Masabakes

[TygherRayn]

Masabakes is a Cantabrian demoness that governs lustfulness and lechery. In order to tempt virgins to corruption she employs the aid of her lackey, the imp Tentirujo. Under the cover of magickal invisibility, the imp caresses maidens with mandrake root, instilling uncontrollable passion and wantonness in the unsuspecting girls. Thick black currant with the darkest, deepest myrrh, a drop of bitter mimosa and the slightest touch of mandrake dust.

Whee! My first -first- review! I'm so excited!

In the bottle: My first sniff gave me a mildly pickle-ish scent, but then it eased up to something more .. well . . perfumeish. (Pickles are yummy, but not as an accessory!) Upon trying to discern the notes in this one, I think the strongest of all is the currant. It's a very dark oil, that really fits the description. It smells poisonous .. dangerous. Almost deadly, but so tempting. And that's just the imp!

Wet: I think myrrh really warms on my skin, because that's what I smelled when I first put it on. And a warmer tone of the currant too. It smells kind of fruity to me. Very lovely. It's not as much a poison now as it is a rich, ripe fruit, the peel nearly bursting .. because it's infested with dark energy. A dark seductiveness which is what I wish things like Hellcat and O and Hollywood Babylon smelled like .. not that they're not nice in their own way.

Wearing: I can definitely see myself wearing this one often. It's a warm fruitiness .. but not like apple pie warm/fruity. More like .. a peach or plum that's been sitting in the sun. But it's more of a grape-smell than a peach or plum .. sweet at dark at once. I imagine this is the scent of a demon hell-bent on twisting the minds of virginal women, because it's sweet enough to tempt, but then dark enough to be a warning label. 'Watch out, this woman's dangerous!"

[janelle_hell]

i got this as a freebie in my last order,and was excited to try it,as i love the smell of blackcurrant. It smelled absoulutely DIVINE upon first application-heady,intoxicated,not 'fruity' in the usual sense. But as the day wore on,it turned sour on me,making me think of the terrible smell of day-old spilled wine from a party the night before *damn my weird body chemistry!*,and caused me to get a massive headache i ended up cutting my day short to go home to wash it off. Too bad,because i really,really liked it at first.

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: the darkest currant

 

WEARING IT: oh my, i love it already. myrrh and my skin are best friends, it gives me that root beer float smell that i love so much! it reminds me a bit of a fruitier hecate, which is one of my favourites anyhow.

 

VERDICT: my bank account is saying no, but my nose is saying, "yes i need a larger bottle!!!" masabakes is a keeper!

[Astburygrrl]

First Sniff: It smells like cinnamon apple cider laced w/ dirt..mmm!! Very warming

 

Wet: I have an image of a witch's cauldron boiling in a musty old cellar that has a bunch of herbs & spices hanging in bundles from the ceiling...strange, i know! Theres alot of notes bubbling to the surface of this one..very complex!

 

Afterhours: I detect a dirt smell still..its much stronger now..very musky, must be the myrrh lingering around. Calming, it almost put me to sleep!

 

Overall, i like this one very much..perhaps a 5ml purchase? Hmmm!

[la-roja]

When wet this was an extremely strange smell. Not bad but very hard to pin down. It was very, very peppery. There seemed to be other unusual spice scents going on beneath the pepper but I couldn’t ID them. Over all it made me feel as if I had walked into an ethnic grocery full of bins of unfamiliar but potentially tasty things.

 

As it dries it takes on a sweeter, fruitier scent but the spice never completely goes away.

 

I like it quite a lot but not quite enough to buy a big bottle. I’m trying to limit myself to scents that I like all the stages of and the wet stage of this is just too powerfully peppery for me.

 

 

~Roja

[Donnababe]

First Sniff

 

Dare I say orangey cola? Perhaps this means there's almonds here as I get cola from Hellcat and Black Phoenix.

 

Drydown

 

It's very hard for me to select individual notes here. Although it's odd because I can smell a beautifully tart orange even though it is not in the description.

 

After a While

 

I've come to the conclusion that perhaps the myrrh and mimosa are combining to make the 'orange' that I'm getting. Probably not. Still can't detect the blackcurrant!

