Cathode

[Shollin]

Cathode, from Bewitching Brews:

A negatively charged scent. Ambergris, Spanish Moss, oakmoss and three electric mints.

 

The version I tried is a prototype.

 

First sniff: Zingy and bright! Makes my nose tingle. Very minty.

 

Wearing: Bright white mint in the sun, with flickers of green around the edges. It’s a softer mint than Mad Hatter, more diffuse and less crisp. Before it faded it went very softly sweet on my wrists. I'll definitely be wearing it again.

[jj_j]

I don't know if I got a prototype or the final version, but my imp of Cathode is very different from Shollin's. Heavy on the spanish moss, it's a barely-minty version of Tears.

 

Dry down is a sweeter, more "round" version of the same, and it remains very aquatic.

 

It's lovely, mind you, and I won't be disappointed if the bottle I ordered comes smelling like this or Shollin's version.

Edited June 10, 2004 by jj_j

[abbacat]

I received a Cathode sample as one of four generous extras in an order I placed with Black Phoenix. After snuffing all of my other imp’s ears, this one was a bit of a shock to the nose with its sharp minty-ness. Something about it was very inviting, so the next morning I dabbed it on. The edge of mint was a nice wake-up but it mellowed away after the first hour, with the moss and verdigris tones swelling out as it dried. Overall it aged into a pleasant, slightly cool and watery aroma that kept me obsessively sniffing my wrists all day.

 

While not something I ever would’ve picked for myself – ‘moss?? Who wants to smell fusty?’ – I’m glad they had the prescience to send it along, it’s a keeper!

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Gentle mint with the lightest hit of sweet floral.

 

Second Impression: The mint does not last on the skin and the ambergris and moss make a wonderful bouquet.

 

Final Analysis: Reading the notes I had no idea how beautiful this would smell on my skin. In New England when in the hot and humid summer and the weather is very volatile, a thunder and lightening storm comes with a heavy, heavy rain. Cathode is the air after the rain, light and sweet, crisp, cool and clean.

[TygherRayn]

In the bottle: Wet, crisp and minty. It's a brighter mint that Mad Hatter I think .. blue mint, rather than green.

 

Wet: This smells like those pillow-mint candies .. and I love it. It's tangy .. delicious .. and very bright. This is definitely not a scent I could wear to sleep .. but probably one that would wake me up in the mornings.

 

Wearing: The mint dies off on this one after a short time .. it's still there, but it's faded. It seems like the moss and ambergris are warming on my skin, leaving the mint to mingle with them, and not letting it remain quite as strong. But that's really okay.

[Astarte]

Initially the three mints are the most prominent smell but they settle down quickly to a lovely green herbal aura faintly smelling of mints.

 

It smells akin to the Aveda Rosemary Mint shampoo but less sharp.

 

Wonderful for a clean, crisp scent.

[vige]

fast and easy sum up- cold. hot. glass.

 

ice on top of something hot.

 

electricity arcing from your hands and striking the ground around your feet.

 

bowl of mints at the register of some wood paneled restaurant along a rarely used stretch of road, where the woman at the counter wearing dewdrop glasses calls you "hun", which for some strange reason makes you sleepy.

 

thin glass popping.

 

green and white spearmint candy melting in the glove-box of a buick.

 

static on skin, rumpling clothes.

 

so cold it burns.

[Tesseljoan]

I love mint. And Cathode has lots of mint. Combined with the green moss this gets a very green and herbal feel to it. I can't really smell the ambergris, but it's there, making a velvety kind of base note.

Beautiful scent. I love mint.

[twistygirl]

Wet, this smelled exactly like Doublemint Gum on my skin for about the first two or three minutes. It quickly dried down to a lovely soft green scent with just a touch of mint. The moss really predominates on my skin. The minty stage of this was very, very cool, almost icy, while the mossy stage of the scent is a very different kind of cool... more like shade on a hot day rather than that sharp, icy coldness. This is a great scent to wear on a hot summer night. I find most green scents to be a bit masculine for me, but this is something that both men and women could wear easily. I would love to smell this on a man.

[Effluvia]

in the vial: Mmm, minty chamomile tea (although there's no chamomile in it...hmmm...interesting). But I also smell something aquatic, like I'm under water. The ambergris, maybe?

 

wet, on my skin: Wow...this is a very ethereal scent. Unfortunately, however, it morphs to soap very quickly on my skin. ARG!! Oh well. I'll still keep the imp, though, I have a feeling my hormones are sabotoging everything today.

 

dry, on my skin: Dammit, now I smell like my gramma's house.

[reina]

so I'm not the only one who has this morph into a clean, somewhat soapy scent on her after a while.

I wish the mint stayed the whole time as the very first minute after application was drop-dead gorgeous, and I love mint!

however, even after the mint died off (maybe 15 or 20 minutes into wearing it) it turned into something that reminds me of clean linens drying in the breeze, very clean and comfortable. I'll try this again in a couple of days, maybe the mint will last a little longer.

I like this scent very much, and can see myself wearing this regularly in our warm climate.

[omly]

I love mint. No really... I used to work for Oral-B for a while doing toothpaste. Wet the mint was a beautiful top note. Even after it dried down it made itself present with a freshness that added beautifully with the background aquatics. This smell is so soothing to me. In fact I wore this the day that I got my wisdom teeth pulled to ease my anxiety beforehand. This one will definately be a big bottle.

[glampyre]

Cathode is so joyous.

 

Mint juleps and delicate blossoms...like Churchill Downs on the day of the derby.

 

All expectation and sunlight.

