Undertow

[Xiabelle]

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.

Just got this one out of an auction. Hrm. Pardon my untrained nose.

I sniffed at my imps and just loved the way this smelled so much... In the bottle it's so gorgeous, like those buttermints or the little square after-dinner mints that melt in your mouth. It has a sweetness lurking in the background and I like it.

After I put it on, when it was wet, it was mint. Mint. MINT! Oh, and a bit of evergreen, but mostly minty like spearmint. A few minutes later it darkened and there was something darker lurking behind it. The lotus, maybe? It wasn't as cold. The juniper is giving it an evergreen smell. I'm so glad this isn't making me sneeze.

After about ten minutes I had to pause. Soap? Soap and nuts with mint? How strange. It wasn't bad, just odd. Lotus, which I can only recognize because I tried s lotus-scented cream the other day, seems to have a nutty odd scent to me. But the mint's still there, and it's changed out of that to a more mint-accented lotus.

And once it's all dry it seems to fade quickly (although I didn't put much on) into an odd sweet-nut-sweet-rubber smell with mint edging around it. When I smell at it, it feels cool. But, alas... not bad, but not really for me, I don't think.

It'd be a great room scent, though. Or maybe the boy will like it. I'll have to ask him.

My dog likes it, though. He's tried to lick it off my wrist twice.

ETA I handed this to my coworker whose wife mixes essential oils and makes candles this morning, and he proclaimed it to be bubblegum. Edited September 12, 2007 by quantum spice

[annanda]

My skin seems to turn this into marshmallows covered with chocolate. My husband verfied this as well.

 

I like it

[sookster]

ooooooooh!!

 

i am getting mostly mint and juniper with a hint of the lotus...an absolutely unique blend.....i am even getting a salty and/or beachy note....so subtle but it is there....

powerful and quite impressive....

 

i might have to savor this imp for my trip to Provincetown as this will be a definite head turner...... me likey me likey a lot

Edited July 12, 2005 by sookster

[telesilla]

I love blue/aquatic scents so I had to get this one.

 

In the bottle and wet: Mint! And something cool and watery, but mostly, mint.

 

Drying: The mint is fading and I smell something like cucumber only sweeter. It's probably the lotus.

 

Dry: I hate to break it to the lab, but this isn't dark at all. It's settled into a lovely wet floral scent with the mint and the juniper providing a nice little bite. It's cool and refreshing and I want at least a half gallon or so to keep in my fridge so I can pour it on it when it's 102F outside.

 

GF's reaction: She likes it too!

[Dark Seraphim]

I like this scent a lot. It's like it's a mixture of a lot of things and it's changing without being considered a shapeshifter.

 

Bottle: Fluctuates between rocks in a deep sea to stong pine mint.

 

Worn: Smelle like pine sap mixed with peppermint. However, it weakens a great deal on my skin and doesn't seem to last very long at all.

 

I'm a sucker for aqua scents, so I'm more forgiving with this scent than I would be with others. However, I'm clearly not meant to wear it. An imp would be nice, but I could do without bottles. 6/10.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: The sharpness of juniper and the sharpness of mint blend to be a piercing scent bubbling with barely-contained loathing. The lotus lends it a slight sweetness, but it is faint, drowned out by the other notes. This is angry churning water, a tempest barely contained.

 

On me: Due to the lotus, it is very sweet on the skin, with the juniper vying to regain dominance. It's an unpleasant scent to me, rather stagnant and tepid. I thought it might be a bit more purifying and bright, but it's dark and murky, lurking beneath the deceptive tranquility of clean water.

[brownbear]

At first I was scared to try this because of the bad mint experiences I've had. In this case I think the juniper and the lotus keep it from totally taking over completely. I got a hint of chocolate too, reminded me of a york candy. Mint still is a bit amplified on my skin. I won't be wearing this as a perfume, but I'm curious to try it the next time I go surfing. (And I wonder if I would've bashed my face in last time if I'd been wearing it. Though who knows, I probably would've been caught in an undertow and drownd. jeez )

[oatmealneko]

Undertow was an odd experience. Wet, there was some ozone, but not a lot. Then it started to smell fruity, I think this was the lotus acting in some weird way on my skin, it did something similar with Blood Lotus. Then I caught a whiff of mint.

 

By the time it dried, it was a strange mixture of fruity ozone swirled with a light mint.

[malanna]

Argh! Lotus, my mortal enemy! The juniper and mint makes me think I might be able to bear this--it gives the lotus a cool, almost citrus-y feel, but the plastic feeling of lotus manages to overcome all. Bah!

[eadavenp]

undertow went on minty and dark. i think i smell the juniper as well, its an almost boozy undertone. overall, i think i like this fragrance alot. it dried down to a coconutty smell, which i found sort of strange, but i think i like it. this will be a scent that i'll have to retry to make up my mind about it but im leaning towards a like... its definitely at least a 3.5 out of 5.

