Copulating Mice

[Mellifluous]

Bergamot, clove, hazelnut, pecan, lavender, tonka, and thyme.

Oddly enough, this smelled very creamy to me out of the bottle. Maybe a mixture of the tonka, hazelnut, and pecan?
Wet on my skin there is a slight freshness from the bergamot and herbs, but this is still waaay creamy goodness. Which is actually a big change for me as most creamy, milky scents only stay very close to my skin and can only be appreciated hours later. Either way, I'm really liking this! Dry, this is still mainly a creamy smell on me with kind of a provincal feel. Like a nice milk tea, but not really too herbal.. just creamy with a little bit of the herbs. I dont notice the nuts individually at any point while wearing this, it is a very well balanced perfume on me.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting hazlenut, pecan, and tonka, with just a touch of lavender and I think the bergamont? On my skin, bergamont first, with the fuzzy nuttiness underneath. Tonka amps over the orange and the fuzzy nuts (hehe nuts), so there's a bit of an creaminess to this.

Edited February 14, 2011 by Venneh

[cherrycherry]

This is milky on me, with an undertone of nutty om-nomness. It makes me crave a hazlenut milkshake, even though I've never had one before. Interesting.

[edenssixthday]

Copulating Mice - Lavender is my nemesis, bergamot rarely smells good to me, clove can go either way, and nutty scents are generally pretty awful on my skin, so I didn't have high hopes for this scent, and I'm glad. While I can't smell the lavender at all (?!?!?!) or the bergamot (?!?!?!), the hazelnut and pecan absolutely blast out of this scent like horses out of the starting gate. It's all warm, creamy nuts all the time... with just the faintest hint of thyme in the far, far background, which is actually a really nice, fresh touch and compliments the nuts nicely, if they were more well-behaved and didn't amp to high heaven on my skin. I can see how with the right skin chemistry, the fresh, almost crispness of the thyme could really balance out the rich, deep nuttiness of the pecan and hazelnut. Anyway, on me, it's just not great. I think I wouldn't mind this in a room spray, but I don't like scents this foody and rich and on my skin, as I find them cloying and unpleasant.

[countessmouse]

Like Edens Sixth Day, I'm getting a lot of warm, creamy nuttiness here. Nuts in the imp, nuts on my skin. No herbs, no lavender , no bergamot . Maybe they'll eventually appear, but it's all nuts, all the time at the moment. I'm not even getting clove, which is odd because I usually amp it. Wait, wait...there's something herbally lurking in the background now...

 

Not unpleasant...just not what I had expected/hoped for.

[cfrancesca]

Initially I get a soft, nutty lavender and bergamot blend, which actually smells much nicer than I'd imagined they'd would together, it's a very interesting scent. The tonka really starts amping after a few minutes and the blend settles into a creamy, nutty, sweet soft, herbal and citrusy scent. At times it makes me think of Earl Grey with milk. I actually find it reminiscent of Sudha Segara.

[Little Bird]

This is probably the Lupercalia blend that I was most excited for, as I hoped it would be kinda like Harimise (one of my favorite blends ever - such a unique mix of clean & sweet), with its nutty notes mixed with floral and clean tones. Unfortunately, it's nothing like Harimise and I can't really smell the notes that I was most looking forward to.

 

In the bottle and on my skin, this is mostly lavender and bergamot. The lavender is cool, floral, and slightly soapy, and the bergamot is lemony and a bit sour. Not good. As it dries down, I'm getting hints of the herbal thyme, but none of the nutty notes, tonka, or clove.

 

Copulating Mice leans unpleasantly towards being soapy and too sour on my skin . Very crushed that this doesn't work on me... maybe it will improve with age.

[Lydialove]

I'm going to need to retest this because what I and my husband are smelling just cannot be right.

 

After applying I could smell a nuttiness at first but also an underlying... something...

 

I thrust my wrist under my husband's nose and he blurted out "Solder! Hot solder! You smell like fixing electronics."

 

After sniffing again myself I didn't have that exact sense memory... but I did smell a bit like the moment after you blow out a candle. It's a hot smell. Hot like heat, not hot like sexy.

 

I did ask my husband if soldering made him feel at all amorous (I, um... may not have used those exact words) and he quirked an eyebrow and said, succinctly, "No."

[Teaotter]

When I first tried this, it was smooth creamy nuttiness, drowned by bug spray. So I set it aside for a month.

 

In the imp: Creamy nuts and bitter bergamot.

