Mandrake

[Ina Garten Davita]

Also called Djinn’s Eggs and the Weed of Ill Omen. Distinctive bifurcations shape this magickal plant into the form of human men and women. It is believed that mandrake grows where the semen of a hanged man has fallen onto the earth, and that when it is plucked from the earth, the plant itself shrieks in agony:

Alack, alack, is it not like that I,
So early waking, what with loathsome smells,
And shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth
That living mortals, hearing them, run mad.

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:

CLEOPATRA: Ha, ha!
Give me to drink mandragora.

CHARMIAN: Why, madam?

CLEOPATRA: That I might sleep out this great gap of time
My Antony is away.

The oil itself is quite viscous, more so than any other oil I've tried, except aged Snake Oil. The scent is really hard to describe. Earthy without smelling like dirt. Dusty sweet without being floral with a smooth herbiness that is making my mouth water. It reminds me of fresh thyme and cedar, only not as intense. If I had to compare to another scent, than the Dreamcatcher massage bar by LUSH would be it. It's been on my skin for over 30 minutes now and it's still shiny. This isn't perfumy in the least. It's really soothing and relaxing. Very unique, very addictive. I can't stop sniffing my hand.

[shelldoo]

i found this one to be extremely herby and root like, like a dried root, which is understandable.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Gorgeously earthy, dark and deep with a little bit of evergreen. I’m getting the pine-mulch vibe off this one too. I totally win either way with Mandrake, because if it doesn’t work on me (and evergreens often don’t), it’ll smell delicious on my guy.

 

Wearing: It’s very cedary… but it seems to work on my skin, and cedar usually goes too sharp. This is warm and solid and really really nice.

[Nadirah]

yup its very sticky, rooty with a touch of green. I like it but it doesnt seem to last very long on me. Smells a bit like hemlock only less pine scent in it, and it does have a bit of that *dirt* smell to it.

[nineveh]

On me, this is a very dry wood scent, almost like white sandalwood but not powdery or salty. It's very simple and mellow. I would recommend this to fans of dry wood blends.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Dry dirt

 

On Skin: Very dirty and powdery. It smells like dirt that has been diluted, it's not a strong scent at all. There is also a woody note, not wet though... more like old dry wood. This scent seems very "brown" in tone to me. I'm not a huge fan of woody scents, this one especially. It was neat to smell but I don't see myself or my husband ever wearing this one. But it does seem quite realistic... this is exactly what I can picture Mandrake smelling like.

Edited April 6, 2006 by slave1

[thedragoncharmer]

In the bottle: fresh herb garden dirt.

Wet: woody, rooty herbs and dirt...

Drydown: I smell like pencil shavings.

 

No green in this. It's all brown. Wood and dirt.

[sarada]

I've been trying to figure out how to review this for several days now!

 

This is indeed the most viscous, thick oil I have ever tried. When applying it, it feels like sticky resin, as though it's an oil that has been aging for quite some time (though this is fresh, of course).

 

It is a very familiar scent. A resiny smell that reminds me of a store I went to as a child with my mom that sold things like incense, yoga mats and beaded curtains. But it is such a subtle scent, on my skin....so faint I can barely smell it unless I put it right up to my nose, and then, ahhh....a nice, strong, resiny sticky dark dry cedar, maybe with a hint of true church frankincense.

 

It's a bit like a darker version of Magus. A green wood, a thick cedary resin smoke snaking through a wooden chapen, overshadowed by evergreens and beds of fallen auburn needles.

 

Gorgeous, and definitely a favorite though it is so faint on me that I will either have to slather it, locket it or find another way to disperse it. Perhaps a good one for an oil burner, since it seems very much like something that should be slowing filling a room with a dark but uplifting scent.

[themerrybaker]

I love this one right out of the bottle. This is a soft scent, with rooty nutty undertones and maybe some eucalyptus. When drying this smells like ginseng tea powder and cedar shavings and gives the impression of something stored away – an old book? Perhaps guinea pigs nesting in a clean cage, or maybe in my cleavage? This is one I could wear daily, but I wish I hadn’t gotten that last image.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

So powerfully earthy, it's like sniffing a freshly pulled root

 

On me:

This goes on wet like grass and dirt. I mean literally, it smells just like I grabbed a handful of grass, tore it from the ground, and sniffed it. However, that only lasts about 30 seconds, when it makes a very odd change into cedar. And I don't mean it smells kind of *like* cedar. Or like cedar mixed with grass, or anything else. It smells JUST LIKE CEDAR.

