Miskatonic University

[blood*rose*flowers]

The scent of Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls.

I didn't remember the description when I first smelled this one and at first I actually thought it was like a drink a bartender friend of mine use to make called "Sex in the Snow" (a mix of Kahlua, Vodka, Butterscotch Schnapps and cream) but then I listed about three other drinks I loved before someone reminded me of the description and it clicked and I got the Irish Cream. No matter what drink it was I fell in love and bought the bottle untried drooling like Homer Simpson with a Buffet in sight over this scent.

Ok I get home drag out all the oils I bought and ran to my SO exclaiming smell this, smell this. He didn't get it I scoffed at him and then decided it was time to try this luscious scent.

First on delicious intoxicating Irish Cream Coffee, liquory and sweet. Yummy just like in the bottle then something changes it becomes a little darker, a little woodier and possibly dusty? It starts to smell almost exactly like the description. I smell like I am in an old library and I spilled my flask on an old book.

The problem is that the wood scent becomes stronger and I think the book is getting musty under all that coffee sort of how a paper towel smells when you clean up certain liquids. Its not a completely bad scent but it doesn't set well on me though sadly through all of this that alcoholly, sweet scent still hangs on but it just doesn't complete the picture of what I hoped this oil would be.

I know its sort of silly on my part since it smells in many ways exactly like the description says but some how I was hoping that the Irish Cream scent would banish the wood scents that tend to despise me in other scents. The good news is I traded it out for another that I hope will hug me instead of making me read a book in a really dark musty library.

[Northernminx]

::sniffle::

 

Today I am sad. The SiA blends and I are not agreeing very much (which is fine really, it's a hit or miss game with skin chemistry) but I had the highest hopes for Miskatonic U.

 

Sadly not to be. That gorgeous whiskey, coffee, dusty goodness in the bottle stays around for about ten minutes on my skin; I was one happy minx let me tell you as I adored all the notes in this. Just as suddenly though this goes rancid on me, like stale burnt coffee and singed paper. Not a nice smell. **kicks her skin chemistry** As Macha mentioned very strong, very long lasting... very sad this didn't work

[yeahbutnobut]

Miskatonic University

 

In the imp: Irish coffee! Coffee and Baileys! YUM!

Wet on skin: still that delicious coffee, Irish cream, whisky smell! I do smell like someone has spilt Baileys and latte on me, but I don't mind, it smells awesome!

Dry on skin: the old books smell is coming through now…the coffee, cream and whisky are still there, but there's a dusty, dry smell that reminds me of aged pages of dusty tomes…now I smell like a librarian! It's interesting…not really a perfume I'd wear but I'm amazed at how this smells just like what it describes, so realistic!

After a while: the throw is incredible. I put my arm down away from my nose and I can still smell coffee, the smell wafts everywhere like no other BPAL I've tried!! There's a hint of wood here too, dark polished wood with old books and strong coffee.

After about two hours, the coffee still stays , but gets darker and there's more of a hint of varnished wood now, and dusty book pages.

Verdict: I'm a student so a scent named after a university appealed to me…and I am impressed at how realistic this smells. If there was a smell that encapsulated the phrase 'wake up and smell the coffee', this is it. It's coffee overload, and much more. At first it’s a shot of pure Irish coffee, almost drinkable…but as it dried, the dusty books smell comes through and the sweet coffee smell strengthens. I know it sounds weird but that smell of dusty books and spilt coffee and Irish cream is surprisingly nice…so compelling to sniff! I probably won't wear this as an everyday perfume, but this is an impressive scent, capturing an old library, and one of the most unconventional BPALs I've tried. What an amazing olfactory experience. I'm sure this would make a fantastic room fragrance.

Now I'm a bit bummed that I never got any other SiA scents (the only reason being that I know nothing about Lovecraft), as they are the most unique scents that are like no conventional perfumes out there!

[Shollin]

First sniff: Jaysus, Mary and Joseph. I’ve been trying to find a coffee scent for my caffeine-addicted Seattle guy… Gluttony wasn’t quite right, but this… this… gbgnrmmm. And in this amber bottle it almost looks like coffee, too.

 

Wearing: Come to think of it, I might not let my guy out of the house wearing this… people might try to lick him. I’m a little worried about wearing it out in public for fear I’ll get the overwhelming urge to lick myself. Miskatonic University is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever smelled. The downside is, it had me craving chocolate all day… I think this might be one I’m content just to sniff on him.

