Mary Shelley

[The Poison Queen]

It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world.

The scent of absinthe, lightning, stormclouds, and laudanum crashing through a veil of soft Victorian oriental perfume.

In the bottle: A pure, gorgeous absinthe! I don't get any of the Ozone, just a light and clean anise and a bit of wormwood underlying it.

Wet on Skin: OH this is a heavenly absinthe scent with a very strong wormwood note, I like it very much! I get a hint of ozone here!

Dry: Laudanum. Nooo. Go on, go back to the back of the line, I don't want you to come out and play. ;___: this turns to pure laudanum on me, and everything that I love about this scent disappears. Thanks skin for ruining it. I really wanted this to be a winner scent for me, and it's just not. Hopefully time will help it along.

[ladymeag]

This was so sharp in the bottle it repelled me from really settling on notes other than "sharp aquatics."

 

On the skin - Sharp. The ozone is completely drowned out, on my skin, with florals and laudanum before it turns in to the sharpest, most floral soap ever. People who've liked other lightning-and-ozone scents should give this a try, skip it if you've had any trouble with aquatic notes or "soft" florals.

[Cactus]

Green! Sweet green anise/fennel and wormwood. But behind that, something that reminds me of cold spring water or rainstorms. And there's also laudanum and a small amount of sandalwood and amber. They "warm up" and soften the scent a little.

 

On the dry-down it gets a little peppery, but doesn't change all that much.

 

This reminds me of some old-fashioned colognes I've smelled. (But I don't mean it's a scent only a man could wear.) It's very heady.

 

*swoon*

 

Here's to Mary Shelley!

Edited October 27, 2013 by Cactus

[Gateau]

I wasn't even going to try this because I really don't care for ozone and aquatics, but I do love absinthe. Lucky for me, this is strong on the absinthe, with mint, anise, sugar, and wormwood detectable. The other notes stay in the background while lending interest. Bottle in my future.

[patina]

This is mostly Absinthe on me, but there's some ozone too. I guess it could be called "soapy" but it's not unpleasant. This is really reminding me of Storm Clouds on the Midway. If Stormclouds mated with Absinthe, it would smell like this. This is lovely, but like Stormclouds it gets faint very quickly.

[Lorna Brigid]

I was curious about this scent, mainly for the absinthe and Victorian oriental perfume portions.

On me, I get mostly laudanum, some of the absinthe with a hint of ozone.... and the rest of it I can't quite name!

This actually reminds me of a bottle of perfume I had as a child! Seriously! I can see and feel it in my mind. It was about an 8 or 10 inch plastic bottle that had a patchwork style calico blue dress with an apron on it held on by the elastic in it. The cap had a hard foam ball with a felt or nylon fabric for the head with yarn hair and a straw hat on it.

So I am not sure what those notes are that were in it, but this is a pleasant scent. Thanks for the throwback to my memory!

[zankoku_zen]

Absinthe and soft florals. Sadly, as it dries the ozone asserts itself and drags this blend into a soapy/detergent field for me.

 

But on wet, this was a delicious absinthe with a tinge of spicy oriental perfume. And it was womanly, strange, and gothic.

 

Boo skin chemistry. Boo.

[becca_s]

This smells weirdly like menthol on me. I think that it must come from the Absinthe, it has a minty aniseed scent -it's quite green and sharp. There are times when I get wiffs of an old fashioned floral perfume in the mix there too, but definitely dominated by the Absinthe - so if you are a fan of Absinthe from the GC then I think that you will also like this scent too.

[theredshoes]

Lightning + stormclouds = ozone and aquatic Death Notes, but Mary Shelley is one of My Girls, I love the GC Absinthe and really like the new Inspiration line, so I decided what the hell.

 

 

In the bottle (I know, I know we don't get the perfume for the labels but the Inspiration ones are SO GOOD. Dying for the T-shirt): I smell mostly mint, maybe some wormwood. Thank God it's not sharp. Most BPAL mints drown out every other note on me, so I'm probably amping the faint mint note in this.

 

Wet: Thought this was disaster when I seemed to smell celery. Husband, when applied to, reassured me multiple times it was not celery. (He thought it was "floral and sweet, kind of nice, not great.") Fortunately the celery? didn't stick around long. I definitely got all the mint, anise, sugar, wormwood, laudanum, absinthe, fennel, &c &c. notes, but faintly. It's really not that strong at all. Thankfully it didn't turn to screaming green on my skin, nor did the ozone note give me a headache. Rather pleasant surprise on both counts.

 

Drydown: On me it sweetens up and gets rather faint, and more mint comes out. It's a cool smell, not sharp at all, more a soft floral with faint mint, and would be a good summer perfume. Pretty, but fades fairly fast. It does smell more like a cologne than a perfume, but it's not sharp. I do like it. I agree with everyone else that after drydown there isn't much absinthe, so if you get it for that, you might be disappointed.

 

Verdict: Don't know if it would be bottle-worthy for other people, but I like finding a mint/green scent I can actually wear. I was expecting more absinthe and 'Victorian oriental' notes, but it's rare for me to find an ozone/aquatic or green or mint scent I can even tolerate, so I'm actually sort of pleased with it.

Edited November 30, 2013 by theredshoes

[Quillifer]

Absinthe to start with and then ..... buttered toast! WTF? Nice. Weird but nice; not sure I'd want a bottle though.

[milo]

Lots of absinthe at first, nothing much else. After a bit, it is still absinthe dominant, but there's an added citrus quality which must be the breath of oriental perfume. Nice to try, but I rarely wear scents with absinthe and I have a couple of imps of Absinthe and Lace, which I find quite similar to this.

