Whippoorwill

[wickedgoddess]

Then, too, the natives are mortally afraid of the numerous whippoorwills which grow vocal on warm night. It is vowed that the birds are psychopomps lying in wait for the souls of the dying, and that they time their eerie cries in unison with the sufferer's struggling breath. If they can catch the fleeing soul when it leaves the body, they instantly flutter away chittering in daemoniac laughter; but if they fail, they subside gradually into a disappointed silence.

A foreboding, tenebrific death rattle; the scent of a dying breath as it wafts into the marshland: Spanish moss, cedar, black pepper, oakmoss, juniper, bamboo reeds and cardamom.

Origins - purchased from Black Broom today.

Wet - Green and astringent.

Dry - I like this much more than I thought I would. It's green and mossy and I am getting a lemony scent as well. I really don't smell the cedar, which is a shame, because I love cedar. Still, there's something compelling about this scent. If I breathe it in deeply it makes me slightly dizzy. It smells very marshy, but in a good way.

About a half hour in, I find the black pepper and it begins to transform into something completely different. Now it's all cedar and pepper and cardamom and I can't stop sniffing my wrists. It still makes me feel light-headed though.

An hour or so in - now it's all spicy and smells like chai tea! It's fading fast now, just a dusting of spice left behind. I am so glad I got a bottle of this!

I also want to note that the Springtime in Arkham blends are in amber bottles, and have the cutest labels! They have a pinkish background, with cute graphics, much larger than the usual BPAL graphics, that were designed by Forest from the Black Broom. These are my first LE's with different labels, so I am completely enamoured of them.

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 4. Edited December 27, 2007 by Shollin

[AlectoNox]

This is a very addictive scent, in that nose-to-wrist sort of way. The cool bamboo blends with the pepper very nicely, giving it this edible spiced bamboo feel. The pepper isn't sharp or overpowering at all, very subtle. It keeps the bamboo from being too sweet, and the moss and bamboo keep the cardamom and pepper from being too strong. It's a perfect balance. Very unique too, I can't think of any one bpal scent I've tried so far that compares to it. It vaguely reminded me of Neo-Tokyo if there were spices added to it. I'm debating getting another bottle...I think this one will go fast.

[kmasden]

This one is so much different than I thought it would be. It's almost a bit perfumy for me, but it's so hard to believe. I love black pepper and don't get a distinct black pepper from this and, the spices blend well enough that it doesn't feel "spicy." I definately get the moss note which I love. To my nose this is almost soapy. I will definately say that I find it to be a pleasant scent, fresh and grounded and seems to have a good bit of staying power. I would definately call it green, but not in a big herbal way.

 

When wet I get a lot of the "marshy, mossy" smell, mixed with a tad of wood and I find it a bit soapy. It's not harsh, rather smooth and quite strong.

 

As it dries, I do find the spices to come into play just a bit. That mossy, slightly perfumy bit is toning down into a damp forest floor, wet logs, that type of thing.

 

About an hour in, I find that it has developed into a nicely green, grounded scent. I would suspect people who love scents like Old Dublin will take to this quite nicely.

 

I am so pleased that the Springtime in Arkham scents I have tried so far have been so pleasant.

[shelldoo]

intresting, in the vial soap, irish spring anyone?

 

wet it reminds me of lion w/ a hint of something astringent in the mix

 

as it dries it is green, clean, definitely smells of trees, forests, mossy, and in the very back the fresh clean whiff of soap, but not soapy bad smell, just a hint of clealiness. intresting really.

[clover]

Whipporwill

 

First impression: Abit more perfumy than I expected.

 

Upon application: There's a hint of perfuminess at the very begining, but it dissipates rapidly. After just a minute or so, this settles down and starts to smooth out. I get a hint of spice, a hint of citrus, and some gorgeous smooth woods. It reminds me of the smell of a freshly polished table.

 

A few minutes later: bang - all of a sudden this smell is invoking an incredibly strong scent memory for me. It smells exactly like my college apartment (which I didn't actually remember as having a certain scent until just now). On inspecting the ingredients, I have a feeling it's the combination of hardwood floors and the cedar chest we used to use as a coffee table, along with spiced candles and open windows that Whipporwill is reminding me so much of. I could love this scent for that memory alone...

