Moscow

[ipb]

A rich, bold blend of imperial rose, carnation, lush jasmine, lily of the valley, dark musk, amber, bergamot and gilded tangerine.

the tangerine and bergamot are very present when it's wet. the florals less so, but they come out more when it dries, especially the jasmine. unfortunately, the lily peeps out and lily and i don't get along very well.

[sheepzeit]

This is gorgeous! I actually bought this for a friend but I HAD to sneak a dab before I package it up for her.

 

I don't do florals but... wow, I smell the jasmine (but not too heavy), rose (very faint), and some lily. But it's a perfeect bouquet, very balanced. The longer it sits on my skin, the more I can feel the jasmine and lily poking through. I almost feel like I'm walking through an old European flower market on the most beautiful spring morning!

 

I think this is very.. white. I don't know why I think that, but it's so gorgeous. I might have to beg an imp off her!

[gingersnapp]

I was worried when I smelled this in the bottle because something made my nose curl... a very sharp smell. Reading the other reviews, I think it might have been the tangerine.

 

But on... this is all carnation. It's very soft and light and gentle. This is really lovely for those days I want to be a girl.

[Gemini noir]

At first: a strong impression of tangerine and lush carnations (the rose maybe adding to the lushness but I don't smell a rose note), with the amber more in the background. And gorgeous!

 

A couple minutes later, the jasmine emerges, and maybe the lily of the valley, I'm not familiar enough with their scent to be sure. The scent grows more exotic. The tangerine starts to fade at this point ...

 

You could walk through the market stalls in Moscow and smell these scents ... all the flowers, amber incense, jasmine and bergamot tea, tangerines. If you purchased wisely, you could achieve this smell, but the BPAL way seems a lot easier.

 

Twenty minutes later, and it's harder to pick out the notes ... the jasmine is there, but while it doesn't dominate too much, it's hard to pick out other notes. I still get carnation I think ... Otherwise there's mostly a general impression of exotic prettiness. The tangerine note was so lovely, and it would have been nice if it could have lasted longer, but this is still a winner. Evocative and lovely.

[Gin]

This is very floral on me, with a touch of musk. The florals are lush and full-bodied. It's like burying your face in a cool, fresh-cut bouquet.

[jessamynit]

this is really, really balanced on me - what a great blend! although I can sort of pick out different notes, they're fused together very well, so that I just have peeps of jasmine, tangerine ("gilded"?!), and very light musk and amber, and rose, etc etc. nothing is too harsh or pushy. nice!

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Jasmine!

 

Second Impression: Jasmine! This reminds me of Rapture, which was one of the very first imps I ever got. When I smelled Moscow, I got a hit of bpal nostalgia. My skin really amps up jasmine and for the longest time, that is all I can smell. After a long while a bit of musk starts to peek out.

 

Final Analysis: While I like jasmine, I'm wishing all of the other notes came to play.

[Jessica]

In the bottle : tea leaves. Just tea leaves and nothing else. Maybe this is the bergamot? All the other notes I have an idea as to what they may smell like, but I'm not sure about bergamot.

 

On skin: Yummy, clean yet musky. The 'tea' smell doesn't stay on my skin and I don't smell any traces of tangerine. I love the way this smells on me.

 

It's very different from the blends I'm usually drawn to, but I like it very much.

[hepkitten]

On someone else, this would be a commanding, beautiful, womanly blend of lush and spicy florals. Gorgeous.

 

On me, it instantly turns into "smell of Grandma." Damn.

[shelldoo]

in the vial: hmmm tangarine? w/ a hint of rose

 

wet: hello jasmine arrrgggh i wanted rose

 

dry:lily comes out, and the tangarine is pretty strong so i am mostly getting a lily tanagrine blend, the rose is apparent occassionally, and amber seems to be hiding there, i am not a big lily or jasmine fan, w/o them this would be gorgeous.

 

but alas off to swaps

[Rheliwen]

Moscow is a shapeshifter

 

In the bottle I mostly smell roses.

