Nosferatu

[Meg]

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.

In the bottle: Ozony wine and dust. Not earth, but acrid dust.

Wet: Rather green, grassy ozone, with a wine note emerging.

Drydown: I get juicy dark grass and wine, with a dusty, acidic "spray" around it. You can really smell how dry and barren the ground is, where this grass grows. The wine is very sweet and actually I'm reminded of the smell of apples rather than grapes. Oh, and... I think it smells of tobacco. Strange.

Overall: It's a very sweet and green blend. This wine is sticky berry juice, falling into extremely dry soil and dark grasses. It's nearly like blackberry and is quite seductive and hypnotising - a little bit like Dior's Poison. While it's pleasant and even quite pretty, I don't find myself liking it very much, I'm not a big fan of the gritty earth, I think, it's a bit too powdery and perfumy. Edited June 7, 2006 by Meg

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 0/5

Summarised in a word or two: Dirt and wine.

 

Preconceived notions: Desiccated? Gritty earth? Red wines? This'll likely turn into something awful on me, but I can't help but be curious.

 

In the imp: My first thought? "Oh, Gods. Zombi."

 

On skin, wet: Dirt. Just... dirt. Dirt and wine. Oh, this is not good at all.

 

On skin, dry: Think, sharp, acrid dirt and fruity, plastic wine. Dirt and wine are such bad notes on me, and together, they're terrible. There's definitely something dark green and herbal as this dries, which, apart from the dirt and wine, is actually fairly pleasant. I love herbal notes. Unfortunately, they're all but smothered by the dirt.

 

Conclusion/Notes: Dirt and wine? Oh hell no.

[damuddymeg]

in the imp: heady, herbal-y roses.

 

Wet: dirt. Not the rich, damp, loamy soil of Zombi. Rather, this is dusty dirt road at dusk. Over the top of this, the roses and herbs are sweet and thickly green.

 

Dry: This goes through about 15 minutes where it gives me a headache. The throw is powerful! Thankfully, this stage passes, the floral notes settle down a bit, and the throw dies back from overwhelming to above-average. The dust settles as well in the first hour, leaving me with a fragrance that, if I had to liken it to anything, would be a love-child of the Peacock Queen and the Apothecary. I will certainly be hanging on to my imp!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

my favourite scent for about two years in the mid/late 80's was in a spray (like a windex or cleanser spray, not a pump-on-the-top like most perfume) bottle... it was called Chill Out. however many years ago BBW came out with their "Flowering Herbs" i was soooo happy, cuz it smelled almost exactly the same as my beloved Chill Out...

 

now that both of those are long gone....

 

now i have Nosferatu!

 

at first, this is that same scent....

it changes, of course, by the end of the first hour there's a specific floral note (heirloom roses, not hothouse roses) but that same rich, earthy, herb-y base is still there.

 

this is my next 10mL !

[portalkat]

I had been expecting a deep, dark damp earth scent with bitter herbal tones. Instead, I got sweet florals and herbs along with a metallic wine smell. After about an hour, the floral tones settle down, but the herbs are still very green and sweet. Every so often, I can smell very dry old dirt, not earth, but the musty, dusty smell of old dirt. Someone left something buried for a long time.

 

I probably won't be buying a bottle, but it's interesting enough to keep an imp in my collection at all times.

[lookingglass]

A fresh, dark green wafts from the bottle...like a graveyard in the rain. Fresh wet, earth, dust, flower stems, and grass. It reminds me of Zombie, but more alive and fresh, as vampires are in comparison. On application, the wine is a bit fruity...delicious. Drying out, though, it is very grassy on me and DH.

[kunoichi]

From the vial, this is a sharply scented fragrance of bitter-sweet herbs. On my skin this is a strangely light scent as the bitterness disappears, like sugared herbs and very subtle red dessert wine over a slight soil-like scent that gives it a tang. The soil smell is nowhere near as strong as in Nocnitsa, but it’s there underneath it all. Nosferatu becomes a rather soft, sweet smell intermingled with a fainter, lighter version of the soil smell in the background.

Edited August 14, 2006 by kunoichi

[edenssixthday]

Nosferatu - I am currently wearing this for the first time, and it’s so foul I have to go wash it off very soon. This, like most other earth/dirt/soil blends, is all dirt. And it’s a stinking, rotting dirt that makes me think of worms and decaying bodies. It just sooo does not work on me. I don’t smell the red wine in this no matter how hard I try. Perhaps it will come out over time, but I can’t wait that long and have to go wash it off NOW.

