Incipient Madness

[space girl lost]

A thunderous passion, conceived in obsession and nurtured in the bowels of delirium, that grasps in desperation through the darkest shadows of the ether. An unwholesome smoky musk, dark and sweet, laced with Virginia tobacco, honeyed black currant, and red patchouli.

Gosh... this one isn't quite what I expected but that's not a bad thing in this case!

Wet: The musk is definitely up front here with the black currant ( ) and red patchouli playing supportive roles. The tobacco is right behind them rounding things out.

Drydown: Everything is starting to blend a bit now into a lightly sweetened musky sort of beauty. Maybe it is the namesake but this screams out Poe to me. It is dusty, musky, evocative and has a slightly old time mood to it. It isn't quite in the category of the "whoa throw!" heavy hitting favorites of mine like Snake Charmer (I can smell her on any article of clothing days later) or Mme Moriarty... but the throw here isn't fooling around. I get the feeling I will still be able to smell some remnants in my hair tomorrow morning.

Later: I sort of feel like this is what Eat Me would be like if it went back in time and hung out with Poe in some smoky den. Strange description perhaps but that sweetened black currant in Eat Me just rose up and smacked me in the face. I merely smiled.

I'm not regretting this impulse buy one bit. No way. Now to convince myself that my storage is already too full and I don't need any back up bottles.

[Jennifurious]

I very much agree with the above review. Both of the bottles I picked from this update were STUNNERS. This is gorgeous. The honeyed currant is also the main attraction on me and it is lovely. At different times it is indeed a little dusty, from another era. The tobacco is more assertive on me than the musk and the patchouli is rather understated and smoothing but the whole is beautiful. Very womanly. Smells expensive. The currant plus all of the sexy goodies behind it actually reminded me of a more refined version of Diesel Fuel For Life, which is actually a commercial perfume I have the big love for. I think this will age into something magical also. Bravo!

[LiberAmoris]

Oh wow, Incipient Madness is like Super Musk! The red patchouli, musk, and tobacco make for a dark, deep, sweet ride that's less smoky than I had imagined it would be...between the smoky musk and the tobacco, it's still very well balanced. The honeyed black currant adds sweetness and something tart and bright. It mellows to a incensey, honeyed musk and the tobacco note comes forward a bit more—really nice. It definitely has the feel of a classic '20s or '30s perfume, and lasts and lasts on me. This goes into my 'perfect for a night out' top ten list.

[VioletChaos]

In The Bottle: I get almost nothing but tobacco, with some of the honeyed black currant adding a little top note to the proceedings.

 

Wet On Skin: Things start to shift here. This 'dark, sweet' musk has actually barreled over the tobacco (virtually unheard of with my skin chemistry!) and made a little nest with that black currant note. The tobacco is now in a grounding, supportive role. It's different than what I'm used to, though I don't object in the least.

 

Dry Down: The tobacco has stepped back to the forefront, bringing a warm, caramel quality with it and melding with the musk. I get none of the patchouli or currant now.

 

In All: Medium throw and there's potential with this scent. Because of the richness of the notes, it's one of those scents that I think (for me, at least) needs to age a bit before the spark really happens. So I'm going to hold on to my bottle, and retest in a month or two. I anticipate it being worth the wait.

[strahlend]

Exploratory sniffs from the bottle reveal a good many of the listed notes, dark musk, tobacco and even a bit of currant and a nice round patchouli.

On my skin I'm getting something pungent in here, like black pepper and a hint of vetiver. It's sharp and kind of dry.

[patina]

Red Patchouli is not kind to me, it's very sharp. But I got this one anyway because I thought the musk and tobacco would triumph. And they do, but sadly the red patchouli and whoa! smokiness of the scent make it smell like burning plastic on my skin. I don't get any blackcurrent. Off to the swaps!

 

Edit: Eventually the sweet musk smooths over the burning plastic.

Edited December 20, 2014 by patina

[Haltija]

This scent is just lovely. Deep, resinous, smoky musk with blackened tobacco to my nose and on my skin. I hardly get any black currant at all which is a real bummer but I love the way it smells at this moment with all of the dark notes. Unfortunately it smells like something I already own. It kind of smells like The Illustrated Woman. So I don't think I will need a bottle but I will definitely enjoy my decant. (:

[zankoku_zen]

Musky resin, with hints of tobacco and black currant. Its a dark, slinky sort of scent and yet I don't love it. I think because I wanted something more tobacco heavy and got a musky resin blend instead.

Low throw and good wear length.

 

Dark, musk, resinous.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Dark, dark, tobacco and patchouli.

 

Wet on skin: Dark, and a little bit sharp. I'm not sure this one agrees with me.

 

Dried down: Still kind of an acrid smoke.

 

Throw: Not much, thank goodness.

 

Verdict: ** This doesn't scream "wash it off!" to me, but this is way too dark for my tastes.

[sprout]

Retested this after it settled some and really glad I did, because I would have given up on it if it hadn't developed, now it is divine and I need a bottle.

 

Preconceived notions: Read description and thought the notes sounded like the other Lace variants, so really excited, and red musk is usually a win. All these notes are made of win, except tobacco which can be either icky or neutral.

