The Elephantine Colossus

[Venneh]

Seaside hanky panky: a strumpet’s red musk with a merry splash of root beer, a swirl of exotic pipeweed, and a whiff of sweets carrying over from the boardwalk.

So much thanks to my pickup angel; it finally arrived here Japanside! In the bottle, it's a sweet blend of red musk and root beer. Unfortunately, on my skin, it takes on a salty fake butter popcorn sort if note. We'll see if it lessens any, but my gut is telling me it's not gonna.

[ljaylh]

I love it when a blend turns out to be even more awesome than you were hoping it would be

 

EC is one of those for me.. when the announcement came out and I read the notes, I suspected this would be a good one but I honestly had no idea what it was going to smell like - aside from the root beer and red musk, the rest of the description was a little mysterious.

 

When I first applied the oil, I was hit by a big whallop of red musk and something very cakey/nutty. At this point I'm thinking OH NO this is odd, what are cake and nuts doing in here?!? So I left it along for ten minutes then went back to it.. and oh.. what a relief - things have changed! Now the red musk has deepend and gone slightly powdery (I definitely get the Snake Oil comparison here - SO has the same musky vibe) and the root beer has emerged. To my great relief, the cake and nuts have gone! I think the 'exotic pipeweed' component contains a little bit of spice and tobacco, but really this is all about the the red musk and rootbeer. And behind those two is *exactly* the kind of smell that wafts by when you're walking through a carnival or fairground that's got donuts, candyfloss, popcorn and other sweet treats - you know that smell.. it's not something you can pinpoint as being something specific, just a general yummy smell.

 

This is definitely the Elephantine Colossus of the BPAL world - it's a big stompy blend, a little drop is enough for a good strong throw, and although it gets smoother and more subtle the longer it's on my skin, it keeps all its notes together nicely and doesn't lose its overall feel. It really does conjure up images of bawdy women flashing their coloured knickerbockers from under their long skirts.. it *is* a strumpet's red musk indeed! Sometimes the description for a blend hits it bang on in my mind, and this is one of those times. Seaside hanky panky FTW!

 

This is a wonderful blend, and a lovely tribute to a piece of history. Thanks so much to my lovely NYCC angel for picking this one up for me

[Nachtwulf]

Oh god.

 

I was hoping this would be more like Midway than anything else, 'cause I loved Midway.

 

Oh no. It's kettle popcorn. Fallen, sticky popcorn baking in the sun by the seaside (and we're talking urban seaside here...salty and thick and heavy). The cake note is the same one that's in Lilith's Tea Party and immediately turned into fetid old socks, and that in combination with the salty-caramel popcorn thing was almost enough to turn my stomach.

 

To say this didn't work on me is a -vast- understatement. It didn't last for five minutes before I had to go and wash it off.

 

While I love the old Colossus monument, I fear the scent is going on a quick trip to somewhere eelllllsssseeee....

[Lirion]

First test -

In bottle: very sweet foody. Hmm, not as I expected.

Wet: Single note buttered popcorn. Seriously.

Dry: Less butter, still all popcorn all the time though.

 

Trying again a week later:

In bottle: I can detect something a bit sharper in there. I think it's the musk battling the popcorn.

Wet: Ooo, there's the red musk... much better...hang on, Oi, where'd you go!

Dry: Back to buttered popcorn.

 

I was attracted by the red musk and pipeweed combination, and root beer to add a bit of sweet and tangy to it.

Alas, the "whiff of sweets" where the only thing I wasn't sure about in this blend, so typically it's not so much a whiff as "you've been rolling in a human sized popcorn machine"

Also, lots of throw, LOTS.

 

However the fact that the 2nd test, after it had settled somewhat, revealed some red musk, tough fleeting, leaves me hopeful that maybe with age the buttery popcorn note will fade into the background.

Hopefully.

[Blood onmy hands]

I don't really get any red musk from this, which is weird, because that note usually amps up like crazy on me. This doesn't smell like Midway or Snake Oil on me either. When I first put this on, I actually had to re-check the oil, because I thought that I put on Eat Me. It smells like Eat Me with all of the fruit/currant removed, sort of an incensey, unusual, dark, dry, cakey scent. As it dries down, I get a tiny hint of root beer. Something about it is perfumey-incense and keeps it from being outright foodie, though.

