The Dormouse

[jj_j]

A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony.

I may have found my signature scent.

For me, the Dormouse is fresh green apples, with the juice of a ripe peach splashed all oved it from one big, messy bite. Perhaps a little fig, too, although the fig note Beth uses doesn't always register with my nose as such. These are such a perfect blend, without being bubble-gummy or fruit-baskety. Definite dewy greenery, too - maybe dandelion?

Clear, with a crystalline lustre to it - almost vibrates on my skin. I am basking in this one; I can't wait to find out what the ingredients are and to be able to order a full-size bottle!

EDIT: Added Lab's new description and moved this to Mad Tea Party - it's official! --Shollin Edited September 16, 2007 by Shollin

[Salice]

This is very, very light on me, which is a change from the other Tea Party scents I've tried. Sweet without being cloyingly so. When I think of apples, normally, I think of Granny Smith apples. Crisp and tart. If it makes any sense, this is green, and apple-y, but it's not ... sour.

 

I'm horrible at 'identifying' scents. But there's something more green than just the apples here, and it's thick. Like a sage-colored musk. There may even be some sort of vaguely honeyed pear on the initial application, but it disolves into the amalgam on me, and I'm unable to identify it further.

 

Still, while I may be horrible at naming things, I know what I like. (Thanks go to JJ_J for sharing this one through a trade.) I love it. The rambling mystery of what's in it will gnaw at me like its oft-abused namesake until it's revealed on the site.

[Tesseljoan]

I think I can slather on any scent containing tea and like it. It has that sharp, adstringent quality of green tea. There is a greennes as well, that makes it slightly bitter. Nice, sharp and fresh.

[Witch Baby]

 

In Bottle: Very Very Green and Herb-y. It smells like a Health Food Store or a Holistic Healing Center. A little bit on the crisp side. . .with an almost soapy clean hint to it.

 

Wet: Still the same, though the soapy note is a bit stronger when it's on my skin.

 

Dry Down: Yay! The soap note seemed to calm down a bit and now it's this sharp crisp clean scent on me. Its something that I'd wear when I need to wake up and have a lot of energy. It's very invigorating

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: tea!

 

WEARING IT: this smells similar to h20+'s green tea perfume, which i love. it has wonderfully sweet, light herb sniffs mixed in with it, but it's mostly the lovely tea scents that emerge as the top notes. sweet & light and perfect for everyday.

 

VERDICT: i'd love to get a larger bottle of this.

[Merteuil]

In the tube and for the first minute or two on my skin, this is Earl Grey tea...fresh, herby black tea, with bergamot-citrus notes hovering tantalizingly for the deeper inhalation.

 

Then the peony really comes out, mingled with green tea and perhaps a jasmine tea for an hour or two.

 

It's the peony that stays for hours upon hours after that...a soft, polleny pink floral smell.

 

The very last fading fragrance, after I'd washed my hands and wrists a few times, was reminscent of sundry aquatic florals I'd sniffed during the 90s...Cool Water, Acqua di Gio, etc.

 

I don't know if I lurve it enough for a larger bottle...I'm not really a peony-sweet girl...but I'll surely use up the imp.

Edited August 10, 2004 by Merteuil

[lorajc]

I loved this one. I am finding that I really like the tea blends. This was slightly sweet and herbal smelling. Gorgeous blend. I never have smelled peony so I couldn't pick it out. This is absolutely one of my new favs.

[Miggins]

The Dormouse is a very pretty, green scent. It reminded me of spring flowers in a cut glass green bowl. A really lovely scent to wear on the first spring day of the year to celebrate throwing off heavy clothes and boots and being able to go out without a hat on.

 

Sadly, though, it didn’t last too long on me… but I shall still keep my imp.

[Donnababe]

The Dormouse

 

I can add little to the above comments. It's light, fresh and very cheering.

 

I get a delightful apple feel slightly after the dry down.

 

It's only drawback is it's poor staying power.

 

I'm kicking myself for not ordering a big bottle last week

[Pandorra]

Oh my!! I LOVE this. It is my favorite scent so far of all that I have tried from my last order.

 

Its fresh and herbal-y! This is definitely a crisp, clean, green scent. I smell light fresh clean flowers in the background, but this is not a floral perfume. The soft florals just soften the edge of crisp herb. There is a tang there also.

 

Another thing I liked is the staying power on me. On me, this lasted quite a long time. I was getting whiffs of it as I walked to my car after work. I kept smelling my wrists.

