Puck

[cormeretrix]

Oakmoss, sweet sage, juniper berry, civet and a drop of grape.

first sniff: DOG POO!!!!

second sniff: listerine!!!!

being the silly girl that i am, i try it on anyways. and am, for a moment, pleasantly surprised. it settled down nicely, very outdoorsy and herby smelling, but after about 20 minutes, the poo smell is back.

sadly, it's the scent i associate with certain unwashed people i went to school with, whom i think were not properly potty trained, as they always smelled like poo.

damnit. and it had such a cool name, too. *pouts*

[Fyre_in_Winter]

I had an opportunity to try this out yesterday at the Atlanta meet up. How can I describe the way Puck smells in the vial? Imagine a construction worker who has been working in the sun all day, ate Mexican for lunch, and then decided to roll around in the dirt/grass for awhile. The smell of his underwear might approximate Puck. Of course in putting the cap back on some oil rubbed off on my fingertips. On my skin, Puck smelled a bit more like dirt (as in dirt fresh from a garden) and musk rather than.. well, ass. But not by much. This experience has convinced me that civet is not for me. It took about 5 soapings in the washroom to get the smell reasonably gone from my skin- potent stuff, is Puck.

[paperdoll]

I also had a chance to sniff this at the Atlanta meet, and I was more careful with the cap than Fyre, so I never actually tested this on my skin.

 

To sum up this scent in 4 words:

 

Ass! Dear God, why?!?!

 

This is seriously funky, in a seriously bad way.

[quikslvr]

The oakmoss is kind of interesting. Too much civet as it dries: the juniper berry is cool, though.

[coulrophobe]

First off, I have to say I was busting up reading the previous reviews of this - some of y'all have quite the way with words!

 

But, without further ado, here's my two cents.

 

Now, I'm perfectly in touch with my animalistic nature, and love some of the darker musks (though white musk will always be my favorite) - but civet just isn't kind to me. The blends I've tried that have civet in them have ranged from a slight but nevertheless disturbing undercurrent of fecal matter to full-blown "Holy shit-slinging monkeys, Batman, we're under attack!"

 

To his credit, Puck is on the less, um, pungent end of the scale. I can smell the other notes, and the grape and oakmoss in particular are gorgeous. And after the offensive poo smell dries down a bit, it's barely there.

 

I can't help but wonder if this scent would have been more popular if there'd been a musk rather than civet in there - to me it would have made all the difference.

[malanna]

How can I describe the way Puck smells in the vial? Imagine a construction worker who has been working in the sun all day, ate Mexican for lunch, and then decided to roll around in the dirt/grass for awhile. The smell of his underwear might approximate Puck.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I, too, must chime in with my dislike of Puck. This was a frimp from the lab, so I tested it anyway, despite my rapidly growing feelings of apprehension. Yep. Civet and I don't get along. At all. I don't think Puck smells like ass, it's just very woodsy and civet-y. Maybe a bit of juniper berry, because JPs are bitter (I think...). But damn, Puck is a strong-ass mofo. I think a civet-lovin' person would love Puck.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Smells lemony a bit, with something winding it's way in and around that I can't identify.

 

Just On: UGH! Cat poo!!

 

An hour or two later: It's <choke> cat pop.

 

Around 6 hours: Unfortunately, it's just all cat poo on my skin.

 

12 hours: Lucky for me, it's gone. I came awful close to washing this one off.

 

Overall: I guess I can't wear this one.

 

After reading other reviews: The civet in this one jumped out and grabbed me by the throat, and refused to let go. Not sure wehre the lemony thing came from, and I certainly never got grape popsicles.

[Blood onmy hands]

I feel kind of bad reviewing this one after so many people likened it to the smell of poo, lol. Czernobog is the BPAL that turned to poo-smell on my skin.

 

Disclaimer: I like civet. A lot.

 

First on this was mostly sage. I hate sage, it smells like sweaty, dirty skin to me. Thankfully, the sage fades away quite quickly and I get juniper berry and oakmoss . I love juniper berry. Mixed with the oakmoss this is a wonderfully crisp foresty smell.

