Mother Ginger

[suki]

From beneath her skirts emerge eight gingerbread children: gingerbread, French vanilla, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and marshmallow cream.

My choice in BPALs has changed over the years. I started out as very heavy on the foodie scents, but more recently that's tapered back a bit. Gingerbread Poppet, for instance, was one I used to love, but I got rid of it last year when it became apparent that I was no longer going to wear it frequently enough to justify keeping it. But I think this one might be more attuned to where my olfactory sense is headed...

In the bottle: definitely getting the lemon-ginger combo so many have mentioned. I think it's actually less about lemon, and more about the tang that fresh ginger actually has, like when you break a piece in two, or grate some for making tea or bread. It's strong, but not over powering.

Wet on skin: more of the same, but with an added sugar element. It reminds me of the original Strawberry Shortcake dolls that my generation played with in the '80's. There was a Lemon Meringue doll that I had, and the smell was like this note: lemony, soft and sweet but somehow not very food-like. It's becoming more noticeable the longer it sits on my skin, warming in this wet state. Also, for whatever strange value it's worth, my cat just tried to lick my hand where I'm testing it, something she only does when it passes her kitty "food test". (and no, of course I didn't let her actually lick my hand! )

Dry down: This is a totally different animal than any other ginger-y BPAL I've tried. Not the Gingerbread of Poppet, not like Mother Shub and not even like the gingerale aspect of any of the Champagne scents, this is it's own thing. Strange and almost undefinable, this scent is an enigma!

In all: A good day time scent, and something that leaves me feeling warm in these cold, dreary winter months, Mother Ginger is a ginger scent for those with a more adult-oriented love of food scents. Not too sweet or sugary, this perfume is more like a warm hug in a bakery than over-eating a cookie house the day after Christmas- and those waiting for such an experience will find themselves very satisfied indeed.

[ofthegood]

This is a fairly foody scent, especially when it dries down and all of the sugar and marshmallow come out to play. It starts out more ginger (a sharp, bold ginger, not gingerbread cookies) but develops a sweeter and spicier profile as it dries. I don't really enjoy it either way - too much ginger, then a cloying sweetness. Blech. As much as I love to eat these holiday sweets, I'm not in love with them surrounding me all day. I feel smothered by Mother Ginger.

[spiresinthesnow]

Smells like my tin of Ginger Altoids. Fresh, spicy, ginger and dusty, powdery, sweetness. Pretty simple and straight forward, I like it, but don't know if I need a bottle. I can say I definitely like this much more than gingerbread poppet though.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Mmmm… Creamy, vanilla, ginger. Seriously, this is more candied ginger than gingerbread, which is just fine with me as I have two other gingerbread scents. The baked goods effect is present but very soft next to the dominant ginger, spices, and vanilla. The marshmallow cream is mostly making an extra creaminess to be honest. This is a lot flatter than the true gingerbread offering from the lab. Wet: The ginger and vanilla back down a bit, letting the sugar sing. It’s also a bit less creamy and a touch more baked goods, but not by much. Dry: Sugar and ginger mostly with a touch of creaminess.

[meatcake]

Ginger is definitely one of my preferred notes as I seem to gravitate towards all the ginger-themed oils. That being said, Mother Ginger differs from Shub and Gingerbread Poppet greatly. She's a bright ginger scent, freshly grated, zingy with an underlayer of cream and vanilla. I agree with the other reviewers, at first she's almost ginger-beer bright! Fuzzy and gingery. It's wonderful; one of my favorites out of this year's Yule lot! She mellows from fresh ginger into a more sweetly baked ginger as the day goes on. <3

[ljaylh]

This is a nice change from the Yule ginger blends that are usually cake-y or cookie-y.. those always smell gorgeous in the bottle but not so great on my skin, generally because they are more of a brown-sugar/caramel/buttery kind of mix and those never work for me.

 

Although Mother Ginger has spices, they're quite subdued and I think this is more white sugar than brown (I'm having no problem at all with the sugar here, which tells me it's not brown). The vanilla is soft and not too sweet - just right, as is the marshmallow cream - everything is beautifully blended so that the overall feel is quite natural and light rather than overly foody. I can see why people are mentioning ginger beer - it does have that sort of feel.

 

As nice as this is, I don't see it being a perfume I'd reach for. But it really is a beautiful soft ginger - it's not too sweet, not too spicy - it's just right.

[Ravenclaw79]

Fizzy! It's fizzy out of the bottle, ginger ale-y, with a brief moment of "cookie?" and then "no, nevermind, not cookie." It's nice, though the sharp fizziness tones down after a while and it softens into something much more subtle.

