Tea and Music

[theshapeshifter]

Honeyed black tea, rich mahogany leather, and a tuft of chocolate truffle.

Oh! Am I first?

I was desperate to try Tea and Music, since my highlights of 2016 have been spending a lot of time with my favourite band, and long chats over tea (often about said band) with some of my closest friends. So when they came together in a scent, I had to have it.

At first sniff, it's so well-blended that I can't pick out individual notes, but my first impression is that it's evocative of being wrapped up in a completely innocent hug with a hot guy (not to say it's a 'masculine' scent, it's quite neutral). That is literally the image that came to find in the first second or two of sniffing the bottle.

On skin, I start to be able to pick out the honey and chocolate - the leather is there, but as a kind of background warmth and depth. I can't really single out tea in the same way I can with, say, Theodosius, but I suspect it's contributing to the 'just can't quite put my finger on something here' mystery of this scent. It'll be interesting to see how this one evolves with aging.

I find this very soft in the drydown - but I LOVE it, so it will be slathered!

[mamafuturama]

Jeebus, but this stuff smells wonderful.

 

Wet, the notes as listed are evident and strong, literal.

What happens next is... magic. It's the scent of refined merriment, quite literally. The scent notes meld together, warm and glowing, tinkling with flashes of not quite floral, but no longer literal... tea leaves. BPAL/BPTP honeyed scents are always more sophisticated and complex than I am able to describe sufficiently and remain absolutely untouchable in the indy scent world.

This isn't spicy nor dark- nor is it sweet and light. It is a contrarily slight-richness that conveys a breathy intimacy...it conjures the images of wooden hallways warmly aglow by lamp light, kindly laughter from the next room dancing across flickering candle flame, a feeling of joy. Once again, BPAL has created a scent that is precisely evocative of the tale/time/event it seeks to represent.

Cons? Throw is low and unfortunately this scent disappears on me within 3 or so hours.

Edited December 30, 2016 by mamafuturama

[Akurarei]

This one is glorious!

 

On me, it's a rich sweet tea, with peeks at the mahogany leather!

 

It's pretty straightforward to me, but it's components are deep and luscious.

 

This one might end up being backup bottle worthy!

[sunlitgarden]

In the decant: This smells really nice. Sweet tea and a rich deepness, presumably from the mahogany leather. I don't smell any chocolate.

 

On my skin: This smells almost smoky at first. The tea note can sometimes do that but also it might be coming from the wood. I think that the mahogany and leather here are two separate notes because I'm definitely smelling some wood in here. It is an aged, oiled wood. I can detect the leather if I think about it but it's not strong, dominant, or chemical. It just kind of adds a supple softness to the scent. It's mostly wood and sweet, warm tea on me. This is more on the masculine side, but I don't find it out of place on my skin. I bet it would smell amazing on a guy though. I still don't smell any chocolate.

[Wwindy]

I'm not getting any leather or chocolate at *all* out of this, and I wouldn't even say any identifiable honey. All I get, both in the 5ml and on my skin, is something that hovers between the osmanthus note from Eclat and slightly sweetened tea if I "squint" my nose at it right. I don't know if something went awry in the formulation or what, but there's no leather or chocolate to be found here, although the flowery tea note is reasonably pleasant. I'm a little disappointed...

 

ETA: I have fallen victim to one of the classic blunders!!! Because I didn't see any sediment or dark residue in the 5ml, I didn't roll the bottle. Once I did a better job mixing the oil, ta-da! Suddenly, warm chocolate overtones, a more realistic tea impression, and a tiny bit of what reads mostly as wood rather than a specifically identifiable leather note. The overall scent is now *much* richer and well-rounded.

 

So, revised opinion: This is cozy and jovial, very much a tea-and-music-after-festive-dinner kind of evocation. Nice! Low to medium throw, and relatively short wear length.

 

Don't be like me -- roll your bottles.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Wwindy

[Aviatrix]

This is a very sweet tea with a beautiful backdrop of the mahogany leather. I am luckily not getting much chocolate, but there is a hint of something cake-ish around the edges that must be the chocolate.

It smells to me like a cozy day in a comfy reading chair with a cup of tea.

 

This may actually be one of my favorite tea scents so far, since the tea is very prominent, but not astringent or bitter in any way.

 

The wear length is kind of short, but the throw is pretty good.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: I gotta be honest - tea and chocolate is a bit of an odd combo, so far. Was hoping for more tea and leather, but it's definitely tea and chocolate.

