The Caterpillar

[Tytania]

Heavy incense notes waft lazily through a mix of carnation, jasmine, bergamot, and neroli over a lush bed of dark mosses, iris blossom, deep patchouli and indolent vetiver.

In the imp: This smells complex and interesting. There's incense and smoke and a dark green smell and a himt of floral.

Wet: Gah! Is that patchouli???

Drydown: Ick! My body chemistry is killing everything but incense and patchouli smells. My wrist smells like a cheesy new age store. The smokiness is fading.

After a couple of hours: I smell like strong soap. It's excellent quality soap, but still disappointing.

Conclusion: Catterpillar doesn't like my skin at all. I think I may give this one to my sister. The scent has so much promise for the right person.

[OdetteOdile]

The Caterpillar

 

Possibly the most beautiful jasmine I've ever smelled - a lazy, pretty, fruity, well-blended jasmine. Interestingly, I think this was a much more complex, "difficult" scent on me when I first tried it on last year (it's an old imp). Now it's just this beautiful, sweet floral - and jasmine is a note that sometimes doesn't work on me.

I can sort of smell the incense note, but I have to work at it because it's blended well with the rest. This would be gorgeous in body lotion - it's so extremely feminine in a slightly old-fashioned way. I'd probably wear it with jeans to offset and contrast the womanliness of it.

[cupide430]

The Caterpillar

A frimp from the lab.

 

At first it smells very earthy and very soapy. It has that violet = Mr. Bubbles thing going on for a bit. I checked the notes, no violet is listed so it must be something else. As it dries down there's still a soapy note plus an incensy note and a touch of something ozoney. It is getting more and more powdery as it dries. Its a big mix of a lot of things... but I don't like any of them.

[tempete]

Vetiver usually goes super nasty on me, but in The Caterpillar, it provides just enough herbal greeness to prevent the whole blend from sinking into an indolent languor. Unfortunately, jasmine does that soapy thing that it normally does, and turns The Caterpillar into soapy incense. The other notes eventually rein in the jasmine soapiness, and the end result is a delightfully complex mix of florals, mosses and incense. I think that this would work better for me as a room scent rather than a perfume.

[McPagangrrl]

The Caterpillar is very floral and sweet on me. I can't pick out any of the warmer, darker notes particularly as they are blended very well. This does have a smell of the Caterpillar's home on the danker part of the garden/forest floor--sweet, wet, and mossy. It is almost an overly ripe sweet, like the last fresh moments before a flower begins to decay.

[wickedgoddess]

Origins - imp received in a swap

 

Incensy with the softest touch of floral. I don't get any floral notes in particular, it's soft and pretty and stays mostly in the background. The vetiver is under control here; it doesn't make me want to scrub it off. This is nice but not extraordinary.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3.

[ianastar]

I have to agree with most people...this is green but not too green, floral but not too floral and earthy but not too earthy.

 

Its a perfect blend of all three families.

 

Its like sitting in a garden at dusk.

[Abbie]

In the bottle: Hmm... this Caterpillar is definitely more of the Jefferson Airplane "hookah smoking character" than I expected:) Very head-shop smelling, with lots of patchouli and incense. The only floral I'm picking up is the jasmine.

 

First on: Mostly jasmine, with an appealing smokiness that I rather like. A lot of other people are describing this scent as "green" which I honestly don't get at all. Maybe my concept of "green" is really far off.

 

Heh... This is definitely getting me into head-shop mode. "So, like, dude... why does green look like that? Do you think it looks the same to everyone?"

 

Dry: Okay, now we're getting through more of the smokiness, and the jasmine is fading into the background. The lab definitely wasn't lying when they said "heavy incense notes". A bit of an undercurrent of soap, too... something like Irish Spring.

 

Overall: Not at all what I expected, but quite nice. A little heavier than I would normally wear for daytime. It might be really great cut with something citrusy... I'll have to experiment.

[vyvyan]

Wet in the bottle, this smells like something my grandmother used to keep around her makeup table. I'm not sure what it was, but it was an immediate memory.

 

On me, it pretty quickly dries into total incense and patchouli. This doesn't smell green on me - maybe brown-with-gold, but not green. Little bit of soap to it, but more on my left arm than my right, wtf? Very headshop.