 

Conclusion: So soft and warm and spicy and fresh - I love you, Whipporwill.

[sarada]

What an incredibly refreshing scent...

 

I feel as though this little bottle is a gateway into a dark spring wood when I open it. It's a touch perfumey at first but it settles into the skin with familiarity and warmth. The rich green woods come out to play, light twinkling between the dark green branches. This is incredible...so far I've been itching to buy a second bottle of every single scent I've tested...

 

The woods gradually warm and begin to morph into a delicately spicy scent that recalls Silk Road more than anything else. I think that must be cardamom, perhaps spiked with black pepper, which I don't actually smell on its own here.

 

It dries down very similar to a more green and woody Silk Road. What more could I ask for? It definitely bears some resemblance to Dublin as well, though a bit darker and stronger, with more pronounced woods. Yes, this is recalling both Silk Road and Dublin to mind in different ways....and those are both in my Top 15!

 

From the initial breath of cool, refreshing forest air in the bottle to the journey through the dark and spicy wood this is an incredible blend. It will be difficult to resist getting a second bottle...I can already feel my Paypal finger getting itchy...

[sheepzeit]

Whippoorwill was one of the few scents that have made me jump and go "Ooo!" when it was announced. I was a very happy girl when it arrived in the mail today (on a freakishly cold day for late May, thank god, because the bottle was nice and cold when I opened the box). I love cardamom, and have not really tried/seen a lot of scents that had it in there.

 

Out of the bottle, it's a lovely fresh scent, very very slightly spicey and slightly... soapy? Not in a bad way, not really.

 

On my skin the notes separate a little better. It still stays soapy but I can very faintly detect the cedar, the pepper, and the cardamom. I think the earthiness in the middle is the moss, although perhaps it is the juniper mixing with everything else so that seems different than other juniper I've tried. I have no idea what bamboo smells like, unfortunately, so I can't tell if I smell it or not.

 

As it dries it goes to a powdery direction, which is hugely disappointing on me. Cardamom, come back! I love you! Won't you love me long time?

 

At the end, it smells like someone else's soap, mixed with baby powder.

 

I'm going to be relentless with this one, and try it every day of the month until it works on me. I refuse to give in to chemical disagreement.

Edited May 25, 2005 by sheepzeit

[Macha]

I smelled this in the bottle and smiled. It didn't smell anything like what I expected. This is, just a Sarada said (and reviewing the Springtime in Arkham scents is doubly re-affirming my suspicion that Sarada and I perceive scent in very similar ways) very much like a combination of Dublin and Silk Road, also two of my favorite BPAL oils.

 

On my skin it becomes a peppery, spicy and wonderfully GREEN fragrance. I would expect it to be more mossy, but I think the cedar and juniper may be keeping that under more control. Truthfully, it's wonderfully balanced, refreshing and serene. My boyfriend declared this to be one of his favorites from what he has humorously begun calling my "Cthulhu Booster Pack," but then that's not too much of a surprise, since if he's left to his own devices with the perfume Dublin is invariably the scent he reaches for.

 

After a little while, the cardamom and pepper create a wonderful chai-like feel that fades beautifully. This is really spectacular, and even though I have a bottle, I must admit I am tempted to buy another while it's still available. My only complaint is that it doesn't last as long as I might like. The temptation to really slather this scent is enormous.

[lavinia_short]

i'm wearing whippoorwill today, which i confess, i ordered simply because of nostalgia - when i was growing up, in the big old house that i still love so much, one of my very most favorite things was sitting in my mom and dad's big oak bed, looking out over the porch's tin roof, listening to the whippoorwill's call out to each other... but oh, this is so beautiful - i don't even have to feel guilty about the nostalgia bit... it is wonderfully green, without being bitter or biting, and even though it threatened to dry down to a powdery smell, it hasn't. and i can still smell it even after 7 hours now. i'm not really able to seperate out the different notes too well, but i definitely don't have much cardamom in mine, or at least, it's not popping out on me. oh, this is a terrible review in terms of specificity, but lawdy, this scent is beautiful. i'm already regretting only ordering one bottle...

