Madrid

[dreadeddragon]

Swarthy and vibrant! An elegant, full-bodied scent that ignites all the darkest passions. Bold red wine, mimosa, and a trickle of clove.

In the bottle: Wine, berry, and a hint of spice. Similar to Lady M, only more balanced with the notes

First on: Mmm.... clove...... This is gorgeous! It's mostly clove, with a bit of wine in the background. I can't stop sniffing myself. I can't believe so many people don't like it!

Drydown: Damnit, the clove is now mostly gone. It's still a nice blend of wine & mimosa, with a hint of clove in the very background.

Not the scent I had wanted it to be, but I still like it.

[gangstaknitta]

In bottle: hellloooooo wine. A deep, rich merlot scent.

 

Wet: still wine, but the mimosa is super sweet. I can smell the clove, which normally doesn't like me, but in this case, it adds an earthiness to and tones down the other notes, which are pretty strong

 

Dry: oh Madrid, you are just too sweet for me. It's sweet and boozy, but a little too much of both for me to actually walk around all day wearing it. It's a very striking scent.

[Aurelius]

In the vial: fruit punch and booze.

 

Wet: bubblegum!

 

Drying: clove! Yuuuuummmm...

 

Dry: somewhat incense-y.

 

I'm not a fan of fruity scents, but if you are I'll bet you'll love this. It's very rich and boisterous!

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Very sweet, with a tart "pop" of something very juicy.

 

Just On: Sweet tarts! Juicy sweet tarts, but that's what it smells like. I love it! I hope it stays like this.

 

An hour or two later: Sweet tarts with a kick, because I'm getting a taste of something spicy layered into this.

 

Around 6 hours: Ooooh! Back to the sweet tarts! Yay! I'm totally loving on this one!

 

12 hours: Leftover vestiges of sweet tarts, but just barely.

 

Overall: I lurve this!

 

After reading other reviews: Okay, so this wine scent turns to candy on me. Not a complaint in the world from me, in fact, this has leapt to one of my very favorite catalog scents ever.

[Fefferbella]

This has quickly become one of my all time favorite BPAL scents! I love warm rich red wine notes.

 

Combined with a sweet citrus note and a hint of spicey cloves... Perfection.

 

The wine note isn't boozy at all, which is a plus when wearing this to work (don't want the boss to think I'm drinking on the job like the time I wore Jolly Roger!)

[herongale]

preconceived notion: there is a long and sticky personal association I have with the city of Madrid, even though I've never been there. I used to love a boy who was extremely attached to Real Madrid, the football (read: soccer) team of that fair city. He was in love with Spain in general, and every few months would fly to Madrid for a weekend on his own, usually catching a game. He invited me to come with him one time but for various reasons, this never happened... in any case, I attach a high level of romance to this city. My expectations are high.

 

in the imp: I have an instant impression of butterscotch and cherries, neither of which are listed ingredients. This is a strongly delicious scent, like a golden fruity cordial.

 

wet: mmmm.... churchy incense and candy. I used this quite a lot in the fall and then found it to be fairly strong and even a bit off putting at first, but now with the cold of winter it comes off perfectly right, warm and ancient and archly sexual.

 

drydown: I feel like a pretty young dark-haired Spanish girl getting dressed up in the evening, wearing a white off-the-shoulder dress and putting flowers in my hair.

 

verdict: YES OH YES. More please!

 

post-conceived notion: I am apparently a slave to my own nostalgia.

[Voleuse]

On first application, this is actually grape candy. After a while, however, it becomes a more complex sweetness. It's strong and fruity, but the clove adds a hint of smoky spice.

 

In the end, it all fades to a faint and bland sweetness, but it lasts for a while. This is a nice scent, but I don't think it's for me.

[QueenFae]

I'm not big on clove, so I really didn't think I'd like this one, but I am pleasantly surprised! This scent goes really sweet and citrusy on me, and the closest thing I can think to descibe it is an orange sweet tart. The clove is very subtle, and the mimosa comes out on top. The wine note is delicate and sweet, and meshes perfectly with the mimosa note. It's a tangy, sharp, yet sweet and lovely scent, and I think I will really enjoy my imp.

