Monster Bait: Underpants

[OctoberGwen]

Who doesn't want a monster in their pants? Sexy sugar-smeared saffron sandalwood over lickable vanilla cream with a splash of butter rum.

I've been wanting to try Underpants since I first became a BPALista, but since all the other Monsterbaits seemed to have a plasticky undertone (sometimes OVERtone) on my skin, I figured it was no big deal whether I ever tried it out or not. I'm also very picky about sweet scents: sugar is awful on my skin, and things that are overly gourmand or sickly-sweet actually make me sort of nauseous when I wear them.

Still, I was delighted to find a surprise sniffie included in a recent swap with the lovely Glambie - especially since there was just enough to test!

Sniffing from the tiny amber vial she gave me, I got a pleasant enough vanilla smell. Okay. *shrug*

I put it on, smugly waiting for the anticipated Nasty Plastic to develop so I could say, "The hell with you, Underpants."

Sniff. Oh, my. Sniff. OH MY.

Vanilla, yes, but a daaaaaaaark, rich, syrupy vanilla that manages to stay just this side of too sweet. The saffron and sandalwood are not identifiable to me as separate notes, but they have to be doing something here to make Underpants greater than the sum of its parts. YUM-ola. I can't stop huffing my wrists. A couple hours later I get just a faint whiff of "wow, your skin smells delicious." Oh, that's my skin.

So, yeah. Underpants smells fabulous. Fortunately, vanilla isn't a note that makes my eyes roll back in my head, so I will leave the quest for Underpants to those who really do consider it their Holy Grail vanilla scent.

My wallet thanks me.

[MadameGorgon]

I got to try this scent through an amazing LE/DC swap (thanks!)

 

Good lord, is it getting hot in here or is it just Underpants? So fricken sexy. Sweet and vanilla-y without being foody. Feminine, but not too girly. It is dirty-minded and a little innocent at the same time.

 

It smells quite a bit different in the bottle than on the skin. In the imp, it smelled overly sweet, but that settled down as the saffron warmed up and made it all musky and grounded. I can feel the sandalwood more than actually smell it. It's probably one of the elements that keeps this from being foody. The butter rum is quiet, but I can sense it just rounding out the sharp edges and adding a hint of buttery saltiness.

 

Mmmmm. So good. So nomnomnomnom. So mmmm. Nomnomnomnom. Gooooood. Please leave us alone now... We would like some privacy.

[brilliantcat]

I've been after this one for ages and I finally got a tester. I'm not sure whether I'm hoping it blows my mind like I expect it to, or whether I'm hoping it somehow doesn't work given the rarity. I guess we'll just have to see! In the vial, it's super sweet and reminds me of Boo quite a bit as they're both that super-sticky-sweet clouds of sugar. Both also have a kind of cottony or linen-y vibe to me, I get the vibe of scented clothing that's been in a trunk in an attic for years and has been forgotten, lost to time. On me, there's an oddly cologne-y aspect to MB: Underpants though. I have no idea where that's coming from as sandalwood has never given me that vibe, though I know it can for others. I'm going to blame the saffron. It's definitely a relative of the Lace blends, and really is evocative of um... a pair of lacy underthings I've never been much of a fan of the Lace series precisely for the fabric note, it's just never appealed to me. This is not quite as insistently fabric-y and is actually quite delicious. I do love it, but I haven't fallen for it the way I have, say, Silver-Haired Bat. I like it but I don't think I'll go to the lengths necessary to obtain it. Not that I'd complain a bit if a bottle happened to drop into my lap from the sky!

[lookingglass]

I kicked myself in the pants back in the day for never getting a bottle of this. Well, I found a sniffie. Glowy golden sweet...saffron infused vanilla cream...lightly spiced wood note, all snuggley warm...It's really that good.

 

Ya know what it smells a lot like...? Hesiod's Phoenix.

Edited February 8, 2014 by lookingglass

[Magycmyste]

So, I managed to get a nice full decant of this.

 

In the imp: Sugar, and sandalwood, I think, that keeps it from getting too sweet.

 

Wet on skin: This makes me think of a slightly spicy sugar cookie! Like a cinnamon sugar cookie. The sandalwood just adds this gorgeous spice to it.

 

Dried down: Same as wet.

 

Throw: I'm not getting much on me, but I'm not being patient enough today, as I need to go out.

 

Verdict: **** 1/* I get why people love this so much. It's complex and beautiful. But - maybe it's because I know I'll probably never get a bottle for a decent price - I don't think I'm going to drive myself insane looking for one. I will, however, HOARD my decant.

