Melainis

[VioletChaos]

The dark, of night.

Teak, frankincense, caramel, oakmoss, red currant, labdanum absolute, bitter clove, patchouli, star anise, tobacco, and black musk.

in the bottle: while i totally get hints of caramel, currant and lots of clove, i feel the need to emphasize at this point, this is NOT a foodie scent in any way shape or form. it's spicy and rich, but not food like at all.

wet on skin: the black musk is gaining strength now, and the oakmoss is lending an earthy note that reminds me of vetiver, without the smoke.

dry down: it's become labdanum, frankincense and tobacco with hints of the musk and clove wafting in and out.

in all: as a tribute to a Dark Goddess, this is absolutely brilliant. it's sexy and deep and intense. given time to age, this can only get better.

[lapetiteflower]

when first applied it is teak and woods...it brings to mind ouija. as it dries it goes through a soft caramel/tobacco phase, reminiscent of aged red lantern and finally it settles into a gorgeous spiced labdanum scent.

 

[Alchemy21599]

In the bottle: a bit medicinal.

 

Wet on skin: spicy and sexay.

 

Dry: This scent blends together beautifully on the dry down. The black musk is there, sophisticated, but not at all raunchy. Not a foody scent at all.

 

Overall: I was put off by the medicinal smell in the bottle, but I am glad that I was not dissuaded from trying this blend since it is gorgeous and sophisticated. I will be hoarding this one!

[mparker]

Sniffing in the bottle, this is full of tobacco lovelyness, and the boyfriend says, "Smells like a head shop. But not a normal head shop, one that's got...you know...adult products." I said, "It smells like Bizzarre Bazzare?" He nods and I said, "You know, I can live with that."

 

On the skin I immediately get the teak, the tobacco and maybe just a breath of anise, darkened by patchouli and musk. There’s a distractingly sharp “high note” to it that could be the labdanum (except labdanum normally doesn't do this to me) or the frankincense (neither does that). Whatever it is, it almost gives me the feel of an alcohol-based perfume, which is just strange for a BPAL.

 

As it dries down I get a hint of the caramel now and again in the waft, which is a lovely addition. I’m really loving a lot of the notes here, particularly the tobacco and caramel, but that sharpness on the edge is pretty distracting to me. On my first test, it eventually got little soapy on me, but the nest time I tried, it did not.

 

This one is strong and gives a good bit of throw (especially compared to the Shungas I've tried). I’d hoped, reading the notes, that this would be a favorite, but there’s something I’m not completely happy with here. I’m not giving up on it, though. I am going to try it again in a month or so and see if some aging helps deal with whatever isn't quite meshing for me.

 

[ralenth]

Bottle: Sweet and spicy, but with some oomph behind it. Melainis got back!

 

Wet: Sexy, sexy woods.

 

Drydown: More of the spiciness comes to the fore. As it dries, the scent deepens into a warmer, seductive smoldering scent.

Overall: Melainis certainly seduced me. I was afraid of caramel, but I don't get any foodiness here. I could feasibly use a bottle or two all by myself.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

The patchouli is nice here. All too often a heartbreaker for me as is the bitter clove. Here, the clove gives just a bit of "bite" to all of the many deep, dark bottom notes.

 

This is very vampy, IMO. And should age well.

[greenranger]

I tried this and Khrysee today. Krysee was very simple.

 

Melainis is very complex, moody, changeable, and likely to grow on people slowly as they get to know her, and as she matures.

 

I thought the notes had a lot in common with Red Lantern...except that on my skin the two are absolutely NOTHING alike. The caramel and redcurrant never even bother to show up on me. I don't expect those two to last long on my skin anyhow, so maybe it is for the best.

 

I almost bought a bottle of this unsniffed, because of the notes, and I might still eventually spring for a bottle, if I can find the cash.

I like it now, but, I suspect I will like it even better once that patchouli calms down a little with age and lets a few other notes through. It smells like the same Patchouli that I smelled in Schwarzer Mond, but with a different slant to it due mostly to the anise, bitter clove, and possibly the teak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chapanis]

Melainis is *cough* strong. I love everthing in it, but something is overpowering. Perhaps the frankincense? Or the bitter clove? Or perhaps the two combined? I do not know. It is very thick and dark. Smothering. Not for me.

 

[Ahania]

If I were a teenage girl walking down a dark alley in a slasher movie, Melainis would be the psycho who hunts me down and shoves knives made of black musk, teak, and tobacco up my nose, laughing hysterically.

 

This one hurt just to smell in the vial, it's headed to swaps without a skin test.

[scarletgenesis]

 

In the bottle this is a conglomeration of dark, resinous notes. I definitely can pick out the tobacco and oakmoss and possibly the teak and frankincense.

 

On my skin I get a tiny bit of the uber smoky caramel from Red Lantern and the anise and clove come out as well. I'd love the clove to be more prominent but the scent definitely softens as I wear it so perhaps it will emerge more later. The black musk is an undercurrent of sinister smirk permeating the whole blend. Very nicely executed!

 

Is it me...or is this like a darker version of Winter of our Discontent?

