Shadwell

[Rheliwen]

Roll-ups, mildewed raincoat, sweet tea, and condensed milk.

 

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this! I smelled this at wonderful Shelly's first will call and absolutely fell in love with it. As soon as it went live I bought the bottle and have loved it ever since.

 

This is a comforting blend for me. It starts off a little masculine/musky but with a tinge of sweetness. As time progresses it does sweeten up a bit and I can detect sweet milk and dusty notes here. Far in the background are the roll-ups.

I definitely think the oil fits the description and character. I love this one so much.

[Andrea912]

Wet: really masculine; I can't really smell the condensed milk; the tea smells more like tobacco...will wait for it to lay down

 

thirty minutes later: I am so glad I waited; the tobacco is barely in the back; mostly it's a lovely sweet cream. Delightful! I can't believe I hated this in the bottle...

Edited July 12, 2008 by Andrea912

[starwild]

I would never in a million years have tried this of my own accord, but got it as a frimp.

 

Imp: Weird smoky scent with a tinge of creaminess.

 

Wet: Creamy with a wet note I can't identify and a tiny touch of tobacco.

 

Dry: More of the same, but stronger tobacco, and a big more sweetness from the milk. I don't get tea, much, maybe just a brush of it in the background.

 

Overall, this is a "wet" kind of scent--not really the mildewed raincoat, but maybe the rain sleeting off of it. I like it, surprisingly! I usually shy away from the Lab's milky notes.

[writergal969]

First off...I LOVE this. Love love love. But...I don't get much of what's in the description! Roll-ups, mildewed raincoat, sweet tea, and condensed milk...yeah...sure...I get coconut, sand and a milky ocean wave. So...sometimes similar, but this almost smells a little like suntan lotion (very good suntan lotion) on me. I don't get much tobacco, I think what I do get is adding to the 'suntan' effect. Either way, I love it. It's not masculine AT ALL on me, it's light and sweetly creamy with a hint of the ocean. Weird, I know.

 

In the vial it smells like sweet milk and tea, on my skin wet...it's all sweet coconut and ocean waves, and as it dries and mellows I get a faintly rolling sea of condensed milk with coconut notes. I don't care if there's no coconut in here! It smells like it on me, and I like it:P

 

Anyway, 4.5/5...hello big bottle!

[rayvn1]

Y'know, in the bottle I could have sworn I smelled coconut too!

Wet: sweet, sweet tea with cream. Yummy!

Dry: As this starts to dry the tobacco really comes to the fore. Still a wee bit coconutty too Makes me think of eating a coconut cream cookie with a perfect cup 'o' tea. Cuddly does come to mind. There's also a bit of "my way or the highway" I get from this though - that Shadwell stubbornness, but that could be my imagination

Delightful!

[jewelbug]

Imp: Masculine cologne and a hint of sweet milk.

 

Wet: Sweet cologne, something green and woodsy, a little spiciness, and a slight undercurrent of milkiness.

 

Dry: Cologne and golden tobacco with a light milky sweetness.

 

Overall: This is a really good blend, just not very me. Funny, I liked this more on hubby than myself, and he liked it more on me than on himself. In any case, I think its too masculine for me, and he obviously doesn't dig it much, so I’ll find it a new home.

[lunaticana]

wow on my skin this is a real powdery milky gorgeous scent

I adore it a. lot. I can use it a s a layering oil with scents like Cottonmouth

that are way to spicy or strong for me..

this one makes it much more softer and realistic to wear scents like that to

Shadwell is totally different from the label on me whehehe

it is soft, comforting and warm like a hot cup of 'anis'-milk on a cold evening

[AnArtfuldodger]

I actually got an imp of this a while ago, tried it, thought it was okay, swapped it away.

 

However, I had a hankering to try it again, so went for a bottle this time. And my mind has changed -- I'm glad I gave it a second chance after about 7 months.

