Devil's Claw

[sookster]

A yellow-bright and smoky brown-black scent, horned, pronged and strange.

straight sniff from imp this reminds me of malediction but even deeper and darker
if that can be possible

yes, i am all for dark scents...tons of vetiver and black myrrh in this puppy...most likely the thickest perfume i have tried to date...not for the faint of heart...think along the lines of sloth, iago, saturnalia...if you like these, you're a sucker for devil's claw

[sarada]

Though I am testing a gallon of different perfumes today I wanted to write a review for this one first since it is in need of reviews!

 

In a word: vetiver! Thick, strong, sharp vetiver. The kind that is in Malediction. Very musky, earthy and gritty in the imp, though it mellows quickly on my skin. This note tends to become a little chocolatey on me, and a little like a thick, clear dark brown smooth wood after some time.

 

It is actually so similar to Malediction though that I don't know if I could tell the difference between them. Might be myrrh instead of patchouli, I'm not sure. I'm a big vetiver fan but this is best in small doses, after it's had some time to disperse and mellow on the skin.

 

ETA: Yes, getting the smokiness that is in Brimstone after awhile in this too. It's really so much like a handful of other scents I don't think I'll need more than an imp for the vetiver demon inside me to be content.

Edited November 10, 2006 by sarada

[edenssixthday]

Devil's Claw - If you've ever has the misfortune of smelling the scent of an ashtray full of cigarette butts that have been soaking in rainwater for several days -- that is what this smells like. On me, it's smoky, soggy, rank, and vile. I like scents that have a touch of gritty vetiver in them, but this one... well, suffice it to say, I must wash it off NOW!

[Little Bird]

Devil's Claw is defintely funky, evil, rotten, dirty, gritty... well, not good on me. This is the funky vetiver that was in blends like Azathoth. Kind of reminds me of burnt BBQ, charred cedar, and dirty ash tray. It has that ashen smokiness that I've gotten in blends like Brimstone & Djinn.

Edited March 19, 2012 by Little Bird

[filigree_shadow]

Imp sniff: Mmm, smells like vetiver.

 

Wet: Wow, dark and dank. Same sort of musty basement kind of feel as in Sloth. I like it!

 

Dry: This ends up smelling like the kind of smoke you get when you burn green wood. I'm not sure how else to describe it. It's a heavy smoky scent. Although I really like this scent, I'm not sure it's something I'd wear as a personal fragrance.

 

For giggles I tried layering it over Black Ice (that one didn't end up being as dark and smoky on me as I wanted it to), and I think that together they are more wearable than either one alone. So I think Devil's Claw will be a good one for layering with others, too.

[LiberAmoris]

Wow, Devil's Claw is dark, gritty, smoky, ashy, woodsy, and slightly dank. And my nose is picking up something that smells a bit like leather, too. This is a perfect embodiment of its namesake---like mysterious hellfire.

 

The drydown is a sexy dark wood, with wisps of smoke curling about. It reminds me a bit of the drydown of Yew-Trees, but with smoke. I plan to try this out on my boyfriend at the next opportunity.

[slave1]

DEVIL'S CLAW

 

In Bottle: Earthy smoky wow

 

On Skin: Eek! This is pure vetiver, a note that does not work on me at all. It is very earthy and there is also a very smoky note here. I also get a woody note. So yes: earthy, smoky and woody. This scent is pitch black, dark beyond dark. I can’t explain how strong it is, much too much for me. This is sadly one of my new least favorite scents… if you like Brimstone, or Djinn or strong smoky dark scents like that you may like this. Super strong throw and long wearlength.

[fiddlehead]

Don't have much to add to the other reviews. I can't really detect any difference between this and Malediction, which I already have a full bottle of. There may be some subtle differences in the drydown but I can't articulate them.

[storme]

In the imp: Holy crap the vetiver - smoky earthy forest-floor mustiness, and lots of it.

 

On me, wet: I sort of like vetiver but it does overwhelm anything else on my skin. And this is too much vetiver. Really, forest floor scrapings on a bonfire here.

 

On me, dry: All the vetiver ever, still. If there's any other note to this, I can't identify it.

 

Verdict: The one good thing I can say about this is that it certainly has throw and staying power. But I don't want vetiver single note, thank you.

[steffanina]

Devil's Claw-

 

In Bottle: Wood, peanuts...very masculine but not too sharp.

 

Wet: Wood and smoke.

 

Dry: Hmm. I might have liked this under other circumstances, but those would involve me not actually sniffing my wrist. It's a little too strongly masculine for me, even though I like a lot of masculine scents on me.

 

Overall: Not quite for me.

[supremegoddessofall]

Strongly herbal, but not in a good way. This smells like a cedar cat litter box, just after the cat has peed in it. Blech.

[urbanruralferal]

I was interested to try this, in my search for all things vetiver.

I applied this on one wrist, and vetiver(t) SN (non BPAL) on the other for comparison.

