Midway

[ipb]

A bombardment of edible carnival indulgences. Funnel cake, caramel apple, cotton candy, salt water taffy and sugar tart.

close your eyes

it's august.
you're at the state fair, in the middle of the midway.
take a big wiff, and that's midway.

[Ina Garten Davita]

For me it's the carnival that they put in the parking lot of the Revere Theater every spring. Caramel corn, fried dough and the ring toss all squished into this tiny blue bottle.

[blackrayne]

Cotton candy. Candy apples. Funnel cakes. French fries doused with malt vinegar. Toss in a hot summer night, laughter everywhere, rides lighting up the night sky, and you've got Midway.

 

Beth once again has outdone herself.

[Scylla]

I took the kids to a carnival just this past weekend!

 

And, yep, Midway is indeed a carnival midway in a bottle: Buttery caramel corn, cotton candy and hot, greasy funnel cakes topped with powdered sugar. I can almost hear the Carousel music...

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:

So sweet it's cavity inducing, with just a touch of salt playing underneath.

 

After Wearing It:

Wow this is a great blend. I love sweet, foody scents and this is certainly a gem of one. It smells of fair food, all that lovely stuff that you look forward to getting when fair time comes close. Cotton candy and fried dough (like funnel cakes!) jump out at me most, though every now and then I'll catch hints of butter and salt too. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it or not, but I'm almost sure i can smell just a bit of dust and smoke in this too, which really makes Midway smell authentic. If I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, I could easily believe I was standing in our fairgrounds in late September. I can feel the last of summer's warmth lacing through the fragrance, the smell of the dusty concrete beneath my feet, the smoke from the trailer kitchens and the overwhelming smell of everything made to be tempting, deep fried. It inspires the sort of ravenous indecision I always experience at the fair, of having dreamed of this food for weeks and then not knowing what to buy. So I get the cheesedogs? Roasted corn? Funnel Cake? One of those giant turkey legs that look and smell so good but disappoint me every time? (so hard to resist the call of those....) Will I finally get the nerve to try the deep fried oreos/snickers bar/twinkies or will I just hang around that stand and see if I can watch someone else eat them? The choices seem endless, but money is limited and I know my stomach can only be abused so much! Goddammit is there really more than 4 months left until the state fair? Wearing Midway makes me want it all now!

 

Midway has a lot of throw to it. I put it on right before work and I could smell it all through my shift without having to sniff my wrist or do any deep breathing. I was easily able to carry a cloud of sweetness with me wherever I went for at least 4 or 5 hours. Now at nine hours, there's not much through, but the scent can still be smelled clearly if I sniff my wrist. Which IMO, is pretty good staying power!

 

Final Thoughts:

Can't wait for this to come out. I'm going to want several bottles of it for wear and to try making wax tarts with!

[Belladonnastrap]

Have any of you been to any of the Disney parks?

 

You know when you're walking down Main Street U.S.A. and all those wonderful candy smells meld together and assault your nose? You get the urge for cotton candy, salt water taffy, popcorn and jumbo lollipops.

 

 

Add a dose of fresh ocean air and you have what Midway smells like. My grandmother remarked that it smelled like Coney Island back in its glory days.

 

I can definitely forsee massive amounts of this being sold, it's perfect for the summer months. I know I'll be buying at least 2 bottles.

[harlequin]

Oh my goodness, this stuff is *amazing*..!

 

I shall now worship QSpice, for sending me some of this... and Beth, for making it, of course!

 

Anyways. .. the scents I get strongest from this are Cotton Candy and Caramel Corn. After a few minutes something tangy comes out.. could be salted snacks, could be the sensation of a warm day and a nice clean sweat... take your pick...

 

There was about 2 minutes when it smelled kind of plasticy on my skin, but then it was back to Mmmm Fair Goodness.. I think the Cotton Candy part is probably more top-notey.. So when it comes back, there's less of that part of the scent. (my skin tends to eat top notes for breakfast, lunch, and fair snacks! hehehe)

 

I didn't put on much, so that I can savor my little impy until the scent is actually released, but it doesn't seem to have a lot of throw, to me.. That just means I'll have to buy a few gallons of it, so I can bathe in it!

 

Seriously. At least 2 Bottles... possibly three, if I can!

