The Premature Burial

[QueenFae]

Oppressive darkness, expressed through black orchid and patchouli, smothered by wet soil, a coffin’s teakwood, and the funereal gloom of cypress.

This smells completely different than I expected! I was thinking it would be all gloom and doom, but it actually comes out a little foody on me! It's lovely, the black orchid is on top, and it has a lovely, rich, earthy smooth undertone. It must be the cypress and teakwood that is agreeing so nicely with my chemistry, I didn't expect them to smell so rich and full. I really like this one, and I think I need a 5 ml!

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Moss covered earth. Actually for me this has an uncanny resonance with Stonehenge. I don't think it smells like it, but it takes me right there on a cold winters day, just before dawn.

Wet on me - Very green and earthy.

Dry on me - It kind of goes watery/soapy and then fades.

Edited April 11, 2006 by Ajila

[Neely]

In the bottle: freshly turned earth with flowers resting on top just like a newly dug grave.

 

Wet: freshly turned earth with graveside flowers.

 

Dry down: the freshly turned earth becomes dominant and the flowers really fade to a supporting role.

 

30 minutes: fresh dirt and flowers seem to meld and become one with each other as if the flowers are sinking into the grave.

 

Conclusion: I find this strangely soothing rather than horrifying, like being buried alive would be. In fact I put this on to calm my nerves before bed and slept wonderfully. It is interesting to me that at a Meet N' Sniff, all the Maelstroms smelled slightly different than the ones I got from the lab. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this or not. When I tried it then I didn't get any florals at all. Luckily, the florals from my own bottle didn't behave the way they tend to, which is bad. So, I do love this one. I will not hoard it though. One bottle is just fine. When I run out I will look to the catalogue scents to get a "dirt" smell.

 

Rating 1-5, on my skin this is a 4.

[Voleuse]

On first application, this reminds me strongly of Graveyard Dirt--it's rich soil, moist and dark. After a moment, however, it quickly differentiates itself--this is sweet and a little musky. The floral note adds a lightness to the scent I wouldn't expect.

 

I noticed a lot of reviews comparing this to Zombi, and I can see the parallel. I like this 300 percent more, though--with my chemistry, this blend ends up having a depth and life that isn't there with other dirt blends. It's lovely.

[girlmadasbirds]

my first thought: now that's an unusual one!

 

it smells of dust and teakwood with the cypress almost hidden. something about it is putting me off... i'm guessing it's the orchid.

i'm a big fan of dirt scents, so i'll keep it around and see how it ages.

[Caltha]

The Premature Burial

Thanks to blu I got to try The Premature Burial before the Maelström disappeared. I was thinking of buying it because of the earth note, which I love, but I was hesitant because of the patchouli, orchid and teakwood, usually no friends of mine.

The earth note is strong, but a perfumey floral is equally strong. I wouldn't mind a floral note with my earth if it was a soft and natural floral note, but this is perfumey, candysweet orchid. The patchouli might be adding to the "perfumeyness" too. I was hoping for a purer earth note, this is too perfumey and too close to the earth/rose of Zombie. Still looking for that perfect earth scent...

Verdict: I'll keep the imp but I don't need to buy that bottle.

[Ryvre]

In the imp: It smells like wet dirt. Which, I suppose, isn't a bad thing.

 

On me, wet: Musty attic. Kind of dusty, with a bit of old wood. I really like it at this stage.

 

On me, dry: The wet dirt is back. It's not bad, but not me. If it could just stay at the musty attic stage...

[Mary Mayhem]

My second favorite love from the Maelstrom! LOVE!

 

This is a light dirt smell, not heavy and in your face. There's something in the background that's a bit sweet, mmm, a little herbal, maybe. Nothing cloying.

 

On wet: Loamy with a bit of spice underneath. Reminds me of just wet soil.

 

As it dries and fades, the dirt goes away (as it usually does on me) and I'm left with a pleasant herbal/floral smell. Oh, I love this! I'm buying another bottle!