 

In vitro: Musk, "perfumey" like a Lancome dept store perfume, maybe Tresor???

Wet on skin (antecubital areas, wrists): Vanilla, wrist huffing musk (guessing red musk as it always induces the urge to huff wrist) with red fruit (checking notes--that would be the currant. Doesn't smell like berries or cherry). I can see the Mme Moriarty comparisons at this point.

Drying: A woody scent like celery stalks versus wood chips tries to dominate, I am guess that is the tobacco note/accord, but it is somewhat off putting to my nose. There is an ick factor if I huff up close, but it isn't too bad and smells like generic wood notes at a distance. Waffs at a greater distance than huffing give off a nice musky, red currant, and slightly vanilla odor.

Later Drydown: Celery, ick note doesn't last long, thank goodness and may age into a note that is more woody and less like "celery." This is a lovely musky, curranty, vanilla resin. Very good throw for me and lasts hours, at least 8. The patchouli blends in very well with the dark musk and the currant and I can't differentiate it. It does not give the heavy floral vibe or the dirty hippy vibe.

 

FInal thoughts: Very nice blend, minimal problematic notes which I think will age well. I tend to like musky, resinous blends and this is a very good one. I am trying to score a partial bottle and hope it will age to smell like a relative of Mme Moriarty. It isn't a sibling, but maybe a kissing cousin and definitely has the same "Vibe". This is what I expected much of the Ligeia blends to smell like, gothic & dark in extremis, plus sexy and twisted somewhat. In case you wondered, it is more musky, dark, and sexy than sweet, but the vanilla and currant sweeten it some. This may be my favorite of the series although Tumultous Vultures is a close contender and I have not yet tested Strangeness in the Proportion...

Edited January 8, 2015 by sprout

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: A beautiful musky smoky patch - commanding and mysterious, yet still feminine and seductive. Mmmmmm...

 

Wet: A murkier, less feminine scent, with the tobacco starting to show its dark side upon first application. But luckily it settles down pretty quickly into something very close to ITI, albeit without the sweet, tart honeyed currant there. Which, at least in my case, is a bit of a blessing in disguise - I tend to amp fruit like whoa, so while I'm sorry to lose that interesting note, I'm glad it's at least allowing the others to shine.

 

Dry: Primarily patchouli, but still notably dark and smoky. As the weather gets warmer I may not reach for this one as much, but for now? Yesplz.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: All the notes.

 

Wet: I like this! Sweet tobacco, backed by patch.

 

The dry-down: Just gorgeous! Not quite eyes-rolling-back-in-the-head, but close. The smoky musk comes forward late in the drying down, but this is mostly the blond tobacco, supported by the rather mild patch. The black currant and the honey just produce a sweetening of the tobacco. This is what a good tobacconist's shop might smell like.

 

I confess that was worried abt the currant, as it has ruined other blends for me, but here it seems to stay meekly in line as a supporting player. I need a bottle of this, certainly, for next autumn.

[milo]

Tobacco, vetiver, something musky and a touch of fruit. This blend is uber masculine and like the description, pretty damn sinister. A handsome, evil man would wear this, kind of slimy and takes advantage of anyone who would let him. Evocative, but not for me. I wouldn't even like my guy to wear this.

[LizziesLuck]

This was a generous frimp from a forum purchase. As soon as I read the notes, I wondered why on earth I have never hunted this down to try, I LOVE all of these notes!

 

 

Wet: Something earthy and green - not sure where that's coming from. Maybe the combo of the smoky musk and patch? It's interesting, and it's starting to warm up and sweeten on my skin. Not quite what I was expecting though. I'm not really getting any of the listed notes.

 

 

Dry: Mostly a very dry, earthy patchouli, with hints of dark musk. This actually reminds me a lot of Lush's Middle Earth Turns to Rock soap, which I always really liked.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

this is moving on to a better home, so here's what i had in my notes from testing it:

so confused! i love musk, tobacco, and patchouli. currant often goes sideways, the Lab's honey and i don't get on well. i dislike smoke smells, and i'm not sure i know the difference between red patchouli and others...

 

this was a blind buy, and once we got it to try at the DSLE and i tested it, i knew i shouldn't have ordered it. it *sounded* amazing, but on me it was just a smoky almost-vetiver kinda thing with a wrong-y brown kinda sweetness. (like brown sugar or molasses, unlike a white kinda sweetness like a doughnut glaze or the cracklike icing Cinnabon uses)

 

like a more masculine version of The Other Miss Spink. Maybe this is The Other Miss Spink's intended? i dunno. glad it is going to a better home, though!

[Lucchesa]

I'm testing Incipient Madness on one wrist and Inextinguishable Hatred on the other (it's tax day, I'm still working on mine) and they have a similar dark, sweet, smoky tobacco thing going on. Both are sexy and perfectly unisex, maybe skewing a little towards the masculine end of the spectrum. Madness is musky rather than resiny. I'm not getting any recognizable currant, just sweetness. The patchouli is in the background, kind of structuring the scent but not dominant at all. I like both these scents but am not madly in love with them, so I think I may pass these decants along.