 

 

Aaand.. Pixie-elf, since we know you're so eager for cotton candy scents.. you have to try this. hehe!

[twistygirl]

I'm... in... LOVE

 

This is definitely one of my new favorite scents, and perfect for a foodie like me. I smell butter (but REAL butter, not the synthetic crap that makes me barf whenever I walk down the microwave popcorn aisle in the grocery store), I smell some caramel, a bit of almond, a bit of cotton candy, a touch of vanilla, a bit of honey. It makes me want to lick my wrists. It's scrumptious.

 

Beth has once again proven herself to be a genius beyond compare. If you are at all a foodie, GET THIS. You will NOT be disappointed. And it dries to a sweet-yet-mellow fragrance that will undoubtedly have people asking you "what are you wearing?"

[clover]

Midway

 

Let me start by saying that I am not generally a fan of foody scents...they are just not me. So the first couple of times I sniffed Midway, I was wary.

 

First impression: Melted butter! Almost carmel.

 

A few seconds after that: Almost immediately the scent of cotton candy joins the butter. A lot of times people say cotton candy when I think they mean really sweet, but this is really, truly the scent of cotton candy - spun sugar. It's wonderful.

 

After a few minutes: Something interesting happens...it starts to get a little dusty, and, dare I say it, stale. And I know that doesn't sound appealing, so let me hasten to add: this is my favorite stage. Because this is when this scent is the most evocative. It's like a perfect snapshot of a midway on a hot summer night - fair-goers up to their ankles in dust, concessions past their prime, flashing lights and carnival music. Magical.

 

I like it very much.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): It smells sweet, and I already love it. I really hope it works on me!

 

Just On: MMmmmm, really sweet, but with a hint of something else in there. It really does remind me of the midway of the fairgrounds, which is awesome. I could so see myself slathering this one. It could jump into my top five very easily.

 

An hour or two later: Oh this is still very lovely, and I am falling in love. Right now I would probably buy 10 ml of it. It smells like all the sweet things you smell cooking at the fairgrounds, but not as strong, if that makes sense. I get hints of cotton candy, caramel corn, and funnel cake (I want some funnel cake now) with the very slightest undertone of something that adds to the midway feel of it.

 

Around 6 hours: I'm officially in love with this scent. It doesn't stay as strong as I'd like, but it's delicious, and brings back wonderful memories of time at the fair.

 

12 hours: Although it's almost totally faded, I have the faintest hint of sweetness left.

 

Overall: I love this scent. I would absolutely buy much of this, and it's in my top five for sure now. Absolutely goes on the big bottle list as soon as it comes out.

 

After reading other reviews: Apparently I'm not the only one who smells all those things in it. This is pure magic.

[ianastar]

I got to sniff this today.... Thanks Sara.

 

It really does smell like the midway at a carnival....

 

....its all candied apples, cotton candy, caramel popcorn, and elephant ears/funnel cakes covered in powdered sugar.

 

It is similar in scent to Pink Sugar IMHO....maybe even better.

 

I am so buying like three of these when it comes out.

Edited May 13, 2005 by ianastar

[sihaya09]

OMFG. Just... OMFG.

 

This is a butter-drenched funnel cake topped in confectioner's sugar. This is salty air coming in from the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, heralding the annual Little League carnival. This is a big, swirly, sticky lollypop in a three year old's hands, red sugar staining her chin. This is me craving fries with vinegar and Old Bay.

 

A bottle will be ordered, for sure. Also? Belladonnastrap owns my soul.

Edited May 14, 2005 by sihaya09

[Morrighana]

In the bottle: Butter. Like Hellcat and Grog and the other buttery boozy scents, the first note out of the bottle is, for me, pure hot butter. (No complaints here! )

On my skin+drying: Mmph. Must...fight...temptation...to...lick...wrist. Mini doughnuts and caramel corn and and spun sugar and butterscotch schnapps and all of the wonderful things people have mentioned before me. Yum!

Overall: I think I may just have to pick up another 5mL of Midway when it comes out. It is an incredibly delicious scent, without being overly sweet. Thank you Beth!

[Sarah]

Close your eyes and take a whiff: you're surrounded boisterous and bright sounds of the carnival. This is pent-up excitement heighted by a sugar rush.

