Enraged Groundhog Musk

[edenssixthday]

Really ridiculous, insanely inappropriate, and staggeringly silly! Cranky groundhog musk sweetened up by chocolate-covered black cherries, cardamom, French vanilla, and caramel.

Enraged Groundhog Musk - What a really strange scent! It’s definitely foody from the get-go, but it takes my nose a few minutes to get past the muskiness of this scent to smell the other notes. The cardamom is the first note I detect followed almost immediately by a mix of French vanilla and caramel, and then I smell the chocolate behind all of that. I'm not usually a fan of foody blends on my skin because they tend to smell artificial and plastic. However, while this one doesn’t smell artificial or plastic on me, I don't like the strength of the spicy cardamom (way too pepper-hot and spicy) and the French vanilla doesn't blend with the other notes as well as plain vanilla bean would (I think). It's a very strange scent on me – not bad, but certainly not good. Ultimately, despite the weirdness of the French vanilla, I could wear this if the cardamom weren't so incredibly spicy. It overpowers the rest of the blend and makes it quite unpalatable. I hope people who like spicy and/or gourmand blends love this one. Sadly, it doesn't do it for me.

[storme]

In the imp: cocoa, caramel, and cherries. Like very rich and hideously unhealthy cookies.

 

On me, wet: cocoa and cinnamon and cardamom, almost acridly dry.

 

On me, dry: this is almost mustily dry now, in a spicy baking powdery hot cinnamon way. Makes the back of my throat itch.

 

Verdict: not for me. The SO flees in horror (he doesn't like any BPAL cocoa scent yet), and I'm not happy either. Edit: and it's burning on my wrists. Ow ow ow.

Edited March 3, 2007 by storme

[ginevra]

In the bottle, this is wonderful caramel / cocoa. A foodie scent lover's dream!

 

On my skin - the caramel / cocoa let the cherries come out and play for a bit. But then: the musk. Definitely smelled like a little furry critter. Oh musk, please mellow out and let the sweets come back! It keeps smelling like a pet store almost.

 

Not sure this is going to work for me. As always, I'll let it age and try it again a couple of times, but I sure wish the caramel had triumphed over the musk.

[stellaforstar]

Oh sweet angry groundhog, why do you burn my skin with your enraged passion? Everything about you is soooo beautiful, but you take your anger out on my skin and I do not stand for that kind of abuse. I will have to pass you on. Goodbye, fuzzy enigma.

[Inanna9]

After an initial burst almost-buttery caramel and a waft or two of cherry, this quickly dries to a rich cardamom and cocoa.

 

And I don't really hate it, which is saying something. It made for nice layering when I put some Snake Oil over it later, and kept the SO from going Play-Doh on me like it usually does. As a non-foody, it might be useful to keep around. I could add just a tiny depth of foodiness to things without being at the mercy of these notes like I usually am. Hmm..... *ponders the possiblities*

[Lit Chick]

Suprising!

At first, the cardamom is in the front, very loud - and there is a dissonant sweetness as all the notes struggle for dominance (enraged, yes!). It all calms down quickly into a sweet but not overly foodie smell. I was worried that the cherry would go evil, or the choco caramel would make me sick - but while I can smell them they play so nicely together. It's extremely wearable.

But I have gotten the odd look when I told the fam what I was wearing.

[outofrhyme]

In the bottle:

*choke* A strongly, strongly alcoholic beverage that contains Goldschlager. Vaguely reminds me of a martini I had a few weeks ago - "oatmeal coookie," which had Goldschlager and butterscotch schnapps, among other ingrediants. There may be a hint of cherry in there as well, and maybe some chocolate.

 

Wet:

CARDAMOM. In a nasty, plasticky way, layered with a sweet alcohol and musk. Uck.

 

Dry down:

It is difficult for me to describe how much more pleasant this is after half an hour. The cardamom seriously tones down, and it actually blends very well with the other notes, especially the musk. There's still a little bit of plastic to it, but it's not oppressive... I think the "plastic" note is coming from the chocolate-covered cherries. The vanilla sweetens it in a very yummy way.

