The Mock Turtle's Lessons

[smokey188]

Not quite Turtle Soup: blurry aquatic notes, with a confusing, contrary splort of iris, ambrette, green apple, vodka, white mint and a squish of lime.

This was not strong enough it went on nice aquatic and slightly appley and then disappeared almost instantly.

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the imp, it's mint and apples. Applied to my skin, it's still minty lime and apples. I agree with others that there is definitely an aquatic quality to this blend.

[milo]

To me, this is a fruity incense. I'm pretty sure it's apple. *check* Yep, it's apple. I don't really get the mint or aquatic notes. I'm actually surprised there is aquatic in here, as that generally spells 'doom' for me. After an hour, it becomes a tad bit powdery, which must be the orris. This is a pleasant, summery scent, and I will certainly enjoy my two imps that I happened to aquire. Oh, it does fade fairly quickly. Boo.

[bubblefish]

Confusing is a good word to describe this blend. There's definitely aquatics in there, but floating around there are hints of florals, and sometimes they aren't as prominent as the mint. It's like... soup... made of clear water, flowers, mint, and a few other ingredients floating and bobbing around. Somehow it's bubbling water, but definitely not hot.

[rayvn1]

Ew, not so much on my skin right now This is a really odd, crazy dry blend. Subdued and alchoholic. I thought this would be fresh and aquatic, but it's not at all! Hard to define this scent honestly - almost chemical in nature. Unhealthy smelling, somehow...

[spiresinthesnow]

I don't know why but I really like this scent, so much I bought a bottle. Its hard to describe. I think the first thing I get is a bit of mint and light floral. Its a cooled concoction, consisting of mint leaves that have simmered in a pot of floral sugar water (but not overly sugary) with a delicate splash of green apple, lime, and vodka. Its a very a very "minimal" fragrance. As in minimal amounts of everything, I don't really get any strong amounts of any of the notes. The scent itself is detectable when worn, its sweet, soft, sheer.

Edited September 9, 2009 by glasspillars

[Ankica]

b e a u t i f u l

 

so fresh, calm and inspiring...

 

Edited September 14, 2009 by Ankica

[KesHiro]

Received as frimp in my will call bag.

 

What a pleasant, albeit strange scent! I cannot pick out any of the listed notes but I like this oil nonetheless. In the imp, I smell aquatics and something clean. It's not harsh, but very faint and gentle. Once I have it on, I *think* I can smell some of the apple and possibly the mint. More than anything, however, I get the blurry aquatic notes. Once it's dry, I'm left with something that smells like the ocean: water with some saltiness in the background. More than anything, this reminds me of Villainess' Pearl Diver scrub.

 

This is quite lovely, although I don't think I would wear it very often and will probably not upgrade to a bottle. Would love to see how it smells on my guy, though.

[loubric]

Very faint on me. My first impression is crushed mint leaves with hints of something floral.

Very light and airy. No aqautic or apple. Goes a little powdery on me.

[girasol]

In bottle: Bafflingly, this smells quite foodie to me.

Wet: Soft florals and a hint of burnt sugar.

Dry: Lightly musky and still a bit foodie. Nothing seems to last ages on me, but this fades away particularly quickly.

 

This was a strange one - I didn't really get the aquatic notes at all, nor mint or apple. And I have no idea what kept giving me a whiff of caramel. But that said, I like teh turtle! Not sure if I'll need a full bottle, but the imp's a keeper.

[HKB]

I must have poured half the imp in my hand and slathered it on me just so I could smell this. I can still barely smell it. Vaguely aquatic, flowery, apple, mint. It's all there and would be really nice, but it is so so so faint.

[hmelt004]

Pleasant and strange. Sweet, light mint with a bit of breezy apple and watery notes. Could work on someone who's looking for a light, clean scent but doesn't like florals or linen-type scents. I've been wearing it a lot this spring and I'm debating buying a bottle. The throw is minimal, but pleasant.