[AliBabble]

undertow showed up as a surprise gift in my last order. i hadn't really taken notice of it, so i probably would never have tried it. and it's a good one - i get a bit of absinthe somewhere in there. and the mint is mellow not sharp, the lotus is soothing, not overly sweet. it's like a dark olive green rough ocean, at night. soothing, but deep. like sleeping by the sea. ahhhh

[Blueelm]

Fresh, green, crisp, and minty aquatic... but with a dark heart. I ordered an imp of this on a lark as I usually don't care one way or another about aquatic scents. I was drawn to the idea though. I ended up ordering a 5ml of this in my next purchase.

 

Cooling, dark, and somewhat overpowering, I wore this scent when I got caught in a summer rainstorm with my lover. Now I can't get the three things untangled in my mind, torrential rain, love, and Undertow.

 

I could go on waxing romantic, but I'll try not to.

 

This opens up with tons of juniper and mint, over a really fresh ozone note. It goes through a creamy mint julep phase, getting a bit fruity.

 

Mint Chocolate ice cream comes to mind.

 

But the dry down is still cool and dark with lotus and juniper.

[eisoj5]

It smells like a tutti-frutti candy cane.

 

I think I can pick out the lotus, and a hint of juniper, but all I can think is "candy cane" and sadly, no sandy beaches...

[WidgetAlley]

Sweet and dark with a creamy, deep sort of feel. It reminds me of white chocolate mints... the three most prominent notes are very well-balanced: the mint is there, cool and edgy without being overpowering, the lotus adds a sort of dessert-like sugary smell, and the juniper rounds it out with just a touch of spicy. Soothing but a little menacing, too: like swimming in the ocean at night.

 

This is just gorgeous, it really is, and I'll enjoy smelling cool and watery and wonderful on hot days. At first I was so taken I was sure I'd need a larger bottle, but on the drydown I seem to have become a little disenchanted for no reason I can articulate.... ah well, just call me fickle. The Imp will surely become a regular in my rotation, but I don't think I'll be buying a 5ml.

[zombie_striptease]

If nothing else, Undertow should get an award for being the Shortest Lived Scent I've tried yet.

 

In the imp: Slightly sweet minty trees? I'm not sure I smell anything aquatic, but then my nose is still rather novice.

 

On wet: There's a faint breath of mint as I apply it. Little do I know, that's the last I'll ever see of it. There's something slightly green, darker than the mint, and I'm guessing it's the juniper, though I never catch a full on juniper note. Even still wet, the almost-candy sweetness of the lotus quickly rises above everything.

 

Two-minute mark: Is it already fading? Can't be. It's probably just shifting and settling. I'll smell the mint and juniper better anytime now...

 

Five-minute mark: ...Or maybe I won't. It's pretty much the all-lotus show, with an almost imperceptible green base that doesn't particularly resemble either juniper or mint. There's no bite whatsoever. Just sweet. Very faint and rapidly fading sweet.

 

Twenty-minute mark: There's only a bare powder of lotus now, and I have to nearly swallow my arm to smell it. I think it may actually be a figment of my imagination. Or my fabric softener.

 

Forty-minute mark: There was a scent here. It's gone now. My arm smells like arm and nothing else. I'm left looking disapprovingly at the imp. I imagine it looks somewhat abashed.

 

Conclusion: MY SKIN EATS LOTUS FOR BREAKFAST. And juniper and mint, apparently. It's a really lovely lotus scent, but perhaps too sweet to suit my personality. Also, I would have to reapply it liberally every half-hour or so, which just doesn't seem tenable. Oh well, to the swap pile with you!

[DameBecca]

Very minty in bottle, stayed minty on my skin. I never got the juniper or much of the lotus. It ended up smelling like a minty crayon.

[Muppetk]

Much cleaner & lighter than I expected. Primarily minty with undertones of the other notes, but not much of them.

 

Over time, the juniper comes out a bit more. Much lighter than other juniper blends. I usually find juniper overwhelmingly "man's aftershave," but this is nice. Just not that me.

[Little Bird]

Wow, this is sharp at first. A very dark blue and ominous scent to me. It starts out as very strong mint and dries down to a sweeter mint, juniper, and a berry that I cannot quite place. It's a berry that I've eaten before (perhaps one that I shouldn't have eaten?). It's conjuring up a memory in the back of my mind that I cannot quite put my finger on. It's driving me insane.

 

The mint stays true to this blend for hours, with the juniper coming out more in the drydown. I don't normally like mint, but I like this. In the drydown is a cool, sweet mint. The hint of berry-fruitiness in the background is still familiar but I can't place it.

 

Very interesting. I can't see myself wearing this, it's too cool... but I still like it. I'd probably love this on a guy.

[jewelbug]

Bottle: This smells exactly like minty kid's bubblegum toothpaste. Bad dental office memories, anyone? I have serious doubts about this one, but well, there is that "try everything" rule that I have…

 

Me:

Wet: Mostly mint, with a bubblegum in back. That means--still kiddy toothpaste.

