Looking for the scent of a cave...

[samarablackcat]

(Mods, I didn't see anything specifically on this. Please move if there is. Thanks!)

 

 

So who knew he liked the dirt scents? He asked for a scent of a cave. I tried:

 

Defututa

Deep in Earth (which smells like rotting oranges mixed with loam to me)

Twisted Oak

Nocnistsa...was close, but he says it needs clay.

 

I'm looking for something with:

dirt, lichen or moss, cold, wet stone, oak or oakmoss, decaying matter, humidity and clay. (This is a Florida cave, btw!) I have The House on the way. I'm thinking I'll have to combine two or more scents to achieve this. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[autumnal]

I'm looking for something with:

dirt, lichen or moss, cold, wet stone, oak or oakmoss, decaying matter, humidity and clay. (This is a Florida cave, btw!) I have The House on the way. I'm thinking I'll have to combine two or more scents to achieve this. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

Hmm, cold wet stone and clay? The one that comes to mind for that for me anyway is Kumari Kandam. I am going to try a layering experiment right now to get another major element in there and see what happens! Be right back!

 

ETA: 'K, Keeping in mind, I've never been in a Florida cave, but for in the mind's eye from your post, the most sucessful blend was Kumari Kandam with Omen. Omen is very dark and oakmossy and Kumari Kandam is very wet clay and stone. In the interest of science, I just added a wee dab of The Ghastly Garden for the decay.... holy cow, that's a lot going on.

 

To do my blends, I just dabbed a little of each next to each other on my arm then rubbed my finger around to mix them. Other blends I tried were Kumari with Burial (too piney methinks) and Kumari with Mandrake (Mandrake being so dry it sucked all the scently moisture from Kumari(!)), but more importantly those blends just didn't jibe together correctly somehow.

 

The Kumari Kandam and Omen worked quite nicely and adding The Ghastly Garden just put in a bit of decaying greenery, so you could take or leave that third element. Smells like a cave to me! YMMV

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Edited May 18, 2008 by triptychenchanted

[ayelienne]

Kumari Kandam was the first thing that came to mind for me as well; it's sort of clay cavelike... there are some other harder-to-find Limited Editions that might fit the bill - Shanghai Tunnel and Carfax Abbey come to mind. One of the more earthy blends from Rappaccini's Garden, maybe Destroying Angel, could add the earthy decay. While I wouldn't call it cavelike at all, an "out there" suggestions is Cathode, which to me is fairly heavy on the oakmoss and spanish moss, and the mint adds a sense of coolness that might be interesting to him.

 

edited for spelling

Edited May 19, 2008 by ayelienne

[Ahania]

You might also get some Crypt lotion from GothRosary. It smells just like wet rocks- definitely not the full cave scent that you're looking for, but it might be useful as one of the layers with some of the scents others have suggested.

 

[i'm reporting this to ivyandpeony in case it falls outside the rules for this subforum.]

[faeriedust]

caterpillar maybe? It smells very dirty and icky.

[sarada]

The Chilling Cellar from last year's Halloween line could also fit the bill though it has some wine notes as well. If you can ever track down Shanghai Tunnel that might be perfect!

 

But Kumari Kandam is definitely something to try, I agree. Singing Moon from last year, another LE that isn't too hard to come by secondhand, has some nice mineral/damp notes.

[samarablackcat]

Wow, thanks! I think I have Kumari Kandam, Omen and Shanghai Tunnel. No Ghastly Garden but I think this is an awesome start! For what's it's worth, I've never been in a Florida cave, either, only up in Ohio and Kentucky. You are full of win!

[ivyandpeony]

You might also get some Crypt lotion from GothRosary. It smells just like wet rocks- definitely not the full cave scent that you're looking for, but it might be useful as one of the layers with some of the scents others have suggested.

 

[i'm reporting this to ivyandpeony in case it falls outside the rules for this subforum.]

 

No problem but thanks for letting me know!

 

The stuff that I would like to avoid here is more of the "Oh, you must go buy Bottle X from Arcana - MMU - Dawn Spencer Hurwitz - Chanel - Bond No. 9 - etc., it's the best (insert note, category, mood) scent out there." We've either got newbies asking for BPAL recs here and the BPAL catalog is confusing enough for them, or we've got members who have learned the forum well enough that they can explore Retail Therapy and learn about some other companies if they're interested in exploring perfume even more thoroughly. Although I wasn't here at the inception of the forum, when it was organized this section was put under the Lab discussion umbrella, so for that reason and for the sake of clarity, as I took over this section and the forum reached 10,000+ members I felt that it was important to emphasize those points. It's not that I want to stifle discussion, and it's kind of hard for me to explain it without sounding like that is the result anyway... I hope you guys understand where I'm coming from? As I've said before, drop me a line if you want to discuss this or any other issue around here.

