Shub-Niggurath

[gingersnapp]

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

This is sexy and spicy and just plain gorgeous! I can smell the ginger first and foremost, and wish that I knew what the other notes (especially the aphrodisiacal spices) were because the ginger is tempered so nicely. I really love this.... can't think of much else than that to say!

[olympia301]

A kindly BPALer sent me an imp of Shub Niggourath, as it is discontinued I count it as precious and wanted to give it as serious a review as possible.

 

There is an Indian restaurant in my neighborhood called "Cumin" and I really have an ongoing love affair with their food. I like it better than the "five star" French restaurant in town. When you die and go to heaven, the food is catered from "Cumin". No kidding. The do magic in the kitchen, and somehow no matter how downtrodden or out of sorts you are when you leave that restaurant you are restored. Shub N. does the same thing.

 

I do smell the ginger, I smell cardamom as well as vanilla. Goodness knows what's in this blend but it is as inspired as the spicing done by the chef at Cumin. Lemon and butter and some bread-like component to backstop it all. This is really a gorgeous blend. It is particularly great for summer, but I can see it for Fall as well. Perhaps Beth thought of that in the timing of its release.

 

This is a pretty "foody" scent without the cloying phase. It stays light and attractive the entire time. It doesn't have much "throw", so I would say it is a private perfume which you will enjoy as a secret happiness when you wear it. I would recommend you try wearing it on the backs of your hands so that when you work during the day, the scent rises up to your nose and gives you little bursts of delight.

[Northernminx]

In the bottle this reminded me of Gingerbread Poppet so much that I thought I grabbed the wrong bottle this morning. This goes on spicey and dark, a definite evil gingersnap, with lots of dark herbs, patchouli and smokiness. It sweetens and the ginger really comes out as this dries, foody but not cloying and just a touch too herbal and smoke for true sweetness. This is gorgeous but I honestly like gingerbread poppet just a bit more on me as the herbs in this are turning a bit astringent with my chemistry. While I love it, I don't love it as much as other people do so off it goes.

 

ETA: I wrote this a few days ago and just posted it now... but damn if this hasn't really grown on me. It's a little more sophisticated than gingerbread poppet and further people keep stopping me to ask what that awesome smell is.

 

Back into the box o' keepers it goes!

[wolfie13]

Another successful LE for me!! I'm already lamenting the fact that I have only one lonely little bottle. This has distinctive phases for me and I love every one.

 

In the bottle: Mostly sharp, hot, freshly-grated ginger root - the most realistic fresh ginger smell ever! Dark baking spices swim in the background. Overall scent is definitely that of a strongly flavored, not-too-sweet ginger snap.

 

Initial application: Still LOTS of fresh cut ginger, but the other notes begin to differentiate themselves a bit more, as well as melding more with the ginger. (The ginger seems to stand apart more in the bottle.)

 

It loses the outright "cookie" quality on me fairly quickly. (which I'm thankful for, not being a huge foody scent person) and gains a deeper, darker, and complex aspect.

I start to smell cinnamon, nutmeg, clove for the spices and also herb and resin type stuff (bay leaf? frankincense?) which lends a somewhat smoky, earthy edge to the ginger and spice. I would not be surprised if this had some patchouli in it.

 

Hours later drydown 3- 4 hours: The faded version is a bit different yet again - soft ginger and black pepper and resin - which really does smell like amber to me as others have said (though i didn't really get amber from the other phases). And if so, it's my favorite type of amber note - it smells exactly as it does when I rub the actual grains of resin on my wrists - not powdery, perfumey or disappearing as it can sometimes be on me.

 

Darkly sexy and unique.

(ETA: I love it more every time I wear it. It's in my top 10 for sure)

Edited June 23, 2005 by wolfie13

[telesilla]

In the bottle: I was totally handicapped by the fact that the person I got it from said it turned to "evil pumpkin pie" on her. So of course I smelled pumpkin pie with a sort of earthy over tone when I opened the bottle. Not bad, really. Evil in a good way.

 

Wet: OK now I can get a hint of something baked or bready underneath it and it actually is smelling less like pumpkin pie as the gingers really come out. The earthiness -- the resins, I think -- keep it from being too foody, which is good since I'm still not sure how I feel about smelling like dessert.

 

Initial dry down: OK it's not evil pumpkin pie, it's evil ginger snaps with a little bit of citrus in the back ground. While not exactly foody, it's making me want to nibble on my own wrist.

 

A couple of hours later -- it's settled down to a nice complexly spicy ginger, what I'd imagine ginger loose incense to smell like. Still a little citrus to it. It's a keeper for sure. I'm not certain about trying to score a big bottle. With the spiciness and the ginger it's more a fall scent than a summer one; although I could see wearing it to an outdoor event on a summer night.