[Blood onmy hands]

Mother Ginger is my favorite foodie scent of this year's yules <3. It's definitely not a gingerbread scent (not like cookies, cake, or spice bread at all), but it's not quite fizzy gingerale either. It's bright, sweet ginger with a kick of unusual, pleasant spiciness. Playing With a Loaded Gun is a fizzy, slightly smoky ginger, and this is smoother and more candied smelling. I can't really smell any of the listed notes, just a candied ginger, but it's lovely.

[surlygurl]

From all the reviews here, I expected a gingerbread cake with lemon rind. What I got was more ginger snaps and fizzy lemon soda. It's light, it's foody, it's uplifting. It reminds me of other gingerbread scents I have, but this is much better done. I do own an aged bottle of Gingerbread Poppet, but I like this more. Not enough to buy a bottle, but it is very nice.

[Mellifluous]

In the bottle: I first get a gingery, brown sugar smell, in bottle. It is a sharp ginger (like others have said), but with a rich sweetness to me.

 

Wet on skin: The first minute smells just like in the bottle. After that, its.. wait, Grandma? Is that you? It kind of develops into a grandma scent, not my personal fave. I'm assuming this is because My skin seems to always deepen, and add "warmth" more so than average. Thus said, my crisp zingy ginger experience came to a quick end. Definitely getting the spices and ginger.

 

Dry down: *30 minutes in* Ok, grandma's gone back to her cottage, but did leave me with a plate of her cookies.. gingerbread ones. Now i'm getting the warm, buttery, creamy ginger. The spices are less pronounced, and I think i'm smelling some graham cracker crumbs there in the background.

*hours later* The same smell from before has persisted. That buttery ginger is still in the forefront, with mild spices and that graham cracker vanilla-y background. So pretty much, its just gotten softer and softer.

 

I do like this scent, but its one i'm glad I got a decant of, and not a bottle. The gingerbread poppins is a little more my style.

Edited January 7, 2011 by Mellifluous

[whisperstilled]

I am hoping against hope that things go better for this scent and I than Sugar Plum Fairy and I got along. I'm still holding out for a good dark foodie scent from the Yules.

 

In Imp: Gingerbread! I had gingerbread coffee this morning, so I have gingerbread in my nose already, and that is most decidedly what this is. Gingerbread and spices.

 

Wet: Whoo! All of a sudden this isn't just gingerbread, it's ginger. Ginger comes out strong over the foodie bread/cookie note, and gives a spike of interest to what seemed like a mellow enough scent in the imp. Color me intrigued.

 

Dry: this is way nicer than I ever could have hoped. Gingerbread isn't even my favorite thing, but I figured I'd give this one a try and see what came of it. Lo and behold I got a gingery foody scent that is strong on the ginger. I don't really smell the marshmallow except maybe in the far background, but I do get a touch of the spices and vanilla. But make no mistake, this is yummy cookies and ginger, not just gingerbread. Surprisingly good, definitely wearable and a comforting, warm winter food scent. 4/5

[filigree_shadow]

Ginger, and something kind of cakey (not like gingerbread, more like yellow cake) and faintly spicy, and Sprite. But the fizzy lemon-lime soda scent is really only noticeable if my nose is close to my skin. From regular wafting distance I can't really smell the fizziness -- which is great for me because I don't usually like fizziness.

 

It's a much different scent than Gingerbread Poppet.

[Schmoozy]

Fizzy lemon-ginger which translates to my beloved pepsi/cola scent aka Leo'07. Will definitely need a bottle.

[fairestrocza]

In the Bottle: Sharp and slightly bitter (or maybe medicinal?) ginger

 

Wet on Skin: Ginger beer! Followed by something acrid

 

While Drying: It is a very bright, zingy ginger. The medicinal undercurrant is troublesome.

 

After a Little While: The acrid aspect dies down after a while, and it is mainly ginger beer again. I prefer smelling this after popping the cap on a bottle of ginger beer, rather than smelling it on my skin.

 

Later: Softer, sweeter, vaguely lemony ginger.

 

Final Thoughts: I wanted to love this, and I will give it some time before I make any final decisions, but if that acrid note doesn't age out of it, this one will have to go.

 

Mother Ginger earns a 2.5/5 on my skin.

[reynardine]

Certainly getting the gingerbread from this. Very pastry on my skin. Also nutmeg and cinnamon. Stays on a couple of hours. I like it, but I have enough pastry scents for now.

[midnight_aeval]

AHH! The notes make this sound perrrrrfect! But the gingerbread is not really gingerbread at all.. more like gingerale-cake or something. I'm hoping over time the other notes start to carry the blend because it could really become amazing. For now, Gingerbread Poppet is still my favorite ginger scent.

