Zombi

[steffanina]

Zombi-

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

 

In Bottle: (Or perhaps I should say, all over everything! The imp cap cracked and leaked Zombi all over the other bottles and labels in the shipment.) Earth. Earth like in The Premature Burial.

 

Wet: Earth scent. And I can smell the rose beginning to come out.

 

Dry: The earth scent fades and I smell more rose than anything. It's a nice rose, however, not too cloying and faded enough that the memory of the earth scent affects it enough to give me the idea of dried rose petals, bare and dusty, and evokes the mood of this one. I don't love this one as much as I love The Premature Burial (love that sarsaparilla effect in that one) but it's interesting, definitely.

 

Overall: I like. Will try again.

[akabob]

I tried this one last night.

 

Let me preface with the fact that usually I hate hate hate flowers and hate any perfume that has florals in it.

 

Well, I put this one on, and LOVED IT. This is a gorgeous scent. It smells EXACTLY like the description...dead flowers, indeed! Oh they're wonderful. This scent evokes a powerful memory of a crown I made as a little girl....dead roses, branches of garden plants and some hemp rope. Very evocative and soft. I'm actually sooo enamored I might get a 5ml of this one. Who'd have thunk?! I'm a total foodie queen and yet Zombi has me falling. I think it is because the dead flowers have a more....antiqued scent. I like that they're NOT fresh and cloying. They're light and dried and very much have that little sad sweetness of death that roses get once they've dried out.

 

TRY THIS. Even if you hate flowers. You will probably love it as much as I did.

[Melantha]

I'd heard so many wonderful things about this, I knew I had to try it.

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't smell like much at all on me. I didn't even get roses from it. I'll pass.

[jessica0928]

my first review...

 

ahem-

 

this is genius. this is a zombie. it crawls out of the slightly damp earth and the roses placed on it's grave have long since withered. they crumble into a million pieces and stick to it's clammy body, with small patches of moss starting to form on it's waxy skin. the zombie starts walking, without a plan, silently stumbling through the nearby bushes without noticing or slowing down it's steady pace. the dirt is underneath, it is a constant, low, underfoot. the roses are stuck to your fingers, the branches are slapping your face. at first you are smelling the zombie, then you are the zombie.

[Clementine]

I received this as a freebie from BPAL, and I have to say that I thought I would absolutely hate it from the name alone. While I don't LOVE it and won't be purchasing a bottle, I do think it's a cool scent: wet earth with a drydown to aged roses. Get it if you like dirt and rose scents.

[BronteJD]

Frimp from the lab. First funereal oil.

 

In bottle: Lots of roses, but not cloying as rose smells can sometimes be.

 

Wet: Soft and dried roses.

 

15 minutes: Still rose-y, but powdery. I think I'm getting some of that "rich earth" that everyone's talking about, but it's more like rich damp earth that's been thoroughly and completely mixed with crumbled rose petals, as opposed to two separate notes.

 

One hour: rose still strong and predominant, perhaps a bit more sharp than before. Slightly soapy, but again, not that cloying nauseating smell that fake rose can have. The earth bit seems to have gone, though.

 

Overall: Hmm....not sure! I tend to like more spice-y and foody scents, with a few exceptions. This one isn't an overpowering floral at all, which is a good thing. It's a gentle soft rose, but not overwhelmingly unique. I might do another imp of this later on. It's in the "To Keep" pile for the moment.

Edited September 21, 2006 by BronteJD

[Inanna9]

I can't believe I've never reviewed this, as it's the one that took my BPAL virginity, not to mention one of my all time favorites. Heck, I can review this one from memory, I've worn it so many times. Roses and dirt are two of my favorite notes ever, and Zombi does them better than any other.

 

This is such beautiful creepiness, I can't even tell you. The dirt is dark, moist earth of the freshly-turned-grave variety, the kind that clogs your senses, sticks in your throat. Then the red roses emerge; decaying, oppressive, their corrupt perfume wafting a dark, mournful gloom. It's a simple but perfect little gothic vignette, and eerily authentic.

 

What I'm finding with my bottle is that as it ages, the roses gets stronger, almost to the point where they overpower the dirt. I may have to order new imps from the lab now and then to keep up that fresh grave experience.

 

An all-time BPAL classic, and a stellar example of Beth's genius.

Edited September 22, 2006 by Inanna9

[Dinerdulcinea]

I had a Zombi imp decpitate in the mail the other day, so I sampled it by wiping the vial and bubblewrap on myself...

 

my verdict is:

It smells amazing in the ROOM (although less rose-like and more just GORGEOUS and incredibly refreshing)...

 

...and crappy, indeed, on ME. All I get on me is rose and it turns on me the way a lot of rose seems to.

