Ekhidna

[hkhm]

EKHIDNA
This was the divine and haughty Ekhidna, and half of her is a Nymphe with a fair face and eyes glancing, but the other half is a monstrous ophis, terrible, enormous and squirming and voracious, there in earth's secret places. For there she has her cave on the underside of a hollow rock, far from the immortal gods, and far from all mortals.

There the gods ordained her a fabulous home to live in which she keeps underground among the Arimoi, grisly Ekhidna, a Nymphe who never dies, and all her days she is ageless.

Mother of Monsters, the Eel of Tartarus, Queen of the Dark Forest, Serpent Womb. Consort to Typhon, the Rotting Lamprey was born from the residual scum left behind after from the Great Deluge.

All the corruptions of the earth: mandrake, dark myrrh, seaweed, swampy moss, black pepper, pimento, opoponax, tobacco absolute, and tarry clove.

imp: myrrh, moss, opoponax, pepper... dark and beautiful!

wet: the myrrh is the most dominant note here, sinuous and dark. i keep catching whiffs of many of the other notes but htey are very hard to detect over the myrrh.

dry: this dries to a peppery myrrh blend, i tend to amp both myrrh and pepper notes though. thinking i'll be needing a bottle of this one!

[Iceblink]

Myrrh, tobacco, and clove--this is really dark and I like it a lot...I was worried about the seaweed but it and the moss just give this an earthy quality. This feels so sinister! Could be a real hit with some aging.

[edenssixthday]

Ekhidna - The oil is thick and dark, and the scent is thick, dark, and heavy. I love about half the notes in this blend and am iffy on the other half, so I was really curious about it. When I first put it on I can distinctly smell, in order of prominence, the pimento, tobacco, black pepper, and hint of dark myrrh, and a trace of clove. The longer it's on my skin, the more the clove becomes the top note, but it never amps on me as clove tends to do. This is definitely a scent for people who like heavier, darker scents. It's got the potential for extreme sexiness on the right person or in the right context. On me, sitting in my living room on the sofa wrapped in a blanket, it's less sexy and more of a warm, comforting scent. As for what I think of it overall ... I like it, but don't love it. This is one scent that will almost certainly age well, and since I like it now, maybe I'll love it in 6-12 months.

[fairnymph]

Root beer coloured oil. Dark, intense, and complex. A little spicy, a bit incensey, but shockingly sweet in a really elegant, gourmand (almost but not quite foody) way. I'm pretty sure that's the tobacco absolute, a note that I find sweet and rich and utterly delicious, with tones of vanillic and chocolate. This note reminds me very much of the one in Black Temple Burlesque Troupe, and it leaps out of the bottle above all other notes.

 

Suddenly sour, and much more complex in a muddled way, with the tobacco no longer dominating remotely - thought it's still absolutely in play. I think the sourness is from the pimento, because I'm reminded of the sour phase of the Witch Queen - it's an unpleasant, vegetal and vinegary sour - like pickled peppers, appropriately. I also get a dill pickle note that may or may not be related to the pimento. I get great swathes of oppressive, smoky, bitter and musty-dusty myrrh - it and the pimento are the dominating notes now. I also get the unmistakable almost aquatic cedar-like mandrake (mandrake smells exactly like cedar if it were a clear viscous liquid, to me). I do get some pleasantly salty, dark green seaweed - dried kelp.

 

-wet, continued-

 

And while I can't pick out the moss, usually swampy moss (like Spanish moss) smells very musty, so it's probably blending with the myrrh. The black pepper is surprising light, and faintly dusty - the same note from Ronin? The clove, however, is one of the stronger notes on my skin - as usual - and is the sharp, intense kind that's a bit sickly sweet. I think it's softened a tad by the light but still clearly present opoponax, which is rather smooth and sweetly smoky-woody. There is something else sickly sweet here, too, and a little mentholic - red musk? And sassafras? Yeah, there is a lot going on here and it's very jumbled at this point.

 

Strong throw, this stuff, though I did slop on a bit more than intended. This continues to be overwhelmingly sour, and if anything, the pickle association has strengthened. The myrrh keeps pace with the dominating pimento, but the clove - and this is definitely the type my skin amps. The pepper is amped a bit too, though still dusty - again, as in Ronin, it's like that stale cheap packeted preground stuff. I'm getting the moss clearly now as its own musty greenery, though it's still merging mostly with the heavy myrrh. The kelp has amped and become saltier and beachier, but is not the least bit aquatic or soapy - a fantastic note, somewhat reminiscent of the seaweed in Cthulu in Love.

