Nosferatu

[starwild]

We've finally caved in to years of requests for vampiric scents. As soft as grave dust and as dry as a breath drawn within a long forgotten crypt, this is Nosferatu: desiccated herbs and gritty earth brought to life with a swell of robust and sanguineous red wines.

My first impression is very dirty, with something slightly dry and herbal and a hint of something lighter. It's not a heavy or oppressive scent, but definitely reminiscent of age.

As it dries it seems very mossy and just a little warm. Not sweet but not bitter either. I think it might work better on a male, it's not particularly masculine but just doesn't seem very womanly either.

Probably not a keeper for me. Edited August 20, 2008 by starwild

[lucy gray]

Wet: DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRT.

Dry: Wine and dirt and...something vaguely floral. I don't know what it is, exactly, but everything together smells of cemetery rot, dead roses and decomposing bodies. But in a good way, if you can believe that. This scent really matches the concept -- I keep sniffing at my arm and thinking, "God, this is repulsive! I want more!"

[Saya]

In the Bottle

It smells exactly like the description. This smell reminds me exactly of how it smells inside the catacombs in Egypt plus some wine in the background. It really is a dry almost decaying scent plus the wine. I’m shocked the description is so dead on.

On My Skin

It hasent’ really changed much from the imp. I’m still getting the ‘somebody spilled wine on the ground inside a tomb or cave’ smell.

 

After a Bit

30 minutes later my SO came upstairs to tell me that the scent had carried all the way into the basement. :oops: It still hasn’t changed much.

 

Rating 1-5 (5 being the best)

Scent – 2 Throw – 5 Longevity – ? Washed it off

Over all – 2

 

Final Thoughts

While I’m impressed that Beth was able to create such an awesome scent, I’m pretty sure I’d never want to smell like this. I had to wash it off. I’m not a fan of super strong throw and this blend was overwhelming to me. I’m sure other folks will love this, but it just isn’t for me.

[Sapphiremo0n]

I recieved an imp of this with my last order. It has been sitting seperate from my other imps because I can smell it over all of the others.

Wet in the capped imp I smell Roses, Thousands of Roses, drying roses and blood red wine. It just gets stronger as I uncap the little devil.

 

Dry upon my skin, Nosferatu is soft and dusty and sweet. It does smell intoxicating, like blood and rose wines. It is incredibly sweet but not like sugar, more like the sweetness of decaying funeral flowers. It also smells like my grandmothers room a couple years after she died, grandpa had shut up the room and left it exactly as it was. When we first opened it three years later it smells exactly like this, Sweet like aged perfumes, Dusty like years of neglect; Time has passed and the room has aged. Nosferatu smells of a neglected room.

 

It is an incredible scent...very sexy and heavily intoxicating, I just can't stop smelling myself!

[MrGrey]

For the whole duration of the scent, I received a mix of earth and wine. While neither overpowered the other, they did seem to blend together nicely. I would recommend this scent.

[thomasblackthorne]

I'm sad, I had such high hopes for this especially after reading several of the reviews here.

 

I did not get the feeling of death, or an image thereof.

 

What I did get though was pleasant. The "earthy" smell was very comforting, and the rose bloomed nicely, but I smelt no wine, and later on smelled like soap...

 

We'll give it another go tomorrow and see, maybe my nose was just off on this one...I hope so.

 

I found the wine

: )

My god, I smell like a grave...NICE!

Edited October 18, 2008 by CaptainBlackthorne

[mazikeen]

Weird! Is that what dirt smells like? Nosferatu smells strange... and kind of bad... but yet I can't stop smelling!

 

Then, a weird lemoniness appears under the dirt.

 

Later, the lemon and dirt both disappeared. I keep getting flashbacks of Ochosi. Weird.

 

And then... it's gone. Nosferatu does not last long. Only that Ochosi-ish creaminess lingers slightly.

 

 

I'm not sure that I like it. I overused the word "weird" in this review but that sums up Nosferatu. It's worth an imp, because I think all the oddest scents are... they may not be for everyone, but when you love it you love it, so our undead friend here is worth a shot. I doubt that I'll ever love it, but I'll definitely have to try it out again.

[hkhm]

imp: dirt and wine.

 

wet: this is herbal dirt with some sweetness left from the wine.

 

dry: sweet dirty wine. that sounds terribly but it's actually quite sweet and almost pretty. i may get a bottle of this because i'm a sucker for the dirt scents.