 

I keep hoping for this to change, but it never does, it just stays cedar.

 

Final note:

If you love cedar, give this scent a shot because that is all it smells like to me!

[filigree_shadow]

I'm with the other reviewers who said this smells like cedar. Very strongly. Like Cathedral. I smell no dirt, nothing rooty or spicy. Just straight up cedar. Very sweet resin.

 

Although it was quite strong at first, after about 15 minutes it softened up a lot.

 

And I'm getting the same sort of comforted feeling from this that I get from Aureus. I'm thinking about wearing this at bedtime.

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial this scent reminds me of the scent of freshly opened mail-order iris rhizomes. Dry dirt and cedar. A comforting scent, but not one that I would wear as perfume.

[aedes]

Yup! Dirt! A lot of it! Maybe dirt well-mulched with wood chips, but dirt dirt dirt. Actually reminds me of those scented crayons I had as a kid. The dirt one smelled a lot like this. Would be a lovely smell for those gardeners out there!

[hologhost]

This is nice. It's very much in the wood family - Umbra, Cathedral, etc. Wood is mostly what I get - without a lot of throw.

[LittleGreyKitten]

On me, a straight up cedar scent. Not something I want to smell of, so therefore I gave it to my sistercousin; I'm trying to convert her to BPAL, and she's a big fan of cedar scents. She'd actually asked me to find her one, and I'd come up emptyhanded. Then I sniffed Mandrake and knew it was perfect for her. She thought it was perfectly cedar on her too, and loved it. And the name. Yay! Another convert!

 

For me it was a 2 out of 5, for my sistercousin (I think it was her holy grail of scent) I'm guessing she'd rate it a 5 out of 5.

[PurringPulsar]

Mandrake

 

In the imp: dirt! This is woody, mossy, earthy and rooty. This smells like cedar, but also like a root dug from the soil. This oil is also incredibly viscous.

Wet on skin: damp, dirty, and still smelling like a freshly dug root. Very fitting to the concept and name!

Dry on skin: whoa. This smells like two things at the same time. It smells like a plank of freshly sawn wood, probably cedar. It's a grey wood, solid and serious, and dry. But it also smells like, as I said before, a root just dug from the soil. Slightly greenish, you can smell the root itself, and the bits of earth still sticking to the root. It's a scent that manages to be dry and damp, rooty and wooden, dirty and clean, all at once. It's a lot fainter on the skin though…

After a while: it's much, much fainter now (and that's only after 30 minutes!), I don't get as much root and dirt now but I still get that wooden scent, like fresh timber. In fact, it smells a bit like one of my cedar e.o's. But it's such a barely there scent.

After about 2-3 hours, there's hardly a trace left of this scent on my skin. Just a faint whiff of wood.

Verdict: I was very impressed at how natural smelling this was. Well, of course, most BPAL blends do have a natural feel to their scent, but this smelt so much like a root dug from the earth and a fresh plank of cedar wood, so realistic it was uncanny. It was more rooty in the imp, it smelt dirty and seemed so fitting-it smelt like what I'd imagine a mandrake root, covered with soil, would smell like once it was pulled from the ground. On the skin, it developed an incredibly true cedar scent, like the wood sawn into planks, but not overwhelmingly 'lumberjack's workshop' but much fresher and less confined, like it was timber fallen in the forest. The big letdown of this scent though was that it was incredibly short lived on me, it became fainter smelling soon after being applied, and only lasted for a couple of hours. Such a shame, because this scent was so unique and different, and one of the truest earth, root and wood scents I've smelt so far.

To sum it up in a smiley: (for scent), (for longevity on skin)

Edited April 19, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[Rhowan]

In the vial and wet on my skin Mandrake starts of smelling completely of cedarwood. I am suprised at how think and syrupy the oil itself is - I kind of like that.

