Bakeneko

[Mishinka]

Warm amber musk, Satsuma tangerine, black tea leaf, cardamom, cherry blossom and cinnamon.

This one is fantastic!

In the imp I smell the amber and cardamom right away, maybe some of the tea and cherry blossom as well. It smells a bit like warm, floral chai tea. On, the cinnamon leaps out liek whoa. This is gorgeous, spicy and with an earthy note under it that I guess would be the tea. It doesn't last terribly long, but it dwindles down to a nice sweet cinnamon that I like.

A half hour or so later, I don't know if it's that I have this so close to Roux-ga-Roux or if it's doing this on its own, but I suddenly get a pretty strong floral (yeah, think it's the weird throw from the Roux).

[Lyrical]

In bottle: spiced orange tea and a hint of Beths "furry cat" amber (the one that's in Bastet and The Lion).

 

Wet on skin: definitely orange, tea and spices - clove, cardamom and cinnamon, I think. It's quite faint at first.

 

Dry on skin: as it dries a soft, spicy aroma wafts through the air. Mmmmmmmmmm! Sweet, warm and gentle, with a hint of orange and black tea. Stings slightly on my skin, but that soon passes and there are no welts! This is a winner! After a while the predominant note is a smoky, spicy amber, dark brown, rich, soft, dry and warm. The orange and tea are mere hints in the background, then later it becomes an extremely realistic spiced black tea. After 6 hours it turns into a powdery musk, which is ok but a little pungent so I wipe it off and reapply then. This is a beautiful scent! Perhaps a little manly, but that won't stop me wearing it. It's so warm and comforting!

[marared]

I thought from the notes that I would be head over heels in love with this - spicy citrus is emphatically my favorite type of scent, and I lovelovelove satsumas/clementines/mandarins (and Body Shop's Satsuma lotion makes people walk over to me and inhale) - this was so perfect that I bought the bottle before I even got the imp in a swap.

 

...unfortunately, I didn't quite love it nearly as much as I thought I should - the cinnamon and the tea totally overpower the citrus to slap me in the face. I do like it, but I prefer the citrus to be the more dominant note. I have the feeling that this is something that I would have enjoyed more while it was fresh.

[stillalive]

spiced orange tea... very subtle. Not exactly orange pekoe... the orange is very warm and sweet and musky, not like citrus at all.

 

Extremely nice. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but it smells like it would be a nice potpourri scent. I might use this one on my cloak.

[Tess]

It's been a year (!) since I've posted and therefore a year (!) since I've tested any new BPAL. If my nose is rusty, I apologize.

 

In the bottle - The musk and the orange are very much at the front of this, with some of the tea leaves and cardamom darkening it and making it just a bit spicy. Frankly lovely.

 

Wet - Heavy on the musk and the tea. My nose loves orange, but my skin seems to eat it.

 

Drying - The cherryblossom is making this almost a touch soapy. The amber musk is very much amber and the black tea is very black. I'm not getting any of the satsuma or the cinnamin, though, which is sad... It IS very soapy.

 

Dry (2 hours) - As is normal for me, all the really interesting notes got eaten by my skin, leaving a very lovely mix of amber musk with a light dusting of the cherryblossom (thankfully over the soap now) and the tea. It's quite sexy and has a very nice throw, yet not overpowering. The SO loves it, too!

 

Overall - I wish this were a GC. LOL As it is, I'll be keeping my bottle for those nights where a sexy smell is needed. Really like this one.

Edited September 18, 2008 by Tess

[tdgnika]

In the bottle, this is a wonderful warm, spicy cardamom smell.

 

Wet on the skin, it's similar to what it was in the bottle, but a little chemically.

 

As its drying, the amber musk comes on and mixes wonderfully with the other smells. I'm still getting the cardamom and cinnamon, a bit of the cherry and the tea.

 

This would be a great 'every-day' scent, especially for autumn. As someone else mentions, it does stay very close to the skin. Or I'm just sucking all the excess smell into my nose every two minutes when I huff my wrists.

 

Why, oh why, must I love a limited edition!? Damn!

[Dark Alice]

This smells like warm orange russian tea. I don't know if I want to keep the bottle though. But it is lovely.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Light spices over a subtle herbal note.

 

Immediately on skin: This is incredibly perfume-y right as I put it on. I’m getting a very sharp musk, deepened by light spices. The cinnamon is most prominent, then the cardamom, but they take a back seat to the amber musk.

 

After a few minutes: This is still very perfume-y on me with the musk standing out as the strongest note and the spices in the background. I can smell the tea and it’s very crisp and sweet, and there’s the slightest tang of citrus. There is something almost floral about this blend… floral and sweet and musky, but in a very cheap commercial perfume way on my skin. It’s a very airy blend like steam off of a glass of spicy tea.

 

Later on: After wearing this for an hour, the musk has faded a bit and I’m left with a warm, spicy, and not overly sweet tea scent. It has a very crisp feel to it.