[GalaxyLei]

This is a very green scent--freshness and plants and wetness--like being outside at night, but with a tiny bit of sweetness below it, which is probably the wine. I think if a vampire was to walk about and truly enjoy being a vampire, this is the scent of him/her strolling about under the moonlight, waiting...maybe for prey, maybe just because it's night and it's where they live...

 

Very nice.

[crebbsgirl]

This may be the one wine blend I can wear! Other blends tend to go fruity on my skin, but this stays wine-like and wonderful. I think the herbs might help to temper it. This is really quite nice. I can smell a little earthy note in the background. The overall effect is a little cool and sharp, with just a touch of sweetness. Someone above mentioned dirty wine and I must agree wholeheartedly.

[stefrand]

ITI: Smells both good and strange. I can smell the herbs. I suppose it smells like sour medicinal wine.

 

Wet: Sour. Musty. I don't know about this. It smells the same as it does ITI.

 

Dry: Starting to mellow out...it smells a little more like fragrance now. The sourness is gone. Surprisingly floral and perfumey now. A little soapy. Is there verbena in here? : Not getting any earthy or dirt smells.

 

Drydown: It has become sour generic perfume. It might be giving me a headache. No wine, just sour soapy herbs. Do not like.

Final Thoughts: Smells like a department store ladies bathroom more than vampires. Maybe vampires smell like department store bathrooms?

[Champagne]

Yes, it`s faithful to his name, herbal dirty in the vial, like a Graveyard dirt in spring, and it stays the same wet on skin. After 20 minutes the red wine goes out, dry and so real I imagine myself in a cave surrounded by huge bats flying around, and near to a table stained by a strong wine. It `s fascinating, it has the moss note I love and I can`t t stop smelling my fingers! Not for the weak at heart.

[MCS4096]

So excited to try this one!

 

In the Imp: Spot on with the description! The dirt note smells dry, but there's a moist mossy note. The moisture is also coming from the wine, with smells a bit like roses to me (thought that's what it was before checking the description). The wine is definitely a red, it's got a lovely subtle bitterness.

 

Wet: The dirt really comes forward, and there's an almost incensey spiciness. The wine really smells rosy.

 

Dry: Stays pretty true to form. It's cool damp rocks and bitter red wine, dying roses in the background. Very unusual, and I'll enjoy using my imp. I love supporting the Lab's more exotic blends, but this one really fits the concept and may not be for daily wear.

[Seismogenic]

First of all, I've gotta say that I'm surprised the oil is clear, considering red wine is supposedly a note in there! Anyhow, this was a Lab frimp, and I'd pretty much overlooked it in the catalog before it showed up in my bag, since I'm not much of a follower of vampire legends. Now that it's here, though, I see that there's a dirt note, and I'm pretty excited about that. So predictable for me, I suppose!

 

In the imp: Sharp and dusty at once; the sharpness right now is an indistinct one.

 

Wet on skin: Mostly dusty, a little herbal, and a little sharp. I'm assuming the sharpness comes from the wine, though it honestly doesn't smell much like wine to me right now.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, it's still mostly dirt and some herbs. The sharp note is going sweeter now, and it's starting to assert that it may in fact be wine. It's the grape aspect of the wine, though, not super booze, which is good. At one hour in, everything has already faded quite a bit, though it's still a balance of herby dirt and some winey sweetness.

 

Five hours later: Very slightly dusty.

 

End of the day: Gone.

 

Overall: I like the herby dirt aspect of this one quite a lot. It's dry and dusty and not unlike desert field work. As the wine note intensifies, though, I think Nosferatu grows into its inspiration; the combination of dusty and dirty with sweet and rich is kind of horrid, but in a way that really works and is kind of captivating. "Horrid" is a good word, here! But all that said, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about wine notes on a more general level, and I also wish the whole thing lasted longer. I think this'll be one to test a few more times before I make any real verdict.

 

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

 

Imp: smells like wine freshly poured out on the dirt as an offering

Wet on Me: I can smell the earth but it’s not sour earth,

it’s a sweet earth

Drying Down: I love how the dirt notes haunt this scent. It’s a

nice wine alrighty, but the dirt it haunts it so.

Dry: This makes like a vamp and fades pretty darn quick in the

daylight, but it leaves vague scent memories that make you think

something happened and you are trying desperately to remember. I like this.

 

[CynicalPink]

Imp: Herbs, Earth and wine. This one might not be so scary

 

Wet: Wine and herbs. Clean in a creepy kinda way.

