Mopey Boar Alchemy Lab

[voodoocatwoman]

Tagline: “Extraordinary scents for extraordinarily forlorn people.”

 

Truffles and clove bud with smoky incense, cardamom pod, and ginger.

 

Spicy and smoky.  It's a deep and husky fragrance (to me).   Definitely not for the forlorn but perfect for someone who likes a spicy fragrance.    This says evening to me.  

[doomsday_disco]

Mopey Bear would probably be the most fitting mascot for me, but its fragrance isn't particularly mopey at all!

In the decant, I can smell all of the notes. There's the truffle I recognize from 13 July 2018, the smoky incense (which isn't overly smoky -- don't let that scare you away if you normally avoid smoky scents), and WHOA THAT IS SOME SPICE.

I tend to amp spices, so the spices quickly become the most prominent aspect of the scent on my skin. I have sensitive skin, and the spices here do create a warming feeling, but they didn't end up burning me or leaving any welts. I'm not really sure how to describe the truffle note. It's not earthy, and it's kind of perfume-y, but in a good way. It takes a long time for the incense to come out on me (thanks to the intensity of the clove, cardamom, and ginger). After several hours of wear, the spices are still pretty prominent, but the truffle and incense notes are more noticeable.

This one is definitely for fans of spicy scents. I like this,  but I think the decant will be enough for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Smoky incense, truffle, and spices. This one is a deep somewhat earthly spicy scent on me. It has some herbal tones to it, which I am assuming is the truffle. Good throw and wear length.

[Teaotter]

This goes on with a sharply inky note -- something more reminiscent of a machine shop than I imagined. There's a strong medicinal clove under there that starts to burn through the machine oil after about ten minutes.

 

The smoky incense blends comes out after a while -- not smoky like bonfires, but there's definitely the warmth of incense smoke and not just the smell of incense.

 

This one confuses the heck out of me. Good throw and decent longevity, but it never quite leaves the machine shop behind. This is a steampunk alchemical lab.

[Lucchesa]

Mopey Boar is an oddball.  At first, all I got was Teaotter's machine oil -- the type of lubricant my dad used on the machines in his woodshop when I was growing up.  I think this was the combination of the truffles and the incense, and in all honesty I don't know if I would have been able to name it had Teaotter not unlocked that scent memory for me (which is why I shouldn't read reviews before testing scents), but it was weirdly specific and lasted a long time, during which I got no clove, no cardamom and no ginger.  It took a good two hours for the spices to emerge on my skin.  It's gorgeous now, about 3 hours in, a kind of earthy incense with ginger as the most prominent of the spices.  But the opening was definitely strange on me.  

[ollybee]

Oh man, I ADORE this! Smoky but not overwhelming, slightly medicinal without being sharp, a little sweet without being cloying. In short, everything I hoped it would be, BUT my skin eats it in less than 90 minutes, so sad! If this lasted longer on me I'd buy bottles and bottles of the stuff. Woe indeed.

[Juushika]

In vial: An earthy, broad, dirty spice.

 

On me: A deep, broad, prickly brown scent: strong clove (the other spices are here too, but secondary) atop distinctive truffle and grounded in incense. Not at all sweet. It can go medicinal, especially it overapplied. The truffle is earthy but with a perfumey quality, especially as the scent wears or if overapplied. A light touch benefits this; throw and wear length are otherwise moderate to strong.

 

Verdict: It can be easy to project name or description onto a blend, but "boar" really fits this deep, prickly, brown scent--it's large and unique, but from a shadowy, earthy direction. Three tests in, I'm still not sure how I like it. Not worth a bottle, but I've also not smelled anything quite like it and I imagine sometimes I'll reach for it on account.

[tinyvulture]

Truffle, a bit like rich, deep earth. Then lovely clove, cardamom and ginger notes. Like a chai with cream...there's a definite creaminess. The ginger isn't stinging like in some blends. Others felt the spice was too strong, but to me it's just right. Feel solid, grounded, protective.

[starbrow]

Oh, this is so *good*. Going through my collection, I had thought of this one as a sweetish earthy-cozy blend, and I'm mostly right. It's more spicy than sweet, but there's a warm muskiness to the incense and truffle notes that leans ever so slightly sweet and it's perfect. The truffle manifests as an earthy whiff that is neither mushroom nor the lab's usual dirt. It's a swirl of umami, wholly unique in the 'flavor' palate of blends, kind of intoxicatingly savory.

 

Let's talk SPICES! I can pick up the clove most prominently, but for me (an admitted clove-lover), it still lets the other notes breathe. The ginger is just a pinch of a bright, rooty note, and the cardamom is indistinguishable to me, which is good because I'm turned off by strong heavy cardamom. I'd say you'd have to enjoy clove to really enjoy Mopey Boar, but the ginger and cardamom are really just accessory players in the mix. The smoke of the incense - which is I think a frankincense along with some other kind of wood - is gentle and dreamlike.

 

Three years of aging and this beauty is spectacular. The spices have blended - not necessarily calmed their t!ts, but they have infused into the more fragrant elements to create a den of earthy, smoky, spiced incense into which to crawl in the depths of winter or just really whenever you need a warm place in the earth to hide and hunker down. Loving my bottle, and stashing it in my fall/winter collection...if I can bear to wait that long to wear it again!