R'lyeh

[walkingundine]

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.

In the imp: Take a large pink grapefruit. Inject it with an elephant-sized dose of PURE EVIL WAHAHAHAHA. Drop the resulting evilfruit into the Mariana Trench. That's R'lyeh. It's dark, wet, citrusy, and COLD. I love it!

Wet: Citrus, and dark water, and something sorta musky.... Waitaminute... What's this? Could it be a BURNING RASH?!? Why yes! It is!

I never got the chance to explore the drydown phase, as my wrist erupted into itchy burny flames. That was two days ago. The redness has subsided but the texture of that patch of skin has yet to return to normal, even with the use of antihistamines.

Oh, R'lyeh, you did me wrong.

[brownbear]

wet: hmmm wow i had to smell this again after reading all the grapefruit reviews. yup i do smell grapefruit, but it never occurred to me before. but it's a spicy, more complex type of grapefruit

 

on my skin: I was getting an interesting aquatic, spicy, rootbeer kind of scent, a little strong

 

Dry: mmmmmmyummmmyummmmm it's tasty the grapefruit (now that i'm aware of it's existence) has disappeared, which is fine. It smells like it did wet on my skin, but a lot softer. I think this would smell divine on a guy. I would have to bite him. I think I know someone who needs to try this. I think I even know someone who would be willing to try it.

 

cute roomie review: when fresh and wet- "ugh! that's terrible." when dry: "hmm i like it a lot better. it's not so strong."

[quikslvr]

Strange, dark incense/spiced beginning--evokes a weird potpourri my mom used to have around. Black waters, definitely. I got no citrus, as others did--rather, I'm picking up more pine. Smells like what I think the Florida Everglades should: mossy, dank, deep, and creepy. When hours dry, goes more perfume-y: rather like what I remember Dior's Poison to be like.

[Scarlettfish]

In the imp, this smells like dark and murky water. Upon application, it reminded me of a river or a harbour...not the sparkling aquatic smell of the beach, but something far more dark. Really nice, though. It is pretty much the same to me as it dries down as upon initial application. I really like it, but I probably prefer beachy aquatic scents. However, I have been very impressed with Beth's aquatic notes, she manages to infuse them with so much variety, but they have all been really wonderful.

[Rackham's Vanity]

I got freshwater aquatic out of R'lyeh, which made it immediately scary for me (I'm terrified of freshwater for some unknown reason). Whereas Ulalume is a sparkling light blue aquatic on me, R'yleh is a dark, deep, blue-green, freshwater swamp. I could even detect some aquatic vegetation and the briefest hint of stagnant water.

 

I was surprised to find that Beth blends R'yleh with the ocean in mind, as I all I smelled was freshwater. Jolly Roger bellows "ocean" at me, but R'yleh does not. *shrug*

 

My weird phobia aside, I really do like R'yleh. It's my favourite freshwater aquatic thus far.

[Nachtwulf]

In the bottle: A pleasant enough floral, I suppose. I don't know if I'd call it 'darkly aquatic'... it smells of soft, sweet flowers to me, more than anything, though pleasantly clean and clear.

 

Wet: Snurf? SNURF? Okay, maybe my sniffer might not be in high gear right now, but... yeesh. It smells faintly of something sweet, like honeysuckle... a light, floral note, but really, it seems awfully...thin. (I don't think it's diluted either; the color of the oil is a deep brownish, and if it was watered down, it wouldn't be that color.) Of any failings it may have, 'overpowering' is sure not one of them.

 

Dry: Still faintly sweet, faintly floral. Still not very aquatic, still inoffensive. Still something I have to squash my nose against to smell ANYTHING.

 

Final opinion Well, it's nice, I guess. But I think I want a little more bang for my buck than this is apparently capable of giving me. I suppose it'd be good if you spend a lot of time in super-close quarters and you didn't want to gas out your compatriots, but I just don't think it's got enough 'oompf' for me.

[slugbait]

I got this to go with my fiancés bottle of Cthulhu. I liked the idea of evil grapefruit and thought that Cthulhu should have a scent in honor of his home

 

This smells very similar to Cthulhu. I did a side by side comparison and they are very similar. R’lyeh smells fruity, but not sweet, and aquatic. There is a touch of floral in it. Cthulhu smells saltier and even more aquatic, no fruity note.

 

Dry, this is salty-seaweed-grapefruit. It smells very masculine, very clean. Reminds me of the ocean. I think this will smell better on my fiancé so it’s going to him.

[yellowrose]

Since when is white grapefruit evil?

 

Wet: White grapefruit, lotus and saltiness.

 

Drying: Almost overwhelming. There's one note I can't pick out. This is more astringent, aquatic than Queen of Diamonds, which sets the bar for grapefruit scents. Almost immediately becomes masculine. Polo?! Ack!

 

Not what I want to smell like today. Will try again in cooler weather.

