The Putrescent Juice of Earth's Inner Horrors

[The Poison Queen]


Presently the old man drew back his hood and pointed to the family resemblance in his face, but I only shuddered, because I was sure that the face was merely a devilish waxen mask. The flopping animals were now scratching restlessly at the lichens, and I saw that the old man was nearly as restless himself. When one of the things began to waddle and edge away, he turned quickly to stop it; so that the suddenness of his motion dislodged the waxen mask from what should have been his head. And then, because that nightmare's position barred me from the stone staircase down which we had come, I flung myself into the oily underground river that bubbled somewhere to the caves of the sea; flung myself into that putrescent juice of earth's inner horrors before the madness of my screams could bring down upon me all the charnel legions these pest-gulfs might conceal.


Perfect and absolute mental collapse: black pomegranate and vetiver with rose otto, rue, red patchouli, petitgrain, myrrh, and cacao absolute.

In the bottle: VETIVER! And cocoa. It reminds me of Hershey's easter eggs, oddly. The kind that have the candy shell.

Wet: Vetiver and cocoa still. I never thought the combination of those would go together but it's pretty interesting and works well. I wouldn't call this foodie either.

Dry: Vetiver. This might as well be SN vetiver on me, I don't get much else at all. Still pretty okay though!

[rinster]

I LOVE the name and all the notes looked marvelous with the exception of vetiver. So, of course, guess what I'm smelling the most right off the bat?

 

However, after about 15 minutes the other notes are coming out to play. I'm not smelling them individually, but they are making the overall effect softer and more multidimensional than a one note vetiver. If this was a color, it would be an inky velvety matte black. It kind of reminds me of a distant cousin to Raven Moon, maybe? I'm looking forward to what this does as it ages.

Edited December 21, 2013 by rinster

[patina]

First applied: I get pomegranate and spicy...pimento? It's surprisingly spicy and a little sour. I could see this as sort of the perfume equivalent of a Lovecraftian protagonist having a screaming breakdown.

 

Almost instantly later: Pimento's gone. I can separate the vetiver now, though it doesn't completely dominate the scent. The pomegranate is surprisingly strong. All in all, this smells like tamrind candy. It's sweet, tart, a little sour (not in an objectionable way- and this is coming from someone who can't wear sour things at all), and a bit earthy/smoky.

 

Hours later: still noticeable and delicious. Strong vetiver, but I like it as a base.

Edited December 31, 2013 by patina

[tinyvulture]

The keyword from the title is "juice." This is one juicy, fruity blend when first applied. Pure pomegranate. The next notes to appear are the vetiver and patchouli. At this point, it reminds me of Depraved...a sexy mixture of juicy fruit and dark, dirty notes. I happen to love Depraved, so this is a very pleasant surprise for a perfume associated with "putrescence." I'm not picking up any cacao, myrrh, or rose.

 

After ten minutes, the pomegranate isn't nearly so big and bold. Now the cacao is just slightly noticeable. It's quite soft overall at this point. I wish it had retained the "wow" factor of those first couple minutes. Cool blend, but don't need a bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

Pom, patchouli, resin and something that smells like beer hops. It dries to a more patch/pom/rose blend, giving it a "red greenery" vibe that is again, slightly off putting and eerie.

 

It smells like mutant roses.

[Ethaisa]

This arrived just before Christmas, and honestly I was very disappointed when I first tried it - everything seemed a jumble, the vetiver seemed sour and the patch overwhelming. But I set it aside for a bit, and I'm really glad I did, because now I"m sure this will age marvellously. I can get hints of cacao, and the sweetness of myrrh, and the rose and pom give a bit of spicy ripe redness. Not much throw on me, but it lasts and lasts. Definitely keeping my bottle.

