Shub-Niggurath

[raisin]

The lust incense of a corrupted Astarte. A blend of ritual herbs and dark resins, shot through with three gingers and aphrodisiacal spices.

This just smells like gingerbread candle to me. There's something kind of pleasantly bitter that works it's way through after a little wear, but darned if I'm going to smell like artificial baked goods to get there. Edited June 2, 2010 by raisin

[zombiewench]

This is just amazing. Dark gingerbread indeed!! Everything about it is wonderful. It turns a bit more woodsy on me as it dries down, but still just wonderful. Apparently has quite a bit of throw to it, one lady walking by said it smelled like Christmas near my cube and that it made her happy, and another coworker all of a sudden said it smelled like pie when I put some on and really liked it. This has quickly become a favorite!!

[tawaen]

Snickerdoodles!

 

That is all. It doesn't morph much once you apply and lasts for hours. I have no idea how old my frimp is because it came through swap, but I'm getting the delicious scent of baked goods, sans evil undertones.

 

Good enough to use the imp, but I have other spicy blends that don't go quite so foody. However, this would probably be amazing to layer with other things. :-)

[CitizenBree]

This is freshly baked, homemade gingerbread. That's all. This will make a perfect fall/winter scent. Very foodie.

 

Throw is decent and it has some lasting power.

 

[ajansuz]

I bought a 5 oz. bottle based on the soap I got from the trading post, because I loved it that much. I wore it to bed last night, which may not have been the best idea. I kept smelling myself, and it smelled so darn good, I kept waking up from it. Plus ginger is a very stimulating, energizing scent. Maybe something more appropriate to wake up to! Anyway...

 

I suppose I'm very lucky this doesn't go foody on my skin. It flirts with it a little bit but never quite makes it there. In the bottle, the scent is very sharp, the bite of ginger, something bitter that makes me think of myrrh, maybe even a little sweet of frankincense and a little pepper.

 

Wet the ginger bites the nose sharply. That tickle of pepper seems to get stronger. This blend literally warms my skin without burning me, so I don't think there's actually cinnamon in it, although I detect an undertone of it. Cinnamon usually gives me the worst sort of contact rash. If it's there, it's spare.

 

On the dry down is when the magic happens with Shub. It's an incredibly warm scent with a dark, bitter undertone. I've honestly never smelled anything quite like it to compare it to. People keep saying gingerbread, but it doesn't go bread-y on me at all. Just this rich melange of warm spices, and something of an amber scent develops.

 

It was still lingering on my wrists this morning before my shower, very sweet and faint, but positively delicious. My pillow still has the lovely scent clinging to it. I am SO glad I bought this as a bottle, because come fall, this is going to be my signature scent.

 

5/5

[FathomBelow]

I'm not an especially big ginger fan, but this got so many good reviews I just had to give it a try! In the bottle, it's all very austere, monastic wood-incense, very similar to Cathedral. On wet, the ginger shows itself immediately, and the woods gradually give way to a bread-y smell that makes the scent as a whole smell overwhelmingly of gingersnaps. Then, it turns into a very strong, even rank, medicinal ginger. Like a Chinese herb shop. I hope this stage passes quickly... And when my back was turned, this became a stunningly gorgeous, sweet, light ginger, almost floral on me! Like ginger blossom with more oomph. This part would be an excellent work scent - it's youthful and energetic yet professional all at once.

 

I LOVE it and I'm so glad I took a chance on it! On me, this will be great for summer and early fall.

Edited July 28, 2010 by AmberApple

[impolight]

:::SHUB-NIGGURATH:::

 

The lust incense of a corrupt Astarte?

 

*gulp*

 

This should be a spiritual trainwreck, then, considering it is described thus, it is the Lab's, and it is Lovecraftian...

The bar of soap bearing the same descriptor was recently noticed at the Trading Post, so the assumption is that this fragrance has gotten lots of favorable fanfare already.

From the Bottle: a deep, slow inhalation of this brings hot, woody, caramelly spiciness. This is a lit clove cigarette, a caramel lolly-pop, warm cognac, and a patent-leather mini-skirt.

 

This spells trubble.

 

This is wee, warm slices of triple-spice apple pie with caramel sauce just covering all the right spots on an otherwise unclothed Supermodel/gymnast.

Painfullyummy.

