Niflheim

[rayvn1]

The House of Mists, a land of icy fog, shadowy darkness and soul-chilling cold. Dark, damp blossoms winding through an impenetrable, murky gloom.

Hrm, not what I was hoping for The notes sounded fantastic and perfect as a Ring Cycle fan. Unfortunately all I get is a murky, slightly sweet floral. And it just doesn't last on me! I slathered this time and there was barely any throw and it died a hushed death about fifteen miutes later. Back to the swaps pile with you, my poor little dear.

Edit to add scent description. Edited January 15, 2009 by rayvn1

[Ajila]

In the bottle – A very faint, grey floral

 

Wet on me – It’s hard to pin anything down. Dark and dank and yet oddly citrusy

 

Dry on me – Nothing at all really

 

Overall – This disappeared quickly and I didn’t really miss it

 

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

This is murky and chilly and dark...there's something in it, though, that's not quite agreeing with me. Something a bit dirty and peppery...I guess my skin chemistry is not a fan of "murky gloom". The top notes smell lovely, however, but alas not enough to save me from being dragged undertow by the other uncooperative notes.

[catattack]

I didn't get "dark" or "chilly". When wet, it smelled of household cleaners. Sort of an artificial citrus. On the drydown, it became soapy and waxy. Not good.

[CynicalPink]

Imp: Like Cologne

 

Wet: Gloomy dirt.

 

Drydown: Damp and gloomy alright. This isn't the nice happy dirt of Death Cap. This is dirt that doesn't like you very much ans wishes you would leave it alone

 

Overall: Eeep. No.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: Soapy sweet floral dirt with distinct hints of lemon peel. Weird.

 

Wet: Lemon Palmolive, dust and a hint of fresh aquatic and white musk. On the other arm it's even stronger spicy dish soap. With kind of a nutty undertone. No, I don't know why either.

 

Dry: Faint traces of soap and nuts. Well, that was interesting, but nothing I feel the need to repeat.

[ImperatrixMundi]

A grey, murky, gloomy aquatic with vetivert. If you know Szepasszony - I think this smells very much like it with added vetivert, with the same weird nutty/celery (dont ask!) undertone I get from Szepasszony.

[liquidtrance]

In bottle, smells like shower gel or something similar. Generic bath product floral.

On skin.. It turns into a sort of dish soap smell. There's something a litte nicer below, but not yet… Nothing dark, maybe damp….no murky gloom for me. Definitely has that "damp exotic floral" scent going on. Not a winner for me. Reminds me of some of the other jungle bloom notes... It gets less soapy, but not particularly more appealing. Swap awaaay.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Aquatic cedar with sweet florals. Some lemon or ginger. Much sweeter than I thought it would be.

 

Wet: Mostly cedar. The florals are in the background.

 

Dry: The cedar is fading, but still stays. This isn't as dark as I thought it would be. The florals are bright and sweet. More watery than damp. I like it.

 

Overall: A bit too much wood scent for my taste. If it was just the lemon aquatic florals, I would love this! That one cedar note is throwing me off. I'll wear the imp nonetheless.

[donnatron]

Imp: Wet rocks and florals.

 

Wet: The florals start to acclimate to my skin while the misty/rocky quality of this starts to burn off immediately. It's odd for a few moments but then starts to morph into a straight up tropical/white floral.

 

Dry: It's ver pretty. Simple florals (orchid, maybe? Magnolia? Something lush, light coloured and southern) and a bit of humidity. Maybe not something I'm going to run screaming through the streets belting my love but also not something that I can't wait to get off my skin. There is a bit of a weird... ozone, maybe? It tingles my nose and sort of makes this waiver between pleasant and indifferent.

 

Throw: Mild.

 

Overall: Eh. I'm on the positive side of indifference but it's really not grabbing me. If you like ozone and florals it's probably a good bet.

[sarajane]

I SMELL VETIVER.

 

And that's IT.

 

I amp vetiver to high heaven. Sad, because I liked the sound of this AND IT DIDN'T MENTION VETIVER.

[crebbsgirl]

There is a dirty aquatic feel to this that when combined with the florals, just goes soapy on my skin. I'm not really liking this at all, and I think I feel a headache coming on.

[Tess]

In the bottle - There is carnation in this, which I love, giving it a certain spice. The aquatics are heavy and warm to my nose, like fog on a warm day over a pond and some wildflowers. Not nearly as oppressive as I thought it would be.

 

Wet - Here comes that metallic tang aquatics give me.

 

Drying - As strange as this sounds, this is -the- most aquatic scent I think I've had the chance to try. The florals are a massive presence here, with some sort of white floral (lotus, I think) drowning out my lovely carnation and giving the aquatic notes a run for their money. And the entire thing is STRONG. Very, very strong.

