Whippoorwill

[cuervosueno]

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.

I didn't expect to like whipporwill, but I do.

first I had an imp, and it was ok, but greeny and kind of aquatic when I smelled it so I forgot about it. Then I had an opportunity to get a bottle, sniffed the imp again and said, well, its ok so....

I got the bottle. and I really do like it, though I'm not sure I'll keep the whole bottle. Its green and mossy--the oakmoss definately stands out, which is the element that makes it (and other scents) seem more masculine to me, because oakmoss shows up in men's colognes. But I love the peppery cardamom goodness--which adds another element to it. The greens die down fairly soon to spicyness. I can see why people compare it to Silk Road, though it is green rather than sweet in its spicy level.

Still, unexpectedly nice, and I may have just the perfect guy friend to pass some of this one to....

[spanishviolet]

Picked up an imp of this because the spices sounded so good. In the imp & freshly applied, all I got was Irish Spring. Where were the spices? Is this what people mean when they say soapy? My guy liked it though - he said it smelled clean & good.

 

I wasn't fond of that stage, but after half an hour I realized there was a yummy, light-chai smell wafting around in the car with me. Pepper - mmm! It faded after an hour and a half. On second wearing, I can appreciate the early clean scent on the way to light spicy goodness, but I don't feel the need to track down a bottle. I'll just enjoy my imp.

[zenvodunista]

I really should have bought one of each of this series.

 

Whipporwill (received in an imp swap) is that green scent that I've been looking for. It smells like crushed plants in the beginning, bright green grass, the bamboo (a cousin of our humble grass) is forward and present -- tones of murky lake water, broken underbrush, and crushed reeds. Bright green and filled with sap this scent is. As time passes it begins to morph into a lighter floral like approximation.

 

I feel like Whipporwill is what Irish Spring wishes it was.

 

n.

[Miss Lynx]

Interesting... The earthy notes don't really come out for me at all in this one. It's very light, and reminds me a bit of a slightly spicier version of Incantation. Now, I did not like Incantation, but given that my major objection to it was its blandness, a spicier version is not a bad thing.

 

Like Incantation, it's got a sort of soapy undertone to it - not sure what that's from. But it manages to avoid the dish-soap scent of that one with the subtle traces of spices and herby notes. I really was expecting something stronger, though - spicier and earthier. But the spices are fairly subdued and I'm barely getting the earthy/woodsy notes at all.

 

Still, all in all, it's not a bad scent. On the drydown, it reminds me of Fleurs de Thé (Tea Flowers) from Yves Rocher, which I kind of like. But overall, it's a much softer, subtler scent, and closer to a traditional perfume than I would have expected. I think it might suit my partner more than it suits me.

 

Grade: C+/B-

[sophia_helix]

Whoever called this the female version of Irish Spring is right -- spicy and very fresh/clean on me. I don't get very much of the woody or earthy notes, just that spicy/fresh thing, but since I love sharply astringent smells, that's fine by me.

 

I only wish it lasted longer, because this is really nice.

 

Edited later: On my next wearing, alas, I got all murky wet bog scent (probably the bamboo) and very little of the spicy/fresh. Stupid skin chemistry. Better try it once more before I swap, though.

Edited October 23, 2005 by sophia_helix

[Voleuse]

Oooh. Interesting. This is very peppery on first application, astringent and quite mossy. Very atmospheric--like stepping into a humid evening. It smells, to me, less like a perfume and more like a place.

 

It becomes less sharp over time, mellows into a cool, woodsy, green scent. It's fresh and pungent, but not something I would think to wear as a scent. I would buy a bottle, just to keep sniffing it from time to time. (I'm finding I have that kind of reaction to a lot of the SiA scents. Not for wearing, just...evoking.)

 

It finally fades into a faint peppery scent, spicy and light, which smells odd on me, but not unpleasant.

[sixthsentinel]

The two words that come to mind with this scent are "warmth" and "spice." For some reason, this scent reminds me of my grandpa, or holidays with my family. I can't quite pinpoint why, but I think it has something to do with being warm & cozy & in the presence of loved ones. I just keep getting those images/feelings from this scent. It feels like being snuggled up & warm in flannel pjs & bunny slippers while a winter storm blows around outside. I just feel so safe & comfortable while wearing it. Oddly enough, I also feel LOVED, and maybe this is why I keep thinking of my grandpa. If this is the scent of the forboding of death, then I am comforted to know that it is what I had hoped death would be (ultimate rest, peaceful eternal slumber) than what I fear it will be (dark, cold, lonely, frightening).

