Gnome

[fairestrocza]

An explosive blend of effervescent golden ginger and black peppercorn with sarsaparilla, gurjum balsam, nutmeg, gear lubricant, and smoke.

Breezy and sweet, with a hint of lemon.
This shouldn't work on me, but it seems to be behaving. Not really my scent, but better than expected for the listed notes.

[ladymeag]

In the summer, this is exactly the sweet-and-light scent I want. I wore it a lot on hot days and even though I usually only drink ginger ale when sick, I somehow didn't make that association here. I think it's a better-smelling ginger ale.

 

In the bottle: Ginger Ale, bubbles and all.

 

On Me: Wet, this is pretty light and bubbly smelling. At dry down it's a nicely peppery ginger ale.

 

On Spouse: Wet, it's very sweet - like orange soda candied ginger. At dry down it's a slightly citrus, very sweet ginger.

[ladymeag]

In the summer, this is exactly the sweet-and-light scent I want. I wore it a lot on hot days and even though I usually only drink ginger ale when sick, I somehow didn't make that association here. I think it's a better-smelling ginger ale.

 

In the bottle: Ginger Ale, bubbles and all.

 

On Me: Wet, this is pretty light and bubbly smelling. At dry down it's a nicely peppery ginger ale.

 

On Spouse: Wet, it's very sweet - like orange soda candied ginger. At dry down it's a slightly citrus, very sweet ginger.

[JazzieCazzie]

I honestly can't remember when I got this imp or who I got it from. It has an interesting label on it which I THINK is not Lab-produced so am guessing it was either a swap, small forum purchase or decant circle (I know I got two RPG imps, this and Mage, at the same time).

 

IN THE IMP: Fizzy yummy soda, somewhere between ginger ale and cola. Abso-freakingl-lutely YUMMMMMMMMMMM.

 

Dabbed on wrist and into crook of arm.

 

WET: A spicy, light ginger ale that tickles my nose, with the pepper rising pretty quickly to give it a little extra kick.

 

DRYDOWN: It's not strong at all and has minimal legs, but it cools down into a soda-and-woods scent. I never get any smoke from it at all.

 

OVERALL: I think Gnome is the perfect name for this scent because it's playful and mischevious.

 

I apparently used a lot more of this than I'd realized because my imp is almost empty. Definitely going on the refill-re-order list. I think this would make a wonderful scent line ... I would totally buy it in lotion, bubble bath and candles.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 5 for sure.

[BoneBone24]

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a non-morpher!

 

Wet/Drydown/Dry: Effervescent and vivacious ginger beer that smells as authentic as can be. I can practically hear the bubbles fizzing and popping beneath my nose. (How does the Lab do that??) There’s an ozone-like sharpness and a bright-and-tingly spiciness tempered by just enough sweet smokiness to make it yummy and comforting. An uplifting, yet sexy and complex ginger beer.

 

 

 

This is definitely bottle-worthy, shooting straight to the top of list. It reminds me of of a gingered-up No. 93 Engine, for those looking for similar scents to that.

 

8.5 out of 10 bones

Edited July 11, 2013 by BoneBone24

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): I get sharp ginger, smoke, and sarsaparilla with something that is a little citrus-like.

 

Wet: Wet and spicy, like ginger in a rainforest. There's some effervescent qualities to this scent. The sarsaparilla and ginger to transform to a quality ginger beer amalgamation

 

Dry: Powdered ginger with peppercorn, light sarsaparilla, and a touch of smoke. It's a bit darker than I had anticipated it would dry down to.

[hexnut]

GNOME

 

Very pale yellow in the imp; tested blind.

 

 

In Vitro Fresh and citrusy.

 

Wet Orange-smelling throw (as opposed to orange-colored throw. English be a weird language.) After two minutes it was lemon or lime on my skin. Fresh and very nice.

 

Drying Fading fast six minutes after application, no longer identifiable citrus but still "fresh". And then Plastic sidled in and wrecked it just by quietly standing there. Did I get frimped 51 again?

