Schrodinger's Cat

[voorishsign]

A paradoxical scent experiment! - tangerine, sugared lime, pink grapefruit, oakmoss, lavender, zdravetz, and chocolate peppermint.

I've wanted to try this one ever since I first got into BPAL, founding it cute that somebody would make a fragrance based on the concept I don't expect this to work that well - chocolate peppermint and lime, yes, everything else - urk. Better not. But I just had to know!

In the imp - fresh and citrusy - lots of grapefruit. Lingering mint.

On wet - a lot less bad than I thought it would be on me! Fresh citrus, mostly lime and grapefruit, lavender and a zing of mint.

Drydown - pleasantly citrusy from start to finish, with just a bit of mint and a dusting of cocoa. One of the few citrus scents that don't fail on me! I like it a lot, but not to wear. I'll keep it for the sake of novelty though

[Nymeria]

I wanted to like Schrodinger's Cat so badly based on the concept alone... and good news, everyone! I do! Primarily I get the grapefruit and lime are the dominant notes, but while I can't directly pick out the rest, you can tell that there's something else there that kicks this up to truly awesome.

 

Good for wearing: dead or alive.

[surf-tormented]

The bright citrus notes of this eclipse the other notes on my skin. It reminds me a lot of Cheshire Moon or Croquet. Perhaps I will try it again for sometimes my chemistry changes and brings out the bottom notes of blends. I still like this, even if I only get the top notes.

 

The label is cute. Too bad BPAL couldn't have "alive" and "dead" versions of this, if that isn't too morbid, then they could check off which one it is. Or the Cat could just not be able to be opened and therefore one could only guess at the contents within.

[SophieCedar]

I had avoided ordering this one for almost a year now.. the chocolate peppermint turned me off. But then again, now that I've been collecting for almost a year, I'm starting to get into the bizarre scents I avoided for so long.

 

Wet: chocolate peppermint, grapefruit, tangerine, lime with geranium and oakmoss. strong even distribution combination. A paradox indeed that all these are notable!

Dry down: the geranium peppermint greenness and oakmoss stick around with a ghostly citrus air. Peculiar!

[London]

Imp: Lime

 

On me: Lime, then chocolate-y. Then kinda tangerine..and grapfruit. It morphs on me. Minty citrus when dry.

[RhinestoneHousewife]

This is mostly citrus on me....all citrus, all the time. It works for me with minimal throw and it lasts about 3 hours on me.

[calivianya]

...Soda? I swear this almost smells carbonated. It smells like I'd imagine a carbonated pink lemonade would smell - very sweet, citrusy, and bubbly. Okay, a couple minutes on my skin and this smells more like Taco Bell's limeade, which I am a huge fan of. And now I'm picking up the mint. This really is a morpher. I don't ever expressly notice the chocolate, but I think it may be present in the opening as part of the creamy sweetness I get when this first hits my skin. It's definitely pretty, but citrusy blends are not my favorite and I don't see myself reaching for this too often. I'll keep the imp, though.

[Helas]

A perfume based on quantum thought experiments? How freaking amazing is that!

 

I get mostly sugared tangerine and lime from Schrodinger's Cat, with a backbone of lavender to keep it from becoming too foody. The chocolate emerges on the drydown; so far I've found the lab's chocolate note to be too rich for my blood, but this chocolate is faint and a little bitter and makes an interesting contrast to the citrus fruits. Overall the Cat is a light, refreshing, and cheerful scent. I would feel like a grinch if I disliked this one.

 

I can see this one becoming a staple once summer comes around. Four out of five stars.

[rhetoricians]

Minty, citrusy lime. Somehow it manages to smell carbonated (Beth you truly have a gift!), and I can't detect any chocolate at all. It's very light and I am loving the smell on my wrists. If this sticks longer than an hour or two, it's definitely going on my "want a bottle" list. It's delightfully wonderful!

[brilliantcat]

In the bottle: Mmm fruity with a hint of the oakmoss and mint.

 

Immediately after application: Where did all the fruit and minty chocolate go? All I can smell is a bit of lavender, the oakmoss... and a powdery sort of scent.

 

Warming up: Powdery... wtf? WHERE IS THAT COMING FROM? None of the fruit, mint, chocolate. My husband said I smell like incense. AUGH. I'm washing it off. I don't like how this is warming up on me AT ALL.

