Nyarlathotep

[Celogrl]

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.

Beautiful ozone! Maybe that's why I notice no citrus. I do notice the incense, though. This is a deep, mature scent but not as dark as I expected. It was a gift from the lab, and it's been a pleasant surprise all the way around. I will keep this imp and use it happily!

[sophia_helix]

A swap freebie. Took me ages to get around to trying it because the description made me nervous.

 

In the bottle:

 

Incense, not too strong, with just a little bit of clean ozone at the end.

 

Wet:

 

Whoa. Straight-up ozone.

 

Drydown:

 

I've been waiting for this to change, but it's a nice, salty, tingly lemon-clean, the kind of ozone I love, with maybe a bit of smoky campfire scent behind it. Whoever said this smells like camping is right, although the smoke is more ashy/incensual than sharp like woodsmoke.

 

I wish there was more smoke, actually, but I think that ozone is a scent that just loves my skin chemistry. Luckily, I love ozone too, but sometimes I wish it wouldn't overwhelm every blend!

 

This reminds me a lot of Bed of Nails, actually, which worked well on my husband. Nyarlhotep is probably more of a men's blend too. It isn't very strong, and I have to sniff hard. Given that, and the lack of incense, I don't thnk this is a keeper.

[Blood onmy hands]

Nyarlathotep really doesn't work well on my skin. First on it smells like burning incense and grapefruit. Grapefruit often smells nasty and a bit dirty on my skin. It makes me sneeze.

 

The incense disappears after a few minutes and this turns into strong ozone with grapefruit in the background. Now I smell like dryer sheets and dirty grapefruit

 

This is one for my swap pile.

[Sara]

Sniff - Citrusy fresh with strong hints of aftershavey-ness.

 

Swipe - Stronger bits of aftershaveyness come out to subdue the citrus into "freshness." This is a very masculine blend for yummy guys, or the right kind of gal. Personally, I like it and would love to smell it on my guy, but am contnent wearing it on myself too.

 

Drydown - Aw, damnit! Things went horribly wrong yet again. This funky weird mix of gross "leftover stuff" is sitting on my skin. Much like subdued sickening florals, or playdoh-like, or something..it's just indescribeable (is that even a word?). Everything yummy about this scent has burned off my skin to leave behind an aroma of icky proportions. Yet again the base of the blend is turning my stomach.

 

I actually tried this one on my bf to see if he could possibly wear it, and nearly the same thing happened. On his skin it was a slightly more masculine "gross super-drydown", but still that same nauseating quality that happens to me. *sigh* what exactly causes this??

 

Overall - Wish it worked, loved it up until it turned on me.

[Lit Chick]

I never would have tried this - never. So I'm very pleased that the lab decided I should.

I love it!

 

As people have noted, it's very citrusy at first, then matures into something a bit darker. It has a slightly commercial smell, but in a very good way.

 

My DH has been wearing BPAL, and I'm going to make him try this - I want it to be his everyday smell. The others are for particular moods (Grr and swoon). This would just be my great-smelling man.

 

Unexpectedly wonderful!

[Sistinas]

a review of Nyarlathotep

 

Vial ~ Ozone, yet resinous at the same time

 

Wet ~ Yes it stays true to the scent it is in the vial, but there is

a slight citrus scent to it also

 

Drying ~ This blend is very light and as it dries it seems almost untraceable.

The resin gives me the only sign that there is something on my wrist.

 

Dry ~ Now that it has dried the citrus scent comes out more, lemony ozone,

very light and fresh.

 

Fade ~ I expected this to fade away really quick, but surprisingly it

has lasted over 30 mins. so far. For light scented blends this is a good

thing.

 

Final thoughts ~ I love ozone scents, but with this one there is no great

love here. I will keep my imps, but I won't be wanting a bigger bottle,

since there are other ozone scents that I like already. On a scale of 1 to

5, I give it a 3.

[Nightgaunt]

This is one of the first BPAL scent I ever bought, and the first that my coworkers ever complemented me on. It smells exotic and secretive. It smells DANGEROUS.

I wear it to intimidate my boss. The Mighty Messenger must be pleased.

[aedes]

I got a complex and interesting masculine aquatic, here. Like really aftershave or cologne smelling stuff. Must have been the ozone. It brought to mind Tempest + Yog Sothoth. My guy's more of a woodsy-herbal smelling guy, though. But maybe I'll hang on to it for a little while.

