Monster Bait: Closet

[candygirl]

Bourbon blackberry buttercream over red velvet cake.

Like ViolentKitten, I get blueberry cheesecake when sniffing the bottle. The berries are strong but not overwhelming and the cheesy goodness is sweet without being too tart. I was afraid this would go crazy on my skin as Beaver Moon did (which I loved in the bottle and sadly gave me a monstrous headache), but it's behaving quite nicely. On me, I get a bit more blackberry scent (rather than blueberry) and just a touch of creamy frosting. It's definitely not as strong on my skin as it is in the bottle, but I like both versions which means I need a scent locket, stat!

[provocateur]

I was, sadly, unable to get past my reaction upon opening and sniffing the bottle. My reaction of wanting to retch was pretty much indicative that the boozy sweet blends just aren't for me.

 

It was just such a strong "WOOMP THERE IT IS" of the buttercream and bourbon that I don't think my senses were able to handle it.

[Penance]

Preconceived notions:

 

I'm not normally a foody fan, but throw in bourbon and red velvet cake and I'll make an exception. I'm a bit afraid of this being too foody for me, especially with the buttercream, but it sounds delicious!

 

First sniff:

 

Ohhhh...this is good. I smell the blackberry and the red velvet cake the most, but I get a hint of sweet creaminess from the buttercream, too. It's rich and sweet and foody, but I like it.

 

Wet on skin:

 

This is so good. On my skin, the bourbon (a note I'd love to see more of) comes out strong with a sweet, fruity background of blackberry and buttercream.

 

Dry down:

 

I'm surprised that the buttercream isn't amping up and making me sick, considering that my skin loves to latch onto sweet notes and turn them into UBER SWEETS OF DOOM (yes, the capitals were necessary to convey the true nature of their evil).

 

As it dries, Monster Bait: Closet gets a bit sweeter than during the wet stage, but not overwhelmingly so. It's sweet and edible without being cloying and it's somehow grown up smelling in spite of the "little girl" vibe that foody scents generally have.

 

The bottom line:

 

Love it! I need more of this before it's gone.

[ajcj213499]

I really like MB: Closet!

 

It really seems like Beaver Moon's younger fun sister.

 

I was wary of Closet because I don't do well with boozy scents. Berries are another that are iffy on me, so I wanted to try an imp (provided by the wonderful Biggerkrissy) before I decided on an order.

 

Well, thankfully, on me there was no booziness to be found. The berries were great too- they smell very real, with a hint of tartness.

 

Unfortunately MBC doesn't last very long on my skin (few things do), but it was very nice in my scent locket.

 

If you haven't gotten this- you must.

[xith]

The berry in this really comes out on me! The cake is certainly there, but it's hiding behind the berry, and I can't find the booze at all. It's lucky that I like berries, because this is more of cake flavored berry than berry flavored cake. It's definitely yummy.

[GemmaCat]

I placed an order for a decant of this with someone on LJ, and then decided I couldn't wait and bought a bottle. ^^;;

 

My first thought when I applied this was "crud, I shouldn't have bought that bottle" because the berry scent was SO overwhelming and bright. But i stuck with it, and as the scent warmed up I started to get the cake note. The berry, although still strong, settled into a more creamy, rich scent, and altogether I'm left with the scent of very light fairy cake with a HUGE dollop of blackberry frosting and cream ontop.

 

I slathered this on all over yesterday and enjoyed every second.

 

Sadly, this doesn't have the best throw but it's worth reapplication!

[yeahbutnobut]

Monster Bait: Closet

 

In the imp: ohh, yes! Excuse my French, but this is fucking delicious. Think Beaver Moon with blackberries. I want to drink the contents of this vial right now!

Wet on skin: still delicious, I now get a deeper, more pronounced blackberry and a more vanilla-like scent from the buttercream and cake.