[ilona]

At first, this smells remarkably like Venom or Dior's Poison, but with dirt. Kind of fruity in a purple sort of way - not sweet, though. The fruitiness fades within half an hour, and it becomes much woodier and sharper, and less dirty. More like a coffin, rather than the fresh soil...

[gingersnapp]

When I first applied this, it was very strong and oppressive soil. Now that it's dry, the earth note is still very strong, but there's more cypress and patchouli. I swear I smell a little vetiver in there (which I HATE), but I don't see it listed in the blend's notes, so maybe it is the combination of something else.

 

I don't get much wood or floral out of this, but I definitely get a burial vibe off of it. Very creative!

[Eunice]

In the bottle: Green and dirty.

 

Wet: Once this hits my skin the patchouli pops out and says hi. This is so dirty!

 

Dry: This gets a little musty on the drydown. Not an attic musty though, more like an overgrown garden. The dirt scent really helps with the feeling of being in a garden.

 

Overall: This is one of my most fave scents. I've always loved the earthiness of patchouli and The Premature Burial captures what I like most about patchouli and amps up the love.

[dancink]

I got an imp of this in Rhovanion's lj Maelstrom decant circle, not particularly because I wanted to wear it, but because I know the musty smell of burial well (studying Forensic Archaeology/Anthropology) and I wanted to see just how close the Lab could get to it.

 

Well. It seems to get the 'dirt' part well.

 

In the imp that's all I can smell. Dirt. Wet, again, all I can smell is the dirt, although there is a barely detectable top-note that I can't really place but that is making my nose twitch. That would be the orchid, I'm guessing.

 

Dry? I can barely smell it at all, but the nose-twitching top note is still there. Note to self: Black Orchid makes you sneeze. The dirt's gone, at least.

 

I'm really not that thrilled with this. If I was to compare it to a burial, it would be a shallow grave, in a tropical rain forest, with no coffin in sight. Plus my skin just ate it in 15 minutes flat, a new record. Off to the swaps pile with ye!

 

1 coffin out of 5.

[Diana]

In the bottle: It's soil... freshly turned over piles of earth.

 

Wet: The soil note is stronger than it was in the bottle. It is a really wet and rich scent of peaty soil. Something more woodsy comes out here a bit, adding a bit of a sharper note to the dirt.

 

Initial dry: The soil note starts to receed, and this starts to turn into a sweet, rich, almost resin-like scent. It's still a cool note, but a bit on the heavy side.

 

Final dry: This has faded quite a lot, to my surprise. Usually loamy-wood scents tend to stick around, but this got lighter and sweeter, until it was just a barely-there scent, as if you might be smelling someone working in the garden a few yards down.

 

I really like this a lot! I wish it were a little longer-lasting, but I bet it will layer beautifully with other resin, earth, or wood scents.

[sissa125]

I recognize the black orchid from queen mab. i wonder if my skin will make it disappear. It is pleasantly dark and sweet, not at all foody. the other ingredients blend well together. The soil is more an evocation than a smell. Patchouli may be reinforcing it. Cypress laces it, gives it structure.

[gwyllgi]

In the vial and wet on my skin, this is teakwood. Lots and lots of teakwood, gradually softened by soil. As it dries, the cypress comes out surprisingly quickly also, leaving the scent supplying the strong imagery of an old, small cemetary, probably for one family, framed by crooked cypress. It's a surprisingly pleasant scent; the teakwood is sharp but reined in by the other notes, leaving it with a sense of gloomy mystery.

 

It's surprisingly long-lasting for me. Anything on my right wrist tends to be gone within an hour or two, as it rubs against my mousepad all day, but this held firm until the end of the day, as lovely at the end as it was initially.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

I think I've discovered my signature scent.

 

This is pretty, pretty dirt. It's darkest earth; moist, sweet and spooky, but uber-feminine thanks to the orchid. <snip> everything works in perfect harmony and the effect is gorgeous and creepy.

 

Love!

 

not to re-use someone else's review.... but she nailed it perfectly!

 

i *LOVE* this oil. i'm currently swimming in a cloud of it...and i couldn't be happier!

there's this mossy, foresty, loamy rich earthy dirt-wood-greenery smell surrounding me that is absolutely lovely.

pretty dirt -- that's it exactly!

