Humpback Whale

[OctoberGwen]

HUMPBACK WHALE
Crayon on copier paper, 2012
Humpback whales sing so they're my favorite.
Blue peppermint, sea buckthorn berry, white myrrh, ambergris accord, and tobacco leaf.

Humpback Whale

I remember seeing the artwork that inspired this scent when Beth originally posted it on Facebook, so this was the first of the Tremulous Songs that I knew I needed a bottle of. I love humpback whales, and I loved Lilith's picture, and I really didn't care what the oil smelled like. Happily, it is so beautiful!

I definitely smell the peppermint (I am a mint fan, btw), and it really does smell blue instead of sharp and green. This note is softened and made rounder by the ambergris and probably the white myrhh; I'm not getting the usual distinctly "myrhh" note. This is absolutely gorgeous, soft and pale blue and misty smelling, with no problematic aquatic notes. It is sweet but not nauseatingly so. I don't get the tobacco leaf specifically, but hopefully it will peek out with age.

I love this blend.


ETA: During far drydown this aquires a really clean vibe while still remaining soft. Some people are probably going to find it soapy, but I absolutely love it. Win, win, win.

[SadariEvenstar]

This is lovely.

 

Wet, it has a strong blast of mint with the aquatics underneath scrambling to gain purchase. I'm not the best at differentiating notes in bpal aquatics, they tend to smell very similar to me. I like them, but there has to be a twist to get my interest. The mint is the twist.

 

Dry, the mint and the aquatics balance out. This is the cold ocean. Bpal aquatics always seem to make me think of warm, sunny water. This is cold and deep and quiet. This is going to be a wonderful scent to wear in hot weather.

[Caper]

I definitely get mint, and something that reminds me of Cloth of Gold from the '11 Yules. I love that one btw, but I'm missing the myrrh. I might try layering with my Myrrh SN to ground the mint a bit.

 

The dry down loses the mint entirely and I'm left with something vaguely aquatic but very mild and not soapy at all. It is nice, but I don't think I need a bottle. Mostly because I'm really trying to make every bottle fit a unique niche because my collection has gotten out of control. If it weren't for that I'd totally be putting one in my cart because it is really nice.

Edited April 23, 2013 by Caper

[Shirel]

I know it's best to let scents "calm down" a bit once they get to you but I was so excited to try this scent that I just couldn't wait!

 

When I first saw this go up I knew this was going to be a full bottle order.

Mint? I love it!

White myrrh? Well I loved the SN and other myrrh scents so this could be fun!

 

The rest of the notes were a bit of a gamble as I haven't tried any of them before but as it turns out this gamble paid off greatly.

 

Wet all I can smell is the mint, but it's not a strong overpowering mint at all. It's a soft mint, maybe a bit creamy as it evokes the memory of a great ice cream place I know that makes the most wonderful mint chocolate-chip flavour.

 

As it calms down I start getting more of a aquatic scent, slightly lemony to my nose as well. Is it any surprise that the ice cream place I mentioned above is right next to the beach? If I went there and ordered a mint chocolate-chip and tasted some of the lemon sorbet this would be the memory of that scent. I haven't slathered it on so it's quite soft but you can defiantly feel the mint in this, it's not a kick but it helps clear the mind for a few seconds.

 

In short, this is a lovely minty aquatic which will be very nice for the hot summer days coming ahead I'll have to retest this again once it's had a chance to sit for a while but I'm very happy I went with my instincts and got a bottle.

[ccelaya]

HUMPBACK WHALE

 

Blue peppermint, sea buckthorn berry, white myrrh, ambergris accord, and tobacco leaf.

 

Wet - Blue Peppermint and some buckthorn berry.

 

On skin - peppermint, the ambergris takes over. I love ambergris.

 

Dry - Ambergris with slight peppermint notes. As it dries the berry notes are back and it smells a little like soap. This isn't a bad scent for me. It only gets four stars because I think the mint is a little overpowering.

 

This scent is for someone who likes Mint and Ambergris. It has a clean scent and as it dries the more I like it.

 

It's not my favorite but definitely worth an imp sample.

 

10 minutes later this scent is amazing. I think I need to let it sit for a while and retest. Definitely a summer scent!

[Dark Alice]

Gorgeous blue mint, berry, and aquatic notes while wet!

 

Dry: Same as earlier...but with a hint of tobacco and the smooth and richness of myrrh. I need this bottle for the summer months!

[Alaeidrel]

Mint mint mint everywhere! And something aquatic that I've never learned to identify. I guess that's probably the ambergris?

 

Wet, this is sharp chilly mint. It gets softer and smokier as it dries and is just absolutely lovely.

[littlebeky]

Ladymeag threw a half decant of this in with the other decants I ordered. It isn't a scent I would have picked out based on the mint but I love trying things I never would have!

