Usher

[Aredhel]

Surely, man had never before so terribly altered, in so brief a period, as had Roderick Usher! It was with difficulty that I could bring myself to admit the identity of the wan being before me with the companion of my early boyhood. Yet the character of his face had been at all times remarkable. A cadaverousness of complexion; an eye large, liquid, and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very pallid, but of a surpassingly beautiful curve; a nose of a delicate Hebrew model, but with a breadth of nostril unusual in similar formations; a finely molded chin, speaking, in its want of prominence, of a want of moral energy; hair of a more than web-like softness and tenuity; these features, with an inordinate expansion above the regions of the temple, made up altogether a countenance not easily to be forgotten. And now in the mere exaggeration of the prevailing character of these features, and of the expression they were wont to convey, lay so much of change that I doubted to whom I spoke. The now ghastly pallor of the skin, and the now miraculous luster of the eye, above all things startled and even awed me. The silken hair, too, had been suffered to grow all unheeded, and as, in its wild gossamer texture, it floated rather than fell about the face, I could not, even with effort, connect its arabesque expression with any idea of simple humanity.

This is Roderick Usher: a faded genteel light musk and fougere, heightened by hectic white mint, gleaming mandarin, ethereal tea leaf and gritty blackcurrant brushed by the scent of the tarn that surrounds the House, and the gloom and decay of the walls that hold him.

Since the review was lost, I'm doing this from memory and notes I saved.

Rating (on skin): 3/5
Summarised in a word or two: Refined.

In the bottle: Mint, tea leaf, lovely light musk and a bit of mandarin. I love this so far, but it's very faint.

On skin, wet: Hmm. Interesting. An oddly... polite kind of musk, soft, muted white mint and dry tea leaf. It doesn't really remind me of aftershave, but it's that kind of thing, if that makes any sense. It's very... refined, and gentlemanly.

On skin, dry: Not so much mint now, though it is there. More light musk and tea leaf now. I don't get anything really fruity, but that may be my skin's fault. It loves musks and rarely likes fruit or citrus. Still very... up-scale aftershave without the aftershave. Oddly enough, it doesn't really seem a guy's kind of scent -- on the contrary, it seems to be perfectly gender neutral.

Conclusion: Usher is very hard to pin down, and I'm horrible at trying. I rather like the mint/musk/tea leaf combination, but I'm not quite sure if I'd wear it often, because it's a bit too... damnit, gentlemanly. And I hadn't realised it at first, but it does remind me of Dorian, though Dorian is sweeter, with a lovely sugary vanilla element, and that lovely lemon. Usher is... drier and fainter, but definitely similar. Edited December 12, 2007 by Shollin

[LittleGreyKitten]

Usher is amazing. It doesn't smell masculine on me at all. It does remind me some of Dorian- probably the same fougere base, and I can smell tea in both. Dorian is way sweeter and more vanilla, and Usher smells quite different, but there is a similar base to them, and those that love Dorian might want to try Usher. It's delicate, yet not floral at all. I totally don't smell mint, though I almost smell a citrus tone to this. It's very elegant smelling. For me, 4.5 out of 5.

[Spring Snow]

I'm glad and sorry I bought this. Glad because it smells amazing, and sorry because the boyfriend has claimed it as his own!

It's a very light and fresh scent. I mainly get the tea note, with the citrus lingering in the background. I expected it to be a lot more "sharp" than it ended up being... despite the sharp sounding notes, this is a very mellow scent (I think the ozone-y notes in the background have something to do with this). I think it smells great on boys and girls alike. I also agree with my fellow reviewers that it is similar to Dorian (the tea note). It's less sweet than Dorian, but it has that aspect of gentility that made me love Dorian so much. It's an elegant, unusual blend, which I'll be stealing from the boy as much as I can.

[sookster]

absolutely glorious!!!!

usher is my fav of the entire maelstrom line!!!!!

 

i get a touch of mint and some very expensive tea......it is like

sipping iced tea in a beautiful connecticut garden surrounded by mother

nature;lots of daisies and peonies...

 

most definitely a keeper and i cannot wait to wear this in the warmer

months ahead

[Brienze]

Unfortunately, my skin gobbles up Usher so fast that I barely have time to pick out the notes before it's gone. Literally, 5 minutes and *poof*. This is the Maelstrom scent I had the highest hopes for, too.

