Gnome

[nathanielhebert]

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

I've been frimped the old version of Gnome a few times—in the bottle, it's a light liquid, and when applied, it smells like very effervescent ginger-ale. In fact, it triggers a scent-memory of sipping Canada Dry in some wood-grained gas station while waiting on tuneups. I can recall being a little disappointed about not picking up the other listed notes, but it's a cute scent on its own, almost a single note ginger ale, complete with plenty of fizzy bubbles.

Now, I've received the newer version of Gnome, which is a dark, almost viscous fluid. In the imp, it smells like something has gone off—it's musty, industrial-leaning, and heavy on the gear lubricant. On the skin, it doesn't fair much better, I think I pick up the balsam and pepper, but it's mainly motor oil without a hint of sweetness or ginger.

This seems to be a mystery, because I've never seen the lab mention changes to the formula—so maybe this is something we can chalk off to batch variations?

In the end, I had a stroke of genius and combined the old with the new, and I think I've been able to capture what was intended for Gnome. The fuzziness of the ginger-ale lends some sweetness to the lubricating oils, and the overall blend feels a lot more balanced and conjures up the listed notes as intended!

[kajacana]

This starts out on the skin as bright, fizzy, sweet ginger ale, which I really like. I used to have the ginger ale perfume from Demeter, and when freshly applied, this smells almost exactly like that.

As it dries down, though, the smoke and gear lubricant emerge, which turns the blend much darker. The delicious soda aspect all but disappears, and I start to smell a weird spicy candle burning in a mechanic shop. Not too pleasant.

I wish this one stayed in the ginger ale phase, because once it dries it's really not for me. But I will say, it's unique and intriguing, and it would work perfectly for someone who likes a slightly foody/slightly metallic combo in their perfume.

[Teamama]

My imp is a mid-amber color. Somewhere in Gnome there's a note that's related to the good dirt smell I like so much in Yorick. The ginger is faint.

 

It's nice, but I'm not very taken with it. My daughter the Elf-wearer reacts very strongly against this scent (go figure,) so it's going in the swap pile.

[LizziesLuck]

Oh how I love this! It's all fizzy ginger on me, with just a hint of pepperiness. I need a bottle. NEED!

 

EDIT - Gnome, you broke my heart.

 

I received several imps of this that were all lovely fizzy ginger ale. Got a bottle - straight up "gear lubricant" aka motor oil. The two scents were so vastly different that I emailed the Lab, but I think it was before they realized there was a serious batch variation going on, so they didn't fix this for me. I have since received several more imps that are lovely fizzy ginger, and one imp that's dark and disgusting - dirty motor oil. Sad. turned me off from even wanting a bottle.

Edited September 10, 2016 by LizziesLuck

[roseus]

What a nice little surprise from the Lab! I love ginger and many of the other notes so I'm not sure why I've over looked this one, but many thanks to the Lab for bringing it to my attention.

 

In the imp: Bubbly ginger ale. Light and sweet.

 

On wet: Very strong ginger, and balsam. I can also smell thin chemical lubricant over the top, but it doesn't dominate or take away from the other notes. When I reapplied right before a class someone near me mentioned "Something smells like weird soap, ugh." And once she mentioned it I have to say I can see where she is coming from. But that weird soap smell definitely fades away shortly.

 

Dry: Ginger and sarsaparilla, but the peppercorn and smoke kick in here and keep it from being too soda-y. It's a very enlivening and toast-y blend.

 

ETA: 

Okay I got a bottle of this like 4 years later bc I am playing a Gnome in DND and remembered loving it. Here's my new thoughts: In the bottle this smelled a lot like something from Lush and I couldn't put my finger on it at first but now I'm pretty sure I'm thinking of the Ocean Salt scrub. Strange comparison and nothing like what I experienced originally. On my skin that salty note goes to a more metallic sort of tang, so I think I'm just picking up on the gear lubricant more. Also getting the dark green balsamy component more. Have no fear that ginger-sasparilla combo does join in! But it's darker in tone and smokier than the batch I tried initially. Still love it, and think this version is very intriguing! 

