Waraizome

[porcelina]

BPAL's First Laughter of 2012 is inspired by an image of Tanuki merchants honoring the first transaction of the year by thumping a huge testicle taiko! This is an airy, cheerful prosperity-themed scent talisman that celebrates the creation of wealth through joy, creativity, kindness, honesty, and community: German chamomile, red sandalwood, oakmoss, sassafras, verbena, and aniseseed.

waraizome is pretty sharp and herbal at first, with a touch of bitterness.

there is a strong sense of citrus from the verbena, and a lot of oakmoss. the woody sandalwood stays in the background and the sassafras and aniseed lend touches of spice.

it blends together as it dries into a warm, herbaceous scent and honestly is rather nice, although it's not something i would normally pick out. there is something almost smoky-sweet about it- like burning herbal incense.

[callahan]

First review, forgive me if I do this wrong, or can't be very specific with notes.

 

In the bottle Waraizome is very citrusy but with a woody/herbal background that keeps it from being too much. On me, the scent starts out with that lovely citrus character but that wears off quickly leaving a woody herbalness that is also quite pleasant. After a couple hours the woody/green notes back off leaving me with a powdery scent that I can't place but is reminding me of my grandmother's bathroom when I was a child when I would sniff her perfumes, lotions, and powders. It's not unpleasant, but it's not what I was expecting and it doesn't fit with the early smell of this scent.

 

I love the bottle smell and the early stages of it on me, and the q-tip I used to apply still smells like glorious citrus woods, instead of morphing, but the grandmother scent is kind of weirding me out.

Edited January 20, 2012 by callahan

[angelicruin]

This one starts off as a sharp, almost bitter verbena. Wood note emerges shortly after and removes the bitterness I smelled earlier. The sassafras note comes out further into dry down, but I'm not any of the aniseseed, which is a bit disappointing.

[inklaura]

I know there's no orange listed in the notes, but that's what I get from it. A very smooth orange with a hint of spice. As it dries down the sandalwood comes forward to mix equally with the not-really-orange scent. And there's a hint of sassafras to keep it just sweet enough. Occasionally I'd catch a whiff and think I was smelling some tea too (the chamomile I suspect).

 

Overall it was a very smooth mellow scent that was perfect for work. I LOVE Sandalwood and this is a lovely one. It really reminds me of the retired Bath & Body Works aromatherapy Sandalwood Orange scent. I love that body spray but it fades mega fast. This is very similar but it's a tad sweeter and it's BPAL so automatically better .

 

Throw is moderate and it lasted about 3 hours on me before I reapplied (but my skin tends to eat scents quickly and I enjoy reapplying frequently).

 

I just might need a backup bottle of this. Score 9.5/10.

[PurringPulsar]

Waraizome

 

In the imp: candied lemon verbena. I have a feeling this will be all verbena and little else on me.

Wet on skin: less sweet, more herbal, there’s a tiny bit of anise but it’s subtle. This is mainly verbena and camomile now.

Dry on skin: cologne. This smells just like proper eau de cologne now, it’s strong and lemony and sharp. It reminds me of a cross between Tartine et Chocolat (the first perfume I ever wore) and those lemon refresher towels they give you in Chinese restaurants or on planes. The anise and sassafras give it an almost clinical undertone that reminds me of pure alcohol, the kind used to dress wounds. The camomile is gorgeous but it’s totally smothered by the lemon refreshing towels and alcohol smell.

After a while: cologne, verbena and a hint of cold herbal tinctures. I’m surprised this doesn’t have white tea or absinthe as notes as there are definite hints of both scents in here. There’s something to this, most probably the moss, which reminds me of the smell of spas or saunas, that steamy, mineral-herbal scent, very clean without being soapy. I’m a bit sad at the lack of camomile, but the sandalwood shows up a few hours later.

Verdict: this one is strange. I knew it wouldn’t do so well on me and I was right. The verbena, as predicted, amped up as soon as it hit my skin, and turned the whole thing into the scent of lemony refresher towels, right down to that hint of alcohol or cologne they have. Then the anise comes out more at the end, and the whole thing ends up smelling like some kind of clear booze or even something medicinal. I didn’t get much of the camomile and sandalwood. Not my thing.

Is it a keeper? no.

If you like this, try: Mocking the Invisible World With Its Own Shadows, Phantom, Arcana, Absinthe, Embalming Fluid

[Little Bird]

I just got a sniffy of this one, because I know that bpal's chamomile and verbena tend to be awful on me (though I do enjoy red sandalwood, oakmoss, sassafras and anise). And this is mostly chamomile and verbena (a bright, sour, herbal lemon). I get a hint of sassafras, but it smells medicinal here. I definitely don't need to search out more of this'n.

[zankoku_zen]

Sadly, waraizome does not work for me. The sandalwood combined with the sassafras and the anise produces something that sort of smells like b.o. on me.

 

SAAAAD.

[milo]

First off, medicinal lemon cleaner, but in a good way, if that makes sense. The medicinal vibe fades quickly, and we're left with hard, tart lemon lifesaver with a touch of something peppery and rubbery in the background. Very unsettling now, I'd probably enjoy this blend otherwise, it's just too odd.

[Wren12]

In the bottle: A nice citrus, likely the verbena as others have noted, though I couldn't place it before reading the scent notes. Underneath is a nice herbal base.

 

On wet: The citrus remains prominent and the herbals take on a greener quality. The sandlewood in this seems to be playing nicely on me (often it becomes soapy.)

 

Dry down: I get the tiniest hint of the anise seed as it dries, and the verbena softens with the sandlewood providing a nice counterbalance to its sharpness. The light herbaceous base remains pleasing, likely the sassafras and anise, which aren't pronounced but nicely blended in.

 

All in all I like it, I don't love it, but the label is very cool! Although, now that I think about it, it's nice to have a sandlewood that doesn't go all soapy!

Edited December 29, 2012 by Wren12

[Magycmyste]

This is my first review, so I hope it reads alright. I'm starting to be able to pick out some of the scent notes. This is the second time I'm wearing this perfume, since the first time, I got blown away by "SCENT!!!" when I first opened the bottles.

 

In the bottle, I'm not sure what note I'm smelling exactly, but it hits me as eucalyptus, with a hint of lemon (I think the verbena).

 

On my skin, I smell more of the verbena, but still some of the eucalyptus-y smell (maybe the aniseseed?).

 

As it dries, it tones down to a talcum powder scent, which I think is the sandalwood layered with something else, possibly the chamomile. I'm not really sure what oakmoss or sassafras smells like, so I'm not sure where those notes hit me, if anywhere.

 

All in all, I really like this scent, and moreso on my skin than in the bottle. I don't mind eucalyptus, but it's a scent I associate more with medicine than something I might want to wear out. It doesn't have much of a throw (I think that's how far away it can be smelled from), especially once it dries on me - I have to hold my wrist up to my nose to really get the scents, but I'm fine with that, since sometimes really strong perfumes can upset my stomach.

[mymymai]

ITB: It reminds me of a nice men's cologne (verbena and oakmoss) with a bit of woody spiciness to it.

 

Wet: I get verbena paired with an interesting green smokiness from the oakmoss. There is also a slightly effervescent note, which might be the sassafras and the anise seed. It's an interesting scent, slightly reminiscent of the Hell of Great Heat, but much better.

 

Dry: The throw is great with this one. I keep getting whiffs of verbena and sandalwood each time I move my wrist and it is absolutely lovely. While it does skew more masculine to my nose, I still would wear this more frequently, especially once I finish testing all my untested scents.