Nosferatu

[gentle-twig]

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 have been testing out the imps from my first order and this is by far my favorite. On me it starts out very sweet (must be the wine?) with a faint herbal note in the background. As it dries it becomes very earthy and finally settles into something warm, sweet, and dusty. It definitely smells "old" in a certain comforting way. A lot of people here are finding that it only lasts a few hours, but yesterday I wore it and was catching wafts of it all day. That being said, it doesn't have very much throw. I kind of like that about it, though, it adds to the intimacy that the notes suggest.

[ziggystardust13]

Nosferatu is one of those intriguing scents that turned me on to bpal in the first place, though I am just now getting the opportunity to try it! The description pretty much sums it up. I got a blast of the lab's wine note, the same herbal note I get in The Apothecary, and dirt. And the combination of these captures Nosferatu and it just works! After slathering it on yesterday evening, I got wafts of it all night and in the morning when I woke up. I love the wet stage, I love the dry stage. Its just such an awesome and unique scent. It's also got me craving more wine and earthy scented bpals.

Edited April 22, 2015 by ziggystardust13

[Veronica]

Sweet wine, but there's something sour under this that actually goes soapy on me, so it smells like a glass of red wine part way through the dishwasher.

[DoktorDandy]

In the Imp: Huh! Interesting! An herby, slightly sour, deep green smell. Familiar, but I can't put my finger on what I recognize.

 

Wet: Right away, Nosferatu goes high, sharp, green and both bitter and sweet on me. Immediate change and reaction- very rapid. Goes very clean and a little floral before the earthy smell shows up. Reminds me of Demeter's dirt scent, though it's been years since I last smelled that. This one is a little more complex, and it is harder to pinpoint what is happening. The Dirt note is clean- quite the reverse of the name- one expects it to have a muddy or musty spin to it, but no. To my nose it's complex, multi layered, and there's so much going on here that I am not certain as to what to focus on. My impulse is to say that I love it.

 

Dry: Oh no, now it's a little disappointing. It has that soft powdery/soapy thing that was happening on 51 that I didn't like. Smells better than 51 did on me, but hasn't changed enough, bleh. Most of those dark, deep notes are gone, and now it's just directionless.

 

Verdict: I have to try this again, at least twice. I really want this one to work- I love the dang name, and I love it's wet stage.

[d0gbones]

In the imp: sweet herbs and something balsamic?

Wet: Much the same and the soil is coming out. I love BPAL's soil note. There's something slightly powdery I can't put my finger on and a bite that I'm guessing comes from the wine.

Dry: Sweet soil and rose. The rose gets sweeter the longer I wear it until it's faded and become one with the wine. Mmm.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Sour herbs and booze, almost unpleasant.

 

Wet on my skin: Thick, heavy, earthy wine.

 

Dry: This is a heavy, rich, earthy/herbal wine scent. The wine is the strongest note, with the rest not too far behind. It is calling to mind the image of an ancient, slightly damp wine cellar where a couple of the bottles have broken and spilled out onto the floor. It's faded, dusty red in colour.

[PrinceofcatS]

I'm one of those people who thought this would be a lot darker than it was and was surprised to find it was not. I'm not horribly disappointed, but I am a bit - I adore the scent as it is, it's one of the best BPALs I've ever tried, but I also got it because I wanted ~~~a vampire scent~~~.

 

This goes on sweetly dirty and herby in a very green way. I recognize the dirt from my adored Penny Dreadful; a little spicy, light and almost fluffy and glorious. There's a "perfumey" note in the background that I couldn't identify when I first wore it; it might be a sweetness in their dirt scent, might be one of the herbs, might be the most I get from the wine note, which gradually adds a deeper, richer sweetness, but is never boozey to me. This scent feels complex in that there's clearly a lot here but it's well-blended and very beautiful. It didn't have great lasting power on me, but i've been having a chronic dry skin problem lately.

 

This does evoke the sad, wistful romanticism of Nosferatu the Vampyre to me, but I don't find it a very dark or sexual scent.

[freyasfae]

Considering how much I like red wine, I have yet to find something from the lab with the red wine note that works for me. This almost does with the earthiness in it, but the red wine is just to much berry sweetness for me.

[Casablanca]

Rotting herbs and damp earth stuffed with bacterial nasties and the pervasive, days-old stank of red hobo wine sweat. This is many of my least favorite odors in one scent.

 

I love actual red wine, but the lab's red wine notes never work on or for me.

I need help. (Help = soap and water and lots of it.)

