The Dormouse

[lady_pandora]

A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony.

 

This was a frimp with a purchase from another forumite.

 

Dormouse, on me, is a light, fresh, clean, soapy scent. It feels like the color light sea green. I think I can detect some green tea, but can't pick out any other individual note. It reads as gender-neutral to me, and I also think it would make a good shampoo or body wash scent. It's polite and utterly worksafe--you won't smell like you're coming off a freaky sex session or three-day bender.

 

On me, it's not a morpher and it smelled like a near dupe of another BPAL I'd tried before. I had to go back through my old posts to remember which it was--and holy crap, I've been BPALing for almost ten years--and it was Empyreal Mist that this reminded me of.

 

Dormouse is a scent that I don't see myself using a ton, but it definitely has its niche and will get some use.

 

Edited to add lab description.

[Atrous]

For the first hour or so this is Tea single note. Which is fine, I guess. I love tea notes but the Lab has better Tea blends so I'd never reach for this if I wanted to smell like tea. Plus, after the first hour this turns to soap.

[Veronica]

In the bottle and wet, this is the same tea note from White Rabbit, but lighter, touched with green from the herbs and carried on a bed of white floral peonies. It's a very green floral with tea, kind of grassy, almost lemony. Dry, the green-ness calms down so it's tea leaves and peony. Fresh, clean and slightly sweet floral. Fully dry, it takes on a softly powdered, kind of creamy background. I like this but I think it's missing a little something maybe--I wish it were a littler warmer, a la Lyonesse...a great gender neutral scent though, I would love it on a guy.

 

This reminds me of a prettier version of what some generic scent companies would call "Fresh Linens" or "Laundry"--that's exactly what I want to use it for too!

Edited February 19, 2015 by delighted

[Soupy Twist]

Well, it's supposed to be a tea, anyway. Tea and something vaguely floral in the bottle. Goes on as tea and flower petals, but this soon becomes a nice lemon. The lemon fades after about 15 minutes and the entire thing turns soapy, and it's gone in an hour.

[quickdrawkiddo]

Both wet and dry, this is green tea and a very light, fresh floral note. It's not so much soapy as clean on me. It's not the kind of thing I'm usually drawn to but I have to admit it's been getting a lot of play lately because of the hot weather. Also good for work and for meeting the parents, as it's crisp and not at all vampy. Would be great for a younger kid to try as well! I like it because it never becomes powdery or soapy -- just fresh and clean.

[LizziesLuck]

In the Imp: Tea with a hint of....lemon?

 

Wet: Very light and clean. Tea, a bit of sweetness. It's quite lovely.

 

Dry: I think this would be lovely in the summer. Light and clean and sweet. This is the first tea based scent I've really liked.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Floral tea, almost like jasmine green tea.

 

Wet on my skin: Same as in the imp.

 

Dry: The floral sweetness fades and the herbal tea note strengthens as this dries. It's a very clean, light tea with hints of flower petals. It is pretty while it lasts, but it fades fairly quickly, though, and I have other tea scents that I'd likely reach for before this one. I'll pass this on to someone whose skin doesn't make it poof in 30 minutes!

[sunlitgarden]

I bought this bottle from the Lab about 2 years ago, but to me it smells about how I remember it smelling fresh. I'm trying to go back and review everything I haven't so far!

In the bottle: Very light and clean smelling. It's mostly light, refreshing tea with the peony in the background giving it a sort of "wet" floral quality -- not aquatic, but like a dewy blossom on the bush. This smells very springy and kind of reminds me of a L'Occitane scent. I'm guessing at least one of the teas is white tea which often has that light and clean quality to me.

On my skin: Primarily tea (it's more like black/green tea now, but more like sniffing a box of teabags than the cup of steeped tea) with a little bit of peony and herbs. The herbs are almost a teeny bit savory and kind of lemony (lemongrass? It's more gentle than LEMON which can be overpowering). While I don't really smell the peony with an up-close wrist sniff, I am getting periodic whiffs of a pleasant floral.

As it dries, it gets quite sweet, but it doesn't really smell like candy - more like tea with sugar in it. The peony also comes out on my skin more when it's dry.

Overall, a nice light, fresh, gentle scent that's nice for spring.

Edited March 8, 2016 by sunlitgarden

[ShunnerOfHugs]

I love The Dormouse! On me it smells like flowers and sugar, with just a tiny bit of tea that I only notice when I'm not looking for it.

 

The Dormouse is very light. I put quite a bit on, but I can only smell it when I stick my wrist right under my nose. I doubt anybody else can smell it on me, but that's fine. I'm just glad I get to smell it.

 

EDIT: After about eight hours of wearing this, it's smelling less like flowers and a lot more like tea with milk and sugar. It still smells just as amazing, though. I definitely want to order a big bottle some time.

Edited March 29, 2016 by ShunnerOfHugs

[Mermaid-on-Land]

This is astringent strong tea right on application. I really love how strong the tea is! I was expecting it would be mostly florals with a light hint of tea, but no, it's very assertive in this. I mostly get green tea just because of the sharpness. It smells like wet tea leaves. The peony isn't overly floral, it actually blends quite well with the astringency of the tea. A strong hint of sharp soap comes in and out but I like soapy scents so I don't really mind, plus it goes away in like 5 minutes (that might be the bergamot everyone else noticed, it sometimes smells like soap on me). The herbs bring out the sharpness as well. I like this one, it's light but still has a bite to it. The color impression I get is pink and crystal clear, like looking at a pink flower through a glass block (weirdly specific). Unfortunately it seems to fade fairly fast on me *pouts*. Something in the dry down reminds me of the light white musk at the end of Embalming Fluid, but as far as light scents go I think I like this one better. Sadly though, like most light scents, the throw isn't very strong on me. Oh well, I'll definitely use the imp and I think it'll be good for really hot days this summer.

