Gaueko

[Alchemy21599]

... Blackened sandalwood and misty lavender, with curling wisps of smoky tobacco, nag champa, and labdanum.

I received this as a frimp from the Lab

In the vial:lavender and nag champa. I am already drooling!

Wet: lavender, nag champa, and sandalwood. Kind of masculine.

Dry: oh, I love this! I think this scent can be worn by men and women. I will wear it on my "hippy chick" days.

[locuraelegantia]

right away, herbal sandalwood.

 

The lavender, which always amps to hell on my skin is battling with the sandalwood and tobacco to come out. It's a bloody fight, indeed.

 

Not at all for me, but I will admit that none of the major notes, expect to ever work on my skin.

[moon_lemming]

Hmmm, I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I think the sandalwood is a little too strong on my skin, but I like the incense-y lavender background. Overall I don't think I'm keeping this one -- oh sandalwood -- but I like the scent combination.

[Trixie]

Methinks I don't like sandlewood. I couldn't wait to wash this off, didn't want it to stick around to see if it would morph into something more pleasant for me, but it's still hanging around -- it's stubbornly sticky, and sick smelling like vomit on honey. I don't smell any tobacco. Not for me. I *do* have a touch of PMS though . . . maybe that's throwing things off.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is sharp lavendar with some serious efferevescence (sp?)

going on....niiiiiiiiiiice!!!

upon application copious amounts of deep rich sandalwood followed closely by

the lavendar shine through brightly....this is a strong and heavy blend....i adore it...while i never get any tobacco i do sense the nag champa which adds an extra boost of smoky delight.....unique and fascinating blend!!

jury's out whether a big bottle is necessary or not

[blu°]

I can't believe I never reviewed Gaueko.

 

It was one of my first imps about a good year ago when my BPAL obsession was still in its beginnings. I liked it, but wasn't sure at the time whether I liked it enough to get a bottle. I occasionally will, as I've just tucked out the imp again and it's incredibly delicious and gorgious.

 

While I'm not doing too well with most of the lab's wooden notes when they are the main component, I've found to love everything that is described as a "blackened" or "black" wood. Maybe the blackened wood is the similarity I get between Gaueko and Danse Macabre, as I cannot really account for that similarity elsewise. As I suppose I wrote in my Danse Macabre review, both have a sunbaked driftwood feeling to me, are dark and breezy while at the same time promoting the feeling of the sun having shone on mediterranean earth and herbs all day long before nightfall.

 

Gaueko is a bit lighter and breezier than Danse Macabre which leans more to the earthy side, but the above imagery is dead on for both on my skin.

Gaueko especially makes me think of holidays, it has a certain wilde beach smell to it, too.

 

I just love how it's breezy and incensey and dark without being harsh and overly dry.

 

Edited a little for beauty. Fefe na Efe Intinaa...

Edited May 26, 2006 by blu°

[PilotKitten]

The tobacco sweetness is very evident at first whiff. Sandalwood lends a nice incensey herbal to the mix and a light floral (the lavender I think?) adds just a hint of sweetness. Not bad at all!

 

Not my personal preference and getting a lower score because of that, but it's still a great scent!

[Meg]

In the bottle: Lavender and something sweet and resinous, probably the labdanum.

 

Wet: Lavender, sweet smoke and resin, then sandalwood, sweet and strong.

 

Drydown: Sensual sandalwood, mostly. There's a very smoky, incensy thing going on, and a smell that I tend to equate with... well, sex but also something very etheral, a tiny bit like chrysanthemum. Very strange. Is that the nag champa, perhaps? It comes and goes, though, and doesn't really disturb me. There's some resin in there that I recognise from Medea, labdanum, and it's lovely.

 

Overall: A very interesting blend that I wouldn't have thought of trying. It's mostly incense and sandalwood with resins, the lavender disappears very fast and I'm left with a very mysterious sandalwood blend. It's a blend I would use for meditation or for calming myself, very sensual and even a bit ethereal. However it gets quite perfumy spicy sandalwood at the end, and I'm not sure how I feel about that...

Edited June 1, 2006 by Meg

[juniperus]

Bottle: burnt wood and tobacco, with an edge of lavender

Wet: mmm...lavender and...gym socks. Well, isn't that unpleasant?!!

Dry: nah, it's the whole gym bag, because something is giving off a hint of eau de damp shoe.

Later: he is swift to punish me, damned if I know when I spurned his advice though. this has to come off now, it's....uugh..

 

 

[edited to add: Emma claimed it ]

Edited June 10, 2006 by Juniperus Intrepidus

[ladymissspyder]

In imp: lavender with an herbal undertone.

 

Wet: Lavender with sandalwood.

 

Drydown: the lavender gets smoother and fades into a smoky woody scent (tobacco + sandalwood).

 

Top notes: Lavender.

 

Middle notes: tobacco leaf and sandalwood.

 

Base notes: tobacco leaf and sandalwood.