 

Final drydown is surprisingly nice, with the salty kelp-seaweed note and incense notes (dark, heavy, dusty myrhh and smoky-sweet woody opoponax) dominating. It's almost aquatic but not quite - if you like the idea of oceanics but can't do aquatics, this is definitely the scent for you - no soapiness at all here, not at any stage. The pepper holds well too, though it's unfortunately always stale and dusty, not that I ever like black pepper in perfume, while the clove too is strong, but has actually faded back from its place of amped up dominance- it's a little sharp, but mostly just woody-spicy and lightly sweet. Best of all, the sour pimento so strong at first is almost completely gone, just a bit of vegetal heat now. The mandrake has remained a constant light, dry warm woody note, while the spanish moss is no longer distinct - either gone, or merged with the mustiness of the myrrh. The tobacco absolute has regained some (but not all) of its former rich, almost foody, sweetly, woody, deep glory.

 

In short, this is a dark incensey & spicy blend with salty seaweed and rich, slightly sweet tobacco. Great throw and fantastic longevity, too.

 

[sirensea]

This reminds me quite a bit of The Chapel. It's gone that same strong, dark feel to it, but the darkness is tempered by a boozy note that's really nice and subtle.

[AliBabble]

sticky, brownish oil...smells almost chocolote-y at first...morphs a lot...goes through a slightly soapy stage, which feels like greenery - this must be the seaweed and moss...after this, some spice comes out (the clove and pepper?) and it starts to smell a bit witchy/head shop.

i feel a slight tingle from the pepper and clove. the final drydown is quite sweet - i wish i got more tobacco, actually...though complex, it seems to fade rapidly on me, and leaves me with mostly clove. not bad, but i need to test it again...i'd like to experience all the layers longer, or maybe i just need to apply more? i think this is actually very wearable - though it's a dark scent, it doesn't feel heavy or overwhelming...i think it feels sorta slinky and mysterious...

[Blood onmy hands]

In the vial and on my skin at first, this is a dark, sweet scent with sweet spices. It smells rather dark brown and dry to me, and makes me think of dry fall leaves. I can definitely smell the clove, sticky-sweet, dark opoponax, and tobacco. I can smell the tiniest hint of fresh, clean ozone/aquatic as well.

 

The drydown is super-sweet and starts to smell like a rich, smoky incense. I'm not usually fond of smoky scents, but the smokiness here is sensual and incensey rather than sharp and gritty. This is definitely heavy on the opoponax and clove for me.

 

This blend reminds me of Falling Leaf Moon when I first apply and then Schwarzer Mond in the drydown. Ekhidna is a dark, heavy, sweet incense scent. It's very intense and sexy. I bet that this will age wonderfully too. I'll definitely keep my decant and I might need a full bottle of this.

[angelicruin]

Myrrh, opoponax, and clove are strongest on my skin. Love this scent. It's dark, slightly sweet, sexy, and spicy all at once.

[ralenth]

I sniffed this at my first WCWC a couple months ago and promptly went home and ordered a bottle.

 

Ekhidna is dark, clovey musky love. As it dries, sinister doesn't even begin to cover it. The myrrh and opponax coil around my wrist so deliciously. I'm a pretty big fan of the bold, heavy scents and Ekhidna doesn't disappoint. The throw isn't too oppressive, so I'm not dominating the whole room when I enter (even if this scent makes me feel like I'm overthrowing Olympians).

[Invidiana]

This is just about as sinister as you can get without the beast whisking you off in a black chariot. Wet there's more seaweed and oakmoss, but as it dries down they move to the background and let the impenetrably dark, but still just sweet enough, opoponax shine through along with the clove. Thankfully the pepper and pimento behave on me and add some emphasis to the clove without turning sharp. Finally, the tobacco note wreathes it in deliciously evil smoke that accents the rest of the blend but doesn't take over. If this is the way Ekhidna is now, I can't wait to see how it ages.

[crebbsgirl]

There does seem to be some similarity to Schwarzer Mond on my skin. It's dark and at first seems a little sour. It dries sweeter on me, with opoponax and tobacco coming out in full force. There's also something translating as a little musky on me too. Hrmmmm I like it, but I'm not in love with it. I think I'll cellar it for a bit and see if aging rounds it out.

[zankoku_zen]

Dark sweet scent - I get smoky wood, moss, clover, peper and some aquatic seaweed.

 

Interesting, and I can see the comparison to Schawazer Mond about this, a little too much 'pepper' in this for me.

[Dark Alice]

Dark and bitter: Pepper, earth. Sweet: Tarry clove and pimento. Softeness: by the myrrh and rank and wet with the seaweed. This scent is truly the epitome of this character. This is a little too much for me...but it was wonderful to try!

