Shroud

[sirensongsouth]

Dry white sandalwood wrapped in thin woods, soft grasses and the lightest white flowers layered over cajeput and the warm, deep scent of embalming herbs.

In the bottle this smelled light, soft, and warm. I just barely detected an herbal floral scent wafting around on top of something woody.

Wearing I initially smelled the sandalwood and some green herby scent quite strongly, but it calmed down after about 10-20 minutes into a very calm, quiet scent. On me, the drydown is very cohesive in that I can no longer pull out the individual elements. The floral and herbal and green (grass I guess) scents are soft and light rounding out the warm woody base. I find this to be very calming, centering, and quiet scent. It feels like the season is right now, transitioning into spring, but not having reached the full explosion of the colors of spring. I like it and expect I will wear it often during these start of spring days.

If I can come up with a more descriptive review I will edit, but my initial impression is that this is a meditative and light scent.

[Belladonnastrap]

Shroud smells a lot like Veil to me..but there are some subtle differences. Unlike Veil this is a bit more melancholy and I think that might have to do with the herbs. It reminds me of standing in a haunted graveyard on a cool misty sunday morning . This is definitely a soft scent and one to wear when you're in a reflective mood perhaps...or are willing to not give up some secrets.

 

 

Shroud and Veil are very much alike but I think Shroud edges out as the winner simply because it has the whole darker thing going on.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Shroud is very dry, with a hint of dried flowers. An old wedding bouquet in a dusty attic with the barest hint of sunlight creeping in through the vents.

 

Wearing: Goes on powdery, and the flowers are a bit warmer and sweeter. I can smell a woody dryness underneath, but it’s not screaming at me like sandalwood tends to, and the attic-feeling has warmed up – I don’t get the same dryness from this one that I do from Séance. This is very pretty and very quiet.

[chin]

I was reminded of Shadow - the sandalwood note is the same to my nose. The floral components are so familiar - I want to say lilac, but I don't think that's right (curse my newbie nose!).

 

This scent is quiet, still, dry. It makes me think of dusk, when the light is blue and the air is still. I love the light woodiness in this. I don't usually wear florals, but on my skin the floral component of Shroud is not overpowering - the sandalwood/other woody components balance the florals perfectly. I'm not sure why I get this impression, but when I wear this I feel that the woodiness and the other non-floral components are a separate scent from the floral components - as though I'm smelling two separate perfumes that happen to be in the same physical space.

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:

A dry, clean pale green scent. Sad yet oddly detached. Like someone in shock.

 

After Wearing It:

From start to finish the was a very soft, muted, dry, herby scent. It made me think of the endless fields of dead grass that you find in Oklahoma during the fall and winter: stiff, scratchy, and strawlike in both color and texture. A sight that depressed me endlessly my first winter home after two New Orleans winters home. It was just so lifeless and numbing. So blah. Shroud felt like this to me. It smelled dry, light and herby, green yet not. Drained, a pale shadow of what it used to be. The scent was really light on me, which reenforced this idea. It was so bland and light, it felt weightless and invisible too. It did nothing for me.

 

Final Thoughts:

I hate green scents, and the images produced by this scent depressed me so obviously Shroud's not a winner here. It's too light and just not my kind of scent.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Warm sandalwood, but with a lightness to it.

 

Second Impression: Oh this is gorgeous, soft and light. It's a bit somber, but a better word would be reflective, or as Sirensongsouth put it "meditative". I can tell that it's going to disappear fast...

 

Final Analysis: I am mourning the loss of the scent. It fades ever so quickly. It is fleeting, even in my hair. I really love it, it's very reflective and centering.

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: sandalwood and wet herbs

 

WEARING IT: sandalwood still, something green and oddly enough, i smell something pickle-scented thrown in here...i think my nose needs to be examined. a sombre scent, but not something i'd usually go for.

 

VERDICT: it was ok, just not for me.

[Splendid Molerat]

This fragrance is very clean and subdued. It most reminds me of washing clothes with a bar of Sunlight soap, and hanging them out in the wind to dry -- when you bring everything back in, you've got all kinds of delicate scents: lemon, lye, sunshine, pollen...

 

I get a sense of purification in this one.

[bigeyedgirl]

Shroud is a dirty, flowery cold smell wet, out of the bottle anyway.

