Nosferatu

[Cagedflame]

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.

Ack. On me, this is just supermarket soap, like Lever 2000 or Zest or something similar. I think I need to start comparing all the ones that went soap on me and see if there's a specific listed note that's the culprit.

[etherealchild]

In the Bottle cold air, shadows, and tightened limbs....... a coiled sexuality...... and dirt..... I am stunned. This is really beautiful. I had imagined something very heavy, resiny, and robust. This is dark, but subtle and implied. Airy and dry lingering sensations.

 

Wet It became somewhat intoxicating when it hit my skin, as if the notes deepened and expanded. It's still quite airy and cool. Sexy without the fleshy sweat and heady lust. Mysterious and languid. ::pats Beth on back::

 

Drydown I am completely taken aback by this perfume. It's been awhile since a perfume had this kind of effect on me. I didn't think I would like it. Especially the dirt note. Here it isn't mossy or damp, but dry dustings that ground the rest of the fragrence. It makes me feel powerful and seductive.

 

2 Hours Later I feel confidant and alluring, and the scent isn't perfumey..... it's airy and layered and beautiful in a very different manner. I can so see Angelina Jolie wearing this.

 

Verdict A new favorite. ::adds to list::

[meekachan]

Got this imp with my first order of imp ears. Not one I might have chosen myself

but -wow- the first time I ever opened the bottle I fell in love with the scent.

 

It definitely smells like wine and flowers (and continued to do so on my skin

when I wore it to the new Batman Begins movie...). I didn't know until I read the

site that it had 'vampiric' in the description. That just made it all the more perfect.

 

I think I might like a larger bottle of this one actually. We'll see. Until then,

[Reinaluna]

Nosferatu: This is a very nice blend. I can really smell the damp soil note. After 20 min it starts to sweeten. Possibly a 5ml on my next order.

[rhubarbbear]

i got this as a generous freebie from the lab, and had no idea what notes were in it. i tried it on and found it very light and clean (yes, i could see soapy, but only mildly so on me), slightly floral and green, as if i were smelling an entire plant in bloom.

 

then i read the description and wondered "did i get the same thing??" dust- yes, i could smell dust. but no wine, or heavier scents.

 

it's pretty, but not really me.

[inbigtrouble]

First applied: This is very cool and green on me, with a strong soapy tone, as well. I was hoping for "dirt", but so far, that isn't rearing its head. I think that the soapiness I am getting is actually an herbal or floral note that goes soapy on me.

 

15 minute mark: Aha! There's the dirt! I think that the soapiness was really just the wet earth smell coming through in the beginning. It is so lovely and damp and fresh! I'm still not sure that I smell the red wine, though.

 

1 hour:This has lightened up quite a bit, and is still open, fresh, wet dirt. The wine never appeared on me.

 

This is such a clean scent. I think that it may have to become a cool weather staple for me. Just lovely. A "clean" dirt.

[Little Bird]

I fell in love with a frimp of Nosferatu that smelled like damp black dirt and a hint of sweet berry. It was oddly clean smelling for a dirt scent, but still dark and haunting. And then I ordered a full bottle and it smells nothing like the frimp. The bottle smelled like sharp, sour, perfumey floral and moss with a whiff of berry markers. So unbelievably different. I swapped for another bottle on the forum and it also smells different (kinda cough syrupy). And this is why I'm getting fed up with bpal. It's such a waste of money when you love a sample and then order a bottle only to find out that it's nothing like the sample. That much variation is ridiculous, and it's happened with so many of their scents at this point that it's just starting to feel like a huge ripoff to me...

Edited June 10, 2013 by Little Bird

[Lycanthrope]

This is the first BPAL that literally made me pop the cap on the imp again and shake my head to clear away the scent. I have no idea what did it, but I really doubt that I can wear this - I think it's that same brush of 'dead' that I detected in Zombi. A little splashed on my binder and I wiped it up with my fingertips and it's turned to soap on me. Soap... of death!

 

So, initially it smells slightly alcoholic and winey, but more of a brighter, pink or white wine. It also has a dirty, dusky earth aroma but it's cut with something... kind of soapy, citrussy, something that makes my stomach twist in a little knot and go 'you are NOT putting this on.' A few minutes later, it's gone completely, utterly soapy sweet. I can even taste the alkalinity of a bar of soap on my tongue as I sniff again.

 

I think this may be my first BPAL scent that I'm not going to give the usual wrist test, as it's just... too visceral a reaction against it for me. Sorry Nosferatu!