 

Back to the question at hand, I'm no help on the cave suggestions. I amp that earth note so strongly that everything the lab's ever made with that note, whether it's earth, soil, grave loam or what have you smells like a cave on me. So I could tell you Zombi, Madeline, Queen of Clubs, because they all smell like wet potting soil on my skin and your guy could then end up smelling like a total girly-man.

[donnatron]

From the GC, Djinn smells like wet cement and smoke to me--like someone's stranded in a cave and started a fire to keep warm. If your boy can handle civet and annis Black Annis has a very strong mossy/earthy/stoney quality. Like ivyandpeony, I tend to amp moss notes but I did find that Thanatos had an exceptionally strong moss note, and it's complex enough to maybe add some of the other scents surrounding a cave.

 

Of scents I haven't tried, Brimstone may give him the quality he's looking for. Isle of Demons has that vegetation/cold stone/fire combo. Ozymandias is describe as "Dry desert air, dry and hot, passing over crumbling stone megaliths and plundered golden monuments, bearing a hint of the incense of lost Gods on its winds" which sounds promising.

[kenjari]

Jezirat al Tennyn was very much wet rocks for me. It's also got a warm and damp feel to it, and such an air of mystery.

[TereFaerie]

I get a definite "wet rock" scent from Aureus, and my guy likes it a lot.

 

Good luck!

[septima_pica]

Are there any caves in Florida? I thought it was all swamp.

 

That said, I'll also have to try Kumari Kandam now -- I was afraid of all the flowers going BOOM like they did in Isles of Demons, but this makes it sound awesome. Mmm, clay. Definitely going to try it. There are many of us out here who like the caves smell...

[autumnal]

Are there any caves in Florida? I thought it was all swamp.

 

That said, I'll also have to try Kumari Kandam now -- I was afraid of all the flowers going BOOM like they did in Isles of Demons, but this makes it sound awesome. Mmm, clay. Definitely going to try it. There are many of us out here who like the caves smell...

 

Slight hijack here, but I tend to amp florals to the obliteration of all else... and I don't get ANY in Kumari Kandam (same with Kubla Khan.... roses being particularly problematic for me... and happily I just don't get that from it.) So try it, you'll love it!

Yours sincerely,

The Kumari Kandam Enablement Society

 

(p.s. samarablackcat watch your mail...goodies on the way!)

[LaurieB]

I've been a caver for many years, been in some caves in Florida too, and the closest I've found in BPAL to "wet cave" is The Clod and the Pebble, which should be relatively easy to find a decant of. Black Opal has the scent of a very dry, dusty cave, but some up in the panhandle are really dry. Oddly enough, because of the cave-spring connection in FL, some of the aquatic scents might work!

[samarablackcat]

Djinn smells like a headshop to me, but on the manboy? Hmmm..

 

I tried Kumari Kandum and Omen, but I got floral. I tend to amp florals, particularly rose (too bad I don't like the smell!) Will try on him over the weekend.

 

And what a great excuse to try Clod and Pebble ( but it was recommended on the forum)!

 

The thing that's funny is I think he was being a smart-ass. And now I have him sniffing, too. If only there was a scent of kerosene, I'd hook him for sure!

 

You guys are the absolute best!

[Apple]

The thing that's funny is I think he was being a smart-ass. And now I have him sniffing, too. If only there was a scent of kerosene, I'd hook him for sure!

 

Try Scarecrow. There's a definite kerosene/gasoline/flammable liquid note in there. (Aeval had a similar note on my skin, but I think that might have been a skin chemistry thing.)

 

For a cave scent, I'd second the recommendations of Shanghai Tunnel and The Chilling Cellar for the stone/cellar/clay note, and I'll throw Graveyard Dirt, Jazz Funeral, and Jezirat al Tennyn into the hat for the moss note and humidity.

 

He might also like Burial, Nosferatu, Penny Dreadful, Zombi, or The Premature Burial.

[JennyGardener]

To me, Black Annis had a fearful cave-scent. You might want to check it out.

[lady_pandora]

I totally got cave from The Coiled Serpent.

[gwynhwyfar]

My first thought was Nosferatu, but YMMV.