Chaos Theory VI: Eris' Tilt-a-Whirl

[karihan]

Turbulent, disordered beauty: sensitive to initial conditions, topologically mixed, and approached by periodic orbits with abandon. A dynamical system expressed through scent.

I had the dubious pleasure of receiving bottle #55. Why dubious? Allow me to share:

In bottle: VINEGAR STANK OMG!

At this point I had to put the bottle down for a bit and ask myself whether I or not I really wanted to skin-test the contents. But I am either terribly brave or an utter moron, so onward!

Appearance: Brownish-red, skin-staining ... and sticky. Plus I could just make out a blob of undefined glop at the bottom of the bottle that stubbornly refused to mix with the rest of it. By now I sympathized.

Wet: VINEGAR STANK OMG! Now with something mineral-y added, maybe a slight hint of sulfur?

Dry: It seemed to have faded slightly, but I really couldn't tell if that was due to drydown or if my nose was saying, "Screw this, I've had enough!" Suffice to say it never morphed into something better, nor did it want to wash off.

Just in case my nose was having the off day to end all off days, I brought the bottle to the next Meet 'n Sniff I attended to share the joy. Everyone else confirmed the vinegar horrors ("It's like dyeing Easter eggs in that really strong vinegar dye!"), and one person insisted it smelled like a surgical prep room. Which of course identified the mineral component: iodine! Yum yum! Let me just add that no one there was dumb enough to skin-test.

The story does have a happy ending, though. Over on sinandsalvation on LJ, not only did I have a lolarious discussion on what to do with the ... scent, I have actually found people willing to buy the fourteen half-decants I got out of the extremely full bottle! One person said she wants to layer it with Gore-Shock as the perfect accent for her zombie chicken Halloween costume. After postage, I should make back nearly all of what I paid for the ick. Plus there was about a third of a decant left over for me to keep for nostalgia purposes ... sealed in its own tiny baggie to keep the rest of my stash safe.

I love you, fellow BPALers!

[Reedsong]

Reviewing two decants I received today:

 

127: In the vial, very resinous and a little bit boozy. On my skin, it's bright, woody, resinous - cedar, maybe? and perhaps some myrrh judging from the almost syrupy-sour sweetness. It's pretty well-blended and sexy-smoky in the imp; there's someone out there, I'm sure, who would love this. I wish it worked better for me.

 

14: Incense and flowers? Oh, this is pretty in the imp...

 

On my skin, let's see, what's coming out here...a bunch of different things. I get hints of cherry, rose, lily, a bit of resin, and the other notes are fading away in favour of lily. At this point, it smells like the freshly-washed skin you get after using a strong French-milled floral soap, and that's not a bad thing at all. It's sweet and perfumey...

 

And then it fades a little more, and...Malibu Musk from the '80s? Holy toledo. The floral perfumey quality has crossed a line and is starting to give me a headache. Very interesting scent, though, and as with 127, I don't think it's one of the "unusable" CTs - like the poor vinegar reviewer's above! - just one that doesn't work on me.

Edited August 26, 2010 by Reedsong

[lilyana]

bottle #55

 

I can't believe that I willingly signed up for this experience. Vinegar stank, indeed!

 

I decided the reek from the imp was enough and wasn't going to skin test it. I held the imp out for my husband to smell ("ugh, malt vinegar!") and then briefly held it under my poor dog's nose. The dog recoiled and I laughed and laughed, until the imp slipped and contaminated my hand and my desk. (Woe!) On skin, it remains vinegar stank but develops this strange sweetness that reminds me of...chocolate? I really can't believe how disgusting this smells.

 

Time to go back into your little baggie, Tilt-a-Hurl! (And then into a bigger baggie, and then into some air-tight tupperware, and then into the darkest recesses of the closet)

 

Thank you, karihan, for having such a great sense of humor and sharing the stank with the rest of us!

[thebirdofhermes]

55

 

Yep, the infamous Eris' Tilt-a-Hurl. Not only did I sign up for the experience, I asked for as much as possible of the experience. Yes, I'm insane.

 

In Vial: Gloopy brown oil. Smells like chocolate, wine, and... yeah, there's a somewhat fermented note. Vaguely tar-like. Actually, my scent memory is calling up Zadok Allen Vineyard. I can see the vinegar comparisons, though I'm pretty certain it's some sort of wine note. There's a strongly tart and astringent quality.

 

Wet: Yes, I'm willingly putting this on my skin. Woo, tingly! Instantly sweetens. Like, magical sweetening. Lightly honeyed. Softly chocolatey. Reminding me a bit of Athens, now, with the sweetness, because it's still got that wine note. It's very faint, though, which is kind of odd considering how strong it was in the vial. It's also tingly on my skin. Mostly soft, honeyed wine and chocolate.

 

I have to get to work now, but I'll update when I get home and have the fullness of the drydown. Though, so far, it appears that my skin chemistry is truly forgiving of just about everything I throw at it! (Oh, and actually, if it stays this good on my skin, I may have to beg the other half-decants off of people. It's really nice on me, I think.)

 

ETA: Dry: Very faint. Vaguely chocolatey. Mostly skin musk, however. Doesn't last very long, only a few hours at most. Has very little throw.