 

This is a really good rainy-day scent. I get a soft combination of the mildewed raincoat and roll-ups the strongest, but it's not overpowering by any means. The tea lends a tiiiiny twinge of sweetness, but it's very, very subtle. This is quite complex.

 

I think this is a very specific sort of day scent; I wouldn't wear this outside on a hot summer day; I think it's excellent for a rainy day, maybe going to a cafe, maybe it's a little cool outside.

 

I'm really falling in love with it. It's very distinguished without being straight-up cologne; it's like the scent of a quiet young professor or TA who dresses in greys and blues.

Edited March 16, 2009 by AnArtfuldodger

[sadtomato]

mossy and clean smelling with a bit of musky cologne smell to it.

i'd say a nice, light men's scent.

[angelicruin]

Inside the decant, this is a sweet milky scent.

 

Wet on the skin, sweet condensed milk. The tea note emerges after drydown, but this scent remains mostly sweetened milk on my skin.

[topazphoenix]

This is freakin GORGEOUS. I love Shadwell. It's sweetened condensed milk and tea, with a hint of a masculine spice cologne that keeps it from being foody. Sooo comforting, I want to wear this while walking in the rain.

[kerikeri]

(I have to preface this with the embarrassing revelation that I don't think I knew what "roll-ups" meant until I came and read this thread. I don't know what I thought it was, but for a few minutes I was thinking "why is everyone talking about tobacco?" I never claimed to be too bright )

 

This is pretty much straight-up men's cologne on me. I don't actually get any of the listed notes (which sucks, because a sweet tea and tobacco scent sounds great), just... something that reminds me of a scent an older man would wear. Which I guess isn't that far off from the character it's supposed to represent, but it's definitely not going to work on me and I'm not sure I'm even impressed enough with it as a masculine scent to try to enable any of the men I know with it. Maybe my grandpa.

[strahlend]

I get mainly mildew and something sweet and creamy. For some reason, that totally works for me. I would never guess that mildew would be a note I would enjoy - and I did try to talk myself out of buying this one for quite a while - but it gives this scent an unusual edge that I haven't found anywhere else. I love it ♥

 

So, I have this bottle of Shadwell and sometimes I just open it up and sniff it and am amazed that it's part of my collection because, frankly, it smells so, So, VERY much like mildew in the bottle and for the first couple minutes on my skin. I really like weird scents, I'm a fan of vetiver and lavender and smokey burnt smells... weird is my friend. But THIS scent is just so weirdly, wrongly, stinky at first that it's just awful. AFTER THAT though is the most unusual sweet sort of vanilla, sort of musky scent... and that weird sweet smell is worth the initial funk. Shadwell just baffles me, I can't believe this scent exists. For the record, I never do get any tobacco or tea out of this, to my nose this is all mildew and condensed milk... but at no time does this blend actually make me think of any kind of dairy product.

 

Oh, and this is probably the scent with the most throw and staying power that I've encountered. I've tried hundreds of scents and this one stands out as being exceptionally long lasting.

Edited December 1, 2010 by strahlend

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Sweet and sharp. I get a strong liquorice/anise vibe

 

On Application

The mildew note is prominent and kind of funky and then the tea quickly comes through strongly with a touch of vanilla smoothness. It still has an anise quality to it.

 

Dry Down

I was really looking forward to the mildewed raincoat note as this is a really comforting memory scent for me and I am not disappointed as this dries down. This is a new love for me. It is strangely soft and very definitely masculine for me ( I rarely put masculine and femine attributes to BPAL scents). Lovely and I suspect will age superbly.

 

Rating (0-5)

4.5

 

[anastasia]

Tea and a butter biscuit on a windy beach on a warm overcast day with the sand sticking to your sunblock lotion and your hair blowing in your face.

 

This is and is not what I was expecting. It is both lotion-y and biscuit-y. Less sweet than I thought by far, a little salty.

'Mildew,' which is probably moss in this is a little peppery at times so it is a little like being bounced back and forth between the above scenario on a beach and the above scenario on thick green spicy moss.