Shub-Niggurath is, so far, creamy spice and fruity sucvelence.

It is only when the bottle is held directly beneath the nostrils and huffed repeatedly that the Ginger is located amid all the perverted and twitching madness that boils like electrified chicle.

Shub-Niggurath is a naughty, guilty, gooey-good bite of evilisciousness.

Flirty, dirty and perverty!

Too bad the incense hasn't been noticeable yet...

On the Skin: HOLY AMP!!!!

The Ginger now sky-rockets to the front and center boldly!

This also seems to have a vicious edge of Cinnamon!

Shub-Niggurath is very much like Pickled Imp... with an obsidian-edged blade held up to your pulse.

Shub-Niggurath burns with black and rust coloured flames...

At this phase, the creamy and caramelly notes have long gone the way of the archeopteryx. This is brutally smoldering.

After it had mellowed enough to stop making the eyes sting, other elements began to surface; the incense is wonderful... More like the shin-bone length, ebony wands of the stuff than the daintier things that fit fifty to a small, blue box.

There is an almost apple twinge to this, too... like a spiced-cider that you could sink your teeth into.

The Ginger really smolders here, too...

This is grated, fresh Ginger,not the powdery, bleached-yellow stuff.

This Ginger is a far cry from a cookie.

This rhizome looks as though it's thinking of choking you in your sleep.

Several Hours Later: While Cinnamon has relinquished it's preponderance of presence, the Ginger lingers to a surprising degree.

The Incensey note is very nice at this phase; almost like the way your garments might smell after you had spent a couple of hours lingering in the company of some gentrified bohemian mystic with a flair for the stuff...

On the way here, it went through an almost coppery or iron phase. At one point, it smelled like blood in ocean water had found it's way into the mix. Molten metal adjacent to an open wound. Incense resin sizzling and popping on white-hot iron.

Here in way's final phases, Shub-Niggurath has proven to be a versatile and excelsior fragrance.

The experience had with Shub-Niggurath so far indicates that the Trading Post's soap version of this will definitely be to die for.

On Him, Shub-Niggurath is a heavily muscled fire-breather who is devoted to your every ecstacy.

On Her, Shub-Niggurath is a toussle with the velvet, slinky, tongue-teaser in a Boris Vallejo favourite.

Shub-Niggurath is everything a person could ask for in a BPAL formula.

This should be a smash!

Thank the Lab for putting the sexy back in Lovecraft!

A 5.5 out of 5!

[ravenscanary]

Normally I try to break down my reviews a little, but...

 

The devil's own gingerbread basically sums it up. Rich, real ginger with a little sweetness (more frankincense than sugar) and a dark herbal undertone.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: smells like cinnamon caramel vanilla butter baked goods. Very yummmy.

Drydown: goes through a piercing ginger phase that frightens me for second, then subsides. Goes back to warm cinnamon spice baked goodness but with some sweet resins burning in the background. Smells like my house during winter weekends!

Edited September 9, 2010 by SophieCedar

[Gold Dust Kitten]

Shub-Niggurath was one of the first decants I received from a forumite. I'm surprised I never reviewed it! I have the very aged decant, and a fresh imp from the Lab. The decant contains a very deep amber oil that is very syrupy, and the Lab version is lighter oil of normal consistency. The newer imp is a deep, spicy ginger, with not much sugar. The oil in the decant is much sweeter, and the ginger is a bit more mellow, but not enough to say that it lost it's bite. I have a couple other ginger based perfumes (Ginger Skulls & Flesh Eating Reindeer), but this is the KING.

 

I wish I knew whether the decant was the original Shub...

[plainjean]

This is a review for a fairly new lab imp of Shub.

 

All the reviews that say "evil gingerbread" are dead on. Indirectly sniffing it, it's spicy, tangy (in the way that only good gingerbread can be) gingerbread with a bit of what smells to me like orange zest or lemon zest, but when I sniff my wrist closely I get a dusty, woody sort of incense mixed with the gingerbread.

[MichelleB675]

Gingerbread! yes EVIL gingerbread! It stays the same from beginning to end, yummy, but also a bit dark/evil.

 

Lasts all day and has a great throw. LOVE it!

