Burial

[sissa125]

The Dark Side of Earth: deep, brooding forest scents, including juniper and patchouli. The scent of upturned cemetery loam mingling with floral offerings to the dead.

Burial: sharp rich dirt. sharp pine. turpentine floral. Then turpentine fades leaving warm floral ointment. Less serious than black opal, but that's not saying much. Where black opal was no-nonsense, this is gentler, more experienced and less resistant.

It smells like the first bit of T S Eliot's The Wasteland:
April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

Someone called it a strong crone-type scent. I would agree with that.

This is an unusual smell, and I like the smoky patchouli and menthol base note; unfortunately the pine is irritating my nose and making me cranky.

Wont keep it. Edited September 12, 2007 by quantum spice

[Meg]

In the bottle: Extremely powerful eucalyptus/turpentine kind of smell.

 

Wet: Very violent eucalyptus and/or camphor, very acidic and aggressive.

 

Drydown: This smells like a very acidic berry, most certainly the juniper. There is a background of... grit or soil, somewhere, but the most dominant note is the acid of a really tart fruit. It's very unpleasant. There's some pine to it, somewhere.

 

Overall: Very one-dimensional, and not all that earthy, in my book. As much as I adore scents like Graveyard Dirt and Zombi, as much I dislike this one, which is really too acidic and sharp for me.

[amrita]

Wet, I smell spruce or pine, and something dark and astringent. I smell earth. This is dark-- a strange, nondescript darkness, which just kind of disappears and fades off my skin...

This is strange...not really my thing...

[feline.by.design]

Burial was a generous gift from the Lab. From my notes, Burial began as the "high smell of earth." The earth was mingled with herbal fragrances. It wasn't anywhere near as dark as I had imagined Burial would be. I had thought to myself, "Hmm... fragrant way to die, this."

 

The earthier, heavier notes begin to take over after a few minutes on my skin. It's a nice patchouli fragrance that's gentle on my skin, not quite as striking as Death or Capricorn. I suppose I'll hold onto my imp, or I might give it for the boy to try.

 

-doreen

[Rewth]

starts out very piney, with a subtle "dirt" undertone, but the pine fades into a simple dark green. The whole thing smells like a gardeners shed. Which isn't actually a bad thing. for some reason it reminds me of a scene from lady chatterly's lover. --evil grin-- However it doesn't last very long on me. Two hours later you can barely tell i put anything on, which surprised me considering how potent it started out.

[merivelle]

I LOVE this scent! It was a frimp and I just ordered a big bottle. It starts out as a patchouli, then mellows in to an oak moss scent, and ends with vetivert. On me it lasted all day, but everyone has a different chemistry. It has 3 scent elements that I love. I'm one of those unusual freaks who likes vetivert. So, I'd recommend this scent to others who also like its components.

[storme]

In the bottle: sharp, floral, musky.

 

On me, wet: sharp earthy citrus. smells faintly medicinal - is there eucalyptus in this? there's something piney/minty to my nose, anyway. It smells a bit like a patio that's been thoroughly scrubbed with bleach, and not like a perfume at all.

 

On me, dry: Oh, that's a little better - the bleach aspect of the scent fades down, and now my wrists just smell of pine air freshener. Not much earthiness, frankly, except the earthiness of crushed pine needles. It fades pretty fast, actually - which might be just as well.

 

Verdict: The dark side of earth is clearly the side that comes around and scrubs your floors when you're not looking. Too much pine for me, too acidic and sharp and astringent.

[GemmaCat]

Sweet soil and crushed flowers, like funeral flowers that had been stamped into the wet ground.

 

This is one of the few florals I can wear without inducing migraines.

[t_for_tau]

Wonderful vetiver and oakmoss when it goes on, and then it becomes THE ROSE OF DEATH. DEATH. The kind of rose that wafted around the office and terrorised my coworkers. And then it faded down to a pleasant sandalwood and rose. If I can just evade the KILLER ROSE OF DEATH then it will be a success.

[draconix]

In the bottle: Very foresty and earthy. Not just one smell though, it's a mixture... it smells a little like how my grandpa's garden did when he'd plant something. Freshly dug earth.

 

On my skin: Wet, it's sharp and foresty. Like... like a stack of newly chopped wood after a night sitting out in a summer storm. And there's something slightly Vic's VapoRub in the background. Dry, my first impulse is to say that Beth grabbed a jar of Vic's, went outside and dug up a bit of earth and liquified it in a blender. It starts getting distinctly more piney after a bit. There's something in the back of my mind that I can almost remember when I smell this... a lot of the oils have been making me remember something. It's nice... but what is it? Gah. I don't know. It's a woody scent though... but mixed with something distinctly unwoody. It gets much softer after a few mintues. I wish I could figure out what it is that this reminds me of... I feel like it has something to do with my family.

 

Ha. I just figured it out. It smells vaguely like Off! bug spray. It reminds me of camping and going on hikes with my family.

 

 

Final Thoughts: I like it, but does smell like bug spray... only when I get close though. I may keep it and test it out again sometime, but I'm not sure.

