Earth Rat

[Bagfish]

A new year's blessing! Peony, China's national flower, with bamboo for flexibility, plum blossom for perseverance, courage, and hope, tangerine for wealth, lychee for strong family relationships and peace in the home, orange for happiness, pine resin for constancy, golden kumquat and quince for prosperity, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, coconut for longevity, and candied melon for good health, with a splash of blazing red of dragon's blood... to help you scare away the rampaging Nian.

Pretty melon with floral, fruity and slightly resinous undertones.

Something lovely smooths Earth Rat out - a soothing base note makes this less shouty-fruit than it may otherwise have been. The dragon's blood which can be a nightmare on my skin is not in evidence, there are slight hints of pine and bamboo and plums are definitely in evidence.

Earth Rat is a heady sweet scent and very lovely, I can see why people like this one. Many thanks to my switch witch for finding me a decant of this, it has been a pleasure to try out and I reckon I will wear this on occasion.

[KaliVerra]

Straight up sugary melon on me... but iz GUD!!

[lostluckkitten]

I adore the Rat; I reach for it often

 

Melon is most definitely the forerunner here when it goes on. Bright green, sparkling, sugar-rolled melon. After it's been on me a few minutes, the melon falls back a bit and out come all the other fruits and bamboo. It's a very green scent - not dark green, but a light, bright green. Lychee and kumquat like me in this blend, and are tarted up by the citrus fruits. The bamboo is fresh, and the flowers breathe just a little beneath it all. The dragon's blood is just barely detectable, lurking around the edges. It lasts all day on me, ending in a soft fruity floral.

 

Oh, how I hope there are future incarnations of the Chinese Zodiac like this one.

[tartchef]

I had to give Earth Rat a whirl -Tanuki was such a wonderful surprise, despite lots of no-go notes, so I hoped the dragon's blood in Earth Rat wouldn't do me wrong...

 

Huzzah! I smell like a bowl of gummies, but not in a sickly-sweet, cloying way! The melon (very ripe & green) is definitely the dominant fruit, but the lychee & citrus are there too, cutting through the heady sweetness. I'm decidedly meh about coconut, but when it emerges here, it's fresh green coconut, not the thick, toasty Red Lantern/Goblin coconut. Like in Tanuki, the bamboo & pine ground the lot, and the florals are barely perceptible, just a hint of something lovely on the breeze. And no dragon's blood to be found! Woot!

 

As it dries, the melon takes on that dry sugary quality of the melon cakes from my favorite Viet-Thai bakery in Chicago. The rest of the fruits fade away (very quickly from my wrists, but the crooks of my elbows cling to the kumquat), and I'm left with a faint but lovely blend of the melon & the reedy, woody bamboo.

 

Delicious! Delightful! Such a happy scent... green, but a sweet, translucent green, wonderful for summer...

[Heeroluva]

I was so looking forward to this scent. But no matter what stage it smells like bright pink bubble gum. Dry it might have a tiny note of melon, but it's way to cloying.

[flco]

In the bottle, I was able to detect the pine, dragon's blood, and melon, which were the main reasons I picked this up. But on my skin, it smells like fruit salad--PRECISELY like how my mother-in-law made a fruit salad once earlier this summer: Oranges, apples, blueberries, cherries, watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, and a bit of orange juice. Normally, I'd pass it off as being way too heavy on the fruit for my tastes, but I have such fond memories of that day so I'm keeping this one. It doesn't morph at all and after two hours, it's gone. But luckily, BPAL bottles are small and portable so I can reapply.

Edited July 26, 2008 by FlyingCoffin

[Dark Alice]

I received this from a wonderful forumite in a swap, I am so glad that I get to review this.

This smells like Zebra Striped Fruit gum, from the time I opened the imp to the time it dried down on my skin. Very unusual. Not my thing, but for those who love fruit flavored scents, this would be right up your alley!!!

[gingiemay]

Wet in bottle - Candied melon, bamboo, pine resin, plum blossom, but the candied melon is very strong.

 

Wet on skin - Candied melon and plum blossom with peony. I hope the melon fades a bit! This reminds me some of Tanuki, as it shares many similar notes.