 

Final thoughts:

The dry phase is pretty nice, but it isn't me. This is probably a godsend to cardamom/cinnamon lovers, though! Hopefully I can pass it along to one of them

[Mamacat]

In the bottle: I smell caramel and cardamom . . . maybe a bit of cherry. I don't get any cocoa.

 

Wet on skin: Very cardamom with just a hint of caramel. I was a bit afraid of the caramel.

 

A few hours later: Mmmmmmm . . . very spicy sexy. Cardamom and other spices.

 

 

Overall - I love it way more than I expected. I reach for it every night before I go to bed and several times a day a open it to sniff.

[steffanina]

Enraged Groundhog Musk-

 

In Bottle: Ooh, this reminds me a lot of my all-time favorite, MonsterBait Underbed. There's cinnamon and cream. Wonderful!

 

Wet: Strong cinnamon/cocoa smell.

 

Dry: This dries down to a cinnamon tempered with a little chocolate cake; not quite as deeelish as MonsterBait Underbed but still damned nice.

 

Overall: I like a lot!

[euterpe414]

EGM smells nothing like I thought it would! (hey, I like surprises). It's foody + musk, that is for sure, but some of the notes are for sure misisng on my skin! I primarily get cassia, cardamom and musk with a touch of cherry- very little else. Granted, the combintation is lovely, but I was hoping for more of a smorgasboard (sp?? lol) of foodiness.

 

The general smell that I get when it has dried is a rich spicy scent- heavy on the cardamom, with a bit of rich muskiness behind it. It smells like an exotic desert, basically, which is good in my book.

 

I am really enjoying the notes I do get, though, and will definitely keep my bottles of this one. it has great lasting power and throw as well

[em_h]

Okay, this is going to sound unpleasant, and it's really not -- somehow the way the musk and the cardamom combine on my skin, this smells exactly like a guinea pig cage that's been sprayed with perfume. It's seriously weird, but it's really not bad at all.

 

The chocolate, cherry and vanilla all seem to have gone missing, except insofar as they provide the general perfumey-ness.

 

I can't guarantee I'll wear this often, but I'm quite pleased to have a decant, at least.

[little_galaxie]

This smells like....flour. I'm not joking! It smells very yeasty, but that's not a bad thing. I mostly get cardamom (NOT cinnamon) and a faintly almondy smell. It's a fun scent, but I probably won't wear it often.

[gwynethr]

I'm another one of those sad cinnamon people. It's all I can smell. In the bottle, there's a hint of sweetness and foodiness, but the cinnamon is still strong.

 

Too strong. These are so many of my favorite notes -- chocolate, cherries, vanilla, cardamom... all good. But on me it's just cinnamon, which I can't handle. Wah! It's amazing how wildly different this scent seems to be for so many. I wish I was one of the ones who smelled the sweet foodiness.

[Emma2403]

In the bottle: buttery chocolate with some hazelnut (where does this come from?)

 

On my skin: butter, chocolate and cardamom. it's quite pleasant, it doesn't burn, but it's still a tiny bit too foody for me.

 

After a couple of hours: the chocolate ends up in honey. I know honey is not listed, but I'd swear that's what I smell: the very typical (overpowering on me) Bpal honey.

 

Verdict: not really my thing.

[lightgatherer]

Huh, Bengal again. I get strong cassia and some musk from this - it's a bit odd given that cinnamon or cassia aren't listed as notes. Is my skin just really amping the cardamom? After a couple hours of strong spice, a hint of the chocolate and cherry peek out from underneath the spice. As it is right now, this isn't a winner - for this sort of scent I like Bakeneko better. I suspect this one may get nicer with some aging, though, so I'm going to hang onto my bottles for a while and see how they smell down the road.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

vanilla cupcakes!

 

On me:

Holy shit, cardamom! This went from vanilla cupcakes to pure cardamom in zero seconds when it hit my skin. It's crazy strong!