 

Dry (2 hours) - This dries to a non-discript white floral. Soft, unassuming, bland.

 

Overall - An interesting scent, very much a nice aquatic for people who like those sorts of scents.

[topazphoenix]

This is a rather astringent smelling floral. Acidic, salty, aquatic.

[pseedie]

this reminds me of a forest floor in spring....moss and groundflowers and dirt. I didn't get any "dark" or "cold" which probably would have been my 2 favorite things about this fragrance had I been able to find them!! Perhaps they left with global warming....sigh.... i dunno. If you like herbaceous mossy moistness, this is a gorgeous fragrance. Me? I want a frozen tundra instead..... complete with northern lights!!

[symphonyinsilence]

Oooh, I really like this one. The icy fog description is spot on! It's a very wearable scent for hot and humid days since it's aquatic but somehow retains the "dark" floral quality. I'm usually not a fan of aquatics in general (prefer dark florals, resins, woods and orientals) but gave Danube a try and disliked its soapiness on me, so I was skeptical to try this, but this is beautiful. The drydown is almost cologne-y, but I don't mind it. I feel like this particular aquatic was made keeping me in my mind, haha.

Edited October 30, 2009 by symphonyinsilence

[Venneh]

In the imp, there's a really cold scent, with a really sharp twinge of what I'm going to bet is vetiver. Yep, once on my skin, the scent asserts itself as VETIVER. And quickly fades away to nothing. Which means there might be lavender in here somewhere as well. Aagh. This is why I don't like going into a scent blind; I like having an idea of whether or not the notes are going to kill the blend.

 

Swaps/sales.

[voorishsign]

Hmm. I thought I'd really like this because I suppose I was concentrating too much on the cold / dark / gloomy parts of the description and ignoring the bit about the blossoms. Florals just generally never do well on me, and especially wet florals just turn really sour on my skin - the same thing happened with Danube, which I'd so looked forward to. I anticipate that much like Danube, this will smell better in the oil burner, where my skin chemistry can't screw with it.

[skylarkza]

In the imp: SOAP. Watery soap. o.0

 

Wet: Slightly smoky. Smells like men's cologne.

 

Dry: Aquatic men's cologne. A slight hint of wood fire smoke. Dark and glassy.

 

A while later: A dark and smoky aquatic. Kind of like men's cologne. Not sure if it is for me, but I wouldn't mind this on someone else. Reminds me somewhat of Hurricane, but nicer (on me).

[girasol]

I was skeptical. I do not want to smell 'murky'

 

This is an unusual scent on me... and unfortunately not in a good way. I get something faintly smoky, and also a sharp ethanol-ish note, like a bottle of cheap gin. I really don't get anything floral, damp or otherwise. Niflheim is no love on me.

[SophieCedar]

Not as dark, aquatic, and musky as I had anticipated!

 

Ok, confession. this reminds me of when I first started dating this kid and our friend asked us to watch her house while she was off in italy. She's very sweet and loved both of us so was happy to foster our new relationship. We were in the honeymoon phase and got to play house for a couple weeks. She had some products in the house that were identical to this! Hence, this reminds me of PBRs, BBQs, the sound of traffic, the summer breeze wafting through the house, frequent refreshing showers with something of the same scent as this, and new love! Oh and motor oil and bicycles. hahahahaa

[ami226]

Dark slightly musky floral and herbal. Not for me at all...

[lunchboxmonkey]

I wish this scent was a bit more murky on me, but I like it just the same. As mentioned, I'm not really getting any murkiness. And I swear I can smell pine here.... but layered with bruised, purple flowers. As it dries I am getting a more grey feeling from this, a wet cold smell clinging to the flowers, but with something sharp and biting underneath. I wish I was better at picking out notes, but as I said, I do like this and I keep getting frimps of it so I'll definitely keep one or two on hand

[surf-tormented]

Smells like cold fruit. Nice, sweet and watery, but not too sweet. As it dries, the flowers come out, also frozen.

 

It would be good to wear on a fiery summer's day to combat the World of Fire!

 

I would say if you like perfumes like Ulalume, Ice Queen or your florals slightly smokey and icy at the same time, this one is for you! It's a very regal icy scent overall with all the smoke, floral and fruit sitting nicely at the back. Doesn't remind me personally of vetiver, more a slight resin. Very slight.

[sarielswish]

 

In the vial, I'm getting bitter herbs and crushed blooms. Unhappy is definitely a good descriptor for it. Color, pastel green.

 

Wet on my skin, I'm smelling strong, bitter flowers and herbs and maybe moss or greenery. Someone else had mentioned an ammonia smell in a review and, unfortunately, I have to agree.

 

10-15 minute drydown - Fortunately, that ammonia smell is starting to taper off, but it's still not me.