Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller (2006)

[Delirium1009]

Red musk, vanilla bean, pomegranate, patchouli leaf and wild plum.

 

This smells a lot like Snake Oil on me… only deeper and more complex. There seems to be a bit of an incense note, and I can smell the musk as well as a bit of the patchouli leaf. There’s a definite medicinal undertone to the scent that turns me off a bit, and the vanilla lurks underneath everything making it just slightly sweet and creamy.

 

This fades to a nice musk and incense scent with creamy vanilla, but that annoying medicine note is still there. I don’t know what it is, but both snake oil and Mme Moriarty have it!

Edited August 26, 2007 by Delirium1009

[squirrelmonkey]

Oh, Mme Moriarty, I so wanted to love you -- especially after all the rave reviews and popping up on so many must-have lists. In the bottle it is indeed lovely, with hints of plum and a dark, complex floral component. Unfortunately, the moment it touches my skin the patchouli leaf comes out and plunders, pillages, and kills all other notes, decapitating some. After a few minutes of violent if entertaining bloodshed, nothing is left but the triumphant patchouli, which I cannot stand but which perversely loves me (much like a cat who picks out the lap of a person with cat allergies). Alas.

[Ina Garten Davita]

I haven't reviewed this scent yet, though she's been in my collection for over a year. Mlle. Moriarty wasn't quite right for my chemistry when she first arrived. Sharp from red musk and plum rarely works on me. But I liked the mysterious incense-iness and was not going to give up on the vanilla bean-pomegranate-patchouli trifecta so I cellared my bottle. What a difference a year makes. Creamy, sweet, mellow happiness. The patchouli kicked the red musk's ass all over the Carnaval and the vanilla bean-pomegranate gorgeousness has completely eclipsed any whiff of plum. The incense overtones have intensified beautifully. Not nearly as dark as I thought this scent would be, though every bit as mysterious and sexy. I can't stop sniffing my wrist.

 

I'm thrilled that I didn't give up on this beauty. I'm definitely going to snag a couple of more bottles to put away before the Carnaval leaves town.

[GypsyRoseRed]

Hahahaha. I came here to make pretty much the exact same review that andrabell just posted! When I originally got Mme. Moriarty, I sniffed the bottle and although it was pleasant enough (and definitely in the same family as Snake Charmer, Snake oil etc) it just didn't grab me, and something in there just wasn't quite right. So it sat in my BPAL box for a year, and last night when I was going through and pulling out everything I wasn't used, I decided to test it.

 

Aging has made ALL this difference to this baby. The vanilla bean mingles perfectly with the musk, patchouli and incense. And the throw and wear length are exceptional!

[n3m3sis42]

I guess I never reviewed this one?

 

I don't even know how to describe Mme. Moriarty, to be honest. It's become one of my new favorites, which is sort of surprising since it smells like it's got woody undertones to me when I sniff it wet. Woods almost NEVER work on me as they go to pencil shavings.

 

On me, this is a lovely and complex spicy scent with a woody bite to it. I can smell the fruits and vanilla a bit, but everything is so well blended that I don't really pick out any one note. This is right up there with Spider for me... must order another bottle SOON!

[jolarocknrolla]

Holy cow, it smells like Smut and Snake Oil had a baby! I'm smelling a sweet musk VERY nuch like Smut with a subtle and well behaved patchouli to spice things up a bit. I don't get any fruity plum either wet or dry, but it might just be masked by the lovely sweet musk that i love so much <3 I will be getting a bottle of this blend as soon as possible, WOW sexy.

[Cariad]

Snake Oil with purple fruits, only better - deeper, more inviting, more incense-y... SO sexy I thought I wouldn't be able to pull it off.

 

Then it broke my heart by turning into cloying-sickly-sour-plum-medicine-doom on my skin.

 

Stupid plum.

 

 

ETA: after reading Andrabell's post, I might just have to get another sample of this one...

Edited October 8, 2007 by Cariad

[aleciarivas]

Slight incense smell right off the bat..... Then the red musk and the vanilla bean start to bleed through, and the patchouli leaf takes a back seat. It's still there, harping from the back seat (turn left, turn left!) but the vanilla bean and red musk are ignoring it! I don't smell plum, but I am sure it is there somewhere!! I still can't decide if I like the scent- it seems elusive......

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

In the vial: smells like my Mom's Yves Saint Laurent Opium perfume.

 

On the skin: OOOOOOOOoooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssssss! This smells AMAZING! To my nose it resembles nag champa crossed with Vixen and the tiniest dribble of snake oil...it's sleek, it's sexy, dark, mysterious, incensey...in short, it's perfect! You'd have to pry this one from my cold dead hands to get it from me. I'm in love! This is my number #1. Hands down. Incredible...genius!