 

Throw: medium-light.

 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

 

ETA: this went stale on me in a very bad way a few hours on.

Edited June 16, 2006 by ladymissspyder

[ancilla_morte]

Wow. Nag champa and lavender! I love Nag champa with a passion and I let out a huge squee when I first sniffed this in my imp. Wow, I never knew that Nag Champa and lavender could blend together and compliment each other so wonderfully! The nag champa is most noticeable in the vial, wet on skin it is mostly lavender, dry on skin it is mostly nag champa!

Oh, my love! Another to add to my 5ml wishlist. I'm also going to have to make room on my top 10!

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Resin and salt.

 

On me: Ah, now I can smell the other notes in this blend. The tobacco and lavender are the most prominent to me, followed by what I think is labdanum, and then the sweetness of nag champa and the softness of sandalwood. After a bit, the nag champa really starts to surface, and mmm, this blend is so pretty!

 

Verdict: Keeper! Maybe a bottle someday.

 

Rating: 5/5

[parrot_suspect]

Gaueko is a lovely, calming, wonderful-smelling blend. I like all the notes in it, so it's not surprising this works on me. This is great to wear to calm yourself down or meditate in the evening, without being a traditional "sleep" blend. The notes are just so relaxing. I get a lot of lavender at first, but then as it dries down, the nag champa and sandalwood come into play. Very smooth and mellow. I've got this on order and am looking forward to receiving it.

[Galatea]

In the Imp: In a word - Smoky. Yum.

 

Wet: This is like the best incense ever. Smoky, woodsy, sweet, sharp, green and deep; all those things.

 

Dry: Age just melds the notes together even more. It doesn't seem to lose any depth or smokiness. This is resinous delight!

To me it's oh so sexy, and at the same time comforting.

 

Throw: Pretty good, but its strength is in the fact that it lasts for hour upon hour.

 

Overall: I love this one so much I gave it to a friend of mine who loves incensy perfumes. (If you love it let it go?) It has her favorite incense in it already - Nag Champa.

I am going to endeavor to buy a bottle of my own.

 

Rating: ++

[edenssixthday]

Gaueko really surprised me. In the vial, it just smelled like something dark, dry, and maybe even burnt. It’s not pleasant in the least. I almost didn’t try it on my skin. However, as it warms up on my skin, the dry scent becomes distinct as sandalwood, and it begins to mellow and doesn’t smell nearly as dry. As the oil dries, I also detect a light bit of lavender, which is a fascinating combination with the sandalwood. As it dries, it also gains the scent of something spicy and incense-like. This becomes the dominant scent, what I smell wafting around me. I don’t actually smell the sandalwood anymore unless I sniff my skin up close, but if I do that, the incense/smoke is too strong and unpleasant. After about 45 minutes, when I sniff my skin up close, I don’t smell sandalwood anymore, nor do I smell smoke. I smell Nag Champa! This is the scent that wafts out the door of the Tibetan/Buddhist/Hippie/New Age store down the block from where I work! I know this smell very well from the hundreds of times I’ve walked past the store and sniffed the lovely scent coming from it. This really isn’t the type of scent I normally go for, but I’m really drawn to it so I think I’ll hang on to it and wear it again when I’m in one of my “extremely bohemian” moods. And for the record, this layers beautifully with Othello!

[septima_pica]

Ohhhh, yeah. This is glorious.

It was a bit sharp initially with the lavender, but I like lavender so I put it on anyhow and it just blossomed over the course of 10 minutes or so into the deepest, woodiest lovely hippie incense ever. I didn't initially jump for this because I had no idea how the notes would smell together, but I'm incredibly glad to have tried it -- thanks, generous Labbies. I just can't say enough good things about this blend -- the lavender and sandalwood give it a little bite, the tobacco and nag champa make it deep and sweet, somehow it's just incredibly calming and grounding.

Now I'm thinking about layering this, and realizing that what I need in general is SN leather and SN dirt. These, I'm pretty convinced, make everything better.

In any case, though, I need a bottle of this, 'cause I smell like a Hare Krishna. ::loves::

 

EDIT: My imp leaked! ::weeps:: Now I'll HAVE to buy a bottle...

 

ADDED 12/20/07:

 

Octopod reviewed this already. On Kalirren: smoky lavender is really loud first, and then disappears under sandalwood. Sandalwood goes away though, and the blend turns into champaca and smoke -- a little bit stinky and animalistic, honestly. Octopod will be keeping this one.

Edited January 1, 2008 by Shollin

[mirutai]

On me, this was entirely smoky, bitter sandalwood. VERY not my thing. Off to swaps!

[fairy]

Going by the description I wasn't sure I was going to like this one. I was pleasantly surprised It's a nice, pleasant, warm scent. I dont smell lavender but can smell the sandalwood. Mo tobacco smell either, which for me is a good thing. It's a deep, wintery scent.

