Gaueko

[crystaljapan]

The Basque God of Night and all the perils of the darkness. Though he is the God of the Danger that Lurks in the Gloom, he is kind to men and warns them against the nighttime hazards and sets rules of conduct for both the living and the dead as they travel through his domain. It is said that since the warm, vibrant daylight is for the living, the abodes of night are reserved for the dead. All who heed his counsel are protected, but woe be to any man that disobeys the laws of Gaueko: he is swift to punish those that would scorn his advice. Blackened sandalwood and misty lavender, with curling wisps of smoky tobacco, nag champa, and labdanum.

I liked this one more in the imp than on. I could smell the nag champa and smokey-ness. It wasn't really my taste but I figured I would put it on and give it a chance.

On - It smelled VERY masculine and very strong. Not my cup of tea at all. I was going to let it dry down more and fade to see if that changed anything but my wrist where I put it on was staring to burn.

I do not have sensitive skin and have never reacted to anything like this that I can remember. I washed it off and the burning stopped but I could still smell it. So I washed it off again. Still there. If only the scents I loved would last like this

I'll have to make note of what's in this one and see if any other oils burn me so I can figure out what it is.

[LiberAmoris]

Gaueko is a blend that just feels...dusky. There's something about it that is shadowy and mysterious. The lavender is uppermost for me in this blend, but the tobacco and the smoky nag champa come through after about an hour.

 

The drydown on this is great, but for that first hour the lavender is a bit too medicinal-smelling for my tastes. I'm definitely keeping the imp, though, as it so evocative.

[Lori]

Sniffing the imp: I smell sandalwood right off the bat. Oh, and there is lavender peeking through. *reads ingredients* Oh, cool…Nag is in here, too! I bet this is going to smell like my store!

 

Wet on wrist: There is the Nag Champa! Everything that I buy from the store, and leave in a bag for a day or so…when I take it out, it smells like Nag Champa! People are always coming in the store, and asking what the wonderful smell is, and even though we have dozens of types of incense and essential oils and scented candles, I always attribute it to the Nag, because it takes over EVERYTHING!!! Just like it is doing here!

 

Drier: Ok, this is just a gorgeous scent! If I didn’t work where I did, this would be a definite keeper to wear or scent a room with, but I kind of smell like this a lot already! I wear a lot of lavender, which is in here, too. I keep telling myself to swap this as it is so familiar but I think I am going to be keeping it…hippie girl that I am. I love it!

 

Dry: The incense really stands out, and I still can smell the lavender and now…wow… that smoky scent is coming through, too. It is as if someone has taken a match to the incense…I can smell the charcoal.

 

Gaueko. I didn’t know his name, but I have already made friends with this God of the Night, who protects womankind against its perils. I definitely have heeded his counsel and I love the night and the darkness. Again, this scent is gorgeous and now it feels protective, too!

 

I am so glad it turned out the same and yet different than I expected. I want a big bottle of this. I can see this rivaling Hearth for my favourite cuddled-up night time scent.

Edited October 3, 2005 by Lori

[sarada]

I first tried this almost a year ago and liked it, but didn't hang onto it. It was mostly lavender on me and I figured I had enough lavender.

 

But after trying Old Scratch and adoring it I decided to give ol' Gaueko another try. It has a similar feel, with lavender winding its way through incense smoke. And I like this even more this time and will probably be hoarding imps, if not eventually getting a bottle.

 

The overall impression that I get is of being in a store that sells incense and soap. It's that overall "incense store" scent that I love so much...of the bar of handmade soap that you buy that has the scent of the shop clinging to it (as described in the review above mine as well!). The lavender comes off particularly soapy in this blend but in a nice way. Basically, it smells like nag champa soap.

 

This lasts for awhile and goes particularly well on my skin, which tends to take incense smells and simmer them nicely, so they last throughout the day and cling to my hair and clothing like real incense smoke does.

 

This is like the mellower cousin of Urd. They're both hippie store smells, but while Urd is the full-on attack of a heavy incense store, Gaueko is the soap aisle at Whole Foods, where I linger for a half-hour sniffing lavender and patchouli soap and shampoo. I really feel as though I've just taken a bath with a full range of wholesome hippie products.

 

It is different enough from Old Scratch to warrant bottles of each if you like the lavender/incense combo, I think!

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - first sniff it smells almost medicinal, but after a few minutes I can tell it's the lavender I am smelling. Lavender mixed with something…I can't get any other specific notes yet.

 

Dry - in order, I get lavender, sandalwood and nag champa. Three notes I love, but I am not sure I like them together. Lavender and sandalwood work, and I am sure sandalwood and nag champa would work, so it must be the lavender/nag champa combo that is not working for me. It's not that I dislike this, it's just that it smells not quite right. It's too bad, because I have been looking for a strong lavender blend, and this is about the strongest I have tried. Sad to say it just doesn't work for me.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3.

[malabar]

In the bottle: Juniper? Sage? Neither are listed, but that's what I smell.

 

First on: I get a hint of sandalwood, but most of the other scents have vanished.

 

Drydown: Either my nose is now broken from Djinn, or this one dissappears into my skin. I'll have to test it out again by itself.

