Nosferatu

[forspecial_plate]

We've finally caved in to years of requests for vampiric scents. As soft as grave dust and as dry as a breath drawn within a long forgotten crypt, this is Nosferatu: desiccated herbs and gritty earth brought to life with a swell of robust and sanguineous red wines.

I thought this was definitely earthy and dry. It didn't strike me as 'dusty', at least not as much as Krampus....which really did have a dust-rag note in it, at least to my nose. This is more like the dirt note in Zombi.

Anyway....underneath the earth is a deep, red, fruity wine note. There's a weird wetness here, but not humid. Even though it reminded me of Zombi, because both have an earth note with other stuff underneath....Nosferatu is different. It's much drier for one thing, even with that wet redness. LOL....I see now that this scent is hard to pin down. How is it dry and wet at the same time?? I don't know, but it is!

Also this is more subtle and 'quiet' than Zombi. The throw is light and disappears to almost nothing after a couple hours or less.

edit: After re-reading the description for Zombi, it makes a little more sense. That scent has oakmoss, which I'm sure makes Zombi more of a humid scent. Nosferatu is drier in that sense, but still has that wetness of wine and red fruit. Edited June 4, 2007 by Forspecial Plate

[eatingthesea]

suck me dry, nosferatu! including my wallet, for i shall purchase several bottles of the ol' rotting chap as soon as possible. one week after receiving him in imp form, i have elevated him to "favorites" status. as another reviewer said, nosferatu is akin to zombi, but definitely more...alive, and less "torn," than the latter. while zombi is rather dead and dry, nosferatu is flowing with zee lifeblood. i am so glad that the wine note is omnipresent yet does not override the earth, which is super-important to me. the herbs make for an interesting, lilting "tang" to an otherwise very earth-tight scent. i consider these types of dirt-based scents my "signature." i cannot stop sniffing my skin while it wears nosferatu. i wanna suck me own blood!

[Extispex]

In the imp, dirt-n-wine.

 

On my skin, wet, dirt-n-wine.

 

The first time I tried this, I thought, phew - stinky. I think because dirt notes always initially remind me of the bbq-pit note in Coiled Serpent. But no, this is different, and its really starting to grow on me. A LOT.

 

On the dry-down, dirt is still the predominant note on me, but its kind of a sweet, herby dirt. And the wine note in this is really lovely. Not over the top boozy, but just enough to deepen the aroma a bit. The more I sniff it, the more I like it. Offerings of herbs and wine spilled upon dark soil.

 

I'm glad I gave this one a second chance. Or maybe not so glad, because I'm not sure my pocket-book can handle it, but yeah, I might just want a bottle.

[jiggahava]

ANOTHER dirt scent that works on me? Heavens to Betsey.

 

The dirt smells dry, and a little like dry leaves than moist wet earth. There is some very light wine in here, but it's not a boozy smell. It's sweet and light. I get the herbs and dirt mostly, and it is very light and pretty on me. Light throw. I love it when I blends I think I won't like suprise me. I'll keep the imp fo' sho.

Edited June 22, 2007 by Hava

[mrsveteran]

In the imp: Very watery, a bit fruity, like watermelon (but not sweet) and a touch of lemon. Dry? Dust? Wine? Got none of that.

 

Wet on skin: This is so interesting. Very aquatic to me with the barest, BAREST hint of something citrusy and spicy.

 

Drydown. I have no idea what to think of this. It's indescribable -- literally, I'm having a very hard time describing it! Very, very light. I get no dirt out of this whatsoever. There's a barely-there floral, a barely-there citrus, and a barely-there medicinal herbal, but the whole thing is just a blend: I mean, a real merging into one scent.

 

Throw: almost none. I really have to get my nose right up on my wrist to smell it.

 

Verdict: Swap. It's really quite a lovely and interesting scent, but it's far too light for me and I'd probably never wear it. I think it would make a good unisex scent. It's not too sweet, not too floral, not too girlie, not too boyie ... just light and fresh.

