Crossroads

[Penance]

The forks of the road: an in-between place, sacred and tangibly magickal in innumerable cultures and faiths. This scent is dark with mystery, taut with power. A chill twilit garden of blooms over dry earth and mosses, heavily laden with incense and offertory herbs.

First sniff:

I'm in pure heaven today, everything I've tried has been utterly gorgeous and Crossroads is no exception! Crossroads bears a passing resemblance to Zombi right out of the bottle...it's the deep, loamy dirt and moss scent that I adored in Zombi but there's more to it. There's incense here and herbs as well and they make it more multi-dimensional than Zombi is and also less cloying. Why didn't I get a bottle of this? I'm such a fool.

Wet on skin:

Mmm, moss and dirt and herbs and incense...everything I love in a perfume! There's also some flowers here...they're beginning to come to the surface now, sweetening Crossroads and making it less aggressively dark smelling. This is still a dark scent, though...dirty and mossy and perfect for me. This is almost like a cross between Bayou and Zombi for me with some incense thrown in for good measure...it combines the best of both worlds and then some and I love it.

Dry down:

Crossroads has dried down into a soft loamy dirt, moss, incense and light hothouse florals scent. This is so utterly gorgeous; it's just what I love in a perfume. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind now, Beth is some sort of evil genius with the ability to work magic with simple oils. This scent has my name written all over it.

The bottom line:

Deep, wet loamy dirt, moss, incense and hothouse florals. Crossroads is (for me) the child of Bayou and Zombi with a bit of incense thrown in for good measure. I'm going to have to scrimp and save and come up with the cash to buy a bottle of this at the next update, too.

[sarada]

I read the description of this to a friend and they said, "Sounds like a Hobbit head shop!"

 

So I concur -- it does! It combines bright green outdoor scents with something underground and full of strange herbs, bubbling oils and smoke.

 

In the bottle I get a lot of the mossy qualities -- that Zombi moss, yes, graveyard greenery. It's one of those magnificently complex dark florals that the lab excels at, that combines earth, and mossy greenery, with a sophisticated swirl of indefinable incenses. The combination of so many floral and green notes with the pungent dirt and smoke scents could be a little overwhelming for some -- and like a big idiot I SPILLED this, and the resulting overabundance of fragrance gave me a slight headache. But I still smell fabulous! As it dries down it becomes something like what I would consider the "generic BPAL smell" with a mixture of flowers, herbs and greenery seen through a thin veil of incense smoke.

 

I will have to wait for my full bottle to arrive now, but it should arrive just in time for spring, which seems to me like a great time to wear this lovely scent!

 

ETA: Ack, this turns out to be one of the only scents that gives me a headache. Maybe there is jasmine in it, that seems to spell headaches with me a lot of the time. Alas!

Edited March 4, 2005 by sarada

[VelvetSky]

Crossroads is a very cold, dark, interesting scent.....I'm getting very strong sense memories of being outdoors in the country in a grassy, weedy field, with crickets chirping all around and stars whirling above. Very very strong impressions and memories when I breathe this in...it's difficult for me to review this oil with any objectivity, but I'll give it a try.

 

The topnotes are green, mossy and dry....not like oakmoss, brighter and younger. It smells dirty, in a good way. As the oil warms on my skin, it sweetens up and becomes a bit more floral, with the sharp edges of the scent becoming softer and rounder. The sharp greenness is still underneath though.

 

The drydown is quite incensey and herbal, while retaining a bit of the elegant floral sweetness.

 

Some BPAL blends affect me in a very personal, emotional way. They dredge up things that are probably better left alone, and for that reason I'm not sure I can bear to wear them as a perfume on my body. Crossroads is such a scent for me, although I'll cherish my imp. I'm sure I'll be using it in spellwork.

[Northernminx]

Lightly herbal in the vial, I thought for certain this would be gone on me in an hour as it's so light on application. It's been six hours and still in there so I guess not _quite_ that faint of heart

 

Light herbal with a touch of floral, the green mosses really come through on this and it's lovely if a bit melancholy and mysterious. There is a darkness to this, a momentary pause in the journey where the next step is unknown.

lovely, mysterious and complexly herbal but not overpoweringly so.

[klowey]

In the vial, I thought I got a hint of bubblegum. There was definitely a sweet undercurrent to the mosses and greenery.

