Cathode

[savage_rose]

A negatively charged scent. Ambergris, Spanish Moss, oakmoss and three electric mints.

I can't fully describe why, but this scent smells like college to me. The mint is present but not overpowering, and the earthy-ozone quality of the notes just balance it beautifully.

[martiangurll]

Cathode:

 

Preconceptions: I usually like mint, so from the notes, this should be nice and fresh.

 

In the Imp: Strong mint sensation--whoa dude.

 

Wet on skin: I get a bright mint that smells like its electically charged. Cool, it matches the name. I smell citrus too, either lemon or lime.

 

Drydown: Very same clean mint and lime/lemon with an aquatic flavor. It smells like what I would imagine to be electical mint particles floating in lime juice with little sparkles of electricity. Not quite full-on ozone, but electric nevertheless. I don't actually smell the moss but it does ground the scent keeping it from being too effervescent. Very refreshing and invigorating. Throw is average but scent is unfortunately not long-lasting. Added 5/21, Tried another imp of this and I noted on the drydown something very amberish smelling, and sexy. Must be the dried note of the ambergris. This adds an interesting and sublimely sexy layer to the blend I didn;t notice on first trial. Lovely!

 

Overall impressions: A minty citrus aquatic that smells charged. Very different from other blends. I imagine it would be very refreshing for hot summer days and could be unisex. I plan to hoard, and may even be on the lookout for a big bottle.

Edited May 21, 2008 by martiangurll

[rusty]

minty minty mint. the mosses and the ambergris come out more on drydown. distinctly masculine. like it.

[mgrazulis]

The temperature here has been 100 degrees+ since Saturday! When I reached for this imp this morning, I had hopes for something cool to refresh me. I was not disappointed!

 

In the imp: mint drizzled pear

 

Wet: green tea, citrus and yes, electric mints!

 

Dry: Invigorating blue mints, gentle mosses, musty ambergris. Very ozone, like a light in a forest. Energetic and minty cool!

 

Verdict: Instant energy for the skin--unusual for perfume. I'm no scientist, but this almost has an aquatic feel to it. Just a hint of powder after a couple of hours. Great for summer. My imp is going with me today!!!

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Moss and ozone - fresh and bright

 

On Application

Warm, airy mint

 

Dry Down

This initially switches constantly for me between light and warm to cool and airy but dries down very quickly to a hand cream smell. Not unpleasant but a bit disappointing considering the opening.

 

Rating (0-5)

3

[gchris]

In Vial: light and fresh with a hint of lemon

 

Wet: Subtle mint in the background and something that smells like pine-sol.

 

Dry: This has gotten a little soapy and fresher. The toilet cleaner has dissapated. Nice light and fresh.

[smokey188]

I'm a huge mint fan so i had high hopes for this one unfortunately the oakmoss has turned this into old lady's talcum powder on me

[Hawke]

There's a hint of mint in the imp and something almost …citrusy?

 

Wet on skin, this really does smell like a mostly citrus mint sort of smell. If there's three mints in this, I couldn't tell you which three, and it doesn't have much throw at all. There's also something almost floral here, and I don't know if that's Spanish moss, oakmoss, ambergris or none of the above.

 

As it dries, it gets earthier and I'm sure that's one of the mosses coming out behind the lingering citrus. For a second, I thought I was going to get a clear mint, but that faded off again, which is disappointing. I'm not sure exactly what I'm smelling at the end stage, but I know it's not for me. Pity.

[modillian]

In the bottle...celery? No, no, no, but two of the mints are green, one is blue. It's weird how I can smell the differences between them. Ambergris is showing up a few minutes in and delicious. The ambergris doesn't go heavy at all, and the mints aren't deep by any means. It's zesty, leafy...and totally not for me. Huhn. Hadn't seen that one coming. I like the idea of mint so much, but the single-note body spray I have from B&BW doesn't work with me either. I mean, they smell fine, but the just don't work with me somehow. A personality clash somewhere down the line? Tant pis.

