Thorns

[Aldercy]

Thorn-spiked vines, blood, and tears.

These are some angry, deadly vines. They're made up of raw, fuming vetiver and the slightest hint of old, beaten greenery. Plus strong twinges of sour, industrial iron and briny, poisonous salt. Scary!

It's actually a pretty evocative scent just because it's so violent and toxic-- it's very complex-- but I really can't begin to wear it. Edited October 11, 2009 by Aldercy

[hkhm]

imp: sharp, salty vetiver.

 

wet: this is almost a bitter vetiver once applied. very strong and very long lasting.

 

dry: now i love vetiver but this is too much for me. it's terribly strong on the salt and dried, dead wood, almost eclipsing the vetiver. too bad.

[voorishsign]

I've heard both good and bad things about this blend and was actually quite curious to try it, but never really sure - and voila, I just received it as a frimp from the lab!

 

In the imp, intense vetiver and salt. I'm one of the few freaks who actually quite likes vetiver sometimes so I am quite curious! On wet, it's the most intense and bold vetiver I've ever smelled. I can also smell the blood. This is a dark, take-no-prisoners, foreboding scent. As it dries, a bit of green comes in as well - like dark vines in a garden at midnight.

 

A terrific vetiver smell, I really like it, but if you're not a fan of vetiver you'll definitely want to give this one a pass.

[FathomBelow]

Thorns is so incredibly, unpleasantly overpowering in the imp that I couldn't bring myself to try it. Even if I love the drydown, I dislike the wet stage so much that I would never wear this anyway. Too bad, as I love the name. Off to my giveaway pile!

 

ETA: I just reread the description and realized that the idea behind this scent is not pleasant, so it's not surprising that Thorns so unwearable. So it is accurate, but stomach-churning.

Edited April 7, 2010 by AmberApple

[yellowbread]

To my untrained nose, this smells like peanuts and whiskey- the peanuts I can understand, with the salt, but whiskey? Sigh. I didn't test this because I have no desire to smell like booze and nuts.

[impolight]

:::THORNS:::

 

This is a very mournful scent.

 

There is Vetiver here, which makes Thorns a very dark place to start off (blindly dark, perhaps?).

There is something dark-green and twisted here too... Ivy makes sense, given the thematics, but something more forested lurks... Maybe black pine.

There is a brininess that could very well come from a marine accord or, maybe, bladder-wrack, and there is most certainly a Coppery tang that lends the effect of spilled blood.

It is easy to understand how this fragrance would evoke the tragic feeling that goes along with the excerpt that inspired it's genesis.

On the skin, the Vetiver subsides, leaving bloody tears and the unforgiving dark deeps of the forest.

 

This is the fragrance of pennance...

 

Thorns is a darkly tragic blend mostly befitting a lovelorn prince.

4 out of 5.

[MCS4096]

This. Smells. Terrible.

 

It's how I would imagine a dirty little gnome would smell-- bitter, biting, body odor

[surf-tormented]

Thorns smells very close to Dragon's Bone on me. I have Dragon's Bone on my right wrist and Thorns on my left. Thorns is the tiniest bit darker and saltier, but the difference is so tiny, it would be hard for me to buy a bottle of this, since I already have Dragon's Bone.

 

I guess I've been buying BPAL oils since 2003 and with their large catalog, there are more and more of these scents that almost smell the same on my skin.

 

But in saying that, I like both Thorns and Dragon's Bone. If you like Dragon's Blood and salty blends, this could be for you. If you already have a bottle of Dragon's Bone, then I'd get an imp first, because they are so close in scent.

 

I like Thorns for being salty, somewhat smokey and with a weird sweet angle. Too bad other people don't like it, if I didn't have Dragon's Bone, I'd buy a bottle of Thorns!

Edited June 1, 2010 by Madame Nyx

[Suu4LC]

Oh god, in the imp this is vetiver-y death on me. Vetiver is just my doom note. This is a tangy metallic vetiver scent in the imp.

 

I could only stand to put a drop on my skin. If you don't like vetiver, steer clear. This is an earthy/metallicy vetiver heavy scent on my skin. I mean, it's hard for me to review these kind of blends because vetiver is always just so strong on my skin.