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Oh, lovely! Green and woody with a hint of spice.

 

Wearing: This is like sitting on the wooden deck of a cabin looking out onto the green woods that surround me. It is a crisp morning in the spring, and I wear a big cozy sweater and am sipping a mug of hot chai. The only noise is of the wind rustling through the leaves and the birds singing.

 

Final Impressions: By far my favorite Arkham scent that I have tried.

[Lori]

I went to the mail today, and found that I had received 3 imps, from a fellow BPAL'er: Whippoorwill, Al Azif and Miskatonic University, from the Arkham series. I have never done a review before, on any of the oils, but since these are being discontinued as of midnight tonight, I thought I would let you all know my thoughts on them, in case anyone was waffling on whether to buy them or not.

 

Whippoorwill- On first sniff, from the imp, this smells fresh and clean to me...kind of like a Bounce sheet, before you throw it into the dryer. Wet, on my skin, there seems to be an ozone scent coming out. Ozone doesn't work on my skin, I have found out, from trying Storm Moon. At least this one is better than Storm Moon, which smells like bug spray on me, but what I am getting the most from it is men's cologne. As it dries, I keep sniffing and still keep getting men's cologne...may be nice on a man, but not on me. Another sniff and it makes me sneeze! It is drier now, and it still smells like being around the men's cologne display in a department store. I would save it for my man, but this is not the kind of scent I want to sniff on him...it is like those Mennen Speed Stick Sports deodorants! And I don't have good associations with Whippoorwills, either, as there used to be one at my place in the country, every summer that screeched incessantly all night. I think it was looking for a mate but it drove me crazy! I wish that whippoorwill would have been as easy to swap as this one will probably be!

[Atalanta Pendragonne]

If I'd smelled this in time I would have ordered more than one bottle.

 

The pepper and cardamom are prominent on me, more so than I'd dared hope. The warm woody undertone mellows the bite of the pepper and turns it into something smoother. This is going to be one of my all-time favorites.

[Northernminx]

BAMBOO! I spent most of my morning wondering what that oddly familiar smell was and when I rechecked the description, that was what leapt out at me. From the start this one was a little tough to pinpoint. I just plain didn't like it at first - spanish moss and cardamom were spicey but a little creepy and my wrist was kind of freaking me out there for a little while. As Whippoorwill dries though I'm finding I can't stop sniffing myself. This has mellowed into a touch of herbal, fresh greenesss and a little spice; wet bamboo with a little black pepper and a touch of sweetness that juniper always brings for me. As I'm finding with several of the SiA scents, this one's not quite me but I think it would be wonderful on one of my friends so I'll let him have a shot.

[Shollin]

Thanks to Finny for the decant!

 

First sniff: I’ve never smelled anything that was so bright and fresh and yet so ominous at the same time. It’s a bit soapy in the vial.

 

Wearing: An explosion of wet green bamboo hits my skin first, and the pepper follows a moment later. It’s still decidedly soapy, alas.

[cricketshay]

In the vial~Herbal, green, very alive! I can't detect the pepper in the vial. I'm interested in how it will work on my skin. I haven't tried many blends that contain black pepper.

Wet~Spicy bamboo! I like. I'm usually not one for the "green scents"(I'm a foody musk girl) But this one is different, crisp and refreshing.

Dry~The pepper dies and fades into the background leaving behind the mossy bamboo. It's like being in the wilderness.

I like it, but it would be better on someone else. I probably wouldn't wear it that often.

[gingersnapp]

This is a very warm, green, woodsy scent. The mosses and juniper were most dominant on my skin, but the black pepper gave it a nice hint of spiciness. The bamboo turned it a little soapy, but not so much that it changed my opinion of what a lovely blend this is.

[UltraViolet]

~Whippoorwill~

 

In the bottle

bright green lime

 

On

very green fresh scent

Someone mentioned Irish Spring above, Yes, it does smell like that but in a less chemically way and a more real fresh way.