Edited August 31, 2010 by thebirdofhermes

[milo]

This one is uber vanilla funnel cake in the imp. On, it smells like vanilla mint funnel cake, with a bit of salt thrown in. I dont know how salt can smell, but this smells slightly salty. Theres also a bit of caramel thrown in. It so smells like the fair, I cant believe it. Just like walking down the midway. Crispy funnel cakes, caramel and a bit of salt. The mint is still there, but very subdued. Though Im not a foody, this is an amazingly fun scent, and Ill certainly enjoy my imp.

[Dark Alice]

#192: Wet: This starts out with wet grape and freesia thrown together. Drydown: Straight up Freesia singlenote. It's lovely but a bit much.

[ljaylh]

I'm another recipient of the famous #55! Thank you to the lovely Edens Sixth Day for sending me a tester

 

OK.. so yeah.. it's really not very nice. The oil itself isn't really an oil at all - it's more like sludgy goop, and it does NOT dry - it stayed sticky on my hand for an hour, which is as long as I could leave it on before hitting the shower.

 

The smell is interesting - not quite as heinous as I was expecting. There's an underlying tone of sour fruit, mixed with a bit of rancid honey and sour milk. As strange as this will sound.. it's not really that bad. I wouldn't choose to wear it, but I'm glad I got to try it!

 

But here's the weirdest part - when I got out of the shower, I glanced at my hand and noticed a little patch of discoloured skin.. exactly where I had smeared the oil. When I rubbed my skin, it came off! Yes, my skin came off!! I now have a little patch on my hand with a layer of skin missing

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL of #47 bought on LJ.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

This was described to me as pear. Nothing else, just pear. But since everyone's nose and skin chemistry is unique, I'm sure there'll be more to it than that once I actually try this.

 

First sniff:

 

Pear for sure. And gummy bears? It has a sweet, candy fruitiness that makes me think of the smell of cherry/pineapple gummy worms. Kind of strange, but that's what I'm getting.

 

Wet on skin:

 

No gummy bears. Just intense, juicy, candy-like pear. This isn't the delicate pear of Juliet or Quincy Morris. It's mega pear. In-your-face pear.

 

Dry down:

 

This is really nice. It reminds me a little bit of The Perilous Parlor, only nowhere near as sweet and vanillic. Instead it's as if someone took some of the vanilla out of The Perilous Parlor, amped up the pear and then added a little bit of some sort of creamy, fluffy musk to it.

 

The bottom line:

 

Love this! The wet stage isn't really for me (too intensely fruity), but the drydown is very pretty. Glad I took a chance on this one. Chaos blends tend to be hit or miss with me and I've never had one that I really loved everything about, so this is a first.

[starfish327]

"One person said she wants to layer it with Gore-Shock as the perfect accent for her zombie chicken Halloween costume."

 

That would be me. I have that particular decant of tilt-a-hurl.

 

I can't believe I've never actually reviewed this decant.

 

I'm sort of infamous for my love of the weirder blends-I like Gore-shock.

 

This was one of the weirdest I've ever skin tested (and I skin test everything).

 

From memory, it started out a blast of vinegar. Which morphed into chocolate. Which turned into...sex. Not skin musk...it reeked like sex. It's definitely one of the Lupe style skin musks.

[tharsei-thanate]

I was frimped a decant of #55 last year (it was on my wishlist, I swear!) and just noticed I never reviewed it! So, in the decant its a dark, goopy mess and it actually doesn't smell too bad. There's vinegar (definitely brought to mind dyeing Easter eggs) but there's also something sweet, like chocolate. On my skin it immediately causes a sticky stain. To an outside observer it would probably look as if I decided that it would be great fun to smear steak sauce on my wrist. There's a brief blast of vinegar stank, but it mellows out into chocolate and wine. It doesn't have a strong throw so I really gotta get my nose right up in there to smell anything. After a few minutes it doesn't smell like anything at all, maybe a vague sort of musk but that's about it. I don't know if I'm disappointed or relieved that ol' Tilt-a-Hurl here isn't as scary as I thought it would be. Still, I like the novelty of it so I will keep and cherish my decant.

[forspecial_plate]

142

 

Cedar and crayons.

 

It's very woody with some incense, but I always think 'cedar and crayons' when I put it on, so that's what it is to me. It's in the same family as Aureus and Cathedral, there might be some patchouli but it's hard to tell behind all the cedar. I like it.

[forspecial_plate]

146

 

Cool grey herbs. Not mentholated, not minty, but still somehow cool, like damp stone or something. It's almost like sassafras but that's not it. There might be a little grey amber in this. And there might be a little iris or orris. It smells more like an aromatherapy blend than a perfume.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Forspecial Plate

[ralenth]

Bottle 91:

At first, 91 is fizzy lime soda with a muted buttery foodiness underneath. On the drydown, there is a faint aquatic note that dissipates quickly. Once it has dried, it has melded into a creamy lime citrus scent. It is very light and refreshing.

Edited May 22, 2016 by ralenth

[ralenth]

Bottle 122:

At first, 122 is muted fermented purple grape. It is very soft, but strikes me as being halfway on the way to wine. On the drydown, there are hints of red rose. As it dries, the rose becomes the dominant characteristic, but the effect is very mellow. Overall, on my skin it is very muted with minimal throw.