[gingersnapp]

I'm not a coffee drinker, but I do enjoy the smell. And coffee this is! This is a rich, creamy roasted coffee. Underneath, I can vaguely smell what I can only describe as aged paper, much like digging around in the dark, dank hidden sections of the library. There is also a hint of woods, but not enough that I can smell it without putting my nose to my wrist. For the most part, the throw is all coffee, and I'm loving it!

[sheepzeit]

WOW. This is a sweet, punch-me-in-the-face shot of coffee at first. Delicious, even though I am not a coffee drinker. The sweetness and strongness fades a little after it dries, which is good. I like scents that stick around (as this is proving to be), but not if they empower the room the whole time.

 

The sweetness disappears a little more as times goes on, and then a dusty, nutty smell comes through. I assume that this is the old books and polished oak that is in the description, and it smells very much like standing in line at the Barnes & Noble on a bright Saturday morning. Very very accurate to the description, which is amazing.

 

The only problem is that my stomach seems to be a bit of a purist. Food scents and non-food scents mixed together are making it... a little disgruntled. Off to swaps we go.

[pranashakti]

Thanks to the staggeringly generous jj_j...

 

Miskatonic reminds me of a very specific day in my life. I was the first in my family to go to college, and was always an avid bookworm. A bit of a black sheep in reverse. My college advisor (and mentor) took me under her wing and I did several independant studies with her. On this particular day, she asked me for lunch at her house in Cambridge, and I got to see how the "other half" lived.

 

It was a tiny, cramped apartment, with wall-to-wall wooden bookshelves simply crammed with books of all sizes and kinds from the floor to the ceiling. We sat at her old wooden table, shiny as a mirror from many polishings, and we drank Irish coffee (my first) and looked at Medieval grave rubbings she took while in England and copies of manuscripts in spring sunshine. She told me I had potential and a gift and it was the first day I ever believed that.

 

The sweet, creamy coffee goodness of this is lovely all on its own. Almost a bit too sweet at first, and I'm a "foody" type of gal. But the polished wood note and a touch of warm dustiness mellow the sweetness after a bit, and the scent that's left is the encapsulation of that day in my mind in my heart. It was a day when I began to believe that I was more than where I came from, that I began to see what I might be. Life has moved on for me much since then, but I am in a similar place in my life right now and am very grateful to have something to sniff that brings back that feeling.

[mmontgomery]

I just got my Springtime in Arkham collection today and I'm so excited!!! This is the first scent I've tried. It's very coffee like, then unfolds into Irish coffee. It's as of someone snuck out of the library into the nearby Miskatonic U. coffee house. Perhaps they have the Necronomicon under their arm as they sit in a corner with their expresso. Of course someone has a whiskey in the background, and another is sipping some Baileys. There is the leathery smell of worn couches and ancient crumbling bindings.

Edited June 15, 2005 by mmontgomery

[isyche]

Miskatonic U in bottle: hazelnut coffee, yum! exactly like opening a bag of coffee beans and sniffing it.

 

Miskatonic U on me: Rich sweet coffee with an undertone of dark polished wood and a little of that dusty book smell—it's the smell of the ideal cozy little bookstore/cafe. I don't know how Beth does it, this is amazing.

 

I find this scent incredibly comforting, because bookstores and libraries have always been happy places for me. I ordered a second bottle before I got to smell it because it sounded so good, and I'm glad I did!

 

Now to settle down with a copy of that infamous book by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred...

Edited June 16, 2005 by isyche

[Atalanta Pendragonne]

Well, I've been pretty happy with the SiA scents so far, and I was very much looking forward to this one; so many rave reviews! When I got mine in today's mail I was a very happy little addict.

 

And?

 

Bailey's Irish Cream, straight up. Lovely, utterly lovely, and I'm very glad to have a bottle, but I'm not heartbroken over not being able to order more. I didn't get any wood or dusty-book odors, just yummy boozy coffee.

[enigmae]

In the bottle, it's pure hazelnhut coffee. On my skin, the Irish creme scent comes out, followed by the "old books" scent that others have mentioned, and they all blend together and become gorgeous. When I was in college there was a coffee shop inside the main library, and this takes me back to that place.

 

It makes me feel grounded, and a bit...studious, perhaps? (Not necessarily a bad thing, I feel like I can concentrate more easily - maybe the caffeine associations!)

 

A winner.

[Yagathai]

In the bottle: People have mentioned that they smelled irish coffee, or hazelnut. I get both of those, but also a warm, buttery scent that lays over the coffee/cocoa. There's also something else lurking in there, deep and buried. I can't quite place it -- maybe it's leather, or a woodsy note. Miskatonic U in the bottle is two-dimensional on the surface, but surprisingly deep once you start to pay attention.