 

[Fright]

I'm not sure how to describe this. It's warm. Spicy. Slightly mysterious. A touch creepy, maybe? It smells so odd. I remember thinking, "Mm.. smells nice.. who is that..?" and then I blushed like an idiot and realized it was the Mme. Moriarty. I don't know how to put into words how this smells, but it smells.. nice. I do love my impie of this..

[Styx]

Mme.Moriarty, Misfortune Teller (orange oil)

 

decant: a bit perfumy, can smell the patchouli, and it smells aquatic too.

 

Skin: Can smell the earthiness of patchouli, with a slight bitter edge. What amazes me with Mme.Moriarty is the depth.

Its dark, deep, sweet but not cloying in the least. Mostly it is patchouli, vanilla, musk and something exotic...the fruit is just enough to give the scent with a reddish character; I cannot pick them out individually.

Sophisticated and mysterious, this smells like a woman with many secrets.

I sniffed Crypt Queen before I got this, and they have a similar vibe. Crypt queen was mossier, sweeter, and is not dark, but melancholic.

 

A scent for gloomy/lightning days.

[AEris]

Juicy Snake Oil.

 

Seductive and feminine. Deep red scent, if I had to assign it a color.

 

I am totally in love with this, and will wear it when I'm in a Snake Oil mood but want something a little....different.....

 

I'm not sure how to describe it, it's just dripping with sex!!

 

Only drawback is short wearlength, I'd say 4 hours max. Guess I just have to buy a bunch huh!!

 

Instant bottle buy, I think I will order it right now before the carnival heads out of town!!!!

[Gwydion]

Interesting. I'm not sure how i feel about this one yet. The musk, patchouli, and vanilla are strongest. I want to like this, but there may be too much patchouli for my taste. The fruit is subtle compared to the rest, appearing in little whiffs of fruit that tantalize and disappear.

[ouch!]

INSTANT LOVE!!!!!

 

I just knew from the description and idea that I was gonna love this one and hey presto!

 

Morairty is sooo gorgeously sexy! It smells slightly meicinal at first..but that soon dissapears, it does smell very spicy and red and really does conjure an image of this mystical female fortune teller.

 

The musk is the predominant note mosly, but there's also a fruitness to it. It's deep and very addictive, I can't stop smelling my hand.

There are some similarities between this and snake oil for sure. It's the way that it's sensual and exotic. It's like an more masciline version of Snake Oil, with less vanilla and alot more spice!

 

I want another bottle before it dissapears, this is definately in my top ten!

Edited November 12, 2007 by ouch!

[tartchef]

Flail! Drool! Aaaaarrrrglllltthhhhhppppptttthhh...

 

Sorry. Every cell in my body goes to jelly when I sniff my aged imp of Mme Moriarty. It's a visceral, undeniable reaction, akin to (TMI alert!) the electric moments leading up to a really good orgasm. I want to drink my imp, roll around in it, rub my face in it, do naughty naughty things to it. Gah...

 

What does it smell like? Oh, ah, I dunno - fruity red musk, bitter leafy patchouli, smoky vanilla (waves hands ineffectually)... I will say that the new-ish bottle I just bought from a forumite is very different, much lighter & fairly innocuous, so it's going in the back of the box for a good year or so...

 

Now, where was I? Oh yeah... gahhhhrllllllhhhhhhppppppthhhh...

[Jenesis]

Well, not sure I can match the mental images brought on by the previous review, but here goes

 

On me, the Madame is... pleasant. Nice. Sweet. And that's just it. I can't pick out any individual notes. Although I can tell they're there - the red musk and the vanilla in particular - they just blend perfectly to create a sweet, womanly, sophisticated scent. Maybe that's where it falls down on me; it's just not very complex. The only morphing that happened was the red musk going from frontal-assault mode to the background in the first minute.

 

After a while, this blends to, well, a patchouli-vanilla blend with a little red musk brightening it up. I don't get any pomegranate or plum out of this. It's sweet and warm, and my boyfriend described it as a "snuggly" scent. I think this replaces Midnight Kiss in my top 10.

 

All in all, it's a nice, pleasant scent that I like. I will definitely hang on to my bottle, but I won't be panic-buying it before the Carnival goes away.

 

...Although I might have to get one more bottle.

Edited November 24, 2007 by Jenesis

[heathercaley]

This is by far the "ME" scent.. We got a winner here folks!!!

 

In the bottle : Musky sweet incense.. almost kind of buttery but at the same time a sharp quality pokes around there.. and not a foody buttery at all. Its like a buttery quality like when you taste wine.

 

Wet: Salty sweet plummy incense.. oh god I love the incense quality.

