Miskatonic University

[Hanyaan]

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

I bought a bottle of this on eBay because I heard about BPAL too late to have ordered it. Oh wow, am I ever glad that I bought that bottle. While I can smell the coffee in the bottle, on me, it turns into rich chocolate and old books. I have no idea where the chocolate comes from, but I love it. (Incidentally, most of my friends have tried this, and none of them get chocolate; then again, we've also determined that my skin chemistry will turn anything to chocolate if possible.) Suffice to say that my idea of heaven would be full of chocolate and libraries, among other things, and that is what Miskatonic University smells like on me. It's my favorite BPAL scent so far. Edited October 3, 2005 by Shollin

[ladymissspyder]

In the imp, I could definitely smell pipe tobacco and coffee, which are incredibly comforting scents to me.

 

However, once I put it on, the leather note became incredibly sharp and aggressive and would not fade away until I lost patience a few hours later and washed it off. I love the scent of leather in real life, but this was much stronger and sharper than that. It was frustrating, because I could still smell the yummy pipe tobacco and coffee underneath.

 

I can see how this could be a really great scent on someone else, though.

[Avery]

I was almost incredibly hasty and came really close to getting rid of this bottle before I gave it a real chance. I thought it was just too sweet, and not for me. Thankfully I tried it again, as it's now among my favorites and I am so glad I have a bottle (though it will last me FOREVER since just a couple of drops is enough to fully scent-ify me). Maybe I just put too much on the first time?

 

Miskatonic University embodies the reason that I am growing to passionately love BPAL, and why a click-n-ship is enough to keep me from sleeping soundly at night. The coffee is definitely there: warm, rich, full-bodied. It's creamy and sweet, and does indeed harken back to a carmel frappuccino. After a few minutes the sweet coffee mellows, and a different scent steps into the foreground. That second smell is the oakwood halls and dusty tomes. Really, now, dusty books! I can close my eyes and feel myself in the incredibly *quiet* halls of a magnificent and stately library. There must be a coffee stand by the front doors, as the smell permeates the air, but more than anything is the smell of sweet woods and wonderfully dusty books. This is absolutely delightful. Wow. Really. So cool!!

 

This is one of the longer lasting BPAL's on me so far, a couple of drops lasting upwards of 8 hours. The final drydown smell is, to me, chocolate covered caramel popcorn. Yum! I am SO glad I hung on to this.

Edited September 30, 2005 by Avery

[brownbear]

In the bottle and when it's wet this is delicious! It's creamy, sweet, delicious irish coffee. I was thinking that I'd have to go find a 5ml of this when, bam! play-doh arghhhh wtf? I gave it twenty minutes, no change, washed it off and put on some snake charmer.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is VERY strong Irish coffee! It's very buttery too, almost like butterscotch pudding. When first applied it's not as strong as in the bottle and has fruity and nutty notes. After a couple of minutes a musty note develops and it really smells like old books! This musty stage is pretty strong on me and I don't know if I can handle it. I do think it's amazing that Beth can make something that smells exactly like old books!!

**After wearing this a couple more times I've really grown to like it. The musty book smell softens after about two hours and I can only detect that note if I smell my wrist up close. Wafting around me is the delicious scent of Irish coffee! I will look forward to wearing this more often as the weather gets cooler.

[astrid]

There are many scents that I just can't bring myself to wear during particular seasons...there are scents for the warm sunny weather and scents for the cooler weather such as MiskU! I got this in over the summer but haven't been able to bring myself to wear it until today!

 

Mmm this is rich, delicious coffee fresh on and dries to a lesser coffee scent with hints of warm wood and tobacco. What a wonderful scent this will be for this fall and winter!!

[WidgetAlley]

In the decant Imp I picked up, this is gorgeous, all buttery sweet caramel-sugar-coffee-Bailey's-chocolate love, with a teensy hint of wood. The first time I put it on, it stayed true and I was utterly enamoured.

 

The second time, and all the times after that?

 

Playdoh and stale popcorn. I am heartbroken. The universe does not want me to have my perfect-delicious-librarian scent, apparently.

 

Hopefully the Boy's skin will treat this one more kindly, and I can enjoy it vicariously. But still.... waaaaah!

[sophia_helix]

Yum. Coffee with Irish cream in the bottle, then hints of caramelly oakwood after application, with the slight bitterness of book-paper. It sweetened as it dried, and left me with a powerful craving for a mocha with Irish cream -- which I naturally satisified.

 

Boo, why isn't is this GC?

Edited November 2, 2005 by sophia_helix

[harmonyfb]

In the bottle: Irish coffee, yum!

 

Wet: Irish coffee!

 

Dry: Irish coffee!! Oh, dear goddess, I smell delicious.

 

::weeps for another limited edition OTP (One True Perfume) discovered too late to order::

[SeaMonkey]

very much an Irish coffee scent. I get a little dust and a little wood. I use it more as a room scent than on my skin.

 

I get more of the dust and oakwood when I wear it on my skin. I have to be in a special mood to wear it on the skin. I use it in an oil burner in an amber mosiac lamp I have. I like to read by that light

[elphaba]

I've been saving Miskatonic University for November (National Novel Writing Month) because it smells like writing to me.

