Typhon

[Neely]

Typhon resurrected!

 

A fearsome creature from Greek lore. Typhon was born from the marriage of Earth and Hell, and is said to be so terrible in aspect that even the gods themselves flee from his venomous gaze. Our own blend of Earth and Hell: red patchouli, sandalwood, black musk and vetiver.

 

In the bottle: patchouli and resiny amber. Dark lush and rich.

 

Wet: dark patchouli and resin, the vetiver is staying behind the sceens working the lights while patchouli and resin put on their performance art show.

 

Dry down: Vetiver is still manning the lights, Sandalwood and black musk come in laid down and start making out, while patchouli and resin stand over them playing tug of war with monofilament while quoting lines from Greek tragedies.

 

30 mintues: same lovely performance art show, though everyone is on stage now, including Vetiver. They are all wearing masks of each other's faces and swtich them out in between quotes in actual Greek. Kind of like a whose on first, senario...which note is on first? Blended and twirling madly they all fall into a heap of divine scented goodness.

 

Conclusion: this is wonderful, along the same family of Schwartzer Mond, dark, resiny goodness. I am so glad Beth brought it back and I got the chance to buy it!

 

Rating 1-5: on my skin this is a 5.

[The_Merf]

You know, sometimes I wonder what I am thinking when I swap or buy something. Black musk is one of the sketchiest notes for me (my initial fear was of white musk, but by this point I think black musk might have wrecked as many blends for me). Indeed, when I first open the decant and apply the oil, all I get is vetiver and stale black musk. The black musk is the strongest note on my skin by far during the wet stage, and I can't smell the lovely sandalwood or red patchouli at all. All the notes start to muddle together on the drydown, and it becomes a patchouli/wood/vetiver blend (at least the black musk goes away). I am definitely going to have to put this one up for swaps, but it's not the scent's fault; I should have figured, given how I react to black musk, that this would happen.

[Torrain]

Right out of the imp, it's woody and raw; that's sandalwood and vetiver, I think. On my skin, they combine in an odd way and I'm getting hints of mint.

 

5 minutes; a kind of rich lather scent coming in; I'm guessing that's the patchouli and bits of the black musk. To clarify; it's not soapy, despite what the word "lather" may suggest. Just very soft. Reminds me of how good it feels to have someone shampoo my hair.

 

30 minutes: ugh. The vetiver and either the patchouli or the musk are teaming up, and the tang of the former with the richness of the latter means it's smelling like sweat. Yuck.

 

2 hours: mellowed out of the body odour thing, but nothing special--woody-musky, mostly. Just not doing it for me.

 

Love and coffee,

Frances

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Vetiver, very sour and sharp.

 

Wet: Vetiver first, then the patchouli shows up. This is still very sour, sharp, and dark, like wet black leather.

 

Twenty minutes: Nasty vetiver with an undertone of smoky patchouli. Still wet black leather.

 

One hour: Wet black leather and a bit of smoke. I think the sour is coming from the sandalwood, which sometimes sours on me.

 

Two and a half hours: Patchouli-musk, some vetiver. Much more tolerable now.

 

Four hours: Now this I like. It's mostly patchouli and a little sandalwood, with a memory of vetiver. It's kind of warm, and almost sweet now. I guess red patchouli is one of the ones that works particularly well on me.

[themerrybaker]

Resurrected 2006 version.

 

I am partial to vetiver blends in hot weather and the vetiver predominates. The rest is BPAL nostalgia with the patchouli and sandalwood. Smoky hot headshop.

 

Typhon is probably not for everyone, but I like it.

[zankoku_zen]

Okey, this blend is totally not me. The vetiver doesn't go to smoky bacon, it's just smoke and dirt. It smells kinda like vulcanized rubber.

 

BAD.

[Ethaisa]

Haven't opened this bottle in at least two years, and I swear the first impact was dark, sweet myrrh. So surprised when I reviewed the notes! Definitely thickened with age. Then it opened up into a patchouli vetiver duet, all rich and smokey dark with no sharp edges. More resiny than earthy overall; I'm a resin girl, so I am pleased.

[strahlend]

Dark, rich, intense, warm.

Patchouli & vetiver stand out beautifully.

Hippies, head shops, earthy places, beads, tarot cards, jewelry... Typhon makes me think of some of my favorite things.

I bought this because my son is named Ziphon and I'm curious about things that are similar to his somewhat unusual name. Typhon did not disappoint. Interestingly enough this seems like it could be in a family with Satyr which is the other scent I bought because of my son.

I have a lot of affection for this blend.

Edited January 25, 2010 by strahlend

[Shollin]

First sniff: Of the four listed notes, two are definitely awful on me, one could go either way depending on which variety it is, and one tends to be swoonworthy. From the vial, the overwhelming note is vetiver, which does not bode well.

 

Wearing: Vetiver and black musk. The hellnotes. Of course.

[rawgirl75]

After years of stalking, I FINALLY got my hands on an imp of this.

 

Black musk and vetiver love me, so I knew this would probably be good. And I was right. What surprised me was how much it reminded me of German Expressionist Horror. However GEH still owns my heart and is easier to get a hold of, so I'm pleased that I can now safely store this one away and close the book on my search.

[starbrow]

Typhon Resurrected bottle:

 

A blind buy for me, and a HUGE win. I was a little scared by the Malediction comparisons, not gonna lie, but I took a leap of faith and went for it.

 

From my SN tester of Red Patchouli, I can vouch that there is a beeeeautiful presence of it in Typhon. It's a resiny-warm patchouli that feels like the patchy sister of red musk, and a third cousin once removed from the dirty-hippie patchouli. It's almost a redwood kind of woodiness, which may be the sandalwood playing into it. Perhaps it's Indian Sandalwood, all rich and spicy. YUM.

 

There's also a ton of silky-smooth vetiver, cool and slinky, not menacing. It invites you to sit down and have a drink, it's not going to punch you in the face. It's not Malediction's vetiver. It's smoooooooth. It's here to seduce you.

 

And traditionally, black musk is my friend, except in powdery form like Haunted, but in Typhon it's all dark smiles and warmth, and stays away from any powder puffs. It is, indeed, still my friend.

 

Together, these players form a blend that is warm, rich, decadent, beautifully aged, exquisitely resinous. It doesn't smell like many other BPALs to me other than Anne Bonny and Il Matto, but does have a classic BPAL vibe that age has only improved. I encourage anyone with the opportunity to get a decant or bottle to spring for it.

 

 

[Ciariel]

My bottle of Typhon resurrected is thick and syrupy, left forgotten and unopened for over a decade. The patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver all combine to a dark, warm resiny scent that is exactly as Starbrow wrote above. Black musk is not always my friend, but it's behaving itself here, and is staying dark, warm and not at all powdery.

 

I am so glad I kept it all this time. Now I find myself wondering "how long do bottles last?". This one is pushing 18 years, so I'm going to slather myself in it frequently and enjoy it before it loses its magic.