Crossroads

[fathom]

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.

Because I love the smell of mosses and sunbaked summer earth, I was really excited by the description of this one. It was hard to put my finger on the scent in the vial—it seemed like it needed to be on skin to really express itself. Even after I put it on, it kept perplexing me.
For the first hour after I put it on it smelled too dry and sharp for my taste. After an hour, the dryness started to fade and it smelled like dry ground ten minutes before the rainstorm. I could smell a hint of frankincense, I think, and a lot of dry earth and moss. Overall, after drydown it continues to be a bit sharp of a scent for me. I am leaning towards not liking it, but I might need to try it again another day before I can come to a final verdict. Perplexing.

[Tesseljoan]

Moss? Dirt? Incense? Where? I jst smell flowers, jasmine mostly. It doesn't go as bad as flowers usually do on my skin, but this scent is very straightforward and lacks depth on my skin.

 

...

 

 

You know, I still feel like apologizing to the lab when a scent doesn't work on me, and sod it, I'll do it anyway. Sorry folks, I really appreciate the gift, and I feel bad for not liking it.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Mmmm....a slightly floral incense. Yum.

 

First on: Just like in the bottle. It's very incensey, but with a floral mossy overtone. I love it.

 

Drydown: Vitamins! It's gone totally herbal on me, which is such a shame because I really liked it. It just reeks of vitamins, like when you've taken a multi and you burp, you can taste it for the rest of the day. Ugh.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 0/5

Summarised in a word or two: Aquatic dirt.

 

In the imp/bottle: Ah. Watery dirt.

 

On skin, wet: This is Zombi but aquatic, and floral. It's dirt and grass around trampled flowers, none of which I can specifically name.

 

On skin, dry: Yeah, definitely floral, aquatic Zombi.

 

Conclusion: I'd hoped the 'blooms' and incense might tone the earth down a bit, but no such luck. This, as Zombi, Graveyard Dirt, and all scents I've tried with earth, hates me.

Edited December 24, 2005 by Aredhel

[emz83]

On me, this is like flowers laid on the dust of yellow earth, with incense marking paths across and under it. I've tried this several times and a certain sharp spice scent peeks up every now and then; but this might be because I'm especially sensitive to spice and spice-like scents.

[miss apple]

Crossroads

 

The description of this is beautiful and the earthy, mossy, herbal notes sounded so lovely. However. The moment this dries I am hit with a crazy strong jasmine note. I love jasmine but this has a heavy sweetness to it - like bubblegum as another reviewer mentioned and it's incredibly strong. After a while the jasmine tones down slightly and I can smell some sort of dampness underneath but it is still very sweet. I had high hopes but this just wasn't meant to be

Edited June 3, 2005 by miss apple

[cricketshay]

In the vialLight fragrance. I can hardly smell it, let alone distinguish between notes.

 

Wet~To be so light in the vial, it's very strong on my skin. My nose burns and my eyes water. There is a componet that does not agree with me.

 

Dry~I can't describe how it smells on me. Sort of floral, but more earthy than most of the florals I've tried. It's now giving me a headache. I don't think Crossroads is for me.

 

Swap/sale pile here it comes!

[Witch's Dagger]

Crossroads

 

Preconceived notions: A complex, dark floral, moss, dirt, herbs, and incense. Sounds lovely to me.

 

In the vial:

Gardenia and a touch of spice.

 

On me:

 

Yep, still lots of gardenia. It’s a very silky, sensuous scent, and the gardenia is behaving itself a lot better in this scent than it did in Sacred Whore of Babylon.

 

In an hour and a half:

Whoops - forgot to update this. But mainly it’s been smoky gardenia. It reminds me of Sand & Sable, but better, of course.

 

Overall:

This is lovely, and I’ll definitely keep the imp. It’s too light for what I was thinking, and I’d really like more of the moss, dirt, herbs, and incense.

[Soli]

I received an imp of this in the order that I got yesterday and decided on a whim to try it today. And I can't stop smelling myself, I've fallen hard and fast in LUST with this scent. I couldn't even adequately describe what I smelling, but it just smells so earthy without being the smell of dirt. I definitely will be picking up a bigger bottle of this.

