Miskatonic University

[Mergekat]

The scent of Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls.

I just won a bid on an aged Miskatonic University from 2004. I tried a couple drops and really WOW. And I don't mean World of Warcraft there. At first I got the oak and it steadily got richer with hints of paper within the hour. It lasted a good 5 hours just on those drops alone, and stayed pretty steady. I'm a little sad there wasn't a bit more Irish cream/coffee tones to it though. Perhaps the sugary bits faded in the aging, or its my body's chemistry. I still like it, but I'm getting a "I'm in the old library stacks where coffee is a prohibited drink" vibe. I'll continue to test and enjoy the more "oakwood hall" feel of it. Hopefully, one day though I'll try and compare a newer version with more coffee to it. I'd rate this aged version as a 4 out of 5.

[Xue_Bai]

Imp: ...chewy butter rum filled candies on my great grandmother's oak table. I haven't had the candies for years and years and my great grandmother died over 8 years ago, but it takes me right back to winter holidays with relatives in southern California.

 

Wet: Sweet Irish coffee. Overwhelming so. But not overly boozy.

 

Dry: Here comes the oak, but it's old warm oak, not fresh woodsy oak. Behind that is a dusty vanilla like scent, which is not quite the smell of old books, but similar enough. Tying it together is the creamy sweet coffee undertone, with a warm butter rum twist in it. There's a nice throw, I keep getting whiffs of it without trying.

 

Later: The oak retreats a bit, and the coffee comes back, but with less rum and slightly more sugar. Though I let my one wrist rest on my hot laptop and the smell returned to the earlier dry smell...weird. It has settled closer to the skin, but it gets a good few hours of run time.

 

Overall, I like it more than enough to keep the imp. Not for summer at all though. It'll be nice for late fall/early winter nights, and for dead of winter days when it's either below zero or we have 3+ feet of snow out here on the Illinois/Wisconsin border. It's a scent to warm you up. Oddly enough, it still reminds me of winter holidays in California, even if the scent itself has changed from what it was in the imp.

[LateOne]

Got this as an imp on ebay. I love the smell of coffee and woods, so I figured this might be my new thing.

 

In bottle: Syrupy sweet coffee, like a Coffee-Mate creamer.

Wet: Milk-sweetened coffee with lots of throw.

Drydown: The sweet coffee scent is strong, but some musty oak note hits even stronger, even from a distance.

Dry: The oak note has the most throw at this point, carrying the creamy coffee scent behind it.

 

Food scent fans will love this. However, this is the first BPAL scent I outright did not like. It's way too sweet for me, and with the high throw, I'd smell like coffee creamer all day. It's just too distracting for me to wear and doesn't suit.

[ivyblossom]

I was so excited for this one! I'm not a coffee drinker, but I work in a university library, and I really like the smell of coffee, so I felt like this one might be a winner for me. When the package arrived it was the first one I opened, and...

 

God, it was so weird. It was the most aggressive oak in the universe. It basically punched my co-worker and I right out of my office. Eventually I hid the bottle away in my desk to try and keep the oak out of our faces. Intense. I was so disappointed. But I brought it home and stuck it away in a little-used drawer. I had this vague hope that maybe it just needed to sit for a while. It seemed awfully...raw. Possibly I was in some kind of denial. But the reviews here didn't sound anything like what I had in that bottle. Something was awry.

 

About three or four weeks later, I saw it sitting there in my drawer, and I wondered if it had changed at all. So I cracked it open, ready to be smacked in the face with oak. But...no, sweet, creamy coffee! I was right, Miskatonic University needs a bit of time to itself at first. Now it's genuinely a cup of creamy coffee in an old library reading room. I get where the oak comes in, it's just that now it settled and plays nicely with its neighbours. It's the polished reading room table! It's so obvious now, and absolutely lovely. I wore it to work the next day and my co-worker didn't even recognize it as anything close to what I got in the mail that first day.

 

So if you get this one and it's an oaky smack in the face, just let it sit for a little while. You will be rewarded! Misk U went from an absolute no when I got straight to one of my top three a few weeks later.

