White Rabbit

[frecklestars]

Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen.

In the bottle: oversteeped black tea with a handful of white pepper and ginger. it's not sweet, though there's something slightly cloying and a bit artificial. it's very like a demented sort of tea party, with all the guests being of the uninvited sort. maybe the crisp linen is what's so artificial? I'm not sure. I like the spiciness though.

On my skin: more strong black tea with only a teensy splash of milk. the white pepper refuses to be cut by the sweetness of the vanilla and honey. again there's something a little bit artificial that's plastic and unpleasant. it doesn't age well either - the ginger makes it sour.

Last thoughts: I want to like it, I do. the spiciness mixes with the sweetness, without being overpowered by it. but whatever that artificiality is just turns me off. the spice mix reminds me of chai.

[changeling]

Disclaimer: this is aged White Rabbit

In the bottle: Tea with a kick--I surmise the kick is the pepper and/or ginger

Wet: Tea and pepper with a little something sweet and soft. I don't recognize it as vanilla; honey, perhaps. It's rather nice.

Dry: The spicy note is dying away and the scent is turning powdery

Two hours later: A lightly scented powder

 

If White Rabbit hadn't morphed, I would have enjoyed it. As it is, this scent was not particularly successful on my skin. A carrier oil might help.

[Ella LaRose]

citrus tea! don't know why I smell citrus

[Vega]

Sniffed: Light but a bit muddled. Ginger and tea are the most prominent notes, with touches of vanilla and linen, and a dab of sweetness from milk and honey.

 

On skin: Muddled, indeed. Mellow tea, sweet honey and creamy vanilla-milk form the base of the blend. Crisp ginger and maybe pepper eventually morph in and clash with these deeper notes, and for a while White Rabbit felt a bit disorderly and chaotic. But the ginger eventually disappears, and the blend settles into a light, sweet, honeyed milk and tea, made hazy with linen. Somehow it reminds me of Dorian: they must have a similar vanilla-tea and linen note, even though they have very different characters. Colour impression is smoky gray muddled with vague brown/cream/white.

 

Verdict: White Rabbit indeed encapsulates its namesake, and it does feel bustling and bewildered. It smells pleasant, for sure, but there's something about it that jars and repels me just a bit. Not a fan.

[Pyewacket]

this was a frimp with a lab order

 

in imp: quite sweet, almost cloyingly so, plus tea and spice

 

on wet: the milkiness is coming out now, I'm getting the honey and vanilla and a little bit of pepper – this is so nice and cosy without being overly sweet or foody

 

drying: dries down to gorgeous tea and honey – stays close to my skin but good staying power

 

overall: It's the scent equivalent to wearing a nice crisp white blouse. A good everyday scent.

 

edit to add: initially i found this one to be very pleasant but not spectacular. But after a few more tries white rabbit has really grown on me. I think this is my no.1 comfort scent and I'll be adding a bottle to my next order.

 

Which just goes to show that I need to test several times before making up my mind

[Helas]

Every shipment I have ordered from the Lab so far has contained a scent so revolting, bizarre, and horrifying that I wonder how it even made it past the brainstorming stage. There's been Delphi - rotten tomatoes and garbage; Lilith - dusty grape bubblegum; Jabberwocky - an eerily accurate rendition of Vicks Vaporub; brimstone, which smells like, well, brimstone; and now White Rabbit, which smells like all sorts of different things, none of them pleasant.

 

The first smell that slaps me in the face is a wet dog smell that makes me think of dirty dishcloths that have been improperly hung to dry and have acquired that sour, mildewed scent. There is also something that reminds me of sour cream, and a saltiness that makes me think of pickles. My nose is confused and my brain has trouble processing the smell; I keep thinking, "No, it's just not possible that this could be this bad - oh, no, wait, it IS that bad and worse."

 

I kind of look forward to getting that one nasty sample, particularly if it was sent for free, since it's good for laughs. If my first imp pack had contained Delphi, Lilith, Jabberwocky, Brimstone, and White Rabbit though, I doubt I would have bought from the Lab again, since I can't imagine paying to smell like this.

 

One out of five stars.

