Dungeon Crawl

[sarandipitee]

DUNGEON CRAWL
Wet stone corridors, gobs of candle wax, crusty abbatoirs, rusted caltrops, nefarious necromancer incense, kobold musk, and dragon droppings.

Eeek! First to review. On a side note, I am awful at picking out individual scents so I hope this turns out ok.

In the Bottle: Wet stone and musk ~ reminds me of the Traveler quite a bit on first initial sniff.

Wet: The musk is very present and the incense is coming out with the stone being the main thing I get on my skin. I'm not getting any of the candle wax or abbatoirs (which I figures would have a blood note mebbe?) or the dragon droppings (well as far as I know since I've got no clue what that smells like, lol).

On skin: Rust, metal and stone but now something sweet ~ maybe the candle wax?

Dry: Ultimately stone, rust and something sweet. It's also close to my skin ~ this doesn't have a lot of throw but I don't think it should. You want to catch a little whiff and wonder what it is.

I don't think this is something I'll wear that much but since I got to meet Beth and Ted and have an awesome time at the GeekGirl tweet up I'll always have some great memories attached to this bottle. Thanks so much!

[lizzyshoe]

I would agree with the sarandipitee about the similarity to The Traveller. It has that dusty, leathery note that is so strong in Traveller, but it's much calmer, and doesn't stick around too long on the skin. After drydown I can smell the warm candle wax. The incense and musk are there, but not overwhelming. It's very balanced.

[wl552]

I won a goodie bag via a Twitter contest that included a bottle of Dungeon Crawl. (Thank you!!)

 

Dungeon Crawl, in the bottle, smells like a crumbling concrete building to me. It's very harsh.

 

Wet on the skin, it still smells like a dilapidated industrial building... which makes sense given the name of the oil. ><

 

Dried, I'm picking the barest whisper of candle wax, but it's buried very far under the concrete/stone smell.

 

Later, it's faded a lot. I have to sniff quite deeply. The harshness of the concrete is falling into the background. I get a sweaty musk note in there (kobold musk, yes!), a bit more of the wax and a teeny, tiny bit of almost-sweet incense (very nefarious incense!) it does have a hint of evilness to it.

 

I was sort of hoping for more of the wax, incense and musk, but got more of the wet stone and rusted caltrops. I think I'll wear this on Halloween or maybe when I'm playing Diablo II LoD all night; it is absolutely perfect for that. Daily wear would scare the knickers off the old biddies at the grocery store in this small mid-western town. lol

Edited July 28, 2010 by wl552

[cfrancesca]

Hmm..incense, musk and leather. Almost immediately the rusty metal and stone start to amp, after settling on my skin for a few minutes the candle wax appears, it's a very warm scent on my skin, it's slightly sweet too (I think maybe a little skin musk?). It all becomes very well-blended and the scent is quite evocative. I really like it!

[twilighteyes]

In the vial, this smells like wet stone, green with moss.

 

On my skin? Leather and stone. I had to go read through the notes again because I don't remember leather being listed. Maybe it's the musk? But it's a dry, warm, sweet leather scent to my nose. A little smoky.

 

Love it and was so happy to get frimped with a sample!!

[CLFilm]

In the vial, this smells like wet stone, green with moss.

 

On my skin? Leather and stone. I had to go read through the notes again because I don't remember leather being listed. Maybe it's the musk? But it's a dry, warm, sweet leather scent to my nose. A little smoky.

 

Love it and was so happy to get frimped with a sample!!

 

I get mostly leather and stone as well. Wet stone, but dry leather. Almost like the leather in Dead Man's Hand. There's a bit of the incense at the start and I can pick up the waxy note if I take a big huff of my wrist, but that's way in the background. There's something else a little musty about it, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

 

Definitely evocative of a dungeon!

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Stone, leather and vetiver. This is very bitter and dank.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells of bitter greenery, damp stone, and leather. It’s quite an atmospheric scent, and is quite complex.

 

After a little while: This gets a little less bitter as time goes on, and even a touch sweet. I smell a lot more incense and a background of damp stone and leather.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent is very interesting in the way that it really does smell like a dark stone dungeon. Quite interesting, and I love the stone note. This isn’t something I’d wear, but I can see myself pulling out my partial decant just to smell it.

[Dark Alice]

Dark slightly sweet stone with the barest hints of leather. There is no beeswax in this thankfully. This is pretty amazing. And I am so grateful to be able to try it. When this goes live...I will be buying it in bulk!

[zankoku_zen]

Leather, stone and a drop of blood. Leather unfortunately smells chemically and the beeswax sweetens it up.

 

Creepy.

[Voleuse]

This, on first application, is dirt and dust and incense, though the dirt and incense quickly trade places in prominence. The dirt cools to a dirt-scuffed stone, while the incense warms the blend overall. The incense does carry a halo of musk that intensifies, though it never wholly overtakes the dirt/stone note.

 

After a while, a leather note starts to bloom--not a shiny leather, nor a suede, but a brown leather, soft from long use. This becomes trusty leather and faint incense, with a hint of scuffed stone beneath it. Neat!

[Ravenclaw79]

Y'know, I thought I was going to hate this, but I decided to test it anyway ... and it's spot-on. It's a dungeon. It's the smell of the Madame Tussaud's dungeon of horrors exhibit, or of an old castle, or the Canterbury Tales attraction in Canterbury, England -- wet stone, dirt and stale smoke. It's really, really evocative, and I might have to hang onto some of this just 'cause it reminds me of when I went to England.

[angelicruin]

Dungeon Crawl smells exactly like I think it should. Dry leather, wet stone, a little incense, and the bitter scent of blood. Always amazes me how Beth does that!

