Cheshire Cat

[byrdie]

Grapefruit, red currant, dark musk, Roman chamomile, delphinium, and lavender.

TMI ~ I'm on the third day of my period, and bleeding heavily. Luckily, I showered with something mild today, so I don't have any competing scents to beat down.

Vial ~ Apricot, I suspect.

Wet ~ Light and thick at the same time, like traces of spilled apricot syrup.

Drying ~ The apricot isn't as thick now. Something else (tea?) may be coming through. This oil is fading very quickly on me.

Drydown ~ If this is apricot mixed with anything else, all other contenders are losing.

Dry ~ Wow, this is fading like the Cheshire Cat's grin.

Fade ~ Something mildly sweet happened to my wrist once, apparently.

Final thoughts ~ I may give it another week and then slather it. It was fruity and sweet without being cloying, but I didn't get any other notes. I didn't even recognize the grapefruit as grapefruit, for crying out loud. My skin pretty much sucked this right up.

[antimony]

The grapefruit and lavender overwealm the rest of the components. It's a strange combo, grapefruit to me is a morning scent, and lavender is an evening scent. The musk smoothes out the underpinnings and mixes the two very well.

 

It's pretty, but it gives me this scratchy feeling in the back of my throat when I sniff it. And it's just too confusing.

[rainbow]

Wow, this is amazing. It's exactly what I've been looking for in a grapefruit scent. I've had problems with other grapefruit blends not lasting very long, but not this one. Cheshire Cat has staying power!

 

In the bottle- smells like red currant- at least, what I presume red currant smells like. It's sort of an amorphous sweet red fragrance.

 

Wet on skin- Grapefruit tempered by herbs- must be the lavender and chamomile.

 

Wearing- Oh my, this is when it gets gorgeous. This turns into a sweet berry/currant scent tempered by the tart ctirus of grapefruit. It is just lovely. Not too sweet, but still fruity. Yum.

 

This is a festive scent.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: tons of grapefruit and a bit of chamomile.

on: lots of grapefruit. i can't smell anything else. very nice.

1 hour later: uh-oh. this is going soapy/perfumey on me.

4 hour later: too sharp for me.

overall: i really like the initial phase of this, but it didn't do anything for me after it dried. it just isn't for me.

[pekeana]

Cheshire Cat started off acrid and almost digusting in the vial.

 

Once on my skin, it mellowed out immediately to chammomile and lavender with a subtle twist of currants.

 

It's nice, but the initial "omgbarf" from opening the vial isn't so great.

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- Very soapy

 

After 10 minutes- I can make out grapefruit and lavender. The chamomile and red current linger in the background giving this a 'sharp' kick to it.

 

After 30 minutes- This isn't a bad scent, it is very clean smelling...but it still smells very soapy to me. This would be a nice scent if you like shower fresh perfumes.

 

Summery- Nice, but not for me.

[Nutterfly]

I so strongly wanted to love this. When I got it and had a sniff, I was in love. You know, red heart shaped eyes? It was gourgoues, with lemon, citrus and a slight tea scent. Oh scrummy!

I applied it, and it started going queer! At first it smelt true but that didnt last. Next thing I knew, I was getting the odd whiff of Terry's Chocolate Orange. When I sniffed it closey, there was something there that I just didn't like.

It took me a while, and the aid of a friend to spot it, the musk had gone silly on my skin, and turned to cat-wee *sob*

[gingersnapp]

This smells gorgeous and happy in the vial. I love the blend, especially the grapefruit. When I first put it on my skin, it smelled lovely, but unfortunately, I've had it on for about two hours now and it's pretty much disappeared. Oh well.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: I smell grapefruit and lavender, which mix together better than I expected. Perhaps it is because of the current, one of my favorite notes, that they blend so beautifully. I don't know what delphinium is, so I googled it - and it's larkspur? Interesting...at any rate, this fragrance is a grinning, teasing creation.

