Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener

[filigree_shadow]

Sassafras, vanilla extract, oak leaf, CO2 butter extract, and onycha.

Ooooo. Nice. I thought the sassafras might be too strong in this for me, and it is pretty strong at first. But then it gets a distinctly foody quality to it that makes the whole scent smell creamy and smooth. With that great sweet sassafras.

This one's an unexpected winner for me. I'm still not totally convinced that sassafras suits me as a perfume scent, but I do know that I really love smelling this. So bollocks to what suits me! I'm gonna wear it anyway. Edited June 18, 2008 by filigree_shadow

[myth]

I'm hard-pressed to say this smells like rootbeer. At first it seems almost perfumey, but my first test dried down to a rich vanilla-ey yumness. It's so hard to pin down at first. As it dries the vanilla comes out more and more, but no plastic! Subsequent tests have seemed to become more and more buttery. At first I was thinking to get a bottle, but now... maybe not. I can't quite decide, it might be too sweety-thick for me to really wear. I'm going to hang on to the imp and give it some more wear though; I'm so mood-oriented with scents that something I dislike one day will be delicious the next, so my last test may have just been on a bad day.

 

Overall it's sweet and very creamy. I found it to have a powerful throw and to not need a heavy application.

[sprocket21]

In the imp: Root beer and cream!

 

Wow, this is a lot creamier than I expected it to be - almost like cream soda with an aftertaste of root beer. And call me crazy, but the creamy note here totally reminds me of Glowing Vulva, only with root beer instead of teak. It's a very fun scent, but scents that are too creamy tend to make me feel a bit ill. This one was so creamy that it even made my boyfriend ill, and he's one of those "all perfumes smell alike" types.

[zankoku_zen]

*sigh* I do get some of the rootbeer and cream. Now. At the beginning, it smelled like sweet galvanized rubber. And now it smells of rootbeer and vanilla with a plastic lining underneath.

 

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

 

Where's the delicious creamy rootbeer of my dreams? Where?

[Alchemy21599]

I've been sitting around huffing my imp of SSS for a few days now.

 

In the imp: herbal and spicy.

 

Wet on skin: sassafras and vanilla, but not foody.

 

Dry: Everyone will think I am mad to say this, but this scent reminds me of Laudanum's younger cheerful cousin. Where Laudanum is a dark, brooding scent (which I ), this scent is lighter and suitable for wearing in warmer weather.

[Magnolia69]

Huffing the bottle: Sweet vanillary, cardamom-y, fizzy root beer.

 

Wet on skin: pretty much the same but the fizz softens.

 

After about 1/2 hour: Mmmmmm, mmmmmm, yummy. Smooth, foamy root beer. No weird dry down like I get with

other etailer root beer-y scents.

 

I think I've just stumbled on my summer staple. Gods this is good.

 

edited cuz I'm a bad shpeller.

Edited June 27, 2008 by Magnolia69

[gchris]

In Vial: Rootbeer and something else

 

Wet: Yeah rootbeer but something bitter. Reminds of a scent I knew as a child. There is something not pleasant to me in this, maybe it is the oak leaf? As it is drying I am starting to smell the vanilla, it is getting better.

 

Dry: Certainly I smell the butter and vanilla now blended with the rootbeer and it is really yummy BUT I also smell the bitter, off note and that just ruins it for me.

[tuesdaynexxt]

This starts out on me as root beer & cream, then the cream goes away, the root beer mellows, and there's a bitter, metallic scent. Not sure I'm liking this one.

[porcelina]

i freaking love this. i very much need a bottle! it literally smells like fizzy, fresh root beer. it reminds me a bit of diesel's fuel for life but better- purer and sweeter, and creamy- almost like a root beer float. perfect for summer.

[kythryne]

I'm posting a review despite the fact that I haven't personally been able to test this yet. My partner saw the imp when I opened my package in the car after retrieving it from the post office, demanded that I apply some to her, and immediately appropriated it the imp. And then I walked around Home Depot for a while, ostensibly trying to decide on new flooring for my office, but mostly going weak in the knees and occasionally grabbing her wrist to sniff it.

 

It started out as a lovely mellow root beer (and I don't even like root beer) and then mellowed out to a spicy warm vanilla-wood-sassafras thing. And did I mention the weak in the knees part? Because yeah.

 

This is an amazing scent. At some point I will have to wrestle the imp away from her (probably by presenting her with a bottle) and try it myself, but yowza.

