'Tis The Voice Of The Lobster

[frecklestars]

A woody, musky-weird base glooping over with blackberry preserves, a twist of mandarin, strawberry juice, pulverized watermelon, and a handful of smushed gardenia petals.

In the bottle: thick blackberry jam and strawberries with a twist of mandarin (as promised). even some watermelon coming in later, but almost an artificial watermelon (not that I mind). it's gooey and sweet, but not overpoweringly sweet nor girly; that "woody musky-weird base" keeps it from being so. I actually don't find it particularly musky - it's more woodsy IMO, but not deep woods. more like a handful of trees on a sunny gentle hill. think picnics!

On my skin: on me, it's almost all strawberries and watermelon, though mandarin comes in more the longer I wear it. the gardenia petals are hiding, but it's still not "death by fruit!". it does also turn more woodsy on me, which is nice b/c it deepens the scent a great deal. it's playful but with an edge to it. still has that picnic vibe, maybe in late sticky summer. it reminds me of popsicles and running through the sprinklers.

Last thoughts: deeply fruity, a bit of artificial sweetness. late summer picnics in sticky heat. charmingly unique and juicy.

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the Imp: Fruity and flowery. Watermelon and strawberry predominates, with gardenia also discernible.

 

On me, wet: Mostly fruity, with the berries especially noticeable: Blackberry, strawberry, with some watermelon.

 

On me, drydown: Blackberry, with a hint of gardenia, and some musk starting to come forward.

 

The more time goes by, the more the fruitiness fades and the musk and wood comes out.

 

On me, after a few hours: All incense: wood (sandalwood?) and musk. Maybe just the faintest hint of blackberry still lingering.

 

My rating: 4

[Morsigne925]

Got this as a frimp in my first order. In the bottle, smell instantly reminds me of strawberry/otherberry lip balms of my middle school years, with a little bit of a woody, menthol-y tinge in the background. On my skin wet, the woodsy smell comes out a lot more, almost smells like strawberry incense. As time goes on, it's starting to smell more like a flower scented bar of soap - reminds me of the small soaps my grandma keeps in dishes. It definitely has a little medicinal smell to it, under the very sweet berries. I stand by the strawberry incense impression after a couple hours. Also starting to remind me of those heart shaped valentine's day candies, the way they taste.

[ladyflash]

Prologue: This is a frimp from the lab. I was kind of happy when I read the description, because I love blackberry, so I was hoping to smell good things with this.

 

Intro: In the imp, it's super fruity. omg. I love it.

 

Exposition: Fruity fruitiness of fruit. So yummy. It's fruity, but not sweet fruity. I get really picky with strawberry scents, because I don't like the artificial kind at all. To me, strawberries are tart. This is tart without the sharpness. I can detect a hint of gardenia, but it's not in your face. As it dries, a slight muskiness can be detected. Two to three hours later, it dried down to a super musky fruity wonderfulness. I can't even describe how yummy it is, other than...this is yummy.

 

Epilogue: I need a bottle of this, stat! This has become one of my favorite scents! Thank you lab, for sending this to me! Absolutely perfect for the summertime.

Edited December 3, 2011 by ladyflash

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): It smells like a combination of blueberry and watermelon Bubbleyum. It’s foody, but I like it. On second sniff, I get musk and just a hint of the gardenia. The wood, sadly, is missing.

 

Wet: Strawberries, watermelon and blueberry jam complimented by the sweetness of musk, just a touch of a floral bouquet – it seems like a picnic in the middle of a field surrounded by woods off in the distance – very idyllic.

 

Dry: After 8 hours, I can’t really smell much, so I need to retest it. On second test, the gardenia and woods begin to actually show up once the scent dries down. Once dry for a little while, it makes for a daintily faint floral and fruity scent. The combination is sweet but slightly sinister at the same time (thank you, wood and gardenia notes).

[jkfagtongpun]

This is the strangest and most intriguing scent I've tried so far.

 

It was a frimp, very exciting as would have never picked this one out myself.

 

In the imp it was watermelon hubba bubba. I was very scared thinking, 'I don't want to smell like high school bubble gum all day'... what the heck!

 

On wet it became a woody watermelon, not a bad smell but still very strange.

 

Dry it turned to a tart, tangy woody scent with the watermelon dying down a bit and the teeniest hint of gardenia.