 

And then the civet comes out and I am in *heaven*. I realize that is not a commonly heard phrase around here . Civet and grape. I am all over this. I wish that I could get a big bottle of this one. It's hard to explain how well civet works with my skin chemistry. But I don't have to explain it... I'll just sit over here and enjoy it... away from everyone else, lol.

[sarahj]

Puck

 

received in a swap

 

in vial: grape and civet...a stinky combination (my husband smelled it and said it reminded him of being at the zoo)

 

wet: the sage starts to make an appearance

 

dry: the juniper appears...but doesn't help much...this is just not a pleasant smell

 

verdict: off to swaps...if I can find anyone that wants it

[wingedcorset]

I really really like this. I'm not getting any of the cat poo smell at all. It's just yummy animalistic goodness. I can't see myself wearing this on a regular basis, but I would pounce a boy who was wearing it in an instant. Debating buying a bottle. Maybe I'll try to pick on up in the swaps...I hate being poor.

[emzebel]

For some reason I got it in my head early in my BPAL explorations that I really wanted to try Puck. Part of it was the character association and the fact that Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favorite plays. And part of it was this odd idea that it might actually smell nice, reviews notwithstanding. So I was very excited to see that it was making another appearance for the BPALIversary and jumped on a bottle.

 

And you know what? Sometimes gut feelings are right. I really do like this one. I don't smell anything offensive, just herby, musky grape. It might not be an everyday scent, and since it seems that others may be, erm, put out, it's something I will likely save for weekends, but I am perfectly happy to have a bottle.

 

Thank you, Beth, for bringing this back for the, oh, five of us who wanted to try it.

[iriedanym]

After all the negative reviews of this scent, I'll admit I was scared to even try Puck. However, I've always really liked the character Puck, so I wanted to give it a try.

 

Real civet comes from cats. The Lab uses artificial (yay!). I don't get the "cat butt" smell that others have smelled (thank goodness!) What I do smell is grape and a woodsy, musky smell. I dabbed some on my skin. While wet, the grape is the strongest note. Then it dies down and I can smell the oakmoss and sage. The civet seems to like my skin. The scent overall has a slight soapy smell, but it's not unpleasant. In fact, I am finding that the longer the oil is on my skin, the more I'm actually liking it. It's not an everyday type of scent, but it is definately a keeper.

 

The naughty part of me wonders what this would smell like layered with Titania too.

[BostonChris]

im very glad i ordered this without reading the opinions of everyone else.. i like it.

 

Its definately foresty on me.. the earthtones and moss notes are crystal clear.. and the grape and juniper hide amongst them. Though I wish there was a clearer grape tone ~ and so ill be wearing it longer to see how it settles out on me.

 

I have to admit though, that im much more a foodie than a woodsie scent lover.. and so I think this may end up a gift for a friend who definately plays with Puck like energy..

 

Me? Im more.. Satyr.. which should be at my house in oh.. a few weeks.

[SeaMonkey]

Usually, Civet behaves itself on me. Its only gone bad on me once........well, twice including this one. It smells kind of like someone with bad breath that just drank grape soda.

 

Sadly, no oakmoss......I adore oakmoss

[Pixelpixie]

I'm so pleased I decided to ignore the reviews and grab a bottle of this. It's lovely. I ordered one of each of the scents released at the anniversary update and this is the absolute winner.

 

In the bottle it smells like grape... and pear, even though that's not meant to be in it. Fruity, but crisp fruit, not sweet fruit. Slight woodsy background notes from the bottle as well.

 

On it smells like fruits and the wood and moss notes come up as it dries down. There is the animalistic note to it always, which I guess is the civet, but it isn't unpleasant. Even though I tend to like musk (I haven't has much experiance with civet before now) I expected this to be heavy and possibly a bit cloying, and that was my biggest surprise, it isn't at all. The fruit notes give it an overall crisp, sharp feeling, which is fabulous. I don't know how to really describe the civet. I expected it to be musky, but it isn't, where musk is heavy and foggy the civet note is quite high and sharp. It is animalistic, kind of feral, but in a feminine way, whereas musk is quite masculine. It's aninteresting choice for the blend, as Puck is male, generally quite androdgynous, but definately male.

 

I didn't get much berry from it though, and I couldn't really pick out the sage, I guess that just sort of blended in with the overall earthy feel of the scent.