 

I haven't experienced many carnivals, but I do remember my school's annual trip to King's Dominion when I was in eighth grade. There I got to experience my very first funnel cake. It was one of those foods that upon first bite you know you'll never forget.

 

Midway smells like fried dough, hot from the deep fryer, laying on a paper plate. As the grease soaks through the plate, the cook sprinkles it generously with confectioner's sugar. It smells like cotton candy and other foodstuffs, but there's a little something to combat all the sweetness--kind of like adding a tub of Boardwalk fries to the vat of sugar. It has great staying power, and excellent throw.

 

Wearing this makes me lust for summer, which is hard to imagine, because summers in our nation's capitol are always horribly hot and humid. Midway instills fond food memories for me. It's not just the first time I tried a funnel cake. It also reminds me of the time when I attempted to make my own funnel cake as Diana, Karyn, and Kevyn sit at my kitchen table, sipping and chatting over Bailey's, rum, and strawberry daiquiris. It reminds me of summers at Ocean City, feeling the grittiness of the sand in my flip flops as I walk along the boardwalk and looking up at the Ferris Wheel, too intimidated to go for a spin.

 

I love Midway. And I know you will, too.

[Macha]

I realize now why the post office held on to my package for so very, very long. It was a plot to keep me away from Midway.

 

The smell that wafts out at me is enough to send me in search of a Waffle House -- it's sticky and sweet, cotton candy and freshly made waffle cones. It is, as those before me have also said, EXACTLY the smell of standing in the middle of the food stalls at a County Faire or at an amusement park midway and letting the smell wrap around you: sweet funnel cakes, hot cotton candy, powdered sugar, greasy buttered popcorn. Anytime that smell hits me at an amusement park it's like the cartoon genie finger of aroma that hooks under my nose and floats my away from whatever exhibition or amusement I was engaged in and flies me right over to the food venders.

 

There's a LOT of butter in this, and it's strange that I (who am notoriously disliking of butter scents) should be so completely comfortable with that. Perhaps its the balance with cotton candy that makes it so acceptable. It morphs as it dries, almost as if I'm strolling different parts of the faire, mixing salty and sweet with deft, amazing skill.

 

Must. Have. More.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: SO SWEET! this smells very foody, like fried dough and cotton candy.

on: i really thought this would be sickly sweet (i like that sort of thing sometimes.) and very foody, but it isn't. it's like the smell of cotton candy and funnel cakes from a distance on a cool, breezy night. lovely.

1.5 hours later: still lovely, but with a bit of lightly-buttered popcorn poking through. interesting.

5.5 hours later: still light and vaguely cotton candy-like. i adore this.

overall: this is just too wonderful. beth is a genius. i'm going to savor every last drop of this bottle.

[Imbrium]

First, thank you to Quantum_Spice, for letting me try this one.

Onward!

 

In the bottle: It's foody and sweet - funnel cake and cotton candy, and an almost coconutty smell, and a bit salty.

 

On: Oh, this is good. It's more cotton candy on me than it was in the bottle, very sweet, but somehow not toothache inspiring. I really like Macha's description of the cartoon genie finger - it's dead on.

Dry, the coconutty sort of smell that I get is gone, and it's not as buttery as I would have guessed, based on reviews. It's very light and sweet, and it blends so well that the more prominent notes that I could pick out at the beginning - the doughy smell, the cotton candy, the sort of saltiness - all melt together.

 

This is oh so beautiful - if the rest of the series is as delicious as this, I'm going to be broke for a long, long time.

 

P.S. Midway remains awesome!

Edited July 28, 2005 by Imbrium

[Nadirah]

mmm right away I get smell chocolate and caramel. Theres a burnt dirty kinda smell to it too which is not unpleasant. Maybe some candied apple, very interesting. This really does bring to mind a carnival, sticky sweet and dirty at the same time!

Long lasting too. good stuff!

[LunaSea]

I received a generous gift in the mail yesterday which included an imp's worth of Midway. Yes, there was much squee-ing! So, thanks to my BPAL Fairy Godmother!

 

Midway is so many different scents at once - like all the yummy foody scents from the carnival wafting at you, changing with the breeze. It is buttery, salty popcorn and rich fried dough. It is almost too heavy and rich for me to use as a summer scent when I'd like to wear something light and cooling. It really makes me imagine standing on that midway in the heat of August, all those wonderful smells fighting for my attention!

