In Reilig Oran

[fairnymph]

In Neil’s own words it is: “Earth and Moss and Heather and Islands...”

Sniffed: Sweet, dark soil with a bit of herbal mintiness, earthy oakmoss, and a hint of clean aquatic. Very slightly sweet and even less very faintly salty, almost brackish. Evocative and gender neutral.

Wet: Saltier, instantly more aquatic with a slightly, pleasantly soapy tinge; greener and lighter in feel. The soil note fades rapidly while the oakmoss holds. The herbal minty note which is what I suspect is hyssop. The aquatic note reminds me very strongly of the one in Sturgeon Moon - in between fresh and salt water, with aspects of both - the clear, spring-like freshness of a mountain stream mixed with the brackish salty-plantiness of a marsh.

Dry: I find this scent very, very deeply evocative and conceptually it's a wondrous work of art. It is a scent that is both primal and outdoorsy - not woody or woodsy, more like a rocky plain with rich soil and loam and moss. I get some fresh greenery, clear and bright - luminous - that I am sure is heather, and further adds to the strong imagery and transportive aspect of this scent. It is a fascinating scent - I cannot stop sniffing it - it draws me, in a way that feels like it is truly otherworldly.

Later: There is an assortment of greenery in this blend, and something here is turning slightly but not unpleasantly bitter (ahh! it's dandelion); it adds a paradoxically both brght & dark edge here, an ominous feel. The soil scent still lingers and while I generally dislike soil or dirt in perfume for my personal wear, somehow this is working on me. My skin seems to be amping the greenery, moss and especially aquatic tones, as well as the 'wet rock' note (think Sarah, Julia Stone) and the 'gravel dust' note (from the Traveller) - both stony notes I adore that are always clearly present on my skin.

I must eat, but I'll be back to conclude and comment on the late drydown.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Shollin

[ami226]

In the bottle: A green scent. Very green with a slight hint of earth? Kinda reminds me of walking through a wet forest (no evergreen trees though). I think this leans towards the masculine.

 

Not bad, but not my favorite kind of scent.

[Invidiana]

First of all, the bottle art is amazing. I need to take a picture of it after my pounding skull has fully recovered from the trip.

 

I first sniffed this from the neck, before even opening the cap. Right away I got the scent of an island, but a mysterious island--there is green in it, yes, but it's so much more complex than that. Thick foliage, tropical flowers, something else I took to be mist. It was mesmerizing.

 

Wet, there's initially a lot of green and salty seaspray. It's another one of those for which you need to wait for the drydown to fully appreciate it. As it dries down, the vision of the island on which the story In Reilig Oran is set slowly begins to flesh itself out. The green, which is the shadowy green of a dark forest overrun with vines as opposed to the nauseating grass clippings I got from Strawberry Moon 09, has a hazy and even sinister quality that is right on target with the story and makes this one of the precious few green scents that I will actually wear. The seaspray also calms down into more of a sea mist as it was when I sniffed it from the cap, shrouding everything in further mystery. There is definitely a lush floral undertone to this too; possibly some orchid or gardenia, which add a hint of sweetness and femininity but are subdued enough to keep with the sinister vibe. A hint of earthiness is in the background though it doesn't come out screaming "dirt" on me but just adds to the shadows. When I read Neil's teaser description I was afraid that this would be too masculine, but I would actually classify it as unisex. Overall it's evocative of an ancient and otherworldly forest and a beautifully haunting scent.

 

In Reilig Oran is very special to me because it is now permanently tied to the experience of meeting my idol Neil Gaiman and finding out that at my age, he was at exactly the same stage in his career that I am and would have never believed he'd become "this--this thing I am today". As a writer and artist myself who still works a desk job 40 hours a week, I almost cried knowing that even Neil started out like this. Every time I smell this, the memory that rushes back gives me a much-needed infusion of hope for the future, and I will never forget the one answer that forever changed my outlook on life. For that reason I will always treasure this bottle.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Invidiana

[ljaylh]

Thank you to Invidiana for sending me a teensy bit of this to try!

 

I'm not really getting the salt, but I definitely do get the wet/green aspect. I think this might be what an old abandoned island may smell like - fresh air, green undergrowth and dappled sunlight, and a hint of damp mystery. I think there's also something 'gold' in here - it's not a powdery or dusty gold, but a bright shiny gold like a bright yellow flower. Not really picking up anything dirt-like.

 

The fresh green is strong at first, but it softens up quickly on the drydown. About 20 minutes in, and it's really clean and fresh and organic smelling.