[ljaylh]

I had to try this one, because I'm a fan of the perfect and absolute mental collapse

 

I don't get the OMG VETIVERRRRRRRR thing that others have mentioned - not at all... what I do get straight away is a gorgeous smokey cacao - imagine a chocolate factory on fire - that's the smell, and it's fan-freakin-tastic! Quite unlike any other scent experience I've had in BPALania so far. But then - just as I'm swooning in a cloud of smokey cacoa... the black pomegranate shows up - like a dark red hard-boiled candy... all sticky juicy dark sweetness, which adds a whole new dimension to that smokey chocolate. I investigate this business a little further - lean in for a deeper sniff - and there's just a teensy hint of rose, and I notice the smoke isn't like a black/ash smell but a softly sweet smoke which must be the vetiver + myrrh working together. And hey - there's my beloved red patchouli in there too! The patchouli comes out at about the 5-minute mark, by which stage the smokiness has mellowed right out. i'm not picking up any bitterness at all from the rue, and I expected a tinge of orange/citrus from the petitgrain... it's there, but it's very much a subtle top note rather than a key player.

 

Unfortunately, that lovely smokey/chocolate/pomegranate/patchouli combination that I enjoyed so much at the start doesn't hold strong through the dry-down... for a blend that started off with so much oomph, this one fades fairly quickly into a mix of mostly pomegranate and rose on my skin - sweet, almost sickly, and a bit powdery. That's what happens with rose for me - it almost always ends up drowning everything else out So... sadly... this is not a winner for me. Bummer, because those first ten minutes of it were glorious.

[brilliantcat]

Gorgeous vetiver in this! It's grassy and smoky and not scorched or rancid in any way. Yum. I get heavy, earthy patchouli and vetiver with a nice dose of juicy, sweet pomegranate atop it. It pretty quickly develops a deep cacao note to it and the pom softens. Damn, I catch the first hints of the rose otto which I am sure is going to amp like crazy and ruin this dark, sexy, smoky blend. Oh hey, myrrh, there you are with your weirdly cola vibe. Granted all this has happened within the first five minutes of having applied it so I'm VERY curious to see what's going to happen on the drydown.

 

Vetiver? Patchouli? Can we have a chat? What did the rose DO to you guys? You were all nice and dark and smoky and yummy and then you just ran off! I'm left with a shockingly faint rose and nothing else. Color me baffled. I really liked the early stages with the smoky chocolate earthy notes

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: With each sniff, I get a different scent note--very pleasant!

 

Wet: Pom, vetiver, cacao, and patch are the most obvious.

 

The dry-down: The rose otto and myrrh appear and mix in w/ the other notes. An interesting scent, but it fades fast.

[MCS4096]

You people had me at "chocolate factory on fire." Between that and the name I bough this one unsniffed. Shame shame shame on me

 

Because holy jeeze, I have finally verified my absolute, hands-down death note combo: red patchouli and vetiver. I actually like them quite a bit independently, but the combination of the two in one scent just turns my stomach over.. I feel sick and start sweating. Malediction was where I first encountered this badness.. apparently I'd forgotten it's notes (it's ONLY TWO NOTES in fact) until now that burning chocolate factory thing was quite persuasive.... Uh yea, so it's all I can smell here-- it's like my nose is hypnotized and cant smell anything but those two notes.. and they are bad. Ok. I smell rose too

 

As if I hadn't been negative enough already, I'll describe my personal impression of this one: Sickly sweet burning plastic and rotten grass with a liberal splash of rose water.

[milo]

Maybe it's just the title, but this really does smell putrid to me. Definite vetiver, and something else that translates as medicinal. I sure hope it fades quickly on me, as it's a pretty awful mesh with my skin chemistry. I'm not getting the patch or pom, and usually those notes like my skin.

[Katlyntje]

In the bottle this smells like rotting chocolate drizzled with over-ripe pomegranate juice. The vetiver really gives it that perfect rotten-ness. On contact with my skin the patchouli comes roaring out and pretty much devours the other notes leaving just a tinge of sweetness from the pomegranate and rose to drip from it's vicious jaws. Sated, the patchouli curls up and transforms into a domicile kitten with a dusting of cacao on it's nose and it's little pink paw pads scenting the air with roses. The drydown is all gentle patchouli and myrrh with rose and a tiny hint of cacao

[aquazoo]

That’s some funky dirty smokey smell. The aftermath of some kind of twisted fire. The name fits.