Hemlock

[Rhowan]

This infamous herb has a long, complex history: it has been used in spells of death and destruction, was a principal component in traditional witches' flying ointments, and was the poison used to put the philosopher Socrates to death. We have created a dark, profound herbal blend to personify and honor this wicked little plant.

Hemlock starts out very over the top nose stinging Juniper! As it dries down it mellows only slightly, like a fresh cut juniper branch.

On the dry down this really morphs. I still get the nose stinging, fresh cut juniper, but in the background I almost catch just a hint of red berries which I wish I could smell more of. The more this dries down, the less I can smell the berries.

After drying down a fair amount of time this morphs yet again! The final smell? Sweet, sharp! juniper and B.O. WTF? This truly turns into serious body odor.

*le sigh* I had such high hopes.... Edited February 15, 2006 by Shollin

[AlaskaSnows]

Lemony, piney, nice and bright but slips often into body odor territory. It's interesting but doesn't work well with me.

[Miss Lynx]

First thing I noticed is that this oil is green! No, I don't mean scent-wise. I'm talking actual colour. Bright, vibrant, emerald green oil. Kind of equal parts unnerving and appealing.

 

On me, it smells very, very piney, or evergreeny in some form, anyway. And there's what seems like a slightly synthetic edge -- the scent is strong and harsh enough that it really smells more like some kind of commercial pine-scented potpourri or candles more than actual pine trees. There's also a slight undertone of that bitter astringency that a lot of BPAL's poisonous herbals seem to have, but predominantly it just smells like fake pine. It smells a little less synthetic and a little more pleasant after it settles in for a while, but never does get better than "Sort of nice, I guess."

 

I guess it's more evidence that by and large, the foresty scents I originally thought I'd like best mostly don't work that well on me. It's not an awful scent or anything, just not very exciting and not very real-smelling. Oh well.

 

Grade: B-

[Selah]

Got this as a frimp when my imps for Malestrom came and it was my wishlist so I was eager to try it. I now kinda wished I didn't. ;_;

 

In the Bottle: It smells like green or at least what I think the color green should smell like.

 

On my Skin: Take a minute to smell, I don't think I like this smell. I run down stairs and get two other people to smell my arm too, to confirm that it just isn't me. I smell like Vick's vapor rub. *cries*

[Nox Eterna]

I had such high hopes.......

 

In the imp....Chapstick, you know the original one in the black tube?

 

Wet on: Still kinda Chap-sticky with a weird spicy undertone

OK now I know the weird spicy undertone, it's, it's.....CURRY CHICKEN?????

OH hell no! Soap and water my kingdom for soap and water!

[t_for_tau]

I would love this if it wasn't for the weird note of bubblegum berries in the foreground. The background is herby and green and dark and wonderful, but those berries kill it for me.

[fiddledragon]

This is the first blend I've seen where the oil is green.

 

Scent in bottle: Herbs! Many many herbs! I know there's rosemary here, and thyme? And other things. It smells like an herb garden.

 

Scent on me:

Wet -- Fresh growing herbs...the thyme is really strong on my skin. There's also basil in here, I think.

Dry --Juniper comes out, ties the herbs up, and throws them off a cliff. All except for thyme, who's still hanging on valiently off to the side.

 

Conclusion: Poor herbs. Juniper does tend to take over my skin that way. It might make a good room scent, but I have other juniper blends that work better on me.

[jakey]

This was very herbal on me with a sharp tinge of lemon.

 

It faded away to nothingness within an hour so I couldn't evaluate it more throughly.

Edited April 16, 2006 by jakey

[yeahbutnobut]

Hemlock

 

In the imp: rosemary! Yup, freshly picked rosemary, this is the scent I get when I pick sprigs of rosemary to add to my food. I love a bit of rosemary, yum. There's also a bit of pine, and something sweet. Another oil with a fantastic green colour.

Wet on skin: still rosemary and now more pine comes through, with a bit of juniper/fir.

