Hurricane

[Cesare]

The Dark Side of Air: a high pitched, tangy, clear scent -- light China rain deepened by murky vetivert.

Wet: Sharp and a little salty. Almost a briny pickle juice scent.

Drydown: Sharp and light. A wood/earthy sweetness counters the salt once it's on, and the salt fades gradually.

Dry: This is very different once dry, on me. It loses all its sharpness and becomes a soft, mildly sweet aroma, predominantly wood with a vague aquatic note. I like it, because I enjoy scents that are sweet, but some BPAL scents become too sweet on me. This one keeps a better balance.

My guy's reaction: "Smells like trees and citrus." (Upon seeing the Hurricane label) "Like it knocked over all the orange trees in Florida." He liked it.

[LiberAmoris]

Hurricane is really evocative, so much more so than I was expecting. For me, this is the hurricane's aftermath: trees split open to expose their green heartwoods, grass bent and bracken stirred, and humid marine water in the air with that salty tang that Beth always captures so well.

 

This is also the first blend I've tried where I actually enjoy the vetivert. I knew I'd find one eventually! Here it adds an edge that does smell like rotting, water-soaked wood. Growing up by the ocean and on various other bodies of water, I am very familiar with that scent and it feels 'right' somehow.

[foxroses]

in the bottle, this smells much clearer than it does on my skin. its very clear and tangy, that's the best description once it goes on, it stays pretty true from wet to dry, it's a nice, clear scent with an underlying layer of murkiness.. not really spicy, but definitely like post-hurricane or big storm. that crisp, clean rain scent but with a hint of destruction afterwards. it gets very murky, but thankfully it never smells like rotten limbs or anything, which, in real life, post-hurricane, it smells like rain and still water and rottenness.

 

to me, this smells teal. i wore it with a dark teal tanktop i had and i felt like i smelled the same color as my shirt.

 

i swapped this out for carnal, which i'm glad i did, because i ADORE carnal, but i'd like to get this back at some point, maybe next spring. it's a cold scent, to me, chilly and tangy, so i wouldn't like to wear it much in the winter, but definitely in the spring and summer. i'm getting lightning and i have higher hopes for that even than hurricane; maybe it will be less murky.

[WidgetAlley]

I had a review for this all written out, and then my computer was stupid, and ate it. So, take two, the short version.

 

In the vial this smells like pure vetiver to me, which I'm not keen on. On, however, it morphs into cucumber-mint-aquatic-soapiness with a healthy dose of rotting vegetation (*shakes her fist at all vetiver everywhere*). It's... okay, I suppose, it doesn't make me sick or anything, but it's not particularly something I'd like to smell like, either.... too thick and tangy and stagnant for me; I like my water as clean as possible!

 

I'll end up swapping this one for sure. I think it'd be lovely on the right person, but that person is definitely not me.

 

[edit] The second time I wore this, it was less vetiver and more cucumber-mint-aquatic-soapiness, and I actually liked it. If it keeps behaving, I may keep it to cool me down in the summer!

Edited November 19, 2005 by WidgetAlley

[Fefferbella]

Hurricane is just lovely! The crisp, aquatic fresh notes are delicious and sexy on my skin...

 

I can'r believe I liked this scent, thank goodness for frimps!

[malabar]

In the imp: oh, nice - green tea, nice and sharp. Promising.

 

On me: Alas, that clean top note is short-lived, and the stuff just gets sweeter and sweeter on me. It's quite odd, I like the scent but I can tell it doesn't work with my chemistry. Damn.

[desu]

In the bottle: Crisp, clean with vetivert skulking in the background.

 

On my skin: Vetivert apparently loves me. Even though it behaves well in other vetivert-containing scnets, I'm not sure if I love it in this incarnation. It has mostly drowned out the crispness.

 

Later on: The vetivert has calmed down some. It's gone almost musky on my skin -- not a bad thing since I love musks of any stripe.

[AngellicMystique]

This smells like the aftermath of horrible storms along the coast. It purifies through destruction and leaves only the strong.

 

I get rotting wood, clean air, and dampness.

 

All of the Dark Elements are almost overpowering on me, but I like them. The smells are strong, not through overuse, but the sheer will and strength of the smells.

[theshapeshifter]

Initial application: Although I can smell the vetiver straight away, the China rain note predominates when it's wet. For a few seconds straight out of the imp, I was worried it might be too mens-deodorant, but it calmed down quickly.

 

Drydown: The vetiver takes over, and it's all smoky-grassy-earthy. Thankfully, vetiver tends to work really well on me, so I'm enjoying this very much. I wonder if this is the same vetiver used in Highwayman, because it's very similar to my nose. Every once in a while - interestingly - I also get just the tiniest hint of sweetness from it in the throw, like a very, very burnt marshmallow.

