Molly, the Reaper of Justice

[Balame]

MOLLY, The Reaper of Justice
White lime with lily of the valley, oudh, Himalayan cedar, nagarmotha, and tobacco for the sheen of raven feathers, and saffron, white honey, and amber for her fierceness, strength, and courage.

This sounded interesting for the most part, but according to the internet nagarmotha smells “unpleasant” so that put me on edge. I’m happy to report, though, that Molly ended up being my favorite out of the entire PD line.

Molly is refreshing, outdoorsy and soothing. It totally suits my scent portrait for a dryad! It's sweetly woodsy, herbal and clean (like "out in fresh air" clean, not cleaning fluid), but has a certain depth to it. Like an ancient tree sap glimmering in the light filtering through leaves...

Suffice to say it might be a bit tough to pin down. The lime is bright, but the honey and tobacco give it warmth. The honey doesn't turn into plasic at all, which has been a problem for me in the past. Settling behind that is a gorgeous cedar and I guess the nargarmotha – since it’s the only herb aside from saffron I see. It smells bitter but fresh, kind of like thyme.

It’s different from anything else I’ve smelled, but I’d put it in the same family as Waters of the Well of Wisdom (Molly is lighter and sweeter), Eldritch Drunken Constellations (richer and more staying power) and Embalming Fluid (sweeter and woodsier).

[Monday]

I smelled something like this in the BPAL catalogue before but I can’t put my finger on it. There is honey with lime, pungent woods and something reminiscent of menthol. The menthol disappears after a while but the chaos of honey and pungent woods stick around, smoky saffron backs the woods up. Light and dark, a bit of a muddle of notes with a good throw.

[Dark Alice]

From wet to dry down the white lime is the dominating note. Eventually it dries down to a mild cedar note. Meh.

[kakiphony]

In the imp: Hmm. This has a sweet almost fake lime scent to it as the dominant note. I smell Green River, mixed with lily of the valley. I'm getting none of the deeper woods/base notes. This is ALL top notes in the vial.

Wet on skin: Soap and bug spray.

Early dry down (10 minutes): It stays quite soapy/floral in the crooks of my arms, but my wrists get a pleasant melange of cedar, tobacco and honey -- dry and very "western" but with the barest hint of sweet powder.

Late dry down (30 minutes +): Baby powder and lily of the valley. The powder surprises me because while I do tend to get that note from amber, I did not get much of it from Ginny. I also keep getting whiffs of bug spray (which must be the lily of valley -- which I seem to amp). It's interesting to note that lily of the valley is poisonous -- something about this smells like it could kill a cat or a small child! It's a very subtly evil floral on me.

Final Verdict: I do not love this. I do not hate this. I think this might be too complicated for me. (And the bit that got on my shirt from the elbows REEKS of lily of the valley. It is seriously old lady. Ugh. Definitely need to let this dry down completely before getting dressed!)

Reminds me of: Dragon's Eye, Grief, Queen of Hearts

Edited July 29, 2014 by kakiphony

[astarinel]

I rather like this one after it dries, but that's not enough for me to be really interested in acquiring more than the partial decant I have of this one.

 

The cedar is very sharp when it's wet, and it starts off woody and unpleasant enough for me to regret putting it on, then suddenly as it dries and I get this bright lime with fresh sweetness. The woods settle into being background base notes with the lime and honey most prominently on top. After further drydown, the lime fades out as citrus notes tend to do, and I'm left with sort of a sweet-smoky lingering scent.

 

The middle stage is my favorite part, but the first couple minutes are not so nice, and I don't love the long drydown either. This was, however, my favorite of the Pretty Deadly scents that I tried, and all of them seemed to be rather complex but none really came together for either my skin or nose chemistry.

[zankoku_zen]

Molly is a very interesting blend. I get the lime, cedar, and then some smoky sweetness. Hint of honey, amber, and something that is definitely cool.

 

Complex, cool, interesting.

[Jangzonrice]

Honey and lime with a touch of lily (I normally hate lily, but the lime and honey keep it in check). Refreshing and reminds me of bright sunny Summer days with brisk breezes. There is also a little bit of smokiness now that it dried....potentially a bottle purchase in the future.

[milo]

At first, a citrus, like lime, but clearer or whiter if that makes sense along with some tobacco that I recognize from the French Tobacco SN. After a bit, it's mostly white musk and tobacco, but not sure if white musk is even listed in the notes. I wish the honey and amber were present, I don't even get a whiff. I think that it would make the blend more wearable. As it is, it is just a bit too much like a department store cologne with the musky vibe. Not for me.

[stubbornfire]

Molly officially puts me 4/4 for the scents I've tried from the Pretty Deadly line, and I can't wait to try more!