 

 

Dry: Just tea. It seems I amp tea, which I am just now realizing. I do like tea, but I think I enjoy it more when it's with other notes it can stand up to, so it doesn't become a single note on me.

[VetchVesper]

Ew. No. O_O

 

This... this is not for me. Waxy chocolate under something VERY acrid in the imp. I do not want to put this on, and that is very rare for me. I am not sure if it's the leather that is making this smell so harsh, or the mahogany, but it doesn't get any better on my skin. Very alchohol, burning, acrid, bitterness with a weird fruity sweetness underneath for like half an hour. Finally this settles into something that's not wholey awful - sort of an incensey, bitter tea smell. I still don't like it though.

 

I will let this one settle for a bit and retest it just in case, but as of now, this is epic fail with my chemistry.

 

ETA: Ok. It has settled down a bit and is not sooo off putting to me now, but it's still not a win for me. Leather and tea just is odd to my nose. To the SWAPMOBILE!

Edited January 30, 2017 by VetchVesper

[zankoku_zen]

I just got a decant, but it does not appear that the bottle was rolled prior to decanting. I get honey, tea, a touch of chocolate and leather. This is very honey and tea heavy. It's medium throw and low wear length.

 

However, I wouldn't neessarily say that this decant is representative of the blend itself as it seems to be very light in color.

[Smaragdina]

Tea and Music is missing the "music" note (music note? Huh? Get it? I'm so clever). This is a single note sweet tea on me. Which is a bummer, because tea + leather sounded like everything I ever wanted (I was thiiiiiiiiiiis close to blind-bottling this one and am glad I didn't). It's pretty, but I apparently amp bpal's tea note; The Dormouse, which I have a bottle of, is almost identical on me and The Dormouse has the added advantage of smelling like tea in a peony garden instead of just, you know. Tea.

 

Tea and Music is also gone in about thirty minutes.

 

I mean, I like tea. I just like other things with my tea, you know?

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Rich and sweet, without being too cloying. It's got a honey base and earthy tea notes on top, warm and thick and delicious

 

Wet: All the notes here are well balanced. I agree with previous reviewers that this is a very cozy scent. It's an abstract oil painting with warm, comforting brown tones and gentle sweet golden trim. It's quite pleasant and agreeable, like an old friend paying a social call.

 

Dry: This doesn't last very long on me. About an hour later, I can detect a slight musky honey tea lingering on my skin, and it's actually really lovely.

[Little Bird]

Tea & Music seems to fare better on me than it has on most reviewers. I really amp up the darker, masculine notes, it seems.

 

Goes on as a warm, fuzzy, cuddly, but slightly floral-fresh honey musk with hints of sweet chocolate.

Quickly dries down into something that loses that fresh and outdoorsy sweetness and turns more masculine, dark, and reminiscent of being in an old tavern full of old, gleaming wood bars and rough wood floors.

It's like an old wooden bar full of dusty, leather-clad cowboys, where you can barely see through the smoke (something like cigarette smoke, but sweetened by the honey and hint of chocolate so that it's not sharp or dirty), and there's an undertone of sultry, sexy honey and warm, dark wood.

I love the leather and mahogany in this, and the honey sweetens it up just enough to make it sexy as all get out. I'd be all over a man who was wearing this... feels like I'm about to swoon against a man who smells like dusty leather, aged wood, thick honey and a hint of spicy cologne... dry, warm and swoon-worthy to me.

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: Thick, strong leather and dark cocoa.

 

Wet on my skin: Beautiful. Rich, mellow, honeyed tea with wafts of leather and cocoa.

 

Dry: That rich, mellow black tea with honey is the star of the show for about 2/3 of the life of this scent, with deep red woodsy leather (like a mahogany bookshelf with lots of dusty leather books on it) and wafts of smooth cocoa backing it up. It's unlike any other tea note I have, so that's nice. Later on, the tea fades and allows the dusty mahogany and leather to really come to the foreground, and this stage is also lovely. The chocolate is a supporting note through the whole experience, like you're drinking tea and reading a book in an old library, and there's a bowl of chocolate truffles on the table nearby, but you're so engrossed in your book and the gramophone recordings of Baroque chamber music playing in the background that you've not gotten up to sample them yet.

 

...there goes my imagination. Whoops.

[ramblingrambler]

I hadn't contemplated tea scents until I started thinking about what makes me love Dorian, and although Beth made *that* a magical blend unto itself, I thought perhaps I would try each listed note to see how they worked alone or in combination with other notes on my skin. (Un?)Fortunately, as I don't know which of the three teas she used, I had to try anything with tea listed.