[lamenteuse]

In the bottle: Fresh chooped gingered covered in herb and spice

On the skin: the scent of dry ginger spice with something else behind it. Mace, pepper, and clove

Dry: Like unsweetened gingerbread. Thick, hot, and spicy, but no sugar.

 

LOVE IT!

[subtlesiren]

This scent just goes to show how important it is to give an oil a chance on your skin before giving up on it. Smelling this in the vial, I didn't like it at all, especially fresh from the lab. It smelled like rancid ginger in a headshop. Blah. But several weeks later, I gave hesitatingly put it on my wrist and cleavage/neck. Within minutes, I could tell this was a winner. Whoever said this is evil gingerbread got it on the money. Naughty gingerbread also comes to mind Hmm, naughty food ? At least that's what it smells like to me. A three year old boy in my class gave me a hug, sniffed the air, and said, "Strawberries." From what I've heard about Shub, I will be interested to try it out on guys my own age

[ferocissima]

Ia, ia, Cthulhu fhtagn!

 

I was originally introduced to BPAL because a friend of mine found out I do scholarly work on Lovecraft and sent me a link. It is only appropriate that my one true BPAL scent is from this line, and that scent is Shub-Niggurath.

 

I cannot say enough good things about Shub-Niggurath. I just absolutely adore it. I would bathe in it. It smells good on my skin, my pillow, and my hair. People stop me to comment on it in the street. I had someone call me to tell me they were thinking about how I smelled when they saw me an hour earlier, and what is the name of that perfume?

 

Wet: As a Lovecraftian perfume should be, Shub-Niggurath is deceptive at first. On the skin, the first waft is a warm, foody, baked-goods smell, sweet and comforting like a freshly baked pie. Nice throw, all toasted ginger and sugar. Gentle waves of baked goods as soft as thick quilts. You fantasize about aprons and warm cider. Your coworker says something smells like Christmas.

 

Dry: Suddenly, you notice an emerging strangeness. Is it-- lemon? There is a creeping sense of the weird. What was comforting mutates, becoming ominous. Where did the innocence of that ginger go? All of a sudden it starts smelling wet. Woodiness, a dark herbal quality, a note of acrid. The deep spice note suddenly shows up, and then we're at the well-earned "Satan's Gingersnap." Shub-Niggurath is the food that you find yourself with a mounting craving for even though it looks somehow... off. It can't hurt to take ONE bite--- right?

 

Hours later, the scent reminds me of a very clean tattoo studio-- Lysol citrus mingling with an aged, pervasive incense.

 

All in all, this is my favorite BPAL scent. Though I haven't seen it commented on elsewhere, it's worth noting that this also pairs well with clinging environmental smells. Whereas some BPAL scents clash with my shampoo or deoderant or what have you, I've never had anything clash with Shub-Niggurath. In fact, I've noticed there are good combos: my cheap hairspray gives it a vampy vibe a la Jailbait, spilled coffee gives it a coffee bistro smell, and I hate to say it but Shub-Niggurath + fresh tobacco smoke = SMOLDERING sexy. Draws attention like a magnet. BPAL should make a Shub tabacco blend so I'll have less of an excuse to smoke when I'm getting my hunt on

Edited February 19, 2011 by ferocissima

[aoiphe]

Chiming in with the 'evil gingerbread' chorus, but with one important variation:

 

...if you are curious what the 'ominous, creeping evil' note is, the Lab's tobacco/smoke note is definitely a large part of it. [Confirmed by my tobacco-note migraine - why must it ruin my fun with Shub-Niggurath, Manhattan, and so many others?]

[Gin]

Evil gingersnaps? Yup. This has a lemony aspect that I get from a lot of BPAL ginger blends. Under that is all dark gingery spice.

[Tiada]

I love that this is being referred to as "Evil gingersnaps"! That's PERFECT!

 

This is completely gingersnaps, but without any hint of sweetness or sugar that some are covered in. This is hot, spicy, gingersnaps. I get a tiny bit of cinnamon (a bit like Red Hots) which just adds to the spicy.

 

I don't know if this is the kind of scent that suits me, but I do enjoy it!

[revinn]

Something must be wrong with me..

 

In the bottle, I smell sinister gingerbread, yes. But on my skin?

 

It smells like aquatic ginger and citrus. Huh? It's one of the most aquatic scents I've tried, but also foody, and citrusy. This is so strange..

