Mag Mell

[Aldercy]

The Plane of Joy, eternal reward for a lifetime of valor and glory. A place of eternal youth and beauty, strength and honor, music and revelry. The warmth of amber, the puissance of white ginger and the clarity of verbena, with fresh green grass, lush sage and cleansing droplets of summer rain.

Verbena is so megalomaniacal. Unless there's at least ten other notes, it always seems to take over the scent for me.

Mag Mell is, however, modestly pretty. It's verbena with dewy grass, verbena, ginger and, um, verbena. Not lemon cleaning fluid as is often my sad fate. It's very bouncy, very optimistic. Edited August 21, 2009 by Aldercy

[devilot]

Mag Mell

 

In the Vial: Green. Not foresty green, meadowy green. Oh duh, "green grass" is one of the notes.

 

Wet: Whoa, verbena! And ginger, for sure. I can see how this could easily be someone's favorite blend already (though this isn't my usual cup o' tea).

 

Drydown: Still greenish, loads of that verbena. Occasional whiffs of sage.

 

Verdict: A nice blend, probably gorgeous for some folks, just not for me. Swaps ye' go!

[muteddragon]

Citrus, golden. Clean. Sophisticated. Sweet. Dries musk. Old. Dries Vanilla sweet.

[sarielswish]

In the vial, it's very clean smelling. Colorwise, a vibrant kelly green. Mostly, I think I'm getting ginger, verbena, and grass.

 

Wet on my skin, wow. Very sweet and fruity smelling. Almost citrusy - probably from the verbena. I'm not getting the amber, though.

 

10-15 minute dry-down - What a difference! Getting a *lot* of the amber and ginger with a nice green note from the grass and sage and verbena.

 

1 hour dry-down - This is a definite maybe on the big bottle. It just makes me think of a summer afternoon in a field of grain - dry without being arid, warm without being too dark.

 

2 hour dry-down - I quite like this. The verbena and ginger take the heaviness out of the amber. It smells, for lack of a better term, fertile or full of growth potential. Also, the color association changed to a very rich wheat gold.

[laslibres]

Grass, in the imp…then on me, uh, citrus? Yeah, citrus and grass, probably from the verbena. I get the rain and the ginger in the background, very fresh and very real. It’s definitely a summertime scent...fresh and outdoorsy, but also with a sense of warmth to it, probably from the amber (but only just barely in the background, and not turning to baby powder or feet like amber sometimes does).

 

It’s one of those wet green garden scents, which is one of my favorite categories, but it’s more complex than that too, with the citrus and ginger and the just plain _warmth_ in the scent. There's some note in here that basically just...smells like sunshine. I don't know how Beth got sunshine in a bottle, but here it is.

[donnatron]

Imp: Ozone and grass clippings. It smells like... what I imagine Hank Hill's yard smells like. Okay.

 

Wet: Sharp ozone and lemon verbena. Not sweet at all.

 

Dry: Okay. Very strong grass note sort of stomping all over everything else. This is a light, summery scent without florals or sweetness. Really reminds me of mowing the lawn and emptying the bags of cut grass. The amber softens that feeling a little.

 

Throw: Mild.

 

Overall: Not my style. It's okay but I like a bit more floral or sweet in my perfume. Would be interesting as a man's scent.

[loubric]

This literally disappears on my skin! What I can smell is faintly soapy green. Pretty but hardly there!

[SophieCedar]

Well, since I accidentally just dumped this all over my pants, I might as well do a review, huh?

 

 

In imp: green with a sweet backing. I can smell the rain note strongly here.

 

Wet: whew. rain note softens, verbena pops out with the grass smell. The sage is ever so slight and getting washed away by what else is going on.

 

Drydown: not bad. Verbena smooths out. Medium throw. Non-offensive soft sweet green. Not a total favorite because the general impression reminds me of a couple Bath and Body works scents.

[gingiemay]

Green and sharp with the ginger and the verbena. A bit of grass and rain. Fresh, but ultimately not for me.

[Blithgunde]

Mag Mell is summer garden in a bottle. It smells like an herb bed after a shower when the sun has come out and everything sparkles. Green, clean, and fresh. The lemon verbena is the strongest note on me, flanked by the sage and grass. Ginger is there too, warming things up like a sunbeam.

 

I haven't worn Mag Mell since Fall. I put some on yesterday and found myself leafing through a stack of garden catalogs. Instant Spring Fever!

[countessmouse]

Green in the imp and wet on my skin. It took a little while, but the verbena finally showed up. No ginger, I'm afraid, and this scent is so light that it will probably be gone in an hour or so. Too bad, because it's quite lovely.

