Chaos Theory VII: Woods

[IronMollyBlack]

The root of these scents (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) are foresty and camphoraceous, riddled with deep greens and lush brown tones.

I'm really horrible at distinguishing notes, but here goes! Reminds me of the smell of being in an evergreen grove, after a rain, with the dirt and fallen needles underfoot. I don't get one wood scent overwhelming it, although I think there might be a touch of cedar in here. Color wise this is dark green and brown. Can't wait to see how it ages!

 

Edit: Now that it has settled down from the mailbox, it's much softer and sweeter. I'm getting some resin in here. Fades quickly, but really nice while it lasts.

 

ETA: This is Woods #28

Edited June 25, 2015 by IronMollyBlack

[Ashmedai]

No numbers, so I labled the bottles "A" and "B". This is bottle "A": Oh wow, this one I'm liking a lot right off the bat! Here is the lab's "earth/soil" note as a base and a bit of juniper and...ash? A second light-scented wood I'm not sure I can pin down. I think there's some carrot seed in here too, and that, alongside the soil note, makes it almost more vegetal than woody, and I love BPAL's vegetal blends to bits. As it dries, a bit of dark greenery appears, and at first I thought it was ivy and oak wood, but no, it's oakmoss. I'm loving every note in this blend, whatever they are. It's like a deep, dark and mysterious forest filled with things growing in the warm, black earth, and here and there a dapple of sunlight. Beautiful! This one's a keeper.

Bottle "B": Pine, and loads of it, and some other notes that are scrabbling around underneath, hoping to see the light of day. I'll let this dry down for a bit. Okay, there's definitely ivy and I think a tiny bit of cedar too, or redwood (I'm betting it's either the latter or both). The pine softens and gets a bit sweeter as it dries, and this is starting to smell damn good. There's a slight bit of non-flowery floral wafting around too, and I'd bet it's helichrysum and cistus or possibly both. I usually amp honey, but even though here I don't amp it, I'm betting on a tiny bit of wildflower honey in the background, sweetening things up and giving the ghost of the impression of bluebell and phlox. This is really, really good, and I wasn't even expecting to like it. Unlike bottle "A", this isn't a dark scent, more like the scent of a forest and meadows on a mountaintop. Another keeper.

[Haltija]

I am the worst person at picking out notes but I will give it my best shot.

 

In the bottle this smells like straight up mint with citrus, maybe orange or maybe lemon. When I inhale deep enough the citrus component overtakes it. My Mother smelled this one and said that it smells like Doublemint Spearmint gum and I actually agree.

 

Wet on the skin the citrus note definitely comes out more and it actually verges on smelling a little tart, it's not bad but not what I was expecting for a Woods scent.

 

Dry on the skin it turns to smelling like menthol, a hint of cedar and a bit of eucalyptus but the tartness from the citrus is still lingering.

 

This was not what I expected and I wish I would of gotten more earthy notes but for what it is I actually do think it's nice and refreshing. Win!

 

EDIT: Okay now it smells like plastic and suntan lotion with menthol. I don't know about it now! These are so odd but yet you can't stop smelling them!

Edited June 22, 2015 by Haltija

[Courtney North]

Citrusy in the bottle (Haltija's mom got it pretty right with the "Doublemint Spearmint" thing), but I put it on before a bowling trip. All those citrusy, lemony, minty notes vanished (except for maybe a little tiny bit of lemon). VETIVER! And quite a bit of it! But, it's not overwhelming. I finally get what I was hoping for when I got a bottle of Woods... Cedar and all that good, dark stuff that I like. It's no Black Forest (which is my favorite woodsy scent so far), but it's not bad.

Went on semi-strong and faded kinda quickly. After 2-1/2 hour bowling trip I didn't really smell anything any longer but a teeny hint of menthol and vetiver's lovechild - the menthol being the strongest of the two - and perhaps just a teeny tiny had-to-inhale-my-lung's-worth inkling of cedar/some type of tree (and I didn't even hardly sweat).

Edited June 23, 2015 by Silvenium

[cyborgcaitlin]

Oh god. What is happening here.

Both my fiancé and I hate this one. I got it for him as he loves wood blends. It has this stinky smell in the bottle, and does not resolve on the skin.

It's like some weird plastic BO smell mixed with chemical floor cleaner. Yikes.

Bottle 40.

 

Again very astringent. Eucalyptus or fern? And BO. Ick. Giving me a headache.

The BO smell could be vegetal vetiver, not the rich sweet kind.

[Atrous]

#42

 

I could smell the Ambergris before I opened the bottle. Yep, there's lots of it in this blend and I couldn't be happier as I love the Lab's Ambergris.

Once this hits my skin I detect Cedar and a light musk which I believe is a white musk. Underneath all this is another note, a hard wood of some kind that I can't pinpoint.

