Masquerade

[arabella]

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

First Impression: Sharp - almost peppery - and slightly woody.

Dries down to: A very interesting, woody, oriental blend. Again, I'm finding it hard to pinpoint any particular notes, although I think there might be cedar and/or patchouli and/or sandalwood in this.

Additional comments: Seeing the description, it begins to make sense. It's as if carnation, patchouli, ambergris and orange blossom all showed up at the costume ball wearing the same disguise and are now trying to confuse the other guests by pretending to be one another. I think this one is destined to become a room scent, as it's one I'd love to be surrounded by but I'm not sure if I want to wear it.

Lasted: A few hours

Rating: As a perfume - 3 out of 5. As a room scent - 5 out of 5.

[QueenFae]

This is a sharp, spicy, heavy on the incense scent. It has a bite to it that I didn't expect. The patchouli is the top note, with the orange close behind. The ambergris is also evident. I think this would be a lovely room scent, but I don't know if it's something I would necessarily wear. It's starting to soften into something really nice the longer I wear it. I'd like to try this on my man.

[Dark Seraphim]

Bottle: Reminded me a lot of citrus sage, which is never a good sign since sage is one of the single notes that I generally dislike. However, it's not too bad since the citrus scent dominates more here.

 

On skin: Reminds me a lot of men's cologne or "Old Spice". Quite a masculine scent and a little musky.

 

Honestly, it turns out that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I actually liked it. I guess it had to do with it being an orange patchouli blend rather than anything with sage in it. No big bottle though. 5/10.

[cupide430]

Masquerade

 

Strong patchouli with a hint of orangey citrus. As this dries the orange is coming out a bit more but this is a fairly strong patchouli blend. It is getting slightly incensy as it dries as well.

[Monster]

Whew! Very nice in the vial! I like this a lot, although I feel like it may bee too masculine for me.

 

Lots of patchouli, a bitter orange undertone, and maybe a bit of lemon?

To me, this is the male companion to Urd.

 

After while it fades to a really soft and beautiful musky patchouli scent. I'm gonna buy my boyfriend a 5ml of this! Gorgeous!

[Little Bird]

Mmm... patchouli...

 

I love patchouli. I would love to have a few dozen 10 ml bottles of nothing but patchouli oil. Anyhow.

 

When I first put on masquerade, it is all wonderful patchouli. So perfectly spicy and earthy and glorious. Then, after about five minutes, the orange blossom creeps in and starts to ruin things. Orange blossom always smells something like burnt orange rinds on me. I can smell a definite burnt orange underneath my lovely patchouli now.

 

The orange blossom has faded considerably after an hour and I can smell the spicy floral of the carnation. It's blending quite well with the patchouli and I love that the patchouli is still the dominant note.

 

This will never be a full bottle purchase for me (thanks to the orange blossom) but I think I can go through my imp on days when I don't mind waiting an hour for the fragrance to settle down.

[VelvetSky]

I'm very happy to add a review of Masquerade, thanks to the ever-generous minilux who gave me the opportunity to try this perfume.

 

This is a truly beautiful, deep, profound patchouli blend with an undercurrent of orange that lifts the earthiness of the patchouli in a lovely way. Tremendous lasting power and really good throw. If you love patchouli, I think it would be difficult not to love Masquerade.

 

Also, I've been thinking of this as a very 'medieval' blend. It smells mysterious and old to me...and those are very good things.

[AlaskaSnows]

In the Bottle: I get cedar and bitter orange. Smells like an expensive and devastatingly sexy men's cologne.

 

Dry: the dryer it gets the more deep dark patchouli joins the cedar and bitter orange. It smells like the inside of a Psychic Eye I used to frequent.

 

This is GORGEOUS!!!!!!! I don't think I can wear it as it is far too masculine, but I will make my husband wear it, and wear it OFTEN!!!

 

1 to 10: 9 Buy Again: Yes

[loveandprozak]

This one started out lovely on me -- lots of orange blossom, but ended up being a complete patchouli-fest, which is one note I really don't usually agree with. I can't really give a longer/better review than this because I ended up having to wash it off.

