Miskatonic University

[Xircuits]

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

So, not a review, just some thoughts about this scent I just got this today and straight out of the bottle, it smells buttery something. I'm not that good with scents, but it's definitely buttery, but of what I'm not soo certain. I gave it to my partner to smell and he said that he wants his vanilla buttercream icing to be like this. He said he wanted to make it into an extract for his desserts and asked if the Lab can do this? Whatever it is, it's good. I bought it because it was mostly recommended as what "Giles" from "Buffy" would smell like. I can totally see this and I like it.

ETA: I'm wearing it today and it's not too overpowering. Every once in a while, I get a whiff and it's really nice. I did figure out what it reminds me of. Coffee candy. The creamy taste of coffee candy. Yay! It could be early, but so far the scent hasn't morphed yet.

[Ava Lux]

A buttery note of coffee, I like it but have to retest...it becomes dry, woodsy in the drydown, too much for my tastes...my children who are my judges for all my parfumes say it is like sniffing used socks...I don't really understand why they detect this sensation ...for me is coffe just made in the opening and the power of coffee in the drydown...overall not sure if I like it or not.

 

Verdict:3/5

Edited December 2, 2014 by Elmifra

[SomewhatSavvy]

Imp: Sweet sticky buttery toffee yumminess! I like foody scents pretty well, so I was excited. Not a library, but in reading reviews I thought it might come out later on.

Wet: Still the same sticky buttery scent, but richer and a bit more boozy.

Dry: IMMEDIATELY dried down to a burnt black plastic smell. I was so so so disappointed. I think this is my body chemistry. I have a vial of "French Roast" perfume oil from the Renaissance Festival that does this exact same thing, and I just think I can't do things with a "coffee" note. There's a pleasantness way back in behind it, but all I can smell is the burnt plastic. So sad.

 

Later: A bit better, but still burnt plastic. Resisting the urge to wash it off in the hopes it will suddenly bloom into something wonderful. Smells more like it's dying out.

Deduction: Not for me. I think I'll avoid the "coffee" note and see if that's the problem. I don't think it's the woodsiness or "library" scent of it. I feel like it's there, but it's being overpowered. I would have been totally fine with it staying foody, but this just doesn't work for me.

[Trix]

I'm a little sad, because out of everything I ordered, I had the highest hopes for Misk U. I work in a university library and I thought this would be the perfect work scent. Alas, it's just...coffee. Nice, hazelnutty coffee that slowly but surely gains a waxy, hazelnut-coffee-candle-like scent on me. The oak I was hoping for and the rustling paper are no-shows, drowned out by the coffee.

 

I think I'll keep the imp and hope that age brings out the bookish notes.

[blacksh33pboi]

Right off the bat, it's sweet hazelnut coffee and cream. Which is eerie because i decided to have hazelnut coffee (synthetically flavored so my tree-nut-allergy-having-self don't cough up a lung ;p) this morning. So it's, uh, a perfect match! But I'm not having any adverse reaction so far so that's good. :v Definitely does smell nutty, though. Unless that's the oakwood mixing with the coffee? After about fifteen minutes the hazelnut coffee and cream overture takes a step back to harmonize more with the woody/nutty scents. And half an hour in, it's mostly woody/nutty with a hint of coffee. The nuttiness is fading now and it's getting a lot more blatantly woody after 45 minutes. The throw is still pretty damn coffee-smelling, though. After an hour and a half, the throw is starting to match the up-close wrist sniffs more, which are now an interesting mix of darker and lighter woods. I would assume the lighter woods represent the 'dusty tomes'. All in all, this does right what it says in the description for me. Coffee, check. Wood, check. If the lighter wood smells = 'dusty tomes', then check. I'd have to be in the mood for something gourmand in order to wear it because of the opening, but when I am in the mood for that, it's definitely one I'll very quickly turn to!

[Veronica]

All foodie scents smell like butter to me. This one smells like browned, caramel-y butter, with a slightly dusty after smell.