[oddment]

I really like the idealized red wine in this, but the earth and herbs seem to make me a little sniffly--on me, at first, the scent almost reminds me of using strong soap to wash up after digging in a garden. After a little while, it starts to bother me a bit--I'm not sure if it's the dry herbs or the dirt that make this smell "old" to me, but "old" seems to hit some sort of scent-intolerance button with me. (At least it smells nice after my attempt to wash it off--maybe I just put on a little too much for my tastes. I prefer to apply very lightly, and this particular imp is of the "explody-capped" subtype.)

 

This isn't something I wear on a regular basis, but the combination of notes is too interesting for me to write it off.

[fountaingrl]

Yikes! I do fine with Zombi even if it isn't really "me" -- my daughter loves it and claimed it -- but Nosferatu does some really odd things with my chemistry.

 

In the vial it was intriguing, yummy, wine and dirt and citrus.

 

Wet on skin: CITRUS LIKE WHOA! To the point where I smelled like a citrus cleanser, layered with dirt. I smelled like I was right in the middle of mucking out a very dirty, very dank, long-neglected crumbling home with a bucket full of lemon pine-sol in hot water. Felt like I was a Merry Maid in hell.

 

On drydown: Ok this makes more sense. Much more wine now, and the dirt was super-strong. Lemon came under control. But the wine is amping to a crazy level. Wine does that on me, I really like the note but if it is one of the main notes in a blend it goes crazy MD 20/20 on me. I smell like I went on a cheap red wine bender and then got rolled in a park after a rainstorm. I smell dirty and drunk on overly sweet red wine. Not good. The different notes 'fight' each other, they don't meld on me. It isn't even a rotting smell.

 

And now for the weirdness: After I washed it OFF with soap, the scent is good. I know this is odd, but what is left after I take soap and water to it the scent goes very light and it blends better. I don't think I can justify keeping it around to put it on, wash it off, and then sniff the lingering faint scent periodically though, that is a waste of oil that might be amazing on someone else. To the swaps it goes.

[shushca]

This reminds me of the catacombs at Kensal Green cemetery. It's amnazing but unfortunately not one I can wear to work. Someone asked me if I would "smell something dead in the office" when I wore it...

[stasha]

When I first opened the bottle my immediate reaction was freshly cut grass. As it lingers on my skin I can't pick out the notes because I'm not used to earth scents, but this really does smell like how I imagine Nosferatu's house to smell. It's damp and green yet I keep finding myself going back to sniff my wrist.

 

I might have to wear this multiple times or try it as a room scent. I love the way it smells but I don't know how I feel about smelling like it. Hmmm.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Pine? Fir? Dirt. Reminiscent of Nocnitsa. This is promising...

 

On the wrist: A nice, slightly sweet dirt scent. Very clean smelling, like freshly laundered dirt.

 

Drydown: Pleasantly dirty dryer sheets. I prefer Nocnitsa. Swapped.

[jewelbug]

Imp: Definitely earthy...the same sort of dirt note I get from jazz funeral. But with a hint of berry...the combo is weird to me. We'll see how it plays on the skin.

Wet: Oh, yes, a LOT of dirt. Vmuch like the jazz funeral dirt. Under that, a hint of sweetness.... There's actually something lemony (maybe the herbs?)...and a faint, fruity wine note that is sometimes like montressor, and sometimes not wine-y at all. The nuances are hard to pin down!

 

Drying: Mint? Huh? Just a bit, but this has a "chill" to it that is reminiscient of mint. I really get mostly dirt + citrusy/minty herbs. No wine/fruit at all after the wet stage. The effect is oxymoronic: clean dirt. Its pretty faded by about 4 hrs in.

 

Overall: This one wasn't at all what I expected...never much wine, it started out really citrusy dirt, settled into an herbal scent with a hint of dirt and then faded. The dirt note here is lovely, and reminds me strongly of jazz funeral, but I prefer JF, so I'll be passing this to a new home.

[workedtodeath]

I did not like this one at all. It just smelled like a dead old person who has been rotting in the mud.

[500ml]

So far I've understood that only certain dirt notes in certain blends work for me. Nosferatu... doesn't quite work for me. I get flowers and a slight hint of dirt, but as I said, not the good kind of dirt. In the end I found that it was still nice, but it wasn't rattling my bones so to speak.