 

anyone who has this and doesn't love it, i'll happily take it off your hands

 

editing to add review of the "new" Dark Delicacies retail-exclusive blend:

oh em gee!

when i first first got my "descend into the Maelstrom" set of bottles, this is the one that truly blew me away. and i have compulsively collected every bottle and decant i've been able to get my hands on since then... but somehow i'd forgotten how delicious the dirt-orchid-patchouli smell is when fresh.

must...resist...the...urge....to...stockpile....

Edited November 30, 2007 by TrailerTrashPrincess

[brownbear]

Wet dirt with flowers. I can't decide how I feel about it. It is very heavy and dark.

[mirutai]

Whoa. This isn't The Premature Burial, this is The Scent That Wasn't There. In the imp, I get a woody patchouli with some sharp edge, but the instant the oil hits my skin... gone. I can't smell a thing.

 

Either The Premature Burial is identical to my natural odour, or my skin is sucking this one up like the Vortex o' Doom. Very odd!

[grrrlennyl]

at first: something sweet with lots of dirt in the background.

on: a sweet, lush flower and dirt. interesting.

1 hour later: floral, with some wet dirt. very pretty.

7 hours later: pretty much gone.

overall: i was expecting something dark, earthy, and full of dirt. what i got was a lush, sweet floral with a lovely base of wet dirt. it's definitely a nice surprise and i'll be keeping my imp.

[dragonryder]

This was a very interesting scent. Another patchouli mixture that doesn't overbear, but yet has a dark mysterious smell. I like this one. It gives subtle hints of something lying underneath the surface.

[absinthetics]

I am /not/ a fan of dirt scents, but someone pointed me this way. They were adamant about it and so i bought a bottle. I am very relieved, and it is up there as one of my favorite scents. It shares something with Evening Star and Dreamland.. though I can't quite put my finger on it. It also shares something with Kunstkammer. But, there are indeed the earthy notes. Earthy, but spring-earthy.

 

I'm a fan.

[edenssixthday]

The Premature Burial - Dirt and soil blends usually activate my gag reflex. However, I found this one to me much more palatable despite the fact that the dominant note is dirt. There was the slightest floral element to this blend, and oddly for me, I couldn't detect a single note of patchouli. The blend is incredibly dark, but it's not cold -- it's a very warm blend. The lasting power of this blend was ridiculously poor, but it could be because I only applied a touch (due to the aforementioned gag reflex when it comes to dirt/soil notes). It's not a scent I'm going to wear again due to the fact that while it didn't make me gag, I still don't like dirt notes. However, I'm positive a lot of people out there will like this blend a lot.

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Green, trees, earth.

 

On my skin: Very green and woody - that must be the teakwood. I smell the cypress, but it's hiding out in the background.

 

Verdict: This is a very nice scent, but it's too similar to other green, earthy scents I've tried, so it's going off to the sell/swap pile.

 

Rating: 3/5

[lookingglass]

I absolutely adore this scent. It is everything that I have looked, nay, sniffed for, in a truly gothic perfume. It has a similar deep earthiness, akin to Zombi, with a touch of the Nosferatu greenery. It is the drydown that is most spectacular; it is a slightly sweet, musky,creamy floral, much like Lancome's Poem...I could never imagined that my chemistry could handel all of this wood. It is divine.

 

Uggggh...I must search out more. Damn you LE's!

Edited July 31, 2006 by lookingglass

[steffanina]

The Premature Burial-

 

In Bottle: Oh! All these people saying dirt, I thought I would be turned off. But it's not dirt in a negative way; there's earthy loamy scent, but it's rich, not icky. And a sandalwood smell too.

 

Wet: Wow! That same earthiness, and the sweetness accompanying it is like root beer. Not too aggressive at all. I really like the sarsaparilla tone!

 

Dry: I love this scent. I mean, I love it, not just for the novelty of it, but it's wonderful all the way through the finish. I can't figure out how to describe the end here--sort of woody and delicious.

 

Overall: I love.