 

It is growing on me but there is an element that confuses my nose and what my brain kicks out of the confusion happens to be 'new car smell' which is unnerving.

 

I find it a clean smell which is at least true to Shadwell's spirit if not his corporeal form.

 

I'm going through an odd sugar craving BPAL phase so I think that Shadwell is going to wait and come out in the hottest days of summer and be perfect.

[grrrlennyl]

Shadwell

 

On: This scent is very hard to pick up. I can get a musty, mildew sort of scent and some sweetness and milk. Odd.

3.5 hours in: This is really sweet and pretty, but with a musty undercurrent. Very interesting.

8.5 hours in: Really, really pretty. Sweet and musty, but in a really nice way.

Overall: Just lovely.

[Gin]

I find Shadwell to be a bit unsettling, because I find it kind of sexy. I smell tobacco and condensed milk and it smells really manly and well, sexy. I don't know how to describe it further.

[AnyseLawsBray]

In vial: Sweet aquatic, depth from the tobacco.

Wet: I'm getting an odd rubbery sort of smell, not mildewy per se, but maybe a bit mossy?

Dry: Milky sweet tea, a hint of leathery tobacco, and the smell you get when it's just started to rain.

 

Verdict: A fascinating scent! It reminds me of Erik in that they share the same inexplicable sense of sounding like yucky notes to put together, but when smelled are just perfect somehow. Both in the same realm of comforting, masculine-leaning scents. Since I already have a 5ml of Erik, I'll resist Shadwell. It was fun to actually have a semi-aquatic work on me though! (I say semi since it's not wet really, more damp - like I said before, just like when it begins to rain.)

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Definitely getting the milk and tea... and also a kind of funky, murky note that I take to be the 'mildewed coat'.

Wet: Strong 'mildew' and tobacco. Very masculine.

Dry: I get hints of the tea, tobacco, and milk, but the mildewed note is dominant on me. I really like the concept, but this is just too masculine for me. Also, it lasts for aaages - I put it on at 3 in the afternoon and could smell it at 10 the next morning.

[Innocuousmold]

Shadwell is a very unique perfume. I feel like it's a lot of "little bits"- a little bit milky, a little bit musky, a little bit clean. I do smell a tiny hint of cologne, so a little bit masculine too.

 

Overall, though, it's got this wonderful comforting quality to it. Just smelling it makes me feel very warm and kind of at home. I really wish I could describe it better, but it reminds me of the nice feeling you get after drinking a cup of tea with a splash milk, rainy days and soft blankets.

[LizziesLuck]

I think I wanted to try this more because I love the character, and I think the notes Beth picked to represent him are spot-on, however most aren't notes I would normally jump at

 

 

Wet: I am getting tobacco flower rather than tobacco, and leather rather than raincoat. Oh wait, there's plastic. Lots of it. Is that the raincoat? Or did the milk note go plastic? Who knows. This is so weird.

 

 

Dry: Marginally less weird? But very chemically. Plastic or leather, not really sure. But it's not working for me, sadly. It was fresh out of the mail, so maybe I will test again. Or not.....

[JTobias]

I was hoping for more condensed milk; I think layering this with a sweet cream note will help. It's not bad at all; it's a rich black tea with a slap of salty water, but not in an offensive way. Think dapper gentleman in the 20s.

[sarandipitee]

Plastic raincoat, lightly touched with a faint sweet cream. But mainly, plastic raincoat.

[dramedy65]

I am beginning to think my skin hates milk scents in much the way my stomach rejects lactose, ha.

 

This smells, in the bottle, like cigars and tea and strongly. On my skin, it's vaguely like someone put a cigar out in a cup of milky tea. Not at all that sexy tobacco of Mr Nancy. Much cheaper and shabby-er. I want to give it time to dry down, since everything's been changing on me after about an hour lately, but my goodness. I think I may have to wash. Not for me. at all. I mean, it suits Shadwell, but not my wrist

 

Definitely in the NOPE pile.

[Aveya]

Creamy damp coconut plastic.

 

I mean. Yep.