Playful Wooden Mallets

[Klepz]

Black musk and Ceylon cinnamon.

This is almost a single note black musk on me. It never goes powdery as black musk sometimes does, but, like fresh Black Temple Burlesque Troupe, it is quite lemony. The cinnamon is really soft and unobtrusive - not sharp or red-hots like at all. In fact, I can barely smell it.

[HerbGirl]

This was instant love for me right out of the mailbox...I knew I would love a Black Musk/Cinnamon perfume oil, but holy moly.

 

I agree with Klepz in that the cinnamon is soft and the black musk doesn't go powdery. There is a lift here (and lemony may be what my nose couldn't decipher), but this is the nicest, deepest, huffing the actual cinnamon bark instead of the grated stuff cinnamon.

 

After about 2 hours, this is still going very strong (which is most excellent) and the waft smells regal...almost antique, yet feral - untameable. I don't know if that makes any sense, but there it is. When I sniff my wrist up close, this smells like the wood that was used in a sauna at a dance camp in Pine Lake, NY that I used to go to when I was younger...and those were fond memories for me, so this perfume is 10/10 in every way. This is the first Luper I've smelled this year, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that it will be my favorite. How much magic can you create with TWO notes???

Edited January 29, 2012 by Herb Girl

[Dark Alice]

This has potential. Due to calendar issues...my skin is making the black musk SUPER lemony while wet. BUT...when dry the ceylon cinnamon comes out and the lemony black musk goes away and leaves this gorgeous black musk/ceylon cinnamon sex doll on my skin. I think I will age this one a bit and then come back to it. B/c this is going to be even more amazing than it is now.

[Invidiana]

This is not the black musk from Storyville or The Deserted Village or Enraged Groundhog Musk that hates me with the vengeance of an angry god. This isn't even the black musk from Black Temple Burlesque Troupe that I had to age the hell out of before the dry powderiness got toned down. There's a new black musk scent in town, and it's sexy as fuuuuuu

I honestly thought this wouldn't work. I mean, I amp cinnamon to hell and, as you can see, don't exactly have the best history with black musk. However, this scent has turned that notion on its head and made it do the Electric Slide. This black musk is slightly powdery, yes, but not the chalky powdery or plastic powdery types that have failed on me before. This is a soft and sensual type of powdery like--dare I say it?--Unseelie, though the cinnamon makes it decidedly more sensual than Unseelie. The cinnamon here is like no other I've smelled. It's not nostril-piercing spice or red hots or even the bakery sort of cinnamon that is the only one of the three I tolerate; this is a different animal in itself. It has a spicy edge, yes, but a tamed spicy edge that is closer to the heat of a warm musk (especially red) than a cinnamon stick. It must be the type of cinnamon. I am not just surprised, I am floored. Must have a bottle!

[jizatt]

I have to come review this one, because you're afraid of it and you shouldn't be. This black musk is smooth, warm, and sweet. This cinnamon isn't spicy so much as warm and woody sweet. The combo is lovely. I don't get the same black musk as any other blend I've tried (I agree with the above review for sure!) and this isn't the same cinnamon either. Definitely a musk for musk lovers though, give this one a chance =)

[Mellifluous]

I'm glad I'm not totally crazy I totally agree with Invidiana. The cinnamon totally leans towards a red musk. It's not like a "whoa this is red musk" but like *sniff* ..*sniff sniff* hmm??... *huff* ... is that red musk? ... *HUUUFF* yup, thats a drop of red musk in there. lol.

 

This really is a nice blend. The black musk is not scary at all.. and actually the whole thing comes off very .. um, crumbly? lol, not powdery, but definitely not liquidy either. Its kind of like a black musk version of a pie dough. Its crumbly, but if you work it a bit, it will meld together into a dough. Lol, hows that for an off the wall review

[Soniadevi]

Black Musk and Cinnamon. A match made in heaven. It's like a dry spicy Haunted! I love this!!! SO glad I bought a bottle Given the notes, it was a no brainer anyway. It's almost as though my collection was incomplete before, because I didn't have a good dry spicy musk. Here you go, like magic, Beth presents us with the perfect formula. This will be wonderful as it ages too. And great for layering. The possibilities are endless.

