Vampire Tarot: The Fool

[freneticfloetry]

O. THE FOOL
He had stepped over the precipice. There was no going back. In his imagination, he could already feel the prick of needle-sharp fangs in his neck, a sharp prelude to eternal life.

The sound began. It was low and sad, like the rushing of an underground river. It took him several long seconds to recognize it as laughter.

“This is not life,” said the voice.

It said nothing more, and after a while the young man knew he was alone in the graveyard.

The Fool's perfume: apple blossom, peppermint, allspice, and yellow sandalwood speckled with grave loam and clods of grave dirt.

In the bottle: MINT. MINT MINT MINT. Almost antiseptic mint, like mouthwash.

Wet: All mint, all the time.

Drydown: Mint and... fruit? Apple, perhaps, and a touch of something citrus - I keep getting whiffs of something akin to mint orange juice.

Dry: It's an odd blend. Something in there makes it almost sour. But it reminds me (more than a lot) of The Fool from the original Tarot blends. Could we have a stealth resurrection on our hands?

[Lionesse]

It's a garden mint. Not chewing gum mint.

 

Its the smell of green, garden, plant-y, mint left behind on my fingers....

 

Like, I just pinched off some fresh baby mint leaves, from the plant, for my iced tea.

[alicia_stardust]

This is definitely mint, but to me it's a soft and very gentle smattering of fuzzy mint leaves, where you have just rubbed your hands through the plant after having spent some time in the garden. It has an herbal, magical quality to it, perhaps with a hint of sandalwood and lavender in the very far background, and a warm smattering of dark earth and soil. This is very grounding, and ethereal, and the mint is so very gentle and leaf-like. Beautiful.

[pseedie]

my roomate (non-bpal) smelled this for me at comic Con and stated "Oh! It smells like the inside of a lawnmower!!" [= guess he smelled the green!

[twilighteyes]

I am disappointed that mine is not all mint!

 

In the bottle: Dirt.

 

Wet on skin: Dirt and a teeny bit of mint.

 

Dry on skin: Mint and ... dirt. It's not SUPER minty, but not SUPER dirty either. As it dries more, the mint starts to take over. This is not peppermint. It's sweeter. More of a spearmint or one of those mint hybrids. I can feel the cooling sensation in my nose of all places, and a little on my lips where they brushed my skin while sniffing. My arm is vaguely feeling the mint numb tingle but only very slightly. I didn't slather, though, just lightly tested from the cap.

 

On the exhale I am still getting dirt. Not sure I like this. I love mint but I don't really like dirt.

[goblinshark]

to me it smells like mint and some sort of tropical fruit, like minty mango or something. it's an odd blend on me, I'm not sure how much I'll wear it.

[rayvn1]

I agree with Lioness - garden mint, not chewing gum mint (hallelujah!) and some herbs as well. Fresh, green and lively. I'm lucky to have the insanely beautiful Comic-con version of the bottle and the tarot card.

[Suu4LC]

In the bottle, this is garden mint, as another reviewer said-straight up fuzzy mint leaves freshly plucked, with soft, wet dirt still stuck to them. This is more dirt smelling than I remember from the proto, which as me a bit worried. Dirt isn't really my thing...

 

On my skin I get that tingly mint smell...like when I sniff Grr. Very soothing. It's not too dirt-y actually...the earthiness is THERE, but it is not overwhelming the mint. The mint is by far the star of the show. And seriously, this is straight up omg fuzzy mint leaves straight from the garden. Dead on. Seriously. Beth NAILED that scent like whoa.

 

Like many mint scents though, this faded SUPER fast, leaving my hand smelling like it needs some dirt washed off of it!

 

Honestly, I don't think I want to smell like fuzzy garden mint leaves, but if you do, omg you need to get this. I'm not sure I'll be able to part with the bottle though...I have the Comic-con special bottle and the art is so gorgeous!

 

 

[iletaitunefois]

I was given a frimp of this scent along with a decant from edenssixthscent (thank you!) and was surprised how much I loved it. When I was really little, my father had a spearmint plant outside in our garden. Wet, this scent was very strongly (almost too strongly! I sneezed) spearmint. It had a lovely drydown, though. All I could think of was that plant from my childhood. It smelled just like it. Not so much like when my father would pick sprigs off to chew or to add to dinner--but when the leaves were still alive and on the plant. I could smell the wet dirt accompanying the fresh mint and it was just overwhelmingly nostalgic and alive.

 

I never imagined that a scent could smell so perfectly like a memory, but this one was really overwhelming for me. Definitely know that I'm not letting go of this one.

[isentropic]

This was a toughy for me. I really wanted to like it! I opened it and got a mint vibe, which was very exciting but when I put it on, it just went to plant. Dirt and plants, very much like garden mint. I like the smell, but there's something about greenery that I just can't stand wearing :\

 

Will probably end up selling/swapping, though I'm not sure if I want to give up something so hard to come by!

[zankoku_zen]

This one is a true morpher. In the vial, it actually smells like cheese to me. On wet, I get a blast of mint and a hint of dirt. As it dries, the mint burns off and I get a fruity/dirt scent. More fruit than dirt though.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the bottle, I get very moist soil.

 

Wet on the skin, Peppermint is strongest note. I smelled the dirt note right after I applied the oil to my skin, but the peppermint took over soon after. Several minutes after application, PEPPERMINT PEPPERMINT PEPPERMINT. Whoa, is that strong!

 

As the oil dries, the peppermint settles down a bit but I still can't really smell any other notes, but a softer mint on my skin.

 

Fully dry, this is more of a sweetened spearmint scent. A little bit of dirt notes mixed in again and, at last, a bit of apple blossom.

 

This is definitely an oil you need to be patient with until it's through morphing.