[SeaMonkey]

In the imp its very green and sharp. I'm getting mostly juniper and bamboo. I'm a little frightened because Juniper likes to make itself loudly known on my skin.

 

Once it dries though, the cedar comes out and mixes with the cardamom and moss. Sadly, it wasn't one I would have originally chosen so I didn't order a bottle when it was availible. This was one of those "surprise me" swaps I like to do and its absolutely beautiful and woody. I'm going to have to keep an eye out for more of this

[AngellicMystique]

This is more of a concept smell for me. On, it smells kind of like pencil shavings. (I blame the cardamom and oak moss.)

 

As for the feeling it envokes:

 

A warning. This smell is the feeling you get right before the twig behind you snaps and you have to run. The hair stands up on the back of your neck and all you know is something is there.

[perclexed]

I didn't get anything like the scent description! This smells like, well, Dumbledore to me. Sugary Mr. Clean, or lemon sherberts. Oddly enough, once it dried down it was more subtle and complex, but still. Mostly just sugary lemons.

[Fefferbella]

This is warm, spicey and a little perfumey on me. I love it!

 

The moss notes are musty and earthy, with hints of cedar bark. Spicey black pepper, and sweet juniper berries with underlying cardamom create a complex and gorgeous scent.

 

This has staying power too! After 5 hours I can still smell it on my wrist. Very nice.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: very green, with a hint of spice.

on: lots of juniper and pepper, with a lot of other woody and green notes.

1 hour later: lots of juniper. it has a general woodsy / green feeling behind it.

2 hours later: light juniper and some green notes.

3 hours later: vaguely woodsy.

overall: this isn't a scent for me.

[allidavie]

Smells like drinking a mug of chai while camping. Yummy. But somehow, I never reach for this one, even though I quite like it and it's very comforting. On my 1) swap it 2) put it away and mull whether to swap it and probably eventually swap it 3) keep it and use it 4) hoard it and hunt it down all over the universe scale, this goes into category 2, mostly because it has lived in the category 3 box for a long time now and I never seem to reach for it - I've never done anything but test it.

[Abbie]

In the bottle: Soft and springtime-y with a hint of citrus. Not very strong.

 

First on: Okay, strong. It's a citrusy "perfume" scent, but it's hard to pick out notes. And this is BURNING where I put it behind my ears, although it seems fine on wrists. A moment while I wash it off. Okay, I'm back. That was deeply strange, as I never have reactions. I wonder if some earrings scratched me or something. Anyway. This is a lot nicer in the bottle than it is on. It's kind of artificial cleanser smell.

 

Dry: Lemon, pepper, and baby powder. Not bad, but not good enough to make me overlook the BURNING. So this one's going to the swap pile.

[LittleGreyKitten]

I didn't expect to like Whippoorwill. It just sounded unpleasant. I got an imp in a lot, and was very pleasantly surprised by it's user-friendliness. The bamboo is the major note on me, definitely, and I'm a big fan of, so yay. No pepper so far, though it may be teaming with the cardamom for a hint of underlying spice. Probably oakmoss, which I'm not 100% sure what it smells like, but I'm guessing it's the sort of herbal undertone. There's some spiciness from the cardamom too. All around very very nice, a big surprise from SiA.

 

It does feel like a shadowy green place to me- definitely deep and green and dark. Very much like being in the woods on a cool, cloudy day.

 

I think this is the best BPAL bamboo scent for me so far- I like Holiday Moon a lot, but I like Whippoorwill best.

 

For me, this is a big winner. I like to have some less aggressive perfumes I can wear, and this is one that I can wear and not feel like my Snake Charmer is announcing itself to everyone nearby, you know? So yeah. 5 out of 5, and I'm thrilled to have found a bottle.

Edited April 5, 2006 by LittleGreyKitten

[brownbear]

Odd. This one started out smelling very soapy. As it dried it turned slightly cola-ish. I can't even describe what this smells like at this point. So strange. It's not especially woody, or green, or watery, or airy, or dark, but it's some type of combination of all these. Very intersting. I definitely don't need a whole bottle of this, but I'm glad I have an imp for sniffing time to time.

