Velvet Cthulhu

[sarada]

 

Wasabi, pu-erh and Touareg teas, green cedar, myrrh, white sage, khus, frankincense, and coriander.

 

A perfume with pu-erh tea notes is the kind of thing that would make me wake up panting and sweating -- add in all of my other favorite notes lined up neatly in a row and I definitely think I'm still dreaming.

 

For all of the dark and woody or incensy notes listed it is a very green scent -- think the swirling green globby glow from "That! The Thing Over There!" or "...Vampire from Planet X" but with a nice deep base. As it dries the initial ectoplasmic blast begins to throb with the warmer resin and woody notes beneath though they are always understated. It is like walking into a glowing, phosphorescent stand of cyclopean tree trunks on an alien planet. The wasabi electrifies my nasal passage when I sniff it close -- ZOOM! It's amazing! Kind of like that shock of sensation you get when you touch your tongue to it. Electrifying is the best way I can describe it. But that is short lived and now I am having tea in a glowing forest. The wood notes are not, however, prominent -- they are very much simmering in the background. An almost lime-like greenness continues to shimmer for some time, with the soft buzz of wasabi keeping it aloft.

 

Stunning, an instant favorite, just as I expected.

[twilighteyes]

In the bottle: Very green and refreshing.. The inhale is sweet and tart and reminds me both of tea and candy. I can detect the sage but it is not overpowering.

 

On my skin: The green cedar is coming out. The sweetness is fading and the tart is coming to the forefront. I can feel it on the sides of my tongue.

 

So far a winner!

[CiCi]

Velvet Cthulhu. Trying this on, it is very fresh and perfect for Spring and Summer. This has Khus in it which is vetiver, I don't even get even a little glimpse of it. I do however smell a touch of mint, just a little but in this it is refreshing with the greenness of this scent. I was looking up the list of ingredients and it is the Touareg Tea that the mint comes from (at least I know I am not going crazy). The Wasabi and frankencense adds a subtle spiciness while the coriander adds crispness and really helps to keep this fresh and clean.

[greenranger]

Wet, it is very green and wet, like sap dripping from broken stems.

 

 

Dry, it is tea and wasabi. Faint tea and wasabi.

 

 

Unfortunately, I can't seem to resist the lure of coriander. Most unfortunately for me, it never shows up. Ah well.

[AmandaArcana]

Ok, I'm not too familiar with most of the components...my man bought this but I had to give it a try!

It's very green and kinda sharp in the bottle. When I put it on nothing goes wonky on me, good start! After it dries I get wasabe and green tea, pretty good! I can't wait to see what it smells like on my man! Now if only we could find an actual velvet painting of Cthulhu we'd be all set...

[Wwindy]

This is the best luck I've had with a "green" BPAL blend so far, so that's good...

 

In the bottle, it just smells odd. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead -- I'm going for my normal slathering level!

 

On my skin I get a lot of dusty gray-green shades right up front -- mostly the sage, cedar, and slightly smoky vetiver -- with flashes of brighter green, sharp, fresh sparkling notes. There's an odd elusive tang that I would swear is lime but might be a citrus-y overtone from the coriander... and something that reminds me of the horseradish bite that wasabi has on your tongue, without actually smelling overtly like the little green mound on the side of your sushi plate. The tea is an astringent, tannic presence in the background blending all the other notes together.

 

Over time, the frankincense and myrrh start rounding out and mellowing the harsher notes, but the blend retains a very green, vegetative quality.

 

This doesn't have much throw and doesn't last long at all on me -- not even on my shirt at the crooks of my arms, and usually at least the fabric holds onto something there. Not in this case. Still a very interesting scent, though! I think I said something similar in another review not long ago, but it's true here too -- I believe this one will make a nice spring/summer choice for those of us who can't wear the classic citrus-y clean "fresh" scents.

[GreenSpine]

This is a very alert, energizing scent to me - it's got a good bite to it, and a flash of mint over tea with a hint of an unusual kind of citrus over lurking greens. I'm getting very little of the resins, but hopefully they will come out a bit more with age.

 

What makes me sad is that this has little throw and fades very quickly. I really love it while it lasts, though. This would be a good one to put in a locket.

[Brianne]

Why I got this: To be honest, the decant circle I was a part of didn't do individual scents, just a full set of the Velvet scents. Otherwise, I never would have tried this!

 

Why I was concerned: Oh why was I not is really the question. Cedar? Myrrh? Frankincense? This is some kind of Brie-bane unholy trifecta of scent or something.