 

Overall Impressions: In the first hour or so of wearing this, I find the amber musk dominates the scent and gives it a strong perfume or cologne feel. But the spices and tea notes blend in beautifully and create something very wearable. This is a very airy, warm scent, and I could imagine a guy wearing it just as easily as a woman. I like how it smells after an hour or so the most, but the initial scent isn’t bad. I have to say though that I prefer the lab’s green tea notes more than the black tea in this one.

[tajana]

In the wet stage, this is softened cinnamon with a dash of cardamom! There's just a hint of tangerine to give it a bit of citrus/fruity tang. After it dries down I definitely get an undercurrent of nice, dark tea and soft, almost cuddly amber... it's the same amber I get from Bastet, but the cinnamon and musk blends with it in a warm way that makes me think of a real cat or cat fur... but more "pretty" smelling, of course. The cherry blossom is more apparent the further along this scent goes, and the soft pinkness of that scent definitely just adds to the overall impression I get, which is of something really soft. I need to slather this a bit and it isn't blowing me away (I bought my bottle unsniffed) which makes me a bit disappointed as the notes made it sound like pure awesome. I can't deny though that it smells very pretty, like chai tea and a cute little perfumed kitten playing with cherry blossom petals. I'll give it a few more tries to see if I can justify holding on to my because it's playing nicely with my skin and this seems like the scent that'll sneak up on little cat feet and really grow on you.

 

edit: Uh, yeah, even as I was finishing writing this review I was starting to notice it's lovely, soft waft. This actually manages to have nice throw without being the slightest bit aggressive. Earlier on the amber musk seemed a touch too generic and "perfumey", but this scent really reaches it peak after it's already been on for almost two hours. The soft and character-filled spices and the touch of cherry blossom conspire to create a disarmingly snuggly smell, like the way I wish my skin smelled naturally.

 

edit 2: This doesn't have a ton of lasting power (after six or seven hours its veerrrry close to the skin) but this just has to be THE most snuggly cuddle-up smell I've ever smelled. I'm so glad I got to grab a bottle on a whim, this is perfect for every day use. It's the kind of smell I'll reach for when I need to feel like I'm being hugged all day, or just to put on when nothing else feels appropriate.

Edited January 28, 2009 by tajana

[Suu4LC]

I was very lucky to receive a partial bottle of this! It sounds soo good, I have been dying to try it!

 

Mm, in the bottle it is musky amber and spiced tea, with a hint of florals. So pretty! My only worry is that the musk may go a bit powdery on me. Mmmm, on my skin, the cinnamon and cardamom really come out! Yum!! This becomes more of a musky cinnamon tea...so good!

 

I never really got any tangerine in this. It ended up being a warm, snuggly, cardamom/cinnamon spiced tea with amber musk. Not quite what I expected, but as good as I could have hoped!

[Ceri]

In the vial: Spicy, musky orange.

 

Wet: Musky cardamom, tea and tangerine.

 

Dry: Lovely floral and tangerine tea. Wow. The notes have blended into a soft, warm and inviting scent.

 

Overall: This is gorgeous! I have no other words to describe this! I absolutely love it! Now, I just need to hunt down a bottle!

[catattack]

Bakeneko

In the bottle, it's a very light tea and fruit scent. Wet, it is a fruity black tea leaf. It isn't orange, it's a non-descript fruit. On my skin, the tea is not a brewed tea, it's a dry tea. After a few minutes, it becomes dry and spicy. The fruitiness disappears. I smell cardamom with a little bit of cinnamon. It's bordering on masculine. This is a morpher. Then, after it's been on for about an hour, the amber musk makes it's appearance. Mmmm, nice. It's soft, sweet, and golden.

I like all the stages of this scent, but I'm going to have to slather and reapply often.

[ljaylh]

 

Well.. I seem to be the odd one out here - on me, this is all sweet, warm and spicey apple cider. I can definitely get the cardamon and cinnamon, but sadly no sign of the tangerine or cherry. I really can't find the black tea either, but my guess is that it's the amber musk at play here.. my skin loves amber musk but it tends to morph other notes for me. But apple? Very odd.

 

So yeah.. there it is, completely lovely but totally unlike what I was expecting.

[gingiemay]

Wet in bottle - A delicious musky amber tinged with cinnamon, cherry blossom and tangerine. A tiny undertone of tea swirls through as well.

 

Wet on skin - The cherry blossom comes to the front and chokes everything, but this is a short lived phenomenon. The cinnamon stings a bit, but settles soon after application.

 

Dry on skin - A fantastic spicy, ambery, cinnamony deliciousness. The tea forms a strong foundation, which makes this the only amber note that I've found that works on me. So tasty and sexy, I just love it!

[angelicruin]

In the bottle, I'm detecting cardamom/cinnamon and musk.

 

Wet on my skin, cherry blossom, cinnamon, and amber musk, and tangerine.

 

As it dries more, it settles to a softer amber musk, black tea, and tangerine.

 

Love this blend!

[Ravenclaw79]

In the bottle: Dark spices, a bit almost smoky ... my first thought was of Mama-Ji.

