Usher

[Electra]

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.

Usher is a very gentle, barely-there scent on me. Genteel indeed .

It starts out as a lovely soft minty aquatic. Drydown is still vaguely aquatic, but the mint goes away and something fruity shows up - but it's so soft that I can't actually tell whether it's the mandarin or the blackcurrant. It's just a whisper. I never get tea at all.

This is a wonderful hot weather scent - fresh and understated. Will be great for office-wear as well. I really like it.

[jidabug]

Oooh. This is a sharp, clean, bright citrus. This is exactly what a guy should smell like, to me. Very clean, with just a bit of rugged musk and cheeky citrus to it, smooth in the end. If my husband were the kind of guy to wear cologne, I'd buy many bottles of this for him, because I really like it. Alas, he isn't, and as much as I like this fragrance, it's too masculine for me to wear.

[minilux]

Usher is the most beautifully fresh and clean scent I have ever experienced. It could have gone wrong in numerous ways, the musk could have been too masculine, the aquatic note could have given me a massive headache and allergy attack (like every other aquatic does) and the currant could have ended up too sweet. Amazingly, though, everything blends together into the scent of spring with a touch of fruit. And even more amazing was that my boyfriend actually said, "mmmm...something smells good", which happens with maybe 1 out of 200 scents.

[sarada]

I like tea, I like fougeres, I like mint, I love blackcurrant, so of course I wanted to try this.

 

Sniffing this in the imp, though, I can't smell a thing.

 

Alright, let's try it on my wrists. It is almost like a pale cousin of Whitechapel, but without the powdery lilac. Very faint. Imagine Death on a Pale Horse if you couldn't smell it at all.

 

As it warms a bit I get the slight tang of lime, like bubbles breaking on your nose as you drink a lemon-lime soda. Chilled, fresh, a faint clean lineny musk scent...reminding me a bit of Dirty, but with a twist of lime.

 

A clean, musky citrus but too light even for a locket. The clean aspect actually becomes murky with wear, like bathwater you've been sitting in for too long. I guess this is not for me, but as always it was a pleasure to try.

[Voleuse]

OMG! This is delicious. The mint and mandarin blend together beautifully, and there's a floral note--lavendar--that balances them perfectly. As it dries, the tea mellows the blend overall, and the musk lends a nice sensual note to the blend.

 

After a while, I get a hint of berry, but it's never very strong. Overall, though, this is gorgeous. I definitely want a bottle.

[GemmaCat]

The first time I tried this, I had a cold, and so it just smelled like cologne. With a fresh nose, this is absolutely beautiful.

 

It's all fresh citrus (mandarin always smells like lime to me, for some reason) and light tea, with the sweetness of mint. As it dries down, it gets softer, and the fougere and musk balance out the sweet notes perfectly.

 

This is how I'd hoped Dorian would be (sans vanilla).

[QueenFae]

I can definitley smell the tea, mint and maybe a faint hint of mandarin as an afterthought. It's a little more "gloom and decay" that I usually enjoy in a scent; and while this lends nicely the the idea of Usher, it ends up smelling a little rotten on my skin. I'm a big fan of tea and currant scents, but I would categorize this as more dark and foreboding. It's like tea wrapped in freshly decayed leaves. This one didn't work out too well for me, so I will find my decant a more appreciative home.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Masculine soap, with added lemon.

Wet on me - Lemon and mint, but some how warm and spicy

Dry on me - I don't get on with fougeres, but this is very pretty, very green. It fades to a soapy/watery scent

[Neely]

In the bottle: yummy Earl Grey tea!

 

Wet: yummy Early Grey tea with blackberry? I am really liking this.

 

Dry down: soft Early Grey tea, clean sweet, lovely. He is like Dorian's older more uptight and straight laced brother. Ohh mama likey!

 

30 minutes: creamy, yummy tea. The citrus is gone. Just creamy tea. Yummy!!!!

 

Conclusion: Oh I do love this. This is like my beloved White Rabbit minu the pepper and ginger. Luckily I have White Rabbit to get when this runs out.