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: Milk, honey, white pepper, and... something green, though I'm probably imagining it. I think I'm getting the linen, but I'm not sure. I don't get the tea or vanilla at all; I hope they show up on my skin. You'd think a blend with honey and vanilla would be sweet, but this isn't.

 

Wet: Oh, there's the tea, and it's a little lemony like the tea in Dorian. The milk and white pepper are more noticeable, but they're kind of strange together, if I'm being honest. They honey disappears for a minute or two but then slowly comes back. Still no vanilla. Maybe I'm crazy, but this smells like cigarette smoke.

 

Dry: Ugh, the milk note is doing its sour thing. The honey's gone again, and the vanilla is still MIA. And yeah, cigarette smoke.

 

An Hour Later: The same, but with the addition of that "clean" (read: ozone) linen scent... which makes this even worse than it was before.

 

Overall: Think it's time to officially add milk to my list of death notes: it always goes sour on me. This blend was a huge fail for me overall.

[Gateau]

In the imp: butter and light rose

 

Wet: sugar, white lilies, buttered toast. I don't really like buttery scents, they smell artificial to me.

 

Dry: getting the gingery/peppery note. Still getting that buttery scent, not much tea, vanilla or linen. It's a warm golden scent, maybe the honey-vanilla-tea combined is giving me the impression of butter and baked goods.

 

Later: Getting a note that is cucumbery and sort of like play doh, neither being favorite scents of mine. It's gotten much more gingery and I never got the tea or the white linen. It's nice but I don't really smell the concept. Want more tea, less butter. Has pretty good lasting power.

 

Bottom line: may test again, but I suspect this will be perfect for a friend. Am starting to suspect I might not like honey scents as much as I thought I did.

[invisible iris]

In the imp I get lemon with a hint of honey and something that reminds me of anise, strangely.

 

Freshly applied, it's tannic tea and lemon and what seemed like anise has shifted into white pepper and ginger. Oh, here comes “clean linen,” which esp. in conjunction with the sorta sneezy pepper, my nose reads as dryer sheets...

 

That phantom lemon fades and merges into a very faint tea note. As it dries, the sweeter notes come out, honey, milk, and vanilla from most to least prominent on me. The pepper and ginger lose their kick, the tea mostly disappears leaving but a faint astringence, and the dryer sheet becomes not quite so… dry. Ultimately, it's buttery honey with sweet milk and a hint of dryer sheet.

 

Verdict: Alas, the dryer sheet note doesn’t work for me. I’m just not that kind of person. But I can see someone else really loving this, as it’s sweet, and clean, and very light.

[Circaea]

This imp was a decant, of unknown age.

 

White Rabbit is so beautiful on me. My nose interprets the tea/ginger/pepper/honey/linen/vanilla notes as a soft creamy anise over cut grass. A shimmering, dreamy, gentle summer scent. I feel just like Alice, waking from a dream to perceive an irresistible vision which must be followed. I love it.

[Incendiare]

I was looking forward to trying this blend because it has so many notes that I adore. Black tea, ginger, honey, and vanilla, which a touch of creaminess from the milk. How could that not be awesome? The moment I opened my imp I was hit with something sour and off. The milk. To my nose, it's definitely sour. The black tea and lemon follow but there is no chance they can save this blend for me. Blend them together and you get lemon meringue made with expired milk. White Rabbit made me realize that the lab's milk note will never be my friend.

[Betula]

I really wanted to like White Rabbit. Many of its notes are favorites of mine, and have worked well in other blends. However, there's this grating citrus-and-dryer-sheet smell that gives me a headache and ruins the rest of the scent (is there some bergamot in here, I wonder? Is that where I'm getting citrus from?). I'm guessing that the linen note is chiefly to blame. I've had trouble with it in other blends.

Once the oil has dried, the headache-y smell tones down a little, but not enough for me to wear White Rabbit comfortably. And it's a real shame, because I can tell that all the other components of the oil smell gorgeous underneath. *sigh*

[orata]

Based on the description and my love of all the component smells, I thought this would be my favorite out of the batch of imps I ordered. Unfortunately, I initially thought it smelled just terrible out of the bottle, with an overpowering baby powder/dryer-sheet aroma that I thought was probably the “clean linen.”