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by roseus

[porcelaincrypt]

This is my first review, I have only smelled it in the Imp but I will come back as soon as I test on my skin and then how it develops over time.

 

I got this secondhand so I don't know if it is fresh or aged.

 

In the Imp:

First thought: Whoa. Strong. Smells very green to me (which made sense in my mind, I pictured a little lawn gnome tipped over on the grass lol) and a little soapy. Has a sorta cologne like smell. Not loving it and not the usual type of scent I go for at all but I'm curious to see how it smells on my skin and I also am hoping to discover a scent that I really like, unexpectedly, based on notes I wouldn't usually be into. Anyway, I don't smell most of the notes on cold sniff. Only the Balsam and maybe the sarsaparilla. I don't smell the ginger that many are saying they smell in the reviews, but I'm also seeing that there may be some various batches of this scent and one of them does not contain the ginger smell, I don't know. This one is just very, very strong to me. It may have bothered/irritated my throat slightly also, my throat felt like it had a tickle in it after I smelled this.

[Casablanca]

Based on a couple of the lab's steampunky blends I like, I see "gear lubricant and smoke" and my heart goes pitter-pat, but I've heard this is mainly ginger ale. Let's see.

 

Effervescent ginger ale is right. On the wand, this is so fizzy, I feel the little gassy bubbles popping in my nose. Is the fizz coming from aldehydes? When I get used to the bubbly, I can inhale more deeply and get a little spicy peppercorn and a drop of gear oil. I get how sarsaparilla is blending in with the ginger fizz. No smoke, balsam, or nutmeg, though.

 

On my skin, Gnome immediately hides, with only a few little ginger bubbles popping up from his place of cover.

 

I smell a hint of popped and dried ginger bubbles once this has dried. After a while, an even smaller hint of gear oil and smoke emerges, an undertone to the fizz, barely there.

 

Gnome is playful, but I'm not much for fizz perfumes. The other notes would need to be stronger for this to work for me.

[ResinManiac]

Reading about gnomes & seeing they are defined primarily by curiosity, tinkering and humor I immediately liked them, and coupled with the awesome notes for the scent I felt like I was BORN TO GNOME!

 

So I tried some and as soon as I opened the bottle I got a big pepperyness like a one two punch from both the black pepper and ginger combined, with a soft barely there nutmeg. The ginger might as well be the root itself and it is spunky and assertive! I don't mind it because I like it and it really revs you up when wearing it. For that reason I don't recommend wearing it to bed, I made that mistake and couldn't sleep for a good while! I don't get any gear lubricant or smoke but I have high hopes that aging may help bring those notes to fore. I'm in love with this one and it will have pride of place in my stash,

[CitrusFiend]

I didn't know there were two different versions of Gnome! I guess my imp is the old version, because it's very light yellow and has a thinner consistency. In the vial it smells exactly like fizzy ginger ale, but wet on skin it quickly morphs into hospital antiseptic. Dry, I get a fresh, soft ginger and something kind of spicy-smooth. Sarsaparilla, maybe? Whatever it is, it's nice!

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, my imp came straight from the lab in the Spice imp pack.

Edited August 12, 2016 by CitrusFiend

[galahad]

In the Vial:

I get fresh ginger, lime and something a little funky but elusive

On the Skin:

Strong sarsparilla with fresh and zingy ginger. Interesting. The sharp edges settle down quickly to leave a cologney sarsparilla and a slight creamy smoothness underneath.

On the Drydown:

This is a surprisingly compelling scent. It really is effervescent and surprisingly clean. The smokiness just rumbles very slightly under the surface and is most evident on the late drydown. I don't like the drydown when the initial funkiness (the gear lubricant?) comes back.

