Melisande, The Puppet Mistress

[PilotKitten]

Jasmine sambac, dark musk, violet water, vanilla bean and mimosa.

Mmm... nummy jasmine scent. After the drydown I get a faint faint whiff of vanilla bean. Just enough to show me there's vanilla in it, but not enough of the bean scent to make me cringe (hate vanilla bean scents). Nice blend.

[kuanyin]

Usually, I'm not as intrigued by the florals... ahhh, who am I kidding? I'm just a scent whore and the only ones that don't sound wonderful are the extremely foody ones. I am as intrigued by the florals as I am by the incense/woody scents, I just don't like them as often as I like the others. This one intrigued me, but I was fearful it might end up being Flying Fox jasminey. In the bottle it is too. But on me, it is more violet than anything else and this is just fine with me. I get a nicely balanced violet with musky vanilla tones that round this out to a superb complex scent. Reminds me of Bathos and that is a compliment. I put a small amount on my wrists this morning and I still had decent throw 12 hours later.

[jesvet]

I stuck some of this on as a lark, not expecting much. In the imp, it had a bit of a 'generic cologne' scent- but to my great delight, that wore off almost immediately after application.

 

This turned into a smooth, feminine floral. The musk is gorgeous and definitely keeps the jasmine in check. It's more of an "mmmm, what is that flower? Oh, jasmine! How lovely," as opposed to my more usual experience of being smacked upside the sinuses. I don't get vanilla at all, but I can believe it is there as a base.

 

I may very well be going for a bottle here.

[sophia_helix]

I put this on before checking the notes. Er, jasmine, violet, vanilla, and musk are all on my "uh-oh" list, and I'm iffy on mimosa. So you can guess how well this went.

 

Wet: Dirty diaper

Dry: Clean, powdery diaper

 

After the initial horrible sourness faded, it really wasn't too bad... if I wanted to smell like powdery vanilla. It sort of made me think of the bosom of a middle-aged school nurse. Sweet, just... wow, not me.

[supremegoddessofall]

The violet is on top. Getting a little bit of vanilla underneath, and no musk at all. Violet and I still don't get along. Sorry Melisande.

[Thaleia]

Oh gosh. I was drawn to this scent because I liked the idea of the jasmine sambac (being Filipino) and because 'Melisande' is very similar to my own name, but wow. The jasmine and violet take turns hitting me over the head out of this bottle. Which leads me to believe that a little goes a long way, because my skin seems to like jasmine to the point of making it overpower everything else within ten feet of my person.

 

BUT.

 

Put a little bit on (very sparingly) and it's actually heady and elegant, good for a night out if you're trying to impress. It's a sharp, musky violet which morphs very quickly into shadowed, heady jasmine with an underlying violet, warmed by vanilla. Exotic and seductive, heady and wanton, sexy and strong. It’s less strong and cloying than Le Serpent Qui Danse, and more sophisticated. I fear this is something I won’t be reaching for as often as others, but it’s good to have around for those moments where you want to be a femme fatale. It makes me feel almost Lady Macbeth-like. I can tell that a little bit goes a long way with this one.

[Tess]

Oh dear gods, jasmine. I live in fear of jasmine... But for the sake of science I'll try it out and maybe the musk and the vanilla bean will keep the floral nightmare that is jasmine in check.

 

In the vial - Ho-lee sheet. Jasmine, one that creeps around dark and bitter, slithering with the musk, only to jump up and screech at you.

 

Wet - Jasmine stomping on all the really nice notes. Stomp, stomp, stomp.

 

Drying - For those of you who like vanilla and get take florals, the throw on this would be quite lovely. The vanilla is actually somewhat more powerful than the jasmine, to which I am amazed, but it's still ungodly strong. Closer to my wrist, the more normal jasmine smell is hanging, completely overriding the musk. Guh.

 

Dry (45 minutes) - I just can't take this anymore. It's gone that pure jasmine route that makes me ill.

 

Overall - Gee, did I call this one or not?

[Aevalin]

Hm. I don't usually go for strong floral notes but I figured I'd give this one a shot. On me it wasn't entirely unpleasant - just flowery. I'm awful at picking out individual flower notes, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting the violet water. I made the hubby sniff, and he thinks it's smells like old lady perfume - I'm not sure I disagree. The throw for this one is pretty decent on me, which seems to be the case when violets are involved. And I don't get much morphing, the violet water stays true through out.