I do smell lime. In my opinion the lime scent (or whatever is making it seem like lime) makes this blend.

As it begins to dry, the pepper and bamboo reed come out more making this an even more interesting scent. All this green and pepper and yet, this isn't a very sharp blend. I've smelled sharper green blends from bpal but this has a nice quality to it. It's somewhere between gentle green and sharp green. It's such a different scent that it brings your nose to your wrist many many times as mentioned above. I'm hoping for more cardamom.

 

30 minutes

Whippoorwil doesn't morph much at all. It stays a bright green, clear, fresh scent.

Alas, no cardomom to be found.

 

Throw:

a bit more than average

 

Scent category:

green/spicy

 

Summary

It's not a grassy scent but more of a light mossy green, with a bit of a peppery bit and a lime-y splash.

 

Purchase again?

No.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

3

Edited June 15, 2005 by UltraViolet

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Reminds me of Bayou in that it has a definite soap/moss/wood smell to it in the vial that makes me worried about how allergic I'll be when it hits my skin.

 

Wet: Moss and cardamom with a vague soap smell in the background.This is very olive green. It reminds me of the moss hanging off the trees in New Orleans, green and gray at the same time. Dead but alive. There's also a metal kind of flash to it that might be the bamboo.

 

Dry down: Moss soap with juniper in the background. This is very woody and mossy on me. Nothing I'll really be able to wear, though. I'll toss it at the boy. I'm sure he'll like it. He likes msot anything with cedar, which I like the smell of but don't really want to smell like it. There's also that pretty strong cardamom note that bothers me just a tad.

 

Dry: Moss soap with wood and cardamom background notes. Not fond of this one at all. It's just a little too organic for me, but the concept is nice. And now it's turn all cedar on me, which is also not too pleasant. Oh well. I am glad that I managed to get ahold of an imp to try, though

[ladytaga]

From the bottle and when first applied it reminds me of a salad with peppery leafy greens...It gets a little warmer after it dries. I really love so many of the oils from this line...

When it dries it smells more like grass with a little soapyiness..with something else in the background. I enjoy this and I think it will be great to blend (with scents like dirty, roadhouse, june gloom, and storm moon but I mix the last 2 with almost anything)

[inkdarkmoon]

If one were to step into the pages of Greek Mythology and were to perchance stumble into a mossy morning glade where a goddess was bathing while attended by her wood nymphs, this would be the scent that surrounded you as you peeped surreptitiously through the moist marshy reeds.

 

Dry on the skin it reminds me a bit of Incantation, in the sense that it is dry, and a bit masculine. Sort of if you had just stepped out of the shower after having bathed with a soap made of cedarwood and lemon (although I do not think there is any lemon in this.) This is a lovely blend and I really don't think I have to smell it on a man to enjoy it, I am quite enough on my own to wear it myself!

[JazzieCazzie]

Purchased a 5 ML along with one of Shub and one of Arkham Revisited based on notes ...

 

BOTTLE: Nice, light ... very green and early spring.

 

WET: This is a lovely and delicious light, fresh, wet scent ... it reminds me slightly of Envy when wet (I love Envy when wet but don't love it when it dries down and the lime goes wonky on me) ... it also vaguely reminds me of Strength, one of my favorite BPALs in the same "fresh flowers with dew on them and cut stems all over the florist's floor" ...

 

DRYDOWN: It goes slightly -- just slightly -- what I call department store generic perfume on me when it dries. Not unpleasant, but not mesmerizing.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a definite high 4 when wet but down to about a 3 when dry. It would have been a definite keeper except I swapped it to Chaos for a Shub :D

[Yagathai]

In the bottle: Green, a bit sweet. There's a floral note buried deep inside, I think, as well as an undercurrent of soap. I smell no pepper or cardamom.

 

On my skin: The green note remains, but almost instantly the soapy smell comes to the fore. There's a hint of spice back there somewhere, and... wait a sec, my wrist is tingling. And burning. And itching. And swelling up, and turning red and blotchy. Get it off! Get it off! Oh god, get it off!

 

A lingering note of sweet, grassy soap and a painful red rash last for hours.

