R'lyeh

[lunareclipse]

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. The sunken city of the Great God Cthulhu. A hellishly dark aquatic scent, evocative of fathomless oceanic deeps, the mysteries of madness buried under crushing black waters, and the brooding eternal evil that lies beneath the waves.

 

In the bottle: Bathic but not heavy - a mysterious oceanic scent. I really don't get anything grapefruity, but there is something vaguely.... unsettling lurking underneath.

 

Wet: Pretty much the same. Light florals are starting to show up, which is OK - if R'lyeh smelled on my skin the way it does in the imp, it might turn into Eau de Jersey Shore (bleh).

 

Dry: Those florals are starting to drown out that ominous bathic note, and while I didn't want to smell like Long Island Sound, I think I'm now starting to smell a bit too... perfume-y. R'lyeh isn't bad - I just wish it would stay with its wet scent.

Edited June 13, 2006 by lunareclipse

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

herbal/incense and slightly musky

 

wet:

very light scent - a little resiney, incensey… a little lemony.

 

dry:

I can't pick out notes, but I'd say it's incensey, hint of lemon.

 

overall:

nice!

 

rating: 7/10

[ajcj213499]

Wow- I was surprised by this! I was expecting a really dark sort of aquatic with vetiver or something, but this is just lovely! It's like sweet fresh water- I love it! I think I may need a bottle in the future...

[Myaru]

Another freebie from my last order! I'm impatient and couldn't wait to try it.

 

In the imp it smelled vaguely citrusy. As soon as I put it on I smelled the grapefruit! (Love love LOVE citrus. Many hearts for it. ) It's the strongest note on me both wet and during drydown. And I definitely smell something aquatic, but I couldn't tell you what it is.

 

This makes me think of fruit that's just this side of overripe and ready to eat, and the scent of rainwater puddles sweetened with a faint floral. It's clean, but I don't think it's clear, for lack of a better way to say it. I know nothing about the inspiration behind this scent but I actually think it fits the Lab description well.

 

This is a definite buy for me. The citrus makes it so.

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Sweet, aquatic

 

On me: This is a light, sweet aquatic blend. It smells nice on me.

 

Verdict: There are other aquatics that I like better, like Danube. This is a very pretty scent though, but it's too similar to other aquatics that I like better.

 

Rating: 3/5

[purrbox]

ok, i guess i'm insane, but i don't smell grapefruit from this in the slightest. to me, in the imp anyway, it smells *just* like over ripe bananas. i mean, bananas that are SO over ripe that they're squishy and the peels are totally brown. bananas you put in your cabinent and forgot about for a couple weeks. there's a definate undertone of sweet, fruity rot with the banana smell.

 

i muscled through my initial "omg i'm gonna puke" reaction and tried some on, and it did change a little bit when dry. it became a little powdery.. i think i could detect some amber in there somewhere. but the banana scent was still present, and ultimately i had to wash it off. naturally, the scents i *don't* like are always the ones with the most staying power, because i had to scrub my wrists 4 or 5 times before i could get it completely off.

 

the main problem i have with this is the image of over ripe bananas conjures up the memory of the fruit flies that came in on bananas and infested my kitchen a while back. god, what a nightmare. those things are a real bitch to kill- the kitchen was completely intolerable for a couple of weeks before i finally found a fruit fly armageddon bug bomb. but i digress. anyway, i don't think i'll ever be able to eat another banana as long as i live, and i don't particularly want to smell like one either. so off r'yleh goes to the swap pile.

 

 

ETA: maybe my imp has aged? i got it as a frimp with another bottle i bought on ebay. when i look at the oil it does look a little thicker than normal, so possibly it's aged and that's the problem.

Edited June 29, 2006 by purrbox

[edenssixthday]

R’lyeh is most definitely an aquatic scent that is dark and mysterious, yet it has this wave of bright citrus coursing through it (grapefruit, I think?). There is also a touch of something lightly herbal, and I can’t for the life of me figure out what is giving this blend it’s “dark and mysterious” scent. Overall, it smells like men’s cologne on me – the way most aquatic scents do. It has virtually no throw and I can only smell it if I sniff my skin up close, and it disappears within the hour, which makes me think that it is actually grapefruit in the scent, since as much as I love grapefruit, it disappears on me very quickly. There’s nothing wrong with it, but overall, this blend is not for me.

[cranberry]

Huh, based on the description, I was expecting something a bit darker, with more ozone elements and in general, just sharper. Instead, this is a sweet pink grapefruit. Sparkling sweet pink grapefruit at that. Wow, I like this more than I would have thought! It smells a bit salty on top of the fruit. After it’s been on a bit, there’s something in there almost spicy. I can’t pinpoint what exactly the spice is, but it’s there. After a while, it becomes even more salty and more spicy. It catches at the back of my throat.

