Oblivion

[Nepthys]

Salvation found in darkness beyond darkness, the blessed sleep of nothingness. Dark musk, wood spice, labdanum, patchouli, dark African woods, and saffron.

 

The only thing that says Oblivion about this to me is the olive green color of the oil... it looks like a death potion endorsed by the Hemlock Society or something. But the scent? No way. This is like the scent of life to me - it reminds me of walking through the woods on an overcast day, everything cool and dry yet rich with the smell of pine trees and earth. I love this. I find myself reaching for this as a comfort scent because it always makes me feel better to wear it.

[euterpe414]

In the vial this one smells almost barely there- not a scent to fit the color of the oil at all! On my skin it blossoms into a lovely, rich musk. Although I must add it's not a terribly animalistic musk, more of a refined one since it is tempered by the labdanum and woods. It's definitely a dark scent but airs on the smooth side of dark. It slithers, almost. I really like this one and I would love to have a bottle of it eventually.

Edited May 16, 2007 by euterpe414

[LadyCrow]

In very green imp: Pungently resinous.

 

Wet: Heavy on the labdanum and woods.

 

Drydown: The closer your nose actually gets to the slathered area, the deeper the woods get -- "the woods are lovely, dark and deep," says the man tempted by oblivion in Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening." The patchouli is there, but decidedly buried under the woods and resins; the saffron floats lightly over the top. I get little of the musk, but lots of the smoky astringency that's in this scent's near-opposite, Scarecrow. Unusual, dark, earthy, grounding and grounded. A keeper.

[windzswept]

In the Bottle: It's green. I actually smell nothing. Nothing at all. It's like the absence of smell.

 

On my wrist: Still nothing. Nothing stands out and I smell nothing.

 

Later: Okay so I have a smell now. Smells like the dregs of incense after it has finished burning and is disappating, but without the earlier stronger scent.

 

Overall: I smelt nothing at all, and I don't really want to smell of nothing. I suppose it resembles its name, but on the whole, I'd rather smell strongly of something than wear perfume and smell nothing. The musk never raised it's head once, nor did the saffron or wood spice.

[funkmoppet]

With the notes in this, I really expected to love it. (And yes, love the colour of the oil!)

 

But wet on the skin, this just reminded me of bathroom disinfectant. It's really unpleasant on me when wet, so I avoided putting my nose to it until it had settled down.

 

During the dry down I couldn't stop being reminded of a public pool - some odd, almost salty sweat and chlorine smell. Not that I have bad memories of public pools, but it's not a smell I want on me.

 

Finally it does settle and becomes a sweet sort of musk, but fairly ineffectual and not the kind of musk I like.

 

I may try it again later in case I just wasn't in the mood for it today, but right now it's really not doing it for me.

[Trish]

I just jotted down notes as I tested this, and decided to just type out what I wrote. Hence it may be a little disjointed.

 

An almost sharp sweetness when wet that quickly starts to fades. Becomes mainly warm and smooth spiced musky woods but still with a sweet top-note which is somewhat jarring. The saffron is lovely. Gender neutral. Don't get the patchouli at all. Labdanum comes out a little more as it dries. Sweet top-note fades. Now I get the Morocco comparisons - it does indeed smell like a deeper murkier Morocco, yet in other ways they are quite different. Far more grown up and wordly wise than Morocco. A little throw but not a lot. Rich, smooth, musky, warm, dark, incensey, a little smoky. Sexy. Good last. Definitely a possible bottle.

[starwild]

Yet another of my imps from bethany!

 

Bottle: Wet and woodsy, and something like mint? Utterly green (exactly what I'd expect from a green oil!)

 

Wet: What IS that? It's dark and scary. It's pouring rain in a midnight forest, and there's something hunting me.

 

Drydown: Now I'm getting the patchouli, but it's keeping that forest scent as well. I'm also getting a sort of men's cologne scent, but it's not masculine enough to scare me off.

 

This is like nothing I've tried from the Lab, and I really do like it. Unusual play of notes, unusual fragrance.

[Babylon]

Wet - Freakin delicious - saffron, spices, woods, musk, and something reminiscent of amber!

Drying - Saffron, still that amber smell, and a light touch of patchouli resting on rich, woodsy musk.

Dry - Predominantly saffron, patchouli, soft and spicy woods and dark musk. I love it and can't believe I haven't already bought a bottle. Would smell great on my boyfriend too. It's soft and sexy like sandalwood and amber, without having either.

[Gwydion]

This struck me as green, spicey, a touch oppressive when first applied. The patchouli isn't kidding. It spells like someone invading my space. Someone I don't like. I do like the wood spice and the african woods. I think. It's just the patchouli and musk is a bad combo for me when put together with the other stuff. I think.