 

Luckily, that backs off a bit as it dries down. I do catch whiffs of the chocolate cherries, but the chocolate is less like the chocolate in Bliss and more like a bittersweet cocoa. The cherries are faint and smell a little artificial to me (I think people understand what I mean by that). So, I'm glad that smell isn't amping. The vanilla is definitely there and it's nice and sweet and pairs well with the cardamom. It does smell like a baked good in a way, and yet somehow isn't 100% foody - mostly foody, but a little perfumey in a way.

 

As this is on me longer, that cardamom starts to settle in even more. It's still rather prominent but not as in-your-face as it was. The vanilla in this one is really nice and it makes me think of cake or something. I wish the caramel was evident in this blend, but unfortunately it's not.

 

Final note:

Not quite what I was hoping for - the cardamom is a little crazy and the caramel is a no show. I don't love love love it, so the second bottle was probably unecessary, but I do like it and I think that if it has time to age, it will probably age into something fantastic.

 

 

ETA: The longer it is on me, the more I like it. And the more I believe that aging this for six months will make a huge difference

Edited March 9, 2007 by Brianne

[dronzeka]

Sadly, not for me. I was doubtful, since foody scents aren't really my thing, but thought I'd give it a whirl. This doesn't quite go cinnamon SN on me, but really all I get of it is overwhelming dry, almost harsh cinnamonness - I'm presuming that's cassia. No caramel, no cherries, only the faintest hint of cocoa initially that quickly fades. It's strongly cassia for a while, and reminds me of Saw-Scaled Viper (which was spectacularly bad on me). After a bit, it calms down but fades into a kind of dry dusty spice and then in about an hour is completely gone. Oh well! It's a lovely idea.

[yeahbutnobut]

Enraged Groundhog Musk

 

In the bottle: a slightly buttery cake scent…and yes, I smell cassia here. It smells very similar to MB Underbed, only lighter.

Wet on skin: now the cassia transforms into cardamom, and I get a slightly tangy undertone, possibly the cherry.

Dry on skin: mmm, this is good! This smells like a delicious spicy soft vanilla caramel with a covering of dark and white chocolates! There is cardamom but I also think there may be a little cassia here (not plain cinnamon) as this reminds me of Underbed, but with less cake and no coconut. The cherry is really nice-like that of the Phantom Calliope, it doesn't go medicinal, but smells like sour cherry sauce. I even get a hint of, believe it or not, Buck Moon style musk, which must be the groundhog musk itself. This is such a fun fragrance!

After a while: call my nose crazy, but I swear the musk in here is similar to that of Buck Moon's, that soft, fuzzy, slightly tangy skin musk, even with the slight greenery of the Buck. There's lots of gorgeous cardamom sprinkled over it (not as much cassia now) and I still smell the sharp fruity tartness of the sour cherry sauce, as well as dark chocolate. This is so good, and I love the way the musk detracts from the foodiness, adds an interesting twist to what would be an all-foody scent. And the caramel in here is surprisingly subtle! There's a surprising woody greenness to the scent that sometimes pops up, and the sharpness of the cherry is sometimes very prominent (it's not a bad sour scent though), but the soft furry vanilla-musk with chocolate and dry warm cardamom scent is very nice. There's also something almost toasted about this scent.

And at drydown, the vanilla peeks out a little more, and the scent then begins to resemble another fuzzy little critter… namely, a beaver. This now reminds me of musky, cherry-chocolaty Beaver Moon! Then the drydown after about 5-6 hours is a fizzy-fruity sweet cherry over fuzzy vanilla chocolate musk, lighter and sweeter than before…indeed, the sweetness is like that of sugar cane, light and juicy.

Verdict: this is possibly my favourite of the Enraged Musks so far. It's a fun, light hearted and delicious blend of happy foody notes, but there's nothing cloying here, nor is it a Gluttony-style overload. The caramel was very well behaved, and the spices were fantastic-yummy cardamom, dry and spicy and exotic, with a touch of sweet cinnamon-y cassia. The vanilla is warm and rich and turns slightly Beaver Moon-like at the end, the chocolate covered cherries are like good quality sour cherries covered in a dark chocolate ganache. But the musk, a fuzzy, soft skin/furry musk highly reminiscent of Buck Moon, prevents this scent from being 100% foody. It adds a fuzzy softness that is especially nice at the end when it merges with vanilla. I love this warm, playful fragrance, it is a fabulous mix of musk and gourmand-spicy notes. There are a few moments when the cherry's sourness prevents this from becoming a top favourite of the foody/spicy genres but at other times this is truly delicious, and I'm definitely glad I got a bottle.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? of course!