 

This scent gave me energy and lifted my spirits. Its like a kiss of sunshine and a pretty afternoon.

[sarahmarie]

In the imp: this smells very...floral to me, which is funny since most people here seem to be smelling either the tea or apple-ness. It's pretty and light, and it seems very perky.

 

Wet: Largely floral, still, with a fresh sharpness. It's still very light and peppy, and I like it.

 

Drydown: as it's drying, I can smell the apple that some people are smelling, but only briefly. Mostly, I still smell a tickley floral smell. I guess it's peony, though it's been a really long time since I've smelled a peony.

 

After a while: hmm, it's still nice and light and pretty, but it does what so many scents with floral components seem to do on my skin - the flowers jump out, overpower everything and dry down in kind of a sharp way that makes me feel like sneezing. I like this one at first, but I don't like how to changes on my skin. I'll try it again and see if it improves, but this is probably not going to be a bigger bottle purchase for me.

[Northernminx]

A green tea scent, sharp and herbal and almost lemony. There is a slight undercurrent of the peony in this, but mostly this is fresh and clean rather than floral. Unfortunately it tends to go a little acidic and lemony on me and thus I won't be keeping this one. Onto swaps for this

[Shollin]

First sniff: The Dormouse is a green, herbal sort of scent that reminds me of a fresher, cleaner version of The Apothecary. It’s brighter, and there’s a hint of mint in the afterscent.

 

Wearing: Beautifully green, soft, liquid… it smells much more like green tea on my skin than in the bottle. Very pleasant.

[TheDarkMother]

This was another scent that wasn't on my wish list that I got as a freebie from my last order.

 

In the Bottle: Mmm...fruity pear and maybe a hint of peach, but with the herbal quality of a good warm tea, which right now just sounds soooo good for a scratchy throat.

 

On Me: Mmm...I can't believe that this wasn't on my wish list before! Earl Grey is definately coming through on this one, and I am happy to say that I have some and shall be brewing up a cup as soon as I am done here. The peony is really coming through as well and...is that rosehips? Maybe a bit of berry in as well?

 

The wind outside is blustery with the beginnings of winter chill creeping into skeletons of trees and bushes that have dropped thier leaves in what seems like an eternity ago. The old lady sits on her porch, watching the remaining dry fall leaves fly like spent banners in the air, the end results of the war between Nature and Father Time. On her lap is her knitting, a warm blanket for the nights to come, light blues and greens betraying an icy wintery calling. At her side is a small table which sits a porcelain tea cup, saucer, and kettle, the scent of warm tea fills the air.

 

And you swear...from inside the kettle, you hear....

 

Twinkle twinkle little bat...

 

[Dianella]

First sniff: Hmm, fruity floral. smells nice.

 

Wet: Strike the smells nice. This smells cute. I know I know, but I swear I smell cute! I can totally picture a cute furry little mouse. THere's fruit and floral, the peony I think. Smells yum

 

Initial dry: The peony is coming out more and smelling REALLY nice. I like!

 

Dry: This is reminding me of Empyreal Mist for some reason, but with a lot more staying power. REally nice, a floral with fruitiness in the background and what imagine to be tea. This ones a keeper!

[xochitl]

Oh, my. I didn't know the lab made such a light scent. I like it - it's a nice alternative, but I wouldn't call it dizzying, and I can't smell the herbs at all. It DOES smell like something very familiar, though. Now, that may just be the tea, but I can't place it. I was a bit ambivalent about this scent at first. Now I like it a lot, but it fades so fast - I don't know if a larger bottle would be worth it. On the other hand, I could slather it on all day long...

[Azrhiaz]

This reminds me very much of UII Sheer Scent, which I wore by the gallon in college. That, in turn, was similar to Calyx by Prescriptives. This is also very green and clean, but not at all soapy or powdery. It is a very enjoyable "out of the shower" type scent, quite lovely.

 

However, it faded fairly quickly on me, and I've already got a big bottle of Baobhan Sidhe on order for a "fresh" type scent (although that one is very different with the grapefruit), so I don't think I'll get a big bottle of this one. I do quite like it, though.

[tempete]

Wet, the tea and herbal notes dominated, creating a fresh, green, astringent fragrance. However, the peony note quickly emerged and overpowered the green notes. It is not uncommon for floral notes to suffocate all other notes on me, but I was hoping that the Dormouse would strike a balance between the two sides. Oh well, off to a better home with you.

[pekeana]

Ye gods!