Dry on skin: mmm, yum! This is a very nice and cleverly done foody scent. Dark, tart blackberries (which, at times, smell like the black fruit note in Montresor, or blackcurrant sweets!) blackberries so fresh you can smell hints of the leaves from the brambles-spread over a light, creamy, vanilla buttercream with hints of sweet cake underneath. Mischievous hints of booze flit by every now and then. The blackberry and creamy cake notes contrast each other so nicely, that is what stops this scent from becoming cloying or too sweet. This is such a fun fragrance, playful and very lickable!

After a while: the blackberry note sweetens dramatically, and veers towards the more candy end of the fruit spectrum (the other end being tart and crisp and fresh), but that's not a problem because it's very fitting with the rest of the sweetness and light-hearted feel of this scent. It really smells like blackcurrant Fruit Pastilles now, sprinkled over buttercreamed cake. So sweet it may induce cavities. I know there will be times when this scent becomes a bit too sweet to handle, but right now I want Fruit Pastilles. Seriously.

Eventually, the scent becomes that of blackberry jam spiked with bourbon layered on sweet cake and cream. It's not as candy like now, it's more like blackberries made into a sweetened sauce or jam. It's also got a lot of throw.

And then, after about two hours, the two layers of the scent-blackberry and buttercreamy cake-merge deliciously. This is my favourite stage of the scent-it reminds me of Beaver Moon with added fruit. I can now make out a bit more of the red velvet cake than before-it's quite chocolatey, and still as yummy as ever.

Verdict: this stuff is delightful and makes me smile. A delectable mixture of blackberry, buttercream and cake, this smells so edible at times that I either want to eat my wrist or drink my decant of this scent (none of that took place though, I can assure you!). At times, the blackberry scent in this is like freshly picked berries-tart and juicy with a hint of bramble, at other times it is like blackcurrant sweets (and a bit too sugary for my liking sometimes) and at other times it's like a blackberry jam with a streak of booze! The cake is so yummy-at times I can smell the chocolate in it, and the buttercream note is sweet, soft and creamy, with a definite vanilla flavour, and it reminds me of Beaver Moon. Whilst I do prefer the Underbed Monster (I have yet to try the Underpants) I really like this scent enough to get a bottle-this playful, mischievous scent is brings a smile to my face, and induces serious dessert cravings!

Emoticon rating:

[angharad]

:D

 

A tiny hint of bourbon, sweet and creamy blackberries, and rich red velvet cake. Throughout this scent's life on me, it's primarily the blackberries and red velvet cake. The bourbon peeks out from time to time (mainly after an hour of wearing), and the blackberries steadily grow creamier the longer I wear it. SO YUMMY. It lasts for at least 4 hours on me (I washed it off to try on Underpants because -- UNDERPANTS!). I Closet and wish I could afford to splurge on another bottle before it disappears.

[GypsyRoseRed]

I wholeheartedly agree with yeahbutnobut's description - this is Beaver Moon + blackberry yumminess = absolutely fucking GORGEOUS. There's definitely that creamy cheesy note blended with sweetness that makes Beaver Moon so distinctive, but the blackberry note is really amped on my skin. Closet has tons of throw, and I have to be careful how much of this I dab on or it becomes a little overpowering. I decided to test this out of the house yesterday and had this incident in the grocery store -

 

RANDOM GUY BEHIND ME AT CHECKOUT - What's that smell?

CASHIER - I don't know, but I smell it, too. It's good.

GUY IN LINE - What is it? I wanna eat it.

ME - Umm.. It's not this, is it? (holds out wrist tentatively)

GUY IN LINE - YES. What the hell is that?

ME - It doesn't matter. The company doesn't make it anymore. (smiles)

 

Bwahahahaha.

Edited April 29, 2006 by GypsyRoseRed

[rainbow]

In bottle- Oh my word, this is glorious. Blackberry cake= mmmmmm.

 

On me- When wet I can really smell the sweet blackberry, and it drowns out the cake. When wearing it almost smells like those old-fashioned blackcurrent candies- sweet and purple. Blackberry/currant is definitely the dominant note on me, and the cake scent remains very much in the background. I'm really enjoying this.

