Rat

[sarada]

During luncheon -- which was excellent, of course, as everything at Toad Hall always was -- the Toad simply let himself go. Disregarding the Rat, he proceeded to play upon the inexperienced Mole as on a harp. Naturally a voluble animal, and always mastered by his imagination, he painted the prospects of the trip and the joys of the open life and the roadside in such glowing colours that the Mole could hardly sit in his chair for excitement. Somehow, it soon seemed taken for granted by all three of them that the trip was a settled thing; and the Rat, though still unconvinced in his mind, allowed his good-nature to override his personal objections. He could not bear to disappoint his two friends, who were already deep in schemes and anticipations, planning out each day's separate occupation for several weeks ahead.

Orangewood, pine, wood moss, and vetiver.

Something about this scent made me want to laugh when I smelled it. There's something stimulating and invigorating about these harsh pine and wooden scents to me. I can tell that this will strike many people as being something similar to a pine cleaner but it smells of wild nature to me. Pine resin from the deep dark woods, and glossy polished wood gleaming with orange oil lovingly rubbed into the surface for many years. Dark brown gleaming with orange-gold highlights, deep and faintly sweet. The strong resinous (turpentine, even, for a moment) notes are tempered by earthy, soft sweet vetiver. I love Rat. I think it will be too strong and piney for a lot of people but if you like these notes, you'll be pleased. I havent' had such a nice sharp jolt of pine resin since Stranger in Camp, though this is a bit different. I think the dark and wild pine trees have been fashioned into glossy wooden canes or ornate tables where schemes are hatched.

[GhillieDhu]

Rat is much more nuanced than I expected from the listed notes. It's definitely piney, and orangey, and vetivery, but there's more to it than that. In the imp it's all smokey vetiver and orangewood, but on skin it develops into something harmonious and oddly spicy, though still strong. Like a dried-out clove and orange pomander thrown onto a fire of green pinewood. Gender-neutral, I think, leaning toward masculine. At first I didn't think this was something I'd wear, and was prepared to swap it or use it in the oil burner... but the longer it stays on, the sweeter, mellower and more well-blended it gets until it turns into something delightful. Still not sure how often I'll wear it, but I'll keep an imp for sure!

[rayvn1]

Hmmmmm this oil was skirting the edge of cleaning fluid when I first applied it, but this dries to a really interesting wood combination! The astringency goes away and it smells like an antique wooden boxed polished to a gleaming hue. I like it but I don't think I need a whole bottle

[msbcozad]

Rat

 

I desperately wanted to love Rat. DESPERATELY. It smelled sharply astringent in the bottle and the pine nearly socked me in the face when I applied the oil to my wrists. After a while, the pine faded and the orangewood popped up, but the astringent never left.

 

I'm so disappointed.

[hlinspjalda]

In the bottle: Pungent faintly citrus woody scent, with just a hint of food going bad.

 

Wet: Immediately more supple, more sweet, still pungent but in a less foody way. I could like this.

 

Half an hour: Orange, but with a tannic bitter edge. It's a little sharp but no vetiver nastiness. Where's the pine?

 

Hour and a half: Still bitter orange tannic, but I rather like that about it. Besides, in the bottle I picked this one as the one least likely to work on me in the whole WitW line, so I'm not disappointed. It's somewhat different from the others, which is appropriate for dreamer Rat.

 

Three hours: Much calmer now, mostly a subdued mossy wood with a smidgen of orange peel.

 

Four hours: Mossy woody orange peel. How odd the vetiver never poked its head up; usually it ruins a scent for me.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is sharp...biting...rat teeth!!

 

once applied a touch of orangey pine and vetiver...sharp indeed!!

 

meh...i don't care for this much...love the concept tho!!

[femmefatale]

I'm sniffing this off of dh since I knew right away it would be more his scent. I was right. This smells *wonderful* on him.

 

It's a sharp pine mixed with the smooth orangewood and a soft earthiness from the mosses. I'm also picking up a bit of smoke which I'm assuming is the vetiver coming out. It's a very strong (not in throw, but in feeling) yet calming scent. Definitely keeping the decant for dh, but we'll see about a bottle.

[Lamia]

This started out reminding me of some sort of topical creme, and turned to some sort of medicinal cream. Something I'd find in a hospital, rather than something from my home medicine cabinet.

 

That stopped after about an hour, and became generically masculine. Boring, quick fade, trade bag. Ah well.

[forspecial_plate]

This is the last of the 'small animals' Yule scents that I've tried (I want to say 'small furry animals', except we also have Toad). And as it turns out, this one was probably the most successful for me.

 

It's true, it goes on sharp and astringent. After a short while, the sharpness of the wood backs off a good deal. The scent becomes something slightly sweet, mellow, and pretty wonderful, really. I think the vetiver must be of the light and grassy variety. In fact, this reminds me a little bit of Guerlain Vetiver, only more natural and woody, and less commercial and cologne-like. There is a hint of orange that's just right. I like this blend a lot, and I'll have fun wearing it again.

