Jezirat Al Tennyn

[Doomramen]

The Dragon’s Isle: smoke and fire, earth and wind. The rage of the elements blasting over a primordial paradise.

The imp smells like one of those caves, in movies, that turns out to be full of dinosaurs. Thus inspired, I will tell a story that mirrors my experience with this scent.

There is a young woman accompanying her father on an expedition into some caves on an otherwise deserted island. She has become seperated from the group, and found herself, quite suddenly, in a muggy chamber full of dinosaurs, waterfalls, massive exotic blooms, ginormous trees, and a little bit of wild onion or garlic. Excited, she gathers up some flowers. She adds a flower she'd had tucked behind her ear to the mix, and runs to find her father. As soon as she leaves the chamber, all of the flowers except for the one she came in with instantly die. None of the explorers believe her, and she drops the flowers.
She accompanies the explorers further into the caves, into a cavern slick with ice. Soon though, the ice cave opens into the dinosaur cave. The air is crisp from the breeze from the caves, but again thick with flowers, and sweet water, and peat. Then the explorers whip out the soap and start washing thier hands. The girl is far enough away from them, though, that she can focus on the beauty of the cavern, at least some of the time.

[RemAkimichi]

In the bottle: Strong earth and smoke smell, with a hint of something wet. Not much to go on there, really.

 

On me (wet): AHHHH!! Strong aquatic notes!! NOOO!! *flails* I was very worried at first that this was, somehow, going to be an aquatic scent. I know that it would supposedly be an "air"like scent, but ozone always ends up smelling like aquatic on me, and aquatic = headache. There's a note of earth in there too, and smoke, like fire over roiling black mud.

 

On me (dry): The strength of the aquatic notes have died down, and the eath and smoke are more prominent, but that hint of water is still there, only softer like a cool floral. It's not that I on't enjoy the smell (I do) but I just seem to have such a bad physiological reaction to them *sigh*

 

Overall: A beautiful scent, but probably not for me. I'll give this one another try next week before tossing it into swaps, though, because it seems to deserve it.

[kwsix]

In the imp: Wet tropical flowers

 

On my skin: I'm disappointed because there's no hint of smoke or fire. I get wet tropical flowers and ozone, all the way through the drydown.

 

Overall: It's a pretty scent, but it really isn't my style. I do really like the ozone note, but the headiness of the flowers is too much for me. It might work if I had gotten a hint of the smoke or fire, but without something to ground the florals it's too bright and sharp for my taste. It does really smell like tropical flowers on an exotic island, so anyone who likes that sort of thing should give it a try.

[Emera]

In the imp: Sweet burning leaves, with something clear and fresh underneath like wet, crushed herbs. An autumn bonfire?

 

On my skin: All resinous woods - pungent and dark. Within perhaps an hour, it went completely cedarwood, and stayed that way for at least 6 hours. Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of how cold and masculine cedarwood is on me; I was hoping for more of an elemental mix with this one. I imagine I just amp cedar like crazy. Rawr.

 

I think I'll keep it for a little while to try a few more times, but it's probably a no. I just don't like cedar enough to have it hanging around on me all day.

[maribouquet]

imp: bitter citrus

wet: bitter like cedar. or citronella? This smells like the back of the Ward Robe.

dry: bitter and eerily sweet. intriguing but not attractive.

[Jheya]

In the imp: Spicy warmth on top with cool, minty aquatic underneath.

 

On skin: The warmth I could smell in the imp went missing as soon as the oil hit my skin. This is cool and almost minty. Perhaps it's pennyroyal I'm smelling as in another blend it took on an evil!mint persona, so it's a possibility. There's also a damp herbal note lurking in the background, providing a base to the cool, bright minty top note. Not so much smoke and fire, but I definitely get a sense of a fierce, raging wind.

 

~10 minutes: The storm has calmed a little, and though the chilly notes still dance up high underneath lies the smooth aquatic of a gentle ocean.

 

~30 minutes: The air is clear and cool, the wind blowing swiftly but without anger. Beneath it lies the ocean, stretching on into the distance, but the subtle hint of greenery in the air suggests that land might not be far off, and the tiniest tang of fruit indicates that the vegetation is lush, and growing well.