 

Dries down to a sweet powdery vetiver on my skin. O_o To the swaps you go!

[sarielswish]

 

In the vial, holy vetiver! Seriously, it smells like potting soil. Wow. Color, loam black.

 

Wet on my skin, I'm almost afraid to try it. I mean, I like vetiver, but the initial smell scared even me. Hrm.... vetiver, maybe some pine or juniper, and something salty. I can't say I'm liking it on myself, but it could prove very nice on the hubby.

 

10 minute drydown - OMG. This smells like gin on me. Honestly, like I upended a bottle of Beefeater on myself. No thanks.

 

30 minute drydown - I wish the initial drydown didn't suck so bad because this smells awesome now. Woods and I think patchouli... probably be really nice for DH. I keep huffing my arm. ;-)

[edenssixthday]

Thorns - This opens up with the sharp bitterness of vetiver and something else that's dark and heavy. As it dries on my skin, the vetiver lightens up significantly and I can distinctly smell dragon's blood resin, which becomes the dominant note. There is something really strong and rubber tire-like in this scent that reminds me of the tarry, pine-pitch scent of scotch. It could be an additional ingredient or it could be the vetiver blending with the dragon's blood. I'm not entirely sure what is causing the bad odor since vetiver usually dries down quite nicely on my skin, but on me, this definitely has a dark, thick, heavy, tar-type odor about it that is far from pleasant.

[plainjean]

I know I pride myself on trying every blend, but I just couldn't with this. One sniff from the imp, and I was knocked over by salty, weirdly tangy vetiver. Vetiver is my archnemesis, and I just can't bring myself to do a skin test with this. I predict it would be straight vetiver (which translates to "barbeque in hell" on me).

[Invidiana]

This is very, very strong on what I believe is vetiver/clove/earth; I do get something slightly tangy in the background which I'm taking to be the blood accord, but alas it's just too masculine for me.

[lunareclipse]

Sniffing this imp feels a little like getting smacked in the face by those thorny vines in the description. It's an epic vetiver bitchslap, sexy in a sadomasochistic, take-no-prisoners kind of way. It doesn't really smell of blood, but evokes it: I almost expected to feel a warm trickle down my cheek...

 

I adore vetiver.

 

On the skin, it balances a little: the eye-watering woodsy sting is mellowed a bit by something a little musky and resinous. It still smells overwhelmingly green-brown-black. There's almost a subtle leather note, and a bit of... stone? Granite. I understand why a previous reviewer evoked whiskey: Islay scotches have a lot of the same salty-stony-smoky-peaty notes, but without vetiver's aggressive greenness or the dragon's blood's skin musk. It's an untamed scent, one that conjures desolate wildernesses.

 

It's sexy, but not in a seductive, flowers-and-sweets way: this is wild, animalistic sex, rolling around in the leafmold in the dark forest at the top of the cliffs overlooking the sea.

 

I can see myself wearing it a lot.

[strahlend]

Skin testing. Musty, woody, blackish-greenish about covers it.

 

This most predominantly a green scent. Not a fresh green but a green that's closer to mulch.

It reminds me of a slightly medicinal dark moss but without the earthiness. I almost feel like there might be some wintergreen or spearmint in here.

After it dries down a bit the balance between woody and green shifts a bit toward the woody. With the unusual green element softening and developing with it, something really nice is happening. It's green without being soapy and woody without being heavy.

I like this quite well. It seems like it would work well for Spring or Fall.

[grrrlennyl]

Thorns

 

On: Green, a bit sweet, a bit dirty, and a bit salty.

1.5 hours in: Green and woody, with a sweet and salty undertone.

5 hours in: Sweet and green. Pretty.

Overall: This is a really interesting sweet earthy scent. If it didn't have that salty note to it, I'd probably like it more.

[jkfagtongpun]

I was very excited to get this as a frimp as it was one I was curious to try but not brave enough to order - thank you!

 

Wet: definitely green vines, salt and the iron-y smell of blood. Quite liked it.

 

Dry: Turns to soap - dang it!

[Honey]

One of my first frimps..

 

 

Imp: Salty, wooden and smokey. Vetiver, oakmoss and oak/teak is what I smell I guess.