 

Very, very strange but somehow I REALLY like it. But not sure whether I would use a whole bottle...

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Fruity. The watermelon is strongest, but it's a fruity blend in general.

 

On skin, wet: Fruity, but a little cough syrupy, oddly enough, even though there's no cherry.

 

On skin, dry: Much the same as it was wet.

 

After an hour: Still very similar, but with just a hint of florals now as well. All in all, not a winner.

[KittyHawk]

I'll just sit with the rest of the peanut gallery and state the obvious: this is the most unusual BPAL blend I've tried yet.

 

And I love it.

 

I actually don't get much gardenia from this, which is a shame because it's one of my favorite notes. The woodsy, musky base is prominent, as are the blackberry (which is nice and jammy) and watermelon, though the watermelon fades within 30 minutes. It's such a cacophony of notes, but they work so harmoniously together! It's sweet, juicy, a bit dark, and even a bit aquatic too. I don't know if I'd wear this enough to warrant a bottle, but I want to have some on hand at all times. This is be a great blend to introduce a newbie into Beth's more novel offerings. It's not for everyone, but a triumph nonetheless. Who knew such a mishmash of notes could smell so good?

[becca_s]

This was a frimp from the lab.

 

I tried it on without knowing the notes - this starts out with alot of watermelon and what I thought was a woodsy note. Not sure where that is coming from. It turns into a light watermelon scent, as it dries I can detect the gardenia which doesn't work with my skin chemistry at all. In this scent though it is mostly overpowered by the watermelon.

 

Overall, this is a fruity, summery scent. It's a bit too sweet for me though.

[PixieSkull]

What a fruit-laden description, and it involves watermelon? I LOVE the melon note in Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat, let's see what it can do!

 

Wet - watermelon and a little bit of dirty musk and ripeness. The preserves and a little bit of sharp citrus come out nice.

 

Drydown - OMG! Sweet and wet fruits with a teensy bit of floral goodness. Loving this like I love Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat. Gloopy base is taking a back seat

 

Dry - Sweet and rich red fruits. Totally smell the strawberry and tartness. Love it for that, but I don't smell any real throw. This would make a great room spray or wax tart for springtime since it has literally an hour shelflife on my skin, bah. I guess it makes sense with all the top notes in this blend.

[filigree_shadow]

Nicely fruity. Soft -- not acidic or too bright. It's mostly soft and cute. I'd like to try it out a little more.

[Kristin R.]

I got this one as a freebie with my order, and oh my, I like this one a lot! When I opened the bottle it instantly brought me back to when I was in high school and used to go to this witches' shop every once in a while. It reminds me of the mixture of the incense and the herbs they had. I smell woods and sweet fruits. Yum! This scent stuck around all day too. I put it on on in the morning before work. Now I am home and can still smell it. I am definitely going to have to invest in a big bottle of this!

[starfish327]

Watermelon Airheads. I used to sneak watermelon airheads when I was growing up during the summer. They sold them at the baseball games down the street for a quarter. Voice is a candy-sugar sweet melon all the way through. Occassionally I amp the woods and -sometimes- get a hint a floral but normally it's just straight up watermelon airheads. Right now I'm amping the woods in everything so it's slightly drier than when I normally wear it.

 

This is completey outside the range of what I normally wear and while I wouldn't want an entire bottle of it, sometimes it's nice to go back to the days I used to drench myself in cucumber melon lotion.

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Watermelon and musky-weird-gloopy amazing. I really don't know how to describe it.

 

Wet: The musk is more pronounced on my skin but the sweet, watery watermelon is still present and quite lovely. I want more blends with melons! It's sort of oddly sweet-sour in a totally awesome way.

 

Dry: Musky-melon-sweet-weird. I weird! This got a thumbs-up from the husbeast too.

[ScabbyLucy]

:gazes wistfully at the delicious fruity notes:

 

:casts gaze of defeat at gardenia swamped wrist:

[tharsei-thanate]

This is interesting! I can smell the blackberry and the watermelon, an almost salty aquatic something, and that musky-weird base. The base is a bit of a turn off, to be honest. The blend doesn't smell bad or anything overall but there's too much of a contrast between the weird, dark musk and the bright, delciously sweet fruits that doesn't quite jive with me. Still, this is a unique blend and I glad I have an imp, but I'm not getting a bottle.

