Miskatonic University

[asciident]

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

Wet: Coffee and oak.

First on: Like a coffeehouse! Very memory-triggering.

Dry: Still like a coffeehouse on drydown. It'd be a great room scent, but not so much for perfume. Edited March 2, 2009 by Shollin
fixed BPAL tags --Shollin

[amanderinorange]

I received this one as a frimp and had no idea what to expect.

 

In the imp: Maple bars? I realized that it must be the Irish cream after I looked it up, but it made me want baked goods.

 

On me: still very much Irish cream, but after ten minutes or so I could start smelling the wood. After about half an hour it was a very dusty smell with only a hint of sweetness.

 

I also tried this on my husband and it ended up smelling fake, like an air freshener. Poo for him.

 

Overall: it's a good smell, but I don't think it's one that I would wear often. I'll keep the imp, but no bottle for me.

[AmandaArcana]

Really like this one! I get mostly coffee and maybe a little wood on my skin. It smells like "pancake breakfast" only without the syrup and goat butter. I wonder what would happen if I layered the two? (*hint* ) MMMM...breakfast with Cthulhu.

[masquedbunny]

In the imp: Appearance is very light and clear yellow. Scent is strong coffee and almost like caramel--like a caramel macchiato.

 

Wet on skin: Still mainly coffee, but the wood note--and yes, what I'd call the dustiness of old books--begins to come out. This is what my school's library would smell like if we were allowed anything more than water beyond the front doors...

 

Drydown: The initial sweet impression of caramel macchiato dissipates and makes way for the dustier scent, but this is still very strong coffee with a bite (probably from something lurking in the hallowed halls...). Now I know what the description is talking about in the sense of "polished oakwood"--because the wood note definitely has a kind of cleanness about it.

 

I think I'm in agreement with some of the other reviews I've read here. I like it a lot, but it seems more like a room scent than a personal scent.

[Molls]

I'm trying this one out today, and I'm fighting layering it with something else right now. It smelled very nice in the imp, but once I got it on, it kind of had a tobacco-like smell, maybe that's the wood? It's starting to calm down a bit, thankfully. I might keep the imp, but I won't be buying a bottle.

[starcr]

In the bottle — Hel-LO Irish coffee! (Did I test this one on St. Paddy’s Day? Yes, yes I did.) On me, the coffee part of that dies down, and unfortunately the “Irish” note mixed with the other things the coffee had been masking smells a little like cheap Irish cream rather than the good Irish whiskey that I prefer in my Irish coffee. There’s sometimes a bit of a bitter note in the mix too, though sometimes it gives way to sweetness.

 

Verdict: It’s by far not the biggest disappointment I’ve had, but I don’t like it nearly as well as I had hoped either. I think this one’s going on the “maybe it’ll work better with someone else’s body chemistry” pile.

[upsteeplebat]

in the imp: coffee. sweet coffee. hard-boiled candy kind of coffee.

 

wet on skin: irish coffee, heavy on the whiskey.

 

dry on skin: just whiskey. it's making me feel drunk. no wonder things get weird in miskatonic..

 

a few hours later: slightly a better sort of whiskey, whiskey beginning with glen-. must be the oak. still no dusty tomes, and the coffee is gone now, too.

 

on my gf: smells sweet and creamy, irish coffee with whipped cream on top. quite airy and pleasant, with a faint whiff of 'one book'.

 

verdict: I'll have to try this again later, hope it works better after a little aging.

[reverendsquid]

In the imp - sweet, creamy, sugary coffee. The coffee isn't strong, this is rather like a very expensive coffee ice cream, or something similar. I was hoping for a bit more oakwood, but hopefully that will come out later.

 

Fresh on - The coffee smells gorgeous for about 2 seconds. Then I get dusty old books. Lots of them. Oh, actually, they;re very dusty. Actually, make that dusty and mouldy. No, hang on, they've started growing mushrooms. And now the mushrooms have started to rot. I kept this on for about 10 minutes, hoping that the mushrooms would go away, but it was making me feel sick, so off it went. Mostly. This stuff is strong. I covered it with Jack, which is the strongest BPAL I have, and I'm still getting faint hints of mushroom under the pumpkin....