 

This is the sort of scent I wouldn't wear every day - I'd have to be in the right mood - but I'll definitely enjoy it.

[jasper17]

Wet, I had a strong sense of mustard - very sharp and tangy. Wasn't sure it would wear during the day.

 

As it dried, it became the scent of rain and being outside and grass and here and there a tiny little trickle of the original sharp scent.

 

Not something I would wear every day but it definitely gave me a boost of energy when I put it on this morning and I'll try it again to see if I get the same mustardy scent at the beginning.

[AlaskaSnows]

Wet: vetivert, and a very tangy smell.

 

Dry: metallic tang, in an aquatic smell. It does have a sort of anticipatory feeling to it, but the scent is indescribable, though not offensive it isn't something I will want to wear as perfume or scent my house with.

[Alchemy21599]

I received this as a frimp from the Lab.

 

In the vial: aquatic and salty. This smells like the breeze off the ocean a few hours before a storm. Reminds me of late summer at the beach.

 

Wet: This smells like the beach after a storm. Aquatic, salty and herbal.

Dry: Aquatic and herbal.

 

This is a very interesting unisex blend. I like it because it reminds me of the beach.

[Hawke]

In the vial: Crisp and fresh, a little bit of salt water too. Definitely a windy/stormy scent.

 

Wet: Marshy and a little dirty but clean dirt, if that makes sense. This is one of the rare ones my boy could smell. Him: Must be strong. Me: Nah, your nose is just finally working.

 

Dry: It fades almost entirely away to a "memory of being wet" smell. Hard to articulate, but very tranquil.

[brownbear]

This one starts out very light and fresh and well, breezy. But then the murk takes over. It feels too stuffy and humid now. oh well

[slave1]

In Bottle: Rain

 

On Skin: Very crisp ozone scent. I get the feeling of rain right away, that beautiful clean almost laundry-like scent. And it is a bit dirty as well from the vetivert! Wow!!! That’s something like what I wanted, but I’d prefer a more clear “dirt” or earthy note than this one which is more patchouli/incense like. This scent is a bit minty which heightens the “clean” notes, but there is a lso a dark side. This isn’t a pretty rain, this is a scary storm… a hurricane! So complex yet simple. Big kudos to Beth on this! It has a pretty strong throw and lasts quite a while on my dry skin.

[Babylon]

Hurricane didn't work at all on me. I'm going to try something else with vetivert in it, and if I get the same reaction, vetivert's gonna go on my black list.

 

Wet: Vetivert. Putting my nose to my wrist and sniffing actually makes me choke a little. This is really heavy!

 

Dry: I have to hold my breath or breathe shallowly out my mouth when I move around. Man, this vetivert does NOT like me!! I smell like a tire burning on a pile of old wood.

 

Unfortunately, I put this on at work, and couldn't get to the bathroom to scrub it off until 2 hours later. So I was choking and gagging routinely for a couple hours, and couldn't eat or drink because my belly was so upset.

 

Finally got to the bathroom, and scrubbed and scrubbed, but I can still smell it on the neck of my shirt and it's still making me sick to my stomach. God, that vetivert! I hate you! Or rather, I hate how my skin is butchering this scent!! I actually had to call my boyfriend and ask him to come to my work and bring me a fresh shirt & bottle of Pink Phoenix to cover up any lingering Hurricane.

 

Wow! First time I've ever had such a nasty reaction to a scent! Hopefully it will be the last!

[GemmaCat]

In the imp: fresh and aquatic at first sniff, but as I sniff more I get this sense of darkness, like a seaside breeze hinting at a storm.

 

On my skin, initial: wow! This is so unusual. It smells *exactly* like the seaside just after a big storm; salty, aquatic, even a hint of seaweed. It also has a slight aftershave quality which makes it more wearable.

 

Drydown: much the same, though a little citrus starts to peek out like the sun through stormclouds.

 

At first I put this aside into my "maybe" pile to try again later. Today I've been horribly depressed, and during a really bad moment I figured that slathering on some BPAL might help me feel better.

 

I chose this scent, and it instantly transported me back to last year when I lived in Santa Barbara, and when I would walk barefoot along the coast; the sea lapping at my ankles, all foamy after a storm, and the wind threatening to blow me over as it dried the tears from my face.

 

I instantly felt better, and because of this powerful associate with a much cherished memory, this is one of my all-time favourite scents.

[tinyvulture]

This is what I’ve come to recognize as the Lab’s aquatic/ozone note, plus the “dirt” scent of vetiver. It’s like smelling freshly upturned earth after a hard, cleansing rain. I like it better than all the other aquatic/ozone scents (except Lightning, my fave as a room scent), but I think it’s too masculine for me.