[melia]

I haven't noticed anyone else getting this hit, but at an early point in the drydown, I smell something nutty and wonderful. Maybe hazelnut? It's such a warm, rich scent, but after about an hour it goes away, to be overtaken by the berries and bourbon. And I'm fine with those smells -- certainly MB:C is a fantastic scent! I just wish that nut phantom lingered longer...

 

ETA: okay, I wish it all lasted longer! Like many other reviewers, I find that Closet disappears from my skin pretty quickly. *sigh* Luckily, I have a backup bottle, so I can just slather at will!

Edited May 1, 2006 by melia

[lysistrata]

In vial: Berries, butter, vanilla, and booze.

 

On me, wet: The sugar oozes on this one, made incredibly rich by the buttercream. The bourbon note tamps down the sweetness of the berries (they smell a little like blackcurrant). But my god, my teeth are rotting just smelling this.

 

On me, dry: Ok, the booze is fading, and mmmm, it smells just like a Raspberry Cremesaver. My favorite. Eventually fades to a nice blackcurrant. Scrumptious.

 

Verdict: I love blackcurrant and this one is yummy, sweet and rich, even if it is slightly alcoholic. I'll keep it around as a special treat, but there's no hurry to go hunting for a bottle of this one.

[malanna]

Shollin gave this to me as a snimp (sniffing imp, teehee). Three cheers to Shollin! :D

 

Closet smells like berried bourbon frosting (the type of frosting flavored with fresh berry juice) over yellow cake (y'know, as opposed to white cake). The berries get a bit tarter over time, but after an hour or so, the two components meld, so it's yummy, buttery berry cake! Closet is nice, because it's foody, but the berry keeps it from being truly foody, yet it's not a gourmand-perfume type scent, so it's sort of in between, and I can't quite love it for that. Like everyone else said, it's a light scent and fades pretty quickly.

 

Thanks, Shollin, for giving me the opportunity to try this. I didn't have to panic over the decision of whether or not to get it before it got pulled down.

[Christine Daae]

In the bottle: ...omgyum.

 

Wet: Mmmmm. I can smell all the different parts coming together - the blackberry, the bourbon, the buttercream, the red velvet cake (how much do I love red velvet cake?).

 

Drydown: I have to say, this has incredible throw. I feel like I'm radiating yummy creamy boozy cakey goodness. Not a lot of things have good throw on me, so this makes me happy. I love the combination of the blackberry and the buttercream frosting.

 

While wearing: Sadly, this fades after about three hours. That's actually not bad, considering that most of my favourites need reapplication every three hours or so. But I didn't bring any with me, sadly, so I just have a whisp of a blackberry scent left if I press my nose to my wrist (which I am doing). I'm so glad I took the risk and got this! I'm always so afraid that I'll love the LEs too much. And while I do love this, it's not going to replace Lolita or Maiden.

[this machine]

In the vial, it's sweet fruity boozy cake, just like it says it will be.

 

I put it on, and it smells the same. The cake is there, and i don't love it but don't dislike it as much as the cake in Underbed. I'm not really a foody girl, generally speaking, you see. But i had to try these anyway of course.

 

A few minutes later, and wait...am i reviewing Monster: Closet, or Montresor? I actually had to go back to the imp and sniff it to make sure i didn't hallucinate the earlier cake smell. Nope, it's there, but the cake goes away quickly and i swear i'm wearing montresor. Gotta be the booze, blackberry, and sweetness of the cake mimicking the dark fruit, wine, and vanilla of montresor.

 

When i put my nose to my wrist i get a very slight difference between them, but i can't say what it is. It's not even a cake-related smell as far as i can tell. I really can't name it, but it's pretty irrelevant because the throw of closet is totally montresor on me. Which is great, because i love me some montresor.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Vanilla and blackberry, hmm...

 

Wet: Chocholate, hmm... and the blackberry becomes nice and fruity.

 

Drydown: A lovely blackberry scent, possibly a touch of booze and slowly, cake. The chocolate's completely disappeared by now and the blackberry gets a bit tart from the bourbon.

