Manners Among Men and Women in the Red Light District

[hkhm]

Sake, apricot, and blonde wood.

bottle: this is mostly apricot with a light sake scent in the background.

wet: this is very apricoty! the wood note is lovely here and reminds me of the scent of drinking sake out of wooden cups.

dry: this dries to simply a lightly boozy apricot. not nearly as boozy as grand guignol though.

[jehrichardson]

In the bottle, all I get are lovely sharp blonde woods.

 

Wet, on the skin, it turns into slightly boozy blonde woods.

 

After a few minutes I get the barest breath of apricot - it's just this rich round sweet and tickling lightness.

 

This is very nice, and fairly masculine. It's well blended, and quite simple - almost refreshing.

 

This might be a good one for all you boys out there who want a bit of a whimsical take on classic woods. Mmmm! Going to have douse husband with it.

[Dark Alice]

I loved this when I tried it on....fresh apricot..smelled of orange on me...and the woods....were actually quite herbal. So I loved it...but not enough to buy the bottle. I will just have to be happy with my imp.

[greenranger]

This has apricot in it? From what showed up on me I would never have guessed.

 

This was a very well mannered, quite soft scent from start to finish. It smelled clean, with just a little tiny bit of sweetness.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Fruity, alcohol-laden sake.

 

Immediately on skin: The main note in this is the sake, which I recognize from Men Ringing Bell with Penises and the Lantern Ghose of Oiwa. It’s a fresh alcohol smell with almost a citrusy twinge. Right now, that note is taking up most of the scent, though I do get a slight dryness in the background as well.

 

After a little while: This seems to get a bit fruitier, though the sake still hits me hard as the main note in this. It’s alcoholic, slightly clean and citrusy, and has a candy-like bit of apricot added to it now. There’s still a dry finish from the wood, but it isn’t an obvious note.

 

Overall Impressions: I was hoping for a bit more apricot and wood from this, but it’s mostly sake plus hints of those other notes. It’s pretty and seems like a very fresh, bright scent, but the alcohol comes through a bit too much for me.

 

[Ahania]

In the imp, this is mainly apricot with a little huh?

 

On me, as it dries, the apricot fades away, and this goes to the wood and sake, which apparently on me, smell like getting a haircut just after someone got a perm. Only alcoholic.

[kohaisama]

In the imp: boozy and soft woody

 

Wet: the aggressive boozy is mellowed by a soft apricot. it's what I imagine apricot sake would smell like.

 

Dry: surprisingly, this has become a delicate fragrance. the blonde wood has almost a floral aspect to it and the apricot has become more tangy, but not loud. the down side, it's very, very close to the skin.

 

I was honestly expecting this one to be astringent, but it's not. It's very feminine and delicate. It's what I'd imagine a shy maiko (geisha in training) to wear. Nothing that pulls the attention from her more experienced sister geisha, but something alluring and innocent that a patron might catch a fleeting smell of if he's lucky enough to get close.

[capnlizaveta]

You know those evolutionary psych experiments where dudes sweat on tshirts and then women smell them later and rank their hotness based on the pit smell? And that women who are ovulating are totally into the stank of dudes who are extremely symmetrical (which apparently translates to "hot" in psych-speak)? This smells like totally symmetrical dude sweat if dude sweat smelled good, which it doesn't generally, but maybe if you were ovulating and he was super-hot it WOULD smell good. I'm not a big ovulator myself, so I don't know for sure, but I am imagining the combined effect of ovulation and hottness on stank perception as like the effect of miracle fruit on sour taste. Not only is previously gross nast no longer gross, it is actively awesome. What I am saying here is that this smells good, in a dudely way, and there is a faint hint of sweat smell in the background that really sets this apart and makes me luv it instead of just liking it. Also that I've read too many abstracts lately and I am super jealous that people are getting funding for these totally bizarre studies.

 

It smells a lot like last year's citrusy shungas, but more subdued. The closest thing in feel to it is probably Men Ringing Bell with Penises. Both are confident, masculine but subtle smells that could be worn by just about anybody. They smell outdoorsy in the way you can smell outdoorsiness on someone's clothes when they've just come inside. A hint of trees and night air and a teeny bit of sweat. Really, really nice. A little woodsy, and little airy, a little sweaty without the usual stank accompaniment.

 

At the beginning it smells like someone spilled apricot sake on a wood table, which is also awesome, but I think I like the dry down even better.

