Melainis

[simpsonmeredith]

The dark, of night.
Teak, frankincense, caramel, oakmoss, red currant, labdanum absolute, bitter clove, patchouli, star anise, tobacco, and black musk.

Gorgeous. I adore the teak in this.

Wet: It goes on with strong teak, patchouli and tobacco. It's a heavy resin. Definitely a little clove but no sweetness. Caramel and currants? Not here.

Dry: Teak wood and tobacco. The black musk is here but it blends beautifully into the background with the patchouli. This is the sultry scent I've been looking for. The teak in this is similar to the one in glowing vulva but more demanding. It dominates on me and I love it. Can't wait to slather on the husband.

One Hour Later: There is a teeny, tiny hint of fruit but I'm really huffing my wrist to pinpoint it.

[yeahbutnobut]

Melainis

 

In the imp: whoa. Dark rich exotic incense, spiced patchouli and ancient attars.

Wet on skin: thick resinous patchouli with a feel of incense to it.

Dry on skin: this is incredible! I can smell the same wonderful aged-smelling, ambery labdanum that is in Pulcinella and also Hastur. This labdanum has a feel of exotic attars to it, it reminds me of incense from new age stores blended with eastern spices. I love it. The frankincense, spices and patchouli only help to enhance the incense scent…and the tobacco makes it smokier. And then it hits me. this smells like a hookah bar! Not just any hookah bar though, but one in the heart of a Middle Eastern bazaar. There’s a dry desert-y feel to it that enhances that. However, under the heavy smoke and incense, I smell bright, juicy currant.

After a while: the currant really shows up now. It’s the same sweet, deep, sexy and slightly plum-like currant from Anactoria. I think it’s given a kick by the musk. In fact, this reminds me of Anactoria now, but even better because of all the added incense and the lack of dragon’s blood. The patch and moss and teak are also more apparent now, the labdanum has toned down a little. But this still does smell unabashedly exotic and dark.

Verdict: this smells fantastic! It’s the ultimate oriental scent, incense, patchouli, resins, fruit and musk with smoke and spice, all blended into something wickedly seductive and very ‘femme fatale’. The labdanum is wonderful, a rich amber resin type scent which is given a boost by the musk and frankincense, the tobacco has a hookah-ish scent to it which I love (I’ve been looking all over for a BPAL hookah scent, this is the closest I’ve got to one) and then there’s that blend of currant and musk that I’ve been getting hooked on as of late, and this currant-musk gorgeousness really comes out at the end. If this smells stunning now, I cannot wait to smell this once it’s aged!

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? yes! maybe I’ll get a backup (if finances allow!)

If you like this, try: Anactoria, Man with Phallus Head, Pulcinella and Teresina, Lunar Eclipse

[Seismogenic]

I have to admit that I hadn't really considered trying many of this year's Lupercalias, since most of the Aphrodites are florals or other not-so-good notes on me, and since I know I'd be embarrassed if someone asked and I'd been wearing one of the Shungas. Melainis seemed most intriguing out of the lot based on the notes listed, and a sniff at Will Call in January added some definite validity to my suspicion that this is good stuff. Now, I'm not even slightly goddess-like, but I'm certainly someone who stays up until late at night (see timestamp on this review!), so the face of Aphrodite that revels in the wee hours of night makes as much sense for me to try as anything else.

 

In the imp: Whoa, this oil is dark and thick! Anise is the main thing going on here, with sweet and earthy undertones.

 

Wet on skin: Definitely getting the anise and the clove, predominantly, but there is also a more homogeneous sweet dark texture going on underneath that. The whole mixture is pretty strong!

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, the anise is not as sharp, though it's still the first thing I notice. The background is a spiced sweet darkness that's smooth overall. At one hour in, the anise has mellowed even further, and the tobacco is becoming a little more distinct. The whole thing is still very smooth, though, and still has pretty good throw.

 

Five hours later: Softer overall, but still wonderfully smooth and dark. Teak is standing out much more now than it did before, and next to it, anise and tobacco are the most identifiable things out of the mix.

 

End of the day: Soft, but still quite present. Mostly teak and tobacco now, with anise still hanging in there, and a little musk rounding it out.

 

Overall: Smooth, rich, dark, complex, and gorgeous. While individual notes are identifiable in the mixture, it is wonderfully blended overall, greater than the sum of its parts without losing track of said parts. Melainis strikes me as more of a rich dark brown than the deep blue or black of night, but it's still quite nocturnal in its thickness and heaviness. It also seems like a little goes a long way, which will make this imp last plenty long. My suspicion that Melainis would be awesome is definitely confirmed, and I'll be holding on to it for certain.

