Stentor

[Kittenbird]

White mint, lime rind, champaca flower, khus, juniper berry, and matcha tea.

Aaah I can't believe I'm the first to review this! Just got my bottle today.

In the bottle: Holy delicious mint, Batman. Mmmm. Reminds me a little of the minty filling in a York peppermint patty. Sweet and light and brisk and strangely creamy?

Wet on my skin: Oooh. Minty still, but with those pretty bright greeny scents coming out. It stays strangely creamy but it also gains a little floraly hint, like a bloom opening up from a little green bud. If mint had a flowering stage, that would be it for me. Ooooh delicious. It actually cools my skin where I put it, I think, although that could be just my imagination?

Drying: The mint fades slowly, letting the floral-y notes bloom... and then it's almost as if you can feel them drying up. The scent stays pretty strong throughout, surrounding me in a cloud -- but I almost entirely lose the minty citrusy zing in favor of dry warm incensey tea and dried flower. It turns strangely familiar actually, like a perfume my grandmother might have worn -- pleasant, but nonetheless still old-lady perfume. I want to know where all my bright minty sweetness went! I guess my skin swallowed it up.

Verdict: I like this a LOT in the bottle and wet. If it stayed that way I would have ordered more. As it stands I will probably hold onto it and try it again on a different day, after it's settled from being shipped. Delicious but I don't know if it's something I couldn't live without.

ETA: I have discovered, changing clothes to go out, that it is somehow still minty in my cleavage... Now I don't know what to think, lol!

[Lycanthrope]

Since I do not have a Cleavage^TM I tested Stentor on my upper left bicep. It's a common place where I test things as I am gaming.

 

Holy cow! PEPPERMINT'D! Also, this has that severe mentholated cooling that I'm feeling. Similarly as above it is a veritable swirl of mint. I think there's a little sourness from the lime but it's a brightness more than sour, and I've always had a blind spot for juniper berry. The tea is not a strong potent 'Apothecary' style tea. It's a very sweet peppermint and lasts a long time. This is starting to remind me of this little camphorated tube thing that my mother used to use to rub on upset stomachs. It came in a small white and had a burgundy base... Taiwanese Americans, help me out here... in that it has that minty smell but a touch of herbs that is bringing to mind 'mothball,' but only in a very complimentary way. Or, erm, Ricola? Perhaps a soothing mint syrup? Keep in mind I -love- herbal cough syrup, so I'm a freak of nature. This is pleasant, but I can't see myself wearing this regularly. When I next have a cold I will apply this to my chest, because it is bracing!

[dementia_divine]

Origin: TrailerTrashPrincess' Decant Circle

 

I bought a decant of this because I thought that I might like the mint, lime rind, and juniper berry, but I was worried about the khus.

 

In the bottle: IN YOUR FACE MINT, lime rind, and something grassy lurking underneath (the khus).

 

Wet: "Hey, look at me! I'm all mint and lime!" The mint is VERY intense and tingly (almost unbearably so). Then, the khus (a.k.a vetiver -- I hate vetiver) became more prominent on me, and now when I sniff it, it reminds me of farms, and really grassy green tea that ends up smelling and tasting like hay (I'm not sure if the khus and the matcha are probably contributing to that, or just the khus). Song of nature, indeed!

 

Dry: All of the mint seems to have gone away, and the once strong scent stays rather close to the skin now. I don't really know how to describe it now, the khus is still there (but not nearly as strong), and it's an herbal scent.

 

Verdict: I was tempted to wash this off at one point. I knew that I wouldn't want a bottle of this as soon as it reached what I refer to as 'the nasty-ass farm phase.' If you really dislike vetiver (a.k.a khus), stay far away from this one!

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Sweet, stinging mint. If such a thing as super-toothpaste existed, this is what it would smell like.

 

Drydown: Bright peppermint, much like the very first bite of mint gum. Ultra-cool with a touch of sweetness and twinkliness. Oh! It smells just like Icebreakers mints! As it dries something smoother and softer becomes noticeable, matcha or the champaca I’d guess, and saddles up as a side-note. Icy-cool mint still claims centerstage.