[fiddlehead]

This one has such a lot of Juniper in it that it numbed my nose and made it hard to smell the other notes. I can smell a bit of dirt and a very vague rose-like scent but I have to really concentrate through the Juniper. I almost think there might be Eucalyptus in it as well because it has that same cooling effect.

 

I'm thinking that as it ages the evergreen note might calm down a bit. In the meantime, I believe I prefer Omen as my forest-y scent and Zombi for my dirt and roses scent

[gwyllgi]

This is definitely an earthy scent, overlaid with juniper. I don't get the smell of dirt per se out of this, but rather of the forest floor under fallen leaves, autumn bleeding in to winter. It's a pleasant earthy scent, not overwhelming - sharpened by juniper, anchored by patchouli.

 

I tend to not like earthy scents, so this is a welcome change. It's not something for every day; the complexity needs to be saved for special occasions, I think, rather than worn into habit. As such, it's not something that I think I'll be getting a large bottle of, but I'll certainly be keeping my imp.

[Astburygrrl]

In the imp: Very peppery dirt-like..extreme sinus clearing! heh

 

On the skin: About the same..dirt & pepper (must be the patchouli)..a faint whisper of florals

 

Afterhours: a soft musky dirt..definitely lost its bite and is quite soothing to me nose! By golly, i think i likes it!

[Elrianra]

Evergreens, juniper and spruce... a dash of birch I think even... in the bottle it's all shaded forest scents; a bed of old needles and pine cones underfoot with moss and dirt. Bitter and rotten-sweet at once in the bottle, it remains the same on my skin, mossy and lichens. As it dries, it turns piney again, and eventually winds up smelling like a discarded but still green Christmas tree. Not exactly what I want to smell like and I don't really know how to describe it better. I found it a bit to sharp and bitter and, well, dusty for my tastes. Alas, I'm not a juniper.

Edited May 22, 2006 by Elri

[yeahbutnobut]

Burial

 

In the imp: sweetish juniper! It’s almost like pine in here…

Wet on skin: now I can smell the patchouli, dark and earthy under the piercing juniper.

Dry: mmm…now this is starting to remind me of something very familiar. Yes, that’s right-it smells like Lush Tramp! It’s that same foresty patchouli, but with sharp, bright juniper, so it’s not totally identical to Tramp, but very close. And I’m quite a fan of Tramp, so I really like this…even though it’s a little bit more masculine.

After a while: rose??? Yes, now I’m smelling rose here! That’s not a bad thing at all since I love rose, but I wasn’t expecting any in here. It’s rose and earthy, dusty patchouli. This scent now smells like dry earth (not wet soil-this is crumbly, dusty dirt) scattered over dried rose petals.

Verdict: at first, of all the BPAL scents rumoured to smell like Tramp, this is the closest. It’s not identical, this scent is actually a more masculine, piercing, almost medicinal version of Tramp, it’s not as dark and doesn’t have the moss, but the earthy patchouli and forest scent is very close. But then it changes and an unexpected rose note pops up, and it smells like an old funeral bouquet of roses, dry and dead, on top of dry, dusty earth. Very evocative. I do like this scent, not enough for a bottle, but I will keep the imp.

Emoticon rating:

[elfmaiden]

I put this on this morning before I went to work not really remembering what the smell was.

 

HA HA.

 

From the imp: Smelled earthy with a sharp note, people have mentioned eucalyptus and that is exactly what I get too.

 

Wet: It's still about the same as from the imp

 

Dry: The Eucalyptus smell is really strong but it's mellowed out with a bit of patchouli in there. On me its smelling very herbal and strongly woodsy. It's not a scent I'll probably wear on my skin again for work, but it's my first earthy scent and I like it over all!

 

Rating:

 

Jenn

[Eunice]

Oh yeah!! Juniper and lovely lovely patchouli! I don't get any floral at all but I'm hoping it shows up later. Ohh! And it does! Rose shows up after another 5 minutes. Another perfect scent from the Lab!! Burial is a keeper!

[batsy]

In the vial: dirt, with a hint of sweetness.

 

On the skin: Yup, if ever there was a way to bottle dirt, Burial would be it. Reminds me kind of of when fresh barkdust is spread around the yard. Very summery, like dirt hit with a freak rainstorm. Manly. I like it.

[edenssixthday]

Burial - My first impression is that this oil is chock full of camphor, and I simply can’t stand it. I’m certain I’m going to have to wash it off, but I decide to just go about my business and try to ignore it and see if it improves at all, although my hopes aren’t high. Fortunately, it sticks fairly close to my skin. However, after about 40-45 minutes, I suddenly notice the most sultry, dry, woody fragrance coming from my skin, and I realize the camphor is gone and the most incredibly gorgeous patchouli has replaced it. Now I don’t normally like patchouli, and I even more rarely describe it as “sultry” or “gorgeous,” but in this blend, it’s positively phenomenal. I don’t smell any of the dirt/earth or floral notes that other reviewers have noted in this blend. In fact, it smells slightly herbal to me, like a Voodoo blend, and is in fact very similar to Van Van’s opening notes (Van Van is also my favorite of the Voodoo blends). Burial is such an incredibly gorgeous and exotic scent that I can’t stop sniffing my skin, and although the name is “Burial,” I’m not reminded in the least of death or graveyards; rather, I’m whisked away in my imagination to the Middle East, and imagine this to be the scent of a smokey-eyed, husky-voiced, belly-dancer at an oasis camp in the desert. This patchouli is so incredibly gorgeous that I’m actually going to put up with the first 40 or so minutes of foul-smelling camphor (or whatever the heck it is) in order to smell like the dry-down all day long. The lasting power is as phenomenal as the dry-down scent is gorgeous.

