Quirkiest, most bizarre oils

[ivyandpeony]

Licwiglunga (sp?) is the weirdest scent ever.

 

....

 

I haven't tried this one yet, but I am hearing that it's very strange and hard to describe! So if you're compiling a list of the un-impables to try one day, put this one on there. My personal all time weird one is also an LE so I didn't mention it earlier, but Shill is bizarre. Not scary or dark, unless you are phobic about hot buttered popcorn But it is so strange to smell this in a bottle and/or on your skin!

 

And another one or two for that list - yes, Shadwell is like whoa. I didn't smell mildew but my friend did. And The Blockhead from the current CD series.

 

I'm going to second the suggestion of Black Annis (my ultimate BPAL nemesis!) and throw Black Opal in there (at least, I don't think I've seen it yet). Black Opal smells like wet rocks with a hint of vanilla. =) So you can do vanilla dusted with a little crazy.

[VelvetSky]

Brimstone is pretty odd. Beth says it's 'smoky, gritty, husky and gray' and that pretty much sums it up.

 

India Bouquet was also strange back in it's day.

[ivyandpeony]

I think I'd blocked India Bouquet from my mind. On me, it dried down to straight-up curry powder!

 

(for the newer BPALers, India Bouquet was a Voodoo blend that was discontinued in the first great catalog-slashing of October 2004 *crosses self* may the smellies rest in peace)

[Ina Garten Davita]

Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener is quirky and wonderful. It smells like homemade root beer, it's just delightful.

[wavechaser]

Try Embalming Fluid as well, the description is weird but the scent on me goes all Mr. Clean.

 

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are odd as well.

 

Miskatonic University and Black Annis are just plain yucky on me but some people actually like them.

 

Czernoborg too super dark and a bit dirty.

 

Search for anything civet perhaps?

[oakmoss]

Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener is quirky and wonderful. It smells like homemade root beer, it's just delightful.

 

And if you get into the root beer scents, try Lust. I don't know how red musk, patchouli, ylang ylang and myrrh add up to root beer, but there you are.

 

I second Marquise de Merteuil -- one of my faves -- and also Bess and Dee.

 

A couple of people have mentioned Saturnalia as being unique, and I would have to agree: it's the only BPAL scent that made me physically recoil so fast that I actually spilled some on myself. My notes say, "Meeeehhhhh! Mehhhhh! GET IT OFF ME!!"

[darkling]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Masabakes. This scent is like nothing I have ever encountered. It is dark and consuming with a hint of currants and a spark to it that my mind connects with mandrake dust. I can't even say that I love the way it smells but it is such a unique olfactory experience that I had to get a bottle for myself.

[caffinatedangel]

Well crap. My wishlist is growing exponentially. I've even been poking around the sales/swaps to see about the more rare ones.

 

I'm waiting for the next lunacy to place my order of imps, but I think I'll be including at least some of these in the order... just which ones? -studies reviews section-. Centzon Totochtin is just making me drool though, somehow that one is standing out to me. -edges it towards the top of her list-

 

But it's great fun. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions so far.

 

Ah yes, and I have tried Dee (mentioned earlier) and am wearing it right now, actually. I just adore the scent... all manly and warm and deliciously tonka leather. -purrs-

 

I'm also not a huge fan of rootbeer scents, I guess. I tried Tombstone, and it was a blast of fun, but I think I've had my fun with sassafrass for a while. Others may get a big kick out of it, though. :3

Edited July 12, 2008 by CaffinatedAngel

[kawaiiferreto]

The most bizarre thing I ever tried was Ogun. I hated it, but it certainly fits the bill of strange.

 

Lab description: Ogun’s ofrenda is heavy and dark cigar tobacco, gin and juniper, melon, chili pepper and a touch of honey.

 

I remember it being something like spicy cucumbers and tobacco. Not for me, but maybe you'd like it.

 

And well, Hermia is a little fruity, and a little floral, but if you ever decide to test more from that direction, it's certainly unique. Something about adding pink pepper makes it very spicy and sassy.

