Doc Constantine's Medicine Show

[Phaedra]

Cures what ails ye!

Polished wood, olibanum, questionable medicinal herbs, sarsaparilla, and a splash of bay rum.

I know people have been getting this in their Trading Post orders for a while now so I am surprised there wasn't a thread yet. I am going to brave and be the first reviewer for this!
I got a goblin squirt of this as a generous gift with purchase at the August Will Call at Shelldoo's salon. Sniffing this from the little bottle, it smells like a sexy men's aftershave. It's a bit like Old Spice (in a good way). There's bay rum maybe or it could be sage mixed with melon, bitter citrus and light musk. It's very herbal. When I spray this on my bed sheets, it's a strong melon and lime or rubbing alcohol (is there alcohol in the room sprays?) As it settles there's an earthy patchouli/moss note. In the morning the scent is lingering faintly on the sheets and my skin. It's sweet, powdery, herbal and masculine. This is really nice! It's sexy but in a cozy, comfortable way. I will probably use this mainly on my bed sheets and possibly in the kitchen. I will definitely consider buying this if/when it's released.
eta: I wonder if I'm even close to being right about the notes though Update- yes! I was right about the bay rum and herbs Edited November 21, 2008 by Phaedra

[edenssixthday]

I agree with Phaedra that this smells like a sexy men's aftershave. It smells like some type of boozy note (Phaedra said bay rum, and she could be right, but I'm not 100% sure on that, I am actually leaning more toward whiskey, but maybe it's both! ) and a hint of musk and lots of woody notes. It's very masculine to me and makes me think of Old West saloons. I'm so glad I got a little goblin squirt of it!

[Iceblink]

I got that strong melon/muskiness from Doc too. It's definitely masculine! The scent lingers really nicely.

[Blood onmy hands]

There's a soft musk, pulpy greenery, and slight herbal tone to this that always reminds me of Buck Moon whenever I first use it. If I guess at the notes in this, I'd say it smells like honeydew melon, soft musk, and some type of earthy, slightly smoky, dry tobacco leaf. Maybe some dark, green herbal notes and teak popping out in the drydown as well. It also comes off as very masculine to me.

 

I love the initial spray and first few minutes where this is sweetly green and softly musky, but the initial drydown loses a lot of its sweetness and charm for me. It turns darker, sort of bitter-herbal, and smells more strongly of tobacco and teak. After several hours, the soft, lovely musk and sweeter green notes make a reappearance and leave a light, pretty smell on my linens, though. Still, it smells pretty manly.

 

I might purchase a full bottle of this if it's ever available, though I'm not sure if I'd need a big bottle. It's a nice scent, though - exotic, sexy, masculine, rainforest-y sort of goodness. I'm just not completely crazy about the earthy/wood notes that I get, and it might be too masculine to get a lot of use from me. It strikes me as a scent that would be great in a bachelor pad, lol.

[metaldog32]

Whatever is in this spray I just have to say it's fanf*cking tastic.

 

Not my usual style of doing a review but I figured I'd just say it now and to Puddin to let him know that I absolutley LOVE this room fragrance.

 

In fact..when I figured out that it was a freebie and NOT available to purchase in a full size I panicked.

 

So..I have only allowed myself the honor to smell it twice and that was like 6 weeks ago.

 

I have to agree with the other reviewers; for me this came off as a slightly sweet melon spray at first with some musk and then that burned off a bit and yes..I did get something akin slightly to maybe a sweet leather..maybe tobacco???Now that I read other reviewers maybe I'm just being bowled over by what people are describing as bay rum. Whatever that combo is my toes curl instinctively when I walked into my bedroom and slid between my sheets.

 

 

I love it. I want to hoard bottles of it if I could. Please let it be available soon??? Please???

[NixieCakes]

Ditto! I also love this one. My hubby loves this one. In fact, he used it all up without telling me. He got a little spray happy and didn't realize it was unreleased. I still have the bottle sitting next to the pc so I can sniff it all the time. I would LOVE a big bottle of this. My house would smell AMAZING.

[Monster]

This is a fresh, herbal scent with…ginger (??) It's like The Apothecary and Medicine Show (from CN) had a love child and named it Doc Constantine. I LOVE this!

Edited November 7, 2014 by Monster

[Minerva]

I received an empty today in a swap package and I'm in LOVE! I hope this becomes available, and soon. There's no more drops in the bottle

Edited October 10, 2008 by Minerva

[Coldfire]

WOW Just wow! I got some today in my SW package and I allowed the tiniest of spritzs since I want to hoard this FOREVER!

 

OMG this is divine. My nose is following the scent as it wafts thru my scriptorium. This is man...all man..sexy smart man. This is dangerous to the Coldie, because if she managed to get this scent on HER man...I'd be permanently stuck to him.

