Shoggoth

[bubblefish]

An amorphous, radiant, incandescent scent. Ever changing, protoplasmic and primordial: white amber, green coconut meat, iris, palmarosa, Chinese peony, lime, water lily, snowdrop, muguet, lemongrass, osmanthus, wisteria, glassy musk, and hinoki.

I didn't initially like this scent, which I got in imp form, but it grew on me and now I really like it. It's this light sort of floral-citrus smell, like an infusion of flowers and citrus in a bowl of ocean water. It's refreshing and delicious.

[Monster]

In the imp: Fruity floral...I'm a little scared.

 

Wet: Really pretty coconut with lime and lemongrass. This smells like a yummy lollipop to me (the homemade kind you get at this old fashioned country stores)

The flowers are light and barely there. I'm guessing they'll pop up as this dries and the citrus subsides.

 

Dry: Hmmm...not what I was expecting! The lemongrass is still present, just really pale now. The flowers have peeked out a bit more but aren't strong or headache-inducing.

This still has a nice sugary sweet, fresh quality to it.

 

Verdict: Beautiful! This is one of those oils you really need to try out on your skin. It smelled horrid to me in the vial but the wet and dry phases are both really really lovely.

A keeper!

[hkhm]

imp: sweet, watery flowers.

 

wet: the lemongrass jumps out pretty strongly, it's pretty much overpowering all the other scents at the moment.

 

dry: the lemongrass just won't fade on me, it's not as strong as it was but it's still the thing i can smell most strongly. darn.

[zee]

This is very citrusy, more citrusy than I was expecting from the description. The main note for me was the lime, and while I do like the smell of lime, it very much screams LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME with some flowers attempting to get in on the action from beneath but not succeeding very well. As I'm not a fan of flowers and prefer berries to citrus, this isn't a winner for me, but I'll hang on to my imp and give it another chance sometime in the future.

[voorishsign]

"A Shoggoth on the roof - sounds crazy - no, certifiably insane! But here in our little village of Arkham, Massachusetts, you might say every one of us has a Shoggoth on the roof - and I'm not speaking of metaphorically! It's not easy having a . . . malevolent shapeless monster like that, hanging over your head, but there it is! Arkham is the home of many strange things. A big monster like that on such a pointy roof, you may ask: How does it stay up there, if it's so difficult? That, I can tell you in one word: tentacles!"

 

Officially the first Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab scent I ever applied and tried. Possibly not the perfect start for an untrained nose? But I do like it. It's incredibly complex, if not as dark as I would immediately imagine a Lovecraft fragrance to be, it's rather colourful, a pleasant assault on the senses.

 

On first application I notice a lot of the florals, but the amber tones them down. Goodness me, a floral that I like? Madness! As it dries down, the coconut, lime and lemongrass come in to play, and there's a strange kind of glow to it, but a diffused one, like light breaking through mist. I think that much like it is ill-advised to stare at an actual shoggoth for too long trying to make sense of it's shapeless form, perhaps it is also better to just inhale and soak in this particular scent without trying too hard to make out individual notes from the massive ingredients list. I want to use this sparingly until I can find another imp's ear of this, I really love it but I don't want to wear it just everyday, it seems too complex and overwhelming to wear it daily and I don't want it to run out on me too soon.

 

Twenty minutes on, the scents have mellowed, and the florals, lime and lemongrass remain, but the hint of coconut which I liked so much has all but disappeared. It's still wonderful, though. Two hours on and it's become very faint. I wish this would last longer.

 

Maybe more of a summery, light scent. I definitely want to try this as a room fragrance as well, I hope a few more of the notes become noticeable that way.

 

Edited to Add: Oh no. Oh dear. This has gone down the way of all florals. Everytime I use it, it gives me a splitting headache after application. I'm very disappointed because I really liked this one. Am passing it on to a Lovecraft-loving friend as a way of enabling.

Edited September 27, 2009 by voorishsign

[devilot]

Shoggoth

In the Vial: Lots o' lemongrass, actually, like LUSH's Avobath.

