The Mock Turtle's Lessons

[arabella]

Not quite Turtle Soup: blurry aquatic notes, with a confusing, contrary splort of iris, ambrette, green apple, vodka, white mint and a squish of lime.

First Impression: Anise with sugar syrup.

Dries down to: The anise morphs into mint and fades very quicky and the scent becomes very innocuous and watery.

Additional Comments: I wish I actually got all the notes that are supposed to be in this. I'd really looked forward to getting it as it sounded so promising. The first whiff was wonderful but it didn't last beyond that. I did get the aquatic note and the mint, but no iris, ambrelle, green apple, vodka (although, I'm not quite sure about that one) or lime. Unfortunately, this one was a big disappointment.

Lasted: Less than an hour.

Rating: 2 out of 5

[provocateur]

in bottle: apple! iris!

 

on skin, wet: apple, iris and some lime, no mint yet.

 

on skin, dry: man, when this dries, does it morph! It goes from being apple and iris, mainly, to an apple martini (hello vodka!) to peppermint-y (i'm assuming that's what 'white mint' is like?) to just a generic aquatic note. And then aquatic mint.

 

conclusion: it didn't stay very long (less than 90 minutes), and I'm really not a fan of a minty aquatic, sadly. If it had stayed at the apple martini in a garden, I'd be better with it. 1/5

Edited May 5, 2006 by provocateur

[desu]

In the imp: Fruity vodka. The apple and lime are most prominent. Slight hint of mint in the back.

 

On my skin: Mintmintmint. Not smelling anything else except the mint.

 

Later on: Mint toothpaste. Alright. :/

[jessiesquash]

I've been in love with the Mad Tea Party scents since I discovered Alice and fell hopelessly in love but I haven't had much luck with any of the other scents. The description of this sounded so yummy so I ordered it in an imp pack.

 

In the bottle, it smelled fresh and green and very springy. Wet on I didn't really like it. It smelled a bit like fresh grass on me, which is a lovely smell but I don't want it ON me you know. After I awhile I noticed that the other notes began to emerge; apple and definitely the mint. I was still very unsure about it because, as others stated, it was kind of a muddy scent that kept morphing on me. It finally settled down and I really liked it. It was fresh and cool with a splash of salt water, just exactly what I imagine of the Mock Turtle! I especially like the Vodka because it keeps it from settling too much and gives it a lovely cocktail quality that makes me want to order an Appletini and sit on the beach reading trashy novels. Apparently apple is one of the few tart fruits that actually works one me and that makes me very happy!

 

I'm going to try it a few more times and then possibly order a 5ml of it. My faith in the Mad Tea Party collection has been renewed!!

[mermaidrage]

I love, love, love, love the turtle. I bought a bottle unsniffed off someone on the BPAL LJ community -- that's how much I adored the description and the notes.

 

In the bottle: VODKA. Maybe a bit of mint and lime. It's overwhelmingly vodka and I start to get nervous. It smells like college and a bunch of us sitting around a bottle of vodka, getting ready to take shots until we pass out.

 

On skin, wet: Still vodka, but the apple comes out a bit and the mint amps up and... oh... this is nice. And then the mint backs down almost immediately and settles in with the lime and it's lovely. I'm not sure what iris smells like but there's something I don't recognize and I LIKE it.

 

Drydown: This is lovely. It's cool and crisp, like biting into a green apple and an iced vodka tonic with extra lime crossed with a mint julep. Summer is finally here and I want to go lie out in the backyard and slather myself with this.

 

It doesn't stay strong for very long, but I get the occasional whiff for a couple of hours and, considering how much I love it, that's good enough for me.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is minty apples...light and pretty....

upon application this does not change very much....perhaps a bit more depth

after it warms up with my chemistry...after about 1/2 hour a lot of fresh green

floral leaves drenched with a spring shower....while this doesn't last nearly as long

as i would like, this is a very beautiful scent and i am sure it will become a fav

in the hot, sultry summer months

[ajcj213499]

I love Mock Turtle- it's fresh and minty, but it's a summer sort of mint rather than a winter mint...

 

The only problem is that it lasted no longer than 15 minutes on my skin.

 

It's very nice though, and quite unique.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Lime, mint and 'blurry aquatic notes'

Wet on me - The throw is apple, next to my skin there is a slight chemical smell.

Dry on me - It fades almost instantly, occasionally throughout the day I get a slight hint of vanilla, but that's all.

[feline.by.design]

It smells a little like toothpaste that's lime-flavoured. I kind of like it, but it's making me a little queasy. Sometimes I get a little queasy with mint. The Star Tarot oil was one I liked, but the second or third time I wore it, I got this queasy feeling, and I couldn't wear it again. Spooky sort of got me the same way as well.

 

But The Mock Turtle's Lessons smell clean and nice. Something tells me there should be a soap of this fragrance: a nice, green soap scented with lime and mint and a little vanilla lurking around to sweeten it up.

 

This is a good fragrance for hot weather. It's quite gender-neutral as well; I can see a man wearing this just as easily a woman. I don't know if the Mock Turtle is big-bottle material for me. It's likely going to be one of those where I hold onto the imp, but I never feel like wearing it. Hmmm...