[MissVulpecula]

In the imp: Vodka, apples, mint, lime and sweet florals. Cool, fresh and yummy!

 

Drying on my skin: My skin turned it into a strong flower perfume. All the freshness is gone and it's very strong, sweet and perfumy.

 

Throw and staying power: Strong throw

 

Colour impression: Bright apricot/salmon

 

Verdict: I liked the wetstage very much! Very unique, fresh and sexy!

Why had my skin to turn it? Dry on me it smells exactly like the overly sweet, heavy flower perfume my greatgrandma used to wear...

On a person who's skin doesn't turn it this will be awsome!

 

[BuxomM]

It's fresh. It smells fresh/aquatic, I think it's the green apple but that quikly fades, with mint and something floral. The mint isn't over powering and it's fresh and sweet. It smells a bit like soap and mint gum but pleasant. I like it, but my imp's enough for now.

[Arcanasylvana]

When I first out it on it was definitely aqueous and confusing, As it was drying the mint really stood out,when it dried though it became a sweet blend that stayed close to my skin! Lasted a long time though!

[fairestrocza]

In the Imp: The first time I sniffed this, it smelled medicinal. The second time around, it makes me think of something that should be served in a martini glass, possibly with sugar on the rim… A Turtletini.

 

Wet on Skin: Sweet and slightly tart. I'm not getting any mint, but this is a fairly old imp, so that isn't surprising. Apple, vodka and lime seem to be the main players. I do detect a slight floral note, but I would consider this neither a floral nor an aquatic blend.

 

While Drying: There is something about the Mad Tea Party line that always seems to come through, lending a buoyant, light hearted feel to most of them. This one is no exception.

 

After a Little While: The brighter aspects of this scent have died down, and I am getting a scent that reminds me oddly of The White Rabbit or some other tea scent.

 

Final Thoughts: This had a pretty rapid fade on me. It might be due to the age of the imp (probably 2 to 3 years old). I'd be interested in comparing this with a fresh imp.

The Mock Turtle's Lessons earns a 3/5 on my skin.

[ami226]

On the skin: At first I am getting a hint of mint with a sour that must be lime as well as an overall aquatic feel. After a bit the sour fades and it is pretty much aquatic with a hint of mint. The mint never overpowers this blend on me.

 

It is pleasant, but not the kind of scent I would wear often.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting aquatics, apple, vodka, and a touch of lime. On my skin, it's salty aquatics, mint, and iris. Yeah, glad I got to try this, but, happily, I won't need more of it.

[melrose]

In imp, overwhelmingly sugary sweet.

 

First on: vodka or gin with a sweet undertone. This is nice, also intriguing.

 

It faded before it could develop further.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: foggy aquatic musk, green apple, and mint. There's vodka in this for sure. Bizarre!

Drydown: the iris and ambrette come out and as intended by Beth, confuse the mix instead of beautifying it. I wouldn't say it's uglified, but definitely confusing. I think if I smelled this after Schrodinger's Cat, I'd be in a strange state for most of the day. I know Maine is weird.. I didn't mean literally.

[mistressfizz]

Amazingly, I got a frimp of this with a recent BPTP order! Thanks, Puddin!

 

Sniff: Light and vaguely sweet with sharp ozone. definitely watery & aquatic

 

Wet: Stays light and fresh, the ozone/water notes become more pronounced. There's something almost nutty in the background, mixed with a hint of fruit and mint. It's like a cocktail with a splash of fruit juice and a side of salty snacks.

 

Dry: Something kind of greasy/oily emerges as this dries and there's a hint of sweet tobacco (I think this is what the initial nutty note evolved into). It seems more far flung and ethereal in this phase. The ozone is not as sharp and the salty flavor is more gentle. In the end, it's like a soft, clean cologne with hints of sweetness.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: I smell apple in the imp, with a little hint of mint.

