The Dormouse

[AmyAngel]

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

 

 

The Dormouse: In the imp, this smells like tea! This is one of the most pleasant “in the imp” scents I've tried. On, more tea! It quickly becomes tea with a touch of lemon, and a few minutes after that becomes tea with lemon on a table (dressed with a crisp linen tablecloth) beside a vase of flowers. I guess that's the peony. I'm not really getting much herb, unless my nose is lumping them in with the tea or flowers. This is really feminine and pretty, and reminds me a lot of White Linen, which I used to wear sometimes. It has decent throw, I went shopping right afterward and would occasionally get whiffs of it, and sitting at the computer I can definitely tell I have it on. It's not badly strong, but not wimpy either. I've had it on for only an hour and a half, so I'll have to see how much longer it lasts.. My sister thought it was pretty as well.

 

After 2 and a half hours and two handwashings, it's still there though not as strong as it was. It's still the same and hasn't changed really.

 

Very, very pretty. Not first on my bottle list, but I'll definitely try to keep an imp of it around. I think it will be good for dress-up occasions, especially in the Spring.

Edited February 1, 2007 by AmyAngel

[filigree_shadow]

At first it smells like sweet tea, but then the herbs kick in and it starts to smell like cut grass. Pretty grass, but still too grassy for me. It's also kind of aquatic too, for some reason -- not like the usual aquatic, but sort of dewy.

Edited February 15, 2007 by filigree_shadow

[The_Merf]

I was really excited about this because of the peony, but I did not smell a floral note once, from sniffing the imp to drydown. This was all teas, with a slight herbal edge that emerged on drydown. The teas were light teas as well, and light tea notes tend to go a bit wonky on my skin much like light musks do (unless there's something else there). Much to my disappointment, this one went off to swaps.

[Medici]

In the imp: Lemon tea. Slight citrus kick, with a hint of sweetness.

 

Wet: Flower petal tea? The citrus quality morphs into something that reminds me almost of green tea. It's got a slight herbal edge to it - but very slight.

 

Drydown: Cool green tea with a hint of lemon.

 

Verdict: Dorian, as a tea scent, tends to smush everything else with tea in it into oblivion with my chemistry. If the Dormouse were a bit creamier, less herby and a tad sweeter, I think I might've had a winner.

 

Unfortunately, this scent's a little too cool for my taste. Very refreshing, though. I can see myself wearing this on particularly muggy summer days when the humidity becomes unbearable.

 

3/5 on Medici's Scale o' Lurve

[CiCi]

Tea and herbs with a slight floral, feint, so light as to be an after thought. Was she here, or not? Much better after the dry down.

[Shitow_Haruka]

first sniff: a fresh airy field with the sweetness of blooming flowers in the near distance.

 

wet: mmm...one of theose teas is definitely a green one. The peony isn't as sweet as the one at my parents' house, but I think it's the teas that are taking the edge off the sweetness.

 

dry: a crisp, refreshing tea scent. The peony adds a bit of sweetness. Unfortunately it didn't last more than a bit over three hours on me. Maybe it will last longer in a locket?

 

I expected this to be a spring scent because of the peony, but instead it's early summer for me. The mix of teas reminds me of the smell of new-mown hay. It's still green, but the sun is starting to bake it a bit; they'll probably be able to bale it this afternoon.

[Schnax]

This is an incredibly light scent. A little sweet, and a little floral. It really doesn't remind me of tea, which is a shame because I love to drink green and white teas.

 

After an hour mousey had completely disappeared. I reapplied, and this time added some to my hair. That has helped with the staying power; the second application was about two hours ago. It's still barely-there, though. I don't think this could be overpowering on me unless I upended the imp over my head.

 

Not my favourite scent, but I'll probably hang onto the imp for fresh spring days or summer music festivals.

[porcelina]

In the imp: Dormouse smells like lemon tea. I don't get any peony, sadly.

Wet: No more tea. LEMONS

Dry: Quickly fading lemons.

 

It's a very fresh, tart, sweet kinda lemon, like lemonade. Sometimes lemon cookies. Definitely not dish soap lemon. It's nice, but not for me- it fades too fast

[lanablade]

In the Imp- Flowery herbs. It smells vaguely familiar, but I can't place it. Very soothing. Kinda reminds me of a spa.

