Hastur

[euterpe414]

It wasn't a dark and stormy night.

It should have been, but that's the weather for you. For every mad scientist who's had a convienient thunderstorm just on the night his Great Work is finished and lying on the slab, there have been dozens who've sat around aimlessly under the peaceful stars while Igor racks up the overtime.

But don't let the fog (with rain later, temperatures dropping to around forty-five degrees) give anyone a false sense of security. Just because it's a mild night doesn't mean that dark forces aren't abroad. They're abroad all the time. They're everywhere.

They always are. That's the whole point.

Two of them lurked in a ruined graveyard. Two shadowy figures, one hunched and squat, the other lean and menacing, both of them Olympic-grade lurkers. If Bruce Springsteen had ever recorded "Born to Lurk," these two would have been on the album cover. They had been lurking in the fog for over an hour now, but they had been pacing themselves and could lurk for the rest of the night if necessary, with still enough sullen menace left for a final burst of lurking around dawn.

Finally, after another twenty minutes, one of them said: "Bugger this for a lark. He should have been here hours ago."

The speaker's name was Hastur. He was a Duke of Hell.

Smoky-sour labdanum, black patchouli, wet tobacco, and brimstone.

Wow, I looove this one. At first it starts out very very similar to the Forbidding Foyer on my skin- smoky patchouli, wood and brimstone (no cognac, though). As it dries, the tobacco really comes to the forefront and combines with the labdanum to make a sweet resinous blend with a dark, shadowy background. I do think this is a great 'dark and lurking' kind of scent, because it does not have a lot of throw, but rather sticks very close to the skin (yet it is not faint or weak in any way). It lasts for a few hours at least on my skin, and as it fades I am left with a sweet tobacco. Wonderful scent, and definitely one that should make tobacco lovers very, very happy.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle this is a dead-ringer for pulcinella & teresina minus the rose...

 

once applied extremely smoky & the blackest of patchouli...this blend is most definitely

not for the faint of heart; like the reviewer before me, the tobacco is fantabulous in this

blend...beth's darker blends are always a hit for me & this is no exception

[alicia_stardust]

HASTUR

 

This is very dark and heavy with an almost medicinal quality to it. It is actually very, very nice! It has a dark, sticky resin quality that is weighted by a light, sweet smoke and the barest hint of tobacco. The brimstone serves as the base and it is recognizable yet doesn't dominate the scent. The labdanum seems to be the most noticeable part of this blend and as a whole it has a strong throw and a long wear-length. It is a perfect Hastur scent.

[Blood onmy hands]

I seem to amp up tobacco notes like mad, and Hastur has the sort of tobacco that I hate in it - gritty, dirty, slightly smoky. It doesn't really smell sweet on my skin at all, though it does have an almost caramelized stickiness to it. It's almost as though it wants to be a sweet tobacco, but it's overtaken by a smokier something on my skin. All I can smell is the tobacco at first.

 

I love black patchouli when it's paired with something sweeter (such as fruity notes or caramelized notes), because it has such a dark, leather-esque scent on my skin that I need something to soften its edges. The dark and smoky tobacco plus dark and dirty patchouli is too much for me to pull off, lol. This strikes me as smelling very masculine, but it's too harsh to my nose, so I wouldn't want it on my boy either. People who can stomach tobacco better than I would probably like this one.

[edenssixthday]

Hastur – Yet another of the Good Omens blends that just doesn’t work so well on me. This is one of the oddest scents I’ve probably ever encountered. I can’t tell if it’s sweet or sour, heavy or light, damp or dry. The patchouli and labdanum are the strongest notes on me, although the tobacco lends a huskiness to the overall quality of the blend and the brimstone gives it a somewhat sulfuric and smoky quality. This isn’t really my cup of tea, but it’s sure an interesting scent! The staying power and level of throw are both slightly above average.

[Aevalin]

Holy smokey Batman!

 

I definitely get Labdanum from this puppy, not much patch or tobacco - maybe a hint of a cherrish pipe tobacco I guess. And woo - brimstone!! I got this for the hubby because he likes BPALs with brimstone or smoke it seems, I think this will be mighty sexy on him if it dries down on him like it does on me.