 

I'm interested in seeing how this ages, because it does seem to have some depth to it, and I think I'll like it more with a stronger, aged red musk.

[edenssixthday]

The Elephantine Colossus - This is pretty! Tons and tons of red musk, a hint of sweet, frothy root beer, and underneath it, all sorts of foodylicious yumminess. I can't hardly ever wear the sweet, foody scents, especially not those with baked goods and caramel, but somehow, this works, and it works well! I do get a hint of the popcorn, which is actually a note I enjoy, but not as a perfume, so I love that it's in this scent, but light enough to just catch faint traces of it here and there. I really like this a lot. I wish it were a bath oil so I could bathe in it!

[milo]

At first, this is a yummy candy corn scent accented with red musk. Sadly the corn fades and it's really a berry/red musk blend. I really wish the corn stuck around, as it was the perfect mix of foody/sexy. This one is a morpher to be sure, and after the hour, it is totally different again. Sexy, subtle red musk with a slight sweet vanilla, kind of like a faded cookie. Too bad it is hardly smellable at this stage. Oops, bad english. If this were more available, I'd love a bottle, but wouldn't sell my first born, or trade my most favourite rares, as it just doesn't last all that long on me. I'll certainly use and enjoy my imp and keep my eye out for more though!

[CreamyJade]

In the bottle: Red musk and sweets!

Wet on skin: It goes through that buttered popcorn stage for a minute, which made be recoil in horror (even though I love JellyBelly's buttered popcorn jellybeans), then it calms down and smells more like the oil while in the bottle.

Dry on skin: Tangy red musk, a handfull of buttered sweets, a sip of rootbeer. Good throw that one.

Final thoughts: I wasn't certain I'd appreciate the sweets in that blend (I've never cared for over-foodies like Midway), but red musk pretty much sells any blend to me (almost!), so I had to try it. Considering this scent will never be released again, I'll cherish my bottle, though it won't be one that I'll hoard.

Try if you like: Infernal Lover, Smut, Snake Oil (though Elephantine Colossus has no vanilla that I can detect)

[Penance]

Origin:

 

2 5mL's bought on Livejournal (totally impulsive unsniffed scent purchase the first time and then "What if I love it and don't see another reasonably priced bottle?!" the second time...before even trying the first one).

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I have to admit that this didn't really sound that appealing to me until I read the reviews and, even having read them, I'm still unsure about whether The Elephantine Colossus will be a win or fail for me. I really, really like red musk but while I love to drink rootbeer, I don't really want to smell like it. I have no clue what pipeweed is, even after looking it up on teh interwebz (all I got was Lord of the Ring references). The "whiff of sweets" could be promising if it smells like Midway, which some reviews seem to suggest that it does.

 

First sniff:

 

Red musk. That's about it. I find that fresh red musk tends to overwhelm most other things for me, at least if it's a major component. If I sniff hard, I do get sweetness here, but I couldn't tell you what the sweetness is. Honestly, it smells kind of like The Soldier in the bottle (at least at this young age; I think that with some aging they'll smell vastly different.)

 

Wet on skin:

 

Interesting. At first EC is all red musk (kind of fruity, sweet and sensual but almost childish in some ways), but then I get hit with red musk, buttered popcorn with a touch of salt and something sweet that could be rootbeer. If I didn't know this had rootbeer in it, I doubt I'd be able to pin it down, though. It's just a sort of indefinable sweetness with just a touch of something vaguely spicy. I could do without the buttered popcorn (I really don't want to smell like a movie theater), but other than that, this is nice.

 

Dry down:

 

Still predominately red musk, but backed with a Midway-type mishmosh of carnival treats. It doesn't smell like any one carnival food in particular. More like if you took a walk down the concession stand line and smelled a little bit of everything. Popcorn, funnel cakes, rootbeer (the really good kind they serve at rootbeer stands, not the cheap, mass-produced stuff), cotton candy, maybe even caramel or candy apples (although I don't smell the apple part, just the sugary sweetness). I have no idea if I'm smelling any pipeweed, since I have no clue what it smells like, but I don't get anything smoky, tobacco-ish or plant-like, so I'm guessing I'm not smelling it. Unless it doesn't smell like any of those things.