 

Overall: I didn't give it much of a chance, but it didn't smell at ALL like I expected. I figured there'd be some of the fruit notes and the mint/chocolate at least. I got NONE. Instead I got a funky powdery incense smell. I am so disappointed because from the description I expected to love this. From the in-bottle sniff test, I loved this. On me, I did NOT love this.

[lilyliza]

In bottle: My first reaction was "It's so fun! It's so...strange." And then I laughed a little. That kinda sums up my feelings on the whole thing from first sniff to drydown, really.

 

Wet: Lots of lime. I can smell the mint chocolate and lavender too, but this is mostly a whole lot of bright citrus. It doesn't take long for the rest of the citrus notes and the oakmoss to appear, and then it's a scent that's hard to describe but interestingly pleasant. As my mom put it, "It's neither floral or fruity or spicy...but then it's all of those at the same time."

 

Drydown: It does a bit of morphing- at one point I smelled very lavendery, and then later on I smelled very much like an Andes mint, but the other notes are always there in the background, making it amusingly peculiar. Eventually it calms down to a very pleasant light citrus grounded by a little lavender and oakmoss- really nice.

 

I have developed a fondness for this scent, definitely. It's so quirky, I don't know if I'd wear it often enough to warrant buying a bottle, but I will definitely enjoy using up my imp.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

What a spazzed out perfume!

 

I can smell chocolate peppermint on the unopened imp. Inside, it's sweet pink grapefruit, lime effervescence, juicy tangerine and lavender. The oakmoss gives it a cologne edge. Interesting, but not for me.

[zagadka]

I totally thought I reviewed this!!

 

Anyhow, this is one of my favorite summertime scents- its so uplifting and light, but still has a nice throw.

 

In the imp, its a mixed citrus with a bit of a bite, probably from the grapefruit. It reminds me of when my mom would buy those concentrated cans of 5-Alive! The lime and the grapefruit are easy to pick out, and it has just the slightest hint of mint. But, if I didn't know it was there, I'm not sure if I'd be able to pick it out. Same with the chocolate, but I think that chocolate note is what keep it from feeling too airy, it grounds it and gives it a little depth.

 

It stays the same for a few hours- refreshing, bright, effervescent citrus. Then, it dries down and smells like a lighter version of O (*without* the powdery notes for those of you who hate that). It was that gorgeous dry down that had me slathering myself in this!!

[Saiph]

This smells like those Japanese Ramune soda candy!

I love it.

[kirsten]

This is straight-up pink lime and grapefruit on me, which is wonderful. I was really weirded out by the mention of chocolate mint in the scent description, but I haven't smelled it yet, so I'm pretty happy. I may just have to get a bottle of this. DAMN YOU, BPAL. *shakes fist*

[Juushika]

In the vial: Basically, I have no idea. Green but not fresh, herbal but not dusty, perhaps there's a bit of moss and a touch of fruit in there. It's a clean, faint, but not indistinct scent, and it's so far outside my realm of experience that it's hard for me to describe.

 

On me: Fruit and herbs on application, but the combination is surprisingly non-foody. The herbs amp with wear--I think it's a combination of moss and lavender that I'm getting, which is dry but not dusty, herbal but not medicinal, almost a clean scent. There are fruits in here which give the scent body, but they're primarily light citrus; they have no bite, but nor are they the juicy, sweet and/or robust fruits I expect in fruity/floral blends. It's a surprisingly dry scent despite the fruits; not very vivid, for all the color and variation in the notes; it sure is unusual, though, and distinct, and difficult to describe. This is something of a desaturated, mattified version of a fruity floral, with a heavy helping of lavender. There's nothing of the chocolate peppermint, to my nose. After about two hours it fades to just herbal lavender backed by some fruit; soon after it all but disappears. Scent-color is reminiscent of a watercolor painting. Throw is fairly low.

 

Verdict: This is almost as strange and unique as I was expecting, in part because of the contradictory notes, in part because it's a twisted mimic of more traditional scents--but I still feel like I'm missing something. It isn't quite vivid enough to live up to its description, and lacks punch. It also doesn't last long, which adds to the sense of disappointment. Regardless, this just isn't a scent for me.

[crazyredhead17]

In the imp - sugary citrus

 

Wet - Tart pink grapefruit, lime

 

A few minutes on - I caught a whiff of cleaning fluid (bad grapefruit). Teeny tiny hint of something herbal.