 

I am drawn to male scents. But this is beyond drawn..this is like obsession. Must have. OH PLEEEEEAZE! RElease this for sale SOOON! Like Shrunken Heads...I MUST HOARD THIS!

[Suu4LC]

This is very nice! A very pleasant sweet herbal scent! I can definitely see where people get melon from this. I'm not always a fan of bay rum, but it works very well in this blend. Love the sarsparilla!

 

I will be swapping my squirt because it is a bit too herbal for me-I can't ever see using it, but I can see why it would be very popular!

[ephemera]

I recently bought a goblin squirt of this to try out. I spritzed it in the computer room and it lingers! So! Long!

 

It's very --- manly. After it settled it has a slightly sweet scent with an earthy kind of scent over it. It makes me think of standing in a very still forest on a very hot summer day with nary a breeze to move the air around. It smells like deep earth and moss and something else I can't pinpoint.

 

I think I may have sprayed too much of it, I admit. Two spritzes in a small room - whoops!

 

I think this will be a great scent if used sparingly.

[zankoku_zen]

I got a goblin squirt of this --- and I get that melon overtone over a musky, slightly sweet base. It's masculine, but it's not overpoweringly so. It's someone who is comfortable in their own skin and sexy as hell. And yes, smart too.

 

Gah. Very sexy.

 

I wish I were in my bed now.

 

With Doc Constantine.

 

Mmmm.

[yeahbutnobut]

I really like this one. It’s one of those scents I don’t think I could wear as a skin scent but works wonderfully as room spray. I don’t smell much olibanum (a favourite note of mine) but I smell lots of polished wood, bay rum, something a bit absinthe/wormwood-like too. I do also smell something like green ginger to it, and a fresh cucumber-like scent. Overall this scent is a bright greenish-gold-silver colour to me, a silvery-olive-chartreuse green with something clear and liquid to it. I find that this smells very clean-not clean as in soapy, but a polished clean scent, like the wood note in here has been treated with a fresh smelling polish, and a touch of something pleasantly medicinal, like an old medicine cabinet (no chemical antiseptic smells). I’ve not smelt the CN scent Medicine Show but this smells like how I’d imagine it to smell: ginger and balsam and woods. Second time I used it, I smelt a bit more resin to it. This is a fascinating scent-complex and intriguing, managing to be spicy, fresh, woody, resinous and herbal all at once.

[milo]

This is very fresh and melony to me, something I don't normally wear, but am enjoying it as a room spray. It makes the house seem very clean. I don't get rum or the resins, and don't find it masculine at all. After awhile, the melony vibe wears off, and we're left with sweet resins with a freshness to the blend. LOVE!!

I'd just like to add, that this lasted ALL DAY in my living room. I'm usually not one for room scents, as I burn tarts, but this is so very yummy, I'll probably spring for a bottle on mynext TP order. If it is available of course!

Edited November 4, 2009 by milo

[Lethran]

Review: This is pleasantly woody and the herbs lend it a surprisingly light spring sort of aspect. The sarsparilla is understated, but pleasant. I’m not an olibanum fan, but it’s working and playing well with others here. It’s light green and surprisingly complex without coming off as medicinal. Ends up smelling mostly of sandalwood.

[strangetikigod]

I just got a goblin of this (my very first BPAL order!), and on first spritz, I was a little concerned...there were some strange notes that seemed to overwhelm the bay rum and earthiness I was expecting. But then, after about five minutes, it really opened up and layered itself, and I now count myself as a big fan. I agree with the woodsy and earthy notes, which I suspect to be the sarsparilla and the "questionable medicinal herbs," and I do believe when I exhaust my goblin, I'll be getting myself a full size bottle of this one.

[Aldercy]

This is a really fresh, but pleasantly peculiar, scent. The kind of scent that you could spritz the couch with before company comes and no one would think "Why the hell does her living room smell like a dungeon/saloon/cave/mad scientist's laboratory?" I mean, sometimes I personally like my living room to smell like a dungeon or saloon or cave or mad scientist's laboratory, but it does kind of turn heads. Medicine Show has the feel of an everyday air freshener... without the nasty chemicals and without the general suck.

 

I do get the unexpected melon note that others have mentioned. Along with some other notes totally out of left field, when I really closely sniff the pillow I've sprayed-- like a hint of ambergris and a hint of citrus (maybe bergamot?). It's like that odd, fresh-but-deep quality in Y'ha-nthlei. And then under that, there's a bite of sweetness and definitely some clean sarsaparilla and lightly spiced woody tones. I don't get any bay rum or resins, though they could be buried under everything else just balancing things out. It's a very layered scent.

 

I think I will definitely be getting the full-size bottle with my next Trading Post order.

[ljaylh]

This is one of my all-time-favourite BPTP sprays, and I must say I'm surprised it doesn't get more love!! Out of all my atmo sprays (and I have quite a few of them), this is the one that people comment on most favourably when they visit.