 

[Edited to add this paragraph] It did morph a bit on me after a few hours. The berry came out more and the fruits faded. As the fruits faded the civet note became more dominant, there was a period where I kept sniffing my wrists trying to decided weather it had turned totally nasty or not. But I decided not, I had that same reaction to Geek, which is now a favorite of mine. It reminds me a bit of the 'feral woods' smell of Geek in general. That's about the closest approximation I can give, a fruity, crisper, version of Geek.

 

I kind of wonder if Beth changed the blend for the resurrected version. Toned down the civet a little perhaps. It seems to have gotten more positive reviews since its re-release. I'd love to try some of the original to compare. I'm really curious as to how this one will age.

Edited January 2, 2006 by Pixelpixie

[spidersinmyhair]

Wow! It's a good thing i didn't read the reviews before ordering this resurrection,I wouldn't have dared.

In the bottle I smell grape and well,other things,not sure what.No cat pee or poop here.

wet,grape and sage.It is somehow stronger than in the bottle.

As it dries it gets all herby and sweet.It doesn't last all that long though.

[Diana]

I was a bit leary of this one, because most of the reviews likened it to cat pee + grape koolaid. Nevertheless, I really wanted to try it, so I took the plunge and ordered a 5mL bottle.

 

Going on, it does have very strong grape notes. Sweet. There's almost a lemony burst, followed by a strong eucalyptus type of scent, which is most likely the juniper. It sometimes goes lemony on me for some reason.

 

After the juniper dies down a bit, there is a bit of the oakmoss smell, and I think a bit of the sage. It's still a bit fruity, but a touch of earthiness. After a few hours, it gets a sort of floral tinge to it. It smells almost like fresh jasmine (not the usual BPAL jasmine). It is reminding me strongly of something else that I can't put my finger on. Something like modeling clay that I used to play with? I don't know.

 

I really didn't get any civet at all, strangely enough! Maybe it's just an issue of aging, since this is a fresh batch of Puck, but only time will tell.

 

Suprisingly, I really like this a lot!

[desu]

In the bottle: Grape Kool*Aid

 

On my skin: Feral, yet playful. I've tried civet-containing scents before and liked them, so I knew this one would be a keeper, too. I love the balance of sweet fruitiness and woodsiness in this scent. The SO says it belongs on a boy -- but what does he know?

 

Later on: The sweetness has left, and mossy woods remain behind.

[Fefferbella]

There is something oddly attractive/familiar about Puck... it's animalistic and powerful... not for the faint of heart.

 

At first it smells like someone poured gasonline, sunscreen and grape juice into a bowl and swirled it around a few times...

 

There is a "mechanical" smell to this, like motor oil... This reminds me of being in my bother-in-law's shop, working on my little Honda Express moped... oil stains, grease, sweat and his rottweilers...

 

Honestly I like Puck... but I don't think I'd ever wear it/ use it for a room scent/ open it again...

[sideviewhotel]

Okay. Despite all the reviews, I wanted to get my hands on at least an imp of Puck to try. You know, that whole "gotta try 'em all" mentality? I have that. So, I picked up an imp from OriginalWacky's decant circle.

 

In the imp, it was very mossy & I could smell the juniper berry. I had hoped it would kinda stay true to that on my skin, but I'm not sure it has.

 

Once on my skin, what I'm guessing is the sweet sage comes out (I'm guessing that because it's very sweet smelling), but it might also be the grape?

 

Unfortunately, the civet makes me smell like a nursing home. Ugh. Damnit. I really wanted to like this. Maybe it'll morph a bit more, but somehow, I'm not sure it will.

[Elanya]

That's a pretty potent 'drop' of grape they've added there! My desk is covered i imps, and all I can smell is the grape from Puck. I haven't opened anything yet! But here goes:

 

In the bottle: Sagey grape

 

Wet: I don't know how to describe this. It was sharpy civert-y for justva second, and then the oakmoss and sage stepped up to take things in hand. The grape still has a lot of throw. I can see how each of the ingredients is mixing with the other. I'm paranois about the coivet, but it seems to be getting along well with both my skin and the other notes. It is very animalistic.