 

Final Verdict

 

A beautifully warm and smooth scent. It's a bit fruity, quite incensey, a touch spicy and although it's dark it doesn't make me feel that way. It would be a perfect autumnal scent for me.

 

It's only drawback is it's lack of staying power. More imps for definite.

[pekeana]

In the imp, Masabakes smells very tart and clear -- spicy and picklish without being overwhelming.

 

On my skin, it took on a new life. It was spicy, musty, and utterly delicious.

 

On drydown, it's mhyrr and currant, with a hint of clove that I know isn't in the notes.

 

I'll be keeping and finishing the imp, and putting a 5ml on my birthday list!

 

 

ETA: I wore this to bed, and it soothed and calmed me into sleep without overwhelming my dreams. I slept the deepest, sweetest sleep I've slept in months last night, and awoke to the softest, gentlest smell of clove-dipped currants on my wrist.

Edited July 10, 2004 by pekeana

[Hallows_Eve]

In the bottle- a bit medicinal, in a comforting sense.

 

On me- Medicinal and Woodsy. Kind of like getting a hot medicine tea from a healer in the forest. Slight fruit smell (a just a tad like raisins). I like it, but it seems like it would really take off for me in winter.

[Countrymouse]

This was one of the extras in my first order and I finally tried it tonight.

 

Wet - All I can detect is a musky scent.

 

Dry down - Still musky, but turning slightly spicy.

 

After three hours the scent is still a strong musk, with a sweet, spicy undertone. Ive been going back and forth on this scent since I put it on. I don't dislike it, but I'm not overly fond of musky scents, so this one isn't really me.

[velvet]

i got this free with my last order

 

at first i was very suprised to like it... its gingerbread!! i love that smell

 

and wearing it for about 10 minutes it still smelled great.... very warm and inviting

then i started to detect a picklish kind of note... im guess its my skin

 

a very beautiful scent, would smell great one someone else!

Edited July 14, 2004 by velvet

[darkling]

In the bottle- The smell of sweet fruit with an edge of the pickle that others have been detecting.

 

Wet and dry-The scent of Masabakes is a black plum just before it is about to rot. It is juicy and luscious with an edge of decay.

 

While it did fade over time, I could still sniff it on my wrists at the end of an 8 hour day.

[twistygirl]

This seems to be reacting very differently on my skin than it did on the other reviewers'... wet, this is almost purely myrrh with just a hint of something sharp - the currant, perhaps? - that is not the least bit fruity or pickly. As it dried, it retained its almost-purely-myrrh smell, but the hint of sharpness has mellowed out to something deep and mysterious but completely unidentifiable to my nose. It's very dry and very, very smoky-myrrhy. It's a great smell but I was hoping for something a bit more complex, something that smelled less like a single-note myrrh. I'm going to try layering some of my favorite spicy smells on top of it and see what it combines well with. It has more wafting power than I'd expect from something so dry.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Dark and tangy – someone is going to kill me for saying this, but Masabakes smells a bit like prune juice. It’s round and almost-fruity and very dark.

 

Wearing: I couldn’t shake the prune juice association for most of the night, but I rather liked it once it dried all the way – dark and plummy-fruity without being sweet.

[Tesseljoan]

When this was wet, it smelled like something sour and/or pickled. Luckily, after a while the myrrh and something else comes out, making this into a beautiful sweet incense scent. For those of you who are familiar with it, the drydown reminds me a bit of Voodoo.

It's not one for the summer, but I think I'll keep this for autumn.

[magpiedee]

In retrospect, I think I was a bit harsh in my earlier review, so I take it all back. This is the second oil that has really gone awful on my skin, but that in no way changes my respect and love for BPAL oils.

 

That being said... this one had a lot of staying power and went wonky when it touched me. There is a very deep, almost moldy orange smell that strikes me in the back of the throat in a way that just doesn't work. I get the same feeling from Seraglio.

 

Ah, well. To swaps with ye!

Edited July 29, 2004 by magpiedee

[ninglor]

Cinnamon, current, something dark and evocative of cedar (the mandrake?). Like a sorceress' root cellar. I'm glad that I made a swap for this; it's definitely a unique scent, a good departure for me to take. I usually wear florals and incense-associated oils, but this is, despite the myrrh, something else entirely on my skin.

