Masquerade

[Caerphilly]

A festive, dazzling blend, layered in mystery and intrigue. Patchouli, ambergris, carnation and orange blossom.

In the imp: Patchouli.

Wet: Patchouli.

Dry: In the end, I get a mix of orange blossom and patchouli. A bad mix. Sweet and earthy do not go together, at least here. It's smells sour.

Overall: The sweet orange blossom and carnation and trying to fight the dry, sour, earthy patchouli, and the patchouli is winning. Some sweetness is pushing through, but it barely makes it. I don't like patchouli, so I won't be using my imp. Edited December 10, 2008 by Caerphilly

[tajana]

Wet, it smells like orange zest and a tiny bit of carnation spice over patchouli. A little bit of noticeable throw, which is primarily bright orange over darker patchouli. As it dries down the ambergis comes out more, adding a bit of saltiness and its usual powdery oddness... ambergris doesn't really play well on my skin. The orange quickly dissipates and I'm left with mostly patchouli and a bit of ambergris.

 

It's worth noting that this is completely different on my boyfriend. On him, it's all peppery carnations and sweet oranges! Spicy and juicy and bright, but it's quickly tempered with the strong grounding presence of patchouli. It's really nice.

Edited September 1, 2009 by tajana

[LizzyLies]

That is most definitely patchouli lurking there in the imp, that's for sure. Ah, when wet it's patchouli, ambergis (I think), and orange blossom. It makes me think of polished, antique wood for some reason. It is a mysterious blend--at least to my nose--and thus, seems deserving of its name.

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Orange patchouli, with a distinct undertone of ambergris. It's a warm, orange-red scent. The patchouli is making the orange blossom and ambergris funkier than they normally smell to my nose, sort of acidic and earthy at the same time, almost a little bug-spray-ish. When I really sniff, I get a little bit of spice from the carnations, but not much

On, wet: A whoosh of orange and spicy carnation, and then the patchouli leaps out again. It's strong and really earthy, and it's keeping the flowers and ambergris from getting sweet or rich. The orange is still strong, but the patchouli is gunning for it big-time. It's… actually almost creating a kind of dirty, salty, BO-type scent, so I'm not getting an image of a grand, glittering ball so much as two people who snuck out of the ball and are now rolling around in the gardens outside, getting their costumes dirty by doing dirty things. Or maybe they just don't practice good hygiene; I don't know.

On, dry: Whew! The stinky dirty BO stage passed really quickly, thank god. Now it's spicy-sweet orange blossoms and slinky ambergris, with a much more restrained base of patchouli to make it a bit musky, mysterious and smoky, almost debauched. This is a masquerade ball filled with plotting and intrigue—lots of faces hidden behind glittering masks and feathery fans.

Later: Spicy floral—primarily carnation, with a tinge orange and ambergris. The patchouli is almost gone, just adding a little bit of dark smoke.

Overall: Aside from the brief funky BO stage during the dry down, this is nice, if not spectacular for me: bright yet dark, a spicy combination of floral, fruit and smoke. Having said that, this one just isn't really particularly me, even though I generally like orange blossom and carnation and ambergris. For the citrus-carnation combo, I'd prefer Moscow, and for dark-orange scents, I'd rather have Winter of Our Discontent or The Great Sword of War, so… yeah, not something I love, but I think it would be great for those who love orange and/or strongly earthy patchouli.

 

 

[Pottersville]

Grabbed this one out of the imp shoebox o' doom this morning. At first sniff, I got the patchouli note loud and clear. I LOVE patchouli, so I was quite happy. Then something sour started to creep in. The ambergris? The orange blossom? Not sure which, but I do wish it would creep back out again.

[magikalbrownies]

i think im beginning to realize how any sort of orange scent works on me...from blossoms to the rind itself.

 

this smells awesome, too bad it had patchouli but its in small enough a quantity to not make me stink like..yanno.

 

anyway - one of my favorite blends. i wear it daily.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

This started out so delicious...all orange blossom and carnation-y. Alas, the drydown turned this into patchouli single note. Drats!

[ouch!]

This is a beautiful spicy orange when it's wet and I really really like it.

 

Unfortunately..when it's drying it smells like vinegar on me. Acidic nose burning vinegar..So strange. This will be donated to someone else.

 

[tragedy]

I agree with the review saying this reminds of vetiver, (this is the third thing I've put on today with a vetiver smell!!) Maybe its the carnation patchouli combo... Its not good on me.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Golden oil. Fresh from the tang of the ambergris and orange blossom, over earthy, dark patchouli with a spike of spicy carnation. A little masculine/cologney.

 

Wet: Much more depth; the carnation is more apparent, and rather creamy as well as spicy. The orange blossom is more fruity, almost juicy, and less sharp/floral/verging on soap, while the ambergris is way more waxy-musky and sexy. The patchouli's still present, but not too strong.

 

Dry: Sweeter and sweeter as the orange blossom blooms into fresh, slightly tart orange on my skin - it's the same note from ravenous, but the patchouli here is much gentler. I adore the carnation here, which is JUST spicy enough and very much a major player, melding with the orange over the musky-earthy base.

