Masabakes

[VioletChaos]

... Thick black currant with the darkest, deepest myrrh, a drop of bitter mimosa and the slightest touch of mandrake dust.

in the imp: the myrrh and the mimosa are strong from the outset- so much so that it almost smells like a doctor's office!

wet on skin: it's myrrh all the way at this point.

dry down: straight myrrh.

in all: medium throw and the resinous quality one would expect from myrrh. if you're a fan, invest in a bottle, just to age for later.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Oddly, stale bread

 

Wet on me – I get a bit of the current, but mostly it’s a dirty myrrh scent

 

Dry on me – Dark earthy, but slightly sweet and with a touch of something slightly metallic

 

Overall – It dried better than it started out, but isn’t something I would wear

 

[femmefatale]

This is an interesting one and I'm so happy I was frimped it.

 

It starts off almost completely myrrh, but as it dries it sweetens a bit and I can catch a hint of the black currant and something else I can't quite put my finger on.

 

This is beautiful. It's richly resinous, slightly spicy, slightly sweet, and darkly exotic.

Though it might not get a lot of use right now since the weather is warming up, I can see using it a lot this fall/winter.

[isisonearth]

Imp: Very bitter and astringent. The current is faint. I half think I'm imagining it.

 

Wet: A very staid sort of scent. I get the myrrh and something darker that tickles my nose.

 

Dry: I wanted to like this for the mandrake but it isn't coming through for me. In the dry down the black currant is evident and a touch of floral. It isn't bad just very not exciting.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Wow, I would have never suspected the notes listed in this blend based on just smelling it. I got a powdery opium-like resin with a watered down Jazz Funeral-ish bay rum and some non-descript old lady-like floral. It went through this whole crazy morph arch, where it started out just okay, became amazing - all spicy and resinous and delicious - for about fifteen minutes and then turned into watered down powdery purple floral. Swaps, sadly.

Edited April 27, 2009 by OneTheyCallLuna

[Yoginispirit]

Hmm. This is interesting- most interesting.

wet: Very bitter, earthy dust.

Dry: Powdery, floral dust. Something in this makes me feel sick. It's the same way I feel when I wear lavender.

 

I'll try it again when my hormones are more stable but sadly, although I love the idea, this is probably not a keeper

 

[rayvn1]

Sharp and bitter myrrh with a hint of non-sweet, fruity currant. Then it got really interesting and turned to this barely there dust scent which is not a bad thing in my book. I love dust and earth scents and mandrake didn't work on me. This blend seems like it might, though Needs further testing.

[Tess]

In the bottle - So much myrrh, dear gods! o_o There's a touch of that mimosa and some dust, but no currant at all.

 

Wet - MYRRH. MYRRH.

 

Drying - Oh, ew, the mandrake is not working well on me at all. It and the mimosa are just so sour on me. There's a gorgeous halo of myrrh floating on top, but it's so sour on my skin. Gah.

 

Dry (2 hours) - Well, it's myrrh?

 

Overall - I love myrrh, I really do, especially the Lab's myrrh, but the other notes just did not work for me.

[SlySionnach]

 

Imp: Ah! Something is off. I’m not sure what. But something is off in this imp.

 

Web: It’s the mimosa. It doesn’t like my skin. Please go away, mimosa. Let the currant out. Please!

 

Dry: Hey. It listened! But sadly, the currant dies after a few minutes just to let out the dry mandrake and myrrh. Lots of myrrh. I can still smell it, but the parched scent sucks out all the juiciness.

 

Wait! Wait! This…this hours later, now smells delicious. It’s completely turned into a warm, kinda spicy, dark scent of greatness.

 

No need for a bottle, because this so isn’t me, but I would not mind keeping this imp around.

[ami226]

This one is quite strange...

 

I put it on my skin and could barely smell a thing! Now, I get wafts of a marvelous sweet resiny scent, but every time I sniff close to my write, I can't smell anything! Really strange, but quite lovely.

[donnatron]

Imp: Currant and myrrh.

 

Wet: The mandrake dust is very similar to the dirt note and acquires some of that dark, acrid sharpness some of the dirt notes have on my skin on the drydown. This is softly fruity and smells a bit like an orchard or a garden.

 

Dry: Oh... dammit. This is pretty gorgeous. Currant and myrrh dominate with a bit of bitter mimosa and a dark, woodsy spiciness that defies description. Masabakes is gorgeous. And unattainable.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: Dangit. I'd love a bottle of this. Unfortunately that's probably never gonna happen. Oh well, it's BPAL. A new shiny object will come along to distract me.

[Deiicide]

I smell the wood when I first put it on, but it isn't as pronounced as Cedar though that note usually overtakes everything in the perfume when I put it on. It's a very grounded smell, with I think Myrrh in the background? I can't tell with the power of the wood. After looking at the notes more clearly, I don't get a drop of that black current. That mandrake dust? My skin is loving the heck out of that and amping it all over the place. All the other notes are like, please can we at least play on the skin but the mandrake dust is all like "No the SKIN is mah precioussss". Glad to try it, but cedar/mandrake dust in disguised wins again.

[stardreamer]

Not at all what I'd have expected from this. In the imp and fresh on, it's floral with a harsh, bitter undertone. After about 20 minutes, the harshness fades away and it becomes more spicy/floral; after a couple of hours, it becomes a sweeter floral. Black currant usually comes out strongly on my skin, but I don't get even a whiff of it in this. Staying power seems about average; after 10 hours, it's nearly gone.

 

With the exception of those first few minutes, this isn't a bad scent -- but neither is it something that really appeals to me. Bottom line: swap pile.

[moon_lemming]

My imp of Masabakes is relatively old (well, I guess they all are now, since it's been discontinued), and I'm thinking that might be why I can't find the fruits in this blend. It's all dirt at first and then the myrrh comes roaring out. When it dries, it has an edge that almost reminds me of toast. The myrrh gives the "dust" an overall perfumey effect. It's actually too perfumey for me; I like my dirt earthier.

[SueDonym]

I'm pulling out rares from my impage for impending sale and thought I'd give a few of them a try first. I'd heard good things about Masabakes for a while now, and I understand why -- it's an interesting mix, kinda floral, kinda fruity, kinda spicy, kinda sexy.

 

Imp huffing gets me mostly myrrh, cedar and a little fruit.

 

Wet: kinda grapey-winey spice that swiftly gets a little...citrusy? Ok. Sharp but good.

 

Dry? Deep resin-y goodness kinda sweetened. Dark. Sexy. Good.

 

Yeah, I get it.

[savage_rose]

An intense, almost jarring scent...that somehow works beautifully. Fierce, bracing, but still kind of sexy and passionate. And there's something aquatic about it that reminds me of vacation .

 

Not something I would wear often, but I like it!

[Lucchesa]

Wow, no one has tested Masabakes for a while. I was lucky enough to find an imp, and on first application, I was not so sure about it. I got little to no black currant but lots of myrrh, something bitter (mimosa?) and something sour (mandrake?). Frankly I would generally rather have bitter than fruity, and the sour didn't last for long.

 

Once it dries down, I get deep dark myrrh. In fact, this is the scent that most illustrates for the the line in We Three Kings: "Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom. Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone cold tomb." And it is beautiful on me. There may be a tiny bit of sweetness from the currant, but I'm really not getting any floral or greenery; the myrrh is the star here. Good throw (for me) and wear length. Obviously this has aged for a long time and may no longer correspond exactly to the initial conception, but it is still a work of art.