 

Rating 1-5, on my skin this is a 5.

[feline.by.design]

Usher started out smelling like olive oil on me.

 

"Hmmm... hunh? What the..."

 

This makes me do a double-sniff. Yes, when wet on my skin, Usher smells like olive oil initially. It does change, thankfully, to a very clean scent reminiscent of Saint Germain, Severin and the Dormouse all at once. It's quite a clean, green scent, which I find appealing. It can be labelled as a masculine scent, which I also find appealing. The tea is light and the citrus notes are bright.

 

Although the citrus note is mandarin, this smells more like lemon than anything on my skin. The mint isn't too strong, which is good, as a good deal of mint fragrances make me gag unpleasantly (I think it depends a lot on which mint is being used).

 

After about five minutes, when the drydown begins, I can faintly smell the blackcurrant, which is really what makes this scent distict from other clean men's fragrances in the BPAL line. It's like the sun is obscured by a blackcurrant cloud. Ah, quite nice.

 

Usher is a definite keeper as we get hotter down here in Florida. My boyfriend may like this scent as well, but I don't know if I'll pick him up a bottle. I'd love for him to smell like this, though. I'm quite a fan of it on my own skin, and will use my bottle well.

 

Yay! A winner! :::throws confetti:::

 

-doreen

[girlmadasbirds]

the tea, blackcurrant, and musk are giving this a very fresh scent... i really like it! it's a bit cologne-ish, but that's fading as it dries down. i think this would smell wonderful on a guy, but it's nice on me too.

Edited April 17, 2006 by angel sixgun

[storme]

In the imp: oooh, citrus! there's some mint and musk and tea, too, but mostly this is very citric.

 

On me, wet: lots of citrus over a very light musk and some minty fruit tea. This is a scent to wake you up in the morning.

 

On me, dry: hmm, there's some ozone soothing the edges of the sharpness now, but still there's that delicious minty-fruity-musky-tea beneath it all. This is a very refined and androgynous scent.

 

Verdict: A fresh and bright citrus-mint-tea-fruit-musk blend. I must make my SO try this, but even if he doesn't like it I'll keep the imp around.

 

Edit, later: Well, I tried it on the SO. He doesn't particularly like or dislike the scent himself, but I *really* like it on him and he likes my reaction to it. And just in time to snag a 5ml from the lab, too. Muahaha.

Edited April 20, 2006 by storme

[Caltha]

Usher

Thanks to modesty_blaise I got to try an imp before the end of the Maelström.

I was thinking of buying it since I liked the gentleman's fougere and tarn and the comparisons to Dorian, but I was afraid of the black currant. I love black currant but I have found that it's one of my major evil berries in BPALs, I never get any distinct black currant scent, only sweet fake candy berry.

Usher starts out pretty masculine, very discreet and faint with cool mint and sharp anise and perhaps a citrusy hint. There's something underneath the freshness though, an almost rottening quality that might be the tarn, or the anise (is there anise? I don't recall) which had a pee-like quality in Black Annis (but that might have been the civet's fault) As it dries however the black currant becomes dominating. It was inevitable. It's not masculine anymore but rather sweet and girlie, candy sweet and powdery. I'd say it's a blueberry note rather than black currant, blueberry hard candies. There's still a cool hint of mint or anise which in combination with the candy sweetness of the berry reminds me of licorice. It's strange, the sweetness makes the scent very pleasant, addictive almost, but at the same time I think it's too sweet and too artificial.

Verdict: I'll keep the imp but I won't buy that bottle. And I only hope it won't grow on me...

[Mary Mayhem]

Light and airy in the bottle, a little floral.

 

Pretty much stays the same way on, add a little herbal tilt.

 

Very pretty.

[Diana]

In the bottle: This smells mostly of tea, but not very strongly.

 

Wet application: Tea, with just a hint of citrus. Barely a breath of mint is detectable.

 

Initial dry: This starts to smell like the "clean/herbal" types of oils, like Zephyr, Apothecary, Dirty or Embalming Fluid. The tea is weakening. I'm not getting much other than minty-very light tea.

