Nyarlathotep

[mgrazulis]

Brooding, yet electric: the scent of buried secrets, roiling nightmares, the essence of the Crawling Chaos, the Father of Knives and Locusts, the Hunter in the Dark. This is the blackest of ritual incenses charged with flashes of ozone.

This is not what I expected...a bit of lemony essence that dries quickly. A dry vetiver, very dusty and barely singed. Aside from the singed note, I don't get any indication of incense. Meh!

[symphonyinsilence]

I'm still stupid because I had this blend, loved it and never figured out what ozone smells like. One of my favourites from BPAL. I'd wear it everyday if I were a guy! I got it free so I was kinda scared, but was surprised that it turned out to be even better than most of the imps I'd actually ordered! Very woody, leathery, smokey and slightly gothic. It basically smells like Catholic church incense mixed with the ocean (oh wait, that's ozone, right? - smacks head over and over again). It reminds me a bit of my boyfriend. You'd picture a tall, mysterious, gorgeous dark-haired man in a long trenchcoat wearing this. It's doesn't even smell unisex. Just very manly. I'm too feminine for it, I think. *lol* Beautiful scent though.

[loubric]

Peanut oil and citrus. Hits you in the face at first and then settles down. My best friend musk has just shown up I get quite a lot of incense too. Not my cup-o-tea. Edited January 7, 2010 by Lilly

[impolight]

:::NYARLATHOTEP:::

 

There are so many ways that the fragrance of Nyarlathotep branched out into unregulated brilliance, that it is an endeavor to know where to begin.

Having had the bottle for some time, it is with no little degree of fascination that the characteristics of the fragrance seem to be perpetually fluctuating. Incense seems to be the most steadfast factor, omnipresent since being introduced to the formula that takes the name of a Lovecraftian masterpiece upon itsself.

Nyalathotep fans out across the darker territories of the psyche, blotting out any chance of making a reference to things in the diurnal realm. There is an obscured, ceremonial palpability to this fragrance that leans toward a form of reverential awe, if not supernatural dread. Nyarlathotep is a sanguine veil of surreptitiousness; a cowl of encryption. This is a fragrance that has bristled with menace from another time in the cradle of civilization. Nyarlathotep is a haunted scream from wasted dunes. Nyarlathotep is elusive; serpentine in essence of how it's constantly in motion, coiling and looping atop itsself, crackling with energy... Ominous, venemous voltage.

Nyarlathotep has divinely potent incense. It zings and pops with bright, blue-white arcs of Ozone.

After aging for a bit, there seems to be traces of Tonka, Cedar, and Lemon speckling the overall hue of the fragrance.

On the skin, Nyarlathotep amps ridiculously, a supernova pulsation and galactic swirl of potency.

Spectrally, Nyarlathotep is bronze, brass, cinnamon,star-white, and fluorescent blue.

This is a dangerously good fragrance from the Picnic in Arkham line. While never having visited Egypt, there are rumors from reliable sources that the whole place smells like a city-park restroom in July... Nyarlathotep smells better by leaps and bounds1 The wife mocks, saying the smell is of a creepy, perverted suicide-bomber... 0_o.

Nyarlathotep is genius!

5/5!

Thank you, BPAL!

[Finch]

This is a strong, golden, almost over-ripe citrus at first then slowly morphs into a deep, purple, spicy incense. Granted I'm a bit of a slather-er, but I've had it on since early this morning and it's barely faded.

[caffinatedangel]

So I got this as a frimp from a decant circle. I have to start out by saying I hate Vetiver. It's one of those scents I get a whiff of and go "OH HELL NO." and run away. Has ruined many amazing scents for me o_o. I also haven't liked an Ozone scent I've tried yet either.

 

This has vetiver in it. Or something that's very similar. And Ozone. It's got that shrill upper-register of notes that singe nose hairs and make my spine hurt.

 

However, this has a lot more depth and layers than other vetiver/ozone scents I've smelled. It does have a citrus bite in it that could, in theory, temper the vetiver. It seems pretty intriquing, and it fits the description flawlessly. It's got this bit of an herbal bite that I attribute to incense too (that makes no sense, but hey.)

 

Overall, it's as advertised to me. I'll just be trading it because of personal tastes.

[voorishsign]

I really don't know what to expect of this - I'm trying to try imps of the entire Arkham line just because I'm a Lovecraft fan, and I discovered BPAL through the Lovecraft fandom. I only have R'lyeh left to go after this. I love incense and ozone, but the previous reviews stating it smells slightly like lemon worry me - my skin amps the stuff. At last, I found a cheap imp, so I will see for myself

 

In the imp - a lot lighter than I'd hoped. Light incense and a tinge of ozone.