 

Summary: The orange wears off and the ambergris amps greatly, with the patchouli amping to a slightly lesser degree. Final dry down is musky, masculine ambergris with lighter spicy carnation over deeply earthy patchouli. Too dark and masculine for me. Good throw & longevity.

[obsidienne]

This starts off so delicious -- spicy-sweet carnation, sweet orange blossom, glittering yet earthy patchouli. A light salty musky note is evident, which I assume to be the "ambergris". The patchouli grounds and develops the other notes and keeps it quite mysterious and lush; the overall effect is magical. Like a masquerade ball.

 

The initial stage of this oil is amazing, but it dries down to something a lot tamer and less interesting, and the ambergris note gets just a tad too strong for me, but I say that lightly. Also, Masquerade didn't last very long, although the throw was quite good while it lived. That said, no perfumes last on my skin.

Edited June 30, 2009 by obsidienne

[Eucatastrophe]

I was a little scared to try this after sniffing the imp, but I try to give every oil a chance.

 

Dang. This just turns to straight patchouli on me, which is sad because I prefer patchouli to be one of the more subtle notes and not so much in the forefront.

 

Off to sales/swaps.

[anna1850]

Wood and patchouli are dominant here; both of which I quite dislike.

 

1.5/5 I don't like this at all.

[sarajane]

Patchouli. Patchouli. Patchouli. With a whiff of orange.

Edited July 25, 2009 by sarajane

[rayvn1]

Yay patchouli I love me some dirty patchouli and this definitely gives it to me! Reminds me of verdigris somehow - a rusting, obscured, greenish patina of a scent. Cool!

[marared]

I smell woody patchouli, mostly, sitting on top of an orange. I can't pick out the carnation, and I'm not familiar enough with ambergris as a scent to find it either. The patchouli dies down after a couple of minutes, though, and stays close to the skin.

 

I think this is something where I'll keep the imp and finish it off, because my skin kinda likes it, but it's not quite awesome enough to justify a bottle.

[Saya]

At first this blend isn't so bad, there's a bit of orange and a little spice, not wonderful, but it's okay. Then about 30 minutes later it turns into patchouli and something that smells a lot like cedar.

 

Definitely not for me.

[Venneh]

In the imp, there is definitely a lot of patchouli going on here. I hope the rest of the blend comes out. On my skin, it's pretty much single-note patchouli. This is probably not going to turn out well. And yep, single-note patchouli. Swaps/sales.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Venneh

[skylarkza]

In the imp: Patchouli and neroli.

 

Wet: The neroli is a bit stronger and the patchouli is still there. Something "spicy" too.

 

Dry: A little bit of wood and carnations, oh my word - carnations! I think there is a little orange blossom lurking, brightening it up.

 

A while later: Carnations and something else... I think it is the ambergris - sweet and almost sparkly, yet smooth. Lovely.

[fairestrocza]

In the Imp: patchouli with orange blossom

 

Wet on Skin: smells a lot like Vixen, but without the vanilla

 

While Drying: gritty

 

After a Little While: a bit of a sour note (ambergris?), not really getting carnation, maybe getting a bit of orange blossom (sweet variety, not vanilla variety)

 

Later: just faint patchouli - boring after having experienced Vixen

 

Final Thoughts: I love carnation and I love orange blossom. I was hoping they would both come out to play, but no such luck. I was also hoping the orange blossom would head in the vanilla direction instead of the super sweet direction. Still a nice blend, but not what I was hoping for.

Masquerade earns a 3.5/5 on my skin.

[pixiedoo]

Patchouli usually loves me....and I love it.....we get along exceptionally well.

 

Subsequently I had high hopes for Masquerade.

 

However something went very, very wrong.......I'm not sure what happened but my beloved patchouli turned into a yucky, sour, dirty and grubby sort of smell....and definitely not in a good way. Don't get me wrong I like dirty, sexy scents but this didn't fall into that category!!

 

I couldn't pick out any of the individual notes.....I just smelt unwashed!!

[hmelt004]

This imp is quite old, at least a year or more. I like most of the notes in this one, and I was hoping that they would dominate the orange blossom, which usually does not like me. But this one is all orange blossom on me, and a bit of what smells like amber or red musk. Maybe its the aged patchouli. Anyway, do not want!

[ami226]

Whoa! Loads of earthy patchouli!

 

This is all patchouli and nothing else...

[heleng]

Wet- patchouli

Dry- soft powdery patchouli with a little carnation sweetness, very little orange blossom in my sample

Overall- great Patchouli scent, bottle worthy.

[SophieCedar]

In imp and first wet: patchouli with orange blossom

 

Wet: things start to meld and swirl. All notes are there!

 

 

Drydown: spicy sweet carnation and glowing orange blossom with a touch of earthiness and body from the ambergris. This radiates orange warmth!

Edited May 8, 2010 by SophieCedar