 

Wet on skin: I'm getting apple and lime here. And maybe just the slightest hint of mint, though my nose has to look for it.

 

Dried down: Hmmmm, it's dried down to a mildly minty floral - I'm not really sure if it's the ambrette or the iris I'm getting, or if there's any notes I'm not getting because it's aged. The mint fades pretty quickly, leaving me with more of a sandalwood scent. Which is still really pretty, but I liked the way the mint played on my akin, especially with the apple.

 

Throw: This is another scent where I kind of feel a cloud of scent around me rather than smelling it. Just the faintest whiff of something in the air. I have to sniff my wrists to get anything distinct though, and I think it's that sandalwoody iris or ambrette. I have zero apple and mint now.

 

Verdict: *** I like sandalwood, and I think this is really pretty, but I really wish the apple and mint would have stayed around longer. I do wish this scent was still live, but - what can you do? If it ever does come back, I'd love to try a less-aged version, to see if the initial notes stick around much longer.

Edited July 27, 2013 by Magycmyste

[doomsday_disco]

I received an imp in a swap or forum purchase a few years ago, and I won a bottle a few years ago directly from the Lab on eBay. I'm not sure of the age on either of these.

 

In the imp: The green apple note stands out the most to my nose, and I'm getting more vodka and lime from the imp than the bottle. The aquatic notes read as less watery and have more of a soapy vibe in the imp.

 

Wet: Damn, this is far sharper than the bottle scent. The vodka note is really strong, and I'm also getting more of the lime from the imp than I did in the bottle version. Then the blurry aquatic notes emerge, along with some ambrette and iris, only for the scent to morph again and showcase the aquatic notes with the cool, white mint. Then it veers back into sharp, boozy territory and seems to mostly be vodka with warm ambrette with a bit of green thrown in. How very curious!

 

Dry: This is a lot warmer than the bottle version. The ambrette ends up being the dominant note, and I think I'm getting some iris and some of the aquatic notes along with it.

 

-----

 

In the bottle: Aquatic notes, green apple, and iris, with a bit of lime and hints of the vodka and white mint.

 

Wet: A blast of green apple before the aquatic notes rise. Now I'm getting the blurry aquatic notes and the white mint with the green apple and lime not too far behind in the background. Then the ambrette note emerges, adding some warmth to the scent, and I'm starting to get some of the iris now as well. After only a few minutes, the aquatic notes and soft white mint reign, and the other notes are pushed further into the background. This one certainly morphs a lot!

 

Dry: A very light aquatic scent, that oddly enough, didn't end up going soapy on me! I'm mainly getting the aquatic notes, soft mint, and a hint of the fruit notes.

 

-----

 

Several hours later, both scents have gotten sweeter. They're more alike now (the wrist with the scent from the bottle has also become warmer from the ambrette), but still different. The scent from the imp is stronger.

 

Verdict: As I said, I have no idea how old each of these are, but it was really interesting how different they smell! I know imps age differently since there's a much smaller amount of oil in there, but this was quite drastic, even though I could tell they shared the same notes. I wonder if the bottle will end up aging similarly or remain more aquatic in nature. Although most aquatic scents turn into soap on me, this one was a lot nicer, and I think having notes like the soft mint and apple contributed to that. I am glad that I have this scent and will definitely bring it out more on hot summer days!

Edited July 28, 2017 by dementia_divine

[Lucchesa]

I knew The Mock Turtle's Lessons wouldn't work on me, but I wanted to try it out of curiosity and because it's a Mad Tea Party scent.  It was less bad than expected!  Aquatics just go soapy on me, but the first notes I got out of this were apple and mint.  A little booze, a little lime, with the aquatic notes, yes, blurry, not sharp and distinct and detergent-like.  It's light and spring-like, and the apple is more sweet than tart.  Ultimately it's soft aquatic with just hints of fruit and mint.  Wear length is a little less than average on me.