 

Wet: Still mainly lemongrass, perhaps a hint of the coconut.

 

Drydown: Again, I'm getting lemongrass but now there might be something mellower in play-- the musk? But not identifiable as musk.

 

Verdict: It's a pleasant enough scent, but I've never been all that crazy about lemongrass. Time for this imp to find a new home!

[Janegodzilla]

In the imp, Shoggoth smells delicious. It's lemony and refreshing, with a hint of flowers underneath. There's also a faint muskiness that I really like.

 

On my skin, it starts off very juicy and citrusy, with lots of lemon and lime. As it dries, the citrus fades a bit and the tropical flowers take the forefront, with a deeper coconut note emerging underneath. The longer I have it on, the more the various scents merge and blend and flow together. It's really, really lovely on my skin.

 

Final Verdict:

Shoggoth reminds me of an ancient tropical jungle, lost and overgrown with tangles of sweet-smelling vines. It's feminine and pretty, but not overly girly, and I could see it being a wonderful hot-weather scent. The imp is definitely a keeper.

[ouch!]

This is a very zest green scent with white flowers. The lime jumps out when it's first applied and smells a bit fizzy with the white flowers behind.

 

As it dries the white flowers come out to play a bit more and they stay soft, the lime and lemongrass are the main players throughout.

 

This is one of those blends where I think alot of the notes get lost. I mean, there are so many and it's hard to pick out certain ones.

Cocount is gone... amongst other things.

It just smells zesty and floral but a blend of both things and I can't pick out particular flowers.

 

[arcadelane]

all the notes in this sounded so great except for the coconut, which is something i can never deal with. i eventually got an imp from a swap gave it a try. i was hoping for the best and really wanted to like this one, but once i opened the imp i got a blast of coconut.. suntan lotion super sweet coconut. i couldn't bring myself to even dab it on to see what would happen. coconut is the one smell i just can't do (that and nag champa).

[reynardine]

In imp: watery...something...

 

Wet: Oooh, it's pretty! I thought this would be all slimy and disgusting and it's pretty!!

 

Drydown: Coconut smell coming out. I love coconut. Fruity floral win on this one.

 

An hour later: the scent remains, a lovely floral. This would be wonderful in the summertime especially. I am so getting a bottle of this.

 

Postscript: the Man came by to say something and I stuck out my wrist in a now-familiar gesture. He sighed and bent and sniffed and his face brightened.

 

"Pretty!" he exclaimed. "What is it called?"

 

"Shoggoth," I replied and watched his face as he tried to process that bit of information.

 

The Man wants to buy me a bottle. He's a huge Lovecraft fan.

[HamletsKeeper]

In the bottle this smells so pretty. It's slightly citrusy lime punch. Fresh and clear and bright. When it first hits I get strong lemongrass and a hint of lime. As it dries down the florals come out more and so does the coconut giving me an exotic creamy lime coconut scent that wafts off my skin beautifully. I really love this during the brief coconut\floral stage.

 

If I could get some more florals and lasting power out of this it would be a winner. Maybe it will make a nice room scent. But darn it I'd love it to be a perfume instead. It does morph a lot on my skin and fades in and out. It has now become a sweet creamy almost fruity scent again now which I quite like but it has no throw.

 

The elements are like the asian blends but it's not an asian styled scent. I just wish it was more defined and more powerfully either floral or fruit. It kind of wafts inbetween the two and never really settles into either. I love for this to have a more definate character.

 

Revised I am wearing this full on today as my only scent. It doesn't have nearly enough throw for me but it is beginning to show some character afterall. On me the citrus isn't really prominent and it smells oddly sweet and creamy, which must be the coconut coming through. It smells a lot like the sugared blossom in Poisson D'Avril but not nearly as strong. The florals really come out for me with just a hint of lemongrass and lime. Reminiscent of some kind of yummy dessert I really like this blend if only it were stronger. I literally bathed in about 1.5mls of spray just to get the pleasant wafting I now have. I'll use up the bottle but don't think I will replace it just because its delicate and there are other scents which have more presence on me. Although I will say that it does last, it's not a fader, just not strong on my skin.