[yamiko]

Dusty leather and wet stone, with some incense and metal in the background. Perfect for a day at a Ren Faire or a LARPing adventure. Or maybe just sitting around a table playing D&D.

[edenssixthday]

Dungeon Crawl - Many, many thanks to Sarandipitee, who let me try this. I mostly smell the wet stone and it kind of reminds me of the stone note in Shanghai Tunnel, only not as damp. There's a hint of metal and smoke and a wee drop of copper-tinged blood. It's a highly evocative scent and I'm so glad I got to try it.

[Little Bird]

I expected this to have a dark, smooth, waxy sweetness to it, but I don't get any of the candle wax or beeswax smell from this at all. This mostly smells like dusty, old, black leather, masculine, sharp, black musk cologne, and bpal's perfumey, cold, slightly damp stone note. I was hoping for beeswax and incense, and I don't really get either of those things from this. It has a bit of a dry, earthy, woody, galangal quality to it that reminds me of Badger every once in a while, but mostly it's a cold and sharply musky blend on me.

 

All in all, this is a little too sharp, perfumey, and masculine for me. It's really strong and long lasting, though.

Edited November 7, 2010 by Little Bird

[grrrlennyl]

Dungeon Crawl

 

On: Fantastic. Sweet dragon's blood and stone. So great.

Half an hour later: All metal and stone with a bit of sweetness.

1 hour later: Dust, metal, and stone.

Overall: Another case of me just not liking the way an oil develops on me.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Omnomnom. Metal, stone, and leather dominant with something sweet that may be part of the incense and a soft musk. Wet: There is now a deliciously sharp green note that is now randomly dominent, with the stone and metal backing it. The incense is pleasant and gentle, bending well with the blood and other elements. This is glorious and complex, perfectly capturing the concept without getting into anything unaesthetic. It’s a cousin to other stone and blood scents in the collection, but the green note and this mix makes it unusual and irreplaceable. Dry: I swear it smells like a particularly sexy species of mold I’m thinking it’s insence and musk making a strange accord. The stone has unusual staying power here, with metal and blood more hints that statements. It still smells leathery, though more gently. The

[porcelina]

i'm soooo glad i finally got my hands on dungeon crawl. it is soooo evocative and atmospheric (plus it just smells GOOD).

 

how? how do you make something that smells like damp stone and rust but still smells yummy enough for me to wear it as a perfume? the incense, musk and beeswax take it from dank creepy dungeon to fantasy dungeon in wearable perfume form. i think i detect a bit of leather, too. YUM!

[SheriffJoe]

I'm getting both leather and cherries from this. Something spicy, too (pepper?). A really wonderful scent that I am enjoying quite a lot. As mentioned above, not a lot of throw, but strong close to the skin. Very nice!!

[sunlitgarden]

Let me preface this by saying that I knew Dungeon Crawl would probably not smell *good*. I got it to wear and/or use as a room scent during D&D sessions.

 

In the bottle, it's definitely dark. A leathery-vetivery kind of manly scent, really - not too unpleasant, but definitely strong.

 

On my skin, it's a very dark and somewhat bitter scent. Mainly I'm getting a dark leather. Again, very manly. This is more wearable than I was expecting, though! And if I close my eyes, I really feel like I'm in a dungeon.

 

Edit: As this dries more, I swear it smells damp and cold. How does Beth do it!

Edited June 6, 2012 by sunlitgarden

[brilliantcat]

As a huge gaming/RPG nerd, I needed to get my hands on this and thanks to a lovely person, I got ahold of a bottle

 

In bottle, leather wafts over stone. My party is waiting in the dungeon to confront the enemies lurking in the dark. Wet on my skin, I can smell my tank's waraxe and the lichen creeping up the walls. The wizard's arcane incense wafts through the narrow corridors and the faint odor of blood from vanquished foes lurks on the air.

[patina]

Freshly applied: Cherry musk or dragon's blood, celery-like leather, and faint stone. The leather rapidly becomes less celery-like. There's probably not supposed to be leather in this, but I smell it anyway.

 

A lot of the RPG line smell similar to me and this would fit right in, except it's a complete perfume and it's better blended than anything I layered on myself. In particular the red stuff reminds me of that note from Chaotic and the leather note reminds me of Rogue and Fighter.

 

I do get a sense of a dungeon from this, but it's a theme park dungeon, lit by lurid red light bulbs.

 

HOURS LATER: A while ago the dragonsblood/whatever stopped being bright cherry red all over everything. It's calmed down to a nice dark resin and there's something else. Pine tar? I think I can detect the faintest whiff of the lab's brimstone note. Beeswax has also come out to play.

 

Verdict: Nice resins. This is in the same family as Blood and the RPG line.

[starbrow]

Twelve years aged, Dungeon Crawl gives amazing atmosphere. It reminds me of going into old log cabins in the Appalachians, with wet stone and lichen nearby, old decayed wood, dirt, and rusted metal. Things have oxidized and crumbled. I love the iron smell especially that comes out here. Some hand-worked leather for sure, skinned from the pigs raised on the farm. If there is dragon's blood here, it is long dried and coppery-brown, not floral. 

 

I used to be unsettled by this scent, and not really know if it was something I wanted to keep around. But now, I find myself really appreciating the lurking dank backdrop it paints. This would be a fantastic Atmosphere spray. (Hint hint.) You could also put a few drops in a diffuser or wax melter if you wanted to use it in that way rather than as a perfume. I'll admit, it's not for everyone, much less to wear on skin as something to smell pretty. But oh my my my this lives up to its name and notes! (The candle wax is still missing in action for me, but others have better luck.) I'm keeping my bottle for select wearing

 

I would wear this while: dungeon crawling, duh!!

[MolyH]

This smells exactly like a dusty, cold stone corridor. I have no idea how one accomplishes that.