Zombi

[sleepflower]

Dried roses, rose leaf, Spanish moss, oakmoss and deep brown earth.

I got this as an extra imp with my last order. I am glad, too--I had been teetering on whether or not I want it.

In the bottle I smelled nothing but freshly cut grass, and a tiny bit of sweetness.

Wet, it was nothing but grass. Perfect complement for our rainy days--that kind of dark grassy, earthy smell.

After drying and some time passing, I smell the roses. Still a lot of earthy, grassy smell, but I definitely smell the dead roses now.

I would not consider this a favourite scent, but I do not dislike it. We get so much rain here, I am sure the imp will be used up very quickly.

[rhiannonsanchez]

Wow. This scent is just like a graveyard. It smells sad and haunting. Its a little too much for me though. Not something I can ever wear. Its like Nosferatu to me, not as cloying though.

[WillowWoman]

The description hits all my buttons. The smell in the bottle was a strong zap to my nose. A sharp, pungent overload. If I forced myself I could identify the different notes. It smelled like sharp, sharp earth.

 

On the skin- and this may be because I was wearing snake oil this morning- it turned to pure salt. Which was... strange.

 

I'll add more when I try it fresh on the skin.

 

Edited to add:

 

Tried it on again, and sure enough... salt. It's so strange, because I adore the smell of fresh earth and I have SUCH a dried rose fetish. You should see my apartment. However, on my skin, it just goes to pure saltiness. It gives a whole new meaning to Salt of the Earth, I suppose, but on my skin, it's just a very unpleasant experience. It makes me very scared to try Death Cap.

 

I'll edit again once I try it as a room scent.

 

Final edit!

 

Tried it as a room scent tonight.

 

Oh dear lord, my room smells musty and damp and crumbly and cold and pensive and just like a plot of earth at night. It's amazing. Oh, man, so my Zombi imp has found it's right and proper place in my life. Mmm. I might have to get a 5ml of this when I make my next order, just for the room scent! Oh, this is great!

 

I guess my skin chemistry does something super strange to one of the notes here, but I don't smell anything salty in the air. It smells like weeds, pulled out of the ground and left in a big pile, with dead roses thrown in. It really is great, exactly what I hoped it would be on my skin.

Edited January 26, 2008 by WillowWoman

[Czarina]

In the imp this smells strongly of freshly mown grass.

Wet: grass.

Drydown: now I am smelling the dried rose petals. It is a faint, dusty scent. Mostly it smells like straw.

 

Below-average throw and wearlength.

[iiinterstate]

I SO wanted to like Zombi. I love the scent of dried roses and earth individually, and one would think that the combination would only make it better.

 

In the bottle: Strong rose with a mossy undertone.

 

Wet: All rose.

 

Dry: It looks like I amp the rose and ONLY the rose, with better than average throw! I like rose well enough, but I want something with a bit more personality. After several hours I could smell a bit of the dirt and moss, and it started to resemble a bit more of what I had hoped for. I will try this one more time when my scent locket gets here, and hope it goes better!

[inurbanus]

Zombi is a very simple, straightforward BPAL (it's just rose and moss), but it's incredibly beautiful and haunting. The emotions it conjures are not always happy, but for some reason when I wear Zombi I feel nostalgic, which I think testifies to how poignant the scent is. The roses are not lush -- they smell a little withered, and the moss is dry, but the way they smell together is surprisingly full-bodied and almost lush. I would recommend Zombi to anyone who isn't a fan of roses -- I tried this one when I was going through an anti-rose stage and instantly fell in love with it. It's just not your typical floral. If you like Ulalume, check this one out -- they both have the same "feel".

 

5/5

[blktauna]

I got this as a frimp and I'm an avid rose fan, so I looked forward to it.

 

Sadly, all I got was the weak scent of wet earth. No rose at all.

[stephencaffine]

If zombies smelled like this, then there wouldn't be any fears or problems with them.

 

This scent hits you with a face full of fresh loam, and as that falls away from you, you're hit again with dusty dried roses. In a nice way. After that and forevermore, I smell dirt and roses. It's brilliant in it's simplicity.