Dry on skin: mmm, this is interesting. It's predominantly herbs, evergreens and…sugar? Yes, the herbs and pine/fir scent has a sweet, almost candy floss like, background to it. Maybe it's a sweet floral, like lotus? It takes the edge off this fresh, green, almost medicinal scent. It may also be a fruit scent.

After a while: oh dear. After five minutes, the scent takes a turn for the worse. It now smells not just of sweet evergreen and herbs. It now has an undertone of overripe, almost rotting, fruit. No, make that rotten fruit. Like my fruit compost bin with banana peels in it. Ick. This reminds me of what The Hermit did on my skin after a while.

Over time, this rotten fruit scent has hints of apple in it, but it's mainly banana peels that are decomposing, with hints of apple peel. It's a decaying scent, but not a particularly nice one on me.

There's a moment where the evergreen scent returns, but still with that composting fruit scent which doesn't like me at all.

However, then the scent takes a turn for the better. There's now a hint of dry red wine in the fruit scent and the herbs have returned. This scent is seesawing from good to bad to good again…

Now after about 2 hours, the scent is all sharply green, evergreen and medicinal with only bare hints of fruit. Whatever next? This scent sure is indecisive.

The final drydown is pretty much where this scent started…a sweetish herbal pine scent.

Verdict: now that was one strange shapeshifter of a scent! It was the sort of scent that swung from very nice to revolting (on my skin anyway) so much that it was almost dizzying. At first it was pure rosemary. Then it was evergreen-pine-herb candy. Then it turned to rotten fruit. The rotten fruit goes from banana skins to decaying apple. Then the pine/fir/juniper returns and the rotten fruit becomes a more pleasant fermented fruit scent-that of wine, before going back to the sweet herbal evergreen scent it started out as. A very odd experience. I will not keep the imp because, with my skin chemistry, when it was good, it was very good, but when it was bad…it was horrid!!!

To sum it up in a smiley:

Edited April 19, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[GemmaCat]

Juniper and rosemary; sharp, medicinal, and even a touch acidic.

 

This has moderate throw but very little staying power. Actually, the herbal note in this reminds me of some of the TALs I've sampled, so i feel like I should be using this in ritual instead of applying it to my skin. ^^;

[janelle_hell]

To me,this scent doesn't bring to mind the suicide/poison connotations of its name...to me,it's a bright,happy,let's-party-til-sometime-tomorrow-afternoon boozy scent. In fact,on me,it smells pretty much *exactly* like green Chartreuse liquer. Which is fitting,cos it's the same bright green color. It's strong and herbal,but undercut with a vicious sweetness. i'm pretty sure i smell angelica in it,and maybe citron peel. i like this alot

[Ryvre]

First off, I love the color of this oil!

 

In the imp: Herbs and grass. It's bright and clean.

 

On me: Weeds. It reminds me of when I was little and I'd help my grandmother weed her garden.

[ladymissspyder]

I didn't get past sniffing this in the vial, since all I could smell was camphor. :/

 

ETA: I put a drop on - definitely Vick's VapoRub with a slightly spicy undertone. Sorry, but there it is.

Edited May 12, 2006 by ladymissspyder

[desu]

In the imp: Sharp and green.

 

On my skin: Superpine and nothing else.

 

Later on: Still piney.

[themerrybaker]

Hemlock starts out as conifer resin - it brings to mind shopping for Christmas trees, or camping in on pine needles. It goes through a sour, gamey, phase a little like Grandmother of Ghosts, and then has sweet berries on top of pine needles. Maybe this is the juniper part.

 

 

 

This is a very evocative scent, I get woods rather than potions. I'm just not sure it would be an everyday kind of thing for me.

[eviltemptressdq]

i'm not sure what hemlock smells like, but to me this smells like pine trees... very herbal, but kind of more towards those tree car air fresheners to me... and, well, after the movie Seven... even if I liked that smell, I am too associative and wouldn't be able to like it now. hehe.