 

Dry: Some last minute morphing goes down as it enters the dry stage. On one side, the mint, juniper, and matcha combine to make a snowy, slightly creamy slush. The lime might be adding some sparkliness to this mix too, but I don’t notice it outright. On the other side the khus and champaca team up to create a smoky, musky floral with a bit of a tropical vibe. The two sides dance together until finally they settle into a smoky, tropical mint. In other words, this smells like extra-minty Dracul on vacation.

 

 

 

 

8 out of 10 bones

Edited July 24, 2013 by BoneBone24

[Deliciousness]

White mint, lime rind, champaca flower, khus, juniper berry, and matcha tea.

 

In the imp, this smells like my Moroccan Mint tea, from Stash.

 

Wet on skin, this is still the same mint, but with a little bit of warmth, like hay or grass.

 

Dry: This is very odd, my skin is tingling, I'm assuming it's the white mint. It's like how Vicks tingles and cools when you put it on, except this tingling doesn't go away. Alas, the earthy hay scent has turned. I'm not liking this nearly as much now, as there is a "funky" note within the blend. Something isn't playing nice in the sandbox here ... maybe the kuhs or matcha tea? I'm not too sure. Anyway, my arm is still tingling, so I think it's about time to wash this off.

[OctoberGwen]

I love the initial cooling blast of mint here, but upon drydown there is something in the combination of notes that disagrees with my skin. It just smells off to me; I am beginning to wonder if perhaps champaca flower is not my friend.

 

However, if champaca flower is your friend, you may enjoy this one. The initial minty goodness (with some tart factor from the lime rind) is really refreshing.

[stellamaris]

Why thank you Beth. How did you know that in this !@#$ heat wave we are having right now in NYC I am clinging desperately to what remains in my mint collection, the last vapors of Dust of Snow (sob), mixing Lick it Discreetly with Gelt, draining my imp of Envy and I NEEDED something minty?

This is gorgeous, and has the same skin cooling mint that I love in my other minty loves...

Will require back ups.

[Jennifurious]

Initial blast is obviously MINT with some kind of herbal astringency and weirdness lurking behind it. As it settled, I kept telling myself "This smells like something. Something very specific. What the hell does this smell like?" Eventually I figured it out. THIS. SMELLS. LIKE. A. SHOE. STORE. It's not unpleasant really, but it certainly is true for me.

[themeaningofV]

Initial application is MINT! MINT MINTY MINT MINT, with an undertone of something herbal. But when the mint all burns off, I am left with the best New Age shop smell - like warm, sweet burning grass. This was my surprise favorite of my Song of Nature decants.

[mymymai]

ITB: It's herbal and pleasing. Soft, white mind and a gentle spritz of lime. How refreshing!

 

Wet: As I sniff, it seems to open up my nose. This would be great if you had a cold with its strong mint, line, and piercing juniper. At the very end, I get the faint sweetness of champaca flower and perhaps just a smidgen of matcha.

 

Dry: As it is drying, it begins to remind me of Altoids. While it's still minty with tones of lime and juniper, it's more green from the khus, warm from the tea, and slightly floral from the champaca flower.

[Katlyntje]

Whoooooooooie! Mint mint mint and lime! Actually, this reminds me of a lime version of the sour peppermint sippers I used to eat every summer. You would take a lemon, squeeze it a bit to loosen the juices, cut the top off, then insert a soft peppermint stick (NOT a candy cane) and suck the stick to make the acidic lemon juice eat at the peppermint and turn it into a straw. Wet on my skin I'm getting some matcha as well as the mint and lime and it stays pretty true as it dries with just a hint of the other notes drifting in and out.

 

And then, suddenly, the mint just dies. I'm getting pretty much all matcha about 20 minutes after applying.

Edited July 29, 2013 by Katlyntje

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Mint, mint, mint, mint, mint. And maybe a hint of citrus. Seriously, I could smell the mint before unwrapping the plumber's tape from the imp. As someone said, this is the mint of a York peppermint patty.

 

Dried down: Normally, I'd have a wet stage first, but this just disappeared into my skin, and I didn't want to apply anymore. Well, it's doing something funny on my skin. I think the lime's battling the mint to get on to the stage. I don't know what khus or juniper berry smells like (or even champaca, really), but I think one of them is trying to help the lime rind get into the spotlight (I nearly said limelight). The result is something kind of wood smelling, that's still being overpowered by the mint, but is leaving kind of a funky undertone to it - almost like pairing the mint with vetiver. And I wish I could smell the champaca, whatever that is. So far, none of the blends I've tried with champaca has done this to me, so I don't think that's the problem. I'm not sure about this. I want the citrus back, not this bitter woodiness.