 

On wet - I can barely smell this. It stick so close to the skin. I can see what people mean about the lemon, but it's not too aggressive - yet.

 

Drydown - Where is this incense you speak of? This is ozone upon ozone, plus light lemon. It's nice, but not at all what I expected.

Edited June 7, 2010 by voorishsign

[Saya]

Every once in a while I catch a whiff of this on my skin and think, 'lemon dust'. Citrus with a dusty element. Fades quickly on my skin. I'll be passing on this blend.

[talula_fairie]

All I did was sniff the imp and get some on my fingers, but that was enough to know I can't wear it. This isn't to say that I don't like the fragrance, actually, I love it. But it's very manly. I'm going to put some on my husband.

[mysteryflavored]

In the imp, this smelled purely like cola, unsweetened and oddly adult.

 

Wet, it morphed into a powerful scent... but I don't know how I would describe it. The cola was gone, replaced by something electric and masculine.

 

This dried down to something stormy, yet muted. I'm really liking this vibe, but that's possibly because it's raining out and this scent just matches the atmosphere.

 

I'm all kinds of girly-girl, but this scent makes me feel good. I'll hold onto the imp for more playtime.

[strahlend]

To my nose this blend is a giant lemon with a side of lemons and lemons for dessert.

[fairestrocza]

In the Imp: Citrusy ozone.

 

Wet on Skin: Slightly soapy, citrusy ozone.

 

While Drying: Less soapy. Heavy citrus. No incense to speak of.

 

After a Little While: There is a sweet aspect to the citrus that might be the incense trying to get through. I like the citrus scent, but ozones just don't work on me.

 

Later: Never got any incense. Still citrusy ozone.

 

Final Thoughts: Unfortunately, all ozone scents are pretty much interchangeable on my skin. This one is nice, but not my style.

 

Nyarlathotep earns a 3/5 on my skin.

[FathomBelow]

Got this a a freebie from the Lab with my last order.

 

In the imp, Nyarlathotep smells like...lemon doughnuts with liberally sprinkled powdered sugar? Nice! Not precisely brooding or electric though. As it dries on my skin, something dry and astringent and slightly sharp comes forward, standing beeside the lemon doughnuts with powdered sugar. It reminds me of Ether so it must be, hmm, the resins? It didn't work for me in Ether and I'm not sure I like it here, whatever it is. After it dries, this thing loses the lemon (although preserving some of the dusty sweetness of the powdered sugar), turning it into a very manly, cologne-y scent.

 

Overall, a very unusual one that I'm glad I got to try as I love Lovecraft but ultimately not for me.

[MagentaLuna]

Got this as a frimp from the Lab, and wasn't exactly sure what to expect...

This smells exactly like my grandparents' cottage! Not the building itself, but when you get out of the car after the long drive and breathe in the mulchy forest and lake smell. It's been making my smile all day, just because of that.

 

Apart from that, I can't really pick out anything specific besides lemon, and something underneath that reminds me of Calico Jack - which I'm guessing is leather, wood, and ozone.

 

Either way, I quite enjoy it, though it seems to fade quite quickly.

[Monday]

Frimp from a sale.

In the imp it smells like pickles. It has that same sour note as the Apothecary.

On me it's citrus and ozone like a gently wafting spring breeze. I don't get the cologney vibe ozone has a tendency to go powdery/ old lady perfume on me, this one does too.

It faded pretty fast.

[mxtine]

This smells like a commercial men's cologne. Something that would be in a blue bottle. It's ozone and citrus, an aquatic that ends up smelling like fresh laundry. It's a lot less sinister than I would expect from the name and description.

[Balame]

In the Imp: I've been wanting to try this one for a long while! After a bout of funky scents I hope it turns out as nicely as I think it will. Aw yeah, smelling lots of vetiver from the imp. Rich and earthy and sexy.

 

Wet: A little musty and like ashes, standard vetiver fare. Right after that I get a pop of lemon citrus though, which is unexpected for this type of scent. I guess it's trying to be ozone but it seems a little silly and out of place, so perhaps it will die down as it dries. There's also a "leather" note that's similar to Kroenen's.

 

Dry: For being described as the "blackest" of incenses the citrus note in this is really throwing me off. It's like spying a looming, shrouded figure who slowly approaches you, and then it throws back its hood and you see your mom. "Oh hi honey, check out my Halloween costume! Isn't it great?" Not even joking. I've smelled plenty of "ozone" notes that do not go randomly fruit citrus like this, but I can't get over the lemon.

 

Overall: I'm a vetiver fan so this isn't a complete dislike for me, but the citrus is just making it too bright as a whole. There is a party here where there should be mourning, dangit! Because of that, it might actually be good for those who aren't vetiver lovers and want a toned down version.

