Masquerade

[iiinterstate]

A festive, dazzling blend, layered in mystery and intrigue. Patchouli, ambergris, carnation and orange blossom.

Woo! Orange zest and carnation right away! This has a spicy kick I wasn't expecting.

Later on: Now I can smell the patchouli and probably the ambergris too, although I can't pinpoint that one so well. For the most part, its orange and spice. A lovely fall scent. Maybe I'll hang on to this imp and see how it smells around October.

[enderfem]

Imp: Dark patchouli and ambergris with a hint of the orange blossom. I like this.

 

Wet: A really dark, dingy scent. None of the carnation and little of the orange blossom are coming through. Very interesting.

 

Drydown: Oh man, this gets all deep and complex and the orange blossom comes out more, but the darker notes still dominate. I'm glad I have an imp of this to play with.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – The candylike sweetness of the orange blossom, with just a hint of the patchouli underneath

 

Wet on me – Fresh and bright, warm and inviting. The orange and the carnation bubble along, with the ambergris in a supporting role and the patchouli barely these at all

 

Dry on me – This really is disarmingly enticing, there isn’t much waft to speak of, but the on skin scent is warm and sensual without being overtly ‘sexy’

 

Overall – I’m very surprised by this blend, I found it very confidence inspiring. As quite a shy individual I tend to hide behind comforting blends, but this made me feel more confident in myself, not that this will make much sense to anybody else

[NinjaCowboy]

Interestingly dark and bright at the same time. I get the vibrant orange note, but its deepened with thick spices and the earthyness from the patchouli. This is good, because orange usually ends up being too sweet on me. THis one works out beautifully. I feel like I"m sparkling, at the same time as giving off an aura of mysterious shadow. Very nice scent! Definately will be using up my imp.

[trollgirl]

I wanted this to be like Lush’s Karma. I got an imp of this because I heard they were similar. I’ve loved Karma from the first time I smelled it, and I’ve always resisted buying it for some reason.

 

In vial: Incense, patchouli and a hint of orange. The orange isn’t as upfront as I hoped it would be. It’s hiding behind all the other scents, which I can’t really identify save for the patchouli.

 

Wet: I smell the orange a little more now. It does remind me a little bit of Karma, but where Karma was bright, cheery and sunny, this is dark and a little scary. I smell the orange through a thick cloud of sweet, woodsy incense. This smells like Karma is a happy innocent girl going to a ball and she’s dancing with a mysterious masked stranger who’s leading her across the dancefloor and down a dark corridor. You see flashes of her happy orange dress every so often but they are so fleeting. It's quite pretty here, and I do like it.

 

Dry: Okay, so the mysterious stranger took Karma down a dark corridor and murdered her. The orange is gone and all I get is the patchouli and a dark and sweet incense-y thing. A little woodsy, and fading fast. And as it was drying off I caught a whiff of...burnt rubber. Err...

 

Overall: A little too dark for me, I think. Definitely mysterious. It smells like a shop where they sell magick paraphernalia and goth clothes and burn waaaaay too much incense.

Edited April 17, 2008 by trollgirl

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is veeeeeeeery similar to the cologne

known as 4711....neroli and orange dominate the first sniff from

this exquisitely well-aged bottle....

 

once applied cedarwood and resins dance about with the the orange

and neroli...a very smoky quality...huge throw and hippie-ish....a touch

of bitterness...this is truly unique and i am swooning over this scent!!

 

if you have not tried masquerade and wish to throw caution to the wind,

give it a whirl...it's just that amazing

[couscous]

Masquerade has one of the most perfect scent names. You can't smell this without immediately thinking "festive"! It's sparkling, almost effervescent orange and neroli, with spicy carnations and deep patchouli backing it and giving it depth.

 

Very fruit punch and incense, almost like an infinitely more wearable Fortunato.

 

I'll be wearing this one around holiday time- if beth had made this into a yule LE, she wouldn't be able to keep it in stock .

[ElinaMakropulos]

Masquerade is amazing. When first applied it is a very strong patchouli scent, but not in the nasty, headshoppy way that I usually associate with patchouli. It's a soft, friendly patchouli. Ever so slowly the carnation and orange blossom peek out. More than anything it reminds me of spiced oranges, and is incredibly sexy.

[voodoocatwoman]

All I get from this is herbal. Patchouli?? Definitely no carnation. No orange blossom.

 

I may try it again later and see if anything happens...

[isisonearth]

In the imp: Orange and spices...a rich and golden citrus.

 

On the skin: Still very heavy on the citrus but it has taken on a very woodsy character.

 

Drydown: Very similar to LUSH Karma soap just slightly more floral.

 

I think this one is headed for the hubby's imp box. He is a major consumer of Karma so I think he will enjoy it more than I will. I so strongly identify the scent with him that I can't see myself wearing it.

