Lightning

[Lit Chick]

Lightning slashing the midnight skies over the endless reaches of the ocean. The electric tang of ozone, marine notes, and a drop of sharp rain.

Dead on - a crackling ozone smell. It's dry lightning - the kind that comes before the storm.
My skin cannot do ozone - it;s just off. The husband had more success with this - crisper and less burnt.
I think I prefer the smell of wind and rain to the smell of lightning, so this is a pass - but as far as the ozone smells go, it's a winner. Edited February 3, 2006 by Shollin

[Alchemy21599]

This was a gimp from my latest order. Thanks Labbies!

 

In the vial: ozone and floral with a tangy quality.

 

Wet: Uh, oh. It is going kind of sour.

 

Dry: This is exactly the fragrance that I smell after one of the late April/early May thunderstorms around here. I live fairly close to the ocean, so big storms always leave a marine tang to the air. The clean ozone smell is still here, as well as a very subtle spicy floral. Very nice!

[Rhowan]

In the vial and just wet on my skin, this smells exactly like a summer thunder and lightning storm! I am smelling summer flowers drenched by rain!

 

Dry down, I am not getting an ocean with lightning but this is beautiful, none the less. Lightning is very wet - not overpowering ozone which suprises me. Ozone doesn't react well to me but this - perfection!

 

Complete dry down - this is just beautiful! Wet, wet, wet, with a bit of blue floral and a drop of ozone.

 

Conclusion - I need a 5 ml of this!

[jidabug]

Wet: Sharp and clean.

Dry: Kind of like dryer sheets, but not overpowering. Mellowing into a very refreshing fragrance.

Final: The freshness of a late spring rain without the sogginess. I think I'm going to have to buy a 5ml of this.

[mandragora]

In the imp: Sharp, brisk smelling ozone.

Wet on me: Turns "blue" aquatic. Very refreshingly clean smell.

Drydown: Fresh aquatic with slight tang. Smells like the aftermath of a thunderstorm.

Verdict: Another winning ozone scent. But I think this would be more suitable for hubby.

[Clare-Dragonfly]

In the bottle: Kind of citrussy, pale, bright. I can definitely see why this is called “lightning”.

 

On me: Hmm, more citrussy, but I also get a rain scent. Not sharp, but damp—like the ground after a long rain. Lemon peel. I want to lick my wrist. Probably a bad idea.

 

A few hours later: Just barely there. In fact, I might be imagining it. It’s nice, but not for me, and fades too quickly.

[angharad]

Normally I'm not that crazy about ozone as a perfume note, but Lightning is absolutely lovely. Call me crazy, but last night when a bad storm woke me up, I got out of bed to put on this perfume. It's got a sweet, sharp edge over watery notes. Good throw -- I can't put very much on because apparently my skin amplifies aquatics -- and it lasts for several hours. It's a keeper.

[Ryvre]

In the vial, this smells exactly like a storm- wet and sharp and a bit tangy. It's fantastic in my oil burner- it makes my entire living room smell like a spring storm. Unfortunately it gets weird and powdery on my skin. I might buy a 5ml to use in my burner though.

[batsy]

In the bottle: Vaseline Intensive Care lotion...

 

On the skin: I can smell the salt and it does come close to the smell after/during a rain storm, but I still smell lotion... bummer.

[gingersnapp]

If you like ozone and aquatics, this is the blend for you. On me, this turns into old, stale Love's Rain Soft. Soapy and sharp.

[undream]

i generally love and am always excited to try the ozone/aquatic oils, and lightning is no exception. thank you so much, quickslvr!!

 

out of the imp, it takes me a moment to realize that this smells almost exactly like lysol cling toilet bowl cleaner, in country scent. and i know how awful that must sound, but it really is not, i actually love the smell of that particular cleaner. (although to be honest, i am not certain that i would wish to smell like it.)

 

once on, however, it quickly loses the "cleaner" feel and settles into a bright, tangy scent. very crisp and citrusy and certainly invigorating.

Edited May 5, 2006 by undream

[lizardling]

In the bottle: Mm, sharp and watery. Not very strong, either -- I had to get reasonably close to smell anything from the bottle. Could be an interesting experiment. (I tossed this into my order as one of the last selections that I made.)

