Media

[Ryan Hemphill]

Waiting for them in front of the motel was a woman Shadow did not recognize. She was perfectly made-up, perfectly coiffed. She reminded him of every newscaster hed ever seen on morning television sitting in a studio that didnt really resemble a living room.

Lovely to see you, she said. Now, you must be Czernobog. Ive heard a lot about you. And youre Anansi, always up to mischief, eh? You jolly old man. And you, you must be Shadow. Youve certainly led us a merry chase, havent you? A hand took his, pressed it firmly, looked him straight in the eye. Im Media. Good to meet you. I hope we can get this evenings business done as pleasantly as possible.

A news anchors cologne, a soap stars perfume: perfect, pixelated, and glamorous; aglow with cathodes and anodes, coated with phosphor. I offered you the world, she said. When youre dying in a gutter, you remember that.

I'll do my best on this one--but it's a bit tough since I am having a hard time identifying specific notes on this.

Media is a very bright, feminine scent. I expected more of a typical perfume scent on this, but instead it was more playful and fruity/floral.

 

Fairly light, and faded away completely in a couple of hours.
(but to be fair, lighter girly scents don't usually last long or amp well with my skin chemistry)

 

It was pretty while it lasted...but def more of a commercial scent. In fact, it REALLY reminds me of something I've smelled before (not BPAL) and it's driving me crazy that I can't place what it is, haha.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

on me this turned into Heavenly from Victoria's Secret, one of their flagship perfumes and i swear they pumped it out as air freshener in their stores for years.

i got a free bottle of it for being a "Forever Angel" a few years ago, and i use it from time to time, and Media smells so much like a slightly nicer, or slightly more natural, version of that scent.

 

quite pretty, very nonoffensive, ladylike, and clean.

[roseus]

Didn't think I was going to like this one, but it's actually pretty nice. Very glamorous and fresh, and probably the most mainstream-smelling BPAL I've sniffed but there is something still very BPAL about it. I'm having the same difficulty as girlryan where this smells very familiar but I can't put my finger on it. I want to say it smells like Michael Kors, but maybe because that's the only commercial perfume I've really smelled recently as it is the scent my mother wears. And maybe because it smells ever-so-slightly beachy/tropical to me? There might be gardenia or another white floral in here.

[MischiefofRats]

This is the American Newscaster accent in perfume form. It's clean, crisp, pleasant, instantly recognizable, and completely impersonal. There are no quirks that stick out, no particular influences either way, and it is profoundly reminiscent of a hundred other commercial perfumes. I think it's perfect for Media, and it's entirely wearable.

[Jenjin]

Regal with notes of creamy primrose and honeysuckle nectar glistening within a sweetly scented aura. I'm making some wild guesses at the notes here, but it is definitely sparkling, glowing and illuminated. This is relaxed elegant femme, floating through the air, as clean and completely effortless. Soft and welcoming with lots of airy musk, it exudes seduction with a slightly hypnotic presence and HAUTEDAMN perfect for the Texas heat. I'm crazy for sparkling florals, but MEDIA is a shining star that is softly enveloping, addicting and makes me dance in the spotlight~

Edited May 31, 2017 by Jenjin

[whisperstilled]

I love the concept of Media as a character, but I'm not sure what I'm hoping for out of this one, since the note description could go almost anywhere. Let's give it a whirl!

Wet: Floral, sweet, and definitely sophisticated. Is that mint in the background? Bright and floral, almost like a commercial perfume, but there's a juiciness which rounds it out and adds a certain voluptuous something.

Dry: I'm trying to nail down the floral element here and I just can't, I'm not well-educated enough on floral notes, but honeysuckle, previously mentioned, seems like a good bet from what i can remember. There's something green here as well, and musky. It's definitely feminine and floral, and extremely well-blended. I'm getting maybe a touch of ozone in the background (which I think is what I mistook for mint) which must be the 'cathodes' et al, but this is first and foremost a well-rounded feminine perfume, sweet enough to verge on girlish, complex enough to stay just this side of adult.

I don't know if it's really my cup of tea, but it's growing on me the longer I have it on the skin! For the sweet floral lovers out there, very spring-like.

[joopjoop]

Media is a classic feminine floral perfume. A mixed bouquet of different colored flowers, but all very spring-like. As others have noted, it smells commercial - like a high end but heavily advertised perfume from the 1990s. There is slightly powdery edge to it which must be the cathodes and pixels! As it dries down there is a bit of pollen-y sharpness that emerges that makes me think that perhaps there are lilies or daisies in here, as those are two flowers that don't agree with my skin chemistry.

 

 

Verdict: it is beautifully constructed but not really my thing. Probably a safe pass on this one.

[zankoku_zen]

Floral, soapy, and holy shit, did this just turn into walking into a Victoria's Secret store? I think so. I am blinded by the dazzles of pink, the overt, sexualized version of a woman with heaving breasts, and the cloying floral perfume. It's feminine, but toxic. Pink, but vapid. Pretty, but poisonous.

 

If that isn't the Media, I don't know what is.

[LizziesLuck]

Based on the reviews, I have a strong feeling I will love this.

 

Wet: A big blast of beautiful, sparkly florals and pale sparkly musk. This is sparkly. In the same vein as some other "commercial-but-better" smelling BPALs, like Ava, BFJA, Muse of Fire. I think it's maybe a bit sweeter than any of those though, but I will have to compare to be sure. It's REALLY pretty on me. Classy, elegant, kinda bitchy. expensive smelling. I love it, and I love how I feel differently about it knowing what it represents. Spot on, Beth.

 

 

Dry: OK, so I`m pretty sure this has dried down to a creamy jasmine and musk. Like, a jasmine I can wear. It doesn`t smell like cat pee. Or human feces. Or any of the other things it always smells like. It`s sexy! Is this what other people get out of jasmine all the time that they like so much...cuz if so I totally get it, this is awesome. Need bottle, asap.

