Baku

[hypothermya]

Our Nightmarebane. Named after the Baku, benevolent Japanese spirits that eat nightmares. In Japanese tradition, nightmares are gifts from malevolent spirits; when you wake up from one, you may call, "Baku, please eat my dreams!", and if you are virtuous and merciful in spirit, the Baku will devour the evil, transforming it into a blessing of good fortune.

Initial Impression

Smells like eucalyptus. I can tell that there are other scents in there besides the eucalyptus, but the astringent scent of it is overpowering the other scents.

Wearing It

This is odd. I wonder if there might be anise in here? Besides the eucalyptus, which dies down a lot once I apply it to my skin, there's a faint floral smell (jasmine) and this vague licorice smell. It's very faint, so those who don't like licorice might not even notice.

On the whole, it's really a pretty good scent. I'm always worried with any of the more magically charged scents (voodoo, etc.) that they'll have some awful note in them that I just can't stand. But this is really nice. Like Oneiroi, it's a relaxing scent. And after a couple of minutes, it fades to a really subtle scent, so even if I didn't like it I would hardly notice wearing it.

I'm going to wear this to bed tonight and see if the Baku will eat my nightmares. I'll update later with the results.

ETA: I've been using this for the past several nights, and have been applying it both to my pillow and to the tops of my hands. (The reason for the hands is because I tend to sleep with my hands balled up in fists and tucked right beneath my mouth/nose.)

It has been working brilliantly except for the one night when I did not apply it to my hands...and the areas of the pillow that I applied it to weren't where my nose happened to be most of that night. Besides that one night, I have had pretty regular dreams that have been easy to forget upon waking. (omg, yay!)

So my guess is that this works best when it is directly near the nose. Also, I think I'm allergic to it, since it tends to make me really congested. Pity, but I'll still use it since I prefer congestion to nightmares any night of the week.

[sarahmarie]

This kind of...freaked me out at first, but now I really like it. At first, it's strong and kind of astringent, I guess you could say...but it's also refreshing, calming, and cool. I can see wearing this when I have a headache, I think. Last night, I put it on when I couldn't fall asleep, and I found it comforting then.

 

The first time I wore it, I thought I smelled mint and something that reminded me of geraniums, oddly enough. Last night when I wore it, I could smell lavender, mint, and something else that I can't identify.

 

I can't say yet how it affects my dreams, but I think I love this oil. I didn't at first, but it seems to be growing on me. I think I'm going to want a bottle to keep by my bed. Also, I think I want to try some more of the dream formulas.

[xochitl]

I can smell the lavender really strongly in this. It doesn't disturb my sleep, though, so that's good.

 

And I DIDN'T have any bad dreams, but I think it is too soon to tell if that had anything to do with the oil. I'm going to use up my imp, though, so surely I'll be able to tell by then if my sleep is better and uninterrupted by nightmares. I've been thinking of trying a combination of Somnus and Baku to help me sleep/ no bad dreams!

[lixolux]

this immediatly relaxed me upon smelling it and i was a stress case just driving from west hollywood in traffic! - mmmm it smells like the most full + true lavender touched with a tinge of eucalyptus.....upon wearing for me it becomes a very watery lavender very comforting im going to wear this to sleep tonight!

[Northernminx]

Lemon? Aw crud...

It's perhaps eucalyptus, some under current of lavender but lemon was the predominant scent for me in this. I tried some last night since anything to stop the somewhat curious plague of dreams at times would be nice. No such luck since this was very eau de pledge on me. Sad sad... it sounds like everyone elses chemistry is having much more fun with it than mine. Off to swaps.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Very strong, green lavender. It reminds me of the scent of a LUSH product called Angels on Bare Skin.

 

On me: The lavender stays loud and true on me, although there's still a greenish tinge to it. I can't identify it, but it's there. Since I've started putting drops of Baku on my pillow I've had nothing but lovely dreams, and lavender always makes me fall asleep instantly so it's been very effective at help me sleep earlier and better.

[xoe]

I've been keeping Baku next to my bed to use in case of nightmare. Last night I was "lucky" enough to have a nightmare. I woke up, terrified, put Baku on and said "Baku , please eat my dreams". Then I sniffed my wrists and calmed down. The scent is very lavendar at first, and extremely calming. I fell back to sleep much more quickly than usual after a nightmare and no more nightmares that night!

