Mania

[cyrenitis]

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 wasn't overly excited about this in the bottle (smelled like pancake syrup to me), but once it was on, it was all strawberries and musk and absolutely delicious. Decadently delicious, and it lasted for HOURS. Someone earlier remarked that it was a skankier cousin to Hollywood Babylon, which I could totally see. If it had just been white musk & strawberries, it would have been a sweet girly scent, but the addition of the red musk really amps up the sex appeal. LOVE it. I need many, many bottles of this.

[Monster]

This is a very dark, earthy red color....red musk. Oh I will love this I know I will

 

Out of the imp: Gooorrrgeeeouusss strawberry musk! There's a slight hint of grapefruit, it doesn't dominate at all, it's very mild and sits quietly in the background.

 

Dry: Perfectly PERFECT and wonderful berry-kissed red musk.

 

Overall: My imp isn't going to last more than a week. I am in love I will agree that this is the darker sister to Hollywood Babylon. Love love love!

[CynicalPink]

This was a frimp in my first ever BPAL order once upon a few months ago, and it single handedly got me to appreciate some muskier notes.

 

Bottle: Strawberry and the two musks. I've been wearing this for ages and I'll still be damned if I can find that grapefruit note

 

Wet: Red and white musk go totally schizo while the ultra sweet strawberry takes the lead

 

Dry: This is sweet, very fruity, but with a definite muskiness. The red musk is more visible than the white, but they both bend to the sweet fruitiness of the strawberry leaf.

 

Overall: This seems to really be a love-it-or-hate-it scent, which I can totally understand. It's trying to do a lot of different things at once. It's being deep and musky, light musky, fruity, sweet...It's Mania. Also, the scent had proven pretty divisive when I wear it just with people that I know. It's a big hit with a lot of them, even with those I'd expect to hate it (my mom). But others (like my aunt) think it smells dirty and "like incense" which typically stands for "something I don't like and think is weird." I'd recommend it to people wanting to give fruit or musk a chance, but again, I'm biased

[ShadowsDance]

Yep, that's musk in that imp! With.. something that reminds me a bit of wine.

Hmm.. musky, a bit spicy, and there is a sweetness about it. I didn't expect to like this, but it's really nice.. maybe not bottle worthy, but the imp is a keeper.

[milica]

musk and sour fruit.

 

musk is nice, and my boyfriend said that I smell of candies, but I only get something sour.

[angelicruin]

Love this scent. It's red musk and a faint bit of bubblegum sniffing the imp.

 

On my skin, red musk, and bubblegum to start....as it dries, I do pick up the strawberry leaf and a little of the grapefruit. Sweet without going overboard. This does remind me of a few of the BPAL wine scents. One of my favorite GC blends.

[Gin]

Mania is not so manic after all. It's got a sweet/tart fruity thing going on, and the red musk gives off that weird crunchy-sugary vibe that it does. I like this more than I thought I would, but I think it's still going in the swap pile.

[donnatron]

Imp: Red musk and strawberry with a hint of the dirty feet smell of grapefruit.

 

Wet: The grapefruit burns off really quickly leaving me with a gummy strawberry and red musk scent. In the wet phase it smells more like the fruit rather than the leaf. Similar to Hollywood Babylon but without the plastic-y note I sometimes get from HB.

 

Dry: The strawberry leaf comes out more and adds a gentle herbal quality to this. It's a bit sharp and adds an interesting edge to an otherwise average red musk/fruit scent. Almost a touch dirty.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: I don't overly like red musk/fruit blends. As in I like them but already have the Lampades and don't really need to collect them all. Will ruminate on this one as I age it and see how I feel later on.

[rayvn1]

Strawberries and red musk! I'm not a big fan of strawberry except for the actual fruit This is a strawberry syrup - super sweet on my skin. Blends in an interesting way with the red musk to be sure. Not a keeper on me.

[Lamia]

This is delicious - it reminds me a lot of the plum note I love so in Frumious Bandersnatch, but with a hot musk background.

 

It seems to be a quick fade, which is le sad but it's DIVINE while it lasts.

[MamaMoth]

I don't like strawberry, but if I did, this would be a strawberry I might like. It's rich and musky, and the strawberry smells fresh and non-fake. Not too sweet, not too musky... a good blend. If you like strawberry. (Which I don't.)

[ianastar]

Wet this reminded me right away of Hypnotique Poison. But on the drydown I get more of the strawberry and musk getting together. I didn't pick up any citrus notes at all actually.

 

It has the warm, incensey sweetness like Snake Oil and Eat Me in my opinoin. So for me that means...it's a KEEPER!!

[Venneh]

In the frimp, this is a paler red musk, with a sweeter edge from the strawberry leaf and grapefruit. This could be quite amazing. On my skin, this is a beatiful fruity musk scent, really sexy. Barring any horrible left turns, this may be a bottle scent. No changes, red usk, only not as intense as normal, and fruit. Definite bottle.

Edited January 10, 2010 by Venneh

[Invidiana]

Grapefruit? Really? REALLY? I'm getting all red musk and plum! That, of course, is totally not a problem with me because I absolutely adore both those notes. It's seriously like a juicy wild plum in a generous haze of red musk--juicy, sexy and mysterious, a very reddish-purple scent (excuse the synaesthesia). It's possibly the combo of strawberry leaf and grapefruit on my skin that make it plummy, but whatever it is, I'm more than fine with it!

