Badger

[femmefatale]

Warm earth, deep-reaching roots, dark myrrh, galangal, and Atlas cedar.

*I am sniffing this on dh's wrist*

This is the first scent that I've smelled and said "roots!". LOL. It does bring to mind thick roots buried in the earth.

This is a very interesting blend. It's spicy and very earthy with a bit of woods from the cedar. I really like this one and find it very sexy on dh. Must get a bottle.

[forspecial_plate]

Darn.....on one hand, I really wanted to like this, and I'm disappointed that I don't like it. On the other hand, that's one less bottle that I have to pursue!

 

At first all I smell is the dirt from Graveyard Dirt, which I have decided I don't like to wear. It reminds me of moldy, dirty mushrooms. I can understand how people would like it, but it's just not for me. After a while, the other notes in Badger start to emerge a little bit, but never enough to overpower the dirt, dirt, dirt. This isn't as bad as Shattered Pumpkin, which I hated, but still, this isn't something I would want to wear.

 

For the record, I do like Burial, Premature Burial, Penny Dreadful, and Zombi. But my decant of Badger will probably eventually find new digs.

[Coldfire]

Decant: wow….dark and earth is right. Almost vetiver smelling

Wet on Me: wow…still earthy and dark and vetiver scented. Really nose up turning.

Drying Down: OMG get this off. No no no no no. I like an earthy smell but this

is me just amping vetiver something fierce.

Dry: okay this sooo did not work for me. Not at all. Like vetiver over maple syrup.

Not for the Coldie

[bheansidhe]

This smelled eerily familiar on my skin... not foody, but something that reminded me so much of food.

 

Finally, I got it. On me it smells exactly like a really strong, fresh brew of Thai iced tea. Have you ever ordered it in a Thai restaurant? It's a deep brick-red, and as you pour in the condensed milk it swirls and becomes a lovely opalescent orange. It typically contains star anise, cinnamon, vanilla, tamarind, ginger, and red or orange food coloring (no lie. I've tried making it at home and stained everything from sink to stovetop bright red). I cannot guarantee that this is anything but a quirk of my personal chemistry, but when I asked for my boyfriend's opinion he agreed that I did, in fact, smell exactly like it.

 

For reference: http://www.oneletterwords.com/thaitea/recipes.html

 

Badger also has a distinct cedar note, not sap-fresh but weathered, and something earthy but without the dusty pungency of any of the lab's "dirt" notes. I like it - it's strange, strongly androgenous, and herbal without being foody.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is woods, dirt and a musky animal. It smells like an old fashioned gentleman. The kind that believes in good and leads people into the fray, upfront as a standard bearer. It's the smell of someone that hates meddling, but will take the reins if he feels that people are up to no good.

[gnl]

Bottle: Warm and earthy, cedar and roots and earth. Very earth elemental scent.

 

Wet: Still warm but a bit more dirt and less cedar. There's also something a little spicy, though it's not a strong note.

 

Dry: On the plus side, everything has blended together really nicely into an lovely earthy myrrh. But on the minus, the throw has faded a lot, now just staying really close to my skin.

 

Verdict: Man, I wish this hadn't faded so much, because it's a really lovely scent. Very comforting and warm and (have I mentioned?) earthy.

 

4/5

[Argentwolf]

There's definitely lots of cedar...it's a wet sort of smell, very definitely like freshly-upturned earth and roots, and it's very fascinating in that regard.

 

It has little throw, and clings very close to the skin. While appropriate, it lessens the enjoyment somewhat for me, personally. And it seems to wear off pretty fast. Not for me.

 

Anyone who likes 'dirt' scents definitely needs some, though!

[ravenfeathers]

i didn't do a proper test of this because it freaked me out so much in the imp. i should mention that i loved worm moon and freaking adore graveyard dirt, so it's not dirt that scares me. it's badger. this is a nuclear apocolypse of charred earth and scorching ash. gah! i actually actively hate this, which is something that i can hardly ever say about beth's work.

 

however the drydown is incredibly surprising. i don't know how it morphs because once i'd dabbed it on, i avoided sniffing it. what's left after, oh, four hours or so is something that is extremely similar to hellhound, but darker and less sweet. must be the galangal i'm smelling and it's just pure love on my skin. i might try a bigger dollop of this sometime when i'm sitting around the house and amn't going to startle someone with my fiery death perfume.

[UploadedLobster]

This is as DIRT as a scent can possibly get. It is the King Badass of Dirt. It is the Super-Duper Double Ultra New and Improved Dirt.