[oakmoss]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Masabakes. This scent is like nothing I have ever encountered. It is dark and consuming with a hint of currants and a spark to it that my mind connects with mandrake dust. I can't even say that I love the way it smells but it is such a unique olfactory experience that I had to get a bottle for myself.

 

Oooh, I haven't thought of Masabakes in a long time, thanks! I went back to look at my notes, which say, "This is like Alice's older sister -- the same curious spiciness overlaying earthy sweetness, but with more of an edge, more heat, less light. While I generally wear Alice to put me in a better mood, I think I'd be more likely to wear Masabakes when I'm in a bad mood and don't give a damn."

[smallvoice]

The entire Wunderkammer fits this bill, I think.

 

Medea is another GC blend that might be interesting. Bluebeard was odd, to me. Definitely seconding Saturnalia. Also, Mania.

[fairnymph]

These are things that themselves smell unusual, like not how I would ever expect a perfume to smell. So that's how I interpret 'bizarre' and all are available GCs. Some are ones I like and some ones I dislike.

 

Belladonna because it's a CRAZY MORPHER with several distinct phases. It's pretty eucalyptus/piney, fyi.

 

Brimstone smelled like sharp soil and anise and roots. I'm pretty sure it's vetiver heavy.

 

Cockaigne smells exactly like freshly baked cinnamon nut oatmeal cookies with a bit of honey! It's totally crazily evocative. I don't know if that counts as bizarre, but it was so spot on that I couldn't get over it.

 

De Sade was sassafras and dirt which totally didn't fit the description! But pure leather - pretty weird, I think, even as a note description.

 

Grand Guignol is another foody scent like Cockaigne that is spot on evocative and really delicious!

 

The Great Sword of War mixes many disparate notes into a fairly food blend that amazingly works quite well.

 

Incubus - caramel and sage, totally totally bizarre!

 

I think any scent with pumpkin smells just like BUTTER, so Jack and any pumpkin patch scent.

 

Lightning, which is utterly unique and simply smells 'glassy' to me. Really, really neat.

 

Mania, convoluted mix of fruit and musk and patchouli that has a surprisingly lovely drydown.

 

Mary Read is a delicious salty old leather and patchouli blend that is gorgeously evocative.

 

Nocnitsa if you don't mind dirt/soil smells, as it has an air scent that is exactly like air.

 

Perversion - a perverted blend of notes, really! Internally conflicted.

 

Phoenix Steamworks is another super evocative blend with beautiful metallic note and many stages as it morphs.

 

Siren is spiced jaffa cakes, very evocative.

 

Slippery Popppy Tincture isn't inherently that weird, except that on me it's totally bipolar, smelling radically different at close and far ranges.

 

Tzadikim Nistarim, bizarre combo of disparate notes.

[Electra]

And another one or two for that list - yes, Shadwell is like whoa. I didn't smell mildew but my friend did.

 

Body chemistry is so interesting! On me, Shadwell is a sweet milky tea with a hint of an aquatic note...no mildew at all, and it's very comforting.

 

Hmm, quirky bizarre scents...oh hell, Puck for sure. I actually physically recoiled when I smelled that one. Jolasveinar -- pine and pastries? But it's wonderful. Black Opal -- vanilla and stone. Kumari Kandam is pretty interesting too.

 

ETA -- Urd is weird too. It smells like a hippie drinking grape Kool-Aid.

Edited July 13, 2008 by Electra

[Czarina]

Moai.

[forspecial_plate]

I definitely agree with many already mentioned, especially Penny Dreadful and Jolasveinar. And I'll add a couple:

 

Laudanum...."Nutmeg, sassafras, black poppy and myrrh."

 

Mad Hatter..."A gentlemen's lavender-citron cologne unhinged by the feral pungence of black musk and a paroxysm of pennyroyal."

 

The Robotic Scarab...."Polished metallic notes, glossy leather, frankincense, star anise, and thin lubricating oils."