 

Dry on skin - This has mellowed beautifully, the melon has faded and is a mere memory. It has a sweet peony/plum blossom scent with the lychee, citrus and a little bit of the pine resin. Yummy and fresh. I think this would be a perfect scent for summer! It's definitely more of a fruity/floral.

[Hawke]

Almost pure melon in the imp. Smells like pure honeydew, light and fruity.

 

Wet on the skin, it's sticky and sweet but the melon is muted a bit by other notes. There are so many that I don't think I could name an individual note if I wanted to. It's cheerful and pretty, but *very very* sweet. It's probably more of a summertime scent than now when we're heading into spices and fires and hot chocolate and coffee days, but it's still fun to wear. I didn't get a bottle of this despite being a Rat myself, but I'm glad I have the imp to play with.

 

It doesn't change much with wearing, just eventually fades away into nothing. And by that, I mean I can still smell a hint of it six hours later after working with my horses. Good stuff.

[BelleAnge]

This is a lovely melon scent on me. It's a bit of a sweet scent, but one I would wear. This one is on my LE bottle wish list.

[stillalive]

I have no idea how to describe this. It's like Dragon's Blood and candy. Not bad, but not really my thing. Still, I'm intrigued. *sniffs wrist*

[msbcozad]

Earth Rat

 

I'm a Rat and fond of rodents of all types so I've been collecting BPAL scents with rodent names. I had high hopes for Earth Rat with its peony and plum blossom and lychee. What I got was MELON. Melon when wet and melon when dry. After an hour, the other florals and fruits started to rise, but the ever-present melon remained. This scent is more suited for spring/summer. I'll try it again next year.

[angelicruin]

In the bottle, I smell mandarin/orange/tangerine and melon.

 

Wet on the skin, this is all cantaloupe on me. I like cantaloupe, but not sure it's the scent I'm going for when I'm out.

 

Dry......still just melon. There are so many notes in this oil, yet all my skin amps is the melon to the exclusion of everything else.

 

I can't even detect my beloved Dragon's Blood. *sigh*

[jencallisto]

In the imp: A light sweetness, and a bit of a edge that reminds me of really high-quality blocks of parmesan.

Fresh on the skin: Mmmmmmmm, Starburst. Yummy. And just a touch of sweet soapiness below it, but a soft soap rather than sharp.

5 minutes later: I think the sweet soap is taking over a little. Yet the delicious fruity candy is still there.

10 minutes later: Ah, the waft is wonderful -- light and subtle, but with fairly long throw.

20 minutes later: This is definitely yummy. I get mostly the delicious fruits, which is exactly what I'd hoped for out of the scent.

40 minutes later: This kind of reminds me of Froot Loops. But in a good way!

1.25 hours later: Oh wait. What's this? That mildewed paper scent that ruined Miskatonic University for me? What the heck is it doing here?

1.5 hours later: And now it basically smells like fruity chapstick. Which is, you know, not a bad thing, exactly.

2.5 hours later: Nondescript fake fruit, quite close to the skin.

3.5 hours later: This has taken on a rather nice soft fuzziness, but it still smells basically like nice-scented lipstick or something.

5 hours later: Fading to gone.

 

Verdict: I really liked it... until it went kind of boring on me. I'll keep the imp, but I probably won't be trying to track down a bottle.

 

One phrase: Froot Loop chapstick.

[Usagi]

in the decant: fresh, minty melon, with subtle floral background

on: smooth, creamy melon; green and sweet. It reminds me of a certain slushie made with fresh, ripe honeydew that I once had. After extended wear(2-3 hours), it becomes a little less bright and more mellow-warm summer melon, and feels a little more like a perfume.

 

Honestly, I ordered Earth Ox in the hopes that it might be a plum version of this incredible melon goodness.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Quite fruity! I get melon, quince, citrus, followed by florals and something a little sharp, maybe the peony.

 

Wet: Very melony, but there's something warm and resinous underneath. The quince and the various citrus are obvious too. This smells very delicious, with just a touch of the pungent sharpness of peony to counter all that fruity sweetness.

 

Half an hour: Oh, this is nice, it really does remind me of candied winter melon from the Lunar New Year. But there's a lot else there too, including my first impression of the plum blossom.