 

On the skin: a little floral, sharp but not unpleasantly so. Sort of watery.

 

5 minutes: This sweetens to a dry electric smell -- it's pretty soft. Doesn't remind me of a rainstorm, more like being next to a van der Graaf generator. The cats don't flee like hell. Good times.

 

30 min later: The throw is getting stronger, and I can smell it when I move.

 

2 hours later: Oh my sinuses. It's actually gotten much *stronger*. The noseplugs, they do nothing. Which makes me very sad -- I loved the description on the website and the smell in the bottle, but in reality, the fork-in-electric-socket smell isn't as attractive as I thought it would be. At least people aren't gasping and making faces when I pass them in the hall. I scrubbed it off in the work bathroom, plus some Purell. Swap pile.

[fiddledragon]

Scent in bottle: A very clean cold sort of citrus-floral marine scent. I think I may not be too fond of BPAL's marine notes, but we'll see what it does on me. It's very well-named.

 

Scent on me:

Wet -- weird almost-rotten citrus. Bleagh. *waves wrists frantically trying to dry them*

Dry -- Not as horrible as it was wet, but not good.

 

Conclusion: Marine notes and me do not seem to entirely get along. And now I toss the bottle into the swaps pile and me into the shower...

[hessanitewyvern]

One of the first scents I tried, in my first order. A beautiful smell; I can just smell the wet flowers. Lovely on a drizzling March day and not overpowering.

[kylni]

On me this is very sharp. The ozone is prominent, almost eye-watering if I put on too much. I actually like the sharp smell, though - it's not bitter, just sort of watery and clean.

 

It also lasts a very long time - I could still smell it 12 hours later.

 

Overall: I thought I liked this one a lot, but then I tried Neo-Tokyo, which has the same sort of ozone sharpness but tempered by more interesting fruity-floralness, and I think I prefer that.

[hangingfire]

In the imp: Fresh, cool, zippy acquatic/ozone. I can already tell it's a winner.

 

On, wet: Similar to R'lyeh, only without the strongly grapefruit/yuzu/citrus note.

 

Drydown: Stays cool and fresh, very light and ozone-y -- in fact, the ozone note seems to become stronger with time. It really does smell like static electricity.

 

Definitely a big winner for me.

[draconix]

In the bottle: Oddly, I'm smelling a flower in this one. I'm not sure what it is, but it's a general flower smell and almost a musk underneath that. There's a certain... something. A tang that gives it a bit of an edge.

 

On my skin: Wet, the tang is more evident, and the flower is there still as well. But it's not a floral flower... if that makes any sense. Dry, I'm beginning to smell the more marine aspects of this one, the edge is nice... gives it a bit of a kick. It smells like... like a garden just after a rain storm. I'm still smelling a bit of flower, but it's covered by this rainy-fresh scent. A very clean smell. Unfortunately, that clean smell kind of goes overboard after awhile and starts smelling a bit like a bar of soap.

 

Final Thoughts: This time of year, I could see myself wearing this one fairly often. It's not overpowering, very subtle (in fact, I have to get pretty close to my arm to get a good whiff). The breeze coming through the window occassionally hits the right spot and I can smell it. But the soapy smell... well, that's not so good.

[storme]

In the imp: Salty, tangy oceanic sea-spray sort of a scent. It reminds me of those 'ocean spray' scented candles you see. Sharp and strong.

 

On me, wet: Still salty and tangy, a very strong deep blue sort of scent. The SO hates it, but he dislikes most aquatics on me. I have to admit, though, that it smells like something a very sporty guy would wear, rather than something I would wear.

 

On me, dry: I went off and did other stuff and wasn't paying attention, and now ...wait, this is suddenly Sea of Glass! That same calm green mix of ozone and aquatic, with none of that sea-spray blue saltiness.

 

Verdict: I can't say it ever smelled like lightning, but it ended up smelling like a slightly-less-awesome Sea of Glass. If this means all aquatics end up of Sea of Glass, then yay! Makes this a tad redundant, mind you. I'll hang onto it for now, though.

