Urd

[Monster]

Muscadine, black and red patchouli, cereus and nag champa.

I love Urd! This is one of my favorites by FAR.
Smells like patchouli, nag champa but not overwhelming. Patchouli sometimes gives me a headache...this one has a berry scent mixed into it which really balances everything out.

After a few hours it smells more earthy...berry undertones come out more as well.

To the person who said "I've been looking for something like this for years!" I agree! I've never found a patchouli scent I really liked...but Urd is the one!

*** UPDATE - 8/2005 ***

Ok, I've been wearing Urd for the past couple days and keep getting compliments on it! It's strong, but not overwhelming and lasts forever! This is my absolute favorite scent on Earth right now. I <3 Urd. I was in my office lat last night working on something when a coworker walked in the door asking me if I was burning incense. Haha. I told him it was my perfume.

It's like the scent of a New Age store was captured perfectly and bottled up.

*** SECOND UPDATE - 6/2009 ***

Ok so this was one of the very first BPAL scents I ever tried and it's still my absolute #1 favorite scent of all time.
I've been through quite a few bottles of this now and have come to realize that Urd is best when you let it age for a few months. I think all of the notes need time to really blend with this one.
As it ages, the grape note calms down and really settles into the patchouli and nag champa.
Urd is very strong out of the bottle/vial. Do not let that scare you! Try it! Just dab a little on your skin, wait a minute and I promise you will fall in love.
If you like incense/hippie blends, this is THE scent for you. Really, Urd is truely a special scent. I don't think I go a week without wearing this one.
I get more compliments on Urd than I do with any other BPAL perfume. Women have hunted me down in the grocery store to figure out what I'm wearing.
I hope this one sticks around forever. I never ever ever want to be without my beloved Urd!

*** THIRD UPDATE - 9/2011 ***

It's been 6 years since I first tried Urd and it's still my all-time favorite perfume. The number of bottles I've been through has been ridiculous. I've started wearing it more often this past year (which means I wear it about 5 times a week). It's something I continue to get the most compliments on and is just a really comfortable scent to wear. People associate it with me now. I started skating roller derby this past February and have been asked "What is that incredibly good incense scent you are wearing?" I've also been told I'm the best smelling lady on the track. I have a new boyfriend and he is constantly sniffing me and telling me how wonderful I smell....this is all due to Urd. It is my second skin and it will always be my number 1 BPAL love <3

Also, in regards to aging; I've recently compared Urd from 2005 (in a cobalt blue bottle), 2008 and fresh Urd from 2011. Fresh has a stronger champa flower note than the two aged versions. 2008 Urd smells the best in my opinion, it's rich, deep incense and patchouli with just enough grape. 2006 is more mellow and strangely, the grape note comes out more on my skin than the other two versions. All three are still very much URD (smoky incense) just different variations. I wonder if this is due to different batches, the difference in the amber vs. cobalt bottle or due in part to the different owners a couple of these bottles have had. Either way, Urd still smells best when aged. Like I said before, if you don't like it now, let it sit around for a while.

*** FOURTH UPDATE - 3/2014 ***

My sister returned a bottle of Urd I had gifted her in 2009. She said she loved it at first (fresh), when the champaca flower note was dominant. As it ages, Urd becomes deeper and develops into a beautiful incense. She just wan't a fan of the aged version and wanted to give it back. I was eager to get my hands on it since that's the way I like my Urd. However, the way her bottle aged was completely different! I think this is due in part to storage and exposure to light.

My sisters 2009 bottle was kept on her perfume tray in the bedroom year 'round, not in a temperature controlled environment. Her bedroom dresser also sits in front of the largest window in her apartment which means the bottle was sitting in the sun for a good part of the day. What does her aged, sun-exposed and heated up bottle of Urd smell like? It's pure patchouli, almost a single note. The champa and grape have completely broke down and dissipated. Compared to my 2009 bottle which has been stored at a perfect 55% and 70% humidity since 2009, it is flat in comparison. My bottle is complex, smoky and rich with different facets from the grape and champa. On my skin, the well-stored Urd blossoms and changes and lasts all day. My sisters poorly kept Urd is a flat, one note patchouli and fades after an hour.

