Angry Crab

[Lycanthrope]

Ambergris accord, kelp, pale oakmoss, sea buckthorn berry, mugwort, petitgrain, frankincense, and salt.

In the bottle, it smells like salt and sea air, definitely less ozonic and 'breeze' and more of the sandy/salty ocean scent. I've got high hopes. I love aquatics! Especially when they are CRAB PEOPLE.

On, wet, it really morphs, I still get the salty quality but there's definitely a strong petitgrain scent - I can pull that note, stems, leaves, twigs and all, to the forefront. The kelp then steps in to add a very slightly fishy quality (Kani? Kani??? I love yoooooo), and now, mysteriously, it smells a little like those imitation crab sticks. Or maybe that's my brain. I don't know. After a little bit the cologney ambergris accord sidles up the front going 'HI I'M A WHALE. WHO DIS CRAB.'

And... over a little more time, the whale and crab accords kinda hit it off, so I'm left with a very watery, extremely oceanic, breezy citrus tree/plant scent. I think, like salty petitgrain made of oranges. In time, the resins (frank) and smokey scent (mugwort) make this a little stormy.

This is not a replacement for my much missed Kingsport, but it's a good, roiling oceanic marine that doesn't depend upon florals or lily to make it fresh. Do not use if you don't like petitgrain, because yup, it's a strong dominant note!

After a few hours, this dries down to a mysterious salty cologne. Not a sweet or heady perfume drydown, salt salt salt. Very nice, if you're a marine aquatics fan.

[Gwydion]

In bottles: This is very sea vegetation. I don’t know several of these elements, which means I can’t tell you which of the plants is which. Just trust that it is beautifully blended and strangely sexy. The oakmoss complements to sea vegetables and salt beautifully. The frankincense is lovely here, well blended with the other elements and cleverly thought of. I’m not a frankincense fan, but this is perfect here. The ambergris is thematically appropriate and really sexes it up. Lovely. Wet: Sexily oceanic and cologne like. Sweet and touch bitter at the same time. It’s a beautiful poem with a metaphoric resonance to the original art. I’m not good with ocean scents anymore, but this is actually working for me, maybe because it’s rooted in the plants instead of being abstract ocean. It’s anchored in a way that an abstract isn’t. Dry: Oceany oakmoss cologne. I can just wear this. I think it would be complex and amazing on someone with different skin chemistry who can carry the sea plants longer in a more differentiated form.

[marared]

This smells like high-end deodorant.

 

Really! It's a very nice, fresh and salty aquatic that does NOT go weird on my skin - it's in the same family as Lightning - but it still reminds me of deodorant!

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Ambergris and salty musk.

 

Drydown: Heaps of salt air. This is the scent that hits you as you cross over the bay heading to the Jersey shore. Except this smells much cleaner, lol. A true ocean-aquatic that’s pretty straightforward and simple despite the long list of notes.

 

Dry: Clean, fresh, and very salty. I can almost feel the ocean waves crashing around me. Like most aquatics, this is definitely unisex and would make a great warm weather or post-workout scent.

 

 

 

 

7.5 out of 10 bones

Edited July 11, 2013 by BoneBone24

[stellamaris]

I like this. What the heck? I don't usually like aquatics, but lately I have been interested in them, I do like Frederic, I do wear Halloween at Innsmouth, and I enjoyed Mary Read, although I would not really wear it as it's a bit too Aaargh Mateys We Are Pirates on a Wooden Ship for me.

I ordered this just seeing FRANKINCENSE & PETiTGRAIN and ignoring everything else, and was really scared when I saw the reviews.

I was scared to even open the bottle, as usually "aquatic" scents just give me a blinding headache, and make me think of Calvin Klein perfume from the eighties.

 

Imagine my surprise, I like this! I will wear this! I don't have to resurrect my sales page!

 

I think it's all the grounding elements, like the frankincense and petitgrain that make this scent for me. It is so amazingly evocative of sea air, and so wonderfully mouth wateringly salty, but it's also quite lush and deep.

 

Love this. I can't stop smelling myself...

 

And I finally figured out the scent association I have with this, it's similar to BPTP Coney Island Creek...no wonder I love this. This is getting a lot of wear, it's fresh and salty

Edited March 13, 2013 by stellamaris

[surlygurl]

For my review, can I say "Yeah, what stellamaris said"

 

From the reviews and my first sniff of the decant, I placed it in the "meh - try much later" pile. When Later came around I slathered some on, ready to go wash it off if needed. This reminded me of a GC aquatic, not sure which one. VERY aquatic. I was bracing for a hit of boy cologne when suddenly WHOOSH!!! Something sweetish and grounding came forth - frankincense, no doubt; not sure what petitgrain smells like. Up close it's really lovely. The throw is even better - salty sweet aquatic.

 

I should deathmatch this with other aquatic bottles I own, but I think this will win. (This is going into my "possible bottle" pile!)

[zankoku_zen]

Salty seas! This one is ambergris, oakmoss, and sea kelp greenness. It's cool, watery, but with tinges of sea kelp and life. Pretty strong throw.

 

Sadly, it does turn a little Irish Spring/deodorant on me.

 

Salty, clean, aquatic.

[Balame]

Started off like my favorite BPAL aquatic, Y'ha-nthlei. It was sweet, rich and powdery ambergris with flashes of orange citrus.

 

Then it was all NOPE, sorry honey, I'm Y'ha's evil stepmother. Went very sharp and a little nauseating. Usually saltiness doesn't bother me but it is just nonstop like whoa. There's a bit of a woodsy/green vibe on the drydown, but in a loud/astringent way. I guess it might be the mugwort? Too harsh on me.