 

I'll retest it tomorrow, as my nose may be broken from smelling so many new oils, but hm..so strange.

[Ella LaRose]

yup, a dark gingerbread cookie, with molasses. I need to try it again and see what I think, but right now I like the ginger part, just not the cookie.

edited to add.

It is very sweet and cookie like for me, which I am not too into, but a couple hours later it turns into a nice vanilla ginger spice that isn't that bad. not sure if it is a keeper though:/

Edited May 20, 2011 by Ella LaRose

[TheFrenchWaffle]

As an avid reader of Lovecraft I was overjoyed to be able to try this scent out.

In the bottle: Ginger, sexy sexy ginger and spice.

Wet: Warm ginger laced with something citrus and spicy, love!

Dry: It turns into a very slight bubblegum-like scent laced with ginger. Not overly bubblegum-y but enough sweetness to suggest so. All together not a bad scent, the ginger really plays up on my skin

 

Final verdict: While I would have preferred a much more straight-forward spicy ginger, the sweetness of this scent actually works nicely on my skin. I do agree with the general consensus that this smells like "evil gingersnaps", I can't stop smelling my skin. Now I want to actually bake some gingersnaps....

[imaginepageant]

Review from 2005.

 

In the Vial: Bright, loud ginger, dry herbs, and soft spice, all very sweet. Strangely enough, this reminds me a lot of peanut butter cookies! This is a very warm and toasty blend, very comforting. The feel of it is a cross between cuddling up in a blanket before a fireplace with a plate of cookies in your lap, and a sunny barren forest on an atypically warm autumn's day.

 

Wet: It goes woodsy for a brief few seconds before the sweetness amps up and turns this into an even more delicious foody scent. The ginger calms down and isn't so bright anymore, but most definitely still there, and strong. I'm catching something like cinnamon. The peanut butter cookie smell is fading, but there's still a hint of it.

 

Dry: Still pretty much the same!

 

An Hour Later: More sweet spice has come out, turning this even more foody, which I'm not complaining about! My skin has turned it a little musky, and very dry. Otherwise, it hasn't changed.

 

Overall: I can see why this is such a coveted blend! It's deliciously autumn in a way that no other autumn blend is.

[virusq]

This is going to sound horrible, but I can’t get past the bottle to try this one. It smells sickly sweet, like something rotting, to me. It was a gift; I would never have purchased it on my own. I’m sure it’s wonderful, but it hits way too many wrong notes on me.

[invisible iris]

In the imp, it smells quite spicy.

 

Freshly applied, the sweetness hits me. Sweet ginger spice. The ginger is effervescent and sugary (like candied ginger), hot (dusty hot like powdered ginger is hot), and tangy-bitter-sour (like raw ginger). I can actually distinguish the different kinds of ginger. I really enjoy this phase of Shub-Niggurath, because I love the different textures of intense, nose-tickling spicy.

 

After about an hour though, most of the intense spicy has burned off. Shub becomes more of a warm ginger snap cookie, I think smoothed by vanilla (maybe tonka), and some frankincense. Warming and delicious, kitcheny and homey. Not as Satanic as I was hoping. I like this phase OK, but not as much as that initial blast of sparkling ginger heat.

 

Verdict: While I find the wet phase to be interesting and fun, the dry stage is a bit boring. I've tried several blends now that dry down to spicy-cookie so it's hard to be as excited about this one.

[Honey]

OMG, instant LOVE!

 

 

 

Imp: Smells like heavy perfume mixed with spices, mostly ginger and cinnamon. A bit boozy as well.

 

Wet: Cinnamon, ginger and, I am guessing, nutmeg, clove and perhaps cardamom! This is.. like a ginger-heavy gingerbread! I get the comparison to Gingerbread Poppet.

 

Dry. Heavy, heavy ginger, sweat spicy cinnamon and a good dash of clove. Ohhh, I love this. So sinister and sexy and.. just me!

 

 

Must. Get. Bottle.


2021 update:

It's 10 years later, and this is still one of my favorite GC scents!
I wouldn't describe it as boozy anymore, nor do I smell any clove in it to be honest.
It's more like gingerbread with vanilla cream on me - very spicy, creamy and full of nice baked-good vibes without any iffy side notes that I usually get.

Edited March 23, 2021 by Honey