Undertow

[Ryokumuji]

The Dark Side of Water: clean and purifying, yet menacing -- lotus and juniper with a hint of mint. A scent dragged up from the depths to the Stygian shore.

This was a frimp from the lab! Mint and lotus on my initial application! Lotus always smells really sweet to me, almost fruity but not. It also smells kind of mentholated? My nose can feel the chill. It also smells a bit like, and this might sound weird, a pine tree? I guess not, looking up at some of the previous reviews! Oh my, now it's starting to smell like crayons. That's very strange. Minty crayons! I know I can wear lotus just fine, not so sure about mint, but I'm gonna hash a guess and say the culprit is the juniper. Oh well.

[Suu4LC]

Huh-interesting! A bit sweeter than I would have expected. Sweet juniper and mint. Fresh and pleasant. On my skin I start to get the lotus a bit-it really mixes well with the juniper and mint. The juniper is definitely the strongest note, an the other two compliment it really well. This does have a fizzy quality to it-I can see how others would get a 7-up vibe,

 

Hmmm, for some reason as this dries, it starts to go pencil shavings-y on me. Some blends just do this-I haven't figured out which notes cause it.

 

Yeah, I liked this when it was first on-that fizzy sweet juniper mint scent was lovely, but it goes to pencil shavings way too fast Since I am not a huge locket fan, this is one I will have to skip.

[bloody sore]

This is mostly juniper and mint on my skin. The lotus in this is either hiding or different kind than is in lotus moon and black lotus, as it doesn't make me sick like those do. A tolerable lotus scent, but nothing good.

[lavenderfrost]

I love aquatics and was hoping for another nice, chilly scent to cool me off in the summer months, but something about the way the components work together just doesn't float my boat. I think it's the juniper that makes it just a bit wrong for me.

 

Ah, well. No biggie - one more for swaps.

Edited June 16, 2011 by lavenderfrost

[Incendiare]

Clean and purifying, definitely, but perhaps a bit too medicinal for my tastes. The combination of juniperberry and mint makes me think of a topical treatment for sore muscles. Not something that I'd like to smell like. I can kind of smell a bit of the lotus in the background, which sweetens it ever so gently. It's unique but not for me.

[Honey]

Imp: Minty and a bit spicy.

 

Wet: Minty, murky and clean. Very faint.

 

Dry: Can barely detect it. All I get is mint and.. something else. Meh.

[Drae]

Wow, this is not what I thought it would smell like at ALL, and boy does it morph!

 

In the imp: sticky, sweet, soapy, medicinal; red cough syrup

Wet on skin: The same. I am really getting that cherry-flavoured livesaver/cough syrup as others have mentioned, almost kind of licorice-like too. I'm guessing this is the lotus, as I've never smelt it before. Absolutely no mint at all present, can detect the juniper very faintly.

Dry: The cough syrup is gone yet it still remains sticky and sweet, and it's toned down a lot, almost becoming a bit powdery. It's also fading pretty fast, that or my nose has gone into shut-down.

 

I'm disappointed in the lack of mint, I am starting to notice a trend where a certain note that is prominent for others in a BPAL blend is absent for me, so odd. This scent is just really odd as well, swaps.

 

**EDIT: Review 8 months later**

NOW I finally detect some mint, must have come out as my imp aged. While it's not as offensive to my nose anymore, I'm still not a huge fan of Undertow, and the lotus has proved to be the culprit (my mom made us some chamomile and lotus root tea, and I nearly puked from the smell of it brewing) It just smells like imposter black licorice to me, and will remain on my death notes list.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Drae

[CiaoBonefish]

In Imp: Wow! Very minty with a very sweet undertone that smells like overripe juniper berries that have been almost candied, it is probably the lotus that is adding so much sweetness.

Wet on Skin: The sweetness stays true to form, but the mint becomes much colder and less minty. The mint note is reminding me more and more of icy slush which is pleasing. The berries take on an almost medicinal air while the lotus gets pushed forward. These changes are slight but they make the scent overall more airy and less like toothpaste.

