Azathoth

[Meg]

Azathoth is the blind, idiot god who sits on a black throne at the center of Chaos. His scent is high-pitched and screeching, both impenetrably dark and searingly bright with the clarity of madness: tangerine, saffron, vetiver, black amber and cedarwood.

In the bottle: Very masculine cedarwood and vetiver, smoky and dark.

Wet: Dark vetiver and cedarwood, a very thick dark, scent, with a citrusy waft of tangerine on top. It smells... dark and bright at the same time. As described.

Drydown: It becomes a misty, dark scent, with a bit of a rubbery-petrol smell from vetiver and saffron. There's wood in the background, shiny black amber, and still hints of citrus - sometimes it veers to fruits for a few instants. Overall it's so well blended that it's hard to tell exactly what's in it, you just get a general impression.

Overall: It's not something I'd ever wear, but it's intriguing. It's dark and shiny, like a piece of smoke quartz, it evokes lots of pictures I didn't even expect to have. A very masculine blend, not something I would wear myself, but very inspiring for trickster characters, for example. I'm stunned that the vetiver hasn't turned on me as it usually does. Edited September 28, 2006 by Meg

[t_for_tau]

In the bottle: omg YUM. Tangerine and saffron over vetiver.

 

Straight on: VETIVER VETIVER VETIVER. Fortunately I love vetiver, but I'm hoping this is going to mellow, because right now it's just like a vetiver single note.

 

Drydown: it *does* mellow. The cedarwood comes out and gradually bitchslaps the vetiver into place, so taht it becomes a rumbling sulky base. I can smell the tangerine again, too. The saffron is eluding me - I keep thinking I get wafts of it, then changing my mind. This is very dark, very masculine; part of me thinks I'm far too faggy to wear this, and part of me wants to keep my nose jammed under my arm.

 

Right now it's making out with Nyarlathotep, who's further up on my arm. They go together really well. N is citrus and ozone and cleanness; he's tidying Azathoth up, making sure he's not drooling too much and telling him to lighten up a bit. Taking care of the boss.

[birdiefu]

Wow, President B...I mean Azathoth (sorry- the blind, idiot god part confused me! ) is very unique.

 

Bottle- Tangerine and saffron

 

Wet- A second of tangerine, then HELLO vetiver!! Quite the dichotomy, but it oddly works.

 

Dry- This quiets down quickly on me. The vetiver receeds and the saffron and cedar emerge. All of the notes mingle together in a dance of chaos and I never know which I will smell first when I go to sniff myself again.

 

Overall- This scent does encompass dark and light and things in between. For some reason it is a comforting scent to me and really hits in the reptile brain area. I like each of these individual notes anyway, but I don't think this would work well with those who don't like vetiver as that note isn't as subtle as it could be in this blend.

[aquazoo]

Dusty and perfumy. This reminds me of the smell around theatres, the stage makeup and clothes that have been in storage a long, long time.

[maijasu]

This one is really interesting! I love the citrus and saffron, and the vetiver and cedar make it deeper and more masculine. I'm thinking it would be really nice on my husband, but then we might fight over the imp, so if it works for both of us, we may need a bottle. Interestingly, this is the first blend with vetiver that I've actually liked. A wonderful and very unusual blend!

[slave1]

AZATHOTH

 

In Bottle: Vetiver

 

On Skin: The vetiver comes out right away, dark earthy and pungent. Vetiver is a note that doesn’t agree with me so I’m a bit worried. The cedarwood is the next dominant note, sweet but woody with a smoky tinge. The amber is also dark and adds to the menacing feel of this scent. The saffron offers an exotic spice and the tangerine is a pretty orange spark in the dark. This scent fits it’s description perfectly. It’s not a scent for me that’s for sure, the vetiver is just much too strong. It has a strong throw and long wearlength.

[forspecial_plate]

I enjoy Azathoth a lot. I've been putting off reviewing it, because it's kind of hard for me to describe. I am getting mostly mild, sweet tangerine with earthy, spicy vetiver. It's weird....it starts off all vetiver for about a minute, then the orange blooms in a big way, almost drowning out the vetiver. Then they reach a happy medium. I don't know if I've ever been able to pick out saffron, but it probably is adding to the spiciness of the blend. I'm not detecting much cedar or black amber, but again, maybe those are just contributing to the scent as a whole. My only complaint would be too little throw and doesn't last long...other than that I really enjoy this one, and I can see it growing on me more and more. It's kind of vibrant, earthy, and spicy all at the same time.