 

That said, it starts out like celery. Whlerg. That's the galangal. Galangal is usually a rooty 'tartness', the tang that makes an earth scent moist instead of dusty. It does so here, but for the first minute or two there's some other root or whatnot that it has to fight with until whatever subtle confluence is making the godawful celery flavor burns off. Luckily it does.

 

After that, it's a marvelous pure black-earth scent, dark and heavy and mineral, with none of the frilly extras like the vanilla-mint in Death Cap or the roses in Zombi. Just dirt. Nothing but dirt. The galangal and cedar really do work well together and temper each other--the galangal's tartness and the cedar's resin together make a note that's almost peppery.

 

I get no animal scent, though. This is the scent of where a badger lives and what a badger does, but Badger himself has gone out to take care of something. And that suits me fine. This scent stays close to the skin and lasts a few hours.

 

Lobster Rating

better than: mud pies with frosting

Edited January 18, 2009 by Uploaded Lobster

[tinyvulture]

Want a dirt scent that is somehow sweet and comforting? Look no further. Damp earth is the main note, accentuated by dry cedar, galangal, and – I think - a drop of patchouli. I love the galangal, which is in the ginger family, but more earthy. I’d describe Badger as dusty, medicinal, woodsy, rooty, spicy. That’s a lot of adjectives! This is a great scent, my new favorite dirt blend of them all.

[cuervosueno]

I don't like dirt scents in general. Some of them, like Zombi, make me want to run away screaming. They smell like beets, which in my book is simply wrong. That said, I do like Death Cap a lot...I find it very comforting.

 

and I love badgers. Really really do. So even though I was pretty sure this wouldn't work on me--the dirt you know--I decided I wanted to try it, and was able to swap for an imp of it.

 

And? I'm fascinated by it. First, I wanted to quote Tartchef, because she is absolutely correct--this is a real badger with teeth and claws and deep earth dens:

 

Hey, that's galangal and then some! Eep. Mustard seeds & mushrooms, and a needly shard of cedar - a thoroughly weird & unsettling scent on me.

 

This isn't a fuzzly wombly badger - this is sharp teeth & razor claws, dank earth & hard roots...

 

And that is what I love about it. Badgers are sort of totem animals for me, and I think of them as being protective and fierce, and this scent is both.

 

Mostly I get the mushroomy earth scent of Death Cap, but with a pretty strong dose of galangal. I'm not getting anything else at the moment. And there are moments when it smells like celery, which is not a good thing, but that passes (mostly if I don't think about it!).

 

I don't think I need a bottle (though if it had a real badger on the label I'd probably buy it for that alone), but I'll keep the imp. I think it will layer nicely. And it is warm and safe and fierce all at the same time.

[savage_rose]

BPAL's dirt note without the wet, metallic smell of Graveyard Dirt or Earth Phoenix. Just dry, gritty dirt...maybe playground dirt, or a beaten path somewhere. Nice, but nothing I'd wear often.

[hkhm]

bottle: after having taken a good sniff of some galangal root at the co-op today, i now know that what i'm smelling is dirt and galangal.

 

wet: this is wonderful. dirt with a rooty, herby scent. i love dirt scents though they are hit-or-miss on my skin (luckily, this one is a hit!).

 

dry: the herby scent changes from fresh to dried as this dries on my skin while the dirt note stays fresh and wet.

[modillian]

Wooo, grassy and musky! Reminds me a lot of Coyote with some Death Cap dirt and spice thrown in. Not my type of thing at all, too much of the sweetgrass in there.

[sirensea]

In the imp: ...dirt! Dirt and roots and earth.

 

On my skin: Still very earthy. It reminds me of what the air smells like after a rain storm. Now that a few minutes have passed, it's faded to almost nothing, but I'm still very impressed with this blend for its realism and depth.

[donnatron]

Imp: I sniff this and I'm like, "WTF? Why did I order this?" Then I realize that I have confused Badger with Mole. This is not my friend. Dirt. Dirt and celery.

 

Wet: Dirt and rocks. This is really evocative but not really my style.

 

Dry: I think it's the galangal causing the celery smell. This really smells like chopping up celery. The dirt is gone but the celery remains. And now in my head I am singing "The celery remains" to the tune of that "Memory Remains" song by Metallica.

 

Throw: Mild.

 

Overall: I actually like the smell of celery but don't like smelling like it. New home.

[kawaiiferreto]

Wet this was warm, spicy, and earthy, very strong galangal and sweet dirt. As it dried it got even better. The galangal calmed down a little bit, and the cedar warmed up. This is comforting warm earthy woody spice. I like it.

