Mr. Ibis

[Ishtar]

Papyrus, vanilla flower, Egyptian musk, African musk, aloe ferox, white sandalwood.

Djehuty (Thoth) being one of my Patron Gods, I had to have a bottle of Mr Ibis.
What a perfectly fitting scent for Him!

My first impression when I opened the bottle was one of balance, restraint and refinement. Light yet not wispy, fresh yet not aquatic, vanilla-based yet not sweet, this blend is a wonderful exercise in harmony.

On my skin, Mr Ibis is a subtle, light, clean-smelling scent, but it is far from being your typical girly, summery, warm weather perfume. There is an aura of seriousness and serenity about it, maybe because of the almost magical balance it displays.

In spite of being a light blend that stays close to the skin, it has serious staying power. I love wearing it at night and it is often the first thing I can smell when I wake up in the morning.

A definite keeper and a great homage to both the Mr Ibis character and the God who inspired it!

[modernsaints]

Mmmmm. Mostly a faint, nearly perfumey aloe, with a touch of sweetness from the vanilla - but it's not an obviously VANILLA FOODY sweetness, it's just soft and nice. The sandalwood and musk play really, surprisingly nice; my skin tends to amp woods, but somehow they stay calm. I'll need to road-test it a bit to see whether I need a bottle, but I very well might. I'm honestly startled by how pretty this is - and very feminine, too.

[Analise]

Very light and just sort of there. Clean. When I first put it on I thought it was aquatic but now it's just a bit...dry. Nothing terribly standoutish about it, really, but good for a quiet, bookish sort of scent. I didn't pick out any individual notes, it's just kinda there.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Masculine cologne.

 

On Skin: Slight tinge of vanilla, slight papery tone, slightly musky

 

On Drydown: Very masculine like musk, hints of vanilla and paper.

 

Verdict: Not for me, but I think I might want to try this one on the husband. I think he'd smell QUITE good.

[slave1]

MR. IBIS

 

In Bottle: Light musky wood

 

On Skin: Good god, how did I not review this till now!?!??! This scent is BEAUTIFUL. It’s on my bottle list for sure. One of my favorite notes ever is Egyptian musk, and it is dominant here… yay!!! So soft and sweet, paired beautifully with the clean smelling sandalwood. This scent is the definition of clean and white. But not in the overwhelming dryer sheet kind of way. It is perfectly balanced and while the clean note is slightly sharp, the vanilla flower sweetens it up and makes me a happy girl. The aloe is cool and refreshing. I’m normally not huge on soapy or aquatic scents, but the way this one is blended and so well balanced has completely won me over. Try this scent now, it’s fabulous. I want to wear it, I want my hubby to wear it and I want to spray my sheets with it. Light throw and average wearlength.

[monozuki]

! M-my new all-time favorite scent.....! (It's been a good week for me, scent-discovery-wise. So happy to return to bpal obsession just now, with all these new and amazing blends to try.)

 

in one word: gentle!

 

in the bottle: nice but unremarkable, actually. A light musk scent, slightly woody, not terribly unlike the way most of the piratey blends smell on me (though I've got to admit, I have a seriously unsophisticated nose... ) ... no vanilla whatsoever by my nose, which is awesome, afaiac, because vanilla so rarely works for me, and seeing even "vanilla flower" listed in the notes is enough to make me wary.

 

wet on skin: the scent doesn't noticeably change on application. The musk + wood combination is one I basically like but is also sort of sharp as is, I guess? What pleases me about Mr Ibis is the way -- even when the oil is still wet -- the notes soften. I'd like to point to papyrus or aloe or something as the cause for this, but I honestly can't tell. Anyhow, the blend alternates between sharp musk/wood and whiffs of a gentle, green scent, which is really interesting and nice. Still no vanilla.

 

dry: as it dries, the sharp tang of the sandalwood takes a backseat to aforementioned gentle!green! and eventually hints of vanilla creep in to sweeten it up. It's an incredibly light vanilla and is barely noticeable; it seems only to be here to round and balance the blend, making it -- hah! -- even more gentle. I hate repeating the same word over and over, but there's just no other way to describe Mr Ibis.

 

Anyway, the notes continue to stay separate, but play well together on my skin, and I totally love that... it's like the blend is constantly surprising me with something slightly different but still just as gorgeous.

Edited October 23, 2007 by monozuki

[tartchef]

Yow. Mr Ibis opens with a smack of traditional men's cologne - piercing aquatic & musk, akin to my dad's aftershave from 1978... The drydown is intersting, wavering between manlyman & a delicate aloe & vanilla, but I just can't get past the AquaVelva association...

 

ETA: Blech. Now I can taste it in the back of my throat. Off. Now. Please.

