Mystery

[Shollin]

Mystery, from Bewitching Brews:

A swirl of shadowy incense smoke and the lingering perfume of cloaked strangers.

 

The version I tried is a prototype.

 

First sniff: This has an almost citrusy edge to it, a pale wan light in the close darkness. There’s an oppressiveness to the darkness of this scent that feels like being inside Robert Jordan’s Waygates, the dark pressing in against the circle of lamplight like a living thing and nothing in sight but the crumbling paths and your own party huddled together against the blackness. I will try it on to see what it does on my skin, but for now it’s decidedly creepy.

 

Wearing: Dried lemon fighting off the darkness, almost dusty. Upon drying it becomes a thin sort of lemon-soap scent that doesn’t particularly appeal – but then, my skin goes through phases where it turns everything to soap, so I’ll give it another shot.

[jj_j]

I can tell that this is going to be soapy, but it's a very different soapy than any of the other scents have been. Clean, but aromatic.

 

Just a drop of anise, perhaps? This dries down soft and with an herbal note to it that I'm not familiar with - it's green, but it's pale green, and with an edge that isn't citrus but has some of the pith/peel characteristics of a lime.

 

I can't remember if I have this on my to-purchase list; I'm going to have to go back to the spreadsheet and mark it as a maybe. A second try will be a necessity to make a decision on this one, as one minute I adore it, and the next I crinkle my nose.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Hmm, is that anise seed?

 

Second Impression: Smells just like Soft Scrub cleanser. Not what one wishes to smell like.

 

Final Analysis: This is the first scent that I actually cringed at. Ugh.

This did not work with my at all. Off to swap with you.

[allamanda]

Very soapy when first applied, like the mixture you buy for blowing bubbles. Mixed in is a liquorice note, very odd.

 

As this dries the liquorice / aniseed note becomes more pronounced, but the soapy smell is still there. Not an unpleasant combination and decidedly interesting.

 

It takes about 30 minutes from application before I finally get the smokiness and then it is an almost watery effect touched with faint aniseed.

 

I don’t find this unpleasant, just a bit odd. Smoke, liquorice and a soapy smell that makes me think of old-fashioned plastic dolls and ancient makeup all of 1950s vintage.

[TygherRayn]

In the bottle: I actually cringed from this one initially, but I thought I'd give it another try. A dear friend of mine played a character named Mystery, and it is for her that I had to try this one, so I pushed past the initial 'Oh no!' reaction. It smells like anisette .. but also a little cleaner-y.

 

Wet: Umm .. I'm still not sure about this one. It certainly is a mystery, because one moment it's appealing, then the next I have to hold my hand away. Kind of lemony-licoricey. I'm still trying to decide if I like it enough to keep it around.

 

Wearing: Probably swapping this one out. It doesn't seem to want to settle out to a softer scent. It's strongly clinging to that 'cleaner' scent that just isn't what I care to smell like. It's trying, desperately, to be something else, but my chemistry's just not agreeing with this blend.

[Donnababe]

First Sniff

 

Dusty aniseed

 

Drydown

 

Same as above but a little sweeter.

 

After a While

 

Still very much the same.

 

Final Verdict

 

Amazing. Very much evoking of dusty clothes. There's aniseed here and all though it's not unpleasant it's not something I want to smell like.

[VelvetSky]

Mystery is giving me a very strong sense memory of childhood and plastic dolls, as allamanda noted. This is a very odd smell. Anise and soap, nothing incensey as the description indicates. I can't stop smelling my wrist, not because I want to smell like this, but because of the memories it's creating.

 

This is without a doubt the strangest BPAL blend I've tested yet. It's just...odd and plastic-y. I'm going to keep the imp, not to wear as a perfume, but because of it's strong association with my childhood.

[ebonykawai]

Funny, I don't get anything anisey or soapy out of this at all. On me it's a gorgeous dark kind of floral, I almost want to say similar to a violet Darkness but nowhere near as heavy. I'm in love with this one!

