Mad Hatter

[GeorgeJr]

A gentlemen's lavender-citron cologne unhinged by the feral pungence of black musk and a paroxysm of pennyroyal.

I swear that I get a amazing zing of peppermint when I first open this / apply it . Maybe it's the penny royal ? After I've had it on for awhile , it does settle down into a really wonderful cologne with musk & lavender that is really quite lovely . The penny royal has settled down to act as a counter balance between everything . This has really grown on me from when I first sniffed it & rushed to put the lid back on I like this quite a lot & will be looking forward to getting a bottle in the near future .

[femmefatale]

I can't really seperate out the notes in this, other than the mint, but it's a very nice sweet, somewhat powdery, mint scent. After it's dried a bit, I think I can catch the dark musk and it helps to balance the other notes.

I like this a lot more than I expected and it's actually a good scent for tonight since I'm feeling stressed and have a headache.

I'll definitely keep my imp and wouldn't mind a couple more, though I'm not sure about a bottle right now.

 

 

[skylarkza]

In the imp: Sharp and astringent. It smells like lemon Handy Andy (a surface cleaner), with something herbal.

 

Wet: Still smelling like household cleaner. But now mixed with shoe polish. Erk. Hope this improves quickly.

 

Dry: OK. The household cleaner smell has left. Now its a musky lemony scent. With a hint of mint?

 

A while later: My skin has eaten the lemon. There is something herbal, almost minty and a sweet something too. Nice, actually very nice - it also has a slight muskiness that is quite sexy. But not worth the household cleaner stage on me, unfortunately. I think this will be used for enabling if I can find someone who it reacts better to.

Edited September 1, 2009 by skylarkza

[Ankica]

I just put a drop on my hand and i wanted to write review but I have so many scents on my skin right now

 

However,

I won't give this imp to my husband. I like it.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Ankica

[patina]

You know what this reminds me of? Ultraviolet, with Lavender instead of violet. Very sweet lavender, almost sugary when first applied. I keep thinking I smell vanilla musk too.

 

I can picture a sweet-tempered, sleightly unhinged Victorian gentleman. Or I could see Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka wearing this.

The musk makes it sleightly more masculine than feminine to me, though a dignified grown-up woman could pull it off too.

 

Minty creamy musky lavender-vanilla-y with a tiny hint of citrus. Some people may find the sleight taint of "medicinal" unpleasant, but I think it's bracing, like Ultraviolet.

[Lamia]

Hrk

 

This is PEPPERMINT! With stale leather (musk?) and something chemical/metal. On my skin, it smells as if there is amber in it. Which is a Bad Thing.

 

Eventually, it stops grabbing you by the ears and repeatedly headbutting you, but what it settles down into isn't much better.

 

Trade bag. Clearly, other people love this, and I will glady send it to a happier more welcoming home.

 

Guh

[strahlend]

Pre-sniff: I wasn't sure what to expect from feral pungence or a paroxysm of pennyroyal, but it sure sounded interesting.

 

In the bottle: Mmmm.... what's this? Interesting. I'm trying to move on but every time I put the bottle down I pick it back up again a moment later. Do I love it? I don't know. I just want to keep smelling it. If I keep opening the bottle this many times I'll spill it. Don't open it again. I opened it again. I still can't decide how it makes me feel, but I don't care, I just want to keep sniffing it. If I could buy a vat of this, I would.

 

On the skin: Everyone seems to agree that this is a pepperminty scent, right? It is minty but the word peppermint initially didn't come to mind like it does when I smell scents like Lick It. Pennyroyal is minty-ish but so much more interesting than peppermint. It reminds me of the mix of something dirty and musky with fresh herbals, similar to Nosferatu and Villain but despite being similar Mad Hatter is a unique animal. It fascinates me. And lucky for me it stays put a lot longer than other oils I've tried. ♥♥♥♥♥

I love this blend more than words can say.

 

Came back to this post to add that even though this is one of my first bpal loves, more than a year later (and hundreds of scents later) it is STILL one of my top three favorite scents. I love it so much. It's the scent I reach for when I want to smell like Me. Like any other passionate lunatic, I just can't stop talking about how much I love this scent. So much love!

Edited May 27, 2011 by strahlend

[Altaira]

I received this as an unexpected frimp from a forum member in a decant circle. It's not something I would have chosen for myself, but was intrigued enough to try it out.

 

In the bottle, all I can smell is the cologne, cheap drugstore cologne.

 

On the skin, I can smell the minty pennyroyal, but only when I hold my wrist up to my nose. The scent wafting up when I'm not sniffing directly is still men's cologne, but at least the cheapness has worn off.