Edited October 17, 2007 by tartchef

[The_Merf]

I was kind of disappointed in the way this one played out on my skin--it's all aloe and sharp musk, very soapy on me, with little change. There's nothing from the vanilla or Egyptian musk (which tends to do better on me than other musks)--even the sandalwood isn't that prominent. I can certainly understand what the poster above me means when s/he says "I can taste it at the back of my throat." This is one of the "soapiest" BPALs ever with my skin chemistry.

[ND¢]

When I was little my mom had a bottle of Jovan White Musk oil (I wouldn't swear to the name, but the brand is for sure) and this is nearly a dead ringer. Other posters' descriptions are probably more informative but since she always used to put it on me to comfort me when I had a nightmare, I have to have a bottle for those times-- the hypothetical future children will have old Ibis guarding their dreams.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle light, dry, fairly uninteresting. i'm not getting any particular notes, except for a vague musk.

wet on skin this smells... clean. really, really clean. like all clean things: clean air, clean linen, whiteness. it's dry and fresh and just clean. it's not that it smells like a cleaner or like a drier sheet or anything. it smells very nice, if not particularly flashy.

dry on skin i never do really get particular notes. it continues to smell clean. and almost saline? it's fresh and i suspect it would be very nice to wear in early summer or late spring. it's not catching my attention in october, but it's a very pretty scent and fairly gender neutral.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this is very light - clear, light, linen-y. If I were to pin down specific notes, it's mostly vanilla-ish papyrus.

 

Wet, on the skin, it warms up; the sandalwood and vanilla come to the forefront, with some of the "paper"y ness that I'm associating with the papyrus.

 

When it dries, it's all musk on me. It's very warm, sophisticated, and sexy, but not stand-offish; definitely a bottle-worthy scent.

[maribouquet]

This is very light on me so it's difficult to make out the notes, but it's gorgeous. It is similar to Ozymandias, but musky with a hint of sweetness.

[Lyrical]

in the vial: vanilla and spice. It's similar to Lyonesse but different. Perhaps it will be what I hoped Lyonesse would be?

 

wet on skin: it's fresh and the palest shade of greygreen. Very quiet and subtle - I'm having trouble picking out any particular note. It's barely there at all.

 

dry on skin: it's much the same as it dries. Nice, but extremely faint and very neutral. More masculine than feminine. There is a hint of Lyonesse, which is unsurprising since they share many of the same notes, but this is nicer. Pale vanilla with a barely detectable hint of cool musk. I'm not getting any throw at all.

 

This is a scent to wear on a day when you want to feel clean and fresh, but don't want to reek of perfume.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

as Papyrus is one of the notes in one of my most favourite BPAL, i thought i'd give this one a try.

i've had it for about nine months and i'm only just now trying it.

 

sniffed from the bottle, all i get is something like the smell of an alcohol-based commercial perfume before it dries... something light and a little bit musky (like Jovan), but just the alcohol-sharpness without the alcohol-burn.

 

on skin - this is a very soft, gentle scent ( ) that gives me soapy/clean notes and the faintest hint of White Rain hairspray (and Stardust)

 

although my review so far may sound negative, i really, REALLy like this. and i can't believe i've had it all this time and haven't worn it.

 

i can't really smell any musks, but i'm sure they're there keeping everything grounded... and if vanilla flower is a mellow-crisp almost "white blossom" sort of scent, then i get it, too.

white sandalwood must be afraid of me because i never really "smell" it, but i can sense it sometimes.

something reminds me of White Linen. this is a non-threatening BPAL, it might be good for someone just starting out (enablers r us)

[akiko]

Imp: laundry soap, but not in a bad way: it smells clean, which may be the 'clean linen' scent.

 

Wet: Musk and sandalwood make their appearances.

 

Dry: Light floral/clean scent over musk and sandalwood.

 

The decant is a keeper, though I don't think I need a full 5 mL.

[dluszcz]

I was delightfully suprised by Mr. Ibis. After reading a bunch of reviews, I worried that it would dry down really sweetly, but I shouldn't have feared.

 

Wet, in the bottle, this was very much a very dry, old fashioned cologne, with a ginger ale-ish bubbliness to the nose.

 

Immediately, on the skin, it morphed to something softer and more in kind with it's literary description. On me, the Egyptian musk is the most standout note, holding the sweetness of the aloe and vanilla flower. It really reminds me of the flavour of licking envelopes from crisp linen stationary! I could also imagine it as though Narciso Rodriguez for her (in the black, square bottle) had a younger sister (which would be bottled in a frosted white glass bottle).

 

This is very clean, but not necessarily like soap or fabric softner. Think brides in raw white silk with bouquets of white flowers.

 

My only complaint: this doesn't have much throw and it doesn't stick around for very long. As lovely and fresh as it is, Mr. Ibis is likely only to be enjoyed by yourself and the person having the privilege of snuffling your neck!

[spelmermaid]

Mr Ibis is a very clean, fresh scent, but without being girly or overly sharp. It makes me think of fresh air and laundry.

 

On the drydown there is a light muskiness.

 

Wear length is average but throw is not very strong - had to slather on this one quite a bit!

