Niflheim

[brownbear]

The House of Mists, a land of icy fog, shadowy darkness and soul-chilling cold. Dark, damp blossoms winding through an impenetrable, murky gloom.

In the imp it's heavy floral. I don't mean heavy as in strong, I mean that it smells like these flowers weigh a lot. These are flowers with a lot on their minds. These flowers have burdens. The foggy description really fits this.

On my skin the floral part fades way behind the fog part. I guess that's the aquatic note. It has mostly faded completely away. The flowers went off to make some big decision. I'll have to see if it decides to reappear, otherwise to the swap pile.

[coulrophobe]

In the imp: This smells a little more sharp and herbal than what I usually go for... but I'm trying it. Because I'm a trooper like that.

 

On: Once the oil hits my skin, the florals start to emerge. To me, this doesn't smell wet/aquatic, but rather airy/ozoney with a good dose of moisture. Clean, damp air and fog, with sweet (but not overbearing flowers). I agree with what QueenFae said - this is what I thought June Gloom would smell like, dreamy and misty (instead, all J.G. gave me was lemons!).

 

A lot of the aquatic/ozone florals go sour on me, but Niflheim stays firmly on the clean/non-rancid side (yay!). I can't actually distinguish which florals are in it, but it conjures up images of magnolia, dogwood, and weeping willows... I think I'm liking this quite a bit.

[Voleuse]

In the bottle, nothing about the scent struck me as particularly good or bad; a neutral reaction. On my wrist, it smells a little more organic and a little funereal. Also, a little bit like fancy soap. But again, nothing particularly striking.

 

As it fades, it smells less green, but more cool and floral. In the end, I did like it, but it ended up smelling too generic on me.

[Firewaver]

At first, this smells like air freshener. Not a bad air freshener, but air freshener just the same.

 

After the necessary drying time, this morphs into a reasonably pleasant floral, murky as the description says, but kind of nice in a gloomy way. I can't put my finger on what that familiar air-freshener floral is.. maybe freesia or lilac or something? I really have no idea.

 

It's a little bit commercial for me... though it is a nice take on the usual floral notes.

[harmonyfb]

In bottle: Sharp, commercial-perfume smell. ::wrinkles nose::

 

Wet: The same smell, but stronger. I nearly washed it off at this stage, but I'm glad I waited.

 

Dry: This has morphed into a lovely aquatic floral, dark and warm. I can't identify any individual notes except maybe ::sniff:: carnation? Smells delish, anyway.

 

Conclusion: Very nice, though I doubt I'll buy a whole bottle.

[yeahbutnobut]

Niflheim

In the imp: misty, grey, damp light florals.

Wet on skin: is that smoke I smell here amongst the flowers?

Dry: yup, it’s smoke alright-and cigarette smoke at that! This scent is of moist, dewy flowers choked by a smog, grey and heavy. A very interesting and atmospheric scent. It evokes greyness, dullness, gloom, fog, and smog-the scent here is very smoky as well as being misty. The downside? The smoke smells like a cigarette. I’m sure it’s a tobacco note. But it to me makes me smell like I’ve been to the pub or some bar, and the smoke is clinging to my skin!

After a while: I wonder what flowers are in this? Maybe narcissus, orchid, lily? The smoke and floral scents switch over every now and then in this scent-sometimes the flowers peek through, before getting blotted out by smoke once more.

Verdict: if there was a BPAL that evoked the colour grey, it is this. A smoky, misty, atmospheric and unusual scent of flowers dimmed by grey smog. The floral notes try to brighten up the scent, white and glimmering, but the murky gloom chokes them, surrounding them like a thick, heavy veil. The problem is, well, this smoke note smells like cigarettes to me. It makes me smell like I’ve spritzed on some light flowery perfume and been at a really smoky bar all night, and the smoke and perfume smell cling tenaciously to my skin. Not my thing, I’m afraid.

[Orodemniades]

Oo, this smells smokey and sweet at first, then dries down to a coldly sweet vanilla-y floral. It's nice, but I don't think I'll get any more.

 

Oro

[SeaMonkey]

This is very dark and gloomy.

 

White florals are the only florals I can wear, and I like this scent. Reminds me of a woman in all white, standing in the fog, on damp grass.

[stardreamer]

I thought I was nuts, because most of what I get from this scent is aquatic, and that's not at all what I had expected from the name or description! But looking at the rest of the reviews, I see that a lot of other people have had the same reaction. It starts out rather sharp and piney, and I was briefly afraid it would turn into cleaning solution. Instead, the aquatic notes appear after a few minutes and pull the piney smell sharply into check, so that it's more like standing in a damp, foggy pine forest. I never get any sort of floral note, just aquatic and pine, but that's fine with me! Staying power appears to be moderate to good, and it stays a nice, clean, damp scent all the way thru. I think this one's a keeper.

[malanna]

Niflheim is very aquatic and smells like dark, gloomy flowers--a perfect scent for someone working in a funeral home. After it's been on a while, it smells like waterlogged flowers. Not aquatic flowers, but dark flowers that have been floating in murky waters for days. There's a hint of cedar behind the flowers.

[Celogrl]

This is a hard scent to describe- very hard, but I'll try. I don't get cold or gloom from this, but it is thick, murky and mysterious. It's subtle, though. It almost reminds me of florals mixed with smoke or incense, for lack of a better description. Right now, my nose is not the most reliable (sinus problems ), but this is pretty. It's an enigma of a fragrance that has many facets. From what I can tell, I like it quite a lot.

[sarada]

The description for this one really hits it on the head -- icy, murky gloom. I've wanted to try this since it came out and only now got around to seeking some out.