 

(I just checked wikipedia. Khus is apparently another name for vetiver, which explains this - vetiver is fast becoming one of my death notes. It's funny, though, I think I've smelled khus grass before, and I don't remember it smelling like this. It has been awhile, though).

 

Throw: This. Is Strong. White mint is freaking muscle-y. Which I'm a little grateful for since I don't like the khus that's trying to push through.

 

Verdict: *** ::sigh:: Three stars for the mint, minus two for the vetiver. And possibly for the headache I'm starting to get, but that might be more because I need to eat, so I'm not really counting that. I think this is a swap pile scent for me. If the vetiver portion doesn't die down soon, I may need to put something on over this. I'm not convinced it will wash off, the way my skin appears to eat the oil. Or I may try this as a room scent - maybe that way the lime will stick around longer.

 

Edited for corrections, and to add: After five to ten minutes, it seems like both the vetiver and the mint have softened a bit, and I think the champaca is starting to come out a bit now too, and the lime rind is coming back into play. This is actually rather lovely, although the mint still wants to clear my sinuses. There's something that actually makes me think of coconut, and my beloved Touched Twice (which may be the champaca a bit, since it's in there). Hmmm. maybe I should keep this is my second chance pile, instead of swaps. It's just that funky vetiver undertone stage. I don't think I've had this strong a negative reaction for most of my perfumes as I did for that one stage. ::sigh::

Edited August 5, 2013 by Magycmyste

[ReallyZeb]

Wet and in the bottle it is a pure blast of mint on me. On first drydown I get almost vanilla mintiness with a faint zing of lime. Within an hour all of that has gone leaving only a trace of incensey hay if I sniff right up close.

[zankoku_zen]

Minty, lime, and hints of gin and green tea.

 

This one isn't bad. It smells green, fresh and summery.

 

And my skin eats this like NO tomorrow.

[milo]

Really strong mint at first, it is pretty much powering over everything. There may be a bit of musk in the background, I'm getting a teeny dusty vibe which white musk sometimes does. This reminds me a lot of Lick It Vigorously on me. Mostly mint, don't need anymore as I already have LIV.

[Quillifer]

In the imp this smells minty and nice.

 

Wet, it smells so strongly of urine and moth-balls that I've no idea what it would have got to be like dry - I stuck it for about 5 minutes max.

 

Not sure what made me dislike it so much - I'm guessing it's the juniper/mint/champaca combo. I love vetiver so it's not the khus.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Quillifer

[Bookgroper]

From the notes I expected to love this more than I actually did - I expected to love it lots, even though I'm iffy on juniper berry and vetiver. There was a phase where it was really very nice and compelling to my nose, but overall had me making this quizzical "what IS that smell?" face. I just couldn't decide how I felt about it because it was a knifepoint balance between "OMG so wonderful" and "wash it off NOW". It also created a borderline-unpleasant burning sensation on my skin- at least, in the crook of my elbows- which is a first. Other mints and even cinnamon have had no such effect before, so I wonder what that was about? I keep meaning to try my decant again for a firmer opinion, but I remember the burning and reach for something else.

 

will edit later with better notes on what it actually smells like once I'm brave enough to test again

[Bookgroper]

From the notes I expected to love this more than I actually did - I expected to love it lots, even though I'm iffy on juniper berry and vetiver. There was a phase where it was really very nice and compelling to my nose, but overall had me making this quizzical "what IS that smell?" face. I just couldn't decide how I felt about it because it was a knifepoint balance between "OMG so wonderful" and "wash it off NOW". It also created a borderline-unpleasant burning sensation on my skin- at least, in the crook of my elbows- which is a first. Other mints and even cinnamon have had no such effect before, so I wonder what that was about? I keep meaning to try my decant again for a firmer opinion, but I remember the burning and reach for something else.

 

will edit later with better notes on what it actually smells like once I'm brave enough to test again

[astarinel]

Fresh mint, with a bit of lime and something else. I think the green-herbal aspects in this make the mint remind me of Nuclear Winter in terms of brightness and freshness. I was actually hoping for more lime, because there are so few scents with lime as a prominent note and in every one I've tried the lime burns off super quickly, and unfortunately this is no exception.