 

That said - please remember that a lot of floral perfumes turn totally to baby powder on me so your mileage may (and likely will) vary. I guess I'm not meant to be a floral type person.

[zankoku_zen]

I got gifted with this because jewelbug thought I would enjoy this:

 

In the imp: Strong florals. Really strong. Even, I, floral lover am going... FLOWER ATTACK!

 

On Skin: SUPER SPECIAL JASMINE ATTACK. Why hello there, young lady.

 

On Drydown: Still jasminey. I get a backdrop of bitter violets slithering through and a residual warmness, which I think is the vanilla.

 

Goes strong for a couple of hours. The jasmine mellows out after about four hours or so, but it remains a strong floral.

 

Verdict: I like florals. I'm not sure I like them THAT much. It's a really well conceived scent... but so far the Carnaval doesn't like me.

[Naamah_Darling]

Pale night flowers and a cool, sweet overtone make this a very light scent. It goes on heavy with jasmine, the musk a heavy purr far in the background. The vanilla isn't there up close or in the throw, it hovers in a middle zone about six inches from my skin, all tangled with the violet. This is a very quiet but powerful scent, modest in throw but with a faint edge to it.

 

It's very feminine, and very adult. An almost traditional perfume, but one with enough layers to give it some subtlety and enough depth to keep it from being all shrieking topnote. Quite pretty, though it's not my thing.

 

As it ages, the violet comes out more, and it starts eating the other notes, so I know this isn't going to work, but I'm giving it the thumbs-up for people who like florals. This one is cool, resonant, and just the slightest bit distant, similar in feel if not in actual scent to Night's Pavilion. Very pretty, slightly wistful, and just a touch of cool green sweetness.

[moon_lemming]

This sounds like damning with faint praise, but Melisande really isn't that bad for a jasmine blend! The jasmine and violets blend well with the vanilla; although it's still too soapy for my taste, it's not so bad that I need to scrub it off, like I feel with most jasmine blends. I'm not going to keep it, but it's nice to know not all jasmines amp to a million on my skin.

[The_Merf]

I tried this one a long time ago, from a friend's decant, so my notes are not really all that detailed. What I do have marked in the spreadsheet is "light jasmine, not complex." I remember being very surprised, particularly given the rest of the reviews, at how dominant the jasmine was. I really couldn't pick up anything else, not even the violet, which is usually a strong floral on me. Despite that, it's not a heady or heavy jasmine--it is very light and delicate. However, it is all that comes up on my skin. I had to pass on the decant.

[neuilly]

At first this was a really mature jasmine scent...I'm assuming it was the musk that made it feel so mature to me. The vanilla and violet didn't seem to play a big role to be although I think they helped round out the jasmine and musk. Unfortunately this ended up going powdery on me which is so odd because none of the notes normally does that on me. Alas!

[valentina]

I purchased a bottle of Melisande for a friend who's a jasmine lover, but that did not stop me from putting a wee tip of a toothpick into the potion so I could do a wee test and write a review. In the bottle, Melisande is a softer, gentler jasmine than some of the other blends I've smelled. When it hits my skin, it's again a softer jasmine upon initial drydown. I've grown accustomed enough to jasmine that I don't recoil when I smell it, and I wait to see if it will let the rest of the blend do good things or bad things on my skin. After about 15 minutes, the jasmine in Melisande really explodes, and it's kind of skeevy with the musk and orange in the background. It gives me a powdery, sour jasmine for a while, but then the offending elements burn themselves off after perhaps 45 minutes to an hour. Then I'm left with a vanilla-jasmine smell with just a hint of violet that's very petite and nice, albeit almost too understated. But... I know my friend will adore it -- I think this is a lovely, feminine, almost delicate jasmine blend. All the Carnival scents are so uniquely blended, and Melisande is no exception.

[lanablade]

In the imp: Jasmine and violets.

 

Wet: Jasmine and violets are having a mosh pit, and mimosa is lingering around the outside, too shy to actually get his ass kicked in there.

 

Dry: The mosh pit is now a ballroom full of overheated jasmine and a few stray wilting violets. I can smell the mimosa a bit more now, but I think she's waiting for vanilla to come and ask her to dance. The throw is sweeter, and I think I can catch a hint of vanilla lingering on the front walk, but for some reason he's been banned from the party. The vanilla comes in more the longer it dries, so perhaps jasmine is getting tired of dancing and taking a cooling walk on the terrace, allowing vanilla to sneak in and ask mimosa to dance.