 

So Baku gets a big ol' thumbs up from me.

 

If you have nightmares, give it a try.

[antimony]

I don't tend to get nightmares, and my boyfriend stopped getting them much after I put a dreamcatcher over the bed, but I do tend towards insomnia and weird dreams...

 

On me it smelled like lavender, mostly, with a nice undercurrent of eucalyptus. There was a touch of something like fennel, but not enough to bother me even though I don't generally like anise-y smells.

 

My boyfriend gets really cold at night, so we sleep with heavy covers, and I often get overheated, but this blend, despite the lavender, has a nice chill edge that made getting to sleep a little easier. Also, I was in a very deep sleep straight through to morning, very refreshing.

[darkling]

In the bottle, Baku smelled sharp and green.

 

On my wrist, the anise immediately overwhelmed my senses and mingled unpleasantly with the sharp scent.

 

Let's just say that I despise anise enough that it could give me nightmares.

 

I left it on for another couple of minutes to see if the anise would fade but it remained strong.

 

I had to wash it off.

 

If you like the smell of licorice and sharp greenery, this is the scent for you.

 

I will definitely be putting it on my swap list.

[Nadirah]

Hmm this is Lavender with something strong in the backround, something green, possibly a flower note in there as well but the dominant note to my nose is Lavender. The smell is good, it lasts a good few hours. The thing that I've been noticing as I've been wearing; is the complete control of my dreams. I've been having dreams that could've turned out bad, but I made them stop. If you've worked with dreams before, you'll know you need to have a strong will to control them at times. With these dreams I've been having, they turned into my uprising. I slap the monsters in the face and they run off screaming. I have Somnus coming to me in a 5ml but Baku and all the others are now on my list. This is really good stuff~!

[feline.by.design]

I've been wearing the fragrance for about two hours now, and it's already faded into a very light, oddly warm lavender scent. I understand the "astrigent" kick that Baku has, in fact it reminded me of something I should use as a mouthwash, if there is lavender mouthwash out there. I hope that doesn't come out as a bad thing, as I am a fan of lavender, and I've hit the jackpot with Baku here.

 

I'm not really certain what anise should smell like, but the only thing my novice nose picks out it lavender, and lots of it. There is something holding the lavender back a touch from being a flat-out single note, veering it to be a little bit more biting and less flowery than, say, my french lavender linen spray.

 

Interestingly, also to compare it to the lavender spray, Baku seemed to get a little warm after about five minutes or so on my skin, which really altered the smell from how it was previously wet and in the bottle. To compare with Oneiroi, Baku is a less-complex scent. It's a very straightforward and sharp lavender mix, while I believe Oneiroi has things such as ylang-ylang and jasmine that make it a softer medley of scents. If I had to pick between the two, I would likely choose Oneiroi over Baku since I'm a fan of jasmine and ylang-ylang.

 

My dreams aren't ones that tend to have nightmares in them. Although I really love the lavender smell, I may pass this on to my boyfriend's brother's girlfriend, as I heard that she has to take sleeping pills since her job often requires her to be at work at 3 am. A coworker of mine also professed a love of lavender, so she may wind up with it in the end.

 

Or I may be a selfish bastard and keep the imp because I really quite like it, even though I'd be one of the last people in need of a sleeping aid.

 

-doreen

[sarada]

I approached the Dream Formulae with the intention of wearing them during the day, not at night, because I love the smell of lavender and want to be able to smell it all day -- though I do enjoy using lots of lavender bath products in the evening to relax. I also knew that Baku would be a favorite, because of the wonderful imagery I associate with it, and it turned out to be as wonderful as I hoped!

 

With all of the Dream oils I have sniffed I am struck mainly by lavender in the bottle, and then the other notes come out on my skin. As it turned out, I decided to wear this one to sleep because it really does smell like a night-time scent -- something you would want to wear to relax with -- something therapeutic. I don't get any of the eucalyptus that others have reported, just the immediate emergence of a fennel/anise scent, which I love, and which mixed sweetly with this absolutely perfect lavender. The fennel smell becomes stronger, but I still love it. I know that the scent will evaporate quickly because all light scents do that on me.

