The Dodo

[Mianjo]

THE DODO

 

"Red musk, lemon peel, sugar cane, cassia, white sandalwood, mango, and agarwood."

 

 

 

In the imp: Sweet cinammon.

 

Wet on skin: Something vaguely murky and unpleasant. Bitter medicinal smell, overlaid by the cassia, overlaid by the fruit. So interesting.

 

Drying/Dry: As it dries down, that medicinal quality--the agarwood, I'm guessing--doesn't so much go away as recede into the background. What's left behind is something sweet, spicy, and woody. It's hard to describe it--the best I can do is to say that the fruit is well-blended and takes center stage. The woods and musk anchor the scent (fruits can LOSE THEIR RABBIT ASS MINDS on my skin, but this doesn't happen with The Dodo). The sugar cane sweetens it up just a touch. The cassia, thankfully, is a bit of spice. I don't get the OMGCASSIA everyone else seems to be getting, and for that I'm happy.

 

I'd also like to say that I was scared of the lemon peel (citrus also can amp to levels of doom), but I guess since it's just the peel...I get a bit of the acidity, but not much.

 

All in all, a lovely scent. I believe I'll keep my imp and wear it a lot. Then perhaps an upgrade to a 5ml. I really, really like this one. Call it a sweeter Red Phoenix.

[kwelge]

Imp: Mango, here and present! Background of lemon & a little cinnamon on next whiff.

 

Wet (applied to inner elbow): Lemon peel comes out! It’s sweetened some – this smells amazing, like candied lemon peel at Christmastime.

 

Er… starting to get some reddening here… what the hell is doing that?? I’ve worn cassia before without problems.

 

Drying: OW. Serious reddening and heat. Damn bird bit me! Time to wash this off.

 

Verdict: This scent has so much potential for me to love… it’s worth another try to see if it’s salvageable before I swap it. I just wish I could catch the red musk.

 

ETA:

Second time -- candied lemon peel and fruits with a nice background of something, then OWWWWW!

 

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... won't get fooled again?'

 

SWAP. This bird just isn't for me.

Edited April 28, 2007 by Muse of the Winds

[Em-]

At first this is all red musk and cassia, with some fruit trying desparately to make itself known. I love pretty much everything in this blend, but I'm coming to the conclusion that much as red musk is one of my favorite notes of all time, the mixture of it and cassia can be overwhelming on me. Or perhaps it's that I can only wear cassia in blends, like Blood Moon or Red Phoenix, that are supposed to be savory, as opposed to sweet.

 

The cassia takes this over on me, to a degree that saddens me, because I would love to smell the other notes so much more.

[bibliophile]

Oh, how I was hoping that the Dodo would become my new GC dream blend. Corazon is, hands down, my favorite BPAL ever... the red musk and mango in that blend absolutely sing on my skin. Alas, the Dodo is a different story altogether on me. No red musk. No mango. No sugar cane. No change in the drydown. Just overwhelming cassia with the barest hint of lemon from start to finish. Stupid cassia-amping skin chemistry.

Edited April 6, 2007 by bibliophile

[PilotKitten]

I was so looking forward to this one since cinnamon is one of my preferred scents (both to wear and smell around the house) and I just adore Whip and a few other cinnamon blends.

 

The Dodo was such a disappointment though... nothing but cinnamon/cassia and an allergic reaction. It made my skin itchy, blotchy and red and was just overwhelmingly spicy.

[sarahmarie]

I actually really like The Dodo. It has notes that please my skin - red musk wears very well on me, and cassia = awesomeness. The fruit still comes out though, making this less sexy and more fun. I really liked it, though I need to wear it again to really get a handle on it. I will edit if on second wear, my impressions are wildly different, but I think I'll definitely be enjoying this one.

[naeelah]

I bought an imp because I was hoping it would be a delightful blend of sugary fruits and musk with woody and spicy undertones. Unfortunately, it's the other way around.

 

Wet, it's almost all bright, hot cinnamon candy, with a touch of wood and something a bit tart (the lemon) in the background. After about 15 minutes the cinnamon calms way, way down, and I smell mostly wood with a spicy background, and maybe a touch of musk. (My skin amps wood and earthy notes like woah.) During the drydown I can smell a bit of the lemon and sugar, but once it's dry, I can't find any of the fruit or sweetness.