[Gladtobemom]

Another one that DH likes FOR HIMSELF.

 

I tried it on myself and it was earthy and OK.

I tried it on DH and it was wonderful. So I mixed him up some

 

hair gel with it (4 oz. Fruit of the earth Aloe Gel and 1 imp.) and

 

put the 5 ml. in a rollon diluted 3 to one with perfumer's alcohol (letting it sit a week).

 

So far he says he's gotten complements from his secretary, his partner's wife (she asked what it is so she could get some for her Dad) and one client.

 

He says, "It's not overpowering but has real staying power, it's masculine without being Old Spicey, very nice indeed."

[MaidenGenevive]

Oblivion

 

This is one of the scents I had picked out for my husband. This reminds me of aftershave, and something else that I can't quite put my finger on. It's musk, spice, and green. It feels like the holidays, and somehow, the doctor's office. There's warmth, but it also feels wet. Men's deodorant, it's as if I'm in the deodorant isle sniffing, trying to find the right one for him. This is one I smell that has possibility, but doesn't feel quite right. I think it's too mature, so I put it back on the shelf.

 

[ 3 - Like ] Truly masculine, not for my wearing. It feels like an older man. Certainly not for my young husband.

[waffelo13]

I don't write many reviews, but after falling into Oblivion ::cheesy:: - I couldn't help myself.

 

This was a frimp from the Lab, and I must confess that I really didn't even consider it because of the dark green color alone. I thought it would be a "green" scent, and they don't generally work for me. It sat for months on the shelf, ignored.

 

How naive of me...

 

I'm a fan of spicy, woody, warm musky scents and this one fits the bill beautifully!

I'm terrible with individual notes but I'm getting musk, saffron and spicy woods. On me, the patchouli plays nice and sits in the back seat quietly - that's how I like my patchouli: Well Behaved. It is a very peaceful scent for me, warm and comforting.

 

I don't consider it to be too masculine for a woman, at least with my chemistry. All in all, it is a gorgeous blend - maybe one of my favorites so far. Bottle purchase, definitely. Yummy!

 

[porcelina]

yum yum yum! oblivion is spicy resinous musky goodness. as usual i really amp the dark musk (reminds me of the black musk in haunted) but the wood is there and the saffron keeps things interesting. best of all, the patchouli is nowhere to be seen- er, sniffed! i've had this one around for a while but never realized just how good it is. it can work for either a man or a woman- it smells marvelous on my boyfriend, a bit woodier and drier, almost piney to both our noses- but it is just as good on me, in a different way, all musk and sweet resin.. and personally i love the green-black color. a bottle for sure!

[Ilex]

This is a pretty green oil, as others have said, its striking not just for its smell.

 

I can't decide what to think of it. It invokes the idea of "hair product" for me at first, which is not a plus. I'm not getting woods, or patchoulli. There was a whiff of mint which was quickly gone. The black musk and laudanum are stealing the show. And something is going to powder in the mix, is there sandalwood or a close relative thereof in there somewhere? Sandalwood is my usual powder culprit. Hmm... it is similar to Morocco, which I wanted to like, but was too sweet. This isn't so sweet, but is still a bit sweet.

 

It is cloying, but interesting. I'm on the fence about it.

 

Unfortunately, my husband is not on the fence. This stuff has amazing throw, I didn't slather, and he rarely smells bpal from a distance but he walked in and I said "would you like to sniff a new one?" and he said "I can all ready smell it and I'm fleeing." Oh well.

[hkhm]

imp: patchouli and spicy woods. my husband took one sniff of this and says he's trying the imp next.

 

wet: deep, rich musk with thick patchouli and an amazing wood scent. good on me, this will be great on my husband.

 

dry: the woods are foremost here, old and spicy with an amazing undercurrent of patchouli and musk. incredible.

[megank4]

Argh. I think this one got put on my wishlist BECAUSE it had everything I thought I didn't like, but I figured that I would branch out and try something new, hoping I would be pleasantly surprised. Nope. I guess sometimes the first reaction is the best one. This is just way too, artificial I think. The color is a slight turn-off, but not major.

[neddykapoozle]

woodsy, rich, musky, touch of saffron............. when I get around to finding a boy toy THIS is what I will dab on him. It doesn't smell half bad on me...... I actually really really like this one, and like it more as I wear it. Its a wood that is calm, the patchouli doesn't rear its head, the musk is yummy and cozy. these note's shouldn't work on me, but they do. It is verrrry masculine on me, but still nice.

 

I don't think I would wear it out much but I would consider a 5 mL for cozy homey days. It smells like being hugged feels.