 

This is a really interesting scent. I don’t normally care for many of the aquatics, but I’m liking this one.

 

--

eta: after looking at some of the reviews, heh! evil, unholy grapefruit indeed!

Edited July 13, 2006 by cranberry

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

impsniff: rubbing alcohol and grapefruit

 

skinned: take whatever is lemony in Dorian and make it grapefruit, then add in a few yellow and purple wildflowers. and then take it far far away from me. please.

[Summerpixy]

Spicy aquatics, I'm not entirely certain if I like this scent. I'm a fan of the traditional aquatics such as WoND, and this one evokes a peaceful lake, with something insidious lurking underneath. In this way it may have correctly recalled its literary origins.

[smallvoice]

Tested thanks to the GC swap quikslvr arranged!

 

This imp certainly smells like grapefruit. It's dark grapefruit. On my skin, wet to dry, it's more grapefruit. There's something dark and complex about this, and I really think it's clever. I'm a fan of citrus, though.

[filigree_shadow]

Of the aquatic scents, I think this one is my favorite. It doesn't smell stinging in that way that ozone often does on me, instead it smells like clear, clean water. Like water in a fountain. Except better. I don't actually get anything evil out of this, nothing that evokes dark oceanic depths. Mostly it smells clean and fresh. My only complaint about this is that it softens up a bit too quickly and becomes faint... which is also unusual for an aquatic scent on my skin. Usually they're a little too loud for me. It figures that the one that I like a lot would be the only one that doesn't amp itself into the atmosphere.

 

I wrote that paragraph before I looked at the other reviews, and now I want to add this:

1) Grapefruit? I wouldn't have guessed that. I have my doubts that Beth would put grapefruit, which smells sparkly, into something that's supposed to be like fathomless darkness... but maybe. I don't know -- I'm going to be a hard sell on the grapefruit possibility. I'm just not getting that. I guess there might be some citrus in there giving it that "fresh" feel, but it's not strong enough for me to be able to pick it out.

2) I agree with edenssixthday that most aquatic scents smell masculine on me. I blame that damn Cool Water cologne that everyone and his brother wore 10 years ago.

[neuilly]

There is definitely a citrus note, but which one I can't tell. At times it does seem like the grapefruit others have mentioned but at others it's a bit more lemony. I actually get hints of moss? And definitely an overall salty aquatic feel. It seems slightly masculine to me but not so much so that a female couldn't wear it. Going to have to give this a second shot before I decide whether or not I like it on me. However, I do have to say that it's a nice scent and not what I was expecting.

[indicolite]

R'lyeh began citrusy - as the reviews have stated, an evil, twisted grapefruit. Then it started adding its dark note. Perhaps it is a very hint of labdanum, which I shudder to imagine, as labdanum = awful on me, but it has not yet gotten there. It has a sort of pleasantness to it. It does indeed evoke dark depths, but I do not get the saltiness, so on me it is not ocean depths but rather a cave lake.

 

I am not certain of it. Maybe I will not wear this much, maybe it will pull a Nyarlathotep (Lovecraft scents stand by each other and present a united front!) and make me addicted despite myself.

[WidgetAlley]

Not my Imp, so this'll be a quickie review:

 

Incense and citrus, thin and menacing. Whoever originally said evil grapefruit? Nailed it. But in a good way. With maybe a touch of amber or a musk to round things out? Reminds me of Hurricane-- water, but darkened.

 

Oh, man, this smells so familiar! What is that? I can't recall. On my wrist this is heavy, smoky, almost unpleasant: a citrus, yes, possibly the same sort that was in Snow Moon, but twisted and darkened and almost acrid. I can see how this could be great on the right guy, but it's not quite for me.

 

Oh! Yeah! CELERY! That's what that is! It smells like celery on me! Weird. *scratches head*

[mountainwitch]

Apparently bubbling underwater madness smells a lot like a dark-tinged floral perfume. But that's okay--R'lyeh is one to swoon over, and not just because I've lost too many sanity points. This is a dark, almost juicy fragrance that lasts forever on me (literally, it lasts overnight). I keep coming back to my imp of R'lyeh again and again--as the lab, with its understanding of the great mysteries, is apparently aware. They sent me another frimp with my last order, too. No escaping the madness . . . And I don't mind a bit!

[populuxa]

Wow what a disappointment. There is some note that is sometimes in aquatics that smells like new carpet on me. Bay leaf maybe? Otherwise, it would be nice. Similar to Sea of Glass. Very watery and not ozoney at all. Slightly bitter.

[yeahbutnobut]

R'lyeh

 

In the imp: yup, now I know what everyone means by 'evil grapefruit'. This smells like grapefruit in resins with a hint of salt.

Wet on skin: grapefruit! Whoa, that's grapefruity. There's something underneath that's sweet, dark, incense like and woody.

