Shanghai Tunnel

[Emma2403]

In the decant: woody pine... mmm, me likes it!!!

 

On my skin: loads of pine, with some sharp wood and... yeah, I know it's weird, but it smells like wet stones too. The pine is not killing everything else, like it often does, and it doesn't remind me any kind of WC cleaner either... Lord, I really like this one, so far.

 

After a while: it doesn't morph so much anymore. I'd call it an aquatic pine. It's very pretty.

 

Verdict: my fave C13 blend!

[purplemoonshoes]

Beth is brilliant- this smells like a deep, spooky tunnel! I get dirt, wood, and stone, with just a little bit of aquatic mixed in. It's mostly dirt and water on my skin, but it's beautiful. A unique scent, good for daytime or halloween wear. Wish it had better throw though.

 

ADDED Dec. 20:

 

A strange scent I can't put my finger on- sharp, slightly aquatic, and light. Definitely invokes a dank tunnel. At first it's very light, then my skin amps it like crazy. There's a stone quality to it, of all things. Certainly didn't expect to smell that in a perfume. Tickles my nose a little.

[Tesseljoan]

Another from the International sniff circle by Ahania.

 

This is a soft green to my nose, with dampness and earth thrown in. Unfortunately, my skin chemistry does weird things with it *shakes fist at skin* and it morphs into something generic and sharp. But that first wet phase is indeed lovely.

[greymatter]

Most aquatics hate my ever-lovin' guts. This is the amazing, wonderful, glorious exception. DAMMIT. *sigh* Why do I love the hard to find ones?

 

ETA: Muahahahaha! I has a bottle a-comin'!

Edited November 3, 2007 by greymatter

[Mixxi]

Wow I expected to not like this at all but it's actually quite nice. I hate 'green' scents and aquatics and this definately fits into both but it works on me and smells very evocative of a dark, deep, magical, stone tunnel. It's a light scent but also has quite a lot of through. Even though this does work on me I'm not too sad that I won't be able to wear it again as it's still not a scent I'd often reach for.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Woody, green, and mossy.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells… damp. There’s mossy wood, pine, and a bit of cedar as well. There’s something fruity underneath as well, but I can’t identify it.

 

After a few minutes: There’s something in this that reminds me of strong BO. The pine and cedar are still dominating, but that icky scent is underneath. This is very strong though and seems to have quite a throw.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent is dominated by wood notes, but it’s more complex than that. It’s damp, dark, and filled with cedar, pine, and moss. There’s nothing sweet about this, and in my opinion it’s more on the masculine side. The name is perfect for this scent, but it’s just not for me.

[iriedanym]

I received Shanghai Tunnel in a recent swap, and was a little leery to try it because the first smell I got was of salt and dirt. The dirt smell reminded me a little of Penny Dreadful, which was a hit or miss with me. I gathered up my courage and dabbed some oil on.

 

Within a few minutes the dirt smell faded and it became a combination of wood and flowers. There is still a slight salty smell, but it's not overpowering. It's a lovely scent, and thankfully not too masculine.

[hologhost]

I decided to let this age a bit before reviewing.

 

In the bottle: herbal and green

 

On me: this is very blended. It's hard to pick out notes. Green, sweet, spicy. There's a fleeting hint of orange candy. (Okay - I know that makes no sense, but I smell it.) More like a bright, moss covered bridge than a nasty dank tunnel. Salty. I'd call this masculine, although I wear those scents too.

[girlygirl]

Pirate ship. Salt air, ocean, weathered teak.

 

You know that scene in POTC3 when the ship is sailing as the snow begins falling? That's what I smell. If I close my eyes, I see Capt Jack.

[Lethran]

In bottle: flowers in wets stone work, mud and sweet, green decay.. Sharp and more than a little vicious. Wet: I’m in love folks. Read the above, now imagine it made deeper and richer on my skin. This scent is visceral, compelling. I want so much more, but this imp is so precious, I must ration it tightly, since I may likely never have another or smell it’s like again. I could bath in this, and I’m not a floral fan. Dry: tea, wood, and earth. Maybe light spice and musk, though that could be the interaction with my natural scent. I would like to add, “Squee!” I got this in a swap with another rare, and I feel insanely lucky.

[zankoku_zen]

Hmm, I think this has sage, vetiver, and maybe a hint of patchouli. I get the dank tunnel, and rocks sort of smell, and yes, it does seem dark. Which is why I think it's got vetiver and patchouli. I definitely get the patchouli whiffs. In a way, it reminds me to Wolfsbane, minus the menthol.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Very dark and menacing, with a lighter splash of stormy-air-ozone-sea-spray in the afterscent.

 

Wearing: Cold and dark and wet. There’s a bit of wood, a bit of moss, a bit of stone, but overwhelmingly it’s just cold and dark and wet and not somewhere I want to be.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Fruity, but subdued. There's a familiar note in this that I can't identify, something a little flat.

