Zombi

[sarandipitee]

Dried roses, rose leaf, Spanish moss, oakmoss and deep brown earth.

 

I don't know how to feel about this one.

 

I don't enjoy any dirt or earth not - feels very jarring and unnerving to me (unless it was mixed with like, tomato leaf or something that reminds me of digging in the garden). And rose is in my top 3 worst notes list because it just screeches over EVERYTHING.

 

But oakmoss is my jam. So I dunno - there's potential here but I think I'll just pass this on as frimp because it looks to be pretty popular and someone else will love it more (and appreciate the dirt).

[ramblingrambler]

Earthy, loamy—and with dried roses—Zombi makes for an incredible scent *for the right person,* but that person is not me. I can see its appeal the instant it goes on, but for skin chemistry like mine, it smells like neosporin and bandaids as it begins to dry.

 

Since I do not want to smell like neosporin and bandaids, I'll be passing my bottle along.

[achildoftime]

Soft roses and earth just like I imagined. It's not as strong as I was expecting it to be. It stays pretty close to the skin on me. The roses are dried or drying because they aren't particularly fresh, but they are pretty strong. The dirt is is more of an undercurrent rather than up in front. Not a bad rosy scent.

[AraliaShine]

(Frimp with a recent order)

 

I do like the smell of dirt. The opening of Zombi works well on my skin. Rich, loamy soil and a juicy (greenish?)

sweetness were calling to me while this one was wet. Initially, I was inclined to respond. Sure, nibble on my brain.

I only use a portion of it and not terribly efficiently at that!

 

I put the brakes on when the dusty rose emerged more as the scent began to dry down. That's a much less

compelling note for me.

So, only half-enamored with your earthy mossy delights, I think I'll keep my grey matter in my noggin.

For now.

[DryFrogPills]

In the bottle: Wet earth and roses, things hinted at rather than being said straight up, an overall impression of damp ground and green flora.

 

5 to 10 minute dry down: On me, it stays wet roses and stems over damp earth, like the roses that used to grow by our door just after the rain. These are fairly soft, sad roses, not sultry or little girl, but wistful and funeral.

 

1 hour out: The earth says wet, but the roses seem to dry out. It's very soft and outdoors, and while the other notes aren't explicit, they add to that sort of 'out in the damp' feel to the whole scent.

[Lucchesa]

I swapped away Zombi some time ago, so this isn't a review with the scent right on my wrist, but it made a strong impression on me. Years ago I gave an after-dinner talk on Goya, and the hostess decorated the dinner table abundantly with dead red roses. Zombi reminded me of those dead roses, and of all the beauty and terror of Goya's etchings. I found it inexpressibly beautiful and inexpressibly melancholy, and I couldn't imagine wearing it anywhere but to a funeral. Die-hard goths who love dwelling on the morbid and enjoy roses and earth scents should adore this one.

[quigza]

Dried roses when wet.

 

Roses and wet autumn leaves when dry.

 

This feels like a date on an autumn day. You are walking through the leaves in the park. The leaves have changed colors. Your date gave you the sweetest little bouquet of roses. Eventually, it's the leaves and dirt as you're crunching along your walk. I don't get anything grave like. Maybe I'm having a different experience because it's a little chilly today? I can imagine oakmoss getting a little overpowering in spring/summer heat.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Lemonlife

[garbagewitch]

Freshly turned earth, dark and slightly damp—the kind of earth that smells alive, not just dirt, but soil. It gets sweeter and greener, like something living that’s been carefully dug out from the earth, with a little soil still clinging to its roots. Then the rosiness steps forward and takes over the whole scent, elegant and sweet, though the mossy, earthy notes are still definitely present. There’s an interesting contrast of dry and damp here: I don’t know how it was done, but the rose here is definitely a desiccated rose, while the earth keeps that damp, living quality to it.

 

Not an inherently creepy scent to me, but a little unsettling—it could just be the scent that lingers on someone who's spent the morning at work in their garden, but it could also be the elegant perfume lingering on someone who’s just clawed themselves out of their grave.

 

I originally shrugged it off as interesting!, but unlikely to see a lot of use. The more I try it, though, the more I really enjoy it. If you’d like to know what Lucy’s Kiss smells like when she’s heaving herself out of a shallow grave (or perhaps simply repotting a rose bush), give Zombi a try!

 

[cyborgutena]

When it's wet, my brain combines the 'earthy' with 'mildly sweet' (floral) and gives me 'beetroot'. Which is not terrible but it is a little confusing!

 

As it dries, my brain seems able to separate the scents into the lovely damp earth scent with the floral notes above it. Weirdly, the floral doesn't necessarily register as 'rose' to me. I mean, I like rose and I like this particular floral but they seem different.