[joiedecombat]

In the bottle, and freshly wet, Lightning really does smell fresh and aquatic, with a certain clean salt-air tang to it. It reminded me a little of the ocean-themed sachets and candles that I'm very fond of, but a truer and clearer version without any commercial perfuminess. I like that kind of scent a lot, but the marine and ozone tang made it a bit masculine for my tastes - to wear, I'd want something sweeter and clearer.

 

And unfortunately, once it began to dry down, it took on a distinctly weedy scent that I really didn't care for. I've since tried Tempest, Sea of Glass, and Szepasszony, and all three of them had the same disappointing reaction on my skin. I want to love BPAL's aquatics, but they just don't love me back.

[indicolite]

On me, Lightning smells like morning after the rain - exactly. I can see the dripping leaves and hear them rustle.

 

Today I, hoping to put it on (it is a good school-and-work scent) spilled half the imp all over me. Including some in my mouth, so I CAN give a review of the taste - stinging and acrid and "must run to rinse out my mouth" and "oh man, please, Beth, don't kill me with my own stupidity" and "here lies Indicolite, she died of eating lightning". I am alive, my shirt smells divine, half of my imp is gone, and kids, don't try eating lightning at home.

[moon_lemming]

Wow, I can taste the ozone in Lightning. It's a great, true representation of the smell in the air during a good spring storm. Kind of a blue almost-floral.

 

It reminds me of a lot of "beachy" body sprays, but less artificial. And it stays good on my skin, which is rare when it comes to that kind of thing. Sadly, I can't see myself wearing this, because I'm not really an ozone/aquatic girl, but it might be good in an oil burner; maybe I'll try that later.

[gwyllgi]

Ozone notes are among my favorites, so I was really looking forward to trying Lightning. I certainly wasn't disappointed; I'm in love with it on my skin, in a locket, in an oil burner, in my car's diffuser, and in sachets.

 

This strikes me as the scent of heat lightning, or the lightning that comes before the rain hits. It's sharp and a bit tangy, flirting sharp but never quite embracing it. It doesn't change much from imp to skin for me, and it stays strong for hours.

 

I've tried various storm scents in chain brands before, but never particularly liked them; they've been too apparently alcohol-based or too sharp and sour. I'd all but given up on finding one I liked. I'm terribly glad to have been proven wrong with this oil.

[Elrianra]

In the bottle, this is soothing and very faintly medicinal or herbal; thre's an almost citrus note minus the actual citrus-y tones that's cold and sharp. I'm reminded strongly of the way the air smells just before a thunder storm, after the wind dies and everything's gone still and you can count the moments before the first lightning blast or raindrop comes falling down. On, it maintains that sharp ozone note that's a little salty and a lot wet. There's a bitter and sweet combination to this that is a little disorienting but pleasantly mild. Wet, this is a mood scent if I ever encountered one. Once it's dried and warmed up, it is actually warm - like a hot summer afternoon thunderstorm just about to let loose. Warm and yet slightly chilled with a vibrant tang of sea salt and ozone that the air always smells like just before a storm no mattter where you are (it is my personal opinion that thunder clouds carry sea salt with them just for this purpose). Heady but lacking the throw to make this formidable, Lightning is tantalizingly direct and hard, this isn't a scent that changes much at all and it never loses a single iota of conviction. Definitely a keeper though I won't be getting more of this. (I can hope for frimps though)

[kakiphony]

Test site:

Right wrist.

 

Wet:

It's a perfumey scent that I associate with deodorant soaps and cheap conditioner. The one "marine note" candle I have smells the same way, so i assume that's the marine notes.

 

Early Dry Down:

Irish spring soaking in a tub of rain water.

 

Late Dry Down:

This is still soap-like, but has sweetened. This is how sweetgrass deodorant soap would smell if there was such a thing.

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

ozoney fresh smell

 

wet:

nice, ozone but not too much like a men's cologne

 

dry:

may be my favorite ozone. Or maybe I'm biased because I tried it just after a thunderstorm passed through… still, I like it, and it's not too cologney.

 

overall:

I can hear the thunder. (oh wait that really is thunder…. Hehe) Like it!

 

rating: 8/10