Dry on Skin: Everything evens out and the mint has been reduced to slush rather than mint. The berries and lotus combine to be way less medicinal but the scent is overall still too sweet. It is like cold ice that is covering syrupy berries and candied lotus. Not particularly appetizing because of the almost medicinal tone given to the scent.

Verdict: Definitely not a keeper, but I appreciate the icy slushy coldness given to the entire scent!

[absalem]

Okay, so this is gonna be really weird, but the first thing I thought when I smelled the frimp the lab sent me was "This reminds me of the rotting hold of a tallship, in the best way possible." It doesn't ACTUALLY smell like that, per say. . . But, the way the sweetness of the lotus combines with the musky-bright-aquatic of the juniper reminds me of damp-wood smell. It really reminds me of my youthful summers when I went on tallship cruises as crew. The sillage is medium, and the lasting strength isn't amazing. But, this is a minty-aquatic scent with depth.

 

Although I will admit, at some points during the month I get the bubble-gum lotus that others talk about. Still, I definitely have a bottle of this for when I reminisce.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Cool, sweet, and fresh. Very light, restrained even.

 

Drydown: Primarily juniper with a subtle hint of mint. Reminds me of aloe gel.

 

Dry: Soapy juniper and plastic-y lotus.

[IsabelleAngeline]

Hmmm... this one is so unique and different from my other bpals

 

In bottle: Mint and something floral

 

Wet: Fruity! what? Not expecting that. Bright and sharp, but sweet and the sour tang of apples w/ something piney and slightly medicinal in the back

 

Dry: Still fruit and medicine. So strange. I don't hate it, but it's definitely not what I was expecting.

 

I have a huge obsession with mermaids and I bought this hoping it would smell like the mysteries of the ocean, mist, cool water, salty breezes... but it doesn't do that for me. Still on the search for a mermaid-y scent. Sigh.

 

Interesting, I'll have to wear it again and see what happens. Although it's not my typical scent style (I like sweet spicy resins) it might grow on me....

[catalyst]

Crayons. And not in a good way. I get the mint and juniper, I guess, but... I don't want to smell like a box of crayons. Which is really all I'm getting from this. Into the swap compartment it goes.

[littlesparrow]

Eep! Very strong smell of some sort of confection I seem to remember from my childhood...not a pleasant nostalgia trip though, it just made me feel icky. First BPAL I've had to wash off Disappointed as I was looking forward to a nice refreshing scent. Might have to test it again sometime but can't bring myself to smell it for long enough to write a more thorough review right now.

[scorpiosiren]

In the bottle this smells minty fresh with a light floral undertone. Wet this is a sweet shop mix between mint humbugs and peardrops its sweet but not cloying, this is very unisex it kind of reminds me of 4711 the cologne its a cool one it would be great on a hot summers day. Dry its light and airy. This isn't a 5ml for me I am realising that mint, like lavender does not work for me. I'm sad but I'm going to give the remainder of my imp to my gbf as I think he'll adore it.

[Winter_Wanderer]

-

Edited October 7, 2016 by Winter_Wanderer

[Antaria]

This is a approx. 2 years old frimp.

 

Okay, this is going to be short:

Mint toothpaste! Somewhere in the dry stage there comes a hint of fruit, but it stays way in the background. Since I'm not a big fan of toothpaste-mints I won't be wearing this as a perfume but I'll keep it to test if it helps me when I have a cold.

[laforetnoire]

In the bottle: Very minty... and a strange piney and dusty scent that reminds me of laundry soap.

 

Really often, when smelling BPAL perfumes, certain scents trigger memories of places and their distinctive scents. When I smelled Undertow straight from the bottle, I had a vivid memory of a basement or a cold chamber in a old building, dark and filled with cans, wood, laundry soap and spiders.

 

Wet on skin: The source of that piney and soapy scent that is so strange to me definitely is the lotus and juniper.

 

Dry down: Gets more minty than "creepy basement-y".

 

Final: I love minty scent, but this combination is way to strange to me!... I won't keep that one.

[Saffrin]

The start of it was very tingly minty, but then it feel straight, head first into slightly-minty Deep Heat territory, which both myself and the man had a giggle about.

 

I'd probably had liked this for it's tingly strangeness if I wasn't already associated with Deep Heat. Sadly, that association has ruined it for me.