 

Overall, this gives me the impression of a creepy uncle with too much aftershave, who is always sucking on wintergreen lifesavers. Quite appropriate for the name, but nothing I would want to smell like - or have anyone close to me smell like.

 

I'm glad I got to try it out because I'm just getting into BPAL and learning what I like, but it will go in the swap pile and continue its journey to find someone who likes it.

[heathercaley]

I kinda have a crush on Mad Hatter

 

Once applied, I get sweet mint!!! As it dries down, a little musk pops in to say hello. I can also pinpoint the lavender hanging around the edges. Also on the dry down, the mintyness (I'm going out on a limb and assuming that the mintyness is pennyroyal?) becomes a bit stronger. It's a morphing mint for sure. If you take just a little whiff, you smell a sweet almost vanilla mint. If you inhale the sucker, the mint can become strong enough to clear your nasal passages! I love it!!

 

 

This is an amazingly refreshing blend of yummyness and utter foolishness!

[KesHiro]

Received as a frimp in my will call bag.

 

This is an interesting scent. I actually tested it out before looking at the notes so it was fun trying to figure out the various scents. In the imp, I get a faint whiff of mint and something very clean smelling -- maybe the lavender and citron base? Once I have it on, it remains minty through the drydown stage and has a pleasant, aquatic clean odor. I find it unisexual, bordering on masculine.

 

When I was in graduate school, I would get out of class very late in the evening and the school ground's keepers would have all the sprinklers on. This oil, oddly enough, reminds me of that clean water smell. It also reminds me of rain.

 

I like this scent, although I'm not sure if I would wear it all that often. I might get a lot of use out of the imp in the summer and I also want to see if I can get Mister Boyfriend to try it.

[Suu4LC]

Huh, I was sure I had tested this before, but apparently note...got this as a lab frimp-mad tea party is my favorite gc group so I am looking forward to trying this one!

 

Whoa, this is a sharp pepperminty blast on first sniff from the imp-definitely get the black musk and pennyroyal, a hint of lavender, but not much cologne-that will probably come out more on my skin...

 

Ah, this is much better on my skin, just as I expected! A gorgeous cool, sweet minty scent, darkened by a bit of black musk overlying a refreshing lavender cologne! Not quite as wacky as I would have expected, but that is just fine because this is really lovely-totally a unisex blend-this would be lovely on a gal or a guy. Overall a really great blend-I probably wouldn't pick up a bottle because I have other minty blends I like more (Lick It/Lines Written) but if I could get my boyfriend to wear bpal omg, this would be amazing on him!

[Dianora]

I wanted to love you, Mad Hatter! In the imp this was a sugary peppermint, which smelled amazing. I thought it could be the sweet mint I've been looking for. On the skin though, this smelled like... shoe polish? Degreaser? Something chemical and not good. Ack! I scrubbed it off. This one is not for me.

[tailoredshirt]

This is an aged imp, probably three years old.

 

In the imp: From the description I was definitely not expecting this, but this smells very strongly of mint toothpaste.

 

Wet: Still mint toothpaste. I like peppermint, but this is definitely sweeter than the herbal peppermint I like.

 

Dry: I got distracted and didn't smell myself again for another 45 minutes or so. Now it's some sweet peppermint with musk. It's faded a lot. I'm thinking this is not for me.

[aquazoo]

Minty solvent! This is definite pennyroyal. Serious, hardworking mint. There may be other things in there, but pennyroyal is pretty intense.

[ModderRhu]

smelling this makes me feel like i'm gonna die

i don't even...i can't even...

this is so...

ewwwww

it smells like something you shouldn't be inhaling.

am i a wuss? this seriously smells toxic.

i guess pennyroyal is not my friend.

[Mad Hattie]

Received this as an imp as a present order.

 

I really wanted to love this, I am obsessed with Mad Hatters of all kinds.

 

In the bottle - Cold minty tea with way to much sugar in it that has spilled out over a flower covered table with equally sugary treats all over it.

 

On the Skin - Still a strong scent of spilled sugary tea. It seems foofy almost to the point of ridiculous. I can't seem to smell anything else as this seems to be overpowering. I can only guess my nose is not as skilled as my tongue when I sip wines.

 

Dry - I feel like I dipped my hands in tea and let it dry. I actually feel bad even making this review since I wanted to like it.

 

Overall this was not what I expected. If you prefer overly sweet and flowery scents then this is for you. If very sweet scents do not do it for you then I would suggest trying something else.

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: VERY strong! the lavender-citron also smells slightly minty. it smells dapper and elegant, very old fashioned. almost reminds me of anise, but not quite sweet or pleasant enough. trying to like it though.