 

Mint! It is a very wet, herbal mint. I like the scent, it is refreshing definitely for the summer months. Almost masculine but not. It isn't a scent I would wear myself I don't think but I like it enough that I will keep the half decant!

[Little Bird]

Humpback Whale is heavy on the peppermint and ambergris for me. It smells like the Ambergris 2013 single note where it starts off like soapy aquatic and men's cologne and dries down with a bit of a smokier edge. Mixed with a strong, bracing peppermint. The mint, soap and cologne combo just makes me think of a man getting ready for work in the morning. It's a little too toothpaste-like for me.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Toothpaste with a hint of ambergris.

 

Drydown: The ambergris is taking over now, shoving the mint to back. Sweet and solemn myrrh saddles up next to the mint while at the front it is all about the ambergris show. It’s frothy, golden, and salty. Refreshing and comforting at the same time.

 

Dry: As it dries the myrrh comes out a bit more, as does the tobacco. Smokier and muskier now. It started out aquatic but now it’s all about the smoke and resins. It becomes softer and darker as the day wears on.

 

 

 

 

I'd categorize this as gender-neutral-leaning-towards-masculine. Usually I love the scents in that category, but for some reason I'm on the fence with this one. I enjoy it, but it might be a bit too manly for me. I'll definitely wear it a few more times before making up my mind, and if I do decide its too masculine I'll be sure to give it to someone that I'll get to smell often, like my husband or brother.

 

Edited to add: I decided to keep this one for me. It's a must-have in the sweltering heat of summer.

 

7.5 out of 10 bones

Edited July 26, 2013 by BoneBone24

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant circle by Absinthetics

 

Initial Thoughts: Shot in the dark. Peppermint is good and I can probably do white myrrh in the way I can do white musk. This is a chance to see whether ambergris is too much on the "dark" side of the scale for me.

 

In the Vial: A strongly masculine scent, overlaid with peppermint. Interesting. May have to try it on the husband.

 

Wet: Minty and musky and a bit aquatic. It definitely smells like a guy's scent to my nose.

 

Drydown: The mint calms down a little and now I'm getting a rather strong scent memory of my grandpa's collection of colognes when I was growing up. Not quite so aquatic.

 

Verdict: Definitely not something I will wear, but I will try the decant on the other half and see whether he likes it enough to order. Given that he still has 7/8 of a bottle of Dorian since I first bought it years ago, I'll bet not.

[Foxdreams]

Oh gosh. I dunno what I was expecting, buying a decant of this when I haven't tried half the notes, but it was probably this.

 

In the imp: Uh oh, that smells astringent. Lemons tend to go lemon cleaner on me. I'm nervous.

 

Wet: HOLY LEMONS BATMAN. I guess it's a combo of lemon cleaner with the mint, but the "bite" is really unpleasant for me. It has this earthy edge that is just grossing me out. (I suppose that might be the ambergris? I did order this blend to figure out what that smelled like, after all.) My chemistry does bad things to astringents and 'aquatics', so bear that in mind.

 

On the dry-down, thank goodness it loses some bite. For a little bit it's sweet, probably from the myrrh, and I mind it a lot less. It's much better balanced on the dry-down.

 

More drydown--thank goodness, now the earthy smells are killing the lemon-cleaner. It's quite pleasant now.

 

Definitely not a bottle purchase for me, but absolutely a "cold mint" scent. Would be great for summer on the right skin, I think.

 

A scent you probably haven't smelled before!

Edited May 15, 2013 by Foxdreams

[milo]

Aquatic and mint at first, after a bit the tobacco leaf comes out, and it's a bit more masculine when wet. Still, I like this, it's fresh and airy and unisex to my nose after it dries. It kind of reminds me of one of the CK scents, that kind of feel. I'd like to smell this on a guy. Not sure I need anymore, as I do have a few aquatic 'fresh' blends that are kind of similar, but this is quite lovely.

Edited May 18, 2013 by milo

[Monday]

On my skin wet: Soft mint and water. The tobacco comes through after a while the ambergris is last to turn up. Nice and subtle.

On my skin dry: This isn't really a morpher it stays a soft and sweet aquatic mint.

[Monday]

On my skin wet: Soft mint and water. The tobacco comes through after a while the ambergris is last to turn up. Nice and subtle.

On my skin dry: This isn't really a morpher it stays a soft and sweet aquatic mint.

[Monday]

On my skin wet: Soft mint and water. The tobacco comes through after a while the ambergris is last to turn up. Nice and subtle.

On my skin dry: This isn't really a morpher it stays a soft and sweet aquatic mint.

[strahlend]

I think this might be an unusual view, but for me Humpback Whale was the hit of this update. I love mint notes in the snow blends, the snowy minty floral of the (discontinued) Macabray, and the dirty minty pennyroyal in Mad Hatter but do not have as much love for some of the Lick It blends because I find them a bit too stark.

