Motley

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Black currant, rhubarb, mushroom, champaca, and myrrh.

Well.. this is completely unlike any other BPAL I have experienced to date! I had no idea what this was going to smell like, but I am so glad I got a bottle because as VioletChaos said.. total.love.

Rhubarb, blackcurrant, mushroom.. who'da guessed those three together would be so awesome!?! The sour syrupy tang of the rhubarb is balanced beautifully by the sweet darkness of the blackcurrant, and the myrrh is just purring away in the background keeping the whole thing all warm and velvety. I'm guessing it's the mushroom that's adding the powdery feeling to this, and stopping it from going completely purple fruity. Champaca - well, you know how that is.. all sexy warmth and musky creaminess.

I can see how this might go horribly wrong on some people.. particularly if your skin has a tendency to turn things into the dreaded plastic note, but I couldn't be happier with Motley - it's completely unique and unbelievably sumptuous. And incredible when layered with its mates; Marotte and Coxcomb. Much kudos to Beth & team on this one, I'm smitten.

[ivyandpeony]

I knew from the start that Motley probably would not be a scent for me, due to my poor history with mushroomy, earth notes as well as champaca. And I was right. It smells lovely in the vial, deeply fruity with a spiciness from the mushroom and an incensey vibe from the champaca. Then my skin takes over and turns this combination of sweet fruit notes and earthy mushroom into a sticky sweet soil base with a cloying champaca on top; as it dries down the earthiness amps more and more, which is what happens with almost all notes in that family for me. I can't say that I'm disappointed since I pretty much expected this one to clash with my chemistry - I definitely wanted to try it when I read the fascinating combo of notes and I'm glad that I got to try it alongside its companion scents. It is unique among BPAL scents, so those whose chemistries love these notes may really have a treasure on their hands.

[whisperingmachines]

I don't get any myrrh from this, which is cool because I don't like myrrh. Tart and sweet, and very well blended. I get a TON of currants from this, and I guess the rhubarb is what makes it tart? I like it.

[tartchef]

In the vial? Black currant Lockets

 

On my skin? Like I spat out my Locket in the dirt, then tried to clean it off with a squirt of Dettol... I fear Beth's mushroom note is very closely related to her dirt notes, which go strangely clean & soapy on me.

 

Phoo.

[veronicafranco]

hmm. bittersweet fruity porta potty air freshener throw, yankee candle up close.

i still like it layered with the other 2 le mats, though.

[kohaisama]

In the imp: Berries and myrrh

 

Wet: WOW. Floral? It's earthy and beautiful.

 

Dry: No morph at all.

 

I wasn't expecting this one to be nice at all. Currants and I do NOT get along at all. This is beautiful.

[devilot]

In the Vial: Mushroom. Perhaps a hint of myrrh, and a hint of the black currant.

 

Wet: Holy moly they weren't kidding about mushroom! Pretty much all I'm getting on my skin at this point, is mushroom. Though to be fair, I really am NOT a fan of the way mushrooms smell and so am having a really hard time making myself resniff for other notes. Suffice it to say, that on my skin? It's basically all mushroom.

 

Drydown: I feel queasy. Even more mushroom. And much less of everything else I could smell in the vial, which was precious little to begin with.

 

Verdict: Ugh. No freaking way. This blend is NOT for me. At all. My nose must be hyper-sensitive to mushroom because that's just all I pick up and it's so nasty to me that I can't bring myself to text this a 2nd time. I really can't. Ugh.

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Currant and rhubarb with a faint hint of mushroom

 

Wet on skin: Oh dear, the rhubarb is turning very, very tart and clashing with the mushroom.

 

Dry on skin: Sadly, the rhubarb and mushroom were the dominant notes and they did not like each other, or me. The champaca probably didn't help either, as it has a history of going very sharp on me. Ah well.

[milo]

Mmm, this is currant berry goodness to the extreme! I was really worried about the mushroom, but all I get is a subdued spiciness. There an incense vibe happening here, which makes this blend one of my favorite combinations, berry plus spice and incense . This one joins the ranks of Hellion, Couple's, and Makanaitis for sultry, sexy blends. My only complaint is that it becomes faint fairly quickly.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Astringent fruit, and I get the mushroom. Damn you, fungus! But it's kind of mouth-watering, nonetheless.

 

Wet: What an interesting scent! It's herbal, resinous, floral, and fruity, but very different. I'm not sure it's going to work out on me, but it sure is fascinating!