 

Seriously, what are you waiting for? Don't wait till you have to hunt it down once it's gone!

[dreamingjune]

Oh I love this so much! Gah!

 

In bottle: Oh hai Black Musk. And some lovely creamy, woody, almost spicy note.

 

Wet: Yup, there is some Black Musk in this. You might want to not get near this if you don't like Black Musk. I was expecting some red hot type cinnamon action here but there is nothing but a touch of a creamy and wood like note peeking out from behind a thick wall of Black Musk.

 

Dry: The freshness of the Black Musk calms down a bit and this settles into a lovely and simple blend. I still can't quite identify the cinnamon, but I can tell something is there keeping this interesting.

 

Overall: So much Black Musk awesomeness, and some soft cinnamon that is unlike any cinnamon I am accustomed to from bpal. My favorite so far!

[strahlend]

I only get black musk, no cinnamon

[boomtownrat]

This has demonstrated for me why it's a bad idea to base an opinion of a scent on one testing straight out of the mailbox. I was so excited to get this particular decant that I didn't let it settle down before testing. It was a disappointing result that first time, but I knew enough to give the oil a chance to rest. When I tried it again several days later, not even the fact that I was hormonal could diminish the brilliance of Playful Wooden Mallets on my skin. My husband, who admits to having a weak sense of smell, commented unprompted that he loved the scent I was wearing.

 

Now I've worn this a couple more times and it's always warm and sexy. The cinnamon is not like red hots, as others have said, but just a warm, smooth spice that's blended so well with the black musk that my inexperienced nose can't really tell where one note ends and the other begins. There really is a woody quality to it as the name suggests, but it's kind of... a spiced wood?

 

Playful Wooden Mallets has a good enough throw that my husband with a bad sense of smell could detect it in the car, so I try not to slather because I don't want to choke anybody with my perfume. It lasts at least five hours by my count. I'm definitely buying at least one bottle!

 

Note: This layers well with Snake Oil.

[crushedstars]

I really like this. It is warm & sexy & musky, but at the same time, it's not too heavy. I'm wearing this on a very hot day (it's summer here, and I was keen to test it out on a weekend, even though normally I wouldn't wear musk on a hot day), and yet it doesn't feel smothering or overwhelming. It's just gorgeous.

[Monday]

Oh yes I definitely get the Haunted references. It's basically a sexy dry black musk. This is very much like the musk in The Black Temple Burlesque Troupe only without cocoa.

The cinnamon in this is behaving very well, it adds a woodsy background to the musk. It reminds me a bit of the 'spices' in The Lion.

I already knew from reading the notes that I would like this (I'm a big fan of Haunted) I need to do an all-day-test to see if it's bottle-worthy though.

[Incendiare]

In the vial, this smells like a spicy wood. It's beautiful. I generally find most of the lab's wood notes to be on the dry side, but this is definitely creamier. I guess that's just how the black musk is playing with the cinnamon. Wet, it starts heading in a dry wood direction, but the cinnamon still stays strong. It's not an overwhelming cinnamon, nor is it a red hot candy type. It's more subdued and realistic. This is awesome. I'll have to experiment with it a bit more before making the final decision on a bottle.

[milo]

I love black musk and black musk loves me. However, this one smells like a lemon based cleaning product at first. It does dry down to a beautiful, slightly spicy black musk. I do really like it, but the cleaning product association is kind of annoying while it lasts. I do have Panther Moon and BTBT to satisfy my black musk cravings, and this is pretty similar. I find it close to fresh Haunted as well, which makes me think it may eventually get like aged Haunted, which I have a precious few drops. I would not, however, turn down any that came my way, it really is beautiful.

[SadariEvenstar]

I wasn't interested in this at first, but I ordered it on the strength of the reviews. I am sooo glad that I did! This is gorgeous! Sweet and woody - I don't know if I would have been able to tell there was cinnamon in this is I didn't know the notes.

 

The only downside for me is that it has almost no throw.