[gingersnapp]

I was very wary of this blend because vetiver(t) is my mortal enemy. I feel about vetiver the way 99% of the people on this forum feel about civet. It hates me and tries to do me mortal harm.

 

At any rate, I decided quite some time ago that I would try every blend and this one was a gift from the Lab, so I would feel guilty just passing it along untested. I did, however, put only the slightest dab from the wand on my wrist.

 

I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. The China rain lightens and sweetens the vetivert to almost tolerable. It's still a very hard-to-like note for me, though. It's too deep and murky and for some reason I feel a lot of negativity associated with this blend.

 

That being said, though, my face didn't feel the ten ton pressure that vetiver usually brings about. Maybe we can learn to be friends after all.

[nancybridget]

Cold, angry, salty air. Wow! Vetiver is potent and mildy intoxicating. This one is a bit too husky for my liking, but it would smell sexy on a man. I just love vetiver on guys. A sniff of Hurricane definately wakes one's senses up!

[undream]

Mygod, I love this oil. It reminded me almost exactly of Niflheim (mygod, I love that oil) - a lighter version, perhaps - but unfortunately, I did not get the chance to compare them side by side, so I could be way off.

 

A wet, ozoney scent, exactly the kind of scent I adore. I did not get any sort of rotting wood smell that others here have gotten, simply a clear, airy water scent; like a cool early morning after a night of steady, light rain.

 

Love it. LOVE IT.

[yeahbutnobut]

Hurricane

 

In the imp: strong vetiver with a fresh, aquatic-ozone note.

Wet on skin: still murky vetiver with a rainy note to it.

Dry: whoa, the vetiver is very powerful in here-I have a feeling it’s one of the Lab’s stronger vetiver notes (and the type that amps on my skin!) so the scent is predominantly the ashy, earthy, gritty, dark green and slithering scent of vetiver…however I get a hint of that fresh rain note, it’s almost like an aquatic or ozone note, it’s a very refreshing, cool scent, breezy and wet. Funnily enough, when this rain note is merged with the warmer scent of vetiver, it seems to give the impression of humidity, and also of smoke, splintered woods, ruined vegetation and mud. The scent really does have that feel of destruction to it…

After a while: it’s still a strong dark vetiver scent, freshened by that rain note-this is one of those ozone/aquatic notes that seems to be nice on my skin, it doesn’t turn to soap.

Verdict: this is the fresh scent of wind and rain turned sinister. Underneath a fresh and breezy, cool and moist rain/wind note lies the angry, dark, gritty and ashy scent of vetiver, which in here, is very prominent. It’s the kind of vetiver which amps up on my skin, but in here, it seems to work and seems to make the scent fit the theme and name…it adds a feel of something destroyed, something ruined by a terrible storm with it’s aspects of smoke, ruined woods and vegetation, mud and upturned earth, and also a slight feel of tropical humidity, especially when combined with the ozone/rain note in this scent. The scent is very stormy indeed…and here’s another one of those rare sound-scent associations: in this scent, if the vetiver’s brooding darkness had a sound, it would be a low growl of thunder. Not a favourite of mine (it seems quite a masculine scent at times) but definitely an evocative fragrance, the kind of thing that Beth does so well.

[niter]

Imp

The lightness of this blends is rapidly occluded by the vetivert…there is an acrid note that has the eerie quality of oozne, but smells nothing like it.

 

Wet

The darker quality of the vetivert is unsettling. It is very murky and strange on the nose. It is a very dominating note and unsettling.

 

Dry

This became quickly the rubbery scent of a tire swing. This is a bit too harsh for me. It does make me feel edgy like before a storm, but it lacks the exquisite calm before the storm when you feel alive, embracing the wind.

[gwyllgi]

I adore ozone and rain scents, so I was eager to try this one despite my leeriness of the vetiver.

 

I'm terribly glad I did.

 

The scent goes to the smell of old, wet wood very quickly on me, but with a bit of tanginess that keeps it from smelling like rot. I grew up along the shores of Lake Michigan and it reminds me of climbing the rocks along the shore and just watching the lake on a grey day, when the air is heavy with mist but not quite raining. Most of the BPAL scents that evoke nostalgia are not scents I'd want to wear every day, but this is a decided exception; it makes me feel a bit reckless, as though any chance I take can only succeed marvelously.

 

I'd tried burning it also, but had less success there; it made my nose burn. In the end, I threw away the paraffin I'd scented with it and went back to Lightning for a rain scent to burn.

[themerrybaker]

Surprisingly woody (must be the vetiver) – I would have expected ozone. This one morphs around at first: well blended - then all vetiver - then refreshingly sour/sweet - then vetiver - and finally settles down into uh: clean, dark and refreshing? Hurricane is a really interesting scent, and wearable.