Umbra

[ravenfeathers]

The deepest, darkest point in a shadow; the area contained within the shadow of an eclipse. East African black patchouli, cedarwood, vetiver and a dribble of cinnamon.

i got this as a frimp, took a whiff of it, and chucked it straight onto the frimping pile. i'm really not a fan of patchouli, no. then, this morning, i was craving patch for some gawdawful reason (possibly alien abduction blowback?) and thought of this, so tried it.

in the bottle dirty, dirty patchouli and it makes my throat clench a bit in horror
wet on skin patchouli... patchouli... hmm! what's that? it smells kinda like cocoa bean. is that the cedar and the cinnamon interacting oddly? it's like hippy and brownies, heh heh.
dry on skin well, hello nice notes! i'm glad you beat vetiver and patchouli into submission. cedar and cinnamon with a dark earthiness. it's not particularly spicy and not particularly woody or "pine"-y. it's a really decent blend and i'm pleasantly surprised.

i probably won't wear this again just because it doesn't stand out that much for me and has little appreciable throw, but it has reminded me to always test imps before chucking them on the frimp pile. Edited February 28, 2008 by ravenfeathers

[MaxwellDemon]

Umbra is the very first BPAL scent I've ever tried on my skin.

 

When I first smelled it in the bottle, it was much sweeter and creamier than I anticipated. I had braced myself for a heavy woodsy scent, knowing how strong those types are wet, but instead the cinnamon and patchouli really stood out. It smells almost just the same on my skin for about 10 minutes, but once dry the other notes come out and harmonize with the initial notes. On my skin, Umbra is a smoky, leathery, herbal, resinous, wet earth smell sweetened and mellowed by woods and the cinnamon. It's like catching a waft of fine pipe tobacco smoke while digging around in in an herb garden. It's complex and dark without being heavy or migraine-inducing, and definitely unisex. I like that it smells very real, not synthetic, and has great staying power. Overall, I'd say it's the dark, mysterious version of Aquolina's Blue Sugar.

[djsiberia]

wet & in imp : patchouli

dry : patchouli & cedarwood, small bit of what i think vetiver smells like

 

20-30 minutes later : still patchouli & cedarwood

 

40 minutes later : patchouli, cedarwood and body odor? ugg. this is the scent of smelly hippies. there is no cinnamon popping out at all and i really loved this scent wet & upon first dry down and the cedarwood is popping out more making me think of gerbil bedding.

 

*sigh*

 

i love patchouli scents and i wish it were more patchouli & cinnamon.

 

oh well...i can't like every patchouli scent..

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Patchouli with a sweet, perfume-y edge.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a very deep, dark and smoky patchouli and cedar blend with a lot of sweetness to it. The vetiver adds a smoky richness to this, and the cinnamon just adds a subtle spice.

 

After a little while: The sweetness has disappeared and this has become a very dark, bitter patchouli and cedar fragrance with the strong smokiness of vetiver. This is very heavy, dirty patchouli and dry cedar. It smells to me of dirt mixed with cedar chips.

 

Overall Impressions: The sweetness in this was nice at first, but it disappeared pretty quickly. I’m not a patchouli fan to begin with, so I didn’t love either the sweeter or darker bits of this, but I find the drydown even more so not me. If you love cedar and patchouli and don’t mind the smokiness of vetiver, this one may be for you.

[savage_rose]

Umbra in the imp is a crackling, fiery cologne, but on I smell like I haven't had a shower in a week, and have been in an alley getting drunk, and am starting to sweat moonshine from my pores. Not good.

[GeorgeJr]

I'm a little saddened to see Umbra at the back of the Bewitching Brews reviews , so let's see if I can't help remedy that . I find this to be a wonderful , dark scent . As it should be going by it's description . But , while it may be dark & full of things that might at first throw you off from trying it ( patchouli & vetiver ) , give it a shot on your skin in a small dose . It really does bloom into something beyond the strong patchouli note at the beginning . And I feel the the cedarwood helps mellow it out a bit , acting as a ground for the patchouli & vetiver . I haven't really gotten any of the cinnamon out of it , but that might just be my chemistry . This has quite the throw & lasts most of a day on me . But most patchouli blends do on me . All in all this is a great scent for emboldening yourself .

