Moscow

[anna1850]

A rich, bold blend of imperial rose, carnation, lush jasmine, lily of the valley, dark musk, amber, bergamot and gilded tangerine.

Nice and pleasant. Reminds me an awful lot of Nyx but not quite as deep.

3/5 Just not really my thing though.

[liquidtrance]

LILY/JASMINE. Softens up very quickly, though. The tangerine seems to poke through... Still seems to smell just like every other lily/jasmine scent. Sigh.

[hkhm]

imp: jasmine and soft tangerine.

 

wet: just a hint of soapiness from the rose but it's the jasmine that is really overpowering this blend on my skin.

 

dry: the florals really start to behave after about five minutes, the rose is behaving mush better than usual and the jasmine has settled to let some of the other scents have a chance.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

you mean in all the years i've had this bottle, i never reviewed it? ah, well, it is going to a better home so now's as good a time as any:

to begin, i can't stand carnation or jasmine. but those two combine with everything else to smell like this one brand of hairspray that some girl in my gym class used circa 1992, it was a pump spray bottle and the bottle itself was pearly pale pink and had dark pink writing, and i'm pretty sure it had silk in it (in both the name and the contents) and since this was in the HEIGHT (har, har) of "mall hair" and the poodle-puff bang, boy howdy did i smell a lot of that hairspray. and, er, i don't want to wear it as a perfume.

[earlgreyellie]

very very floral. i mostly smell rose both in the bottle and on my skin. it's quite feminine, in my opinion.

[HKB]

On me this smells like a generic perfume you could get at the mall. Floral, powdery, strong. Something my mom would wear. Not bad but nothing special.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I get a vague mix of florals, almost like Epitaph, and maaaybe a hint of tangerine in there somewhere. On my skin, it's, again, the same vague sort of mix of florals, nothing standout.

 

This is pretty much Epitaph all over again. 's a nice scent, but not anything I'm going to get a bottle of. Though, going to age this a bit, and see how it turns out.

Edited October 26, 2009 by Venneh

[theandorran]

Florals, florals, florals. Not really worth the trouble of dividing it up in stages because this isn't a morpher on me. It starts floral and stays floral. I'm not very good at picking out individual floral notes when they're all together like this, but I get lily of the valley, maybe? Some jasmine. Not really rose or carnation. I'm not getting any of the citrus, either, which makes me sad. No tangerine or bergamot.

[rayvn1]

I have to echo theandorran: Floral, floral, floral Can't say I'm a big floral lover and that's all I'm getting out of this. Wish the musk, amber, tangerine, and bergamot would come out to play but alas, the florals take over.

[ChaosKitty]

My first review on the site - *bites nails*...

 

Definitely floral, as the other reviewers have said. Wet and in the bottle, I first smelled the tangerine and a soft amber or musk. After it's been on my skin a while, the jasmine was extremely predominant (not good, since it always seems to turn into a dirty-nappy reek on me). However, twenty minutes or so later, it settled back into the other notes and this turned extremely pleasant! I do want a second imp, but I don't think I need a whole bottle.

 

[impolight]

:::MOSCOW:::

 

The delight that is Moscow is immensely different than what was anticipated.

Moscow or, in fact, any other part of, "Mother Russia" evokes associations with Iron-fisted, stout-hearted, disciplined might; surviving terrible Tsars, harsh winters, Siberian prisons, etc.

BPAL's rendition of Moscow proves, in every way superior! From the Imp to the skin, Moscow is dizzying opulence, might, and every bit the Fairy-Tale empire that set hearts to quailing in Europe and the Orient.Moscow's fragrance is the cosmic green of the Aurora Borealis.

Moscow is the beguilement of Scandanavian, blue-green eyes, a glacial smile, and the heady intoxication of interstellar-black hair festooned with Roses and Carnations.

Moscow is the heat of skin on skin that drowns out the bothersome fire crackling on the grate.

Moscow is the heat of a shared breath that causes the bearskin rug to fade away.

Moscow is a soapy, ballerina Goddess who would inspire most men to think, "wanna wrassle?".

[Deiicide]

Just smell a lot of different flowers, the rose and the Jasmine are pretty much ganging up on everyone on my skin. There is a bit of sparkle which I assume is from the musk, and the orange is barely there on the background. It makes me sneeze which is never a good thing. As it dries the musk and the orange grounds the flowers but it's still not blossoming (haha pun!) on my skin.

[angelicruin]

The jasmine note just kills this scent on my skin. I can't pick up any of the other floral notes, except maybe a little of the lily. I don't like jasmine notes on my skin, especially when that's pretty much all I can smell, so this is back to the frimp pile.

[ami226]

On the skin: floral tangerine. Reminds me a bit of Two Loves.

 

Not my thing...

[kjirstiben]

Moscow is a gorgeous floral. I'd had concerns about one or more of the flower notes amping (jasmine... I'm looking at you!), but the combination was balanced and unbelievably pretty. It was a bit strong initially (I'll have to apply with a very light hand in the future, to avoid headaches), but after an hour or so turned into a beautiful scent experience. Very much the smell of burying your nose in a huge bouquet of beautiful hothouse blooms.