[voodoobaby]

I seem to have swapped this away before I reviewed it, but here's what I remember. The Caterpillar was floral, though and through. On the drydown there was a touch of moss, but for the most part, the iris and jasmine practically screamed. I was looking for something earthier and more incensey, so as mentioned above, I ended up swapping it. Better luck next time, eh?

[zankoku_zen]

In the Bottle: Incensey. I can smell the patchouli.

On Skin: I can smell the carnation and a light tinge or iris. Its very dark green in my mind, like a mysterious forest. The patchouli is still prevalent.

On drydown: The floral notes have gone away. Now it smells almost strictly of patchoulie. Nuts.

 

Verdict: Ordinarily, I don't like patchouli. I like this one though. But it still isn't me, so off to swap it will go.

 

ETA: I tried this again, almost two years after I tried it originally. Now that I have more BPAL under my belt, I do have to praise this scent. It's complex and heady, and something I don't think as a newbie I could altogether appreciate. I got more of the jasmine and orange blossom on this scent, esp. when wet and not so much patchouli. It was incensey and spicy. I might have to retry it again tomorrow just to double check.

Edited April 23, 2007 by zankoku_zen

[minouska]

I got this as a gift from the Lab, and almost didn't try it. However, I try everything at least once, so on it went. For the first few minutes I was certain this was going on the swap pile--vetiver really doesn't work on me.

 

But then, it mellowed. It's a lovely, clean scent, without a dominating note, just....nice. There's a bit of floral sweetness, a bit of spicy carnation, and overall, a dark, clean blend. It's really nice on a hot steamy day in the city. I really like this quite a bit! Thank you Lab--I never would have ordered this on my own.

[urraca]

This is very incensey patchouli on me. I don't get much of the florals and I don't even get the vetiver, which is a surprise because vetiver usually is very dominant on me in any scent it is in. This really does remind me of an opium-addled caterpillar, one of those slightly menacing ones with orange and black furry spikes

 

I don't really like this on me though, so off to swaps it goes to find a better home.

Edited June 27, 2005 by urraca

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

perfumey and heady, not quiet what I was expecting so far

 

On me:

This is very incensey on me, the patchouli is pretty strong in this, but I can definitely smell the vetiver underneath and the jasmine just a little bit too. I think the mosses are lending a little green kick to this otherwise incensey smell

 

Final note:

I normally like incensey smells, but I think this one is just too much for me. I believe this is what people are referring to when they say it smells "headshoppy". Not a bad smell, just not for me

[sookster]

hmmmm.....this scent just has waaaaaaaaaay too much going on for me....

 

i so wanted to get the incense and patchouli and carnation notes out of the caterpillar but all i got was a bunch of floral notes that just got stronger as time progressed...i normally love florals as well but this sadly didn't work in the least for me......

 

oddly enough some scents that actually contain patchouli don't even come through with it ... it has got to be the other oils that do this....hmmmmm

[Luleh]

In the bottle: This smells like a typical perfume. Very perfume alcohol scent.

Wet: Very sharp greenish scent. Floral, too but not a sweet floral. I can't pick up any of the notes but I suck at that. It's quite nice, actually. I don't get any of the supposed incense which is fine by me.

Drying down: It's getting sweeter now. And a bit powdery. I think I'll hold on to this one for another try.

Later: I'm really liking this. It's sweeter but not nasty sweet. And it no longer has that typical perfume smell. I don't think I'd get a bottle but I'm keeping the imp.

[orangepoppy]

(I tried The Caterpillar about a year ago and forgot to review it and sadly, forgot what I thought about it, so retried it today - therefore I'd consider this imp to be a bit "aged")

 

First on I get a sharp blast of grapefruit, which is odd since there's no grapefruit in this blend. Must be the neroli/bergamot. I think it's the iris that gives it a sparkly quality. As it dries down a softer and sweeter quality emerges. My husband hugs me and says, "You smell good." I say, "I know" The jasmine is barely detectable. I really like this one - it smells freshly sweetly cleanly.......deviant.

[QueenFae]

Light, heady, mystical; the perfect hookah smoking catepillar. The jasmine and vetiver are the top notes on me. Everything is blended so beautifully, I have a hard time picking out any other notes. The underlying mossy/incense tones become a little more evident the longer I wear it. Another Mad Tea Party masterpiece. I like it, and I can just smell the hookah smoke....

