Arkham

[viciousviolet]

From Diabolus

 

A scent seething with the perverse splendor of complete and utter madness. High-pitched, yet dark... subdued and deep, but tingling with frenzy: juniper, nutmeg and black cypress shocked by verbena and lavender.

 

This is a very disjointed scent, so appropriate for a perfume inspired by Lovecraft! The juniper seemed sharper to me than that scent usually does, and the lavender and verbena make it very edgy. In its way, it is very invigorating. It strikes me as a masculine blend, and isn't something I would normally wear, but my husband enjoys it a great deal.

 

PLEASE NOTE: This is not the same as the Picnic in Arkham scent named Arkham (formerly Arkham Revisited), and if that's the one you're looking for, those reviews are here.

[friendthegirl]

This reminds me of shadow, very sharp lemony smell. I'm still waiting for it to develop, so it might change.

[Alice Aforethought]

The refreshing lemon immediately jumps out upon first application. However, beyond that, there is a spicy, herby deepness...the lemon stays however, and the greenness continues with that snap of spices following close on its heels.

[Morrighana]

I have to second Alice Aforethought's review here, as she described Arkham very well. This is a lovely, complex lemon scent with an unusually fresh bite.

 

It doesn't remind me of Shadow in the least, though...it is crisper, and brighter. I don't detect any of the lavender outright, but its light, clean feel is present...Very nice.

[glampyre]

Arkham

 

is, indeed, very tingly. The verbena is quite intense in the beginning, and dries to blend with and uplift the lavendar, nutmeg, and evergreens.

 

It emotes intensity, speed, alertness and, yes, madness.

[Traveler]

This is my first review, so go easy on me.

 

Arkham.

 

Came out of the bottle very strong, a very high citrus smell. It was immediately noticeable. The underscent reminded me of gasolines and fuels that I used to clean the car. Which is a good thing. (I really enjoy the smell of gasoline, chem-tool, and carb cleaner.) So the very slight underhint of fuel really struck strong with me.

 

The scent didn't last more than a few hours, but as the scent changed, the strong citrus died down. A more mellowy scent came out from underneath, and I don't really know how to describe it other than a more gentlemanly perfumish smell. (Once again, not being as familiar as you girls are with what each scent is, I just kinda have to go by ear.)

 

This scent was too short, in my opinion. A few hours is not quite enough. But it came out great and very strong. On my skin, the citrus was the predominant smell. But the underlying fuel/chemicalish smell worked very well for me. I don't know what the other ingredients are, but I was at school and had another girl comment on it. She said it smelled quite nice.

 

Hypothermya really liked it, which is always the primary importance of wearing perfume, as far as I'm concerned.

 

It also didn't change a whole lot, which is really interesting. Most change quite a bit from one smell to the next. This one stayed fairly the same. I think it's a great gentleman's scent. I think it smells very manly. Which is strange, because citrus and chemicals is normally associated with cleaners.

 

That's about it for my first review. Hope it helps.

[briteyes]

My friend and I split an order, and got this as a freebie. In the bottle, it smells strongly of lemon cleaning products, and when I first put it on, it is exactly like Lemon Pine-Sol. Nice if you've mopped the kitchen, not so good on me. It has a very musty, institutional odor to it, which makes me think of Arkham Asylum.

 

Now that it's dried, the pine and lemon have given way to cedar (the black cypress, perhaps). In fact, it reminds me very much of a guy I know whose clothes always smell of cedar. I'll be giving this imp to him; it'll be much more appropriate on him than it is on me.

[TheDarkMother]

I'm a little worried about this one since it has verbena in it, but I'm hoping that the lavender wins.

 

In the Bottle: Ugh. Lemon drops. Not good.

 

On Me: Ugh. Lemon drops. Great. Not fair. Oh well. Of to the swaps with ye.

 

Edit: But wait! Not yet! Apparently it just needed to dry for a bit. There is a lavender smell right now too, but I still am sick of the lemon. I'll still swap it, but at least it wasn't as bad as I thought.

Edited November 19, 2004 by TheDarkMother

[Ishtar]

Arkham was an extra imp added to my order by the ever-generous Lab.

 

I wouldn't have ordered it myself, since juniper, cypress and vetiver rarely work on me.

From these notes, I expected something quite dark and brooding, but the lavender and verbena actually made it invigorating and rather fresh. The high-pitched citrus note is what struck me first, before Arkham changed into a very green and complex scent.

It was much nicer than I would have initially thought. However, it was a little too green and "busy" for me to wear.

[feline.by.design]

I had originally bought this for my roommate as a holiday present... but I wound up keeping it for myself. Why?

 

Well, I'm fond of lemony scents, and this one reminds me of Phobos in how it's very much like a lemon italian ice. I love lavender, and though I didn't pick up on it, I'm sure it was in the background making everything smell right. The drydown is soft, this isn't the Pledge lemon that everyone fears. Like most citrusy scents, it doesn't last as long as I'd like (which would be forever) but it's pleasant while it lingers.

 

This was a very nice fragrance to add to my collection, and I'm glad that I've got a 5ml bottle of the stuff to douse myself with. I gave Neptune to my roommate instead.