This is a great example of why it is SO important to store your oils in a dark, cool place. I'm fortunate enough to have a wine storage facility at my disposal. Before I had a wine cellar to store my perfume in, I would keep my collection in my closet during the cool winter months (no heat in there) and during the hot, summer months, I transported them to my basement. I was also careful to keep my "currently wearing" box in an air conditioned room with the top closed at all times.

If you DO like Urd flat and smelling mostly of patchouli or find it too strong, then I suppose storing it in a warmer environment with light exposure to break down the champa and grape notes would work for you. I like my Urd potent and full of complexities, so I'll continue to keep the precious in a cold dark place. Edited March 6, 2014 by Monster

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Patchouli & grapes

 

First on: I'm not getting a head shop so much as I am rotting dirt. It's sweet but flat, and unfortunately makes me almost nauseus.

 

Drydown: It's still dirt, but it's more of a sweet dirt instead of a rotting one now. Still off to swaps from me, but it wasn't bad enough to wash off.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Darkly resinous… not sharp enough to be incense, but the same feel. Deep and earthy.

 

Wearing: Urd reminds me of a particular bit of sidewalk on Capitol Hill in Seattle, where my guy lives. There’s an African-imports store called Cowri that always smells like a particular kind of incense, and whatever it is, I think it’s in Urd. The scent on my wrist is almost too sharp-wood-y, but the aura is wafty and mellow and smells like the sidewalk in front of Cowri, where the guy in the Rastafarian hat always hangs out. Groovy.

[Firewaver]

Wow!

 

I just gifted an imp of Intrigue and with Urd, I feel like I've gotten it right back!

 

The two scents are so similar on me, they're basically the same. I'm not sure what it is, since the two don't seem to share the same notes. How weird.

 

Moving right along... I did like intrigue, though it was a bit woody for me. I get the same cedar-ish type note with Urd as I did with Intrigue. It's not unpleasant, just a little too Home Depot for me. I do like the underlying sweetness, though. It's a very earthy and red/brown scent for me.

 

Err.. even after about an hour or so, I still smell Intrigue. Maybe my nose is completely out of whack!

[parrot_suspect]

Others have already said it, but it bears repeating. This fragrance is an amazing blend of patchouli and a sweet grape note. You wouldn't normally think of putting these notes together, but somehow it works. The sweetness of the grape takes the harsh edge off the patchouli, and the earthiness of the patchouli tames the sweet fruitiness of the grape. The overall impression is a clean, earthy, slightly sweet fragrance...almost soapy at times. Lovely! I'm going to have to get a bottle of this.

 

In short, if you're searching for a wearable patchouli, look no further.

[sookster]

Beth and the labbies make the best patchouli blends in the universe and this one is no exception! Upon application this is very grapey/winey and a bit of patchouli...but the real beauty of this fusion is the way the grapeyness all but disappears rather quickly leaving a dazzling array of patchouli and a smidge of nag champa...niiiiiiiiice~

[erikasilverstein]

Recv'd this one as a frimp on a recent forum order (thanks!)

 

I would never have ordered this on my own. Not a patchouli fan (excepting Samhain), and not an incense person either (though I like Snake Oil, which has that sort of heady quality).

 

Evidently, there are grape notes in this (wah?).

 

Well, that's what it smells like on my skin: something tart and sweet. Not quite grape medicine, almost-but-not Manishevitz, yet not exactly fresh grapes or grape juice either -- but definitely grapey. And under that, something sweetly incensey.

 

It's not my taste. Not bad, but not something I would wear.

 

However, I love trying things that I wouldn't think of, thanks to generous forumites (but it's off to swaps for this one, since it apparently has a lot of followers, and someone should enjoy my imp).

[UltraViolet]

4

Again, thanks to Holeysox for taking time out of her crazy own schedule to gift me with this imp.

 

In the bottle

Ooh. Nice and head shop-like. Wow, great throw.

