Yggdrasil

[grrrlennyl]

The World Ash. Nine woods, nine leaves, and three herbs each for Ratatosk and Vidofnir, with three final herbs to placate Nidhogg.

at first: very herby and woodsy. pretty and unique.
on: herbs and woods. a bit soapy, too. not sure i like this.
half an hour later: powdery and herbal. there's something familiar about this. i think it reminds me of a conventional perfume i've smelled before.
3 hours later: powdery and a bit sweet.
overall: this was just ok on me. Edited January 26, 2006 by Shollin

[gangstaknitta]

Light, woodsy and green. This blend is surprisingly non-masculine and rather light. It's very nice, but not for me.

[darkitysnark]

Yggdrasil

 

A swap with ketalady!

 

This is the most aquatic "woods" blend I've ever tried. It's bright, fresh, and green -- albeit a budding spring green, not the hard, shiny dark green of leaves that have toughened up for summer.

 

In fact, this almost veered into the fabric softener zone where most traditionally aquatic blends go on my skin... but it just missed it. Just.

 

This is very light, with low to no throw and very little staying power. I have to sniff directly from my wrist to really pick up anything. What little waft I have is the bright clean mystery scent while straight from the skin it is drier and more "woodsy".

 

This reminds me of the non-pumpkin effect of the ivy/wood/galangal pumpkin patch blend.

 

Perhaps this could be a spring scent?

[Mountaingrrl00]

This one falls into the category of "scents that broke your heart" for me. I was so intrigued by the dry woods, herbs and ash in the description. There is a note in here that I think is also in Vinland - something high-pitched that sort of reminds me of wintergreen. I have a visceral reaction to that note. I couldn't even try this on. So there's a full imp for someone this will work on.

[Ryvre]

This was the first scent I tried and it's my favorite by far. It smells like a forest at night. I can pick out juniper, cedar, maybe some pine. It's a very relaxing scent. My only complaint it that it fades very fast.

[Neely]

frimp luvn'

 

In the bottle: hmm, smells like a softer, sweeter, less bitter Black Forest. Ohh, mama like!

 

Wet: WOWIE ZOWIE, can you say "Wintergreen?" I knew that you could. Like gum or those pink candies.

 

Dry down: the WINTERGREEN, calmed down to just minty. Making this a fresh clean pine with just a hint of sweetness. This is really lovely.

 

30 minutes: woody, sweet, fresh. Still sweet, but not too. Great throw and staying power.

 

Conclusion: OMFG!!! I need a bottle of this stat! This is what I hoped Black Forest would be. It isn't pinesol pine, this is a well blended, "fem" rather than "guy" pine on me. I love masculine scents on me and I expected this to do that. I kept getting whiffs of something lovely while making and eating dinner, only to realize, it was me! I am so glad this is a catalogue scent, because it is going to be a top 10 fav for me.

 

Rating on my skin this is a 5+.

[sestina]

Included as a frimp - I probably wouldn't have ordered this as I don't often like woods/leaves/herbs.

 

Initially on skin: Pepto bismol? Ben-gay? I'm getting a major mint note - not unpleasant, just unexpected.

 

five minutes after application the pepto bismol is gone and this has quickly morphed into a very pretty, very light and transparent herbal smell. Almost veiled. I can't pick out any specific notes.

 

almost gone after two hours on me, faint but very pretty - airy is a good word to describe this one. it has all of the herbal woodiness without any of the dirt. It's among the prettiest "green" scents I have tried. I will definitely love the rest of the imp. Perhaps a larger bottle later.

[niter]

Imp

Wow. This is scent is burnt timber and ashes, pine needles, and astringent sap all in breath. This is strong and *very* woodsy.

 

Wet

Upon my wrist, this blend is the scent of fallen autumn leaves underfoot after a strong rain. It is thick with the scent of soaked, naked trees and a hazy mist over the remaining green conifers.

 

Dry

I am not sure I plan to wear this blend ever, but how can I part with it? It captures perfectly a very dear sentiment of autumn for me. On campus (where it seems I have been spending my twenties) there is a pond with a tree lined path…in the autumn, there is always those days when you walk on it and the steam is rising off the pond and pavement and the path is thick with fog and wet autumn smells.

[Miss Lynx]

Very light and herbal, with a soft woody base. It's a much gentler scent than I'd expected -- I thought the World Tree would be heavier and darker, somehow. But at least it doesn't seem to have the particular sort of wood note that seems to go all funky and unpleasant on my skin. It just stays kind of light and soft. Would probably be good for spring. Not terribly interesting, but reasonably pleasant. Seems to be fading out quickly, though.

 

Grade: B/B-

Edited April 9, 2006 by Miss Lynx

[abberlaine]

Yggdrasil is all tree-chopping, unshaven, one hundred percent man's man. It's easy to describe: all dry wood and unsweet herbs.

 

I prefer my men prettier (Ave Maria Gratia Plena -- when it blossoms -- is more to my taste), but if you're looking for a unique-yet-traditional men's scent, give this a try.