[unxolve]

Absolutely love the beautiful milky creamy coffee smell. Like a french vanilla coffee brew.

 

Under it, however, is a chemical wooden desk smell. Just like if you stuck your nose onto your 3rd grade school desk. Thematically, it works. As far as something I want to smell, no thanks. The sweetness just amplifies the sharpness, which in turn sours the sweetness. Sad. I'll keep an eye out for other coffee brews, though.

[andabri]

Imp bought from another person. Don't know the year.

 

This one definitely takes me for a ride.

 

I was curious as to how books could be captured in a fragrance.

 

When I put it on I was immediately floored. It literally smells like your drinking sweet milk coffee and reading an old, slightly musty book. It is crazy accurate.

 

Then it starts to dry and my skin amps the sugar up at this point. A lot. It's almost cloying for me, and I love sweet scents. The wood starts to show up. At first, I get a wood similar to the wooden desk I had to sit in throughout grade school/high school. Then the oak starts to come out. The dusty, musty paper smell also gets stronger. The coffee takes a back seat and becomes more like a regular cup of coffee with just one cream and but still tons of sugar.

 

This is the type of scent that I would buy for myself, but I wouldn't wear it out. I can distinctly smell that musty paper note. I grew up owning a ton of used library books and went there all the time so I am very familiar with it. Therefore this is pretty comforting to me. But if someone isn't use to it, I can easily see how it would smell off to their nose. It does smell stale and dusty and musty, literally. That's exactly how old library books smell.

 

Very strong projection.

 

I loveeee it. I'm going to order another imp of it fresh, and maybe procure some others, and see if I can find one that has that butter note some reviews mention. Sounds delicious.

[Minh Scent]

I tested this without looking at the notes and got a lovely carmely, creamy foodie scent with a bit of booziness and a woody underbelly. Delicious! Was I shocked to hear there was coffee in this. Did not get that at all!

[DevilsCandyCane]

I actually tried this many years ago, and completed hated it, I seem to recall it being weird wood and dirty cafeteria smelling, but I got an imp recently and...wow. I dunno if my skin chemistry's changed or what, but I immediately bought a bottle, and the bottle's even better still!

 

Wet, my bottle is thicker, darker coffee than my imp, absolutely beautiful - I can't have caffeine anymore, so I've been deprived of coffee for well over a year, and I adore the smell of it - this is the perfect coffee scent! As it dries, the coffee becomes milkier and sweeter, with a tiny hint of booze in the background, definitely reminds me of the beloved Jack Daniels sploshed coffee I miss so much! There's only the faintest hint of wood, which I'm happy about, it's mostly just lovely coffee, and the throw and longevity are great - I'm testing various things at the moment but keep catching whiffs of coffee

 

So, so glad I tried it again, this is finally the Holy Grail coffee-replacement scent

[Psuke]

I had hopes for this - especially the dusty tomes and oakwookwood halls (I love a good library smell), but I get candy. On good days it's pure butterscotch, and other days it's a mix of cheap chocolate, commercial marzipan and red vines. If I were more of a foodie-scent girl the butterscotch days would be great, but alas, I am not.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Psuke

[DiesMali]

In the imp: COFFEE and Irish cream. Mmmmmmmm.

 

Wet on my skin: COFFEE and Irish cream.

 

Dry: The coffee and Irish cream blend together perfectly as this dries down and warms up, and are joined by dusty oak and parchment. This is a fairly simple but absolutely delicious scent on me, rich and brown and almost fuzzy. Interestingly, I'm getting a strong mental image of dust-filled light streaming into an old church-turned-library through the stained glass windows.

[Malaena]

In the imp: Holy crap, I want to to eat this. Vanilla coffee creamer!

 

Dry: Vanilla coffee creamer. I still want to eat this.

 

Verdict: I want to eat this but I don't want to smell of this.