 

As promised, this scent is like moving through a damp floral fog -- I really can't guess what is in this but it makes me think a bit of herbal tea, so maybe chamomile or other fragrant herbs are present, along with some white florals. Not the crisp or fresh kind of white florals, just a muted, foggy impression of them.

 

Aquatic, but choked with wilted white flowering herbs. If I was going for a late night fog walk in the early spring or summer I would wear this. While it's not "me", it is pleasant and invites contemplation.

[Rheliwen]

Hey, it does smell like menthol and cucumbers sort of!

 

Immediately I smelled vetiver(t) in here. I'm like a bloodhound when it comes to that stuff. I might be wrong, but I definitely smelled something like it. However, I normally HATE it with a fiery passion, but here it's really soft and subdued.

 

Overall Niflheim gives off the same sort of feel Ulalume does, but more floral. A tad bit aquatic, with tropical flowers in a murky pond...definitely. I actually really like it.

[GemmaCat]

In the bottle: stale wood?

 

On my skin: light and airy, quite cold, with a citrus bite. There's still that woody scent, which settles into a complex undertone. On the drydown this is a light, pretty, and fresh scent; nothing gloomy or impenetrable about it, in my opinion.

 

I'm unsure about this one, so it's going into my "maybe" pile.

[jewelbug]

Bottle: A cold, impersonal aquatic floral. Reminds me of a violet blend, though I'm not sure if that is an actual note.

 

Wet: This swipes on as a stifling strong perfumey floral ( I should make it clear here that strong florals aren't my thing…). I think maybe there is jasmine or ylangylang in this? They often turn stifling on me.

 

Drying: Less overwhelming floral now. This has taken on an aquatic scent, but the floral is bitter, dry and much too strong for me. I like the aquatic part of this scent, as it’s a strong aquatic, but the overly strong florals are ruining this for me. This also has a hint of necco wafer (something in sacred whore did that to me. Perhaps these share a note?).

 

Dry: Oooh, by 20-30 min in, this gets nice. It’s a hint fruity, anda deep aquatic comes out. The necco floral stays around, but I actually don't mind it. Its sweet and clean smelling. Like Gemma, I don't find this gloomy either. Its rather fresh.

Overall: While I didn’t particularly care for the wet/drying phase, the drydown was actually lovely. This just isn't the type of scent that I usually go for, but I really think I need to try more of beth's aquatics, cuz I quite enjoyed that bit. This fades in about 3 hrs.

[undream]

First smell out of the imp gives me cedar, which makes me nervous (I don't think I want to smell like cedar!), but with the second whiff the cedar has melted back into an aquatic, subtle floral scent.

 

On, I immediately love it. It is foggy, damp, gloomy. It also smells green, airy, clean; like walking through a foggy park at night after a lush spring rain. I occasionally catch fleeting whiffs of light, sweet florals, but they are elusive. Still, they quite add to what I am already madly loving about this oil.

 

This one is absolutely me, big bottle wishlist, for sure.

[LauraB]

On me, this starts as a very aquatic, herbal scent - no flowers but lots of damp green leaves. After a while, a very pretty light floral scent appears from nowhere and wafts about a bit but if I put my nose close to my wrist then I just smell the herbal again - it's almost like I'm wearing two perfumes! But they're both very nice and they stick around for a good long time (6hrs +) so who's complaining?!

 

It's a lot prettier than I would have expected given the description!

[tinyvulture]

an aquatic scent with a touch of something cold and slightly medicinal –- eucalyptus? –- over soft white florals. like thick, foggy, wet air. this will make a cooling, invigorating room scent on a hot day.

[ayelienne]

There's a note in this that I suspect is also in hurricane; it's a very dark aquatic that has a scent that i have a very strong negative reaction to. I thought about seeing if the husband would like this one, but then decided I'd rather not be around it, even if it were nice on him. off to the swaps it goes...

[Meg]

In the bottle: Dark, icy aquatics, with a hint of a floral that might be freesia.

 

Wet: Icy cold aquatics that give me a bit of a sinus headache, and something green. It smells like iced flowers.

 

Drydown: Cold freesias. It smells like lovely flowers that are surrounded with ice crystals. There's a misty, icy scent around them that smells delicious. I don't care if it hurts my sinuses, it smells really great. There's something reminiscent of cucumber or melon in here too, which just adds to the yumminess.

 

Overall: I bought this knowing that aquatics hate me and that I had every chance to hate it, but I hankered for it all the same. And I was right, it's a perfect representation of its description, and one of the rare sweet aquatics that I can really enjoy. It smells clean and cold and cutting and absolutely beautiful. A wonderful refreshing scent for summer.

[Nekomata]

This is a nice sharp and wet floral. It's also very cool. As it dries the sharpness goes away and just the wet floral scent is left.

[juniperus]

Bottle: sweetness and a hint of aquatic..something.

Wet: a woody note is coming out under the sharpness of the sweet.

Dry: both sweet and bitter floral, and damp woodiness.

Later: a sweet, woody aquatic. complex, interesting almost to the point of disconcerting. too sweet for me.

[Shollin]

First sniff: For some reason I was expecting Niflheim to be way green, like Yggdrasil. Looking at the description, I have no idea where I got that impression. And it was way off, because Nif is really all about pale flowers and misty darkness.

 

Wearing: Tiny white flowers and flowing water. Beautiful and misty and mysterious.

[Eunice]

Very cold and green. I can't make out anything else in this. I do know I really love this scent though. All sorts of lovely on my skin.

[sixthsentinel]

Somber & introspective. I think of the cool stone of crypt walls. A light floral scent permeating the moist air. The flowers would be grey or light blue/white, I'm certain of it. The sky is always overcast here.