The Sound of Insects

[livingdead71]

Mandarin, lime, red currant, black tea, ginger.

Pretty and fruity in the bottle. Bland and fruity on my skin...almost like shampoo. Rats! I'm sure this will be really nice on the right person.

[Balame]

I feel kind of sad posting a negative review since I know a lot of people were excited about this one, but seriously, it smells like icky chemical hair spray.

 

I asked my husband if that's what he got, and he said citrus cleaning solution. Like. It's not bad bad, but you wouldn't want to wear it as perfume, you know? The lime and ginger just make for a really astringent, dry combo.

 

The ginger kind of calms down as it dries, making this almost single note lime. Pretty bland. Hopefully other people will have the right chemistry to make this nice...

[Caper]

I get lots of tea and bright fruits. I love citrus, so this brightness is exactly what I was looking for. I don't get much ginger, but maybe it is just part of the overall tartness of the scent.

 

I like it a lot, in fact my first inclination was to get a bottle for sure, it then or realized that I have quite a few citrus fruity blends and let it mellow. It is still a soft scent on my arm five hours later, but I think a decant will be enough.

[Alaeidrel]

This is wonderful. It's a very dry scent on me - dry like good champagne - but that doesn't take away from it's complexity. I mostly get the currant, lime and tea. It's dry red fruits and the tea note from Kumiho, with a splash of sharpness from the ginger. It's subtle on the dry-down and has very little throw, but it reminds of smelling an empty barrel that a good wine was aged in a long time ago.

 

Edit: The more I wear this, the more I love it. It's still very dry purple and red and a little astringent but it's well on it's way to becoming my signature scent. Oddly enough the boy thinks it smells like poison sumac?

Edited February 28, 2013 by Alaeidrel

[crebbsgirl]

I have to preface this by saying that tea notes and I rarely get along.

 

So wet on skin, this opens with a blast of tea and sharp ginger/citrus notes. It really smacks you right in the face. As it dries, the tea continues to dominate the blend on my skin, and it's really sharp and aggressive. As it dries, the citrus notes come out smoother, and the tea finally calms the hell down. The ginger sort of disappears for awhile, but reappears a little later, although much more subdued. It's a little too sharp for me. I was hoping for more citrus and ginger.

[Katlyntje]

When the Luper update first went up I KNEW this was going to be a full bottle purchase so I just skipped straight to it.

 

In the bottle this is all citrus and tea with just a hint of something fruity-juicy-red from the currant. Wet on my skin the tea takes the lead role with a hint of tangy citrus and ginger in support. As this dries the citrus becomes stronger then fades back a bit to let the currant shine through, all the while the tea note is singing the soprano line over them. Gradually the other notes fade to a soft hum, supporting the tea and blending harmoniously.

 

I am so glad I got a full bottle of this. This is such a lovely addition to BPAL's tea note family

[surlygurl]

I knew this was going to be a fun scent from the notes. When I tried it on, there was a fruit party on my arm! A limey, bright, tart party. The lime is glorious - reminds me of Luna Moth without the sugar. It's straightforward and fun and I really like it. I get something that reminds me of anise a little bit(!?), but that adds to the fun. Unfortunately, the party ends abruptly and they all go home. Not so much as a "thank you for letting us use your arm" note. Oh well. I hope it lasts longer on others!

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

This is a perfect summery scent! I'm sampling now but planning to save my decant for warmer weather. The clean, fresh tea reminds me of Dormouse, but with fruit instead of floral. The lime keeps it cool and not too sweet, and there's just a hint of ginger for bite. It's like a delicious sangria mixed with black iced tea, and now I want that to be a drink.

[HighPriestessIce]

This is a strong, dry, smooth, black tea. It really reminds me of Severin with a sweet sugared lime instead of a lemon.

[zankoku_zen]

Giant blast of lime and mandarin, hints of tea. And then it dries down to a nice, floral shampoo.

 

FML.

 

Screw you skin chemistry. This was the Luper I was looking forward to the most, and your epic skin chemistry fail... is epic.

[mymymai]

ITI: It smells like lime ice cream with a splash of mandarin juice (that has not been overly sweetened).

 

Wet: It gets more of a soapy quality on my skin, but the impression of lime and mandarin is still mostly there. Ah, 10 seconds in and the tea is showing up.

 

Dry: It doesn't pass my day test (14-16 hours), but on reapplication, the scent smells exactly like Lush's Silky Underwear powder.

[Little Bird]

There's something harsh about The Sound of Insects that makes me think of citrus scented cleaning fluid, though I can pick out the lime and red currant if I try. The red currant note smells sour and dry (almost like pomegranate). I was hoping for more of a refreshing, watery tea smell scented with juicy citrus, but this smells more of a dry, tart citrus. The drydown is like lime & berry lemonade drink powder, but not quite as sweet, with a hint of soapiness. Too much tart citrus & currant for me, I think.

[lohengrin]

In the decant: Lime! And a little bit of tea.

 

On skin, wet: Same as in the decant, very lime-heavy with just a bit of tea.

 

On skin, dry: Hard to say, now. Mostly tea, and the lime has burned right off, but there's something else here that I can't quite pin down.

