Mania

[Torrain]

The personification of insanity, Mother of Manes, Goddess of Night Spirits, Mistress of Undeath, She Who Gives Life to the Dead. With Mantus, she rules the Etruscan underworld, and her scent is roiling chaos and churning madness, but because she is the mother of the Lares, benevolent household spirits, her perfume also bears an underlying gentleness, and, like madness, a strange sweetness. Screeching white musk collides with a howl of red musk, with sharp white grapefruit and pale strawberry leaf.

 

I swear this starts out smelling like those green-apple/caramel lollipops, sweet and juicy.

 

20 min: white musk with something a little more vigorous (the red?) and something brighter and faintly floral/soft (probably mostly grapefruit; wish I knew what strawberry leaf smelled like). Still, mostly white musk.

 

45 min: white musk with a slightly richer, sweeter note. I can smell the grapefruit pith in there, faint but present.

 

1 hr: same.

 

2 hrs: same. I think it's now a matter of just waiting to see how long it lasts.

 

4 hours (!): good *god*, this one is really sticking around. It's definitely gotten sweeter; I guess it must be the strawberry leaf, because it's definitely not anything else. (Does strawberry leaf smell sweet? I imagined it as a sort of greener scent.)

 

Love and coffee,

Frances

[Shollin]

First sniff: Wow, this one is really sweet, and somehow… dirty. Like berries and patchouli.

 

Wearing: Completely different. My skin cuts the sweetness entirely, and it settles into a really nice citrus-but-deeper.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

impsniff: red musk and wild strawberries

skin: no change, still red musk and wild strawberries*

 

if there's white musk, it is hiding from me...along with the white grapefruit for which i'm grateful cuz i hate it.

 

 

*= we had grapevines and strawberries and wild strawberries when i was little... these are smells i know well.

[suki]

in the imp: a sickly sweet cherry, followed closely by something poisonous, like insect repellent.

 

wet on skin:better now, it's very close to a cherry incense i remember from a hippy-laden childhood.

 

dry down: the cherry disappears like magic and is replaced with a gentle fruit floral, like Strangler fig, but more juicy and berry-like.

 

the final verdict: a perfectly lovely mix of fruit and floral, but not unique enough for me to keep.

 

ADDED Jan. 19:

 

in the imp: faint caramel and strawberry bubblegum.

 

wet on skin: the bubblegum aspect disappears leaving behind something akin to strawberry syrup. fairly yum.

 

dry down: the strawberry mixes with a very faint floral to produce something similar to strawberry suck-on candy.

 

in all: not bad for those that are partial to candy-foodie type smells. for me, it's not quite what i want to smell like, so...

 

 

...off to the swaps!

[maribouquet]

Imp: This smells a bit like Mme. Moriarity (red musk!) and Hollywood Babylon (strawberry!)

Wet: Good throw, as I put it on my wrist and can smell it as I type. Up close I can pick up the grapefruit. Not sure about the white musk.

Dry: Mostly red musk and grapefruit.

 

Nice!

[megank4]

Ergh. This smells like the blend Lust (which I really like) gone wrong on me. Must be the red musk. Husband thought I smelled like strawberry shortcake doll, which I guess means kind of a plasticy-strawberry. Only get a slight sense of grapefruit and none at all of white musk. Swap!

[alicia_stardust]

Mania has an overlying sharpness from the white musk, but the red musk deepens, darkens, and sensualizes this scent. It is smooth and red, but then the grapefruit kind of adds a jolt to things. As the scent dries down I smell the strawberry leaf, which to me is very different from strawberries. It has a sort of sweet, leafy garden scent from the strawberry patch. I love the way the notes in this blend sort of clash into each other and yet, ultimately, create a lovely scent. I'm keeping this one!

[Cielamara]

Ooooh.

 

In the imp: Rich earthy red musk. It reminds me at first of my beloved Scherezade, and then--no, no, yes, Scherezade still, but Scherezade mixed with the spiciness of Snake Oil. And what's that sweetness in there?

 

Wet: This reminds me even MORE of Snake Oil. How is that? I keep wanting to slice it with the rich vanilla in that blend.

 

Settling: Ohmigod. There's still this beautiful musk, but definitely settling, and the sharp sweet strawberry is coming out. It reminds me of Adagio's beautiful wild strawberry tea blend, unsweetened--just tart strawberry, lush with its own natural sweetness.