 

Wet: Oak and vetiver.

 

Dry: Polished oak and vetiver. That's all. Turns somewhat soapy and sweet (and nutty?) after a while.Maybe good for layering or if you need something solid. Reminds me of Brimstone that turned from acrid to real pretty on me after a while. Vetiver really morphs into toasted almonds and dill on my skin, that's cute.

[persephonehazard]

In the imp this is a very dark green; something very herbal, something very woodsy, something even a little bit salty. I like it rather a lot - I think this might turn out to be what I was hoping Hemlock would be, actually.

 

On wet, there's something warm and familiar - dragon's blood, I'm guessing. As I go through a full application it starts to dry down into a pretty straightforward dark green dragon's blood, satisfyingly herbal and witchy, that I think I like rather a lot. There's possibly something slightly medicinal about it, but in kind of a good way - like a fairytale apothecary, or a herbalist witch's garden.

 

Over the course of the next few hours this stays strong, with a decent throw and a lovely woody leafy dark greenyness to it that I find very compelling.

 

There are definitely days when I'd want to wear this, and there's something witchy and protective about it that I like a lot. It's not quite on the big bottle list yet, though - I'll probably want another imp, but Dragon's Hide already does what I'd want this to do if I bought it in 5ml.

 

ETA: Hmm, maybe I spoke too soon? I keep on smelling vanilla in this, which is interesting and unexpected and rather compulsive. Bumped up to 4/5!

Edited January 29, 2012 by persephonehazard

[Winter_Wanderer]

-

Edited October 7, 2016 by Winter_Wanderer

[KakashiMorph]

This imp was graciously gifted to me, so I am not sure how old it is.

 

In the bottle: Something that reminds me of the Bénédictine liqueur, maybe that is the vetiver other people speak of?

On my skin: More of this Bénédictine-vetiver-thing! It smells wholesome and evokes almonds, or soap - it is alkaline. It isn't sharp but filling and I enjoy it.

Drydown: More of the same, almost like a SN. Not half-bad; I should wear this on a Bénédictine night.

[Wren12]

In the imp: smells green, dry...

 

On wet: very green with a sharp metallic tang to it...the blood dripping from the thorns. There is a bit of dry woody scent...the combo it almost smells like some type of nut butter, like a combo of almond and peanut butter...not a big fan at this stage.

 

On dry...I like it much better dry. The green and wood blend nicely and the tang of copper sharpens the scent. The salty note, which combined with the wood made me think of a nut butter, calms down and freshens the scent. I actually quite like it now.

 

I thought for sure it was a swapper...but I think ill hold onto the imp, I have nothing like it!

 

Eta: on further sniffing I think I note a teensy touch of something cold, almost a menthol, which tempers the green and keeps it from going chlorophyll. Nice touch.

Edited January 7, 2013 by Wren12

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Woodsy wood-ness.

Wet: Velviter and dragon's blood.

Dry:... With a hint of the sea. Mostly just musky velviter. Meh.

[White_rabbit334]

This is only going to be a brief review for now, because I want to try this a few more times before I call my final judgement on it. I do want to say however that unlike a lot of people apparently, this turns INCREDIBLY smokey-sweet on me, almost cloyingly so. Apparently my skin is okay with some vetivers, because this one turns into a spicy, woody incense, oozing with sweet resins and a hint of salty tang---I consider this like the need for acids taste-wise in cooking, it makes this scent incredibly interesting.

Admittedly, this is a serious morpher, so sometimes it goes from uber-feminine incense-woods-resins to super-salty-woods and dark earth. For being so simple, it is acting incredibly complex with my chemistry, and doesn't know where or how it wants to develop. Only time will tell if this stays sexy-sweet and the dragon's blood wins, or if I'm going to end up smelling like what every drop dead gorgeous man should smell like. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Thank you Labs, this frimp is going to be absolutely delightful either way!

[Cimorene]

Oh dear. I had my misgivings when I read previous posts and found that this one had vetiver, and it turns out I was right -- on me this is dark green and almost medicinally bitter, so much so that I can't help wrinkling my nose when I sniff my wrist Guess I've found one of my death notes! I suppose I'll be staying far away from vetiver from now on.