Humpback whale starts off bracingly minty with a bit of snow complexity and ends up a multi-dimensional ambergris. It's a fascinatingly beautiful and complex blend that is gorgeous from top to bottom. It will certainly be in heavy rotation this summer.

Edited May 18, 2013 by strahlend

[Alainn]

I think this might be an unusual view, but for me Humpback Whale was the hit of this update.

<snip>

 

 

I...actually agree with this, surprisingly.

 

This was the first of the decants that really caught my attention when I received my package from the awesome malibusunny's decant circle, and after I sniffed the rest, I went back and tried this first. It goes on almost alarmingly minty, but it's a really nice mint, and it tones down pretty quickly. As it fades, the ambergris strengthens, doing its (really hard to describe) ambergris thing and grounding everything, and adding an earthy, marine element. The rest of the notes add support and round the blend out, but are somewhat difficult to pick out individually; it's very well-blended, and it captures the essence of its namesake beautifully, in my opinion. It's light and clean, but still complex, and has a lot of depth.

 

I wouldn't describe it as masculine--I find it to be very unisex, and really refreshing. I can see myself wearing this a lot during the 90+ degree days of Florida summer, and I've already ordered a bottle. My only complaint is its lasting power, which isn't great, but since I love the minty kick it opens with I don't mind re-applying, and hopefully some age will help in this area as well.

[fufu_berry]

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this, but it's so lovely. It opens with a blast of soft mint, which dissipates pretty quickly on me. After the mint opening, it just gets kind of tart and fresh and creamy and it's so hard to describe. It has good staying power on me except for the mint top note. It's perfect for spring -- light and refreshing, but not soapy or cologne-y.

[zankoku_zen]

GIANT blast of peppermint on wet. And then the peppermint recedes, I get hints of ambergris and then the myrrh really comes to the forefront.

 

At which point, I get minty resinous myrrh. .... Which is just weird.

 

Mint, warm, myrrh.

[rinster]

This was a surprise love for me. I'm not a fan of aquatics and am usually indifferent to ambergris, but I crave mint scents for summer so I tried it. Like the previous reviews say, the mint is very powerful in the beginning, which has been refreshing in our already muggy humid weather. As it dissipates, I get a very gentle breezy scent that is nothing like the dreaded "dryer sheets" syndrome I've had with aquatics. In the month or I've had it, it's become even more nicely melded and gorgeous.

[tharsei-thanate]

Out of all the Pickman decants I ordered, Humpback Whale was the only one I ordered because I felt like I should. At least with the others they had notes that caught my attention, but Humpback Whale sang to me and I had to get him, despite my merely cordial relationship with mint and my unfamiliarity with ambergris and sea buckthorn berry. Let's see how that feeling paid off!

 

In the imp: Oh wow, that's pretty sinus clearing! Minty, but with a grayish, almost salty something that I'm assuming is ambergris. There's the faintest myrrh but I'm not catching tobacco leaf. No berries, either. Still, I really like this. It's like a wintery ocean.

 

Wet: Ambergris with a very strong blast of mint. Getting a lot of blues and grays and greens and white- it's still very much a cold, wintery ocean (cold enough to chill the tip of my nose where it touched my skin!). This is definitely perfect for hot, humid summer days. It also just smells really nice.

 

Drydown: The mint starts to settle down. It's still pretty dominant, but it's not a cold, minty explosion anymore. The ambergris is still here, adding a nice marine muskiness, and I believe I'm faintly smelling the buckthorn berry and the myrrh. Oh, I really love this.

 

Dry: Much of the same, but with a calmer mint. And man, the ambergris is really something! It's musky and salty and sweet and a bit earthy, too. The mental image I'm getting is grey skies over a steely blue-grey ocean and a grey-white shore littered with seaweed, seafoam, and driftwood. This blend definitely has character!

 

Wow, what a fantastic surprise! I'm really amazed that that good feeling paid off! I'm going to need a bottle for sure.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Powerful blue peppermint, indeed!

 

Wet: Now being tempered and sweetened by the berry.

 

The dry-down: The berry and the peppermint are dancing around each other. The myrrh, tobacco, and ambergris are present but faint, and are keeping this from being too sweet. I like this and may spring for a bottle. Quite a morpher, but in a gentle fashion.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Mint and a touch of salt

 

Wet on me - Zingy mint and soapy water

 

Dry on me - It disappeared very quickly on my skin

 

Overall - Just got eaten by my skin

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Mint and soap. Smells like my grandparents' bathroom at their old farm house (tooth paste and fancy bar soap!). That's seriously not a terrible thing, it's making me nostalgic and I'm enjoying it.

 

 

 

Dry: Somewhat generic aquatic. There was a brief stage where I thought, "hmmm, this is aquatic, but I don't hate it" but that passed, and this ended up in headache territory. Not good on me. I loved it though, for that moment when it was wet and it took me at to my childhood and sleepovers at Grandma and Grandpa's farm.