 

Over all reaction: the light dawns! Last Sunday we visited a friend and she made some really yummeh ginger bread. It was dark because she used blackstrap molasses and then she served it with lemon curd. This doesn't totally smell like that, but it's the association that my brain is creating -- seriously dark ginger bread with lemon.

 

GF's reaction -- She likes it and didn't think it was too foody.

 

Cat's reaction -- Yesterday while I was resting, I was up in bed watching FotR and Joxur would not leave me alone. After sniffing my hand, he basically claimed possession of it and insisted that I pet him almost continuously. Whenever I stopped, he hooked his paw over my wrist and tugged.

Edited June 9, 2005 by telesilla

[Sunbear]

I LOVE Shub-Niggurath. I think it's my favorite of all the BPALs I've smelled so far (which would be, let's see, 42). The ginger is fabulous -- wonderful, fresh, straight-off-the-cutting-board juicy sharp ginger. Behind that is a wonderful herbal smell.

 

To me this doesn't smell like gingersnaps. It's a more savory scent than that. It smells like some wonderful Vietnamese dish with lots of herbs and ginger... served, for some reason, with a biscuit, because there *is* a bakery smell, but to me it's American biscuits, not cookies.

 

Refreshing, fabulous, unlike anything I've ever smelled before. This is wonderful. I may need to find a big bottle....

[Koumori]

This is what I wanted Gingerbread Poppet to be. It's a burst of warm, fresh ginger, spicy and exotic. I can't smell much beyond the ginger itself, but maybe there's something to the aphrodisiacal components, because my SO keeps telling me how good I smell... but then, my SO also keeps saying I smell like cookies. I got a decant of this in a swap, and I'm going to do my best to find more, especially since it doesn't have much staying power on me and I'd like to be able to reapply often.

[JazzieCazzie]

There is not much I can add here since everyone before me has said it so well ... as a big ginger fan, I had had such high hopes for Gingerbread Poppet but it just didn't "do it" for me ...

 

But wow, does Shub Niggurath DO IT FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is exactly what I had been hoping GP would be but wasn't ... I am transported here and can't stop smelling my arms and if I could eat them I would do that too but then I couldn't type.

 

Shelldo said

on my skin OMG OMG OMG

and that is EXACTLY what I had written down on my notepad where I chronicle my reviews.

 

I have a bottle of this but now must run off and try to acquire another if possible ... This has shot to my Top 10 with no trouble and BEGS, I tell you, BEGS to be made into a bottle of lotion as well ...

 

REVISITING AND RE-REVIEWING APRIL 2013:

 

Working my way through my entire collection of BPAL, reviewing for the first time in some cases, re-reviewing in others. Today, oh happy happy day, is Shub Day.

 

IN THE IMP: Ginger ginger ginger and something fizzy cola-ish ... is it possible that one of the resins is opoponax which, I've finally figured out, seems to be the "cola scent"?

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: This is a WYSIWYG scent. It is identical in the imp and on my skin and that is a VERY good thing. To me, at least wet, it's not gingerbread and it's not fresh ginger. It's gingerY. It's spicy. It's sweet. It's hot. It's ... indescribably delicious.

 

DRYDOWN: The gingery scent remains and cools off a little. It is still divine. The non-BPAL perfume that was always my signature scent (Andiamo by Borghese) went on spicy floriental but when it dried down, I used to say my shoulders smelled like gingerbread and it's a very very similar drydown. And it lasts for a really long time which is fantastic.

 

OVERALL: This has been, since I first tried it, and remains 8 years later, one of my all-time favorite BPAL scents. It is SO different and unique and I can't possibly have enough of it.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 5 as in "5 gingers."

Edited April 8, 2013 by JazzieCazzie

[requieminblack]

Ok, I have been pacing the floor waiting for this one to arrive and it showed up on Friday, squee! My favorite BPAL is Gingerbread Poppet and I have my fingers crossed this just as good! OMG eeeeevil gingersnaps, here I come!

 

First sniff from the bottle- Fresh chopped ginger root and... a ton of lemons?

 

After 15 minutes- *sniff sniff* Huh. While this is foody, it is not a sweet ginger cookie like scent to me at all. *sniff* It is more a more savory ginger, as someone else mentioned, like Vietnamese or Thai food. I don't smell any vanilla or cookies in it, just fresh lemony ginger root. Throw some green onion and some garlic in and you will have a nice stir fry!

 

After 30 minutes- WHERE ARE THE EEEEVIL GINGERSNAPS HIDING?!? Well, poo. This has gone all lemon on me. Big fat yellow juicy lemons. I am sooooo sad I didn't get evil gingersnaps from this.