 

The impression I got from Usher was that it's a perfectly gender-neutral blend; there's nothing at all that suggests to me it would be better worn by a man or by a woman. It's not sweet or floral, but nor is it astringent in the way colognes can sometimes be.

 

Usher is a great blending of notes, and will be fabulous on anyone whose skin can hold on to the notes equally well.

[Brianne]

My review of this was lost in the forum fiasco and I found a new home for Usher, so my re-review of it will have to be from memory unfortunately.

 

Some people had speculated that Usher might smell similar to Dorian and I ended up buying it on that notion alone, because I love Dorian. I had kind of imagined that this would be a more masculine Dorian and in a way I was right.

 

Usher is like Dorian's older, more sophisticated and refined brother. He's more prim and proper, and certainly more masculine. I get the definite impression that it's something that would smell best on a man. And I'm all for gender neutral scents (most of my favs are neutral) and I think there are some women who can pull off the masculine scents. But I'm not one of those women, and this definitely seems masculine to me.

 

I was going to keep Usher because it does remind me of Dorian and it has a wonderful musky vibe, but in the long run I knew that I wouldn't wear something this masculine. It is a gentlemans cologne, a refined fougere.

 

It's as if Dorian and Villain mated. It's Dorians slight musky vanilla tea and Villains minty fougere. It is the refined gentleman of BPAL scents.

[lysithea]

I can agree to a certain extent that Usher is Dorian-esque. However, I must say that this is Dorian stripped down bare & naked until barely a shred of his soul is left.

 

Initially, it is a very light. I love the tea leaf and mint combination. The mint is barely a breath, but you can pick it out of the note lineup. I also got wisps of the mandarin. This note gives it some "lift" on the skin. I wish that it had stayed in that stage for longer.

 

At first, I would classify this as gender-neutral. However, it gets more masculine as the day wears on.

 

The musk is there. It is present. As long as it's on my skin, it is faint. On my shirt, however, it's amping like crazy. I don't find the musk and fougere as comforting as Dorian. There is a certain quality of "subdued madness" to this blend. Not quite so in your face and vain as Dorian. But not as comforting and sweet either.

 

I do like it, but there are times when I feel as if I've washed in one of those weird little soaps that teeter between masculine and feminine - not woody, not floral, not sweet, not heady and rich, or overly soapy - but not light and refreshing either.

 

Recommended to people that like aquatics with light musk and prefer their scents to on the gender-neutral side. It is fainter and drier and not quite as lush as I consider Dorain to be - but still nice in it's own right.

[Meganaut]

Well, count me as one of those people who likes aquatics and light musks. Add tea and mint and I'm in heaven.

I am looooving this. In the imp, the mint is definetly there, but on it morphs into a more light musk scent. I get a teeny hint of the orange peel in the background.

So far, I'm not getting any black currant, but there is a dampness to the scent.

This quiets down a lot on the skin. I wish it was stronger with more throw. The again, I did put it on fresh from the bath without moisturizer.

It smells very sophisticated. This would be a great scent for an all-dressed-up-and-aloof moment.

 

-Karen

Edited March 9, 2006 by Meganaut

[poisonapple]

This is very understated. It is a soft genteel scent that is gone almost before I have a chance to replace the cap. I caught a bit of the green tea I think, my newbie nose is not to good at picking out notes. I caught more of the mint in the bottle.

 

In the bottle it is a great scent. Lovely and would be wonderful on whom ever can amp up those wispy wraith like scents. Me I am not so wraith like. Looks like my english gentleman is still Dorian.

[poppycocteau]

At first Usher smells pleasant and a bit fresh, like being in a garden. I can mainly smell the mint and musk. There's a bit of tea, but I never do smell the fruit scents outright. It gradually becomes warmer over time, and a few hours later it smells like a warm, manly musk... almost sweaty. This is very masculine but refined, and not at all overpowering. I think the changes in scent reflect the character of Roderick Usher wonderfully.

[mandragora]

In the imp: An understated and elegant scent. Clean tea and slight mint. Quite gentlemanly.

Wet on me: A burst of citrus with a dark sweetness and musk.

Drydown: Now fresh and aquatic, the citrus is now just a whisper with something bolder and muskier lurking beneath. As I sniff, I picture a sophisticated, proper English nobleman in the Elizabethan era.