 

Edit: How could I not love a scent inspired by the Blind Idiot God??

Edited March 4, 2008 by Forspecial Plate

[storme]

In the imp: vetiver and wood, that dirty-damp-forest-at-night feel.

 

On me, wet: lots of vetiver at first, and then a rush of saffron and soft powdery amber. It's all fairly faint, though.

 

On me, dry: soft vetiver and powdery amber and a tinge of saffron. No tangerine for me, and only a hint of cedar.

 

Verdict: All the darkness of vetiver but none of the sharp brightness I was promised. Alas.

[supremegoddessofall]

Interesting! I get mostly cedar with a sweet citrus undertone from the tangerine. Touch of "grown-up perfume" that I think is the saffron and amber. I like!

[Eros]

What supremegoddessofall said.

[phedre]

In vial: Vetiver and wood.

 

Wet: More salty cedarwood and vetiver, but nicely balanced.

 

Drydown: Cedar, but not the obnoxious cedar I normally get from BPAL's blends. This is light and lovely, and completely not what I expected. It's masculine, but not too much so for me to wear it.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

dark citrus

 

 

On me:

I don't usually experience all of the notes in one blend all at the same time, but I definitely do here. I can rather distinctly smell ALL of them. It's very dark, earthy, masculine - with just a twinge of citrus zest.

 

The vetiver and cedar make this dark and woody and they are definitely dominating here. It's so dark and woody that the little zest of citrus that is faintly peeking out is very welcome. I don't have anything against dark, woody blends but I think without that citrus this would be rather overwhelmingly woody and too much like some other blends. The saffron adds a wonderful spice too.

 

It doesn't take long though for the vetiver to just eat the tangerine so what is left is basically vetiver and cedar.

 

Final note:

I wouldn't wear this as a personal scent but I like to sniff this anyways because the cedar and tangerine smell interesting together when it's wet, so I will keep the imp. Way too masculine for me to wear though.

[filigree_shadow]

At first it's so sweet it smells like Pez. The tangerine is strong but powdery (because of the amber?). As it dries it becomes a darker scent, and the cedarwood comes out, but not overpoweringly so.

 

It's an unusual and interesting scent. So far I haven't been able to decide how I feel about it because tangerine and vetiver seems like a strange combination to me, and I'm not sure whether or not I like it.

[captainecchi]

This reminds me so much of The Music of Erich Zahn that I swear I've gotten two imps of the same thing.

 

Then again: tamarind is a citrus, and both oils have vetiver; and I can see where cedar could stand in as an ajowan replacement. My husband disagrees with my verdict, too, so I may just be mis-remembering.

 

I need to try the two side by side. In the meantime, mmm, the pungent spiciness of it is perfect for a cold winter's day.

[fiddledragon]

Mmmm....vetiver.

 

That mainly sums up my review of this scent. Vetiver can be hit or miss on me, depending on the variety and what else is in it, but this is the nice earthy kind of vetiver. I get a touch of cedar, too, and otherwise pretty much everything else is overpowered by the vetiver. Saffron tends to take some aging to come out strongly, so I'll see what this does when aged. It's a fairly sweet vetiver, which I attribute to the tamarind, though I can't actually identify tamarind as such. Maybe that will come out when it ages, too? I do really like tamarind. Predictably, my skin devoured the tangerine so that not even a trace remains. It's in the same general family as Brimstone for me...earthy and strong. I don't think of it as overtly masculine so much as gender-neutrally powerful. This is a scent for putting on the stompy boots and *getting things done*.

[theseagrows]

cedar just does not work on me, i dont know why i try to get it to work! it smells like pencil shavings on me, as usual. i get cedar and amber and something kind of dirty smelling. not sure what that is! off to swaps.

 

eta: after it's dried a bit the cedar calms down more and it's kind of a nice scent with a warmth in the background (from the saffron?)

Edited March 30, 2007 by theseagrows

[Jilara]

This is the first Lovecraft scent that I *haven't* liked, sigh.

 

How can all the notes I like so much go so horribly wrong? Where's my vetiver? I can't even detect vetiver.