 

Hour and a half: As the fleshy fruit notes usually do on me, they've dropped off considerably after an hour. Now this smells much more floral than before. It's very pleasant, though, and I'll definitely wear it again.

 

Four hours: More floral than anything else now, but with the plum blossom slant it's still very Asian in character. Glad I got to try this one!

 

Eight hours: Exclusively floral-woody now. It keeps that Asian character, though, to the last.

 

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Mostly melon

On Application

The florals quickly join the melon but don't overpower

Dry Down

Starts as a musky honeydew melon, then the narcissus adds a smoky spiciness. This turns a little bitter as it dires down and doesn't last very long on my skin.

Rating (0-5)

3.5

 

[asciident]

Wet: Spice and ...musk?

 

First on: Musky citrus. Where is this musk coming from?

 

Dry: Same on drydown.

[tragedy]

Such a strange and unique scent!

At first this is all fruity on me, melon and kumquat. True fruity, not the fake kind.

But after a while it turns into powdery peonies with the fruit background.

Whats strangest about this is that up close on the skin, its faint... but I catch the throw.

 

I love it though, its complex and beautiful!

 

(Interesting to add that I saw this scent and the word "earth" in the title intrigued me (oh another dirt! Yay!) but thought "awwwuh damn" when I read the descript... funny how I got frimped it and love it!)

[Leopard403]

I'd heard such wonderful things about Earth Rat, and I wanted it to smell like gummy worms or some other fruit candy.

Instead, I got fruit that is not yet rotten but definitely past its prime, on top of fresh garden dirt. Dammit my nose is weird.

[SlySionnach]

Bottle: All melon. Seriously delicious, mouth watering sugared melon. I could stand here and sniff this for days.

 

Wet: More melon! Definitely a cantaloupe. But I think it's the peony that's poking its head up, taming the loud fruit a bit. As it dries, the melon disappears, making me a bit sad.

 

Dry: The melon comes back! It's now a perfect blend of melon and peony, and something else that I can't pinpoint. It may be the bamboo or the plum blossom. Either way, it's faint, but it's still very lovely. One of my new favorites!

[PurgatoriX]

In the bottle: Sweet melon, lychee & tangerine.

 

Wet on my skin: Wow, sweet fruity goodiness! The lychee & tangerine battle it out with the melon, with what might be coconut in the background.

 

Drydown: the fruit fades, allowing the florals & greens to come forward. A surprisingly quick drydown; the bamboo & plum blossom are gorgeous & the dragon's blood is not really noticable until the very end. And then it all fades away too fast.

 

Verdict: I really love this scent, but it vanishes too quickly on me. I have to press my nose against my wrist to smell anything after about an hour or 2 All that really remains is a hint of dragon's blood. Perhaps I should try a little more next time...

[Aldercy]

Earth Rat is a a very cool, smooth, Asian blend. Candied melon (cantaloupe with a bit of honeydew) is the strongest note for me and reminds me very much of this delicious Japanese gum I used to chew all the time. After that there's definite bursts of lychee, gentle citrus, peony and a drop of that kumquat I love so, so much in Tweedledee and Night-Gaunt. This is like fruity, feminine fireworks.

 

It's extremely festive and lighthearted with a softly earthy, humble base (probably attributable to the pine, but I don't actually smell pine). It makes me happy.

 

ETA: Very short-lived though. Earth Rat was gone within a half hour. Still, if your skin doesn't apparently swallow these notes, it's lovely.

Edited September 7, 2009 by Aldercy

[Venneh]

Earth Rat's a really bright fruity scent in the decant. It ends up being a really vague earthy-fruity mix on me, not something I'm really liking that much. Passing it on to someone else.

Edited November 18, 2009 by Venneh

[reynardine]

In the bottle: Odd, fresh scent. Can’t pick out individual notes as they are all blended together

 

Wet: I’m getting peony, bamboo and some fruitiness.

 

Drydown: bamboo and fruits

 

Later: One of the more interesting Asian blends that the lab has come up with. Very fresh and bracing. Moderate throw, multi-seasonal wear. I’d put it on when I’m feeling unusual and want to convey that fact.