 

And now, I'm having to really press my nose against my wrist to smell any of this. The cleaning fluid is gone (yay!) but it's very faint. Getting more green and less citrus, too.

 

A little strange on my skin, for sure.

[ephemere]

This was such a playful, pretty, bright scent in the imp that when I put this on and it turned into LEMON AIR FRESHENER OF DOOM on my skin I almost groaned aloud in disappointment. I could smell faint hints of chocolate and lavender trying to make an appearance, but the LEMON OF DOOM refused to give them any space. The lemon faded after a few hours, but it took just about the whole scent with it, leaving only the faintest hint of chocolate if I pressed my nose to my wrist and inhaled very deeply.

 

I guess this is a little bit like Schrodinger's Cat, then? In terms of wavefunction collapse, I mean -- apparently my Schrodinger's Cat is pretty dead.

[melrose]

First on, it's a beautiful sugared grapefruit. After 30 minutes, poof! The poor cat disappeared into the ethers.

[karykeion]

In the imp: Citrus soda! And a little bit of chocolate. Whoever compared this to ramune was right on.

 

On me, wet: ...Carbonated minty moss! Holy cow, I know what I'm going to wear the next time I want to make an impression. My nose has no idea what's going on. It's like sugary citrus moss? I think this is what magic smells like.

 

On me, dry: It's dried down to minty citrus with an undercurrent of moss. This is a very bright scent to me, and I totally agree with all the other reviewers who are saying it smells carbonated. It does, and it totally reminds me of soda. I think I'll pass this along to Best Friend, as she's a soda fiend, but if she doesn't like it I'll get plenty of use out if it!

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Mint with a touch of moss and citrus

 

Drydown: Primarily lime and lavender with feint hints of chocolate, mint, and tangerine in the background. Green and tart.

 

Dry: The moss and chocolate gain just enough strength to soften the tartness. Sweet and soft with tingly lime and green notes.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Citrus floor cleaner (not Pledge, more like Lysol). Ack. O.o

 

On skin, wet: Pretty much the same.

 

On skin, dry: Still very much citrus and that clean note that reminds me of floor cleaner. It's got to be the oakmoss doing that--moss notes sometimes go "fresh and clean" on me.

 

After an hour: Same, but it's reminding me less and less of floor cleaner as time passes. I actually kind of like it, but it will definitely require a re-test.

[VelvetSky]

ZING! Minty citrus, bright and refreshing that dissolves down into the pink grapefruit accord pretty quickly. This is good, because I LOVE pink grapefruit.

 

The Cat becomes a bit sweeter and deeper as the topnotes burn off. I was wary of the chocolate, because to be honest, I don't want to smell like chocolate, but it never really manifests on my skin.

 

If this scent weren't so fleeting, I'd consider it full-bottle worthy, but my skin soaks it up at an alarming rate. However, I'll definitely be enjoying my imp and I'm so glad I've had a chance to try this one.

[yakiguri]

I love it when the lab takes notes that should be (and usually are) utter FAIL on me and makes them work.

 

Seriously, citrus, chocolate, and mint are three of my major death notes (citrus being skin enemy #1). I try every frimp I get though, so I applied this kitty thinking that unlike my reaction to real kitties, I'll immediately want to get as far from it as possible. Wet, Schrodinger's Cat was what I expected; sour citrus. I hung on though, and a few minutes later as it dried this blossomed into pure WIN. It's a bright, bubbly, effervescent sweet citrus that reminds me of Midnight on the Midway, just remove the incense and put in citrus. The sugared lime is quite prominent, but I get whiffs of sweet tangerine and tangy grapefruit now and then. I don't get any chocolate peppermint, and zdravetz is apparently rock geranium with a woody-sweet odor, so I think that coupled with the oakmoss and lavender keeps this kitty from going out of control on my skin. I'll be upset if it doesn't last long, but would happily reapply throughout the day. This kitty is looking to be a favorite summer scent.

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Lime and grapefruit most prominent, with maybe a hint of peppermint chocolate. Smells like candy, or that blast of scent you get when you walk into the bodyshop.

Wet: Delicious. Mostly citrus, but I get lavender and mint as a nice herbal counterpart.

Dry: Beautiful fruity goodness, sort of like a much sweeter Catherine. This would have been bottle-worthy, but I found its staying power to be a little weak.