 

ETA: Finally tried it myself, and it went to cheap root beer on my skin. We have radically different skin chemistry, though, so I wasn't surprised. I may try it in a scent locket, but it's easier to sniff it on her.

Edited July 9, 2008 by kythryne

[Monster]

I love love love this one! Very stimulating, indeed!

 

Out of the bottle: A sharp, herbal rootbeer scent with creamy undertones. It reminds me of the all-natural rootbeer I buy at the heath food store down the street.

 

On the skin: The rootbeer mellows a bit and turns into a sweet, creamy rootbeer float. Yum! The sassafrass/rootbeer scent is definitely still there but doesn't smell like I took a bath in A&W or anything

 

Verdict: Sweet, soft and delicious! Great for anyone who really likes "foody" blends. On me, it lasted a god while as well. Usually most sweet scents fade quickly on me.

[grashopper8]

YUM!

 

This reminds me of Haloes, but with sassafras instead of teak and sandalwood.

 

A fascinating blend, very well done.

 

Me wants roots beers.

 

I have to admit, it gives me a bit of a headache, though.

 

4.1 out of 5

[Lyrical]

In bottle: I don't know what sassafras or onycha smell like, but this is vaguely vanilla, aniseed and oak in the imp. Cool label!

 

Wet on skin: pale, warm, a little spicy but gentle and creamy. Oak leaf is similar to oak, and the vanilla reminds me of the vanilla note in Love's Philosophy, only this is fruitier and more balanced than LP. Nice!

 

Dry on skin: If you like Haloes and/or Love's Philosophy you'll probably like this too. It's softer and warmer and spicier than either of them, but very gentle too. The butter extract isn't particularly buttery, but adds a soft, creamy base that isn't too sweet. Ooooh - I like this one!

 

Gradually another note emerges, which I guess must be sassafras. It makes me think of a drink that is warm, creamy, a little peppery, not too sweet, and foamy on top. I don't like it as much now - the peppery note is a little weird. Eventually a slightly sicky note develops too. I hate my skin!

 

Later: the pepper and sick recede and it's more like it was in the beginning, only fainter now. Not for me.

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: A lot of people have been going nuts over this, so much so I was infected by the glee - even though, being a Brit with no access to rootbeer, I have no friggin' CLUE what sassafras smells like!

 

In the imp: Sweet, but slightly bitter, slightly smoky, dried leaves - a kitchen cupboard brew that isn't exactly what you'd call edible at the end of it.

 

On the wrist, wet: Slightly acrid in the up-your-nose tang of Vics, herby, a smoky tinge, and that slight natural sweetness. Very unusual.

 

Twenty minutes later: Man, this is weird. It may be what rootbeer smells like - I wouldn't know - but it's catch-in-your-throat cloyingly sweet, still with an odd astringent tang, a sort of leafy cola... I think this one needs a full day test to see if I can live with it, once I've got over the weirditude.

 

Verdict: Keeping the imp

 

Tl;Dr: Tangy, sweet dried leaf cola residue

[beachbabealways]

I don't know how Beth does it but I am floored by SSS!! It starts off smelling like Rootbeer but ends up smelling so damn sexy ... I can't even explain it.

Sooooo glad this is a GC because this may be the first bottle I might actually use up. The onycha is what pull's this into another dimension.

 

What is Onycha? Onycha is the door membrane of a snail-like mollusk found in the Red Sea. This is one of the ingredients used in the Holy Incense in Exodus 30.

 

Throw (on me): excellent

Lasting Power: 6+ hours

Rating 1-5: 5+++

 

I highly recommend SSS.

[clawsight]

I... was expecting old fashioned root beer from this but, alas, this is now the scent of smashed dreams for me.

 

In the imp: Creamy, spicy, root beer. There is the sassafras, a buttery smell, oak -- which adds a kind of lightness to the sassafras, and then another smell which reminds me vaguely of the... ocean? It's kind of... medicinal, herby, and oceanyl. I'm willing to bet that that is the onycha. The vanilla adds a very necessary sweetness to this... I like the imp in this form and then comes...

 

Wet: The oak vanishes and I wave a sad goodbye to it. The buttery smell and onycha AMP and the sassafras just kind of hangs around. The vanilla briefly surfaces, then vanishes too... leaving me with... onycha, sassafras, and butter.

 

Dry: Onycha, butter, and sassafras in that order. I do not like this, sam I am. The onycha gets darker and more oceanic. The butter gets more buttery. The sassafras adds in a bit of spice which takes the onycha butter and makes it smell like utter crap on me. The scent is not foody in any way, shape, or form. And it comes across as kinda masculine and... just... nooope. The onycha does kinda smell like plastic. Urgh.