 

Drying down I am getting a bit more rooty smell kind of a sweet, dirty cedar. I am hoping this dries down more "dirty".

 

Completely dried down I am a touch disappointed. I was expecting this to be a rooty-er scent but it is mostly cedar with just a bare hint of rooty dirt. I am ok with that because I LOVE CEDAR. What is facsinating me is where I applied this oil to my wrist, my wrist is very soft - almost as if I applied aheavy thick moisturizer.

 

I have to say that I am very happy I got a 5ml. of this. Even though it wasn't what I expected, I really like this.

[Little Bird]

I don't get dirt or any green notes from Mandrake. It's nothing but dry, spicy cedar.

 

This one clings really close, I can barely smell it unless I slather it on or have my nose right up against my skin. I like how subtle it is.

 

Spicy, subtle cedar. After 5 hours it had completely faded, but it stayed the same throughout. I like this sort of cedar, it's very comforting and masculine to me. Mandrake is something that I wouldn't mind slathering on the boy.

[darkling]

Mandrake smells exactly like the dry wood note from Cathedral. It remains astonishingly similar from the vial to my skin although it fades fairly quickly.

[LiberAmoris]

I also get loads of cedar from Mandrake, but it's the softest cedar I've come across, and isn't overpowering on my skin.

 

Although I probably wouldn't wear Mandrake on its own, I think it would be great for layering. I also think this would be wonderful in an oil burner, as cedar is so relaxing and meditative.

[AliBabble]

a lot like cathedral: mostly cedar-y on me too. woody, earthy, rooty...it does smell pretty much like mandrake root, i guess. not the most complex or mysterious oil i've smelled, although it's texture is thick and goopy, which is kind of intriguing. it has the feeling of dark forest earth and roots.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 4/5

Summarised in a word or two: Cedar!

 

In the imp: A freshly-turned root in dirt.

 

On skin, wet: Cedar! More specifically, a freshly-turned root, covered in dirt thrown in a pile of dusty cedar chips. I quite like cedar in small amounts, but this is no small amount of cedar.

 

On skin, dry: Among the smoothest, softest cedar I've come across. Lovely, this. Warm and dry (no longer dusty, however) cedar that really does remind me of dirt, though without smelling like dirt. It isn't just cedar, though. There's something herbal as well (which makes sense). Herbs and cedar? Why yes, I do really, really like Mandrake so far.

 

Conclusion: As much as I do like it on its own, I can't see myself wearing this as a perfume. It would, however, be wonderful layered with... something. I'm not sure just what. Something that could stand a bit of earthy, grounding cedar. I just don't have any idea what that might be.

Edited April 27, 2006 by Aredhel

[this machine]

This is root root root and wood. Not dirt-like but earthy nonethless. I'm reminded of ginseng gum i used to chew (this doesn't strike me as sweet though, it's just that rooty, earthy association), and a little of going into a small old log cabin that's been closed up for the winter and the sun is out and you open the door and it's warm and the air is close and heavy with wood and earth. Gorgeous, though as others have said, very little staying power.

[Mary Mayhem]

Oh, lovely root. scary root. This goes on silvery gold. I can smell mulch in here and dirt and root. It feels weird on my skin. The oil is slippery and malign. My skin doesn't drink it like it does other, it just hovers there, wet, smirking. An amazing earth smell, but it freaks me out. The feel of this oil takes the cake. *squirms*

[aidenraine]

I love earthy smells, so I was really excited to try this one. Initially, I did not get the cedar (that came later), but dark soil and leaves. It smelled exactly the way I always want my drawers to smell (the wooden ones, I should clarify ) - and it hit me later that this was because I keep vetiver sachels inside cedar drawers. Heh, bingo!

 

After a moment this is all cedar, and I feel like I could get this from other blends. I love cedar, but more as an ambient scent I can't stop huffing. I don't necessarily want to smell of cedar myself (but then again, I'm starting to wonder why not.)

 

As I go into the spring/summer I crave green, leafy smells, so this may be finding use after all.

 

 

I do like pencils, after all.