The Twisted Oak Tree

[angelicruin]

Blackened, rotted oak wood blanketed in moss and choked by a cloak of grasping ivy.

In the bottle, I can definitely smell the rotted oak & moss.

Wet on the skin, more of the same, but as it dried it developed a light smoky scent and the ivy & moss notes began to amp. As someone else said, the smell definitely makes me start thinking about Autumn and Halloween.

[rayvn1]

<sigh> I'm getting a little worried since the last three imps I've tried that I assumed I'd love just haven't worked on me. I really, really wanted the rotting wood from this. Very strange, because while the other reviews talk about a piercing, green scent - all I get is warm, brown generic fragrance. It smells like two essential oils I used to have several years ago called "Angel Heart" and "Ivy". Drat! C'mon wood! Work with meeeeeee!

 

I'm not sure what notes are in Angel Heart perfume since my old essential oil was supposed to be a smell-alike of a commercial product, but I think I'm getting some ivy and something else that gives it the warm, brown feel. Amber? Hard to say.

[delicate_fangs]

OMG this and my skin chemistry combine to form something of truly legendary scariness. Waah.

 

Um, yeah, rotted oak... and cleaning products. It may have a gorgeous drydown, but I am never going to last that long.

 

 

Well, gotta be adventurous and try stuff, right?

[zankoku_zen]

Oh man, I liked this much better on wet. On wet, it was woodsy and ivy and this must have some sort of amber or patchouli, because on the drydown it goes very powdery. Like Johnson's baby talcum.

 

Yup. Baby powder.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Rich sweet wood, moss, and ivy. It has a strong herbal edge and an unexpected richness to it. Wet: It smells wet and loamy under all that green. I can see the ivy and moss covered tree this is trying to evoke. I’m now sorry I don’t have a bottle of this because its stunning. Dry: It’s quite the morpher, the wet loamy smell turning to dry wood powder like one often finds on a rotting log. It vaguely like sandalwood, only with a richer, greener edge left by the plants. I’m loving this.

[ouch!]

Firstly, Thank you to AutumnBriars for allowing me to smell this, I've wanted to smell all the Haunted House collection but just haven't gotten around to it!!

 

When it's wet this is gorgeous, this oil is nothing like I expected, AND it's nicer than I expected in the different way than I expected haha.

 

The wet stage smells like greenery, I can smell the moss and a very very sweet wood. It's sweet and green adn beautiful. I was expecting a dark burtn wood but there's none of that here. This is pretty rather than Halloweenie.

 

While the wet stage was yumsville, the dry stage is different, it turns much more floral and sweet and is not so much my cup of tea. My flatmate said those dreaded words "Granny perfume". Eeek!

I have no idea what this is but it's more perfumey. As it's drying a very soft side comes out and then it goes a bit more sharp on my skin.

 

I wish the wet stage would stay a bit longer. It takes about 5 minutes to turn into this different scent.

The throw is very good though, I wouls say it's about medium.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

The notes in this one are everything that I love: woods, smoke, greenery...yum! So I really expected to love this one, but I just don't get it...any of it. No wood, no smoke, no ivy, just subtle slightly glowing perfume a la waaay toned down 51. Kinda powdery, and a bit reminiscent of clean smelling and refreshing shower products.

 

My boyfriend has a great nose for BPALz so I consulted him for a second opinion. I didn't tell him what the name was and then asked him to identify themes, notes, or what have you. His take - honeysuckle, florals, and melon. I've never had this happen to me before. I guess, unfortunately, everybody has to have wonky skin chemistry happen to them sooner or later...

 

[stellans]

Being that today's pick didn't agree with me at all, I turned to my Top Ten box for a pick: Twisted Oak Tree is what I'm wearing instead, and I noticed that I hadn't yet written a review for it even though it's been a couple of years since release! How could I be such a slack, especially for a blend I've named to my Top Ten???

 

My BPAL database notes: strange but lovely aquatic (not overly woody) note on skin; the wood and green notes are wonderful in this blend, despite the description sounding icky. In the locket, there’s a bit of char smell but not unpleasantly so. And def. NO rot! I wonder how this will age?