 

What it ended up being: This is the sixth of ten Velvet scents that I tried, and it's the very first one that I actually like. Odd that, because I never even wanted to try it - it just goes to show you! This goes on vibrantly green. It's so... ZAP! GREEN! that I can imagine it would be exactly the sort of scent I'd want to wash with in the mornings to wake me up. It's not minty and it's not citrusy, it's just green with a bit of woodiness and resin. A very well rounded scent. Though, I could not see myself wearing this as a perfume, I think it's a fascinating scent and so far the stand out of the series (keep in mind I still have four to try). After 20 minutes or so, this is more like fresh cut grass than anything else, but it's still refreshing and nice.

 

What it reminds me of: Fresh Cut grass and green tea

 

 

 

[ami226]

On me this smells like a minty lettuce. Very strange. Definitely herbally. Not my kind of thing sadly. Love the art though!!

[hkhm]

bottle: sweet green tea and fresh sage.

 

wet: hmmmm... this smells like a minty, spicy tea. i don't know what's causing the "mint" scent, but it's nice.

 

dry: this dries to a bright green tea scent. there might be a hint of coriander here but it's very light.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Green and fresh with spicy wasabi! Awesome on both me and my boyfriend...We both love Cthulhu mythos and I think we are going to have to share this one!

[angelicruin]

This was another late addition to my last lab order.

 

Sniffing the bottle, this is a fresh green herbal scent.

 

Wet on my skin, it's mint tea and sage mostly. It's a shower-fresh scent on my skin.

 

As it dries, I can now pick out the cedar, myrrh, and frankincense notes. Goes a bit dusty for a few minutes....and then dries back down to minty green tea, frankincense, & myrrh.

[forspecial_plate]

Yay, I got to try this today! When wet, this scent is very snappy and green, kind of peppery and slightly minty. It reminds me of rubbing fresh herbs between my fingers, almost like the scent that is left on my skin when I pick and clean fresh basil. Sometimes tea notes remind me of citrus, but I don't get any citrus out of V. Cthulhu. I didn't find this very juicy or aquatic at all.

 

As it dries, it becomes more dry and dusty. I think I'm mostly smelling the cedar, sage, and khus. Incredibly, it really does remind me of a very green velvet painting, kind of dusty and fuzzy, and with imagination you can even smell the incense that was burned in the room with the painting. It's a pretty neat scent and I can hardly wait to try the other velvet painting scents.

[suki]

i haven't had a chance yet to try out the Lab's wasabi note, so i was very interested in seeing about this particular Velvet.

 

the throw was *much* lighter than i anticipated, given the other notes present in this blend.

 

also, i thought it would be more spicy, perhaps a little peppery, or at least a bit heavy, but it wasn't at all, it was just wet cucumbers, green tea and fresh cut grass from start to finish.

 

a lovely spring-into-summer scent, for those that are interested in this sort of thing.

 

for me, however, i'm glad i got to try it, but equally glad i didn't get a whole bottle.

[lainevierge]

Wow, when I first put this on it was LEMON. I amp lemon like crazy, so I was a bit disappointed, but that quickly faded and a sort of menthol-tingly smell came out from under everything (maybe the wasabi?)

 

Now, a few hours later, it smells mostly of light mint and something fresh. It reminds me of The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife. Nice, though I wish it wasn't so light.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is green, soapy and tart- almost like lemon- with a hint of heat that must be the wasabi. The tartness starts to fade quickly. After a couple hours this is a fresh, clean, creamy, green scent. It makes me think of aloe. On the dry down this is a soft, creamy, green scent. I love this! It's a great springtime scent because it's so fresh and green. A great scent to try if you're looking for something different for spring.

[Carolyn]

I wore this all day today and finally, after hours, realized what it reminded me of--Dragon Moon 2006! Nearly identical on my skin, although I don't see that there are many shared notes besides tea leaf.

 

Green and grassy. Very nice for spring.

[Pottersville]

Mmmmmmm. Not what I was expecting, which was something with a bit more tannin and bite. Wet, I do get a lovely peppery quality. Dry, I get something that just reminds me of aloe. It's a softly fresh scent. Not at all sweet, which is a treat on me. Not long lasting, either.

[catattack]

Imp: Limes and ozone

Wet: Citrusy and herbal

Drydown: This is a citrusy tea scent. Very fresh. Not sweet. This smells very similar to Embalming Fluid on me. Further drydown, it went soapy on me.