[ImperatrixMundi]

 

This is one for lovers of light musks and creamy white scents that are not foody.

 

Wet: There definitely is a note that reminds of a clean and fresh but light cologne. It might be the musk note, that always takes a few minutes on skin to develop into the characteristic sweet muskyness (sp?). The first time I tried I used very little and smelled nothing at all until it had dried.

 

Dry: Yum. I have no idea what aloe ferox smells like but I definitely smell a very light vanilla that is not foody at all and the papyrus note, that can be found as paper in other blends, over a base of light musks. The sandalwood does not jump out but must be in there too.

Very clean smelling in the beginning (clean skin, not laundry detergent, fortunately) but becomes sweeter and more musky with time. After a very lovely stage it begins to smell a little sharp through the sweetness as my skin does away with it.

 

The throw is very little, I needed to slather it on like nothing else, but then I kept getting whiffs of it all day from behind my ears and my hair, it did stay well from early afternoon to late evening.

 

If you like white musk you should give it a try, it is not exactly white musk but a very white and luminous scent with a lot of light musk.

[bulletslc]

Thought I'd already reviewed this one!

 

The first bottle of Mr. Ibis I got I gave to my sister for Christmas 1) because she is a big Neil Gaiman fan and was very tickled to get a PERFUME based on one of his books (that she happened to be rereading at the time, as well) and 2) because to my nose Mr. Ibis smells identical to her signature scent which is Ambrosia by Song of India (the incense company).

 

But.....I had to go and get another bottle for myself because Mr. Ibis is like no other scent in my collection!

 

Its a clean musk. Not smutty/dirty/boozy like Smut or many of the other Red Musks or heavy musks that bpal does. Its "musk lite". A little bit linen, a little bit vanilla and the refreshing hit of aloe with musk backing and grounding it all without overwhelming the clean, white notes. I really do love this one. And if wearing it didn't make me think of my sister all the time I'd probably snatch it up as my day-to-day scent. Clean and pretty...a bit androgynous, but not in a CK One sorta way...this one can smell feminine or masculine depending on the person wearing it.

 

[lilacea]

I'm really surprised at how noticable the aloe is to others, I barely sense it at all on the skin, and only barely in the bottle. What I do get is a fresh, clean papyrus, vanilla, blue musk and light sandalwood. There's a hint of a floral element (this might be the vanilla flower, which I'm a little confused by, not ever having had the chance to smell a real vanilla orchid, they just don't grow where I live, dammit. And even if they did, the flower only lasts one day, so I imagine it would be something quite special smelling).

 

All up, this has a fresh feel, light and airy and almost effervesent, with lovely grounding notes. Very low throw, but I love how every now and again you get these gorgeous wiffs of something delightful.

[Lycanthrope]

Mr. Ibis is sweet and very unassuming on my skin. I was expecting sharper, dustier paper notes, but even those don't show up with my wearing of the oil. Breathing in the vapors off the bottle I get maybe a little bit of an astringent dryness, and then directly on my skin I do get a tiny snap of smell you get when you break an aloe leaf in twain. The oil then just goes sweeter on me, with a hint of vanilla, and rests there. I'm mostly surprised by how much of a non-scentity this oil is. Great for wearing around casually for work or at gatherings but doesn't strike me as potent or standing out from the crowd.

 

Quiet. Reserved. Sweet. Functional.

[PersephonesChild]

In the imp, I can smell light musks and slight sweetness. It's very fluttery, papery, yes.

 

Once on my skin, the vanilla flowers open, and it becomes a vanilla musk scent. It reminds me a lot of Antique Lace, although Antique Lace isn't nearly musky enough on me, and ends up being flat vanilla-- this is what I imagine Antique Lace smells like on everybody else. It's a translucent kind of scent. I like it, so I may keep the imp, but I don't think it's a grand prize winner. As a whole, the scent is too vanilla for me.

 

Oh, in subsequent sniffing, I'm drawing out the sandalwood, which is nice, since that's one of my favorite notes. It doesn't have the grittiness of red sandalwood, which is my favorite variety. I feel like this is Belle Epoque, but a little cleaner.

Edited May 8, 2008 by PersephonesChild

[Gwydion]

In bottle: surprisingly floral, sunny and clean smelling. Wet: Sandlewood and flowers, with a touch of musk. Smells like high end shampoo. Luckily, the shampoo fades into something a touch more complex and interesting, but nothing to write home about. Dry: This fades fast to sandlewood.

[elementaldeity]

I just received my order. I love Mr. Ibis. At first, it smells soapy on and I was disappointed. But then, once it dried, it had the most beautiful smell of sandalwood and musk. I am only disappointed with the throw. I can only smell it when my nose is right up on my wrist. Is there anyway that I can make it last longer? And was a dropper supposed to come with it?

[NatCatz]

In the bottle - Soap..

 

On.. Where'd it go? Hello??