Cthulhu

[agirlnamedfury]

A creeping, wet, slithering scent, dripping with seaweed, oceanic plants and dark, unfathomable waters.

 

Pure dishwasher detergent.

Edited July 13, 2016 by agirlnamedfury

[LizziesLuck]

Me and aquatics don't get along - but I mean, it's Cthulhu! You gotta try it, right?

 

That's a lot of soap, right there. Nice soap. If I wanted to smell like soap, this would be the way to go, for sure. I was expecting something a lot darker, but could just be my skin chem It turns lots of things to soap.

[The Mistlethrush]

Okay, here goes with my first review. I was excited to try this one because, well, Cthulhu...and I like aquatic scents.

 

Got the imp in today's mail, so the agitation of shipping and the cool temps as it waited in the mailbox may have something to do with how it smells. I have noticed that I sometimes don't care for a scent when I first get it and then when it settles after a few weeks they smell different.

 

In the imp I was smacked in the face with Irish Spring which is not a scent I'm all that fond of---same when wet with the added sharpness that I associate with men's colognes. I've learned to hang on and give a scent a bit of time and on the drydown, the Irish Spring faded to a tolerable level and the briny smell rose up a bit, very fresh with an undersmell of bladdarwrack and sea lettuce that had begun to rot and then dried in the sand past the high tide mark. It sounds gross, but it's a smell I associate strongly with the beaches I lived near in Connecticut for most of my life and it's not unplesant even though the decriptives may sound like it is. About an hour in, the fresher oceanic scent I was expecting kicked in.

 

I smelled soapiness from begining to the last fade and I didn't care for that too much, but the scent is intriguing enough that I will hang on to it and try it after it's settled and aged a bit. I do wish I would have caught more of the unfathomable darkness vibe, but alas, no.

Edited November 13, 2016 by The Mistlethrush

[Beary Strange]

There's no point in dividing this into stages because to me it smells exactly the same in the imp, wet and dry. It smells like Cool Water in soap form. I also get the comparison to dish washer detergent and Irish Spring. Or if you've ever smelled a candle that's supposed to smell of the sea. It's not a bad smell, just one of those scents I don't think of as a perfume. But, if you're having a DIY spa day at home, this would be a good scent.

[freyasfae]

I got this as a frimp in a swap. I have learned that I really like sea scents, but I am super particular about them - most of them I enjoy the scent of, but won't wear as a perfume. This is one of them because it's all sea to me. It reminds me of the sea spray drawer satchets I would buy when I went to the beach during the summer as a kid. I loved the reminder of my visit.

[Mermaid-on-Land]

Pure dude's aftershave on me, and way too sharp, like a guy who over-sprayed axe. Swapped away to a co-worker who loves fresh aquatic scents and it wore really well on her tho! She brought out all the subtly floral notes and complexity of the scent. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ skin chemistry is weird. Oh well, I have plenty of other nice aquatics I can enjoy 😊

[lizabelle]

I had to know what Cthulhu smells like, but I guess Cthulhu smells like...limes? And then something sort of green and slimy, and then a dryer sheet. Occasionally the lime will float in and out of the soapy drydown, which I suppose is more tolerable than smelling like I bathed with laundry soap. Approximate time between all that was maybe five minutes. Aquatics don't like me, and this one in particular has a very strong soapy smell. No, thank you.

[gloame]

It’s funny to think of something called Cthulhu as “darling” but this scent really is. It came as a frimp in my Lupercalia order and I was delighted since it had been on my wishlist.

If you like aquatics, this one is top notch. It has a quirky clean scent, but it’s not soapy to me. It actually smells slithery! I love it. It’s going to the BF because he loves water scents and he’s quirky, too. Can’t wait to smell it on him.

Where I'd wear it: Husbands in summer

[ShannonElisabethJones]

So this smelled a lot more blue than I thought it would. I thought it would smell more green. This smells like Zest soap, or some other blue-colored soap.

 

It's not too unpleasant, but it's not for me. I'll give this imp to my husband - he does well with the super-fresh scents.

[Bones613]

This smells like industrial cleaner on me, like all BPAL aquatics that I've tried before. If you've had bad BPAL aquatic experiences, this scent won't be the one that changes your opinion.

[Lucchesa]

The Lab frimped me two of this one, so I had to try it, especially for the name. But like all aquatics, it smells like laundry detergent on my skin. Oh well, my hopes were never high.

[goblingrin]

Received this as a frimp a while ago and I still remain tossed on my opinion of it. In the imp it has a salty tone to it that makes me think of the ocean but it's very clean, too. On my skin, from wet to hours dry it just smells like a dryer sheet; not a bad scent, but not at all what I was hoping for, either.

[follis]

In Bottle: Very wet and green. Sort of like the sea, a bit floral initially.

 

On my partner: like disinfectant soap, that sort of smell... It mellows and becomes more floral.

