The Sailing Stones of Death Valley

[The_Witching_Hour]

(no scent description given)

 

The Sailing Stones of Death Valley - One beautifully blended scent! It's the perfect combination of greenery found in the desert (desert melon, prickly pear cactus, bristle cone pine) and hot, but not scorching earth. A little incense and resin ground this one and keep it from going aquatic.

 

Reminiscent of 51 in the beginning but with SO much more interest when the elements of 'heat' introduce themselves.

 

If 51 was too aquatic for you - this is what you're looking for as the 'heat' isn't scorching but more of what you might consider a "healing heat" (sauna, heating stones for therapy). A perfect embodiment of California, New Mexico and Arizona - which are places I would rest my head on at any given moment.

 

Very well rounded and a true beauty!!!

Edited July 25, 2009 by The_Witching_Hour

[edenssixthday]

The Sailing Stones of Death Valley - I have had a completely different experience with this one than the first reviewer did. I don't smell any of the greenery, with the possible exception of the slightest hint of desert scrub, but definitely none of the notes she picked up on. It reminds me of my trips to Burning Man -- I smell lots of warm desert sand with (as previously mentioned) a hint of desert scrub, hard desert rocks, scorching hot but clean air, and ruthless sunshine beating down on the playa. Behind the sand and stone, I do smell the slightest hint of something woody, but it's vague and faint, and I also smell something slightly sweet, which I guess could actually be one of the desert fruit notes that the previous reviewer picked up on. This is an amazingly well-blended scent, highly unisex, and very, very pretty.

[SmileCat]

Oh, this is VERY interesting. It starts off slightly green-floral-smelling but on the dry down it smells exactly like its name: desert stones. I smell like rocks. Hot, sun-baked sandstone rocks. In between the crisp and clean green stage and the heat-shimmering rocks stage is something sweetish but not quite fruity, like desert succulents.

[VioletChaos]

in the bottle: neat! i absolutely get desert rock. it's not as sweet as Tombstone, but at this point, it's a 2nd cousin it reminds me also of a dry-version of Moai, which i adore.

 

wet on skin: more of the same, but there's a strange hint of aqua lurking under. aqua hates me and this isn't a problem so far, so i'm not terribly worried.

 

dry down: sun-baked rocks, plump cacti, and that sweet breeze that blows through the desert right before dark.

 

in all: i predict this will be the most coveted of the C15 scents.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ondine]

I certainly get the sweetish edge to it, and it's not so much desert (sandy) to me as deserted parking lot; maybe that's the "stones" part coming through. Not really for me, but those who like sun-baked scents with a touch of floral would probably enjoy this.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Bottle: slightly aquatic and astringent-y and light green. Crisp and sharp.

Wet on Me: less aquatic, still crisp and sharp, more dry air with hints of light greens

Drying down: now comes the desert air. Hot stifling…desert air in the morning.

Dry: great throw. This is the light green of desert flora with the dry crisp morning air before it becomes stifling. There is traces of a rock note/scent/vibe in there. Just can’t stop huffing my hand. Oh and why do I get a man scent vibe? Like this would be even better if I were sniffing a man wearing it?

 

[femmefatale]

This is so gorgeous. It's fresh, clean, hot, and dry all at the same time. I can't pick out the individual notes, it's so well blended, but this is definitely one of the more unique, but wearable, scents I've tried.

I know this is a California scent, but it reminds me of when I was growing up in Fla and I would get up early to go canoeing. It would be so hot, but not humid yet and the air was a mix of greenery and hot cement.

It smells awesome, which is why I am so sad that my skin just soaks it up. And since I have vowed not to keep anything that doesn't really work (whether it's the scent or strength), it might have to be sent to a home that wouldn't have to slather it.

[Seismogenic]

This is, hands down, the most excited I've ever been about an individual BPAL scent. It is rocks! It is desert! It is California geology! And it is something gloriously weird with several theories about how it works. I cannot find anything that is not to love here, at least in my weird desert-dwelling California geologist book. And these were all thoughts I had before looking at the reviews thread! Oh man. There are comparisons to Moai and to Tombstone, which are two of my favorites. There is description of desert foliage and sand. Oh, and there was the thing where, at Will Call, Beth told me that she thought I'd really love this one. So, yes. Zillions and zillions of thanks to Persephone76 for picking this, and the other Convergence XV scents, up for me!