 

On my skin: It takes less than a minute for the sweet coffee smell to almost completely disappear. I guess my skin soaks it up like a thirsty sponge. All that's left is a faint undertone of that buttery smell, and the warm, resinous, woody smell that other people have called "dust". I don't know if I would call it dust, exactly -- on me, it's more of an aromatic sawdust scent. I can't quite place it, but it reminds me of a construction site. I could see how it might remind one of dusty bookstacks, or a library, though that's not the association that I make. It's not unpleasant, exactly, but not a way I'd like to smell, either.

 

Verict: I'll give Miskatonic another try some other day, but if this morning's results repeat themselves I probably won't wear it a third time. That doesn't mean that I won't find some use for it -- maybe scenting letter paper or freshening up the apartment -- but I don't think that my body chemistry treats it the way that it deserves.

[yaluna]

In the bottle: It's a wonderful irish coffee smell, yum!

 

On me: It only takes about 3 seconds for the irish coffee to completely fade, before all that's left is some kind of wooden/playdoh/plasticy smell that I don't think I really like. So disappointed! This was my second try.. so I'll give it another chance in a few days, and see if for some reason it changes on me into something I like better (which has happened before..).

[Koumori]

I wanted to like this. I wanted to like this so much. In the bottle, I love it.. foody, boozy, comfortable leather chairs. But alas, my body chemistry doesn't seem to like the resiny/foody scents that I love so much, and after an hour or so, I'm left with a dry-papery scent with an unpleasant undertone of wood smoke.. that smoky/ashy note seems to come out with a lot of BPAL scents on me, sad to say; must just be my chemistry. I desperately love this in the bottle, and may still try it as a room scent, but I don't seem to be able to wear it.

[gwynhwyfar]

I had high hopes for this. I'm leaving my beloved university before too long -- and the even more beloved library. I was so hoping that this would remind me of the smell of late-nighters with coffee and musty and dusty old books so I could keep it and cherish it when I'm living in a town where the library was, until recently, barely five rooms big.

 

Sadly, I have been disappointed and left heartbroken.

 

The coffee smell is definitely there. And alone there. Not even just any coffee ... this is Irish coffee, very very strong. So strong that just a whiff made me start to sneeze. I couldn't bring myself to test it on my skin when I couldn't stop sneezing.

 

So, with my spirit low and my heart broken, Misk U shall wander off to the swaps. Or the coal-mines, to atone for leaving me to tragically disappointed.

[pkwench]

Miskatonic U = the love of cappucino. It, truly, is like bathing in a cappucino and then getting a little wriggle of a woody undertone after a few minutes. It goes largely vanilla on me, in the end, but SUCH a vanilla. It's so warm and so cozy. The scent of it was just so pleasing and happiess inducing. If you need that cozy sugarshock-Miskatonic U is for you.

 

I know have the weirdest urge to a little Purple Rain handsigning here. You can't see it, but I'm doing the I would die 4 U thing, right now.

[Rheliwen]

So this one is a hit for both me and the boy...which was quite a surprise! I opened the bottle, took a whiff, marveled at Beth's ability to bottle anything and ran over to the boy to sniff. He got this kid in a candy store look and said, "Put some on me!" So I did. It's amazing how different it is on him compared to me, so I'll do reviews for both os us.

 

On me it starts off very coffee-ish. In the bottle I get the irish, booziness of it, but it sort of disappeared on me. After a while, I started to get hazelnut latte. Both the boy and I agreed that it smelled nutty on me.

 

On him, he gets none of the nuttiness but all of the creaminess and the dusty books really pop on him. He's a much more moist person than me, so this is interesting. I almost get that plasticy coconut smell from him...almost like Snow White (but I ain't sayin' a word because he'd decide not to like it if I did). I went and sniffed him and again and he was doing his happy dance! I'll have to see whether it will live in his stash or mine...it definitely smells better on him

[fallow deer]

Mmmmm - there really is so much going on here.

 

The coffee/cream/booze note is the most predominant first of all, and this stage relates to tiramisu - in fact part of this scent does remind me of Demeter's Tiramisu PMU.

 

But it's definately not a foody scent for me as it dries. A nutty woody note comes in to play, with a definate dusty feel.

 

OOOhhh! I've just remembered!!!!

 

My parents used to have big wooden book cases, with cupboards underneath and glass pannelled doors with shelves above. We had our own children's bookcase in the sitting room; these shelves were for the study. The study was inhabited by these book cases, my dad's computers, my dad, dust, and several old cups of coffee.

