To His Mistress Going to Bed

[Avery]

Skin like silk: bourbon vanilla, caramelized patchouli, Siamese red benzoin, and fig.

 

First off, this perfume is AMAZING. When I first got it it was a little ruffled from traveling, so I let it rest in the box for awhile. When I tried it the other night... DAMN it's gorgeous. I couldn't remember any of the notes, so tried to pick them out but all I got were color palette impressions (how I often do with scents). It felt hazy, a little silver, a little green, but warm, smoky, and delectable. Now I can tell that the fig is what is giving the green impression, but all the other notes blend so well together that this just becomes an incredibly sexy, earthy skin scent. I LOVE it and it may have just catapulted into my top 10 for sure, I am so glad I have a bottle.

 

Based on the other reviews, ymmv! I have Mme Moriarty, and this smells absolutely nothing alike to my nose or on my skin (probably because my skin doesn't love red musk, though I still like Madame!). It also doesn't smell anything like Red Lantern to me, which was a much heavier, sweeter and more powdery scent on me (I traded away RL). It also doesn't smell like King Cobra (with or without the Snake Oil to me) as that one has a different scent profile entirely. I mentioned I get strong color associations with these perfumes, and King Cobra is most definitely a RED and vibrant scent to me, whereas Mistress Going to Bed is smoky and pale, slinky, dark and earthy. Either way, it's a scent unlike anything else I have and I adore it.

[Coldfire]

Decant: Vanilla with a splash of patch
Wet on me: okay now I'm getting a 'savory/salt-y" note with the vanilla patch.
Drying Down: the vanilla has mellowed out and I get the woodiness of the patch and the sweetness of the fig
Dry: this dried down to a fabulous smooth vanilla/fig/patch. not one note standing out more than any of the others. Delightful!

[strick9]

In the bottle: Sweet patchouli and fig. yep, this is going to be great.

 

Wet: The fig isn't as pronounced, but its there in the background. The red benzoin and vanilla are coming through nicely. It's rich, earthy, and sweet, but in a cognac/tobacco sweet way, not a foodie-type way.

 

Dry-down: as this starts to dry, the fig and the benzoin bump up further, and the patchouli somehow gets lighter. And there's the bourbon vanilla, floating ethereally in the background. As this keeps going, the bezoin, vanilla, and fig keep pushing more forward while the patchouli gets grounded in the background. There's something a little woody here as well- like a tinge of charred oak. that might be the caramelized part of the patchouli, i think. I'm amping this charred smell just ever so slightly.

 

This is definitely a "second skin" scent, and I can see this becoming a scent i wear daily.

 

I'm really glad i got an entire bottle of this. I think i might continue to age this a little longer and see what happens.

[alyelle]

In the imp: Smoky resins, first patchouli and then benzoin, with a squish of fig.

 

Wet: Fig-sweetened patchouli.

 

Dry: Eventually a little vanilla-ish, but not so much so that you could ever describe it as vanilla. For almost its entire wear, it stays firmly on the side of smoked patchouli, sweetened by fig. It's not the first patchouli sent I'd reach for, but by no means unpleasant. Medium throw, lasts around 8 hours.

 

Stars: ★★★½

[Teamama]

Re-testing my 2016 decant, which separated a little: cinnamon-brown globes at the bottom of a light gold base. The blend reintegrated easily with some rolling & gentle shaking, but the base of the vial is still a little dark, so the proportions may not be 100% true.

Patchouli is tricky for my skin. There are 3 main ways it can go: dark & rooty, light & woody, or, for lack of better words, rough & sharp. In 2016, To His Mistress was patchouli forward, with rough & sharp dominant. 

Today, the forward note is the fig (hooray!) with patchouli second. Benzoin & vanilla are very quiet. I'm glad I tried it, but it's not my favorite BPAL fig, or patch & vanilla blend.

[biggnerd]

This is a strong, chewy, dirty patch sweetened up by earthy fig. 

[LavenderCoffee]

Hellooo nurse: deliciously dirty-sweet patchouli and fig. When I first tested this (a year ago?) it was not as big and bold as I wanted it to be, but trying it again today and it actually has a really nice amount of throw. A tremendous under-the-clothes scent that may put you in mind of removing your clothes.

There is definitely some component separation in the bottle, so give it a nice rolleroo.