 

What a lovely blend, I don't recall smelling any other BPALs like this before. It's classy and understated, but alive and vibrant.

 

 

[surf-tormented]

Got a sample of this in a package Fair Nymph sent me. *waves*

 

In the vial: Heather, ocean breeze, clean linen, an almost tropical note, hard to place.

 

On skin wet: Really smells like the ocean to me, with a slight note of fruit I can't seem to place under it, with the heather coming more into its own as it dries.

 

On skin dry: I can definitely smell the moss coming out. It has a herbal almost cucumber like tone to it. The fruit note, whatever it is, is coming out juicy now. Citrusy.

 

Overall: Smells like Scotland. Oh, the sweet memories. Now if they could just bottle a sheep's bleating then it would be perfect. Or maybe put a bit of a cloudless Scottish night where one can read a newspaper by midnight in the bottle.

 

Would I buy it: Oh yes, I would, but where? I'm happy to just try it.

 

I am giving some of the sample to angelicruin to try to share the love. I may put a tiny drop of it in one of my scent lockets, to enjoy it just a wee bit longer. It is actually working well on the scent l locket since I am wearing it now. I'll be wearing it for the next month. Ha-ha.

 

This should be made part of the BPAL catalog.

Edited May 6, 2010 by Madame Nyx

[edenssixthday]

In Reilig Oran - This scent whisks me back in time to a day when I was exploring Balloch Castle near Loch Lomond. The early July foliage on the castle grounds lush, heavy wet, and green under the thick, grey skies. A thin fog wisped through the misty air, and everything around me smelled damp and earthen, the scent of crushed wet greenery underfoot... this smells just like that day. I'm not typically drawn toward heavy, wet, green scents like this, but this one evokes so many specific memories that I can't stop huffing my wrist. It's really beautiful and I'm so glad I had the chance to try it.

[angelicruin]

This is an earthy moss green scent. I usually don't go for these types of notes, but I have to admit this one is quite lovely. Definitely reminds me of the fresh, earthy smell after rain and I can also picture water carried in the breeze from the ocean.

[whisperstilled]

I was sent a tested of this by SurrealReality, who is now my hero forever and ever as long as I live. So excited to test!

 

In Imp: Clean, aquatic, earthy and green. Definitely smell the 'earth and heather and islands', and there's certainly a mossiness to it that I really like.

 

Wet: Very mossy, makes me think of christmas - my mom used to decorate around the manger with this moss that had a very particular smell. I also smell the heather. It's got a sort of moor quality to it, like being in a moor full of heather and fog that stops at the edge of an island cliff.

 

Dry: Clean and complex. The mossiness stays strong, and the aquatic aspect is a little salty, like waves crashing on a dark, grey shore. This is one really complex scent, and I'm not at all surprised it was so limited. This kind of green herbal quality isn't even usually my thing and I can't stop huffing my wrist. Truly complex and unique. I've never come across heather in BPAL scents before, but now I will definitely be on the look out, it is my kind of green note. Absolute 5/5, what a beautiful creation it is, much like Neil himself.

[zankoku_zen]

Thanks to Invidiana for a sniffie of this!

 

To me, In Reilig Oran is the Host of Air's big brother. Dirtier, greener, and it has an aquatic note that toggles between salt and fresh water. It is both dark and light, fragrantly green and with a touch of masculine air to it. I think the green either comes from dandelion or heather.

 

I like Host of Air, so I like this. I'd love to try this out on mr. zee_zee but given the rarity, I rather not chance it working out on him.

[grrrlennyl]

In Reilig Oran

 

On: OMG. So beautiful. Earthy and mossy and watery. I adore this.

1 hour in: There's a sweetness to the mossiness of this now. It's very well-blended and lovely.

2 hours later: I really like this a lot. It's still earthy and mossy, with a fresh sweetness to it.

3.5 hours later: This is so comforting, especially if I keep reapplying it.

4.5 hours later: Green and not as fresh and bright as at first.

Overall. I'm going to keep this and say how much I wear it. I really wish it would stay the same as when I first put it on.

[The Poison Queen]

This is SO beautiful, I cannot believe how much I love it.

 

In the bottle: Heather and moss with just a hint of earth.

 

Wet: There's a sweetness to this that almost reminds me of apples, maybe fermenting apples, but just a little, enough to make them sweet but not boozy. The heather and earth are the dominant notes, and I LOVE heather.

 

Drydown: Heather, rich earth and just a bit of that fermenting apple sweetness. This is LOVELY. I would love a backup bottle and I am so glad I got to try it!