 

As it dries down the sandlewood comes to the top. It really reminds me of going into a graveyard on a very cold autum day. I don't know how Beth manages to capture the smell of marble, but it's amazing

[ChupaChup]

I love the soft, white flowers and gentle herbs in Shroud, it's such a pretty perfume. Unfortunately, my skin does not play well with sandalwood, it tends to suck all the sweetness out of a blend and Shroud goes very dry and woody on me. I can see how some compare it to Veil, at least the dryness, but on me Shroud is a lot nicer.

[antimony]

This has got to be the dryest sandalwood scent I've ever tried. There's nothing warm to this scent on me at all. I was about to say that it started out powdery, but that's not right... it started out dusty.

 

Three hours after I put it on, it's almost gone.

 

It's a pretty scent, in it's own way, but it's very sad. I prefer more vibrant scents, and this one is just not. It's everything the description implies.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: the lab included this in my order. it's definitely very dry and woody, but with a hint of sharp flowers underneath. interesting.

on: hmmm...woody, but floral and herbal, too. it's a bit sweet, too, which is nice.

half an hour later: interesting. this smells a bit dusty. it's almost like the components are dry, not the real thing. i like this.

1 hour later: this smells a little woody now. interesting. i still like it.

2 hours later: it's going pickle-y. no fun. however, it kind of reminds me of being on one of those inside, air-conditioned rides at disneyworld. you know, the combination of the air conditioning, the electrical stuff, the mustiness, some smokiness. does that make any sense?

overall: i guess some woods just don't work well with my skin. this will be swapped.

[OdetteOdile]

Perfectly named.

 

Creepy and peaceful simultaneously.

Something "human-smelling" under the main scent...but powdery-wispy.

[sagitare]

On me, this scent was pretty much the opposite of what most others had to say - it definitely was not dry, light, subdued or quiet, more's the pity! Shroud was bright and loud on me - I don't know if there were roses in those florals but something came out of it that reminded me a lot of what rose smells like on me. Just an overpowering, sharp floral that I really didn't like. And, as these things usually go, the scent was extremely long lasting on me - I put it on in the early afternoon and now, at 1 in the morning, it's still going strong. In fact, I have to say that this is the first BPAL scent to actually get stronger on me the longer it was on. Bizarre!

 

I'll be washing this off before bed because the floral smell is just too overwhelming. Then it's off to swaps for Shroud!

[Eris]

I got this as a freebie. I definitely get white florals off of this, with an almost herbal backing. For other BPAL comparisons, it reminds me of Water of Notre Dame without the violet and Hymn without the incense. Like other florals on me, it pushes the envelope of turning soapy but note quite. This isn't really an offensive fragrance, but I'm too fussy with my floral notes, so this one will go off to swapping.

[TheDarkMother]

In the Bottle: Shroud is a yummy soft white floral with a hint of citrus. How odd. That really doesn't sound right.

 

On Me: There's the sandalwood, and a lovely white sandalwood at that! Soft and bright, like a nice wooden coffin would smell like. There is a sweetness that is beginning to show through as well, the scent of florals.

 

But then, its gone. All of it. On my wrist I smell nothing, but I can still smell the sandalwood and light florals all around me. Its light and airy, like a whisper thin linen shroud that they lie over the face of the dead. Its gorgeous, simply gorgeous, and I will end up getting a big bottle sometime soon, but with the things that are going on in my life, I certainly don't want to be reminded of a funeral everytime I smell myself.

 

I still love it though, just not for use right now.

[DiamondHeart]

In the bottle: This stuff is GREEN. First thing that pops into my head is: fresh cut grass. That fresh, light, summery smell. It is very intoxicating- makes me want to swoon and pass out.

 

On me: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm this is nice. It's almost powdery floral, but not. Or fresh laundry. It's just overall FRESH but not like toothpaste fresh.

 

I like this. I have De Sade on my wrists and this on my elbow, and going from one to the other is niiiiice....

 

~Diamond~

[pekeana]

On me, Shroud is very sandalwood and not much else. And all I could smell in the vial was sandalwood and very, very light herbs.

 

I'm not that fond of sandalwood, alas.

[cookie]

At first this was all wood on me. I didn't smell much sandalwood - it seemed a more sharp (like cedar), but maybe the cajeput was throwing me.