[Mermaid-on-Land]

On application I get a light red wine mostly. It's not a sweet wine like in Obsidian Widow. This is a clear dusty burgundy scent, with accents of dark grey and desaturated green. The description says dry and that's very true. Somehow it smells to me like a combo of the Pinot noir from Obsidian Widow mixed with the "thin lubricating oils" from the Robotic Scarab. That sounds weird just because it doesn't share any notes that I know of but that's what it smells like to me. I like it so far. About 45 min in, the wine sweetens a little. The wine really does seem to give the effect of bringing the earth and dried herbs to life. The application point practically disappears on my skin about 1.5 hrs in, but the scent continues to drift around me. Weird. It's a clean dirt smell, if that makes any sense. This one confused me somehow? It didn’t smell like I expected it to or something. Not sure, gonna have to try it again.

On a second try, it seems more settled. Dark red wine that's very dry rather than sweet, and a light dirt note, all with a very herbal theme. I liked it. It's not a top ten favorite but I think I'll keep it for days that I feel like something very different than my usual!

[roseus]

In the imp: screeching red wine and dark herbs. It was so acidic smelling in the imp I couldn't tell what it was at first. I did not want to put this on my skin.

 

Wet: red wine calms down, but still present. Quite sweet at this stage, very herbal with sweet dirt.

 

Dry: soft herbaceous dirt, with a little underlying dark sweetness from the wine. Dirt is not my thing, but this went a lot better than I thought.

[doomsday_disco]

I finally watched the film, so I suppose I really ought to try the scent!

 

In the imp: Herbs, dirt, and a generous helping of the Lab's red wine.

 

Wet: Dirt and wine, soured by the herbs, but it seems to be losing the sour aspect after a few minutes.

 

Dry: Normally, the Lab's red wine note is pretty strong on me, but there seems to be an equal balance of dirt and wine on my skin here. It sounds like an odd combination, but it's actually nice. After a while, the wine note does end up getting stronger, but the earthiness is still present.

 

Verdict: When I first got into BPAL, this scent didn't seem like it would be my jam at all. Now, I'm like, why didn't I try this before? I'm happy to find more dirt scents that I enjoy, and I look forward to pairing this with the Trading Post's Black Clove, Tobacco Flower, and Grave Soil hair gloss. If I end up using my imp, I'll consider getting a bottle.

[urbanruralferal]

This was a frimp from the lab; I never would have ordered this.

In the bottle, it was juicy. The wine, I imagine.

Wet, fruit, with the dirt emerging quickly, and an herbal component.

As it dried, the wine subsided and it became very clean smelling, but always with the dirt note grounding it.

So, clean dirt. In a way that was subtly unwholesome. Like someone had done their laundry to death, but failed to wash their dry, dirty skin. Ugh.

 

I don't do sharp clean scents, and I mean, I don't do them. Dirt I may be okay with, in principle, although I haven't seemed to like it in the past.

 

Nose-fear-achoo

[achildoftime]

I don't get any dirt or earth, it's just wine for me. It's a very fruity red wine that fades pretty quickly for me. It goes from having a pretty reasonable throw to a very low throw and more of a generic red fruit scent. Passing this on.

[Lucchesa]

The Lab's wine note often becomes straight-up grape juice on my skin, which is the case with Nosferatu. In fact, in this case it turns so sweet on my skin that I am reminded of apple -- it's like the sparkling apple-grape juice the kids drink at a seder. Eventually the sweet fruitiness calms down enough for me to appreciate the lovely dirt and some darker herbal notes, but I can't get past the initial blast of fruit.

[Juliamon]

In the imp: Oh geez that's some red wine. Is this gonna be a repeat of Lady Macbeth on me? I'm gonna start with only the lightest dab...

 

Wet: Whew, nope. This wine is a different one, and apparently much more to my body's tastes... it drinks it right up and leaves nothing for me to sniff but a trace of dirt! I tried again the next day with a more generous amount, and nope--still vanishes utterly the minute it hits my skin. Argh! Of all the BPALs I've tried, this is the most heartbreaking--for that first half-minute this is utterly gorgeous, wistful and delicate.

[Myrrha]

I used to really like Nosferatu and went through several imps around 2009-2011. It was a wine scent, delicious, lasting long enough for others to notice. I remember my then boyfriend liked it on both if us. My skin chemistry is different now and it opens with the same familiar wine scent but that disappears in under a minute leaving a soft scent of apples and dirt. It is a more low-key scent, wearable but also faint. I like it, it feels Autumnal but not melancholic. That first minute is a nice memory and then it becomes something I would wear now. However it is fairly faint, could be a good work/crowded spaces scent.

 

EDIT: this is great layered with Burial. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Myrrha

[Rane.]

Received as an imp. I compared this to "Nosferstu" by Black Baccara perfume oils. This one is a lot lighter, & I love the earth smell in it. The wine is just right, & the roses aren't deathly strong either. I prefer this blend, honestly. It's fun!

[niffler]

Received this as a frimp from the lab, looked up the notes and was very surprised this wasn't previously on my radar. In the imp, the red wines smell lush and sweet and juicy, but that dry grit says wine tasting in a castle's dungeon where at least one person died. On my skin, spooky dry herbs join the party and the wine might have transformed into blood. It's a dark scent but not heavy; there's just a thin veil of shadows between you and the vampire writing sad poetry in the corner. So interesting and atmospheric. Thanks labbies!