[ND¢]

In the bottle: TrailerTrashPrincess referred to an old perfume spray called 'Chill Out.' That. It reminds me of that almost exactly. Something light and wet.

 

On me: I smell sweetness, water, ozone. Finally the sweetness mellows out and the dirt undertone starts coming out, and it is an old/wet dirt smell. I don't get any wine smell. The combination of fresh, airy wetness and dirt is very interesting. I almost get the rottenness that some people are mentioning. I wish it suited me better.

[juniperus]

Bottle: were I to pour a glass of red wine on dry, bare, earth this is that smell

Wet: the same - this reminds me of zombi, but chokes me less

Dry: oh, there is that choking dirt thing that dirt does on me.

Later: nvm, washing now. ugh.

[Melantha]

Sweet and earthy in the imp, it stays pretty true on my wrist. It's nice, but not something I'll reach for.

[supremegoddessofall]

This is herbal all right. But it's a brown herbal rather than a green one. Not getting much of the wine. It definitely semlls old and musty.

[steffanina]

Nosferatu-

 

In Bottle: Vinegary red wine and earth, oh my God!

 

Wet: Earth, and the wine, and a floral is starting to emerge.

 

Dry: Hmm, this fades down into a floral but then it's gone pretty quickly. Too bad! It was really interesting at first.

 

Overall: Fades, lost what was interesting about it.

[MoonlightGdess]

I was really trying with this one, with all the rave reviews, but it hates me.

 

Vial: Smelled straight up like a fresh-scented toilet cleaner. I'm going to try it anyway...

 

Wet: *gag* Lemon floor cleaner. It's frickin' Pine Sol

 

Dry: Way lemony, still smells like cleaner, but a little more herby now and a little dirty. Not for me.

[gravedigger]

in the imp: MoonlightGdess said it perfectly: fresh-scented toilet cleaner.

on my skin: dirt and water, but with something that really nauseates me. I have no idea what to call it.

overall: a definite NO.

[Phantasmagoria]

Nosferatu, in the imp, is actually very BLUE to me. Others have said it's a deep red to them, but my immediate impression without having read other reviews was blue, and I could see an ocean in my mind's eye. It's a lot like Zest soap to me, in the imp.

On: I'm still getting blue. It's not at all like decay, it's very fresh. I think it'll be GREAT in my locket!

[czuba]

[snip} however many years ago BBW came out with their "Flowering Herbs" i was soooo happy, cuz it smelled almost exactly the same as my beloved Chill Out...

 

now that both of those are long gone....

 

now i have Nosferatu!

 

 

You are so right...this reminded me of some thing and I couldn't put my finger on it.

 

In the Imp: Floral Watermelon

 

In my skin Wet: Intially more floral watermelon...on dry down the herby notes start to emerge

 

In my skin Dry: reminds me strongly of "flowering herbs" ; herby with a little peppery spice.

[Musamea]

In the imp: wet, black earth

 

Wet: dirt mingled with sweet red wine, a very wet scent

 

Dry: the wine takes over and sweetens the dirt… very evocative of coffins and tombstones and chalices filled with blood (appropriate to its name but not for me, I'm afraid)

[moon_lemming]

Mmmm, an earth scent. I love the Lab's earthy stuff. My holy grail is Queen of Clubs, and I'm always on the lookout for a GC back-up. So I'm mostly judging this by comparison.

 

Nosferatu is turned-over soil and an herb garden gone to wildness with a wash of fruity red wine; as it dries, the wine notes edge toward a beety smell (weird, but that's what I'm getting). It's more sinister than Queen of Clubs, not as earthy-mama feeling. It's good, though. I do like it, I just like Queen of Clubs better. Nosferatu is more "soil" than "earth," if that makes sense.

Edited February 23, 2007 by karen

[insanecatposse]

Though skin chemistry often makes a scent one's own, amping and/or subdueing some notes, or changing the scent alltogether (sometimes for the good or bad)...Nosferatu stayed perfectly true to the catalogue description.

 

In the imp: Tangy green herbs and soil.

 

Wet on the skin: Sweet rich soil with a slightly overripe greeness.

