Undertow

[treska]

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.

Once, when I was a wee, small thing I decided that for the next Halloween, I wanted to be the undertow. I'd heard of it on our family trips to the beach. My brothers and I were repeatedly told "beware of the undertow". It was a dark, mysterious thing which you couldn't see, but could grab you and drag you off to deeper waters. How cool was that? Don't ask me what I had in mind for a costume. Maybe I could have just grabbed people's ankles and given them a good yank?

Anyway....given such a history, I really had to try an imp of this. On me, it turns out that it's mint, mint, mint, minty mint. There's occasionally a hint of something darker and more complex under the surface but then the mint decides to take over again. Nothing wrong with mint, but that's not how I want to smell most of the time.

I'll still keep this imp, for nostalgic humor if nothing else. Maybe the next time I visit my parents, I'll put some on, cackle "I am the Undertow" and try to grab their ankles.

[filigree_shadow]

I smell some kind of mint in this, or possibly eucalyptus. It's not the kind of scent I wear, but it smells pretty good. After it dries it smells less minty and much sweeter. It reminds me of Pez.

Edited February 12, 2007 by filigree_shadow

[alayni]

hmm, I don't know...i smell mint? seriously..as I opened this imp, mint jumped out and grabbed me by the ankles. Undertow, indeed. As I got this as an imp, I will have to come back to it to see if I want to wear it or use it as a room spray.

[Kimocean]

Got this one as a frimp at the last will-call. I've hesitated to try this because of the strong minty smell in the bottle and the fact that it was one of the recent batch of decapitating imps I got, but I finally got some new imp caps last night and so pulled this on out to recap. As I opened it back up from it's saran wrap temporary seal I immediately smelled mint and something sweet. I dabbed a little on my cleavage since I've been wanting to try a mint scent when I wasn't going to be going out of the house and OH WOW. Why did I ever doubt this one. It's ocean and beach with just a hint of suntan lotion and something deep and and dark that keeps it so rich. It has great throw on me and lasted for hours. I couldn't wait to put it on after my shower this morning and now I can't stop sniffing my wrists!

[maijasu]

I know the description says "hint of mint," but this is ALL mint on me. It smells really nice and refreshing, actually, but it fades very quickly, to the point that I would need to reapply it every hour. It's my favorite BPAL mint so far, but I'm going to keep looking.

[labmaven]

Well, at first sniff it's easy to pick out the individual scents, if you know what they are. I'm still not adept at identifying scents without hints. I immediately tried it on & fell in love.

 

For me, this scent doesn't smell like its components unless I think about them. It is more of an emotional scent; it immediately sweeps me away into my dreams of water, just like an undertow. It doesn't smell like being by the water, to me, as it doesn't have those wet scents like algae, sand, water, boats, etc. . .

 

I am definitely a water person and unfortunately don't live near the water now. I sometimes ache for it and Undertow allows me to experience it my head. Lovely scent!

[Medox]

A gorgeous, tingly mint that most wonderfully stays minty even in dry down. Sweet, icy love.

[supremegoddessofall]

There is nothing clean or purifying about this, and a whole lot that is menacing. When I first put it on, it smelled like that liquid pink antibiotic you had to take when you were a kid. Seriously - *that* vile. Now it's kinda settled down to a grape-y Playdoh sort of scent. Still, not my idea of "hey, let me slather myself in this!"

 

 

Score: 1 out of 5

[jidabug]

Hm... I guess I had a weird reaction to the notes in this, because I didn't get mint. I didn't get anything pleasant, actually. It came out of the bottle smelling like feet. Teenage-boy-after-soccer-practice feet. It quickly turned with a bit of a plasticy, doughy kind of thing going on. I'm very disappointed, as it sounded really good in theory.

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: lix a stix candy powder with cheap, flat champagne.

wet: same but with old squashed mint leaves.

dry: stale mint syrup.

 

Nah.

[PilotKitten]

In the vial I get a definite peppermint. On my skin I still get the peppermint but with a nasty rotting green thing along for the ride. Wafting about me I can smell the "coolness" of the peppermint in the air (lots of throw on this one!) but there's still this small overtone that deepens as you get closer that's just horrible. I've only tried 2 so far, but the Dark Elements really don't like me.

[smallvoice]

This is really fresh and clean to me. The mint is sweet, and it does indeed smell like a dream of the water, as someone put above me. I'm glad I got to try this imp, and I think I may give it further wear and thought. This seems like it might be a very good summer scent for me.

[sofaking6]

Well I'm surprised I never logged a review for Undertow, since I've been hyping it around town ever since I tried it.

 

At first it's very strong pine/mint. Let's call it...REFRESHING! Not bad but it didn't make me think I'd wear it again.

 

The drydown got me though. When the lotus makes its play the blend settles into a deep, dark oceanic scent. I could not stop sniffing. It gives the suggestion of saltiness and a feeling like you're at the water's edge on a cold, windy day. I really love this and it's got me wanting to try more of Beth's aquatics.

[Nekomata]

The mint is nice, but I now know that juniper is not for me. It's overpowering and really gross on my skin. It smelled so good in the bottle though.

[Sistinas]

In the vial, it is all mint and very little juniper and lotus. Eventually the juniper comes out, but it does not overtake the mint. Undertow just smells lovely.