 

-doreen

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Sharp. Tangy. Juniper, lavender, and cypress. A twisted, mocking fragrance.

 

On me: Junipter is very strong for the first few minutes. The lavender and verbena dominate the piercing blend. It's too sharp for me and I can see that it wouldn't be likely to have a large fanbase. Still, it is quite unique, and I'm sorry it's gone.

[allelujiah]

At first this was really promising, very lemony and bright.

Seconds later I began to get a dirty water smell that never went away.

 

This scent ended up being the water left in the bucket after mopping the floor with a lemony cleaner.

[surf-tormented]

Smells almost exactly like Embalming Fluid to me. Ok, maybe that with a little Villain thrown in. It's nice, but I have smelled it before.

[darkling]

In the vial: Bright lemon with a touch of bold juniper.

 

On my skin: LEMON! The lemon scent is extremely intense and has a lot of throw. There is something spicy underneath (perhaps the nutmeg or even the cypress?) but the lemon is predominant. The juniper note is gone. The scent has a manic feel to it during this phase.

 

Drydown: A strong spicy lemon.

 

This scent lasts a long time. I could smell it about 10 hours after application.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: tons of something very astringent and pine-like, with a bit of verbena.

on: still about the same. this reminds me of a page in this scratch 'n sniff book i had when i was little that was supposed to smell like a pine tree.

1 hour later: this just smells like dried wood. it's nice, but not really something i would wear.

3 hours later: barely there. dry wood.

overall: i'm glad that i got to try this, but it isn't really something i would wear.

[Little Bird]

I'd been trying so hard to track down a bit of this one after reading the description. I was hoping that it would be mostly juniper, nutmeg, and black cypress. A great foresty blend. Unfortunately, it is the opposite of what I was looking for

 

Arkham on me is Lemon Pine Sol. Cleaning products. Lemons. Not at all foresty, it's just a very sharp citrus. The only thing that I'm really picking up is the verbena, and my skin has amped it up into floor cleanser. It dries down and fades pretty quickly. So disappointing...

Edited July 5, 2006 by Blood onmy hands

[Em-]

I swapped for half an imp of this and OMG, it is amazing...if you are me. It is fresh and citrusy with a hit of green herbals. It is a nice light refreshing scent, just lovely on a hot summer day. Oh for a bottle...

[slave1]

ARKHAM

 

In Bottle: Lemon and woods

 

On Skin: First off, this is the original discontinued Arkham, not the revisited version Springtime or Picnic versions. It is very strongly a woody lemon scent. Very outdoorsy smelling. But sadly, it also smells very much like wood or floor polish. It’s quite medicinal and sharp. I smell pine, lemon, dirt and florals. The lemon is the verbena and the pine is from the juniper, and the floral is quite obviously lavender which hardly ever works on me. Combined with juniper and verbena the entire scent becomes very sour and sharp. The nutmeg is a very light spice in the background, barely showing itself. Strong throw and average to long wearlength.

[supremegoddessofall]

Very aquatic, but the verbena is also beating up on everything else. Not really getting the nutmeg or cypress. The lavender is barely there, hiding under the verbena. This has a "furniture polish" smell to it.

[edenssixthday]

Arkham - It's 90% verbena with 10% lavender and a whole lot of nothing else on my skin. I couldn't agree more with the reviewer before me who said "furniture polish". I love the smell of furniture polish when I'm polishing furniture, but I don't like it on my skin as a fragrance. My skin positively eats this up. It disappears almost completely upon drydown, and what faint traces it leaves behind are unpleasant since I don't care for verbena or lavender.

[shelldoo]

in the vial: verbena and juniper, sweet and fresh

 

wet: verbena, strong verbena, and an herbal background

 

after a couple minutes i get a bit more nutmeg mixed in w/ the verbena, not really getting the juniper, but the lavander is flitting in and out. all in all i'd say this is light, fresh, herbal. strong on the verbena and ther other notes just popping in and saying hello occassionally. this is a sunny, bright scent

[Trish]

In the imp: Very sharp wood and herbal. The juniper and cypress are screaming for my attention, and the lavender isn't that far behind.

 

Wet: Very briefly it softens and I get a hint of lemon, but almost as quickly the cypress smacks it out again. Lucky I like cypress.

 

Drydown: Cypress has decided he doesn't need to hog the limelight to himself now that he's satisfied that yes, I did indeed notice him. Verbena and juniper have joined him, and there's just a hint of lavender underneath. The cypress is sitting on her very firmly indeed though - thank goodness!

 

Dry: Wow this has softened hugely! What was a sharp herbal wood is now a soft floral with some sharp herbal/woods still lurking underneath. And just the tiniest hint of spice if I go searching for it. Lavender has given up and run away.

 

And 40 minutes later it's almost completely gone! There's just a ghost of verbena left.

[evanescence]

fresh wildflowers and lavender! like walking through a field of both on a warm summer day. Floral but not sweetly floral at all.

[diamondstars]

Pure floral. It's nice but not very strong so I won't be buying a 5ml. I'll keep the imp though.

[ami226]

SO says, "Mmmmmmm, delightfully evil!."

 

Herbally, very strong. SO says incensey, but I don't see it. Kinda mossy? Not for me.