[theseagrows]

ooh i like this even more than i thought i would! it's like a clovey-spicy tea on my skin. there's a sweetness which i think comes from the caramel, currant and anise that really blends together beautifully. the spiciness of the clove keeps it from being too sweet. it reminds me of red/orange spicy or chai tea, mixed with something slightly woodsy or natural. amazing! like drinking a cup of steaming hot tea in the cool air.

[nekogrrl]

I think I love this scent.

 

Wet on skin: Sharply spicy, with a hint of sweetness.

 

Drydown: Pine shavings.

 

Dry on skin: The teak is coming through, with a touch of sandalwood and musk. This is just lovely.

 

Verdict: Definitely bottleworthy. I'm hoping the pine shavings will age out - if not, it's blessedly a short phase.

[aquazoo]

Starts citrus/sour. Something is not happy on my skin. It's a bit like cedar when it mellows.

[Argentwolf]

On me it's a really resinous, dirty-hippy sort of scent, all teak and musk and patchouli. Then it gets a high, sweet-sour scent, almost like furniture polish...I suppose that's the star anise trying to work its magic. Its best phase is when it's completely dried; then it is a dark yet gleaming scent, like an intricately-carved teak chest, glistening with polish and the adoring care of generations of hands.As aggressive as all of the notes sound, this one doesn't throw at *all*. Really strange. It's not for me, yet if I were to smell it on someone else, I think I'd really like it and be coming in for lots of close, intimate sniffings.

Edited March 15, 2009 by Argentwolf

[msbcozad]

Melainis

 

I admit it: I purchased this oil for the name alone (Melanie... Melainis... you see how it is). None of the notes appealed to me, save the potential of the red currant. And with my first whiff from the bottle, I was less than impressed; I was thoroughly underwhelmed. I set it aside to mellow a bit.

 

It's been a few weeks since that disappointing first meeting. I pulled Melainis out this evening to make a surprise decant for a friend. Wow. What a gorgeous smell. On my skin, it blossoms into this amazing sweet tobacco, caramel, frankincense mixture which is simply intoxicating. Despite the presence of caramel, it's not the least bit foodie. It is sultry without knocking you over the head with its sexiness. This is an adult scent (dull surprise, being as its an Ode to Aphrodite), but not so "adult" that it must be worn only in the evening.

 

Darn it. I should've ordered a backup before the Odes came down.

[aedes]

Wow - totally didn't expect to like this. So much so that I didn't even have it on my wishlist. Got it as a very wise and insightful frimp. Normally hate patchouli and sweet foody notes. But this is something else entirely! Spicy and clean. I get mostly clove, anise and frank with the smoothness of teak. Definitely need a bottle!

[Miss Lynx]

In the imp, this smells heavy, dark, complicated and almost medicinal. On my skin, it becomes a lot sweeter, and at first sniff, seemed almost floral, which is odd given that it doesn't contain any florals at all.

 

Once it settles in a bit more, it's more dark and incensey, which is more what I would have expected. Thankfully, the caramel note, which has killed many scents for me, is not really noticeable here at all. But it's strange -- while definitely on the dark side, this is much lighter -- in the sense of less heavy -- than I would have expected. And I do still keep catching traces of something near-floral in it. I know my skin tends to sweeten black musk considerably, but I don't know if that's all that could account for this.

 

It's very hard to pick out the individual notes in this -- they blend together really seamlessly. It's less spicy than the presence of clove and anise would make you think, and doesn't have the usual bitterness of teak at all. And patchouli, which can easily dominate a scent, is only a soft background presence. If I had to hazard a guess at what's dominating it, I'd say maybe labdanum, oakmoss and tobacco, but in so gentle a way that it's hard to really pinpoint them.

 

As it continues to unfold, it's becoming apparent that some of the sweetness is currant, and it seems to be blending a bit with the tobacco to give a hint of some kind of very sweet, fruity pipe tobacco. Eventually, that fades down a bit, and it settles into sort of a softly spicy, incensey-musky-wood scent. Very nice, and despite being named for an aspect of Aphrodite, a scent that could work equally well on either gender.

 

On the whole, this is very nice -- very rich and complex, and beautifully balanced, with no one element dominating it, but tantalizing hints of all kinds of almost-recognizable things hovering on the edge of perception.

 

Grade: B+

[Lamia]

I'm the friend that got the surprise decant from MelanieSuzanne, and I think we traded bottles...

 

I expected better of this, considering the exquisite combination of ingredients. It starts spicy and intruiging in the bottle. On skin it quickly turns lemony (moss?) with spices, but soon turns boring.