[strahlend]

 

In the bottle it is rich and pungent, very earthy with a hint of sweetness.

On my skin, I'm thinking two words, lush dirt. There is a richness and depth here that is spectacular. I'm getting the cedar and some vetiver but they're totally different than I've ever smelled in any other blend before.

I'm totally in love

However, I just got this in a swap today and I've already tested it three times. Unfortunatly Badger lasts less than an hour on me. At the end of two hours even the slight residual traces are gone. Kind of a bummer. I'm hoping to get a scent locket one of these days though, maybe it will stick around longer that way.

[heathercaley]

I received a sniffy with a drop to test! I am so happy because I didn't purchase this, and I wouldn't have sought it out. However, I was wrong for giving Badger the cut direct. This is amazing!!

 

It has that same sweetness and dirt note combination as found in Queen of Clubs!! How fantastic!! As it starts to dry down, cedar is popping its head out. It is however, being tempered by a sweet yet herbal note and resins. That must be the root and myrrh notes combined? Dunno, but it works!!!

 

I think I'm going to have to locate a decant so I can wear this every now and again. It's a great companion to my Queen of Clubs!!!

[hmelt004]

A while ago I was on a "dirt" kick and went around trying as many of the scents billed as dirty and earthy as I could. I had made it through most of the GCs when someone frimped me a decant of Badger. And then, dear reader, I stopped looking.

 

Badger is THE dirt, wet rich black dirt full of potential for growing things and creating new life. It is also very wearable, and I imagine would be very sexy on a guy.

 

I don't usually like myrrh, but I can't smell it in here. Galangal is a kind of ginger, and I get just a little of that. Maybe a ginger root is growing in this dirt a little way away. Atlas cedar must like me better than regular cedar does, because it behaves on my skin and doesn't take over.

 

I wear Badger to help me sleep sometimes. It is peaceful and timeless dirt, sort of nurturing.

[aquazoo]

Earthy, dirty. A moist dirt, definite roots. It really captures that cool underground feel.

 

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Decant from GhillieDhu.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

After trying and loving Mole, I really wanted to give Badger a shot, too. Like Mole, it sounds perfect for me, although I've been a little nervous about the roots for some inexplicable reason. Everything in here should be right up my alley, though, strange apprehensions aside. I love dirt scents (Graveyard Dirt almost made me pee my pants when it was released) as well as myrrh and cedar and I like galangal, too.

 

First sniff:

 

Why did I wait so long to try this one?! This smells incredibly good. It's unmistakably dirt-based, but it's softer and gentler than Graveyard Dirt. There's something sweetish and a little musty here, too, which I'm thinking is the roots because it reminds me strongly of Down the Rabbit Hole atmo spray (minus the flowers and marmalade). I don't really get any myrrh or cedar at this point. Just soft (both in terms of smell intensity and the impression of texture of the dirt itself that I get) dirt and roots. It's lovely.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Very similar to the scent in the decant but with the tiniest touch of cedar added. The dirt and roots are still the predominant players here. Like Mole, it's a soft scent, both in throw and in feel.

 

Dry down:

 

I love this so much! The cedar comes out a bit more as Badger dries and I'm left with a soft, warm dirt scent with sweet, musty roots and dry wood. This is much more wearable than Graveyard Dirt, which I've found tends to turn other people off, thanks to its in-your-face loamy dirtiness, but it's still very much an earthy scent. There's no mistaking that I smell like dirt, but it's a softer, more friendly dirt than is in the other similar scents I own.

 

The bottom line:

 

This is a beauty for a dirt lover like me. I do believe I've found a new favorite. The only sad part is that I missed out on buying a few bottles of Badger when it was released. I would have stockpiled it.

[filigree_shadow]

I kept this decant because I thought I liked it. I am dumb. I liked Mole. Not this one. Achingly sweet dirt and cedar. Very rooty and a little musty. If you like that sort of thing, this is awesome. Very evocative. For sure not your standard dirt scent. I actually like the cedar in this, and I'm usually not super fond of that note. There's something about it, though... I don't know, I usually hate dirt scents, and I wouldn't actually say that I hate this. It's interesting.

[Lucchesa]

If you hate earth scents, you probably will not enjoy Badger. It's dirt and cedar, with a hint of sweetness playing off the sharpness of the cedar. So, it's the forest with all its secret energies, roots and branches, things growing and dying. I find it incredibly calming and grounding and was thinking, like an earlier reviewer, that it would make an excellent bedtime scent.