Mag Mell

[CiaoBonefish]

The Plane of Joy, eternal reward for a lifetime of valor and glory. A place of eternal youth and beauty, strength and honor, music and revelry. The warmth of amber, the puissance of white ginger and the clarity of verbena, with fresh green grass, lush sage and cleansing droplets of summer rain.

Well. I am angry. ANGRY AT YOU MAG MELL. Let me tell you why. In the imp this is all glorious verbena, white ginger, lush grass, and rain. In other words, gloriously zingy. Once this dries on my skin the amber kicks in and turns things a touch powdery and I lose the zingy verbena ginger kick I was loving! Goes through an odd soapy phase (assuming that is the rain note because aquatics go soapy on me in general), and I can't really get the sage much in this one either. Ok… I'm not that mad at Mag Mell anymore. She is beautifully zingy with an amber smoothness and the rain and grasses for freshness and life; I just wish she stayed the zingy bright sunny smiley she was when wet on my skin and in the imp. May be this will eventually be bumped to a bottle, I want to get a bottle actually but am unsure how the amber will age. I guess we'll see. Otherwise lovely lovely lovely spring scent! Very lively but smooth!

 

ETA 2015: I lied to all of you. I thought that this scent was only okay. I thought that this scent had deceived me, and I preferred it in its early stages to the dry down. I WAS SO WRONG. This is probably my favorite General Catalogue scent of all time. Mag Mell is old faithful. Mag Mell is the perfume I've used the most of after Samhain, and Mag Mell is the scent I will always come back to because of how much I love it. It's zingy and fresh and uplifting, but it is also soothing and warm and even a little sensual on the dry down. I love Mag Mell, and I thought I really needed to come back here and tell you guys that. We've been having a love affair for the past 4 years after all!

Edited March 23, 2015 by ciaobonefish

[Tiada]

This starts out very fresh and herbal, but as it dries it almost gets a vanilla note. The amber and ginger take hold and ground it into a beautiful, everyday wear type scent. I do really enjoy this, I could wear this quite a lot when I don't want a scent that stands out and screams off my skin.

[Balame]

In the Imp: Verbena and citrus. Verbena always puts a smile on my face, it's effortlessly bright and cheery without being obnoxious.

 

Wet: This is quite clean, almost like a citrus laundry solution (but no worries, not chemical). The ginger is there but it's not settled into its full spiciness yet. I'm not a fan of ginger so I wish it would stay as it is now, but I have a feeling it'll amp up later on. Right now it's pleasantly sweet.

 

Dry: Hm, the ginger isn't really amping too badly. That's nice. I'm mainly left with a creamy base that has citrus and a hint of sweet amber. I had my mom try this and the ginger went crazy on her, a super bright spiciness, but on me my skin has actually almost swallowed ALL of the scent within 30 minutes.

 

Overall: I like this well enough for when I'm in a really energetic, go-getter kind of mood, but it has almost no staying power with my skin chemistry.

[milo]

On, I can barely smell this at all. Just a light, non descript scent. As it dries, it's a very fresh gingery and light scent with a touch of citrus. Quite refreshing for this time of year. I like this, as it's a spicy scent that can be worn in summer months rather than just fall and winter. I'll probably use up the imp.

[Klolly]

I got this a frimp from the lab and at first I thought it was a pirate blend, lol. So I searched every forum but wanderlust and after two hours finally found it by process of elimination. I was excited to find it basically stood for celtic paradise. I have always liked celtic things so hopefully I'll like this too.

 

In the imp: Very clean and a little sour. Something smells off, like an old shower that just got cleaned with a lemon cleaner but still smells faintly of mildew.

 

On wet: Mmm, it smells like lemonheads. There is a nice softness to it. I faintly smell the ginger sneaking up. Ginger goes kind of wonky on me and I always wonder if it's my chemistry or if it's supposed to smell that way.

 

Dry: The more it settles the more the ginger takes over. Ginger always seems to do this on me. It will completely beat down all the other scents and dominate until the next day. So far the verbena seems to be holding it back a little, which is good. When I try hard I think I smell the grass but it is very faint. This is a very sunny smell. I could see a very sophisticated woman wearing this to shop with friends or something. I will update more after I wear it awhile.

 

The next day: This is a very beautiful scent. It's not unusual or compelling enough for me to want a bottle, but if I had a bottle I'd probably actually wear it a lot. It gets very soft after it's been worn awhile and it smells like juicy, sweet sunshine. A lot of people have said it is too faint and fades to fast but in my experience it had pretty decent throw and I could still smell it the following morning. If I continue to sample this one I might end up growing very fond of it.