 

Half an hour: It's developing more of a herbal note now; is that the rhubarb? It's not as beguiling as before, but it's more true to the list of ingredients. I do not know how this one is going to work out, but it surely is interesting!

 

Hour and a half: The currant and champaca are pretty obvious now; I'm getting a strong fruity-floral off this. The herbal notes have apparently taken a hike, or are hiding.

 

Three hours: This is rather nice. I get along with the myrrh and champaca fine, and this time the currant is cooperating, giving everything a dark berry-ish cast. The herbal notes stayed gone. This reminds me of some of the plum fragrances, or maybe like what I expected from Makhanitis. But it's not distinctive enough on me that I would need to keep it.

 

Six hours: Mostly gone on me.

 

Since there doesn't appear to be a separate thread for the three-layer Le Mat scent, here's what I got when I did that:

 

I layered Coxcomb, Motley, and Marotte in that order on my left wrist and then rubbed both wrists together. I'm getting a lovely rich scent, lots of warm patchouli-sage but with the pear and a floral note plus something metallic.

 

One hour: This is splendid, warm, herbal, musky, with just a touch of floral and that delicious floral-like pear note. I am almost inclined not to trade away my Marotte as promised. But I was so enamoured of Coxcomb by itself that I went out and acquired a partial bottle of it. So I'll stick with my original plan. Besides, although beautiful, this tripartite Fool scent and the concept behind it do not call out to my heart and soul the way the Unity Roses do.

 

Two hours: This is interesting. The scent seems to have died way back on me. But when I breathe on it, moistening it a bit, it comes back almost to full strength until my skin dries again. And it has gone rather sharp on me, like currant scents sometimes do.

 

 

[PurringPulsar]

Motley

 

In the bottle: unsettlingly medicinal fruit.

Wet on skin: sweet currant wine and porcini mushrooms? This one is odd!

Dry on skin: it’s not really medicinal, but it’s very strange! I do get a slight resemblance to Masabakes, which I wasn’t crazy about, and I get a slight to resemblance to Prospero, which I also didn’t really like. This is made even weirder by that mushroom note! It’s not the earthy soily scent I expected, but something that reminds me of the mushroom stock used in mushroom risotto! Sort of like porcini and Portobello mushrooms maybe? I also get rhubarb, a sharp red fruity note. Unfortunately there’s also a strange burnt wood scent that I don’t really like-I think it’s the myrrh. Normally I love myrrh but there are exceptions when this note doesn’t really work out…maybe the champaca is working against me?

After a while: this does seem to settle into something a little more coherent. At first I couldn’t make sense of this. But now it’s become a more defined smoky deep fruit scent, with the currant and rhubarb notes, and the myrrh has calmed, but I think the champaca and mushroom just aren’t working at all. The champaca has a weird plastic smell to it, a strange plastic-floral, and the mushroom still reminds me of the risotto/vegetable stock smell-which I love to eat, but not as perfume! Indeed at times I even get fruity Marmite (wtf??) from this scent! Very strange!

Verdict: this is one of the weirdest BPALs ever! The notes are unusual and it smells very bizarre on me. though unfortunately in this instance, it’s not a good thing. I was hoping for an earthier thing with the mushroom, but instead I get a very savoury mushroom scent, like vegetable stock or something, very salty and pungent, not at all pleasant. Sadly the myrrh-usually one of my Notes of Win-didn’t work in here, turning to burnt wood. The champaca turned sharp and acrid as well, and I’m not sure if the rhubarb also turned on my skin? But this scent was a bit messy on me. It really is a motley assortment of notes, but sadly not one that my skin could handle.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? no…for quirkiness that works, I’ll stick with Marotte.

If you like this, try: Masabakes, Prospero, Urd

Edited June 8, 2009 by yeahbutnobut

[rayvn1]

Uh oh, this does not like me from the get-go. Cloying currant and rhubarb. I'm hoping the other notes kick in and soon!

[dawndie]

In bottle: unflavored cough syrup

 

On skin: red fruit and earth. Fruity dirt!

 

Half-hour later: still lots of tart red fruit with dusty dirt. Hella strong too, wafting all over the place

 

In conclusion: this was like Crypt Queen on me, if you replace the dark dirty patchouli with the earthy mushroom and dusty myrrh. I was most afraid/unsure of this one, and liked it the best out of the 3 Le Mat scents! Pretty cool, interesting blend.