[Erinofhere]

Miskatonic left me under whelmed.

I was hoping for coffee and wood and maybe parchment.

I am only picking up butter toffee. Possibly a small dose of wood but just barely. No dust, no books.

I am going to let this one age a bit and see if it helps. It may just be my strange chemistry. But so far Miskatonic is not a win for me.

It does have decent staying power however. I am 5 hours in and can still smell it pretty strong.

[ObliqueRed]

Wet: mouthwatering Irish coffee, with an almost creamy note to it... reminds me also of Bailey's.

Dry: the woods emerge more and ground out the foodiness of this, but it remains mouthwateringly yummy!

[Missy_killer]

To my nose: First thing I smell is something cake-y and caramelly, which is the last I'd expect from this.



On: Oh, I recognize this. There's some chocolate-covered caramel stuff going on here. No coffee so far. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, becuase I generally don't like things that smell like coffee (though I loooove to drink coffee). After a few minutes on my skin the caramel starts to disappear and a dusty note appears. Now it's more like dusty icecream-wafers. Still no coffee, no woods or magnificent halls. This smells more like a table with candy that has been left untouched for ages. Thick dust covering and clibbing to the candy.

Edited September 23, 2014 by Missy_killer

[brilliantcat]

Rich, sweet coffee verging on cocoa-ish in the imp and freshly applied. My foodie little heart loves this so much already! It doesn't take long for the oak to add a nice richness. This is polished wood, not forest wood or a growing tree. And then, out of nowhere, I get popcorn o.O Not sweet popcorn or jelly belly popcorn, but actual popcorn. Well. That was unexpected. I think the wood and dust/paper notes are combining to create this aberration. Oh good, it's gone. Back to polished wood, some dust, and a hint of spilled coffee with old tomes spread around. Whew. I was scared for a second there. I do, however, like the idea of this better than I like the actual scent. My idea of heaven is a ton of books, a squishy chair, and some coffee (or tea), with a cat on my lap. Nonetheless, I'll keep and use the imp.

[welcometothefamily]

In the Imp: Sweet coffee with a strong kick of whisky.

 

Wet: The same, strong coffee with a double shot of Irish cream. It's actually making my mouth water!

 

Drydown: Stronger on the whisky than the coffee now, and there's hints of dust, and the oak wood.

 

Verdict: This scent is nice enough, but I hoped it would be stronger on the coffee. It's very rich and sweet, and while I'll keep my imp, I probably won't ever need a full bottle.

 

3.5/5

[Deliciousness]

Woah! This is sweet, musty old books with a cup of stale coffee. This scent is right on the money with it's description … "The scent of Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls.".

Alas, this scent went to stale coffee on my skin just after the dry down. It took about another hour for this blend to calm down so I could smell something besides the coffee. Ah well. This blend isn't quite my cup of tea, or coffee in this case.

Edited November 15, 2013 by Deliciousness

[Dust and Fire]

In the imp: Butter,coffe mate,and Bailys- times about a thousand. Painfully sweet.

 

On: The sweet toffee/bailys type scent was so strong and overwhelming, I only left it on about 15 minutes before scrubbing it off. Even then it was like a villian from a slasher movie: it Just.Wouldn't.Die!

I turned on the fan and opened the window, and after washing my hands for the 5th time it finally came off though it continued to linger on in my room .

After each scrubbing I'd sniff my wrist and I could catch the dust and the coffee underneath, but it was so drowned out I couldn't get to it.

 

I'm gonna leave it in the bottle for a while,cross my fingers, and hope it mellows a lot a bit, I was so looking forward to this one.

[Miss Despair]

Before I got a frimp of Misk U with my first BPAL order, I wasn't into foody scents. The way it smelled in the imp-- rich and buttery, sticky-sweet toffee cookies, an old cup of coffee-- was the kind of thing that was a recipe for migraines with the stuff I'd used before. Luckily, it wasn't so with this one.