 

 

I was excited by the notes list for Gnome and had looked forward to trying it, so the label reveal was a total letdown. And even worse, I am still no closer to isolating the component(s) responsible for that plastic smell.

 

 

82

Edited August 4, 2013 by hexnut

[bellumed]

Strong, fizzy ginger soda, right off the bat. Lubricant and smoke give it a little weirdness. It smells slightly off, chemically, which a lot people are interpreting as dish soap. I guess that’ll be the gear lubricant. I may be getting a tiny whiff of balsam in the background too.

Erf, that dish soap smell is dominating on my skin, unfortunately, with a spicy scent hanging behind it. This one's not gonna work for me.

Edited October 4, 2014 by bellumed

[ObliqueRed]

Wet: Sharpy, fizzy, soapy ginger! It smells like cleaning solution, but... in a good way? Like, I would love to clean my house with something that smelled like this...

Dry: Gets way more soapy on me. I think something in this blend doesn't get along with my chemistry...

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Ginger soda. Though I could see a bit of gear lubricant playing into that.

 

Wet on skin: The ginger goes deeper on my skin, and the smoke note comes out. This is like bonfire smoke, with a deep wood undertone (balsam?) no nice scent to it, but nothing bad either.

 

Dried down: Same as wet. Actually, I don't know - I think this may have dried too quickly on me, and I never really got a "wet" stage.

 

Throw: Bubbly ginger brew, still. I do like this a lot.

 

Verdict: *** 1/* I do like this a lot. I love the ginger. But I don't know how much I love it. Enough to keep the imp, surely, but I don't know if it's enough to buy a bottle.

[Wwindy]

Be warned: You may need to disregard the previous reviews for this scent! The gingery scent described above is the 'old," light-colored version of Gnome. The Lab says that Gnome is actually supposed to be a dark-colored oil, and that's what they're shipping now; it's a *completely* different scent from the previous version. If you'd like to see a visual comparison, here's an image:

 

This new dark-colored Gnome is very heavy on the "gear lubricant," which is an oily, deep-toned note, followed by some very woody balsam and a bit of peppery smoke. There is virtually no discernable ginger and definitely no fizz at all, at least in my imp.

[Vonotar]

I will agree to this. I got an Imp of Gnome with one of my orders that arrived today. It's dark, and it is more in accord with the more industrial smell. I'm tempted to try it with Antikythera Mechanism and see what happens...

[ivyblossom]

If anyone manages to get a bottle or imps delivered straight from the lab that are light in colour and smell like ginger again, please post and let us know! I'll sign up for multiple bottles of that one.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - A smoky, peppery sort of scent with an almost salty undertone

 

Wet on me - A dry smoky scent with a hint of pepper

 

Dry on me - A clean green smoke scent

 

Overall - I guess my skin amped the smoke note, actually at times I could have sworn there was vetiver in there

[Rip]

If anyone manages to get a bottle or imps delivered straight from the lab that are light in colour and smell like ginger again, please post and let us know! I'll sign up for multiple bottles of that one.

 

I just got imps of the entire RPG series from the lab and the imp of Gnome is light colored and smells like ginger. I'm disappointed to see that it may no longer be representative of Gnome because so far this is easily my favorite of the RPG scents.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: I apparently got the "old" version of Gnome, direct from the lab in my February 25, 2014 order. It's definitely a light coloured oil, and smells of ginger ale and... err. Dish soap? Yeah, ginger ale and dish soap.

 

On skin, wet: Ginger ale and dish soap.

 

On skin, dry: ... Ginger ale and dish soap. It's unpleasantly sharp in the same way the champagne note tends to be on me.

 

After an hour: This really never morphs at all. No smoke, no peppercorn or nutmeg. Just soapy ginger ale.

[Aviatrix]

This is like a fizzy ginger ale, with a teensy bit of balsam in the background! It's spicy and peppery and festive, and I really like it! It's not something I would habitually wear, but it's very good nonetheless.

I will love to experiment with layering with this one, although I suspect it will overpower many of the other RPG scents, as they tend to be much lighter than this one.