[PixieSkull]

Imp: There's a nice, juicy floral on top. It's slightly damp and soft. There's a woodsy bottom that is slightly astringent in the middle.

Wet: Sweet and more damp floral now. The astringent middle is still there but mixes with dirty woods.

Dry: This is a manly deep woods scent. This reminds me of the deodorant and soap mixture of my boyfriend normally. It's beautiful!

 

Category: Woods/Masculine

Rating: 5/5; I would wear this if I wanted to be manly or invoke forest, or would put it on the boy to make him smell sexy.

Overall: I really love this scent! I don't think I'd wear it alone all the time, I would probably put Catherine or a light floral like Arachne on top to bring a tree surrounded by flowers picture out. I'm definately keeping this imp for my boyfriend. It smells good on him too, just a bit less astringent from wet to dry. I think he liked it, too.

[juniperus]

Bottle: um..fresh, sharp. mouthwash. How very odd.

Wet: green, very bare hint of woodiness under. And spearmint mouthwash.

Dry: the mouthwash affect has passed, thank goodness - that was darn odd. the woods are really strengthening, and there is a sort of smoke after scent - like the smell of wood that has been slightly charred, the smell of the stick used to bank the campfire, or something. and the green herbiness is still present, but is in balance with the woods. No particular note stands out enough to identify any particular wood or herb at this point. Hint of soapy.

Later: Soapy-wannabe has receded, the whole lot is all mellow, balanced, and very subtle. Not quite interesting, but pleasant..comforting, somehow.

Edited April 24, 2006 by Juniperus Intrepidus

[emzebel]

I swapped for this imp mostly out of vague curiosity than any sense that it would be fabulously wonderful on me. Luckily, I actually really like it - it is a very earthy natural smelling scent on me, with a definite aquatic tinge, but one that works. It is a smiky hazy sort of green scent, and one that clings to me like woodsmoke. Not something I'll wear often, but something I'll want to keep around.

[Voleuse]

This is fascinating. On first sniff, it's char and moss and the moon seeping through branches overhead. There's dirt underneath it, and bugs scuttling nearby. This is a gorgeous forest scent, but unlike any of the other forest scents I've tried so far. This is ancient and cool and sleeping. Beautiful.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Green leaves and herbs. Very evocative of a forest in spring.

 

Wet: Sharp green leaves, which turn into warm woods with a hint of green.

 

Drydown: Clean, warm wood and slightly tart herbs and leaves. It's hard to put a name on the wood or the leaves, really, but they're not in the pine category, at least to my nose. There's lots of stuff in there, including something a bit lemony, and the buttery note of cedar, I think. There's even a very vague floral, I think.

 

Overall: It starts out a as a lovely spring-like tree scent, with green leaves and warm woods - very representative of Yggdrasil. But after a while, the wood and leaves take on a rather strong citrus note that make them quite tart. It's not unpleasant, but I liked it better before. It develops a slightly soapy and powdery quality that's not so great - I suspect one of the herbs, here. It ends up being very perfumy and unpleasant, which is a shame. Maybe it would work better as a room scent...

[Elrianra]

In the imp, this is green smoky-wood. There's no way I'll be able to fully decipher this one so let's just see how it goes. Once on, oh my! Green and herbal but not in the slightest unpleasant. This is very very green and herbal, the leaves keep it from going medicinal luckily. I can pick up bits and peices of scents that I know but I can't identify any of it in this fragmented blend of chaos. Mmmmm, I love this; as it dries, the woods come out a bit more, making a very green wood sort of scent, like young saplings and bruised leaves with an overtone of crushed herbs winding through it that just... there's no words to adequately explain how fractured and lovely this is all at once!!! As it warms up and starts to breathe, the woods begin to dry from a green wood to a dry white and the leaves are no longer bruised but full and lush and sun-heated while the crushed herbs are now dried and hanging and gently lending their spicy coolness to the mix. On the dry-down, this is dried woods and pale crisp leaves with a breath of the herbs but primarily woods. Utterly astounding how much life and variance this one has!!!

[nathicana]

From the bottle: wet, tilled earth, oak, leaves-under-foot, fresh moss with minty hints.

 

On the skin: floral emerges above the earthy/woodsy smell. Hints of cinnamon and herb also come to the foreground. Earthy and woodsy, rich and subtle. Remarkable how clear the earth, wood tones are.

[urbanruralferal]

I got this today in a swap. I have been wanting to try it for some time.

 

It starts out very herbal on my skin, basil, vietnamese cilantro, mint, tarragon, with a certain dry *snap* behind it all.

It quickly turns to a herb-scented plastic, however, (the scented plastics seem to be a theme, damn), and my husband acts as if it epitomizes everything he doesn't like about perfume (he doesn't understand this hobby).

After an hour of wearing it, there is something a tiny bit sweet underneath the dry herbs and papery barks. Maybe one glistening black berry. A wild berry, not a choice edible by "jam" standards.

Yggdrasil is complex, even I can tell that.

I think on the right person this would be a really impressive scent.

I am not that person, however.