 

I get pretty much the notes as listed.. the wood is dark and warm, the herbs are mysterious and dark - adding a 'fresh' feel to the fragrance, the olibanum gives a slightly smoky sweet edge, the sarsparilla adds just a touch of earthy sweetness and the bay rum is simply divine.. not boozy as such, just kinda.. err.. sexy but in a snuggly and cosy way. I could have sworn there's a touch of leather in it, but I see there's no mention of that in the notes so it must be just my imagination.

 

With this one, I only need to do a little spritz and it lingers for ages, not in a way that makes you go "eewww something smells in here" but in a way that makes you go "oohhhhhhh what's that gorgeous smell". It's not overpowering, it's actually quite clean and refreshing. It's also divine as a bed spray - I've taken to spritzing my pillows with it at nighttime

 

If you enjoy the more 'dark' BPTP atmos like Mahogany Hall, Bah! Humbug, and even the Thriambus or Lair of Nefarious Misdeeds sprays, then I think you'll like this. I don't like it, I freakin' LOVE it

[gniwle]

Disclaimer- I spray my atmo stuff onto my pillows and sheets, usually not into the air, so I'm having a bit of a different experience at times.

 

This one, when it's wet, smells awful to me. But then! Then it turns into this gorgeous polished wood scent that I just can't stop inhaling. When I spray DC onto my pillow before bed I spend a few long seconds just breathing it in. When I run out of this I'm definitely getting more- This is so freaking delicious smelling.

 

The only downside is that it doesn't last nearly long enough on my pillow! I want to sniff this stuff forever and ever.

[Nachtwulf]

I took a chance on this... Doc Constantine from the Carnaval didn't work out on me at all, but a) it looked like the notes were a little different, and b.) my room is not my skin.

 

All I can say is, this is amazing. Atmosphere sprays are kind of my new addiction (I still buy perfume oils but I find myself -using- the atmosprays a lot more often...) and this is my favorite of the four or five I've accumulated so far.

 

It's herbal, but not the least bit soapy. It's a little spicy without being food or clove death. One thing I REALLY like about it is that it isn't heavy. All of the other things I have (Aphrodite, Exotic Bazaar, Mahogany Hall and so forth) are all heady, thick, sweet, and smoky things. This is ... well, fresh and clean but as previously mentioned, not in the soap way. I'd be hard pressed to pick any notes out of it specifically, but then again, when talking cure-alls, who knows what's in that stuff anyhow. It's part of the mystery!

 

I've taken to spraying my headboard-pillow with it before sleeping... it soothes the mind and carries away the cares of the day like nothing else. I have a lot of trouble sleeping, and this really helps in a fundamental and noticeable way. Absolutely will be replacing it when it's gone.

Edited December 1, 2012 by Nachtwulf

[ApothecaryScribe]

I bought a goblin squirt of this for use in my home writing areas (a medicine show scent for a medical writer's scriptorium seemed too perfect to pass up). It is a bit different than I expected, more sweet and less medicinal, as though the "19th century aftershave" subset of ingredients is stronger than the "patent medicine". I had been hoping for a bit more astringency and pharmaceuticality (is that a word)? Maybe this is concentration-dependent and using less at a time will bring out different notes...

 

Edit: Starting over with just 1-2 spritzes at a time, the top notes remind me of Hawaiian white ginger, then there is something herbal.

Edited July 20, 2013 by ApothecaryScribe

[stellamaris]

This should be getting way more love than it does.

This is creamy amazing heaven.

I have so far received 57 imps of this in my TP orders, and OK!!! I get it!!!

I am ordering a bottle of this. I spray this obsessively in my car, and I just absolutely am addicted to it.

This smells like winning, and gorgeous.

It reminds me a bit of Tombeur.

[HighlyBell7]

In ATM: Clear with a hint of yellow. Sweet old-time Sandies (?) cookies with a hint of root beer?

Wet: Same cookies. A hint of those sassafras leave from the woods where you tear them and they smell like lemon. I think people used to make tea from these leaves.

Dry: Almost reminds me of Christmas cookies. A bit powdery. Powdered root beer. Almost like those root beer suckers where you try to get the wrapper with the Indian shooting at the star because you were supposed to be able to trade those wrappers for a free sucker. Dum-Dums? A hint of licorice. A hint of toothpaste?

Later: Old books. Sweet. Dusty.

Even Later: Sweet Tobacco.

[LizziesLuck]

This is sexy man cologne. Not the worst thing to have sprayed on your pillow! It did stain my pillow case, which I have never had an Atmo do before, but still, I'm not mad at it. So sexy.

[BeyondBad1313]

Welp I totally get the questionable herbs in here. I bought this without looking at the notes thinking it would be like the doc constantine oil, but sadly it is very different. The rum adds a sharpness to the herbs and it is overall a sneezefest for my nose. If you like herbal blends then you would like this.