Miskatonic is AMAZING - but also CHEEEEESY. Recs?

[Estamets]

I love love love Miskatonic U, but my husband and mom both think I smell like Pirate's Booty with it, which is.... not ideal.

 

I have ordered another imp in case it was an issue with that batch, since I haven't seen anyone else mention this.

 

In the meantime, what are your favorite coffee/polished wood/book scents?

 

(I'm a serious foody - my skin turns everything into candy, so I'm just leaning into that - and I will run fast and far away from anything with flowers, after setting the person who gave them to me on fire.)

Edited June 21, 2021 by Estamets

[Thuy]

I also LOVE Miskatonic Uni! I think your hubby and mom need to get their noses check, lol. So I can't tell if you want scents with all three of those scent notes or a combination of 2 of those or what, but I'll offer what I can based on what I've tried so far.

 

I'd say that Irish Coffee Buttercream is the sweeter cousin of Miskatonic U, minus the wood/paper notes. If you like something a little spicier, Spiced Rum Buttercream Coffee is nice, though I wish the coffee stuck around a little longer. I struggle with getting the coffee note to stay true on me (skin chemistry turns it into something suuuuuuper woody - i.e. I have the Black Coffee from Winter 2020 but it dries down to something that reminds me of balsa wood), but if it's coffee + booze, it's so good.

 

My favorite paperback scent is You Are Not Alone (if you don't mind lavender) since it's like the one book scent that doesn't run leathery in my opinion. Fair warning though if that interests you, it's a very sought after Lilith blend so it may cost a pretty penny if you're able to find someone willing to sell.

 

Polished wood... I haven't dabbled enough in this note, but I do enjoy Antikythera Mechanism and Baby's First Ballista. AM is a little harsh at first (I think thanks to the teakwood), and Ballista is the sweeter cousin to AM. Hopefully someone else may be able to offer more and better recommendations in this one.

[rhonorv]

I love Svarta Fönix Bókaflóð, if you can find a bottle kicking around the forums. Very warm and cozy. Bookcase Passage is also pretty, though it felt like more of an atmospheric one. I'd also highly recommend Dee; it's a sweet leather. If you want a cleaner, crisper woodsy scent I love Lawful.

 

Café Mille et une Nuits is a nice complex spicy coffee scent.

 

And it's not exactly what you're asking for, but you might like Le Lèthè -- in my head it's another warm-brown-fuzzy scent that lives in that same family of scents, though it's not books/wood/coffee!

 

Also -- I totally feel you on things sometimes turning to food! I had the same experience with Chimera recently, while it was wet on me it was pure buttered popcorn. It dried down nicely, but it was strange!

Edited June 22, 2021 by rhonorv

[Estamets]

Thanks so much! 

 

@Thuy I actually got blasted in the face with powdered cheddar a’la Kraft Mac n cheese when I opened my MU imp yesterday! Hopefully this is a batch thing and my new imp won’t do me like that 😂 I love woody smells, so I’ll look for the spiced rum, and there’s a bottle of Antikythera M in my perfume rack, it’s one of my go-tos!

 

@rhonorv. Lawful and Dee are in the imp order I just placed, yay!!! I do like Le Lethe, but it feels like I’m wearing another person’s lingerie so I’m letting mine age a bit and see what happens. Thanks for the other recs- adding to my wishlist

[Thuy]

Oh that is so weird! I hope that it will work out far better with the new imp! Body chemistry is like black magic.

 

I'm glad that I replied here because now I've discovered some new-to-me scents that I want to try (though my wallet says no at the moment).

[VetchVesper]

@Estamets The paper note in MU comes out really strongly on me, and I end up smelling like a brown paper bag soaked in Irish Cream.  😕 

 

I also really like Café Mille et une Nuits as a coffee scent.  It's not super sweet, but I like that.  Abolish ICE is really tasty and in the permanent collection. I'd also recommend Jólabókaflóðið: A dribble of candle wax, distant hearth-smoke, a fleck of chocolate Yule log, and aged, yellowing paper bound by well-loved leather that has passed through many gentle hands. It's a  Yule that has appeared several years and you could probably find a bottle or tester pretty easily. 

 

There is Black Coffee and Old Books, which I have up on my sales page.  Alas, it didn't work for me, but books and coffee, right there! There's The Buggre Alle This Bible, and The Book, which are general catalog, but aren't sold on the site as imps.  Haven't smelled the BOOK, but Buggre Alle is nice if you like leather.  The Crimson Peak, The Manuscript was also a really realistic book smell to my nose, but you might have to do some digging.  

 

Dee, Scholar's Tower, and Aelophile are very nice library scents, without exactly being "book" smells.  Antikythera Mechanism is very nice. The recent Weenie, Creaking Floorboards is very "polished" wood.  

 

 

[Estamets]

@VetchVesper paper bag is also not a great scent, but it might be less disconcerting than Kraft Mac & Cheez 😂😂

 

You are an absolute FONT! Thank you so much for these recommendations. 

[VetchVesper]

10 hours ago, Estamets said:

@VetchVesper paper bag is also not a great scent, but it might be less disconcerting than Kraft Mac & Cheez 😂😂

 

You are an absolute FONT! Thank you so much for these recommendations. 

[alterosen]

Pumpkin Latte (Espresso, pumpkin syrup, smoky vanilla bean, milk, raw sugar, and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg) might be worth trying - it was available a few different years.

Also Mornings in New Orleans (The scent of chicory coffee (au lait!) and sugared pastries) if the sugared pastries behave.

 

The Buggre Alle This Bible is my favorite book scent - soft leather & papery sandalwood. The Book is similar but there is also a batch variation with a strong ink note, so you may be  lucky/unlucky depending on how much you like that note (I really, really don't).

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by alterosen

[Estamets]

@alterosen thank you!!! I actually do have an imp of Pumpkin Latte 🎉

 

and UPDATE: I got another imp of Miskatonic from the Lab and it’s not cheesy. The cheesy one is up for swaps if anyone wants it!

[AbbyNormal]

I’m so happy to have found this thread. I tried on my imp of MU last night and picked up some serious cheese and thought I was losing it, because I didn’t get cheese at all from smelling the imp. At least now I know I probably got one from the weird batch. Yay, it’s not me!