 

Oh, sure, it's spicy, but not exquisite spices that pull you from your tower window into a Grimm's fantasy on a flying carpet the way Baghdad does, rather it's a good quality spice-imbued bubble bath.

 

Ah well. My decant is more than sufficient, and I might even return it to it's happy home (shhhh don't tell her )

 

 

[MCS4096]

When dry this smells a LOT like Minotaur on me! I will probably be tracking down a back up bottle via the sale page!

 

It's really wonderful and very very well blended. As it's drying (which take a while as it's a very thick blend) it does go through stages where a note will amp (anise amped shortly after application, teak a bit later etc) but overall it's hard to distinguish any one note. This does make it seem "pre-aged" which is awesome. I was a little afraid of the patchouli, but have no fear-- this is an amazing incense and spice blend.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is sweet and spicy, cloves and musk. When first on this is bitter tobacco, sweet cloves and earthy patchouli. It goes on strong but starts to soften in a few seconds. After a couple of hours, this is a lovely blend of tobacco and patchouli. It's dark and warm. It doesn't change much more on me. I really like this blend! It's deep, dark and sexy. It reminds me a bit of Minotaur. Very nice.

[rayvn1]

I think the caramel that's a bit hit and miss with me sent this one down the path of Coca-Cola on my skin. Grrrr.... This was supposed to my favorite of the Lupercalias, but it's off to the swap pile.

[olive]

So good! This is less of a review and more of mere praise. Reminds me of Schwarzer Mond in a way, but much better. I've been wearing this bpal exclusively for about the last month. This stuff is good!

[milo]

This kind of reminds me of Red Rose, but whereas RR's clove tones down on me, this one amps up. Unfortuneately, I don't get any note BUT clove, *sniffs again* ah wait, I think there is a bit teak here, but very faint. The clove is a bit too masculine for me, however I really want this to work, as I love some of the other notes. I think I'll cellar this one awhile before I give up on her. I'm normally a spice girl, but this is just too much. Stupid skin chemistry. My eyes are also itchy tonight. Maybe it's just a coincidence.

[catattack]

Imp: Spicy musk and resins.

Wet: Teak and labdanum. Labdanum is hit or miss for me (it can go sour pickles), but in this blend, it smells great. It's lending the blend a dark resiny tone. I love the exotic wood scent of teak. It's almost like incense.

Drydown: This scent doesn't morph much. I smell the caramel lightly in the background. It's another hit or miss note, but it's not going all "DRIPPY CLOYING CARAMEL!" It's behaving itself by just adding the slightest bit of sweetness. I smell mostly labdanum, patchouli, and musk on the further drydown.

Overall: This is an amazing scent. It's very sexy and dark. This is unisex.

[edenssixthday]

Melainis - Put caramel or black musk in any blend and it pretty much ruins it for me. But this has so many other great notes that I love that I just had to try it. I should have known. The dominant note is the teak, backed up by the ruinous black musk and horribly sweet and cloying caramel. Behind all of those disastrous top notes, I smell the gorgeous scent of oakmoss and patchouli, the slightly astringent labdanum, and a hint of husky frankincense. They're so obviously such great notes that I am really sad that the dominant notes ruin this blend for me. I really wish I could make this one work because I can definitely see how some people could find this an incredibly dark, sexy, and gorgeous scent, but those damn caramel and dark musk notes just foul it all up for me.

[crebbsgirl]

I keep re-trying this because I can't believe I don't love it more. All of these notes are notes of win (with the exception of the caramel, but that doesn't ever make an appearance here) so I don't understand why I'm not all over this. It left me feeling pretty meh, and there is a sharp note here that I can't identify. It's dark and musky and deep, usually things that make a scent a winner for me. But it's just not happening here.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Wow, I can pretty much make out all the listed notes. It comes off first as patchouli, musk, tobacco, resin, and anise.

 

Wet: Patchouli-musk with labdanum, teak, and spice. This is going to be interesting after it blends down.

 

Half an hour: Oh, this one's not working well on me. It's mostly teak and star anise, although there are tempting wisps of labdanum and patchouli. The musk base is nice but can't carry the scent all by itself.

 

Two hours: It's gone a little mentholated now. There's resin at the bottom, but over that is teak and anise, plus that mentholated top note. Nope, this one doesn't want to love me.

 

Three hours: It's gone kind of woody and tannin now. There's still a slightly sweet, spicy undertone to it that is enjoyable, but this one is definitely not for me.

 

Eight hours: Pleasant light mentholated patchouli.

 

Sooner or later I'm going to learn that teak and anise both don't work on me!

[veronicafranco]

oh la la.