[ivyblossom]

If anyone manages to get a bottle or imps delivered straight from the lab that are light in colour and smell like ginger again, please post and let us know! I'll sign up for multiple bottles of that one.

 

I just got imps of the entire RPG series from the lab and the imp of Gnome is light colored and smells like ginger. I'm disappointed to see that it may no longer be representative of Gnome because so far this is easily my favorite of the RPG scents.

 

Fabulous! Good to know, thanks!

[potto]

I ordered an imp of Gnome about two months ago which was light in colour and just like fizzy ginger ale with a hint of pepper. I didn't want to risk ordering a bottle in case I ended up with the dreaded 'dark' gnome so I ordered four imps, hoping there'd be more of the fizzy ginger stuff left. Unfortunately there seems to be yet another variation as these were light in colour but smelt strongly of eucalyptus and a little smoke and pepper. Sadly they seemed to have very few notes in common with my first gnome imp despite being the same colour.

[inhumation]

as soon as I applied gnome to my skin, it was REALLY STRONG bug repellent!! I have no idea what version imp I got (mine was a frimp), but I suspect that it's the newer one, as the label was pretty new-looking. in any case, gnome smelled exactly like raid to me.

[radiantfracture]

I believe I have dark gnome, purchased about six months ago.

The scent opens dusty and metallic -- very pleasing.

Gnome comes on very strong. Something in it-- maybe the black pepper -- anaesthetizes my nose, or overwhelms it, so that I can no longer smell the Dorian I had on my other wrist.

Then the smoke comes up, and after it faint ginger, sarsparilla and pepper -- the pepper and ginger are head-clearing, but not fragrant, though they do sweeten the scent.

I like it, but it's overwhelming on me. It stays metallic and fizzing, with the spices well in the background.

[sunqist]

Aw, man! I just got a frimp straight from the lab of what has to be the old gnome, and I was totally about to put it on my buy list until I saw this. Since this was a frimp, I'm not sure an ordered imp would be the same. This is like getting frimpped something that's been discontinued.

 

ETA: It occurs to me that this is not a review. Wet, this is the most gingery thing I have ever smelled. Like handling freshly sliced raw ginger. It's fantastic, and instantly makes me search for other scents with ginger notes. I own several of them, and this one blows them all out of the water. It stays that way for a good couple of hours, then I can smell that industrial scent in the background. I choose to ignore it. I get more shoe polish than dish soap, but I can see it going either way. I would absolutely wear this on a date if I already knew I wasn't spending the night with the guy.

Edited November 6, 2014 by sunqist

[lady_pandora]

Single Note: Lemon Lime Soda.

 

This was a frimp from the lab, and it sounds like the old version. I haven't decided yet if I'll wear it. It's definitely one for hot weather if I do.

[Balame]

What a surprising blend. It's not as terrible as I thought it would be - between the ginger, pepper and sasparilla I thought this would be disgusting mixed together. But I ended up with a frimp and decided to give it a shot. Glad I did!

 

At first the sasparilla comes on strong which smells like a sweetened soda, but it's the balsam that ends up amping on me. Quite smooth and clean. The ginger and pepper are both extremely well-behaved here, neither coming across as super spicy or astringent. There's a subtle hint of something smoky beneath the slick base. I do smell a little gear oil, but this is largely a very clean, very polite skin scent on me. Not what I expected at all. It seriously reminds me of a softer version of Dove soap + gear oil.

 

Maybe it's just how my skin chemistry makes this play out, but it smells more like I thought Neutral would smell than a Gnome. (This is actually less sweet and more... well, neutral than it is.)

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: Exactly as described! What a fascinating smell!

 

Wet on skin: This was SO strong in the imp & yet SO faint on me! Similar to in the imp, I guess? It's hard to tell when it's this faint! Same notes, just switched around a little.

 

Dry on skin: Faint & slightly sweet. Almost like musk lollies! I can still pick out the notes if I try.

 

After a few hours: Very faint. Musky-resin & something almost salty - the gear lubricant? Weird, but it works!

 

Verdict: Not something I'd wear on it's own, but it would certainly be fun to layer with!