[turbojenn]

AH, this one made me tear up a little bit this morning when I sniffed it. I *have* to get a bottle of this. It smells so similarly to a perfume that my second mom, Carol, wore, and she made her transition last year. The spicy orange-ness of this one is so like Carol, it makes me really happy to smell it. So I will wear this one in her honor, and love it for many a year. The bottle will be ordered on Monday!

[atomic*orange]

In bottle: bitter orange blossom and smokiness. The orange blossom is so strong that it is nearly off-putting...too close to neroli.

 

Wet, on skin: The orange blossom really stands out. It's dusky and more bitter, juicy, and less sharp than neroli. I'm liking this. Coupled with the ambergris, the scent is all bitter smoke, mysterious and sexy.

 

Dry, on skin: Oranges and soft smoke. There's definitely patchouli in there, but it's nicely balanced with the ambergris and the effect is smooth, warm and gently earthy. No dirty hippies here...or carnation, for that matter. I always look forward to carnation, but it's not showing up here. The scent stays close to the skin. Hours later I'm left with smooth patchouli. Even got a few compliments.

 

Very nice, very sensual, makes me think of eating tangerines in the fall. Soft and mysterious and I'm definitely going for a big bottle.

 

Also, a big thanks to the Lab for including this as a frimp. The Labbies ROCK!

[brownbear]

This one started out being mostly patchouli to me. Then as it dried it turned into mostly orange blossom. Much better. Occasionally I'd get these weird notes that were something like B.O. (I swear it wasn't coming from me!), but those faded away. This scent lasted a really long time and turned out quite nice. I just had to make it past that weird drying stage.

[sarahj]

Masquerade

 

in vial: orange blossom

 

wet: patchouli and orange blossom

 

dry: a nice blend of patchouli and orange blossom...fades after 3 hours

 

verdict: I wish it lasted longer...I will use the imp but I don't need a big bottle

[Fefferbella]

This smells like a woman's version of Old Spice on my skin. My boyfriend likes it, but it too spicey for me.

[Orodemniades]

Omg it's my nemesis, orange blossom! Oh, it's all so wrong, so soapy and orange blossomy, so bitter and gah! Thankfully it dies down, and hours later becomes a lovely spicy scent reminiscent of Spellbound, but without the rose. Unfortunately, I can't wear Spellbound either...

 

Off to the sales it goes!

 

Oro

[Miss Lynx]

Ooh, very nice! In the imp I smelled patchouli more than anything, but once on, inside of seconds, the orange blossom came out very strongly, with a bit of something else sweet that I think is the carnation with it -- those two seem to go together well; I think I have that same pairing in one or two other scents.

 

So while most people have described it as mainly a patchouli scent, on me it seems to be mainly floral -- but a nice, grounded, earthy, spicy floral. Even freshly applied, it's got that rich, multilayered depth that a lot of the best BPAL scents do, and a slightly intoxicating edge to it. It's definitely very feminine, but not to the point of being overly girly or cloyingly sweet. I don't get the patchouli as a distinct note at all -- it's just an earthy, grounding presence in the background, which is exactly the way I like it. It's actually very close to Vixen, which is one of my favourites.

 

After settling in for a while, though (around half an hour to an hour), the orange blossom seems to subside and it becomes less Vixen-ish. Something sweeter and sharper starts to dominate -- not sure if it's the carnation or the ambergris or a bit of both. It's not bad at this phase, but it's a little closer to the kind of sweet floral I really don't like, and loses some of its richness. Still no patchouli except as a slight background presence.

 

And after around 2 hours, it's virtually gone from my wrists, except as a very faint trace. But it does actually seem to hang in longer, and with the orange blossom note that I like best, in more sheltered areas like my cleavage and the crooks of my arms. That seems to happen with a lot of scents - my wrists don't really hold scent well.

 

All in all, I really like this, though the less orangey, almost-too-sweet stage keeps it from being a perfect scent for me. Don't know if I'd buy a bottle, though, because the phase of it that I like best is so close to Vixen that if I had a bottle of that (as I fully intend to), I don't know if I'd need both. Kind of like with Chimera and Bengal. But we'll see...

 

Grade: B+

[Wench457]

Masquerade: I confess, I was afraid to try this oil. In fact, I finally had to make myself pull imps from the box to test at random, because I found myself avoiding testing the "scary" ones - read: those containing patchouli. Today Masquerade got pulled out of the box, so here goes.