 

Drying down: A red wine blooms. Burgundy.

 

Dry and mature about two hours later: A perfect balance of ripe green herb, soil moist with a swirl of wine. The wine seems to weave within the stable soil/green notes. Nothing overpowers the other. Just perfect. Calming, forgotten in time but living still with the pulse of rich wine ever so slightly metallic.

 

Fours hours later I can catch the smell of it on my person now and then after applying it on the pulse of my neck. It fades slowly but stays balanced while it does. Never went powder on me.

 

Overall: I felt at home in it like my own skin. I must have a big bottle!

I'm thrilled with this

[Myotis]

Okay, and I thought I loved Zombi.......but I love NOSFERATU EVEN MORE.

 

I opened my imp of this and sniffed....dirt.......a bit of floral in there as well, but the dirt was prominent. Oohhh I love that smell!

 

Dabbed a bit on my wrist...........MORE DIRT........mmmmmmmm.

After about 10 minutes, the dirt fades a bit, but it's still there. The floral scent, not quite sure what flower exactly, comes up more and mixes with the dirt. VERY NICE.

 

I believe I'm going to have to add this one to my list of favourites!!!!!

[curly girl fla]

It amazes me how differently scents can be perceived. I read through the positive reviews here with my jaw hanging down . While I genuinely appreciate the artistry at work here and am fascinated by the concept of true earth fragrances, all I can say is H@LL NO. Moldy wet dirt is not what I want to smell like on a daily basis. And, this is so typical, while I have difficulty getting some of the other scents that I love to wear very long, I could not even wash this one off. I had to remove the imp because it was making the whole box smell like mushy, gritty earth. I am glad that this works for so many, but it definitely is not for me. But again, it is quite amazing at the same time....

[Silentlover]

In the Bottle: Creepy! That is the first word that came to mind. It is definitely "Vampiric" in it's first impression. I feel as if this is what I would smell from a Vampire lurking in a dark corner, waiting to drain my blood. It's sweet but not sickeningly so. There is a tart "pucker" which I'm sure is the wine.

 

Wet: Wet Earth. It's like somebody turned over a glass diluted red-wine onto cold grave-dirt. It's light but "all knowing" at the same time.

 

Dry: The dirt and wine have now melded together. I can still pick them apart but they're merging together slowly to become an intoxicating blend of subtle wet sweetness with a dark and earthy lover. Both are evil scents that are now allies and they're like a spider, calling me into their web so they may feast on me. And it's so good, I just may let them.

 

Later: It's all sweet now but still not an innocent scent. The scent strength has really come down a bit. There is a maturity to this sweetness that I know is the grave soil and it's really pleasant.

 

Final Verdict:

 

Of all the imps I've reviewed today this is my favourite. It's also my first favourite scent from Bpal. It's so beautiful and "intelligent" if you can call a scent that. Very alluring and I think this is a scent that will be great on my body or sending me into heady bliss wafting through my room from a diffuser. My only concern is that it died down pretty quickly. I can still smell it from a small distance but then I've been smelling it for a while now lol, so it my just be camping out in my nose. I'll have to ask others how long the scent lasts on me. But even if I have to bathe in this stuff(ooh a bath!) I won't mind.

 

I'm *heavily* considering buying a 5ml of this. Too beautiful to pass up!

[Jaided]

In the bottle: An acrid earthy smell combined with the bitterness of red wine.

 

Wet: The earthy smell is prominent here; it really overwhelms the other notes.

 

Dry: It’s a lot sweeter and softer once it dries down luckily. The earthy smell settles down a good deal and the bitterness disappears. Dusty florals and fruity red wine with an undercurrent of dirt, death and darkness. I think it's a very apt Vampire scent!

[Gardenia]

In the imp, and wet on my skin, I mostly smell flowers - they're not the hot moist flowers I last knew in New Orleans - no, they're dry.. a little bitter (perhaps the herbs). I can pull out the scent of recently moved earth from behind them. There is something sharp to this I can't quite figure out.

 

Dry on my skin everything seems to blend nicely. The sharp scent fades, and I'm left with something soft. It is harder to pull out the individual notes. I think the sort of bitter-sweet scent in the very background is the wine.

This is an awesome scent, and a lovely step away from my usual foody types.

The only down to it was that it didn't last very long. A couple of hours, maybe.. Not a scent I'd complain about reapplying though.