Drying: First mint, then sweet lotus. Kinda aquatic, but the lotus is very bubblegum on me so far. No juniper that I can discern. The mint mellows during early drydown, and the lotus gets a little less bubblegummy. Less of the toothpaste now, but not something I'd like to wear.

Dry: After about 30 min, this gets very interesting (in a good way). The mint becomes a far away undernote, and the lotus matures. I think I might actually like lotus. I don't know what it's SUPPOSED to smell like, but it seems to be a sweet, slightly powdery in a pleasant way, and a bit…buttery? Something creamy, if not buttery. This is a very pleasant surprise after the bubblegum scare. Dumbfounding.

3 hours later the smell hasn't changed much, though it has faded significantly. I'm still trying to describe the lotus smell to myself. You know, there is a bizarre scratch-n-sniff quality to this, though which scent thereof I can't think of.

 

Overall, Hers: Lotus also appears to have a good throw. As in, it’s a light scent, but it still manages to waft around me nicely. It also melds with the skin very well; much like amber does on me--feels like it becomes part of me. I went to bed, so I don't know how much longer it lasts past 3 hrs. I am fascinated by lotus and will definitely try more lotus blends (this was my first). But undertow's beginning toothpaste phase is too much for me.

 

Him:

Wet: Kids toothpaste and cough syrup. And I thought he couldn't possibly make it weirder than it was on me…

Drying: This takes on a lemon/pine (juniper) fruity (lotus?) smell. Far less mint on him than me.

Dry: Wow, there significantly more pine for him (I guess any at all would be more since I got none). Where mine was mint and lotus, his is pine and lotus. Interesting. But the lotus on him is much the same as it was on me, a bit sweet, a tad fruity, and unidentifiable/indescribable. More importantly, feminine. Not a scent for him. An hour later its all girly lotus on him.

 

Overall, His: Nope, not a manly smell.

[Wench457]

Glad to know I'm not totally insane, as I thought I might be last night when I tried Undertow. In the imp it was a sharp mint and camphor scent, then I got a whiff of something sweet and familiar that I couldn't place, but that was gone immediately. I put some on my wrist, and got that whiff of sweetness again, and this time identified it: Juicy Fruit gum. Again, it disappeared right away. Undertow lasted about two minutes on my wrist, then disappeared. I was left with a very faint (as in press my nose to my wrist, then I can barely smell it) scent of ozone.

 

While not the scent for me, because of its transient nature with my chemistry, I am glad I got to try it. It was a fun ride.

[aessedai]

This is the first aquatic I ever had the chance to try from BPAL. The smell, to me, was overpowering. Just very dark and filled with dread. But maybe that was the name rubbing off on me.

[magic_tree]

In the imp: Mint chocolate chip ice-cream...mmmmm....

 

Wet: Lots of juniper. Still has a creamy mint base but the juniper definitely is dominant.

 

Drydown: Very clear, yet creamy (I'm going to assume that's the lotus because I don't know that I've ever smelled lotus on it's own enough times to have it for recall). It's the kind of scent you wish you could lick to taste it. I really like the level of cool mint.

 

I suspect I'll wear it occasionally, but I don't see a larger bottle of it in my future.

[greywind]

In the imp: a salty green scent, very reminiscent of the ocean

 

On, wet: green and salt with a minty tang. This is lovely and watery, but it's a cool ocean on a calm day, not the violence implied by the name. It's calm but envigorating.

 

Drying: Is that coconut? Odd, it's becoming light and sweet mint, with an edge I can only define as coconut (fresh, not dried). This isn't a good thing, since I don't like coconut. The salty scent hovers over top, detectable at a distance but not close to the skin.

 

Dry: now the scent is mint and white chocolate, very soft and subtle, and not at all unpleasant -- even though I don't care for sweet or foody scents. There's also a subtle salt and floral waft.

 

This is a fascinating, playful scent, but I'm not certain it merits a bottle since foody scents aren't really my style.

[lookingglass]

OK...I am trying the aquatics. I have begun, and think I will end for a while, with Undertow...

 

Kkklggh This is sweet but sharp. It makes me flinch...It smells like something I would clean with. Drying down there is some mint, and it gets a little softer, but it is still..aquatic. Again, if my shampoo smelled like this, I would probably like it, but not on me as a perfume.

[silver_springs]

There is definitely an overwhelming smell of mint in the bottle and on wet. But it's not a creamy foody mint, more of a refreshing and cool mint like you would find in breath mints or gum rather than cookies and cakes.

 

The strong mint doesn't last long though. Drydown is all fruity goodness with just a background hint of mint (teehee). It's a bit bubblegummy but in a good way.

 

An extremly light and childish scent. This is one to save for those days when you're heading off to a theme park or a shopping spree. It's just fun. Not the least bit dark, like I was expecting. It reminds me of Eris, not in scent but in the way it makes me feel. Lighthearted and giddy.

 

I rather like Undertow and I think I might eventually have to get a big bottle.