Mad Hatter

[antimony]

A gentlemen's lavender-citron cologne unhinged by the feral pungence of black musk and a paroxysm of pennyroyal.

When I first put this on, it reminded me of some kind of food, it wasn't chocolate, but it was probably candy. I couldn't pu my finger on it. When I went back to look at the description of the scent, I realized what it was...

This smells exactly like Lavender Pastilles taste.

It lasted probably through to the beginning of the afternoon... not all day, but it didn't fade right away. Edited September 15, 2007 by Shollin

[xoVictoryxo]

A mans scent- I smell a lavandar minty citrus in this one.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Gorgeous peppermint, and very crisp, the sound a soft-peppermint stick makes when you snap it in half. Mad Hatter is the white of new-fallen snow, but there’s a faint hint of green underneath.

 

Wearing: I really like this. The mint is very strong but not sharp, and after a few minutes it’s somehow warm, that same sort of paradoxical minty warmth that mint tea has. I can smell something darker lurking around the edges of the white mint, and on my left wrist it’s even gone a little bit spicy.

 

I was going to put something else on to wear to work after I shower, but this one has thoroughly seduced me (trying not to get a mental image of being seduced by the actual Mad Hatter… *shudder*)

 

Added after washing with Lush's Freeze shower gel, just as a point of comparison: I identify Freeze as a very "blue" mint (influenced not at all, I'm sure, by the fact that the gel is blue... ), and it's a bit sharper than this - Mad Hatter is both brighter and softer than Freeze, and there's obviously more going on with the scent.

[Sierona]

Nice strong, mint scent, very soft lavendar in the background on me. Definately on the "gonna buy a bottle" list. My guy seems to like this scent too (but on him not so much on me) though on him it seems a bit darker and musky, but totally yummy!.... This would be a great scent for when i need to kick my ass awake in the morning.

[blackrayne]

Oddly enough, neither Chris nor I am overly fond of this one...I think it's the "feral pungence of black musk" that's disagreeing with us here...it's just a little too musky for our tastes.

 

I think I have yet again stumbled upon an ingredient I will have to pass on.

[Vaniclion]

Fresh cool mint... although not mint, since there is no mint in it. Must be the pennyroyal is all I can figure. Or perhaps that's what lavender-citron smells like. Even after wearing this one several times, I still can't trace the lavender or the citron... but my nose isn't the best. It warms up on drydown, and the musk and what /may/ be the lavender comes poking out. It's a lovely pale pastel green in my head which warms up to... well, something that isn't green and isn't red but also isn't the crap brown those two colors make when you put them together. It also isn't Christmas. In fact, it's spring. Early spring, when the mornings are still cold and a blanket is still a friend to cuddle up under before one meets the day.

[Alice Aforethought]

This has the smell of a bag of Mint Imperials!

 

At first, the pepperminty scent is dominant, but as this gradually fades other notes come through - a soft, almost creamy sweetness like the smell of a mountain stream on a cold spring morning, with a very slight herb-and-black-stone harder edge to it.

 

Refreshing yet comforting at the same time. I can feel the crunch of the mint imperial shell on my tongue as I smell it - great stuff!

 

ETA Vaniclion - I don't read the previous reviews before I post them, so we must have similar noses!

Edited July 21, 2004 by Alice Aforethought

[omly]

I am in love! The "mint" (or whatever is making the minty smell) dominates at first. True to other reviewers, it did seem to be more of a peppermint than any other mint. The mint was never harsh though; I don't want to give the wrong idea. After dry down it got even softer and creamier, but not fainter at all. There is a sweet creaminess that almost makes me think of vanilla. Between the vanilla and mint I am smelling my poor nose must be very confused, but I am loving it!

[fragrantgrasse]

I'm not sure Mad Hatter is my cup of tea.

 

I definitley get the "paroxysm of pennyroyal" right off the bat. After a decent interval of time there is a shadow of lavender that emerges but not enough to ward off that pennyroyal...then "feral" black musk creeps in to muddle my mind.

 

It is more of a masculine scent than I like and I am quite certain I wouldn't care for it on the husband.

 

To the swap pile!

[Azrhiaz]

Now, see, this is the amazing thing about BPAL-- these surprises. There have been several oils I just *knew* I'd love that, then, I didn't, but this, omg-- I had no idea I'd like it, let alone adore it beyond reason. I got the Imp for my best guy friend to try-- he's a very "Mad Hatter" sort of personality, and while I adore Carroll, the Cheshire Cat is my favorite character, not the Mad Hatter (still haven't gotten my Imp of Cheshire Cat, btw).