Edited August 26, 2011 by Klolly

[OctoberGwen]

Like milo, I can hardly smell a thing on my wrist - just a very faint whiff of citrus with an echo of ginger. Even that is gone fairly quickly, so I'm afraid Mag Mell is not for me.

[Ryokumuji]

Oh wow! This one has really surprised me. It smells so grassy, which I didn't think I'd like that much but... It's really nice! As it stays on my skin a bit of citrus comes out too. I didn't think I'd like something like this but I think it's so pretty. Reminds me of Embalming Fluid a bit actually. They're both different enough from each other that I'd keep and wear both though.

 

This would be a wonderful spring/summer scent.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Sweet, light amber.

 

Drydown: Warm and golden w/ a bit of lemon.

 

Dry: An intriguing mix of lemony freshness and sweet amber. The lemon does a nice job of keeping the amber in check. There's a hint of sexiness but it's just a hint.

 

 

This is O's seemingly innocent daytime persona. Everything about it is golden. The sage/rain/grass add a freshness without turning the scent green and the lemon seems to pair perfectly with the amber. Nicely done.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Kind of fresh, I would say almost green-tea-like but that must be the rain/grass combo.

 

On skin, wet: Much the same as in the imp. Green and fresh and maybe a little tart, but no note standing out.

 

On skin, dry: Getting a touch soapy now, though at least it's not insta-headache-dryer-sheets like some aquatics do on me.

 

After an hour: Stays about the same. If it wasn't for the soapiness I would probably like this one a lot.

[Dusk]

First, I get a strong green scent, which gives way to honey-sweetness, with some underlying note that I can't place. The sweetness seems almost like artificial lemon. Looking at reviews, I'm guessing that's the verbena.

 

After 5 minutes, the grass emerges again, briefly, and I think I smell a bit of ginger. Which is nice, but it's faint and sweeter than I like ginger to be. There's also a very familiar scent that I can't place, but it reminds me of my mom's bathroom cabinet of soaps and body washes, so I suspect she has something with the same scent in it. There's something mildly aquatic about it, and dewy, but that smell hides under the verbena cover, so I need to take a deep whiff of it to uncover it.

 

Over time, it really doesn't morph much. It seems a simple blend; I'm just getting sweet lemon, dew, and some ginger candy if I really search for it. It smells sweet, but not so cloying that I feel uncomfortable wearing it. Not much to say, really. As I said, it’s simple.

 

After an hour, there's some amber appearing and the aquatic has faded a bit. Two hours: it's lemony amber. Five hours: it's clear it lasts well, and it still has a lot of throw. (I later realise that this is one of the rare scents that hangs around 24 hours on me.) At this point it's a reasonably pleasant amber, but unremarkable.

 

Not a huge fan. I suspect it could work better on others. I'd definitely categorise it as a summer scent; it doesn't quite have the freshness I'd like for spring, which was really more what I was hoping for. Fans of verbena should look no further - unfortunately, I don't think it's quite working for me. But I am pleased that the amber doesn't seem to be turning to powder on me like it does on many people.

 

Summary: Warm, sweet, and lemony, with fleeting aquatic notes, and amber as it mellows. Simple. Nice enough, but overwhelmed by verbena.

 

Rating: 2.5/5

Edited April 17, 2012 by Dusk

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Verbena and ginger, with a hint of something aquatic.

Wet: Verbena like whoa.

Dry: An interestingly zingy mix of verbena, ginger and grass, which I quite like, but then there's this sweet amber note on top that I don't really care for. Hmm. Didn't really work for me.

[Kit Foxly]

I will have to re-test this. It smelled like cake – slightly lemony cake, which was probably the verbena and the ginger over that creamy almost-vanilla that some people note, but cake. And grass. The mental image was light moist cake - maybe lemon chiffon - being eaten on a picnic blanket in the sun. So I suspect the warmth and golden scent of the amber came through too, just not in its usual glorious and recognisable forms.

 

Don't know where the summer rain was. Or the sage, though I suspect that's the "grassy" note.

 

Nice, enough – it's a fairly subdued and subtle scent, but comforting. I mean, cake!

 

I don't think it's a bottle scent for me, but I may well keep the imp for those days when... er, when smelling like cake seems desirable? Are there such days?

[theredshoes]

In the imp: Ginger, verbena, citrus, faint grass. Very pretty.

 

Wet: A faintly fruity? smell, then -- ginger and lemon, ginger and lemon, and then LEMON LEMON LEMON. Slightly mixed with ginger.

