Shadow

[storme]

A subtly menacing blend of lemon verbena, white sandalwood and cedar, dimmed by droplets of the darkest patchouli.

In the imp: lemon candy dusted over patchouli and cedarwood.

On me, wet: lots of sugary-sweet lemon over a dark and bitter hippy-shop patchouli-and-hand-carved-woods scent.

On me, dry: powdery sugared lemon over dry, dirty patchouli. The woods are swamped under the rest of it.

Verdict: Not especially compelling on me, but I'm glad I got to try this anyway. Also, my imp seems to have mysteriously.. not leaked, since I would surely have noticed, but evaporated. There was only enough left to test.

[Loligo]

On me, the patchouli is overwhelming for the first hour, but at least it's a nice woodsy patchouli as opposed to a stinky-hippie patchouli. As the patchouli finally fades, the scent turns into a really well-balanced, sort of incense-y blend of lemon verbena and cedar -- definitely a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, because I'm not terribly fond of either of those notes, but there's something very likeable about this blend.

[Honor]

Got this when it was still GC, didn't know it was disc until I came to do the review!

 

 

In imp: Sandalwood marked with a what smells like a sharp floral...on reading the components, I see it's the lemon.

 

Wet on skin: Sandalwood and lemon verbena font and center with cedar quickly following...no patchouli yet

 

Dry down/Initial: As it dries the lemon fades away, albeit slowly, lingering until completely dry... at this point the sandalwood and cedar have taken center stage, and the patchouli is simmering in the background. It's there...and it wants to be known

 

Dry down/Morph: This is one of the few blends that continues to morph over the hours on me (probably because nothing else lasts this long on me to morph).

About 2-3 hours in, the sandalwood is starting to fade and now it's primarily cedar, and a darker background of patchouli. The patchouli isn't sharp though, which is nice as it doesn't over power.

End of the day (6-8 hours in) the sandalwood is completely gone, and the cedar and patchouli are present in equal measures.

 

A strong, woodsy scent... although not sharp and head-shoppy. Evokes a "soft" wood scent.

 

 

 

Interestingly when I wore this (and sniffed through the day) I never got the impression of shadows at all...instead, this invoked imagery of ghastly spectres slipping among a skelatal forest of bone-white trees. A haunted woods perhaps.

 

Although the woodsy aspect isn't as sharp as others, it's still too woodsy for my tastes, so off to the swap pile for this!

[batsy]

In the vial: Really dark, patchouli and sandalwood

 

On the skin: I wanted to like this. I really did. I got a whif of lemon but it's so strong with the sandalwood and patchouli I couldn't take it very long. Heavy on the earthy notes. Reminded me very muchly of the old hippie-owned record store in my hometown.

[supremegoddessofall]

Almost all cedar, with a touch of patchouli. Not menacing at all - it's delicious! Not getting lemon at all, and the sandalwood is barely there.

[talula_fairie]

At first it smelled exactly like lemon pledge. I was scared.

 

After it dried I smell mostly cedar, with a touch of patchouli and sandalwood. Would be lovely as a body wash or room scent, but I'm not fond of it as perfume.

[maijasu]

This has some very iffy notes for me, yet somehow it works. The patchouli and cedar are very dark, but are balanced by the bright verbena. The sandalwood disappears on me, as usual. It's not something I'd have chosen for myself, but I'm never one to turn down a gift from the Lab. This may actually end up being a keeper!

[Voleuse]

Interesting. I'd expected this to be a brighter scent, based on the lemon verbena and woods, but the patchouli does lend a murky, earthy note to the blend. It's clean, but dark. Dark, but not heavy. Subtly sweet. The verbena is dominant, but it's nowhere near as sharp as it usually is. I like it, but I don't understand it. (I mean that in a good way.)

[lookingglass]

Smells like a freshly Pledged antique table.

[filigree_shadow]

Shadow is heavy on the cedar scent, which smells peppery on me for some reason. When you add in lemon (which very rarely works for me), it's kind of a no-win situation.

[myoubi]

cedar drawer liners + lemon pledge.