Dry on skin: ack. Now I smell the sharp, acrid, celery-like scent of Evil Gardenia. But in here, it seems appropriate. The scent is indeed that of grapefruits turned evil. The bitter fruit is covered with salt instead of sugar. It rests on a bed of driftwood floating above a murky ocean with seaweed (though the seaweedy scent here is quite nice, not a horrid rotten seaweed scent), with hints of dry, brine-pickled gardenia petals. It's very salty and indeed, very much a marine aquatic…but with a dark side.

After a while: now it does the dreaded soap thing. I have no idea why but a lot of the aquatic scents have been turning to soap recently. But it does remind me of Dirty so it's not too bad a soapy scent-the grapefruit edge is gone now, leaving a white floral 'clean laundry' scent with the bite of harsh gardenia and dry, grey woods. it gets even more dissonant over time-that odd mix of soft clean laundry, gritty driftwood, ozone-shocked gardenia and murky seaweed.

Verdict: why is it that most aquatics I try these days-especially the salty ones-go terribly awry on me? (if this affects my ability to wear Sea of Glass and Penthus, I will cry…)This happened with Pool of Tears, Jolly Roger and Isle of the Dead and now this…it smelt odd as soon as it touched my skin and I think there's that nasty gardenia note here that turns celery like on my skin, along with a truly bizarre mix of salted grapefruit, pale scrubby woods and murky algae filled water. Which all seemed appropriate at first, until something in the aquatic turned to-you guessed it-soap. Evil soap with a dry, dark, gritty, uncomfortable and clashing undertone. I think this is going for swaps…

Emoticon rating:

If you like this, try: Jolly Roger, Isle of the Dead

Edited September 28, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[buzz23666]

this is another one for the curious yet compelling pile.

 

Wet - its all about the grapefruit and nothing but the grapefruit

 

Dry - it's still about the grapefruit with something spicy trying to claw its way up to the top. And there is also a faint whiff of plain white candlewax.

 

Definitely not a "must have" but I think I will keep the imp around and try this again.

[myoubi]

I want to wash this scent off as fast as possible so this will be brief. aquatic - yes. dark - yes. vaguely floral - yes. But something about it reminds me a little of syrup of Ipecac. It really ought to be lovely, but my skin is turning it into.. something else.

I wish I could've liked this one

[steffanina]

R'lyeh-

 

In Bottle: Wood and chocolate and chlorine! I don't think it's just because the last one gave me a chlorine whiff. I'm really getting it again.

 

Wet: Hmm. Slightly musky-dusty.

 

Dry: No, not for me. Nondescript powdery.

 

Overall: Unremarkable. Not for me.

[supremegoddessofall]

Some flowers, but not particularly good smelling ones. There's a chemically-ness to this that is not making me happy.

 

Score: 2 out of 5

[ctate]

In the imp: Assertive medium-bright unsweet citrus-fruity something -- people seem to say grapefruit, but I disagree; it is a bit darker and more complex -- with murky aquatic florals backing it up. A thick smell, only a hint of sharpness. Ozone. Intriguing.

 

On me, wet: The florals have broadened out and come to center stage. It's starting to verge towards air freshener. What happened to that bright clear fruit sort of note? A thin high note has taken over, and the murk has carried through. A hint of something nebulously spicy, plus little vanilla in the background, and souring a little. The ozone is hanging around, though I'm not good at picking that out.

 

On me, dry: Murky less-sweet floral candle sort of aroma, spiked with ozone and carrying some sort of dark muttering undernotes. The intriguing bright citrus submerged quickly on my skin but might be more lingering on someone else. Don't get me wrong; this isn't bad, particularly because it avoids being too sweet. It just isn't what I would have guessed from the imp, and isn't something I will use. Off for swapping.

[Tess]

Grapefruit! Oh the love I have for grapefruit! Let's see if the spice notes and the aquatics work with my skin with this one.

 

In the vial - It's not grapefruit that I'm getting, but a type of spiced melon. I'm tempted to say papaya, although there is a touch of citus in the back.

 

Wet - Mostly just spice and something twinge like at the limits of my senses.

 

Drying - There's almost a menthol feeling to this, what with the spices. Perhaps that is the grapefruit, but if so, the actual smell isn't quite there, just the clarifying nature. I'm not getting anything that actually allows for notes, per se. It's not very strong.

 

Dry (1 hour) - This really is a dark papaya with some spice. I just can't move from that whole "papaya" scent. It's slightly aquatic, too.

 

Overall - This isn't at all what I expected, especially from a scent that is supposed to smell like grapefruit. To prove to myself that I wasn't smelling wrong, I compared this with Cheshire Cat, which is almost ALL grapefruit, and the notes are completely different. Ah, well, swappage.

[aquazoo]

Kinda light & bright! A definite masculine. Fruity/spicy and complicated. It darkens down with the minutes. I wouldn’t mind it on someone, but I’m not running off to get a bottle for myself.