[hlinspjalda]

Normally I'd run screaming from a scent with most of these ingredients. But a few years ago a Shunga proved to me I could wear scents that smell like the sea. And after falling in love with Blauer Mond, I figured I'd give sea buckthorn berry another whirl, so I tried this one.

 

In the vial: This reminds me somewhat of Velvet Cthulhu, only saltier. I love Velvet Cthulhu, so that's a good sign.

 

Wet: Green, a bit bitter, a touch salty, but with something rich deep down there somewhere that's holding it together and keeping it from turning into salad. It's very vital, intensely alive.

 

One hour: Less tannic and more herbal now. There's a slightly powdery note in it, but it feels like it's turning into a frankincense and ambergris scent now.

 

Two hours: Much less bitter and pungent now. In fact, it's very soft and close to the skin. It's still green and slightly aquatic, but no longer mannish. The frankincense is beginning to come out some more, and I expect it will soon come to dominate the mix.

 

Three hours: This moved continuously away from the initial sea scent towards something muted, a touch tannic, and very green in impression without smelling like fresh, juicy, or dried greenery. Even the frankincense is muted.

 

This crab isn't angry at me at all, and I'm surprised at how much I actually liked it.

Edited March 11, 2013 by hlinspjalda

[karykeion]

Thanks to Fright for the decant!

 

In the bottle: Cologne. I mean, really great cologne, to be sure, and cologne that really does smell like ocean, but cologne to a degree where I know I'm going to walk outside and people's first reactions aren't going to be "Who smells like ocean?", they'll be "DAMN THAT'S SOME COLOGNE".

 

On me, wet: Yeah, cologne. It's not even that I'm against manly scents, it's that I feel like this actually just smells like a man's scent I'd find at the mall, and I smell like I tried on something of my dad's because I'd never worn perfume before and wanted to try, or something. The cologniness calms down after a few seconds, though, and the whole thing gets kind of sweet and more oceany, which I like! It calms down and blossoms into this nice salty smell that's still cologne but a little more salty and green and sea air, and I am digging it.

 

On me, dry: Nope, I don't think so. It's a shame, I REALLY liked it about 10 minutes after it went on, but it's doing something not good. Musky, slightly saltly green cologne. I think this would be stunning on someone with the right chemistry, but it wasn't what I was looking for. I'm probably going to give it another test run or two since my hormones have been weird lately.

Edited March 13, 2013 by karykeion

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Ocean, a churning, foamy ocean where kelp is washing up with the tide.

 

Wet: Cool Water :\ Definitely getting the salty vibe though and that's just barely saving it at this point.

 

Dry: I brain-farted and put on hand lotion over the test spot. Coconut scented no less. It sure smells good this way though, salty, musky, slightly resiny. I think I'll keep my imp and layer it with this lotion

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Herbal plants waving and tossing in the salty breeze coming inland from the ocean.

 

Wet: On me the berry is making its way to the top. On the SO, very salt ocean winds.

 

The dry down: On me it's now more those salty ocean breezes, but tempered by all the plants. (I keep thinking there's ozone in here.) On him, just the salty winds from the beach. I like it, but one bottle is good.

[ajansuz]

This is sooooooo gooooooood. In the bottle, I absolutely agree with the comparison to Y'ha-nthlei without the mineral/coral component that went along with it. Also more salt. Did I mention the salt? My husband's skin really loves aquatics, so I let him play with this first. On him it was deep ocean goodness with very little of the vegetation coming through. It muted down to a skin scent on dry down. Whenever I got close to him, I was huffing because it was yowza, sexy without being sexual, if that makes sense.

 

Wet on me it got really loud at first. I was afraid I was going to be hit with the men's cologne effect I had from Mary Read. Thankfully, that didn't happen. What seemed to be amping the most was the frankincense, which made it a lot sweeter than I usually associate with aquatics. I can definitely detect the kelp in this stage, fresh, not like something that has been baking in the sun on the beach for a while.

 

As it dried, the throw was much stronger for me than for my husband. I also seemed to be bringing out a lot more of the greenery. It's refreshing and clean, the way I like to smell after a long shower. It's not soapy and not detergent. It's more organic than that. I'm very glad I bought a bottle. I still like Calico Jack best on the husband, but for me this has become my new go-to aquatic. As a Cancer, I'd have to say I feel like this is a perfect water sign scent, a little tempestuous and breezy, complex, and oh yeah, did I mention the salt?

[Little Bird]

I ordered this mainly because the name and artwork made me laugh. But bpal's aquatics/ozones almost always turn to soap on my skin, and this one isn't an exception. I wasn't sure that this would even be aquatic, based on the note list (ambergris, oakmoss, petitgrain and frankincense sounds awesome), but it is. I get nothing but dry, sharp, heavy soapiness from this, reminiscent of dryer sheets. I can't pick out any of the listed notes

[porcelina]

angry crab is (appropriately) an AGGRESSIVE aquatic. i'm not generally super into aquatics but i like this one, it reminds me of some of my more piratical favorites. the frankincense and ambergris make it kind of musky-cologney. it's very salty and fresh. i like this angry crab!

[milo]

I kind of smiled when I pulled this out of the random imp pile, as Angry Crab describes me to a 't' the last few days. On to the review.

I'm getting a salty cologney vibe right from the start. It strengthen's with time, becoming probably the most cologney bpal I have ever tried. Ends up being quite masculine and unwearable to me. I wouldn't even want to smell this on a guy, no matter how hot he is.