 

A few days later, though, I realized I just love it once it dries down. Initially, on my skin, the powdery linen, ginger, and sharp pepper come out strong; I don't particularly like the initial blend of scents, it just seems like a chaotic jumble of smells all fighting with each other, rather unpleasant and headache-inducing. However, as the pepper fades, the honey, tea and milk start to come out stronger. Hours later, all that's left is a sweet, clean, incredibly comforting creamy milk smell with just a hint of vanilla and tea. I've been putting this on before bed so I can sniff the milky goodness as I fall asleep. I used to eat these chewy "White Rabbit" milk-based candies when I was a kid, and the final drydown of White Rabbit smells like the candies taste.

[sharkdiver]

White rabbit imp fresh from the lab:

 

In the imp: Ginger and white pepper were the most predominant scents to my nose. On first sniff, I did not think this one would work at all, since the pepper was very strong. Not my kind of scent.

 

Wet: What a difference! as soon as it hit my skin, Here comes the clean linen, honey, and vanilla, and black tea. The ginger and pepper almost vanish...The milk seems to just add a creaminess to the vanilla on me, but does not in any way smell sour. This scent is gorgeous, and very comforting. This is a great everyday scent.

 

Dry: still; beautiful, and lasting. The honey, vanilla, and linen softens, and the black tea brings out almost a very soft floral/green note, but it all rounds out beautifully.

 

I would definitely buy a bottle. 3.5/5 (5 being like...the holy grail.)

Edited August 12, 2011 by sharkdiver

[whataboutprom]

Wet: I smell tea and something sweet and fruity.

 

Dry: The clean linen note comes on strong, and the yummy tea disappears on me. This has the sharp type of perfume smell that irritates my sinuses, sadly.

[Maleficium]

Imp: tea, milk, linen,

 

wet on skin: spices, very fresh, oh my god so far i love this. smells very warm and lightly spicy and a little bit sweet.

 

later: my skin is definitely amping some spicy vanilla notes

 

 

if this smell was a feeling or an image, it'd be late summer afternoon light filtering through an open window.

 

I would certainly buy a big bottle of this warm delicious scent!

 

con: this smell makes me too relaxed so it's probably not good for me to wear when i need a nap and/or am trying to concentrate on something

Edited August 21, 2011 by Maleficium

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the imp: Clear, pale peach oil. The scent is sharp and spicy - ginger, pepper, and - yay! - black tea. I've been looking for a BPAL that has a true black tea scent as its main note. Could this be it? The spices are stronger, but the tea is definitely there. The spiciness (and even a mysterious tang of lemon) makes this remind me more of Earl Grey rather than plain black tea, even though there's no bergamot in this.

 

On me, wet: The same notes as in the imp, with the addition of sweet milk. The tea is still there, but it's not so much a strong black tea as it is a mild, sweetened, milky tea. It's a lovely fragrance that is so well- blended and complex that it's hard to identify any specific note; what I call a designer scent. If I didn't know what particular scents were in it, I'd never be able to guess. It's almost floral - that must come from the clean linen.

 

On me, just dried: Now it's lost the spice and tea notes, gotten a lot sweeter, and has morphed into 100% dryer sheets. To me, that's not a bad thing. I love the scent of good-quality dryer sheets. It will be interesting to see what happens as time goes by, since the fragrance has changed so much already.

 

After an hour: Still smells like dryer sheets.

 

After 2 hours: Still mostly dryer sheets, but they are fading and letting some of the milk and honey peek through again.

 

Ultra feminine, especially on drydown. A very nice scent, but not the Holy Grail of Tea that I was looking for. Not recommended for those who don't like the smell of dryer sheets. Try this in a scent locket to retain the tea and spice notes.

 

My rating: 4 stars

[Woollyworm]

Disclaimer: I was given a smidge in the bottom of a bottle and informed it was several years old.

 

Sniffing the bottle: strange and wonderful. Spicy tea with a hint of sweetness. Like chai after you add a drop of honey, but before you add milk.