On my skin, the lotus appears but it is tempered by the mint thankfully. Lotus tends to ruin scents for me, but not this one. The mint is still the star of this fragrance and it just smells lovely, I definitely will be needing a bigger bottle of this one. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give this a 5.

[aiobhan]

I put on Undertow for this evening's wear.

 

In the bottle: It's very, very crisp and clean. Strong, dark. The juniper really, really comes out wet. The mint is more like an afterthought that you catch as you pull away to take a fresh breath of air.

 

Just applied: When it hits warm skin, it's more lotus, a bit richer and warmer, but the coolness of the mint still comes through, stronger now, just a ribbon of scent in the moist feel of the lotus.

 

Dry: The lotus and mint come out much more. This scent reminds me of wet earth - sweet in it's own dark way. If I had to pick three words to describe it, I'd pick "deep", "wet" and "sharp". I love it.

[The_Merf]

I can't even break this down like I usually do...I think the lotus is the major note that I smell in the bottle, but I'm not entirely sure. However, I do know what happens when I put this on my skin:

 

Amoxocilin.

 

I hated amoxocilin when I was younger. I had to scrub this off immediately.

[Iceblink]

Strong mint that fades down in a couple of hours to watery mint. Interesting, but mint isn't really my bag.

[lanablade]

In the imp: Mint. And maybe a hint of juniper.

 

Wet: Mint. Not cold mint, though. It's got a very warm feel to it. Maybe that's the juniper, too.

 

Dry: I swear I smell coconut under the mint. That must be the lotus. And I can pick out the juniper still. It gets soft and sweet and really very refreshing like a mint Italian cream soda. The lotus is a bit creamy as it starts to step up a bit more. Lovely.

 

I was frimped this, and it's certainly something I would never have tried on my own, but it's really very fascinating. It smells like really good candy. Mint and coconut and sweet and soft and creamy. I think I may need a bottle of this. We'll see how often I reach for it.

[tempestteapot]

Wow this one is complex. I get aquatics and mint. A slight hint of chocolate (always a good sign) but yet not enough to drown out the other notes.

[outofrhyme]

In the bottle:

MINT.

 

Dry down:

Menacing water is actually a pretty good description. It's definitely very cold, yet very aromatic. I can pick out the lotus, juniper and mint.

 

Final thoughts:

Initially I thought I liked this, but it's too harsh for me. It doesn't work with my chemistry, or maybe I just don't like it. Not one I'm going to pursue farther.

[glass_cat]

This was another frimp from the lab with the last batch of bottles I ordered. It was definitely one of those ones I probably never would have chosen on purpose, as it seems like it has many of my "iffy" notes in it... the ones that either work great on me or completely ruin a blend depending on what they're mixed with... most notably mint and juniper. However, this does have aquatics and lotus in it, and those are always winners with me, so I was curious.

 

At first, I really wasn't sure how much I liked this at all. All I could smell was the juniper, which when mixed with mint smells extremely medicinal to me as anything "green" tends to if it's too dominant. However, when it settled down, the aquatics and the lotus came out and began to take over, pushing the greener notes into the background and saving this for me. Overall, I think it reminded me of peppermint patties, which I adore, although nothing about it smelled chocolatey that I remember.

 

I love the coolness of the scent, but I don't think this is one I'll be reaching for too terribly often due to the initial medicinal tone that needs time to recede into the background before I really start to enjoy it. However, this is one of those imps that I can see myself reaching for when I need a jolt or want to feel more alert, particularly when I'm writing. Not a bad scent at all, but not an everyday one either... at least not for me.

[almeda]

* First Sniff: Juniper and mint, all right -- which is a really bizarre combination, but not unpleasant.

* On: 'Warms', adding something that makes my nose tingle like right after I put on my Burt's Bees lip balm. Overall impression: somewhere on a spectrum between mouthwash and cough syrup. Very strange. Most definitely not baby powder, though, which is good. :->

* Dry: Strong wintergreen/mint toothpaste. Washing it off now. I'll give the Lab this, though -- "Clean and purifying, but menacing" is a very good description.

Interestingly, on my husband it turned into guest-room soap, the kind that's herby instead of floral. His skin is usually warmer than mine, for what that's worth.

[rivki8699]

Very minty and clean in the imp and wet on my skin. Yum.

 

After about 10 minutes it starts becoming fruity and the mint disappears. Very dissappointing.

[jasmine]

Freshly applied, this is a swirling, lightly minty aquatic. It’s minty and sweet without explicitly naming a mint to my nose. I’m surprised by the entire effect.

 

The truth is, this is lovely. It’s alien and weird... weird enough that it could be an Arkham scent... but has a certain beauty. Interpreted as color, this is overwhelmingly aquamarine -- not a dark aqua, but a transparent one with light shining through it.

 

It is also very, very strong. The area in which I am sitting smells entirely and solely of Undertow. And while it is distinctive and beautiful, it is an unappealing beauty -- too cold, too blue, and far too loud.

 

A particular temperament might find this to be an unusual, fascinating signature scent. Sounds lovely... on someone else. I can find it artful without ever wanting to wear it again.

 

...I had to wash my elbow halfway through dinner because I just couldn’t stand this scent any more swirling around my breaded fish. Far, far too loud. It didn’t wash off in a simple washing, but it muted down a bit, which made it tolerable. I will scrub it raw in a hot shower and hope it goes away.