[girlmadasbirds]

very "green"/herbal scent..earthy,

but with a strong floral incense note...almost too strong for me. it's a very pretty scent, but that floral note is just a bit too much on me. i think i'm going to try using it as a room scent.

[nineveh]

No earth, no mosses, no incense, no herbs here, just heavy, burnt jasmine on my skin. Jasmine does not work on me.

 

In the imp, it's like a misty version of Zombi or a floral version of Nosferatu. If that sounds appealing and you can wear jasmine, then this may be for you.

[blaqpearl]

This one was way too strong for me. I only put on a smidget. It has alot of throw. I was trying to wait and see if the incense notes kicked in but I couldnt take how strong the florals were. I had to wash it off. Even now after applying soap...it still there going strong. I suspect rose in this blend, which is not my friend. Imp is off to a new home.

[pkwench]

Crossroads:

 

When I first got a good whiff of Crossroads, I was reminded of a very, very DRY and dusty Crossroads. There's a poster to an old Ralph Macchio movie of the same name that depicts such a lonely intersection and that's just what it reminded me of.

 

So, you know, I kind of figured that I'd hate it.

 

About 20 minutes after it sat on my skin, up comes the scent of earth. It's dryer then the dirt smell from Zombi, but I think that works because when the incense and florals come out, it all blends so wonderfully.

 

Expected to hate it? Wound up loving it. I love when that happens.

[cupide430]

Crossroads

 

Herbal at first. With a greenish scent that reminds me of shucking corn. Hmm. Maybe that's the mosses? I got a similar shucking corn scent recently in the Lush store when sniffing Blue Skies BBS. As it dries it sweetens and gets a bit incensy though stays mainly herbal to me. After a while, it isn't herbal at all, just sweet (in a non-foody way) and a little bit incensy.

[elphaba]

Dirt? Dust? Why doesn't Crossroads smell like this on me?

 

On my skin, it smells like moss and flowers. In short, it smells like Bayou. Actually, more like Bayou mixed with Darkness, because it had a note that made food taste bad when I was smelling it. I've only experienced that before with Darkness. Perhaps it was opium?

 

Oh, and if you're my husband, you're 100% positive that Crossroads smells like bug spray. Needless to say, it didn't work for me.

Edited July 7, 2005 by elphaba

[Batgirl]

I don't get dirt or dust either. I thought there was gardenia in this, because to me it as a similar tone to Sacred Whore of Babylon. On my skin this quickly dissipates to a faint, herbal scent. In my scent locket it stays very sweet with a slight hint of incense underneath. Nothing in this really jumps out at me - it strikes me as kind of a generic scent so off for swaps it will go.

 

ETA: I always write these before I read other review, but Witch's Dagger and I are on the same wavelenght with this one! However, I like Sacred Whore much more than Crossroads.

Edited July 7, 2005 by Batgirl

[aidenraine]

Wow this is strong! I needn't have put as much on my wrists as I did!

 

It also reminds me a bit of men's cologne- the yellow colored kind that comes in clear bottles. I do sense some earthiness but this is much lighter than I expected, and definitely has a strong jasmine note.

 

I only smell a hint of mossiness.

[lissamc]

Wet: Earth and flowers, with a pretty big bite of astringent herbs.

 

1 Hour: This is still pretty sharp. I get a bit of sweetness underneath it, but it has made me sneeze a couple of times. I have some of the same biting nose-feel as when I breath Vick's Vapor Rub, without the sinus clearing effect.

 

2 Hours: There's some floral sweetness peeking in now, and here comes the dry dirt rising up, like someone scuffed up a pathway. Still that nose-crinkling sharpness. Oh--a hint of old incense. Not heavy, though. Yes, this smells like a crossroads now. But I don't think it smells like me.

 

4 Hours: Dry blowing dirt and flowers.

[Tess]

I've been having some issues with oils recently, but I just HAVE to try this one, if only for magical reasons...

