Becoming Thunder

[whisperstilled]

"You got to understand the god thing. It's not magic. It's about being you, but the you that people believe in. It's about being the concentrated, magnified, essence of you. It's about becoming thunder, or the power of a running horse, or wisdom. You take all the belief and become bigger, cooler, more than human. You crystallize."

This is the scent of the absolute: this is the perfected manifestation of the absolute essence of not who you are, but what you represent to others. This is You as Symbol, your spirit separated and combined, distilled and condensed into one archetype.

Skin musk and 20-year aged frankincense, a sprig of asphodel, a splash of soma, a lightning-streak of sharp ozone, and a stream of ambrosia.

My first ever first review!

Wet: Green, bright, and musky. Ooh, this is some good stuff. There's a sharpness here I just love, and the frankincense adds a spicy resin background. The ozone is definitely there, but in a way I love, and oh my god, this is the closest scent I've come across to my much-beloved by very HTF bb Sarah from the old Literary Vampire collection. It has the same musk-ozone combination, plus a boost of greens.

Dry: 'Ambrosia,' whatever it is, might be faintly alcoholic - there's a little bit of that in the background of the scent. Really, though, this is ozone/musk/green with a thread of frankincense.

Resin after a rain, we'll call it. I love this one. I need a bottle post haste. Clean, sweet, perfect for summertime.

[annemathematics]

this is a bright and happy beauty. might lean unisex to those who who typically go for the more out-feminine scents, but otherwise this feels pretty neutral.

 

getting a lot of the lab's fantastic asphodel note. I smelled something bright and happy; rereading the notes, I can see it's the frankincense, but pre-reading I couldn't i.d. it. ozone is a note that doesn't play well 100% on my skin, but this scent is pure fabulousness. nice, medium sillage and lasted a few hours into the night, but completely dissipated by the next morning.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Something wet and green. Freshly cut grass during a rain storm? Neat. It smells like outside, and humidity and foreboding. Very atmospheric.

 

 

Dry: This is very much a grass scent on me. Not the same as Grass Stain SN. It's got some dampness to it. It's interesting and would make a great room scent, but it's not something I would wear. I do think it would layer well with a ton of things though.

[Jenjin]

What a delight this is. Big, soft droplets of rain while the sun is shining, mist rising up from the ambrosia and CRASHBOOM! Cloudbursting. Really, this absolutely smells like dancing naked in the grass during a hot, rolling storm singing for Heathcliff. As it dries, I am intrigued - it's like smelling poetry. Amazingly balanced and blended, the airy notes go back and forth between the musk, the mist and the sweetness. Sexy, fresh and fairylike enchanting.

Edited June 7, 2017 by Jenjin

[aphrodite]

This is a difficult one to review, because it is utterly remarkable, yet when I think through the description to write it out, I don't think its glory is conveyed. It's something you have to experience.

 

I have worn it three or four times now, and it goes through the exact same transformation each time. It really is a process; a scent of becoming.

 

When first applied, I get skin musk, what I imagine is the soma, and a bit of asphodel. It reminds me of a quieter version of the "lunar herbs" from lunacy scents. As it dries, the skin musk fades away, and is slowly but surely replaced by ozone. An utterly brilliant conception of the transition from human to thunder.

 

The final scent is ozone with some sparks of electric magic around the edges, the unknowable glory of soma, the shimmer of beautiful asphodel. It is soft but sure, beautiful but subtle. I can wear it for long periods without any of it overwhelming or going awry, which is impressive for a scent of such complexity.

[ghostnaming]

Aphrodite is right, this goes through an incredible process as the scent develops.

 

Wet on my skin, this is sharply green and herbal, like the smell when you snap off a branch on a tomato plant in the middle of the summer. It is initially very similar to Jersey Devil- that same green garden scent, but it's touched with a soft sweetness. Being unfamiliar with soma and asphodel, it's hard for me to identify these notes.

 

Once dried, the sweetness remains but the greenness/herbs have been replaced by ozone. Just a touch of... spiciness? Yeah. Spiciness is still there, which is probably frankincense. It's airy and misty and good, and it reminds me of early mornings harvesting from the garden, when the sun is out but the dew hasn't yet dried. Gorgeous.

Edited July 1, 2017 by ghostnaming

[zankoku_zen]

On wet, this is green and ozoney, and then dries down to get more spicy/frankincense on the drydown. Clean, misty. Good throw and wear length.