[ami226]

On the skin: Strawberry and the scent of (what I believe is) red musk. Pretty much musky strawberries!!

 

After a bit, this scent gets a bit bitter. Must be the grapefruit.

 

This really isn't my thing. The bitterness is starting to give me a headache....

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Rich red musk with a hint of strawberry

 

On Application

I can definitely smell both musks which collide uncomfortably initially and then settle down to play nicer together. No fruit

 

Dry Down

It takes a wee while for the strawberry to emerge through the thick red musk, but when it does it turns the whole blend into a lovely, sweet musky and slightly powdery scent. My male skin turns "girly" scents into smokey, sexy scents. I love it.

 

Rating (0-5)

4

 

[Ajila]

In the bottle - A faint musky edge and a touch of grapefruit

 

Wet on me - A sweet, surprisingly soft mingling of the two musks

 

Dry on me - It dries to a light, slightly sweet musk and gently fades away

 

Overall - Pretty, but it didn't last long on my skin

[damonkitty]

I have two lonely imps of this that I put in a roller bottle. All I have to say is that I need more imps or a bottle purchase will have to happen very soon . This is a red musk blend that actually worked on me. Usually when I see red musk in a blend it is an instant no no for me. Maybe the sweetness from the strawberry note is helping this work on me. I wore this to work today and could not get enough of the wonderful aroma that surrounded me. This is a winner in my book. I find it to be a very similiar blend to Hellion, but it is sweeter and not as strong of a red musk note.

[Lorna Brigid]

Ok, my first review here... and I never expected it to be on Mania! But here goes...

This was a frimp from the lab almost a year ago. I never thought much of it, but never disliked it. I've recently revived my BPAL love, and so I wore it today.

 

In the imp:warring musk and fruit. Can't pick out single notes, but it smells sweet and very pretty.

On Wet:sharp berries, and the musk makes it almost boozy.

on the Drydown:This wound up settling into a smell that made me think of vineyards all day! Not Vinyard, but vineyards! It seriously intoxicated me all day, making my mouth water for a sweet dark wine. It seriously smells more like grape wine on me than strawberry. I'm glad, too, because me and grapefruit don't get on well, and strawberry has always been kinda weak on me.

Overall: This has a medium throw, but stays on me all day. It is beautiful and sweet without being cloying, despite how sharp it seems in the imp.

 

I will definitely want a bottle of this. Not my number one fav, but one of the tops.

[milo]

At first, this is a fruity red musk blend, kind of similar to the likes of Hollywood Babylon. As it dries, the grapefruit comes out, and though the notes sound like they'd clash, this really ends up being an extremely well blended red musk dominant blend. The tartness of the grapefruit really balances the sweet strawberry, and the red musk is not overpowering at all. I'll certainly enjoy the imp, and though this is definitely bottle worthy, I'll have to limit myself for awhile. It's not often I get a red musk blend that is not too red musky if that makes sense!

[Christabel]

In the bottle: In the bottle I get a light musky scent, sweetened by the fruity scent of the grapefruit.

 

Wet: The musk turns darker and heavier, but not too heavy, so the fruit scents still come through very well.

 

On drydown: It's a very juicy and fruity scent with an underlying deepness.

 

For me this is a very feminine scent, playful and a little sexy.

[Eliyetres]

I didn't think I would like this since it has a lot of musk in it,

wet it smells very strawberry (I don't know really how strawberry leaf smell)

dry, i can feel the grapefruit with a litte hint of berries, and it smells a little 'bubbelgummy'.

At first when I smelled this in the bottle I just got musk! Yuck! Didn't even try it on.

A few months later it took it out again and wow! I love this, perfect for summer! And my BF loves it

[mxtine]

Smells grapey in the imp. Makes me gag a little because I can't do BPAL wine scents. I love red musk, and strawberry is hit or miss and so is grapefruit. I can't really smell any grapefruit until I tested a bit of the oil in my hair. The strawberry note is making this grapey and kind of like bananas. Must wash off.

[Incendiare]

How do I always overlook this one? I somehow never noticed it as I'd scroll down and consider new stuff to try. It's a juicy strawberry red musk in the vial. The grapefruit comes out once I apply this to my skin. It kind of reminds me of other fruity red musk blends that I already own, so I'd probably never buy it, but it's not as three-dimensional. Red musk and/or red-type fruit lovers would probably appreciate this one. It has a light throw, though. I can't see this lasting more than an hour tops.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Fruit and musk, almost a touch boozy (I am beginning to think that red musk is what smells almost boozy to me in some scents).

On skin, wet: Still slightly boozy musk, with a tart fruit undernote.

On skin, dry: The boozy-musk has vanished and now it's all tart fruit and a lighter sort of musk. It kind of borders on smelling artificial without quite crossing the line.

After an hour: While this is by far the best strawberry blend I've tried from BPAL, that's not saying much because their strawberry usually goes very artificial on me, and occasionally goes REALLY awful. But this one just turned into a standard sort of tart-fruit-with-light-musk kind of thing.