 

On me: Eeep. As I was applying this the back of my head began to ache. It's a beautiful clean scent; lightly floral with a strong citrus note. I really like it; it changes and evolves, switching to herbal and flowery to fruity as can be. Quite lovely, but my head is throbbing. I'll try it again in a few days, but if it happens again I'll be so disappointed!

[summer]

*mad grin*

 

Cheshire Cat is fabulous -- unique, clean, tart, and sweet. The grapefruit note is unmistakeable, but it's ever so subtly sweetened . . . perhaps by the currant? However, the bitter citrus scent is tempered by a medly of herbal notes. I especially smell the chamomile, which gives the whole thing a kind of sweet, grassy base. The longer this oil is on my skin, the more blended and "perfume-like" it becomes -- that is to say, the notes are no longer discernable one by one; they blend into this crisp, slightly sweet, slightly floral combination. Yummy.

 

I really have to slather this one on, so I got a 5ml. I imagine it will get used up quickly!

[anmorata]

Cheshire Cat:

 

Wet: Very sweet, very citrusy. I thought what I was smelling was lemon until I checked the description again and saw that it's grapefruit.

Drydown: The lavender and chamomile start to come up, quite pleasantly.

@ 10 minutes: citrus starts coming back up with a hint of musk.

 

Several hours later, Cheshire Cat has faded, but it leaves behind a nice citrussy floral. I enjoyed it, but I don't believe it would be an everyday scent.

[quimerula]

Wet the lavender and the fruits are strong, with a touch of chamomille.

But soon it turns soapy. OK, no more grapefruit for me...

And the lasting power wasn't too impresive.

Going to the swap pile, and I wish I loved it...

[VorpalBunny]

I love all the components, but I don't smell any of them. On me it turns into LEMON LEMON LEMON! It is a nice cheery citrus scent without any of the sourness a lot of citrus has on me. It's a good uplifting scent, although I am not a big citrus person.

[Bard]

I generally don't read the descriptions of a scent before I put it on, and sometimes I'll try something new without taking a whiff of the bottle. So when I applied this scent this morning, it rather went:

 

*ahem*...

 

CITRUS

 

Then patted me on the head and told me I was a clever boy.

 

This is a very nice, sweet, pleasant scent. Manic, as some have put it. It doesn't make me think of the Cheshire Cat to be honest. I'm reminded of the insanely cheery dancing flowers and suns in the early Warner Bros. cartoons. Somehow I find that more disturbing.

 

As a scent, I likely won't wear this. It's just a little too artificial in its cheeriness. I'd rather wear something like Horn of Plenty or Coyote that just makes me feel good, rather than Cheshire Cat, which makes me feel like I've got my eyes and mouth taped open in a perpetual smile, like some disturbing Carrollian vision of A Clockwork Orange.

 

 

Cheshire Cat Haiku,

"Why is it you turn

Invisible?" asked Alice.

Said he, "Just for grins."

Edited April 12, 2005 by Bard

[wickedgoddess]

Preconceived notions - I don't like grapefruit, so I am not expecting to like this.

 

In the bottle - grapefruit.

 

Wet - Yep, that's grapefruit alright, but I am not hating this as much as I was expecting to. No, I don't love it and would never wear it, but it's a nice blend, and the grapefruit isn't as overpowering as I expected it to be.

 

Dry - this is actually very light and pretty. The grapefruit is well balanced by the chamomile. Most of the oils I wear are much heavier than this, but I think I would like to have a pretty, light fragrance like this. But one that doesn't have grapefruit in it.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the best) this rates a 2.

[PurringPulsar]

Cheshire Cat

 

In the imp: zingy, fruity, refreshing. Sort of like eau de cologne but more fruity and berry scented.

Wet on skin: this is a mad little mixture! I can really detect musky undertones beneath the fruitiness. I can definitely smell the camomile too. And the grapefruit-luckily it's not too strong. I'm not too keen on grapefruit as I find it quite bitter (as food) but this isn't bitter at all. It's a bouncy, youthful scent, I think.