[beakerwill]

Posting from my old (summer '06) BPAL review journal; I will update as I retest

 

(circa July '06 - imp was bought on eBay, so imp age/freshness is unknown)

 

In the imp, I'm getting mostly tea tree and lemon; sharp and sweet with hints of eucalyptus.

 

On wet, it is a milder tea tree, with lemon drops and a hint of mintyness (is that a word?) underneath. It actually feels cool on the skin, great for this time of year. After a few minutes, I'm getting coconut ?

 

Dry (about 40 mins), the scent is varying by location; on the back of my hand, I can't smell it unless my nose is pressed to the application point, but its nice - spun sugar with a bit of.. maybe lemon balm?, and a hint of tea. On my wrist, it is stronger - there is still a hint of tea tree, but also a nice waft of lemon. I'd still swear there was coconut in there somewhere. Huh.

 

All in all, a nice scent for summer here (hot, humid, hot...), but something that I would have to reapply every hour or two. Maybe in a scent locket?

[serin]

I wanted to like this, since I love mint But I don't get any of that at all, or even the juniper...so that cloyingly sweet scent must be the lotus, which does not like me at all. In fact, I think it's giving me a headache... not a keeper

[elinox]

First Sniff: Some sort of medication, for colds I think, with mint in it.

 

Initial Wet Application: There might be some underlying eucalypse in this too. It’s definitely reminding me of some sort of yucky liquid medicine from my childhood. I hope this morphs soon as this is making me cringe!

 

Beginning Dry Down (first 15 minutes) & Dry: After reading the description, it seems like the juniper is just acting weird since it’s usually a pleasing scent. Maybe mixing with the lotus is making this wonky?

 

My Reaction: Luckily, this fades within the first 15 minutes because I did not enjoy the menthol smell at all. I had been hoping this was going to be a minty aquatic, but since I already have my favorite Pool of Tears, this not working on me wasn’t a huge loss. I wanted to try it though, just in case. I’ll give this one more test just to be sure, but it will likely go into the swap pile.

 

Rating: 1

[alyelle]

Imp: Juniper. All juniper, all the time.

 

Wet: Just picked, smack you in the face, wet handfuls of mint. And a wee bit of woodiness.

 

Dry: After 10 minutes, I start to get hints of lotus, but a stronger sense of the cherry gumdrop fragrance others mentioned. After 20 minutes, it's more raspberry, and overall the effect is odd - while it's definitely a 'dark' scent, it's also very warming and friendly. After a couple of hours, it's just a light sweetness.

 

Overall a pleasant fragrance, but not really me. ★ 3/5

[ObliqueRed]

The juniper in this went really stomach-turningly bitter on me. I couldn't even wait for drydown, I had to wash it off.

[Cactus]

In the imp:

Just a word of WARNING do not sniff the bottle/imp! It is so concentrated I think my vision blanked out for a second just from smelling it. It smells more like a a laboratory-grade chemical than a scent oil.

 

 

On my skin it is smelling very nice - foresty green and aquatic, the mint and juniper make it fresh and sparkly and there's a floral/juicy sweetness to it from the lotus. It almost smells a little bit like some red wine is in there. The whole impression is very deep and dark, like a deep lake in an old forest somewhere with sweet flowers growing around it. Not particularly "menacing" though. *shrugs*

 

As it dries down the juniper bark gets more prominent, so it is more and more a forest scent and less lake and flowers.

[lucycat]

This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

In the imp: Slightly minty Horn of Plenty. If I hadn’t known this contained mint, I would almost have said just Horn of Plenty. When I looked at the notes, I realized that the sweetness that I identified as Horn of Plenty must be lotus.

 

Wet: Still Horn of Plenty/lotus, though the mint comes out more.

 

Dry: First it’s a minty aquatic. Then, as it dries, the juniper appears, though Undertow remains primarily mint and lotus.

 

The final drydown is a fruity candylike scent. I would not have identified this as lotus because I haven’t tested a blend with that note before, but the mint and juniper have disappeared.

 

This is another scent I would never have picked for myself that’s quite enjoyable.