 

the lovely ralenth sent me a testable sniffie of this one. i hadn't tried it on my own because it sounded like one of those SSEEXXYY kinda scents that i can't pull off. however, it's delish. i think this is what i sorta thought schwarzer mond should smell like... dark, complex, rich, just a bit too sweet to be unisex. like a lot of frankincensey things, it sweetens more the longer i wear it (i think it takes a while for the currant to emerge on me, which adds rich sweetness too). i don't get the tobacco or black musk strongly at all. while it's drying, there is a temporary but pretty potent teaky phase, though.

 

so this is a bpal first for me - a tobacco scent that i really like! and would wear more of if i had it.

 

crap, ralenth, you enabler, you.

[Muppetk]

Oh. My. God. I need more. I need much more. (You want to buy me a birthday present? Send me some of this.) This smells incredible on me. SO SEXY. Cannot stop sniffing my wrist! All rounded scents - dark wood & musk & tobacco & a bit of spice. I was worried about the anise & the caramel - I can't stand either anise or foody notes, but they either disappear or blend in perfectly.

 

Also, this got me nibbled by my SO. Always a plus! I'm so, SO sorry I only got a 1/4imp decant in the circle.

[heathercaley]

I was sorting through all my decants, having an impromptu bpal orgy, when I came upon this lurker. I clearly remember when I first sniffed it. I said "bah!" and put her back in the corner of the box and told her that she couldn't come back out until she behaved herself. I think she's learned her lesson!!

 

Holy COW this is amazing!! In just these few short months (about 6?) she's blooming like a beautiful flower!!

 

Once applied, I'm getting a host of lovely notes. The forerunners being clovey tobacco, and a bit of teak. The patchouli is hovering around making it just a bit resinous, but not over crowding the scene. It is indeed very very sexy, and I do believe that this is now going to go on my wishlist. I need a bottle!! I bet this will just keep getting better and better. I hope that the patchouli thickens up!

 

 

about an hour later - it's dried down into a sexy blend of clove, teak, and just a touch of sweet patchouli.

[Invidiana]

Oh yes, I'm getting shrouded in shadows I love All these notes just meld harmoniously into a smoky black veil, and the anise, which does spicy-sexy wonders on my skin, is definitely making itself known. Melainis just envelops me in a wonderful bittersweet blackness, like sinking my teeth into deep, dark sweets in a somky room.

[lilacea]

When this first came out I bought a bottle straight from the lab unsniffed, the notes sounded perfect in every way. Once it arrived at my house with the rest of the Lupers, I took one sniff of this in the bottle, recoiled in horror and vowed not to even put it on my skin, it just smelled that wrong to me. So off to the sales pile it went. Weeks go by, the Lupers go down, someone buys the bottle, and while screwing the lid on firmly and taping it up for its journey through the post, I got a little oil on my fingers. I can tell you that was a very happy accident. It was only after I'd packed it up that I began to smell this lovely scent wafting about and was wondering what it was and where it was coming from. When I finally realised it was the Melainis, I was a bit miffed, of course, as I'd just packed up my bottle to send off to its new owner, but I vowed to track down another bottle to properly test it and definitely confirm one way or another that it was indeed the little smear of that oil that smelled so delicious.

 

Fortunately, I managed to nab a near full bottle on the forums, and when it arrived, I properly tested it, the way I should have done the first time around. It is gorgeous on my skin! All those notes are among my favourites, or at least play some sort of role in some of my most liked scents. As mentioned previously, while wet it is quite something, very strong and acrid, very bitter, a touch of potent currant, lots of sour labdanum, tobacco and lots of heavy darkness. But once it hits my skin, it does its thing. It's still strong, it's not a scent you wear when you want to feel quiet and unnoticed, it's definitely going to announce itself. But it mellows enough to become lovely, and the bitter notes blend with my chemistry and become rich and smokey and full. The currant makes this, without it I think it would just be too dark, but it gives it the slightest edge of sweetness, and the caramel helps that I think, though I really don't pick up what I'd think of as distinctly caramel, just sweetness. Black musk always does good things on my skin, going from boozy when wet to animal warm when settled. This is a sexy skin scent, full on, very sensual and strong. It screams vixen.

 

This is the one scent that taught me to skin test every scent that I came across, even if I think it smells awful in the bottle, even if the notes don't sound like something I'd be into. It showed me just how much an individuals chemistry can affect how something will smell as they wear it, as opposed to just in the bottle, and for that I'm grateful. I've been able to discover other great loves since this revelation that I may not have even ventured to try previously. Lucifer specifically comes to mind, that just smelled like scary strong vetiver hell in the bottle, but it becomes something really lovely once on my skin, and I could have missed that if it wasn't for this.