Madrid

[hkhm]

Swarthy and vibrant! An elegant, full-bodied scent that ignites all the darkest passions. Bold red wine, mimosa, and a trickle of clove.

imp: oh my god! i'm having a flashbask to medicines taken in childhood! this is some weird "cherry-flavoured" concoction that i must take twice per day.

wet: this is like some sort of cherry soft drink or a cherry italian soda with extra syrup. maybe a cherry lollipop sitting a glass of cherry kool-aid. cherry.

dry: this finally dries down to a lightly spiced cherry wine but boy was it a syrupy, sugary ride getting here! i don't know if i can take that much super-sweet cherry just to get to this part of the scent. it is lovely though, like a nice, deep-red mulled wine.

[erraticprophet]

Initial Impression: wine

 

On Wet: grape soda

 

On Dry: grape soda with a dash of clove

 

Final Impression: weird but interesting

 

Rating (on a scale of 1-5): 3

[ranyart]

This was a frimp with my order and while I wouldn't have ordered this for myself, I was interested enough to give it a try.

 

In the bottle, I smelled sweet red wine and clove. Wet, the wine overpowered everything else, and I was afraid that the scent would be overpowering and bother everyone else at work.

Once everything dried down, though, this was wonderful. The red wine is rich and sensual, the mimosa adds a light floral note without being overpowering, and the clove comes out and makes the scent warm and spicy.

This ends up being very decadent on me, and I found myself sniffing my wrists all day. Even late last night, when I'd had it on without re-applying for over twelve hours, my friend could still get a little sniff off of me. I felt like this had a good throw without being too conspicuous, which I appreciate.

 

Madrid is definitely a keeper, and I think it's especially appropriate for the holidays.

[porcelina]

madrid reminds me a lot of lady macbeth. very winey. the clove is mostly subdued but i pick up a little of its spicy tingle. it fades very quickly on me, unfortunately, drying down to fruity plastic.

[Brianne]

Wow, this goes on like jelly beans (the red ones). It's all cherry like and fruity/candy-ish. So much so, that my initial impression gave me a strong sense of nostalgia for Easter mornings and baskets. It does spice up a bit after a while though and now it's a huskier scent - not overwhelmingly clove but like spiced wine. Very exotic and deep smelling.

[suki]

in the imp: cherry. but not like candy, more like cherry bark. woodsy-cherry is how i want to describe it.

 

wet on skin: now it's morphed into cherry twizzlers. seriously

 

dry down: the cherry all but vanishes and there's a tobacco-incense note that takes it's place.

 

in all: warm, sweet, cozy- like sitting next to a comfy grandpa type while he gets his pipe ready for a long smoke.

 

 

[donnatron]

Imp: Delicious! Intense, cherry-esque sweetness!

 

Wet: The imp scent and this weird, heavy... carbohydrate-y sweetness?

 

Dry: Robin Hood pancake mix and syrup. Seriously. It smells like camping but not in a good way.

 

Throw: Minimal. Thankfully, I guess.

 

Overall: What the hell, skin?? All the notes should, theoretically, work on me. But they didn't and they didn't in a bad way. This will probably be a hair scent until I bite the bullet and buy a scent locket.

[taramarie]

On me, Madrid is spicy wine (which was very nice) but then the clove started to burn. Someone else can have this.

[enderfem]

Imp: ooh, red wine and clove. This is pretty. Red wine tends to smell like grape bubbleyum on me, but let's see.

 

Wet: Hm. Grape-ish, but not a bubblegummy grape. Yet. The clove is nice, but fading.

 

Drydown: The clove surged again! This was mostly pretty with a threatening bit of plastickyness towards the end. It faded pretty fast.

[CreamyJade]

In the imp: Hmm, I tend to go with bubble gum and I'm not sure I like it.

Wet on skin: The wine comes out, smells a bit floral also.

Dry on skin: The clove overcomes the wine and the floral, it's spicy and sweet.

Final thoughts: Nice scent, though I don't think it's for me.

[sweetjane]

Madrid was intriguing because of the clove. I like the combination of wine and clove a lot. It's more of a true smell of the flower dianthus [carnation] to me than Queen Alice. Madrid goes better with my chemistry than Q.A. also. Perhaps the mimosa is helping in that regard, but I can't detect mimosa so I don't know. I'll definitely need a bottle of Madrid. It wafts well when applied liberally to my decolletage. Sometimes wine can be overpowering on me, but not this blend. Madrid's a keeper.

[gchris]

In Vial: fruity sweet with a carmel undertone

 

Wet: whoa! this is kind of sharp and has a bite. Wow the red wine is Really strong in this.

 

Drydown: This is all red wine and not much else.

[Lamia]

HOLY CRAP! This is a magnificent scent. You know how in the "Beauty" series by Anne Rice A. N. Roquelaire, Beauty is sent to a foreign nameless "eastern" kingdom; she's painted with honey and with gold and set out as art (and entertainment)?

 

This is exactly what Madrid should smells like. Like honey and gold and freshly-crushed clove that burns the tongue. Woof!