[LiberAmoris]

Nyarlathotep is a smoky coastal darkness to me---all that 'clean' ozone with the dark incense notes give the brain a paradox to sort through. Some of the smoke notes remind me of the smoke in Devil's Night somehow.

 

On the drydown this is almost unmitigated ozone on my skin. I wish the incense stuck around a little longer. If I could get my boyfriend to wear BPAL more than once or twice a year, this would be on the list.

[SeaMonkey]

This is tangy incense. The tang is a bit strong at first, but once it dries, its a nice incense. Not head shop incense, but ritual incense.

[Scarlettfish]

I didn't think I'd like this at all, because I'm not an incense kinda girl, but this is surprisingly nice. It is very ozoney on me - almost a tangy salt air smell. Definitely a masculine aquatic, with a hint of darkness and smokiness from the incense. Very complex and well blended.

Edited November 20, 2005 by Scarlettfish

[Babylon]

Boyfriend wanted an imp of this just because of the name, no matter how it smelled. We were expecting a very dark and smoky scent, and weren't sure how ozone would smell. Inwardly, I was afraid he'd put some on and morph into the metalhead dryer sheet of doom or something, but kept my fears to myself.

 

Wet on the boyfriend's skin: A bright, sharp citrus smell. And oh... hey, ozone.. I do know that scent after all. Someone very cool sent me an imp of Storm and I can smell the similarity. Unfortunately, when he tried Storm it turned to soap on him. I tell him not to fear, that the frooty citrus smell will pass, and it will turn into something appropriately dark and manly for him. He says, "No big deal. I like it." and rabidly snuffles his wrist. What a sport.

 

Dry, after bout 20 mins: The citrus is already long gone. Now it's incense and ozone. Dead on. The incense smells like myrrh. This is good on him, and completely different than the Thanatopsis he's used to. This smells very dry without being woodsy, powerful without being musky. Very nice! He compliments the Lab on their amazing accuracy with scent names.

 

A short while later: I tear his arm from whatever less important task he's doing to snuffle at his wrist, and NO! It's all soapy now. The incense is still hanging in there, hoping for the best, but it stays soapy. He's going to try again another day and see if he gets the same results.

 

The scent was gone entirely after a couple hours. It also had no throw on him, at any point. We had to put our noses to his skin to get any whiff of it. Which is fine at times, but a scent that shouts Powah!! like Nyarlathotep does (No, I'm not talking Zest! Before that kicked in) deserves to be worn in public to make people properly cower.

[valentina]

I wanted to like this very much, and had high expectations, because I love incense so much. In the imp, it smells great -- spicy incense with a bit of ozone. Initial application is also pleasant, but after 5 minutes, my body amps the ozone. I waited patiently, hoping it was a temporary matter, but the ozone simply took over all the nice incense components. Damn the body chemistry! Oh well, back to wearing Urd all the time...

 

valentina

[AngellicMystique]

The incense and ozone are divine, but it’s a positive smell for me, despite the description. The thick and heavy incense combines with the way air smells right after a close lightning strike.

[LadyWilde]

Note to self: Ozone does not like you, and you do not like it, no matter how much you wish that weren't the case. Give up.

 

Yup, detergent and pesticide, the same thing I got with Szespassony. No incense at all. Sigh.

[magdalene]

in the bottle: uhh, limes?

 

wet on skin: wow, I was really not expecting a citrusy kind of scent. Although I am pleasantly surprised by it. Limes and incense, whoever thought those two smells would knock me off my feet?

 

dry: this is a very boy-like scent, but I think I might give it a shot for awhile.

[Victory]

Much to my delight, I don't get any black incense. Just the cleanest, purest smell imaginable. I wouldn't have ever ordered this on my own, so thanks labbies for throwing this in!

[photon_eater]

Out of the bottle: Lemony, with a strong hint of herbs, and something else I can't quite identify. I can definitely see why people are saying it smells shiny and black, though.

 

On me, wet: The citrus smell comes out, strong but not overpowering. There is also a dark, fragrant hint of ozone behind it... like someone had been welding metal near a lemon tree.

 

On me, 10 minutes after application: The scent begins to lose some of it's sharpness, and the incense starts to wake up.

