Druid

[Invidiana]

DRUID
A woolen robe infused with the scent of a vast, primordial forest: ancient trees, fertile soil, wild herbs, spring grasses, and burgundy pitch incense.

Druid smells ancient in the best possible way. I've always been fascinated by Druids in both history and fiction, and this scent evokes all the mental images I've had of them. There are definitely a lot of dark resins and woods here, overgrown with moss and vines like a forest that has gone completely untouched since time immemorial. There is something of an earthy backdrop to it as well, probably with a bit of black patchouli grounding it. I think there is cedar in this but the fact that my skin doesn't turn it into a hamster cage means it's very subtle, and if I'm not mistaken it reminds me of the black cedar in An Altar to Cold Dark Rigid Death. Complex and intriguing, not promouncedly masculine as it may seem with all the wood notes ( I think there's oak in as well and some sort of bark). I'm looking forward to the final iteration of this.

[zankoku_zen]

Wool, dark resins and pitch. It smells sort of like FOREST, FIRE, EARTH, MAN. (yes, all in capslock). There's something almost 'sweet' to the smoky aspect of it all.

 

In fact, this is one awesome smelling Druid. The kind that you wouldn't mind having sex with during some pagan holiday, outside by a fire, in the middle of a forest, against an oak tree. Because you know he's magic.

 

And it's going to be a magical time.

 

So, resinously dark, slight wool (like the faint wool smell of a REAL wool sweater) comfiness, and smoky sweetness.

[jolarocknrolla]

Sweet green scent, slightly pleasantly herbal but mostly green forest smell and upturned earth. Must have cypress in there since that goes sweet on me, but I don't get much wood at all, mostly greenery and loamy earth. there might also be a hint of loral in there somwhere rounding it out. Not a morpher, very fresh and clean, would love this as a room-spray!

[Mergekat]

I got a sample squirt of this, and have to say I really like it. It smells stronger than many of my other squirts samples, which is a must because scent fades fast on me. But I love the earthy and grassy vibes I'm getting from this. I even detect some wool in there as I have had scents rub off on my sweaters before. It almost brings on a "memory" scent of summer and fresh cut grasses for me. Now I'm curious about what herbs are in there (parsley, sage, rosemary, etc.)? Just wondering because they either sync together well, or aren't very prevalent on me. Either way, I think this is a great spring/summer scent. It oddly enough, makes me want to go back and read The Iron Druid Chronicles books (I could totally imagine the main character with this). I may get a bottle of this.

 

Now to later try out Ranger and Rogue.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Light evergreens and sweet earth. There’s something like a berry or chocolate note too, which must be the burgundy incense.

 

Drydown: Light blue evergreens like spruce or juniper over a base of rich, moist earth. A touch of fuzzy and cool herbs along the lines of sage, bay, and hyssop. I’m also getting a sweet and creamy tonka-like note which is likely just the result of the woods/herbs with my skin chemistry. Towards the end of the drydown the incense kicks into high gear overpowering the other notes. It’s deep and definitely burgundy-hued.

 

Dry: A light, creamy-woodsy-powdery scent. The individual notes have all merged and become whispers. It's quite pleasant.

[patina]

This is an excellent outdoors/forest scent. It smells like wearing a wool sweater in the middle of a grove of trees.

 

It is somewhat faint though. (It's the faintness that makes it believably foresty rather than "whooo! Pine oil!") I think this would be better as a room spray, but I'm still tempted to get it.

 

I think this would be lovely layered with a leather scent or a light spring floral.

[Little Bird]

A very soft, almost sweet dirt note (like in The Lovers and Death Cap) with a sweet, sharp fruity-floral feel underneath it. A hint of red fruit and generic women's perfume. Must be the incense giving me that impression. The green herbs are like Ochosi, but in this blend, they're in the background, a barely there sort of whisper in the scent. Mostly a cloying fruity-floral something, for some reason. I really don't care for this blend.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Little Bird

[ajansuz]

In the imp, this is rich humus and dry spruce needles. It smells very much like a forest floor with a similar dirt note to Zombi.

 

Wet for a while the dirt is pretty strong, overpowering anything else. It also smells damp and a little musty, like wet wool. Not liking it very much at this stage.

 

It dries into something fairly surprising. I'd say this trends more masculine than unisex. It's not quite cologne, although it has that quality to it. The evergreen comes up enough to keep it fresh and natural rather than chemical or perfumey. It doesn't have much throw, but it lingers for hours. It's not really me; however, it's not unpleasant. It's a good interpretation of the class and might do better blended with something else.

[milo]

I generally love the lab's dirt note, but here it is combined with a green weed-like smell to make this one noxious. Fit's the description well, but it's definitely not something I'm going to try again.