 

On my friend, the mint instantly went oddly sour, but then I tried it on. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. There are no words. This is in my top two BPALs, and I *pray* it won't go anywhere. It worries me that it doesn't appear to be one of the more popular Mad Tea Party blends. If it joins Silentium Amoris on the ashheap, I will weep like a really weeping thing.

 

It starts out with the mint and the pennyroyal, crisp and green, but underneath it, almost instantly, comes this chocolate note-- there isn't one listed, but it turns just Girl Scout Thin Mints on me, absolutely delicious. Then the musk comes out, and it's the best BPAL musk I've smelled yet by far (note to self: the black musk agrees with you). I smell warm and sexy and incredibly delicious. Never did I expect that from the Mad Hatter.

 

Thank you, Beth. This is amazing.

 

Edited to add: I wore this last night to take my munchkins trick or treating. I also wore the lotion I'd added it to. Well, I didn't know beforehand that pennyroyal is a natural insect repellent, but I do now. My ex got completely mosquito-munched, and I didn't get one bite. YAY MAD HATTER. As if I needed a reason to love you more-- mosquitoes, after all, are Florida's state bird.

Edited November 1, 2004 by Azrhiaz

[feline.by.design]

Ah, when I popped off the top of the imp for the Mad Hatter, I was in heaven! It smells like the mint that's sandwiched between chocolate. Peppermint patty-ish, but not that strong. This is what I wanted Calliope and Melpomene to smell like! Do you know what Andes mints are? This smells like them almost perfectly!

 

Excited and thrilled, I swab the center of my forearms, then....

 

SHOOP!

:::sucking sound:::

 

It's amazing. My skin became a sponge and actually INHALED the oil within. Not over hours, we are talking mere *seconds* that the oil became ghost. I can only smell the Mad Hattery goodness if I press my nostrils close to my skin, then a faint fragrance of what seems to be the lavender-citron and "mint" puffs out weakly. It's a little metallic now, missing the previous creaminess that made me associate it with Andes mints. I would LOVE to smear more onto me, but at the moment the Mad Hatter is destined not for me, but for "one of the boys," meaning either my boyfriend or our roommate.

 

It could be that the fragrance is stronger than I can tell, as I did the whole cocaine-snort on my arms in order to engage the effluvia when the oil dried. Perhaps I just need to put more on.

 

It leans towards being a good masculine fragrance, and I would recommend it for those of you who would like to get something that's light. Yes, this would smell lovely on a man.

 

But it would be DIVINE on me!

 

:::contemplates a bigger bottle for herself:::

 

-doreen

 

edited to add: I found out that pennyroyal is a species of mint, the smallest of them all.

Edited November 17, 2004 by feline.by.design

[Astarte]

Initially it smells like a strong mintyish scent, I cant detect any other notes for the first minute whilst on me.

 

After a while it settles down into a slightly sour mint note, I dont know precisely why I feel quite strongly against this. I think past associations with Pandora (the chaos!), have spiked me against liking mint scents on me personally.

 

If I concentrate on sifting through the notes, then I can detect the lavender barely, but I get the feeling this oil is definitely meant for a man and not for delicate 'ol me.

 

Gutted.

[inkstone]

This was a giftie from the Lab.

 

Oddly enough, I don't get the pennyroyal in this at all. It's all minty minty mint with a dash of citrus. From the imp to the wet stages to the drydown. As it dries down, a darkness comes out that I can only pinpoint to the black musk, but otherwise it's a strongly minty scent.

[Diana]

I can detect the citron & lavender in the vial, hiding under the pennyroyal.

 

As I put it on, the Pennyroyal takes off and running as the predominant scent. There is sort of a bitter undertone to the pennyroyal (mint! mint! mint!) but that fades away after 5 minutes or so.

 

However, the minty quality of the pennyroyal stays on. And on. I was hoping the citron-lavender would make more of an effort to be smelled, but they were fairly subtle in the background. After a while the musk & pennyroyal become a powdery soft scent with a hint of mint.

 

This is quite nice, but not what I expected. I was hoping for more of a Gemini substitute. While this is slightly close, not close enough. Though, I still really like this and may buy a bigger bottle at some point in the future.

 

Also, was it just me, or did anyone feel kind of funny after wearing this oil? I'm hoping it was the breakfast of pizza and not the pennyroyal.

[Northernminx]

Lavendar and a sort of buttery mint scent, this was subtle, a little herbal, light with a touch of musk. It was not overtly masculine but I could see a man wearing it though I personally considered it a more unisex scent. gorgeous, sophisticated and just a touch on the surprising side with all that buttery mintyness

[Witch's Dagger]

Mad Hatter

 

This was a freebie from the lab. Thanks!