 

In the vial, The Dormouse is all peony and green tea -- it reminds me of a perfume I used to have, but I can't tell you what one, because I don't remember.

 

On my skin, it's very very soft and gentle, close to the skin. I get tea and lemon with a brush of apple and floral. It's just absolutely divine, and if it wasn't so very light and apparently being sucked straight through my skin, I would buy a bottle. However, it's been on me for 15 minutes and is almost gone, so I will keep and treasure the imp and see if it might make the big bottle list later.

 

ETA: Holy heck, after another little while, The Dormouse came back up and made me a very happy monkey. DEFINITELY a big bottle buy.

Edited November 29, 2004 by pekeana

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Spilled. Spilled on my chair and my face and my hand. One sec. Tea with lemon in a little cup that has pin flowers on the rim of it. And a touch of sugar to sweeten it.

 

Wet: This is very nice. It's light and bright. The tea and the herbs combine effortlessly to form a very light green/light brown scent, the way I picture of cup of herbal tea after having been brewed. (I admit that I have no idea what peony smells like so I cannot tell you if I can detect it.) There's still that citrus note, but I think I might just be interpreting the herbs as being lemony. This makes me want to go back to Ireland and score some of their breakfast tea. So good.

 

Dry down: The herbs seem almost more prominent than the tea now. It still smells really good, though. These are the kind of scents I go for, the lighter herbal/floral blends. No, there's the tea. With milk. So good. I want cookies to go with my wrist.

 

Dry: The tea is more prominent again now. I'm going to have to get imps of all the blends with tea in them because it is one of my most favorite smells in the world. And it actually seems to work pretty well on me judging from this one. I'm not as head over heels as I was for Wilde, but I find myself relaxing and feeling comforted, the way you do after a nice cup of tea. The only problem is that the scent is starting to fade away a little now. The herbs are still present but faintly.

 

I can see myself buying a bigger bottle of this.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Oh, I love it. This is crisp and clean. I love anything with tea in it - there's something delightful about the astrigent qualities tea brings to any fragrance. White tea must be in this, because I'm strongly reminded of Bath & Body Work's White Tea & Ginger fragrance.

 

On me: The peony and green tea have emerged as I slather this on. It's a light fragrance, and very delicate. I don't get any fruit out of this, as some folks do, but maybe they're picking up something I've missed. This is simply wonderful, a perfect spring scent.

[tart]

The Dormouse is pleasant. It was basically a light, floral tea, very different from what I normally would wear. The scent does change a bit over time, with the tea becoming a little stronger (it smelled more "masculine" to me). I think this is something my mom would like. I'd recommend this scent for someone looking to give imps as gifts because it's light and inoffensive -- I think everyone can at least like it, if not love it.

[nenia]

clovers and tea. i invision a warm breeze, wide open field wind gently blowing. clover and scattered flowers. a picnic tea party in the middle of the field. a very light, clean & refreshing blend.

[sarada]

I got a bottle of this one, sight unsmelled, because of my interest in the tea notes. I thought it would be pretty light and it is, but it's SO nice that I am willing to slather to get the effect that I want...

 

I am not sure I can detect much in the way of herbs or peony in it -- in the bottle, it smells something like Old Shanghai or maybe the Apothecary (going from memory here) with green tea dominating. Once I apply it, it quickly turns into a perfect, freshly opened canister of Earl Grey tea. I hope that I'm not insane and that there is actually bergamot in this blend! Green tea and shades of other teas dance around with a slight hint of sweetness....and they fade very quickly. I think that perhaps when it is dry, that I am smelling peony, but having had peonies growing in my backyard for most of my life I still don't know what they really smell like! They never had a strong fragrance, to me.

 

In the end, this is absolutely delightful, just the tea blend I have always dreamed of -- when I apply it I smell like a cup of Earl Grey tea (moreso than I usually do...I drink about four cups of it a day) and it probably lingers even longer, but my weak nose can't detect it! This is a huge success story for my ordering unsmelled!

[malanna]

Eep! I remember really liking this scent, but now it’s giving me a headache. Right now, immediately after application, I get a very tart ginger. The Dormouse is very sour at this point. I’m hoping the four teas come out soon. After half an hour, the loveliness comes out. Four teas, indeed! This is no longer biting and is instead soft and lovely. It makes me think of sitting underneath a willow tree in the spring, when it’s a bit warm, and a soft breeze blowing over. This is quite light, though (except in the first stage—eek!).