[Lady_Ell]

I love this when it's wet, and within the first 20 minutes of wear. It's minty, bright, clean, and wakes you up, without smelling like air freshener - it's just like actual fresh air.

 

Then something happens, I don't know what, that makes the mint disappear and a bitter, dusty, angry smell come out that's really upsetting to me. I remember thinking that "if bitterness and despair had a smell, this would be it." It isn't like anything I've ever smelled before and it made me really sad and creeped out.

 

Mr. L tried it on and had a terrible reaction to it. His wrist is still red and bumpy.

[nevermore]

I was kind of afraid to try this one, as I’m not a really big fan of mint. But, since the lab was generous enough to send it along in one of my orders, I figured I should try it. Surprisingly, the mint isn’t all that strong. For the first half hour or so, it’s somewhat minty, but it dies down pretty quickly. After about 45 minutes, I have a lovely cool floral left on my wrists and cleavage. I think it’ll be really nice for the rest of the summer, since it’s lovely and cooling.

[allamanda]

Cathode

 

When first applied mint and citrus. Electric? Definitely. This starts off very citrussy but the mints soon start to take over. Bitingly crisp (that’s good) when wet but mellowing as it dries.

 

This keeps morphing, but whichever form taken it is lovely. It can be warm and golden, then crisp and cool, a bit herby and I love it!

Edited September 13, 2004 by allamanda

[JazzieCazzie]

This is one I'd chosen as an imp, based on the description, because I do love mint. But sadly it didn't work for me ...

 

I loved the mint in the initial wet scent ... but on drydown the mint kind of morphed out into something much more aqueous which made me scrunch my nose up. And it really had legs so I was scrunching it all night (fortunately, my daughter liked it and since she was with me, she didn't think I was stinky).

 

I would have loved this to be a keeper but instead it's my loss and Spark's goodie-package gain

[quinkel]

I ordered a 5ml unsniffed and I don't regret.

 

It's a good scent for days you want to smell delicious but not want to wear a extrovert scent. You can wear it to all occations without being overpowering perfumed.

 

It's initially fresh and minty. when the mints dissapear to the background it's warm soft and a bit sweet/berry-like

 

It has a slight resemblence with Blue Moon without the Cucumber and the Magic loaded feeling.

 

a nice pretty straightforward scent.

ETA: I first could't figure out what the drydown was but now i know on me its almost pure Ambergris, love it!

Edited December 9, 2004 by quinkel

[Ancientgirl]

This is a really clean and fresh scent for me. I can't really identify any of the notes individually, but it is a comforting scent, not so much in a warm and cozy way, but like you've just gotten out of the bath. After awhile, it is a little soapy, but not in a bad way. This is a good scent if you want to wear something long lasting, but not overpowering.

10+ hours (and a full night's sleep) after putting this on, there is still the gentlest reminder of it on my wrist. Not even quite a scent, more the ghost of one, as if my skin were naturally fresh and clean.

Ancientgirl

[Northernminx]

Minty minty minty. In the bottle a definite aquatic minty smell, fresh and sharp.

 

The mint lasted a while on this one and the underlayer of ambergris and moss added a vague earthy, almost floral sweetness to this. All in all beautiful, cooling, and delicate and a definite keeper for hot days.

[pekeana]

In the vial, Cathode is minty and mossy. It's a very sweet, clean, invitingly invigorating scent.

 

On me, it retains that soft sweet moss scent... for about ten minutes, then turns to a horrible herbal soap gone bad fragrance.

 

*hangs onto Cathode and sobs* Alas, on me, it tends toward suckage.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: beth sent me this as an extra, and i don't think i would've picked it based on the description. however, i do like the name. it smells like sweet mint. in fact, it smells a bit like the inside of a york peppermint patty. very cool.

on: i still get the peppermint scent, but now a fruity note is added. it's a very different scent.

4 minutes later: well, this passed the isabel the cat lick test. she's so weird.

1 hour later: the scent has turned into more of a natural mint, not so much a candy mint. very lovely.

2 hours later: definitely still more natural. very nice. a very nice scent.

overall: i probably won't get this again, but this is definitely good for those peppermint moods. i really like the green tinge to it.

[darklorelei]

Cathode was really, really interesting on me. I love it wet, but I don't like it as much on drydown and as it's drying.

 

Interestingly enough, when I first put it on, it smells almost like pear, vaguely mint-scented pears, sweet and light, but definately fruity. Seemed to be a lighter complement to Megaera.

 

However, as evidenced by my experience with Envy, I like mint ok, but it loves me. And swiftly eats anything else in the scent, and it ends up smelling exactly like a less intense version of Envy.

[VorpalBunny]

When I first heard the name, I expected Cathode to smell like solder and circuit boards. Guess that's the electrical engineering background.

 

On me, I don't smell mint AT ALL. It smells almost like green tea and citrus, although I can definitely smell a bit of the mosses. When I worked at a florist, I loved the smell of a box of Spanish moss and I do get a hint of that with the faintest hint of the oakmoss. So it's a nice, light, green smell on me, and I enjoy it a lot.

[teza]

In the vial and wet on my skin it smells sharply, sweetly of mint. The sweet really came with a spearmint burst when I put it on my skin and at first I was worried that I was going to walk around smelling like a stick of gum.

 

It soon mellows out, though, become at once more sweet and less sugary. The sweet then fades away as it dries completey, leaving a hint of tangled mints over a richer, green core. There is something subtly bitter that makes it almost pungent close up without transcending that border. It merely makes it -- well, more intriguing to me.

 

I really like this. It is not a scent that I would wear every day, I think, but I'm keeping it around unless I spy a really, really good trade.