 

On

This smells like Lush's "Karma" perfume, yet there's no orange in this. Go figure. It must be the grape-like smelling muscadine that is in this blend. I love this. And here comes the Nag Champa scent. Jeez, why didn't I find this sooner?

 

30 minutes

For those who are worried this might be a sweet or a cloying incense like scent. It isn't. It's not sweet anyhow, it may not be your bag if Nag Champa and patchouli are not to your liking but otherwise this blend evokes some great things. The brightness and playfullness of the muscadine really plays well amongst the deep darkness of the patchouli and the spicy perfume of the Nag champa.

 

Throw:

Yeah boy. Great stuff.

 

Scent category:

Incensey

 

Summary

This is straight out of late 60's early 70's when this kind of scent was another thing that was good about that era. Oh my. Even though I probably couldn't wear this at a conservative uptight office setting, this should be amongst everyone's basic collection of bpal scents.

 

Purchase again?

Yes. A 10ml

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

4

Edited November 28, 2005 by UltraViolet

[Julilla Regina]

OMG, this is awesome! If you'd just been sucking on a grape Jolly Rancher and walked into the local been-there-for-twenty-years occult shop, you would know just what this smells like. I'm not talking about your fluffy frou-frou angel statue sellin' power of pyramids New Agey thang. I'm talking about a place that has stuff in canisters that you've never heard of before. The kind of place that has ten cats running around the store, a goat skull on the counter and an employee writing down a hard ass curse for a customer.

 

Oh, hell yeah. That and a little candy. Genius.

[Voleuse]

I have no idea what muscadine is, but I'm assuming it's the source of the lovely grape scent that appears on first application. Yum.

 

Almost immediately, however, the grape disappears, and the patchouli overtakes everything else. To me, it becomes a very dusty, sweet, leathery scent. Like the corner of a bookshop that hasn't been visited, but you can get stuck in for hours, just tracing the titles on the spines. It's also very earthy, though, and a little moist. Garden gone wild and library, both. Evocative, but it makes me eyes water a little. Huh.

 

After a while, the patchouli fades, and the sweetness returns a little bit. This scent is still a little too heavy for me, though, and it lasts a long time.

[Eros]

Imp from a most lovely & generous forumite!!

 

This starts out with a strong grape(Muscaadine) scent, both in the imp an first applied.

Within seconds it morphs into a BEAUTIFUL, woodsy/smoky, incensy goodness with the grape providing a hint of sweetness in the background. On me, this is very much like a *slightly* sweeter Hexennacht(another love of mine).

 

Definitely on the list of "MUST have a bottle of this!!"/Definitely a top ten favorite.

[walkingundine]

Urd came to me as part of my bimonthly meet-n-sniff.

 

In the bottle:

 

Patchouli. Normally this is enough to make me very nervous; patchouli always amps up on me, and I end up smelling like a total hippy (in that unwashed way). Further sniffage shows up something oddly bright and clear, very red-gold- like that peculiar quality of light when the sun is just coming up in the summer. It's not an overly warm scent in the bottle, and it's surprisingly crisp.

 

Wet, on skin: It smells like really good incense, and the patchouli has calmed down somewhat- happily, the clear-as-glass note stays for a while as the scent warms up. It's reminding me more of summer by the minute.

 

Dry: The incense steps up a bit, and while it's no longer liquidly clear, Urd is definitely still a nice clean bright scent. It's no longer standing on your front lawn while the sun comes up- it's more like being in a new-age shop when it first opens in the morning. It evokes very pleasant memories, and on the whole, is a smile-inducing sort of smell.

 

Overall assessment: This is so loveable. I can't even sniff the imp without grinning. I will definitely use this up, and possibly add it to my list to get more.

[zenvodunista]

i smell like cedar pencil shavings. not my thing. ah well.

 

i have Tezcatlipoca to comfort me

 

ETA: weird. the throw on this is a ripe muscadine grape, some sweet earth and a smidge of wood. it's only against my skin that this smells like pencil shavings.

 

i won't wear it becasue if i smell good, i want to smell good all the way to the skin. but if you can handle woodier scents, you'll most likely like this fruit & earth concoction. i wish i could wear it, and i can see why so many folk are crazy for it.