 

Well, to answer myself: it ages marvelously well! This is just an amazing blend of odors which from the description (Blackened, rotted oak wood blanketed in moss and choked by a cloak of grasping ivy) do not sound too nice, do they? Except when one know the Lab, as those of use who love BPAL do, one know that descriptions aren't always quite what they seem. This is a tricksy blend, which seems one thing but then turns into yet another. There's the aquatic note, but it's not of the sea nor rain nor other fresh water; there's the wood, but it's not your dry wood, oh no. It's the wet wood you smell in the forest, the fallen wood on the ground. I honestly do not get ivy from this blend, nor anything green at all. If ivy is indeed in this, it's dead ivy, withering away.

 

This blend is marvelous, and I wear it quite frequently, especially when something I'm trying for the day doesn't work out. Today (3/20/09) was such a day, and wearing Twisted Oak Tree made it a lucky day for me indeed.

Edited April 19, 2011 by stellans

[tragedy]

Chemistry gone wrong!!!

 

I wanted this to smell like the descript. Was happy to recieve the bottle bought from a forumite in the mail today, given an hour to dry down, its still horribly cheap perfumey on me.

 

Jealous of everyone it worked on!!!

[tinyvulture]

Oh man, I can tell just from sniffing this in the imp that I’m going to love it! It’s strong and it screams AUTUMN! I get the sweet autumn leaves note from Samhainophobia, mixed with moist earth and damp moss notes. I normally don’t care for moss, but it really fits here. There’s also the green ivy and the lovely oak, which may be rotting, but it is still so warm and almost has a nuttiness to it. This reminds me of rainy Octobers and the way the outdoors smell after an afternoon storm. So much to love about this scent! It’s so awesome and I really hope it returns this Halloween.

[Schmoozy]

 

I always thought I would love this one. Oak, ivy and moss. There are some great notes inside. However, this just doesn't translate well on my skin at all. I think it has to do with the ivy and rotted oak. Combined together they produce this really dirty/moldy wet scent that really rubs me the wrong way.

 

 

[Invidiana]

This an eerily gorgeous wood fragrance. The first time I put it on I was so intrigued my nose was basically glued to my wrist. I don't know how Beth does it but it seems that every fragrance she concocts truly evokes its name. Then again, I might just be one of those freaks of nature whose body chemistry goes with just about everything But seriously, smelling this really put me on the front lawn of a ramshackle house at the witching hour on Halloween, right next to a knobbly oak tree overgrown with lichens and vines. Bewitching! It also lasts for hours and has a great throw.

Edited October 11, 2009 by Invidiana

[jamethiel]

In the bottle: Mmmm. Oak and something sharp and green.

 

Wet: PINE. Pine pine pine. Not what I expected, but okay...

 

After five minutes: GACK. Musk.

 

After 10 minutes: ahahaha. This isn't a perfume, it's a pitched battle on my skin. Pine and musk are sitting in opposite corners of the room making obscene gestures at each other.

 

After half an hour: This is a battle to the death.

 

This perfume is so wrong on me it's almost amusing. Now I'm off to have a shower.

[mxtine]

The Twisted Oak Tree is a scent that I love to smell but I could never wear. At first, I can close my eyes and think of a forest with trees covered in moss and ivy. Then it starts to get a weird perfumey floral smell that I can't tolerate. What happened?

[Juushika]

In the vial: Pale woods with a hint of greenery.

 

On me: The greenery amps when it hits the skin—not a fresh green, but not quite rotten or choking either; it's living, thriving, ancient plants—and during drydown, this reminds me of Oblivion sans saffron: old, living greenery, calm but powerful, not quite oppressive but occasionally threatening. Post-drydown, moss comes to the forefront with an almost fuzzy texture and sweater-like warmth. This ends up as a warm, soft, barely powdery and even less sweet scent of mossy golden wood which is lovely on the whole—but there are still hints of something bitter and threatening on the edges, which taints the scent but brings it closer to its inspiration. Scent color is a luminescent olive green. Throw is moderate low.