 

The Music Of Eric Zahn...."ajowan, vetiver, black musk, opoponax, mimosa, and tamarind." I agree that the whole Arkham category has some pretty offbeat scents. For that matter, Shub-Niggurath is pretty unusual ("The lust incense of a corrupted Astarte. A blend of ritual herbs and dark resins, shot through with three gingers and aphrodisiacal spices").

 

Incubus...."Spectral white musk and the heart-stopping chill of sheared mint, fanned by caramel-touched body heat, and the diabolical sensuality of black musk, nicotiana, and sage." This scent actually gave me the creeps, although I do like how it smells. *shrugs*

[rawgirl75]

Several people have recommended Penny Dreadful and I am going to do so as well. On me it smells like buttery gingered moss. Absolutely amazing!

 

I'm also going to praise my all time favourite here - The Tell-Tale Heart: Yes vetiver, yes amber, yes cocoa, yes dragon's blood, yes it's an LE...... but.. daymmm does it ever smell sensual on skin. Just wow.

 

But most of all, you MUST try Masabakes: that mandrake dust totally shocks you. Its almost like a spiced (not spicy) root-y and zippy scent - and totally to die for!

 

[edit to correct spelling]

Edited July 13, 2008 by rawgirl75

[sofaking6]

Of course nobody has thought of my little underloved darling, Tezcatlipoca. The lab's awesome metallic drying to dusty hot leather.

 

Ultraviolet...eucalyptus drying to violet so intense it's hardly floral.

[kythryne]

How is it that no one has mentioned Zombi yet? Dirt + roses. I don't personally care for it, but I always get people to sniff it because the reactions are great.

 

Scarecrow is also interesting. Very hot and dry and dusty. Eat Me and Drink Me are worth a sniff, and so is the Highwayman. I'll second the suggestion of Mata Hari, too. Very unusual mix. Miskatonic University is interesting. Wanda isn't all that strange, I don't think, but it's a very complex dark scent -- all wine and musk. Hurricane and New Orleans.

[willowtreeling]

Cockaigne is the weirdest one that I have smelled. It does smell like some sort oat cake to begin with but dries down on me to a sweet mulled wine...I don't care for it, personally, but it is pretty and a little kooky. I like Dragon's Milk because it smells like a little kid's toy. I think Dorian is actually a somewhat strange scent...I LOVE IT, but it smells like powdered donuts and a sexy man.

[TooMuchTemptation]

Cathode

 

It's all prickly smelling. Not in a vinegar way, but in an ozone-y electrical current way.

[Tilby]

I've always thought of Zombi as one of the bizarre ones. I love to smell it, though I didn't keep it around for the perfume of it. I just like the novelty of how it smells like dirt and decay.

[Dymphna]

Most of my ideas have already been mentioned, but I'll throw in my take on them anyway.

 

Black Opal - This smells exactly like rain on a deserted beach, and I know whereof I speak. I love it.

 

Tombstone - Another beach scent. Smells like the remains of a bonfire on the beach. Scorched driftwood and clean air and a hint of marshmallow. I can't wear this, or at least I couldn't the last time I tested it, but it's an interesting thing to sniff.

 

Zombi - Doesn't smell like decay to me. It smells so pretty! Dewy grass and roses, the complete opposite of decomposing flesh.

 

Mars - I just have to throw this one in even though it was an LE because it's not all that hard to find or expensive to purchase even now. It's another blend I don't wear, but it still cracks me up just thinking about it. I got it early in my BPAL days, before I knew what dragon's blood smelled like in oil form. I was expecting something fierce and manly and I opened the bottle and took a big sniff of...spring flowers. Even now, whenever I open the bottle for a sniff, I snicker. Heh.

 

Jazz Funeral - Yet another scent I can't really wear, but it's one of the few BPAL oils that freaked me out when I tried it because beyond even synaesthetic impressions, I got a full scene in my mind, like a bit of a film playing. A gorgeous, black velvet night somewhere in the Deep South, standing on a balcony overlooking a garden, the soft air scented by luscious flowers, and for company, the most compelling, dangerously charming man you've ever met. Beauty and menace intertwined, just stunningly evocative. I'm not sure whether I'm sorry that I can't wear this scent or not.