Edited November 25, 2009 by HamletsKeeper

[topazphoenix]

In spite of all the notes in the description, I'm getting a pretty single minded lemon rind here. I'm keeping the imp around to see if it does any of the fabled "ever changing" stuff on my skin

[LaurenO]

A frimp from the lovely lunaticana!

 

In the vial: Bright, sugary citrus.

 

Wet: Lime! Very bright and fresh, just cut lime.

 

Dry: Still lime, and then pretty soon after I'm getting a hint of coconut. It kind of makes my mouth water, though it's not foody at all. Im getting more flowers too. This is really pretty!

[Invidiana]

This comes out as tart lime candy on me! I think the lime and green coconut are mostly responsible for that along with the lemongrass (which on its own is blech but doesn't attack my nose here). It actually makes me nostalgic because as a kid I was head over heels for those gummy sugar-covered fruit slice things (those "pectin fruit slices") with the fake rinds and all, and it smells exactly like the lime ones

Edited December 31, 2009 by Invidiana

[KesHiro]

Frimp in one of my orders.

 

Definitely not the type of scent I'd associate with a giant slimy alien with multiple eyeballs. In the vial, this is creamy coconut with soft creamy florals. Wet, it's coconut with lemongrass. I'm sorry to say that my first reaction was, "Ooo, yum, Vietnamese food!" I suspect the coconut/lemograss combo reminded me of a very nice sauce that topped an excellent dish I ate a few years ago. Once the drydown hits, this morphs into coconut and gardenia and stays that way when fully dry.

 

On me, this turned into a very pretty, tropical scent. I noticed that quite a few people here said they got green/yellow out of this scent, but my skin chemistry completely whited it out. I had visions of drinking a pina colada while resting in the shade, surrounded by big white soft smelling blooms.

 

I'm a bit on the fence when it comes to upgrading to a bottle, simply because I already have one tropical scent and I don't need anymore. Otherwise, this would be in the top five to purchase. Very nice!

Edited January 21, 2010 by Kejiaron

[donnatron]

Imp: Lime! Lime-y, lime-y, lime! So rarely do I actually detect lime in a scent that this is a delight indeed.

 

Wet: Strong lime and stronger lemongrass. A faint hint of coconut. The florals are almost nonexistent. The amber is probably that faint grounding sensation I get from the whole scent.

 

Dry: This is an... experience scent? It's pretty simple on my skin--lime and lemongrass with coconut and a faint floral note. Sort of candy like. But it reminds me of Corpus Christi, TX (I know, WTF?). It smells like warmer climes and easy summer days and is really... pretty. Disturbingly pretty. It's not so much a primordial slimy green alien so much as it's the man in the grey flannel suit. It's so pretty and charming and innocuous that you totally overlook the obvious darker aspects. Interesting.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: This is quite lovely and very summery without having the pina colada/booze aspect that a lot of the summery scents have. I've wanted to try Shoggoth for a while but to be honest I thought I wouldn't like it. I'm pleasantly surprised and am glad to have the imp((s) Two different swappers sent me frimps on the same day!) on hand.

[surf-tormented]

This scents reminds me of Tin Phoenix and Proshitapathika. I find these two so close, I thought about selling one of the bottles off. Shoggoth is a lot like them too.

 

Lemongrass comes to the front, with a light ozone/floral under it. Of course there are little tiny variants between the three scents, but not enough for me to have more than one bottle from this scent group around. I do like lemongrass with ozone and floral, it seems to pick up my spirits when I dab it on.

 

It doesn't last long.

Edited February 8, 2010 by Madame Nyx

[ralenth]

Imp: Citrus with coconut. Mmm, real coconut.

 

Wet: Bright lemongrass and tart lime.

 

Drydown: Lemongrass to the point of me thinking this is a single note. Why must I amp lemongrass so?

 

Dry: Lemongrass with a bit of coconut meat and peeps of white florals, though mostly lemongrass.

Overall: I really wanted to like this as other reviews made this sound great. Curse you, skin chemistry.