[Bassmastadroog]

I found a cool pack of Monster Bait imps on eBay from a fellow BPAL'r, so time to test them out!

 

I was initially most excited about Underpants...

 

Bottle: Creamy, warm vanilla with ginger

 

On Skin: Once it blends with my skin its less general as ginger...and I can smell the buttery, creamy spice. Also with vanilla. This is (for me) where it starts to go wonky. I still like the sweetness and gourmand-y scent, but I do get what other people describe as 'burnt plastic.' Is this what wet sandalwood before its drydown smells like?

 

Dry: Just vanilla and sandalwood. This is my favorite stage. Really, the weird wet stage doesn't last very long...its worth the wait. Here, I think I smell the saffron peeking out. I have never smelled saffron single note...but the drydown has the pink warmth of Morocco, and I know there is saffron in that. Its similar to Morocco once dry, but just with added sandalwood to temper the sweetness. This is my favorite stage!

 

3/5, only because its sillage is low on me...and also the beginning is...meh. I'll use all the imp though, and fat chance of me finding a bottle now anyway

[LizziesLuck]

As if I haven't written up a review??

 

I have this sort of love-hate relationship with Underpants. When it first came out from the Lab, I foolishly thought gourmand scents were my favourite, and that things like sandalwood and saffron were "icky". So I ignored this and just got Closet and Underbed (which I do love).

 

 

Then, many years later when I realize how much I love vanilla cream, rum, saffron AND sandalwood, I am kicking myself because I could have had this straight from the La and not be having to try to hunt down the off partial or decant here and there, at steep prices.

 

Anyway, I love this scent. It is as described, lots of saffron and rum on wet, settling into a lovely vanilla cream sandalwood with just hints of the rum and saffron remaining to give it depth and interest. It's amazing and special and I am glad to have some.

[Kanra]

Monsterbait: Underpants: A love letter.

 

Thiiiis. This is lovely. Absolutely gorgeous. A fragrance after my very own heart. I knew I would love this by notes alone, but I thought I'd never be able to get a bottle of it.

Surprise, surprise: I found a bottle. And I love it even more than expected. This is going straight up to its rightful position as my #1 favorite BPAL, I think. It is THAT stunning. Caramel and creamy vanilla and saffron and sandalwood and rum. It's exactly as described. It's super creamy and cozy and, like a previous poster said, almost golden-like in aura. It's like being enveloped in a warm, sweet hug. Wearing it is like being taken away to a magical paradise. That is part of the beauty of Monsterbait: Underpants, but not the entire thing. What makes this so wonderful isn't the notes alone (though they are indeed great), but the way it is all combined.

 

Before I got into indies and BPAL, I collected niche fragrances for 5.5, almost 6 years. When I smelled this, this seemed familiar in the sense that I have tried similar things in the world of niche. I don't mean to say this is a dupe for anything --- it is not. But these kind of notes and this way of blending is incredibly popular and beloved (in a much deserved fashion) in the niche world but I rarely see blends like this in indies. That's not a shade to indies at all, as indies offer types of blends and scratch some itches for me that are hard to find within niche. But at last, I've found such a beautiful, complex niche-like blend within the world of indie oils. BPAL can pull it off well. They do fantastically here.

 

I'm trying to go through years worth of scent memories and pull up exactly which kind of niches provoke the same sort of feelings for me that Underpants do, but I know they are two, even sometimes three times more expensive than even the inflated secondhand market prices for Underpants nowadays. (That is to say, yes, for me Underpants is absolutely worth it and I would jump on this bottle again and again if I saw it.)

 

I'm super happy I have a bottle of it, yet sad I only have one! I'm not normally a backup person but I'd absolutely grab another if I saw it for sale so I could wear this to my heart's content without being stingy in the slightest. I never want to be without this again in my life.

Edited February 8, 2021 by Kanra

[doomsday_disco]

I didn't think I would ever end up trying this one and never tried to obtain any, but a very generous BPALista sent me a decant, and now I get the hype.

 

In the decant, I wasn't sure if it would be for me due to the butter rum note, but once applied, the butter rum quickly calmed down and allowed the saffron, sandalwood, and sugary vanilla to shine. I think the sandalwood in this may be the Mysore sandalwood from Kit. The sugar and vanilla cream really bloom over time, giving me Boo vibes. SWOON.   It ends up settling into a lovely vanilla sandalwood touched by the warmth of the saffron and butter rum after a day of wear.

 

I didn't know I need this in my life, but now that I have it, I will cherish my decant. Thank you to the lovely @Missanneshirleyofgg for sharing this one with me.