Anesthesia

[whisperstilled]

A scent that slips through the cracks: peppermint, lavender, bergamot, and mandrake.

I've been wanting to get my hands on this one since I smelled it at C2E2. It reminded me of the lovely and light Ether, with that sharpness and cleanliness.

In Imp: Wow! Mint and lavender, and identifiably peppermint. Sweeter than straight mint leaf, but still sharp to the nose. This one cleans my sinuses right out. The lavender, which is often a death note for me, finds a perfect match in the peppermint, which combats it and lifts it up to keep it from getting cloying. I don't know if I can pick out bergamot and I don't know mandrake, although it could be the slightly herbal background.

Wet: Ah, now the bergamot rears its head. The lavender and peppermint are still strong however. This reminds me of a soap I used to love as a kid. Very clean and fresh. My nose is tingling from where I got a tiny bit of the oil on it from smelling too close!

Dry: This is the first lavender scent from the lab I can handle. It's lavender as it should be - paired with mint and kept fresh and ice cold. Edited August 4, 2017 by Whisperstilled

[proserpine]

Wet: strong peppermint that reminds me of BBW Eucalyptus Spearmint

 

Drying: The mint dies, but the lavender comes out and dominaties.

 

Dry: A little mint comes back to play with lavender

 

Overall: This scent is very relaxing and soothing. I don't think I would use it as an everyday scent, but it would be awesome to wear before bed.

[grrrlennyl]

Anesthesia

 

On: Amazing. Lots of lavender and peppermint. I love that combination.

1 hour in: The peppermint made this feel really cold on my skin for quite a while, which was kinda weird, but not in a bad way. Right now, it smells mostly earthy and woodsy, with a bit of lavender.

1.5 hours in: Kind of woodsy.

2 hours in: Wood.

3 hours in: Sweet lavender and a bit of wood.

Overall: I really like peppermint and lavender together, but the other notes just sort of screw this up for me. Bergamot tends to go kind of odd on me.

[calivianya]

Wet: I'm getting lavender and peppermint for the most part, though I can detect a hint of the lab's mandrake underneath. I'm not a fan of mandrake at all, so I hope it goes away.

 

10 minutes in: Either I've sniffed it too much for my nose to work properly or the mandrake is gone! I'm going to rejoice!

 

Drydown: The mandrake is staying away, but lavender tends to disappear on my skin, too. I mostly just smell peppermint at this point, and my hand is feeling vaguely uncomfortable. I am sensitive to the lab's peppermint in some blends. I'm going to have to wash it off.

Edited February 17, 2011 by calivianya

[Eliyetres]

Peppermint and lavender! Bpal's lavender is really good but just not for me. Just needed to sniff it from the bottle to know that. This is not how I want to smell. If you like kinda cold scents, and lavender this is it for you! It's very beautiful (I'm trying not to dislike it) but lavender just gives me flashbacks of those little bags of lavender my grandmother used to make and put in her wardrobe.

[KissleMeNow]

I love this scent! Wet, it comes off as lavender-peppermint, but as it dries it gets an earth-and-plant-y smell which I am guessing is mostly the mandrake. Unfortunately it is faint on my skin and fades quickly – I've applied it with a stick, as opposed to the thingie in the cap of the bottle, and would probably carry the bottle around for reapplication if I wanted to make sure I smelled of it all day. But, more opportunity to sniff this? I can't complain about that! It's also wonderfully sharp, and gives one a nice "zing" in the morning.

[Missy_killer]

To my nose: I don't really smell much at all in the bottle. A little medicinial lavender and some bergamot, but it's very faint.

 

On: Yeeeeeeees, peppermint! Lovely mintyness - how I adore you! Then a lightbrush of lavender so beautiful and easy. This would be a great scent to wear to bed, I think it would make me sleep pretty well. Then out comes the bergamot and citrus. And more citrus! Aaaaaand even more citrus.. At this point I'm hoping that the first stage comes back soon, minty lavender - where are you? I'm gonna wait patiently and hope it returns soon.

 

So I went to bed, with no sign of the first stage to come back. I woke up once or twice during the night and sniffed my wrist, it was still citrusy - but not as powerful anymore. I liked this, but would have loved it if there were no bergamot.

[JazzieCazzie]

Received as an imp gift in a swap.

 

IN THE IMP: Minty lavender.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: Mostly lavender. A little mint. No bergamot or mandrake as far as I can tell, so so far so good.

 

DRYDOWN: Not bad at all. It stays predominantly lavender with just a hint of mint for most of the ride. But then, yes, as it dries, the mint inevitably comes to the surface and prevents this from being a real winner.

 

OVERALL: For reasons completely unclear to me (because in most of my BATH products mint is one of my favorite notes), BPAL mint goes wonky on me in the drydown and invariably and ends up being the dealbreaker on otherwise winner scents for me. However, it's fine when it's wet -- example, ENVY is one of the most amazing wet scents ever but becomes almost a washoff when it dries. So I won't say I LOVE it or would buy a big bottle of it or look for more, but this imp will be a keeper to use as an aromatherapy oil in my steam shower. I think it would be a great candle, too.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 3 because I can't wear it.

[lohengrin]

In the decant: Mint and lavender. Slightly sweeter and softer than my beloved Pain, but very similar overall.

 

On skin, wet: The mint is dominant over the lavender, but it's still very much a blend of those two notes with no hints of bergamot or mandrake.