 

Wet: The nuts come out in full force -- mostly the pecans, but I catch a hint of the hazelnuts, too -- followed almost immediately by a bright blast from the thyme.

 

Dry: This is utterly lovely! The nuts and tonka make a smooth, sweet creaminess underneath the citrus/green of the bergamot and thyme. I wasn't able to pick out the lavender or clove at all.

[MCS4096]

Mostly a creamy, nutty flat base with a sharp bergamot and lavender halo. This is alright, and I really wanted to like it because of the name, but it's not instant love. As it dries down some I do start to really like it though.. I echo cfrancesca-- this is kinda like tea with milk

[Invidiana]

Okay, Copulating Mice wins the award for weirdest scent memory trigger to date. The way my skin perverts this scent it turns into the smell inside this old house we used to rent; a dusty woody mothball-ridden smell with faded air freshener. I really don't get it, because this should have been creamy and nutty on me as others have described it, not dusty and bitter, even chemical. Sad.

[DifferentDances]

Decant!

 

Imp: Foody pecan, astringent lavender.

 

Wet: Whoa - soapy herbs duking it out with a hint of sweetness and the nutty scents. Chaos!

 

Drydown: Mildly sweet hazelnut with aftershave overtone.

 

Dry: Vaguely warm nuts. Very faint.

 

My rating: 2/5

[surlygurl]

Oh wow yum! This is different! I really didn't expect much out of this blend, but WOAH! First off comes nuts toasted with a little bit of cloves. Quite tasty but not foody. I was expecting crazy amounts of bergamot, but that just give the clovey nuts a background/depth. As it dries, a touch of thyme joins the party. If there is any lavender, it either comes in on the extreme drydown or doesn't show at all on my skin. This is really good! Unisex, slightly spicy, slightly herbal, a little creamy, a little sweet.

 

Depending on what it does in the extreme drydown and how long it lasts (for good or ill), this may be a bottle purchase.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Weird soft brightness. The pecan is certainly present.

 

Wet: Now the bergamot and the clove are showing up. The pecan note is not the almost dried-out pecan, but more like if you snapped the pod off the tree, the green pod, and tried to open it to get at the nut inside. Part of my youth was spent living next to a pecan orchard, so I well know all the different scents of the pecan nut and its tree.

 

The dry-down: Getting hints of the lavender and thyme, with the tonka not adding sweetness per se, but more of a rounding out. This is a strange morphing scent. I had to try it because of the pecan. It is interesting, but not really me, as I find that the notes clash somewhat throughout.

Edited March 19, 2011 by thekittenkat

[hkhm]

bottle: creamy pecan with spicy bergamot.

 

wet: this is far nuttier once applied, lots of pecan, hazelnut and tonka. the clove is a delicious backnote.

 

dry: this stays pretty true to the wet phase as it dries.

[midnight_aeval]

This blend is one that is almost like a completely different fragrance at every stage.

 

From the decant I get mostly lavender, thyme, and something that makes it almost foody - an herbal/foody.

 

When I first apply it to my skin it is FRUIT LOOPS. WHAT. (For about 5 min)

 

Then it becomes a little like lavender-cake-with-citrus-cream-cheese-frosting.

 

And finally about an hour later it is the best, vanilla/cream with a hint of nuttiness.

 

I don't think there is a stage of this I don't like. Maybe it's just my skin chem that produces this multi-faceted fragrance, but I'm enjoying Copulating Mice immensely!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Richly nutty on its surface, with the rest swimming in it’s depths. This is the strongest non-almond nut scent I’ve encountered in the catalog. I am not sure that thyme was the best idea for this blend. It stands out rather, while the other elements seem to be playing well with the nuts. The lavender/bergamot/tonka combination is quite lovely. Wet: Ah, that is what the thyme is for. It now turns the lavender to make a more springlike affect. This is still strongly nutty, tough a touch less aggressively in the bottle. If anything the non nut elements are even more striking on the skin and the clove comes out a little, though itr stays soft. This is beautifully blended, with the nuts lending a warmth to the other, more outdoorsy elements. I manages to invoke cookies and tea and spring gardens at evening all at once. Dry: Less striking on the dry down. Because the clove has more staying power, it ends up even with the nuts and thyme. The result is pleasant enough, but disappointing compared to the opening volleys and a little odd. It is certainly wearable, but leaves me a little sad.

[zankoku_zen]

Lavender, bergamot and pecan on wet. And then it dries to a soft lavender, pecan and tonka blend. Very nutty. Slightly foody.