 

n.

Edited December 13, 2005 by zenvodunista

[em_h]

In the vial: Rather suspicious grape candy smell

 

Wet: Actually, the grape candy quickly becomes a more tolerable greenish scent (which is usually how the early stage of patchouli goes on me), but it seems to be fading very fast.

 

Dry: Disappeared quickly, but nearly an hour later I started getting little wafts of a nice fresh honey and patchouli scent. I don't know, I don't exactly dislike this one, but the long period of nothing and the relative weakness of the second wind make me unsure, especially when I've got a honey and patchouli scent which is perfect for me in Hetairae.

[merebrillante]

In the vial: Grape bubblegum. Feh.

 

On the wrist: Oh, there's the patchouli and nag champa. I don't know what cereus and muscadine smell like, but one of them must smell like grape bubblegum 'cause that note is still there. Yuck. This is the first perfume I've tried that I've wanted to scrub off. I've been going around with my face screwed up ever since I put it on. This one's going in the trade pile, after I put it in hazmat bag.

[Imptress]

This is one of my very favorites but I've put off reviewing it because I love it so much I don't even know where to begin!

 

The muscadine gives it a deep winey fruit note and the cereus (a night-blooming cactus flower) lends some sharp sweetness... the patchouli and nag champa give it depth and earthiness, though, and keep this from veering too deeply into fruity-floral territory. When I wear this I feel sophisticated and sexy and mysterious and I can't stop sniffing myself... almost as if I fear with the next breath the lovely fragrance won't be there. So glad I just got a big bottle!

[ViolentKitten]

I adore Urd! It's grounding and comforting, yet sexy too. And it's one of, if not the most beautiful patchouli scents I've ever smelt. I love Beth's patchouli - Imp, Depraved and Lust being just a few I love with the delicious stuff as a note. The sweet muscadine is the perfect foil for the warm, earthy patchouli, which is all soft edges, no sharpness, and not too woody. The nag champa drives it further into an incensey scent, but it doesn't overpower it at all. I've not smelt cereus, but I've read it smells a little like vanilla, so I guess that's adding to the sweetness. My 5ml and I will have a wonderful relationship!

[The_Merf]

In the imp: All patchouli. I was sort of disappointed, as I wanted to smell the nag champa.

 

Wet: All patchouli. This is a bit sweeter and more complex than Umbra on my skin, which I assume is a function of the nag champa or the muscadine. However, this doesn't seem to be the answer to my "what patchouli will I wear when I run out of Geek?" quandry.

 

Dry-down and Wear: What did Treebeard say about being too hasty? The nag champa has started to emerge a bit on dry-down and the patchouli is nowhere near as prominent. I wish I was getting more "incense" from this. It does get that nice earthy quality as it dries. I'm still not sure where I come down on this scent, but I do know that I will go through the imp, and then evaluate from there.

[coulrophobe]

In the imp: Patchouli, with a bit of juicy sweetness.

 

On: More cedary, with a definite fruit note. As it dries, it gets much smokier and incensy.

 

I had to laugh at Shollin's coment about this smelling like walking past Cowri on Capitol Hill in Seattle - that store is right down the street from me, and she's absolutely right! I'm left with sweet incense smoke.

 

Urd isn't the type of scent I usually go for, but I find myself liking it. It's warm and comfortable, and makes me want to curl up in front of a fire with a good book.

[amrita]

Grape, and strong, incensey patchouli. I don't know what cereus smells like, but I don't smell any floral or vanilla notes here. This is a really pretty oil, but something about the incense is too strong and choking and it kicks my butt. Hmm... I bet this would smell way more appropriate in an oil lamp than on my skin.

[Meg]

In the bottle: mustiness incarnate - this smells like a disused wine cellar

 

Wet: the mustiness becomes less dense, sharp with a hint of fruit, and I can clearly smell some wood in there, too. There's something reminiscent of pencil shavings here. Yet... something glimmers here. I can't tell what.