 

-doreen

[elspeth]

I didn't think I would like this one as citrus scents never work on my skin. But boy was I wrong. Right away after putting it on I smell the mint. Which is a good thing because I love mint. Then the lime hit me and while it wasn't overwhelming it was definitely a strong scent. After it dried I could begin to pick out the hint of an ozone or aquatic feel to it. I think that it rounded out the scent very well and I know I'll be putting this on my list of bottle wants.

[cranberry]

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap.

 

When I first put Mock Turtle Lessons on, I smell mint, something vaguely aquatic, and something that smells fruity. It's a light scent, but I did only put a touch on, but it blends well into my skin. Is there pennyroyal in here? Overall as a wet scent it would make a great body lotion.

 

As it wears on I get a scent that smells almost mossy in combination with a fruity scent, apple or fig I think. Although it’s a light scent, there’s something here that’s fairly sharp. It’s giving me a bit of a headache. After a few hrs, it turns kinda soapy. My overall impression, it goes through an interesting evolution on the skin and it's good for warm weather. I could see a man or woman wearing this with no problem. It's not my style but it's been interesting to try it out.

[bristlecone]

This is very light and green at first. I can smell the apple and the mint, and a little bit of something else- either the lime or the vodka. There's very little throw at this stage- I have to hold my wrist to my nose to detect it.

 

As time passes, it warms up a bit. The apple becomes more prominent, while the other notes fade a bit.

 

And then something strange happens... it morphs into an entirely different scent as the ambrette (I think?) comes out. Pretty soon, the ambrette is all I can smell (and I wasn't expecting it at all, because I had forgotten it was in there... I had to go back and check the notes because I was trying to figure out why my supposed apple/lime/mint scent did a 180 on me halfway through the day). It's okay and all. I'm just not sure I'm that crazy about ambrette. (Or maybe it's the iris I don't like? Florence also has iris and something about Mock Turtle reminds me of Florence in the drydown, but Florence also had amber, which is a little bit like ambrette... so who knows what I'm smelling right now.)

 

Anyway, I'm not sure about this one anymore. I like it when it's wet, so maybe this is one for the oil burner, and not for my skin.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: sweet lime and a bit of apple.

on: lots of mint, with some apply and lime. very interesting and nice.

half an hour later: lots of mint.

1 hour later: very, very sharp and soapy. not good.

2.5 hours later: still sharp.

overall: my skin just did terrible things to this blend.

[eviltemptressdq]

mmm!! Minty! lime-y! Not sure if I smell the apple fully, but this smells like a really good minty gum to me. Sweet and minty. This seems like the perfect thing to put on in the morning if you're feeling too sleepy...

 

delightful!!

[cameroncrazed]

In the imp: light mint.

 

Wet on skin: APPLE with hints of mint and lime.

 

Dry on skin: um... a very light aquatic with an apple top note. The mint is very faint, only asserts itself briefly once every 10 minutes or so.

 

Overall: 9/10. Very "green" and fem on me. Will be a great fresh scent for summer. Last several hours on me, but not that much through.

[Natch]

in the bottle: mmm, fresh, a little citrus, a little mint, really interesting and hard to identify... it's very clean. I really like it.

 

wet: pretty similar to in the bottle, but the floral comes out more. I'm beginning to think that my skin likes florals a lot more than my nose does. I still get a little minty aquatic-ness though, which is nice. And this is wafting pretty nicely from my skin.

 

dry: Still primarily floral on me. If I sniff my wrist directly I get a sort of baby powder scent. This behaved sort of like the dormouse on me... my skin sought out whatever floral was there and made it go *bam* over powering everything else. However, flicking my head back and forth, I notice that a little bit of the great wet scent is still there somewhere.

 

overall impression: baby powder. For the second day in a row, I'm angry at my skin chemisty for liking floral so much. It keeps morphing between what I want this to smell like... and always going back to baby powder. I'm jealous of how good my desk smells from the little oil residue I got on it. Maybe I'll try this in a locket or on the edge of my bra or something to try and maintain more of the wet scent. This is pretty powerful on me too... and seems to have some staying power... if only it didn't have staying powder

Edited June 17, 2006 by Natch

[olympia301]

 

Usually I don't care for the sportiness of aquatics but The Mock Turtle's Lessons combines mint and fruit along with the aquatic notes in a very lovely way. A great scent for summer and workouts. It dries down to a sandalwood finish, and has small throw overall. This is a classy aquatic, as most are more active, thanks to the including of the other notes. A real nice addition to The Mad Tea Party group.

[Diana]

In the bottle: apple.

 

Wet: Apple... similar to the apple note in Verdandi. The mint comes out really strongly now. It's minty apple. Almost like some weird apple martini drink.

 

Drydown: The mint becomes slightly more prominent, and the iris note comes out, but stays pretty soft. Then all the notes totally disappear. I put on almost half an imp, and within about 2 hours, it was gone.