[WidgetAlley]

Frimp from the Lab.

 

In the Imp: Sharp wood and green herbs. The only thing I can identify for certain is some fizzy golden birch... which is really too bad, since birch and I don't usually get along that well. The overall impression is of astringent, dry wood, and wet, crushed leaves. It's quite strong, as well, and I have to say, I'm not digging it very much at this point.

 

Wet: Oh, Lord. Birch attacks! There's something about the smell of birch I just can't bring myself to like. The other notes are softening, though, becoming much more palatable, and the green is rounder, richer. There's a bit of a soapy component in there, but that's my skin for you.

 

Dry: The birch has burned off of my right wrist (although oddly enough not my left), leaving a faint woodsy soap, with a touch of sweetness underneath (berry?). Honestly, it's just barely there at all. What I can smell of it is nice, but not worth suffering through the birch for.

 

Verdict: Yggdrasil and I just didn't click. Onward and upward!

Edited June 28, 2006 by WidgetAlley

[valentina]

Since the Norns spent their time around the foot of Yggdrasil and Urd is one of my favorite BPAL scents, I was very excited to try this blend!

 

In the imp, Yggdrasil has a woodsy, green smell, but more in the sense of an ancient northern hardwood forest with herbs and flowers growing on the forest floor. Once on my skin, the green woodsy quality really amps up for the first hour or so. It's not bad, but it's rather intense and has a pungent herbal/floral quality. It reminds me of a forest in the spring after a hard rain. But after the first hour, the deep green, woodsy intensity burns off and I'm left with a soft, flowering herb smell. It's really quite subtle and lovely and makes me feel very druidic, as a scent called Yggdrasil should. On me, it's a very clean, yet feminine scent.

[bridey]

In the bottle: Crisp & damp herbs. Cool morning dew kissed evergreens and chilly air.

 

Wet: This is the robust scent of Autumn trees. I'm getting wintergreen, pine & something like cinnamon. It's sweet, but subtle.

 

Dry down: The bite of wintergreen has mellowed and now it's cool, airy & a little undertone of smokey. Almost like the scent of a woodburning stove in the evening mingling amongst the chilly air. Still smelling the herbs. They're fresh and crisp like they were just plucked from the damp earth.

 

30 minutes: Lovely subtle woodsy/herbal blend. It's light & airy, this has a very otherworldly feeling to it. This is not the masculine woodsy smell I initially expected. It's delightfully crisp & works very well with my body chemistry.

 

Conclusion: I'm loving it. It reminds me of Autumn and being that Autumn is my favorite time of year... this is a winner for me. It's like walking amongst the forrest in the early morning just after it's rained. Everything is so fresh & crisp smelling.

 

Rating 1-5 on my skin, this is a 5.

Edited July 1, 2006 by Bridey

[Caltha]

Yggdrasil

Now this is a weird one. The first time I tried it I kept wondering what it reminded me of. Something sort of sharp and artificial, almost alcoholic but at the same time musty, from my childhood. A familiar smell. I thought of rubber dolls, other rubber objects, mouldy tents... Now, as I retry it, I think I know: silver and gold pens! That sharp and weird smell, slightly grey and cardboardish but alcoholic.

The funny thing is, the same thing happened to me with Atropa's cottage's Hallow's Eve, but only the first time I tried it, the secound time it was fine. Yggdrasil doesn't seem to change though. I can think of it as a sort of musty wood scent if I concentrate but my immediate reactions is "silver pen!"

Needless to say, not a keeper.

 

Oh I get it. It must be the birch, that greyish, cardboardish, sharply alcoholic note. Vinland turned to pure soap on me and the DSH birch note was utterly awful so that explains a lot... Pity, I'd really like to like birch since I love the trees.

 

Edited July 13, 2006 by Caltha

[filigree_shadow]

A very woodsy scent. Is there mint in this? Or menthol? It's odd, the first time I tried Yggdrasil a few months ago I thought it was a very dry, light, wood scent, and I kept the imp around because I thought I might want to try it again later. I had in mind that it was the sort of light comforting scent I'd want to wear at bedtime. I definitely don't remember anything like menthol in it -- that is not comforting to me at all.

 

After the wet stage dies down, that minty scent fades away. What's left is wood and herbs. This is much more herby than I remember. Also it gets a little powdery when it's dry. It's not the comfort scent I thought it was. Hunh. Off to swaps, I guess.

[sofiaviolet]

In the imp: Woody and herbal. It's kind of sharp.

 

On me, wet: It smells a lot like cedar.

 

On me, dry: The cedar has calmed down, allowing the herbs to come through again.

 

Verdict: A kind of masculine scent, like a light cologne. Me likey. It seems like a good autumn scent.

[edenssixthday]

Yggdrasil - Very earthy. It smells like turned up humus deep in a forest. It’s woody and earthy, damp, and dank, and there’s a sweetness to it like the scent of wet, decaying leaves. This scent is definitely not for me, but I can see how people who like earthy, foresty scents would like this one. The throw is pretty low, even when first applied. The staying power is above average.