Edited March 8, 2012 by SadariEvenstar

[pinkstardust420]

Definitely black musk, and no cinnamon, oddly enough! Not bad, but not a keeper for me.

[rawgirl75]

Wow. This one's going to be very sought after in the years to come. It's really good. Unfortunately however, it's got two qualities about it that will prevent me from keeping it:

 

a] Its got good throw. Like Snake Oil, if you over-apply.. people WILL notice. (I work in an office building with many people with scent allergies so I need to keep my scents close to me.)

 

b] It lasts a long time. I applied this to my arm 8 hours ago and it's still going strong. I expect I'll still smell it tomorrow. (I prefer to change up my scents often -sometimes wearing two in one day.)

 

Oh! and ps: I figured out which scent it reminds me of: a more gender-neutral version of Inez.

Edited March 20, 2012 by rawgirl75

[stellamaris]

Hmmm, Forum weirdness. I like my second review best. Sorry for the double post!

Edited March 9, 2012 by stellamaris

[stellamaris]

This is amazing and spicy, back up worthy, and perfect. I think this is the best cinnamon that I have tried as of yet. It does not have the Red Hot effect of candy, but rather the spicy variety. Like real spice. It is like the cinnamon in Chimera with less sweetness and more depth.

 

So bizarre that some do not get the cinnamon from this, for me it's All Cinnamon All The Time.

 

Edit *So, I am ending up with six bottles of this, I am hoping I don't cry when I run out...

 

Final? Update...there are NOT twelve bottles of Playful Wooden Mallets here, I really don't know what you are talking about.

 

This is the perfect touch up for anything, mixes with everything, it's so perfectly perfect. I have a bottle with me at all times. Yes I do.

Edited September 6, 2012 by stellamaris

[evekrieg]

This might have been my favorite out of the Shungas that I've tried so far. Reminds me a little of Jo Malone's "Dark Amber and Ginger Lily" except a little sweeter and less woody. It's sophisticated and sexy and delicious. I'm almost wishing that I'd bought a back-up bottle.

 

That's the trouble, I guess. The more of these I get, the more I want. Grr.

[orata]

I got a bottle of this unsniffed but I can't quite see what all the fuss is about. I get almost all black musk and not much cinnamon if any at all, and something about the musk reminds me of my grandma's bathroom. Vaguely dirty and powdery. I get the Haunted vibe, but I think I like Haunted slightly better overall so far! I'm hanging onto a decant for at least a little while, because I suspect aging is going to change the scent, but I certainly don't need a whole bottle of it.

[TheMistWalking]

Source: Bottle straight from the lab, aged about 10 days.

 

Wet on skin: Black musk and more black musk, woody and very slightly lemony.

A half hour later: I'm not getting any lemon now. It's just a woody black musk.

4 hours later: The scent is still the same, but it's begun to fade.

6 hours later: It's barely there.

 

When I first tested this scent, it was freshly ripped from the mailbox. I was sorely disappointed by the lack of cinnamon, so I decided to put it away and give it some time to settle and blend. Unfortunately, the last week or so hasn't changed it so far.

 

Verdict: I am VERY saddened by the complete lack of cinnamon in this one, since that's the reason why I bought it. I like black musk, but I don't quite love it on its own. Plus, I already have some Haunted, which is very similar, and I prefer it to PWM. (Haunted is sweeter and retains that touch of lemon on my skin.) Overall, the scent's not a bad one, but it fell rather short of my expectations. I'll put it away for now and see what happens. (Who knows? Aging might work wonders.)

[DahliaHayashi]

I was jumping on the last imp my decanter had because of the good reviews. It was a complete mess on my skin. super sweaty, heavy musk with lemon cleaner background. no cinnamon on me. I made the mistake and just putted it on and wnt out and came home with a headache.

So not what i expected

[zankoku_zen]

Cinnamon and musk. It smells slightly sweet and powdery.

 

It's like musky cinnamon cookies.

[Amaranthus]

This perfume smells like an antique wooden box that has been lined with cinnamon bark and then stored in Aphrodite's underwear drawer among her most scandalous and seductive undergarments. That is to say, it is gorgeous!