 

Jolasveinar - This was one that I thought of right away, and I'm not surprised that I wasn't the only one. Seriously, dirt and trees and pastries. It's just kooky, and sort of endearingly nostalgic and innocent.

 

La Befana - Since I already mentioned another past Yule LE, I might as well mention this one, too. La Befana is one of the most unusually beautiful and evocative scents I've ever smelled. It reminds me of my grandmother, of grandmothers and matriarchs in general, of warm kitchens and the kind of brisk, no-nonsense love you got, if you were lucky, from an older female relative when you were a little kid. It's like a hug from the archetypal grandmother--soft, violet perfume, a piece of hard candy, the promise of something yummy baking, and then a pat on the head and she's back to sweeping the kitchen floor. Not much like my grandmother at all other than the violet perfume (sometimes) and the pat on the head, but somehow it reminds me of her anyway, so much that it still occasionally brings tears to my eyes when I smell it. Seriously, sometimes Beth scares me.

 

Skuld - Since I'm talking about scents that remind me of my grandmother and tears and Beth being scary-good at what she does and everything...to me, Skuld smells just like the super-sweet lemon iced tea I used to drink at my grandmother's house, plus ylang ylang. It's like Beth somehow bottled every summer of my childhood and then threw in some ylang ylang just for the hell of it, and it blended in perfectly. I get that the honey translates to sweetness, but I'm not really sure how the labdanum and the musks combine to smell like lemon tea. Don't care, either, I just enjoy the amazingness of it.

[schackjj]

Mechanical Phoenix = distinctly metallic (fun but not wearable, IMO)

Dead Man's Hand = dirt on me, but I think most people get leather?

Pickled Imp = smells like your mother's spices spilled all over you

[whisperingmachines]

I think Dorian is actually a somewhat strange scent...I LOVE IT, but it smells like powdered donuts and a sexy man.

 

 

Awesome. See, I imagine it as what James McAvoy smells like in that scene in the library in Atonement...

 

I thought R'lyeh was absolutely bizarre. It smelled like a murky, brackish puddle to me. Ultraviolet was also tingly and I found that to be kind of a strange scent, but ultimately it was too bugbite soothing itch cream smell on me.

[ClareN]

This is an excellent idea for a thread.

 

First of all, No. 93 Engine, from the Steamworks category. It's so hard to describe what it smells like, but once I tried it I felt like I'd always known it. It's made of all these resins and herbs, but smells like gold dust. It's also bizarre in that it's quite popular but doesn't smell like vanilla or musk at all.

 

There are two other scents that I love but can't quite get my head around because they smell like nothing else in the BPAL catalogue: Bien Loin d'Ici and Xiuhtecuhtli. I think it's the "spiced unguents" that make BLDI smell so strange; the red musk and caramel aren't obvious in the way they usually are. Xiuhtecuhtli smells like oranges but not, and sweet but not, and floral but not.

 

Honorable mentions:

Voodoo - one of my favorite scents, the notes are all over the place - myrrh, patchouli, vetiver, lime, vanilla, pine, almond and clove. I get mostly almond, myrrh, lime and vetiver.

The Music of Erich Zahn - do you know what opoponax and ajowan smell like? This is one of the best BPAL vetiver scents, too.

Umbra - dark, substantial, resinous patchouli; really underrated.

Hunger - it has vanilla, but it's also dark and strange - there's red musk, narcissus and orange blossom, which is a weird combination.

Penny Dreadful - I dislike this, but it's very odd. Earthy and perfumey and kind of boozy all at the same time.

Death Cap - Second or third this suggestion. Smells like the earth when it rains, which is something many perfumers have attempted but so few have accomplished. It doesn't quite work for me but it's definitely worth trying.

Destroying Angel - the lighter side of Death Cap. Also smells earthy, but much more green.

Troll - what Uploaded Lobster said.

Kathmandu - dark herbal sarsparilla and eucalyptus over dark wood and spice notes.

Sybaris - violet and clove, unusual and gorgeous.