 

As it dries: The other notes come out to play with grape, mostly civet and sage. It is still mostly grapey, though, unless I give it a close-up sniff. It seems to be mostly staying this way. If there are any more changes, I will let you know

[sarada]

As a representation of Puck, this is definitely what I was expecting. And if it was just oakmoss, juniper and sage then it would be a great blend for me -- maybe with a little grape, but....not much. Civet is always a challenging note but it's completely appropriate in this blend. Does it make it something I'd want to wear, though? Well no, but not because it's unpleasant...it's well-blended and suits the mood of the scent but it's a hard thing to want to carry around with you all day. For one thing, it is sort of...pervading. A tiny little drop of the civet bouquet has a tendency to cling to everything it comes near, and once I get a drop on me, I wind up having it all over everything I own for the rest of the day.

 

It's a musty, musky, dusty smell. If it were a song it would be "Song to Comus" or "Coal Black Smith". It reminds me a little of mothballs, too. I feel like people would constantly be sniffing the air dubiously, saying, "What's that?" They might think it was mothballs, or something wafting in from outside, but...it's not really something I want to smell like.

 

I do love the earthy greenery and even the drop of grape, which livens up the blend like a dash of bubbly wine. Again, it's a great scent conceptually or as a 'sniffer', but I think that the drop I got to test is all I'll need!

[grrrlennyl]

at first: lots of moss and juniper.

on: lovely. the grape is strong, but i can catch the oakmoss, civet, and juniper berry, too. lovely.

1.5 hours later: the grape note is gone. i can smell the oakmoss and sage, plus a bit of civet.

3 hours later: really pretty. this has mellowed quite a bit. i can't really pick out any of the notes, but the combination is really nice.

overall: i'm so glad i got an imp of this. i'll definitely be using it from time to time.

[zenvodunista]

this is mostly sweet grape on me. But excellent for learning that civet and I get along just fine! What a thrill to learn: i've got whole worlds open to me now!

 

for me, i amp berry. the same thing happens with the grape here, Puck is all grape... if i sniff really REALLY hard right at skin level, i can smell something kinda animalistic under it. it's really interesting, and if it were stronger i could see it being bad, but here it's just intriguing and kind of ....

 

rutty.

 

which isn't bad. i'll be looking forward to more "rutty" scents in the future

 

n.

[yeahbutnobut]

Puck

 

In the imp: grapes with a hint of herb. Oh, and a tiny amount of civet, but nothing offensive. It’s mainly grapes.

Wet on skin: oh dear, I think the civet’s getting stronger. I also smell the juniper now, a bit of sage, still some sweet grape juice, and moss.

Dry: hmm, this is odd, but it’s not too unpleasant. The civet, sage and moss have merged into a strange scent which reminds me of something…like a talcum powder or dusty sort of smell. It reminds me of something-probably a kind of paint or plaster or clay, something crafts/home decorating related. But not feral and animal, just yet. An unusual scent-and my skin is pretty weird too. On top of that is the fizzy sweet grape and the juniper.

After a while: then, out of the odd, dusty scent, the grape resurfaces, with the sage. I quite like this stage, it’s a nice grape-sage combination with a mossy and ‘grey’ background (that’s the best way I can explain what I smell). The civet is behaving well, for now.

After half an hour, I can smell more civet. It’s not too bad but I definitely get that feral, bestial aspect of this infamous note…so now the question is, will it become ‘uni tutor’s bad breath’ on me, or will it retreat?

Well, after an hour or so, it seems the civet is very feral, but in here, it’s also oddly chemical, now it starts to remind me of paint again…which kinda stops it smelling like, erm, farmyards (which is what some civet scents do to me). The juniper adds a masculine edge to the scent.

Eventually it retreats to that odd paint/plaster/dust scent…which at least is better than the worst that civet can do on my skin!

Verdict: this was a strange scent on me. My skin isn’t too nasty with civet, it doesn’t turn it into the nastiness I see mentioned in the reviews, but in here, it was downright weird-though not too unpleasant. It’s an odd mixture of sweetened grape juice, sage, and a mixture of juniper, moss and civet that smells at times dusty, at times a bit chemical, at times it reminds me of paint, and at other times, the scent is quite masculine smelling, and at others, it is indeed a bit feral and animalistic but not disgustingly so. It’s not a bad scent, but it’s not a scent that smells particularly nice on me. So it’s off to swaps-I’m glad I tried it though.