[Northernminx]

In the bottle, a light incensy/lemonish smell. uh oh...lemon.

 

On Application - as others have noted this went very soapy on me, a light lemony smokey soap that, after drying sort of faded away.. if there was such a thing as lemon cigarettes, I imagine this is what it would smell like. I'm not getting any of the anise which is dissapointing as I like anise.

 

Oh well, of to the swaps with ye!

[malanna]

On, it smells like smoke, but soon, the lemon comes out. It isn't strong enough where I sniff myself and can immediately say, "Oh, lemon," but I have to sniff and think about it before I think of lemon. Just like the name implies, the lemon isn't that straightforward (or where would the mystery be?). Over time, the smokey incense fades a bit, with the lemon taking on greater prominence. Three hours later, it gets to be a bit soapy--sort of like light lemon soap covered in ash. The scent has a bit of a lemon cleaner quality to it, but not in a bad way. To me, this isn't so much the mystery of a sweeping cloak and a mysterious stranger, but the mystery of the musty clothes in a discovered trunk. Not my sort of thing, though.

[Effluvia]

in the vial: Dog shampoo!!! Aarrgg!

 

on my skin: Dog shampoo, but some anise is rising out of it. I can't smell anything else. I am one unhappy bunny right now.

[Witch's Dagger]

First Preconceived Notion: Mystery. And the description doesn't give anything away. I must try this!

 

*orders it as part of imp set*

 

After reading reviews: Oh no, it's going to be soapy and lemony! Well, no there's hope - Shollin says it's darkness smothering the light and is very creepy. She doesn't like it, but that sounds like my kind of thing

 

In the vial: Oh, the description is right on and the reviews are wrong (at least for me). This is lovely, dark, smoky, and mysterious. I need to try it right now! *opens carefully, and liberally rubs the wand against wrist lovingly while making all sorts of orgasmic sounds*

 

On me:

First Impressions: Oh, how wonderful! This is what I've always wanted! It's so me! So smoky, so deep, so dark and heavy. This is black velvet on the darkest night of the year. I smell heavy incense smoke and a lot of anise. I'm surprised. From the reviews, I was expecting black jelly beans and black liquorise, which I despise. But no, *this* anise is the anise I associate with cooking, white baths, and Indian food. It is a spice, not a candy, and I really like it. It adds a level of darkness I didn't realize was possible. I also think there might be some amber in here, for there's a creeping sweetness to it, amongst the dark, sharp anise/incense - it's what I imagine chloroform would smell like.

 

Over time: (this happens very gradually): the smoky sweetness gradually overtakes the darker, sharper scents, and yet it retains that mysterious depth. I definitely think there's something like amber in here.

 

Final impression: I love this. This is so me. It's the first to go on my bigger bottle list. And I'll also be using it in ritual to experience that other kind of Mystery.

[Spacekitty]

I get a very distinct vision of early childhood from this one. Kind of creepy 'cause this has never happened before.

 

I'm in church, sitting on the floor at my mom's feet, playing with her purse. Her purse always smelled of Luden's Honey Licorice Cough Drops and a mish mash of perfumes and cosmetics...and leather.

 

My mom's purse mixed with the church incense - that's Mystery.

 

Holy crap.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I had a lot of anxiety about this one--I so badly wanted to like it, because of my work on mystery novels, but the reviews were so negative. It wasn't until I saw that it did work for Witch's Dagger that I got up the nerve to try it.

 

In the vial: huh, it's clear--I expected it to look smoky.

On me: (holds breath) Ah! Relieved--this smells just fine on me; licorice and a touch of smoky floral.

 

I'm not totally in love with it, but it's definitely not bad; I like it enough to keep the imp. Which is a good thing, since I was already pretty determined to slather it on for my dissertation defense no matter what it smelled like.