[sixthsentinel]

This one is so near & dear to my heart I am actually defensive of it, like a parent who does not want their child's innocence spoiled by some of the more unpleasant things in the world. I do not want to read reviews of it for fear of suggestion; if somehow something I read changed the way this smelled to me, I honestly think I would be pained by it, at least a little. What would happen if someone mentioned that it smelled like ____, or noticed notes that didn't agree with me, and then I began to notice them too? Or what if I wore this on a day when I felt less than perfect, or a day when something really bad happened, & Nosferatu was forever tainted in my 'scent memory'? Yes, it sounds ridiculous & like maybe I'm taking this whole perfume-thing a wee bit too seriously, but for me, perfume is a comfort-thing. I wear it to calm my nerves, or remind me of better days, or just to ground myself. Whatever emotional reaction I have to a scent/while wearing a scent can affect me profoundly.

And so it is with Nosferatu. I do not for the love of all that is holy know why it smells exactly like the sweet tea my grandma used to make, but it does. And thus I am instantly transported to a time long ago, a time when it was a whole lot easier to smile. A time when I could visit my dad or either of my grandpas & not have to talk to a stone in their place. A time when it was okay to take the little things in life for granted, when a glass of sweet tea or a perfume was just that & nothing more. For me, Nosferatu is very nearly the equivalent of stepping into a time machine & reliving memories I thought I'd forgotten, as comforting as the unseen presence of a long-gone but much-loved relative. And so it has become almost sacred to me, almost magical, more potion than perfume, & all for only twelve bucks & change in a tiny cobalt blue bottle. Priceless, as the commercial says. Thanks to Beth & the labbies for reminding me, however unintentionally, that life was once more beauty than loss, more hope than despair.

[harmonyfb]

When I first opened the imp, I was struck by an aggressive, sharp, tangy scent that I couldn't identify. Didn't like it at all.

 

Wet, it smelled like...decaying wood, still sharp and aggressive. It even made me faintly nauseous, because I'm severely allergic to molds -my body associates that smell with unpleasant side effects.

 

Once it dried, though, the sharpness mellowed, and rich wine-y undertones came out. I love the way it smells on me after it dries. It reminds me of tawny port, with a very slight musty note.

 

Very dark, clean scent - I'd love to know how it smells on my husband.

Edited September 13, 2005 by harmonyfb

[Eros]

In the imp and just on, a subtle but sharp smell of herbs, damp earth/dirt and slightly sweet, decaying flowers, although I'm guessing the sweetness is coming mostly from the wine notes.

As it dries it softens a bit & the wine notes take center stage to the dirt smell, which has faded nicely into the background but hasn't disappeared, thankfully

Reminds me a bit of the wet earth smell that is Zombi, but this one is...richer. With that decaying sweetness that Zombi doesn't have.

Definitely captures the feeling of vampire in coffin, hiding deep in the bowels of an ancient crypt.

A whisper of the undead this is.

 

Beautiful!! I adore it!!

[carolinachiquita]

This scent is exactly what I would expect a vampire of Nosferatu's age to smell like!! Its really earthy but also quite sweet but in a theres something not quite right about this smell kind of way. Hmm - I'm not sure about this one yet! Ick was the verdict on this one - It made me feel unclean and dirty all day. Meh

[gangstaknitta]

In bottle: clean, cloying, sweet, all at the same time. Incense-y? It's very complex.

 

Wet: it smells a little like dandelions?, very herby. a murky mossy scent. I lost the insence note.

 

Dry: it ends us very antiseptic-y

[Fishwomon]

On me this smells like sweet berry candy, or sweet berry soap, or a sweet berry candle, sickly-sweet and hot pink.

 

Darn skin chemistry! I don't get dirt, dust, or wine at all.

[Kittyflop]

Received a sample as a gift from sixthsentinel - thank you again!

 

I've tried this a couple of times before setting down a review and am still not sure what to say. This is absolutely lovely. I don't get any of the sweetness that others have had. It's very earthy, eerily quiet, subdued. Like walking through a dark, damp, labyrinthian library by candlelight.

 

A 5ml will be on my next order.

[Monster]

Ohhh very earthy and herbal. Gorgeous! Nosferatu (oddly enough) smells clean and fresh. As it dries on my skin the red wine comes out a bit, and it's not too boozy smelling. After about an hour this turns into a slightly sweet, herbal, clean scent. This is probably one of the best BPAL herbal scents I've tried.