[Soniadevi]

Mag Mell is one of those I wanted to dislike, because the Verbena popped right out and kind of put me off. So then I thought I'd try not to dislike it only for this reason, and realised that if I take the Verbena in the context of this smell, it acheives what it set out to, and that is to give a bright freshness to the smell, with a surprise depth of ginger and amber underneath once the Verbena wears off a little, and merges with the other ingredients.

 

Once it dries down properly, it acquires a fresh, sunny yet smooth and comforting feeling all at the time, and I guess that the concept of Mag Mell is such a beautiful one that I want to be part of that world.

 

The more I smell it, the more I love it. It truly is quite beautiful. I do feel it is transporting and uplifting, yet at the same time grounding and calming, so all in all, an ambiguously serene scent which makes you feel good, and still manages to have character. I would happily wash my whole body, and hair in this scent, to give me that extra clean, bright, summery feel that you get when you step out into the sunshine, in a garden full of greenest grass and fresh lush flowering bushes, close your eyes, and feel utterly reinvigorated.

 

I feel that I am no longer a verbena hater. Goes to show that some things just need to right context to show their true beauty.

 

If it weren't for the fact that my big bottle wishlist is longer than my arm, I would definitely want a big bottle of this one too!

[Greensleeves]

In the bottle: Pale yellow oil. Sweet eucalyptus and minty green herbal with a hint of fruit.

 

Wet: Tangy eucalyptus, mint and citrus.

 

Dry: A hint of banana, citrus and something tangy, I think the minty note might actually be the white ginger.

 

After a few minutes: Fruity ginger and amber, still a hint of banana.

 

After first hour: Fruity ginger and amber, with hint of berries.

 

After two and a half hours: Soft amber, citrus and fruit.

 

After 5 hours: Amber and citrus.

 

Final verdict: Not bad, but not one I want to keep.

[fairestrocza]

In the Imp: slightly sweet, with a light lemon scent and an outdoorsy freshness

 

Wet on Skin: the lemon picks up and dominates at this stage

 

While Drying: there is a heavier, warm note behind the lemon - must be the amber

 

After a Little While: The verbena and amber blend very well. The amber gives the verbena more substance and tames it a bit. I am getting the grass note in my elbows, but not on the wrists. I'm not too keen on the grass scent. The other elbow is picking up more of the rain note, and I am liking the way it rides on top of the lemon/amber scent. I am not detecting ginger or sage.

 

Later: With a little more time, the notes begin to integrate more fully. There is just enough amber to make the scent feel warm, without being too heavy. The verbena is light enough to add a little zing without overpowering the other notes. The grass note is smelling more natural now. The summer rain is adding a touch of freshness, without turning into a laundry scent. Several hours in, a subtle sugar note emerges. Much later, I am left with a slightly sweetened amber. Low throw throughout the phases, but the skin-scent lasts forever.

 

Final Thoughts: Mag Mell evokes the image of a bright, sunlit meadow with tiny white butterflies flitting above dewdrop covered grass.

Mag Mell earns a 3.5/5 on my skin.

[voodoobaby]

This one is really hard for me to pin down. From wet to drydown, the only note I can pick out is the verbena; it's definitely lemon verbena, not the vervain I have in my herb cabinet. It smells like a combination of lemon candies and this incense I had when I was in my early teens, but again, I can't really pick out notes. There's a sweetness, which might be some kind of amber? I don't know. It's sweet and tangy smelling and that's really all I get.

 

This is a lovely scent, but on me it fades really quickly and has little to no throw. It would be great for people who like light, fresh scents.

[Duck Mountain]

Oddly enough (for me), the amber is strongest wet, and vanishes into an ozone-verbena drydown with a tiny whiff of sage. It's not too sweet, very pretty and calming. I get a more 'white' feel than 'green'.

 

Later, the amber peeks through again, but very faint. Still, mostly dominated by verbena, and the ginger was a no-show.

 

Not much throw, either. Overall, I like it a lot, but it's not a high priority. If I didn't already have such a long wishlist, I might just consider a bottle, or maybe a backup imp.

Edited August 18, 2010 by Rem

[ianastar]

Wet and right on the skin, its a very warm lemony scent. I was nervous because most lemon notes start to smell like Pledge or Pinesol on me. Once I read the description I could defintely tell that this was verbena.

 

I dont get the ginger or sage in this, as it dries down and finishes off the amber comes out, so I merely get the amber and verbena which is actually a very wonderful combination. I wasn't sure I would like this, but it's a great scnet and would make a wonderful spring or summer scent. Maybe I'll keep it for next summer.

[plainjean]

On me, this was all verbena, citrus, and pesky aquatic notes, with powdery amber. It was faint on my skin, but when I sniffed it, it stuck in my nose and gave me a headache. Needless to say, it was sent off to someone who would love it more.