 

[meatcake]

Hurray! This scent smells EXACTLY as I wanted it to. See, I love Fresh's Sake, but admittedly it is quite expensive. Well, our beloved BPAL has succeeded in producing a scent that is very similar to Fresh's Sake - I am overjoyed!

 

In the bottle: Strong boozy, sake note.

 

On skin wet: very strong sake, with apricot undertones and a slight woodsy edge. *Very* slight.

 

Dry down: The delicious alcoholic note of sake stays on strong with the apricot becoming more prominent over time. Strong throw!

 

Amazing! Delicious! Beautiful! Thank you Beth!

[Brianne]

I tend to fall in love with almost every apricot blend BPAL has put out, so it's no real surprise that I adore this one. It goes on like sake - green but boozey but settles into a bright apricot scent. Gorgeous!

[savage_rose]

Lovely, light and sparkling...the apricot gives it a bit of a tang and the woods ground it, but mainly this is a really pretty floral sake. One of my favorite Shungas so far!

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Colourless oil. Dry, slightly sharp wood (much like sandalwood) dominates, with alcoholic, bracing sake, and distant apricot.

 

Wet: Sweeter, less harsh. More apricot, and the sake has lost much of its bite, instead now it's refreshingly tangy. The wood is still very dry and sharp.

 

Dry: Apricot is foremost now, sweet and juicy, yet it doesn't come off as cloying as it usually does. The wood has died further, and the sake remains a lovely, almost sparkling note of clean acidity that cuts the apricot.

 

Summary: Juicy apricot and refreshing, clean sake with a whisper of dry, light wood. It settles very nicely after a while, but fades rapidly. Good throw, dismal lasting power.

Edited February 23, 2009 by fairnymph

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i hate, hate, hate apricots. can't stand the smell, taste or texture. and every blend i've tried from the Lab with apricot in it has been... gross to me.

that being said, i ordered a bottle of this anyway, 'cuz the other two notes sounded good.

and if i hadn't been told there was apricot in this, i'd never have guessed. it must be a different sort of apricot than in all the other blends, maybe?

 

my opinion of this may change as it ages, but for now? it smells clean. and when i opened the bottle to sniff, it brought back a very specific scent-memory! one of my favourite shampoos from the 80's! Hälsa shampoo! it was the chamomile/marigold one that i used, off and on for yeaaars.

i'm glad to have this bottle, now, if for no other reason than that memory

 

[angelicruin]

In the imp: definitely apricot and what I presume is the Sake

 

Wet on skin: I really can pick up every note in this blend...sweet apricot, wood, and something else that must be sake.

 

The more it dries, the more I smell the apricot over everything else. It's fruity but not foody. Sweet, but not overly sweet.

 

This is one I might consider getting in a bottle.

[archaeopteryx]

Out of the Lupercalia decants I ordered, I thought Giant Vulva would be the stand out scent. I do like it, but I keep going back to Manners Among Men and Women. When I first put it on all I smell is apricot. I love the lab's apricot blends, so already this was turning out to be a promising scent.

 

Compared to other apricot blends I've tried, this one seems drier, probably from the wood note. The sake comes through giving it a slight alcohol note, but not overwhelming. I would wear this to work without people worrying that I'd been up drinking all night the night before. It also has good lasting power. I applied this about two hours ago and can still smell it easily.

 

I'm placing an order for a bottle of this one.

[AnArtfuldodger]

I adore this! It's tart and fruity and just a liiiiittle boozy and woody without being "just walked out from the bar sloshed" boozy. Sweet! Sharp! Eee!

 

I'm seriously considering buying 2 bottles of this. It's fruity, it has good throw, it's not too boozy so I can wear it to work (I am right now!) and OMG it's just delicious.

 

Wet, Manners is a dead-ringer for J&J's No More Tears shampoo from my childhood - faintly sweet & fruity, but super clean & squeaky

 

OMG you're right, it IS J&J! But in a good way!

Edited June 27, 2009 by Shollin

[PersephonesChild]

My immediate thought upon smelling this in the imp was that it smelled like floor cleaner. I hung in there for a second, and identified it as a combination of the alcohol of the sake, the light citrus, and the woods-- yep, it's a freshly cleaned floor.