 

Rating:

 

1.9 out of 5

 

Oh, you could have been a 4 or 5 scent, SSS, why did you have to go to such crap on me? Oh well, I'll just toss this one in to complete the little imp pack I'm putting together to enable the Boy with.

[AthenaRose]

It's rootbeer alright. And not sickly sweet A&W rootbeer. This is sharp, crisp, biting Barq's root beer! The vanilla and butter are pretty much lost on me. This is strongly medicinal and somewhat masculine rootbeer. My fiancé thought it smelled like licorice at first, but then he smelled the rootbeer, and he was unmoved by it. It lasts, but doesn't have much throw, as i have to stick my arm right up to my face to smell it, otherwise i forget it's there entirely.

 

ETA: After a few more hours, this has gone completely sour on me. I don't know if this is because of female hormones and bad timing, or what, but it actually makes me a little queasy and makes my stomach turn when i smell it. I'm going to let it age and try it again later though, because i really wanted to love this one.

 

2/5

Edited July 15, 2008 by AthenaRose

[evilbee]

I thought this would be hokey on me. But seriously, I'm digging it! The butter CO2 is a brilliant bit o business adding to the crrrrreeeeeaminess of this. The vanilla is not of the cloying, my throat's coated in ice-cream ilk. It's more like a sweetener, a stickines on your lips and swishing in your mouth. Of course there's the rootbeer, which is just fun and not tacky or ridiculous. It makes me feel a bit giddy. And if I remember that it's similar to wintergreen, I whiff that and get a little confused why wintergreen is buddied up with vanilla and butter... so then I just stop whiffing. A little bit later, I notice a heavenly, bubbly, creamy scent wafting off my skin and remember it's "rootbeer" again. I wonder if I detect the oak... I can almost picture it being a part of the scent in a way... standing there looking menacingly at the others like "Don't you go all WEIRD on her now, you hear?".

 

What the heck is onycha? Hmmm, a part of a snail shell. Well that explains it.

 

This is probably the silliest review ever. I have been Stimulatingly Sassafras STRENGTHENED!!!

[milo]

Well, I guess I like Sassafrass! This is so darned good, I smell rootbeer in the imp, and it lasts quite a while on me. I like it better, though when the rootbeer calms down and makes it a little less foody. The vanilla is sexy with the sassafrass, and I may just have to get a bottle. A surprise like!

[MeiLin]

In the imp: Sassafras and oak leaf.

 

Wet: Root beer barrels!

 

Dry: This must be what Harry Potter's butterbeer smells like. It's a creamy, vanilla sassafras that would work on men and women. I absolutely love it and will insist on slathering Sir in some of it to see how it goes with him.

 

See? The General Catalog holds wonders.

[twilighteyes]

This is all buttery birchbeer on me! Reminds me of a local Renn Faire that sells old fashioned birch, root, and ginger beer.

 

Mmmm.

[lilacea]

Wet, this is sasparilla and creaminess, a touch medicinal, but very yum. Dry, it's yummy buttery vanilla with that root beerish smell lingering in the background. Warm and comforting. The vanilla does go a little plastic on the dry down, but it's not a really bad plastic like some other vanillas can be.

[tasty]

At first sniff, this is the rootbeer-y scent of my dreams. Spicy, creamy and nose-tingling. Then, I get a whiff of something ...bad. Is that surgical gloves I smell? Noooooooooooo...!

 

I will be shelving this one for later. SSS, I'm not giving up on you yet!

[mhickle]

YUM!

 

In the imp, it's sweet and, as many have said, very much rootbeer.

 

On my skin, it stays root beer, but a smokey, high-end, rich rootbeer.

 

As it dries, the vanilla and butter hit, but the smokiness sticks around. It's pretty awesome.

 

There's not much throw on me, and I must look like a crazy person when I keep taking deep sniffs of my wrist, but too bad, coworkers!!!!

Edited August 13, 2008 by ViolaVanWilde

[maijasu]

I ordered an imp of this mostly because I was curious about all the hype. I didn't expect much though, as root beer is not one of my favorite things and I certainly don't want to go around smelling like I spilled some all over myself.

 

But...this is AMAZING! I do smell a slight resemblance to root beer, but this is much more complex. The vanilla is not plasticky at all, and there is also something deep and resinous about the scent. This is the first BPAL I've tried in a long time where I just couldn't stop sniffing my wrists. So yeah, I think I'll be getting a bottle.