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Florals, patchouli, & smokey stuffs

 

First on: MMM..... vetiver, moss, incense, with a hint of floral. I likey. It's definitely a complex scent, it's got a lot going on.

 

Drydown: Vetiver, how I love you. Most of the other scents go away in that I can't pick them out, but it's definitely not an all vetiver scent. It's a light dark scent, if that makes any sense. Like the lighter version of Sloth. I have a lot of vetiver scents, I'll have to compare them to see if this one will make the final cut, but I do like it.

[quimerula]

Wet I can smell moss, patchouli, vetiver and incense; all the green and brown notes with a touch of smoke.

I get a touch of carnation and jasmine too.

 

It's a strong and smoky perfume, deep and hypnotic.

If I close my eyes I see a clear picture of the caterpillar from the Disney's movie!

[gangstaknitta]

In bottle: very patchouli...and much sweeter that I anticipated, but it's a "dark" sweetness, no doubt due to the incense

 

Wet: the patchouli takes over everything...it smells like old man cologne on me

 

Dry: the patchouli eases up a bit and a green note (the mosses, I presume) come out more. It smells a little like incense in the background. I think there's still too much patchouli on the dry-down for this to be a favorite. I like the note of dirt that I detect in it, though and it does have pretty good staying power.

[theseagrows]

i have been searching for earthy scents that might do well on me. maybe i should just stay away from them though! i'm not sure what exactly i am smelling in the caterpillar- i think it's mostly patchouli, vetiver, and carnation. i am not a big fan of patchouli or veviter, but i thought all those other notes might balance the scent out for me.

 

i really wanted to like this one, as the name 'the caterpillar' is so endearing...maybe because i think of the cure song, but it's just not my kind of scent/doesnt do well with my skin chemistry.

[sarada]

I would swear that this was one of the first reviews that I ever wrote but there's nothing here by me!

 

This was the first BPAL that I ever tried. I don't have any anymore but I am writing this from memory, to complete my Mad Tea Party reviews since I just noticed that I had a couple missing.

 

I ordered this based on the notes, having never tried BPAL before or any scented oils at all...I was always an incense and bath product girl. I love incense and the "incensy notes" promised in this along with the vetiver and patchouli were what turned me on. I also knew that I liked bergamot (I'm an Earl Grey junkie) and moss. When I got it it wasn't exactly what I had expected, which would have been a very strong earthy blend but I didn't know then what I know now about jasmine and carnation and bergamot in perfumes on me. The jasmine was overwhelming, gave me a headache and masked everything else with a sort of soapy floral smell. I really want to like it though -- I hope that I get an imp some time as a freebie so I can have some around to play with.

 

This reminded me a lot of Flame of Desire too, which smelled almost exactly the same to me except it was deeper and darker and even stronger, somehow.

 

I think that I would appreciate this more now that I know "how" to smell BPAL and how to enjoy the different layers and notes as they emerge. The jasmine would still probably kill me but I think I'd be able to better appreciate the patchouli and other earthy scents swirling around.

 

All in all it's absolutely brilliant and just reading the description is a sublime pleasure -- the colours and textures that these words evokes paints a wonderful picture of greenery, plants and flowers in my mind, all mixed in with the Alice in Wonderland art from the well worn book I had as a child.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Mossy.

 

In the imp/bottle: Moss, jasmine and dark, thick vetiver.

 

On skin, wet: A musky, earthy jasmine, with something faintly sweet just beneath.

 

On skin, dry: I can't place what this sweetness is, but it's beautiful. The patchouli comes out after thirty minutes or so, though, and blends with the moss and vetiver to completly overpower that sexy sweetness, trampling it under their mean little feet.

 

Conclusion: I'd love this, if it didn't have patchouli (which is strange, since I generally like patchouli); I think it would've been lighter, sweeter, and softer. Oh well.

Edited December 19, 2005 by Aredhel

[Scarlettfish]

My chemistry is really being wacky with this one, although in a strangely pleasant way. In the imp I get an incensey kind of scent. However, on the skin it becomes...amber. Honestly, it smells like Blood Amber to me! Weirdness. After it dries down the flowers come out a bit to play and it gets more earthy, but the amber is still there. I don't know if the notes are combining into some kind of amber-like equivalent or what's going on. But anyway, it is a lovely floral-amber-earthy scent on me and I am very impressed, despite my inexplicable chemistry!