R'lyeh

[ShadowEtienne]

The sunken city of the Great God Cthulhu. A hellishly dark aquatic scent, evocative of fathomless oceanic deeps, the mysteries of madness buried under crushing black waters, and the brooding eternal evil that lies beneath the waves.



This is fascinating! I've liked all the aquatics I've tried from A Picnic in Arkham so far: Cthulhu, Yha'nthlei, and now R'lyeh. This one is more different from the other two than they are from each other.

 

This invokes dark still water of the ocean close to shore, perhaps even lapping it's way into a cave. I get wafts of salt, kelp, and something deep and resinous and smoky that I think might be opium smoke as a note because it reminds me of A Forest Reverie. There's a bare hint of something fruity that adds sweetness and reminds me of dried, candied pomelo or maybe grapefruit, but a particularly sour one. There's also a floral touch that reminds me of wilting lilies (a good smell, but one that also is somehow appropriately ominous). 

 

This is fascinating! I think that Cthulhu is my favorite of the Picnic in Arkham aquatics that I've tried, but R'Lyeh is interesting in how it is different!

Edited August 15, 2023 by ShadowEtienne

[Tungerine]

This is similar to Event Horizon, just as dark, but colder. I think it's also a little less sweet. If Event Horizon is purple, this would be green-blue. It doesn't end up soapy like most aquatics do on me, in fact I think it's more metallic than aquatic, or maybe like cold stone. I wouldn't call it pleasant but it's interesting and evocative and I think I'll need a bottle because I keep reaching for it and have nearly finished the imp.

[theredkilt]

Lab Frimp: grapefruit tinged with neroli or orange blossom and musk?

The neroli/ orange blossom come out later prominently.

 

[Jarek]

My first review! Not my first BPAL perfume oil, but it is a new one from my new order that I just received yesterday! And I am a new member! I am rather unpracticed in the ways of perfumes but I have been doing a lot of reading. :3

 

In the imp: wet and sweet, a lot brighter than I was expecting, given my past experience with Cthulhu (which I love). I don't get "grapefruit" but I can see why others do.

 

Wet on skin: more pronounced sweet & wet, but those aquatic notes are way more noticeable. I tend to enjoy aquatic scents and this is no exception.

 

Dry on skin: The sweet is mostly gone and it's a bit darker now but still makes me think of other products that often use aquatics, like how they're commonly put into laundry soap. But not saying this one is soapy or makes me smell like laundry! Just, very much aquatic. Which I like! (Hi I only recently started researching perfumes & scents, I knew I often liked "rain" and "water" scented things and I really like Cthulhu, so now I know more about aquatics and it's so cool!)

 

I reapplied and do quite enjoy this one, but I don't think I like it enough to get a 5mL bottle like I did with Cthulhu. But it may grow on me more as I continue to wear it, I do fully intend to wear out the Imp.

 

Edit: trying this one again, just after a day where I wore Cthulhu, and I can really smell the difference now. R'Lyeh is sweeter, seems less "dark", definitely aquatic and also less salty and green. The almost fruitiness mostly goes away as it dries, though some remains, and it still reminds me a bit of clean laundry though mostly just the clean laundry smell and not soapy at all. I like it a lot more than the first time I tried it, and I might get a bottle of.it after all. Also I am excited to try "Dirty" from BPAL for a more intentional clean laundry smell.

Edited 22 hours ago by Jarek