 

not for me.

[wikkidraven]

on first sniff, i was pleasantly surprised! i definitely gave a little 'oooh!' of delight after being skeptical. i can see where the furniture polish comments come in (as they do with lots of lemon notes) but shadow is almost a sparkling lemon at first, the patchouli only peeks out in the drydown.

 

i'm not sure that i would wear this really, but it's nice enough.

[Bain]

In the imp - it's very wispy and ethereal, which I guess is appropriate There's a hint of something there..

 

Wet - grey herbs &.. lemon? lemon verbena?

 

Dry - light, dry herbs still, with that "something" hiding in the background that's not agreeing with my nose. Five minutes later, that something is giving me a headache.

 

 

I bought this imp from a forumite, and got to try it before I read any description or review. I'm so geeked that I guessed lemon verbena right LOL!! However, the note that doesn't agree with my nose would have to be patchouli - I should have suspected. Oh well! It's lovely until the dry down on me, when the patchouli just takes over my senses.

[Naamah_Darling]

Of course I only get around to trying this after it's been discontinued.

 

In the bottle: patchouli. Cedar.

 

On: lemon pledge on lots of furniture. It settles down to old lemon candy in a cedar trunk.

 

I'm not feeling the love for this one. This isn't a complex scent, and I haven't much to say about it. I smell like scenery. Or an attic. Not a fun attic, either.

[enderfem]

Imp: Dirty lemon candy.

 

Wet: Straight lemon candy. Lemonheads.

 

Drydown: The cedar really comes out after awhile, and it merges with the lemon for this really unusual, really gorgeous smell, like fresh cedar shavings and clean lemon.

 

 

A pleasant surprise.

[savage_rose]

In the imp, this smells like a lovely lemon scent. But on...it turns into this homemade cabinet/furniture polish I made with olive oil, a bit of bay oil, and lemon. So it's kinda nice, really, but I don't want to smell like my cabinets!

[Heeroluva]

In the bottle it's musk and mint. Wet it's all lemon. Dry it's lemon pinesol. Definately a yuck. And I've come to the conclusion that me and lemon don't get along.

[zankoku_zen]

I got the faint whiff of lemon on top of cedar at the beginning, but it has essentially dried to a patchouli/cedar blend, which oddly enough, just smells like dirt. Wet potting dirt. Dirtier than say, Graveyard Dirt.

 

Pass.

[stellans]

Lemon starts out strongly in the bottle and while wet on my skin, but dries away quickly to leave an absolutely delicious sandalwood scent, tempered by the slightest hint of fresh cedar. This is a blend which has aged exceedingly well. It’s been my experience so far that citrus notes tend to age away, and I think that has served Shadow very well for my own personal use. Sandalwood is one of my favorite notes, and though cedar doesn’t always work well with me, in this blend it is just right. The mellowness of this blend is perfect for what turned out to be a nice, lazy day.

eta: I know this is an older bottle because it's cobalt. Hence my reasoning regarding its aging. Edited March 17, 2009 by stellans

[tartchef]

The lemon & clean dirt note I get from the patchouli clash terribly on my skin... The sandalwood doesn't do much to help the sharp edges, and I am compelled to wash this off... Shame, because I can tell there's a pepperiness lurking that would be right up my alley....

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: A touch of verbena almost immediately overcome by sandalwood.

 

Wet: This does have a sort of darkness about it, but it's also got a very pleasant penetrating herbal cedar-ish impression. I like it; whyever was it discontinued?

 

Half an hour: This has the oddest herbal impression, like there's sage in it. But mostly now it's a sandalwood and patchouli scent.

 

Two hours: Mostly patchouli and cedar now, still with the sagey overtone.

 

Three and a half hours: Very woody now. I'm getting pencil shavings, which is rare for me, over sandalwood. There's just a touch of patchouli left. I like this one; it was a near miss on me. Wonder if it has descendants somewhere in the catalogue?

 

 

[topazphoenix]

Lovely fresh cedar and lemon with a slight hint of patchouli.