If you like this, try: Monster Bait Underbed, The Phantom Calliope, Bakeneko, Velvet, Vice (I haven't tried this but it's chocolate cherry…)

[jesvet]

*sigh*

 

I eagerly ordered this, lured to the foody delights promised within- chocolate covered cherries? French vanilla? CARAMEL? I saw cassia mentioned as a bit player but figured, I'll take my chances, hopefully it will behave nicely in the background.

 

Then I started reading the reviews. And the forumites are usually pretty correct. And they were.

 

All I can think is, the enraged groundhog somehow got stuck IN the bottle somehow. And while he was there, he ate all the chocolate covered cherries, and slurped down all the vanilla caramel goodness, and let out one big honkin cassia burp before fleeing the bottle. Because that's all I get- a waft of cassia, with the hint of maybe something foody there once in the distant past.

 

It reminds me of my arch-nemesis Monsterbait Underbed, which has the dubious distinction of being one of if not the least favorite scent of mine. The cassia is not quite as heavy, as ready to smack you over the head, but it certainly makes itself known. Attention whore, that cassia. And in true arrogant form, the cassia made sure to leave a big nasty "CASSIA WAS HERE" welt on my arm.

[Jilara]

In the decant bottle: caramel and cardamom

Wet: caramel cherries, with cardamom and ...black pepper?? That cranky groundhog is a spicy fellow!

Drydown: Where's the chocolate? The cherries are reading "fresh" rather than chocolate-covered (and napoleon/royal anne, rather than red), and the caramel is a little less aggressive. I'm still getting cardamom and pepper, but now it's like a spice-cake note. Quite yummy, actually.

 

Dry: spiced cherries with caramel-raisin rolls! And just a hint of musk. Delicious! I want to spray it around my kitchen! (It's not bad on my wrist, either. )

[iriedanym]

Complexity thy name be Enraged Groundhog Musk.

 

While the previous Enraged animal incarnations smelled musky/woody (Orangutan) and soft/cottony (Bunny), Groundhog is in a class all its own. My nose was tickled by the smell of dark chocolate mixed with cherries and spice (the cardamom). There is a bit of the caramel in the background, but it is outweighed by the cocoa smell. In some sense, it reminds me a little of Red Lantern 2006 with the foody/spicy smell.

 

Very strong. I have a feeling this will be one of those scents I dab a little in my scent locket unless I want to keep risking skin irritation (cassia, cinnamon, and yes, sometimes cardamom do that to me)

[harmonyfb]

In the imp, this was a slightly 'off' cocoa scent. On my skin, this turned sour and funky and piercing. Yuck! Not for me.

[GlowJob]

This is a strange one indeed...and I'm still not sure if I like it or not.It's spicy,more musky and less foody than I thought it would be.Kinda smells like sophisticat red hots...does that make sense?

[grrrlennyl]

at first: sweet cocoa with a bit of caramel and a lot of warm cardamom.

on: this smells exactly like chocolate-covered cherries, but with some cardamom added.

2 hours later: i think the cardamom has taken this one over. i'm getting nothing sweet; just some toned-down cardamom.

5 hours later: vegetable-y.

overall: some chocolate-heavy scents ends up smelling like vegetables on me and this is one of them.

[Ina Garten Davita]

I fear the chocolate and the cherry scents, they never work for me. I didn't order this because of them. I was able to swap for a bottle because I was interested in trying it out.

 

The label is adorable. I don't get any chocolate or cherry. I'm getting the scent of cinnamon graham crackers and it's very nostalgic and comforting.

 

I may keep this bottle and cellar it for holiday time because it's definitely not a spring or summer scent.