really masculine woodsy/cologne. I'm hesitant to try this on me, but I know it'd be sexy on a man.

 

Wet: The top-note here is citrus/grassy (moss?), under that is woods, and even deeper under that is a musty/dusty scent.

Drying: I hate to say it, but while this is drying, this reminds me of the bleach wipes I use in my kitchen (neroli?). So together, what I smell is best described as bleach wipes, men's cologne and mustiness. It's actually a fitting combination of scents for the asylum life of the character, but I'm not particularly fond of it.

Late Dry: The bleach wipe smell goes away about 1-1:30 hrs in. After that, it's an earthy, sweet, woodsy smell, and I'd classify it as gender neutral. I was hoping to be able to pick out cumin, but I can't. Actually, it is quite reminiscent of Greed, which I guess isn't a huge surprise as they share some notes. This is still going 9 hrs later--faded to a sexy woodsy smell, and still shares qualities with Greed.

 

Overall: I think it fitting that this reminds me of Greed, reflecting Renfield's ravenous obsession. Its like Greed plus must, which seems a perfect portrait, kudos to Beth. I quite enjoy the later dry phase of this. But my skin chemistry did something all sorts of wonky in the beginning. I tried this on hubby, but its not his usual speed. So while it was fun to try and imagine the stories, this one I’m content just keeping an imp of for when I want to venture into the asylum.

Edited November 25, 2006 by jewelbug

[slave1]

R.M. RENFIELD

 

In Bottle: Sharp sour incense

 

On Skin: This scent packs a whallop! It is very in your face, it is very sour and earthy. The scent is dark and also quite sharp. I get the exotic neroli and the very earthy moss. I get a slightly aquatic feel from the moss too, like that dirty water scent in Zombi. The cumin is that sharp spicy almost metallic fee which adds to the sourness and the patchouli is light but smoky and adds to the earthy feel. I don’t really small the Balsam unless Balsam of Peru is really sour because I can’t pinpoint that note... it’s sour like rose but I don’t see rose listed as a note. All in all this scent is much too sour and sharp for me, it made my eyes water like crazy. It has a very strong throw and long wearlength.

[ariansdreams]

R.M. Renfield

 

First Sniff: When I opened the cap of my decant and sniffed this, I literally said, “Wow,” out loud. Even before I put it on…perfect. Absolutely batshit insane and perfect. It smells like a crazy bug-eating dude.

 

Wet on skin: Sour green neroli. I am having a very strong reaction to this scent. It reminds me of being in a position where you are very tired, but you can’t sleep because you are sitting or lying in a very uncomfortable position. You almost fall asleep, but then you jerk awake because a muscle group cramps. I can’t find myself in this scent. I feel confused and distracted.

 

Dry: This really mellows out on my skin over time. I tend to make everything smell sweet and dusty, and Renfield is no exception. The end result is something warm and green-smelling. I get a whiff of bug-spray, but it isn't unpleasant. I don’t think I’ll keep my decant…the scent is a little too masculine for me, and the trip to drydown is a little frantic. I am very impressed, though. Beth suceeded in bottling Renfield...thank you.