 

In the vial - For about two seconds I could smell the moss and incense... and then the florals took over my brain. =/

 

Wet - This is nothing but a sweet (and burning! Owwie) floral. STRONG. Gah.

 

Drying - ...there's jasmine in this. *siiiiiiiiiiighs* Jasmine, jasmine, jasmine. Bit of incense just barely clinging, but strong jasmine.

 

Dry (15 minutes) - After sitting around in agony, hoping the jasmine would back off, I can't take it anymore. SO STRONG.

 

Overall - Complete swap material for me. This is the strongest jasmine I've come across yet.

[voodoobaby]

In the vial: Flowers with dirt.

 

Wearing: Flowers. Sweet flowers. Gardenia and lily, for sure. Wow, that's strong. Where did the dirt go? And wasn't there supposed to be moss and incense and herbs. Hmph.

 

Later: I'm having some major flashbacks to The Caterpillar. A little bit of moss, a lotta bit of flowers. Darn it, why must florals explode on me? Still no incense or herbs, and the dirt has disappeared almost completely. Don't get me wrong, it smells good...just that florals are so not my thing.

 

Overall: I had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately I don't think it was meant to be. Into the swap pile for you!

[Athena's Owl]

In the Imp: this is also green. but it's the green of the forest of british columbia - so green it's all you see, and the moss and leaf-rot under your feet is so soft and inviting. you could lie down in it and rest. there are flowers here too, though - flowers that smell sweet and high, but you don't want to touch them or their poison will seep into your skin and give you strange dreams of flying and sex.

 

Wet: sharp. suddenly the high scent becomes burning spices sprinkled on a charcoal braizer, and again i feel a cloudy headiness, a disquieting disconnection when you stare across at the faces of those with you in your first magickal circle and wonder, Am I really safe? and flowers somewhere, flowers left behind like the olefactory signal of the condemned woman buried under my feet to keep from rising, but in spite of her wickedness someone laid lilies and white hyacinth in her grave before they covered her up with earth. and back to spice, and now dusty earth like a dirt road, and this scent is lovely and redolent and hugs its way around me with its beauty but I can never, ever quite forget, and it can't ever quite conceal that I am in danger here.

 

after 20 minutes: flowers overwhelm me. my nails are broken from scrabbling in the earth, to sit up, but the weight of flowers is crushing me, holding me down. I can breathe, though I can't breathe anything but the flowers, they're pressing me with white blossoms, and I shall die here as the currency of their bargain, overwhelmed with blooms.

 

Dry: moss. and flowers.

 

I liked it better when it was wet, but it's still pretty.

[Little Bird]

First applied, this smells like Eternal, but with a big helping of dry dirt added in. Then I think that I start to smell jasmine, but it never comes out as strongly as jasmine usually does on my skin.

 

15 minutes later. Perfumey florals and something medicinal. I can still smell dirt, and I'm not liking this.

 

A half hour later. Gah. This is turning really bitter, sharp, and perfumey on me. No more dirt, just disagreeable florals. I'm feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. And then it suddenly softens. It is a light floral that reminds me of wilting flowers. An overturned vase. No incense though. Crossroads disappointed me...

[magdalene]

in the bottle: straight-out incense.

 

wet on skin: the incense has morphed into a rather herby smell. Dark and bitter, with an under current of dirt.

 

dry: Not much of a change, except for the incense growing stronger again. However, the herb scent is putting me off a bit. It's too sharp for me.

[gingersnapp]

This is overwhelming sweet cloying floral. I think I get lilies and perhaps gardenia. I wanted the mosses, I wanted the earth. But this is up your nose with a lead pipe floral. Off to the swaps!

[tourmalinqueen]

Delicious, warm heady jasmine! Not getting any of the mosses or almond (as someone mentioned), just a faintly incensey jasmine, smells like a night garden. Big bursts of what I think is gardenia mingling with the other heavy florals.My new signature scent, fantastic! Alluring, mysterious, and different.

Edited August 15, 2005 by tourmalinqueen