 

At first this has great throw, but once dry, it's quite soft with only light throw. I think that's probably typical of my skin chemistry. I amp wood at the expense of all other notes, but wood is pretty soft on my skin.

 

It's a nice scent, I think, but not for me. I'd recommend trying it if you're a fan of cinnamon and wood. Avoid it if, like me, you're hoping for musky sugared fruits.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: sugary woody fruits

 

On Skin: Leather and musk?

 

On Drydown: It's musky and masculine. There is a definite woody component to it and the cassia is just too much on my skin.

 

Verdict: Not for me. I was hoping for a fruitier spicy blend. Instead I'm in the OMGCassia camp I suppose. This flighty bird is for someone else!

[Miss Lynx]

Very odd... I'm not sure quite what to think of this one! I'm not getting as big a blast of cassia from it as some other people seem to have gotten -- there's certainly a spicy edge to it, but it's not overwhelming. More than anything I seem to be getting the woody note, but there's an odd sort of sweetness to it, too. Nothing I can really identify as lemon or mango -- maybe it's more the sugar cane? Not realy sure what that smells like.

 

Some note in here is going a little off on me, and I suspect it's the agarwood -- some woods seem to have a weirdly dry, funky, slightly unpleasant scent on my skin, but I know sandalwood is usualy good on me. I'm not really picking up much in the way of red musk, at least not yet.

 

And... oh dear. The cassia didn't smell that strong to me, but apparently my skin thinks otherwise. It's starting to itch and has gone all red where I applied the oil. And I've worn other scents with cassia in them with no problems...

 

I guess it's a good thing that wood note kind of throws the whole scent off for me, as I don't really want to walk around with red welts everywhere I've applied a perfume. Might be worth it for something as glorious as Chimera, but this is not that. It is an interesting scent, but between the woody unpleasantness and the skin irritation, this dodo's about to go extinct.

 

Grade: C+

[batsy]

In the vial: strong cassia. A bit of the citrus but it's being over-powered.

 

On the skin: Ouch! Burny. I had to wash it off, but before all I got was hardcore cassia. Not going to work at all for me.

[ollybee]

Cinnamon cinnamon, evil cinnamon - had to wash it off after 5 minutes as I couldnt stand it. The description makes it sound like such a lovely scent too...

[lyricalwaters]

Bottle: Everyone's right, the cassia is really strong. I'm getting something else in there too, maybe it's the musk in the background? But mostly it's just the sting of cinnamon.

 

Wet: WOAH CINNAMON. But it's a really specific, not like foody cinnamon, but the sort of cinnamon that's in candles and crafts. It smells like a crafts store around Christmastime when all the wreaths and stuff are scented. Maybe I'm getting a little bit of the mango, because it makes me think of cinnamon and holly, with a hint of berry or something.

 

Dry: Yup, still smells like a Christmas candle. It's actually not a bad smell, but I suspect there are better cinnamon scents out there. I'd rather smell like foody cinnamon than a craft store.

[asciident]

Wet: Musk, cassia and a vague wood presence.

 

First on: Sugary lemon peel takes over, and the musk/wood is now in the background. Cassia has disappeared.

 

Dry: This is a very silly blend, I think. It's light, almost juicy but not quite -- I think that's mango's doing, but it's lending more of a ... scent texture? than a scent itself. This is very lemony, but sweet and spicy (cassia there) with a woodsy backdrop. Very unexpected, very pretty.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is lots of red musk and sugared cassia~

 

once applied the cassia amps up tremendously...after 30 minutes or so it settles down and

some fruitiness comes forth...a definitely interesting blend; the red musk does the trick and

makes this super unique!

[hecate_jones]

In the bottle this is very bitter-cinnamony, the cassia's definitely extremely *there*.

Wet on skin it gets even more bitter-cinnamon, and there's something in it that makes my nose almost numb.

Dry... smelled the same for an hour, then mellowed out to more of a sweet cassia, sort of like

Big Red gum.

Unfortunately it made my nose itch/tingle the entire time I wore it, so I'm guessing that's a bit of an allergic reaction to something in it. Ah well.

[arcticwolf]

Frimp from the lab. Put on without reading the description, so I had no idea what to expect.

 

Imp: Holy Cinnamon Hearts, Batman! So *that's* what cassia smells like. For some reason I'd just assumed that cassia would be blackcurrant (like cassis...)

 

Wet: Red musk and cinnamon. My skin loves red musk.