[JazzieCazzie]

Received this as "lagniappe" from a forum purchase/swap. I really expected to HATE it since pretty much every single note in it is a dealbreaker for me, or darned close, but based on my anal-retentive project of trying and reviewing or revisiting every single scent in my BPAL collection to prepare my comprehensive swaplist, I forged ahead with caution.

 

IN THE IMP: So many deal-breaking notes and yet ... on first sniff ... oddly not unappealing. Watermelon is the predominant note, not something I'd associate with what I want to smell like. But very recognizable and unique.

 

Dabbed on my wrist and in the crook of my arm.

 

WET: I'm shocked by the fact that I don't hate this. It's much more like fruit salad in a bottle than fruity perfume, the latter of which 9 times out of 10 makes me want to wash it off, retch or both.

 

DRYDOWN: Alas, as it dries down the fruity stench rises for me. Not to the point of washing it off but definitely to the point to rapidly hustling it off to the swap box (actually, the lagniappe part of it since the imp I received was only half full anyway).

 

OVERALL: I don't hate hate hate it and that's a lot more than I expected so I may give it a few more fractions of a point just for that.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 1.9.

[boomtownrat]

Urd and Strawberry Moon 2012 are older sisters to 'Tis the Voice of the Lobster. Its woody, musky notes round out and smooth out the fruity notes. Something about this combination is very much in the fruity patchouli vein of Urd, while the strawberry is the same one that's in Strawberry Moon 2012. 'Tis the Voice of the Lobster was a Lab frimp, but it's probably going to be a bottle purchase for me.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Soft green fruits

 

Wet on me - Soft crystalline fruits with a smoky undertone

 

Dry on me - Soft sweet slightly smoky fruits

 

Overall - Nice enough but it didn't grab me

[RunnerInPink]

Wet: Tangy, musty, wood, no fruit notes at all.

 

Drydown: Gets a little lighter and less offensive as it dries...little more of the orange and berry but still very musky on me. Almost manly.

[damonkitty]

This perfume intrigues me. Without looking at the notes I got a patchouli plum scent. I guess the "plum" is the blackberry note. It stands out the most on my skin along with the woody musk note. It is beautiful on the skin. I would wear it more as an evening scent than as an everyday going to work scent. Truly amazing

 

Oh, and I got zero gardenia from this scent. I do not like gardenia at all so I am a happy person. Another blend that if I would have looked at the notes first I would have probably passed on. Don't let the gardenai scare you

Edited November 2, 2013 by damonkitty

[sakurakatie]

From the bottle it smells like watermelon Bubble Yum. I couldn't smell anything floral or mandarine-y.

 

I put it on and for a bit I could still smell watermelon, but now for the past twelve hours all I can smell is a soft strawberry scent.

 

Not bad, but maybe not suiting January. I'll try it again closer to summer.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: WOAH YUM! Notes are exactly as described & it smells really crazy & weird, but at the same time I LOVE it! So juicy & fruity, with a strange woodsy-musk base & a teeny bit of gardenia - I wish I could drink this!

Wet on skin: Something in this is amping like crazy! The strawberry & watermelon I think - I'm noticing a lot of throw straight away! Not quite as amazing as in the imp, but not bad either.

Dry on skin: Ahhhhh! All of the fruits & berries! The weird woodsy-musk base is still there, but faded & there is a slight floral hint, but this is ALL about the fruits & berries, ESPECIALLY the watermelon! Like delicious Summer drink! who knew I loved watermelon notes so much???

After a few hours: About the same as dry. SO PRETTY!

Verdict: I'm going to need to upgrade to a bottle of this & soon. I suspect this will get a LOT of use in Summer!

[Teaker]

A tangy fruit perfume over a woody base. It's quite nice. No something I'd reach for often, and I can't pick out any individual notes.

[kajacana]

Initial application: Sweet and fruity - especially heavy on the watermelon. It smells almost juicy, that's how ridiculously fruity this is (in a good way!).

Drydown: Then it takes a turn for the floral. The sweetness all but disappears, and I get the gardenia petals in full force. Some of the blackberry is still coming through, but only a little.

There was a super-brief stage right as the oil dried on my skin that was somewhere between the above two extremes, and I wish it had stayed like that. The end result is very pretty, it's just too floral for my taste.