 

This stayed true to itself--floral, green, almost wet-smelling--all day long, without metamorphosing into something weird (the way so many scents seem to on my tricky skin).

 

Truly a lovely scent, and exactly the kind of floral that I've been seeking as a summer scent. Though it does seem odd that this feels so summer-appropriate--shouldn't Moscow be a wintry thing?

[Vega]

In imp: Woah, this is my first "commercial" BPAL encounter. Perfumy, high flowers, but also deep and full-bodied.

 

On skin: Some investigation revealed that the "commercial perfume" note is jasmine. (Currently my only other BPAL scent with jasmine is Zorya, and it has this note too.) Moscow smells like a conventional perfume all the way through. I don't recognize the other floral notes, but jasmine seems to be dominating here; and I can barely detect the amber and musk, except that they're giving the high flowers a full depth. Overall Moscow is very rich, high, heady, powerful, bold florals – and quite overwhelming.

 

Verdict: Moscow is a bold, imperious, haughty, and regal old dame. And she's way too floral and "commercial" for me. I may have to avoid jasmine in the future.

[DraloreShimare]

In the vial - Cold florals, I can definitely smell rose in the mix.

On the skin - Jasmine. And there are some other faint florals in the mix. But…

Dry - Powdery, fruity, weirdness.

[SophieCedar]

mmmm...carnation, amber, jasmine, light lily of the valley, wet warm rose, and a touch of black musk. Color impression dark red, orange and black. And I can tell the bergamont and tangerine are causing the orange color impression. I'm in love.

[Missus]

Imp: I smell something deep and almost spicy first off, then the florals take over. Carnation seems strong - I'm not too fond of carnation.

 

Wet: The carnation is predominant at first, but very soon it takes a back seat to...I don't know what exactly, but it's pleasant.

 

Dry: The carnation disappears on my skin. It blends in behind the other scents until all I smell is a blend of something pleasant, warm and spicy. Now, finally I smell a little tangerine.

 

A bit later: The scent has become very soft. I thought it had disappeared, but every now and then I still get a whiff of it. It's playing hide-and-seek with me.

 

Overall, the final result is very pleasing. I won't order a 5ml when it's done, but I'll happily use the imp.

Edited February 15, 2011 by Missus

[lavenderfrost]

In The Imp: Sweet citrus w/spice.

 

Immediate Application: Even though you can definitely smell the citrus, it turns into something not even remotely foody. Very icy, very complex, very this-is-a-perfume-and-you're-lucky-to-be-smelling-it-so-shut-up. My inner Bitch is kinda digging it - I may use this if I need to try to convey an air of authority.

 

30-45 Minutes Later: The amber warms it up a bit, and the florals start to come out and keep it from getting too warm. Not night-and-day different, but still pretty different. A boudoir scent, as opposed to a royal audience scent. This could be the "vixen" aspect of the perfume...if you meet someone who's not cowed by the initial "bitch" phase.

 

Verdict: A keeper.

Edited March 4, 2011 by lavenderfrost

[KissleMeNow]

In the bottle and wet it was mostly floral – I think carnation/rose, with a bit of jasmine, and tangerine. But as it dried, the musk and amber came to the fore and the flowers faded. I didn't get the bergamot, oddly. Initially I was ready to pass it on – not that it was a bad scent, just not for me – but the drydown won me over.

[evekrieg]

Usually jasmine and rose are scents that I pass over on principle but I'm new enough to BPAL that I want to try everything. This was a frimp with my last order, or else I can guarantee I wouldn't have tried it. Wet, my first reaction was "ick flowers!" because the jasmine and rose were so prominent at first. As it settles down, it really warms up and starts to behave. It actually smells really feminine and pretty, not like an old lady or a funeral home like I was expecting. Not necessarily something I would choose for myself, but a well-made scent nonetheless.

[jkfagtongpun]

I was SO excited to try this. Some of the notes don't usually work for me but I was hoping the carnation, musk and tangerine would do something magical.

 

In the imp I get a sort of vague floral.

 

On wet I get the tangerine... mouthwatering tangerine backed by rose, carnation, jasmine and a touch of lily.

 

When it dries... jasmine. All jasmine. This is a blend in which jasmine is being her bossy self and doesn't let any other notes come out. Dang it. I hate when this happens!

[stellamaris]

Yes yes yes, another jasmine heavy heavenly BPAL, this one seems a bit smokey to me too, very nice floral a la Venice, Wicked, Nyx, etc. I love this.

[yakiguri]

*sigh* Proof again that I generally can't wear citrus, and bergamot is an especially nefarious skin nemesis. All I get from Moscow is pretty florals thrown into an ash tray with some funky, sour citrus thrown on top...like a heavy smoker who douses herself in gallons of floral perfume to cover the smoke upchucking the orange juice she just drank. Ick.