 

Drydown: That quirky Jailbait bubblegum note, very subtle, just beneath the sexy musk and strawberries. I LIKE IT!

[enderfem]

Imp: Strawberry candy.

 

Wet: Musky strawberry candy. Not unpleasant, but very sweet.

 

Drydown: Plastic strawberry badness.

[bryghtrose]

In the bottle it smells of cherries, patchouli and cough syrup

 

It dries much better, into a sugared incense, reminiscent of Midnight on the Midway, which is a favorite. But the initial waft of cough syrup is too much.

[soonyi]

out of the imp, it smells like candies but the scent follows thru, which a lot of the lighter candy bpal scents seem to lack for me. I like it thus far.

 

wet, it has a general sweetness that could be described as strawberry leaf (definitly not strawberry alone) and behind that a sweet citrus

 

dry, reminds me a lot of akuma without the sandalwood. pretty much no throw on me--most of these red musks like kabuki, etc dont stand up to my skin chemistry. it's pleasant but i dont think i'd really ever wear it.

[CrazyPretzel]

The only thing I got from this was strong red musk, with an especially fruity flair (though not recognisably grapefruit or strawberry). It's not bad but I have nicer red musk scents soo....

[cranberry]

From the notes I wasn't sure I'd like this one, but I really should have known better.

 

Wet on the skin, this is soft red musk, something that smells almost like tomato leaf but not as strong, and a light sweetness. As it wears, it gets sweeter. And the red musk gets softer and softer. At this point it is very much a soft, fruity musk, with the emphasis on soft and fruity. This smells very smooth and there's not one sharp thing about this scent.

 

Surprising and very nice!