 

Washed off as I could, but still having problems with whatever that one evil note is. Vetiver? Anyway, having problems breathing. Could be that I tried to happy up my scent aura with some Kunstkammer. Ironically, the combination brings forward the pepper note in Kunstkammer. Very, very ODD!

[LiberAmoris]

Mmmm, sparkling grapefruit sourball! R'yleh is one of those imps I've had kicking around forever but never seem to get around to wearing. I'm not sure why because it's so refreshing and for whatever reason seems to really improve my focus and concentration when I wear it.

 

In many ways, R'yleh reminds me of a darker, murkier Danube, which is also a favorite. This is the kind of aquatic that I absolutely adore. When I finish the imp, it's time for a bottle.

[Phaedra]

This one was a frimp from the Lab in one of my recent orders. When first on this smells sweet and syrupy, almost like root beer. It makes me think of dark brown wood and water. It also smells like a fancy soap for me. This one is very hard to describe- very mysterious, interesting and somewhat masculine. I'm really glad I got to try this one but don't need to keep it.

[Lycanthrope]

In the vial, this is initially a sort of woodsy, wet grapefruit - definitely an aquatic citrus, but not a really bright aquatic like Sea of Glass, but more of a sultry citrus. It starts off with a burst of something damp and floral, but that fades into a dark, amber-like note with salty overtones, and just a touch of floating driftwood or sandalwood. Over time, it fades relatively quickly but leaves behind a definite seashore/saltspray aroma, what with the salty air, slight sweetness of the seaspray, and pieces of lumber worn smooth by the ocean and time.

 

I love you, R'Lyeh!

[imaginepageant]

In the vial: Very green and menacingly floral. It's a dark, wet, frightening forest backlit by a dying sunrise and layered with the shadows of the night.

 

Wet: The scent becomes more sharp and tangy on my skin. I suppose it is rather aquatic, although I definitely wouldn't have thought so if the description didn't spell it out for me. Whether this is an ocean or a forest, one thing is for certain: the sky overhead is a dark, deep blue, with bruised clouds drifting by, threatening to unleash a cold and cruel rain into the lashing winds below.

 

Dry: The anger and evil I originally smelled in this is gone, and it's become an antique floral. The biggest impression I get from this scent, is that it's one worn by an old lady. My nose is probably deceiving me, but I think I also catch a bit of apple in this.

 

An hour later: Sweeter, softer, and drier. Still an old lady floral, though. Where on earth is the grapefruit everyone mentions in this blend?

 

Overall: It's not terrible, but I don't love it. I can't see myself ever wearing this, both because there are florals I much prefer and because this is too old lady for my taste, so this will be finding a new home shortly.

[herongale]

in the bottle: Some people get a watery deep brooding underwater grapefruit scent out of this. For me, my first impression is Vic's Vapour Rub. This is a significantly astringent scent. I can tell that there's some kind of evergreen sap thing going on here, which I'm told is pine, but it reminds me more of witch hazel. This is sharp, redolent of ginger ale and... the Yankee Candle Company. I do not get the impression of a broiling, evil ocean; instead, all I can really picture is sense is the concept of medicine (possibly Pepto Bismol) and wax. Not promising.

 

wet: placed on my pulse points, I again have the impression of menthol clearing out my sinuses. There is nothing girly about this scent at all, but I would be hard pressed to want to put this on a man. I do get a little of the "salt" impression, though... it's like a Lush bath bomb that I tried in Malta, one which turned the water of my bath a really lovely Easter Egg blue and which released little bits of seaweed as the bicarb fizzled. As the menthol dries, the scent becomes more spicy and appealing, but I can tell even now that this scent is not me.

 

dry: I did the ultimate test, which was mixing it with my Korres guava body butter and seeing if this made me smell like Scar's lover. Sadly, it did not.

 

Verdict: Nein. It's imitation grapefruit at best, nothing like the pure scent of Hermes.

[olympia301]

This one certainly is aquatic and it is dark, dank and citrus on the fly. By that last idea, I mean that I would never ever had said "grapefruit' without the famous remark about the Grapefruit of Evil. It just didn't strike me that way. I reminds me of the CT2 I got and it isn't a bad thing, it's just not to my taste. I know that lots of BPAL-ers out there love it so I know it can be given a good home. I had wanted to try this one for a long time and thanks to the lab, I did!

[cuervosueno]

acquatic, yes. In the imp, cool watery notes, and cucumber.

 

Put it on. Nothing at all.

 

After a few minutes, I began to smell something that smelled like bitter cucumber rind. Wierd, and not appealing.

 

Then I figured I had to know what was in it, so I looked up the reviews.

 

Grapefruit? WTF? But now it does kind of smell like grapefruit, but not the sweet notes for me, but like the rind of white grapefruit. Bitter.

 

Something else in there too, also bitter.

 

I like grapefruit scents. I like Yuzu. I didn't like this.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Definitely... aquatic. Sharp, clean. Hard to pin down.

 

On, wet: Smells... like the bathroom after someone has just taken a long, hot shower and used some generic-smelling soap. ^^; Not soapy like cheap scented candles, just that sort of after-soap wet cleanness.