 

I also only get roses just after application. It's a nice, fresh, green rose though.

 

And then it starts to dry. The first note I pick up on is the carnation, which lends just a tiny bit of spice. After that is the tangerine, making it a bit juicy. Next comes the dark musk. It's very subtle. I wouldn't have thought it would work so well with so many bright florals, but it adds just a touch of musk.

 

Oh, and then it happens...the jasmine comes out in all her garish glory and steals the entire show. What a hog! But wait! Is that the rose trying to crawl back up the stage? She's having a hard time, what with jasmine's spiked heels knocking her down all the time. Eventually the rose gives up and I'm left with soap. So unfortunate...

Edited April 9, 2005 by Rheliwen

[alston78]

At first application- I get a sweet floral that, for some reason, reminds me of jellybeans . I'm not savvy enough to pick out individual florals very often, especially not in a more complex blend like this- but I don't really smell the spiciness that I associate with carnation. I think I'm getting more jasmine and lily.

 

1 hour later- nice morphing in-between- the sweetness faded and I was left with a clean, fresh floral- definitely some jasmine playing in there, it always goes a little soapy on me. AFter an hour or so, I can smell what I *think* is the amber- it lends a nice warm note to the floral. The scent is rich, but still light- I wouldn't call it heavy at all

 

Several hours later- I'm left with a very warm floral- I think it's probably mostly musk and amber at this point, maybe with some lily left?? I'm not getting jasmine anymore at all. Still very enjoyable.

 

I'm not sure I'd order a 5 mL because I have so many florals- but this is a light, pleasant blend with nice wafting and a certain richness underneath. I'll definitely hang on to my imp!

[Northernminx]

I was expecting something with a lot more oomph from this, something a lot less fresh and light. Not that I'm complaining this is a gorgeous scent, jasmine, tangerine, and carnation being the most identifiable notes on me. The Jasmine was veeeery prevalant at first but has calmed down, leaving this a faintly spiced, clear floral. Very pretty!

[pekeana]

Moscow is rose and bergamot in the vial, to my nose.

 

I put it on and exploded into a huge red rash.

 

Alas, Moscow hates me.

[UltraViolet]

On

This is really nice so far. I smell mostly Jasmine with subtle rose and in the background is the citrussy tangerine and very light carnation struggling to be noticed amongst the aforementioned notes.

The Bergamot, Amber, Musk, Lily are not pronounced at all and I couldn't identify them if I didn't know they were in here.

 

30 minutes

It has good staying power and this blend smells better when it dries on me. It's not as sweet and I smell mostly Jasmine, Amber, Rose and Lily at this point. I'd like less rose and more carnation.

 

Throw:

Might/medium

 

Scent category:

Floral, Fruity

 

Summary

If you're a floral lover, this would be a 4 or 5 star scent for you.

It's a little more fun and less grownup as some floral blends. This is both fruity and floral. It is medium strong and has a medium strong lasting power after 30 minutes. It's more floral then I initially thought but it's a nice one. It's sweet-ish because of the amber. I bought it because it had some similar notes as Lush "Potion" body lotion.

It's less spicy and more floral and sweet then Potion, but the can that same nice fresh carnation note.

 

Purchase again?

Yes, an imp when i run out or perhaps a 5ml.

 

1-5 rating, 5 being best.

4

[LiberAmoris]

Moscow is a really well-blended floral, very polished and smooth. The top notes on my skin are the tangerine, jasmine and rose, with the carnation and lily supporting. The amber, bergamot and musk are only detectable as a subtle base for the floral notes to rest upon.

 

Moscow reminds me of another classy floral---Venice. Both blends have me envisioning an enormous floral bouquet in the foyer of some great, gilded marble hall. The drydown of Moscow also reminded me of Mata Hari's drydown, sans coffee and tonka.

 

All in all, another gorgeous floral blend from Beth. It makes me wish I had somewhere more interesting to go today than down the hall to the laundry room!