On me: Citrus, slightly sweet. It does make me think of soap but not as much as on my partner.

 

1 hour later on my partner: KFC disinfectant. Hmmmm. He said he would probably still wear it haha!

1 hour later on me: Much less soap, more like the ocean in terms to that salty air smell but sweet. It fades really quickly on me-- probably a good thing. I did get KFC wipes vibes for a bit too.

 

I don't think I would ever wear it but my partner is happy about having the character scent around. We purchased both an imp and a bottle-- will see how the bottle ages.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: Exactly as described! Wow! How do they do this?

Wet on skin: A bit richer & slightly more solid, but otherwise exactly the same as in the imp.

Dry on skin: A little musky & slightly less wet (a little more like wet skin next to the ocean instead of *in* the ocean), but otherwise pretty much the same.

After a few hours: Much more musky & dry now, like the eerie ocean has completely dried on my skin instead of being in it (so basically, what happened to the notes when it dried continued to happen to them).

Verdict: Wet & dry on skin (& in the imp) I LOVE this, but it's not quite as nice a few hours later. It's not bad at all, it's just not quite as amazing as it starts off. I'll definitely be getting a fair bit of use out of it though!

[spookyumbrella]

Very fresh and soapy - also super strong! This turns into pure laundry freshness on me and I love it! This is one of the few "clean" scents I've ever tried that i like!

[doomsday_disco]

Aquatics do not get along with my skin chemistry, but who can say no to trying Cthulhu?

 

Usually, aquatics don't smell soapy to me in the vial. They just turn that way on my skin. With Cthulhu, it smells like Irish Spring soap in the imp and ends up being salty Irish Spring soap on me.

 

One day, I will find an aquatic that works on me, but today is not that day.

Edited December 30, 2018 by doomsday_disco

[Soupy Twist]

A very accurate salt-water storm. Brilliant accomplishment; nothing I would wear.

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Very reminiscent of every "fresh scent" dish soap and laundry detergent I've purchased. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it's more of the same. As it dries, there's still a lot of salty aquatic, along with the emergence of a note that's just a bit tart. I'd say it has just a hint of something that reminds me of citrus - and feels like sunshine. It's just enough to make the blend stop smelling like artificial sea scent and start smelling more like being outdoors at the ocean for real. 

 

Oops! Spoke too soon. Once everything has had time to dry and warm and develop, the tart note disappears, and we're back to a soapy aquatic. 

 

After thirty minutes of this, I'm ready to call Cthulhu just not a match for my scent tastes or skin chemistry. 

[jojocialist]

wet: omg. this does to me what camphor does. i can't explain why, but i want to keep sniffing it and sniffing it until i get a headache, it is SO GOOD. it reminds me of men's cologne, like the generic kind, but it's got this fresh, saltwater wave to it. bay rum? inky and briny and addicting. holy god. honestly i can't even pick out any of the notes here, it's just one big glorious tidal wave of huffing-induced migraine. "crisp, sharp, manly" describes it very well.
drydown: much softer. the cologne aspect is mostly gone - mostly - and now it's murky and briny and sinister and cold. it's like someone put old spice on a skeleton they found in a locked car that had been driven into a lake.
verdict: 10/10 mountains walking or stumbling, god!

[cyborgutena]

To me, it doesn't really match the description - not particularly creeping, slithering, or dark. That said, it slowly grew on me and I really enjoy wearing it!

 

It's a very clean masculine aquatic to start with and as it dries down, a mysterious sort of wood-perfumed-with-incense thing comes out behind it. Mysterious logs sitting in the water? In a very pleasant way.

 

I sometimes put it on for situations where it's more appropriate to wear a scent that's a little more traditionally perfume/cologne-y. I wore it to a (successful) job interview because I think it projects something a little interesting but pleasant!

[niffler]

In the imp: Salty and acidic but somehow only vaguely oceanic, mysterious. Interesting and aquatic, which I very much like in a perfume, but not at all dark. 

On my skin: There's a lot of citrus and unsweet florals at first... like lime pith and soap? It seems to disappear as it dries on me. Decidedly unoffensive. 

[Old.cupcake]

This was another I didn't love is the bottle. But once it got on the skin it transformed for me. It smelled clean and good. Like a wonderful bar of soap. Not an every day scent for me, but still one I most definitely enjoy. 

[Something_Diabolical]

Washing day for cthulu? Yep I also get the soapy aspect others mentioned. It's not bad but not really something I want to smell like everyday. 

[fairybites]

I'm getting the soap that everyone else seems to be getting. So weird, this is definitely a morpher because it smelled nothing like this when I first put it on. It smelled like seaweed and some type of oil note to me. 

 

I enjoy clean scents, but that first stage is a little too weird for my tastes. Won't be upgrading, but glad I got to try it.

[avilion]

I finally got to try this Lovecraftian horror, and it's also laundry detergent for me. Womp womp.