 

After an hour: Dangit. This has gone totally soapy on me, and I don't know why. None of the notes listed are ones that usually go soapy on me, but there it is. Harsh soap, too, though at least it's a bit faint. Very disappointed.

[astarinel]

The tea note in here is deep and gets almost a little smoky as it dries. The citrus notes are bright and fresh and a little bit bitter. As it dries and the citrus inevitably fades, I'm left with a complex black tea note.

 

I don't think this one is for me, but it's an interesting, unisex sort of scent. I'm definitely going to pass the imp along to my boyfriend to give it a try. He loved Severin and is still working through a bottle of that, and I think this one might be a winner too.

[OctoberGwen]

MMMMMMM! Lovely, bright citrus; delicious black tea (how I love you); and a tart pop of ginger with a splash of juicy red currant. A soft but refreshing blend, this would be a perfectly inoffensive scent for everyday in warm weather. It would also be nice for relieving the Winter doldrums, I would imagine. It stays close to the skin. The tea really keeps this from being too fruity or ho-hum.

 

I knew I would like this, as the Lab's tea note is a favorite of mine and I enjoy all of the other notes here as well.

 

My "last minute Lupercalia" budget is pretty tight, but I'm contemplating a bottle of this.

Edited March 21, 2013 by OctoberGwen

[ReallyZeb]

This is a lovely fresh mix of citrus and tea but it only sticks around for about an hour and then vanishes completely. I think this should be made into a shower gel, it would be perfect.

[bellumed]

Mmm, citrus and ginger, yum. I think they did a good job capturing the picure—it does smell bright and fruity like the colors in the original. I like this a lot as a summer blend. Only downside, this fades super quickly.

 

Try this one if you like Baobhan Sith.

[neuilly]

This is such an interesting scent. The most predominant note on me is definitely the lime. There is a brief moment of creaminess too that sort of reminded me of my beloved Goldenrod Crab Spider but it faded quickly leaving a drier and slightly more acidic feel. It's interesting and I like it. I'm enjoying these slightly more tropical scents that have started to peak out lately.

[milo]

I'm a sucker for anything citrus and tea or the potential to be like a scent that smells similar to it. This one is a nice balance between both, though little sweeter than I'd like. To me, nothing can compare to the amazingness of Embalming Fluid for a citrus/tea scent, but I'm always looking just in case something comes up...This one also fades pretty quickly, so that sealed the decision not to upgrade.

[fufu_berry]

This is predominantly sour citrus and then a little bit of sweet currant on me, with a hint of soapy after-scent (like aftertaste, but smell, you know?). I'm not getting any tea or ginger, which were the things I ordered this scent for. ;_; Probably going to have to swap, which stinks because I love the label art.

[Fuhrankie]

I should have made a review post of this earlier.

 

My older sister huffed this once then screamed 'it smells like Bali! The little shrines and offerings you see around the place...' - and seeing as I've never been, I will have to take her word for it.

 

I smell a gorgeous freshness, with the fruitiness being akin to dried roses. The black tea is an amazing base, keeping the scent clean and fresh. I never really get any ginger, but I suppose it is there, being all awesome and making the scent pop.

 

This is my idea of a perfect summer. It really is fantastic. Completely different from any other BPAL I own, as well.

[Aveya]

I'm really really confused.

 

So, I had a bottle of Sound of Insects in my "keep" box. Not my "love" box, but my - passed initial tests and needs a full day or two trial to make sure I want to keep it - box. It implies that I won't put on a scent that smells like butt and run off to work upsetting my office co-workers all day lol.

 

But this one, it didn't pass today. It was OK. But it wasn't anything to write home about. So I got on to go review my old review and edit with a "NO GO DIDN'T WORK".... and there's no review. I never reviewed this. HOW DID YOU GET IN MY BOX?

 

Ahem. Review time.

 

Source: ... I really don't know now.

Preconception:

 

Bottle: Strangely floral. But with a kick of citrus under it?

Skin: Same as bottle oddly. A little bit fruity, mostly citrus, has a nice zippy zing to it. Generally feels orange and soapy. But not obviously soapy. More of a well perfumed soap.

Drydown: That's the problem. It didn't have much throw and didn't do a lot for more. Overall after the initial zippy zing, it was too light and faded off into the distance. I think black tea is the lingering scent, and unfortunately black tea doesn't really have any kind of presence. There's no backbone/base note really binding it for me personally. It's just light and airy.

 

Verdict; Zippy, almost licorice-esq. Black tea and citrus prominent. Has a soapy edge to it. Short lifespan on me.

[Soupy Twist]

Lime!! in the bottle. Goes on as Ginger!! this is very intense. It turns into mandarin peel as it dries, but the entire thing quickly goes sour and bitter. No tea. I’m sad.

[Verios]

Black tea has a tendency of coming across as anise-like, on me, and that's not a scent I typically enjoy, so I keep trying them, and usually am disappointed.  I've only just applied this, however, and while I definitely get the lab's black tea note, and it doesn't really smell like tea to me...it stops just shy of hitting the point where it's like licorice.

 

Right out of the bottle, the lime definitely drowned it out, but as citrus scents usually do on me, that faded really quickly. Curious to see how this morphs as it sits on my skin for a bit longer, but so far, it's interesting and quite fun!