 

I am not fond of nutty blends, but this one was surprisingly pleasant.

[PurringPulsar]

Copulating Mice

 

In the imp: lavender and nuts! This smells really nice actually.

Wet on skin: lavender and thyme now, but with sweet nuts.

Dry on skin: this is so nice! I love the nuts in here. The hazelnut and pecan smell rich and nutty, and with a lovely roasted scent, but not at all caramelised. (I think the lab needs more nut scents!) There is some sweetness from the cloves and tonka, a very sophisticated, almost musky sweetness, with warmth from the spice. The bergamot adds a hint of citrus. After the nuts, the strongest notes are the herbs-the lavender is strongest but it seems to give way to the thyme, which gives the whole scent a fragrance reminiscent of a summer evening in Provence.

After a while: this gets better. Am I the only person who loves the BPAL nut scents, especially hazelnut? I think it smells smooth yet rich, almost creamy without smelling like cream, and it adds a lovely base to this scent, which is now glorious clove incense. Almost like sweet resin speckled with spices and a hint of lavender clinging around. It reminds me of the Hermes Trimegistus v1 prototype, only with a bit more spice? I think it’s the tonka that makes it so appealing.

Verdict: another Shunga surprise! I wasn’t expecting much from this but this is a beautiful mix of sweet lavender with an almost resinous spiciness, a hint of herbs, and a delightful nutty undertone that smells smooth, warm and almost gourmand but not quite. The clove is so good in here, as is the lavender, everything combining to make a very mellow and cosy scent that’s quite unlike anything else. I’d love to see more pecan scents now…

Is it a keeper? yes, I need to order a bottle!

If you like this, try: Mercury, Paris, Sybaris

[brilliantcat]

This was my sleeper hit of the Lupers. I got herbally, nutty, creamy with distinct lavender. The thyme and bergamot faded pretty quickly and it was all beautiful sweet creamy nutty notes with a bit of bite from the clove and a haze of lavender. I absolutely loved it! Definitely getting a bottle and I'll be keeping my eyes open for unloved bottles in sales posts to pick up a backup or two.

[feline.by.design]

Hunh.

 

Copulating Mice at first swipey-swab was a roaring nutfest. The pecans were having a little pecan-party, but then the party was crashed by the lavender, making it smell as if the florals were taking over. It came across as a very 'generic perfume' scent for a hot minute, which was really perplexing!

 

Within five minutes, however, it morphs into a creamy-spicy fragrance that reminiscent of a very bold chai tea with milk, and then my skin kicks up the cloves like it's going out of style. Copulating Mice eases back into the feisty chai tea territory, or maybe 'punk-ass gingerbread man' territory. It's sweet without being cloying; instead, it's a cosy scent--like if Sudha Segara had a baby with Three Witches.

 

Ah, I smell edible! Nomnomnomnomnom!

[animalcule]

I love this and am so glad I tracked down a bottle!

 

Once on my skin the nuts don't read as 'nutty' to me at all - they combine into a soft, sweet, honeyed-cream smell which is deliciously backed by the herbs (I love sage and thyme), lavender (which is often a problem for me - not here), slight spicey note (from the clove I guess - it's not standing out as CLOVE to me though), and the citrus feel from the bergamot. It's very much a milky tea scent, for me. And delicious!

[milo]

Wet, a fresh spice, if that makes sense. As it dries, it becomes quite creamy, but still with the lovely spice. I had originally written this off as I DO NOT like hazelnut in perfumes. I don't really get it here. This kind of reminds me a bit of Gypsy, but with a bit more spice and cream and no vanilla. I really like this, and wish I'd tried it before the lupers went down. I'd like to track down at least a decant or preferable a partial as this is quite lovely. I just don't want to think of rodents copulating however. As long as I don't associate the scent with the name, this is a WIN!!

[Incendiare]

This is so light in the imp. I first smell an indistinct creaminess immediately followed by lavender. On me, it's not different: light butteriness layered over medicinal lavender. Weird, I thought I would get more nuts out of this? To my nose, it is like a creamier version of Paris. I'm normally not a fan of lavender, but I'll admit that the longer it's on me, the more I am enjoying it. Glad I only have a decant of it, though.

[tawaen]

This reminds me of being at a festival of some kind and walking past the little cart where they sell the roasted nuts. There's a nice spicy quality to the drydown from the clove. Very smooth, and a little sweet and YUM!