 

This is nice if you like low-key, fresh scents. Me? If you can't smell me from 10 feet away, there's something wrong. Needless to say, I'll have to give this one a miss.

[damuddymeg]

Wow. This one morphs like crazy on me!

 

in the imp: aquatic, slightly fruity floral.

 

Wet: I get a quick punch of mint, but it's up and gone in seconds. Sadly, mint rarely lasts on me. Then the iris swells back up under the aquatic notes.

 

Dry: Lime is up and gone before this is fully dry, following in the wake of the mint. Green apple never makes a center-stage appearance, but lurks at the edges, hitting me unexpectedly with the occasional tart burst. Oddly, I'm learning that ambrette works differently on me than I'd thought. On me, it's more like white musk than anything. In this blend, it anchors the light aquatic notes, the clarity of the vodka, and the gentle iris note.

 

It goes through a brief but distinct soapy phase, but ultimately it comes back around to a clear, clean but not soapy, light floral. Lovely and light for the warm weather!

[Miss Lynx]

What an odd little scent -- at first sniff, it smells much more like something I would eat or drink than something I would wear. Very minty-citrus. But as it settles in, the other notes come out more, and it becomes more complex. Confusing and contrary is right!

 

Now it smells very much like something I'd want to shower in -- clean and fresh and watery. With just a slight overtone of refreshing alcoholic beverage. As it settles in, it's quite nice, and the different notes blend together nicely to make something that isn't quite like any of them.

 

It's not really my usual sort of scent, but I think I may keep it for when I want to feel cool and fresh in the heat of summer.

 

Grade: B

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

watery, sweet, I swear a hint of chocolate…

 

wet:

watery, hint of floral, such a confusing scent- hard to pick out notes! But it's nice, light… as it dries some, the mint/lime comes out a little

 

dry:

vodka, mint, hint of floral… very light scent

 

overall:

not sure! It's nice, but very light, I can't decide if it's for me…

 

rating: 6/10

[GemmaCat]

Oh, wow! I love this blend so much!

 

In the imp it's all green apples and vodka. On my skin it's sweet mint sprinkled into vodka with ice, served with slices of crisp apple, and with something soft and sweet in the background (the ambrette?).

 

It dries down to a sweet mint-apple, and is just delicious!

 

Definitely getting a 5ml of this in my next order.

[QueenFae]

Wow, what a bizarre scent! This is one of the most complex scents I've ever sniffed. The light aquatics make up the backdrop for a really strong apple vodka note. It is indeed "contrary" as my nose goes back and forth from detecting the powdery iris and the sharpness of the mint note. Very different and innovative, but unfortunately not for me. It reminds me a bit too much of Listerine. I **love** the name though!!!

[rhubarbbear]

this was very very clean smelling in the imp and on my skin. vodka, and very soft mint/lime with a bit of sweetness from the iris. it had good staying power on me, and as it aged the iris got more and more pronounced. stayed very clean, tho, not overly floral.

 

it's very nice, but...cleaner (and not as crisp) as i'd hoped.

[yeahbutnobut]

The Mock Turtle's Lessons

 

In the imp: sweet apple! There's something almost floral here…wait a minute, I know this smell. Herbal Essences shampoo! This smells just like Herbal Essences!

Wet on skin: still slightly shampoo like, but once it hits skin, it becomes more complex, iris and apple are more pronounced, I get a hint of booze (vodka) and something deeper and almost spicy?

Dry on skin: what a lovely, laid back, refreshing scent! I get a very pleasant lime tang to the scent, with a lot of apple, and smooth aquatics which are almost like a gentle ozone-linen scent here, slightly reminiscent of Dirty. This scent is predominantly fruity and green-aquatic. The iris adds a hint of something floral-powdery, the mint is barely there but I can detect it's freshness, and there's an almost musky spicy depth which I'm sure is the ambrette (this is a plant musk, so that must be it). this scent is both cool and fresh, yet also warm with a little bit of something oddly spicy and deep underneath. very unusual but it works so well. I still get the Herbal Essences feel though not as much.

After a while: I love the way the iris is smoothing the scent so nicely. It adds it's powdery yet deeply floral scent and binds the notes nicely. It reminds me of the deep purple iris from Morella. It's still that soft floral-apple scent with a hint of musk under it, with that aquatic-linen scent.

Verdict: to me, this is what the Herbal Essences scent would smell like, if done Beth-style. And as usual, with Beth, there's always more to it than first meets the nose. It has that lovely floral-apple sweet scent that smells similar to the shampoo, but there's a little more complexity in there. The iris is both powdery and pale and also richly fragrant and purple, a very floral scent, and the aquatic-lime note adds a fresh, tangy, almost ozone/clean sheets feel to the scent, making it clean but not soapy. And there's something else I can't quite put my finger on but I'm sure it's the ambrette-it's a dark, sweet, almost spicy, and very much a musk like scent which really rounds it all off. I love that musk aspect. This is one of those scents that is both familiar and yet also very unusual and that's what I really like about this mad little fragrance. I might get a bottle eventually but for now I'll use up the imp.

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