House of Mirrors

[bombus]

Antique amber frames a series of distorted, eternally warping clear crystal and glass notes.

It is very clean smelling with out being soapy. I mostly get the crystal and glass notes, and just a little of the amber to warm it up.

[Czarina]

In the imp: Oh dear. Synthetic aldehyde smell. This isn't gonna work with my body chemistry.

 

Wet: Yep. It smells like Chanel No. 5.

 

Dry: Still smells like Chanel No. 5, only with the slightest hint of amber.

 

Synthetic aldehydes are so, so, so not me. Thank goodness the imp was almost empty, it spares me the trouble of swapping it out.

 

Let me note that I think this is a brilliant interpretation of a mirror in scent form. It is a very nice scent, just has a main note that does not work on my skin.

[Mamacat]

Very clean and classic smelling. My husband told me that I smell like the sexy teacher he might have had

in high school. A grown up scent that lasts all day! The longest lasting oil I've ever used. Gorgeous.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Very decidedly aquatic, almost sharply ozoney.

 

Wearing: I gotta go with Remy (of Ratatouille) on this description: "It’s lightningy. Yeah, lightningy!" By which I mean it reminds me quite a lot of the Lightning scent, the same sort of rainwashed ozoney clean. The amber never showed up.

[gchris]

In Vial: Smells like a citrus cologne

 

Wet: Definately aquatic notes. Has a light lemon smell and something else that is slightly masculine.

 

Drydown: This is not as masculine now but is quite perfumey. I don't really smell the citrus. I just barely smell the salty aquatic. Something that smells like perfume has come to the surface and that is what I mostly smell. This is a light scent and I would say could be worn by both male and female.

[alicia_stardust]

This is cool and sharp. The amber base is beautiful and lends itself to the sharp glassine notes. They are cool, hard, cutting. I get a strong sense of prismatic mirrors; shards and angles of brightly reflective mirrors and glass. These have a dual ozone/aquatic quality to them. This is pure art and an amazing execution of concept.

[samthenerdy]

I bought a bottle of this through eBay on a whim recently, since the descriptions sounded like something I would enjoy--amber and glassy, aquatic notes.

 

In the bottle, my very first impression was that it was DEFINITELY glassy. It's sharp and crystalline and a little metallic; didn't initially seem like a very welcoming perfume scent.

 

Then I tried it on, and it was instant love. The amber showed up on me almost immediately and two hours later is still around. This is such a pretty, elegant scent. And to echo Czarina, it does remind me a little of No. 5, which isn't a bad thing at all in my case.

 

All in all, it's absolutely lovely and probably my new favorite BPAL oil. I always love the discontinued ones.

[Dark Alice]

Wet in Imp: Very Glasssy.....with something green in it.

 

And then nothing.....Amber and I have a love hate relationship. Sometimes it loves me, sometimes it hates me, and other times it just abandons me.

 

Drydown: the amber barely appears on me. I get tiny whiffs of it as I huff my arm. It's so pretty and light, but fleeting......

 

ADDED March 9:

 

Update review!

 

 

I wore this today...and I could actually imagine myself swallowing a mirror. (probably because I put way too much of this on!) The amber in this is gorgeous...very womanly infact. I can see a woman looking at herself in a multitude of mirrors...I am in love with this and I am so glad that I have a bottle!

Edited March 31, 2009 by Shollin

[pinkstardust420]

Bright, soft, powdery aquatic glassy....vanilla?! Thats what I get. Not bad, but not sure if this is a keeper.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Clean and tangy; aquatic and metallic. Rather masculine. Maybe a hint of something sweetly herbal.

 

Wet: The same. A touch cologney - some white florals. But mostly this is a very bright, clean, fresh aquatic with that hint of shiny metal - chrome, as in Torture Queen - note.

 

Dry: Maybe something citrusy - lime peel, or bergamot? I don't get any amber in this, if there's any, possibly white amber. I'm getting a breezy, airy ozone feel now, too. Definitely leans towards floral on my skin.

 

Summary: Clean white flowers, ozone, silvertone metal and, after a few hours, slightly dusty/dry wood - cedar? rosewood? Great throw & lasting power. Unisex.

Edited March 26, 2009 by fairnymph

[donnatron]

Bottle: Soft aquatic and ozone notes. Very crisp and clean.

 

Wet: The wet stage on this one is weird. It wants to stay clean and crisp and sort of detached from me but the amber warms to my skin and seems to drag everything else into it.

 

Dry: I think that without the amber I would totally hate this. It's basically just a light, clean, almost laundry detergent fresh scent. But the amber lends it a really interesting, warm resinous quality and makes it interesting without overpowering it. This is very light and ethereal. Not the greatest thing I have ever smelled on my chemistry but something that I can wear to the office without complaint and it actually has really good wearlength.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: It's pretty and a little unusual. Nothing too out there and nothing groundbreaking compared to other BPAL scents but sometimes you need something that is just neutral and easy to wear. House of Mirrors definitely falls into the category for me.

[Venneh]

Got this as a decant as part of a PIF package from Dark Alice; thanks so much again!

 

In the decant, it feels like I'm not really getting a scent at all. On my skin, it's a really faint, clean scent. We'll see if there's more of a scent on the drydown here. It ends up being a really powdery scent on me. Not really working the greatest on me, but there's bound to be someone else who's interested.

Edited December 8, 2009 by Venneh

[writergal969]

I was frimped this a while ago from Dark Alice and I haven't gotten around to reviewing it though I've worn it a few times...

 

In the bottle: Sea-of-Glassy with more Ozone and a hint of amber

 

Wet: Cologney ozone with the salty glass feeling

 

Dry: Amber and ozone and a hint of salt and quite lovely actually. I test drove it on my husband as well, but liked it better on me. Awesome scent and really enjoy it! 4/5