 

ETA: I tried this, and I swear this sort of makes me think of men's fougere - very clean, slight floral tone with the asphodel, but its green and ozoney, and the drydown has that spice/frankincense that anchors it. I may give it to mr. zee_zee to try out.

Edited July 28, 2017 by zankoku_zen

[Little Bird]

Starts off reminding me of wet grass and bamboo, sort of green and pulpy. I don't get the spiciness of frankincense that others have mentioned, but this does lean sort of white floral and soapy on my skin, like wet grass and wet laundry hung out to dry. It doesn't seem to to work magic on my skin as it has for other reviewers, as the ozone is still sharp and leans soapy on me, with a green background and sharp floral tones.

[milo]

Definite aquatic, fresh and clean, but with a touch of frankincense. For some reason, the scent of frank reminds me of Christmas, so this is a seasonal aquatic. Fun to try, but not for me.

[sarandipitee]

Usually, ozone is insta-headache, but wowza this works. The frank really helps to soften things up as does the beautiful green note.

 

Not gonna need more than my decant but I'm interested in seeing what this becomes over time.

[kakiphony]

Coming in to review after 2 years of aging in a cool dark place to say: Wow. What is soma exactly? Because when I got this two years ago it was all ozone and frankincense wet which dried down to a very slightly green and spicy skin musk. Two years later this has lots of bright, clean, white florals when wet along with the ozone, and they linger. It's something like gardenia and maybe jasmine? Definitely not lilies (thank goodness!). But very, very, very different from when I first tried it. This is one that is aging and opening up in unexpected and interesting ways.

[Alisha_SBC]

A storm in a bottle.

Before I even put this on, I catch a scent that reminds me of the sky before a storm. It's light yet sharp, almost reminiscent of bitter citus. On my skin, it maintains its lightness, in that it doesn't explode in my face. It's subtle yet powerful, and the ozone notes become more apparent.

The storm is brewing.

This is clean without being soapy and brings to mind hot rain, lightning charged clouds, and somethig sexy that must be the skin musk. It's very unisex, not too feminine but not too masculine either. I love this scent and was thrilled with my first blind purchase. (and a LONG overdue review, haha. Purchased in Feb 2018)

[biggnerd]

This is the diffuse scent of silver asphodel with a touch of ozone. 

[proverbsofhell]

My favorite experience of this fragrance is the first hour or so on my skin, a punch of ozone followed by honey-floral. After that, it's a drenched stump. Not wild about it.

In the locket, it's all ozone, though i swear i taste honey when i smell it. 

This may not be a winner for me.

[doomsday_disco]

The first note that leaps out to me in this is the asphodel. At first, I'm reminded of The Silver Stream from the Coraline line, but then the asphodel quickly takes on a honeysuckle vibe and I just smell honeysuckle for hours on end, with touches of ozone and frankincense (but mostly... honeysuckle). It reminded me of the honeysuckle that I used to pick in my grandmother's backyard, although there was one point that it veered into a super heady phase before calming back down. But then! By the end of the day, I get some creamy orange with it, before it becomes all about that creamy orange. It made me think of the orange in the Florida Water note in Meditation Buddy. I'm thinking the orange must be from the ambrosia? Anyway, it was an unexpected, but pleasant surprise!

 

This is not a storm scent (at least on me) and is much sweeter (and floral!) than I expected. But I like it! I think I'll hang onto my decant and see if I reach for it during the warmer months.  

Edited September 24, 2021 by doomsday_disco

[Llanval]

I was so hopeful for this one, as I desperately DESPERATELY want to find a proper raging thunderstorm scent.  A true, storm in summer scent. This is not that. Maybe on some other folk's skin, this is the rain drops on hot concrete and booming thunder clouds I so so so badly wanted, but this is just some pleasant aquatic asphodel that reads more like honeysuckle, and floral sweetness from the remainder of the notes. Gentle, sweet summer florals with little complexity.

 

Maybe I'll test this again since it's had a solid 6-8 months of aging on the shelf. Maybe the ozone will behave and I'll get something other than asphodel/honeysuckle. 😥

 

Maybe I'll give Slate-Black Clouds Tumbling Over Eden a try, lol!

[wordortwo]

Step 1. Big loud sweet flower.

Step 2. Big sweet flower bust open by ozone

Step 3. Soft, clean, white clothing, sprinkled with herbs and drying in a blooming garden.

 

Some days I love it, some days I hate it. Never dull, though.