 

On me, dry: The lemony scent heads into the background, and the incense and ozone takes the center stage. There is also a strong aquatic scent, like a forest after a thunderstorm. It smells freaking amazing, I can't stop sniffing myself. The two words that come to mind are "urban" and "sorcerer." It reminds me of something an evil corporate exec would wear. I don't exactly feel sexy in it, but feel devious and sort of villainous. It's a very male scent, and it's very very evocative.

 

Final Judgment: A mysterious scent that is both dark and bright at the same time. I think the eclipse analogy is quite apt in this case. It's a clean smell, but also a scent that calls to mind something secretive and cunning. It's an almost paradoxical scent that is both electric and modern, shadowy and ancient. I can definitely see myself buying a big bottle. It love wearing it, it makes me feel dangerous.

[Chrysantza]

This came as a frimp from somewhere, and has been sitting in my imp box for a while.

 

In the bottle: Sharp and citrusy

 

On me: Lemon Pledge and chlorine bleach

 

I always give blends a chance (unless they have anise in them ), because I've been pleasantly surprised before. Alas, the citrus and ozone reacted as predicted, turning all chemical and harsh on me. Off to the swaps.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Citrussy and something chemical... ozone?

 

On me, it was a very bitter citrus note and the chemical smell turned into dryer sheets that have been lying on a heated surface for too long. On my husband, it was about the same. We left it on for an hour and it didn't change or fade. Then, we tried washing it off, and it wouldn't come off!

 

Mommy, Nyarlathotep scared me! *whimper*

 

Off to swap/sell pile!

[pickman's model]

I got this one for a male friend who was looking for a scent. Him being as much of a mad Lovecraft geek as I, we settled on Nyarlathotep. So I'm writing a review for him.

 

In the vial: Citrusy, but dark. Very dark.

 

Wet: Citrus, ozone and vetiver. So very much vetiver. The citrus keeps it from going too much like Malediction and the ozone really added an odd note to it.

 

Dry: Evil. Sexy. I keep sniffing him. The Crawling Chaos works so well on him. Outdoorsish, but not in a "Grr! Me Rugged Man!" way. I am so very, very jealous that vetiver works on him and not me. On the other hand, he smells wicked good and we can giggle when he wears it and I have Shub on.

 

Verdict: I converted a guy not only to BPAL, but to scent. And I keep nuzzling him to smell. Score.

[TheStormCellar]

Yeah, on me, all I've got is OMGTEHFLOWERSAGAIN!!!! Strong flowery overwhelming. This has got to have vetiver in it, cause it's all I can smell. Vetiver goes extremely flowery on my skin, overpowering everything else. This is definitely not for me.

[fiddledragon]

Scent in bottle: Mostly that ozone-scent. Hopefully the incense will come out more on me.

 

Scent on me:

Wet -- Ozone with incense coming out a little.

Dry -- Very, very dark and evil incense. Luckily, not very strong.

 

Conclusion: Well-named, but I don't want to smell like it. Off it goes to swaps.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Sweet, tangy ozone, with a slightly dark syrupy note.

 

Wet: The ozone goes out for a while, before coming back with a tangy vengeance. It smells slightly spicy and broody, not airy.

 

Drydown: A heavy smoky scent full of spices - myrrh I think - comes forward and mixes with the bright, metallic ozone. I'm not really specialised in incense notes, but this one is pleasant and oriental. The ozone makes me think of a knife in all that smoke.

 

Overall: It's a surprisingly light and soft scent. It's not overpowering, aggressive ozone, it's just pleasantly scented and spicy, a bit like the scent by the seaside. Very feminine and not really aftershavy/deodorant, which is rather rare for ozone blends, but there is a bitter smoke scent deep in the background. Well blended, pretty.

[Ciircee]

My sister got this as a freebie (yay, Lab!) and we've both worn it.

 

Dry 5 Minutes:

 

Me: ozone!

 

Her: Incense and ozone.

 

Dry 40 minutes:

 

Me: Some very sweet incense (probably frankincense or patchouli, knowing me) and ozone. It's not a dry scent, for all of that.

 

Her: The same as me, but with something citrus-y.

 

Dry 2 hours:

 

Me: Seriously faded sweet incense.

 

Her: A sweet, quiet incense with hints of ozone.

 

Dry 4 hours:

 

Me: Gone, alas.

 

Her: Still there, but faint. It actually wore away to nothing by hour five, I believe, but I can't be sure.