 

There's something dusty and like polished wood furniture there, too. The wood and dust come out more on drydown, and they really do smell remarkably like the way old books do.

 

My favorite cold weather scent. There's just something warm and snuggly about smelling like you're reading in an old library with a cup of coffee while nibbling on baked goods.

[Zii]

In bottle: Bailey's coffee liquor. This is TREMENDOUSLY sweet smelling and is either going to be awesome or awful.

Wet: Okay, this is definitely falling more on the awesome side. It is still heavy on the coffee, but now it's bloomed into a really stunning caramel coffee. No hint of wood or tomes yet.

Dry: THERE is the wood and the books! It is amazing how this morphs on me! It started out super foody and then dries down to something super intense and dry. When I put my nose too close, it's sharp to the point of being a little bitter, but the drift is amazingly soft and scrumptious.

 

Fair warning: I put on a tiny drop on my hand and it is wafting and throwing super intensely. A little is going to go a long way with this!

[lucycat]

I should preface this by saying that I don’t drink coffee—I’m a tea person all the way--though I do enjoy the smell of it brewing. That alone made me hesitate to try Miskatonic University for awhile; it just seemed odd to wear a fragrance based on a beverage I don’t drink.

 

In the imp: Sweet coffee with an undertone. I can’t decide whether it’s the whisky, the paper, or the oakwood, but there’s something there besides the coffee.

Wet: Coffee with cream and sugar. There’s definitely a slight caramelized note.

 

Interestingly, when I retested a bit of this on the back of my hand (I usually wear and test on the insides of my elbows) I got the oakwood much more prominently and quickly as the oil dried, and, after a little bit, the old books and paper. Mmm. Now I’m getting the library vibe.

 

In my original test, on my arm, as the oil dried there was a phase that smelled like buttered popcorn. That eventually settled down into a sweet coffee drink with a little bit of wood.

 

This is really, really sweet, and rather heavy. I would have said “not for me,” but I’m liking the way Miskatonic University smells on the back of my hand rather than my arm; it’s a more nuanced, balanced scent than just coffee coffee coffee.

[Footsore Rambler]

I got an imp of this a few days ago, and I've tried it out twice now.

 

The first time, it was mostly delicious sweet coffee with lots of booze. The oaky, papery notes were all in the background. Yummy!

 

The second time, a few days later, I put it on and it was overwhelmingly ... tannin. Tannin with a bit of Irish coffee in the background. It was not very pleasant, but in an entertaining way -- I smelled like I was on a coffee break after a long day of curing hides. After a while, it was all "Hello, I am made of acorns but some of my best friends are hazelnuts" on me. I think if I were Piglet, I would have enjoyed this very much. Alas, I am not Piglet, and it was far too bitter for me.

[Magycmyste]

Oh, I've been looking forward to trying this one.

 

In the imp: Irish coffee. With hazelnut. Mmmmmm.....

 

Wet on skin: Same. A little stronger on the hazelnut, though.

 

Dried down: Mmmm...... soft and sweet, coffee and cocoa and bailey's with a little bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top. There's a bit of dry paper there, but it's mostly overwhelmed by the coffee.

 

Throw: This has some throw to it, and it makes me happy.

 

Verdict: ***** Yeah, I'll want a bottle of this at some point.

[Cazzadeathgirl]

So my order came earlier today!

 

This was 1 I really was looking forward to out of 28 imps and 2 bottles

 

So to get on with the review...

 

In imp- I expected really sweet smelling toffee/coffee but what I got was over sweet jelly belly popcorn no hint of dusty tomes or oak wood (don't exactly know how that smells on it's own)

 

Wet on skin- ewww! I'm not liking at all the jelly belly popcorn sweets make me gag this is what I'm feeling right now, no hint of dusty tomes either (I'd much prefer dusty tomes to popcorn any day)

 

Dry down on skin- still quite sweet, not to the point of making me gag though...I'm starting to smell something dusty coming through now...no oak though

 

30 mins later....yuck! I still smell the sweetness but not it smells like net curtains that have not been washed in a while with a smoker in the house (I was a weird kid that used to smell it)

 

Final verdict- ewwww! I'll certainly not be wearing this anytime soon! Though I just got my imp today...maybe ageing will help?