 

I love the smell of roses and want to smell of them, but traditional rose scents smell of old ladies to me. That is why zombi is perfect. It smells manly in a gardener way and still has a great rose scent.

 

Maybe I like this because I'm a Virgo and we're earth signs. I don't know

[Jackdaw]

I was hoping this would be a good scent on me- I rather like mosses. However, this turned out to be all rose and nothing else... Straight out of the bottle it's just what I expected it to be- haunting and catching, with a bit of something crawling out of a grave.

Body chemistry for the fail. ._.

[djsiberia]

i tried this just because of the name and i was curious, i don't smell the roses, but all i smell is moss and dirt.

 

a very earthy scent.

[Pika]

I have been eyeing this scent since my very first hours of discovering the BPAL world. Ironically, it's taken me nearly a year to get to this one, despite it's presence on every one of my first "potential order" lists.

 

Why did I wait??

 

This is just what I'd hoped for from the descriptions, a rose with a dark, green, edge. It's so lovely! It's damp earth, mossy and dark with crushed leaves and grass. But it's above all a subtle, mature rose, that doesn't play any soapy tricks! It's the deep, damp shade under a thick leafy summer canopy, where a red rose is somehow blooming amidst freshly turned dirt and mown lawns.

 

And better yet, my boy, who is rather indifferent to the scents I usually like, snuffled up to my neck and wanted to know what I was wearing because I smelled so good!

[spencerkaitlin]

Loved this. I am a sucker for rose scents and this one was a perfect blend of earthy rose for me.

 

The boy loved it on me as well, although I did have to hit him away-- something about it making him want to eat my brains?

[Suu4LC]

In the imp this dirt and rose. Mostly dirt. Not my cuppa.

 

It's a bit nicer on the skin. Less dirty, more earthy rose.

 

On full drydown, the rose went funky and it's pretty much just sour dirt. Totally not my bag. Swap time!

[Clammmms]

I ordered this because I just had to know what zombies smell like.

 

Wet: Moss and dirt

Dry: Moss and dirt and crumbly roses.

 

I just wish the smell lasted longer. My skin seemed to suck it right up, despite my having put on unscented lotion right before I applied it.

 

I definitely need to order a vat of this, because I'm in love with it.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Dark, rich soil, wet green leaves, and a hint of lush rose.

 

Wet: Fresh, fruity, almost citrusy rose - reminds me of Rose Red, especially combined with the same dewy greenery. Slightly soapy edge. Still loads of dirt.

 

Dry: Some oakmoss emerging, and the dirt is fading a bit. The rose is softer, but still crisp. On the whole this is much more muted, washed out.

 

Later: I have a friend who gets a mushroom note from this, and I can see where she is coming from. There is a musty note that's not soil - maybe the spanish moss?

 

Summary: Lush fruity rose - but a soft kind - with musty spanish moss, light oakmoss, and slightly sharp, rich dirt. A gentle scent.

Edited April 5, 2009 by fairnymph

[malaliath]

Zombi

 

In imp: Interesting! I am not usually a huge rose fan and bought the imp after reading several reviews stating that this is not your typical rose. I am inclined to agree – this rose is dry and dusty, and the earth smells like parched dirt after you’ve given it a trickle of water. It reminds me of the old cemetery I grew up near, which is possibly one of my favourite places. Underneath it all, the mossiness lurks. I am intrigued!

 

Wet, on skin: So neat. Dry roses are not reminiscent of old ladies at all. I feel a sense of nostalgia for a time I never knew. I feel vaguely Edwardian.

 

Dry, on skin: What is happening here? The roses have been resurrected …now they’re bold roses in full bloom – wet roses at that. The scent is mature, not a sickly rose, but still not my cup of tea. My husband remarks that I now smell like an old lady. There is no dirt and I am amping a vibrant rose to the extreme.

 

Later: The mosses are playing a little bit more now, but the roses have died down to wet, mushed-up petals in a mud puddle. And it’s raining.

 

Conclusion: This scent isn’t really for me. I love the initial stages though. I may try this as a room scent to see what it’s like.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle wet, sloppy roses, ones that have been ground into the earth.

wet on skin swampy and still rose-y. it's an earthy rose, but rose nevertheless.

dry on skin rose, rose, rose.