 

In the bottle, it's a very boozy Irish Creme scent, but I feel incredibly lucky that on my skin, everything listed in the description comes out. The Irish Creme tones down and the smell of wood and dusty books comes up. The polished wood isn't the same overwhelming scent I got from the Red Queen. It's subtle and very old. This truly is the smell of a university library. Amazing.

 

I adore this scent and, believe me, if it is ever re-released, I will be snatching up enough bottles to last me a good long time.

[cranberry]

I have to agree that this is a very seasonal scent. Just perfect for the colder times of year when you feel like reaching for a thick wool sweater, burrowing down into a dark brown leather chair. Mission style. And, of course, drinking a big warm cuppa coffee laced with sweet cream and a touch of booze.

 

When I put this on, initially, I get a touch of coconut (?) but that quickly changes into warm rich Irish cream coffee. So deliciously edible. That scent stays pretty true for the life of the scent on me, I don't really get wood, dusty papers, or tobacco. It's a strong scent and I reach for when I need to be inspired. Yum!

[Fefferbella]

Rich creamy cafe au lait... and pipe tobacco. Reminds me of late night study sessions, cramming for exams during college.

 

Very unique BPAL. Glad I have snagged a bottle, but this is rarely a blend I wear. Very rich and creamy.

 

ADDED 1/7/07:

 

I really wanted to like this scent. It starts out like warm buttery hazelnut coffee, but quickly turns sour smelling on my skin.

 

As a room scent, it makes my house smell like I'm brewing expresso... it's nice, but I'd rather make real coffee.

 

 

I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about.

[AngellicMystique]

Mm. I got almost straight Irish coffee off of this one. Very foody. After about 30 miutes a leather note shows up and stays. Occasionally, I get hits of wood and paper. Very tantalizing.

 

I and my husband love it.

[Kinky Eris]

YUM! I'm so glad that I went ahead and bought a bottle right away, instead of trying to find one once I tried an imp. I usually wait until I've tested a scent before I shell out for a full bottle (that whole being a broke grad student thing), but this was worth breaking my rule. This smells like irish coffe and tobacco. This reminds me of the irish pub I used to go to near my undergrad school, with my housemate smoking his pipe beside me. Nothing but good smells and memories with this one!

[Voleuse]

In the bottle, this is an intoxicating blend, coffee and liquor and sugary cream. On application, however, it's a cup of coffee that's been sitting out for a bit, and the crumbs of a doughnut. This isn't a bad thing, however. There's something in this blend that reminds me of my own library--it's not as venerable as the titular institution, of course, but there's still the barest hint of paper and wood behind the coffee, books upon books, shelves upon shelves. Fascinating.

 

Unfortunately, this blend fades to the barest hint of coffee on my skin. It's beautiful, but barely noticeable.

[blueroses]

I am going to make this one work on me, dammit!

 

In the bottle Miskatonic U. smells just like Irish coffee and that awful plastic note that has ruined many of the scents I was most looking forward to (like Midway).

 

Wet: Yummy creamy coffee (almost caramelly) and chemical-y. It's that sort of foody vanilla that does this, I think.

 

Dry: Coffee, plastic, and just a hint of tobacco.

 

After a half-hour: THE PLASTIC GOES AWAY!!! Now it just smells faintly but strongly of Irish coffee. That last sentence didn't make much sense, but what I mean is that the smell is still strong, but there isn't much throw by this point.

 

I am going to try to survive the weird smell, because I really like this one otherwise.

 

Also, I am wearing this again right now, and I didn't get plastic today. I did get much more woodiness, though. All good!

[ice queen]

I get lots and lots of leather - and dust - not enough irish coffee unfortunately

Another one that is too overpowering on me

[ktesedale]

After hearing everyone talk about this scent, and seeing how fast it was snapped up in trades and sales, I just had to try it. I'm glad I did.

 

In the bottle, this smells like coffee. It's a terrific, lovely scent, and if it stayed like this on my skin, I would never wear another perfume.

 

Wet, it still smells like coffee. Yum.

 

Dry, though, this scent morphs like crazy. It starts out as coffee - but at about a half hour, it changes to a very dusty note - like breathing in an old room, filled with strange objects. Truthfully, at this point this scent smells just like a museum's storage room - that sort of woody dust smell. Then the coffee comes back - and wow, it's just like being back in college in the class where we met in the museum every day. Then the wood note starts to come out and the dust dies down a bit, so that all three scents sort of blend, with the coffee taking the high point.

 

This scent is lovely and comforting, and I'm so, so glad I managed to swap for a 5ml. At the same time, I don't think I'd ever need more than that - this is a rare scent for me, though I love to put it on while reading.

[malanna]

The first few times, I really loved Miskatonic University (Misky U makes a nice nickname, doncha think?). I was just enamoured with the foodiness. However, I came to realize that this was just too sweet for me. It starts out smelling like sweet coffee--something sweet and frothy you'd get from Starbucks--then gets even sweeter. Today, I realized that it smelled like that weird sweet note (so sweet, it doesn't quite smell like food anymore) that had a hint of hazelnut in the coffee (but not coffee, because it's too sweet) that was in Gluttony. I think there might be some tobacco in here. Some tobacco notes tend to have a piercing brown sweetness to it. It remains sweet, but after several hours, the sweetness is tempered by a hint of the dusty tomes--that slightly musty (and a tad bit sweet) note in The Hermit. Misky U is quite powerful and wafts a lot.

