Men Ringing Bell with Penises

[n3m3sis42]

Green sandalwood, rice wine, black tea, tonka, and moss.

I bought a bottle of this unsniffed (well, actually my husband bought a bottle of it for me), because I just NEEDED to own a bottle of it based on the name alone. The notes in the blend SOUNDED like they would work for me, but honestly, it could have said it was made of grated butt shavings and I probably wouldn't have been able to resist it just because of the name.

The first time I wore this blend, I thought I was going to have to come back here and post a sad tale of heartbreak and woe, because I really wasn't sure that it was working on my skin. It had an almost aftershave-y smell to it when I first applied it, and dried VERY sharp in a way that sort of reminded me of generic men's cologne.

Of course, because I so wanted this blend to work for me, I gave it another shot this week. I don't know if I over-applied it the first time, or if my nose just needed a second chance to understand the notes, but it was much nicer that time. It has a very aggressive aspect to it, which I am assuming is a combination of the green sandalwood and moss, but throws the nicest tangy scent at times. I can't pick out the tonka or the tea at all, which doesn't surprise me because my skin tends to either eat those or integrate them so fully with the "stronger" notes in any blend that they aren't individually recognizable. I'm still working on getting to know this blend, but I do think I like it. If I can figure out more specific details of my Bell/Penises experience, I will update this review to add them. Edited July 1, 2008 by Shollin

[Monster]

In the bottle: Hungry Ghost Moon? Is that you in there? *looks inside*

 

Wet on skin: Oh I think it might be Hungry Ghost Moons twin! This is very similar. I can't pick out any specific notes. it has a very sexy, perfumy sort of scent. This is very well-blended and balanced.

 

Dry: As this dries it continues to smell almost identical to Hungry Ghost Mon (just not as sweet and gingery). This smells fresh and clean to me, and just a bit aquatic (but not powdery as a lot of aquatic scents seem to be). Again, I can't seem to pick out one specific note, everything unites into one and it's just lovely.

 

As a huge fan of Hungry Ghost Moon, I love this one and I'll be reaching for it often

[Dark Alice]

Rice wine and I don't get along. As a matter of fact, it tries to kill my nose everytime I get near it!!! This time is no exception. Funky sour rice wine note check. Naueseating on skin double check. Washing smell off to high heaven triple check!!!

[zankoku_zen]

This is a clean, green sandalwood scent. It's got a 'freshness' to it that is very appealing. I find it to be almost unisexual - anyone could wear it (not for kiddies though, since the name is too suggestive). I can see the HGM comparison (minus the ginger and the sweetness). It's like the 'base' for HGM, with an Asian feel to it.

 

Prettier than I thought.

[birdiefu]

I didn't look at the notes before making my notes (haha) about this scent. My impression when first putting it on was that a light, green, and reedy wood predominated. Then I got a hint of citrus, and decided it would be a very good scent to wear in the summer. That citrus turned into lemon tea (I don't know what was giving me the lemon) with the green woods. After an hour or so, it is a fresh but softly sweet (rice wine?) scent.

 

Nice, and I can definitely see the HGM resemblance. It is a pretty light scent, but lasts for longer than I expected.

[themerrybaker]

I had always been under the impression that the dangly bits inside a bell were called "clappers", but go figure.

 

Men Ringing Bells is a clear, bright, perfume with a little vanilla undertone to balance the green components. Maybe that's where the concept of "bell" comes from. It successfully avoids becoming generic men's cologne and reminds me of my other fave: Satan w/ Sin and Death.

 

Glad I added still another tea scent to the shelf because these Penises will get plenty of plenty of love chez nous.

[unlaced]

I bought this for the name because... come on, it's just too good to pass up!

 

In the bottle and on my skin it starts out all rice wine. Maybe a teensy bit of tea? It smells more like green tea than black tea though. Overall the wet stage is a very green, wet scent. It doesn't smell like bamboo but it sort of puts me in mind of rain covered bamboo...

 

As it dries it threatens to go soapy. I'm not sure what does that, but it gets past the oh-no-please-no-not-soap stage pretty quickly.

 

On the drydown it's purely vanilla sandalwood. Though I suppose that's the tonka speaking since there's no actual vanilla listed. But to me, it smells more like vanilla.

 

It's a very light scent that I have to slather to get anything out of and I have to reapply several times throughout the day.