[angelslurry]

I'm pleasantly surprised. Most of my favorite BPAL scents are complex ones (i.e. a minimum of six notes, usually eight), and earth and wine weren't commonly among them (Zombi didn't thrill me, nor did Tintagel). But Nosferatu fascinates me: the wine note is like a shaft of light through a crimson panel in an old stained-glass church window, and the earth is dry and quiet, but subtly charged as if by a ley line or a lightning strike.

 

And bonus, my husband likes it, which makes it merely the third out of 70+ scents I've tried so far that he actively praises!

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Sexy dirt

 

Wet: Oh my god, this is the oddest scent. I smell dirt and flowers. It almost turns my stomach.

 

Drydown: I couldn't let this drydown. It makes me feel like dead or dying. Alone. I quickly washed it off grapefruit soap. This is a haunting beautiful blend, but I don't like to think about death, not after what I've been through.

*Shudders*

[erraticprophet]

Initial Impression: sickly sweet, rotting, earthy

 

On Wet: barn, hay, undertone of decay

 

On Dry: grass, moss, earth

 

Final Impression: really quite nice once you get to the drydown

 

Rating (on a scale of 1-5): 3

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle more dry and more sour. vile.

wet on skin there's the wine! and it's really pretty, especially when contrasted with the dryness of the rest of the blend.

dry on skin i actually found myself liking this a lot, although it's not suitably me enough to wear regularly. it settles into a dry, dusty floral with the sweet/sour tang of red wine.

[Apple]

This does not smell like wine or dirt on me. Rather, it smells very fresh and green with a hint of berries... when I was hoping for a deep, robust red wine and dark, black soil. My partner (who LOVES Nosferatu) detects a dirt note, but it is not the right one for me. It does make me think of gardening, but it's more of a plant-smell than a soil-smell.

 

That being said, the fragrance is very pleasant, light, and unisex.

[fortytricks]

I really kind of love this. The dirt note is very pronounced on me, and the wine adds a bit of sweetness without being sugary. I'd like it to last a little longer and have a bit more throw, but I don't mind re-applying. I'll have to have a bottle sooner or later.

[rhiannonsanchez]

This definetly smells like Nosferatu! Waht I get from it is dead flowers, earth, and red red wine. Its quite powerful and twisted. However, its a little overwhelming and I just cant get into it. I think that it would be great to wear at Halloween, or if youre into vampire role palying because it would really get you in the mood and into character, but as an everyday or often wear, I cant do it. Brillantly created though.

[Flowermouth]

I'm not sure if I've already reviewed this or not.. But I'm going to anyway since I love Nosferatu so much.

 

It's my favorite bpal so far and it's perfect in every way.. It's not really "gritty"; it's all sweet (but not at all cloying) wine and dusty red velvet curtains on me, with something deeper & earthier underneath that my untrained nose can't really identify yet. But it captures the whole Nosferatu imagery and romance just perfectly.

 

It smells decadent and heady in a quiet, understated way. I always end up just lying there inhaling it-- it makes me feel totally relaxed and, gahh.. can't really explain it, but I feel wonderful and languorous wearing it.

 

As it aged it stayed mostly the same, just a bit sharper and sweeter, more herbal.

 

Btw: I love mixing this with Zombi.

[taramarie]

I put on Nosferatu without remembering what the notes were. On me, all I smell is earth and decaying plants. It smells a lot like Destroying Angel. I'm hoping aging will bring out the wine.

[The_Merf]

This is very soapy herbs and very clean earth (literally, like if soil went through the washing machine--I think it's the herbs that are giving a bit of a detergent throw). This doesn't morph on me a lot and fades very quickly, but herbal notes are tricky on my skin, so that's not 100% surprising.

[Dracoo9]

I got this as a frimp in one of my orders and I was so happy that I got a vampire scent. Well, till I put it on.

 

All I can smell is dirt. And I happen to like dirt but it was...malicious dirt that wanted my soul. So, I told the boy friend what it did on me and he tried some on and of course the dirt fades away and I can smell the wine.

 

It seems that with my skin chemisty Nosferatu and I were not meant to be

[Josh]

This is so good. Nosferatu is like a mix of Zombi and Jazz Funeral plus a bit of red wine which adds some sweetness to the mix.