[JazzieCazzie]

Received this, along with several other RPG frimps that were all new to me, in a recent order and am intrigued. I loved reading Beth's notes about the line and her own experience growing up in the game playing realm. I already had Mage and Gnome but had not tried any of the others. So all of my RPG reviews this week are from that "haul" for lack of better word.

 

IN THE IMP: Deep, rich, green the color of Lush's Washday Greens shampoo (not literally but in the way it makes me feel). This is the forest primieval.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: After the first sharp green foresty and wet dirt scent in the imp, surprised by how lovely and soft and gentle and comforting the blend turns on my skin. Green and floral. I can't put my finger on a single note, only on the ways it makes me feel and what images it evokes for me. It's enchanting an mesmerizing. In fact, to me it smells like what I had EXPECTED HAMADRYAD to smell like way back when, but it didn't.

 

DRYDOWN: As it dries, at first, the incense notes rise and overpower the wet green loam. Something like myrrh (maybe not myrrh but something similar) comes out with its spicy sweetness, almost powdery. Then, by the end, it's like a fine green patina that shines over the whole field.

 

OVERALL: I love how this make me feel as much as how it makes me smell. It's a wonderful outdoors and mystical scent ... I think it would be great to wear to a ren faire.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 4.5

[mistressfizz]

This is lighter than I expected, green and cool, with an almost aquatic pitch. There are hints of moss and earth, but mostly I get a sense of clean, fresh greenery. As it dries, it settles into a dusty soft scent, like dry branches covered in grass.

[Jupita]

So far, even if it's starts earthy and foresty... this quickly becomes a sweet scent (probably the purple incense), which makes me see a very cartoonesque druid... maybe One Piece style. Almost purple candy.

 

On a drier stage, the candy is a bit subdued. I say a bit, cause it's still there. I can smell a bit of herby something, but it's not really present.

 

I'm a bit disappointed. It's just nothing I expected... sweet, candy-like...

[Gwydion]

In bottle: The tree combination in this is a bit unusual and complex. It blends beautifully with the soil note, which I consider mildly dominant over the woods. Pitch incense supports the woods, the herbs and grasses are soft, but distinct. This is very up my alley. Wet: Paler, juicier, and greener on the skin. The herbs and grasses step up to dance with the trees. There is a sweet wet note similar to slobbering pine. It’s surprisingly complex and fluid. Dry: Fades to a pleasant slightly sweet melange of woods with a opalescent herbal halo.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - A damp green mossy scent

 

Wet on me - A green mossy scent with a brighter almost citrusy note in the background

 

Dry on me - A clean slightly masculine skin musk

 

Overall - Not really my cup of tea

[Cazzadeathgirl]

Got an imp of this last year and still had it also got my big bottle earlier this month

 

In bottle- quite a strong scent it's mainly the incense I smell which I like, can't smell too much as it tends to overload my nose

 

Wet on skin- now I smell more, it's still a strong Incense but I also smell something green...fresh cut grass? Kind of sweetens up a little on my skin. Lemon drops or sherbet lemons anyone? Haha

 

Dry on skin- well with how it smelled out the bottle, I thought it would stay a little longer after about 3 hours, it's gone or a very very faint skin scent. However, the throw was pretty impressive. It's much sweeter on me than in the bottle but not too over sweet at all.

 

Overall, I will always love this scent no matter what, since it doesn't last long, I do have to apply it all over my body. (I use a cheap eyeshadow blending brush to draw patterns all over my body to scent) when a lot is applied, it does last 5-6 hours

[Aviatrix]

This is a very realistic and gorgeous forest blend. It smells exactly like damp forest floor and mosses. It's less sharp than my favorite forest blend Nocnitsa; it's more round and soft, but still life-like foresty.

I can definitely see how a druid would smell like this, and it's very good indeed. Not as good as Nocnitsa, but close.

[lady_pandora]

This was a frimp I got with my 2013 Lupers and somehow never got around to trying, so my review is of an imp that's been aged about a year and a half.

 

In vial: Pine.

 

Wet: Pine, plus something that's registering as a mint to me. Not peppermint. Maybe spearmint. It's a little aftershavey.

 

Drydown: The mint burns off quickly, taking the aftershave feel with it--it's gone in 5-10 minutes. It leaves behind the pine and something a little sweet. Like JazzieCazzie, I find the sweet note reminiscent of myrrh and the lovely sweet rounding-out it does to a lot of blends. Maybe this is the incense part of pitch incense? I don't know. But I like it.

 

Dry: Pretty much the same as the drydown but drier, for lack of a more helpful term. It's really quite beautiful, and comfortable. Like a dark green cuddly blanket.