[blu°]

As so many others I was wary of this green scent, fearing it would be too cologney/masculine for me to wear, but alas, it isn't. It's quite lovely actually.

 

It is similar to some typical fresh masculine scents, but never gets that adstringent or sharp. I think it's the bamboo reed that saves it from becoming too harsh.

 

It's very green, wet, fresh, but still mysterious enough to not be a bore. It gets softer during wear until only a trace of warm oakmoss and possibly white musk is left on my wrists.

 

I like it a lot. Will have to see whether I need to hunt down a bottle, though. With more than hundred scents tucked away in my bpal store, I have to think well whether I'd really use more than an imp even with scents that I seem to love.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Ozone pine

 

On Skin: This screams ozone at first… very cool and ice blue. I get a soapy Irish Spring like I get with many ozone scents… very clean, but theres a slight spice… the pepper and cardamom perhaps? The Spanish moss and oakmoss provide the earthy ozone notes, and the juniper gives a vibrant fresh sting to the scent that cuts through everything. The bamboo is also fresh and adds to the clean and bright feel. Overall this scent seems very masculine to me. The throw is light to medium as is the wearing length. I like it, but it really isn’t me.

[edenssixthday]

Whippoorwill first strikes me as very "perfumey" – blended well enough that none of the individual notes dominate and all combine to create a new and different fragrance. It starts off as a really pretty fragrance that's very different than what I would normally wear. Unfortunately, after the dry-down, the cedar and juniper take front and center stage and everything else virtually disappears, and well, tree scents and I don't really go that well together, so it's something of an unpleasant experience when these particular notes burst forth. Fortunately for me, this doesn't last very long on my skin, maybe an hour at most. I'm going to make sure it goes to someone who can appreciate it much more than I can.

[Diana]

This goes on kind of aquatic, probably from the bamboo, and has a bit of a citrusy tinge to it, probably from the juniper. It dries down to a soft, slightly woodsy, slightly "clean" scent. It is a lot more delicate, but longwearing, than I'd think. It is pretty unisex; the ingredients are traditionally masculine, but nothing is overwhelming or particularly strong.

 

It's really lovely, and I hope I can find a suitable substitute in the General Catalogue.

 

And for what it's worth, no crazy birds followed me around, screaming, while waiting for my soul to escape while wearing this blend.

[sofiaviolet]

This smells like aloe-scented baby powder. Reading the description, I am very confused. It's pretty, but I think I will swap it because I have GCs that smell similar.

[steffanina]

Whippoorwill-

 

In Bottle: A little soapy, a little sweet and flowery. Nice.

 

Wet: Very strong soap/flower bloom at first.

 

Dry: Becomes a most pleasant light soapy floral. Very clean and not too ozone-y.

 

Overall: Nice. Not a frequent flyer of mine but nice.

[supremegoddessofall]

I get mostly the black pepper and cardamom. Definitely has a masculine quality to it. I like it, but I think I'll need a retest.

[themerrybaker]

I would have guessed Whippoorwill was musky cassia, but from the ingredients it looks like cardamom/juniper. I'm happy that the cedar behaves itself.

 

Overall: a spicy, subtle blend. Not much throw - maybe Red Phoenix's demure sister?

[chrisann]

I lucked out and bought a partial bottle for only 8 bucks! I really did NOT expect this to work on me, because my past experiances with pepper notes have not been good. Granted, it's been more pink peppercorn horror stories, but the dry aspect of pepper makes me leery. I kept seeing chit chat about this being a winner of a scent, and I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

 

On Wet: Whoa! Irish Spring? It makes me want to do that 'clean as a whistle' thing! Fresh, green, and earthy. Yet, on closer inspection... something spicy, warm underneath

 

Time goes by:I get that chai tea drydown, but still fresh smelling. It really confounds me how it's got this it's so wrong, it's right thing going for it. I'm really enjoying this scent. I can see how this can easily be a unisex fragrance. My chemistry really sweetens perfume, it amps up anything vanilla, honey, floral. So, on me this is very feminine.

 

Final thoughts: Very glad to have my partial bottle, and will not pass up getting a back up one someday. This is going to be a good work scent for me. I agree with what another member said, it is what Irish Spring wishes it could be. It's that and SO much more. Kinda like the sexy, naughty cousin. I cannot stop smelling my wrists.