Maenad

[RoseThornAndOak]

I like it okay, the blend of strawberry and floral reminds me a bit of dragons blood or red musk, how they can smell fruity yet floral sometimes. It's threatening to go sour as most fruit blends do (damn skin chemistry sometimes) but its reasonably behaving?

 

Ooo! You know what this reminds me of? Blood Kiss. Yeah! I think it will be better in a scent locket for me but it is a reasonably pleasant strawberry floral, not too much like fresh strawberries, but very much perfume-note, almost plasticky but not bad strawberry on my skin. I think it might be the same note in Bon Vivant, which works better on me but I might still use the imp up to keep my skin from turning it sour/plastic. 😃

[artisjok]

I slathered Maenad blind, as it is one of the few imps I’ve grabbed that I had no idea what the notes would be. 
I thought, kind of like bubblegum, yet not, and definitely carnation. Sweet musk, I thought, yet no. 
The strawberry is definitely the sweet treat I thought I was smelling, and I’m glad I know carnation when I’m smelling it! The other florals, I don’t think I would have guessed. The hibiscus I think is giving a slightly tart edge, keeping the blend from going powdery. It’s youthful and joyful. The scent settles as a tart sweet candy floral. If the carnation has reigned, and maybe if I could have detected the poppy, it would have been more my jam. Pleasant for warm Spring days like today, though! 
Glad for the adventure. 

[lady_pandora]

Maenad smelled kind of "off" when I first tested it, like rotting fruit, which was probably at least a year ago. But age has done really nice things to it. It's a juicy, lush blend of fruits that I can't really pick out one from the other, with sort of a husky purr like a lighter version of Black Cherry Love. It suggests a wine note without actually having a wine note. It's sexy and huffable!

[Rane.]

This one smells so mouthwatering. It's super sweet strawberry, orange blossom, & hibiscus at first. I think the black poppy is also giving it that uniqueness. Smells like those Easter Egg candies that are made practically of pure sugar. This should be an atmosphere spray!

[roseus]

In the imp: super sweet, syrupy strawberry with some florals I can't identify at the edges. 

 

Wet: Strawberry syrup and bubblegum 

 

Dry: strawberry bubblegum with a bit of spicy carnation

[Old.cupcake]

Initial I love it. It’s sweet and candy like! 
 

Wearing The sweet wears off and the scent blossoms more fruity and has a dark note to it. 
 

Final I love this scent! It’s one of the first I’ve smelled and absolutely amazing. What a way to start off my BPAL journey! 

[Laughing Seagull]

I bought a fresh imp of this from the lab.  In the vial, it smelled like sticking my nose into a bag of gummy bears.

 

After applying two wand-swipes to my wrist, the gummy bears were buried in blood-red flowers.  While wet, it was dark and bitter.  As it dried, the strawberry and florals balanced each other out.  It reminds me of a strawberry wine that I had once.  It gradually becomes sweeter, more powdery strawberry as time goes on.

 

This one seems to have a small-medium throw and lasts forever.  I think it'd make a good bedtime scent (sleepy bedtime, not sexy bedtime).

 

ETA:  I originally tried this on my wrist and it was nice, but last night I put a swipe in my cleavage and it was overwhelmingly sweet to the point of being unpleasant, so maybe don't do that.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Laughing Seagull

[Snuffleupagus]

I tested a frimp of this without checking the notes first. And it was all Dots. Jujubes? Dots and/or Jujubes. Me gusta. 
 

When I looked at the scent description, I was shocked to see orange blossom because I usually don’t get along with orange blossom scents, yet Maenad is oh-so-charming. Since my mind was already stuck on “movie theater candy,” the subtle stankiness of the orange blossom crept up my nostrils like whiffs of movie theater seats of questionable cleanliness. Not like butt, but like a ghost of a must. It sounds unflattering, but it all works together wonderfully.
 

After a few hours of wear, it’s Dots again, only fainter, like when the bits would cling to your teeth and you had to scrape them out with your fingernails. 

Edited November 18, 2020 by Snuffleupagus

[bambi]

In the bottle, this smells like straight up bubblegum. It keeps that bubblegum on the skin, and starts off sour before turning very sweet. The florals amp up throughout the process, and it ends with a very sweet, floral candy scent.

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: I can pick out orange blossom. Everything else is vaguely sweet and swirly. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it's more orange blossom and sweet. As it dries, the strawberry becomes more prominent, then the carnation as well. Happily for me, more time makes this perfume more carnation-forward, though it's never a particularly strong smell. 

 

Gah! Unfortunately, orange blossom is doing its usual wafting thing on me, but it's somehow latched onto the strawberry note to waft. So there are times when it's this perfectly lovely carnation-based scent, but other times when I get whiffs of orange blossom and strawberry, the combination of which is just... odd in itself and particularly jarring when I was expecting the carnation. 

[spaghettysburg]

On me, this one smells exactly like those strawberry-scented baby dolls with a veeery slight undercurrent of something dirty that kinda reminds me old fryer grease. I'm blaming the black poppy for that since it's the only scent I can't recognize. I like the top notes but unfortunately that greasy/dirty smell is making me feel kinda sick the longer I have it on.

[Beary Strange]

Strawberry hibiscus bubblegum (smells like actual gum not lotus) with carnation. Up close I can get the slightly dirty smell others mention that I think must be the orange blossom, but for me it’s not strong enough to be bothersome. Its mostly just a really nice fruity candy scent and I do want to get a bottle at some point.

Edited August 12, 2023 by Beary Strange

[SimonsSays]

Man. I hate to say this, but...this smells like a used up car air freshener on my skin. Berry scented air freshener, is all I'm getting from this. One of those cheap little tree ones you dangle from the rearview mirror. Or like a berry scented room spray from the Dollar Tree. Instantly nauseating. Not my cup of tea at all. 

[skyturtles]

Lap fresh frimp~ This is interesting, and I think I like it!

Wet: not quite ripe strawberries, with the spice of carnation to keep it red. I can see the resemblance that others have noted to Blood Kiss. Also like a spicer or slightly floral Cruor (Lilith).

Dry, this is surprisingly similar to as it was wet. That's fine with me!