Edited March 14, 2017 by galahad

[Soupy Twist]

Delightful! Ginger and fizz in the bottle, fizz and ginger on application. There's a blast of fresh-cut ginger root, with dashes of pepper and sweet sarsparilla, but it no more than waves at them as it rides by. It dries to a gingery version of 21, which is awesome because I love 21. None of the other notes (which is not a complaint).

 

From the other reviews, it looks like I have an "old" imp, with the lighter oil.

 

ETA: Got a sample of the new, darker oil: oh my thor there it is. Oil, smoke, gears, dirt. Nuffin else. Brilliantly done, but I'm hoarding the old version.

[Lucchesa]

I have the "old" gnome, very pale in color. It smells as if someone mixed ginger ale and root beer on my arm (but without the stickiness, fortunately). I don't get any pepper, gear oil or smoke. Very odd and not particularly what I want to smell like, though from other reviews it looks like people are enjoying this quite a bit. I will keep the imp, as with all my RPG scents, but won't be seeking out more.

[Kate Hagerty]

I didn't know there were two versions either, THAT explains it! I've been wondering for a while if the thing I have that's labelled "Gnome" is actually a different scent entirely, because it's a dark liquid, and there's zero ginger or "fizz". It's dark and dirty and (weirdly) really foresty.

In the imp I get kind of pine-scented cleaner, but in a good way?

On my skin I get almost pure dirty pine (I guess that's the balsam?) like standing in an old forest, the ground is damp and thick with a layer of decomposing pine needles, it's dirty and lovely and wet. I can't wear it on its own, it's a bit *too* much dirt, but it layers beautifully, and works well to tone down or add depth to things that feel a bit sharp and bright.

I don't really know what happens on the drydown because I usually layer it, but the dirty note does seem to stick around. (Again, *good* dirty )

Now I'm really sad, because it seems that I might never find this abberant version of gnome again, and I do love it so. Will have to ration what's left in my imp.

[achildoftime]

I love this so, so much. I seem to have the "older" one that's ligt and fizzy. I really need to get my hands on more of this because I only have a little imp and I could probably use this by the gallon for all my fragrance needs.

 

It's bright, fizzy ginger with sarsaparilla and a touch of peppercorn. It's a little spicy, a little sweet, and it's long-lasting but never feel like it's overpowering. I've kind of been chomping at the bit to get a hold of more. It's by far my favorite fizzy scent!

[psychocygnet]

I don't know which version of Gnome I have in the imp, but damn, did this ever go wrong on me. I could smell slightly spicy goodness before I put it on, and then it had a few seconds to start reacting with my skin, and then I got a scent that reminded me of rest area bathrooms. Cleaning fluid mixed with pink soap, with an oddly familiar pale green quality.

 

It's not entirely Eau de California Rest Stop (there'd have to be an evil jasmine note in there to replicate that "this place has REALLY been extensively used as a bathroom" note), but still. Ewwww. Not what I was hoping for, Gnome.

[donkehpoo]

Wet: WOO ginger! That went straight up my nose. Almost like a very strong ginger ale, it's definitely got a fizzy quality to it. There's something dark in the background that I'm thinking is the gear lubricant. Not too fond of that.

 

Dry: Same as the wet stage. That odd gear lubricant smell is throwing off the scent for me, and I'm not really digging it. Also, both wet and dry stages have a TON of throw.

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Ginger ale and root beer, complete with effervescent feeling.

 

On my skin:

 

At first, my skin about eats this up. I had to reapply within a couple of minutes just to make sure I did, in fact, have Gnome on my arm. As it's drying, I'm getting very light ginger ale -- like how you'd smell some in a glass if you held your nose just out of the bubbles' reach. There's almost -- but not quite -- something citrusy about it. I lose the other notes entirely.

 

And this is where the blend seems to stay for me. For such a light, fizzy scent, it actually has a pretty strong throw. Like, I can smell barely-there ginger fizz no matter where I go.