[sqwook]

My first bottle. LOVE.

 

Wet: minty

Dry: Amber, calm, complex, beautiful. I love this.

 

The mint largely fades away, so if it's the mint that's giving you pause, I encourage you to try it anyway. Fantastic.

[kjirstiben]

Cathode smelled of mint, primarily, when I put it on. Mint--but organic, garden mint... unsweetened, un-plasticky, un-sugared. This is not a toothpaste or a dessert smell.

 

On my skin, it became a lot greener than I initially expected, and over time (this one doesn't morph too much--mainly the mint mellows), it was more of a mossy, outdoorsy scent than I would have expected to begin with. I can smell the ambergris, too, in the later stages. It's balanced, and mossy, and if I assigned it a color it would be a silvery grey-green.

 

I'm having a hard time judging my reaction to this scent... I like it rather well, but other than that... I suspect that, if I wear it a few more times, this could really grow on me.

[Iceblink]

Minty like WHOA with the oakmoss coming out as it dries. Smells like a good men's cologne. The mint notes here seem to be lingering a bit longer than they sometimes do. Interesting but not really me.

[jencallisto]

In the imp: I have no idea how to explain this other than bright neon green.

Fresh on the skin: I still have no idea how to describe this. Bright, astringent, tingly, light and sharp. Neon yellows and green. I guess it smells sort of like Irish Spring soap.

10 minutes in: Ugh. I think this is giving me a headache. I've never wanted to smell like Irish Spring soap. The throw is rather strong, but maybe I only think that because this really doesn't work for me. It's sweetening up a little bit as it warms on my wrist, but the waft is still sharp and soapy.

20 minutes in: Now it's turning my stomach, too. This would be less of a problem if I weren't in the middle of schoolwork that needs to be turned in ASAP, but as it is, I don't think I can deal with this anymore. It reminds me of cleaning supplies I'm allergic to.

30 minutes later (10 minutes after I washed it off, using three different scented soaps): Gah! I can still smell it. Well, it's persistent, anyway.

 

Verdict: Well, I probably would never have chosen this for myself, but I'm glad I got to try it, if only to confirm that no really, Cathode is not for me. If I had gotten more mint from it, things might've been different. As it is, Cathode has earned the distinction of being the first scent that I had to actively go wash off, and therefore the first scent that I definitely want to swap.

[ImperatrixMundi]

Ambergris and lots of moss moss moss. I am not a big moss fan. Sweet, aquatic moss is not so bad however. Somehow I dont get the mints. Maybe my imp is not that fresh any more and they have faded a bit?

 

Cathode does not wow me but it is not bad either. Moss lovers might want to try it

[PinkoCommie]

Soft, slightly aquatic, minty goodness. It's not a scent I reach for -- it doesn't fit my needs in a perfume -- but I really enjoy just sniffing it. It's clean without roaming into the realm of detergents and soaps and it's slightly aquatic without making me feel like I've just snorted a line of starfish. And the mints ARE electric. I don't know how to put it better. They have a charge -- but in a tingly electric way, not slammed-in-the-face-with-a-lightning-bolt way.

[Suu4LC]

Ozone and mint. Kind of a watery smell to me, in an earthy way. Interesting-not sure how this will smell on my skin. This kind of feels like a non-salty aquatic to my nose, though on my skin it starts to feel a bit saltier. Probably the ozone note. Definitely getting more of that mossy note. This feels like a shallow pool of water by a river. The water is definitely not clear and there is thick moss growing on the rocks. The mint gives this a certain sweetness and freshness to it though, so it never feels like a dank pool of water.

 

This is alright. Kind on an earthy take on a mint/aquatic, but I can think of three other bpal mints off the top of my head (Tokyo Stomp, Lick It, and Green Tree Viper) that I WAY prefer, so I could never imagine myself grabbing for this.

[unlaced]

In the bottle the mint is very strong, with the moss floating around in the background.

 

On my wrists the mint starts to fade and something watery and dark starts to come to the forefront.