 

Anyway, this is very much soil and earth (as you could have guessed from the notes). It's a grave with flowers after the rain. I don't always feel like wearing this one, but I do have my days. It lasts a decent amount of time.

[elka_knits]

Because I buy a lot of rose scents I get Zombi occasionally as a Frimp in packages from fellow forumites plus the lab {tho I doubt they read my wishlist of roses please}.  I have never tried it because the earth note is so off-putting.  I just got another imp tonight in a package from a kind forumite and she specifically asked for my impressions.

 

Sadly I put this on just as I was starting to prepare dinner and the dirt, mud, freshly turned soil note was overwhelming.   At some point, say the half hour mark, I could smell rose but it was a poor uprooted rose bush with lots of dirt clinging to its roots.  Fresh and  damp and well... earthy

 

At about the hour mark I got rose with a green tinge.  The mosses I suspect which she had told me she got from the scent.  And here I am 3 hours later with rose water or dried roses however you want to think of that faint rose scent.  

 

It is a pretty rose scent if the dirt, soil, earth notes don't amp to all get out on you and you don't particularly dislike smelling mucky.

 

Still I am super grateful to have been gifted an imp and asked my opinion because I finally tried Zombi.  Kudos to the lab for such a creative scent that, on me, morphs through all the notes.

[monocainsheresy]

The lovechild of Ouija and Burial - crumbly dry roses and fresh (but not wet) dirt.

[Mister Azure]

From the soil we came and from the soil we will remain. 

 

Wet, dense soil that has been freshly turned. There’s a looming sense to this of something dreadful coming. The roses have long since withered and have become soggy and decayed. A sweet and pungent rot oder mingles with the soil. 

 

I expected the rose like scent to go powdery but I remains indulging and consistently enjoyable. I believe it is the mosses that help tame the rose notes and manages to prevent the soil from being so overwhelming. 

 

The throw is moderate and manages to last a full work day on me. I would consider this to be a worthwhile unisex scent. I may get a full bottle of this in the future. 

 

Simplistic beauty.

[supreme_c0rt]

I really reeeeally don't like soil and I'm not a huge fan of roses, but I do like both of those notes in this! Oakmoss comes to the rescue and prevents the dirt from being too suffocating and the rose from being too powdery. As it dries fully down the rose and oakmoss become this beautiful, old-fashioned melancholy dark thing, and I'm reminded of the Black Rose perfume (Emily the Strange) that Hot Topic sold in the late 90's/ early 00's. I really liked that perfume and have been looking for something like that to make me love rose again. 

 

Thank you to the forumite who frimped me this one! I don't know if I ever would have picked this up otherwise, but I'm impressed with how well this wears on me. Mwah.

Edited March 23, 2020 by supreme_c0rt

[Carolan Ivey]

Received this as a frimp from an order placed with a decanter. My skin amps the Lab's rose to the nth degree so I didn't have high hopes for it.

 

Wet: Reminded me of the Sweetheart soap my grandmother used to use.

Freshly dried down: The moss and earth seem to hold the rose to a dull roar, which is a nice surprise. 

Dry for a while: Rosy, with a tang of green leaf and a hint of moss/earth. Like an old rose garden at the tail end of the blooming season.

Quite nice, but still reminds me of Sweetheart soap so I'll probably pass it along.

 

[DigitalCoyote]

Wet: Wet/damp soil.  It doesn't have an incense-y back or undertone like some of their dirt smells.  I like it.

 

Dry: Roses, dirt, and dry (not grassy) green.  The roses fade away slowly,  leaving the moss, leaves, and soil behind.

 

This is definitely an atmospheric or mood setting smell.  

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by DigitalCoyote

[Old.cupcake]

Typically I don’t like rose scents but this was fantastic. It smelled lightly of rose and was earthy. I loved wearing it! 

[niffler]

I got this scent for the moss and earth notes, eyeing the rose a bit warily. Actual roses make me sneeze to high heaven, but I'd been exposed to the lab's rose via Roses Pearls and Diamonds and the rose note was not my issue, so...

In the imp, I get a lovely waft of moist, dark soil with plenty of greens. The moss and rose stay out of focus behind a veil of heavy rain. I see how this could be sad or funereal for some people. Me, I just love the dirt. 

On my skin, the sun comes out. Magic! The soil dries, the moss gains a spicy edge, and the rose wafts forward. It's a light, desiccated rose and reasonably balanced despite being very old fashioned. I really enjoyed the early and middle stages of this dry down when the mosses said hello. The rose's ghost sticks around for quite a while on me, which was less charming but certainly didn't go so far as to require an exorcism.

