Mandrake

[Torrain]

A plant of true arcane power, mandrake has been used in a multitude of ways by witches, magicians and thaumaturgists for eons to many, many vastly different ends. Whole pieces are carried for protection, or are used in poppet magick. Ground herb can be utilized in spells for money, lust or defense. The lore of the mandrake does not limit it to magickal use. The root was chewed as a simple anasthesia, and it has been widely employed as a sleep drug.

*sigh*

On my skin: forty minutes of pencil shavings. Then another half-hour of pencil shavings. After about an hour and a half, it gets a faintly metallic tone, like the pencil sharpener producing those pencil shavings.

At 3 hours, it's woody and acridly dry.

I so wanted this to work on me. Sent it off to a better home, in a box with "Goe, and catche a falling starre,/Get with child a mandrake roote..." on the lid and a small sketch of the Mandrake from the 1485 Herbarius on the side.

Love and coffee,
Frances

[Gwydion]

In bottle: chalk and crushed herbs. Wet: Very soft. Less chalk, more crushed herbs and earth. This is clearly for magic, not for smelling. Dry: back to how it smells in the bottle really.

 

EDIT: Apparently this not only terrifies my cat, but I am allergic to it.

Edited January 27, 2008 by Gwydion

[bryghtrose]

It smells like dirt, and bitter chocolate, and a cellar.

[alicia_stardust]

Wow, this one was a pleasant surprise. It smells very woodsy to me, like a mix of dry powdered woods and especially cedar. On top of that, I smell a dry, biting earth smell and a touch of something like bitter chocolate and herbs. The earth aspect is not patchouli or outright dirt, but it definitely brings the word earth to mind. I feel grounded and comforted when I wear this, but it also has a sinister edge to it.

[galleywest]

This was pretty consistent throughout wear, so I'll just combine all the stages here:

 

Wet, in the imp and on my skin AND dry on my skin: it smells like dirt. Just dirt. It's not unpleasant, and I suppose I should say that it smells "earthy" as that sounds better. There is nothing sweet, nothing perfumey about this at all. It reminds me a little of High John the Conqueror but bearable. It's not bad, it's just...well, it is what it is. It has good staying power, for those interested. This is not especially for me.

[djsiberia]

i only sniffed this in the imp because the scent didn't catch me.

 

it smelled very herbal and dusty, it also had a faint scent of band-aids...

[donnatron]

Imp: Pencil shavings.

 

Wet: Pencil shavings.

 

Dry: Pencil shavings.

 

Throw Pencil shavings Mild.

 

Overall: Pencil shavings, dudes, PENCIL SHAVINGS! Meaning: It was dry and not really exciting to smell on my skin. I do like it in concept, though.

[cranberry]

Wet on the skin this is all cedar. A very smooth, soft cedar, but cedar none-the-less. There’s something else there smoothing it out but I couldn’t tell you what it is.

 

The oil is light colored/clear in the vial, so I wasn’t expecting it to sit on the skin and be as thick as it is (thick like castor oil). As it dries, there something a bit incensy about this oil.

 

It’s quite lovely – woody, smooth, resinous and soothing. I’ve already got a bunch of wood scents so I really don’t need more, but this one is quite nice.

[iiinterstate]

The best way I can come up with to describe Mandrake is dusty. But not in a bad way! To me it smells like flower bulbs and dry grass. Its nice. I think I would use this to scent a room more than I would use it to scent myself though.

[prrrplegrrrl]

Yep. Pencil shavings.

[hkhm]

imp: a very herby scent, sharp but interesting.

 

wet: whoa. this does smell like pencil shavings.

 

dry: okay, this is still just as strong as when i first applied it and i'm being totally overwhelmed by memories of grade school. i'm keeping teh imp if only for the amazingness of having an oil that smells like pencil shavings.

[Browneyes]

Woody (read: mild pencil shavings) and sweet. Very soft and warming somehow.

 

Strange thing is that my imp lid was broken, and the oil inside was very "oily", much more than is usual for BPAL - I don't know if that was because of the lid being broken, and air exposure, or if that's how the oil is.

 

Anyway, I like it, but not enough to think that I'll wear it often. And it does smell quite a bit like pencil shavings, maybe I just like pencil shavings?

 

ETA: it ends up reminding me a bit of Intrigue, minus the fig

Edited May 7, 2008 by Browneyes

[azhriaz]

Vetiver, mainly... but not especially strong. It's tempered by something that smells like papyrus... mmm... cellulose... it does bring a tuber to mind.