[slave1]

HASTUR

 

In Bottle: Smokey resin

 

On Skin: This one scared me from the description, but luckily it doesn’t hate me. Labdanum seems to love me so it helped save the scent on me, nice sticky sweet resin. It’s a very, very dark blend, one of the darkest around. Dark, smoky, dry… a cloud left from incense. Slightly more masculine. The tobacco is wet… in a way… I get a very slight aquatic note hiding in the background. It’s a nice scent, and I’d love to smell it on a man… it’s just not for me. It has a medium throw and long wearlength.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

sniffed from the imp: holy hellfire and brimstone, batman!

beyond that... ever opened a very old bottle of cheap perfume? (i'm talkin' 30+ years at least) and if there was any fragrance left, it is just a thick resiny-syrup at the bottom of the bottle?... those always smell the same to me, and it isn't good. in addition to the brimstone, i get that old-evaporated-perfume-bottle smell.

on skin: same as when wet, only the brimstone has burned itself out and now i just get the old-perfume smell.

[The_Merf]

Thank you sookster for helping me complete the scent association my brain was trying to make: this does smell very much like Pulcinella and Teresina, almost straight sweet labdanum. I don't get any of the brimstone or patchouli at all--it's really straight up labdanum in the wet stage. It really doesn't morph much on me, and just fades away to something powdery.

[tdiym]

I totally love this. One of my favorite RL fragrances is the smell of a pine forest after it rains. Slightly cold, slightly sour and woody. This, on me, is that smell in a bottle. The first time I tried it from an imp, I knew I would order a bottle - or 2 or 3! It's total love, my favorite of everything I have tried and the best of my loves. For me, this is complete, absolute total perfection.

 

ADDED June 23:

 

My favorite.

My favorite smell in nature is a pine forest after it rains. It has a deep, sour kind of woody smell that I absolutely love.

Hastur, to me, is this fragrance in a bottle. It was instant love the moment I tried it.

What surprises me is that practically every time I wear it, I get compliments on it. I thought it was so deep and strange that it would really be a niche thing, but the reaction from other people really surprised me.

The minute I smelled this, it was my favorite one.

[voodoocatwoman]

No, I don't believe that I like this one. Itis giving me a headache.

 

In the imp: Hastur is silky and sinister- I smell tobacco and then I get a whiff of the dreaded HAMSTER CAGE.

 

Wet: My wrist is buzzing- first sharpness, then a powdery quality, then back to sharp and stompy.

 

Dry: Oh, no no no. It reminds me of the inside of a closet or a trunk that has been closed up. It's sweet and sharp and is playing knick knack on my skull. Someone else might be able to pull this scent off well. It's kung fu fighting on me. HiYAH. Must remove tout suite.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Slightly sour and sweet dark, gritty resin.

 

Immediately on skin: The first thing that strikes me is that this is very smooth smelling. The mixture smells sweet and resinous, but there’s also a sour smoky feel to it. The patchouli really grounds this scent, and the tobacco is a little sweet. This manages to be resinous, earthy, and smoky at the same time and it’s well balanced.

 

After a few minutes: The patchouli has come out a bit more and this is more smoky and earthy rather than resinous now. The smokiness has taken on a darker, more sinister quality and the sweetness in this has toned down a lot.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent is definitely on the masculine or unisex side. It’s heavy on the labdanum and patchouli, and it has a rich, dark depth to it. The smokiness to this one smells almost sinister, which is pretty impressive. This isn’t for me, but it’s a very interesting scent to sniff.

[Lycanthrope]

I reviewed Ligur first. In reality, I tried Hastur first whilst decanting. The thing that struck me was how very dark this oil is. So dark. A glob of it sat in the pipette, taunting me, going 'yanno. you want to. do it.'

 

Wet on my skin, this is remarkably sexy. Dark. Smooth. It's musky, but not in a fiery red musk, or in the way that blends incorporating several kinds of musk are. This is a cool, deep musk that is rounded out by the sweetness of labdanum, resinous, brings to mind very well polished black onyx.