ETA: An hour later, Shoggoth becomes this gorgeous, light creamy coconut with a little floral tinge. I take it all back. Love.

Edited February 26, 2010 by ralenth

[Schmoozy]

 

A spicy citrus scent with coconut and lemongrass. This is amazing. It's fresh, creamy, crisp, spicy and very pretty. A perfect scent for the summer. Stays close to the skin, but lasts forever.

[mari4212]

In the imp, and on wet: Lemon-Lime soda, with an extra kick of lime somewhere in this. It's very green and sweet, but there's something unsettling underneath.

 

Initial drydown: The soda edge is dying down, and there's something underneath that's turning this mildly unpleasant. Maybe the light florals or the musk aren't playing nicely with my chemistry, there's just an edge here that I'm not enjoying.

 

ech. This one didn't gel into anything I liked. Swaps.

[steelgossamer]

This one was okay. Not a very exciting scent on me, nor one that I will hang onto.

 

In the imp: Sweet, citrusy, slightly resinous.

Wet: Citrusy, with a resinous note and a bit of musk.

Drydown: Slightly more sweet, still citrusy, still resinous

Dry: Sweet citrus with resin.

 

It was very subtle and well blended, but I wasn't a big fan. It wasn't OMG WASH MY ARM NOW, but not something I sniffed very often either. Into the swap pile it goes!

[Greensleeves]

I've been very remiss in not reviewing my new imps before putting them up for sale, just taking a sniff and deciding whether or not to keep them, but this scent surprised me enough that I had to post a review...

 

I would totally start humping the leg of anyone wearing this, male or female.

 

It is such a wonderfully complex blend, not too floral, not too earthy, but everything just harmonizes in such a way that it is a rich, sensual treat for the nose.

 

Normally I don't like blends with a lot of floral in them, prefering greener, herbier scents, but these seem to be some of the greenest of the florals I have ever experienced.

 

Sadly the drydown has made it turn powdery on me, as blends with amber often do, but I still can't stop smelling my wrist.

[Venneh]

This is a light, sharp scent, and I definitely get the coconut in the imp. On my skin, lots of coconut. Damnit, please, change? Yeah, really going funky, need get off now.

Edited July 11, 2010 by Venneh

[impolight]

:::SHOGGOTH:::

 

The notes listed in this formula had proven utterly fearsome in their range and diversity; quite apt as a paradigm for the mighty Shoggoth!

Whether or not this formula was inspired by the beck and call of The Old Ones, it is with only the greatest pleasure, and bated breath that this reviewer revels in this experience!

From the Bottle: Amorphous, radiant, and incandescent, indeed! The most apparent notes, at first whiff, are the Lime and Green Coconut... Mildly surprising as this gives an almost... Tropical feel.

This isn't quite the howling-mad desolation of the Antarctic, but the unease is quite genuine; delightfully so!

The Lilly-of-the-valley is surprisingly nice, ordinarily a delicate fragrance, it was readily identifiable in this blend. The use of Palmarosa in this is flippin' brilliant; alluding to Nepalese geography... The Plateau of Leng... Nicholas Roerich. These are also all cleverly tied together with the Lemongrass and the Cypress (Hinoki) to really reel in the person to the Asiatic theme and really get the blood thundering in the ears.

On the Skin: Emeraldetonation! This is like being bathed, every pore, in a green floodlight.

The Lime oil dominates, but there is a waxy floral and a icy aqueousness that makes Shoggoth miles thick.

Shoggoth is brilliantly, violently clean.

Shoggoth is a glacier with a pulse, a subterranean immortal, a shapeshifting, snowmanly sex-symbol.

On Her, Shoggoth would be worrisome, wild, and wicked.

On Him, Shoggoth is a frightful collegiate spector with an icicle walking-stick and a luminous, green monacle.

Bloody delicious, and well-deserving of the highest rank of Lovecraftian heraldry.

A sneering, off-handedly easy 5 out of 5!

[GeorgeJr]

Very green , in a citrus kind of way . Quite tropical as well . While not a favorite as of now , it is very nice for hot sticky days , just as a shoggoth should be