On the full dry down the notes all merge together to create a sweet, clean musk/woods combo that I'm flipping over.

This is glorious and by far my favorite of the Chaos series I've tried.

[claudia6913]

I received bottle #39

 

Bottle is quite full into top of neck. Oil is clear and slightly yellowish.

 

Very woody and dry. Smells like cedar and maybe sandalwood. There is a sweet scent, maybe a golden dry amber - the amber reminds me of The Lion. This kind of reminds me of Antique, so maybe it has some juniper in there. It's like rolling around in very dry and very fragrant woods. It's nice, sweet, dry woods - lots of different woods.

 

Overall it's quite nice with a bit of throw.

Edited June 29, 2015 by claudia6913

[ltrittipoe]

#12

 

Wet, this smells identical to a freshly mown lawn, wet, juicy grass. Even with a little bit of sharpness from the lawn mower,

 

And then my skin eats it. Gone completely.

[nathanielhebert]

#64

I've been itching to play this game, as it'll be my first time participating in a game of CHAOS!

First off, opening the bottle, it didn't match my preconceptions of something emanating from the deep woods, but the parts that make up the blend are definitely organic in nature.

When applied, it smells like an offertory casket that's been lowered into a shallow forest grave. There's something red to the scent, making me think of a coffin constructed out of mahogany teakwood. In fact, this smells very similar to Zombi, minus the dried florals. There's the loamy, deep brown earth, some form of moss, and if I had to guess, a scattering of dried, decaying leaves.

Overall, I'm quite happy with how this blend panned out in the end!

[JazzieCazzie]

Bought three CT bottles figuring that I tend to be the odd one out, liking stuff that isn't too popular and not liking everyone's favorites, so here goes ... and it appears that the Woods category got the least love (go figure!)

 

WOODS #90

 

In the bottle: Okay, I don't know how to say this but ... oof. I don't even know how to describe this. It's sort of ... metallic? Acrid? Rusty? If I were not reviewing these for posterity I wouldn't even try it on, I'd just bottle it up and hide it somewhere ... Frankly, it smells like it has turned ... I wish someone else had this blend so I could figure out if it's just me (and for the record, the entire box smelled like this, all the bottles and imps and everything, on the outside and I had been praying it was a scent from someone else's box that got on someone's hands but alas, no ... even here with it opened and not tested, it smells like something died.

 

Wet: Just ... ugh. I love medicinal but this is not medicinal. It's sour and acrid and still smells like something that has been wrapped up in someone's attic and left to rot. And also with a tiny touch of oregano so maybe it's some kind of herb?

 

Dry: I just had to finish this up so I can go shower now ... Rusty old metal, dusty, rotten, slightly cooking herbal (though I'd never eat it). Obviously, an epic fail on my body (and to my nose even before it got on my body).

 

Overall: If anyone else reviews this number 90, please chime in and let me know what you think this is so I know to avoid the notes in the future.

 

I am really sorry to post this in such graphic and critical terms. I know there are probably people getting ticked off because everything is a work of art. I've been a BPAL fan/devotee for more than 10 years. I've had a few scents that made me physically ill (I'm looking at you, Sacred Whore of Babylon) but had a big fan base. But this is the single worst blend ON ME.

 

ETA SEPTEMBER: So I was going through my collection to cull and bit the bullet and sniffed this again ... and while it's not a keeper I guess it just needed a little time to settle in (can't say it's "aged" yet, just two months later) ... I'm still not quite sure which notes constitute "woods" because to me it's still got something metallic/medicinal to it, but it's definitely not on a Sacred Whore of Babylon/Bastet/Samhain/Embalming Fluid level for me (and that list of evil-on-me scents right there, that should tell you that some scents that are no gos for me are very much GOs for others!)

Edited September 11, 2015 by JazzieCazzie

[Teaotter]

Woods #70 (decant)

 

In the imp: lilac fougere? Maybe a little lime, but this smells more like a fougere than any of the fougeres I got. Hmm.

 

Wet: Blast of lime, white musk, lavender or lilac.

 

Drydown: This is definitely a fougere on my skin. Lavender, lime, a dab of white musk, and oakmoss. Smells like clean skin and a beautiful English garden in the sun. It's got big throw on me, which makes me very, very happy!

[alyelle]

I've got another of the decants from Woods #70 and I agree with TeaOtter - it definitely has fougere qualities about it, but on me, it behaves less like a fougere and more like a floral/herb blend.

 

Imp: At the initial sniff, it's quite masculine, a herby, spicy cologne, topped off with sunshine and musk and leather. It smells nothing like Dorian but it makes me inhale and go oooh the same way Dorian did when I first bought it.