 

In the bottle: Dusty and stony with a hint of watery green - but like a succulent plant, rather than an aquatic. Overall, surprisingly cool in temperature given the whole Death Valley thing. But then again, one of the theories about how the rocks move involves a thin ice layer.

 

Wet on skin: The scent immediately starts warming up when it hits my skin, though at this point, it's still nowhere near record high temperatures ever recorded in the US. It's still a comparable balance to in the bottle, though - stone, fine-grained and sedimentary, with green succulent plants.

 

Drydown: This is taking surprisingly long to dry, given that the oil didn't seem that thick when I applied it. Perhaps this persistent wetness could be a nod to the microorganism film theory of why the rocks move? More likely, I'm reading way too much into it. Once it finally is dry enough to not be shiny on my wrists, it has warmed up even further. We're still not at nose-scorching heat, but the day is still young. The main body of the scent is, appropriately, still rocky and dusty. It gives me the impression of very fine-grained light colored sediment, both consolidated and not. On the whole, though, it's quite well blended, and while I'm still getting a vague impression of greenery, I can't identify really what type. But you probably wouldn't be able to standing in the middle of real desert plants, either! Oddly, it doesn't strike me as being particularly strong on my wrists, but when I take my wrists away from my nose, I can still smell it at pretty much the same intensity. At one hour in, it has warmed up further, and dried out even more. The succulents have mostly given way to drier flora, and they are very much a secondary note to the rocks. Rocks rocks rocks! Gloriously realistic ones! Oddly, they smell more solid than they did before, though perhaps this sense of consolidation comes more from further distinction between the dusty note and the rocky note. The scent is, if anything, more intense on my wrists than it was earlier, though the throw now doesn't seem as far.

 

Five hours later: Heat-steeped dusty rocks! The heat itself still isn't a huge driving force of this blend, but the rocks smell like they've been baking in the heat for quite some time. The same goes for what remains of the planty notes - they're dry and desiccated, and dwarfed by the sedimentary landscape. The intensity of the whole thing is still pretty strong.

 

End of the day: Surprisingly, since I hadn't really picked up on it much earlier, what remains now is quite a lot of ozone, with maybe a little bit of dusty rockyness back there. The ozone here is effectively a cooler note.

 

Overall: Oh wow. I have tried quite a few BPAL rock and dirt scents, and I think that this one is the most dead-on of the lot -- or it's the most dead-on capture of the scent of the kinds of places where I've done all of my fieldwork, that being the middle of the desert. The combination of dust, solid rock, succulent and desiccated plants, and that scent that rocks give off when they've been sitting in the sun (I have no idea how Beth achieved this, though I suspect the ozone I sniffed late in the day was somehow involved, since rocks do give off ozone when they're broken, at least), is just like stepping out of your air-conditioned car into a field of pale sediment and boulders on a bright warm or hot day. I was actually wondering if anyone in the department would think I'd been in the field because of how I smelled! I can easily understand the comparisons to Moai earlier in this thread, as that's also a crazy accurate rock scent, but the geological setting of Sailing Stones (arid desert, white sedimentary rocks, geophysical regime governed by faulting) is so very different from that of Moai (tropical island, black igneous rocks, geophysical regime governed by volcanism) that there can't even be a best rock scent battle there. Another thing that was striking about Sailing Stones is, at least on me, how its "temperature" went up during the day. I was crazy enough to be in Death Valley two weeks ago (yes, mid-July!), and early in the morning, before the sun had cleared the mountains, it wasn't all that hot, and you could smell the plants pretty well, but as the sun got higher and the rocks started to resorb heat after a dark night, the whole place started to smell much more like dust and minerals (the part we were in didn't really have boulders - huge sand dunes, though!). We got the heck out of there before full daylight and heat, though! But yes, long story short, this smells like Death Valley. It really does. I love it.