[Electra]

This is all jasmine on me. Apparently my skin loves jasmine. Too bad my nose doesn't .

[tsarina]

In the bottle it smells strongly of lily. the first bloom on my skin is the carnation and tangerine. Then the rose and lily makes an appearance. It has a beautiful, regal feel to it. I want to walk straighter and throw my head back when wearing this.

[quimerula]

Wet it's jasmine and lily of the valley, with bergamot and tangerine in the second line.

 

Dry rose and carnation come out, making it a round and subtle floral.

Lovely, a winter's big bottle.

[Shollin]

Sounds like Andra and Electra are my scent-twins on this one.

 

First sniff: It’s a sweet-white-flower orgy! Seems like if there’s jasmine anywhere in a scent, that’s all I can smell from the vial. Jasmine, jasmine, jasmine.

 

Wearing: It’s still pretty much pure jasmine in the wet stage. I’m waiting for the other stuff to kick in and tone it down a bit, because the rest of the notes sound amazingly wonderful. As it dries, I’m getting a hint of amber off my right wrist, but it’s still mostly jasmine.

[glampyre]

For me, Moscow is exclusively floral, with little-to-none of the amber or musk.

 

It does make me think of the clear night air on ice-and-snow-covered city streets, like every surface is covered in diamonds...which is how a Muscovite friend described her home city to me.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: I have problems with both carnation, dark musk and lily of the valley. The rest of the notes are good on me so this blend could be iffy as well. The jasmine is coming out on top pretty well in this blend in the bottle. Whether it stays there is the question. If this ends up being another jasmine blend, I'll get rid of it. Ave Marie is good enough for my jasmine blend. It's almost jasmine and amber, which is a fairly pretty scent even though amber and I have a few difficulties.

 

Wet: Jasmine, which I'm glad that it's taking over the carnation. Carnation is just too spicey for my tastes. Ummm...ew. Dark musk coming out, I think, which is not the best scent on me. I can only really deal with white and sometimes pale musks.

 

Dry down: Dark musk and amber. All traces of the florals have vanished along with any sense of tangerine, which sounded as though it could have been a very nummy scent indeed. There is a hint of the bergamot, though. Another scent I'm not crazy about on my skin. It's not bad, but it's seldom good if you know what I mean. And then it starts to fade down and away very quickly. I think my skin is just steadily eating every trace of it. Even when I sniff my hand, I only get the faintest whiff of a fragrance, and then it's just a very weak amber/musk smell.

 

Dry: Very faint musky/amber smell. No floral, no tangerine and the bergamot is gone, run for the hills or been eaten entirely by my skin. This could have been so pretty but not on my skin. Oh well. That's three bottles up.

[synique]

Amazingly floral and lovely, with just a touch of the non-floral notes. Starts off VERY rose, but the carnation, jasmine, and lily of the valley soon appear on drydown and as time passes, the musk and amber appears.

 

This is an absolutely gorgeous bouquet.

[SoapyRN]

A rich, bold blend of imperial rose, carnation, lush jasmine, lily of the valley, dark musk, amber, bergamot and gilded tangerine

 

I remember when this came out that I wanted to try it, as a frimp I am able to.

 

Wet, very strong florals. Like dripping wet strong florals.

 

As it dries the dominant note continues to be jasmine and that lily which I never get along with. I ordered Baghdad because I wanted that beramot note. I think I will find it there.

 

Pretty though. Strong Russian mama would be great with this.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: The strongest note is the tangerine, followed by the rose and amber. I think the bergamot helps amp up the tangerine considerably. I can definitely detect the jasmine, too.

On me: The fruity notes fade to the background as this becomes a powerful floral. The combination of rose, jasmine and lily isn't working for me - it's too strong and just too generic. Even the carnation, trying desperately to fix things up, fails to improve and diversify the perfume. Too bad - as described by someone else, this is definitely 'dripping wet florals,' but without pleasant aquatic notes.