 

On my skin: It starts dark and mysterious, and then suddenly, it opened up, blooming into warm and furry, like a mink stole. The spices crept out, so that it became sweet-spicy, like a clove-studded orange, and then the tea popped up to mellow it all out (first time I've actually been able to pick out the tea note, yay!). This is really nice, perfect for evenings or parties. I think I'm gonna wear it to a morning wedding, though, 'cause it's a Buddhist/hippie wedding and it should do nicely for that.

[ephemera]

Oh, I so wanted to love this. Satsuma? Amber? It should have been a heavenly scent for me. In the bottle this is quite good. It is a fall scent, sort of a costume party scent with wind and spice and citrus. After a devastatingly short time on my skin, this just gets soapy on me. Maybe this will be a locket scent?

[rayvn1]

This is absolutely wonderful! I definitely get the amber musk with a tinge of the citrus and, tea, and apicy cinnamon. Heavenly! Right on the manly side of the musks for me which is just how I like it! Lasts and lasts, too

[heathercaley]

Thank you bheansidhe for passing this beauty on to me!

 

I love love love this!!! Spicy warm musk with a touch of orange all swirled together to provide you with the experience of drinking a nice warm cup of tea in front of the fire. It's as simple as that, but what I get wafting towards me makes me want to cross my eyes and melt. The amber isn't powdery at all. It's more of a foundation to bring all the notes together and sweeten them up. I'm going to need more, I already know it!

 

 

[thebirdofhermes]

In bottle: Soapy sort of spice. I won't quite go into the details of this, as I don't want to cast any negative scent associations on this for anyone, but the bottle scent is very much a soapy spice.

 

Wet: Cinnamon and cardamom come to the forefront. Together, they make much more of a cinnamon stick sort of scent than a powdered cinnamon scent. There's something that could be a mug of hot tea sitting in the background... Constant Comment, to be precise. Oddly, no amber or musk to be found. I expect that will change. Thus far, it's sitting rather close to my skin; throwing perhaps three inches, but any further, and I can't quite detect it.

 

Dry: The spice rounds out a bit, going more towards the powdered side of cinnamon. There's still that mug of tea just off to the side of things, although it's less Constant Comment and more just plain, ordinary orange pekoe. Not surprisingly, the musk has come out to play, although it's a softly animalistic one. Very similar to the brown musk note I love, although, obviously, more golden. It's also slightly powdery but the powder seems more attached to the cinnamon note, while the soft, resinous aspects of amber stay with the musk. It's worth noting that the musk has the strongest throw, then the cinnamon, so from a distance, I'm mostly smelling snuggly warm musk with a hint of spice tacked onto the end.

 

No citrus to be found, but between the age of the oil (three years old, this month) and the fact that my skin tends to amp musk and amber, I'm not at all surprised. I also cannot detect any cherry blossom, but again, I amp musk and amber, and cherry blossom tends to be a soft scent. It may still be there; I don't know.

 

I pounced on a bottle of this after seeing a lot of raves for it, and being unable to find a decant for sale anywhere. Is it something that I would have bought a bottle of had I tried a decant? No. It's definitely not one of the most thrilling scents I've ever sniffed. It would be a good snuggly scent... except I already have some snuggly scents, and this just doesn't compare to them.

 

And yet... every time I think of listing my bottle for sale or swap, I find myself holding back. Not because of how much I paid (in all honesty, I got quite the deal on it). There's just a certain je ne sais quoi about Bakeneko that makes me think I'll be holding onto this for a bit. I may yet end up passing him on, but for now? He stays.

[surlygurl]

This bottle has been sitting in my swap box since I first purchased it during the Lunacy. When it was fresh it was cheap orange spice candle. Disappointed, I put in in the swap box, but knew it would only be swapped for something *really special* because of all the glowing reviews.

 

The other night I retested it, and up close it was cheap spice candle. Then, as I fanned my wrists with a BPAL postcard, the most amazing gentle spice / black tea combination wafted up to me. Niiicce......

 

Today I tried again. Same lovely clean tea/spice. As it dried it became almost creamy (from the musk, perhaps). Dry, it's mostly amber musk with some spice warmth. Very pretty. The bottle no longer lives in my swap box

[Venneh]

In the decant, this smells like an absolutely amazing tea, like something I'd almost drink. On my skin, it's still that wonderful spiced tea with orange. Mmmm.

[alioth]

Bakeneko is amazing on me. I was a little scared, because there was an odd sharp smell when the oil was in the bottle, but once it hits my skin it blooms into this warm, spicy, musky, somehow almost furry scent lightened just a little by a whisper of orange and maybe a hint of sakura sometimes. It is all cozy and warm, and then has these odd moments of darkness when I get more than the usual whiff of a deep musk. All in all, utterly gorgeous, and I'm so glad I got my hands on a bottle of this. Into the favorites box it goes!

[Fury]

Ooo, yum. SO thrilled to have acquired a bottle of this! It's hot, citrusy chai tea laced with patchouli. Very regal, resinous with just hints of sweet orange. Cozy, warm, a deep amber-colored scent. Reminds me of Schwarzer Mond in the mood of scent, very smooth and rich.

[Truelove]

I liked this one a lot, slightly sweet and soapy. Very soothing.