Spider

[storme]

White ginger, artemesia, vetiver, nutmeg, King mandarin, bergamot, and lime.

In the imp: citrus! damp sharp citrus and nutmeg.

On me, wet: faint aquatic citrus with an edge of spiciness.

On me, dry: Mrm, watery citrus with a warm gingery peppery kick to it. And some soapy herbs, too.

Verdict: This doesn't quite work on my skin, alas - citrus and pepper and soap together don't make my nose happy.

[yeahbutnobut]

Spider

 

In the imp: green cut stems and sharp citrus. Lime and mandarin and bergamot with green notes.

Wet on skin: green and citrus notes.

Dry: this is a very nice, clean, fresh masculine scent. The citrus notes catch my attention first, followed by some wet green notes (Artemisia?), the sharp fresh cut scent of ginger, and warm nutmeg. This is a very pleasant scent but it does smell quite masculine, like an aftershave or man’s cologne scent, but with a natural cool wetness, like dewy leaves.

After a while: now it smells very green but still tangy and tinged with a summery cologne scent. It reminds me of ivy or crushed stems, but with crushed ginger root. Very green and rather exotic, like thick green jungle foliage, it’s warm and damp, with vetiver adding a hint of earthiness to the green notes. But it’s still very masculine to me…it reminds me of a man’s perfume I smelt elsewhere (but a good quality one…maybe it was one of L’Occitane’s men’s perfumes?), it also brings to mind the green notes of Garden Path with Chickens.

When the citrus notes fade completely, this then turns to a fresh green cologne with a woodsy, spicy undertone. The vetiver is dominant, but it’s not the heavy, dark variety, it’s a softer, slightly lemony, green-gold scent, the lighter vetiver which I prefer. It now reminds me of a CTIII scent I had which was the most ‘men’s perfume’ style BPAL I’ve encountered, but lighter and softer.

The end drydown after a few hours is a green, woodsy-herbal vetiver cologne/aftershave, with a slightly sour bite to it.

Verdict: this is one of those BPAL scents which is masculine-not unisex, but a true masculine scent. I'm certainly not man enough to wear this…but for a man's perfume, it's a very nice one. It's very green and bright, packed with sparkling citrus notes with some ginger and a very intriguing green background reminiscent of tropical plants, it is a wet yet warm scent of greenery with glints of gold. The spice notes add a little heat to this scent, and as the citrus notes fade the scent is very much a men's cologne sort of scent, with that unidentified verdant note dominating and smelling very fresh and a little woody, with a bit of vetiver. It's a little bit too sharp/sour at times and too manly for me to pull off, however, I'd love to smell this on a guy. It reminds me of a younger version of Les Anges Dechus-whilst that was more refined and sophisticated, also a little detached, this is a little more youthful and bright, and quite charming too, but still with that sleek, gentlemanly feel to it. I could imagine a handsome young man wearing this as an everyday scent, but right now I have no guy to test this on so it's been passed on to someone who'll love it more.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? No, it’s too much of a man's scent on my skin.

If you like this, try: Winter of our Discontent, Garden Path with Chickens, Les Anges Dechus, Wilde, Severin, Casanova

[pastrydeity]

On me, this is almost all fresh-cut greenery--like being in a florist's shop, but not close enough to any one kind of flower to pick up its scent--with a faint bit of citrus. I like it, though--very clean, very attractive.

[mspixieears]

This smells exactly like Philosophy’s Message In A Bottle shower gel! At least, it does upon initial application, when wet. It dries down to a fresh, aquatic unisex scent that could be seen as quite masculine too but it is very refreshing and uplifting. I’m not sure what notes I can pick out from this except perhaps the lime and mandarin but even those only softly. Maybe the unisex notes I’m detecting are the ginger and vetiver? Five minutes later I get the warmth of the nutmeg. I’m not really sure this is a fragrance I’d wear myself though I’m glad to have tested it. It’s something I’d love on my man – Spider is very sexy and suave!

[Schnax]

This one is so hard to put my finger on. It's a very fresh, light herbal scent for me. Trending toward the masculine side of unisex, but I like it anyway. A touch of citrus, perhaps a nip of ginger, but overall very difficult to describe. A lingering scent, but not overpowering. Sticks around for about 4-5 hours. I somehow thought that Spider would be bolder, but no complaints here.