 

*off to the swap pile*

[edenssixthday]

Hemlock is a strange little oil. The first time I wore it, it was full of green herbal goodness with a little bit of something bitter and biting. It definitely seemed “wicked” and yet somehow dark and light at the same time. So I bought a bottle someone had up for sale. And now, every time I open the bottle, I don’t smell that wicked little green herbal scent I did upon first use. Instead, I smell Simple Green – you know, the ecologically friendly household cleaner. I liked it so much the first time I wore it that I’m hoping maybe it’s a skin chemistry thing and one of these days, it’ll smell like that again on me. In the meantime, I’m thinking it might be a good idea to imp some out to people who want some, but only keep a modicum for myself because, well, if it continues to smell like Simple Green, I won’t be wearing it often (not to dis Simple Green as it is, after all, my favorite household cleanser).

[ghosttown]

The hemlock is a dangerous lady. Seriously, don't mess with her. She is deep and mysterious and can kill you if she feels like it. This is a rooty, wild scent snuffling in the dirt and prying out secrets. Beautiful green in the vial, just like her heart. This would smell good in your hair.

[Koumori]

Hemlock has snuck up on me in a very pleasant way. I started wearing it because somehow it was the only imp that ended up in my desk at work on those days when I forget to apply perfume before leaving the house, but I've come to look forward to wearing it on purpose. It seems to mesh with most types of moods and weather; except for high sweaty summer, there's no time I wouldn't think to wear it. I get a light pine-meadow scent from it, pleasant and not distracting.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Vicks Vapo Rub and ... something that makes it less Vicksy and more palatable. Similar to Belladonna, but different.

 

On the wrist, wet: Menthol and something soury sweet? Mostly just a menthol/eucalyptus smell. Very green, very sinus clearing. Much like Belladonna, but not quite as sharp or strong.

 

Drydown: That sweet note is coming up again... what *is* that??

 

Final Analysis: The sweet sour note is fascinating and elusive, but alas, too elusive. The majority of this is Vicks Vapo Rub on me. Off to the swaps. Someone who loved Belladonna and loves lemon who love this.

[mirutai]

Whoa. Very, _very_ herbal. I have no idea what particular herbs this smells like - sage? - but it's extremely green and pungent. Not unpleasant... but I don't think I actively _want_ to smell quite this much like a herb rack!

[dawna]

when you first put it on very strong, very green, very heavy scent, you can smell the deep pine and other woodsy and herbal scents in it. Its almost too much.

 

after about 20 minutes, the scent mellows and transforms into a nice earthy outdoorsy scent, which is not nearly as strong as it was when wet, you can almost imagine yourself under a beautiful tree in a very lush green park, the scent is very pleasant and beautiful.

 

This actually blended very well with my chemistry and once it mellowed is a very nice calming scent and it has lasted 4 hours and had no signs of fading anytime soon.. which is very nice.

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: a lovely, spicy fir/pine scent

 

wet: gets even warmer and spicier

 

dry: fades to become very light within 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to become a very faint fir smell.

 

Summary: I love this scent! It is one of the first woodsy scents that didn't go funny on me. Sometimes I just wanna smell like a big ole tree. This will require a little heavier application though. Hubby likes it too and I like it on hubby!

[Eunice]

This is a very green oil in color and scent. Like everyone has reviewed, Hemlock smells strongly of fir/pine but not like a tall tree. This is an earthy, low pine scent. I don't think I'd wear this as a perfume but I'd happily burn this as a room scent.

[mornatasare]

With this one, juniper and pine kick me in the nose right off. It's almost Pinesol-sharp. It warms up the instant it hits skin, though, and the earthiness definitely comes out. I love it! Sadly, within two hours on me, it became an almost imperceptible herby-skin smell with no throw at all. I think I'll keep the imp, but I doubt I'll be buying a bottle--if I slathered enough to keep the scent going for at least half of the day, I'd smell pungently of herby Pinesol.