 

~~~

edited because of weird random symbols where the apostrophes should be...

Edited April 29, 2008 by cranberry

[iiinterstate]

I like this, but its nothing like I expected. After I put it on, I had to go back and check to make sure of the notes. I got absolutely NO musk from Mania, just sweetened grapefruit and the cool edge of what I assume is strawberry leaf. Interesting!

[Moryssa]

I'm pretty sure this was a freebie, either from the lab or from a swap, 'cause I'd normally avoid anything that has Red Musk in it, especially when it's described as "screeching white musk" (sounds a little too Ozone-y to me) colliding with "a howl of red musk"... and then also has "sharp" grapefruit. I like white musk, but I hate sharp-smelling things, red musk usually equals Very Bad, and I hate grapefruit (the smell and the taste). So I NEVER would have ordered this.

 

And that would have been a horrible, horrible loss.

 

I randomly picked this one out of my "untested" imp case this morning. I didn't remember the notes off hand, and I usually try to test the scent before I look up the notes to see what I'm smelling. This one surprised me... it's definitely fruity, but it smells more like cherries to me, and there's something a little *smoother* to it... which I attribute to the red musk. I get no real citrus from it (yay!) and there's nothing really "sharp" about it either. It's just a smooth red fruity scent.

 

I'm not sure if it's a definite bottle purchase or not, but it's definitely at least an "I wouldn't mind if more of this found it's way into my posession".

 

--M

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I get the strawberry leaf, and just a hint of grapefruit.

 

On my skin, there's just a hint of grapefruit, the strawberry leaf, and just the barest hint of the musk.

 

When it dries - mmm, this is nice. There's a mixture of the strawberry and grapefruit - the grapefruit is bright, and the strawberry is sweet, all backed by the warmth of the musk.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Reddish root beer coloured oil, quite thick. Sweet, musky, almost a little boozy. Fruity, in a bubblegummy way. Reminds me of Smut and Mme. Moriarty.

 

Wet: Sweet; bubblegum strawberry, the fruit, NOT the leaf. Less musky and boozy. The grapefruit is indeed quite sharp, zesty and white and tart, but it cuts through the candy of the strawberry pleasantly.

 

Dry: Actually, these two fruits work really well together; at first they were a distinct and bit too jarring and individually unpleasant, but now they merge into a more natural fruity blend. The red musk is more apparent, in that sort of harsh manner it has on me; the white musk is quite light but bright.

 

Later: This must be the first time ever that grapefruit has lasted on my skin, and that's quite thrilling for me - it's clean and fresh, even if a bit faint. The strawberry's still a bit artificial-bubblegum for me, though. The red musk has a hint of a bite, but barely; it's mostly earthy and rich, almost like patchouli. The white musk almost merges with the grapefruit, lightening the blend.

 

Summary: From afar, this smells like strawberry Smut, and then when my nose is right near my skin, I can pick up very faint, beautifully tart grapefruit and a white musk that's blossomed into sexy smoothness. The red musk is deep and sexy, too, not harsh at all in the drydown. It's slightly sweet and boozy and quite musky. Feminine, sexy. Fabulous through, fair lasting power.

 

I would absolutely get a bottle of this if the grapefruit and the white musk threw more strongly, but the strawberry/smut combo is just a bit too sweet and artificial for me and it's definitely in command. Alas.

[jiggahava]

My God, this is HEAVENLY. This is a fruity musk. There's the sweetness of strawberry mixed with the sensuality of red musk. The white musk keeps this from going too cloyingly sweet. I get whiffs of grapefruit for approx. five seconds, then it's gone. This is so gorgeous. I might get a big bottle when my imp runs out.

[TPOD]

Mania is one of my favorite scents and I can't believe I haven't reviewed it - but then I'm a lazy reviewer.

 

To my nose Mania is a very juicy, summery scent. It evokes a pale strawberry red tinged with green. I do well with red musk and fruits and that's precisely what I get with Mania although it leans far more towards the fruit end. For me, there's no grapefruit and it seems practically like single note strawberry grounded by red musk. I can't recall that I've ever smelled a strawberry leaf, so I can't speak to the subtle distinction that may exist between leaf and fruit . . .

 

Mania has quite a bit of throw and duration. Two drops in my hair serum is all I need for 12+ hours of fruity loveliness.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: A powdery, dry mix of red musk and light strawberry.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a light, subtly sweet red musk and strawberry scent. It’s smoothly mixed, but has a slight plastic undertone to it.

 

After a little while: This gets a little fruitier as I wear it, and that plastic and powder I got at first has disappeared. This is just fruity, sweet strawberry and red musk now. It’s very uplifting and smooth.

 

Overall Impressions: I was expecting more complexity from this blend. I never got ay grapefruit or white musk. But the combo of red musk and strawberry (leaf) is quite pleasant after the first 15 or so minutes. It’s sweet and musky, with a definite gummy red color to the scent. It’s almost girly but it’s very fun and fruity.

[toomuch]

This is a light cheerful scent. I do smell the grapefruit, and strawberry, though the ingredients list strawberry leaf rather than fruit. I'll have to try it a couple more times to see if I want a bottle.

[Suu4LC]

Very musky! I mostly get the white and red musk, with maybe a hint of grapefruit. This will probably be too musky for me when it is on my skin.

 

This actually smells a bit better than I expected on my skin-the grapefruit and strawberry leaf shine through a bit more, but I am going to see how this settles. It is still too musky for my personal tastes.

 

Yeah, this dries down to a rather 'meh' musky scent-mostly just white musk. They don't feel screeching or howling to me-just rather bland to be honest. No bite at all. The grapefruit and strawberry leaf notes get lost in the mix pretty fast. Definitely not as sharp or complex as I would expect a Mania blend to be.

[hkhm]

imp: smells like jailbait and smut had an imp! this is boozy musk and bubblegum.

 

wet: this must be the same musk the lab uses in imp becasue that's what it instantly reminds me of. i also get a very boozy musk scent that is precisely what i get from smut.

 

dry: this dries to a sweeter boozy musk than smut does. i can't really put my finger on the difference but i'll be buying a bottle anyway.

[mooncityminx]

In the vial: strawberry and earthy incense

 

Wet: strawberry and mildew, sometimes there is a bpal "dirt" note that smells just like mildew to me. Other fragrances that have the mildew dirt note are Penny Dreadful and Zombi.

 

Drydown: The mildew note gets stronger, but the strawberry is still there. This is like Hollywood Babylon, but I like HB better. A lot of people seem to love this dirt note, but I'm not one of them. Too bad for me, because I love the strawberry.

[femmefatale]

On me this starts out smelling like fruity gum, but as it dries the musk comes out to balance the sweetness. I'm normally not a big fan of red musk, but it works really well with the fruit.

 

I like it!