Of Earth

[mollison]

Then said Gangleri: These are great tidings which I now hear; that is a wondrous great piece of craftsmanship, and cunningly made. How was the earth contrived?” And Hárr answered: “She is ring-shaped without, and round about her without lieth the deep sea; and along the strand of that sea they gave lands to the races of giants for habitation. But on the inner earth they made a citadel round about the world against the hostility of the giants, and for their citadel they raised up the brows of Ymir the giant, and called that place Midgard. They took also his brain and cast it in the air, and made from it the clouds, as is here said:

Of Ymir’s flesh | the earth was fashioned,
And of his sweat the sea;
Crags of his bones, | trees of his hair,
And of his skull the sky.
Then of his brows | the blithe gods made
Midgard for sons of men;
And of his brain | the bitter-mooded
Clouds were all created.”

Flesh into verdant soil. The sweat of the sea. Black pine, oak, and cedar. Bitter clouds fashioned of grey amber, white tobacco, and muguet.

Wow! This is really good. This reminds me so much of another BPAL blend that I smelled a long time ago and I can't for the life of me remember which (I know that is 0% helpful). It also reminds me of Ore by Zents (just in the grounded, resinous feel of it, but the two don't share any notes).

Very...grounded. It makes me think of minerals in a cave and a very deep, very old forest. I am definitely getting the pine, oak, and cedar, but they have blended together into the scent of a dark, old forest instead of individual notes coming out. I also smelled the amber right away but it settled back into the blend after a few minutes. I can't stop sniffing this. I don't think I can pick out the tobacco or muguet, but this scent is really well-blended and it all comes together to smell like an expensive, exotic perfume or incense. You know that secret temple that Dr. Strange goes to when he learns his magic? I can imagine that temple smelling like this.

[lizabelle]

Spicy dirt! I know I've described other scents that way but this time it's actually the intent of the fragrance. I basically get dirt, cedar, and tobacco out of this, but somehow it doesn't seem overly masculine. It's just earthy, and calm. I like it a lot, actually, but it's not really a "me" scent. If you like the lab's dirt notes and pine/wood/tobacco, this one's for you.

[LizziesLuck]

I couldn't resist the grey amber and white tobacco, but I know the woods are likely to make this something that doesn't suit me. Still, wanted to try it!

 

 

Wet: Mmm, that's nice. A really sweet woodsy scent. I was right that it's not very me - the wood scents I like are generally things like oak and teak and sandalwood, sometimes cedar, but almost never pine. However this has a lot of sweetness from the grey amber, and I can pick up the tobacco, putting it more in the vein of Antikythera Mechanism, which I do enjoy. I also think this will age spectacularly.

 

 

Dry: As much as I love the amber and tobacco in this, I just cannot get past the pine. Sadly, not for me. I think if I waited it out, it might age into something I like, but I am not sure enough about it to invest in a bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

Pine, cedar, tobacco, and a touch of amber. This one is a soft woodsy blend, heavily on the cedar, so it smells like a soft, smoky, otherworldy pencil. You know, if G_d had a pencil, and he was writing something, and you tried to peep at it, and now you kinda have a pencil stuff in your nose? Yeah. That.

 

Low throw, good wear length.

[Casablanca]

Wet on my skin, this is dark, pine-pitchy, sappy cedar.

 

I was worried about dirt for this one, based on the description, but I smell none of the sort of microbial-rot dirt that scares me away from some other BPAL blends. Instead, I seem to get maybe a pinch of comfy garden dirt between the trees, or something that reminds me of it, and I like it quite a lot. If this is a bit of dirt I smell (and I'm not sure), it’s my kind.

 

Mostly, though, this is a woody blend, with a wisp of smoke. The cedar is right up front, edged by sticky pines and a little general woodiness that could be just oak, or oak and other woods.

 

Dried, Of Earth is similar, but develops just a tiny bit of vanilla-toned, white-floral sweetness among the woods. I didn’t expect to find the muguet at all, so this is a surprise — and it’s not soap on me! It adds a little intrigue, but mostly blends into the smell I’ve been reading as sap. It doesn't last long on me, though.

 

Later, I finally smell a little light tobacco, very light. I never find amber.

 

Like.

[Elspethdixon]

In Imp - wood and pine

Freshly applied - sharp pine, cool and menthol-y. Here's hoping it doesn't go sour or turn into air freshener and soap.

Fifteen/twenty minutes in - the pine has calmed down/gotten much less menthol-y, and has indeed gone slightly sour, but not in an unpleasant way. It's almost a savory scent. If I were trying to pick what this was out of the scent line-up by name alone, rather than by notes, I'd say it was Sweat of the Rime Giants, because it has a salty/almost cumin-y edge to it as well as something dry and earthy. (Which would be the tobacco and ambergris, and possibly the muguet. I'm never smelled muguet before and am not sure what it is. Edit: Apparently it's Lily of the Valley? )

Three hours in - salty/slightly-soapy ambergris.

Shortish lifespan, with lots of morphing; this isn't one of those scents that lasts all day without changing until you're sick of it. I liked/didn't dislike any of the stages, but also didn't love any of them. It's definitely interesting, though. All the Song of Creation scents I've tried to far have had a kitchen-y/edible aspect to them, without being outright gourmands. Like kitchen-witch scents.

[Blood onmy hands]

I'm really only getting the pine from this blend, and bpal's pine notes haven't been playing nice on my skin lately they go sour and brightly green smelling, which is exactly what Of Earth is doing on my skin. In the drydown, I can pick out faint, dry wood notes, but mostly a sour, green pine.

[Lucchesa]

I have really been enjoying some of the outdoorsy scents lately, and Of Earth is a lovely addition. It starts out strong, sharp evergreen on me, pine and cedar, but within 45 minutes or so this has softened considerably and I'm getting wood as well as needles. As it continues to mellow, I can make out forest floor, the loam beneath the trees. It takes a couple of hours to soften to the point where the tobacco and ambergris make an appearance, and lily of the valley is a no-show except that there is a sweetness here, whether it's from the lily or the woods or the tobacco or ambergris I'm not sure. I love that this is at once earthy and mystical. I like this a lot.