 

Drydown: More cool herbs in the dark red wine. There's also a hint of dirt, more like a memory of dirt if I may be so abstract. It's definitely a sweet herbal.

 

Overall: This is not a scary scent. It's actually rather cool and pleasant. But in the end, I'm not sure I'll really wear it. I've got Bess for my boozy herbal fix

[zankoku_zen]

This isn't scary at all. At the beginning, this was like a raisin in blood wine (I know, weird huh?) and it has dried to a rose/raisin/some sort of baked good + soap. Which isn't as off putting as it sounds.

 

But yeah, nothing like I expected. At all.

 

Huh.

[Sweetie666]

This is definitely a graveyard dirt scent, which I love! It's also very sweet, not candy sweet, but more like wine sweet. It all comes together to make a very smooth, aggressive scent.

[Allumina]

Wet it's all cheap red wine with a bit of dirt. Drying it was dirt with some spice and sweetness. However, it smelled enough like Jazz Funeral (which I prefer) that I don't think I need to hold on to my imp.

[Lamia]

Fresh, this was ... er ... melon that was about to turn moldy, and limp watercress. (People, I can't make this up!)

 

However, after about half an hour, it turned a red-gold dust. There was a swollen roundess to it that is impossible to describe and I went "hmmm".

 

Alas, that lush fascinating scent fades quickly, and it's become gritty and dusty, like grubby talc.

 

Trade bag, sadly.

[Mayhem27]

In the bottle, Nosferatu smells like dirt! Wet dirt, with a hint of flowers. When I put it on, I only used a tiny bit and it was STRONG! The wine began to come out on drydrown, but it was suble...lingering in the background. This has excellent staying power...it lasts all day without touching up on me whenever I wear it.

 

Nosferatu was not an instant love for me. When I tried it the first time, I wasn't sure I liked it. In fact, I was fairly sure it wasn't for me. But I couldn't stop sniffing myself! I was strangely drawn to wearing it several more times before deciding I needed a big bottle of it!

 

[donnatron]

Imp: Herbs and dirt and a little moss. Very faint trace of red wine.

 

Wet: Sharp, acrid dirt and a touch of warm sweetness. This is very dischordant.

 

Dry: Go figure. Nosferatu winds up being a warm, rich, fruity red wine scent with just a touch of sharpness from the dirt in the background. On my skin, at least, it becomes pretty feminine and definitely swelling with some weird sweetness. It's a lot less threatening than the name and ingredients would suggest. However, it's also a lot less interesting than I anticipated from the ingredients. My wine amping powers have been used for evil.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: It was a fun try but I don't overly care for the eventual drydown. Probably will become one of those imps I take out to sniff every once in awhile because the drydown is just so dang weird.

[earlgreyellie]

this is quite possibly my new favorite scent. i can't really pinpoint specific notes, but i will say that it brings memories of vatican city, which is suppose it kind of strange. i think it is because the smell is somewhat reminiscent of the incense the catholic churches use. it is not overpowering because the incense-y smell is balanced by something earthy. sorry, but that's the best i can describe it. i really love it though and, in my opinion, it is worth trying out.

[RachelElizabeth]

In the imp and wet on my skin, Nosferatu is all dirt and blood.... straight-up human blood - I don't know how Beth does it, but she's amazing. It's unsettling.

 

As it dries, there's something else coming out... it must be the herbs... but I'm getting something floral. It's almost like vanilla-sugared flowers and red wine, with just a hint of a dirt undertone. It's delicious - the dirt keeps it from being too sweet or cloying.

 

An hour and half/two hours later, the blood is back, but it's more subtle - it had a lot of throw last time, and I'm not getting as much now. It's also tempered by the flowers and the wine - I really like this stage!

 

This is definitely bottle-worthy.

[wldhrsjen3]

So, a friend passed this imp along to me a while back and I don't know how old it is. I'm thinking I need to order a fresh one with my next order so I can try a comparison because this was lighter than I expected and faded *really* fast.

 

in the bottle: bitter herbs and blood red wine in a dusty chalice.

 

on my skin: hm. Lighter than I expected - something secret and seductive. The herbs dissolve in a dry whisper of sweetness while the scent of wine lingers along the edges like a taste left on a lover's lips. As it dries, the sweet red wine ripens and turns beautifully lush while the earth tones keep it grounded. Unfortunately, it fades very quickly and I'm left with a haunting memory of fragrance clinging to my wrist.

 

This was unexpectedly beautiful and I loved it - I'm anxious to try a fresh imp!