[Kebab Fiend]

I put it on before going to bed and it literally gave me a nightmare!

At first I noticed sharp, dry herbs and fruity wine. On my skin the herbs faded almost completely and the wine scent became evil. There was a hint of blood and decay. It's very much not a sexy vampire scent, it smells like a grotesque monster trying to hide the smell of death with herbs and wine. I wanted to wash it off but I also didn't want to get out of bed, so I left it on all night. This was a mistake! I dreamt I was trying to hide from a vampire/ghoul but it always found me. Fortunately it had faded by the time I woke up.

 

It's very evocative, maybe a bit too evocative, and while I don't exactly like it, it's interesting enough that I'll keep it.

[Kefliss]

I was worried I wouldn't like this one since I'm usually averse to dry/dusty scents, but the wine came through the strongest and was given a deeper complexity by the herbs and earth. As it dries down a deep moist floral rises to the surface. Rather than the scent of something undead, I get something dangerously overripe with life. It smells of a deadly plant that feeds on death like Little Shop of Horrors or the legends of Sakura petals turning pink due to the blood of bodies buried underneath. It's heady and addicting with a dangerous edge.

Makes me feel like I'm Pamela Isley. 

[Laughing Seagull]

I received this as a frimp and was afraid of it because I expected it to be exceptionally earthy and gritty - a relative of Burial, I thought, and Burial made me feel physically ill.

 

When I popped open the Nosferatu imp I was delighted with a rich wine scent with an almost cherry-like twang to it.  Sweet but not too sweet.  Red.  It makes me smile.

 

There is an inexplicable coolness to it as well, but in my opinion it's not like "rotting things in a crypt."  This vampire lives in a cold cave full of stalactites that drip icy water onto your scalp if you don't watch your step.  You adjust to the dim light and you see an array of luxurious velvet pillows and a nice rug that contrast amusingly with the rough stone walls.

 

Something metallic emerges eventually.  Maybe you've had so much wine by this point that you've failed to notice that your companion is drinking something suspiciously more viscous.

 

This is a vampire that makes you go, "Eh, it was worth it" as the light leaves your eyes.

 

10/10, exceeded my expectations in every way.  I'm baffled by the wildly different reviews on this.

[zazkea]

Tested based on frimp that is a few years old

 

First associations

Metal, rose wine, decadent room, "eehhh" effect, juicy

 

Long-term

Stone, floral, shivers/creepy

 

Image
Disoriented, where am I? I smell: earth, stone walls, dust, ... ah okay so we're deep below the ground then,.... moss on the walls and it's cold but not uncomfortable, ... ehm?... So okay, more stone on the ground, but surprisingly clean,... Ah, there is a smell from a nearby sauna in the air but still far away....Somehow the room has dim light but without any light source...Now, the question is, if there is not more than this to the image: is this a prison? I would be able to move, but this space stays to look the same: stone walls, stone ground, clean, and a sauna far away. Haha  But it also feels like there is no way out in this mental image that comes from the scent, and there is also no more to this image: a stone-walled place below the ground. Oh, but something observes me, that I can't see: I see stone walls, but there is something else that I cannot see, nearby, but when you turn, there is nothing there, it's really just stone walls....

 

In sum

The "ehh" remains.... but it's somehow nice, but weird, on my skin...

It's soft, but I wouldn't wear this to the office, cause there is something that spooks me about this scent  (which is not a bad thing)

 

--

PS: Interestingly, when I layer this with Arkham, I feel that the mental image is that there IS a way out, cause it suddenly becomes a creepy stone house in a flowery wood then   haha, I love this mental imagery bpal triggers...

Edited March 13, 2021 by zazkea
PS sentence

[Poenari]

After all these years of wearing BPAL and loving so many of the vampire-inspired scents (I mean, a bottle of Dracul was in my first order from Feb. 2006) I finally tried Nosferatu! I can't believe that I waited all these years.  The

 Lab frimped me an imp in a recent order, and here we are.

 

On my skin, Nosferatu opens with my beloved graveyard dirt note. The wine is a sweet red blend that immediately melds with the dirt and becomes more than the individual notes. This scent is so much sweeter than I expected, and also lighter and brighter somehow. I really love this. Zombi is one of my favorite BPALs to turn to when I want a spring scent, and Nosferatu is right in my wheelhouse. Bottle worthy! 

 

 

[bunnicula]

Rich soil, and fruity red wine! The soil is the most prominent when wet, but when it dries down, the red wine takes over the blend. The wine also is quite sweet and red berry-like, so sweet that it's reminding me of some type of red candy I used to eat as a kid, I can't remember which. I wish it was a little "creepier" smelling, and that the soil stuck around more and was more dominant in the blend!