 

I wouldn't quite say electric when I smell this, but it's definitely not bad. I got it as one of two imp gifts with another order. I'll enjoy this one but I probably won't reorder it, just not my style of scent.

[rayvn1]

The mosses take any sweetness out of the mints and I'm left with a slightly sharp, light green, airy scent. Invigorating This was a frimp from the lab and I' very grateful to have it!

[hellomoonglow]

I don't get any mint at all from this, and I am not a mint fan so I generally tend to pick it out right away. It's not bad, but it's very strong on several notes that I never prefer, such as moss. It's mountain fresh! On my wrist it remains the same as the imp, however, after about an hour it morphed into powder.

[Seismogenic]

You know why I wore this one today? Because Obama's inauguration was electrifying! Har har, I funnee. Seriously, though, the mint and moss combination appealed to me about this one, and I also like the idea that there are scents based on physics things. I am such a nerd. Thanks to my Halloween Switch Witch for sending me this imp! It looks like it's an aged one, too, based on the fact that the label has a different BPAL logo than the one that comes on current imps.

 

In the imp: Cool and minty. Mostly spearmint, I think.

 

Wet on skin: Still minty, maybe slightly watery now. There's also a hint of something vaguely dusty under that more liquid layer.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, it's minty and dusty-mossy now. Whatever was giving me the impression of water has since disappeared. At one hour in, it's slightly minty moss, more like frost than electricity, sharp and dusty-sweet at once.

 

Five hours later: The scent is not particularly strong now, but it's definitely still there. It's mostly moss, slightly sweetened by what I assume is the ambergris, with the slightest overtone of mint left.

 

End of the day: Sweetened dusty moss, about the same intensity as at the five hour mark, though without any mint left.

 

Overall: I was worried that this was going to disappear on me super quick because that's happened with some other scents with mint, but that didn't happen here. The mint held on pretty long, and the base of sweet moss that was left after the mint evaporated was also really nice. I don't think that leftover scent reminds me of anything remotely electric, but I think it's rather calming, and I like it a lot. I'm keeping this one!

[stardreamer]

In the imp and fresh on: This is not at all what I'd have expected from that description! It's very sweet, candy-sweet, sort of like sniffing a mix of hard candy drops in various flavors, mostly lemon. No mossy overtones at all, and nothing I recognize specifically as mint. It reminds me a little of Cairo, with that "LEMON DROP!" opening.

 

Drydown/wearing: It doesn't change much either. Late in the game the ambergris comes up a bit more, is about all. Staying power is average to good; after 12 hours I can still catch whiffs, though most of the throw is gone.

 

Bottom line: Not going to be a top favorite, but certainly pleasant enough to keep and use up.

[amanderinorange]

I received this one as a frimp and was pleasantly surprised by it.

 

In the imp: smells like something familiar but I can't quite tell what yet. A clean scent though, not too minty.

 

On me: um no. A little too masculine for me.

 

I ended up trying this on my husband and loved it on him. I finally figured out that it reminds me a bit of Yankee's Midsummer Night candle scent, which I love!

 

He ended up liking it as much as I did and ordered a bottle. Yay!

[voodoocatwoman]

Mint? Where? All I get is lemon and moss. It gets mossier as it dries. I had such high hopes for this one too.

 

Maybe it'll work better in a locket. Definitely does not like my skin.

[Wwindy]

The mint notes are surprisingly appealing for a minute or two, but vanish almost immediately on me. This winds up being an androgynous, mossy cologne with salty aquatic overtones. If I put my nose to my skin and sniff *really* hard, there's just a very faint trace of fresh green mint -- spearmint, I think -- but the moss and ambergris are pretty much all I'm getting out of this blend.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

 

Imp: Moss and mint

Wet on Me: more moss and mint. Clean but not too sharp

Drying Down: less minty and more woody with the moss. Softening now.

Dry: The mint is a mere ghost now. Mostly a woody mossy scent. Pleasant.