 

Whereas Ligur really takes a more twiggy, wood note, Hastur approaches 'dark and broody' from a resinous standpoint. He's sticky, just sweet enough to be wicked, but without the smoke and brimstone usually associated with demons.

 

I'd call Hastur one of the best, more masculine but still very wearable sexy scents, one that commercial men's perfume only wished it could be, in its most wildest dreams.

 

Try this if you like Iago but not Iago's vetiver, or if you like Beth's musky scents (like Fenris Wolf, Loviatar, Crowley) but without too much fire or red musk.

[mazikeen]

Hastur is wonderfully mean and delightfully nasty. This smells black, brown & dark icky gray. I'm a fan.

 

It's very smoky. That smoke scent really lingers. Or rather, lurks.

 

I think it's very wearable, but best at night. It's barely work-appropriate (if it even is at all), but that's okay with me-- I hardly expected a Duke of Hell to play nice with others. All this darkness and smoke may give the impression that its too strong or strange, but fear not. Dark, yes; scary or off-putting, no.

 

I'm glad I have a bottle. Hastur is now my official "smoky" scent.

 

 

Added later--

I suspect that what I called "smoky" is more accurately described as "resinous." It's just a hunch, as my scent vocabulary is a bit limited, I'm afraid.

Edited August 12, 2008 by mazikeen

[tartchef]

(Generous frimp from clover )

 

I put off trying Hastur for ages, for some reason thinking it was a heavy vetiver scent Now I'm trying it, I'm a bit peeved at myself for waiting so long. Much less oppressive than I'd expected, Ligur's a faintly perfumed haze of sassafrass-y labadnum, with just enough smoke & bitterness to keep it interesting. A bit masculine, but not man-fume by any stretch. Traces of cedar waft in & out, and the overall feel is shadowy & close... like hiding in the dark corner of an attic, in amongst the cedar chests. There's a thick layer of incense dust over everything, and scorch marks on the wooden floor. Someone's been calling demons - not hideously evil demons, but dry-witted demons who will quietly talk you in circles until you unwittingly damn yourself...

[forspecial_plate]

From the description and other reviews (especially tartchef's, since I sometimes feel that she's a scent twin!), I thought for sure I would like this, but not so. Hastur really, really didn't work for me at all. I found it very dark, oppressive and cloying, not in a sweet way but in a chemical way. It reminds me of some kind of harsh chemical cleaner......or something familiar, that I just couldn't pinpoint....but not good, either way. Usually I do like dark scents, but not in this case. I left it on for a long time, too, thinking it couldn't stay that horrible for the whole time, but it really didn't change at all. Just not a scent for me, I guess! Maybe I'll have better luck with Ligur.

[zankoku_zen]

This is dark, lurking, and someone utterly miserable in the rain. This smells like a wet wool sweater on me, with someone desperately clutching their cigarette and muttering to themselves.

 

Like I said, dark, lurking and miserable.

[rayvn1]

Hastur was a real morpher for me. While wet and in the early dry stages I got a thick, black oppressive scent with lots of patchouli and a bit of the brimstone. Once it dried completely though it shifted to a light gray, gritty, wet tobacco stage. Slightly mossy and almost medicinal. I think it might be the labdanum because it is really smoky and a wee bit sour. Sort of Shadwell's evil cousin on me. Come to think of it this is what I was hoping to get out of Famine since I love tobacco. I'm not sure I need a bottle but I'll be holding onto the imp!

 

Edit because description wasn't needed.

Edited November 16, 2008 by rayvn1

[crebbsgirl]

This was pretty cologney on me during the wet stages. As it dried, the tobacco became predominant, and there is a smoky tinge to it. This is a little dry for my tastes, but a nice blend nonetheless. I get what others are saying about a medicinal feel, but this only applies to the wet stages for me.

[patina]

I got an aged imp of this- wow, I wasn't expecting it to be so sweet. Something's lovely and reiseny: Labdanum!