 

My favorite part of Midway is the drydown after 3-4 hours, when it becomes this wonderful cotton candy/marshmallow smell. Sweet, and lighter than the rich dough scent. I get occasional hints of this earler, but it doesn't really come out for me until later, as the other notes are stronger at first.

 

I do have to add that there is one minor disappointment in Midway. For the first half hour or so, when the scent is wet and fresh, I do get a slight hint of that plastic/band aid note that I got out of Egg Nog and Sugar Cookie, although nowhere near as strong. It isn't part of the throw at all, but I get a whiff of it when I smell my skin where I applied the oil. I was nervous that it would dominate the scent and make it not work for me, but that isn't the case at all, and after an hour or so it is gone. But I did want to mention it for those of you who had the same reaction to Egg Nog and Sugar Cookie. (Please don't throw stones, I really do love this scent!)

 

I will definitely be ordering a bottle of this on the first of June!

[Digital_Hypoxia]

If someone somehow snuck into the smell center of my brain, and carried off a file listing every note guaranteed to make me obsessed, they would be able to create Midway.

 

Foody? Hell yes. Sweet? You bet your ass. Perfect? Utterly.

 

I can smell sugared- fried dough, salted popcorn, and a slight hint of overheated cotton candy. This is a warm, syrupy sweetness, and it does smell just like a carnival midway. I don’t find it cloying in the least (though I admittedly love foody scents).

 

The CN update will hurt

[joseybird]

This is one of the most beautiful foody scents EVER!

 

Initially I get hints of cotton candy and caramel apple, but the blend quickly dries down to a delicious vanilla-flavored powdered sugar not hyper-sweet at ALL and vaguely reminiscent of doughnuts I could bathe in this!! One of the few scents I love that I'd buy by the bucketful

Edited August 18, 2005 by joseybird

[PennyPretty]

Thanks to LunaSea I got to test Midway.

 

It is excatly as has been described: sweet cream butter, funnel cakes with powdered sugar, caramel apples. Sweet but with a touch of something (salt maybe) that keeps it from being too syrupy sweet. The perfect comfort food scent. Strangely it doesn't smell too much like food - it just smells delicious. I will be stocking up on this.

[janelle_hell]

Many thanks to Blackrayne,who decanted me an imp of this!

 

Because of the previous reviews,i was thinking that this would be exactly the smell of the midway at the county fair (the ones i usually attend are here in Southern California,and take place during late spring/early fall,so there's usually a 'hot,dirty,but not unpleasant' smell beneath all the fried dough/spun sugar/candy apples). To me,it isn't-it's the smell of Main Street,USA at Disneyland!!! (which i saw that someone else thought of,as well!). This makes me love it even more than i thought i would (i heart Disneyland )!!! The fried dough/funnel cake note is predominant,and underscored by hot,sticky cotton candy,sweet,juicy candied apple,and just a bit of the hot caramel and saltawter taffy that they make in the candy shop on Main Street. i am so,so glad that i ordered a bottle of this even before i got the chance to try it,and will probably be ordering at least 1 more bottle. This stuff is great!

[shelldoo]

my dearest sweetest kmasden enabled me to review this gorgeous scent ty very much sweetie!

 

in the vial: gah i am sure i will gain weight just inhaling the sweet aroma. it is sugary, sweet funnelcake coated w/ powdered sugar.

 

on: yes definite powdered sugar coating a fresh fried funnelcake, i don't get too many more notes, but this is plenty and enough to make me wanna order a vat. midway is very light, and clings to my skin, in the movie "micheal" all the women fall in love w/ john travolta cause he smells like dessert, i imagine this is his smell. it is unbelieveable. and i certainly love wearing it, hmmm i could douse dh and imagine...well never mind

[slave1]

In Bottle: Sweet butter.

 

On Skin: Buttery extreme! I also smell caramel and the funnel cake. Very tasty indeed, but sadly the one note I really wanted to smell, I don’t smell at all: cotton candy. It really does smell like a carnival or amusement park. I don’t really smell the sugar tart either, but the salt water taffy oddly enough is starting to show itself. Yum! I still want BPAL to make a true spun sugar scent… it is my ultimate dream.