Verdict: Beth has captured refined masculinity in a bottle. I it! Now I have to try this on the hubby

Edited March 12, 2006 by mandragora

[jewelbug]

Bottle: Slightly sweet pale musk. Hints of smooth tea, fruits and just the slightest touch of mint. I do get the aftershave/masculine vibe from this, but it manages to smell so clean that I really think its gender neutral.

 

Wet: First on, this is strong mandarin and musk. As it dries, a smooth expensive tea with the barest wisp of currant comes out. This is very clean, sophisticated and posh.

 

Dry: The mandarin fades quite a bit and this becomes a sophisticated clean tea smell. Its accented by a creamy lavender, and an all but undetectable hint of mint. There are just bits of currant and the mandarin sweetening the blend, but not smelling particularly fruity. For the long-haul, it settles into a slightly sweet tea with a sparkle of white musk. It lasts 4-5 hours, which is pretty good considering how quickly tea scents usually fade on me.

 

Overall: This is gender neutral but is perhaps not something I could pull off. I can see how people compare this to dorian, but Usher is more subdued and more tea-like. Dorian is sweet lemony vanilla on me, which I prefer just a bit more than this, though I have yet to compare directly. Usher is absolutely beautiful, but maybe not something I need to add to my collection. I’ll have to revisit it and make a decision after some careful deliberation. It was super sexy on hubby, but only lasted about 2 hours.

[Blood onmy hands]

If my boy were to wear Usher and I were to wear Berenice, we would be the most perfectly scented couple ever.

 

I don’t much care for this one on me (not sweet enough to be one of my personal fragrances, lol) but I’m definitely keeping the bottle around because I think that it smells like heaven on the boy. Oh, and the boy likes it too, so I’m not really abusing him.

 

It smells of a sophisticated men’s cologne, shot through with a clean orange citrus scent. My mother sniffed it and said that it smelled “foresty”... and I suppose that I can see that as well. After about an hour, Usher loses a lot of its citrus punch and takes on a soft, minty-cool quality. I like it even more when it hits the minty stage.

 

Overall, this is a wonderful clean-citrus and light-mint scent that I love on anyone but me.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Fougere and white musk, perhaps a hint of mandarin.

 

Wet: The fougere and mandarin become more intense, and there's a hint of mint there, too.

 

Drydown: It stays pretty much the same, but gets stronger, specially in the mint department. The tea comes out too now, black dry tea. The mandarin has been pushed into the background, but still comes back periodically. The blend is very smooth thanks to the white musk, soft and rather soapy.

 

Overall: A traditionally masculine blend, light and luminous. I don't get any blackcurrant or anything ominous about it, it's mostly mint, mandarin and tea on me. A nice, mild blend, elegant and gentlemanly. Not my style, though.

Edited March 28, 2006 by Meg

[aidenraine]

Immediately upon opening this I stopped and went... Ok, what Lush product does this smell like? It was spot-on for something.

 

A minute later it hit me that this is a good ringer for the Summer Blues bath bomb! At least... at first.

It's very fresh and clean smelling, with a touch of orange/citrus. It's an invigorating smell, one that would be well suited to a home/room fragrence. I may have to poach it to use in my car aromatherapy diffuser.

 

The more this sits on my skin, the more I get bergamot. I like it. It now reminds me of an orange/ginger body spray that my husband uses.

Very fresh and clean. A comfort smell for me.

 

I want to load up on this so that my home (and car, as I mentioned) always smell of it. May have to get a bottle for that reason.

 

Really like this.

[Will]

Hmm what can I say that is not already said. . . Usher is a great "day" fragrance. It's elegant and refined, and at first sniff you might think, "OK, herbs, citrus, water, very nice." But then you start to notice a bit of musk and something a little awry at the base of it. I am not sure to call it sweat or dankness, or what, exactly. There is just the faintest whiff of an herb or an essence that is much "darker" than the other notes. Lovely.

 

This is PERFECT for wearing to work, passing under the radar at first, and then people ask you (in a nice way,) "what IS that?" because they have never smelled anything quite like it.