 

I used to love looking at all the titles, and adored being allowed to unlock them (I was obsessed with the key before the books) and take out books.

 

This is the smell of opening the bookcase: wood, paper, dust with coffee in the background.

 

It's amazing how memories are triggered by scents; I'm begining to recall the order and titles of the books, even though my parents moved apart and this house was sold ten years ago...

[sitanpu]

This is so good! I got my imp, sat down by the mailbox, and slathered in it! Unfortunately, it's faded quite abit, it'll be gone soon, and it's been maybe 15 minutes.

 

I'm determined to make this work!

[tempete]

I got to try this thanks to the wonderful ChupaChup!

 

The Irish coffee smell is very strong initially, which is gradually edged out by a dusty smell that really does evoke a library. Unfortunately, the same sharply green note that plagued me in Spooky and Snow White decides to make an appearance with Miskatonic University as well .

 

It's a good thing that I never got around to ordering a bottle of this, as that awful green note would have ruined it for me.

[olympia301]

 

This is a jovial scent if I ever smelled one. Full of the topnotes of coffee and heavy cream, foody without being cloying, strong and long lasting with an excellent vanilla drydown, what a great way to smell!

 

There are similarities in Miskatonic University (MU) to such favorites as Grog but its drydown brings me to parts of Velvet (without any sandalwood) as does its overall smoothness and ability to comfort. I think I might detect a note of cocoa in the mix, and that note lasts though it is a flourish rather than the main theme. I don't get any hint of herbs here or a green note as tempte did, but chemistries and scent memories vary so widely among people.

 

MU is outstanding in a scent locket, it stays strong throughout the day. On your skin it is heavenly, mixing with your human smell as easily as a leaf falling on the forest floor. I would say it is a fine contemplative scent, it goes with books and learning very well indeed. Though I love MU now (July) I think it is best kept for Fall and Winter because it is heavy and warm. I certainly hope that the vanilla note here comes back frequently in many other of Beth's scents (and perhaps it has for all I know).

 

I would say Miskatonic University is a great achievement, and once again I have to applaud Beth for this great gift to us all, even if it is a limited offer. I only wish it was a catalog fragrance but its brief visit will make me treasure it all the more.

Edited June 30, 2005 by olympia301

[quikslvr]

At first, very coffee. After an hour or two, the "Irishness" of the coffee emerges, with cream and alcohol (that buttery rum note) tinges. About an hour after that, I can smell a touch of wood, but only a touch, in the vanilla and soft chocolate cream goodness. I lovelovelove this, but it makes me crave Bailey's/Ryan's Cream something awful.

 

I wish I'd gotten two bottles of this.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Bailey's Irish cream! Woohoo!

 

On me:

Ahhhh... I really wanted this to work. I had high hopes for this scent, and as a coffee lover, I thought this was going to be perfect for me. Sadly, it is not. The coffee never really makes an appearance on my skin, it's all irish cream at first - it's boozey and sweet and wonderful. But after just a minute it all but disappears and is replaced by wood and dust. And to be honest, though I knew that was going to be present in the scent, that's not what I want to smell like. The irish cream is gone, and now I smell like an ashtray.

 

Final note:

Anyone who can get the irish cream note to stick around and be the predominant scent from this, is very lucky indeed because it's just wonderful. Unfortunately, people with skin like mine get stuck with smelling like dust.

[darkling]

Miskatonic University was creamy, boozy, chocolately coffee in the bottle and on my skin. It was so sweet and alcoholic that I was starting to get worried about wearing it to work.

 

On my way out the door, the undertones of wood and dust started to faintly emerge and the booziness disappeared. This left a sweet Irish Coffee scent that made me imagine a Dunkin' Donuts coffee Coolata left in an ancient library

 

The throw faded fairly quickly but I can still pick up its lovely scent on my wrists at the end of a 10 hour workday.

 

I can't imagine how often I will want to smell like sweet coffee but I will love Miskatonic U for when I do.

[pensive]

Miskatonic U is the little gothy girl sitting in the corner of my most favorite coffee house in the world, which happens to have a neat view of the city proper, and a lot of books in it.

 

I'm so glad I ordered an extra bottle. Now that I've imped out what I'm willing to, I am quite comfortable in hugging this bottle along side Chaos Theory II: CCLXXII and going "it's a mememe scent"

 

 

Verdict: Good wet, dry, perfect concept, brilliant execution, all coffee, all the time.

As far as foodies go, I'm not kicking Spooky to the curb, but this beats that.