 

Nothing will ever help me to get to sleep because I am pretty much a hopeless insomniac, but I did have an interesting dream experience with this. I dreamt about cats ALL night long. And the final dream that I had, was that all of the cats I have ever had, all lived with me in the same house -- there were seven of them. They were all eating out of little dishes or rubbing up against me. Included among them were two that have long since departed -- all happy and healthy. I'd like to think that the cats are the Baku (Nekobaku?) who are guarding my dreams against nightmares. At any rate, the dreams were nice. I would wear this as a fragrance, but I'd also wear it to bed, to drift asleep on a bed of licoricey lavender.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Baku smells, to my nose, almost exactly like Badger’s Sleep Balm – mostly lavender, with a deep green undertone – but a hint of mint above that the balm doesn’t have.

 

Wearing: Licorice? Where did that come from? Hrmph. Licorice and I don’t get along – it messed up Kabuki for me and I’m hoping it stays in the background here. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be doing that, and it’s darkening the rest of the scent into a stormy grey. Grrr. That said, I’ll keep it around to use if I find myself in need of warding nightmares off, as its main purpose isn’t just to smell nice.

[LaLisa]

Lavender and a dreaminess coupled with the crisp nightmare chasing of astringent (lemon? ecualyptus?) with the must mentioned licorice or fresh fennel maybe. Perfect pre-bedtime.

[jj_j]

I think LaLisa may have been right - fennel smells likely as that mystery note under the waves of gorgeous lavender in Baku.

 

I'm a huge lavender fan, and while I can understand that it likely seems astringent to some, I have to tell you that Beth uses one of the mellowest, smoothest, most round lavenders around. Too often lavender products are painfully bitter, sharp, and acrid, while this one (as well as the single note of French Lavender) is beautifully done.

 

I've always thought of lavender as a cleansing scent, and since I need to cleanse my mind of all the thoughts jumbled up in it if I'm going to get any sleep, it always seems a natural to me for calm, clear, untroubled slumber. I can see how Baku would put me to sleep and keep my mind clear of anything that might cause a nightmare.

[silverangel]

I haven't used this to sleep, just as a fragrance. Very astringenty, and almost cedar-like. I feel like I'm breathing in thick fog or smoke when I put my nose to my skin. It's kind of choking and it overpowers anything else I may have on. I don't like this one.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

I got an imp of this from Gemini Noir because I've been having some very bizarre dreams lately and they're starting to really get on my nerves.

 

First sniff:

 

Lavender is really the only thing I smell immediately in this, but it's softer than Somnus (which also smells like pure lavender to me) and less astringent. There's something almost soft or maybe even sweet in the background of this, but I can't pin it down. This one's so well-blended that I can't say anything other than that it smells like soft lavender without the harsh herbal edge it normally has.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Lavender with something else I can't put my finger on in the background. It smells familiar, but the lavender keeps getting in the way when I try to pin it down. I don't particularly like the smell of lavender, so this isn't quite my cup of tea, but if it works that's what matters. I'm not sure what the other note is in here, but as long as it's not one of a handful of "can't/won't wear at all" notes like amber, carnation, almond or anise/fennel, I don't particularly care what it smells like as long as it helps me sleep without the crazy dreams I've been having lately.

 

Dry down:

 

I think I jinxed myself mentioning anise and fennel because one of those is definitely hiding in Baku under the lavender. I really can't stand the smell of anise at all so I'm afraid this one isn't going to get to be sleep-tested because of the anise or fennel or whatever is in this one.

 

The bottom line:

 

I don't know if this one works because it has one of the handful of totally unacceptable notes in it that I won't or can't wear: anise/fennel. This is going to have to find a new home with someone who can put it to good use.

[diabolique]

wow, i knew i would love this one. i almost squealed when i opened up my BPAL package and saw this in there.

 

it smells exactly like that eye pillow fulltiltredhead sent me, and i absolutely LOVE that thing. i usually just sniff it before i lay down and it completely calms me down. i can't sleep with the eye pillow on, because i always fall asleep on my stomach, so i usually just tuck it down into my arms where i'll catch whiffs of it all night.