Devil's Claw goes on as a rich vetiver, slightly sweet, and show great promise in the first moments. as it dries, the sweetness comes out. I can't tell you what kind of sweetness, or even if that is the right word. It's rather metallic, really.

Now that it is fully dry, the vetiver has receded enough behind this other quality, and I am not really fond of it. It's like it loses it's bite. It isn't ashen to me, but I don't tend to think of vetiver aas ashen, except in Brimstone, which is quite gritty.

I would tend to agree with the poster who likens Devil's Claw to a blend of Brimstone and Azathoth, but I can't quite remember Azathoth, and couldn't find where I had reviewed it...

all in all, I am much better pleased with my vetiver SN. It was my signature scent for A LONG TIME; I am clearly not one of those who can't tolerate the oil. My skin loves it so. It becomes a part of me, and in this blend, there is a foreignness that I don't need to learn to love.

 

so, Devil's Claw is off to swaps!

[AmyAngel]

Smells smoky in the imp. On my skin, it smells like barbecue smoke – just like the smell when pork barbecue is in the smoker. I don't like to eat barbecue, and I sure don't want to smell like it. I'm tempted to keep this as one of my “you'll never believe what this smells like!” scents, but will probably end up swapping it. I definitely see the “devil's claw” connotation to it, though! Well done, but not something I want to wear!

[batsy]

In the vial: Dirt. Particularly barkdust in the summer after a shower when it's all damp.

 

On the skin: If one could smell colours, this would be 'brown'. It's all smoke and BBQ to me, which is interesting but I'm not sure I'm into smelling like a woodsmoke BBQ. Fairly interesting scent-wise, but going to the swap pile.

[PurringPulsar]

Devil's Claw

 

In the imp: VETIVER OF DOOM. Nothing more. Ok, maybe a hint of pepper, but mainly Evil V.

Wet on skin: it's still VETIVER but now it's a little sweeter.

Dry on skin: it's pretty much vetiver-dominated, this scent. it's not bad though-not as oppressive as Malediction but along similar lines. I smell different vetivers here-a heavy one and a nutty one, with a soft, almost chewy sweetness to it. Very much like the Music of Erich Zahn, this scent brings to mind exotic chewy sweets, in here it smells like spicy caramel mixed with and pistachios and walnuts, and also a hint of cocoa, it reminds me of the vetiver in Horn of Plenty. I also smell smoke here, a tobacco smoke scent lingering over the nutty sweet vetiver…but this tobacco isn't the crisp, dry, woodsy tobacco I usually encounter in BPAL and which I enjoy, this smells more like…cigarettes. Though oddly, I quite like this even though I normally hate the smell of cigarettes. This smells almost hookah like to me. I also smell incense, dry and smouldering, this is a dark incense blend…maybe with some opium too? And also some damp earth, possibly patchouli too. But all with that sinister undertone of heavy vetiver.

After a while: this gets smokier and smokier, more and more like tobacco…in fact it now reminds me more of cigar smoke now. Not the unlit cigar scent I get in scents like Ogun, this is definitely smoke, but darker and richer, more sophisticated than mere cigarettes. vetiver still dominates though, of course, and now it has turned ashy and burnt smelling, enhancing the tobacco note, and there's a slight hint of damp leaves and dirt (like Samhainophobia), tar and metal to this vetiver now. the drydown after a few hours is pure dark heavy vetiver, the kind that resists showering, with a slight hint of burnt rubber that I'm not crazy about.

Verdict: this is very, very heavy on the vetiver, but it's a little bit more interesting than Malediction (which was almost Vetiver SN on me). There are some interesting aspects of smoky and sweet that wind through the gritty ashen vetiver, scents like tobacco and maybe some incense. it seems that tobacco is the second dominant note here, at times it smells like cigarettes but then it matures into cigars. There's also a chocolaty sweetness to the vetiver which is quite nice, darkly sweet and exotic chocolate incense. there are some nice earthy aspects to it too, as well as possibly some opium and patchouli. But ultimately, the vetiver is much too strong for my likings. Heavy and sombre vetiver, definitely a 'smoky brown' scent, one of those vetiver scents that sticks around for almost an eternity. It's interesting and not a bad smell, but not my thing.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? not really.

If you like this, try: Music of Erich Zahn, the Great He Goat, Malediction, Saturnalia, Brimstone, Djinn, Samhainophobia

[Nessa]

I got an imp of this with my most recent order, and of course, as I was sniffing it, I splashed some onto myself ... actually a lot of it onto myself, a lot more than I wanted to have on.

 

I washed my hands but it was on me somewhere else and I could still smell it.

 

In the vial, I would say ... I used to have this set of Crayola Markers that were "OUTDOOR SCENTS!" and they had things like pine tree (for green), calomine lotion (for pink) and the like. Red was "Campfire" and I think this is exactly what Devil's Claw smells like in the bottle... "campfire" crayola markers. VERY distinct smell of smoke. I didn't like it at all and wanted to wash it all off. It hung on though.. I wouldn't say it was cigarette smoke-ish.. definitely more of a burning wood kind of smell... all the things that a campfire has.. wood, grass, dirt.