[angelicruin]

In the bottle, greenery, scorched sand, and something vaguely sweet.

 

On my skin, starts off as cactus flowers and sun-baked sagebrush. As it dries, I am getting more sandy notes layering over the floral and tumbleweed.

 

Dries down to a soft desert scent on me alive with blooming cactus and shifting sands.

[ami226]

Eeeek! In the bottle this is a nice aquatic scent, but the moment it hits my skin.... hello, soap!

 

This scent has a blue green feel, and in the bottle I believe I can smell cactus (though I have definitely forgotten what they actually smell like....)

 

Overall, I wish that this scent had played nicer on my skin.

 

 

 

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Herbal-aquatic, fresh, light and unisex to masculine. Maybe a little cologney. Edge of sweetness, and a wet rock scent.

 

Wet: Dustier, like dry stones now but still aquatic in a non-soapy way, like rain and ozone. Very clean and neutral, almost metallic.

 

Dry: Going a little soapy; also, I find this too dry for me. It is a very inoffensive scent, overall, though. Very airy.

 

Summary: Clean, dry, almost crisp air. Good throw and longevity.

 

Conceptually perfect!

[moon_lemming]

I can't review this one very well, since Sailing Stones appears to have aquatic notes, which tend to overpower everything else on my skin. It does feel kind of "warm stone"ish but I've never been in the desert so I'm not sure if it smells like that or not. On me, aquatics tend to go either soapy or like men's cologne, and this one turns to a VERY nice cologne, one I wouldn't mind smelling on a boy. I feel dumb not being able to pick out notes, but it's just not happening with the aquatics staging their little coup.

 

This one lasts a long time on my skin, though, I can say that!

[hlinspjalda]

In the bottle: Ozone and a very herbal fougere.

 

Wet: More ozone than fougere now. But it reminds me of an aquatic too, maybe something in the Lovecraft line. It is dark, herbal, and deep, but wet. Definitely wet.

 

One hour: How can this be so aquatic on me? But it still smells Lovecraftian, aquatic and herbal. It is not as green as before, though, dryer and more blue, ozone-ish.

 

Two hours: I like this more now. It is still aquatic-ozone and herbal, but not in a headachy way.

 

Six hours: Gentle aquatic. This one never did live up to the promise it had on me when still wet, which is too bad for me because I thought it was delightful.

 

[Lamia]

I also got an aquatic-ozone vibe from this. Something that said "open spaces". Smelled somewhat masculine to me. Quick fade, grumble grumble.

[Aldercy]

Woah! Water?

 

I'm not usually into aquatics, but this is throwing me for a loop both conceptually (since this is Death Valley we're talking about) and scent-wise (I quite like it!). The only other aquatic I've liked was Y'ha-nthlei and that's because it's not the classic "clean" aquatic. This is clean, yet enchanting and subversive. There are things going on I can't identify, and they're teasing me.

 

I would say this is what water probably smells like when you're dying of thirst. In fact, it is making me thirsty. The Sailing Stones drips with succulence and brings to mind the fresh, fertile juices in cacti or aloe. Trickles of sweet, sand-filtered water over smooth dark stones. Essence of oasis.

 

And there is a tiny flash of something that reminds me of Wood Phoenix, but I can't say which note is present in here, if any.

 

 

[Little Bird]

Sailing Stones doesn't really smell anything like I thought it would. I expected a dry, hot fragrance, but this smells like aquatics, soapy ozone, and men's cologne on me. It also smells oddly green & herbal for the first few minutes on my skin, before drying down to just a soapy ozone and men's cologne feel. Weird. Smells mainly like soapy (dryer sheets) ozone on me, so whatever is in this isn't playing nice on my skin. This decant is off to my swap pile...

[zankoku_zen]

On wet, this was an herbally aquatic. I don't really get a 'rock' impression, other than perhaps 'wet rock'.

 

And then it goes to soap. Nice, clean, aquatic soap. More like soap bubbles.

 

Boo.