 

An interesting blend which went through unexpected changes to become something rather pleasant, with a softness and gentle sweetness that I would't have been able to predict from the initial minty blast. I like this one a lot more than I thought I would. Though I know I won't reach for it often, I'm tempted to keep this one for the imagery it calls up.

[stellans]

Someone sent me a sniffie of this, thank goodness, before I ordered an imp to try it. I say 'thank goodness' because when I picked up the vial to take off the cap for a sniff, I was hit with a wave of peppermint, and just about lost my cookies. Ugh.

 

And I like the Wild Men! I was so disappointed in this blend.

 

REVISIT: 3/28/08 Wow. For some reason now this blend rocks on me -- no mint! Maybe ‘cause I love Singing Moon so much, and this seems to be a GC equivalent. Whatever the reason my nose/body chemistry has changed, I’m hanging on to this imp, and strongly considering a bottle!

 

While at the initial application a bit of menthol is evident, it's not strong and quickly gives way to a damp, stone, salty smell. Not quite the herbal, green smell also present in Singing Moon, but very close. I keep sniffing my wrist, because I just can't believe the difference in this imp and the first one referenced in my account above. I wonder why? Was there a heavier hand on the menthol bottle when the first imp was blended than on this one? If so, I hope the second, more moderate hand will be that which fills the bottle I plan to buy!

 

Damp stone, while not a normal note one might wish for in a perfume really attracts my nose, and this blend is perfect in that regard. After drying down for about 30 minutes, there is a very faint scent of rock roses, but the stone! Oh, the lovely, lovely damp and salty stone island smell! If there was an emotican for grabby hands, I'd put it right here -->

Edited March 20, 2009 by stellans

[Gwydion]

In the bottle: smells of rot and chemicals. On the skin: Disturbing. The water and wind elements are initially strongest. It smells like a storm coming, Ozony water rich witch wind. Then the earth scent comes up, giving one a muddy compost undercurrent. There is something headier then, almost incensy, vaguely like rotting flowers. I'm guessing this is paradise, but if so, no thanks. If it was just the sent of coming storm, I'd probably like it, but compost and toxic waste dump added in? Too much.

[radishbaby]

In the Imp : I was a tad bit worried that this might have dragons blood in it because of the description but so far nothing. There's something sweet in here but its definitely not dragons blood.

 

Wet : Have you ever taken a walk outside and taken a deep breath only to realize that everything smells, well, really nice? lol This is a wonderful scent that doesn't smell sweet at all in the traditional sense of certain plants being purposely selected. Instead its more a natural sweet that seems to have come into being just by there being a lot of greenery around - very jungle like. Also there's something very dry under all of it that smells like rock that I'm guessing is the smoke and fire part and a touch of something that smells like caramel where the two scents meet.

 

Dry : Faded pretty fast. The jungle scent is still lingering but all of the rock and smoke have blown away.

 

Over All : Very nice and intriguing.

 

Big Bottle Worthy : Hm, it fades to fast to warrent anything more than an imp but while wet this was a very nice testing.

[hkhm]

imp: a nice sweet 'n' herby dirt scent. not at all what i was expecting but quite nice!

 

wet: there's something that smells smoky or crumbly here... the only image i have in my head is of weeds growing on a crumbling brick or concrete wall... i smell greenery and someting else... very intriguing!

 

dry: the dirt smell comes to the fore. there is still that sweet herby note but it's faint. there's almost a watery scent here as well. looks like the description was dead on!

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is earth and wafts of smoke...once applied

the smoke becomes very apparent....beth nailed this blend...

i get all the elements whirlwinding together ... amazing how she has

this captured in a perfume...but then again, she never ceases to amaze

[The_Merf]

This is a really interesting blend; I can absolutely see three of the four elements working with each other. The first thing that stands out about this blend is a brimstone/dirt combination that seems to really represent fire (particularly volcanic) and earth mixing together--there is a sense of stone here, which seems to make sense. The second wave of notes that emerge after a few minutes on my skin are very cool and minty, and certainly bring the wind to mind, and there is even a hint of stone soaked by water that comes out here. Given the scent description, I was quite curious about what would emerge, but I must say that it is really quite an accomplishment.