 

Molly opens with like a POW! - a combo of lime and...well, everything else! I can pick out the brightness from the lime and the lily- with a touch of cedar?? But otherwise it's an incredibly well blended perfume that manages a kind of sweet-tangy-musky thing all at once and I could just smell my arm all day. Molly doesn't quite oust Sarah as my favorite PD line lady, but she's a surefire second - for now anyway.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this smells like cedar trees and I was immediately excited. I love the spicy-fresh smell of cedar wood. On my skin, it's absolutely no cedar, but I am getting a creamy, powdery lily, sort of a metallic honey note, and a teeny tiny hint of lime. Nothing about it is dark or reminding me of ravens or feathers. Baby powdery, honeyed lily and a hint of lime. And it doesn't change at all once it's on my skin. It stays exactly that for hours.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Cedar and lime - something creamy. Interesting and different! All of these notes together, I had no clue what to expect. This is incredibly unique, I have never smelled anything like it.

 

 

Dry: This is so interesting, I can't stop smelling it! Creamy lime, cedar, and hints of something I can't pick out. Really really unique. I don't think I would ever wear it, but I am tempted to keep the decant and give it a shot!

[raptorsmile]

BPAL newbie, here. This was one of my first scents and I was really excited to try it because I'm a huge Pretty Deadly fangirl. In the bottle, it scared me a little; its very creamy and floral. My first reaction was that it was waaaay too sweet for me.

 

Wet: Smelled as it did in the bottle, but the cedar and tobacco really jumped out. In fact, it was almost peppery. Very different.

 

Dry, 30 minutes after application: The only notes I picked up on my skin was the cedar and musk. Which is not a bad thing, it was a very deep, nice smell. On one hand, I was disappointed that all of the complex notes from the wet scent all but disappeared on my skin, but the remaining smell was quite pleasant.

 

My only complaint is that after an hour, the scent was still there, but barely detectable. I had to put my wrist to my nose to detect it. After another hour it was all but gone. This is definitely a "reapply" frequently scent for me, but I really like it.

[Lucretia]

Getting a lot of cedar and lime, which somehow comes out as smelling a bit spicy (kind of peppery like the OP mentioned). The immediate dry-down is a bit off-putting. It mellows out a little bit and gets a little bit creamier (the florals kicking in maybe?). The final dry-down is pretty nice, but really what I'm looking for. It's a light cedar scent at the end of the day (so no pencil shavings. Much more wooden box or airy day in the woods) but not something I would reach for on a regular basis.

[Aveya]

Source : leftover Imp from my Decant circle

Preconception: I assumed this would be masculine and odd. Wouldn't have tried it otherwise.

 

First Sniff: Lime. Wood. Active. Reminds me of.. my grandfather. But not in an old-dude way. He's an outdoorsy kind of guy, always whistling bird tunes too.

Skin: About the same as the imp-sniff actually. The lime tones down slightly and I get a touch more wood. Overall bright and slightly sweet, with a citrus zip. There's a touch of floral on the edge but it's not taking a forefront. Tobaccoo starts to creep out as it dries.

Drydown: Oh hi there Honey. Oh... hi there floral :|. Lime unfortunately doesn't last into the drydown, but that's the nature of lime. Once honey and lily enter the game, it's a battling match between sweet cloying honey, floral kudzu-style overtaking, and a peppery tobacco background. Happy to report I think this stays well balanced between those notes.

 

Early it's very unisex, but once drydown hits it's notably feminine to me.

 

Verdict: Fresh, bright, citrus/floral/honey dom. Good throw, nice staying power. Lovely scent over all.

[Lucchesa]

I put on Molly without remembering what was in her, and my initial impression was that it smelled like lemon and cocoa. Like I wanted Delight and Consternation to smell, actually. I was pretty sure there wasn't any kind of chocolate note involved, just a dark rich sweetness, beautifully balanced by the zingy citrus. I caved and looked at the notes, and of course the lemon was lime, and I guess tobacco and saffron and honey and amber were reading as dark chocolate to me. I have no idea what nagarmotha smells like, so I can't comment there. The oud is not indolic, and the lily of the valley is not flowery; it all blends into this gorgeous mix.

 

AND I was smelling it without lifting my wrist to my nose! I so rarely get throw unless it's stinky oud, or red musk in black latex thigh-high boots stomping all over everything or champaca doing its bizarre amping thing. Excellent wear length too. There may be a bit of a lime cologne feel, like in John Watson or Whitechapel, but not enough to make this feel masculine; I think anyone could wear it. It works really well on me and is like nothing else I own. Immediate bottle purchase.