 

 

I got a heavy juniper hit off this one, too - was surprised that it wasn't listed as a note. No lavender that I could detect. And then it went all powdery on me on the drydown.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 0/5

Summarised in one word: Lavender!

 

In the imp: Very thick, dark smoke, tobacco and lavender. What a strange combination.

 

On skin, wet: I usually find lavender very calming. Not in this case! This is sharp, biting, smoky lavender. Intimidating lavender. It brings to mind someone you wouldn't want to encounter in a dark alley -- someone who has slathered himself in a lavender aftershave.

 

On skin, dry: I'm not too keen on Gaueko, and it's not too keen on me. This is starting to give me a headache, so it's going to be washed off now.

 

Conclusion: Really, really not my thing.

[herdivineshadow]

This turned to nothing but dry, dusty sandalwood on me, which was a little disappointing as I was hoping for more lavender.

[Fishwomon]

I was really intrigued by the notes in the description of Gaueko, but on me it smells very well blended, and I don't discern any particular note. It smells dry, sharp, and brassy. It's not very distinctive on me, so I think I may swap the imp - or hold onto it for a while and try it again later.

Edited November 1, 2005 by Fishwomon

[Blood onmy hands]

The mix of notes here is like the richest, darkest blue lavender scent. It's intoxicating. It's mostly lavender with sweet nag champa incense and a dark, soft woods note. It's very soothing, smooth, dark, and sweet. After a half hour, I can smell a sweet tobacco smoke coming through.

 

The overall feel is like a sensual, deep, lavender incense. It's as sweet as TKO is on me, but darker and not so foodie-sweet, more rich and sensual.

Edited October 6, 2010 by Little Bird

[olympia301]

 

I got plenty of the Lavender. As for the other notes, my poor nose could not find them there. There was a softening and somewhat pleasantly soap-like background to it all, a touch of what might be black pepper, but lavender was the star of this blend. I liked it and found it quite masculine overall. Real good on a guy. I don't know if I could carry it off.

Edited November 8, 2005 by olympia301

[Fefferbella]

I was excited to try this imp because of the nag champa.

 

Sadly on me Gaueko was very medicinal. It smelled like old face powder and lavender as it softened.

 

Gaueko only lasted 30 min or so on my skin before being completely undetectable.

 

*swap pile*

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): This smells pretty cologne-y, not in a yucky way or anything.

 

Just On: Hmmm, cologne that has fresh stuff in it, pretty stuff. Maybe some kind of medicinal type scents; or herbs.

 

An hour or two later: Something green. An herby type thing going on.

 

Around 6 hours: It's like, woody nag champa. How neat.

 

12 hours: A hint of smoke? It's pretty faded now.

 

Overall: This one morphs a LOT, so if you're trying it out, pay attention all the way through. I'm not sure how well I like it, I may have to try this one out some more.

 

After reading other reviews: Wow, I really didn't get all the lavender. How odd, usually I amp that up and it takes over completely. I must try this one on The Mate at some point.

[amberdulen]

This was so masculine in the bottle I was afraid to try it for weeks. On the skin it settles a little, but it's still too incensy and masculine for me to really be comfortable in. I thought I got some amber (althought it doesn't look like other people did...hmm) which always sort of turns heady on me. Might be nice on a certain type of man, but not on me. Off to the swaps pile.

[gingersnapp]

This is soft and smoky. It's blended very well and I'm not getting too much of any particular note, so I can't really say which is the strongest. I can tell the lavender is in there, and the nag champa. I'm guessing the sandalwood and labdanum are second strongest, but I don't get too much of the tobacco. Though I did say it was a smoky blend, so that just goes to show what I know.

 

It smells, to me, like I've burned some nag champa and lavender incense and the wood holder is sitting on a table in the sunshine with the dusty remains of the burned incense. Smoky, dusty, warm.

[Thaleia]

In the vial: Medicine-herbal, which reminds me of something from my early childhood ... it smells like Desitin, actually.

 

Wet: Still medicine-herbal, but now with a lavender note. Also some incense, which I'm guessing is the nag champa.

 

Drydown: I'm getting a bit of sandalwood now with the lavender, herbs, and incense. I don't smell tobacco, but that could be because I'm looking to smell something like cigarettes, and I don't. The lavender sweetens the sandalwood and herbs, but it still remains pretty masculine.

 

Dry: Desitin again. Desitin and incense. I don't know about this.

 

Wow, weird. I didn't think I'd smell that stuff again, especially not in one of Beth's creations.

 

Rating: 2.25

Edited December 23, 2005 by Shollin

[yeahbutnobut]

Gaueko

 

In the imp: oooh, lavender and nag champa. Hippie lavender!

Wet on skin: yup, still nag champa and lavender, possibly a little bit of tobacco coming through as well.

Dry on skin: smoky incense-y lavender, very deep, dark and swirling. I get more tobacco now, and possibly a little hint of sandalwood, not as much nag champa now. It's quite an intoxicating scent, mysterious, almost headshop-y but much more profound than that-it seems almost narcotic and hypnotic, definitely a scent of the night. The lavender in this packs quite a punch, the tobacco smoke wafts heavily, and this is a scent that I think would be very nice on a guy as well as on girls.