 

I had passed on trying this scent, but a friend gave it to me for Christmas. (I know. I open my presents early. Bad me.) It's very much how I would expect. Very feminine and sweet, but at the same time, like a puppet mistress, very controling and mildly overpowering. I like it more than I thought I would, but I'm definately content with just an imp.

[Voleuse]

This strikes me as really, really pretty on first sniff. It's a sweet floral, all violet and mimosa on me, and very clean. There's a hint of jasmine in the background, and over time it gets stronger, but not very. This is a lovely scent, especially if you like violet (and don't mind and/or amp jasmine).

[edenssixthday]

Melisande, the Puppet Mistress - I love all of those notes in this except for jasmine, and unfortunately, the jasmine is the top note. It’s not as horrific as jasmine can often be because it is tempered significantly by the creamy vanilla bean scent and the sweetness of the violet blends gorgeously with the jasmine, which I would have never guessed. Still, it’s predominantly jasmine and therefore, really needs to go to a new home.

[Druby]

In the imp all I can smell is the jasmine then once on me, again the jasmine, but also the violet and vanilla are overpowering but seem to work togther well with the jasmine. After a while the flowers move into the background and it smells very spicy.

[cinderfallen]

Fresh on, Melisande reminds me of jasmine tea; as it dries down, the vanilla bean and musk lend a creamy, solid note--no fragile flower wisps here. The violet and jasmine meld into each other, and I think the violet is actually gaining precedence over the jasmine.

 

The jasmine and vanilla bean lend smoothness, and the violet has a "coarser" sugary feel on top. It's quite interesting.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is green tea with a hint of jasmine...

once applied i get tea with delicate violet and vanilla...this has

a lovely creaminess and depth which is very romantic and feminine

this scent lingers for quite awhile with not much morphing...truly

a pretty scent and so grateful for the opportunity to try it...

[filigree_shadow]

Hm. Jasmine, you say.

 

I took a deep breath to prepare myself, and then I sniffed the oil in the imp. Hunh. Not bad. Not too jasminey. Smells pretty good, actually.

 

I put some of the oil on the back of my hand. Woah. Heady powdery floral. Yikes.

 

I waited for it to dry. It became a bit musky. Not so powdery. Hey, this is getting better.

 

I went over and sniffed some coffee beans so I could start over completely with the scent.

 

I sniffed my hand again. ACK! Jasmine. Tons of it. It's everywhere. And with... with violets. I can't smell any vanilla bean. Jasmine. More jasmine.

 

I washed my hands.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: a lovely, dark, violet scent.

on: powdery, sweet violet. there's a bit of soapiness to this, but i'm hoping that the musk and vanilla bean with drown it out.

5 hours later: dusty and slightly floral.

6 hours later: pretty much gone. a faint, dusty floral.

overall: this just didn't last on me.

[eleventhousand]

Deep dark and murky jasmine musk, with trodden violets wafting in and out.

A bit of harshness on first sniff...apply with care.

This is darker and sexier than I expected.

Verraverra womanly.

This lasts for HOURS, drying down into a paler, floral musk.

Edited February 2, 2007 by eleventhousand

[Analise]

In bottle: oooh, very nice sweet flower, I assume that's the jasmine.

 

Wet, on skin: Nice, but makes me think of a shampoo scent. Or something like that.

 

Drydown: Jasmine's backing off a bit and I think I sense the vanilla. I'll have to sniff it a bit more. I'm not getting any musk at all which, for me, is a good thing.

 

The more I sniff this, the more it grows on me. I might have to consider a bottle after trying it another couple times.

[bookofblues]

Yet another lovely violet scent from the Lab.

In the imp, strong floral. The scents mingle together and it's hard to get a bead on just one.

On the skin, violet and jasmine predominate equally. Violet hits the nose first, and the jasmine lingers.

Drydown to mainly a sweet, candied violet (the vanilla?) with a hint of jasmine underneath.

As it fades away over the next few hours, only the jasmine is left.

Interesting, and very,very nice on my skin. This is one of the few times I've been able to wear jasmine without it amping up like crazy and becoming something unpleasant.

Definitely a keeper, and not just because I adore violet.