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

I pretty much only get vetiver in the vial, really.

 

First on:

It's earthy and raw – patchouli mixed with vetiver.

 

Dry:

After about 20 mins, it's gone to pretty much all cedarwood, with the tiniest hint of cinnamon.

 

It dries down to a softly creamy cedarwood scent on me, but without any other notes.

 

Finally:

Passing it on, as I only got cedarwood in the end.

[Coldfire]

Imp from a friend:

 

 

 

Imp: Deep, Dark incense first and then

cedarwood

Wet On Me: now the Cedarwood and then

the dark incense of patchouli

Drying Down: Still cedarwood first and then

the lovely dark incense

Dry: I smell mostly just the cedarwood now.

There is an underlying scent trail of the patchouli with it.

No sign of the other 2 notes tho. They made for the hills.

Btw...the throw and stay of the scents with cedarwoods are

phenominal! This is a nice to have imp.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Vetiver and cedar.

 

On Application

Strong vetiver and patchouli, smokey and dark.

 

Dry Down

Very dark and resinous. A touch of cinnamon pokes through initially to lightnen this up (strange to think of cinnamon as the lighter note!). It takes about half an hour for this to pass through it's scary, dark stage to reach a dry patchouli. Will try ageing.

 

Rating (0-5)

3

[jehrichardson]

In the Imp: Patchouli! Loud and clear.

 

On the Skin: Ah, the patchouli is still strong but I'm getting a bit of cedar in there. I love patchouli, but it is so strong and so overpowering I can rarely smell around it. I think the vetiver is adding a bit of deep sweetness to it

 

After a While: Lots of patchouli and a tiny bit of cedar.

 

Verdict: This is a nice take on patchouli, but it's not for me.

 

Layering: I'm not crazy about patchouli. It's nice but it reminds me of hippies, stoners, and magyck shops. Not that there's anything at all wrong with these That's just not how I would like to smell. Back when I used to make soaps, I often mixed patchouli with vanilla - the result was sweet and rich and absolutely gorgeous. So I sat here, looking at Umbra, which I will never ever wear, and my old bottle of Aveda Vanilla Absolute that I used to brush into my hair with Cedar essential oil. What the hey, I gave it a try - layer of Umbra (one drop) Vanilla Absolute (2 drops). Didn't work. Oilslick on my hand from the absolute and the vanilla wasn't nearly strong enough to temper the patchouli. Bum-mer.

 

Next try, I love my imp of Venice, but jasmine is so overpowering that I will never ever wear it. Perhaps it will sweeten the Umbra, and the Umbra will cut the jasmine? It sorta works! The jasmine has almost pushed the patchouli to mintiness, and the patchouli has almost pushed the jasmine to pineyness. Weird, huh? Now my thumb smells of patchouli, jasmine, mint, and pine. I like it.

 

Later On the Day: Venice + Umbra = Deep Woods Off Bug Spray. No kidding. I wonder if it will keep mosquitos away? Maybe this layering doesn't work. Hmmmm...

Edited August 5, 2008 by j4r

[Iceblink]

Umbra smells overwhelmingly of vetiver when wet. As it dries the cedarwood dominates, with maybe a hint of patchouli floating around. No cinnamon to my nose at all. This does smell dark and eerie but it's a little too strong for me.

[isisonearth]

Imp: Holy patchouli!

 

Wet: On the skin that black patchouli melds really well with the cedar and vetiver. Woody and dark...and very manly.

 

Dry: On the drydown the cinnamon comes out. From a distance I smell baking pie! Up close it is more of a sexy man baking a pie though.

 

Off to the hubby...I wonder if I can get him to bake....Mmmmmm

[TereFaerie]

This is just too dry and bitter for me, but I guess I should have known. I smell patchouli and vetiver with the barest hint of cedar shavings, not the cedar I'm used to from other bpal blends. I guess I finally understand the pencil shavings descriptions some people give i reference to cedar.

Perhaps if I layered it with something too sweet, but then I'd probably just wind up smelling like headshop.

 

Oh, well, off to swaps.