 

I don't actually smell the brimstone most of the time (though there are a couple worrisome moments when it peeks out and smells of burnt hair in a beauty shop). Most of the time the other elements keep it in line and I only get a faint taste in the back of my throat when I breathe in deeply.

 

Tobacco often smells like a public restroom on me. It happened in Tabella and in The Antikythera Mechanism. Not here, though.

 

I don't get "miserable and lurking" but I do get chill autumn and winter, dead leaves, and huddling around a gas heater. Not a summer perfume at all.

 

I don't think I'll get a bottle, but keeping the decant sounds good right now.

[MamaMoth]

In the imp, this is a little scary. Heavy and scorched and fairly masculine/cologney. It lightens up considerably when it touches my skin, though. Faintly sour and bitterish, but in an interesting and compelling way. Dark and smoky, with a bit of a spicy-resin quality. It seems so heavy and thick at first, but my skin just eats it up until it has very little throw. It's not nearly as demony as I would have expected. Hastur is sexy and dangerous... a beautiful arsonist.

 

I wish it lasted a bit longer. After an hour or so, it's just a vague smoky trace on my skin. :\

 

[norskette]

null

Edited November 1, 2011 by norskette

[annemathematics]

hastur really broke my heart. I ordered this, excited by the subject and the notes, expecting to get a rich strong scent with a good throw that would last and last.

instead I received a pale oil that smells of...nothing! just emptiness! no patch, no labdanum, no brimstone, no tobacco. the bottle smells like there is no perfume in it at all. I even tucked it away for a good two months, hoping a bit of time would bring smells to the surface. but there's nothing in the bottle or on my skin or on the skin of my housemate, who joked that we can't smell it because we ourselves smell of demons.

I think it would be thoroughly appropriate to use the term DAMN here for this one, yes?

 

update: [i could have sworn that I already updated this?? but oh well here goes again]

 

about a year later, I took this bottle out again as I prepared to add it to my sales pile. low and behold...the perfume had finally blossomed! I could smell it! it's actually now a beloved scent, very easy to wear: smokey damp resins. lab and patch mostly brought in from the rain and left to dry by the fire until just slightly sticky, still a little runny. it's much lighter than ligur. the more reasonable demon, if you will.

Edited July 2, 2018 by annemathematics

[Monster]

When first applied, Hastur is all patchouli and the same labdanum I associate with The Medicine Show. It has a smoky, antique resin thing going on. As it dries the labdanum just keeps amping. 10 minutes later a gorgeous khus note appears. This scent isn't wet and smoky but more dry and papery to my nose. It's the smell of old wallpaper in a decaying darkroom. My grandfather was a photographer and this is the exact scent of his darkroom years after he stopped developing photos.

 

Not the impression I was expecting but still nonetheless gorgeous. I'll be using all of my imp for sure.

[nathanielhebert]

I have to admit, Hastur doesn't match my preconceptions, but is a scent that's growing on me the more I slather in it. Kudos to BPAL for not pulling any punches with this one—I'm sure there must have been the temptation to sweeten it up along the way, but this is a scent for people who like their coffee black.

 

Hastur is really dry, and the labdanum present is sour—not in a citrusy way, but more in a sticky-resinous fashion. Once Hastur gets heated up on the skin, I find the sour resin and tobacco pairing sweetens up a tad, and the scent really carries in the air. It smells like something Lush wishes it put out in its heyday, but upon closer inspection, the sour note paired with the patchouli is a really close ringer for their deodorant I've been using for years, Aromaco!

 

Hastur is how I imagine BtVS's, vampire rebel, Spike, might smell like. Posturing in the dark of the cemetery, wearing his leather trenchcoat, chain smoking cigarettes with his nicotine stained fingers. An adjective has come up often in this thread to describe Hasture, but it's true, this is the scent for lurking, or as Spike might say, "I'm not lurking. I'm standing about. It's a whole different vibe!" This is a smell, not for the "big bad", but for the "bad ass"—the rebel without a cause, wrestling with inner (and outer!) demons while looking so cool.

Edited April 17, 2015 by nathanielhebert