 

On, dry: Pretty much the same.

 

10 minutes: Kind of a headachey smell if I sniff right at it, but from a distance I just smell kinda... clean. It's okay, but not thrilling. Will try again some other time, see if I can find any of that "hellishly dark" part instead of "shower fresh." ^^;;;

[hangingfire]

In the imp: Dark green and aquatic. Slightly citrusy and a little spicy too.

 

On, wet: Now it's more of a blue smell, but still very aquatic, and a little stony too.

 

Drydown: Aquatic, a little spicy, with a touch of vegetation (cucumber?) and stones.

 

I loves me some aquatics. It doesn't seem all that "dark" to me, but then I'm someone whose favorite BPAL scent is Yog-Sothoth. I don't know what that says about me, but I suppose I'm consistent, at least. Anyway, I like this one a lot -- definitely a keeper.

[Eros]

Couldn't quite place it in the imp but once I applied to wrists, sweetened grapefruit. Very fresh, very clean & "bright".

Within 15 minutes, all gone.

[Xiabelle]

I can definitely understand the evil grapefruit comments people have made about this one!

 

When I put it on, it's citrus, although I wouldn't recognize it as grapefruit if people hadn't ID'd it for me, darkened by something undefinable. Sort of dark and pithy and sharp, with that unsettling background.

 

It stays true for a while, then gradually darkens its way down, becoming murkier. It really is like sinking into the water. It has that aquatic tang that unfortunately doesn't really work on me, even when I like it.

 

 

Final drydown is very much an underwater scent. Like someone else said, I can see the blue-green swamp, because that's the definite image I get: still, blue-green water with drifts of algae and seaweed. It has a slightly dirty smell, in a way, but mostly it's just dark. Like you'd go underwater and not be able to see, but there's still a tiny bit of sweetness there, lurking and beconing,

 

Not for me, really, although it's quite fascinating.

[aedes]

Huzimuh? Is this right? *sniffs*

 

Well, wet, all I got was Big Red gum, or perhaps a red hot: cinnamon and sweet. Now that it's drying, it's calming down to reveal some more aquatic notes, I think. But it's still retaining the spice. I get none of the grapefruit or other cold notes. Bully! At least I like the way it smells dry, though I was kind of gunning for the cold aquatic thing.

 

Well, I have been trying on a lot of scents today. I'll try it again another day. Hm! *sniff* cinnamon!

[LushNatty]

In the bottle: grapefruit juice.

Applied: really tangy grapefruit, which after a few minutes turns into a very nice, although masculine, perfume, in which it is difficult for me to discern the different notes. It is aquatic, although darkly aquatic; there’s a kind of manly sharp note that stands out amongst what I can only describe as a manly aquatic floral. Sounds weird to say manly floral, but it’s totally manly.

So manly that, although it is nice, it’s not for me. I would be very happy to smell this on a man, though. As a scent that smells, to me, like a man’s cologne, it’s head and shoulders above the "usual" guy scents—it smells of quality and character. And there’s not a terribly strong throw, so it would be nice for a guy since 1) they tend to overdo it with the application and 2) men’s scents are best if you have to get close to them to smell the scent. In my opinion, anyway.

But since there is no man in my life right now, it’s going to swaps.

On a scale of 1 to 5: 3.

[Abbie]

Strange Ians, indeed. (Gaiman joke)

 

Okay, on to the review.

 

In the imp: Well, that ain't grapefruit. It's nice, but spicier and less tart. It COULD be Yuzu, but if I had come into this fragrance not having read reviews I would have said "Potpourri store in the mall". To me it smells like a lot of different things going on in one little bottle.

 

First on: Yeah, this is potpourri. With cinnamon and orange peel and ginger. It's not bad: smells like my Grandma, not like my mental R'lyeh at all. (Ia! Ia! Gyaggin vyardar! Grandma F'thagn!)

 

Dry: This is a good long-lasting scent, and kind of nice and comforting. Maybe a little aquatic has come out at the end but this is still pretty spice. I like.

[SeaMonkey]

I'm not really sure what to think about this scent. Its not really "evil"........it smells like walking into the candle section at Bath and Body works at christmas. Its a little too much at once........grapefruits, melons.......oh my.

 

Its still like very strong fruity candles.

[theseagrows]

this is a sort of golden and musky aquatic scent on me. but smells like masculine commercial cologne on me, and burns my nostrils. so off to the swap pile r'lyeh goes.

[PilotKitten]

 

The descriptions of "evil grapefruit" ring true.

 

I first recognized the tangy note of grapefruit... along with something spicy. Can't put my finger on that second scent. Kind've a smoky note... but not cigarette smoke... confusing.

 

At first this is just a hideously strong grapefruit. I brave it out and it settles down a lot... still tangy though.... just a little bit of bite left.

 

I'm not a fan of grapefruit so this will definitely go into the swap pile. It's not a totally bad scent after it settles down.... just not for me.