 

Wet: The same spicy leather with a light honey-like overtone. As it dries, a tiny hint of forest emerges, like a stroll a few hills over from a wooded copse on a sunny day, where you occasionally catch a hint of crackly, drying undergrowth.

 

Dry: I don't have time to let this properly dry down as I'm headed to bed, but after ten minutes, it starts going sort of... tobacco-y. Not the dried tobacco though, the slightly oily, petroleum-like scent that's in some of the Rappacini reviews. The leather base is still there and the wafts of sunshine and honey. I desperately want to try this on the boyfriend, to see what it does on him - I suspect it will be much more glorious than it is on me.

[annemathematics]

#6

fresh out of the mailbox, this baby went turned staight to a hideious medicinal smell. cold, cruel, shrill, bitter medicine. it was a horror and a disappointment. I couldn't even suss out what exactly made it a woods scent. was that cedar amping up in such a ridiculous fashion?

 

now, weeeeeks later, and this little kitten couldn't be more different. soft, glorious, warm, fuzzy, musky. it's my favorite of my CTs and a favorite bpal. I can't believe the extreme transformation, and am grateful that I held on to this bottle and tested it once again. it still doesn't strike me as being very woodsy, and it's less chaos than cuddly.

 

yes, that's right. woods VII #6 is a Cuddle Theory perfume.

[alyelle]

#71 (decant)

 

Imp: Something that my brain wants to interpret as lime or lavender, or possibly both. Maybe also magnolia - the 'wood' base is very light and reminds me a lot of Yvaine in its early stages.

 

Wet: Hints of wood, but cut and polished tabletops rather than living trees. I'm always hopeless at isolating which is which; this might be cedar but I wouldn't stake money on it. A light citrus overtone, definitely lime rather than lemon as I'm not amping it, and some emerging florals as well - lily or lily-of-the-valley would be my best guess, they're doing that almost soap/talc thing both those notes tend to do on my skin.

 

Dry: I like this. A mossy dry scent emerges after a few hours, and the floral-citrus blend never gets too overwhleming (or too soapy, hurrah!). More fougere-like than #70 was, and much more feminine. Also more short-lived, sadly; this fades off after 4-6 hours, and the throw is relatively light.

 

Stars: ★★★½

[ReallyZeb]

#99

 

When it was wet it was an overpowering piney smell like floor cleaner.

 

Once dry its much much nicer. It has some dry woods - maybe cedar or something along those lines. it has a fresh, crisp, aquatic sort of note. It gives me the impression of a forest on the edge of a glacier, so fresh it almost hurts. It's not my sort of thing for perfume but I wish I had an atmo spray of this one.

[quickdrawkiddo]

I got a decant of bottle #44 and it smells like... peach? I'm actually not getting much of a woodsy note at all. It's definitely fruity and I had a hard time pinning it down when it was still wet. But now that it's dried down a bit, I'm pretty sure it's peach. It's pleasant but I'm glad I only got a decant of this one. I also got a full bottle that I like MUCH better -- review to come.

[bheansidhe]

#54

 

Wet: Weathered woods and pungent vetiver.

 

Dried: Woods, softened vetiver, and something balsamic or benzoic in the back. Actually quite pleasant if you like vetiver. Gender-neutral, but would probably smell better on a guy.

[Gwydion]

In Bottle: Foresty and camphorous is no lie! A medley of evergreens are dominant. I'm guessing pine as the strongest note, and caphor and possibly cedar in support. This is too intense for me, which is a shame as it is gorgeous. No skin test.

 

Woods #100

[DiesMali]

I've been putting off reviewing this in case it got better somehow, but nope. This is for Woods bottle #85.

 

In the bottle: Sharp and herbal.

 

Wet on my skin: OHMYGODNOGETITOFF

 

Dry: Still OHMYGODNOGETITOFF. A certain percentage of the population has a gene mutation that makes cilantro smell and taste like vomit and/or soap. I'm 99% sure this has cilantro (AKA green coriander) in it, because all I can smell is terrible, bitter, soapy vomit. I'm sure this might be nice for someone who doesn't have that mutation, but I can't smell anything else but that. This will be my first full bottle to put up on sale. :/

[Gwydion]

#99

 

In bottle: Very sharply green. I'm guessing cedar dominant, with mixed forest around it, since there is a richness to the woods suggesting multiple trees. There is a cool softness underneath that makes me think of stone in winter. Wet: More pine to it than in the bottle and the whole thing is gentler and smoother. It really does smell like mixed forest in winter, as there are deciduous woods in there but no hint of leaves. The sublt cold granite feel lingers also and a hint of something herbal tangles with the hint of camphor. I like this much better on the skin than in the bottle, but the camphor still troubles me. Dry: Alas! Mostly camphorous wood.