Believe

[Franny]

Shadow was in a dark place, and the thing staring at him wore a buffalo’s head, rank and furry with huge wet eyes. Its body was a man’s body, oiled and slick.

“Changes are coming,” said the buffalo without moving its lips. “There are certain decisions that will have to be made.”

Firelight flickered from wet cave walls.

“Where am I?” Shadow asked.

“In the earth and under the earth,” said the buffalo man. “You are where the forgotten wait.” His eyes were liquid black marbles, and his voice was a rumble from beneath the world. He smelled like wet cow. “Believe,” said the rumbling voice. “If you are to survive, you must believe.”

“Believe what?” asked Shadow. “What should I believe?”

He stared at Shadow, the buffalo man, and he drew himself up huge, and his eyes filled with fire. He opened his spit-flecked buffalo mouth and it was red inside with the flames that burned inside him, under the earth.

“Everything,” roared the buffalo man.

A scent of compression and release, of heat and faith, of plunging through the jet-shadowed darkness of uncertainty. The heart of the land: roots plunging ever deeper into thrumming black soil through the graves of faith, disillusion, and skepticism.

This scent makes me feel like I am in the scene. When I first put it on it smells like hot earth and the smell is all around. That sounds weird but I think this is a little weird, especially right away. It doesn't smell of just soil, it is more than that. As it dries down it becomes spicier and richer and I feel less like I'm sitting under the earth with the Buffalo Man and more like it happened hours ago and the scent has lingered and become something more complex and interesting. This is really wonderful.

[zankoku_zen]

Hot smoky vetiver, buffalo grass, and earth. In alot of ways, this also smells like it should be some sort of ceremonial blend. And if you needed Graveyard Dirt, I think this could probably work in a pinch. It's a deep earth and smoke blend, with some grass thrown in. It dries almost to an incense. On wet, the vetiver is particularly aggressive, but then it transitions to an almost smoked buffalo gras smell (ie - fire in grass), and you get the peaty earth.

[Lydialove]

This smells a lot like Tombeur to me! It's got a stronger vetiver ( which I love in both it's grassy and smokey forms. This one is a nice balance between both) note to it along with a whiff of dirt. I'd swear Tombeur's bitter almond is present.

I look forward to testing this one again.

[Blood onmy hands]

I love parts of this, mainly the parts that smell like soft, vanilla-ish, warm dirt (like Death Cap) and roots. But there's a harsh, vetiver smokiness that I don't love, and something that smells like hot asphalt. I enjoy the natural, earthy tones, but not the industrial, harsh, sooty tones.

[patina]

That's definitely some vetiver there. It's not chemical on me, but it's fairly smoky. I also get the deep, thrumming, resonant, almost resinous dirt from Alviss. There could be opoponax here? That could be what smells like asphalt but almost grapey.

 

At times the vetiver can be a little overwhelming, but I love the parts where it steps back a little and allows other elements to appear. It can be almost suffocating at times, comforting at other times. Just like being under the earth.

 

Edit: Soapy undertones eventually.

Edited July 13, 2017 by patina

[Lucchesa]

I love this! The gorgeous spicy earth note, smoky vetiver, grassy vetiver, something evergreen twining through it all. Believe seems to capture all the power inherent in the natural world. It has great throw, which is rare on my skin (at least for scents I like...) and is lasting very well so far.