 

I will be wearing this on a nearly daily basis until it's gone. . . might even order a spare or two for later, cause it won't last the summer.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Citrus tea

 

On Skin: I smell the tea right away… but it’s not the same sweet tea as Dorian, White Rabbit or Severin, and not bright like green tea in Shanghai and Holiday Moon. It’s a little more bitter and very fresh and clean smelling. And the mint adds to the sharpness of it with a medicinal edge. The mandarin gives a citrus note and the blackcurrant helps sweeten it just slightly. The blackcurrant is powdery, not juicy at all. The musk provides a beautiful soft yet dark base. This is a much more elegant and formal tea, I love the mood it evokes. It does seem more masculine to me, but I don’t mind it on myself and I’m quite the girly girl when it comes to scents. It has medium throw and average staying power. A beautiful scent that I will keep the imp of.

[medvssa]

Hmhm, elegant, really elegant, delicate but with some kind of inner strenght, so polite, fresh, genteel indeed.

Fresh and bright (but not golden, more like silvery) and softly warmed by the white? musk.

 

I have to agree with Blood onmy hands, it is like a perfect couple with Berenice.

 

Will get a bottle!

[isyche]

Pale, silvery tea-citrus...clean and light...I love this. It's lighter and less sweet than Dorian, and there's that slight watery note in there, but it has a similar androgynous, refined delicacy. It's not super-masculine on me, and I don't get the currant scent, just the tea/mint/citrus/water/very light fougere.

 

Usher is totally like Dorian's more withdrawn/introverted brother; Dorian knows how pretty he is and uses it, but Usher is too distracted to notice. I also see the pairing with Berenice, but Berenice was a little too sweet for me or something and this is perfect. I adore it. Must have a bottle to go with my decant.

Edited March 30, 2006 by isyche

[azhure]

In the vial: Very light. Fruity, but almost the sense of scenting the memory of fruit.

 

Wet I don't get any of the tea note, the fruity mandarin and blackcurrant giving way almost immediately to the mint. It seems an almost odd transition to me, and one that I wasn't expecting to be so abrupt.

 

Dry down: This dries down into a lovely fruity concoction. Very little throw on me, more of a skin scent. Very delicate.

 

Verdict: This one deserves a few more goes. I think I'll hang onto my imp for the time being, but no 5ml.

[yeahbutnobut]

Usher

 

In the imp: yup, this is like Dorian without the vanilla and with added mint and tangy fruit notes. It's a very delectable musk-tea-fougere scent.

Wet on skin: the blackcurrant comes out more now, with the mint. It's a very fresh scent.

Dry on skin: mmm, this is nice. It reminds me of something from either Lush or the Body Shop but I can't remember what…someone mentioned Summer Blues, maybe that could be it? It's a lovely scent-very fresh and light thanks to a very light tea and mint, softened by gorgeous musk, with the tang of mandarin and the deep sweet fruitiness of blackcurrant. Far from being gloomy and decayed, this scent is breezy and refreshing to me…but still sophisticated and refined. It's also surprisingly youthful, yet still with something traditional and gentlemanly to it-but it's not overly masculine.

After a while: it's not long before this scent becomes a cool blackcurrant musk. the musk note, combined with a greenish fougere, is indeed very reminiscent of Dorian, but instead of vanilla, there's blackcurrant. There's also a cool, almost aquatic note to it which may be the mint, but I'm also wondering if it's the 'tarn' note (which is a kind of lake)? There's also a hint of smoke, musty dust (think Rat King) and damp in the scent-that must be the 'decay and gloom'…it adds a hint of age and something faded to this otherwise cool, light scent.

It gets faint quite quickly (over about 3-4 hours) but the scent I get on the skin is a smoky fougere-musk with hints of currant. And after another hour or two, the scent the scent that lingers is a soft white musk very similar to Villain.

Verdict: Usher is Dorian's colder, more distant brother, refined and gentlemanly yet with an icy personality and a hint of something aged and dusty despite my first impressions of him as being youthful and modern. This has the same tea-musk-fougere combination as Dorian but instead of vanilla, there's blackcurrant-deep and fruity, sweet yet tart. The tea note is also lighter, and there's also a cool touch of mint. This scent is breezy and almost cheerful at first but then as it wears on, the blackcurrant strengthens and a dark smoke rises, along with a hint of faded dust and a musty note which darkens and changes the tone of the scent. However, the musk is soft and elegant and by the end, it resembles that of Villain. The scent isn't overly masculine either-I can wear it without thinking I smell too much like men's perfume. I like this a lot more than I expected but I still prefer Dorian, so I may not get a bottle, but I will keep the decant.