 

It's an interesting twist on a mint-primary scent, but my scent preferences are more in line with the sweet Lick Its. It does strike me as a scent that might be good on a man (or someone with masculine-leaning scent preferences), as the freshness of it reminds me of some colognes, so I'll pass it along to my fiance so he can give it a go.

[Nachtwulf]

Aah, Stentor, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

 

Well, when I first got it, I actually -didn't- like it.

 

After a few days to apparently shake off some travel shock, however, it stopped being Vicks Vapo-Rub, and instead has become one of my all time fave blends. This is what I wanted "Numb" to be (which it very much wasn't).

 

On first application, it's all winter-mint and menthol, somewhat astringent and sinus-clearing. As that eases off in the first few minutes, however, the other notes rise to the surface and make for a perfect, bracing, admittedly somewhat masculine scent. I don't get any champaca, much, and just the -bare- hint of lime (which is good because most lime seems to go icky and sour on me)... It's not a citrus blend at all. It's mint, and what I suspect is eucalyptus lurking unlisted, and the mellowing effects of 'some other stuff'.

 

So very glad i took a chance on it, so sad that when/if I run out, getting more will be hard. Ah well, so it goes.

[IambicDearie]

Stentor was the first-ever BPAL scent that just did not work on me! I liked all the notes in it and was thrilled to get my decant, but the minute it touched my skin it turned into insect repellent. Ah well, I can get my bright-crackly-energetic fix from The Coil.

[Aveya]

This is all crazy mint in the imp and fresh on skin. Good for a sinus clearing!

 

Then it gets all frumpy. Dirty. Earthy. Musty? And then I come to the forums and read "If you really dislike vetiver (a.k.a khus), stay far away from this one!". And then I go "Oooh that's why Khus never works". Although I have noticed scents labeled with Khus tend to be less basement and more outdoorsy grunge (on my skin?). I wonder if there's something distinguishing the two.

 

In any case, the mint on this one faded semi-quickly for me and turned into a kind of frumpy hippy smell. Actually, it smells exactly like a shop I visited once in Yellow Springs, Ohio. So instead of wet basement, this is musty antique shop with a slightly mystic overtone.

 

It's interesting. There's a definite overtone of summery dirt-rolling festiveness in this. I really enjoy it for what it is, but have a hard time imagining wearing this anywhere. In light of all the other soul-selling scents BPAL offers, this one will have to get swapped off.

 

But I'm glad I got a decant. Maybe I'll sneak some on the SO and see if he smells awesome in it first. He just might...

[hammy]

In the bottle - Sharp white mint with some sort of undercurrent … maybe it’s the tea? Or the khus. Vetiver is usually the culprit when something goes wonky.

 

Wet - The odd-man-out intruder note fades upon application. So does a lot of the initial mintiness, leaving a sharp mint with soft throw. My eyes start to water if I get my nose up close to it. This shit is potent.

 

Drydown - Someone else described this as a York Peppermint Pattie without the chocolate, and that’s exactly what I’m getting. I’ve never liked chocolate, so I have vivid childhood memories of taking all the candy, mints, etc. in the house and stripping them of their chocolate shells. Stentor is very similar to Andes Chocolate Mints, sans chocolate. Ah, memories.

 

Verdict - I kinda like this, though not enough to hang onto my entire bottle, and certainly not enough to look for more. I’ll keep a decant for when I need to clear my sinuses. The tea wasn’t a problem, and I really couldn’t get anything besides white mints and juniper. Lime, champaca, tea? Nope. Vetiver? Only the first couple minutes.

[Soupy Twist]

PINE PINE EYE-WATERING PINE with a side order of Pine-Sol and some PINE on top. And it all vanishes in five minutes. That'll clear out your sinuses. Not one other note to be found. No mint, no khus, nothin'.

[grnwoodtree]

Oh lovely strange perfume! I was gifted this in a forum swap. Ive been jonesing to get any of these Song of Nature scents since they came out, and at the time had no money to get decants.

 

This is so up my alley. At first I was dismayed at the strong mint scent - I dont wear mint. I eat mint, and I generally dont like wearing my food.

However...as I continually huff my wrist, it has mellowed to a sweet earthy herbal mint, and its unique and herbal enough that its something I can honestly consider wearing in the warmer months. I do wish the khus was just a teensy bit stronger.