The Old Goblin

[yokaitenchi]

"Well, I suppose I must tell you now," he replied; "two of my daughters must prepare themselves to be married, for the marriages certainly will take place. The old goblin from Norway, who lives in the ancient Dovre mountains, and who possesses many castles built of rock and freestone, besides a gold mine, which is better than all, so it is thought, is coming with his two sons, who are both seeking a wife. The old goblin is a true-hearted, honest, old Norwegian graybeard; cheerful and straightforward. I knew him formerly, when we used to drink together to our good fellowship: he came here once to fetch his wife, she is dead now. She was the daughter of the king of the chalk-hills at Moen. They say he took his wife from chalk; I shall be delighted to see him again. It is said that the boys are ill-bred, forward lads, but perhaps that is not quite correct, and they will become better as they grow older. Let me see that you know how to teach them good manners."

THE OLD GOBLIN
A crown of hardened ice and polished fir-cones.

Initial impression:
Hard, somewhat dirty ice (sort of like Black Ice); lovely touch of fir. Comes off slightly metallic on me if I huff too hard. Strong but short throw of a few inches.

This is a big disappointment, as there tends to be mutual love between the Lab’s cold + fir combos and myself.


Later impression (about 30 minutes into the scent):
Okay, not so much of a disappointment after all. This is taking the sweet, snowy edge of Ice Queen without having that slight floral about it. Throw has receded to barely an inch though.


An hour in:.....where did it go?

[Gwydion]

In bottle: I’m already worrying this isn’t going to work. The ozone is doing that carbonated drink thing I have bad luck with. It’s a lovely snow note like Death of a Gravedigger, the one that reads almost light citrus. The fir is understated. It’s lovely, but a touch pedestrian. Wet: It’s a lot better on the skin. I do like that snow note and the fir is stronger and twines with the snow in a lovely way. I’m still picking up a touch of that worrisome carbonation in the upper register, but it’s faint enough to ignore. It’s to the slightly feminine side of androgynous. Dry: fir dominant, reminding me of shavings, the lingering snow note and the carbonation is back in force. It’s a peculiarity of how I parse scent, so likely wouldn’t effect most people, but I know I’ll have trouble when it ages, so I’m glad this is just and imp.

[edenssixthday]

The Old Goblin - My nose is telling me there's a fruity citrus in this blend. I definitely smell the familiar scent of BPAL's ice note, and the faintest trace of fir, but mostly, I smell a very bright, fruity citrus. I also think there may be a hint of musk in here? It's very pretty.

[killerklown]

I almost thought I wouldn't like this because my initial sniff was ick, but after wearing it for an hour or so its quite nice. Lovely icy florals and very green.

[het4377]

ok, so as a huge fan of the lab's snowy blends, I figured "hey, a GC icy blend! I should definitely slip that into my next order!", thinking for sure that it would be awesome. Eeesh, I couldn't have been more wrong.

 

In the bottle, this is very reminiscent of snowball fracas, and I am certainly going in with those high hopes still intact.

 

Once this hits the skin though, all similarity to ANY of the lab's snowy/wintry/icy blends is gone, and I'm faced with a brutal burst of heavily perfumed cheap dryer sheets. It's really intolerable, but for the sake of the review, I don't wash it off.

 

After more than an hour has passed, this is still definitely in the dryer sheet territory - very clean and ozone-y, but below all that I'm starting to detect a faint hint of the lab's icy note. The cheap dryer sheet phase of the perfume does continue to fade, but the ice note never really develops a cool feel, so it and the ozone are still left feeling very artificial to me.

 

Overall, the Old Goblin and I apparently just weren't meant to be. I'll stick to my other wintry blends when I need a chilly fix. (on a side note though, upon checking my notes, it seems that the lab's Ice note and I haven't ever really hit it off, and my favorite cold blends have some form of mint or the generic "snow" in their description)

[Little Bird]

I have trouble wearing aquatics and ozone (they turn to soapy dryer sheets smell on my skin), but I was hoping that this would be like a mix of the lab's sweet snow note and a soft pine. Unfortunately, this goes soapy and perfumey on my skin. I don't smell the fir or anything pine or evergreen-like at all . It's more like soapy, sharp ozone and perfumey floral on my skin. This is definitely headed to my swap pile.

[crebbsgirl]

This does smell like a winter forest on me. Snow and woods. It's crisp and cool and very refreshing in the heat, but there is a masculine edge that's not meshing well with me. It does go a little ozone-y, which is what I may be translating as "masculine".

[Iceblink]

A chilly ozone that on my skin comes across as dryer sheets immediately. I'm just not one for these icy blends! Alas.

[zankoku_zen]

Ice + fir. Definitely masculine. It ends up going slightly soapy on me.

[hkhm]

imp: piney ice.

 

wet: very strong ice and pine, like a harder/colder version of the snow storm.

 

dry: this is mostly pine as it dries, less snow.

[cupcakegernade]

This goes completely laundry detergent on my skin, a really perfumey laundry detergent.

[countessmouse]

Pine and ice in the imp and wet on my skin. It goes slightly perfumy for a bit and then heads back toward an evergreen tone. An ashy element is setting in, so this one may not be as nice on me as I had first hoped. Kind of odd.

 

ETA: It's not ash, it's ozone. And now it's nothing but ozone. Meh.

 

ETA 2: The floral and evergreen have returned. This thing morphs like crazy.

Edited January 24, 2011 by countessmouse

[mymymai]

I got this a a frimp with the order. Normally, I adore woody notes, but for some reason, the ice spoils it for me.