[Iceblink]

Wow--crazy currant and rhubarb!! This is very tart and fruity. There's a darkness to it from the myrrh but I don't get any mushroom...granted, I'm just testing it from a sniffie but still, it's just fruitfruitFRUIT. Reminds me a bit of Jester with a darker edge.

[Gin]

Motley

 

Smells like incense. The black currant and rhubarb are subdued by the other notes. Of the Le Mats, this is my favorite. It's sweetly smoky and definitely more wearable than I find the other two to be.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

 

Decant: wow Black currant first and foremost, then the champaca and rhubarb

Wet On Me: more of the same but really POW!

Drying Down: everything is all blending nicely now.

Dry: Nothing truly standing out from the rest. Just a fruity incense-y scent that swirls around your mind and makes you smile.

 

 

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Whoa! Sweet and fruity; like undiluted ribena

 

Wet on me - Still fruity, but with a dryness from the myrrh

 

Dry on me - Sweet candied fruit with a touch of pale musk

 

Overall - A bright fresh scent; nice, but similar enough to blends in hte GC for me not to be precious about wearing it

[ami226]

Wow! On my skin, this smells like the boysenberry jam that is sitting in my fridge. Strange, must be the currants? There is also something.... that is threatening to go a little smokey sour? Maybe the mushroom or myrrh.

 

Overall, pretty good, but the smokey something or other doesn't agree with me entirely.

[gingiemay]

In the bottle there is a fruity base with the rhubarb and the currant but with a funny musty undertone which must be the mushroom. On my skin, there is a 20 minute period of horrible cat pee, but then it goes away and I am left with a faint plastic-y, fruity musty scent. Alas, Motley, we were not meant to be.

[Aldercy]

I had wild dreams of a pleasantly strange mushroom and myrrh scent, but those are exactly the two scents I do not get from Motley.

 

*shakes fist at blackcurrant* You thrice-damned fruit of death, you. Quit ruining my perfume. It was perfectly fine in Medea and Red Lantern, but has turned into mothball-and-plastic-flavored lollipop in this (and Eat Me and Dragon's Heart).

 

So, yes. Mothball-and-plastic-flavored lollipop. And a little smoke. Gah.

[Ravenclaw79]

At first, this one screamed "fruit!" at me, a lot like Spinning Pinwheel. Once I got it on, it changed to "grape!" -- grape candy, grape soda, like that.

 

But when it dried down, the grape (currant, I'm sure that's supposed to be) faded back, grounded in the earthiness of the mushroom and rhubarb. Very nice, but when it dried down, the throw went to almost nothing, which is sad.

[voodoocatwoman]

What a neat scent! It scared me at first because it was extremely tart. It quickly morphed to a sweet incense. Very nice.

[heathercaley]

This is my favorite of the three for sure!

 

The black currant and rhubarb form a lovely centerpiece note around the resins, making a beautiful incense! The mushroom is providing a base earthy feel, rather than an earthy smell really. I can honestly say that I can't pick out any mushrooms. As it dries down, the notes that pop out the most are the fruity currants and the sweet champaca which dominates the smokey myrrh just a little bit. It's oh so beautiful, and the most feminine of the three!

[Schmoozy]

 

 

I had doubts about this one due to champaca, and it didn't disappoint. Unforunately it is too overwhelming and literally drowns out the black currant, rhubarb and myrrh. The combination of champaca and mushroom is extremely offputting. Off to go wash off.

[donnatron]

Bottle: Mild and warm berry with a bit of champaca. If I had to pick a colour to associate with this, I would pick a polished gold.

 

Wet: Sweet fancy Moses, there is the mushroom. This is REVOLTING when I first put it on. All mushroom and a hint of currant that smells artificial. Like I haven't showered in a very long, long time and am covering it up with Calgon.

 

Dry: It takes a long, long time but this turns into a mellow champaca spiked with tart currants and rhubarb. Unusual and a little flirty and quite interesting. It's also a hella long drydown enduring a lot of mushroom gas and wrongness. I'm still not sure if I can bear the drydown well enough to make this worthwhile. It's a great champaca blend eventually but there are many other champaca blends that are wonderful from start to finish.

 

Throw: The mushrooms are like, "GUESS WHAT I SMELL LIKE!!! SOMETHING UNGODLY!!" The actual drydown is pretty reserved and close to the skin.

 

Overall: I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's a pretty scent but the drydown is really not my cup of tea. Yet, for some reason I keep wearing it. So it's probably a keeper for some deeply unsettling psychological reason I don't even know. Yippee.