The Stormhold

[Tramp]

The Stormhold had been carved out of the peak of Mount Huon by the first lord of Stormhold, who reigned at the end of the First Age and into the beginning of the Second. It had been expanded, improved upon, excavated and tunneled into by successive Masters of Stormhold, until the original mountain peak now raked the sky like the ornately carved tusk of some great, grey, granite beast. The Stormhold itself was perched high in the sky, where the thunder clouds gathered before they went down to the lower air, spilling rain and lightning and devastation upon the place beneath.

Creeping moss, slick granite, murky vetiver, lightning-charged ozone, and icy rain.

Stormhold reminds me of seattle, all wet streets and cloudy skies. A clean sort of rain that just washes all the dirt and grime away. Kinda reminds me in a general way of Thunderbird. But with more green and less ozone.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Very damp vetiver and ozone.

 

Immediately on skin: Eek. This is the vetiver that smells a little like mildew to me. It’s smoky, but damp. There’s also a bit of ozone to this, and a hint of salty aquatics.

 

After a little while: This scent has gotten very light on me. It’s very smooth now… a mix of light, damp vetiver, ozone, and moss. This feels very grounded and solid, but also has the ozone floating about which gives it a slight airy quality above that.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a perfect scent to represent Stormhold. It’s dark, murky, stony, and very airy. This is a more unisex scent without much sweetness… it’s mostly that wet vetiver with ozone and moss, but it has a complex feel which is nice. This is definitely a blend with a solid base, but also a nice airy quality that gives it that complexity. It was a nice experience to try it, though I don’t think I’d wear this.

[bloody sore]

I have to admit that I had really high hopes for this blend. Unfortunately, I forgot (or perhaps never really realized) that I don't like ozone. It smells like nasty old lady soap.

Anyways, this blend starts of pretty stereotypical masculine when wet. As it drys, the old lady flowers come out, screaming over the lovely base notes. If I venture close enough to my hand to smell it up close, I get an old lady batting me away with her purse, while her small vetivert dog cowers beneath her feet. 'Nuff said.

[lostluckkitten]

Much, much lighter and sweeter-smelling in the imp than I imagined it would be. Once on, it's light and "rocky" smelling. It smells like sweet green moss on rocks. The ozone is there, backing up the rock scent. It's almost warm on me… more like sun-warmed mossy rock than cold, icy Stormhold. Once dry, the ozone amps more, and it has a more jagged-rock feel. Not unpleasant, just might be a little too ozone-y on me. Reminds me of Lightning without the floral element I got from that blend. Starting to smell a little like burnt air/rain after lighting tears through it

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is very much ozone...

 

once applied this gets insanely sweet on me...hmmm...

 

after awhile the bite of vetiver is wonderful....quite subtle...

this remains mostly aquatic with an edge of darkness...

 

this is quite interesting and i will hang onto my imp and give it a whirl a few times

more before i make a decision on whether or not to purchase a big bottle...

[Iceblink]

I'm mostly getting a headachey ozone from Stormhold. Where's the vetiver and moss? It sets a mood nicely of rainy, stormy weather, but too much ozone just doesn't sit well with me.

[alicia_stardust]

Stormhold is looming and dark, with cold smooth stone surfaces and clutches of moss hanging from crevices in it. There is a strong sense of stone and sharp rain and those two things seem to be the most prominent in this blend. This is so dead on that it's almost surreal. Perfectly evocative and atmospheric. It really gives off the exact feeling I had of Stormhold when I read the book.

[blktauna]

Stormhold reminds me of wet rocks after a rain at the shore. It's quite aquatic to me and I like it alot.

 

Decent lasting power but low throw.

[slave1]

STORMHOLD

 

In Bottle: Rain on the rocks

 

On Skin: LOVE THIS! I made my husband the moment I smelled it. It is divine on him, so yeah, bottle worthy for sure. It smells like clean rain, falling on the rocks and washing all the murk away. Meaning you can smell the murky vetiver, but it fades as it is “washed” away… so there’s just a hint of it. The ozone is beautiful and even a little sweet. While I think this scent is masculine, I love it on myself as well. It evokes such a gorgeous mood, since I love rain and thunderstorms. It has a light throw and short to average wearlength.