[themerrybaker]

Eek!! There's a Spider in my shower.

This reminds me so much of a lathery headfull of the old Prell shampoo. A pleasant association, but I'm not sure how to relate to this Spider as a perfume.

[SeaLady]

I agree with the many verdicts of 'masculine and clean'! I think I'm going to like it very much on the Boy, and I find it very comforting to sniff at while it's on me, as well ^.^

When I really think about picking out particular smells, it's a little soapy (in a comforting way), and there's a tiny bit of lime, vetiver, and it's warmer than I thought it would be.

[aine]

I took a real gamble with this one and I worried I'd end up with something too citrussy for me to wear.

 

But I love it. I want to say it's citrus but there is 'soft spices' aspect. I want to call it clean but there is a very sexy undercurrent. I can see why others are calling it masculine but it just works so well on me.

 

In the bottle Spider seemed simple, on my skin it is anything but.

[Naamah_Darling]

Oooh . . . cologne. This is cool and citric, but not lemony. The vetiver blends with the citrus notes and the fresh lime to make this clean but forceful.

 

As it dries, I can smell the artemesia, an herbal greenness that is common to several of the Lab's absinthe blends. Very nice.

 

Overall, classically cologne-y, but light. It's not aggressive, but it's not exactly friendly, either.

[LiberAmoris]

Spider is smooth. It's like a guy who always knows the right thing to say. Sometimes he means it and sometimes he doesn't, but he always says the right thing. Trying to summarize how it smells on me is difficult. It does have a cologney feel, but the kind of cologne that you'd have to go to Europe to get. I can smell the bergamot and lime, and it does smell citrussy, but not like it's been just squeezed. The ginger adds a little spark and spice, as does the nutmeg. But it's very refined. I'm not a fan of vetiver, but here it adds a greenish spike to the blend that is sexy but again, soft-pedaled.

 

This isn't something that I wear too often, so I'll pass it on to a worthy guy and then make it a priority to give him a good sniff when he wears it.

[ceiswyn]

In the bottle: Oh, lovely. This smells of plants. Not flowers - or at least, not only flowers; all things that are green and growing. A tropical forest in the heat after rainfall. Mmm.

 

On the wrist: Still just plants. Oh, no, wait; something just hit the back of my nose and made me sneeze. That's gotta be the artemisia. This is a complicated scent; I think I've got it, and then the next breath it smells different. It's not as sharp as the bottle promised; it's mellowing as it dries. That must be the vetiver. A friend mentioned cut grass and that's in there somewhere. Oh; a momentary hint of ginger. I give up. It smells nothing like any of its actual ingredients. I worry a little that it might turn soapy.

 

One hour later: Hmm. It smells a little soapy from a distance, but close to it's the exact same complex scent as earlier, gradually mellowing with time. Though after another hour, it does seem to have started to go the way of soap.

[alhbooks]

Of all the Gaiman scents, this one sounded most like me and I'm pleased I got it...I don't get the masculine flavor noted so often above, but there's definitely a clean, energizing rush. It's complex and hard to pick out single notes on me, but it doesn't change much except to fade a bit sooner than I would like.

 

Not for seduction, but excellent for daylight and outdoors.

[Lunaratu]

First on this is clean but with a good deal of warmth from the spices and then this turns into fairly strong cologne. I keep wanting to like this and, truthfully, I think this would smell fantastic toned down with some vanilla in a lovely homemade lotion but at the moment it smells too much like aftershave on me—wonderfully sexy and appealing aftershave but aftershave nonetheless.

 

Rating: 2/5

Edited October 9, 2007 by Lunaratu

[MurderOfCrows]

In The Vial: Spicy-citrus. Very strange, that.

 

On Wet: I've been attacked by a lime. Srsly. A big, juicy lime just rolled right over me. It's a runaway lime! Ahh, I've been limed! This is why I don't wear a lot of 'green' scents or citrus. IT ATTACKS!

 

Drydown: This calms down a lot, fast, as it dries. The other notes begin to take the citrus down a notch and this becomes a lot more bearable. It might be the only citrus-y scent that didn't have it's root in orange blossom that I like. I think this might be a bottle purchase, but I can't quite nail down a distinct yes or no on that. I think it will require the boyfriend test tonight.