ITB: it smells like men's cologne to me. I'm hesitant to say the lest. I can smell a hint of the cones, but I can't seem to get ice, just "cologne"

Wet: Still that same cologne scent. I smell a bit of pine cone, but it screams male to me.

Dry: Its morphed into a male/female cologne/perfume, and I smell a bit of powder and aquatic undertones. Not for me so far - not a hate, but not a like either.

Dry: (+2 hours) a lot softer now, but it's soapy/perfume-y on me. Oh well, to the swap pile it is.

[morganlise]

I feel the need to defend this one, because it's so pretty on me! I get a perfect balance of fir and an intangible "icy" quality that lasts and has decent (but not obnoxious) throw. Never turns soapy, just beautiful icy forest straight through.

 

Full disclosure: I do wear lots of conventional alcohol based scents too, not just oils. I don't read this as "cologne-y" but then again that wouldn't turn me off, either. YMMV.

[JunkieCosmonaut]

I LOVE THIS. When it dries down it smells so pretty and sparkly. It definitely reminds me of a snowy forest, I can get a hint of pine. Overall, 5/5

[impolight]

:::THE OLD GOBLIN:::

 

Somehow this one had completely evaded detection until the advent of this past year's Bat's Day. It took nothing more than a cursory sniff to become enthralled with this formula. There is not enough good that can be said for Elizabeth's devotion to encapsulating the kind of magical thinking that embodies the mystical realm of childhood and the accompanying fables that inspire the virtues of hope and anticipation in the bosoms of human beings. It can be said, confidently, that once funding from Lottery winnings arrives the entire catalogue of BPAL fragrances will find, here, a happy home.

From the Bottle: This is coniferous grandeur! On occasion Evergreen scents can come across as synthetic, shallow, and disappointing. The Arboreal sorceries in The Old Goblin, however, are anything but. This formula is the sweeping panorama of majestic forests beneath a firmament composed of a choir of regal blues and greys. The Ozonic component is a glittery freshet that promises to be invigorating on the skin.

While not specified in the notes listed, there is something in here, too, that is black and shiny in the way that Licorice, Anise, or Fennel is.

On the Skin: Previous allusions to both the masculine and the soapy qualities of The Old Goblin are, now, more readily understood. This is quite like the olivine bar of Cypress scented soap, imported from Italy, that made for blissful bathroom hours.

The Old Goblin is remarkably fresh and green. It is easy to associate this with the realm of conjuring and fable.

The Old Goblin gets a 54 out of 5!

[KakashiMorph]

In the bottle: Icy firs.

On my skin: It immediately turns to a generic cologne scent which I guess is the ozone with a hint of green underneath. I quickly lose sight of the green and I am left with the ozone note. Even though it is generic and a bit masculine I like it a lot because it reminds me of my favorite perfume when I The Old Goblin is simple and fresh but effective for me and I am really enjoying the mellowed drydown scent of it.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: A wintery blast paired with a sweet citrus-type note. Pineapple perhaps?

 

Drydown: Still wintery and tart, but not as sweet now. Fir with juniper and grapefruit I’m guessing. Maybe even a drop of ambergris too? Sharp and quite aquatic. Like jumping into the ocean in the middle of winter.

 

Dry: More of the same. Bright and joltingly fresh. Softens a touch as the day goes on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like this a lot. If Djinn had a cooler counterpart this would be it.

 

6.5 out of 10 bones

Edited June 21, 2013 by BoneBone24

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Kind of old spice soap

 

Wet on me - Again with the soap, a bit of fir coming out against it now

 

Dry on me - Soap, remarkably long lasting soap, but still soap

 

Overall - Really not for me

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: There's a sweet floral scent like gardenia I wasn't expecting here, followed by some woodiness.

 

Wet on skin: The floral note I was smelling earlier turned a bit aquatic, which I guess makes a bit more sense.

 

Dried down: Same as before, but a little softer - a little saltier, actually. I'm having trouble finding the wood note I caught in the imp. This reminds me more of Dragon's Tears.

 

Throw: Not getting much at all, unless I sniff my wrists.

 

Verdict: **** I like this a lot! But I'll have to test it again next to Dragon's Tears to decide which one I like better for that aquatic note.

[tinyvulture]

Green, fragrant fir needles, and cones, with a strong lashing of ozone. This may be one of the few times ozone works with my chemistry! A very clean scent...like how you walk into a forest and take a deep breath, and the air feels fresh and clean, compared to in the city. I'm actually not noticing anything icy or cold. This reminds me of Talvikuu sans the frosty, slushy notes. As a fan of all "in the woods" blends, this is a keeper.

[Aviatrix]

Im guessing it's the snow note in this that turns somewhat soapy on my skin. I'm sad because I was very much looking forward to this evocative ice blend.

 

There is a bit of pine in there, too, but unfortunately it gets overruled by the soapiness from the snow.

 

I'm willing to give this one another try, maybe in a scent locket, to see how it goes. This doesn't usually happen to my skin.

[Atrous]

The Old Goblin went soapy on me and then disappeared after 15 minutes. Oh, well.

[Nicnivin]

I'd rate this a thousand stars if I could.

 

This is the scent that the Snow Queen would wear: icy and crisp, with snowy conifers kissed with something oceanic. It's one of my favourite scents.

[Minh Scent]

Puzzled by the comments above. I get none if the citrus and floral. It starts as a pine forest and shifts to a "masculine" cologne, which must be the ozone making its asppearance and blending with the pine. I like it immensely!