[Helas]

Nyarlathotep is probably my favourite of the Picnic in Arkham series. It's a gorgeous, dark, velvety aquatic scent on me, with a kind of luminous quality from the ozone and a rich, smoky glow from the incense. It's also probably the best scent in the series at evoking its theme, since most of the other blends come across as far too cheerful to me. That being said, it does have a little of a mainstream cologne vibe. I don't mind that personally but people who are turned off by "perfumey" scents may not get all that much gothic joy out of this one.

 

My father, who is a huge fan of the whole Picnic in Arkham line, "borrowed" this one and lost it. I'll probably be ordering some more eventually, since I have yet to find any other scent in the BPAL catalogue that is anything like it.

 

Four out of five stars.

[Jihana]

First off, my nose isn't that developed yet in recognizing notes but I'll try to describe Nyarly.

 

This starts off being citrusy and a bit musky, a scent that is warm and bright at the same time. This would be very nice on a man, as it's complicated but not overpowering like most commercial male scents. When it dries down the citrus fades and becomes more smoky, smells a bit like menthol cigarettes before they are smoked. I really hate cigarette smoke but this smells just good. There's still something lurking behind these smells that I cannot define but none of it is bad, and my hubby likes it too.

[calivianya]

I am not a fan of aquatics or ozone, but I was hoping the incense would make up for the other notes. It didn't. I got an aquatic/incense blend that was just meh on my skin rather than the dark incense I was hoping for.

[puellacaerulea]

In the imp: Something bright, sharp, and aquatic (and vaguely citrusy) kicks me in the nose. Hard. I haven't learned to recognize BPAL's ozone note, but I'm guessing this is it. It's nearly drowning out any incense notes.

Drying down: Now the heavier incense/resin notes are coming out to play. It's considerably less sweet than some of the other incense-heavy scents I've tried; this reminds me a bit of the incense you'd smell in Catholic churches. Combined with the ozone, it's very dark, sinister, and definitely Lovecraftian.

After about an hour: The incense has turned to baby powder on me. Wait, what? So much for sinister.

 

Overall, the first hour or so is kind of intriguing, but it looks like Nyarlathotep doesn't think much of my skin chemistry. Oh well.

[Kayah]

imp: soft.. salty..kind of seaweedy but gentle

 

wet: similar to in imp.. softens and smooths.. I smell something citrusy in there as well, but sharply citrus-y, like verbena or lemon balm

 

combining with the salty impression it's quite nice and calming

 

further drydown the incense peaks out and mingles with the citrusy smell and the ozone.

 

 

comparing to actual notes: kind of surprised and yet not really.. the incense doesn't smell like incense to my nose, although I can place it.. and the ozone gives this blend a distinctly aquatic feel although it's not a particularly "watery" aquatic but a more salty/seaweedy one

 

 

it IS very interesting, and being a fan of all the different components of what this smells like - incense, citrus scents, aquatics and ozone.. it's great

[karykeion]

I've already fallen hard for two of the Arkham scents, and I couldn't not try the one that shares my kitty's name.

 

 

In the imp: Utter perfection. It smells like darkness and the wind before a storm. I want every single man in the world to smell like this. It even has some of that gorgeous array of spices that I love and wish every perfume consisted of.

 

On me, wet: Spicy dark sweet incense and something a little tangy, which I guess is the ozone, but then it starts to turn to...lemon Pledge? This goes through a lot of weird phases. When it gets done smelling like lemon Pledge, it kind of mellows out into what I swear to god is the exact scent of burnt cookies.

 

On me, dry: I think on the right person, this would smell like dark malicious ancient madness and sex. On me, it smells like burnt cookies. No. I was really hoping to love this, but I think I'll pass it along to someone whose chemistry agrees with it more.

[Innocuousmold]

I believe that there is some bergamot in here, because when I first applied it I thought of tea. Not that this smells like tea, lol.

 

The ozone and incense are doing something terrible on my skin. I think someone mentioned a peanut oil smell and I have to agree. Time to wash this one off.

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Even though these are not listed in the notes, I smell orange and a dash of lemon mixed in with myrrh and frankincense. I already like this and I’m eager to see if the citrus actually manifests as such on my skin.

 

Wet: Florid orange, like orange blossom greets my nose first, followed by myrrh and other incenses. There is just a little of an odd note from the ozone, but I think this is what is causing me to smell the citrus.

 

Dry: The scent has become slightly powdery, but I still get the impression of smoldering incense and orange blossoms. It does remind me of a ritual offering, so this scent really does its namesake justice.