 

I can see why this might make a good layering scent, though the only other RPG scent I have at the moment is Evil (the one I picked as a best stand-alone based on notes). So I'm probably going to have to see what Evil Gnome smells like one of these days.

[spookyumbrella]

Fizzy lemon soda and smoke. This is the only BPAL I've ever smelled that made me legit sick to my stomach. 

[follis]

Gnome is a green blend on my skin with a hint of spices mellowing throughout. It's not bad but it's more green and less smoky than what I would like.

[doomsday_disco]

It has been interesting to read about the batch variations on this one. My imp is light in color and looks like a fresh imp.

 

Gnome started off with an extremely effervescent ginger note with a dash of root beer, but it quickly gave way to fizzy ginger ale. I could detect a hint of the black pepper, but it was fleeting, and I never could pick out the other notes. And that's fine with me! I would much rather this stay on the soda side of things.  

While I was hoping that the sarsaparilla would stick around longer, I do think this is a nice ginger ale scent. I'll be keeping my imp for RPG layering purposes.  

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by doomsday_disco

[a_bear]

I could swear the first time I tried this (just a tiny bit, fresh out of the mailbox), I got all ginger and pepper, and it was amazing. Later, I tried it again, and the balsam and smoke hit me so hard I had to wash it off. Now that it's settled a bit, it's somewhere between those two experiences. My imp was direct from the lab and is a light yellow color.

 

Wet: all balsam and smoke

Dry: The smoke fades, and I get more of the ginger. I don't get the sarsaparilla at all, but the other notes I think are in there somewhere, though I can't really pick them out. I don't get the soda vibe other people seem to have.

[Mountaingrrl00]

Normally I don't like sarsaparilla, so I wouldn't have chosen this, but since I got it as a frimp I thought I'd test it. I'm very pleasantly surprised that the gurjam balsam is so prominent. Vetiver isn't listed, but I'm getting the dirty-vetiver earth note - maybe that's in the gear-lubricant accord. It's all very nuzzly, earthy and lumbersexual with a spicy undercurrent. The lab gods must have known I would love this.

[Zorra]

I am wearing this today because it has a nutmeg note which I recently discovered is in several scents I love, and because in a facebook post someone asked for wood scents and Gnome came up more than once. It must be a different gnome. I smell like gear lubricant, a luxury, effervescent type of gear lubricant with hints of ginger and peppercorn,  but I can't make wood of this. It is nice, but I don't think I'll wear it often.

[freyasfae]

The first thing that hits me is the BPAL loam note from Graveyard Dirt and others, but with a spicy kick (the ginger and peppercorn, I presume). It doesn't take long for the fizziness to come out - again, I recognize this from the BPAL champagne notes. It's so damn interesting. One of those BPALs, I don't see myself wearing, but delighted I got to try such a unique scent.

 

(My version is the pale oil - since reading other's reviews there's batch variation it seems.)

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Fizzy, gingery, and effervescent, with a nice little kick from the pepper, while still avoiding the nose-biting elements of both ginger and pepper. There's something tempering the ginger here, which I think is the balsam? It's taking the scent out of foodie/craft cocktail territory, and into something much more multifaceted.

 

Wet: A BIG punch of ginger, tempered by a much more distinctive balsam, right out the gate. The pepper is still giving it some (more) kick, but the sarsaparilla leans slightly soapy on me. After a minute, a very distinct machine oil note merges, which plays surprisingly well with the ginger and balsam.

 

Dry: Starts out still very ginger-forward, tempered with an interesting smoky note (this is definitely metallic/diesel smoke, not woodsmoke). As time goes on, however, the ginger fades out and the balsam (and nutmeg, I think?) take a big step forward. The metallic smokiness note remains constant, though, and it turns out that balsam(/nutmeg?)/smoke is a really nice combination on me - it's not exactly snuggly, but it is kind of weirdly cozy, in an odd, unisex sort of way.