After a while: the lavender begins to fade, letting the sandalwood come through-it's a very smooth sandalwood, very dry and warm, and indeed, slightly charred-it smells a bit like it's being burnt as incense. I still get tobacco (which sometimes smells a bit similar to smoky vetiver on my skin, I've discovered) and the nag champa returns to the scent, and I get a hint of deep resin sweetness from the labandum. After a few hours I get, bizarrely, a moss like scent.

After a few hours, I get a lingering incense scent, slightly hippy-ish but pleasant.

Verdict: another interesting and unique fragrance from the lab. This smells like a kind of good quality joss-stick incense, but that's not a bad thing…a deep, heavy, dark smoky scent, very heady, strong and almost narcotic in scent. It really is a scent of the night, very purple black…lavender is very strong at first before the scent changes into something more smoky and incense like, lots of tobacco and smouldering sandalwood with a hint of something mossy-and of course the nag champa, which adds something hippie-ish to the scent and only accentuates it's incense-ness. It's a nice scent but I do have other lavender scents that I prefer. I do think this would be good on both sexes.

[AngellicMystique]

I don't wear this, but I loved it on my husband so much I bought him a 5ml. (A little on him goes a long way.)

 

On him, the lavender takes the backseat to the other notes, I can catch hints of it, but it never dominates. The sandalwood, tobacco, nag champa, and labdanum, however makes this blend very masculine on him. This is one of my lust scents.

[Orodemniades]

Hmm. There's something in here, a floral spice with musk and I think a hint of Civet? No, it's patchouli?! Overall, um, I'll have to try it at a different time of the month, but I'm posting this review now, just in case...

 

Oro

[Wyndi]

First time reviewer here (but not on LJ)

 

The story that the name is based on intrigues me above and beyond what it should, I think. I'm just a kinkster at heart, though, so there's no point in denying it. In the bottle, this is complex, dusky, and almost foreboding. At the risk of sounding cliche, it's a "power smell" but not in the sense of brute, physical force. It's more evocative of a psychological mastermind, biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. I don't get more than a faint hint of lavendar. I get mostly a deep, foresty/tobacco combination that I can't wait to slather onto my skin.

 

On, this reminds me of walking into a smoke shop without the suffocating sensory overload that usually accompanies such an excursion. The sandalwood comes through, bright and lively, and is undercut ever so slightly by the lavender which I can finally detect. The nag champa blends seamlessly with the other smells and the end result is a very balanced experience. I have a burning desire to smell this on a man. The tobacco fades fairly soon, leaving the same type of pleasant, woody smell that I love about Anne Bonny. Perhaps its just my own admittedly androgynous nature but I'm really digging the balance on me.

 

This one is very evocative for me as only a few other oils have been. It makes me feel like a wild animal being stalked. I keep sniffing my wrist and looking over my shoulder, half expecting to see a dark pair of eyes gleaming at me from the darkness. And wow, in a flash, I'm unbelievably... "happy." I want brutal, predatory, 'slammed up against the wall' attention. I really wasn't expecting that at all, but this smell has snuck up behind me, caught me unawares, fisted a hand in my hair, and yanked my head back to expose a throat ripe for mauling.

Edited February 13, 2006 by Wyndi

[fiddlehead]

This reminds me of Arcana, one of my favorite oils. But it also has a little Nyarlathotep vibe going on but not as strong with the "dryer sheet" scent. Lavender and incense is mostly what I get. I don't get any tobacco, unfortunately. This is really nice. I'll have to wear it some more and see if it changes. It probably would be great on the husband. Still, not the dark blend I was expecting given the description of the deity

[Rhowan]

I got this because it has nag champ! I have used nag champa incense forever and love the stuff. Let's hope this is just as good....

 

In the vial and wet on my skin: I first smell sandalwood with a hint of lavender. Next I catch the nag champa - this has promise...

 

Drying down, I am suprised to find this more of a uplifting scent. I figured with the blackend sandalwood, tabocco, nag champa and labdanum that this would be pretty dark and that the lavender would be lost - not so. What I am getting is a beautiful smoky lavender.

 

Complete dry down - gorgeous, uplifting, smoky lavender. Beautiful! Great throw, long wear... this is going on my bottles list!!!

[rollergirl]

I really like this as well!

[The_Merf]

In the imp: I smell nag champa, and I smell "darkness." I like it; it is quite in line with the description, which was very appealing to me.

 

Wet: (both tries): Very nice, stays true to the imp.

 

Drydown and wear: (1st time) Did not morph much from the nag champa/tobacco/sandalwood. I wished it was stronger, but I liked the end result.

(subsequent tries) The wet stage is fine, but a lotus-esque bubblegum smell emerges on drydown. I think this is a result of the lavender. I'm rather crushed, as it's such a great oil when wet. Wow, this is a blend that only works for me one week a month, if you know what I mean.

Edited June 29, 2006 by The_Merf

[themerrybaker]

I don't think this one likes me much. It started out as manly aftershave, went through a squashed bug guts phase and has just the faintest of incense tones. Not a keeper.