[rayvn1]

Fairly sharp dose of rice-wine vinegar that I enjoyed, but I can't see myself reaching for often.

[GalaxyLei]

Fresh and green, slightly fruity with a hint of a "skin" scent underneath...it's like a slightly toned down, more earthy counterpart to Tamamo-no-Mae. Gorgeous!

[aquazoo]

I smell the sake! This has some cool notes. A bit complicated. The tea adds a light spiciness. It mellows down into pretty.

[yewberry]

Okay. I'm shallow. I hoped this would work on me just so when people asked "What's that ambrosial fragrance you're wearing?" I could say "Oh, that's Men Ringing Bell with Penises".

 

That's not to say the description doesn't intrigue. Tea, green sandalwood, moss...and it really is as beautiful, light, and complex as it sounds. The result is at once unisex and cleanly masculine. Really, really delightful, but not, in the end, my cuppa sandalwood tea. I look forward to giving it to a friend of mine just to see the look on her face, however.

[fisharescary]

I ordered this cause I'm obsessively collecting the Secret Amusements, but I honestly thought I'd hate it. Lots of metallic phallus? Nowai.

But then I open the bottle and it's like, 'hm. I don't know what this is, but I don't hate it.'

So I put one drop on one wrist, that's all. Within seconds I'm huffing it! This isn't very helpful, but my first impressions as it was drying were that it actually did smell like the name, and image, but in a good way, like really good penis with music, not iron. I know, that's wierd. Maybe it's a warm skin scent that makes me think that- as i was trying to figure it out, I was like 'is this skin musk'? Y'see, I was trying it blind and had not looked up the scent notes in ages. So, no preconceived notions on this one. There's something in it that smells like 'man' to me, just like in Manners Among Men and Women; so comparing the two I would guess it's the sandalwood/sake here and the light woods/sake in Manners. Men smelling like booze and wood? Crazy talk. maybe that's why I thought it smelled like a lovely idealized penis? Because I smelled something that makes me think of men?

Soooo anyhoo, I got to huff it for an hour or two that it held steady, with a very nice throw. It's probably quite strong given that only one drop was almost as much as I can take (my 'standard' dosage is 5 drops, distributed various places) but unfortunately it lacks stamina. After the first couple of hours it died about halfway down to a vanilla-y slightly powderyness (that's tonka, right?) and now, about 5 hours later, it's all but gone- I press my nose to my wrist and really sniff and I get something like a dry green tea and maybe moss. So maybe moss + black tea + green sandalwood = green tea for my nose? I'm not very good at picking out notes.

 

I would normally be embarassed at some of my descriptions here...but given the name of the perfume we're reviewing, I don't think anyone in here is going to be offended.

[alioth]

This is LOVELY. Tea and moss and maaaybe a whiff of sandalwood. In the drydown there's a hint of something minty, but it's not actually mint. On the whole it's very light, cool and sort of surprisingly dignified for something with this name. Pretty much no throw to speak of, but a nice clean scent. I don't really get 'man' out of this at all. Maybe a place where men were, and left their tea and sake behind, but the scent itself strikes me as very unisex. Definitely something i will probably be wearing all spring/summer, when my usual heavier ambers and vanillas are too much. So glad I grabbed it sight-unsmelled off a lovely forumite.

[yakiguri]

While I'm a sake snob with this blend I've unfortunately learned that sake is a terrible note on my skin. On me Men Ringing Bells with Penises is high-pitched and sour, and ALL I get is sake with tiny peeps of sandalwood and moss. No tonka and tea whatsoever.

[Alaeidrel]

This is really strange.

 

I first tested it when I was in the middle of a horrid cold, and all I could smell was the beloved rice wine note from Loosening of the Obi.

 

Now, on retest, that's still the first whiff I get. But then if I really huff, there's definitely a green undertone mixed with black tea. I guess it's the sandalwood? It's a little funky and weird, honestly, but I like the basic notes enough to let it settle and maybe try it again.

[Lucchesa]

Like yewberry, I’m here for the name. This is kind of an interesting scent: sake with oakmoss and sandalwood are the notes that show up on my skin. Unfortunately, it is very quiet on me, more like men gently brushing against bells than ringing them. And since the whole point was getting to respond, “Oh, Men Ringing Bells with Penises” when asked what scent I am wearing and nobody is ever going to be able to notice this one on my skin, I will be passing on my decant.