[Ravenclaw79]

Wow, this one's dirty. I was hoping for a well-grounded fruit-and-spice scent, but what I got was just the ground -- dirt, followed by minty dirt, followed by omghithereDIRT. I smell like a bag of potting soil.

[Blood onmy hands]

First on, I get the soft mint that others have mentioned. It smells a bit green and herbal. It also smells like it's drowning in a bag of damp potting soil. As it dries down, the dreaded apple blossom amps up on my skin. Apple blossom smells like sweet, fruity shampoo on me, so it adds a hint of that soapiness here. Sweet mint, green herbal, dirt, and a hint of shampoo. It's not awful, but I don't really find myself wanting to wear this either. My husband's only comment on this was that it smells "weird."

[Rheliwen]

This started off juicy green apple covered in peppermint oil and rolled in garden soil.

 

Once dry, it's mostly a spicy dirt scent with a hint of the apple and peppermint way in the background. I like it, but then again, I have this weird fascination with dirt notes.

 

I have to add that I put a little more on this morning and the apple is much more present now. It's sweet apple dirt...same apple that's in creepy (at least the original) like others have mentioned.

Edited October 3, 2009 by Rheliwen

[boxinghelena]

Let's see....

 

No apple blossom, what peppermint? no allspice or sandalwood. All I get is grave dirt. I normally love love love dirt scents but I have quite a few dirt scents in my collection already & I was hoping I would get the apple blossom mixed with dirt in this one.

 

It was really strong too. I don't dislike it but I think I would reach for Graveyard Dirt or Worm Moon first.

 

[Siberia]

I smell mint and earth in the bottle. My skin must gobble up mint, because when I put this on, I get a very wet smelling earth and a fresh apple scent. This earth is saturated and dripping with something unwholesome, despite the freshness of the apple. This probably isn't something I'll reach for too often, but I would probably buy all of this series even for the tarot cards alone, which are gorgeous.

 

ETA: Testing this nearly 6 months later, I find I like it much more. The earth is toned down, but it is now mostly mint, with a distinct but softer note of apple blossom, tempered just a bit by the earth note. I find it much improved with aging.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Siberia

[anomie]

In the bottle: Green, wet and a whisper of mint, and a hint of dirt as well. A little bit of the apple blossom. Compelling.

 

Wet: The mint blooms. (Does mint bloom? *g*) And apple blossom. It smells like my dentist's office right now, actually. Augh.

 

Drydown: Dirt, apple blossom, and more dirt. And I thiiiink I detect the sandalwood. I don't really own any other of the dirt scents from BPAL, so this is certainly unique in my collection, but I don't feel a need to hoard it.

[Seadreamer]

In the bottle: Minty, soft flowers growing in dirt.

 

Wet: Well, hallo MINT!!

 

About 15 minutes: That's... huh. I smell like dirt. It's.... I feel like I need a shower, for some reason.

 

2 hours: Mmmmmm... soft. Silky. Barely floral. Barely mint. In fact... barely there. I'd reapply, but I'm not sure I want to smell that strongly of dirt.

 

I'd love to collect the whole set, but honestly? To be practical, I'm glad I got a decant.

 

[Nadirah]

I have to agree that this smells very similar to the Fool from way back. Though I think this one might have a bit more peppermint to it. The fool smells bubbly and fruity, but the fruit is hard to place, the peppermint hides it well... I swear this is peppermint, but there may be something else that has an astringent smell to it too. As the peppermint fades like it always does, there is that earthy scent everyone is talking about. Is it just a touch of oakmoss maybe? Ok yeah. Green apples being thrown so hard into a planter of peppermint that they explode and dirt goes flying (and maybe some bubbly lemon lime Sprite soda gets spilled at a nearby table).

Well something like that. This is good, I really liked the fool the first time around and this has a similar scent (they are based on the tarot card) I say this would be a great slathering scent. I cant wait to see how it goes in my locket!

 

 

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Weird, minty dirt

 

Wet on me - Still mint and dirt; although now they seem more disperate

 

Dry on me - A very faint dirt scent

 

Overall - It faded very quickly on me and never got far from that loamy, dirt scent.

[hkhm]

imp: minty appley dirt.

 

wet: i've been yearning for an apple-mint scent fora long while now and this does not disappoint. the dirt is fresh-turned and the apple is lovely against the sparkling mint.

 

dry: the apple fades a bit so i'm left with a minty-dirt scent with a hint of sweetness.

[heleng]

Wet-all mint.

Dry- soil and vegetation. Like digging around the mint patch in the garden and trampling the stems into the soil.

[ChloeKEvil]

This goes through three clear stages for me.

 

The first is peppermint-apple. If there is one combination I hate, it's peppermint and apple. I used to avoid apples like the plague shortly before and shortly after I brushed my teeth. They're just so gross together.

 

So it's a little stomach churning, but it doesn't last long. The peppermint fades off, leaving the apple behind.

 

Well, apple blossom, really. It's definitely not the full-on fruit, but it's light and flowery and... been stepped on and pressed into the dirty. Gritty grey dirt, that is really noticeable when you breathe deeply. On a light sniff it's just flowers.

 

Eventually the dirt fades off, leaving just the apple blossom behind. It's very light and pretty and I do enjoy both this stage and the previous dirty stage. I can see wearing this during summer-- it's not at all heavy or cloying. Very refreshing, in fact.

 

I should note that this is a bottle I just got, but my friend bought for me at Comic-Con last year. So it's aged, but it was just jostled around in shipping. It might change a bit and if it does, I'll update this.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting mint and dirt. ...Well. This should be interesting. On my skin, this is mint and wet dirt. I don't think this is gonna turn out well. Yeah, gonna pass on this.

Edited May 29, 2010 by Venneh