 

Drydown: That buttery sweet salty incense that just melts my soul... oh god I'm in effing LoVE!!!

 

 

And it lasts allll dayyy. I get wafts of sweetly salty incense now and again and my tummy flutters with absolute love..

 

THANK YOU BETH!!!!

[akiko]

In my quest to find scents similar to Fruit of Paradise, I happened across the Madame.

 

Imp: musky & incense, with a touch of something sweet.

 

Wet: Viscous yellow oil. Smells incensey a bit. After a while, the pomegranate starts to come out.

 

Dry: Equal parts resin/incense, pomegranate, and vanilla.

 

Nothing at all like Fruit of Paradise, but certainly nice in its own way.

[mspixieears]

Mmm, yummy red musk and berries – the musk reminds me a little of Smut. Probably not a fragrance for summertime – it does conjure up very sensual evenings though for some reason! I think it would be very sexy worn at night. The berry I get must be the pomegranate and/or the wild plum which I’m hoping will become more prominent. So far wet this seems pretty musky. The musk is deliciously smoky and very alluring.

[Skirt]

DEFINITELY fruity Snake Oil, but it's not a gummybear type of fruity - it's a richer, darker fruit. Pretty sure my boyfriend will like this one.

[emerald_ibis]

Is anybody still reading here on page 9?

 

Anyway, this is specifically on the aged version of Mme. Moriarty, because I personally plan to have a hefty stash of the stuff before the Carnaval leaves town and thought that perhaps other people would be interested in how this blend ages over time.

 

Beautifully, by the way, if you like patchouli, musk and vanilla. And I happen to love them a great deal, so this is wonderful.

 

The older she gets, the deeper and heavier Mme. Moriarty becomes. The fruit notes, sadly, fade a great deal over time. The plum that I loved so much when my bottle is fresh is now very faint. It's still there, but is just barely hanging on in the face of the strong trio of patch, musk and vanilla. Aged, this is like Snake Oil's more serious, more sophisticated cousin. It lacks the playful sugary edge that Snake Oil always has on me. It has a stronger patch vibe, and just a the tiniest touch of fruitiness to make things interesting.

 

DEAD SEXY, though, and I always, always get compliments on it. I'm nearly finished with my first bottle and already have two backups hanging around in my box. More will be ordered ... I never, ever want to be without this scent, if at all possible. Definitely top ten, maybe even my number one.

[Esmeria]

I got a decant of this, and wasn't drawn to the scent straight away, so I put it back in my box and forgot all about it. Fast-forward about three months later, and I became curious once more.

 

I sniffed; 'hmm', I did think. 'This is different'.

 

I put some on, and loved! It's so sexy and mature. I love plum, it really does go gorgeous on me and coupled with the Snake Oil feel it's just rawr.

 

I ordered a bottle already.

[voodoobaby]

This is one of the sexiest scents I've ever smelled...and I've smelled quite a lot. It's one of those second skin scents, only it does border a little on perfumey (which I like). Upon first applying it, I get patchouli? Something earthy at least, but it doesn't smell like BPAL's patchouli. There's also a ton of red musk, which again doesn't smell quite like the red musk in other blends. It really does smell like skin somehow. I get a whiff of fruitiness every now and then, but it's not constant. The vanilla remains in the background, rounding everything out and making it sweeter. It's the musk and patchouli that really make it explode with sexiness, though.

 

And it lasts! And the end result is amazing! The next day, I was pleased to notice that I still smelled of it, only it had morphed into the exact smell of incense lingering on your skin and in your hair. I didn't think that could be reproduced. I am extremely impressed. This is definitely a new favorite; I'm actually considering a big bottle, and that's unusual for me after getting a decant. Absolutely delicious.

[taramarie]

On me, Mme. Moriarty is a lot of patchouli, some musk, and a hint of vanilla. It's very sexy but not really me. Someone else can enjoy this.

[ImperatrixMundi]

Hmmm... Still undecided about the Madame. The red musk is the essence of a heady, "perfume-y" smell for me and not so much a typical musk smell. It starts out as red musk and plum/pomegranate but the fruit sit down after some minutes and vanilla comes and rounds the blend out and sweetens it up. The vanilla is very strong and almost buttery sweet.

 

The patchouli is definitely in there all the time but it always takes some time to come to the front on my skin, usually later and as a dark, somewhat dirty and sharp note. The patchouli actually keeps this perfume from smelling too edible with all the fruit and vanilla and adds some mystery.

 

This has enormous throw and lasts a good time. Unusual, but not a whow-effect. It is not something I can see myself wearing during the day, it is just too strong and heavy for a day scent because of the red musk. But I have a nagging feeling that I will like it a lot more the next time I try it on because I will know what to expect.