[astarinel]

Like many of the others who tried this blend, I was expecting the gingerbread component here to remind me more of Gingerbread Poppet, with vanilla and marshmallow cream topping it off.

 

However, the ginger note here is definitely not the "bakery" ginger in Poppet and some other blends, but it's the bright ginger in Polynesian Pop. This is nice, but as someone who already has bottles of both Gingerbread Poppet for a rich, foody ginger and Polynesian Pop for a fizzy ginger, this one doesn't stand out from other gingery blends enough to grab my attention. I definitely don't get anything creamy, vanilla, or marshmallow-y from this blend, which are the notes I was really hoping to find. I'll be sticking with my bottle of Poppet.

[esmetutu]

I am a huge foodie fan, so this scent sounded like a dream come true. Unfortunately, not so much.

 

Wet it smelled sharp, lemony, with bright fresh ginger... changing and morphing depending on where I put my nose (strange!). I liked it though despite it's sharp smell because I could tell there was something warmer waiting.

 

Shortly after, the vanilla and sugar began to emerge and it was wonderful... for about 2 minutes.

 

Then it went all musk/amber-ish; almost masculine. It smelled like an expensive department store perfume or cologne.

 

Now an hour in, it reminds me of "old lady" perfume because of how powdery and sweet it turned. Lots of vanilla, lots of sweet, but there is a definite "normal" perfume smell. Plus, not much ginger. I'd say it almost smells like Opium mixed with Old Spice.

 

I wanted so much to like it, but it just smells "too common". In fact when my husband got home from work I had to quickly explain to him it was a new BPAL he was smelling on me and some guy's cologne!

[anomie]

On my wrists, Mother Ginger is less gingerbread cookie and more spice cabinet. This is a great thing, though, as it takes it from being just a foodie scent (while I love them, I have too many) to something a little more workable for days when I don't want to smell edible. The sweetness of the marshmallow and vanilla forms a solid base for the nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon, but it doesn't sting at all. It's just a comforting, snuggly scent without being infantile - like a warm cashmere blanket.

[strahlend]

I like the smell of ginger but I'm not really into foody smells. I got this decant on impulse partially because I like the name.

In the decant and on my skin this is much more ginger ale than it is gingerbread. I like that. When I prepared for my first sniff I was expecting something heavy and cakey and super sugary. In contrast this scent actually has a little bit of a pungent edge like real ginger. It's light and fresh and just a bit sweet. It seems almost effervescent like ginger ale. I like this a lot more than I thought I would.

[Iceblink]

Gingerbread! This is the closest thing to Gingerbread Poppet I've sniffed...and like that one it's also drying down into a sort of stale, spicy ginger on me. I am not getting the fizzy/fruity note from this that some are--just ginger, ginger, ginger and spices. OK, but not great.

[GhillieDhu]

Wet, Mother Ginger smells like fresh ginger and cake, with just an edge of lemon. As it dries down it becomes more candied, buttery and pastryish, and more and more familiar... animal cookies? Graham crackers? Aha! Walker's Scottish stem ginger shortbread!

 

Once dry, the buttery note intensifies and is joined by heaps of vanilla sugar. Now it's graham cracker pie crust and a big slab of ginger shortbread slathered in buttercream frosting. Not a bad smell, but I don't think I could even eat something this rich, let alone wear it. Oh well, someone else will love my bottle more.

 

2/5

[milo]

At first, this is effervescent ginger. As it dries, it gets more 'dustier', if that makes sense. It really reminds me of a fall or winter version of Opuhi. There is no vanilla flower, though and more dusty spice. I don't like the stale dustiness of this blend, so will have to pass. Fans of Opuhi may like this, though.

[killerklown]

In the imp: gingerbread cupcakes with creamy frosting!

 

Wet on wrist: The creamyness goes away immediately followed by a really spicy ginger, which is not surprising since I amp nutmeg like crazy. There's a point in here where the vanilla starts to fight it out with the ginger and the ensuing wafting end up being a spicy ginger cream.

 

Dry: The marshmallow comes out. This isn't like the marshmallow in Marshmallow Pumpkin, light and dusty, this is the sticky goo that you loved as a kid. It reminds me of a gingerbread whoopie pie with marshmallow creme in the middle and dusted with cinnamon and sugar.

 

I love it!

[Voleuse]

Ooooh. This is like Shub-Niggurath smothered in marshmallows! Tons and tons of them! With a few shards of candied fruit sprinkled on top! It's a very plush ginger, with only a hint of the tart bite that it could have.