 

ITB: patchouli, with a hint of citrus.

 

On: the throw is orange blossom and carnation, but closer up, all I can smell is the patchouli. It's actually not bad as long as I don't sniff my wrists.

 

Dry: Well, this oil really surprised me. The patchouli faded way down, and ended up giving the scent a roundness which was actually pleasant. While Masquerade was still not a scent for me, neither was it the "Eww, get if off!" I usually experience with scents containing patchouli. Maybe there's hope for me yet.

[little_miss_gogo]

Mmmm!! this one is super yummy.

in the bottle i can smell mostly orange blossom, with hints of clove-y carnation, and the patchouli; but its in the background, subtle and woody.

When it is first applied to the skin and still wet, it is very rich, spicy, and woody. With the smell of orange peel and blossom, along with a light floral smell. it reminds me of some lush bath bomb from back in the day that i forget the name of.

as it dries down and blends with my skin, it becomes spicy, sexy and delicious! It is very potent and has a lot of staying power. I can always smell it on my clothes for days. the longer it wears, the more the patchouli takes over the blend. [in a good way!] ooh! I should also add that I have to be in a patchouli mood for this one, because it's pretty heavy. Mmm.

[maewitch]

Hrm.

 

This is an odd one. I can't say there's anything wrong here. It's faintly citrusy, a little spicy from the carnation, and has a faintly muskish basenote peeping through. It smells oddly mellow for something with both patchouli and ambergris.

 

I don't dislike it, and there's nothing discordant to throw me off, but I can't say I'm loving this either.

 

I think this one is a swap.

[judas_kiss]

Origin: gimp from a forumite.

 

In the imp: High-pitched orange blossom and darker, earthier tones.

 

On me (wet): This smells just like Dracul in its early stages on me. The orange blossom is very dominating here with a little carnation to spice it up. There is something dark lurking in the background which serves to anchor the scent and keep it from getting too out of control and floral.

 

Drydown: Hello, patchouli!! This scent goes dark on me after about an hour and it is lovely. It is as if the masquerade ball has come to an end and I am left in its aftermath in a drunken haze, my mind still swirling from a kiss from my brash lover.

 

Overall: I am not sure if this will be a full bottle purchase, but I will enjoy the imp. Patchouli lovers, if you have not yet checked this one out, you should! Very dark, deep patchouli in this one. It's gorgeous!

[SeaMonkey]

This is VERY sharp in the imp. Almost peppery. When it dries, its almost all carnation. A sharp biting carnation with a tiny hiny of patchouli

[slave1]

In Bottle: Patchouli

 

On Skin: Eek! Very strong patchouli, so it automatically turns me off. The florals are not sweet and actually seem a bit sharp. It seems very dark and almost smoky. I don’t think it fits it’s name, at least not what I would imagine Masquerade to be. Sorry, this scent just doesn’t work for me.

[gangstaknitta]

The patchouli nearly knocked me over when I opened the imp. On my skin, it dominated all the other notes and turned really smokey, as patchouli is want to do on me.

[Ayln]

Patchouli patchouli patchouli. If you like the P-word, get it - that's all it was on me. My skin loves to throw it off, but I personally hate the scent of it and would much rather have some tonka or citrus.

[Musamea]

frimp from the Lab

 

In the imp: Very strong patchouli with underlying spiciness of carnation and a hint of sweet orange blossom

 

Wet: Smoky, earthy patchouli overlayed with the sweetness of the orange blossom -- this scent is both wet and dry at once, like standing in a foggy forest on a wet spring morning, holding a pipeful of unlit, expensive tobacco.

 

Dry: My skin seems to have gobbled up the orange blossom (and I never got much carnation out of this blend to begin with, which is strange since that's the predominant note I get whenever I wear Maiden) and has left me with the patchouli. I kind of like the smoky strength of this blend as I find it rather comforting, but it's very masculine and not something I could see myself wearing often. The initial burst of orange blossom makes me reluctant to part with this imp though, so I'll keep it around for when I'm in a particularly patchouli mood... or for when I have an SO and can foist it on him!