 

In the imp, it's sharp and nose-twisting.

 

Wet, it's heavy on the cedar, with a stale musty sweat quality. Then it goes to dead skin and root beer. I am not kidding. Root beer. It smells like Sarsapsarilla Risen from the Grave. Dad's Old Fashioned Root Bier, with Zombie Dad in it. It's kind of hauntingly horrible, fascinating in it's own way, but not to wear.

 

Something in it reminds me of Kuang-Shi, maybe the way the tangerine (close to mandarin) melds with something else for that "undead" feeling. This one is just weird, at least on me. But then, that's Lovecraft, neh?

[brit_brat100]

Imp: pungent floral

 

Wet: woody and milkly chilling, very reminscent of the demon in the dark soap from Lush

 

Dry: just dark and strong, very murky and it's hard to pick out notes.

 

Final Thoughts: I don't think this one is me. Has a masculine feeling to it.

[taramarie]

Wet: I smell earth and decaying plant matter. It's similar to what I got from Black Rose wet or Destroying Angel all the time. Either they have similar notes or there's something wrong with my nose.

 

Dry: A gorgeous cologne smell, one that I think could easily be gender neutral. It smells very familiar but I can't name it. I'm not really familiar with any of the notes listed for Azathoth. Still, everything seems to be well-blended.

 

I don't think I'd get a bottle of this, but I think an imp always on hand would be a good thing.

[Extispex]

This one took a while to grow on me, but now that it has, I'm absolutely delighted with it. In the bottle, I get the same murky vetiver and saffron with a hint of citrus as I do with Lenore. But this is brighter and warmer than Lenore.

 

Wet, on the skin, I get a blast of vetiver, with all the other notes hiding in fear in the background. It has that vague "apothecary's cabinet" smell that Lenore does - lots of Lenore comparisons here. But where Lenore is heavy and sorrowful, Azathoth is a glittering madness.

 

On the drydown, the saffron kind of twists the vetiver and cedar into something evil. The tangerine adds a glimmer of light, like the glistening of a deep, black inhuman eye, or a maniacal giggle, heard in the darkness. This is truly a weird scent - as crazy and amorphous as its namesake. It goes through several stages, and I love them all. So glad to have a bottle.

[sabina_k]

I get a sort of tamed cedar- I think it's because the dry, light cedar is paired with darker vetiver- with an acidic citrus laid over it. I don't know what saffron smells like, so I can't pick it out. Every so often I'd get a hint of vague sweetness that could be the amber, but mostly this blend isn't sweet at all. The impression I get is sharpness, from the dry cedar and sour tangerine which predominate on me, but it's kept under control by the vetiver and amber in the background.

 

I'd wear this when I wanted to project non-sexual power, if that makes sense- the lack of sweetness makes this a very businesslike blend to me. I'm keeping my imp.

[batsy]

In the vial: tangerine and saffron, with a hint of black amber.

 

On the skin: I think it's the saffron and black amber... It's so hard, because at first I was very "ahh no!" but on the dry down it's gotten sweet and musk-ish to me. I do smell the cedar and vetiver. I wish I could smell the tangerine. This one's a tough call. I'll have to try it again.

[euterpe414]

I get a lot of tangerine, saffron and vetiver in this one. It's very earthy yet bright. A bit on the masculine/cologne-y side, but not toppling over the edge, so it's still appropriate for me to wear. This is a very complicated scent- I know I like it, but I'm not sure I love it enough to want to buy a bottle. I'm going to have to wear it a few more times to decide. I do love vetiver, though, and this is an interesting and creative twist on an earthy vetiver scent. If this were a color, it would be burnt orange

[fiddlehead]

This is strange. On me, Azathoth is nothing but vetiver. I don't get any of the other notes. It reminds me of other vetiver-heavy blends like Hurricane and Devil's Claw. My skin must really amp vetiver!

[Ilex]

Very strange. I get none of the notes listed from this scent. Just a generic spicy powder scent with is quite a bit like the smell of Bee and Flower brand Sandalwood soap. Which is weird, because there isn't supposed to be any sandalwood in there. I really wish the tangerine had made an appearance. Ah well. Overall its not a bad bedtime scent, but not rich or exciting enough for me to want to wear out and about.

 

I think my skin turns even the woodiest, darkest BPAL scents sweet and mild. Its unfortunate.