 

Drydown: Amber came out slightly, in a vanilla way. Still LEMON. I now smell exactly like one of those awful Starbuck's fake lemon pound cakes with the gross white icing.

 

Hours later: Ginger came up a bit more, so did the grass, but it was still ONE LEMON TO RULE THEM ALL AND IN THE CITRUS BIND THEM (just finished traditional Yule LOTR rewatch). This also disappeared on me really fast -- in less than an hour.

 

 

Pretty disappointed in this one, since I love the description and waited ages to try it, but between the Godzillemon and the vanishing act, it's awful. I might wait and try this again later, but I'm not optimistic.

Edited December 27, 2012 by theredshoes

[oncominbeige]

This was a frimp from a lovely swapper.

 

In the imp: Citrus and grass!

 

Wet: Citrus!

 

Dry-down (and checking notes): Aaaaaah verbena, that explains some things. For the first 10-15 minutes, Mag Mell is the Verbena Show. Luckily, as a L'Occitane fan, I've learned to adore verbena, because it certainly is central. But then, it starts to morph. The ginger peeks its head in, as does the grass. It becomes spicy and lemon-y and really quite nice. I like this!

 

Dry: .....but where did the verbena go? After about 45 minutes, this is just...vaguely sweet. I can't even detect any particular note. I assume the sweetness comes from the ginger and it's a relief that the amber didn't turn things to powder, but it's not a distinct scent at all. I'd like this more if the verbena stuck around, and might retest it just in case, but as it stands, this just isn't for me.

[hexnut]

MAG MELL

 

Light brown in the imp, tested blind.

 

In Vitro Spice and citrus?

 

Wet Some throw during application that I described as "planty". Fresh on this was very pretty, possibly floral. One minute along it was orange plus something, and remained the same for several minutes. Really wonderful.

 

Drying The "orangeness" was less prominent and I detected a sweet base with something unknown beside. It was almost bitter, but still pleasant. An hour after application this was presumed floral plus sweet base and very faint bitterness, nice but not wonderful. Later the same day I put some more on the same wrist and rubbed it in, and this time it smelled more like lemon balm. About two hours after that the scent was faint and vanillic.

 

The name reveal wasn't too surprising as Mag Mell was my second guess, after L'Ecole des Filles. There's no orange listed but ginger can smell like citrus on me (and possibly contribute pungency/bitterness), and the "lemon balm" could have been the verbena. The overall scent was very nice and I would not mind having a bottle although I wish the drydown would smell more like the wet phase.

 

 

60

[JazzieCazzie]

Working my way through my entire BPAL collection, old and new, A-Z, reviewing and revisiting in preparation for, finally, an exhaustive swap list and wish list. I purchased an imp of Mag Mell from the Lab in February as part of an "impapalooza" buy which included some new-to-me scents and some old favorites I was out of or running low on.

 

Mag Mell was a new-to-me, because I hoped the amber and ginger (two favorites) would off-set the iffiness of sage and lemon verbena and the likely "doesn't play nice on me" of rain or any aquatics. Seemed to be worth a shot, anyway!

 

IN THE IMP: Super duper fresh in an aquatic way but not SO aquatic (like ozone or lotus) that it put me off. More like soap or shampoo.

 

Dabbed on my wrist and in the crook of my arm (the latter will amp up anything wonky so I'm warned).

 

WET: This is the strangest blend I've tried in a long time. It's Morphy McMorpherson. On each sniff I get something different. However on NO sniff am I getting ANY amber OR ginger and that's not good. I get, off and on, clean fresh aquatic which is actually the GOOD scent for me, which is odd -- it reminds me quite a bit of the old Love's Rain Scent -- but then on alternate sniffs it's HORRIBLY wonky, and I have to keep checking if there is myrrh in here, because it is similar to the way myrrh often dries down in the crook of my arm (myrrh is usually find on the dry parts of my body but reacts awfully with any perspiration). Maybe it's the ash? Very sulphuric and stinky.

 

But I want to wait this out to see what happens when it dries down ...

 

DRYDOWN: Whatever the stinky note is is amping while the Love's Rain scent is fading ... and the throw is so strong that I finally have to wash this off. At no point did I ever get any amber or ginger. It's possible that the other notes I'm not as familiar with (verbena, sage, ash) combined for the ickiness on me.