 

The bottom line:

 

I really like The Elephantine Colossus right now, but I think I'm going to really love it once it's aged and the red musk has had a chance to mature. If you like Snake Oil or Smut and Midway or CD023, then The Elephantine Colossus is almost definitely going to be a winner for you, too.

[karihan]

Swapped for a bottle of this one, because the combination of notes sounds so intriguing.

 

In bottle: WALLOP OF RED MUSK AND TOBACCO. Yowza. I may smell a hint of root beer in there, but it's very faint.

 

On wet: Ah, there's the sweetness now. This is a lot of red musk with an equal blend of root beer and tobacco with it.

 

Drydown: The tobacco fades just a little, and a hint of a funnel-cake-type sweetness comes out. Red musk and root beer are still present and accounted for. Tasty and sexy at the same time!

 

Conclusion: The Elephantine Colossus is a very nice blend of sexy and foody. I'm not sure it's entirely me, but I'll keep it around for a bit and see what others have to say about it.

[pinkstardust420]

I get Snake Oil and Red Musk in this blend with a bit of carnival sweetness in the backround. I am going to let this age and see if more of the sweet whiffs come out!

[TulaMontage]

SEASIDE SMUT!

 

In the imp this is a salty sultry version of Midway! Seriously.

 

Wet, this morphs into a stunningly deep caramel popcorn discarded on salt battered pier planks, with the occassional crushed boiled sweetie wafting through to the surface.

 

Dry, smutty sea air. Thats the only way to describe it. Sexy sweaty popcorn and sweetie eating prostitutes that work by the seas side. I LOVE IT!

[Deceitfuldescender]

Holy goodness, heavens to Betsy.

This is awfulllll on me. I get the red musk-- which goes kind of cola-ish. Next is a stale pez-lke smell. Then dirty baby powder and rancid pastry.

...Pretty awful ;_;.

 

Glad it is just a decant.

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: I should start off my saying that when my boyfriend sniffed this in the imp, he made a horrified face and told me to get it away from him. I, on the other hand, quite like it in the imp! The red musk is strong, rich, and sultry, with a hint of the pipeweed smoke behind it. Those boardwalk sweets are right there, too, and someone must've been eating popcorn on that boardwalk. It's kind of like Midway, Shill, and Smut all mixed together.

 

Wet: The red musk gets sharper and redder, like the red musk in Dragon's Heart. And the whole thing gets kind of earthy, and really warm. The other notes are still hanging out... except that the root beer is still extremely faint. Truly smells like walking through a seaside carnival in the early evening.

 

Dry: I'm starting to catch the Snake Oil that others mention. The red musk is still going strong, but the foody notes have sadly faded quite a bit. There's still a saltiness to it, though, and not a popcorn saltiness, or even a sea spray saltiness... it's more like a meaty vetiver saltiness. What.

 

An Hour Later: Mainly red musk... but the Butter Note of Doom (which may or may not actually be a butter note, I still haven't figured it out) is starting to turn rancid on me.

 

Overall: After it started going bad, I put some on my collarbone and cleavage to test its mileage there. And happily, it didn't go bad, nor did it fade as much as it had on my hand. However, it's pretty much just red musk; it loses most, if not all, of the smoke and candy and popcorn. Disappointing. I really loved this in the just-on stage, it was the perfect summer night at a carnival scent. Not sure what the fate of this decant will be yet.

[calivianya]

Wow, this is interesting!

 

The red musk immediately smacks me in the face, in its own sexy way, as red musk tends to do. Then, I smell popcorn and pastries. Red musk often smells like root beer on my skin anyway, so I can't pick out the root beer specifically. I find this blend to be a fascinating experience, but I don't think it's me. I am very glad I got to try it!

[rhetoricians]

In the bottle and wet on my skin, it is a thing of beauty. But when it dries, I just am not a fan. Which is awful because my foodie-loving self is distraught at that! It just was not meant to be. I think it's the tobacco.