Dry on skin: now I can smell the lavender underneath it all! It's now predominantly camomile and fruit with lavender. This is a lovely smell-it seems ideal for summer I think, it's laid back yet refreshing at the same time. It puts images in my head of relaxed summer afternoons lazing in the garden by the lavender bush eating a fruit salad with a cup of camomile tea!

After 15 minutes: mmm, crazy, sweet and fruity! The red currant has returned and the grapefruit still gives it a refreshing buzz, but there's some lovely florals in the background too. It's a typical 'perfume' smell (not a bad thing) and it's the sort of smell I'm sure my mum would say went well on me, as I used to wear a lot of perfumes similar to this when I was younger.

After half an hour: sweet perky currants and camomile. The grapefruit citrus-ness has calmed down a lot and is making way for the sweet juicy red currants and the comforting camomile. There's also a mellow undertone, which is probably from lavender and perhaps the musk. Now it feels more chilled out, conjuring up yet more images of warm sunny afternoons.

Verdict: this is lovely and has come at the right time of year-it's perfect for the spring and early pleasantly warm days of summer. It changes from the mad, perky Cheshire cat with it's crazy and zingy fruit scent to a cat lazing in the sun and chilling out, with it's calmer camomile and gentle currant-floral notes with a hint of darker musk behind it all. Not sure if I'll buy a big bottle but I really like it for now.

 

Edit: after a few hours, the smell becomes a sort of darker, musky dewberry on me, which is nice but I did prefer the first fruity-floral rush this oil gave me.

Edited April 21, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[cuervosueno]

I'm so sad I'm reviewing this in the discontinueds!

I ordered it a bit ago just to try it because I love the name. I wasn't sure I'd like a citrus scent, but I found it quite lovely--grapefruit, but creamy and sweet too, and it goes nicely powdery on me--the musk I suspect.

its quite lovely, though today, while going through a whole pile of things to review, I discovered aizen-myoo and I actually like it better, because I like the way the citrus lasts longer in that one. Makes me think I should have tried shattered--I suspect I would have liked it too.

'course, now I'm not getting more of any of them anytime soon.

Of course that happens just when I discovered them

[misfitroxy]

To me, Cheshire Cat smells like citrus-y Dorian when wet. I get a lot of vanilla from it initially and something creamy and warm.

 

It morphs instantly upon touching my skin. The currant steps forward with a kind of berry richness and I’m getting something herbal that’s cooling off the back of my throat as I sniff it. The grapefruit complicates this blend but I don’t detect it as a distinct note. I don’t find the musk to be heavy in the least either, despite its "dark" label. Something about this blend does turn it rather heady on me, though.

 

Eventually, it settles down into something that’s reminiscent of the creaminess I was initially picking up on. It’s an odd mixture of kitchen herbs (must be the lavender’s influence even though I don’t keep it in my kitchen!) and cream. Very sweet but with a hint of hidden tang hanging around.

 

Alas, now it's turning soapy very quickly. I know I can’t wear the blend, though I find it positively lovely in its many phases. However, it means some other lucky soul will be able to try it as a result, and so the Cat should find a welcoming home very soon.

[wolfie13]

In the vial: I get grapefruit (!) and some chamomile and lavender

 

Wearing: Wow, aptly named, as this one really does morph! At first it's very loud grapefruit and lavender, and switches nearly immediately to a bright, florally, green soapy scent that I'm really not loving at all.

 

After about 30 minutes, the musk and the dark sweetness of the currant come to the fore, with the soapy scent lurking in the background. After an hour or two, it's mostly a very light sweet musk on me, on the verge of disappearing. (like the cat himself, of course)

 

While I think it's amazing how it captures the essence of the Cheshire Cat, and I don't mind it after an hour, I'm also not wildly drawn to this scent.

 

And now that it's discontinued, I'd feel better sending him off to somebody that really craves this scent.

Edited May 16, 2005 by wolfie13

[Aurelius]

In the vial: Citrus and gingery. Yum.