[dragonryder]

In the bottle, patchouli. Worn, patchouli. The patchouli is just to strong for me.

[akw]

In the bottle, lovely powerful scent that I wouldn't wear as everyday perfume, but would absolutely wear to an outdoor ritual in late Fall. Strong juniper and possibly other conifer, patchouli, and more that I can't pinpoint.

 

Wet on skin -- Juniper too strong. Husband says "pine sol."

 

Dry, after 10 minutes -- oh no, that rose that smells like sharp laundry detergent on me. After 15 minutes, the rose calms down, but still too sharp and soapy.

 

After 30 minutes, faint dusty rose, not as sharp but still a little soapy. Softer rose and patchouli coming through again.

 

Ten minutes later, just sharp soap over some background, faint floral.

 

I will keep the imp though and use it as a winter room scent. The blend is lovely -- it just doesn't work with my skin.

[Rouge]

I’m always amazed at how brilliantly scents are replicated by the Lab. Burial really does smell of earth; heavy, warm and dusty.

 

In the bottle – The oil smells rich but also dry, with only a very faint undertone of sweetness. There’s a slightly sharp note from the juniper, very reminiscent indeed of the smell of freshly-turned earth.

 

Wet on the skin – Dusty is the word I would use; it’s still a dry scent though less harsh than in the bottle.

 

Dry down – After an hour or so, the scent mellows and develops into a rounded blanket of scent. To me it isn't particularly complex; I can’t smell the florals that other people have mentioned.

 

Burial is not something I would necessarily wear on its own, but I think that like De Sade, it would make a good base on which to layer other scents.

[theblackcloud]

Burial

Dark Elements

Strong, dark and deep my mind is taken to the forest, where tall aged pine trees block out the sun. Leaves are overturned on the ground, letting bits of earth open and grasping for air. I feel like moving the leaves and putting my hands in the ground to feel the wet, heavy soil as my fingers get covered in earth.

 

I asked hubby what he thought; D thinks it smells like pine, dried wood and roses.

 

Sadly I will not be getting a bottle of this, as it makes my head spin, just a tiny bit.

 

Once again, a big thank you to emzebel for including this in my newbie imp packs!

Edited July 23, 2006 by theblackcloud

[giltwist]

Burial:

 

In the bottle:

 

The sharp and unyielding scent of a coniferous forest closing in around you. You can feel their harsh needles tearing at my flesh as you stumble half-blinded by their relentless assault.

 

As it dries:

 

The primordial and nightmarish forest open into a clearing, the bowyer of some woodland spirit, no doubt. The relief at first is so great that you do not notice the dryad whispering soft and sensuous promises into your ear. The voice of the woods calls you into her sweet embrace. For a year and a day you mingle with the love of the land, needles once biting are now feather soft fingers that caress you in passing. You think, perhaps, that such bliss will never end.

 

Once dried:

 

You are aroused by the call of an owl in the distance. A tranquil moonlight lake beckons, and you go to wash away the dirt of your journey. You are left wondering, like Bottom in a Midsummer Night's dream, if the fading scent of your fleeting faerie lover is nothing more than your imagination. Yet, you yearn for that passionate dance once more.

 

As a water-based body spray:

 

Skip all the romance and go right to the afterglow. There is none of the intoxication, but there is still a cool and refreshing scent that wipes away the heat and sweat of the day. A love letter from the waiting woman in the woods.

 

Overall Impression:

 

In the bottle, and even in the first few moments on your skin, this blend is harsh and unpleasant, heavy with the scent of evergreen mixed with teatree. However, once the initial shock wears off, you truly can enjoy the mystical pleasures of the earth. At the end of the day, you still have a cool, though unidentifiable, scent that clings to you.

[forspecial_plate]

At first, I liked this. I wore it more than once and remember liking it a lot. Sharp and woody, moist and green smelling.

 

Then I started to develop a dislike of juniper. Don't like it in Black Forest. Can't stand it in Golden Priapus. As far as I can tell, juniper is the common note that my skin dislikes. Pine could be part of the problem, but I really think it's the juniper.

 

Edit, about a year later.....now I have found some blends w/juniper that I do like. I think my aversion to that note was just a phase. I still don't want to try Golden Priapus again. But I did try Burial again, and I quite like it. Something about the sharpness of it reminds me a bit of Djinn, but Burial is a cooler scent (not fiery like Djinn).

Edited July 27, 2007 by Forspecial Plate