[Suu4LC]

In the bottle this is a fresh, slightly salty aquatic with an earth-y note underneath.

 

On my skin it has a total aquatic cologne vibe, with an undertone of warm earth. This is very unisex-I could imagine it on a guy or a girl.

 

On drydown I lose a lot of that fresh cologney feel, and get more of a weird salty aquatic scent, which isn't surprising because I don't really do very well with aquatics. I think this would be an amazing blend on a gal or a guy who gravitates towards unique aquatic scents, but it just doesn't work for me.

[Ravenclaw79]

Initially, this smells like any other aquatic (sadness). Then, it smelled like soap, very clean. Now, it's faded back, less sweet, but it's still a lot like any other of the BPAL aquatics. Bummer.

[lizzyshoe]

This is one of my very favorite scents ever. It's perfect for hot, dry, summer days we get here in California.

 

In the bottle: I smell something cool and slightly sweet, wet, definitely aquatic. It reminds me of...Johnson and Johnson's Baby Shampoo! Which is a totally relaxing scent for me. Something I used as a child when I still had baby hair.

 

Wet: More of the sweet desert scent. There's also a dry note in there. It shows up in Ghosts of Arroyo Seco Bridge too. I think it's the "stone" smell. It's sharper than in the bottle.

 

Dry: The throw is definitely lessened. It's all sharpness now, not sweet. It's really hard to describe this scent. Some of the greenness comes through at the end. It's almost floral.

 

I remember this scent smelling different--much drier and less sweet--when I first fell in love with it in summer time. It's bad, per se, in winter, it just feels...inappropriate to wear this when it's cold and damp outside. This is definitely my go-to scent for the hottest days. It's slightly creepy, dry, and green overall.

 

 

[filigree_shadow]

It does smell like desert rocks. Kind of arid and solid. But there's a touch of a very sweet watery green scent with it.

 

This is exceedingly difficult to describe, but I know I like it. It smells... natural. Like being outside. It smells pretty fresh for being a desert scent -- I was kind of expecting something that smells hotter than this (something like Scarecrow, maybe), but this is nothing like that.

[dawndie]

In bottle: pungent incense

 

On skin: dry sandy incense

 

Half-hour later: clean incense, almost soapy

 

In conclusion: this is another Southern California blend, like June Gloom '09 -- both remind me of home. The dry incense and soap combine to make a blend full of fresh air.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Very perfumey. I’m guessing maybe musk and definitely some resins. It’s over some lovely desert vegetation scents. It’s complex despite the effects of aging, but I don’t know enough of the names of desert plants to be much use. There is something dusty underneath that may be dry soil and a tough of stone. Wet: Still musky and resiny on the surface with all the pretty desert stuff underneath. On my skin there seems to be ozone. I’m a bit disappointed as I so wanted more desert and less musk. I suspect we’re looking at an aging issue combining with my skin chemistry’s amping of musk. There’s nothing objectively wrong with it, but I t5hink my expectations were too high. Dry: Mostly ozone over some lingering desert begetation.

[hammy]

In the bottle - Hot, dusty ozone. Ozone is a problem note for me, so I’m a little worried. OK, a lot worried.

 

Wet - Ow. This is giving me a headache. It’s aquatic and ozonic, but I refuse to huff for a better description because I’m afraid of giving myself a migrane.

 

Drydown - I left my wrist alone for about 15 minutes, and when I came back the scent had transformed. The ozone is still there so I can’t get too close to my wrist, though it’s quite nice if I wave my hand around and only sniff the desert flora that wafts my way. Gosh, I could see myself loving this if the ozone had been left out.

 

Verdict - Ozone = migrane. It’s a huge bummer, because I love me some rock smells and was extremely excited for this blend. With apologies to my inner geologist, I gotta swap this guy.

[porcelina]

sailings stones is a dry, warm, mineral scent to me. that doesn't go far enough- it, like, actually smells like rocks. how do you make a perfume smell like rocks?! i have no idea. i don't know if i will ever want to smell like a warm desert rock, but, hey, at least i have the option.