Ganymede

[Casablanca]

A liquid iron core encased by swirls of iced lavender swimming through a subsurface ocean, dotted by palimpsests of dark oudh.

Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system at more than twice the mass of Earth's moon, appears here as an almost clear oil. I'd like to say its water ice and iron-rich core are well represented here, but I don't pick up much of either of those.

The first impression on my skin is a burst of lavender, a bit harsh, with a faint tint of ice when I look for it. Around 10 minutes later, an earthy, smooth note comes out, which I'm guessing is the lab's oudh. It's less heavy than oudhs I've tried from other perfumers in the past, and friendlier on the nose. I still get lavender, but nothing else now. I like this, but I don't smell the metal I had hoped for.

I'll see how it settles.

Edit: On a retest after this cooled off in my dark basement for a few days, I smell lots of iron in the bottle, and on me, there is also iron in that cool lavender. It's an interesting effect for a planet theme, though very simple-smelling. The lavender isn't as harsh now, either, but the metal gives it a bit of hard personality: like, this is the lavender that sets its fist on the table and won't budge on anything. This lavender doesn't care what you think of it; it just does what it means to do, uncomplicated, not mysterious.

At around 15 mins when the oudh comes into play, it's downright friendly, comparatively. Lavender after hours, still a command character, but more relaxed and less steely-eyed.

I think aging will help.
Edited June 28, 2016 by Casablanca

[puck_nc]

Origin: drive-by test at Dirty South Will Call

 

Initial Thoughts: Iced lavender sounded brilliant, but not necessarily iron and ocean.

 

In the Bottle: Cold lavender and iron.

 

Wet: Cold lavender and a mild impression of ocean.

 

Drydown: Eventually it goes pretty much to a quiet oudh on me.

[Convallaria]

The opening is cold lavender. Unfortunately, like my other "cool" lavender scent - Once Upon A Time - it vanishes soon. Maybe it's the nature of the note, but there could have been something to pass the torch to. There might be some kind of drydown present, but you need to sniff so close to get the hint there is a scent at all, there's no point to it.

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: Uh. Where is it?

 

Wet on my skin: Fuzzy, chilled lavender.

 

Dry: ...Welp. This is the first BPAL that has gone flat-out dryer sheets on me, at least at first. The lavender goes fuzzy with the oudh and with the 'ocean' note, it smells like fresh laundry and dryer sheets. It's actually not unpleasant, though I'm not sure my skin does it justice. May hold on to it and re-test it in a few months, because I suspect some aging will help it a lot.

[Elspethdixon]

In the bottle: No noticeable aquatic notes, but I can distinctly smell both lavender and iron.

 

Wet: Cool, herbal lavender and a hint of iron. It smells just like my grandmother's porch garden when I was a little girl - she grew lavender in pots there, and the porch furniture were these heavy, slightly rusty wrought iron things. I love it!

 

Dry: The first half hour was all lavender, gradually getting less cool/metallic-tinged and more soft-fuzzy from something I suspect must be the oude. Then, alas, the ice/aquatic notes start to make their appearance and do what aquatic/ice/ozone always does on me: turn everything into dryer sheets. An hour and a half after putting it on, Ganymede is all dryer sheets and fresh laundry.

 

On my hair, the top notes last much longer - two and a half hours in, I can still smell lavender and metal with only a hint of dryer sheets. If aging doesn't help reduce the dryer sheets effect on my skin, I may wear this on my hair and pajamas at bedtime.

[LiberAmoris]

Ganymede is an icy lavender with touches of oudh on me, with an aquatic/slightly soapy edge. The metallic iron note isn's something I pick up when wet, but it comes forward as everything dries down. Normally I go for warmer blends, but I think this would make for a lovely post-nighttime summer shower blend; something to dot on before bed. The lavender makes this a great sleep blend for me, and the icy and metallic notes are cooling. The oudh is light—definitely there, but not overwhelming.

[zankoku_zen]

Cold lavender and icy aquatics. This one actually smells like a men's fougere to me, and I'm gonna go slap this on mr. zee_zee and see how it works. Low throw and wear length.

[Little Bird]

The aquatic/ice parts amp up on me and go straight to soap. It's like a nice, lavender scented laundry soap. I actually think that my mom might enjoy this, because she gets all nostalgic over soapy lavenders that remind her of doing laundry when she was a little girl (she loves Sleepy Moon, but this is a lot soapier and not as sweet as Sleepy Moon). For me? Too much soap.

[freyasfae]

The lavender in this, combined with the metal makes for a very harsh lavender on me, and not like the herbal sharpness that lavender can have, but a distinct metallic sharpness. Even after drying, it stayed fairly consistent on me, softening just barely.

[sprout]

Ganymede is a beautiful floral (noncamphor) lavender straight out of the gate. Sniffing from the bottle I detect a bit of a "icy metallic " too.

 

Drying, the lavender leads and dominates but the ice note slowly comes forward. This is familiar Ice, colder and crisper than the Lab Snow note which signifies Yuletide at BPAL. It has a metallic edge but doesn't quite become man Cologne, as many metal blends have done. This remains androgynous or slightly femme, owing to the floral quality of the lavender.

 

Late drydown the oudh shines and helps prolong the lavender as well. Lavender typically burns off and poofs after about 90 minutes for me but I think the oudh is lending it staying power. This never went dryer sheet or soapy for me, everything is balanced with a slow unfolding of the listed notes. The icy aspect was the only aquatic character. Not sharp or headache inducing like some aquatic blends can do.

 

8 hours later this is all oudh, the "butter" given off by a tree.

 

This is perfect and I wish I'd had the foresight to purchase multiple bottles because this is a perfect, mellow, cooling sleep scent!

[doomsday_disco]

In the bottle: Iced lavender and iron backed by oudh.

 

On me: The iced lavender dominates, followed by the iron. I'm getting a dryer sheet-like aquatic feel to the ice, and I swear there's a touch of slightly minty anise or palo santo in this. That touch of anise or palo santo fades, and what I'm left with reminds me of a more metallic version of Waiting. It has that same lavender dryer sheets feel to it from the lavender mixing with the aquatic note, and like Waiting, its backed by a really tame oudh that grounds the scent and gives me the impression of asphalt. Like Waiting, it is reminiscent of curling up in a pile of laundry fresh from the dryer while rain hits the pavement outside the window.

 

Verdict: I've been hoarding my last drops of Waiting, so I am really glad to have found a scent that is somewhat similar to it, and I look forward to wearing this one to bed. Thanks to the lovely BPALista that gifted this to me.  

ETA: Two years later, and my skin chemistry has changed and brought out the farm-y funk in the oudh. 😭

Edited March 22, 2022 by doomsday_disco