 

Wet: Herby with a strange trace of bug sprayness (like Luna did to me, only this time it was much less, thankfully).

 

Drying: Yay! Tea! Chamomile. And, um, lavender.

 

Dry: uh oh. The apricot has gone too sweet on me. I seem to be amping every sweet scent into unholy sweetness lately.

 

Overall: Sweet with a bite, but too sweet for my skin.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: GRAPEFRUIT!

 

First on: Grapefruit, and.....no, that's not on the ingredients on the website. I must be imagining it.

 

Drydown: I'm not imagining it, or these scents make the perfect blend on me to recreate it. Civet. Lots of it. With vague hints of grapefruit. I'm gonna go be sick now.

[theshapeshifter]

In the imp: Grapefruit and herbs.

 

Initial application: GRAPEFRUIT!!

 

After ten minutes: Grapefruit, getting darkened by the powdery musk. I can get just a hint of the chamomile and lavender in the background.

 

After half an hour: Disappearing already, leaving just the grin behind? Well, it's not disappearing, really, but the grapefruit is fading, leaving a mild, slightly fruity musk in the background. I'm a bit surprised by how faint it is.. I think I'd better take my imp along to work for reapplication!

[olympia301]

One of the first free imps I got from the lab. I tried it and I thought it was OK. Citrus was the theme but it faded fast leaving a smear of mashed fruit behind, almost like "the cat" being discovered up on the counter leaps off and sends the fruit bowl flying. I couldn't find much about Cheshire Cat which was memorable. It was a nice scent but I wouldn't crawl across the burning sands of the Gobi Desert with a 300 lb refrigerator strapped to my back to obtain another imp of it.

 

I did swap it away pretty quickly, so it contributed to my adult delinquency. I am quite relieved I didn't fall in love since it has disappeared like the cat in Alice due to the grapefruit shortage or some such pflummery.

[stardreamer]

Fresh out of the bottle: Holy grapefruit, Batman!

 

For some reason, Beth's citrus oils don't last well on my skin. I find this odd; pre-BPAL, citrusy scents were almost the only thing I could wear, and they didn't fade all that fast. At any rate, this is no exception; the blast of grapefruit backs off fairly quickly and the currant comes out to play. It reminds me of Lady MacBeth, but with a little more citrus sharpness. R. says "mosquito repellent".

 

As time wears on, I think I'm getting a bit more floral sweetness, but this never turns into a really floral scent (thank the Lady!). Staying power is moderate, but it doesn't throw for very long -- this is another "I want to wear something, but not to overpower people" fragrance for me. I'm a bit sorry that I didn't find it until after it was discontinued, and I may look for someone's leftover 5ml to buy.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): This smells very citrusy in the imp. A little like the lemon in lemon pledge, but without the pledge part of the smell, if that makes any sense. It's beautiful.

 

Just On: This goes on very lcitrusy, and my skin adds a hint of the pledge smell to it. Go figure, my skin would ruin something that I want to like. Maybe the beautiful scent will come out in a while.

 

An hour or two later: There's still a little bit of the yuck my skin brings to this, but I don't think it's going to interfere with my wearing this one. It smells lemony wonderful to me.

 

Around 6 hours: My skin decided to play nice! It smells lcitrusy beautiful now! I think there might be something sweet going on with it, like honey or vanilla, and maybe something floral underneath. I'm so loving it right now.

 

12 hours: At the end, I was getting a hint of soapiness, so I bet there were flowers in this, but I liked it anyway. This would be an awesome room scent (since my skin doesn't play nice at first).

 

Overall: I really like it. I could see ordering more, especially to use for scenting clothes, a locket, or my room.

 

After reading other reviews: Okay, I can see the grapefruit is the main thing I smelled, and I suppose the red currant is what gave me sweetness. Must be the lavendar that gave me the flowery part. I have to say I'm sad this is discontinued, but not as sad as if it were, say, Tamora. Yet again, Beth captures something with a scent that most people can't capture with a video camera and detailed directions.