Manhattan

[enchantedblack]

Sexuality, power, confidence. A meeting of modern, sleek elegance and rich, passionate history: sheer amber, black leather, white mint, lemon peel, white tea, grapefruit, kush, teakwood and orchid.

In the imp: A cosmo waiting to be drank.

Wet on skin: citrusy with a slightly dark undercurrent

Dry on skin: Manhattan is gorgeous when it dries. Still citrus fresh and glamorous.

In the end: Reminds me of the city it's named for; cultured and refined but with a hard edge. I love this one.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Cologne

 

On Skin: Leather, wood. The way I would expect a classy, high-powered office to smell like.

 

Drydown: It goes very very faint on me and returns as a cologne.

 

Verdict: Yes, it does make me think of rich, hoity-toity Manhattan. Very well done.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Tea, lemon.... and... no, just tea and lemon.

 

On the wrist: This smells a lot like F5 layered with Severin, nice!

 

Drydown: The orchid is starting to peek out now. The longer this sits on my skin the more it changes form lemony tea to orchid and musk. The amber starts to come out around the 15 minute mark. Which makes it an amber musk. Make that amber, orchid musk. Possibly getting a bit of wood in this, or incense. A wood or incense note is lurking in this. (Teak, kush, I dunno.) At around the half hour mark this turned into powder on me. Probably because of the musk, or possibly because of the amber, teak or kush. Or a combination of them.

 

Overall: Another big morpher, the citrus notes do not last, and the end result of this is the thicker heavier notes; orchid, amber, and musk with a little bit of the citrus that was there in the beginning, just to let you know that it hasn't forgotten it's roots. I never got mint from this and never a note that I could definitively identify as kush or teak.

[Laughing-magpie]

I want to love this one! That description sounds precisely like what I am looking for! But my chemistry turns it into a plain floral, a bit sweet, a bit powdery. I so wanted to smell the wood and citrus.

[DifferentDances]

Imp: Clean, crisp lighter-than-tea.

Wet: Piercing grapefruit warmed by a little something else.

Drydown: A touch of leather to the tea, a touch of orchid to the citrus, and a merry sheer wash of something pretty binding them all together.

Dry: Delicate repraisal of the drydown stage.

 

My rating: 4/5. This is such a soft, lovely, complex scent while remaining clear and clean!

[Miss Lynx]

This is a very interesting and complex scent, and one that's nearly impossible to categorize. It's quite gender-neutral -- I could as easily see it being a men's scent as a women's, and if anything it's less conventional as a women's scent.

 

There's a high, tart sharpness to it that's probably a combination of the tea and citrus, but with an undercurrent of woody warmth that keeps it from seeming too acidic. The orchid doesn't come out for a while, but when it does, it lends it a slightly more "perfumey" feel. The leather is just a soft background presence, helping keep it androgynous and balancing the orchid so that it doesn't become too decidedly feminine.

 

While unusual, this is definitely the sort of scent you could wear to a job interview or board meeting -- it smells subtle, elegant, expensive, and powerful in a quiet sort of way. There's something very "corporate boardroom" about it.

 

The eventually drydown of it, after it's settled in for a good long while, does smell a bit more masculine than feminine -- probably because the citrussy notes have faded and the leather is coming out more. But it's still fairly nice.

 

Not really my kind of scent, but I can think of people it would be great for.

 

Grade: B-

[YoakeNoKami]

Imp: Clean, tangy citrus

On/wet: Still the lovely clean citrus, with a bit of sweetness beneath

Drydown: This stays a nice citrus on me, without being overpowering. There's a teensy bit of sweet flatness beneath, a little like an orange, without being overpowering.

[Apple]

Initially, this scent is very mandarin orange-y and perfumey, and I was pretty sure I didn't like it. But it sweetens pleasantly on the dry-down, and there's an attractive note I can't identify that comes out at the end. I think it's the amber, and it's very nice, but I'm afraid this scent is a bit too sophisticated for my taste.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I get a hit of the grapefruit and lemon peel - so far, so good.

 

On, there's still a lot of citrus, just a touch of leather and tea in the background.

 

When it dries, it's very light - there's still a hint of grapefruit, over a foundation of tea.