 

On my skin, I could smell the dirt and the mosses for the first minute or so. Unfortunately, it quickly turned to a very sharp soap. Almost like what The Caterpillar did, but with moss and earth instead of jasmine floating on top.

 

I might try to get ahold of Burial or Zombi to see if I can get the earth scent back or they do the same thing, but this one just doesn't work on me at all.

[Finny]

Out of the imp I smell dust and earth.

 

On it keeps the dusty earthy smell, the herbs and moss are wonderful, green and loamy. The floral is very light, like dried flowers, a pallid reminder of what they used to smell like.

 

It dries down to a earthy, green, light floral. Very nice.

[Etaven]

Another scent that reminds me of my mom. Flowery, almost overly so on me... at least, right when I put it on, I'm not really getting the mosses and dry earth, or the incense. I'm definitely getting the garden of blooms, though; it's as if the flowers are at war as to who's going to smell the strongest. It's pretty, but I've never been into wearing florals. Unless this does something drastic as time wears on, I'll probably be swapping it. Wish more of the incense would come out...

 

Later- mellowed out a bit, but still stayed pretty floral, though the herbs finally showed themselves a bit more strongly. Very pretty, but not my style

[phoefromelsewhere]

In the bottle: Oof, sweet flowers.

 

Wet: I smell nothing but insanely sweet flowers. It’s the same sort of sweetness as in New Orleans but that had a grounding note. This one just keeps rising.

 

Drydown: Unfortunately I still have not learned that florals + my skin = bad. I have to wash it off, it’s giving me a headache.

[mmcfa2]

yummy!!!

 

 

I smell dirt and flowers and incense, I smell a summer night in the south!!. This was such a great order, with coyote and crosroads both being just magnificent scents!! I ordered both bottles untested.

 

 

If you like ouija and catterpillar, you will LOVE crossroads, it is the meeting of the two.

 

All that said my S.O. HATES it so if you are craving to ty it I'm sadly putting it on my swaplist.

Edited March 7, 2005 by mmcfa2

[shelldoo]

yes moss is the top note for me, behind it soft florals, zombi was too dirt like for my taste but this has enough different notes that i can like it it has the moss, some spice, some incense, some fl,oral and a touch of dirt

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Meep. That's some strong jasmine! This is very, very floral to me. I'm not getting any dirt or incense at all.

 

On me: I can't believe it. The flowers in this completely overwhelm anything else that would even attempt to make an appearance. It's just a blah collection of ylang ylang, jasmine, and other flowers screaming into the night. So disappointing!

[isyche]

Crossroads started out smelling like wet-garden and dirt on me, but jasmine quickly popped out and took over, as it tends to do -- it ended up as a very-slightly-dirty jasmine, and I'm not a big fan of this jasmine note. So I swapped it.

[pekeana]

Deep, tilled earth, loamy and full of green roots. This is totally Crossroads. And then it dries down into mosses and dry, almost burnt, grasses.

 

I can appreciate the artistry behind it, but moss is my dire enemy, and I just... I don't like the scent on me.

[cinderfallen]

:Snffffff:

 

Jasmine. With a hint of sharper herbs.

 

Yeap.

 

It's all right. I was frightened of the earth and incense anyway.

[darkitysnark]

Crossroads

 

In the bottle:

 

Light florals, predominantely jasmine. Being away from my spreadsheet (mommy?) when I tested this, I was trying to remember the description of the blend and didn't recall the florals. (but rechecking the site description has set me straight)

 

Wet:

 

JASMINE!

 

Drydown:

 

I put this on right before a mini-roadtrip. The Mr. made me roll down the windows because it "smell[ed] like a head shop in here". I still get mostly jasmine at this point, but there's also that blended incense, slightly soapy green note that does conjure tapestries and soapstone stash boxes. (sarada's right... this is Hobbit Head Shop!)

 

Later:

 

It's been about six hours and all I get now is the same yummy, deep, warm incense blend that Nefertiti, and to a similar (albeit slightly different) extent Danse Macabre turn into. This is what I have shorthanded my "skin" scent.

 

In fact, Nefertiti tends to start out Jasmine on me and then calm down to this utter deliciousness. I'll have to do a wrist by wrist comparison to check on this... I'm sure there are nuances I'm missing. (For example: Nefertiti never goes headshoppy on me.)