 

Dry down: now I'm getting the white florals. I wonder if my nose is just used to the wood and moving along, or if the wood note has really calmed down. Hmmm. All I know is that the flowers I'm smelling are light and lovely. This is a very calming scent for me.

[luxuria]

I put off trying this one on because it initially smelled very sharp and green. Luckily, it doesn't stay that way..

 

This starts out smelling like slightly wooded herbs on my skin. However, it dries to something dusty and later still the white florals come out. It smells light even when it smells dusty and not musky at all. I've discovered a love for sandalwood so I keep smelling my wrist even though I hate herbal and floral blends. I don't like the way this smells, but at the same time I do. I don't like the mental images it's giving me, either, but still I enjoy it just because they're so strange!

 

I also must note this is deceptively morbid, even though it's light. What a contradiction! I'm having such a hard time describing this one. It's unique, that's for sure!

[JazzieCazzie]

This is one of the in six-packs of imps I have on order, but a friend on the LUSH BPAL board had one she was willing to part with and knew I loved sandalwood so I got one earlier than expected!!!

 

BOTTLE: At very first sniff sharp and bitter and yet comforting at the same time, if that makes any sense. Definitely made me willing to apply pretty generously.

 

WET: It softens to something sweet and spicy almost immediately when it hits my skin ... the sandalwood loves me and vice versa.

 

DRYDOWN: There is something remotely pleasantly soap about this that adds into the sandalwood and the herbals, though I found myself sneezing a lot and hope that is just my coming down with a cold ... I LOVE this scent.

 

Definitely a keeper, glad I'll have two vials of it. Probably not a big bottle buy simply because I have a lot of scents that are enough like this to keep me happy.

[rainbow]

In the bottle and wet on the skin- herbs and sandalwood. I think I've finally figured out what sandalwood smells like. I've smelled this mystery note in other blends, and I've finally narrowed down that it's sandalwood. Yay! The scent is muddy- a bit like fresh earth.

 

Wearing- I sort of get the sense of natural death in a forest where other things are alive. It's like life and death together- a decaying log next to a live tree. It develops into a powdery scent. This has a similar feel to the other funeral oil I tried- black rose. I'm not sure exactly what it is, I think it comes from the powdery feel.

 

Final analysis- Now that I've isolated sandalwood, I fear that it might not be a very good scent on me. I'm more the fruity or straight up floral type. Off to swaps.

[anaethema_x]

Bottle: Lightly floral, some kind of herbal scent....description sounded lovely!

 

Wet: Soap. Dial Liquid Hand soap, the original kind my mom use to wash my mouth out with...lol

 

Drydown: It toned down on the heavy soap scent, but it still smells like flowery soap and is giving me a headache...sigh.

 

I wonder what it was that didnt agree with me? My friend tried it, and it smelled light and airy on her...pout. Oh well. Ill find it a good home!

[VorpalBunny]

What didn't work on anathaema_x works wonderfully on me, thanks for swapping it!

 

I just want to wrap myself in Shroud, beautiful sandalwoody goodness. Sandalwood is my favourite EO, I used to wear it all the time, before I discovered BPAL. Shroud takes sandalwood and gives it a little extra feminine touch. It has a strong sandalwood scent, but the floral is definitely there, and very lovely. I love it. Definitely my favourite sandalwood BPAL so far. (Dragon's Bone is second, and Wolfsbane is third, since Hamadryad burns my skin.)

[Witch's Dagger]

Shroud

 

This was a freebie from the lab. Thanks!

 

Preconceived notions: It sounds like it might be a soft, dark, meditation blend.

 

In the vial: Lots of woody sandalwood - as in, I mostly get sandalwood, and it’s even woodier than normal, greener.

 

On me: Sandalwood and grass, with something wispy and ethereal in the background. Very nice, but difficult to describe.

 

In 10 minutes: It’s definitely sweeter now, sort of like a sweet, floral cedar. It’s very nice and comforting. Shroud is an apt name, since it feels a lot like a warm blanket.

 

In an hour: Still very slightly there. Not many changes over time.

 

Overall: While I wouldn’t call it a “soft, dark, meditation blend”, it is very nice for a comforting, relaxing on a Sunday, kind of scent. I’ll be keeping it!