[crebbsgirl]

In the bottle, patchouli just keeps hitting me over the head. But, I determinedly try everything once. Instantly on my skin it makes me make that face everyone makes when sipping an EXTREMELY dry wine. You know the face... About 10 minutes later this is the very scentual embodiment of the phrase "Something wicked this way comes..." It just keeps repeating itself in my head. About 1/2 hour in this settles into the most beautiful woodsy spicey scent imaginable. I love this!! This is dark and warm and almost a little forboding. A keeper!

[sirsaber]

An interesting scent... it reminds me a lot of Wolfsbane (which I love) with a hint of smoke and something else. It may be the cedarwood. This is a wonderfully dark scent. It could remind me of shadow from an Obtenebration sort of way. Definite keeper.

[Caerphilly]

I didn't try this on me, as I don't like patchouli, and it bothered me from the imp. But, in the imp is is deep and dark, and very earthy. Deep patchouli smell. I don't get any other notes from the imp.

[dzurlady]

This is quite unpleasant smelling in the vial - vetiver with hints of patchouli. On the skin, it's quite different and comforting. Wet it smells like dirt, with vetiver in the background, but then after a minute or two the cedarwood comes out to the front, and then all three scents meld together to make a warm and comforting scent (provided you don't hate the smell of dirt). The cinnamon adds a little something interesting to the mix, but doesn't stand out. I agree that it would smell nice on a man, but it's not an exclusively masculine blend. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice this was - I kept wondering what the nice smell was when I caught whiffs of it - but I can't see myself wearing it, so I'll pass it along. It has good throw and wear length.

Edited December 6, 2008 by dzurlady

[cordeliasbs]

Got this as a frimp and hated it in the bottle. Too sharp and woodsy. Very much too much cedar and not enough anything else. But I was determined to try every scent I could get my hands on, and I'm glad I did!

 

Wet on my skin it becomes a much sharper patchouli than I usually care for. Very much like dirty hippies, I think. But as it dries the cedar and cinnamon make it something sexy and powerful.

I don't really know what notes I'm getting or what to call them. I can only say it's like smoking a clove cigarette at 4 in the morning after your 12th cup of coffee.

 

Two interesting things:

I wore this to a kinda stressful work meeting, and it made me feel confident and cool. Very unusual for me, so this is now definately my power scent!

I can ONLY wear this on my wrists. Anywhere else leaves horrid red welts. They don't hurt or itch or sting, but just look icky. My wrists don't react at all. Must be the cinnamon.

[voodoocatwoman]

Wet, Umbra is dark and heavy. It almost has a smoky quality. I smell patchouli and vetiver.

 

Dry: Long lasting... it smells like charred wood and patchouli.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is basically patchouli and cedar, which smells like pencil shavings. Dirty pencil shavings. Woo.

[iamblackbird]

Patchouli, oh my god. Mixed with the cinnamon, this became something too much for my poor little nose to handle. The throw on this, thanks to the patchouli and cinnamon, was huge on me.

 

I got no cedar. Hrumph.

[lookingglass]

Dirty and dry...like a hippie mummy. Blech.

[obsidienne]

This smells like shadows and spice; it's beautiful, deep, dark, and mysterious. Patchouli and vetiver meld with a gentle cinnamon to produce this dark yet warm effect; the cedarwood is subtle and doesn't turn to pencil shavings here, perhaps it lightens it a little.

 

It makes me feel beautiful, deep, dark, and mysterious. Wow.

 

What a lovely surprise. Thank you Lab.

[rayvn1]

Since I love patchouli and I love vetiver I figured this would be a good one. Aaaand it's amazing! I may have put too much on, because this is strong stuff and I was a little paranoid about my classmates' noses - but this is so yummy Deep, dark patchouli with a viscious vetiver smack across the nose. Beautiful.

 

 

Edit to say that this really reminds me of Villaness' Asphyxiate soap. I thought it was the Two-Headed Goat on my other arm, but now I think its' Umbra. Great combo together, btw.

Edited February 4, 2009 by rayvn1

[asciident]

Wet: Sharp, floral soap. Don't have high hopes for this one.

 

First on: Wood...soap? WTF?

 

Dry: Just wood now. Bleh.