 

If not, I could probably give this to a family member for a room scent, far too sweet for me though, you've got to try it to believe it

[keileya]

In the bottle: Hazelnut and Bailey's Irish Cream with a tiny tiny hint of whiskey behind it.

 

Wet on skin: hazelnut creamer. Artificial hazelnut creamer. As it dries, it loses the artificial impression and starts to get deeper and nuttier, more 'actual cream' than 'creamer pod'.

 

Dry: cream and Bailey's, lightly sugared, hint of vanilla ice cream.

 

15 minutes: the oakwood is starting to creep in, smelling kind of like a bottle of Bailey's dropped on a wooden floor and only partially cleaned up, so you get wet wood and Bailey's. The vanilla is warming up, too -- now it smells like melted vanilla ice cream, or like vanilla syrup (not vanilla extract, I'm talking more like the stuff they put in your coffee at Starbucks). I'm not smelling any of the coffee, just the stuff you put in the coffee. My wife called it "like a vanilla hazelnut candle".

 

I don't hate the way it smells, but it really does smell like I spilled vanilla hazelnut creamer on my skin. I can't fault it for that, because it's a very well constructed vanilla hazelnut creamer, but it's nothing I would ever wear: it's more of a scent performance than a perfume, and I don't wear perfume for the performance, I wear it for the perfume. This is not looking promising.

 

A little later: It's going very toffee-ish, or possibly buttered rum. I'm finally getting a tidge of the "dusty old books" at the very edge of the throw, but only a very little bit.

 

Final assessment: Fairly long-lasting -- I was still getting bits of hazelnut 12-13 hours later when I finally scrubbed it off because I was tired of it. My opinion didn't change: it's a very good execution of the scent performance, but it's just not something I want to smell like. I really don't see the Miskatonic University connection, either; with a name like that I would've expected way more books and paper than just the barest hint that's in there. I have to call this one a "nope".

[plexaure]

So I'll preface this review by saying- I AM SO UPSET.

 

Miskatonic University is one of the scents I'd wanted to try since I heard about it. I'd read through all of the reviews, and heard it was fabulous and smelled just like coffee.

 

Damn you, skin chemistry.

 

In the imp, it smelled very strongly of somewhat artificial cream and caramel- the same sort of thing I'd associate with a Yankee candle. Now that isn't bad, per se, but it's not the kind of thing I'd normally go for.

 

In the process of getting the imp open, I also managed to get a bit of the perfume on my fingers, so I honestly just went "fuck it" and slapped on a decent amount, since my skin tends to absorb scents considerably quicker than the average person.

 

Big mistake.

 

After just a few seconds, the cream and caramel scent faded into something akin to mouldering books and slightly rotted cream, and unfortunately, it was strong enough to make my stomach churn. Even worse- there was no hint of coffee in sight.

 

I've mentioned before- my skin does weird things to perfume.

 

Apparently, this was no exception.

 

Still, I persisted, hoping it would dry out to something less revolting.

 

After ten or so more minutes, I could faintly smell the wood tones in the background, but the rotted cream and moldy books scent was still up front and personal.

 

I gave it a few more minutes, hoping and praying to any god that would care to listen to me, that the scent would redeem itself. But alas, it simply wasn't to be.

 

I finally washed it off when I realized it was only making me more nauseous, and slapped on some other BPAL lovelies to clear the smog.

 

I can still smell a bit of it on my shirt, which is at least closer to how it smelled in the imp, but no thank you. No thank you whatsoever.

 

This goes firmly on the "DISLIKED" pile, as unfortunate as it is. I'm extremely glad that this was a free imp, and not something I'd shelled out money for, only to come up with bitter disappointment.

 

It's sad.

 

Overall rating: ✦✧✧✧✧

This is the first BPAL scent that I've had to wash off, because of the utter repulsion that ensued after slapping it onto my wrists. God damn. Now I finally know what it's like to find a death note. And I was so excited for this one, too.