[arabella]

First Impression: An airy floral.

 

Dries down to: Stays much the same but fades considerably.

 

Additional Comments: I'm not getting blackcurrant at all. I get the mint and tea leaf but not the mandarin or must,. This is the one Maelstrom blend I was most looking forward to trying but it didn't live up to my expectations. That's okay, though, there were others that pleasantly surprised me.

 

Lasted: An hour or so.

 

Rating: 3 out of 5

[LiberAmoris]

Usher is definitely like Dorian's genteel but unhinged relative---drinking tea. When I wear this I pick up notes that I recognize from blends I already know and love: Lurid, The Dormouse, and Villain (as Brianne and yeahbutnobut have already mentioned).

 

Usher strikes me as a 'dry aquatic'---how it's possible for something to smell dry and wet at the same time is a mystery to me, but it does. The tea note is the most prominent on my skin, even a few hours in, and it's divine, like opening a fresh tin.

 

I think Dorian will remain uppermost in my heart, but I like Usher enough to keep it. I think it might be fun to put some Usher on the boyfriend when I'm wearing Dorian, sort of like a His and Hers corrupted elegance set.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Favorite. Short Story. Ever. I would have bought a bottle no matter *what* notes were in Usher. Fifty years before there was Dorian, there was Roderick--gentleman, scholar, nutjob. I really wanted a scent for Madeline, too, but I guess incestuous twins would steal each other's perfume so she'd wear this too.

 

In the bottle: clean, light, fresh, but no notes are especially apparent.

 

On me: more than anything, Usher reminds me of White Rabbit--linen and all, even though linen isn't listed as a note. Lovely tea as well. Faintest citrusy mandarin. I can tell there is a breath of aquatic, but it's a lot fresher than I'd expect the Ushers' murky tarn to be. This is really lovely, elegant, and clean, and gender-neutral--yeah, I do think Madeline would wear it. In fact...perhaps she returned from the grave to wrestle Roderick's bottle away from him and take it to the tomb with her. This is now my official new interpretation of the story.

Edited April 2, 2006 by Laurel the Woodfairy

[blu°]

Freshly applied:

Hm. Fresh, herbal, bei far not as bad as I had thought. Actually quite agreeable. While there is a certain masculine vibe in this, I'd say that it's really wearable for girls, too.

It's quite a light and bright scent, that reminds me of some Lush product, too.

Quite delicious, would be nice for day-time wear (work).

 

A bit later:

Something in here is turning slightly liquoricy. I bet there's anise in Usher. Anise/fennel/liquorice are my enemies, but I don't really mind it in Usher. It's a very faint trace of anise, if it is one at all.

 

It's lost some of its initial freshness now and smells rather herbal now. Smooth, really soft with some bright musk and the fougere.

In the throw this smells really nice, musky warm and smooth. Close to the skin it's still minty, but with that slight anise thing to it. Below black currant, also warm.

 

I think there must be oakmoss within the fougere, and together with the light powdery musk that's quite lovely.

 

I put on some Berenice on my other arm, and now I can smell that the musk in Usher isn't all that innocent and bright at all. It is quite animalistic actually. I think, it might even be black musk. By all means, it's one of the dark musks that always remind me of my granduncle Onkel Willi. Or more exactly the bathroom of my Onkel Willi and Tante Threse. I like to be reminded of them, but I tend to swap scents that smell like their bathroom on my skin.

 

Still, Usher isn't too bad. I like how it's such a creamy incense, so soft, I can almost feel the flower petal soft skin of that man.

 

After drydown:

There's a dust note now reminiscent of the Rat King. Very dusty with murky musks that seem pale at first. However, they turn out to be quite dark and animalistic musks that have a faded feel, just as Beth put it in the description, and therefore disguise like light and "genteel". The longer I wear Usher, though, they show more and more of their real nature.

 

Conclusion:

The scent is dead on for the concept. The change from wet to dry really captures the idea of Roderick Usher changing as in the excerpt Beth chose for the blend's description.

I quite enjoyed testing it, but I don't think I'd feel well wearing it among people, so I'm swapping my imp.