[savage_rose]

This starts out as a gorgeous wine scent with a hint of flowers, and...it fades so quickly. Like it's been watered down. Most disappointing.

[GingerGunlock]

I might be singing an old, repetative song at this point, but every single blend I try that has clove in it, I get all perky and excited and think it will be The One, and even if it isn't the one, something lovely and delightful that I will wear until there is nary a drip in the bottle.

 

I was generously frimped this blend, though I had it on my wishlist with some trepidation. I seem to amp alcoholic notes to an unpleasant degree. In the imp, Madrid is lovely, sweet red wine and mimosa, with a depth to it that undoubtedly comes from the clove.

 

On my skin, the wine note makes me smell as though I've actually taken and smeared red wine upon myself, much to my dismay, and looking over other reviews, I as well notice a very strong cherry or grape bubblegum sort of aspect to what's happening. Alas, it is not spicey on me, but just kind of fruity in an alcoholic kind of way, which actually reminds me a bit of sangria (which I suppose they do, in fact, drink in Madrid, so at least it's appropriate.)

[thelaurenator]

Unlike everyone else, I did not find this perfume to be too sweet. If anything, it was DUSTY. and DRY. After dry-down, it smelled very strongly of burnt cloves and very dry red wine. Kind of like how I used to smell after a crowded party during my freshman year. At one time, this might have been an appealing scent to me, but my debauchery days are long since over.

[anardana]

Luckily, this smells exactly like yummy mulled red wine on me. No syrup, no cherry. I'm not sure that I want to smell like mulled wine. but it's nice to wear at home.

[Andrea912]

Wet: red and sticky

 

Dry: cheap port (in comparison to Bordello which smells like a lovely merlot)

[caffinatedangel]

In imp: Grape. sweetly sickly child-hood grape flavor.

 

Wet on skin: The tartness of mimosa comes out, and gets rid of the grape smell, for me.

 

Drying: Mimosa + wine = tart and fruity. Add clove, which mellows it, and you have quite a unique scent. Sometimes I swear it's chocolatey (-blink-). I don't really get cherry from this, or even grape once it's dry (aside from wine notes, which is a more mature grape smell, for me). I suppose it has the sweetness both Cherry and Grape "flavors" have in childhood sweets or whatever. But the clove and mimosa make a whole unique thing. I really enjoy it.

 

Overall: Yum. A unique scent that's sweet, tart, and candy-esq without being (on me) overly so. I love it, and will probably wear it on my more silly girly days.

[oldgentleman]

This was a frimp.

 

'Madrid' is a dead ringer for traditional, syrupy, fruit cordial with cloves. I should know, I still make my grandmother's recipe for it! It became a little bit more wine-y after it dried, but the scent of dark fruit and booze-soaked cloves was still overpowering. It gave me a headache; and it was the strongest, most pervasive scent I've ever gotten from the Lab.

 

If you like the smell of booze and cloves, then the throw and staying power will delight you.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Wine. I also get a bit of honey

 

On Application

Spiced wine. Oddly medicinal

 

Dry Down

Mothballs, honey and wine. Awful

 

Rating (0-5)

0

[djsiberia]

wet/in imp: lucious red wine with a hint of smoke. dry: sweet red wine, a touch of clove. i think the mimosa is adding the sweetness.

 

hrm..this isn't bad. i kinda like it. i'm not sure i would want a bottle though.

 

ah, after 10 minutes the clove peeks out. i wonder how this would age..if the red wine and mimosa would fade and if clove would dominate this.

 

i keep sniffing myself. yum...clove and wine. i might need 1 bottle of this. mm...cloves. i'll tuck the imp away and re-test after 6 months to make sure it ages without rotting oranges.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Very, very sweet. Like cough syrup. And I get a hint of a cocktail. The mimosa. I've never had a mimosa. so I'm just guessing.

 

After 10 minutes: So strong, and so sweet. I feel sticky and sweaty. And like I had a bit too much to drink. But it feels good! Like I'm at a party in Spain, dancing, having cocktails, in the sweltering heat. It's interesting. It has atmosphere!

 

After 30 minutes: I'm still at the party! I know this scent will last all day! Sweet, sweat, and drinks.

 

Overall:I definitely don't want to smell like this all the time. I'd have to be in the mood for this one. I like it, but no big bottle for me. This imp would do just fine!

[plunderparlour]

on wet this was grape soda.dry - grape potpourri juiciness. it smells ok. i'm having weird chemistry this week, will probably retest this.

[ladyjc]

I thought this had potential at first. I love sweet, cherry scents...which is what was wafting up to me from my wrist while the oil was drying. Very loud cherry cordial. Unfortunately, when I put my nose right up to it, I got a very dry dusty scent mingling with the cherry and clove. Very tart too.

 

After drydown, I realized what was slapping me in the nose....it's a red fruit that doesn't agree with me. It's the same red fruit that's in Sugar Skull, Bloody Mary, and some others I can't recall right now. I wish I could pin down which fruit this is....

 

Into the swap bag goes this imp.