 

(Cross-posted to MALIGNEDGOD.)

Edited April 25, 2014 by plexaure

[BunnyVelvet]

My husband and I just recently made our first BPAL order; Miskatonic University was one of the imps that he chose. He was drawn to the 'library' aspects of the scent-- the wood and the books. He works in a coffee shop, so he figured that the Irish coffee scent would quickly fade into the normal cacophony of coffee smells hovering around him, and he hoped the woodier, deeper notes would become more pronounced. Alas, on him this was ALL coffee. He claimed that for a brief, shining moment he thought he could smell the oakwood, but then the scent shifted back to the coffee smell. Staying power on him was limited as well-- he couldn't smell anything after a few hours at work.

 

On me, however, it was a different story. We got five imps, and this was the only one that I TRULY didn't like. I'm already not a huge fan of overly foody smells, so I wasn't expecting to love this one. But my skin amped up the Irish coffee right off the bat, and as time passed it seemed to get more and more overpoweringly, sickeningly sweet. I kept Miskatonic U on for a couple of hours before a headache and slight nausea had me running to wash it off, and I never got anything other than that overpowering coffee note. Unlike my husband, this seemed to only get stronger on me as time went on-- I can only imagine that it would have great staying power on my skin. The throw likewise was quite good on me-- moreso than on him. So if this kind of smell is what you love and your skin chemistry works like mine, you'd probably adore this! For us, it was not a winner.

[doomcookie]

I didn't get much in the way of books or oakwood, just sweet coffee, with lots of toppings and creamer and caramel syrup (and maybe a wee bit of Bailey's) - you know, the sort of coffee that only contains about 15-20% actual coffee. Extremely yummy!

[quickdrawkiddo]

Wet, this was pleasantly coffee-ish, and while I'm not really a fan of foody scents, I was willing to give it a try. But it dried down to a sweet, musty scent that on me is a dead ringer for the scent of self-tanning lotion. Once I made that connection in my mind, it was all I could smell and I couldn't wait to wash it off (since I can't deal with self-tanner specifically because of the smell). I can definitely see how this would work on folks who like foody scents, but it's a huge "no" for me.

[WickedSage]

Irish Coffee with a strong dose of hazelnut. Truely a coffee shop scent. I dont get dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls at all it stays a yummy Irish coffee the whole time.

[dangerbunnygirl]

I really wanted to love this one. It didn't love me back.

 

In the imp: kinda like wood and sweet popcorn, not what I was expecting.

 

On skin: Almost smelled woody good and then dried down to a weird chemically vanilla. It made me remember this toy I got when I was 6, it was a little plastic doll that turned in a cupcake if you bent her skirt over and was "vanilla scented".

 

Bummer.

[Jeni Mullen]

Scent disclaimers: I'm a foodie that doesn't like the melty ice cream note. Wine, honey and sometimes plain vanilla go wrong on me or smell sour. I like sugary smells! My favorite foodie scents are Halfling and Eat Me (and gingerbread snakes for the season). I also like woodsy (but not wood) scents. Druid and Isle of Demons put me in my happy place. The smell of forests and leaves and grass is great, but I don't like kitchen spices like sage or minty herbs. I'm also extremely found of spicy scents like Scherezade and Morocco (the latter I mix with Snake Oil because it doesn't tend to stay with me). Most things floral or aquatic just don't work on me.

 

In the bottle: Okay! Irish cream! It smells so much like Baileys I could die happy.

 

On my wrists: Strong coffee and Baileys. I smell what I assume is the books or polished wood under it but it's all coffee all the time and I love it!

 

After 15 minutes: Oh, sad. Now it's sandalwood, my old nemesis. The coffee is still there but it smells less like a coffee shop and more like a stained coffee shop table. It's gone stale and old which...honestly? That's what it's suppose to do. Old books, coffee and oak halls. Unfortunately, the smell of wood (but not forest!) goes poorly with my skin type. I'll be gifting one imp to a friend.