 

I've tried several tea-based fragrances to this point, some working while others not, and am making my way through the tea catalogue now that I've developed my palate a little more when it comes to these glorious little leaves.

 

Of all tea-dominant blends I've tried so far (aside from Dorian, of course), Tea and Music is my favorite.

 

In the bottle it's all tea and leather. It maintains the same platonic ideals (very Tea-y and very Leather-y) throughout its wear on skin, but they're rather strong mingled together and waiting to be released from captivity.

 

Wet on skin, it's the same strength tea, but leather amps to nth degree. It appears to be leather-dominant at this point and stays this way for the first twenty minutes until completely dry, at which point tea is equal or greater than leather again.

 

Around thirty minutes, another warm note begins to peek out, but I can't tell what it is (I'm reviewing without looking at notes ). It grows gradually as the leather morphs into an older, worn leather scent, perhaps akin to Ian's. That, or this new blossoming note could be tricking my nose to think I'm smelling some Ian in there.

 

Two hours in and I adore it. Everything is balanced, warm, and cozy. I feel like I've settled in with a good book at a tea house after having just finished a conversation with a musician who was on for the open mic. To me, this is a yellow-brown, cream colored scent, though there's no cream in here (I don't think—cream hates me).

 

As the base notes come out upon late drydown, it becomes both sharp and soft—the scent is both feminine and masculine to me in the way Dorian can read... This is slightly powdery but with a bite. It's, how do the kids say?, edgy. The leather stays put and... There's a slight green note here, probably what is making it seem sharp, different from the original tea note (perhaps the same note but has gone wonky on me?). The powder is more dominant on me. Like I said though, I could definitely see a man wearing this too, as I think the sharp note might be read as more developed then. As it fades away to nothing, it remains this same greeny, powdery, leathery scent, just proportionately less and less.

 

Overall, I really like this fragrance.

 

(Having written the review, I went back to review listed notes, and the warmth I was smelling must have been the chocolate truffle. It doesn't smell like the lab's usual chocolate note on me. This has more of a vanilla base with some amber mixed in to my nose. If chocolate truffle, it's a chocolate with a heavy dose of vanilla extract ).

[renfair]

First Sniff Impression: Smells weird in the bottle, but it also smells like it has awesome promise.

Wet in Vial: An almost sour chocolate. I'm pretty sure it's just the tea note giving it sourness.

Drying Down on Skin: So far this stays really close to the skin. But the notes begin to separate almost immediately, with the dark chocolate and black tea, slightly sweetened by honey and all tied together with a thin thread of leather. It's a very dark scent. It makes me think of a late party at a shadowy inn during wintertime. After a couple minutes some of the chocolate starts to recede, which is ok because it was almost too bitter with the tea and leather. The tea becomes spicier, which is nice.

 

Dry on Skin: Fully dry a lot of the bitterness and sourness is gone, leaving behind this very unique smell that's honestly hard to describe. I keep getting that image of a super dark inn. So maybe it's like resinous old, dark wood mixed with all the sweet cooking smells of holiday baking and the aroma of what I imagine pipe smoke in a fantasy novel would be like.

Conclusion: I like this one, but I think it needs a dose of sweetness to make it fully wearable for me. I'm going to re-test it later with some French Vanilla added. I have to say, hours later it did have a wonderful, sweet, comforting bit of smell left.

[whisperstilled]

The sweet black tea is a yes, but something in the truffle or the leather is making it go off on my skin. It sours an otherwise pleasant scent. I think if it was just a little less sweet and a little more astringent, it would be perfect.

[lipstickonmyteeth92]

In bottle: Really hard to pick out individual notes here, it smells very astringent, much like an over steeped cup of black tea with honey. I think there's some leather? 

Wet on skin: Black tea with a hint of cocoa, it has a soft chocolate edge to it at this point. 

Dry, after about twenty minutes:  Hard to describe. It's very soft and warm, barely there and I can't pick up the individual notes it's like it's disappeared 

After an hour: Alas it's gone! I'll try it again once it's settled for a few weeks. 

 

A few months later...

 

Trying this again! 

 

A very strong cup of black tea backed by dark brown leather and a sort of cocoa powder chocolate note. It's nice, very cozy! I wish it were a touch sweeter, I'd wear it more if it were.

Edited October 26, 2022 by lipstickonmyteeth92
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