 

Summery- I was really, really looking forward to this one. I do like it, it's just not the eeeeeevil gingersnaps scent I was hoping for. I don't see myself wearing this alone though it will be nice to layer with.

Edited June 12, 2005 by requieminblack

[Atalanta Pendragonne]

Ok, this is essentially what I already said in my LJ, but...

 

Ohhhh, it makes me want to be a gibbering cultist dancing naked around a bonfire all over again. Deep shadowy ginger and smoke, perhaps a hint of molasses? I would go on a multistate crime spree with this scent.

 

I'm not getting any lemon here, just rich deep spicy goodness. And when I say "spice", I mean I half expect this stuff to make my eyes turn blue-on-blue. I'm that blown away.

 

 

[ephemera]

In the Bottle: This is heavenly. It smells like spice cake. No! It smells just like the Snickerdoodle cookies I love so much!! Cinnamon & sugar and other spices.

 

Wet: A little more of the spice and less of the sugary-ness, but it's just as good now as it was in the bottle. I'm tempted to gnaw on my wrists, they smell so good. I decide I against it because I'm pretty sure that's reason to be committed.

 

Dry down: The ginger is coming out more, and the sweetness is fading. Still, the scent makes me very happy.

 

Hungry though. It makes me hungry!!

 

 

 

I must start reading up on Lovecraft & Cthulu, because I want to wear this scent (and Miskatonic U, when I get it) and read about what inspired these.

[Lady_Ell]

OK, now that I've worn it nonstop for a few days, let me give a formal review of Shub-Niggurath.

 

Starts off kind of astringent-hot-ginger, with a floury undertone. Not flower, but flour. Burns for a bit, then settles into the absolute most gorgeousest hot-spicy-ginger-cookie-candied-ginger-thing you would ever want. Like a mix of freshly ground dried ginger, crystallized ginger, and fresh ginger to give it that extra bite/kick, and bit of sugar to balance things out.

 

I say this all the time, but this is probably my favorite oil blend so far. I mean, it's seriously amazing. I can't stop smelling my arm, I forgot to put on deodorant when i went to a show tonight and it goes totally well with my own stink and I was glad I forgot to put deodorant on because the oil just matched me so well and made the whole package feel *right*. Sorry if that's more than you all wanted to know, but it's true.

 

WHY did I not order like 100 bottles of this? Shit.

[Nadirah]

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet since I havent read all the reviews, but this is GingerBread Poppet and 3 Witches combined. ABSOLUTELY fucking gorgeous. I put some on last night and fell in love. I took a chance and decided to mix it into a spray and it works great at scenting my hair, and body. I really do hope this is brought back because it is a masterpeice. I get crisp ginger, pepper, clove, vanilla, and cinnamon.

[quimerula]

Wet this one is ginger and spices, like the smelling of the stroopwafels (cookies from the Netherlands, with butter and spices, that you put over your cup of tea while it's resting for a while... and then the cookie goes smooth and hot ant the butter melts and mmm! ). It has a soft resine bottomline.

As it dries down I get a citrusy smell that makes it loose the "cookie smelling" and avoids it from being way too sweet for my tastes.

Dry it's fresh ginger with a touch of lemon.

I don't know why, but something in this perfume makes me think about the last summer days!

[Yagathai]

In The Bottle: Ginger, with a sweet undertone. There's a hint of spice and a faint citrus odour. This is another deceptively simple scent.

 

For the record, I don't know that I'd pick sweet, spicy ginger to encapsulate the smell of The Black Goat of the Hills with a Thousand Young, but that's just me.

 

On My Skin: As soon as it hits the skin, the ginger fades and a sharp citrus note takes the forefront. As it dries, the citrus odor fades, and what I get instead is a... sharp burning sensation? A discoloration of the skin? Goddamn it, not again.

For the record, the citrus fades and the ginger comes to the fore, with a strong undertone of spice and sweetness. More than any other oil, the smell of this in the bottle and on my skin is almost the same.

 

Final verdict: This oil has throw, stay, a wonderful scent and I'm allergic to it. Sadly, unlike Whippoorwill (to which I was also allergic), the allergic reaction didn't start until I got on the train, so I can't wash the oil off. By the time I got to work, it had been totally absorbed into the skin. On the other hand, several co-workers commented that I smelled just like gingerbread -- that's not bad, right?

[Racecar Gibson]

Oh, I'm so sad. On me, this has a distinct Butter McButtery note that I can't live with. I'm so surprised since I thought I would love the three gingers but that butteriness just doesn't go away and I'm always sniffing myself to see if I like it yet. Nope! One for the swaps.

[oatmealneko]

This is pure gingersnaps on me, warm, but slightly dark. It's very spicy & very gingery. Towards the latter end of the drydown, I think there's this amber scent that separates out from the gingersnaps. It's not that strong unless I'm sniffing close to the skin.