 

I'm so sad, I've been wanting to try this for such a long time, and it was total gorgeousness in the imp! Still, I'm not defeated yet. I'll try it again (very cautiously) in a week or so, as scents often change quite drastically on me throughout the month. And if it's still mushrooms then I'll try it as a room scent.

 

 

[sirensea]

In the imp: Chocolate and coffee. Yummy chocolate and coffee.

 

On my skin: ...gummy worms and chocolate and coffee and breakfast. How can it be so many notes at one time? It's insane! And now that it's dried down, I can smell the Irish coffee. I'll compare this one to Eat Me, Miskatonic University's exact opposite: if Eat Me is cake and vanilla, this is alcohol and chocolate.

 

This is a weird one. Fitting, for the theme.

Edited April 9, 2009 by sirensea

[Allumina]

This started out exactly like irish cream, then faded to wood and paper with the irish cream lingering strongly in the back. Tasty, but way too sweet for me.

[lishal]

In Imp: Creamy, sugary coffee. That's all I can smell, it smells delicious. If this were real coffee, I would drink it. Yumminess!

 

On Wet: Big hit of creamy irish coffee with a faint hint of books and a little dash of wood. But the coffee is really quick to burn off and there's something else coming up, lots of dust and cream. That is a bit interesting, it's like old, dusty cream on me.

 

Dry: I smell like cream of mushroom soup. It's seriously like a creamy mushroom soup. I'm not sure I like the smell, I don't mind it but it's definitely not coffee any more. I want that smell back though, so I'm going to try wearing this in a scent locket.

[nightspavilion]

So, my Pat and I ordered a whole bunch of imps and I knew he would want to try this one as soon as I saw it on the site. (We've been meaning to get it for a while, actually.) He is a big fan of Lovecraft and is a coffee/book addict. So, naturally this one would make him excited. The review is mainly in his words.

 

In the bottle: Cloyingly sweet; like being inside a coffee shop.

 

Wet: Like pecans and hazelnuts.

 

Drydown: There is something else to it, and the pecan smell is greater than the hazlenut. It also smells like book glue, y'know, the stuff that binds books.

 

Drydown (30 mins later): Hazlenuts and Pecans, and Book Glue.

 

I'm thinking the book glue smell might be due to the oak or wood polish. But who knows.

[ShadowsDance]

In the imp it smells like a nice butter toffee.

 

Mmm, tasty butter toffee. I don't really get a lot of coffee from this, or any of the other listed notes. It's more of a caramel, or peanut brittle or something. Sweet and foody. After a while it starts to take on a plastic tone, however. Something about this just doesn't agree with my skin..

[catattack]

Imp: Butter rum

Wet: Butter rum and buttered popcorn

Drydown: Buttery sweet coffee. I don't smell any wood. After about 10 minutes, it is going plasticky and waxy. Not good.

Overall: This one just didn't do it for me. I know it's popular, but my skin doesn't mix well with this blend. I've been searching for a coffee blend that works on me...I guess the search continues...

[crebbsgirl]

Coffee and I do not get along. Scentwise, I think I just need to accept that fact, and move on. EVERY SINGLE BLEND I have tried with a coffee note turns to maple on my skin. I kid you not. I have no idea why this would be, but it happened again here. Nothing but sickly sweet maple-like scent. Not for me.

[ImperatrixMundi]

crebbsgirl kindly passed her imp on to me

I think this is my first coffee BPAL. Coffee with something sweet and dry, the paper/book note I guess. But I dont get any oakwood from this. Sometimes I think I smell coconut, which is odd because I can never smell the actual coconut note in any blend (yes, that is weird.)

Smells drinkable! Which bothers me because I can't drink it and start to crave coffee candy. Not one I am going to wear I think, but would be tempting as a room scent. But only if some actual coffee is around. Need coffee. Now.

Edited May 12, 2009 by ImperatrixMundi

[iiinterstate]

Ever since I got into BPAL I've heard Misk U hailed as one of the lab's best creations. Me and coffee have a rocky relationship, but how can I not try this?

 

HELLO IRISH COFFEE.

This smells goooOOoood but it might be a little sweet for an all-day scent.

 

My mouth is seriously watering. The strong coffee blast has faded somewhat, but this may prove to be a positive thing. I better slather this to get a good sniff-reading.

 

After a little while, the initial sweetness has worn off, and I believe the woods have stepped in to keep the coffee grounded. We shall see. If it stays this way, Misk U is a winner.