[silver_springs]

I simply could not go Madrid (frimp from the lab). It has that artificial grape smell. And artificial grape (and taste too, but of course I didn't taste this!) is one of the few smells I dislike with a passion. It makes me nautious without fail. I had Madrid washed off within a few minutes. And off to the swap pile it went.

[LunaDragonGirl]

I wanted to love you, Madrid! But I think our relationship, as quickly as it started, has to end. It's me, not you...I'm sure there is a skin chemistry out there who is a perfect match for you, darling.

 

In the imp: boozey, like a glass of wine that has been left out too long.

 

On wet: Wait...there might be hope yet! I'm getting luscious red wine, full bodied, with a hint of spicy clove and a lingering background note of citrusy somethingorruther.

 

2, 5 and 10 minutes later: Noooooooooo! Sickeningly sweet rotting citrus fruit, drowning in overly-sweet watered down red wine gone bad. No clove to speak of, and a headache threatens.

 

The scent description sounded right up my alley....clove *swoon*, red wine *nice*, mimosa *yum and citrus!*, but...unfortunately, Madrid left me with only nightmarish visions of rotting oranges dancing around a vat of moldy grapes.

[siddal]

This is like a less green and more warm and spicy Lady Macbeth, which is all to the good as I love Lady M. I adore it. Even though they are both very much "wine" scents, I think I'm going to have to have both of them. In the imp, they smell quite similar to me, but once on the skin, I can really smell the clove, and what smells like cinnamon to me. I don't get much mimosa, unless it is blending with the clove to give me the sweetness of cinnamon.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Sweet!

 

In the imp: Grape! Strong grape.

 

On skin, wet: Clove and wine. Very fruity and spicy. Very candyish, though, like, well, liquid candy.

 

On skin, dry: Sickly sweet wine, a bit of mimosa and clove. Fruity, spicy and floral. And did I mention sweet? This kind of smells like the fake-flowers section of Michaels (the crafts store).

 

Conclusion: Nice, but too sweet and floral to be my kind of thing.

[telesilla]

Why I tried it: I like Bet's wine blends and I love clove so it seemed a no brainer. Also I enjoyed the few days I spent in Madrid in 1978.

 

In the bottle and wet: OMG bubble gum, but fruit bubble gum, not the traditional.

 

Drying down: still very very sweet but I can smell the clove now.

 

Dry: Nancy says it still smells like bubble gum, but I'm getting Sweet Tarts and cloves. It's an oddly nice smell, but not as a perfume. I wonder if this is because it's Old Madrid? Maybe the formula's been changed or maybe this is just old enough that the chemistry is wacked. It's also got one hell of a throw on it.

 

Later: I think I can smell the wine note but it's buried under the clove flavored Sweet Tart. I'm afraid it has to be a "no."

[jazlyn]

At first Madrid smells like a spicier version of Dubble Bubble pink bubble gum. After a little bit, I can smell the clove and something like berries (which must be the wine, but it doesn't smell that much like alcohol)... not sure what mimosa smells like. And another minute or two later this is mostly clove on me, not so much of the fruityness of the wine anymore.

[Rock Goddess]

In the imp, this is all grape juice. But the second it hit my skin, it was Whoa! Clove! All I get for quite a while is sweet, strong cloves. But eventually it tones down and becomes a warm, sweet, citrus-y clove witha background of red wine. I reallylike this one, though I'm not sure how often I'd wear it. Definately puts me in mind of Spain, and is quite a romantic blend.

[smallvoice]

This doesn't exactly mesh with my concept of what it would be like to visit Madrid, but it turns out that the scent is actually more interesting to me than the concept, so that works out! I don't know what it is, but this blend is so deliciously balanced and I'm really in love with it. After reading the other reviews, I get some of the Sweet tart smell, but it doesn't really faze me. It's not boozy, but it's spicy and fragrant and still has a wine note somehow, and... I just can't stop sniffing. I'm concerned that it might go a little too sweet on me, but I think the clove balances it out nicely... so yummy! I'm going to end up with a bottle of this one.