 

Drydown: mysterious incense and mustiness. It's dark and stony, somehow, I feel like I can smell rocks, chalk. The wood has gone to the background, and every now and then I catch a whiff of grapes, but it's not really fruity, just refreshing in all that smoke and darkness.

 

Overall: It's not a scent I would wear, but it's very atmospheric. When other people smelled it, they thought it smelled like wood polish, and I think I agree with them to a certain extent. But at the same time there's a mysterious dimension to this one, and I wouldn't part with it. It's a perfect scent to represent the past (which is what Urd represents: Fate or That Which Was). It's musty, like a very dark cave, and it makes you feel introspective.

 

This is the second of the Norns I try, and in both there was something... more. More than just a scent, something that seems to work on a mystical level. I'm not in love with these scents, but I have great respect for them, if that makes any sense.

[LadyWilde]

fruitypatchouliholycrapyucknofreakinway. . .but I tried it anyway

 

Weird. Like most others, I smell grape and patchouli. After a bit, the nag champa comes through quite strongly, but oddly enough I'm not getting that heavy smokey/incens-y feel that everyone else seems to get. Between the grape and the nag champa, it's very sweet. The patchouli lurks, dark and earthy, in the background. My skin tends to amp sweet scents, but it also tends to unleash the Giant Scary Patchouli Monster of Death, so I am interested to see what this scent is going to do.

 

A few hours later, this hasn't changed much. It's still grape-nag champa-patchouli, in that order. It's not unpleasant, but it's also not me. I am very glad I tried it, since it is the first scent with patchouli in it that I've been able to wear without smelling like a mouldering unwashed hippie-corpse. (Whoa. Graphic. )

[WidgetAlley]

Frimp from the fantabulous Lab. Madrid's grape note was a total trainwreck on me; let's see how Urd's muscadine fares.

 

In the Imp: Smoky, heavy patchouli (the same kind I get in Sin... I wonder if that has red and black as well?), with a grape baby aspirin chaser. I'm unfamiliar with cereus (isn't it a kind of cactus flower?), and, while I've smelled nag champa before, it's never stuck in my memory... but I'm going to assume the champa is what's adding that smoky incense note. On a second sniff, I think I honestly can detect some kind of floral floating on top of the patchouli, and..... cedar? Something very sharp and woody. So far it's extremely odd, and kind of musty-smelling... I don't hate it, but I don't particularly like it either. Let's see what it does on my skin.

 

(.... Sinead O'Connor's "I Am Stretched On Your Grave" just came on the playlist. Seems appropriate.)

 

Wet: Dusty hippie basement! It lightens, though, with touches of a round fruit that doesn't really smell like grape, but at least doesn't smell like baby aspirin (thank God). While I can't identify the cereus by name, there's flashes of something transparent on top that can only be a floral. It has a very heavy, occult-bookstore sort of feel to it. The only description I can give is that this scent is cloaking me in a cloud of solemn ritual. It does seem rather inexorable, now that I think about it.

 

Dry: Fruity, smoky incense, quite serious and a bit generic. This is nice, but I don't think it's for me. My skin scrambles it into a mishmash that's a bit like sticking your face into the jars of incense at a hippie store.... and while I really like that smell, I'm not sure I want to smell like it. It's just a scent for me, it doesn't really communicate much (unlike most other BPAL blends.) I'll stick to Sin for my sexy smoky incense, and send this one off to a home where it can be better appreciated.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: tons of patchouli. very earthy and sweet.

on: sweet, with lots of patchouli. lovely.

half an hour later: incense-y and patchouli. i think this might be a bit too heavy for me.

1 hour later: a generally earthy scent.

2 hours later: earthy and woodsy.

overall: this isn't a scent for me.

[Diva Urd]

*points to user name* I have used the handle in different forms ever since I came online, since I love the concept of the Norns and like Oh! My Goddess a lot... score!

 

In the vial: Grapes and nag champa.

 

On me: Grapes and nag champa, with the grapes always on the verge of overpowering the nag champa. No patchouli, no cereus. The grape note itself was a little too sweet for my taste.

 

I had high hopes for this one and am slightly disappointed that it didn't quite work out for me, but I'll keep my imp.