[tziporra]

Once upon a time I bought a bottle of Lolita Lempika Au Masculin for myself (don't worry, this is a review of Oblivion, I'm just taking a roundabout method) at Nordstrom. My Husband was with me when I bought the bottle, so he knew it was for me, but it didn't matter. In less than a month he'd purloined the bottle, going so far as to keep it at work with him so I'd have no chance of using it. I never saw it again. But he smelled SO GOOD all the time, I couldn't get too upset.

 

I love Oblivion in the exact same way I loved that bottle of Lolita Lempika Au Masculin. It is sweet and spicy and homey and warm, just like cuddling up in a beloved man's cashmere sweater. In the bottle I got mostly saffron and black musk, and I could hardly wait to slap it on. During drydown it was all black musk and laudanum with a whiff of mint. YUMYUMYUMYUM. So Delicious. Later (an hour or so) it had settled down into woodsy goodness. And the next morning (I put it on pretty late at night) all that was left was lingering sweet warmth.

 

Not surprisingly my husband really liked it (I can see the cunning plot forming in his head now!). And while this is definitely not the kind of scent that makes me smell "like a dude" (like, for instance, Velvet or Juke Joint), I believe that if I buy a bottle the same fate awaits it as did my beloved LLAM. It's interesting how body chemistry affects the "gender" of scents. I see myself as very very deeply earthily feminine, and LLAM was my only cross-scenting venture. BPAL scents that seem to work great on other women just turn all manly on me. But this is amazing.

 

It's just that if I buy it, I'm pretty sure I won't have long to enjoy it. At least, not on myself.

 

Best,

 

Tzi

[merovin]

In the bottle:

Not a strong scent. Green and herbal.

 

Wet on Skin:

A masculine scent that I don't feel any less feminine while wearing. It's comfortable and cozy, like wearing your boyfriends shirt to bed at night and smelling him as you drift off.

 

After an Hour:

The smell has become much sweeter. Most of the lovely green herbal scent has has faded to the background. I think I'm amping the labdanum in odd way. I smell like honey mead. It's not unpleasant, but so many scents are more appealing. I think I'm going to swap this.

 

Alas, the honey mead smell morphed into ... ferret. While ferrets are perfectly lovely creatures, I don't really want to smell like one. I really liked the initial scent, but this just doesn't work with my chemistry. Oh well.

 

Rating:

2 of 5

[econley]

The notes in this oil did not have me too excited about it, but like all Beth's blends, you never, ever know what can happen.

 

Wet...a bit too tangy for my taste. Just tang, tang, tang.

 

Dry..OMFG. creamy, sexy musk...just a hint of the patchouli and spices.

 

I am so pleased! My husband, who is thankfully very much into my bpal addiction, was like..."Whoa. Which one is that? I mean, come here...(sniffs, licks, sighs)I really, REALLY love this one, buy a big bottle".

 

When I told him the name, he was like..."Did they name it after the game??" I love him so much.

 

And, needless to say, a big bottle it is!

Edited January 20, 2008 by econley

[djsiberia]

it's an interesting scent - haven't smelled anything like it before. it has upon first application an almost medicinal smell...then the musk peeks through and i assume the labdnaum is giving it a woodsy warm spice scent. it's almost cinnamon like actually.

 

not sure if i would order a bottle, but its interesting

[Kimbernunk]

Had a nice herbal smell to it, with something faintly astringent. Unfortunately, it started itching like mad, so I had to take it off.

[donnatron]

Imp: Light, resinous scent. Smells a bit like Crabtree and Evelyn cologne.

 

Wet: OHMYGOD! This goes on sweet and warm and just gorgeous. The saffron lends this a really gentle feminine sweetness.

 

Dry: I'm in love. There's a lovely musky base, a sweet saffron scent, some woods. It's just overall really well blended and a lovely scent to behold.

 

Throw: Wonderful.

 

Overall: I had been trying on R'lyeh beforehand and it disagreed with me so much that I had to wash it off. To replace it I pulled blindly from the imp box and the imp gods chose to smile on me. I had no interest in really trying this, but it is FABULOUS. Big bottle!

[whisperingmachines]

Imp: Light. A bit alcoholic.

 

Wet: OOH. Alcoholic aftershave. Yerk.

 

Dry: Warm, sweet and pretty. Woodsy but rather light on me.

 

I was a bit put off by the fact that the oil is the color of ripe boogers, but I'm glad I tested it.

Edited March 28, 2008 by whisperingmachines

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, Oblivion's a sexy, spicy woods and musk scent. Unfortunately, it started to burn. This may be one worth getting a scent locket for.