 

Preconceived notions: None

 

In the vial: Mint, and something sweet and saccharine smelling. Not really my thing.

 

On me: On my wrist, some spicy lavender is grounding the saccharine mint, but the wafting scent is still there. There’s a certain sweet, floaty scent in Nine Mysteries that someone thought was lotus. Whatever it is, it’s in this too. It was better in Nine Mysteries.

 

In a few minutes: More of the spicy lavender (yes, there’s a spice part and a lavender part, and the lavender is also spicy in its own right) is helping, but it’s still way too saccharine sweet. This is like an infusion of peppermint, hibiscus flowers, rose hips, honey, sugar, and nutra sweet in the air, and some lavender closer in.

 

Later: Still too sweet and minty. This really isn’t my thing so far. The lavender and spices are nice when I can actually smell them, but they don’t seem to like to come out much.

 

Later: starting to fade.

 

Overall: It’s not a bad scent, it’s just not me. Off to swap! (Actually, it was already promised, which is why I had to hurry up and review it before some of the others).

[wolfie13]

This was very changeable on me.

 

In the vial: I smell mostly lavender.

 

Wearing wet: The scent totally flip-flops and becomes all pennyroyal (mint)

and musk on me - lavender nearly disappears. Smells very strong and masculine.

 

For 15 or 20 minutes it turns into a horrible scent reminiscent of insect repellent.

 

Drydown: Much better - it mellows out a lot, becoming a soft powder-y mint (musks can go powdery on me so that bit could just be me). Not super-excited about it, but it might be nice to have around in the summer, but I feel that I'm still on the hunt for the perfect "lighter" and/or minty scent for myself.

[Tesseljoan]

First sniff: mostly the sharp bite of Pennyroyal, similar to Pain. I always find it a bit of an odd note, but I like it as well.

 

Drying: This one, however, is more surprising than Pain, but it's hard to pin down the notes. It stays fresh all along, but there's also a pleasant deeper note that's somewhat snuggly. I'm guessing it's the musk, but I don't get any seperate notes other then the pennyroyal.

 

Summary: Fresh, sharp at first, dries down fresh but mellow. Need to wear this more!

[Gin]

This smelled very chaotic when I applied it, but after a few moments, it calmed down. The pennyroyal is dominant, giving it a minty scent that conjures images of the French Mint candies my mum used to buy and then mint tea. I don't smell the black musk on me at all, which I think is a good thing. This is definitely more soft and subtle than I imagine the Mad Hatter to be. What a pleasant surprise!

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: It makes me think of candy, a bit. It's minty alternative Altoids - one of the other brands that you find at stores like Trader Joe's, sitting by the cash register. Pennyroyal tickles my nose a bit; the lavender is invisible.

 

On me: Whoa. Musk and pennyroyal mint. There still is very little lavender but something sweet is burbling beneath the dominant notes. Almost fruity. Again, it brings to mind some of the orange-mints or violet-mints that are sold at health food stores.

[dreamingjune]

This scent is so beautifully unique and unexpected. At first I feared that the mint would make this one unwearable for me, but it is quite different from the other mint bpals I've tried such as Nine Mysteries or Envy.

 

I'm not sure if it is the pennyroyal in this one or the black musk, but it turns out absolutely magical. There is definitely something dusty and antique smelling about this which I would bet is the pennyroyal. The lavender and citrus men's cologne of the description seems to be more of a theme in the background. Then the black musk seems to give it a warmer feel which makes it much more wearable and inviting.

 

There is definitely a sense of fantasy and escapism about this scent. I would imagine it would be a great one to wear while reading a Charles De Lint or Neil Gaiman book on a rainy day.

 

I wouldn't say that this is an everyday scent for me, but it certainly has a prominent place in my collection and is destined to be a 5ml purchase.

[surf-tormented]

It reminds me of Villian, except the pennyroyal is stong and that makes me like it more than Villian, but both remind me of something better worn by a man.

[cormeretrix]

i got this as a bonus off of an ebay purchase; it was okay in the imp (kinda manly, in that grown up very important gentleman of leisure kind of way), but not me.

 

also, pennyroyal. i blame it all on the pennyroyal.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Clean lavender.

 

Second Impression: Wow, this is so old-fashioned. It's masculine, but I get soft, elderly man rather than manly-man. The lavender citron combination is fresh and clean that yields into a lightly musky and slightly powdery drydown.

 

Final Analysis: If I had a grandfather, this is how I would want him to smell.

[Reinaluna]

The Mad Hatter; This is actually the first minty blend that I have found to be wearable. When first applied it is all mint of course but the drydown is a sort sweet buttercream aroma. The Penyroyal tones down the black musk and makes this smell great. Im glad a have a bottle.