 

Wet: A bit smoky, or woody. Might be something like the "burnt sandalwood" note in a few things I've tested recently. Still the tang of fruit, but there's a dominant note I can't place at all.

 

Twenty minutes: I get gentle white flowers, I'm not sure what kind (not honeysuckle, magnolia, gardenia, or jasmine though). Also dirt, or something like maybe evergreens? It kind of reminds me of the gentler aspects of Burial. There's also something spicy about it. I didn't expect to like this one much, but I rather do.

 

One hour: Still gentle white flowers and some other note. There's also something that seems like a light aquatic.

 

Two hours: That's interesting, this has soured a bit like red sandalwood. Still the remnants of florals, but I'm not sure what else I'm getting. It's still kind of interesting, but probably not worth my keeping since it's such a rare. I'm sure there must be people out there who really want this one.

 

Five hours: Now it smells like men's cologne. I think that soured note might be oakmoss? There's also a hint of citrus and other herbal notes.

 

This one sure was a puzzler.

 

[asciident]

Wet: Mmm, it smells like rain and citrus.

 

First on: Musky rain, like someone's skin has been rained on. Mossy stones, a citrus note in the air.

 

Dry: Unchanged dry.

[rayvn1]

Light citrus and ozone. And when I say light, I mean light. Barely anything there on my skin but a breath of scent. Glad I got to try it!!

[totheo]

Coriander. Or, more accurately, coriander inside a cold Thai rice paper roll. Um, yum?

 

Then it backs off into a very light woodsy/green smell.

[patina]

This reminds me of Shanghai only lighter. There's definately tea here, some oakmoss, kelp, sandalwood, probably honeysuckle, possibly citrus...

 

It's hard to know what to think of this one. May be good for summer, but it's a little too sharp.

[HelenHighwater]

This has morphed a some over time. It used to be one I liked in the bottle but hated on my skin, especially as it dried. Now, it morphs a bit less- and I still don't love the dried phase- but I would call it a lot more wearable than it used to be. It still gets sharper as it gets more and more dry. It starts out dark and smooth, then *bam*- something goes awry. Yes, it's better than it was. No, it still isn't something I'll reach for much. I'm not sure if it's a moss that does that, or what- I suspect it could be any of a number of notes I don't do real well with like darker musks. I don't get the stone note from this one, but it is evocative, which is cool in and of itself. And it does have an awesome label!

[strahlend]

I LOVE this blend. It's the one that makes the light go on in my heart and I think to myself that *this* is the scent I've been looking for. It's the perfect blend of earth and water. I'm getting a distinct water scent with what I think is oakmoss, I would think a little pine.... it's useless.... this is an amazingly complex blend where all the notes interact so beautifully that it's like an olfactory symphony. This scent is right where other similar scents have gone wrong. Simply put, amazing. And now I'm stuck with a passion for a scent that's hard to find.

[filigree_shadow]

I got a bottle of this at Convergence but it didn't suit me. The bottle is long gone, but I kept some of the oil in a little vial. Mostly for nostalgia. That Convergence weekend was a nice vacation.

 

I haven't opened the vial in a loooong time because I remember thinking that this smelled like wet rocks and that's not really my style. Going through my imp box, I figured I should probably send this off to someone who will wear it, rather than sitting there doing nothing, and I thought I'd write a review before waving bye-bye.

 

In the vial, it smells like cologne.

While wet, it smells like seaweed. Kelp. Mossy and dark.

While drying, it starts to smell a little more like a forest. Woods, mulch, dampness, sort of like that mossy rock by a patch of ferns in a shady spot in the forest.

When it's dry it smells... fruity? Sweet. Still mossy and a bit aquatic, but I swear it smells like some sort of fruit too. I don't remember this phase when I tried it before. This is my favorite part of the scent.

[biocarolyn]

Sadly not for me. I hoped for aquatic pine and stone, and my skin must be amping whatever reads to people as mildew. Because it smells like mildew on my arm. Interesting, but er....no.

[KittyHawk]

Oh, this is so good in the bottle and so bad on my skin. :sob:

 

In the bottle, it's beautifully complex: cold, wet, mossy rocks with a hint of floral (maybe?) off in the rafters somewhere. There's a definite aquatic vibe to it; it's androgynous too - it seems perfect for a blustery, rainy November day when your pant legs are perpetually soaked from inadvertently stepping in puddles. It's not my kind of scent at all, but it's so true-to-life that I'm enamored with it anyway.

 

Even wet, I get this amazing stone note, with the water and moss clinging to it. And then I see it, lurking in the shadows. I turn and run toward a busy street, but it apprehends me and punches me in the gut, sending me flying into a wall. Vetiver, my arch-nemesis.

 

And that's all, folks. The vetiver takes over and paints the town black.

 

I'll keep this for a couple weeks and try it again, as I did apply this straight out of the mail and it may need some time to settle.