[Little Bird]

Media is close to smelling like nothing on me, with not much throw or lasting power at all. It's powdery, like violet scented cosmetics dusting powder, sort of sweet and floral, with something like a clean white musk and slightly soapy, sharp white floral. Perfumey, powdery and light. The white floral muskiness turns a little sour on me in the drydown.

 

Powdery, clean, slightly soapy, sharp white floral wafts...

[Smaragdina]

This perfume is absolutely hysterical

 

It smells like every generic perfume you've ever smelled. It smells like the perfume department at Sephora where you can buy concealer in fifty different shades of beige. It smells like the hair of a fifty's housewife. It smells like a fifty's housewife with lipstick stains on her collar because she's having an affair with Susie who lives next door. Susie wears pearl earrings and lipstick with a name like Immoral Coral and this perfume sits on her vanity counter in a disconcertingly rectangular bottle. It smells like Channel No. 5 and I need to stress that I have never smelled Channel No. 5, but it smells like the idea of it as seen in a Cosmopolitan issue. It smells like the little paper snips of sample perfumes that have been in your purse for the last month. It smells like those free samples if they were softer, and fuller, and weren't sodden with alcohol. It smells like pale pink and white roses and amber and more free samples. So many free samples. It smells like the light in that creepy Folger's commercial. It smells like the sales pitch of a diamond-jewerly saleswoman in a pencil skirt and a sensible satiny blouse when you know the price of diamonds is artificially inflated. It smells like a white convertible and a pair of Jackie O. sunglasses and a french manicure and a white-and-black polka-dot dress with a sweetheart neckline and Immoral Coral lipstick. It smells like a newscaster with Marilyn Monroe hair smiling at you on a jittery analog tv screen, which is exactly what it is supposed to smell like, and I am almost crying with laughter because they got this exactly right.

[sprout]

This smells like a dead ringer for Clinique Happy to my nose. The glittery aldehydes are potent, like "taste on the back of the tongue " potency.

 

I'm guessing here, but Media starts out with a zingy citrus, I'm guessing grapefruit or bergamot, but probably the former because it screams engenue. The heart is probably honeysuckle or Lily.

 

Drydown is close to the wet phase, but definitely in the green chypre family with over the top aldehydes. Effervescent, vapid, cheeky are adjectives that come to mind.

 

This does evoke the concept well, it smells like commercial, clean, conventional fragrance: really swell, good clean fun.

 

I want to purchase this for nostalgic reasons as I used to rock Clinique Happy when it first was available. I may have to pass though because this is Stimulating a headache. This is perfect for wearing to work though or a job interview where the image you want to project is "I'm confident, cooperative, energetic, and won't stink up the joint. "

Edited June 19, 2017 by sprout

[Casablanca]

From the bottle, I get a light bergamot-sweet orange floral impression, but once Media meets my skin, she’s mostly flowers.

 

She becomes a floral and white musk perfume, commercial in vibe, and her citrus flits away. Like Sprout, I seem to mostly get honeysuckles and lilies for the floral. A little soapiness develops on me, such as what I tend to get from wearing lily of the valley, but it never takes over. Likewise, a little white-musk powdery quality comes in, but without going crazy.

 

The blend is on the faint side and fades quickly on me. I hope it comes more into its own with additional settling, so it can shine in its proper vapid glory.

[faifai]

I love this. It smells super beautiful, a pretty white glittery floral. It smells a lot like Tommy Hilfiger's Tommy Girl perfume. Something about it is very commercial.

 

If you like other BPAL commercial smelling florals such as Butterflies, Flowers and Jewels Attending, give this a try.

Edited August 7, 2017 by faifai

[Alethia]

I can't even do a proper review for this because on my skin this is a dead ringer for Clinique Happy. Like seriously, I sprayed one on each arm and (once the alcohol burned away) they smell identical.

 

I'm not even mad about this because Happy has been one of my favorite scents forever and I'm thrilled to have a BPAL dupe of it!

[torischroeder9]

In the bottle: Light and sparkly and powdery. I don't associate it with any kind of commercial perfume because it doesn't smell like alcohol. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, I get a soft, powdery scent that I associate with frankincense. It's also effervescent on me, a quality I associate with orange blossom and white musk -- but I don't recognize orange blossom's distinct scent here, so my bet is on the white musk. As it dries, I get whiffs of light, sweet florals -- maybe honeysuckle and lilac or wisteria -- but enveloped in the fizz of the white musk. 

 

Ultimately, the white musk stays dominant, with some light florals at the center -- and I'm still getting something like a light resin to ground the scent. It's a very clean scent, not overly sweet on me. I'd also describe it as more unisex than conventionally feminine. 

 

Throw on me is on the lighter side of average, but wear length is average to good. 

[donkehpoo]

Wet: This smells like a "normal" commercial perfume, but I can't really put my finger on which. (... probably since I don't wear them myself, derp.) Maybe just a general "commercial perfume" scent; a little floral, a little sweet, and little baby powder smelling. Wearable, and pretty inoffensive smelling. 

 

Dry: Floral baby powder. 

[doomsday_disco]

Media smells like a musky pink floral perfume to me. I believe I am smelling some lotus and white amber in this along with some other floral notes, aldehydes, and some musk. I'm fairly certain about my skin bringing out some lotus and white amber because it is really reminding me of Vaginal Tales of the Nocturnal Palace sans the vanilla and mallow and with aldehydes instead. This is very mainstream, feminine, and pink.

 

I grabbed this decant for my mom to try since she seems to love more commercial-smelling BPAL scents like Ava and 51. I'm not sure she would like Media as much as those, but I am curious to hear her thoughts on this.