[raisin]

I was so hoping for something dark and earthy, and it went on smelling more or less that way, but I wound up with something freakishly sweet instead. This goes almost entirely clove on me (and a very, very sweet clove) with a touch of another sweet note that I can't place, but has popped up in some other blends that border on too sweet for me (it's reminding me slightly of Verdandi, but I don't see any similar notes).

 

I don't love it, but I may save my imp for the fall, when smelling like a Christmas ham may seem like a better idea.

 

[ami226]

On the skin: Wow, this is sweet. Myrrh maybe? A sweet resin with hints of pepper.

 

Huh, after a bit I start to smell some earthiness. It isn't bad. Not something I normally wear, but I actually quite like it!

Edited May 24, 2010 by Catseyes

[patina]

Murky dim and lightly spicy. If it had a color it would be dark brown- dark brown water in a dark brown cavern with the air full of rising tobacco and inscence smoke. Polluted...but in a good way.

 

This does really smell a bit like chocolate dirtied up with tobacco and clove.

[aquazoo]

Gaaak, dirt and ick. It's got a decent spice riding overtop, and once the dust settles it's almost a ginger ale.

 

[starfish327]

in the imp: a much sweeter top note than what i was expecting and then vetiver

 

wet: very spicy. very nice. reminds me of cookies.

 

dry: pretty much the same. this may be the winner of the new gcs that i've tried. it's very fall/autumn though. not as heavy as i had feared though i don't think that i would be able to get away with this at work.

[pixiedoo]

This really is a beautiful scent. A warm, rich, sweet and spicy incense. It's perfectly balanced.

 

I was a little concerned about the clove, pimento and seaweed being a bit on the harsh side but they blend seamlessly with wonderful rich, sweet myrrh. It's a far softer scent than I imagined it to be, it has a really warm, enveloping, almost comforting feel to it. I am wearing it as I type this review and I can't stop huffing my arm.

 

It reminds me very much of Priala when fully dry but that must be because of the myrrh. It has a very similar feel to it but where as Priala has spicy cinnamon, Ekhidna has amazing sweet clove.

 

One of my favourite GC scents so far and definitely worthy of a full bottle purchase....gorgeous!!

[INFJ4w3]

I love this scent! It is so complex that it is difficult to describe: spicy, aquatic, incense-y, dark, exotic, warm, different. It's got a little something for everyone, but it doesn't smell like anything else. 5 stars.

[forspecial_plate]

This isn't working for me.....goes on smelling weirdly like bubble gum, then a lot of black pepper comes out....too much black pepper. I want more myrrh! This is reminding me of either Hastur or Ligur which I can never remember which is which, and I didn't really like either one of those. If you like that particular kind of dark scent you should try this. I can appreciate the complexity but to be honest I think I need to wash this off. : (

[voodoobaby]

I was really hoping this would work out, but sadly I mostly just get pepper, clove, and another bitter note. It's hard to describe the quality of this one -- it's a "shallow" smell. It doesn't seem to have a lot of depth. It's very, very dry and doesn't seem to have any kind of sweetness at all to it.

 

It's very dark, though, and quite unique. Maybe someone who doesn't amplify black pepper like I do would have better luck with this one.

[ND¢]

it reminded me of satan's talcum powder drying down. Down, I'd wear this at a leather masquerade, but nowhere else. Sharp and lingering, promising... but not my type.

[Suu4LC]

Very deep and dark-sort of a thick black aquatic.

 

On my skin I get a lot more of the clove and pepper, which is nice because those are two notes I love. Honestly, I'm not a fan of darker blends, but this is actually kind of nice. It all goes together really well. The aquatic notes aren't too salty, and the clove/pepper spice up the earthiness so its not straight up mud or dirt. Then everything is cloaked in a deep myrrh. I mean, this isn't my thing, but I actually really like it and feel like it is one of those blends that if it was LE would be HUGELY popular, but because it's GC it may fly under the radar.

 

This mellows out quite a bit on my skin and becomes a warm but dark earthy/incensey scent (loses its aquaticness), with a touch of spice. Not something I would purchase, but I enjoyed testing this and may even keep the imp. Really think people should give this one a shot!

[surlygurl]

This scent is the biggest "wtf!!??" in my BPAL history.

 

When it arrived from the lab, it was dark, gritty, intense. A little overwhelming. Still, I could sense a sweetness underneath it all, so I kept it in hopes it would soften with time.

 

Now that it's aged 6 months or so, it smells like bubble gum . Seriously. Okay... maybe a tiny drop of resins and a tiny drop of vetiver smushed up in a freshly chewed wad of Big League Chew bubble gum. Odd.