 

[Iceblink]

Fresh teak is almost unbearable to my nose and that's what's most obvious in Melainis at first--it just SCREAMS teak and smells like I've been rubbing an eraser all over my hand. Not good. But teak also fades nicely (and I know it ages amazingly); after a couple of hours, this settles down into a smooth, dark blend of black musk and patchouli with spices and a great labdanum note. It's not sweet at all, despite the presence of caramel, currant, and tobacco--I get the musk and patchouli more than anything else. Wears close to the skin. Warm and dark. Getting past that first blast of teak is tricky, though.

[iiinterstate]

Wet, this smells like clove and tobacco and something else I can't identify. Medicinal, as someone else said earlier on in this thread.

 

Dry:Whew, there's the teak! I love it in the Antikythera Mechanism, but it took a little aging to get to that point. I get none of the red currant or caramel at this point (the latter is generally a good thing) but there's something sweeter in here... at first I thought it was the tobacco but not I'm not so sure. Not foody sweet though, resiny.

 

20 minutes in: Now I'm getting a lot of patchouli. This does not bode well.

 

Later: Now all I get is a spicy patchouli. Better than most of my patchouli experiences, but not something I really need to add to my collection. Boo

 

 

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

I was nervous about this blend after reading previous reviews, but I am here to tell you that this scent is nothing short of AMAZING!!! I don't get ANY patchouli, except in the background as an indecipherable anchor to the blend. I get NOTHING medicinal or sharp at all (aside from when it was wet, it smelled pretty gross - like a lot of amazing BPALs!) I was in a room with five men and ALL OF THEM were floored by how good this one smelled. They couldn't stop sniffing me. My boyfriend said that it smelled incensey and dark and mysterious and smoky. I agree. I get an extra sexy, smoky red sandalwood incense in an occult bookstore on a moonless night vibe from this blend. EXACTLY what I was looking for!

 

I bought this bottle unsniffed...I had never done that before, and now I do not regret it, because this is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous!!!! It perfectly captures the image and the concept. This is the dark, smoky, love goddess of the night!! I will hoard this one most definitely. Love, love, LOVE!!!! Can't adequately express how head over heels in love with this blend I am!!

 

 

:love!:

[savage_rose]

This is gorgeous! It has a bit of a cologne undercurrent and a touch of patchouli, but it's so balanced I don't smell like a perfume counter, and I don't smell like a hippie. It's just dark, undulating, and really sexy! Nice.

[Brianne]

My grandfather had colognes in a wooden cabinet - things like Brut and Old Spice and some older more vintage scents. And when I opened that cabinet, this is the smell that came out. Like a hodgepodge of various masculine scents layered over a distinctly woody smell. It is not good or bad, it just conjures that image for me. As it dries down, the bitter clove becomes more and more evident, but it stays distinctly masculine all the way through in my opinion.

[AlarmAgent]

In Bottle - Really can't smell much in the bottle, and definitely nothing jumping out and saying, "what you are presently smelling is me, _____." Sort of a faint, woody perfume in the imp, that is all.

 

Wet on Skin, First Applied - Oh man, this is just wood. Straight up teakwood, I suppose. It isn't terrible, and I would appreciate it on a different person, but this is nothing at all in the range of scents that I like. I was hoping for more patch, caramel, clove, and tobacco. Alas, this is teakwood with maybe just enough patchouli to wet it up a bit.

 

Dry, on Skin - Gets better, eventually. The teakwood doesn't fade, but the clove and patchouli's strength grows as time passes on the skin. So, that is a plus. Still, it is pretty heavy on the wood for my taste, and I'll probably pass this one on--but I suppose I know now to avoid wood notes. They just seem to feel suffocating on me. Odd, because in commercial perfumes I used to love the entire woodsy category of scents. Maybe the 'real thing' is just too much for me, and in most commercial orientals they're using just the slightest hint of...oak, maybe? Either way, I've got so many Lupercalias I want to grab before they go, it is a good thing that this one didn't work on me.

Edited February 22, 2009 by AlarmAgent

[Wwindy]

In a nutshell: Woody musky patchouli with overtones of smoke and spice. Very, very sexy.

 

It's true that in the bottle, the teak smell is indeed penetrating. If you're not down with Beth's teak, this is definitely not the blend for you! On application, the clove is the next strongest immediate contender, along with an almost burnt note -- I don't know if that's the tobacco or if that's all I'm going to get out of the alleged caramel. I can't specifically identify anything sweet (or fruity, for that matter) here. As Melainis starts drying down and balancing out, it turns into a rich, dark, resinous swirl of gorgeousness. The initial blast of teak might be scary, but everything here melds beautifully after just a little while -- be brave and wait it out if you can.

 

This is one of those fascinating, mysterious scents where you keep huffing yourself, trying to figure out what's going on. I think I can pick out whiffs of the star anise and the frankincense, but that's with the stated note list right in front of me... Ack! I don't know! What can I tell you -- this just smells really good and really sexy! (isn't that useful as a review? )

 

Despite being one intense scent, I don't think it has a huge amount of throw; it seems to be sticking pretty close to my skin.