 

I expected this to be a lot more complex - I like what it is well enough to keep, but, based on that components list I thought there would be MORE to it.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i'd been wanting to try this for a while, and i'm finally getting to thanks to a great swap

 

i'm freakishly afraid of amber, lemon, mint and grapefruit, they go evil on me.

teakwood and orchid = love

black leather & white tea = generally okay for me

i have no idea what kush is unless it is a part of a kooshball.

 

sniffed from the imp: reminds me of a Dorian/Dirty/Embalming Fluid combo.

the sweet sort of lemon-cookie lemon from Dorian and the "clean" notes from the other two.

 

on skin the scent quickly takes a bitter turn, like grapefruit juice and lemon oil - so it loses the Dorian sweetness... and there's amber in there adding a weird powdery backdrop, with orchid and teakwood both adding the beautiful clean dirt sort of smell i love. i don't get leather, but maybe suede...and the tea that i thought was there in initial-sniff has run off with the spoon.

 

an interesting, non-threatening BPAL....but not for me. far too citrussy-clean.

[Indefatigable]

In the vial: leather and sweet citrus. Very neat combination.

 

On me: Leather and citrus are still apparent. I'm guessing this floral note is the orchid. I really like it. There's something sweeter and fresher behind it which is probably the tea and mint.

 

Yep, definitely tea. Fantastic, I've never had a tea scent before that really worked! The tea usually gets buried behind other stuff.

 

Drydown: none of the notes are hiding, they're all there in equal parts, and the overall effect is very cool, sophisticated, and energetic. This is something to wear with a power suit.

 

This goes on the list of bottles to buy!

[MaidMirawyn]

This was a frimp with my most recent lab order.

 

In the imp, I can detect lemon in the background; mainly I think I'm smelling the leather, amber, and tea...though I can't detect the individual notes, and I'm guessing what makes up the main note.

 

Dry, it's not agreeing with me. I don't smell any citrus, any tea, or anything herbal or floral. I've had ambers behave questionably before, so that may be it. It could also be the leather...or the teakwood. Regardless, it's making my eyes water a bit and my nose wrinkle, even after an hour. I applied it fairly lightly, I thought. It smells kind of sharp, but maybe it's just too masculine for me.

 

Off to the swap pile. And off to wash my wrists before bed!

 

 

Edited to add: After a few more sniffs, I'm chalking it up to the combination of amber and leather. Think I'll avoid that combination...

Edited December 31, 2007 by MaidMirawyn

[diamondstars]

Hmm. I wanted to like this one but I'm undecided. In the imp it's really strong, but dry on skin it calms down a bit and it's probably a scent I could grow to love. Or at least get used to! It smells to me like Parma Violets, which are a love-hate thing for most people aren't they?!.. I'll come back to this another day.

 

[Koumori]

Manhattan is a cool, clean citrusy scent with woody undertones in the bottle. On me, it quickly morphs into a sophisticated, rather 'perfumy' floral; I guess that's the orchid coming out. Lemon BPAL notes don't have a tendency to last long on me, so I'm not surprised by that. The tea is there, very lightly, in the background. On the whole, light but very grown-up and self-assured.

[Torrain]

In imp: lemon and grapefruit. Mostly grapefruit.

 

On my skin, grapefruit with leather, and the lemon and white tea are coming out. Spritzily energetic.

 

5 min: a much softer scent. The amber and orchid have come out, and maybe a little kush as well—I couldn't tell. Overall it smells like grapefruit and amber, with a hint of tea and leather—and oh, *there's* the hint of kush. Right then.

 

10 min: Still mostly grapefruit and amber, with the leather (further enriched by kush?) and tea in the background.

 

15 min: white tea's getting a little stronger, coming out to match the grapefruit and amber. Leather in the background. Also, John says he likes it; not bad, although he's not sure how to describe it and it seems a little strange.

 

30, 45 min: amber and grapefruit with leather; white tea's still there, but not quite as strong. Like Tempest, it smells perfume-y. Unlike Tempest, it seems pretty close to androgynous. Pretty reserved and luxurious; floor-to-ceiling glass windows in a skyscaper, looking out across a glittering cityscape, plush overstuffed leather furniture.