 

Applied: I slathered most of what was left. Spicy tea with a hint of sweetness and a mystery note I cannot begin to identify.

 

Dry: see above.

 

Very very unusual perfume. Didn't morph much on me. Good staying power. I like it. I can appreciate a tea fragrance without lemon/citrus notes, so this had me at hello in that regard. The mystery note is not unpleasant, but maddening as I can't figure it out. I'll be getting an imp of fresh White Rabbit to test and compare.

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: I have no expectations for this scent at all, which can be a good thing! So we'll see what happens.

 

Wet: Strong, crisp tea and freshly ground pepper. This is interesting.

 

Dry down: Still tea and pepper, with just a hint of honey.

 

Dry: The honey comes out to play a little more and is nicely augmented by the tea and just a little bit of ginger.

 

Final thoughts: I think that this is a scent that could benefit with a little aging, so we'll try that. I'm not crazy about this fresh, but I'll revisit White Rabbit in a few months and see.

 

December testing: WR has definitely benefitted from aging. The scent is much, much more smooth, and after wearing several times, this has shot up to the top of my bottle list.

 

Verdict: Hunting for a bottle now.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Alethia

[Akurarei]

White Rabbit

 

In the Frimp:

Strong black tea & spicy pepper

 

On my Skin, Wet:

Fermented note, pepper & something spicy.

I assume that's the ginger

 

On my Skin, Dry:

Black tea, cream, & faint traces of either the pepper or ginger...it's just a teeny bit spicy.

I get a note of the linen every now & then.

 

Verdict:

I didn't like the initial application or the immediate dry-down.

the fully dry, several-hours-later version is nice, but nothing special for me.

meh.

I am glad that I got to try it, I know that most people really like this one. Sadly I am not one of them.

[rhubarb3point14]

I can't smell any "clean linen" in this, unless it's that slightly sneezy quality I'm noticing. Mainly, this smells as though I layered Dorian with Kumiho -- which makes sense, looking at the components. It almost flickers back and forth: warm, sweet, milky tea vs. green, peppery, gingery tea.

 

I like it quite a bit, but not as much as I like either Dorian or Kumiho.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: light and distinctly peppery

 

Drydown: It picks up a fresh quality (the linen and tea perhaps) and becomes creamy. The pepper becomes stronger and right when it verges on too abrasive, it mellows out and honey comes in to sweeten things.

 

Dry: Custard w/ a touch of chai.

 

 

I like White Rabbit, but I'm a little disappointed because I was hoping to completely fall in love with it, lol. My husband really likes it and it's a delicate enough of a foody scent to be work-appropriate, so I'll be wearing this a lot for sure.

[becca_s]

The main thing I can smell in the imp is tea and linen, with a bit of ginger.

 

After a few minutes of putting it on White Rabbit smells really, really clean - like other people said there is almost something citrusy about it but I think it might be from the ginger. It does smell smooth and creamy from the milk, but the main note for me is the linen. I put it on straight after I had a shower and its very light and refreshing. This also fades really quickly on me.

 

 

ETA: The more I try this scent the more that I love it - it's a soft, creamy, clean scent with a little bit of spice. I just wish that it would last for longer and I would definately be getting a big bottle of this

Edited January 8, 2012 by becca_s

[ajansuz]

When I tried this, it was a frimp fresh from the lab. In the imp, pepper, ginger, butter and tea. Much more spicy than sweet.

 

Wet: Very peppery tea. The ginger fades in and out without ever truly asserting itself. Thankfully, the butter doesn't show up on my skin.

 

Dry: Generic sweet tea with pepper. Not unpleasant, not anything to write home about. Most tea fragrances from BPAL haven't worked well on me except for a couple of the white tea ones. This was a little too foody for my liking and left me with the impression of drinking tea while eating pastries with a full pepper shaker sitting close at hand.

[yuniper]

On me, the citrus and tea are nowhere to be sniffed. What remains is a mild (milky), yet spicy (ginger) and warm scent. Which is not my "cup of tea", unfortunately. I prefer Shanghai and Baobhan Sith for freshness and Dorian for sweetness.