 

---But I have the bubblewrap and empty imp sitting on my dining room table and the ROOM smells just like heaven.

[fiddledragon]

This is one of those roses that goes kind of musty and unpleasant on me, which is only amplified by the soil notes, which I normally quite like. Alas, not destined for greatness on my skin.

[Taniwha]

This scent is so unique, and I am in awe. How did Beth get the EXACT smell of dirt in a bottle?? I've been pulling old tomato plants, and other fall gardening duties the last two day, so fresh dirt smell is close at hand. This is so close, with a dusty, faded sweet rose wafting through. I can't wear it on my body, I find it too disturbing, but kudos for such an amazing feat!

[UberAlice]

In the bottle: At first whiff my initial impression was "Ugh. Yeah, that's dirt." This reminds me a lot of Hamadryad at first smell. It is as it is described: the exact smell of dirt. But I want so badly to love it, so I kept going.

 

Wet: The dirt gets super-amplified on me right off the bat and it smells like I rolled in a mud puddle. But strangely, the soil note seems to lighten and warm up. It goes from stale musty dirt to fresher lichen and peat moss. And then out come the roses. Sweet and delicate but musty, still scented from the earth. I can, on me, actually smell this change happening within a few minutes.

 

Dry: The soil has taken a step back and now I smell those dried roses. This smells like a long-neglected florist's shop. The scent is soft and light, the kind where you never really know where it's coming from, but you know you smell it.

 

Overall impression: This is the first scent that made me go "Holy mother of God, this chemist is brilliant." Zombi is a kinetic scent. The image it was named after is perfect. But this is no shambling, rotting corpse; this is the mournful, heartbreaking scent of a beloved put in the ground and rising before decay sets in. The progression from soil to flowers is astounding. This truly is a creepy scent on me. I put it on while I was moving into my big scary turn of the century house and it definitely fit the atmosphere. Will I wear it? Probably not often. It makes me want to put on a lace shroud and walk around. But I will keep this imp for sure and probably apply it every so often just to appreciate the craftsmanship. Kudos!

 

eta: The boy really likes this one. Apparently all he can smell from it is roses, no dirt. Damn noses!

Edited October 26, 2006 by UberAlice

[sofiaviolet]

This is awesome! It smells like crumbly old rose petals. I used to have dried roses in my room - every week, I bought myself roses, and they dried in their vase rather than rotting, and I saved the flowers, though not the stems. Unfortunately, they got old and yucky and I had to get rid of them.

[harmonyfb]

In the imp, and wet: dirt and roses. Literally, a wet garden scent. Not my idea of perfume, but not unpleasant.

 

Drying, and dry: Dried roses with a slight underlying sour note that must be the mosses.

 

Really not my thing.

[PilotKitten]

In the vial and on wet, this smells like straight up dirt on me. O_o No roses, no rose leaf, no mosses... just straight up fertilizer.

[corvidae]

You know the smell of old cellars? Dungeons? Medieval basements? Old stone, wet earth, and mold?

 

I love, love that smell, and that is the base smell for this scent. When I smelled it in the imp, I exclaimed, "they bottled old places!!!"

 

When I put it on, the rpses come out to play - dry, desolate roses.

 

I wore this to a concert on Sunday and some guy next to me said, "wow, it smells good in here."

 

First compliment about BPAL I'd gotten.

[supremegoddessofall]

Primarily dirt, with some dried rose petals crumbled into it. I get a slight herbal feel which is presumably coming from the moss and oakmoss. This is very warm and comforting.

[eanewsom]

I got roses... lots and lots of roses. I put on one little dab and I think the whole house smells. It's kind of giving me a headache, and I can't get it off. I scrubbed and scrubbed, and two hours later I'm still leaving a trail. It definitely has staying power! I wish I could smell the dirt - I wish I could smell anything else. I don't dislike it, though, I just wish it were milder. I think I may mix it into some lotion to thin it down. Maybe with the rose scent diluted I'll be able to get the earthy smell that everyone else seems to love. I got it as a swap, so I may take Inanna9's advice and order a lab-fresh imp, too.

[jasmine]

So many people have loving things to say about Zombi that I’m very curious how this will smell. I’m not much of a dirt fan, but... let’s see what we have here.

 

On the wand: yeah, that would be dirt... dirt with an angry floral behind it. I’m perfectly willing to believe the floral is a rose, but I also don’t think it likes me. That impression starts fading, though, as the floral starts settling in. Goodness, that is definitely rose, and it’s a dark red rose on wet earth. I came in feeling a bit negative, but this is mitigating my negativity rapidly.