 

I can see that Melainis wouldn't be for right everybody... but I think I'm in love! If you favor dark, complex blends, you need to try this.

[Little Bird]

Melainis starts off amazing on me and gets slowly less and less awesome over the course of an hour. It starts off smelling like what I had wished Formula 54 would smell like. It makes me think of dark, crowded clubs, excess, and sex. The tobacco is dark and sensual, and I normally hate tobacco scents. The clove is a hint of spiciness. There's an overall feel of sticky cola that makes me think of spilled rum and coke. I catch a bit of anise in there as well, fading in and out. Even the black musk is playing nice and smells cool and sexy. It's dark, mysterious and stunning.

 

As it dries down, it starts to smell like a good dark amber scent with dry woods and a bit of resinous sweetness. It loses its complexity but still isn't bad on me. After a half hour, though, this is like dry hay, and it's not good at all anymore. It's just dry, simple, and bland. I love Melainis so much at the start and then it morphs into something completely lackluster. I'll have to try this one in a scent locket or something.

[dreadpiraterustypants2]

expectations-

rich oozy and red fruit concentrate! so many interesting notes, hoping to downplay the frankincense....

imp-

woah- reminds me of a sort of old lady perfume. I bet the smell is no indication of how it will be on skin. maybe teak?

wet-

Certainly 'the dark of night'! the caramel and black musk adds a lovely warmth.

somewhat fizzy and bitter. I'm unfamiliar with how some of these notes show themselves though. But now I can detect the tobacco as I find it in Dee. Kind of a spicy root incense, but not like Masabakes-dryer.

verdict-

meh, fine with a decant. perhaps to be aged, might even swap,

[Schmoozy]

Spicy, dark and slightly herbal. Unfortunately this is not working. While teak, frankincense, oakmoss and labdanum are stunning on me, it is the other notes that don't mesh well with my skin chemistry.

The combination of red currants, clove, patchouli and black musk turn really bitter on me and become so cloying it is making me sick. Oh well. I can't love them all.

[zankoku_zen]

Spicy patchouli with wood hints. On wet, I could smell the hints of caramel but on the drydown, it almost has a rootbeer quality to it.

 

Despite all the 'foody' elements, it isn't foody. It's spicy patchouli with hints of clove and tobacco. Dark and sultry.

[hkhm]

bottle: currant and moss with a touch of soft spice. very light.

 

wet: gah! super strong once applied! the teak is terribly strong as is the clove. i suspect that aging will help this matter though.

 

dry: i get strong teak and tobacco on the drydown, there is an incredibly alluring note (or perhaps a stunning combination) but there is something very alluring and mysterious about this blend. i can't wait to see how it ages.

[angelicruin]

This was the Aphrodite scent I was most worried about...patchouli can go very, very wrong with my skin chemistry.

 

On my skin though, the patchouli is very faint and is overpowered by clove, anise, and tobacco. This is the surprise hit for me from all of the Aphrodite scents just because I never expected it to work on me. Even my husband loves it (and he HATES just about anything with patchouli notes). When I told him there was patchouli in it, he shrugged and said he couldn't smell it.

 

I eagerly added a bottle of this to my massive lab order placed last night.

[butcherbaby]

i bought this unsniffed because it sounded like such a winner- nearly all the notes are for me, and the bottle art is my favorite pic of the series. tobacco can go either way, but i've only found it horrid in one scent- red lantern. the only real "iffy" in there is the red currant. fruits are one of the notes i don't do well with, but some work really well (snake charmer, madame moriarty).

in the bottle it smells soft and spicy delicious- a little like an herbal liqueur i used to drink that was similar to jagermeister, but thinner and less intense.

so as soon as i put it on- WHAM - nothing but RED CURRANT OMG HORRID FRUIT EXPLOSION.

i wanted to cry. where is my lovely musk? patchouli? teak and frankincense?

it's seriously the BPAL Murphy's Law that states if every note except one is your favorite then that one is going to be all you get.

 

nest day, try it again. hmmm, getting a little of the other notes, but not enough just yet. still much too curranty, but there's hope.

 

i'm going to hold on for this a bit and see if time and aging help before i give up completely.

 

03/13 ETA: i think this may work out after all....subsequent tests have had varying results from fruit to smoky spices. into the dark drawer she goes, for a month or two, and we'll see how she's settled.

 

04/11 ETA ah, this lady is a tricky one! no more red currant, today she smells of spiced tobacco and dark patchouli. very interesting.....another month of aging and we'll see if she's a keeper or not.

Edited April 12, 2009 by butcherbaby

[jencallisto]

In the imp: Bitter caramel candy.

Fresh on the skin: Sour-bitter-sweet. This is not my thing.

20 minutes later: Indeed, sour-bitter-sweet, quite complex and fairly strong. Uck. I think it's possible that labdanum does not agree with me much.

1.25 hours later: Deep, dark sour-bitter sweet. I kind of really don't like this.

2.5 hours later: Syrupy, almost. It's kind of impressive how much I don't like this, but without having a violent recoil reaction, either.

 

Verdict: No. Just, no. Not for me.

 

One phrase: sour-bitter-sweet.