[Neely]

In the bottle: sweet black currants. Yummy!

 

Wet: sweet black currants.

 

Dry down: black currants. I don't smell any clove, which is disappointing.

 

30 minutes: grape juice???? WTH? I smell like grape juice or grape soda.

 

Conclusion: if this had stayed black currants, not grape soda, I would have liked it. And on further pondering, this reminds me of a bush/tree we have here in Texas called the Mountain Laurel. Every Spring this bush gets clusters of vivid purple blooms that actuall look like bunches of grapes in the way they hang. Their perfume can be smelled way before you see the bush. The smell is a perfumey grape soda. It is hard to descibe, but Madrid smells just like Beth took this plants blooms and made a perfume. Not what I want to smell like, but nice.

 

Rating on my skin, this is a 2.

[niter]

Imp

The first time I sniffed Madrid, I was ill for 5 minutes afterwards and could not figure out why. With much trepidation, I sniffed it again today and found it sweet and spicy and familiar (mimosa?). I can catch the edge of the note made my tummy feel rancid (similar to White Rabbit) but everything else smells pleasant and pretty! There is also a fun bubble gum scent to it.

 

Wet

How interesting! Upon first application I catch NO racid tummy scent and only a sweetness that disappeared so quickly! After the sweetness, there is a mellow spiceness left behind. I am suprised it is so soft on my wrist.

 

 

Dry

After a bit of time, Madrid turns itself about. It starts coming on stronger...and stronger. First grapey bubble yum. Then spicy grapey bubble yum. Then I realized why I got the stomach turn feeling. When I chew certain gums, my stomach starts feeling nasty after a bit of time. This smells like it. I was so excited about it!

 

I will say the spice bits are great.

[gingersnapp]

Spicy cloves with a splash of wine. Not much mimosa to speak of, but that's okay... the wine and cloves play off each other so well that I don't really miss it.

[septima_pica]

Wow, grapes! Like, real fresh sweet fruity grapes! I didn't know you could even do that! I mean, I don't think I'd ever want to wear this -- it's TOO grapey, really, even though not fake -- but it's still super impressive. It doesn't smell like wine, though, the way Nosferatu did -- just grape syrup, like the walnut-and-grape-syrup candies. I'd like to get something with this kind of cloves in it, though.

 

Oh, but I was hoping that "wine and cloves" would be more like Nosferatu after a night spent having cloves smoked at me...bah.

[Jettcat]

In the bottle: SWEET TARTS!!

 

Wet: On my skin it triggers a memory of too many sweet tarts on a summer afternoon reading a good book and being unaware you've just eaten the whole movie sized box of candy. Seriously, my tongue checked the roof of my mouth to make sure there wasn't that raw citric acid and sugar hangover there.

 

Dry: the grapiness (ok I know that's not a word, bear with me) has faded and it turning powdery.

 

1 hour later: It's disappeared entirely, only a hint of powder remains.

I'll be passing on this one, so sad. I'm such a retro candy fan too.

[provocateur]

in bottle: a strange airy clove

 

on skin, wet: Um? Where did it go? It disappeared as instantly as it was applied. There is a very faint hint of clove and not much else.

 

alas.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: sweet red wine.

on: still that sweet red wine, but with the brightness of mimosa lightening it up. i can almost catch a hint of clove.

1 hour later: a fruity wine scent. lovely.

2 hours later: a bit lighter, but still fruity wine.

overall: very nice, but i like the heavier wine blends better on me.

[dragonryder]

Wine at first scent out of the imp, but the mimosa came out upon wearing, for a sweet spice. Not heavy, but very long lasting.

[eflort]

In the bottle: Dry red wine

 

On application: Clove! Aw, my skin eats up red wine immediately...it's completely gone

 

Drydown: And now I'm getting a honey, cloved orange scent. It smells rather Christmas-y to me. Like the Nutcracker Sweet Celestial Seasonings tea, almost.

 

I love it, it's just not what I was expecting my body to do with it. I just have to hold on to it until the holidays!