[calivianya]

I received this as a frimp with my last order. I agree with the person who said "candied lemons," for the wet stage, that's what I'm getting from this even though no lemon is listed. I have no idea what verbena smells like, though, so maybe this is my uncultured nose showing itself. When it dries down, it doesn't smell any different to me. This is very different than any other Black Phoenix scent I've tried. It is a pretty citrusy scent, but I don't think it's a bottle purchase for me. I'd be happy to keep the imp, though.

[Vega]

Sniffed: A bright and hazy, citrus-like herbal, heady like too much sunshine.

 

On skin: If I had to describe Mag Mell in non-scent terms, it would be "golden sunshine". What a heady herbal blend: hazy, thick and enveloping, with a slight citrus touch. I think this "golden" vibe must be coming from the amber/verbena/ginger. Green grass shows up after drydown, adding a fresh zest to the otherwise warm, enfolding blend. Colour impression is brilliant sunny gold bleeding across sparkling green; it really does feel like lying in a green meadow under blinding but cozy warm sunlight. Mag Mell grows more grassy and herbal over time, slowly losing the golden warmth. (I never get any rain, sadly.) Unfortunately the blend occasionally manifests a dry, sour citrus note, which I suspect must be the lemon verbena acting up, but this is unpredictable at the whim of my skin chemistry.

 

Verdict: Mag Mell is very evocative, but it's a bit too hazy and stifling for me, and the temperamental verbena doesn't help. If there was a bit more rain and coolness in this realm, I would like it more... but I may have to pass on this blend.

[Jazzi]

There's also something vaguely tropical about Mag Mell that I enjoy. It smells like a day spent romping around on an island. And it does have a golden feel to it, as mentioned above.

 

(My first review ... Yay!)

 

I completely agree, though I didn't get quite the same scents that you did.

 

In the bottle, it was very fresh and clean. My immediate thought was bright, lemon-yellow soap. It's sort of sharp, but in a pleasant, citrus fruit way.

 

As soon as I put it on, though, it almost immediately went floral. I smelled like a flower shop, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I really miss the clean, bright scent it had in the bottle. There was also a sweet, mild undertone that I really liked. I kept smelling something that was familiar, but I couldn't quite place it, and I couldn't name the floral, either. Now that I've read the reviews, I think it was the sweetness of amber coming through.

 

This didn't have much of a throw when I put it on, but then I got all bundled up and walked five minutes to breakfast, and about thirty minutes later I could really smell it.

 

It's been about two hours since I put it on. It is now sort of pleasant but bland, very floral, and also very powdery. It makes me think of a perfume that my grandmother would have worn. It will be nice in the spring, I think, but is neither warm nor crisp enough for me this winter. I think I'll put it away and try it again in a couple of months.

[elinox]

First Sniff: Freshness. Flowers of some sort, probably the sage or ginger.

Wet: Lemon. Not unpleasant, just not what I was expecting.

Dry: As it dries the lemon, er I mean verbena, was still dominant. However once it dried completely, it smelled more like gardenia than anything else.

My Reaction: I liked it, despite hating the taste of lemon. This was lemon drops, not Pinesol lemon, which is good. Once the gardenia came through though it was very light and feminine smelling, a completely different non-lemony scent.

Rating 1-5: 3

 

Reviewed again today.

First Sniff: Lemony soap.

Wet: Whoa lemon drops candy! Vibrant and fun smelling, reminiscent of childhood (even though I was never a fan of this candy)!

Dry: As it dried, it went soft on me and I lost the lemon drops smell. I can still detect the sugary lemon, but it’s fainter than on wet. Once this dried completely the lemon drops were back, although not as strong as before.

My Reaction: It’s interesting, and I’m finding that foody scents might be on my next to-try list, but this was not something I needed to hang onto. For those who love the scent of candied lemons or lemon drop candy though, this would be perfect for them!

Rating 1-5: 2

Edited November 19, 2012 by elinox

[Altaira]

I've only tested this briefly, I will try and remember to come back and add more when I've had a chance to wear it for a whole day.

 

This is light and grassy, with the lemon coming out after a couple of minutes. I don't get ginger at all. I can see this being a good spring or summer scent.

[Spork]

warm citrus and green scented...think the ginger gives it the warm feel without taking over the scent, this is very much

[Diva Urd]

In the imp: Nose says "fresh citrus", but it's probably the ginger and verbena I smell.

 

On: Pretty much the same smell. As it dries down, the sharp lemony notes mellow a little, acquiring a slightly powdery accompaniment (probably the amber).

 

It's still very bright and uplifting, but it doesn't really fit my personality. Will keep the imp for an occasional pick-me-up.