[Jilara]

Yep, this is Stormhold!

 

Wet, it's initially all about wet stone. As it dries down, this wonderfully charged ozone component starts to come out. This would also be a good scent for Dr. Frankenstein's castle!

 

The ozone takes the forefront very quickly, and the mossy notes start to blend with the wet stone. This is really wonderful. It's every sinister castle on a mountain out of every old movie you can think of. Hmmm, yes, even Wicked Witches' castles... (Hmm, add a bit of Bonfire Night and you've got the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West...)

 

This is very evocative. The sort of perfume to wear not only when you're settling in to watch Stardust, but also for an evening of old horror movies...

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Mostly rain and ozone. I took a chance on a skin test as the vetiver was so faint. Wet: the same, but a touch more complex as the moss and stone come out. The vetiver is soft enough that it just gave it an edge without causing me real trouble. The vetiver does add a faint air of decay. Dry: fades fast to powder.

[zankoku_zen]

I do get the rain and ozone, and mossy and wet rock. It's kind of amazing like that. I think this is more of a masculine scent, but I don't think it's the kind the husband goes for.

 

Anyway, an olfactory experience ALL the way. Wet rock? CHECK (eat your heart out CB). Moss? Check! Rain and ozone? Yes.

[savage_rose]

This is a great stormy, wet scent! It almost smells to me like there's a hint of orange in this, or the ginger-lime "Kitchen Witch" scent from Fantasy Bath. This is so lovely and clean and summery. Lovely!

[Little Bird]

The Stormhold smells promising in the bottle. There's that fakey-sweet rain note that reminds me of rain scented candles, and a mixture of vetiver and something else that really does smell quite a bit like warm summer pavement that has just been rained on.

 

On me, unfortunately, I amp up the ozone and instantly smell like sharp, soapy dryer sheets. The East smelled like sweet, fruity-floral dryer sheets and laundry soap, and The Stormhold smells like rain fresh dryer sheets, with a hint of a salty twang and a barely-there touch of earthy vetiver. Even the very slight earthy quality is long gone after fifteen minutes, leaving me with salty, rain fresh dryer sheets.

 

I have a hard time wearing soapy/clean scents (I lean more towards resins, patchouli, sweetened woods, and foodie blends), so The Stormhold probably won't get much love from me.

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

In the vial, it seems very soapy – but there's an aquatic quality to it, with a touch of ozone.

 

First on:

Wet on my skin, it's 90% vetiver and 10% ozone. I think it's safe to say that my skin rather likes amping vetiver like crazy!

 

Dry:

After about 10 mins, it's very cologne-like in nature. I was hoping for more moss and ”stone” in this.

 

Another half an hour later, it's still mostly cologne on me.

 

Finally:

Bought this because of the notes rather than fandom. It didn't work so well on me, unfortunately – no moss, just ozone. So... passing it on.

[darkblade]

Wet: Definitely ozone, though it isn't quite doing that "IRISH SPRING SCENT!" thing as much as Thunder Moon and other storm scents.

 

Dry: Getting the wet, but not so much of the granite.

 

An hour later, it's faded a lot. After two, it's pretty much gone.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells like a clean ozone scent to me. Very evocative of a rainstorm. It doesn’t smell dirty at all to me, and I thought it might because of the moss and vetiver. The ozone is not overly strong (it’s not doing that stinging zingy ozone thing in this), so if you normally avoid ozone you don’t necessarily have to avoid this one.

 

When it’s completely dry on my skin, it smells soft like dryer sheets. I happen to think dryer sheets smell pretty damn good, so that is not at all a deal-breaker for me. I like smelling like my clothes just came out of the dryer. When they’re all warm and comfy and soft they’re the best.