[Poenari]

I tried this once a few years ago, and recall that it didn't work for me so I gave away my frimp in a swap. I received another frimp in a Trading Post order recently, so I thought I should try it out again. Nope! Once again, this scent is not for me. I love the smell of good coffee, and I love to drink flavored coffees, but I have yet to find any coffee scent that works on my skin. Usually any hint of coffee turns to burnt coffee on my skin. This one is too sweet, and is giving me a headache. Have to wash this off.

[tinyopaws]

Wet: Strong coffee and a little wood/resin, not really that sweet.

 

~30 minutes later: The coffee is mostly gone and I mainly smell the wood and resin- if I rub my wrists together the resin gets sharper temporarily. That lasts for several hours...

 

The next day and after a shower: Smells exactly like RICE KRISPIES, in a good way! Or maybe golden Oreos. Still has a very slight wood library smell- it's kind of like a professor drinking his coffee in the library, then going to peruse the bookshelves, and then returning to eat his Rice Krispies.

[LizziesLuck]

wet: immediately super sweet. Smells almost exactly like Sugar Cookie on me. Sugar Cookie was a fail for me. This goes dry and dusty almost immediately, as some creamy foodie scents do on me. Too bad.

 

dry: yep, dusty and weird. I do think I want to try the soap from the Trading Post though.

[sunlitgarden]

In the imp: Mostly smells like Irish Cream with a warm grainy/nutty note.

On my skin: Still mostly Irish Cream at first, then something buttery, then it starts to get a musty wood smell. Kind of a weird combination of foody and atmospheric. I'm not getting any coffee (though Michi, from the same imp, got coffee on her skin.... go skin chemistry differences!)

As it dries the sweetness fades and it's just musty-dusty. I find some scents kind of dusty or musty in a pleasant way, but I'm not really liking this one, it has a bitterness to it, like rot or mold. I had Michi sniff me and she says that there's some "weird flat vanilla" too.

Meh... not a good match for me, sadly.

[Soupy Twist]

Hazelnut coffee from beginning to end. Nice, but not enough for a bottle. I have several coffee-plus scents more complex than this. However, it suits my mood perfectly today, so I'm glad I'm wearing it.

[FeralFae]

Bought a full bottle for my boyfriend, as he loves coffee smells (and wood smells great on him).

 

I just had the opportunity to skin test it once, from the bottle it just smells of irish coffee (super foody could've-fooled-me irish coffee), once on the skin it dries down to a more toned down version of it, maybe less boozy. A few hours later and my skin smells like a really yummy hazelnut latte from starbucks.

 

Unfortunately this is a bit too foody for me, and I get no oakwood or books, but I'm guessing this will work just fine on my sweet tooth of a boyfriend.

[Pardona]

First review, on one of the scents I got myself as part of my Christmas gift - first time ever buying BPAL for myself, and this one is very loved by a friend of mine that I previously bought it for.

 

Out of the bottle / right after applying: VANILLA - so much vanilla. Like, the heady heavy smell of what's left in the pot after making home-made vanilla pudding. Not bad, but so not what i was expecting.

 

Almost an hour in: Finally, some of that delicious coffee smell is coming out. I'm really liking this. The vanilla (which is now becoming more of a general 'sweet') is still very strongly there though.

 

An hour and a half in: Finally, I get to the books. They're definitely dusty books, very dusty even, but unmistakably books. Like the books I sometimes get from a big used book store, that are sometimes 30+ years old and probably haven't been read in just as long.

 

Right now (two hours in): the whole of it seems to have mellowed down to a point where all the smell I smelled earlier are still there, but no one of them sticks out anymore. A warm scent of dusty paper, vague coffee, and sweet. I don't know whether I like any individual note sticking out more or less than this, but I would definitely not mind walking around smelling like this all day long;

 

EDIT: 3 hours in: Finally getting some of that lovely wood smell I was wanting but not really getting. It's a bookshelf, for sure, and a dusty one even, but it's still wood, definitely different from the books I was smelling earlier.