 

Overall: Actually not as foody as I'd expected it to be. There's a hint of chocolate at first, and lots of blackberry, but it's more creamy than cakey, which is a good thing for me. Very lovely, but - I'll get lynched - nothing unbelievably special for me, either. I'll stay with Montresor for berry loveliness.

[Nekomata]

Wow, this is all berries and buttercream in the bottle. On my skin it dries to a sweet berry bourbon and icing. Totally a sweet special occassion scent.

[Celestyna]

It smells like Obatala if you were to add rum and tobacco. Nice, dark and unobtrusive.

 

And I looooove Obatala.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I luuuuurve Beth's foody scents, and this sounds delectable. *coaxes her monster out of the closet to sniff him/her* Mmmmm, this is divine! The blackberry makes all the difference, balancing out the boozy-vanilla notes that I recognize from Underpants. One of my favorite desserts is berries and freshly whipped cream, because I like to balance sweet with tart. Beth obviously understands this completely, b/c the same is true of scents! I don't particularly get the red velvet bit, but the blackberry buttercream is great and will be appropriate on through autumn b/c it smells like the dessert for a harvest feast!

[erin.kogan]

*drools and purrs*

I got my monsterbait: closet today, and was ever so excited. In the bottle, all I smell is buttercream, but as it hits my wrists, it's vanilla and sweet cream and tart, tart blackberries.

I like the berries in Bewitched, but adore them in this. It's a perfect, sun-warmed tart and juicy berry that sits on top of the other flavors. Occasionally, the cocoa peeks out, but it's mostly tart luscious berries.

[storme]

In the imp: Gingerbread! I think this may be my default reaction to buttery scents, especially when combined with alcohol. The SO said 'caramel' when sniffing the imp.

 

On me, wet: gingerish buttery cake and caramel - oooh, and the alcohol is peeking through, all bourbony and rich under the sugary creamy cakeiness.

 

On me, dry: still a gingery cakey caramelly mix with a dash of alcohol. It's reminding me of Jack and Antique Lace, mixed together. I don't get much berry at all.

 

Verdict: Well, this is nice. I was pretty wary of the monster baits when I read the descriptions - they sounded great, but like they might turn into sugary glop on me. It's nice to be proved wrong! I don't need a bottle, but I'll certainly keep the imp of this around.

[hologhost]

I've actually had this for awhile. Frankly, when I got it I just wasn't feeling the love. It didn't have much throw and I I could only faintly smell the fruit.

 

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, so I put it away.

 

What a difference a month makes!

 

This is a whole different scent. Rich and sweet. Although the fruit has come out to play, it's not quite blackberry to me. It's darker. More black currant. I'm not really reading cake off this, but I do get a touch of chocolate. Other people have said it was like Beaver Moon, but I'm really not getting that either. It has lots of throw now.

 

This is really wonderful. If you've sniffed it fresh and didn't like it, give it some time to mature.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Vanilla custard, sponge cake and something slightly sharp like cream cheese. Very similar to Beaver Moon.

Wet on me - Sponge cake, cream and blackberries, with just a hint of booze.

Dry on me - Sadly as it dries this turns to ashes on me. Hours later there's a gorgeous vanilla/fruit/light musk combo going on, but I can't get over the ashes.

[BrightRedScream]

In the vial: Woah..hello Bourbon! It smells SO good! There's a hint of that tart but sweet blackberry there as well...and I'm liking it!

 

Wet on the skin: Mmmmm cake...sweet buttercream...bourbon. These are all blending together SO well!

 

Dry down: It's weird - this doesn't smell like blackberry to me - more like blueberries. I sitll love it though..it smells like one great party, and it's not TOO sweet. The bourbon is delicious and I really cannot wait to get my full sized bottle of this!

[ayelienne]

Mmmmmmmmmm.

 

On me this is the love child of Beaver Moon and Montresor and is completely droolworthy. I love how it smells and wearing it puts me in the best of moods.

 

Love love love it.