[Ondine]

When I first got this, it was heavy on the red musk and was pretty complex and well balanced.

 

Weirdly, now that I've had it a while, it smells like Eat Me with popcorn. The red musk is pretty much gone, there's a heavy popcorn note, and then there's a cakey/slightly fruity note like Eat Me. It's pretty but much less balanced and complex than before. I've never had a red musk blend that aged like that!

 

EDIT: I have now acquired a second bottle of this scent and the second is far more straightforward red musk, very little popcorn or cake in it. So your batch mileage may vary! I prefer the popcorny version personally!

Edited October 14, 2013 by Ondine

[Aisha]

In the bottle: Red musk and root beer

 

Wet: Mostly red musk (like every other red musk blend on my skin) with an almost boozy strength. There's something just a tiny bit buttery going on too.

 

Dry: Red musk and buttery-warm sweets. The root beer might be in there too (it definitely was in the bottle), but if it is it's blending in and I can't find it. No appearance from the pipeweed for me.

 

Overall: I don't generally like red musk, but this is a pleasant enough red musk scent. Still not "me" enough to keep the bottle--it deserves a home where it'll get more love.

[subtlesiren]

In the bottle: Red musk with a background of peanuts and root beer.

 

Wet on my wrist: The root beer fades, while the red musk and peanut are still going strong. A slight woody note, the boardwalk itself?

 

Dry on my wrist: Red musk at it's sexiest, with an earthy nuttiness.

 

This proves that I am a sucker for sexy labels and descriptions. I have so many red musk scents that are really good, but get more love because they have a sexy aura (if that makes sense ). But this scent, an elephant on the label, blows every one of them out of the water. It is sex in a bottle. The phenomenal staying power doesn't hurt.

Edited December 29, 2011 by subtlesiren

[Alia Kaitan]

While wet, this was a delicious blend of root bear and sweet red musk with a touch of carnaval foods! Much like the other reviewers. Then my skin did it's thing and amped the red musk to high heaven... haha. I love red musk, but I have many others, and wasn't looking for a red musk SN with this. Off to swaps it goes!

[KittyHawk]

Mmmm, red musk and pretzels! This really is a sexy foody blend. It's salty, dry, woody, and a little bit sweet. I have yet to try any scent that is even remotely like Elephantine Colossus; it's unusual and delicious!

[cherrycherry]

I agree with the poster above who said this was like the lovechild of Snake Oil and Midway. It REALLY is.

 

My two favourite scent groups tend to be gourmand or musky, so this is an absolute treat for me. I'm getting everything I should get and it has tremendous throw. Plus, how cute is that label, really??

 

More bottles to come, for definite. I want to be embalmed in this stuff!

[angelicdemise]

I just got a bottle of it. I've been wearing it all evening, and it reminds me of a combination of Snake Oil and Eat Me. Two of my favorites combined!

[DurAnorak]

I've been SO excited to try this one, but when my decant of it arrived yesterday and I opened it to sniff I said '...that's a lot of red musk' and put it down again making worried noises, because heavy red musk generally just smells like artificial cherry cough drops on me and it was so strong I doubted anything else would be able to fight through it.

 

Oh me of little faith :x Even in the first few seconds of the wet stage when I was expecting it to be red musk and nothing else, there's a glorious halo of sweet and salty popcorn over it, and now it's drying into something complex, savoury and utterly wonderful - the kind of grand guignol carnival scent I could never find in CD or CN (much as I love all the scents that are in those!) but have also found in Black Pumpkin Floss, which despite not officially sharing any notes with this is for me in a similar family. A performing family in a slightly unnerving circus I LOVE it.

[brilliantcat]

Very red musky in the bottle. On me, I get... buttery popcorn over a wash of light red musk. Ok, it's kettle corn, sweet and salty and buttery and delicious. I'm getting a slight dirt/earthy note that I would normally associate with patchouli but I think must be the pipeweed. This is the boardwalk at the CD, for sure. I haven't had the chance to try Midway so I can't say how it compares, but I love the playful feel this evokes!