 

Verdict: For better or worse I get nothing black or rotting here, but that doesn't mean that The Twisted Oak Tree completely abandons its dark inspiration. I wonder if it should, though. The moss-heavy, golden woods final stage of this blend is often gorgeous and comforting while maintaining adhering to its wild, organic origins, but the bitterness that haunts the edges never quite settles out and, frankly, it's disconcerting. An interesting scent, and one I'm glad to have tried; I'll test it again to see if my opinions change, but for now I think this errs just on the wrong side of unwearable. Certainly an intriguing blend, though.

[jenpo]

Halloweenie 2012 Description

Blackened, rotted oak wood blanketed in moss and choked by a cloak of grasping ivy.

[Soniadevi]

2012 version: This smells very sharp and sweet greenery at first, but then I eventually get the scorched tree scent, and the suffocating ivy is like a damp cloak. It is very dark green herbal. There's something very familiar about this, though not a perfumey smell at all in my opinion, I wouldn't wear it to smell nice (because I'm pretty sure noone would think I smelled nice wearing this!) but it has a definite vibe to it! Beth really is a genius, because she takes this story about an oak tree, and tells it through scent. I want to go and meditate on the blackened oak tree now, it's making me feel inspired. That's what I love about these scents: they make me fantasize!

[zankoku_zen]

This 2012 version is still baby powder, but more aquatic... which means more ivy. But yes, ivy, baby powder and a hint of wood.

[blackbirdpie]

This is the closest thing I've smelled to Carlin, which I love. Same non-pine non-flowery greenness. Old growth forest.

[Caper]

This is beautiful.

 

I was concerned it might be too rotten to be wearable but it is amazingly light and lovely. There is a hint of oak moon, but instead of being strongly woody it has a greener, lighter finish. I feel like they are two sides of the same scent and this one is a damp morning and Oak Moon is a dark moonlit night.

 

This is a bottle for me for sure.

[KakashiMorph]

In the bottle: Mmmmm, oak. So, so green. :love:

On my skin: It takes a sharp note, with the ivy becoming more dominant and grasping the oak wood. I can smell a bit of the rot in the wood as well, but strangely enough, I like that scent. It is very earthy and makes me want to walk in the woods. A few minutes later the ivy mellows down a bit so that I can take a peek at the moss as well. Soon enough, it changes to something sweeter that reminds me of the berries of Ondurdis (which is similar to how the Oak Tree dried on me).

Drydown: It changes again after half an hour or so, to something that reminds me of this apple/cinnamon winter spice room spray I had once. It is very similar to it's drydown with No.93 Engine on me, actually (and I think Samhain 2011, it's been a while since I wore it).

[milo]

Pretty straight forward oak, but with the greenery of the ivy. It may be just me, but I"m getting a bit of an aquatic vibe here. This is a bit strong and masculine for me, but certainly nice to try. It may be worth layering with something sweeter, like the new tonka note, to make it more feminine.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Moss, oak, and ivy.

 

Wet: Sharp woody green notes!

 

The dry-down: Very much a sharp oak note, but somewhere between fresh summer and the beginning of autumn. There's much moss growing amongst its roots, and the trunk itself is wrapped about with much ivy.

[mymymai]

ITI: Green and acrid! The moss is pleasant once I get over the bitterly sharp, rotting scent, which must be the ivy and rotting oak. Hmm, I'm not sure if I want to wear this out today.

 

Wet: It's less acrid and acerbic on my skin - more green from the moss and earthiness from the rotting oak.

 

Dry: It's powdery when dried. There is still something that reads as oak and perhaps just a little moss, although it's an impression at best.

[arlith]

Egad! What was I thinking?

 

Ok, so I was thinking that wood scents generally are nice on me. And rotted stuff turns pleasant. Somehow I thought they would offset the moss/ivy.

 

I was wrong. Very, very, very wrong.

 

I amp mossy stuff. This is cloying, and super mossy/green. Not good.

 

And like most things I amp...I can't get it to wash off. The smell is so strong, its like I spilled an entire bottle on myself, not put on two drops from a decant.

 

help me!