 

i was hoping for more dirt and less rose. fortunately, worm moon came out right after zombi disappointed me and that's all dirt.

[savage_rose]

Sour rose? Yuck. It smells like Rose Red was buried years ago and has begun to rot.

 

The rose calms down a bit, but it still smells like the wrong kind of rose to my nose. Oh well!

[azhriaz]

Straight out of the imp, I can smell a wonderful dirt smell, and horribly soapy rose. Luckily the soap phase is temporary, it quickly settles down and smells very much like real dried rose petals. It has a definite pot pourri vibe.

 

Then the rose disappears and the earth smell is dominant. Very similar to Jazz Funeral with both mosses and earth as notes.

Now the rose is back again! Not as strong as before, but it's still playing nice and not turning to soap.

 

This is a lovely scent, but I am just not that into rose. I will stick with Jazz Funeral because the mossy/earthy aspect is the same.

[charshark]

In the imp: Definitely smell the dirt and a hint of floral. It doesn't really smell like roses to me, though.

 

Wet: Still really smell the dirt, but getting a hint of moss now.

 

Dry: Mostly smell the mosses now, but the dirt is still lingering. I can now smell the roses a bit better now.

 

Overall: I got this as a frimp and while it's not a scent I'd probably wear, I do like smelling it out of the bottle, though. It's definitely interesting!

[homunculus]

This smells just like Nosferatu to me - only with rose rather than the fruity 'wine' note ... so it starts off with a slightly sharp, bitter smell that wafts into a very strong almost spicy rose (rose is always strong on my skin though). It's very lovely - not really 'me' but I do like this scent!

[Tigerkatze]

my very first review ever, and the first oil I really LIKED from all the imps I've tried. The other night I put it in my bath, had the window open and candles lit in spring twilight, and Zombi was the perfect bath scent: languid, dark, sensual.

 

First of all it smells nothing like the lurching, staggering, half-rotten undead I associate with the word "Zombi." In the bottle I smell damp dark earth and flowers including roses. I see summer evening in a garden or graveyard, maybe some fireflies around, in a humid, languid climate.

 

Wet: the roses are laid on fresh earth, along with some other flowers (jasmine?) but the roses are center stage.

 

Dry: roses and a background of damp, mossy earth.

 

Faded: Roses. Dark ones, but only roses. I like rose scents, but it seems my skin turns many scents too sweet; this is perfect.

 

Overall: this is sexy, dark roses blooming (wilting? Just picked?) on a summer day in a nevertheless cool and mossy-green place. And it spreads on my skin, which I like. Although I dosed myself with it on all pressure points then went to bed, the scent was mostly gone by morning, but my sheets still smell like Zombi.

 

This is the first bottle I've ordered, which is good because my imp is almost empty!

[kittycatpurr]

In the imp: Gorgeous. Let's see if I can wear that rose or not.

Wet: Wow. The dark earth scent is so different from the other BPALs I have tried.

Drydown: I half love this, and it half freaks me out. My skin is swallowing it.

Dry: Waves of dark rose coming at me, it's awesome. After it dries, the sweet rose smell is damped down.

Later: I worship this, and am now on the march for DIRT.

[sparkybish]

In the Imp: Red rose and an earthiness

Wet: just like it is in the imp, except more open. I can't get this idea of gardening roses in deep black soil. To me it isn't a dry scent at all. It's damp, and the earthiness brings a complexity to a beautiful rose.

Dry: Beautiful. I believe it will go into high rotation!

[Indigo78]

Must have 5mL.

 

Opening the imp this a strong, shadow-laden breath of crumbling roses and upturned soil. Interest piqued, I dab. Interest held, I go ahead and slather. Yes, it is that beautiful.

 

Once on my skin there is little morph, although the roses smell warmed and fragrant now, more so than in the imp. Everything mingles - very well blended. I think this blend could even be used to bring some of Beth's lighter florals down to Earth, so to speak.

 

Olfactory ecstacy is mine this weekend, Zombi shot straight into my top three.

 

Get it.