Overall: It's a very clean scent. Not my cup of tea.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Sharp, bitter, herbal, and fresh green notes all smushed together.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells like snapped green stems, herbs, and a touch of vetiver. It’s very green with a bit of a clean and herbal feel to it. This blend is very strong and I can really feel it in my nose as I smell it.

 

After a little while: This scent definitely calms down a bit on my skin. It becomes this clean, green scent with hints of coriander and tea. It’s not sweet, but it’s lost the bitterness and most of the herbal feel it had at first.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent is very green. The tea doesn’t really come out until the dry down, but mostly this is a green stem and herbal scent with a very strong clean feel to it. It’s very fresh and seems to be more of a unisex scent to me.

 

[milo]

The Velvet's are definitely surprising me! The ones I thought I'd like I don't, and the ones I didn't think I like, I do. VC is a surprise like! Right away, I get a herbal mint, and geranium (?). This is kind of like Gennivre l'Artiste Diable, but a bit more herbally. I also really like this scent, as it smells very much Lush's Aura Suavis Bubble Bar/Shower Gel, which my son loves and is almost out. He agreed that it smelled good, but went "meh" when I said I'd get him a bottle. (He's a CK junkie AARGHH) I think I'll get VC for him for when he is older, as it smells really great on him. (And for me to steal!!)

Edited April 29, 2009 by milo

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Chartreuse-tinged yellow oil. Spicy, green, and fresh. Masculine, a little cologney. Coriander, sage, and the sour-smoky, grassy tea notes jump out. Zing of wasabi. Loads of green cedar, and there's something almost fruity (maybe one of the teas?).

 

Wet: Really spicy in an invigorating, green way. The fruit seems citrusy/zesty...wait, is this bergamot? Or green mandarin? Totally smells that way to me. The teas are SO bright and grassy. The vetiver is giving that clean/masculine feel, and it's super sexy and well-behaved. This is very herbal,but it's not quite medicinal.

 

Dry: I'm getting mint, definitely mint - a sweet, fresh peppermint (this sort of merges with the sage, which is not harsh at all). It goes really well with the tart citrus rind and grassy tea. A little soapier, but pleasantly. The coriander and wasabi have lost their bite, but are still zingy.

 

Later: Soapier, but still in a good way. The sage and spices have calmed down completely; this is mostly tea and green cedar (which is a little dry, but mostly astringent-fresh). Still minty and grassy, and the vetiver holds. I'm not getting any myrrh. A lovely salty aquatic note has emerged.

 

Summary: An almost rotten sour note emerges - the fermented tea (pu-erh). Frankincense comes out more, and a little myrrh. All the fresh greenery is pretty much gone after a few hours, and this is darker and more woody (and almost dusty) in the end. Still aquatic, clean, and masculine. Decent throw, fades drastically.

[Schmoozy]

 

Velvet Cthulhu screams spring. Herbal, green, dewy with a slight perfume-y edge. I can smell the Wasibi, coriander and white sage right off the bat. Tea and cedar follow closely behind, and mingled with the cedar are whiffs of myrrh and frankincense. On initial application Cthulhu is very bright and maybe a tad too agressive, however as it dries down, the green lushness wears off and the resins kick in and I am left with a resiny-cedar blend with coriander and sage. I adore it.

[femmefatale]

At first this is very green and bitter herbal with a slightly sharp quality to it, but it soon morphs into a a bright, clean, green springtime scent. It smoothes out a bit and is very well blended. It's not as spicy as I expected, which is actually ok. The throw is very light though and fades pretty quickly.

And it also reminds me a bit of Dragon Moon '06. It's in the same family, though Cthulhu doesn't go quite as soapy as DM.

 

I like this more than I expected, so I'll keep my decant, but will pass on the bottle.

[ljaylh]

 

Oh my.. when this first hit my skin and I took a big whiff.... it tickled! The wasabi was sharp, but not unpleasant. I thought I could also smell an anise kinda thing going on, but I'm not sure where that was coming from.

 

After 10 minutes, that initial blast of wasabi has calmed right down, and now I can smell the tea.. the myrrh and frankincense are quite subdued but I know they're there. It's smelling very green!!

 

Half an hour later, this has dried right off and is barely there. I'm left with a very clean, fresh (and still green) scent on my skin that I have to get up real close to find.. however I did only dab, I didn't put a lot on, so that may be why it's quite faint.

 

This was bold and intoxicating at the start, energetic and vibrant in the middle, and soft at the end. Like sex. If your sex is like that. Ahem.