Edited February 1, 2006 by malanna

[magikalcrab]

This is MY scent. Perfectly. I swear, if I could fill a bath with it and swim around, I would.

 

In the bottle, I get this huge whiff of creamy, thick, rich, warm coffee, with a gorgeous undertone to it which is always BOOKS to me. Basically, it smells like the first time you ever walk into a Borders! And it's got a tiny bit of a whiskey undertone to it. The entire effect is really, REALLY strong. BUt amazing! I could envisage my old school library using this on their oil burner and having everyone in the place demanding to know where the spiked coffee was being sold!

 

Now on skin? The tobacco comes out right away, which is by no means a bad thing (though I'm not a smoker, whoops). Still it has undertones of warm cofffee and that wonderful book smell, but it's a lot mellower on skin.

 

Give it a few minutes to mature and all the scents are throwing themselves around with a joy that I can't even express. Seriously, it's just amazing. Underneath everything, there is a hint of leather, I think, that just pulls them all together and smells fantastic.

 

Miskatonic University is, without a doubt, my number one favourite scent. I can't believe that I can't find more. OR didn't order some when I had the chance. I should just cut off my nose in penance.

[Naamah_Darling]

In the bottle: butter and toffee/coffee/caramel. Very, very foody. Alarmingly foody. But delicious. I feel obligated to point out that I do not drink coffee, but I find the smell of it simply divine.

 

Thankfully once it hits my skin the coffee roasts down to a toasty warm smell, and I don't smell quite so much like caramel. I smell like a chocolate-covered coffee bean. Hmmm. Interesting, but, again, do I want to smell like this?

 

Dry: DUST. I smell a puff of dust. The coffee smell has a little whiskey to it, now that it's toned down. I smell faint dust and wood. How on earth does Beth get these smells in a bottle? I smell like I pulled an all-nighter in my dad's library.

 

After several hours, the smell is staying put very well. The violently sweet note in the coffee has gone, and left only the roasted, almost chocolatey smell, along with a whiff of wood polish. You wouldn't think that combination would be an appealing scent for a perfume oil, but it is. At the extreme of its weardown, it has a warm pelt sort of smell, like a cat that's been lying in the sun.

 

This is a warm, comforting scent that loses a lot of its foodiness, but not its depth, as it dries. I like it a lot. Very much a smell for sitting quietly and studying. I'll be hoarding my store of it, since it was a limited edition and no more is being made.

 

It is also, incidentally, only the second scent Tazendra has deigned to notice. She licked at it rather desultorily while it was wet. In any other cat, this would translate to cartwheels of delight.

[LittleGreyKitten]

I likee. It is primarily coffee at first, with some cream and whiskey. Then as it dries, the wood and dust emerge. It gets darker, deeper, and so, so good. I do truly love this scent. Oddly I don't wear it a lot- it's too fun to cherish it, and look forward to using it on rare occasions. This is absolutely unique. I love having a delectable coffee scent. Plus the wood notes are something I really enjoy, especially when they're barely there, like in this one.

 

I'd give it a 5 out of 5.

Edited May 8, 2006 by LittleGreyKitten

[Tournesol Noir]

Irish cream! Irish cream! Irish cream! That's what my bottle of Misk U smells like, with a hint of something slightly musty at the very back, which I suspect you'd only be able to smell if you were really looking for it, and a little tiny bit of smoke.

 

I want to try this on the boy. It smells like a middle aged English gentleman in a tweed jacket smoking a pipe and sitting alone in a spacious library filled wall to wall with expensive, rare, leather-bound books on polished mahogany shelves. Distinguished, classy, and leg-numbingly sexy. (Yeah, okay, so we've established that I have weird fantasies)

 

My skin amps up the musty smell. It still smells like Irish cream coffee, but there is definitely something else in there now that seems to get slightly stronger and slightly more acrid with the dry down. However, when I tried it on last week before I got my period, it pretty much smelled like Irish cream coffee all the way through, so this might be a hormone thing.

 

I will give this scent a few more tries throughout the month before deciding whether I want to keep it. Most likely, I'll sell the bottle but first decant off one or two imps for myself, if only just to keep around and sniff because it is so good in the bottle. Or I'll give it to the boy.

Edited February 14, 2006 by Tournesol Noir

[tereshkova2001]

Irish coffee in the vial, very strongly, and the dusty book scent appears on my wrists. It almost overpowers the coffee. The wooden hallways disappear into the background. If I were seated in a reading room at the great library, with an ancient book open, nose buried in it, occasionally emerging to sip some spiked coffee to stay awake, it would smell like this. Behind my ears, the sweet Irish coffee stays stronger.

The dust scent lingers for 2 or more hours, and then fades to the coffee scent, which stays very close to the skin. This works lovely on my hair, where it stays truer to the bottle scent.