 

EDIT: 4 & 1/2 hours: I think it's on its last legs. I'm getting the dregs of a very sweet cup of coffee, and not much more anymore. This was a wonderful first experience to wearing, and not just smelling, BPAL. I can't think of a specific time I would be wearing MU, and that's a shame, cause MU smells to me of a wonderful time - maybe evenings spent with friends in a small college cafeteria, but unfortunately I've not been to college in almost a decade. I'm sure I'll either find or make a perfect opportunity to wear it though - it's too nice not to. =)

Edited December 28, 2015 by Pardona

[Winterbelle]

Like Mata Hari, this one was mostly coffee on me. I wonder if I amp it. Though this one was more of a Bailey's cream and coffee smell. It smelled nice, but not want I want to smell like.

[freyasfae]

Wow, so I get why everyone raves about this. This is delicious campus coffee in the library goodness, the oak in particular makes this a very fall scent for me, like the scent I bust out as soon as Fall Equinox comes even though it's still like 80s degrees outside. It's cozy and happy like my favorite time of year.

[porcelaincrypt]

Imp: For me, my mind does not go to coffee upon first sniff, I without a doubt think Baileys Irish Cream, and I am in LOVE! It is sweet but not overbearing, although you only need one drop because it is powerful and has a strong throw.

 

Skin: On my skin it smells just like this Baileys Irish Cream pie I have made many times, the chocolate crust, the cool whip, the Baileys..so decadent! Another BPAL scent that just makes me want to eat. I'm so glad this reacted positively with my chemistry and smells almost the same in the imp as it does on my skin. But at this stage I also get the dust, and who knew dust could smell so lovely! A hint of the oakwood too now, it all blends so seamlessly.

 

Miskatonic University is tied as my favorite BPAL scent thus far, along with Bliss. It is incredible and it was a free imp. I'm so happy I was sent this one. Just ordered a full bottle, can't wait till it arrives! I also love the scene the description of this scent conjures in my mind.

 

The longer it is on I do start getting more of the polishing of the oakwood and it starts smelling a little bit more like coffee but overall in my opinion it is Irish Whiskey and cream liqueur all the way! My wrist is glued to my nose when I have this one on!

[t_for_tau]

This has been on my wishlist since it first came out, and now I have an imp! This is a new one, not the original release. My allergies are bad today so my sense of smell's not top notch, but I'm going to try it anyway.

 

In the imp: OMNOM warm buttery coffee shop.

 

Wet: Wary - there's a faintly sicky-plasticky note coming out. Is there cream in here? That can be a death note on me... Don't do this to me, Misk U!

 

Dry-down: coffee & rancid butter. Come on, come on, I can smell the woods & deliciousness (but no dusty tomes that I can work out?) lurking behind it...

 

Dry: the rancid cream (since I'm pretty sure it's that) has backed off some, and the woods have come out. PHEW! It's now a blend of warm sweet coffee & woods; I'd swear there's hazelnut or a similar note in here. The cream-sick is still lurking in the background, but I have to really hunt for it. I'm getting a very faint whisper of the dust, and the throw is just delicious. I reckon I'll see if I can power through the sickly phase, because if so, this one's a winner.

[ShannonElisabethJones]

When I first got this in the mail the other day, my first-sniff impression was sweetness. OMG yeah, that's right. Smells like the Coffee Coolers we used to sell at the coffee shop I worked at in college. No, more like the sugary syrups we used to flavor the drinks. Irish cream, of course. So let's see how it does on...

 

Freshly applied, I'm only getting the Irish cream flavored syrup scent...no coffee. Someone above mentioned Mata Hari, which is one of my favorite scents...but this one seems to be a lot less coffee on me than Mata Hari.

 

After a few minutes, the coffee peeks out a little, like someone refreshed my too-sweet drink with some regular joe. I can't distinguish anything else. It's like the Irish coffee has just completely taken over the scene.

 

It is a bit sweet for me, but I think I'll keep it. Maybe I'll be in the mood to wear it someday.