Mourning Cloak

[crebbsgirl]

Opoponax, kumaru, cocoa butter, Mysore sandalwood, verbena, almond milk, guiac wood, beeswax, and myrrh.

 

Creamy almond milk and oppoponax are standouts here. The verbena adds a bit of a masculine edge but it's not over the top. The myrrh and beeswax round the scent out nicely. Overall the effect is creamy and resinous. LOVE!

[bpalscentsual]

1/14/2012: Mourning Cloak (Metamorphosis 2011: The Butterflies)

 

Previous scents: Dove deodorant and some eau de toilette that I washed off my wrists last night.

 

In the bottle: I have slight synesthesia, and I have to say that it smells exactly the same color as it looks: a translucent tea-like color. Rich and brown and down to earth. I'm having some trepidation about this: it's an LE decant, that's for sure, and it's definitely not something I would have chosen for myself.

 

Testing method: Wand swiped twice against the inside of both wrists.

 

Immediately: This changes immediately after application on me. In the bottle it was warm, but on my skin it’s blooming into something woody and almost spicy. A little goes a long way with this.

 

Fifteen minutes: There’s a lemony, citrus-esque sharpness underneath the woods and the ‘earthy’ flavor. For some reason, when I hold my wrists away from my nose, this is what all of my BPAL packages smell like, and so I associate it with something joyous and nearly magical. I’m wearing fingerless gloves right now, and the band on my wrists has picked up the smell. It smells really good on the fabric, and I’m glad for this happy accident, because now it means my desk drawer smells like this.

 

One hour: Definitely liking it more on my gloves than I am on me – my skin is doing something funky to this that I don’t quite understand, but the gloves are retaining the musky bit that I smelled in the bottle.

 

Several hours: Wow, this has staying power. It’s a lot heavier than most of the scents I like. Not much throw, though.

 

Overall: This was a freebie and I’m not emotionally attached to it. Into the swap pile it goes. Someone else will love this much more than I do -- but I'm not trading it away until I can rub it all over my gloves.

[whitsunweddings]

I bought this because I misread kumaru or whatever as kumara, which is what we call sweet potato, KING OF THE ROOT VEGETABLES. But it's not. So anyway.

In the imp: Verbena and almond milk.

Wet: Really nice. Zingy verbena on top with a sweetness (I think almond milk and beeswax) below.

Dry: As wet. An interesting mix.

[Balame]

In the Imp: Holy verbena. It's lemons all day in here, very powerful and bright citrus.

 

Wet: The lemon is so strong, but there's a gentleness beneath it. Can't tell what note is trying to pop out exactly. Seems like a combo of the almond milk and sandalwood?

 

Dry: Thank goodness this calms down immensely. The verbena is there but playing nicely with the other notes, no longer dominating. I don't really get any of the myrrh or opoponax, and if kumara is supposed to be sweet potatoes I definitely can't pick that up. But it's still quite enjoyable.

 

Overall: I'm not sure whether I like this a lot because it smells like beeswaxy woods or if find it too simple and soft (as in I can barely smell it). Warrants a few more tests to see if I can power it up somewhat.

[Magycmyste]

In the bottle: I'm not sure what I'm smelling, honestly. There is a little bit of citrus, but a little chalky - it reminds me more of a Flintstone vitamin rather than verbena. That could be the verbena playing with something sweet, but I can't quite tell.

 

Wet on skin: Same as in bottle, pretty much, though it smells a little nicer on my skin. It's softer, at least.

 

Dried down: The scent has warmed up a bit - I'm getting hints of something sweet still - probably the cocoa butter, almond milk, and/or beeswax, but the citrus has faded enough that it doesn't smell like a Flintstone vitamin anymore. I can almost smell the sandalwood - I really, REALLY want to smell the sandalwood - but I can't really pick it out. It's too bad, I'd have loved to see how it played with the other notes. I still don't really know what opoponax, kumaru, guiac wood, and myrrh smell like, so I'm not sure where or if they're playing into this. (ok, by the time I got down to writing the verdict, the sandalwood started coming out to play a little more. Maybe even a bit of the myrrh, but I'm not sure. This, I love.)

 

Throw: Almost none, when I'm typing. There is a tiny bit of sweetness in the air, but I have to sniff my wrists to really get any scent.

 

Verdict: **** I think it would have been a 5 if it didn't have that Flintstone vitamin smell in the beginning. I don't really like the wet scent on my skin that much, but it's bearable, and the wet stage doesn't usually last long on me. The dry stage (especially if I have the patience to wait for it, smells gorgeous on me. I probably won't try to seek out a backup bottle of this, but I'll keep the one I have.

[MiasmaResonance]

This is awful on me: sour green almonds and woody milk... all gone off. The verbena and cocoa butter is probably contributing to the decay smell. *sweatdrop*

Edited August 17, 2014 by MiasmaResonance

[somacat]

On me this is a soft powdered sugar dusted lemon, a bit like a lemon filled jelly donut. There's also something a bit dry and feathery about this.