 

15 minutes in: this is getting more nutty/dusty and less coffee as we go along. I am not disappointed.

 

Half an hour: I think its safe to say that this blend isn't going to turn on me. Usually if coffee is going to take a turn for the worse, it happens within the first 20 minutes or so. I really, really like this blend, and only wish I had tried it sooner.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Soft cinnamon and creaminiess.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells like sticky chocolate and creaminess with a light amount of coffee to me. It has a nice amount of dry wood, too, which blends into the creamy coffee quite nicely.

 

After a little while: This becomes quite woody on me with a lot of coffee. The book scent is sort of odd… dusty and almost mildewed.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent is just odd on me. It starts out sort of nice but then it becomes this almost mildewed wood and coffee scent.

 

[bubblefish]

In the imp it is all syrupy Kahlua. On my skin it becomes mocha and stays that way. As nummy as it smells, I don't particularly want to smell like a coffee shop.

[Gin]

Miskatonic University

 

I got rid of my original bottle, and I couldn't remember why. However, the Lab saw fit to frimp me with it twice! Unfortunately, under the yummy Irish coffee and dusty books and gleaming wooden tables... is ... cat pee. It smells sooo good and then.. er, what's that? Oh! So sad! And now I remember why I sold off my bottle.

[BuxomM]

It smells like dusty buttery coffee. At first it smells very powdery but gets creamier as it dries.

[Calicopocket]

In the bottle- A heady sweet caramel coffee. Delicious if not a bit strong for me since I tend to like my coffee black and bitter.

 

On the skin- Oh dear gods! What an obnoxious scent! I actually got nausous from the smell of the Irish coffee, it was so strong and buttery. Just the sort of thing that makes me feel ill! I didn't get any wood out of the mix yet but I'm holding my arm as far away as humanly possible. This part just really doesn't sync with my skin AT ALL!

 

After a while- And I thought it couldn't get worse. The sweet smell has faded and now lingers like something putrid and rotting in the background. The nose-clogging dominant feel I get from the rest is that I'm rolling around in a musty old attic or basement. I do smell a familiar part that reminds me of all the yellowing pages from books of my childhood....but it's overwhelmed by the 'Something-died-in-my-basement' feel that I get from it.

 

I think I'll pass on this one...

[sylvanusurban]

In bottle: Alcoholic sweetness: similar to Irish cream, but with an inexplicable undercurrent of bubble gum.

 

On me, wet: Sweetness recedes a bit and alcohol smell disappears, leaving a buttery nutty aroma. It reminds me of the Knave of Hearts pastry smell, actually. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing, though at least it’s more subdued, less cloyingly fake-foody than KOH.

 

On me, drying: Creamy sugared hazelnut. This is not 100 percent the kind of sweetness I enjoy smelling, but it may be growing on me a bit. Something about this scent reminds me of babies – it could be the room scent in an upscale baby store. It also kind of smells like a scented plastic toy for little girls, albeit in a nice way. Very pastel-tinted. And this is a Lovecraft-inspired scent?

 

Verdict: I think I’ll rename this one “Cthulhu Babies”. No dusty tomes, no oakwood halls here. No coffee, even. Very sweet – almost cloyingly sweet. I think it has grown on me enough, though, that I’ll keep it around for the nonce.

 

[isisonearth]

Imp: Hazelnut coffee and cream.

 

Wet: Mmmmm...Irish coffee.

 

Dry: I don't get much in the way of wood or books but this is hands down the nicest coffee scent I've ever smelled. It is just perfectly creamy and delicious.

[laslibres]

You know, I didn't like this one at first, because it started out as creamy, caramelly coffee on me, and then it dried down into...dust. Ew. But yeah, the imp straight from the lab, that's what it did.

 

Fast forward a couple years, to now...I still had the imp around, and I thought I'd give it another go. Imagine my surprise when now I like it! I don't think my chemistry changed too much, or my tastes, I think it really did just have to age the dust out of it. It's still creamy, caramelly coffee, a hint of vanilla cookies too, smells just like the kind of fancy frou-frou coffee drink you'd get in a coffee shop. There's still a tiny bit of dusty book smell in the background, but as the scent wears on throughout the day, that goes away. Boy, am I glad I didn't get rid of this one!