 

it's all lavender and eucalyptus. i've grown to like lavender because of renee's eye pillow, but i've never been fond of eucalyptus. i love it in this, though. the mint dies down after a while and leaves me with an herbal, faintly minty lavender, but oh my, this'll be a wonderful substitute for that pillow! i can just rub this on the back of my pillow case and i'll be set. it's already calming me down and making me breathe deeper. i actually feel a bit giddy when i smell this.

 

i love you so much, lab!

[phaedrine]

Ok, I ordered the last 3 of the dream oils I didn't have with my last order, because I wanted a full set. I decided to try Baku last night.

 

Now, I don't have nightmares. Well, very, very rarely. I do have dreams, very long, complex, detailed dreams. Every night. If I think about a dream for a few moments when I wake up, I can remember it for years.

 

Baku made me dream of doing my taxes. No, really. Uh...

 

As far as scent-wise, it was lavender/fennel in the bottle, but once I put it on, it was allllll fennel. Very strong fennel. I didn't catch a single whiff of the lavender anywhere.

 

Another odd thing - within 5 minutes of putting it on, my skin completely ate the scent. It just wasn't there. I stuck my nose right in to my skin and could only smell the barest whiffs of something...which I suspect was the Cathode I'd been wearing much earlier in the day.

 

Verdict? Swap pile. Even without the weird smell and vanishing scent, I don't want to dream about doing my taxes!

[Lucretia]

This smelled very similar to the other sleep oils although not quite as pungent, and with a bit more anise.

 

This one stood out to me because it because it gave me amazing dreams! I'm not prone to nightmares either but this gave me to most fantasyfull, realistic dreams I've had in a long time.

If it does it on the 2nd try as well, I'm gonna get me a big bottle.

[inkstone]

To my nose, this smelled similar to Nanshe except sharper and more green. I definitely smell lavendar and a bit of eucalyptus in the imp, which gives it that medicinal scent. When it hits my skin, I have to say there's definitely anise in here because it becomes this strange mix of lavender licorice. The licorice smell isn't as strong as it is in other blends, but it's very noticeable. I can't stand it.

 

There's also something lemony and sharp in here. I don't think it's regular lemon because it's very green. I want to say it's lemongrass, but I can't be sure.

 

In terms of sleeping, this made me fall into a deep, dead sleep. No dreams, no nothing. Very odd feeling.

[The Ace of Spades]

First sniff: VERY strong lemony/eucalyptus scent. Very potent.

 

On application: It does mellow a bit, and some of the licorice scent comes out, but this is very, very bright. A touch of lavender peeks out after a few moments to help, but this doesn't work on me at all. It smells like Lemon Pledge even after drydown on my skin.

 

Typically, my husband liked it, so I'm passing the imp to him.

Edited February 11, 2005 by The Ace of Spades

[oatmealneko]

I could pick up the lavendar right out of the vial, & a secondary scent that I still can't figure out. I don't think it was eucalyptus either, because I'm used to smelling that around my workplace (there are eucalyptus trees all over the place here).

 

On me, Baku smells like a mixture of lavendar & mint, but lavendar is still the dominant scent. Drying down, the lavendar is softened, while the mint is coming through strong. I finally pick up eucalyptus in the air.

 

I haven't made up my mind about this one at all, but I'm going to try it again at night, before I fall asleep. It's not one I would wear during the day.

[purely_cosmetic]

In the vial, to me this smells like pure lavender - I agreewith the comparison to Angels on bare faces, but this seems less.....overpowering than that. I imagine this is what my room would smell like if I got lavender everywhere! lol

 

If you like lavender, this is a must! I dont have time to try it on the skin now, (im covered in tigerlily!) but I will update later

[kmasden]

I didn't love baku. So far it's the only dream scent I've tried. Unfortunately I was hoping for the best and just slathered this on before bedtime. Eeegads, for me the scent turned quickly into an anise smell, which unfortunately, I just don't love and actually rather hate. I think for someone that doesn't mind this, it's probably great. There is a nice green and grounding lavender to it. Unfortunately I couldn't get past the anise or perhaps the combo of oils made it smell like anise to my nose. Not sure.