[Casablanca]

Lighter than feathers, this blend is a breath of sweet peony green tea that quickly takes a soapy turn on my skin, though the tea still leads. After a few minutes I get lemongrass, also.

 

 

The whole doesn't last more than a couple hours on me.

I don't see full-bottling this, but I'm glad I tried it.

[KezzieZ]

I got this perfume as a frimp in a Trading Post order I very recently received (I got two Mad Tea Party frimps; The Dormouse and The Knave of Hearts). I was especially interested to test this one since it was a recommendation from someone in the forum based on my personality.

 

In Bottle: It smells citrus-y, with tea in it. Maybe there's some lemongrass or lemon verbena among the herbs? I'll admit, I'm not sure what peonies smell like, but I think the citrus smell was somewhat overpowering any floral.

Wet on Skin: I think my skin is amping at least some of the teas. It also smells floral, which I assume is the peony, and much less citrus. I feel like I'm catching some herbs other than whatever that citrus smell was, but I'm uncertain of what kind. It's a pleasant scent. Very fresh and a bit light.

Approx. 1 Hour Later: I think the scent is a little sweeter now. It seems the peony and/or some herbs came a little further to the forefront (I'm thinking the peony in particular), though the tea is still definitely detectable. I'm not getting much of a citrus smell anymore and I feel that one of the herbs may be very faint mint. The scent overall is less "light" at this stage in my opinion, but I don't mean it as a negative.

 

------

 

I feel this scent won't last as long as, say, an earthier sort, but it's a nice scent if what you're looking for is fresh. Nice tea and green scents. Looking at the other reviews here, I'm a bit relieved it didn't turn to soap on me, at least on this first test of it. I haven't decided if I'll get a full bottle at some point, but I do know someone else is acquiring another imp for me (I didn't see the frimp coming), so I'll happily use up what I'll have. Besides, I'm curious about some other tea scents as well (namely Dorian).

Edited November 14, 2016 by KezzieZ

[roseus]

Been dying to try this! I get mostly white and green teas, very bright and clean. There is a little something lemony. The peony is very light. This is definitely something I would wear in the spring and summer months.

[lizabelle]

In the imp: Sort of a generic "clean" scent. Probably green tea and some citrus

 

On skin, wet: Tea, with maybe a touch of peony. I was just about to be disappointed with this one, but then...

 

On skin, dry: Wait a minute, it's bloomed! I've never tried a peony note before, to my knowledge, but it's gone creamy and light and exactly like a peony in real life. I adore peonies. The tea continues to do its thing in the background, but with the peony present it feels much more balanced. There's also something slightly lemony and tart in there...maybe even appley? It goes beautifully with the peony and makes me want to sniff again and again. The throw has even grown slightly as it's warmed to my skin, and I can easily picture myself wearing this all throughout spring.

[renfair]

I picked this imp out to come in a lot that I bought from a member on the FB sale group.

First Sniff Impression: Light, fresh, and green.

Wet in Vial: I can definitely get the herbs and the peony

Drying Down on Skin: This has a really nice "green" smell, like when I used to play outside in the summer. The peony adds a little sweetness to what would otherwise be a very herbal scent.

Dry on Skin: To me a second to figure out what this turned into, then I got it: Victoria's Secret Freesia lotion I had as a teenager in the 90's (which I loved, so it's a good thing!). It's definitely a light, purple-flower scent to me now. It's great!

Conclusion: This one was so nice, and it actually lasted to some degree all day. I haven't had a good "freesia" scent in forever, so it was nice to revisit it. I'll definitely be keeping an imp of this!

[achildoftime]

I adore this scent. I love tea scents so this had to be tried. I feel like I detect a green, white, and lemon tea with just a suggestion of peony. My gran had peonies growing in her garden and it does remind me of them a bit. This is such a perfect spring blend for me. It lasts for the better part of the day. It makes me unabashedly cheerful because it feels like such a carefree scent.

[Spaztic]

When I first put this on it's mostly peony and herbs, the tea starts to come out in the dry down and I love it

I mostly recognize some black & green tea

[sarandipitee]

I've now discovered I kinda dig peony. It's a floral that works well on my skin.

 

It's very nice here. It blends well with the tea (definitely a green and black tea here) and I'm enjoying the drydown.

 

Clean, citrus with the lightest floral touch.

 

Great for warm weather and for the day to day job.

[agirlnamedfury]

More floral than tea for me, and unfortunately I really don't like most florals. So this one is a no.

[mandragora369]

On my skin it starts with intensive peonies. As it dries down the tea and a herbal scent come forth. But during the dry down a soapy citrus smell emerges.

 

Stays on my skin a couple of hours, but just a faint floral scent.

This is an interesting scent although I'm no fan of florals. But I like peonies.

[whisperstilled]

Floral and sharp with tea in the background. It gets a soapy quality as it dries down, which possibly comes from the herbs and peony combo.