 

Hours later: Just a soft mint, slightly herbal. It doesn't ever have much throw. It's a nice, clean scent, when you don't want something heavy or floral.

[lookingglass]

Fresh and clean, like French soap, but mixed with the seamy man who washed with it. I can almost do the mint. It is cold. The slight blackberry hint is delicious. It is not for me, and I tried it on the boy, but he gives it a "hm.". For blackberries, musk, and tea, I'll keep Bewitched (it is darker and more feminine).

[Rheliwen]

I'm surprised I haven't reviewed Usher yet. It's my absoluate favorite of the Maelstrom series.

 

Initially, Usher smells very spearminty with an undercurrent of lavender tea and white musk.

 

As it dries the tartness factor gets amped up. I would never have picked currants and mandarins from this if I didn't have the description to read. However, I can sort of smell the juiciness of each, however both fruits are really just a backdrop.

 

I simply can't get over how wonderful fougere is. Combined with the mint and musk, this is a perfect, non floral summer scent. It's actually pretty feminine on me, but it seems like the type of scent that accomodates the gender of the wearer.

 

The fourgere gives this a similar feel to Dorian, but Usher is so much different. If you don't like mint at all, then this might not be for you. However, if you are looking for a non foody mint, this one's it. It's moving to my top 10.

[Eunice]

In the bottle: Green with just a hint of orange peel. A very crisp and clean scent.

 

Wet: Green and sort of soapy. *sigh* No citrus notes at all now.

 

Dry: Soap. Just... soap.

 

Overall: It smells lovely in the bottle but turns to soap on my skin.

[gingersnapp]

This is a quiet scent, and hangs very close to the skin.

 

I wasn't able to identify anything on my own, so looking at the list of notes, I would say that what I am smelling is the mint and tea leaf. I'm surprised that blackcurrant is listed because I really love the way that smells but don't detect it in the blend at all.

 

It's almost papery, like parchment, it's such a soft crisp scent. Maybe a little bit of musk to make this masculine, but an androgynous masculine, like Wilde or Dorian.

 

Very odd.

[brownbear]

I think that this might be better on a guy or just someone else other than me. I get mostly black tea and mint. It is very cool and dark smelling. I probably won't use this much except maybe on too bright, too hot, summer days.

[eviltemptressdq]

Usher... why does it have to have this name? LOL. "Usher" makes me think of abs and yucky R&B music

 

Anyway, THIS Usher is quite lovely! I smell a bit of mint, but mostly just a light sweet soft scent. I LOVE the scent, but it disappearred SO quickly on my wrist... so sad

[gwyllgi]

Initially, this is a light, aquatic mint that thankfully resists the minty gum association that most mints take on my skin. The tea blurs the mint a little bit, I think, while the currant gives it a hint of depth.

 

It doesn't change much after the initial drydown on me; it stays light and fresh. It's a cooling, bracing scent, understated and elegant, and would be perfect for a summer night at the theater.

 

Mint was one of those notes that I thought I'd hate before I found BPAL, so I'm thrilled that this works on me. Given that the Maelström collection encompassed almost all of my first order, I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to feed my growing addiction.

[ladytaga]

This is a very faint scent.

But it is very fresh and just very nice and I love it.

I could bathe in it.

It has an undertone of mint...the rest is just a linen clean scent.

I ended up putting it over phantom queen (which I don't like very much) and it really turned to a nice fresh floral and the mint sort of vanished.

[grrrlennyl]

at first; very fresh and light.

on: mint, musk, and a green freshness. very light and bright.

1.5 hours later: a pale, masculine cologne.

4.5 hours later: soft and musky.

overall: this is very pretty, but i have oher scents that are like it but better on me.

[elfmaiden]

The smell of this is so light and fresh, barely there but when you do get a hint of it you can get an idea of the genteel side of it.

 

A get a crisp mint tea with a whisper of musk. It dries down to a rounder scent that's much softer and muskier than the start.

 

Definitely a like as I'm a fan of the light teas, citrus, and lighter musks.

 

Usher.

 

Jenn