Edited July 29, 2004 by ninglor

[Nadirah]

This is a really unique scent. Masabakes is very strong, too much and you get a headache, too little and you don't feel the effects of it. This is something that I use in my oil burner and it smells WONDERFUL throughout the house, I put about 5 drops for the day and let the tealight burn out. It adds this atmosphere of antiquity. Like you've just discovered your ancestry, where your family came from and how it was so different from what you where originally told. Its is a bit medicinal, clovish, and sweet but with a darkness unfathomable by todays standards. On my skin its a rooty vanilla still dark , angelic like. This is incredible.

[Effluvia]

in the vial: Myrrh...warm, dark and feminine. I smell a clove-y spiciness, too, and I smell amber. Maybe vanilla?

 

on my skin: That spicerack smell of a million different yummy spices like cloves, cinnamon, etc. (the sorceress' root cellar is a PERFECT description) and vanilla, but not in a Snake Oil way. This is bitter, slightly dusty and dark, in a very good way. I picture the oubliette in Labyrinth to smell like this.

 

I really adore this!!

[nevermore]

I’ve decided that blends with mimosa do nothing for me – the mimosa turns really bitter and nasty on my skin. In the vial, this is fruity and dark, but once the mimosa mixes with my skin, it’s terrible – like eating chokecherries (berrys that are sour and bitter, and yet people still eat them). This one will be up for swap too.

[diabolique]

I picture the oubliette in Labyrinth to smell like this.

oh, god. i WISH that's what happened on my skin. when i smelled this in the vial, i couldn't distinguish any individual notes. they melded together and made something that, i can honestly say, i'm not particularly fond of. nevermore threw this in as a lovely, sweet freebie, but it just doesn't work for me. i put a small bit on my skin, and it just smells overly-mature and it reminds me of a chemical perfume.

[Lady Ravenglass]

Something gingery and warmly spiced...

 

In the vial it smelt terrible, and I put it back immediately, but I gave it a go wearing it today and I think I rather like it. There is something fruity under there, but the myrrh is coming out and covering it up with something smoky. Direct on the skin it's smelling baby powdery and like chlorine I smell like a swimmer in a warm kitchen. The scent that floats up from my pulse points is pleasant though, and I'll certainly finish the imp off. The press sec was in again today and left with her usual *sniff*' and "Mmm - what's the lovely smell?". I'm glad I swapped for this one, but am wishing I'd put more on!

[NoirRosaleen]

Masabakes was a freebie, and whoo, but she didn*t like me at ALL!

 

Somebody before me said that it was a tricky scent to pin down, and I agree - all I know is, it reminded me of Depraved, but without the apricot to sweeten it, and more of an amber note to it. I kept wearing it, hoping it would change, but Masa seems to have taken an INSTANT disliking to me.

 

Already traded away!

 

Kethry

[pkwench]

Holy Myrrh and Currant, Batman! It was a heady, well nigh pickled scent when I gave the vial a good sniff. And on I smelled positively, erotically heathen. (See "a good thing".) Now it's settled down and has a powderish cast to it, but a very spicey one. As if you made baby powder from myrrh and currant and a touch of clove (even though there isn't any clove). I shall definately enjoy wearing this imp!

[omly]

I am not sure what I was expecting from Masabakes. It seemed a lot more masculine on me than I expected. Myrrh always comes out strongly on me, but ther was also an undercurrent of what I thought was juniper... which is strange. In the end this was too masculine and harsh on me, although I know that is in more than part because of my chemistry.The boyfriend says I smell like "that guy" in the in coach that smells of cheap cologne trying desparately to mask 3 days of living in airports without a proper shower. Flattering huh? I am going to put this up for trade in the hope that it will suit someone else's body chemistry more.

[grrrlennyl]

masabakes

 

at first: incensy, but a bit bitter, too. interesting. i'm not sure i'm going to like this one.

on: pretty. fruity, but with something almost powdery to it. i like this.

1 hour later: interesting. this is very dark, but a bit powdery. it's much lighter than when first applied.

3 hours later: sweeter. thick. very nice.

overall: i'm really happy with this one. it's nice, dark, and thick.