 

1 hr, 1:30: grapefruit and leather with an amber base * yay.*

 

Definitely hanging on to this one, and probably picking up more. G'bless the frimps that fortune favours us with.

 

Love and coffee,

Frances

[hkhm]

imp: grapefruit, lemon, mint and... that scent that is supposed to be tea.

 

wet: this goes to citrus hell on me, super-strong concentrated citrus hell.

 

dry: the citrus mellows out but i'm left with that "tea" scent which does not smell good with the leftover citrus. oh well.

[enderfem]

Imp: Lemon, grapefruit and a bit of teakwood. Bright!

 

Wet: Some of the mint has come out and is tempering the brightness, but none of the tea or leather is around. Boo.

 

Drydown: This ends up with a ton of amber and tea, still no leather, but I quite like it.

[CreamyJade]

In the imp: Bitter grapefruit, lemons, all citrus.

Wet on skin: Still citrus, but I smell the tea also.

Dry on skin: Very nice, very light, it doesn't last long though.

Final thoughts: I like it a lot! It's loads of citrus, very fresh. A nice scent for the summer!

[savage_rose]

Perfectly balanced citrus-floral-tea...delicious, elegant, and summery.

[Sybil]

It's interesting to see how many different reactions there were to this blend! I work in Manhattan, so I was very excited about this one. On me it's mostly leather with teak and amber and a little bit of lemon. It also has a little bit of mustiness in there. I put it a lot of it on my wrists and neck 2 hours ago, and now it's barely there. I can catch a little whiff when I turn my head. For me it's a more masculine scent, cologne-y. I was actually at 21 Club last night, and while I know there's actually a blend for the restaurant, this reminds me very much of that: dim lighting, dark panelled walls, leather chairs, and decades of the cigar smoke and martinis of men in suits making business deals long through the night. I would probably love this if the lighter tea and citrus notes were more prominent, but it's not really for me.

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: a light, boozy cocktail. a cape-codder or some drink like that.

 

wet on skin: floral mixing with the booze.

 

dry down: sweet, floral, slightly fruity.

 

in all: as a new yorker, i can't say this scent epitomizes my city. however, if you're a fan of "SEX in the city", then this fragrance will prolly make YOU think of manhattan, so go for it

[Gwydion]

This has mint, so my review is in bottle only: This is surprisingly nice for a mint scent. The grapefruit, tea, wood combo is doing some really interesting things with the leather and lemon. This is complex and fascinating, but I know if I wore it, it would smell like lemon pledge. This is a shame, as the mint is so understated I could almost wear it. This would be lovely on the right woman, it really would.

[Brianne]

I have to admit that this particular blend never really caught my eye - it has been on my "want to try" list since it came out, but only because the notes sounded like they could be alright on me. I had no particular excitement about it though.

 

I got a frimp of it in my newest order and when I tried it on, I was pleasantly surprised by the uplifting citrus vibe it has - it's very clean and airy and lovely lemon and grapefruit are at the forefront. As it dries down, it takes on a deeper and spicier scent - still retaining it's overall uplifting vibe though. This is really a sort of surprise hit with me - it's complex but not convoluted, uplifting but with depth - just lovely. The downside is that the throw is pretty weak on this one but I will just have to slather, I really love this!

[gchris]

In Vial: Lemon tea

 

Wet:Lemon with grapefruit and florals.

 

Drydown: Light lemon scent with the tea and grapefruit blended in. I never did smell the mint or the leather.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Very pale yellow oil. Both citruses, mint, tea, plasticky leather, a bit of woody teak. Definitely sleek and smooth. Complex, unisex.

 

Wet: Softer. Lemon and mint lighter, grapefruit faint. A bit soapy-powdery, probably the amber. Tea lighter. Something a bit herbal, kush maybe. It's a bit floral, but not distinctly orchid.

 

Dry: Mint-lemon powdery soap with that plasticky leather note and some heady flower, presumably the orchid, which to me make the blend seem quite feminine. The hint of herbal kush and very faint teakwood are nice, but cannot redeem this.

 

Summary: So fricking powdery I want to sneeze. Amber usually goes powdery on me, but not in such an intense and SOAPY manner. Eventually the orchid is identifiable, but overall it's a very simplistic drydown that I intensely dislike. Decent throw.