Edited September 13, 2004 by Laurel_the_Woodfairy

[TheDarkMother]

I got this imp in a swap with da Minx!

 

In The Bottle: Through my heavily clogged nose I can smell the lemon soapy smell and that's about it. Actually, it reminds me more of shampoo than dishsoap. Yeah, I think someone else pegged Mystery right when they said "dog shampoo". Its an extremely nostalgic smell reminding me of washing my Mom's yorkie Rocky. Wow...that's been ten years now. Its amazing how much time flies.

 

On Me: Mind you, this is very hard to do with my nose so clogged, but Mystery is dog shampoo, that anise-lemon smell. The lemon isn't even as overpowering on me as usual, so I can get the whole scope of the scent. And the scope is...dog shampoo. But now there is something floral coming through which sweetens the mix just a bit. There is a smokiness in the back of my throat as I inhale...or is that just me being sick? I'm not sure. Right now I'm really having to stick my nose directly on my wrist to smell anything, so I'm not sure if it will even smell the same when I'm better.

 

I think I'm going to keep this one and at least use the imp. I like the smell for the nostalgia factor, and it really isn't that bad of a scent, but not something that I would wear everyday, as it really strongly reminds me of dog shampoo.

[Penance]

I had high hopes for this one...until I read the reviews and, unfortunately, they turned out to be right.

 

First sniff:

 

Oh, man, I was afraid of this. I smells like lemon Pledge mixed with stale cigarette butts. I don't normally have this bad of a reaction to scents, but this is just bad. I'm sorry, Beth, I wanted to like it, but I don't think it likes me back.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Lemon dishwashing soap and nothing else. It manages to be both lemony and soapy at the same time, two things I don't like. At all. Maybe it's just bad skin chemistry, but I feel like I've been doused in Joy or something.

 

Dry down:

 

No real change from when it was wet. It smells lemony and soapy and altogether not me. Maybe on someone else this would work beautifully, but on me it's just bad.

 

The bottom line:

 

I wanted to like this one. I really did. Unfortunately it wasn't the incense scent I was hoping for. Instead it's attack of the lemon dishwashing liquid. Off to swaps. Hopefully someone else can put it to some use.

[pekeana]

Ah, Mystery, why must you be discontinued!

 

In the vial, all I can smell is lemon and smoke with just a hint of floral and spice. It intrigued me, but also kind of repelled me and creeped me out while I was sniffing it.

 

However, once it's on my skin, there's about 5 minutes of lemony plastic wrap -- but sometimes, that's how my skin reacts to incense smoke smell; it goes plastic. But it settles in and becomes this beautiful lemony-floral clean cologne scent with the most beautiful smoke wafting through it. The spice [whatever it was] has vanished by this point, but the rest of it just keeps blending and churning itself over and over again. First the lemon becomes dominant, then the floral, and then they both bottom out beneath the incensey woodsmoke before starting the process again. There's also a slight sweetness beneath it all that might be a touch of vanilla or tonka bean.

 

I'm sad this has been discontinued because it's really a beautifully complex scent.

 

 

ETA: The longer I wear this, the more I'm reminded of a friend who wears Magnetism. This smells like her, after she's had a chance to get rid of the Magnetism alcohol.

Edited December 12, 2004 by pekeana

[shelldoo]

this is very very licorice (anise i am guessing) and lemony..they are in a heated battle, light over dark i guess

 

 

uhoh started going cleanserish after a few minute yes soft scrub cleanser too bad i liked teh anise smell

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Tired incense and lemon. It's incense that has lost much of its potency...I'm not sure how incense would go about doing that, but I know it can.

 

On me: Lemon and that same tired note. Eh. Maybe this imp was improperly stored and the oils have started to break down, but I'm just not diggin' it. Or getting much of anything distinguishable out of it.

[yummysushitoo]

I was really intrigued by this scent, as it seemed to evoke the image of a mysterious dark alleyway in Victorian London: making my way against a flow of people wearing swirling, flowing cloaks.