[steffanina]

Gaueko-

 

In Bottle: Very strong, eye-watering smell. Like insect repellent.

 

Wet: I just do not have the knowledge of what these scents are to describe them. The only thing coming to me is that it does feel like a masculine scent. Strong. I think it's another one of those that I mustn't smell too frequently or it will nauseate me.

 

Dry: The finish is very nice, sandalwoody but stronger, but I'm not sure I want to go through the drying process to get to the finish. Have to see if I pick this one up again.

 

Overall: I'll keep for the moment, but it might become a swapper.

[Naamah_Darling]

This one has lavender in it. Damn.

 

Lavender is one of those notes that doesn't always have a smell to me – I honestly cannot identify it in many blends. That is, until it dries and I am hit in the face with the screaming smell of baby powder at ninety miles an hour. This unfortunate trait is why I enjoy lavender in soap, sachets, and even chocolate, but not in much else. Because on my skin, it just plain stinks. There are exceptions, and hopefully this will be one of them. Let's see what it's like in the bottle, shall we?

 

Ah. Well. That's it, then. It's like a lavender laser pointer aimed straight up my nose. This is a strong, herbal, heady lavender that is far less sweet than it is robust and bristly. There's a dusting beneath of incense and smoke, very light. Hopefully it'll be enough to save me from the Lavender Monster.

 

This is fascinating on, very herbal and dry with a strong flush of smoke and incense underneath. There's an almost sour, sickly scent to it on my skin, though, like bitter flowers left too long in rancid water. A woody note comes crawling out after a little while. This is definitely a nocturnal scent; it's stealthy, deep, and low, and not at all sweet. It smells like crushed flowers and burning, and is actually fairly menacing in its way. It just smells like there's something . . . wrong.

 

The mental image I have on smelling it is that of some great, hairy black thing creeping through the gloaming on claw-fingered feet, and where it treads the sweet herbs and flowers of the undergrowth wither and die. Wisps of smoldering smoke curl from between its toes. It breathes sweet mist from between great black fangs. It's at once unnerving and pretty cool.

 

Even more unnerving now that I look it up and see that Gaueko, according to one of the only sources I can find, was supposed to take the form of a great black wolfhound that occasionally walked upright. Hmm. Charming.

 

It almost vanishes as it dries. I like the smell, it's deep and strange and unearthly, and just a little nightmarish – so far the only BPAL scent to unsettle me. It does eventually get powdery, but this is not an overpoweringly strong scent so I'm not gagging on the stench from arm's length or anything. I think on someone who could wear lavender, this would be a very interesting scent that would repay investigation. Very subtle and quite different.

[ND¢]

There's an organic, living-being smell I find really startling, but actually compelling once I got over the shock. This honestly doesn't overwhelm me with lavender; I smell it only lightly, adding brightness to dark smells like tobacco and a bit of smoke and incense. Not getting much sandalwood. And that weird, weird animal musk. It is clearly a 'blend', atmospheric and evocative. This is the first perfume that's ever creeped me out a little bit. When I said that to my fellow he thought it was weird, so I came up with 'It's the first perfume that doesn't... smell like a perfume, so I'm tense, wondering what I'm smelling.' Then I realized Graveyard Dirt inspires a similar, though less intense, reaction in me. Think I'll be getting some more of this... the night god made me do it.

[Diana]

Wet: funky, damp lavender.

 

Drydown: whoa! the lavender is still there, but it's blended into a smokey, hazy aura of wonderful aroma that I just want to get lost in (sorry for ending a sentence with a preposition; Gaueko made me do it!). I guess it's the nag champa that's the main note that I'm picking out, and the lavender adds a curious sweetness to it, which I am in total love with. I think I may need a bottle of this!

[thecaitycat]

In the bottle: I can't decide which is stronger: the lavendar or the sandalwood. They seem to play off of eachother nicely.

 

Wet on skin: VERY lavendary. A little bit of sweet tobacco peeks out, but it's very faint behind the lavendar.

 

Dry on skin: Still mostly lavendar and tobacco. The sandalwood faded to let the lavendar rule everything. I was hoping it would stay.

 

Verdict: This is okay. I'll use up the rest of my imp. I'm not sure if I'll buy any more. I like the lavendar, but the tobacco just doesn't quite do it for me, and I was hoping for more sandalwood.

[theseagrows]

at first the lavender and sandalwood are strongest, with a bit of nag champa in the background. the scent calms down and it's a soft, smoky, incensy, lavender.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I went to look up Gaueko on the Lab site, as he was a frimp that I didn't recognize. I misread the tiny print and thought it said "penis of the darkness" instead of perils of the darkness." I was really intrigued for a second there. Anyway, this is a murky, deep scent--bitter lavender mingled with sweet woodsmoke over a hippie base (any combination of sandalwood, nap champa, and/or patchouli says "hippie" to me). Not to my taste, but any review where I get to say "penis" is worth my while.