[tdiym]

I get something very cedar-y with Rat, and since I love cedar, I ordered a bottle. I may order a backup bottle before it goes away. I really like this one.

[greenranger]

I wasn't going to get this one.

 

Then I kept reading the reviews, and remembering how much woods like me, and how vetiver, while not reliable, sometimes makes a scent for me...

 

This does smell invigorating to me. It's complex and woody and spicy. It is definitely one where the vetiver is behaving well....or if not well, doing it's bad boy making the party interesting thing.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh god, I was hoping that the vetiver would behave. Unfortunately, it's bad vetiver and smells like dirty, smoky bacon. So I smell dirty, smoky bacon with a hint of pine.

 

Utter fail for me.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this smells sharp, sour, and smoky. The only note that I can definitely pick out is pine, but it smells dirty and sharp.

 

On my skin...

 

This is the smoky, charred BBQ sort of vetiver that I hate, mixed with the sharp, cat pee type of pine that I hate. It's a really sickening, soured fragrance on me.

 

When it dries down, it smells like bathroom cleanser. I have Scrubbing Bubbles that smell just like this, actually. This has those dirty, cat pee undertones, though, so it smells like I'm trying to clean up something nasty...

 

I've deeply loved a lot of blends in the Wind in the Willows series (Sea Rat, Badger, Toad <3), but Rat is awful on me.

[nemaihne]

Oh, drat. I really wanted to love Rat, but I bought it knowing woods are no good for me. I'm a rodentaphile, so this and Sea Rat got ordered despite my misgivings.

 

In Bottle: Sharp and dry. A little too astringent for my tastes.

Wet: Wood- which always goes horribly sharp and rancid on me, backed with Vetiver which likes to go Ammonia.

 

I'd definitely swap this one if I didn't need to keep the bottle for the rattie artwork.

[catattack]

Oh, this is bad. I'm so disappointed that only a few WitW scents worked for me. This one, unfortunately, I'm too afraid to put on my skin.

I opened the imp and sniffed...suddenly, a vision of a wet, dark-furred rat appeared in my mind. It was scurrying in those brick sewers underground. It didn't look very friendly or pleasant.

I'm hoping to get the courage up to skin test this one, but I'm not sure. It smelled wet and dank and furry. I can't describe it any other way. I'll give it another try in a couple of days and update.

 

 

Okay, it's over a month later, and I finally have an update...

I tried it on my skin, and it was an unpleasant experience. It was so strong and biting that it felt like the scent had arms and they were wrapping around me, not in a loving embrace, but in a strong hold, and the arms wouldn't let go. I felt as though the rat was larger than life and had a hold of me and began to smother me.

 

I'm sorry if this review gave anyone bad feelings. In real life, I quite enjoy pet rats as they're cute and friendly.

Edited April 16, 2009 by catattack

[savage_rose]

This is one of the most disgusting blends I've ever smelled. I try to be positive in my reviews, even with scents I don't like. But this one...yikes. In the imp I immediately said, "Ew, got any paint that needs to be removed?" And on, it's actually worse...it smells like a bunch of my Mom's old toys that were put in a window seat for 30 years and left to get all musty, mildew reacting with the plastic. It's so horrible my eyes start watering and my stomach starts doing flips. It's not even the vetiver, at least not vetiver working alone. Yuck.

[cinnamonster]

I thought this might be one of those blends that amazes you, but when I smelt the imp I recoiled. It's a strong biting scent, I don't really get any orange, but it's sharp and smoky at the same time. I put a bit on my knee (where I could lean in and smell it but far enough away if it was horrendous not to be choking on it - I was glad too), and couldn't really smell past a sort of barbecued rodent smell. I didn't go back for another sniff.

 

I didn't get the feel of the rat I think of from the story, more the unfriendly sewer rate another reviewer mentioned - their vision was almost spot on with mine.

[djsiberia]

sharp, vetvier and moss.

 

[Invidiana]

This is what I'd call a "delicious woody" scent, if that category even exists. It's the rich piney darkness of a Christmas tree with fresh sap still oozing and candied orange peels in the background; definitely reminds me of tree shopping at that time of year with a keg of hot cider to warm up freezing customers. The wood moss and vetiver only make the whole Christmas-tree experience richer, and the orangewood is probably what contributes to the pleasantly sweet orange-peel tinge without being too overbearing. Makes me want to curl up by the fire!

Edited November 8, 2009 by Invidiana

[filigree_shadow]

Goodness, this one doesn't seem very popular. Hunh. It's not spectacular on me, but it's certainly not hideous.

 

Bitter wood with a touch of orange. The orange is a nice touch -- lightens up the scent a lot. This isn't the dark dank basementy vetiver, it's the dry smoky grassy kind. (On me, anyway.) I think this is a bit too dark and masculine for me to wear, but I do like it. It's not what I want to smell 24-7, but I don't find it objectionable.