 

As the scent settles, it wafts. I was testing Yemaya on my other wrist, but the throw from Zombi is strong enough that I can’t properly determine Yemaya’s scent any more. I am impressed... this is a very convincing rose, not rose in the sense of “this is an artificial rose scent”, but rose in the sense of “this is a rose that I went into my garden and picked off a bush and brought inside”. Part of what makes it so convincing is that, as a real rose’s scent could be, the scent under the rose carries something wet and earthy that isn’t entirely pleasant as a perfume. It reminds me of wet leaves, now... a pleasant enough scent in its own right, but not appropriate-seeming in a perfume. Yet it’s all the more believable for that.

 

Zombi seems like a scent that I would want to wear with my hair piled atop my head, diamonds glittering at my earlobes, and a red velvet gown slinking over the rest of me... a scent to wear with actual roses nearby so that the scent would be attributed to the flowers swirling around me instead of being attributed to perfume. Directly sniffing my wrist is as unpleasant as the wand initially was, but the waft is marvelously convincing, and that’s all I would want from it.

 

Rather than fading away or metamorphosing, Zombi stayed alive (or undead?) for the better part of six hours, and I never lost that sense of “true rose” from it, though the leafiness retreated into subtlety. I still don’t see myself wearing this routinely, but it is a marvelous concoction, and I am appropriately impressed.

[red colored stars]

I got this as a frimp in my first ever order...an order than contained a bunch of things I ordered for other people Hahaha. I was interested in trying this for a while, though, so I wanted to try it first thing.

 

In the bottle: I seriously almost dropped it because the scent hit me so hard. Dirt dirt dirt. And not a dry dirt smell...dark, wet earth that was verging on acrid.

 

Wet: All I smell is the soil smell and I'm not a fan I have to agree with UberAlice...it smelled like I rolled in a mud puddle.

 

Dry: The soil has eased up a wee bit. It's not as acrid as it was in the bottle or when it was wet. The rose peeks though but only a little...which surprises me because my skin seems to really amp up any rose scents. It's a dry rose, which is really interesting against the wet soil.

 

It's a really interesting scent but it just doesn't work on me. Bugger.

[wikkidraven]

i am reluctant to trade zombi because it is so unique, i just know i'll never wear it so i'd rather give it to somone who will. it is the essence of a graveyard, captured in an imp, complete with mouldering flowers and upturned earth. really quite amazing, and a salute to what Beth is truly capable of.

 

i'm not goth enough to want to smell like earth and roses though

[rivergdss]

I received this as a freebie in an eBay transaction, and it seems to want out of the imp. I've tried it twice and it leaked all over the place both times.

 

An initial impression of dust is replaced by soil, then overwhelmed by roses. These are no sweet Valentine's Day roses, either. They're over-ripe, overpowering, decaying, bold roses. I've now worn it for about two hours and it has faded into a nice rose scent.

 

It's not one of my favorites (yet), but I think I'll be wearing it again.

[slave1]

This is a super old review of mine, but it looks like I never posted it...

 

ZOMBI

 

I was excited for this scent since 2 of my friends say it's one of their favorites.

In the bottle it is very "dirt" scented.

I put it on and the first thing I thought was... it smells like a fishtank. This is not a bad thing, fishtanks don't smell like fish, they smell like very earthy water... maybe it's the algea in them. I'm thinking it is the moss notes that give this scent.

After an hour, it's smelling better. It's a sour Poison like smell (which I love) with the dirt scent still dominant... but it's also turning kind of powdery. I'd say it still smells a bit aquatic, but that's a good thing. I love this scent, it is like nothing I've ever smelled and I think it will catch people's attention.

[themerrybaker]

I love dirt scents (and Death Cap is one of my favorites) but I hate most rose scents (with the exception of Othello) so Zombi sounded pretty interesting indeed.

 

The verdict: a not-to-awful rose scent - but this imp will be a victim of the next general clearing-out operation. A meh as opposed to a yuck.

[jade_starlight]

Apparently I have some odd skin chemistry as Zombi smells like nothing more than cleaning fluid on me. It's not a really sharp cleaning fluid, but then I don't want to smell like cleaning fluid at all, no matter how sharp it is. And I really wanted to like this one, too. Off to the swaps, and someone with more normal skin chemistry.

[blaectreow]

Zombi is the perfect graveyard scent. It is freshly turned, old earth, with old florals mixed in.

 

It is as if you were griefstricken, and threw yourself at the freshly covered grave. In your haste, the flowers that remained from the services were torn and smashed beneath you, the leaves ripped from the stems, releasing that sharp scent of greenery. As you rest your cheek on the gravestone, you can smell the age and mossiness of its neighbors as you weep a pool of tears.

 

That's what Zombi smells like to me. It makes me think of sorrow, but it's a lovely scent.