 

Overall: Druid works great with my skin chemistry and evokes the concept really well. While it's meant to be RPG Druid rather than real-life religious Druid, I could see it making a good ritual oil for some contexts. The Green Man might smell like this. The only thing it doesn't quite go with is my scent "personality," as it skews more masculine than what I generally want. I don't want to be the person wearing this oil--I want to make out with the person wearing this oil.

 

Verdict: Give to Boyfriend and glomp him.

[White Raven]

Wet: Smells like one of those Blueprint kale, apple, and lemon drinks. There's an inkling of mint in the background. Not as grassy as some other BPAL perfumes.

 

Drydown: Woods and resins start to take over. The sillage goes down significantly, to the point where I can barely smell it on my wrist unless I press my nose up against my skin.

 

Dry: A complete surprise. Something warm and spicy emerges, which must be the incense, but I'm detecting some vanilla too (must be my skin). A definite morpher and one of my new favorites.

[ResinManiac]

Wanted to like this one, but all I got is the terrible murky scent of fresh cut grass. Some folks like it, but I don't, I guess I must keep searching for the perfect RPG...

[beakerwill]

Sweet, slightly spicy, woodsy cuddly loveliness. Something about it hits my nose as almost buttery.

As it dries on my skin it mellows, becoming even more cuddly. I'm getting a hint of berries, or red fruit.. might be the "burgandy pitch incense". A fall/winter/spring scent to me, for wearing in cooler weather. It does fade faster than normal for me, though.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Primarily a fresh green scent - I'm almost tempted to say cucumber instead of fresh-cut grass. There's also a definite herbal note keeping things interesting, although I can't quite identify which herb(s). Finally, there's a very subtle woodsy base that I almost missed. But I tend to dislike entirely fresh scents without some sort of grounding (be it patchouli, amber, musk, woods, etc. - anything that would give it some weight), so after some determined sniffing, I think I can detect the "ancient trees" giving it some gravitas.

 

Wet: If ITI was a druid walking through tall spring grasses, cutting herbs for a ritual, this is the ritual itself. It's a darker, earthier scent altogether, with the promised "burgundy pitch incense" becoming dominant, along with mint. What I believe to be wooly and soil notes are also present as backup. More confusingly, definite notes of mint and citrus are also present - the zing of mint is very noticeable from the first, while the citrus provides a subtle sweetness to the whole blend. After a few minutes, the mint fades, only to be replaced by...berries? Maybe there was a feast following the ritual. (Although, tbh, this new development actually has me a bit worried - Autumn Overlooked My Knitting was supposed to be all warm cuddly wool, but went straight "junior high girls' locker room" on me. So maybe my skin reads BPAL's wool note as EIGHTY TONS OF FRUITY-FLORAL BODY MIST? I hope not...)

 

Dry: Spoilers: no EIGHTY TONS OF FRUITY-FLORAL BODY MIST. Instead, it settles into incense, but like the incense in Cleric - dry and herbal; burning sage rather than Churchy frankincense/myrrh. Unlike Cleric, though, there's an interestingly spicy edge hanging around. I like it!

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: Exactly as described. Simply stunning!

 

Wet on skin: Mostly herbs & grasses (unsurprising for me), the other notes aren't really there, but just seem to give it a bit more depth & mystery.

 

Dry on skin: Oooh! The herbs & grasses have faded a bit & mixed with the incense & something else! This is lovely! Would be very fun to layer with!

 

After a few hours: Same as dry, only more faded.

 

Verdict: This is very pretty! I can't wait to experiment with layering it with some of the others!

[Balame]

When I first put Druid on I didn't really like it. Smells almost fruity yet spiced. Like a peppery watermelon? The spice is definitely the pitch, anyway. As it dries, maybe around 30 minutes later, the fruity aspect dies off and I get a mix of soft herbs and woods. It's very light at this point and I can barely smell it, though I do like it since it's more of a "foresty robe" now as opposed to whatever the wet stage was doing. Too light for me to get much use out of it though.

[lucycat]

This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

Druid starts with a burst of pine, making me think of Christmas trees. So the forest is definitely a pine forest.

 

On my hand, this remains incensey pine, though it becomes faint fairly quickly. On my arm: This is a druid whose woolen robes are washed with a nice detergent and fabric softener.

 

Druid leans masculine, but not overpoweringly so.

[agirlnamedfury]

Testing location: left inner wrist

 

In imp: fresh, bright, and sweet -- faintly honey-scented?

 

Wet on skin: Slightly grassy now, but still very sweet. I get only the faintest hint of wood and incense.

 

Dry: soft, sweet incense. Maybe some vanilla?

 

 

This was a complete surprise! Totally different than I expected it to smell from reading the description and notes. I actually quite like this one...