 

Dry/drying: As its drying, the cassia is calming down a little, the musk is staying at a midlevel along with a warm, woody sandalwood and some sweet juiciness is popping its head above the sand. That would be the mango. A while later, the barest spritz of lemon is detectable.

 

This is springy and fun, while still having some substance to it. This might be my new summer scent. I adore it, and only wish everyone else had the same relationship with it.

[CrazyPretzel]

Wet, this is distinctly cinnamon-y, and it smells like red hots on my boyfriend; but on me it comes off quite a bit sweeter and smells rather cake-like. Not bad, not bad at all! Not particularly wood-y despite the components.

[steffanina]

The Dodo-

 

In Bottle: Something like clove, with sweet pastry notes underneath, and I think I smell the red musk. Something in here smells like the seashell-filled gift shops in Florida!

 

Wet: Cinnamon more than clove, with that same odd undertone--not unpleasant!

 

Dry: This is kind of baby-powder-cinnamon, which is not the best of combinations for me, but it's not too bad. I think it will probably be a keeper for me but I may not really use it.

 

Overall: Conditional.

[n1k1ta]

The cassia burned my neck. I had to wash it off immediately. I'm a sad and tender kitty.

 

I was able to leave The Dodo on my wrists and it stayed true to the imp. I mostly smell the spicy musk and sandalwood with a hint of the agarwood. Very incensey. It reminds me of a new age store with the mellow music in the background and the pretty skirts for sale.

 

I'm not sure what happened to the lemon, sugar or mango. They just don't show up at all for me.

[neuilly]

I actually get equal part cassia and sugar cane. Maybe a wee hint of fruit in the back. The cassia is very strong but doesn't seem tooverwhelm everything as much as it has on previous reviewers. Sweet but earthy with lots of cassia. Very interesting and unique. Ooooh, and there's the lemon starting to seep out at the end. Nice.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – To me it smells of cinnamon, so I guess that’s the cassia, with just a hint of the red musk

 

Wet on me – Cherry cola, but with a bitter dirtiness behind it

 

Dry on me – Warm spices that nestle close to the skin

 

Overall – Logically I should love this, but it just doesn’t seem to reach me

[ClareN]

From the description, I should have loved this - red musk is one of my favorite notes, and I like the sound of the cassia, sugar cane and sandalwood. I still want a scent that's red musk, cassia, sugar cane and sandalwood! Sadly, to my nose, this is packed with dragon's blood, which I despise. I'm surprised that no one else mentioned dragon's blood in the reviews - if there's no dragon's blood in here then everything I know is wrong. When dragon's blood is in a blend I can smell very little else; when I concentrate, I can detect a hint of cassia - it's like cinnamon - and lemon peel; but no red musk, just the fake-cherry sweetness of dragon's blood. I wonder if what I'm picking up as dragon's blood is actually an unfamiliar type of red musk, different from the one that I love in Mme Moriarty and Scherezade.

 

One other thing: besides the dragon's blood, this literally reminds me of the way a bird smells, which is quite an impressive achievement. I actually recoiled in surprise when I first sniffed it. I found that slightly nauseating. Although I love birds, I would never want to smell like this.

 

This is unwearable for me, but one to try if you like dragon's blood. Do you think I said "dragon's blood" enough in that review?

[MaidenGenevive]

The Dodo

 

This scent trumps all others that I've tried thus far. It is just perfect.

 

Warm, spicy, sexy. Gender-neutral. Autumn.

Mmm. It also has a delightful incense quality.

 

This is definitely a keeper.

 

[1 - Hate] .. [2 - Dislike] .. [3 - Like] .. [4 - Really Like] .. [5 - Love]

 

5 : It's funny, the scent I've loved the most thus far is my shortest review. Typical, I do get quiet when it comes to things being just right.

Edited August 29, 2007 by MaidenGenevive

[storme]

In the imp: cassia and red musk swamping everything else - pleasing but hmmmm.

 

On me, wet: red musk makes me giddy as a note, and cassia is good too, so this is all good, even if the other notes are more or less absent.

 

On me, dry: ah, there's the lemon peel and mango, sort of cutting sharply through the haze of musk and spice. I'm not sure it works, though - I think I'd rather have the pure cassia/musk.

 

Verdict: Hmm, I already have Blood Moon, and I think that's more what I would want from this sort of thing. If I didn't, though...

[mand]

Cola with an almost medicinal note; then biting almost peppery cinnamon, I guess this is cassia