 

Lots of lasting power, though, 8+ hrs.

[darkling]

At first, Shub-Niggurath was strong, orangey citrus paired with ginger.

 

After a few minutes, the citrus began to fade and some spices surfaced to meld with the ginger.

 

This smelled to me like true gingerbread much more so than Gingerbread Poppet and it was decidedly less sweet.

 

There was nothing in this blend that made me think of "evil" and it faded fairly quickly (within two hours).

 

I like Shub-Niggurath but I don't love it as I expected based on others' reviews.

[Little Bird]

There isn't too much to say here that hasn't already been said. Add me to the list of Shub Niggurath fans.

 

I've never smelled Gingerbread Poppet (though I've always wanted to try it, just can't ever manage to get an imp or bottle of it, lol) but Shub Niggurath is exactly what I had hoped it would smell like. When I first put it on, it smells like gingerbread cookies... then it dries down into something wetter, spicier, and more mouth watering. It is foodie, but not just foodie or overwhelmingly so.

 

Shub Niggurath has that same wet spicy/almost citrus note that I loved so much in Cerberus.

 

Mmm... I'm so glad that I got a bottle of this.

[Anita_Blake]

Oh.

My.

God.

 

I am the Cardamom Kitten.

 

This is seriously, seriously good. PKWench, its all that you said and more.

 

Why did I not buy more than one 5 ml....??? And even that I had to get on evilbay cos I was an arse and forgot to get it while it was out from the Lab???

 

Beth, if you make more of this again, I will kidnap and bring you *random sexy actor of your choice* in a black velvet box, with a ribbon on his head.

 

Must... have... more...

 

[Rheliwen]

Wow, this one is strong and potent!

 

The ginger in this is in-your-face, fresh ginger to the max! It's about all I smell for the first 5 minutes. As it dries, some of the bakery notes start to pop.

 

10 minutes in, the spice is really starting to intensify! Wait a minute, it smells like Red Hots!! Seriously...Red Hots.

 

About an hour later it has died back down to gingerbread men with Red Hot buttons...not gumdrop buttons, those are for those nice men over there! These gingermen are the rebels, the tough guys who like to rough other gingermen up for fun.

Edited July 6, 2005 by Rheliwen

[sihaya09]

All day long, I've smelled this wonderful, spicy, warm scent. My nose wanders to my wrist-- that smell is me!

 

Shubby and I were meant to be. It's a divine gingery scent-- everything I wanted Gingerbread Poppet to be and found it lacking. It's not too cakey that it distracts from the purity of the spice.

 

 

This is going in full rotation for the fall, so I may need to acquire a second bottle. What a hit. I bet it'd layer beautifully with Milk Moon.

[isyche]

As everyone's said, Shub-Niggurath is yummy sharp raw ginger, very warming and savory...I was afraid of getting gingerbread from this because I don't really like ginger cookies, but it's not, it's fresh ginger root over an incensey/spicy base that's kind of like Snake Oil on me (the aphrodisiacal spices?). It's also quite strong and long-lasting on me. I like it a lot.

[tempete]

I got a decant of Shub-Niggurath from the wonderful ChupaChup!

 

Initially it does smell of evil gingersnap cookies to me. Fortunately, though (since I hate smelling like specific foods), the foodiness fades quickly and I'm left with a delightfully spicy scent that is warmed up and smoothed out a tad by the amber note. Later in the drydown, a very dark herbal note creeps in, adding an appropriate edge to the blend.

 

I can see why so many people love the Shub. If it were to become available again, I would probably buy a bottle, but for the present moment, I'm content with my little decant. I'll leave the bottles of Shub-Niggurath on swap/sell lists and eBay to those who really desperately want them .

 

ETA that I caved and snatched a bottle from a forum sale (thanks darkling!). The drydown is so awesome on me that I had to have more.

Edited July 31, 2005 by tempete

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Gingery to the max! It is a sharp fragrance that clings to you; corrupt and dark but with spikes of vibrant green. To me this is a heavily herbal fragrance, with Ginger-Root-in-Chinese-Kitchens as the strongest note by far. My mind's other associations with ginger - Pink-Ginger-On-Your-Sushi-Plate and White-Ginger-in-Perfumes are not detected specifically, but I am sure they are there.

On me: I'm definitely not getting ginger in the baked-desert gingerbread sense; this is fresh-cut ginger and I am reminded of a citrusy lemon. It's nice but on me it's not great. My skin amplifies the lemon-aspect rather than the baked-spices or the greenness, which I would have enjoyed more, I think. This fragrance makes me think of food - specifically a fish sauce my grandmother used to make - but not in a sexy, seductive way.