 

On my skin: less like anise, more like lavender-citron. "feral pungence of black musk" is right, which comes through shortly after a brief slightly sweet phase. it's very dark and very masculine, not at all sweet or girly. the lavender at least sticks around, which keeps it from being completely unbearable.

 

Last thoughts: way too strong for me, but for those who are brave enough, have at thee!

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: The pennyroyal is the first to charge out, followed closely by a creamy lemon and lavender, and you can kind of see the black musk way in the background if you squint really hard. This is an extremely bright scent, and makes me think of vivid, loud colors - great for Tim Burton's Wonderland.

 

Wet: It softens a little, and the lavender becomes more pronounced.

 

Dry: It's gotten much more herbal, and lost that nice creaminess I had associated with the lemon. This makes me sad. As time goes on the musk warms up and takes away some of the sharp coldness. Surprisingly, this is making me like it even less. It's a mix between household cleaner and bug spray.

 

An Hour Later: Where'd it go? It's almost completely vanished! I can just barely get a hint of lemon and lavender, but that's it.

 

Overall: Definitely not for me. I liked it in the imp and I wish it would have worn the same way on me, but alas!

[StevenBoatman]

Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

 

This odd little frimp just snuck its way onto my top 10 BPALs list!

 

In the bottle: Undefinable madness. But not the murdering, skull-bashing kind. This is the gentle madness of the favored uncle or grandfather who's not quite all there, but you love him anyway because he tells the best stories.

 

On: *sniff* Is that...a York peppermint pattie? Why yes, I do believe it is! How delicious!

 

Dry-down: Yummy, slightly warm York patties surrounded by white snow and pale purple petals. That's what this smells like.

 

Dry: No change from dry-down stage.

 

Throw: Sticks fairly close unless I make a sudden movement.

 

Overall: A+++++!

[stellamaris]

This is the best stuff, it's wonderful minty herby freshness, and I am not bug dinner any more! I love this, I wish I had a Hudson Sprayer full of it, for now just my puny imp, soon to be followed by the Big Bottle.

[milo]

Wet to dry, all I get is mint, mint and more mint. I love black musk and lavender, but I barely detect both here at all. Unusual, as it's usually the mint that fades fast on me, and here it's lasting. I like mint scents and this one does not disappoint. I'll certainly enjoy the imp while it lasts, but I have GTV and Lick it Vigourously so probably don't need a bottle.

[melrose]

Pennyroyal? Musk? Lavender-citron? Nope, this is straight-up York Peppermint Patties. Chocolate & mint - yummy.

[calivianya]

I've found that pennyroyal often makes a stronger mint than actual mint does, and this is no exception. I get an immediate blast of MINT! in my face. It's quite delicious. At first, the minty pennyroyal is all I can smell. Eventually, I get a hint of the lavender-citron cologne, but it is definitely in the background underneath the pennyroyal. I never do smell the black musk, which is unusual because black musk is usually extremely aggressive on my skin. This is a much lighter blend than I was expecting based on the notes. I love it.

[KindKit]

In the imp: pastry. Seriously, it was all creamy and cinnamony. Wet on my wrists, it still had the creaminess in the background, but with a sharp-to-harsh herbalness that must have been the pennyroyal (I've smelled pennyroyal essential oil and to me it's an almost bitter mint) enhanced by the citron. The topnotes have a "bitter herbs and lemon peel hopped up on crystal meth" sort of feel. I'm not sure where the creaminess is coming from; it's not a quality I associate with either black musk or lavender, but it was intermittently noticeable throughout the drydown. I don't get strong lavender from this as others apparently do, but there's a powderiness too (which is one of the qualities I like about lavender). This really is a chaotic scent, with lots of different notes emerging from one sniff to the next. Unfortunately, within about an hour Mad Hatter fades down to sweet musk and a little lavender. The more BPAL I test, the more I'm convinced that my body chemistry really, really amplifies the sweetness of musk and (in other scents) amber, so everything eventually becomes just plain sweet. *sigh* Mad Hatter has amazing potential, but on me it's a little too harsh at first and too sweet later.

[Ashmedai]

Pennyroyal galore - this smells like a strong herbal mint tea upon application, the kind where the leaves have been steeping for a long time and it's sweetened by loads of dark honey, maybe due to the musk? Black musk is dicey on my skin, but here it behaves and adds a gorgeous, sweet depth. Lavender and lemon (a very soft citrus) appear after a few minutes, and complement this perfectly. The minty pennyroyal stays on top, however, and I'm really digging this - it smells like a hot, sweet, strong cup of herbal tea, the black musk taking on a woody note as it dries. Wasn't even expecting to like this one, but I do!