[taramarie]

On me, Jezirat Al Tennyn is a green and earthy men's cologne. It's nice (and would be gorgeous on a man) but it's not me.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Ozone, a hint of cinnamon, and some other wet swampy scents

 

First on: Pancake syrup? With that same ozone and spiciness behind it.

 

Drydown: Smokey swamp-ness. I can't really describe it any other way, and I can't pick out any of the key ingredients that I haven't already.

 

Overall: I sort of liked the first on stage, but ozone seems to burn my nose and just isn't for me.

[erraticprophet]

Initial Impression: earth, smoke, exotic hothouse blooms

 

On Wet: a lush, blooming rain forest, fresh earth, hint of smoke (that, amazingly enough, isn't giving me a headache!)

 

On Dry: earth, hint of smoke and flowers

 

Final Impression: I want to live there!

 

Rating (on a scale from 1-5): 5! Love!

[CrazyPretzel]

This is simple and straightforward on me: earth and fire. The fiery element reminds me a little of Djinn, another scent I enjoy, but here it's grounded and darkened by a damp black earth smell. This doesn't smell like perfume in any predictable way and is a really unique olfactory experience.

[tinyvulture]

i smell fresh, wet earth reminiscent of springtime in the garden, combined with summery tropical florals, autumnal bonfire smoke, and the slushy, wintry note of Snow Bunny and so many other Yule blends. it’s like a combination of all seasons in one. i love the combination of dirt, smoke and snow notes. this is one of my favorite “dirt” blends because it’s so rich and sweet.

[zankoku_zen]

This is such an olfactory experience. At the beginning, and very strongly, I get a whiff of smoke. And then the smoke clears out a bit and I have a bit of sweet and herby earthiness and a light aquatic underneath. The earth and water don't combine really, they simply co-exist together. Same with the smoke - which just sort of floated on the top.

 

I'm glad I got this as a frimp as this is not a scent I'm attracted to. And while I don't love it, I think it was definitely fun to try out for the sheer experience of it.

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: ozone, smoke and heavy aquatic notes. this is my version of a nightmare.

 

wet on skin: the water note becomes more prominent. much more.

 

dry down: ozone wins! but there is a bit of a dirt scent in the back ground. interesting.

 

in all: well, i'm glad i tried it, because i like to try all things BPAL at least once. it's not for me, but i know some steampunk folks that would be ALL over this!

[cassandrakfreaq]

in the bottle I got a crazy strong astringent smell. on me the first 15 mins was all ash ash ash. It wasn't a bad ash like djinn. I sort of liked it. It kept getting sweeter and sweeter and I think I like it a lot. I am going to retest and see cuz its an odd scent for sure.

[voodoocatwoman]

What an interesting scent. After reading the reviews, I was hesitant to try it but... WOW.

 

In the imp: Sweet/sharp/herbal all at the same time.

 

Wet: Sweet, but I also detect wood in there... cedar maybe? Normally, any cedar reminds me of a reeking Hamster Cage, but this cedar is in the background and sort of peeks through demurely every so often.

 

Dry: Complex- there is still cedar in here, but I smell patchouli and a bit of menthol. The combination of notes is very pleasing. Keeper.

[savage_rose]

This smells a bit like burned spices, and a bit of the resulting smoke, like incense. This is a much more subdued blend than I was expecting...it's soft, but I like it.

[Raqassah]

Wet: Sophisticated. Very warm and dry smelling. Tropical flowers. Ozone. Stone. Resins.

 

Dry down: Incense. Keeps morphing. Never smells the same twice.

 

Final impression: Sophisticated. Try again.

[bookandbroom]

Earthy, damp, murky, fiery, smoked, black, green, brown. Like a dragon's cave on the edge of a swamp. Alluring and warning at the same time. I assume dragon's blood; I smell some kind of moss, earth, maybe cinnamon, a strange floral, like some flower that blooms only at great temperatures. It smells as if I ought to be sweating when I smell it. It's thoroughly fascinating as a vivid image evoker, but I don't think I'd wear it as a perfume, though something about it reminds me of the shock of cold water on hot, dry ground — and I love that. There's a hint of aquatic as it dries, and the florals emerge a bit more; the two suggestions are twined for me, and I like them less than the scent's beginning, but it's still an interesting one.

Edited July 29, 2008 by bookandbroom

[diamondstars]

This smells like mud!