[n3m3sis42]

In the bottle:

Ginger and lime.

 

Wet:

Deliciously herby, but with a very sweet undertone. This dries down into something that's not really floral or herby, but a wonderful blend of the two. It definitely has a bit of an aquatic-smelling note to it.

 

Dry:

This is so gorgeous. I am going to wear it to work today and hope that it makes me feel confident and cool like Spider.

 

Edited to add:

This has totally become my new favorite scent. I can't stop wearing it! On me, it's mostly ginger and lime and it is so, so yummy.

Edited August 19, 2007 by n3m3sis42

[northatlantic]

In the bottle: Lime and vetiver in the forefront.

 

Wet: Citrus in the foreground, sharp and fresh and bright with an herbal edge from the artemisia. I can see how on some people this could go more traditionally masculine than they'd want, but with my chemistry's tendency to sweeten things it just smells like I've been peeling limes, with a whisper of something deeper and more grassy.

 

Drydown: After a couple of minutes, the ginger and nutmeg warm to life and the mandarin starts peering around the edges to sweeten. The crisp edge goes heated and sensual, an entirely different kind of bite. It's got a lot of throw on me and manages to somehow convey both crisp breeze and heated skin. Delicious.

[JennyGardener]

Spider is sexy and alive all at once. He opens your eyes with lime tickling kisses, making your mouth water for more. You can tell he's freshly showered, with that green herbal scent from the shampoo wafting from his damp hair. Then he embraces you with warm spicy manliness. You succumb as he throws you down with vetivert. And that good feeling lasts all day. All you have to do to remember this lovely encounter is sniff when he walks by. He winks, reminding you that all you have to do when the feeling fades is to take off tyour top and come back for more.

[darkblade]

Wet: Clean.. mostly.

 

Erg. Clean is turning into soapy.

 

Drydown: Still soapyish.

 

Much later: .. still vaugly soapyish.

 

Verdict: Swap pile. I get nothing but soap here.

[velvetedge]

mmm, this is a wonderfully sexy scent, just like i love a guy to smell. fresh, sexy, slightly green and sharp. i love it on my hubby (i made him try it on) but it also works nicely on me. a great great scent

[akiko]

Imp: citrusy, no spice

 

Wet: citrusy and floral? herbal, maybe?

 

Dry: Reminds me of men's aftershave, except not stinky. Still lightly citrus and a touch of that herbal-floral.

 

Which is odd... I don't know if the imp I got off the forum was a little older or newer, but when I smelled it at Will Call in November, it was a lot spicier.

 

I'm going to have to attack my SO with this one.

[ImperatrixMundi]

A classical, smooth and quite masculine cologne.

 

A lot of citrus, with an herbal edge. The ginger and especially the nutmeg are on top, giving the blend a surprisingly warm and spicy quality. Quite sweet immediately after application but after some time the citrus fades and the blend takes a more masculine turn.

 

This is on the more masculine side of unisex but I can pull it off and it is much nicer than any commercial typically masculine perfume I have smelled.

[joseybird]

Citrus and grassy with a touch of earthy spice. Very fresh, sporty, and green tea-esque. Definately unisex, and unfortunately fleeting.

[zankoku_zen]

I definitely get the cool aquatic citrus/grassy feel to it. Sporty. The grass turns a little more herbal, and I'm getting this slightly spicy note to the herb/grass. Definitely starts more unisex and ends up in masculine.

 

Spider is smooth, seductive in a very in-control, charming sort of way, masculine without being in your face aggressive. Debonair.

[alicia_stardust]

Spider is ginger and lime at first, with an air of cologne behind it. It's the perfect scent for this character because it comes across as both charismatic and mysterious, with an edge of darkness from the vetiver. The bergamot rounds and brightens this and sort of boosts the lime a bit. This blend is so sexy and alive and sneaky! It's perfect.

[gchris]

In Vial: Wonderful, smooth, mellow and clean.

 

Wet: This is a little masculine. I cannot believe it has vetiver in it, I hate vetiver, but this smells so good. Not very sweet, which is fine with me.

 

Dry: The light scent of a sexy man. This is really good!