[applecider10]

Black licorice on me and not much else. Really harsh!

[Alaeidrel]

This is one of the classiest scents I own! Definitely absinthe from the get-go, wet and dry both, but when dry there's a really nice gentle ozone backdrop and just a little bit of spice from I think the victorian perfume. It's much more subtle than I tend to wear, but it's wonderful.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Sweetly spiced lemons. Yum!

 

Drydown: Spicy, resinous laudanum and a mysterious brown sugar sweetness cuddle over lemon-laced ozone. A warm, elegant musk grounds the blend. It smells quite smart. And delicious. At this point I am thinking bottle.

 

Dry: Much fading occurs and what remains is a musky brown sugar note. Which is admittedly nice, but I’m left wondering where my spicy lemons went. Ignoring that quandary, the lingering sweet musk is rather pleasant. It’s soft and cozy, with a touch of sea-breeze freshness reigned in by dark, caramelized goodness. It gives the impression of a warm fog covering the ground between the shore’s edge and an old-fashioned candy shop.

 

 

 

This test was done with traces of oil from a sniffie, and I am for-sure intrigued enough to hunt down an imp now. And if the imp tests well, a bottle may in fact be in order.

 

8 out of 10 bones

[tziporra]

Wet on skin it's MINT which is funny because I bought my bottle at ECCC after skin testing it and finding it was all ANISE wet. I'm hopeful the anise will reappear with some aging, but I can definitely agree with all the itsmellslikeabsinthe wet crowd.

 

Dry the soft veil of Victorian Oriental Perfume really comes to the fore in a spectacular fashion. This is a vintage perfume scent, perfectly backed up by laudanum. It's still airy and minty around the edges. On my skin this is really spectacular, and I'm so happy I found it. Definitely one I would never have guessed was going to be true love based on notes and reviews.

 

It's very old fashioned, and you might find it grandmotherly if your grandmother has a love of absinthe and is still spectacularly beautiful (but still cuddly).

 

Tzi

[tinyvulture]

I read Frankenstein in college, and this scent makes me want to revisit it. Herbaceous, menthol absinthe is there, plus the distinct "flash of lightning" shock of ozone. Then there's the laudanum, and the floral spice of Oriental perfume. Really unique, evocative, mysterious. Like a dark and stormy night in a bottle.

[Monday]

On my skin wet: Sweet licorice with some fading perfume. It's very faint on my skin.

On my skin dry: Still a sweet licorice with a perfumey quality to it.

I'm rather underwhelmed with Mary Shelley I expected something more mysterious and dramatic.

[stellamaris]

I really love this one, I got a frimp with my last order and surely this will be a bottle with my next.

Strangely it was really green on me, sharp and green very fresh.

[littlesparrow]

Got this as a frimp and love it! Funnily enough, I don't actually like Absinthe (the scent), but this is gorgeous, the absinthe isn't overwhelming at all. Very fresh and sophisticated perfume. Definite bottle

 

ETA: It's kind of like Embalming Fluid with pretty flowers!

Edited October 29, 2014 by littlesparrow

[Morsigne925]

A rather strong "soapy" scent right out of the imp on me; definitely get the touch of absinthe, it's an herbal-boozy sort of soap. It's fairly strong on me, not sure if I could wear this one without getting a headache. It's got a bit of that "old stuff" smell to it too, like things that have been in an old box. I think this one may be a swapper.

[nameoftherose]

Received this as frimp from the Lab.

 

Very peppery in the imp, with an edge of sugar.

 

When first applied, the fresh, rainy ozone notes are overlaid over the sugariness of absinthe. As it dries, the aquatic notes tend to disperse quite quickly (although the speed has varied for me), leaving mainly a burnt sugar base. The burnt aspect isn't particularly strong and is more of a distinct edge to the sugar; I can also still sense some of the pepperiness in the background. I don't really get much in the way of soft oriental floral - I think it might be so thoroughly blended that it melds with the sugar.

 

It is a lovely perfume that seems light and fresh, but in a very different way from what I would normally associate with these words (not citrusy or clean-smelling). It feels diffuse and misty; it's almost like walking through sweetish, damp fog. That having been said, the sweetness is tempered by the peppery (absinthe?) note which almost gives it some tartness. It's not something I reach for regularly, but it does have a very distinct character that's just right on some days - feminine but reserved, with a bite.

[loubric]

In the IMP it's very sweet herby and slightly sharp. On me it has hints of Indian Spices!! As it dries down it is softer and very clean and sweet. I get sharp ozane and absinthe notes but still with hint of warm spices. Pretty and exotic with hints of soapy cleaness.

[Erinofhere]

Color me shocked!

 

I have been under the illusion that I didn't care for the smell of wormwood. I guess I was wrong, because It's heavy in this scent and I am loving it.

 

This is very fresh smelling and woud be very good for hot weather. It smells clean but in a heavy soapish or downy way. It just smells fresh and clean.

 

It does not last long and that's a pity. If it lasted longer I would get a bottle.

[Malaena]

I'm torn on this one. I like the scent but I don't love it. It makes me think of my mother who often wears Cashmere Mist. o.O

 

I'm going to make my mom try it!

[gentle-twig]

This starts off as a very ozonic absinthe. It's very interesting and slightly unpleasant. The laudanum (opium) emerges, bringing the voltage down just a bit. It's becoming a little more my speed as the ozone gives way to the depth of the laudanum. Eventually a resinous backdrop appears, grounding the other notes. There is something strangely appealing about this blend to me.