[Miss Lynx]

I was a little apprehensive about Nosferatu, because the description made me think of Zombi, which I intensely disliked, plus the wine note that can often turn candy-sweet on me. In the imp it smelled indescribably weird, so that didn't help. But as it turns out, while it's not something I could see myself wearing regularly, it's not that bad.

 

There is a certain Zombi-ish element to it, but it's not nearly as heavy or cloying as that one -- kind of a toned-down Zombi. The wine note, if it's in there at all, is very subdued. And it's got a sort of herby greenness to it, almost medicinal, and something vaguely aquatic, as well as a touch of floral. It's an interesting blend -- kind of earthy/watery/floral/herbal. Not unpleasant, but not really me either.

 

Grade: C+

[Rheliwen]

You know, the smell is dirt really agrees with my skin...who'da thunk?

 

When I put this on I immediately thought of Queen of Clubs, one of my most beloved BPALs.

 

It goes on like gritty dirt but as it starts to dry, it gets really sweet, almost floraly with a spongey, mossy backdrop.

 

I really thought this one wasn't for me, but I wanted to sniff it for fun. Now I'm contemplating a bottle. It's not nearly as heavy or masculine as I thought it would be.

[elphaba]

I got Nosferatu as a frimp from the lab and put it on without really looking at the notes. I expected it to be a heavy, dark scent the actual description ended up pleasantly surprising me once I read it with the oil already on my wrists. Dirt! I love dirt! Wine! Wine good! Herbs! Herbs are nice.

 

Somehow, though, this turned out to be incredibly fleeting on my skin. All of the notes were definitely there, but the dirt receded into sort of a background sweetness after drydown. The herbs, which started out green and pungent, faded into a definite dry, crushed, and dusty herbalness. The wine, though. I'm afraid the wine didn't play nice at all. Instead of the big grapey juiciness I get with other BPAL wine blends, the wine in Nosferatu when sour and vinegary on me. It does have sort of a "spilled wine left out" sort of vibe to it, so I can see the appeal, but overall the scent just isn't me.

 

An hour in, and my husband couldn't catch a whiff on my wrist. I can still smell it, knowing what I'm looking for, but this one is definitely a close-to-the-skin sort of experience. I do smell like a vampire, though. In that sense, the scent is right on. And, if only because of that, I'm going to have a hard time giving this one up. It's definitely an experience worth having.

[Mary Mayhem]

Wet: Dirt! Oh, I missed this the first go round! I couldn't identify it, but there it is!

 

The dirt does dry down into a bit of a powder, but it's still there, hovering underneath.

 

It's sweet, but not too sweet. A bit flowery, but in a clean way.

 

 

This is my fav scent so far! It always cheers me up when I put it on.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Mary Mayhem

[blaqpearl]

Wow...this smells like wet dirt after a rain storm in the middle of a hot florida summer.

[BlueStar]

Sampled this at the Meet n Sniff in Chicago, Nearly stole it from Bard but he beat my ass and took it back.

 

Wet: Very earthy! Very earthy indeed. Dirty and dingy down and dirty baby! Sexy. The red wine note(s) are hot! I wanna teh sexxor!

 

Drydown: Best summed up in song...

 

"If I Close My Eyes Forever" by Ozzy Osbourne (featuring Lita Ford)

Baby, I get so scared inside and I don't really understand

Is it love that's on my mind or is it fantasy?

Heaven, is in the palm of my hand and it's waiting here for you

What am I supposed to do with a childhood tradgedy?

 

If I close my eyes forever

Would it all remain unchanged?

If I close my eyes forever

Would it all remain the same?

 

Sometimes, its hard to hold on, so hard to hold on to my dreams

It isn't always what it seems when you're face to face with me

Like a dagger you stick me in the heart and taste the blood from my blade

And when we sleep would you shelter me in your warm and darkened grave?

<snip>

 

Verdict: Must have!

Edited December 12, 2005 by BlueStar

[theseagrows]

at first sniff, this smells pretty much like dirt and wine, but that's a good smell. after it fades a bit it smells like a softer wine, like wine with a less acidic flavor. maybe dessert wine? it's a really beautiful scent. i also think i pick up some sort of floral? what, i dont know..but when it dries down it has the most beautiful soft wine scent with a touch of herbal/dirt in the background.

[AngellicMystique]

Nosferatu is a dry, herb-tinged dirt. I definitely get the wine. I adore this scent.

[donsixgun]

Damp soil, decay, herbs and wine. I love this scent. Its not too sweet, not too bitter...Just perfect.