[loverstreet]

I wonder if the formulation on this has changed. Like some of the last posters, I'm not getting any type of carnation, orange or even patchouli - just WOOD! I was thinking sandalwood, but perhaps, as sookster said, its more of a cedar. But, dude, whatever it is, its strong!

[mgrazulis]

In the vial: heavy ambergris and patchouli

 

Wet: The orange blossom comes to the top with creamy carnation

 

Dry: I am SOOO swept into in this! My nose loves what becomes a kiss of cocoa in the background. A very nice complement to the orange blossom and patchouli. Everything is subtly blended now. Just glorious!!! Super yummy and dark!!!

 

This is the kind of patchouli I love! A bit like Lush's Karma--but darker, blended. I may have to get a bottle of this!!

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: patchouli and orange.

 

wet on skin: same.

 

dry down: a slight spicy note is in here, it must be the carnation. mostly though, it's the patchouli and orange, which is a good combination.

 

in all: a good scent for fall, winter and the early parts of spring, i'd wear this whenever i felt like i needed a little more sun to warm me.

 

 

[greenranger]

Wet, strong patchouli.

 

Drying, I can smell the orange blossom and the carnation. Sweet and spicy and heady. We'll see if it can resist the undertow effect of ambergris on my skin.

 

It's not even fully dry yet, and, once again a scent with ambergris in it is vanishing. I would have liked to be wrong.

[crebbsgirl]

Oh I really wanted to love you Masquerade, I really did. In the bottle you were perfect. Wet, you were nearly so. I was a huge fan of Icon, which is one of the reasons I got this imp. Unfortunately, this is the only BPAL scent I've ever had to scrub off of myself. Something in here just went wrong on me. About 20 minutes in, there was a sickly sweet scent that just showed up out of nowhere. I am tempted to blame the ambergris, but I'm not sure.

[anguissette]

Patchouli, patchouli, patchouli.

I was hoping the carnation would come through and save it but no such luck.

[Kimbernunk]

PATCHOULI. The rest of it (the non-PATCHOULI-raging part) smells extremely peppery and pleasant. I end up smelling very much like someone dumped black pepper into a bottle of patchouli oil and let it hang out for a while. Hubby loves this on me so I think I will pass it to him and see if he likes it as well on himself. I'm not huge on smelling quite this strongly of patchouli - I like it to be a bit better balanced.

[hushmesilent]

Uggghhh! The second I open this it hits me like a ton of bricks - sour patchouli. Not the earthy, warm kind - the brittle, green, sour kind that smells a bit like rotting lemons.

 

Straight to swaps, do not pass go - do not collect 200 dollars.

 

So sad:(

[tacey]

Masquerade

 

This was disappointing but informative. Now I know -- patchouli can overwhelm a blend and drown out everything else completely. I got some ambergris on application, then patchouli during dry down, followed by more patchouli, winding up with a soft breath of patchouli late in the day.

 

I disliked the initial patchouli (dirty, sharp...all those things), but that final breath was lovely. Too bad there was nothing else left by that time...

[Iceblink]

Powdery carnation and salty ambergris. And some patchouli--I get no orange blossom here. The end result is rather hairspray-like. It's not awful but it's not something I want to smell like all day.

[zankoku_zen]

I don't get as much of the carnation from this blend as I would like... this is an interesting patchouli --- just a bit powdery, with hints of carnation and orange blossom.

 

I think this is a good starter/newbie patchouli blend. I can't believe I missed it. I'm not a fan of patchouli but this blend is almost pretty to me.

[taramarie]

On me, Masquerade is a lot of orange and some carnation over patchouli. It's a lot nicer than I thought it would be.

[Rosaleen Dhu]

Oh, this is wonderful. First applied it's orange and for me a bit off-putting, but that only lasts a minute or two. After that it's lovely warm and sexy as hell. The carnation brightens it just enough, and it's a very close to the skin scent.

[innocent]

Hmm... the patchouli and carnation combine in strange ways on my skin. The scent almost reminds me of vetiver, but without the head-piercing quality that vetiver has. Not for me.

[Lamia]

This was fucking amazing.

 

It will never dethrone my kings, "Lucifer" and "Wulfric", but it briefly came damn close. This started quite green-tree, wait, that's rather pine-ish, and awfully powerful, oh, wait, no, that masculine pine is easing up and it's becoming muskier, almost vetiver with the intensity of the patchouli. Shortly after application, my legs were actually weak from the scent - "This (I thought to myself) is what vampires should smell like", musky and cruel and smiling and painfully sexy and male. Alas, this is a very quick fade on me. Probably for the best, I'd be forced to lock myself in a room and have my way with myself for hours otherwise.