 

I do enjoy these kind of woody scents, but I just find them a bit plain to wear on their own. I might use this for layering or perhaps a room scent.

[Lamia]

Mandrake smells quite a bit like dusty sandalwood or cedar. Frankly, it smells rather like mice, without the Doritos.

 

*laughs*

[Andrea912]

Bottle: This was free in my order from the lab. Smells...like a subtle, juicy herb. Clean, fresh, but not piney or woodsey. Earthy, maybe?

 

Wet: very plain, like olive oil or mineral oil or vitamin E oil; seems like it should be cooked with; seems like a base note to mix with something else, to tone something down...will check back in a few hours...

 

Three hours later: sawdust. Not bad...just not me. Think fresh lumber.

 

Verdict: might be useful to tone down florals

Edited June 26, 2008 by Andrea912

[voodoocatwoman]

Nope.

 

Started off in the imp and wet as pencil shavings.

 

Dried smelling of hamster cage.

 

I think not.

[moon_lemming]

After reading the reviews here, I was surprised that I didn't smell pencil shavings. In the imp and wet on my skin, Mandrake is a damp woodsy oil, like a forest floor. It reminds me of CB I Hate Perfume's Forest Floor, actually. It's the sweetness of decay mixed with a mossy scent.

 

But just now, I took a big whiff to try and describe the oil better, and yeah, I can see where the pencil shavings thing comes from. If I sniff hard enough, the takeaway is ALL cedar. But if I just take a glancing sniff, like wafting the scent toward my nose, it's that sweet decay. It reminds me of mushrooms, for some reason. To the point that until I read the description more carefully, I assumed that mandrake was a kind of mushroom.

 

It's a pretty neat experience, but I prefer more out-and-out soil scents (like Queen of Clubs or Worm Moon) to this sort of thing.

Edited July 18, 2008 by karen

[lilirose]

In the imp: Hint of dust.

 

On skin, wet: Phwaor. Oily dust.

 

Drydown: Really weird slightly perfumey dust. Very, very slight sweet herbal smell.

 

Fully dry- A few weeks ago, I found a box full of joss sticks (incense) and candles that had been stored away for about seven or eight years. None of the sticks smelled like what was on the label- they just smelled dusty. They also smelled absolutely identical to Mandrake when dry on skin. Dust, with a faint hint of candlewax (not beeswax, though- the other stuff).

 

Very evocative of its name, but I can’t see wearing it as perfume.

 

ETA: about eight hours after applying, I notice greasy residue on my wrists. I've never had that happen with a BPAL before. Weird.

Edited July 21, 2008 by lilirose

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

One of my goals in life is to sniff the entirety of Rappaccini's Garden. This seems to me a noble goal. Mandrake reminds me of Cathedral, but more...natural. Like the earth *around* the cathedral, maybe. None of the incense, just a smooth, herbal, dried-earth and wood scent. Cedar, I think, and also something almost like olive oil? Perhaps a hint of moss. Just really smooth, calm, and even healing in a natural apothecary sort of way.

[zankoku_zen]

I see why people get a strong pencil shaving from this one --- it's very cedary with strong undercurrents of patchouli and dirt.

 

Yup. It's like a freshly sharpened pencil on me.

[Iceblink]

This has the oddest consistency--it's almost gluey and hard to get out of the imp. Very oily. It smells like cedar and the forest floor--woody and earthy. Very faint but inoffensive.

[Suu4LC]

ZOMG pencils and hamster bedding O_< That is all I get when I pop open the imp and take a whiff.

 

Not any different on my skin. This is total cedar shavings. Reminds me of cleaning out my bunny's cage when I had him. Pencils pencils pencils! Not for me!

[rayvn1]

I do indeed get freshly shaven pencil once it's dried. Hm...graphite! I hope some of the delightful dirty root-ness of the wet stage comes back. I'm wearing this to bed so I wonder what kind of dreams I'll have - seems like a good oil to inspire some kooky ones

[toomuch]

I wouldn't have ordered this one, but I'm willing to give any frimp a try. It smells like dirt and dried up old roots. Not for me, but thanks for the, um, interesting experience.

[crebbsgirl]

On me this was a dusty dirt scent. Rooty with a little bit of sweetness. It was very dry, not something I would normally wear. Herbaceous, and slightly sharp.