 

OVERALL: I'm glad I tried this because I always love test-driving something new, but it just didn't work for me. Into the swap box.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 1.5

[sunlitgarden]

In the imp: Sweet lemony verbena, herbal, a little astringent. Pleasant, but a bit soapy, like a nice quality herbal scented soap that you'd find in someone's guest bathroom.

 

Verbena tends to amp on me, and it's pretty strong on my skin here too, but it's nice. Herbal and sweet. Overall, this reminds me of one of the light scents from L'Occitane. (I enjoy their products, though they're a bit too pricey for me to buy for myself.) Nice, but a bit too soapy on me.

 

I got a bit of it on my face by mistake (a hazard while wrist-sniffing) and it burns. Ow. >_<

[musikmegs]

Mag Mell is a scent that somehow manages to be soft and warm but also fresh and bright at the same time. When I first put it on it reminds me strangely of lemon Pez candy. It is smooth and citrusy. As it dries it becomes a lovely, creamy lemony amber.

 

I don't have many spring/summer scents yet so I've been reaching for this often as the weather warms. I love it and am glad I have a bottle so I can slather at will

[mymymai]

In the Bottle (ITB): Strong ginger and freshly cut grass strongly pique my interest. I can't tease out other notes at this point, though.

Wet: Ah, here is the verbena balanced with a slightly powdery white ginger, while just a hint of grass trails behind it. It's fresh and invigorating.

Dry: After 12 hours, I get only a hint of ginger and amber.

[biocarolyn]

This is such a disappointment on my skin. Sigh... In the imp it smells so nice... Verbena, with the green of cut grass and a warm background that must be the amber. I can also smell the aquatic scent under it. Unfortunately, when it dries down, there's very little left but sharp green grass, and even that disappears after two hours or so. Such a shame, it was really pretty. Oh well...

[mistri]

I got this as a frimp. It wasn't one I'd looked at before - the notes had never stuck out to me much.

 

I liked this a lot - it's a nice, well-blended scent. But I don't think I fell for it enough to buy a bottle.

 

When I first put it on, I smelt ginger, something lemony and the fresh grass coming through.

 

As it dried, it became a lovely well-rounded amber scent. The ginger mostly faded away for me. In fact it was very soft generally. I liked it but I don't think it's quite strong enough for my skin chemistry.

[batsy]

In the vial: verbena and grass, with a dollop of amber.

 

On the skin: Full on verbena. On the dry down, it turned to grass (my poor sinuses) before going flat out sage and grass. Off to the swap pile.

[radiantfracture]

I think I ordered this to try something gingery. On me, though, it is a strong sweet lemon verbena -- almost a single note.

 

In the imp: Weird! Grass and sweet citrus -- the verbena. I think the weirdness is the amber resisting the other elements.

 

On the skin: Verbena goes long. I'm one of those for whom this is intensely dominated by the lemony verbena smell. The ginger stays well back -- shifts elusively around the edges. Very occasional possible sniffs of herbal sage.

 

After a long time, the amber warms in, and the lemon plus the vanilla element of the amber accord plus the very faint ginger are delicious together.

 

The aquatic elements are a very faint melancholy coolness pervading the blend.

 

I like it on my skin -- something to wear on a sunny summer day. This would be a great room scent.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: This smells BRIGHT & clean, but not soapy. Earthy, herb-y & grassy, but not dirty or murky. It smells like the colours white, yellow & light green should smell. The smell of the afterlife? Could be! This is most definitely not somewhere on earth!

Wet on skin: Almost exactly the same, except it's slightly grounded by the amber.

Dry on skin: Warmer, sweeter, softer. Not as stark, bright or clean as before, but more gentle & heaven-like. I think ginger is a very good note on me, because there's a really nice note in here that I don't normally associate with real ginger, but I smelled it in another BPAL ginger perfume too.

After a few hours: That really nice note-that-doesn't-actually-smell-like-ginger-but-is-probably-BPAL-ginger is now the main note & it's making this smell so very pretty!

Verdict: The end result of this is SO very different to how it starts, but all variations of this perfume are gorgeous! I think this one may become a favourite!

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: Mostly verbana, ginger, green grass, and the summer rain note.

Wet: Verbana, ginger, and green grass. This really does have a summer-vibe going on. The verbana and grass end up being the dominant notes. The ginger is still present, though. Then, the summer rain note emerges.

Dry: The grass and verbana notes are still present, but they are not as prominent as they were before. The summer rain note, like most aquatic notes, has turned somewhat soapy on me. The amber is present now, along with a bit of sage. This stage of the scent is not for me.

Verdict: This is not a scent that I would like to wear, but I think it would make a nice room scent.