I very much like this scent overall and will add it to my layering experiments for sure.  

[fairybites]

In the Imp: Roses, can't smell anything else.

 

On Me: Rose is amping up, but I'm starting to smell the dirt. Slightly leafy as well, but the rose is the main attraction. However, I don't find the rose scent to be overpowering which is nice if you want something more subtle. Reminds me of scents I'd find the ladies at church would wear when I was a kid. 

 

Not quite sure how I feel about this one yet. Zombi was the scent from BPAL I've wanted for years. I think I need to try layering it with other scents or wear it some more. It's a good scent don't get me wrong, but I'm wondering if I'll prefer something like Deep in Earth or Graveyard  Dirt to this? Definitely a keeper, but not quite ready to purchase a bottle.

[rhonorv]

Oh, thank goodness: I love the smell of roses, and I haven't quite been able to find a rosy BPAL that works, but this works. When this is on my arm it feels like there's a bouquet of roses in the house somewhere.

 

It's the scent of roses that are just about to wilt and sweeten with rot. There's no powderiness or sharpness that come with some rose notes. I don't get the scent of earth or moss or loam; perhaps they're well blended, so they're making this a perfect rose in the background but I'm not able to pick them out (magic?). 

[skyturtles]

Zombi smells like a cyberpunk girl in high school. Juvenile and rebellious and a bit of candy with your brightly colored pleather. I don't get the roses so much, but I could see where the earthiness and moss com from. I would not categorize this as floral or even green. There is a spunk in there that is lively and youthful - but is it enough to raise the undead? I appreciated the frimp but I don't think I would purchase a full bottle.

[Llanval]

Imp from the Dirt Imp Ears, aged 2 years: In the bottle, its dirt and a little simmer of rose. As soon as it goes on, it becomes an open grave, ringed in mushrooms.  I get that specific little dry dirt funk note that I associate with mushrooms.  I do get why so many would classify this as wet, earthy loam, but there's not enough levity in the dirt here for me. This starts as the tireless thok thok of a spade into the earth, but from below, from inside before the rose blooms. After the rose arrives, it truly is like dragging yourself out of the last cradle you'll ever know - with a garland of roses and tangled green sprigs around your neck to ward away the smell.

 

Once I might have loved this.  Now, the dirt dries and recedes to a light stony furze and the roses dance and sing and wilt and dry and all I can think of is my grandmother. My mother kept a single jar of this very old, quite retro (I guess??) fragrance powder, y'know the very old fashioned round containers, with the big decadent white powder puffs? Zombi tragically, accidentally toes the line into that scent-memory too often for my own enjoyment. Zombi embodies a specific finality for me, and it's not one deep enough or engaging enough for a full bottle.

 

Anyone out there who is a traditional, old-school Goth who loves to live their lifestyle on their skin, and rose doesn't remind you of grandmothers or long gone days, this shit is for you.  If it does, and that's your thing? You're going to love this.

 

Goodbye, ancient imp, I'm going to use you up and put you on the "no" list.

 

Edit: did a total 180° on this scent and ended up buying a full bottle, lol. I ended up using my Zombi imp at work to cover up the 😖 when new imps I'm testing go funky on me. So I guess i got used to the vibe of the scent and it wormed its way into my black little heart! This scent truly is the embodiment of funeral gloom so I guess I just needed to come back to it after a bit of time. So far, it's the only rose forward scent I love enough to wear on the regular. 

Edited October 12, 2021 by Llanval
Update on scent

[Luna Fatale]

In the Imp: Earthiness & dried roses 💕 

 

On the Skin: Earthiness & dried roses again. I LOVE BPAL's rose note. It smells deep and intoxicating like the dried rose petals I have in a jar that I use for magickal workings. So gorgeous! The Spanish moss & oakmoss add a dusty quality to the perfume. It's a beautiful gothic atmospheric kind of smell that paints images of graveyards in my mind. I just adore this. ❤ Such a unique take on rose and a realistic portrayal of moss & petrichor. It's just like when I sniff one of my closed terrariums. I would absolutely buy a full bottle of this & backups! ❤ After a few hours, the smell of dried rose petals remains.

[Rane.]

Bought a bottle of this. It's a lovely rose, powdered down by Spanish moss. The rose leaf keeps this from being too flowery. It greens it up more.

[tharsei-thanate]

Right on application it smells like dirt, which I am very into! Dirt then calms down and moss takes center stage. Very green and kind of juicy, which sounds like it could be weird but I'm loving it. Rose can be too strong for me sometimes and it's detectable but way in the back where it's not being bothersome. Put off trying this for a long time because I was worried the rose would be overpowering, but I like it quite a lot!