 

At first, I really couldn't stand it, and I hated that it was on me. However, after a while, the scent lightened up on me considerably, and I didn't smell the smoke at all, rather more of a woody, musky almost muddy smell that is hard to describe. It didn't smell so bad after that... even my mom said it smelled pretty good. The smell of smoke went completely away.

 

So, maybe on some people it turns a bit better after a while. =) That being said, I'm more of a fluffy and floofy kind of girl, and this is really way too masculine for me. I think it would probably smell okay on a guy though, if used with caution. I don't think as harshly of it as some of the commentors here do. I think you'd have to be pretty brave to wear it though!

Edited July 1, 2007 by Nessa

[Brianne]

In the vial:

dirty, and not in a good way

 

On me:

I usually don't mind vetiver but it is just too much in this blend. It has a burnt, dirty unpleasant smell.

 

Final note:

I just don't care for this at all.

[Beazlebabe]

IMPRESSIONS, disjointed and abstract: Vetiver! Oh, YES! I LOVE vetiver! And this is the kind which you'd expect to find hiding well-preserved relics from ancient history somewhere deep in an undiscovered marsh! There's something resinous and oddly sweet, too: maybe opium? Black amber? Yeah, totally black amber. And red musk. The oil smells like it's a liquid coalescing into powder. The kind of powder Locusta would present to a fine-boned aristocrat looking to be in the height of Roman fashion. I almost expect my wrist to start shimmering.

 

I smell wood, too: probably sandalwood, but it might be cedar. It's familiar to me and my range of wood scents is very narrow. There's something distinctly masculine about this blend. Sandalwood would explain the slight tinge of smokiness this blend has acquired, but that could be a note which I haven't identified.

 

About 5 hours later, I'm sneezing. This happens with most blends that contain a resinous or incense-y component. Wah.

 

I dig this. I'll definitely be using my Imp.

[labeth]

Frimp from the lab.

 

Uh... sharp cologne and vicks vap-o-rub. Not pleasant on me at all. Bye bye, Devil's Claw.

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

It does smell oddly smoky, yet floral. Hmm!

 

First on:

It's sort of smoky and nutty, so it reminds me of hazel or chestnuts.

 

Dry:

After about 10 mins, it's almost a little spicy, as well as nutty.

 

20-30 mins after application, it's faded entirely.

 

Finally:

No throw on me, and I didn't care much for what I sniffed. Swapping!

[suzie]

Very definitely a masculine scent.

 

To me this smells like clearing brush and throwing it all on a big smoking bonfire. At first it is really acrid, but as it dries the green scent comes out. It also has a very faint undertone of peanuts.

 

This is something that would suit a very rugged, woodsman type. I get visions of hulking strength and raw power.

Edited September 13, 2007 by Suzie

[Meg]

In the bottle: Smoky burning vetiver and a hint of sulphur, I think.

Wet on skin: Still dark smoky vetiver with a hint of something bitter and green.

Drydown: It doesn't change very much from the bottle: gritty vetiver and sulphurous smoke. It's very much like a bonfire, which is nice.

Overall: Vetiver and I have a mixed track record, but this one stays pretty true. It reminds me of Agnes Nutter without the rusty nails, and adds itself to the "gunpowder" category, to me. Definitely an interesting blend. However, not one that I would wear.

[cuervosueno]

Poor Devil's Claw, it seems you get little love. Or maybe I should say Poor Vetiver, which also gets little love.

 

Never fear, a vetiver lover is here! (whoa, I seem to be in a silly mood tonight!)

 

I like this. It is definately deep dark vetiver at first, but it has a sweetness to it I find appealing, and that sweetness grows as the oil dries down. There is also something green in it, so the scent I get is dark (vetiver) and yet sweet, with a green core, as if from a leaf that had been crushed. There is also a hint of moist soil that grows with the sweetness. I also got the initial smokiness people mentioned, but on me that faded fairly quickly. I get no musk at all, esp. not my nemesis red musk.

 

I decided to compare this side to side with malediction, since other people mentioned the similiarity. While they are similiar, Malediction is drier on me, more like wood and less like a crushed succulent green. I don't get wood in Devil's Claw but I do in Malediction.

 

Overall, I like it. I may keep the imp. But I also have two other vetiver blends I adore much more (Azathoth and esp. the Great He-Goat, whcih to me is pure vetiver love) so I won't order a bottle.

[hkhm]

imp: this almost has a sweet woody smell to it... like the scent of freshly sharpened pencils.

 

wet: there is a faint sweetness being swallowed up by sharp, smoky scents.

 

dry: the violet is gone to be replaced by a sweet smoky scent. this is a very dramatic blend.

[tinyvulture]

i would guess that this contains tons of dark, earthy vetiver combined with acrid smoke, burning cedar wood, and something nutty (almond?). it makes me think of a bonfire in a graveyard. i don’t always do well with earthy blends, but i friggin’ love this one.