 

And yet, of all the decants I got, this is the one I decided to skin test first. I still get a sense of the floor cleaner, but the sake's sharpness has subsided. It's not bubbling apricot (nothing like March Hare or Katharina) but the apricot has warmed up a little bit. I like the fact that it's ever so slightly sweet, and a little "earthy" from the wood, but not overwhelmingly so. I think this may have a place in my permanent collection.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is a nice sake/apricot blend with a woodsy base. I mean it sounds so simple, but it's not. It's gorgeous in a straight forward manner that belies how everything is so well blended together.

 

For me, this has the same appeal as Ebisu. Whereas Ebisu is a 'salty/aquatic', this one is a warm woodsy blend. But since I do have Ebisu, I think I'll pass on more of this. But yeah, this ranks pretty high up there.

[dreadpiraterustypants2]

Expectation-

Yearning for woods to be paired with a golden note.

I want fruity floor boards! And relatively dry ones, like a wine can taste of its barrel, but remain fruitsome-see?

Bottle-

I recognize that sake note from Spell of Amorous Love! A smidgen of apricot(march hare-esque) wafts out. Oddly Shampoo like- Johnson &Johnson's baby shampoo.

Wet-

Yes, it is that sake note of Spell' o Love- I get no woods, which is what I had been mainly expecting.

Alas- I feel a bit weepy.

Dry Down-

decant's enough, possibly swappable.

[Schmoozy]

Really a simple blend of sake, apricot and blonde wood. The apricot is very light and the sake feels astringent and cool. Together all three combine for a cool, apricot, woody oil.

It is clean, bright and I can see myself wearing this as soon as spring hits.

[GalaxyLei]

Mostly what I get from this is apricot--I can tell something is there keeping it from being in-your-face OMGAPRICOT, and I am left with a soft, juicy scent that makes me really want to eat fruit now. I can smell the juiciness. I don't know if I need a bottle, but I would definitely like to find another imp...

[tartchef]

Wet, Manners is a dead-ringer for J&J's No More Tears shampoo from my childhood - faintly sweet & fruity, but super clean & squeaky As it dries, the actual notes become more clear, but the overall feel is the same, fresh & unisex. The woods come forward, and the apricot is sadly too polite to hold its own against the dryness of the sake. The end result is clean & rather inviting, like one of my husband's freshly-laundered dress shirts - crisp ivory-colored cotton, still holding a trace of the apricot-scent of his styling cream. I want him to try this - given some age & a chance for the apricot to thicken up, I suspect I would find Manners a bit more my style, but fresh like this, it could be just the thing on J.

 

ETA: Nyom. I was right, it is fantastic on J - the wood & sake are most prominent, and his chemistry brings out the tart, almost floral aspect of the apricot. Makes a delightful change from his usual Hemlock, and a bit more office-appropriate, aside from the name

Edited March 18, 2009 by tartchef

[GhillieDhu]

Peculiar skin chemistry strikes again! First thing on my skin, this smells like freshly crushed Thai basil. Maybe it's the sake - I don't know what that's supposed to smell like. As it dries, I get that crisp herbal note plus more and more of a true, just-ripe and not too sweet apricot. Which is thrilling, because I adore fresh apricots but my skin usually turns stone fruits to candy DOOM. I do kind of get the shampoo association, but not in a bad way - it's just because it's such a light, clean smell. I can see wearing this a LOT in the spring and summer. If this were a normal LE, I'd absolutely get a bottle. As it is, I'll try my best to come up with the cash!

[catatonic1242]

In the imp: Drinking shots of apricot saki off of an unfinished wood table.

 

On, wet: Pretty much the same smell as in the imp, although I'm also detecting something maybe a little floral.

 

On, dry: Apricot and wood. I don't really smell the saki anymore (Maybe the alcohol burned off? Heh.). The floral note that I picked up earlier has become slightly more prominent.

[forspecial_plate]

I really like this. It smells kind of high-class and sophisticated to me. It's light and clean, like others have mentioned, and dry, dry, dry. I was expecting more sweetness or juiciness from the apricot, but not so. I am reminded of Ebisu and also Men Ringing Bells, the best parts of those scents, but the woods make this entirely its own scent. There is something sparkly, almost minty, which I guess comes from the sake? For some reason I was expecting something like Carceri D'Invenzione, but this is much drier.

 

This seems so simple, but everything comes together, harmonious, and just works really well on me. Even though it's a light scent, there is a surprising amount of sillage. This is just great, a big surprise from the Lupercalia scents. I knew I might like it, but I wasn't really expecting to like it this much!