 

So far I haven’t kept any ozone/rain scents except Thunder Moon, but I’m going to hang on to my decant of this. I want to try wearing it for a day or two and see how I like it.

[edenssixthday]

Stormhold - This is an extremely faint scent from beginning to end. It's full of ozone and and dusty stone, but there's also the scent of stormclouds. It reminds me a lot of both Thunder Moon and ozoney, clean, men's cologne. Upon drydown, the various nuances of the scent have faded and it smells like clean rain. At the 35 minute point, it has managed to fade completely from my skin. It's lovely, but too subtle and short-lived on me.

[gingiemay]

Wet in imp - fresh, icy, lemony, ozone & vetiver.

 

Wet on skin - less of a lemon flavor. Smells more “bright” than I would expect.

 

Dry on skin - after a frightening interlude of soapiness, this has faded considerably to a light airy rain scent, with underlying ozone and vetiver. Much fainter than other BPAL oils I have tried.

[Czarina]

In the imp: rain and moss.

Wet: airy rain and rocks, with a sweet note also.

Drydown: granite, ozone, moss.

 

I'm really not getting the vetiver here. It is being a good boy, and playing nicely with the nice rocks and moss.

 

My daughter and I were trying this out while watching Stardust and the Czar (not known for the subtlety of his nose) walked in and said, "Hey! It smells good in here!"

[voodoocatwoman]

In the imp and wet: ozone and wet something or other.

 

Dry: Rain scented soap. Not horrible but not something I would reach for.

[rayvn1]

I'm not getting much vetiver either, but I still love Stormhold I agree with the "Seattle" description. Ozone, damp, stone, and a sweetness that could be the moss. Very nice!

[Seismogenic]

Granite! It mentions granite specifically! I am so excited! That in and of itself is why I wanted to try this one, though it has the added bonus of being from Stardust, which is a wonderful little book.

 

In the imp: A lot like Lightning - water and ozone, though not quite as electric. Maaaybe something earthy in the background.

 

Wet on skin: Something dusty comes in under the ozone and water. This must be rocks! I hope it will clarify itself as rocks.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, I'm starting to get some of the vetiver, though not in an overpowering way. There's also something back there that does smell wonderfully like wet rocks. Ozoney rain is still the main element of this scent, though. For about fifteen minutes after this, the wet rock note gets stronger, but by the one hour mark, that's pretty much gone, and what's left is cold ozoney rain.

 

Five hours later: Cold ozoney rain, though less of it than before.

 

End of the day: Ozone, and still quite a bit of it.

 

Overall: Why must rocks be so elusive? The first twenty minutes or so, when the rocks were smellable, were amazing. A perfect mix of rock, cold water, and a bit of electricity. I think that totally nailed the Stormhold as described in the book. Once the rocks faded, this was definitely still the Stormhold's usual weather pattern, but as a geologist, I am stubbornly more interested in rocks than rain. I like the rain scent, but there are other oils I can get it from. In mixing mineral and water, I think Visiting the Temple of Auspicious Fortune nails it better on my skin, even if it is a LE.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i hate vetiver with a passion, but everything else in this blend sounded so yummy i had to get it anyway.

 

i couldn't smell much at all when i sniffed the decant, but on skin it really does smell like wet, mossy rocks. the vetiver does show his ugly head, and adds a bitter, biting background note - without that, this would be beautiful.

 

seems like it'd be nice on a man who likes modern fragrances - and the scent isn't so outlandish that it would frighten a guy off, if you were to try and enable him with this, i think.

Edited December 28, 2008 by TrailerTrashPrincess

[Banyangirl]

I really like this one. It's good for those times just after a rain storm with wet sidewalks and creeping, growing, wet things. I can smell the moss, and overall this has a stormy blue-gray color feel to it. I'd be interested to try this on a guy.

 

Edit: I gave this to my mister to try, and he adores it. He actually stole it from me (okay, I gave it to him, but point is, it's his now).

Edited May 29, 2009 by Banyangirl