 

This is a perfect spring scent for me. Not too perky and bright... just the right amount of flowers (after the first blast) and it calms down to what's become my favorite intimate just-for-me scent.

 

ETA: Hm. Oddly enough, the perfect floral blendedness has changed to a sharp green sting in the back of my throat! Not sure if that's a seasonal thing, or something to do with getting off of BCPs, but there you have it. Crossroads is no longer good on me (except for the lovely skin phase at the end. Mmmmm.) Up for swaps!

Edited September 19, 2005 by darkitysnark

[thespring]

Jasmine

Moss

Incense

sharp soap (why?!?)

I think my nose just fell off. It burns the innermost corners of my nostrils! It burns I tell ya!

 

Toooooo floral for me. When I wait for the drydown all I get is powder...

Edited April 7, 2005 by thespring

[LiberAmoris]

Wow, Crossroads for me is exactly how Penance pegged it: Bayou + Zombi=Crossroads. This is the new math!

 

Crossroads is mossy and a little bit gritty but full of all those hothouse blooms and a slight murky aquatic. It definitely reminds me of a humid summer night in New Orleans, when the flowers pump out scent like the little industries they are and the smell of the river and the gulf is in the air.

 

Even though this is not a Voodoo blend, there's something Voodoo-esque about it to me. Every time I wear this I'll think of one of my favorite cities in the world.

[Kate]

Crossroads

 

At first the florals in this one dominated, but once on I got the incense and possibly the herbs mixing and creating a very pleasant scent. I didn't at all get the darkness or coolness implied in the description of a twilit garden. Instead, I felt it was light and warm, and reminded me of the ocean on a warm sunny day.

 

I LOVE this scent! I can't get enough of it!

[Sheila]

This was a giftimp from the lab (but it was on my wish list, so I would have gotten it eventually). Thanks lab!

 

Unfortunately, on me, this turns into a generic floral. I can smell a bit of the jasmine and some of the moss underneath the "flower" scent, but that's about it. I wish I got more incense or herbs. It's nice, but not memorable. I'm gonna swap it--hopefully others will have better skin chemistry and truly enjoy this.

[Shollin]

First sniff: A round, full dark-floral with just enough sweetness and an undertone of resin.

 

Wearing: Now this is odd. When I put Crossroads on, I get almond. Nope – make that ALMOND! It’s very strongly sweet-almondy, with the dark flowers underneath. The almond died down pretty quickly as it dried, and over the course of the night, it became a lovely resinous dark floral.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Jasmine, moss, and a heavy dose of incense.

 

Wearing: This is almost identical to The Caterpillar on me. A little more mellow and mossy, perhaps. It is dark and shadowy, but not scary...

 

Final Impressions: Not different enough from The Caterpillar to warrant another bottle in my collection, but very nice indeed!

[theshapeshifter]

In the imp: Earthy and mossy, with a hint of floral.

 

Initial application: Whoa, where'd all these flowers come from?

 

After 15 minutes: Wow, like some others, I'm getting predominantly a VERY heady, thick jasmine. The earth is under there somewhere.

 

Drydown: Yep, still a very heavy, earthy jasmine, almost like a fog. A little goes a long way with this!

 

I'd hoped for more of the earthy/incensey notes with Crossroads. I do love jasmine, mind you, so I'll certainly at least use up the imp and enjoy it. However, I have to say that this is not the scent I should be wearing today, when I'm battling a moderate hangover... it's a little overwhelming. I think I'm going to wash it off and give it a fairer trial on a more clear-headed day.

[quimerula]

Wet it's earth and mosses over a subtle floral bottom line and a hint of frankincense.

It's quite earty, like Zombie but without the roses.

 

Dry it's quite the same, a very interesting perfume.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Dry and a bit sour.

 

Second Impression: This scent smells exactly like the description, exactly like I thought it would. For a bit anyway, then my skin chemistry got ahold of it and turned it into a really lovely, sweet incense perfume.

 

Final Analysis: Pretty, but I don't think it's supposed to be.

[leahcat]

Crossroads

 

in the bottle: earthy scent with rose? herbs? Something there, no note overwhelming it all

wet: Mm, definitely more herbs now, slowly getting sweeter with each sniff. Reading the description, I can see this being moss and other nighttime garden smells.

drying/5 minutes: herby sweetness. Not as much dirt but still there. Rather like napping in the middle of my herb garden.

dry/30 minutes: yup, herbs