 

On skin, dry: There's just the very faintest sense of something green and herbal, which I assume is the mandrake, joining the mint and lavender now. Still no bergamot, but the mandrake does set this one a little more apart from Pain.

 

After an hour: All three notes (the bergamot still being entirely absent) are fairly well-balanced now, though the mint and lavender still edge out the mandrake by a little. I quite like it! But I'm not sure it's different enough from Pain to warrant getting a bottle. Deathmatch time.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Fresh, minty herbs. Crisp.

 

Drydown: Chilly, green, and oh so clean. The crispness of the mint and freshness of the lavender melt together into a clear and piercing psuedo-single note. Not pale, not bright, not dark or soapy, just purely green.

 

Dry: This truly does slip between the cracks...While you’re not looking it pretty much vanishes. What remains is a close-to-the-skin, barely there herbal musk. Deep and woody, with a slight tingle of mint. Still fresh and clean and herbal, but tempered considerably.

 

 

 

 

7.5 out of 10 bones

Edited March 2, 2022 by BoneBone24
expanded description

[Evilynn]

In the bottle: Minty lavender, quite sharp

Wet on the skin: Toothpaste.

Drydown: Slightly herbal tooth paste.

 

Mint is tricky on me. I prefer the taste of peppermint, but it seems like the spearmint and green mints work a lot better as scent on my skin.

[stellamaris]

The absolute perfect cool on the skin minty lavender go to sleep thing. Aptly named. Absolutely an out in front not buried in the back of others bottle.

[LizziesLuck]

I love lavender with mint. This is no exception. Strong mint and lots of lavender. Don't really get the other notes from it. So soothing and comforting to me. A new favourite bedtime scent, and aptly named.

[VetchVesper]

LOADS of lavender in the bottle, but on my skin, the peppermint emerges and the two blend in a lovely way. I'm not really getting any bergamot that I can tell, and I have no idea what mandrake smells like, but I like what I AM smelling.

 

This is very head clearing to me. I probably won't use it as a perfume, but as aromatherapy to help me sleep, calm me, or help me focus, I think this will be lovely. I very much fancy the idea of mixing this with coconut oil for a massage too.

 

P.S. Wanted to add that I really liked the color of this oil. It has a faint green tinge to it, very subtle and easily unnoticed. Seems appropriate.

Edited October 14, 2016 by VetchVesper

[KatyC]

I am in love! I've been searching for a good lavender & peppermint combo for years, and this hits the spot like nothing I've ever tried before.

 

In the bottle: Strong, cool peppermint with a hint of lavender.

 

Wet on skin: The mint and lavender balance out, making this my own personal olfactory heaven. At this point I can't really detect the bergamot or mandrake, just the refreshing, relaxing combination of those two notes.

 

Dry on skin: I still can't find any real note of mandrake or bergamot, but the scent softens and becomes slightly sweeter. I fell asleep shortly after this stage, so can't comment on longevity

[doomsday_disco]

In the bottle: Lots of lavender, bergamot, and peppermint.

 

Wet: I get lots of lavender and peppermint at first, but then the bergamot note quickly rises to the front of the scent, so that it's bergamot-dominant on me, but the peppermint and lavender are pretty strong themselves. I'm not getting any of the mandrake at this time.

 

Dry: The bergamot note continues to be the strongest note on me, followed by the peppermint and lavender. I have a tea with peppermint, lavender, and bergamot in it, and this scent makes me think of an herbal Earl Grey. After a few hours, the mandrake finally appears, and the combination of the bergamot and mandrake is really odd on me. I have tried this for a few days as a sleep scent, but I always fall sleep before I can evaluate the scent after it has been dry for a while, so I hadn't experienced this phase before.

 

The next morning, it ends up being a very faint herbal bergamot scent.

 

Verdict: I am surprised that this is so strong on the bergamot on me! It seems like most reviewers mostly got the lavender and peppermint. This being so bergamot-forward must be a result of my skin chemistry. I had smelled this at a con a few years ago and didn't end up buying a bottle (but a friend of mine did), and I decided to randomly buy a bottle with my Luper order because I recently read and loved Neverwhere, and I wanted one of the scents in my collection. I think it could work well as a sleep scent, for those that are calmed by lavender and peppermint, or manage to fall asleep before the bergamot really takes over. I'm happy to have my bottle, but I don't think I'd wear it as a perfume during the day because of the odd bergamot and mandrake phase.

[Missanneshirleyofgg]

This smells like winter air feels. Like, when you step outside and the cold air instantly chills your face and inhalation stings a bit. Its brisk and invigorating. It reminds me exactly of waking up early on a weekend morning in wintery West Virginia and wanting to get a jump on shoveling snow out of the driveway at my grandparents home. Their driveway is long and its a morning to midday task to clear it. If we didnt get started early, my grandfather would do it himself and this worried my grandmother as she didnt like her 80 plus year old husband getting a chill. It is so cold out and the air is dry and chilly and the stock whiteness of everything makes your eyes sting. But something feels so rewarding about looking back on nice tracks of pavement greeting you where heavy snow had been. My grandmothers home is warm and waiting.

 

I am getting the sharp mint and a very herbal lavender in equal proportions. The mint is almost menthol to me, definitely sinus clearing! I get just a bit of bergamot, it might be what is making me perceive the lavender as so herbaceous. 

 

This is not a sleep scent for me, it is more a refreshing zingy scent to wear while hanging winter holiday decorations outside, since Georgia will not get the snow I miss from West Virginia. I do not need a bottle but will keep this decant for just such a purpose!