 

Final verdict: You're kidding, right? To the swap pile with this one!

Edited June 18, 2005 by Yagathai

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Evergreen, a bit sharp. Fairly fresh.

 

Just On: Oh, something else comes forth right away to play with the fresh evergreen.

 

An hour or two later: Whatever came forth at first is getting stronger, and the evergreen scent has faded away.

 

Around 6 hours: It's a very pleasant calm scent for me, anyhow.

 

12 hours: It's pretty much faded away.

 

Overall: I like this scent. It's another that reminds me of the woods, but with that other thing coming out to play, it made me smile several times over.

 

After reading other reviews: It must be the moss that came out to play, now that I've read other reviews.

[sh1mm3r]

Thanks to shelldoo for the decant! I was debating between hunting down a decant and ordering, and well, this time I'm glad I didn't order. I don't know why I think of myself as a green girl, when I never end up loving the green scents.

 

Wet: The bamboo jumps out at first, but then as it dries, the mossy and juniper smells become stronger.

 

Drying: I'm starting to get a whiff of something that I can't explain other than saying "citronella," you know, the mosquito candles?

 

Dry: It starts to get a little spicy, but the citronella type smell doesn't ever leave. Unfortunately for me! I was really hoping for chai green tea!

 

I'm going to a BPAL meetup in Chicago this weekend, where I hope to swap this. If I don't, I'll have it up for swap shortly!

[feline.by.design]

In the bottle, the oil smelled of cedarwood and sandalwood. The smell stayed like this as I took a decapitated Q-tip and used it to swipe some skin on my left arm.

 

In an instant, any sort of foresty fragrance was gone, replaced by nothing but the smell of cinnamon. Cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon, and more cinnamon. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of cinnamon fragrances, as my bottle of Hamadryad can attest to. In fact, this seems very similar to Hamadryad. This cinnamon I smell might actually be the cardamom note mentioned in the oils, but I don't think anyone else has mentioned it to be this strong before.

 

I'm not picking up any green notes at all five minutes into the wearing of the fragrance, just that cinnamon/cardamom fragrance.

 

Is this Whippoorwill? It doesn't sound a bit like anyone else's reviews.

 

:::headscratchy:::

 

Ten minutes elapse and still no green, just the cinnamon/cardamom scent that seems to have been whipped around a bit by a twig. There's a bit of a wood-like fragrance, but none of the leaves. When I bring my nose close, the skin on my bottom lip gets a little irritated, but not to the point where I'm breaking out or anything. It's very spicy, and I like this blend, whether it's Whippoorwill or not. I love green fragrances, which is what drew me to Whippoorwill, but I like hot n' spicy fragrances as well. I'm just really bewildered that I'm picking up so heavily on the cardamom.

 

This is like a bird on fire. Hot n' Spicy Whippoorwill!

 

Even after fifteen minutes the spice doesn't readily abate, though there is a mix of something I can't quite put my finger on, making the overall sniff experience rather unique and complex. On a simple level, yes, you're smelling the spice, but there's something, almost powdery-floral, supporting it from behind. I think, in a very slow way, that "something" is beginning to consume the spice.

 

A few moments, and the cardamom (?) begins to tone down a wee, wee bit. Filling its spot is this sort of light "skin scent." If I were to guess, I would assume it was vetiver, however there isn't any vetiver listed in the fragrance. Would it be the bamboo? There's also some sort of powder scent lurking in the background as well, but it's very faint, and a lot of times I think it's just part of the spice. In any case, it's making Whippoorwill a lot calmer and gentler, but the spice can still be readily detected.

 

I like this, but it reminds me a lot of Hamadryad, and I'm a bit nervous at how my description is so freakishly different from everyone else's. I'm keeping my bottle, but I would be interested in either getting a whole other bottle of Whippoorwill or obtaining a decant to see if there are differences between my bottle and others on my skin.

 

Maybe I just have odd skin?

 

I must say, though, the Springtime in Arkham bottle labels rock. I think they are really cute, even though I'm sure they're not supposed to be "cute."

 

-doreen

Edited June 23, 2005 by feline.by.design