 

On, it is exactly what the description says: the perfume of others. Lots of different perfumes, but mostly male scents. And a slight hint of smoke.

 

It smelled familiar, and then it hit me: this smells like my dad. He wears cologne (what I'm not sure), and he smokes. Once I made that association, the smell became a little comforting. I don't think I'll wear this, but I might just keep it around to sniff when I'm missing my dad.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): It smells kind of crisp and blue-ish.

 

Just On: Still pretty crisp, and it reminds me of incense in a way.

 

An hour or two later: It gets a bit bitter.

 

Around 6 hours: It's a tiny bit bitter, and a little bit gritty. Smells a little better than it did after the first hour or so, so my skin is tolerating it better or something.

 

12 hours: There's a tiny bit of gritty dirt left, and not much else.

 

Overall: I like this, but can't really identify anything in it.

 

After reading other reviews: I got no lemon, no anise, pretty much nothing the other reviewers had gotten, except for incense a bit.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 1/5

Summarised in a word or two: Lemony.

 

In the imp/bottle: Hmm. Lemon, incense and... anise?

 

On skin, wet: Yep, that's lemony incense. Not very smoky.

 

On skin, dry: The lemon tramples the incense down, setting up shop atop it. It *does* take on a smoky base after a while, at which point it smells of smoky lemon. It isn't fresh lemon, either, but an old, dried, dusty lemon.

 

Conclusion: Smoky lemon, definitely. While it's not bad in the imp, it turns very unpleasant on my skin.

Edited December 17, 2005 by Aredhel

[yeahbutnobut]

Mystery

 

In the imp: smoky lavender and herbs, maybe some resins too.

Wet on skin: lavender with something sweet and smooth, maybe some herbs too.

Dry: mmm, I like this. I’m not sure what’s in it apart from lavender-which is very strong in this. I’m getting something sweetly resinous-I’m not sure if it’s amber or something else though. This is lavender with something sweet and possibly something herbal-possibly a bit of lemon verbena in here as well, it’s very pleasant.

After a while: it’s now turned a sort of green herbal-lemon scent…I’m not getting the incense I was hoping for-it’s turned to soap on me! It smells like washing up liquid now…stupid, stupid skin!

Verdict: this seemed really promising at first, sweet lavender with some other mysterious note behind it, hints of sweetness, smoke, green herbs and a tang of lemon. But once the lavender fades, my skin turns this into washing up liquid! No incense in here-maybe the perfume…but this wasn’t what I expected. What a shame my skin had to ruin this scent. I think I’m the only one who gets lavender, but certainly not the only one here who gets soap!

[coulrophobe]

As everyone has already mentioned, Mystery is one odd little blend.

 

At first I thought it smelled a bit lavendery, but mixed with something that made it more tolerable (lavender is harsh/sharp/disquieting to me).

 

But upon reading the other reviews, I found myself agreeing with things I hadn't noticed. Anise, no -er, wait a minuted, there it is. And then I can smell a little whiff of lemon, I hadn't noticed that. And I definitely can smell plastic dolls and dog shampoo.

 

The strange thing is that I'm not finding any of these bad - and lemon and anise aren't notes I even like!

 

Unfortunately, it's not meant to be, as Mystery develops a kind of burnt tone on drydown. A little oily and charred - similar to the feeling I get with vetiver, but not quite that harsh.

[Blood onmy hands]

Add me to the list of people who were excited to try this one based on the description and then ended up madly disappointed when it hit my skin

 

I don't have much to add that hasn't already been touched upon in most of the other reviews. This is a strange mixture of intensely soapy lemon, black licorice, and a bad smoky smell on me. It doesn't smell like incense smoke on me at all, but is a strange smoky fragrance that reminds me a bit of cigarettes (which equals a major headache for me).

 

I'm not getting the shadowy incense or cloaked strangers... perhaps a chainsmoking stranger with a handwashing compulsion