 

Wet- Herbs and just a bare hint of tea. It's hard to find the tea note, but something is mellowing the herbs a bit.

 

Dry- As it dries, the most beautiful sweet soft floral note comes out, balancing the herbs. Still having a hard time finding tea. I recognize what it reminds me of now. One of those wall plug-ins. Only this one is much prettier. It doesn't last too long, but it's really nice while it does. A very close to the skin scent. The throw is subtle sweet floral and very faint. I'm surprised by how much I like this, but I'll probably not need more than an imp.

[astarinel]

In the imp, it was very strongly peony and I only started to smell the teas sort of after the peony was done assaulting me.

 

After I put it on, however, the peony started to behave and stayed sweet and light, floating above the crisp teas. I really, really like it.

 

It does tend to fade a bit quickly, particularly the peony, leaving me with a weak primarily-tea scent after a few hours. I would probably want to reapply, since the sweet peony smell is something I like very much about the scent.

 

As a note: After loving the Dormouse so, I picked up an almost-full 5ml off eBay that was probably reasonably old, as it came in a blue bottle rather than amber. When I opened to sniff, I was absolutely SCARED -- where was my fresh sweet peony? However, I steeled myself and put it on and within a few minutes it had returned to the Dormousey goodness that I loved, and, in fact, it seemed to have BLENDED a bit better. The peony and teas were more together rather than layered. I'm not sure if that makes sense.

 

In any case, I wanted to warn anyone who bought aged Dormouse not to be scared off by the very-different bottle smell. It calms down quickly and all is well.

[juniperus]

bottle: light and herby without being sharp

wet: the same..this reminds me somewhat of Mantis, but gentler

dry: I can catch hints of the peony now, this is very gentle, very pretty, and floral without being flowery.

later: so gentle, delicate..almost yesteryear wistful, in a way, and although I'm keeping it for myself I think it'll end up with Miss Emma...it's innocent.

[Neely]

In the bottle: melon and tea. Melon??? hmmm maybe the peony is registering as melon to my nose.

 

Wet: crisp green melon sitting in a bowl on a table laden with fine china a white linen tatted tablecloth and a silver tea set. A vase of peonies sitting to the center of the table. Ohhh I like this very much.

 

Dry down: still the same as when wet.

 

30 minutes: unfortunately my skin is eating this up. all that remains are the peonies. The melon has been eaten, the tea drank. But I don't mind reapplying.

 

Conclusion: I have loved every MTP I have had the priviledge of trying save one and that wasn't a hate just a meh. I intend to try them all. Beth you rock!

 

Rating 1-5: on my skin this is a 4 due to it fading so quickly on me.

[Tal Shachar]

In the imp, I thought I smelled apple or honeydew melon, but it morphed into the peony on my skin. Floral, light and very pretty. It smells like a more high-rent version of this drugstore green tea scent that I liked when I went to prom in high school, so I associate it with that time. Later, the fruit comes back if I sniff very carefully, but the note is kept well in line by the florals.

 

Alas, I smelled no grass or greenness--none of what I smell when I put my nose in a box of tea, only the smell of tea perfumes.

[sabina_k]

Imp: Soap!

 

Initial application: Soap!

 

Drydown: Green tea and lemon scented SOAP.

 

I don't know what it is... I was looking forward to this once, but it does NOT work on me at all. I like tea scents, but something about this one just totally failed to work for me. It also took a lot of oil, comparitively, to make this broadcast- it's a pretty light scent.

[Iceblink]

Ooh, I love this one. It's one of the more delicate, light oils I've tried that actually has some staying power, too. Soft lemony tea, and the peony note is beautiful. I wear this one when I want to smell good but don't want to risk overpowering anyone in close proximity.

[500ml]

So far all the imps I've tried out from the Mad Tea Party have worked on me and I had expected the Dormouse to be the same... Alas, it is not meant to be. The scent really isn't bad, but it reminds me too much of expensive toilet freshener and is just too light and frolicky for me. I'm afraid I get no tea, just the light floral/lemony notes. I have to say though that for a light oil this really does have some staying power.

 

I think this would work marvelous as a house perfume for my apartment (in my oil burner or a few drops on the filter of my hoover), but as a perfume it's simply not for me.

[Rchll]

Bottle: shampoo, with a flowery background. Alas, I can’t pick out the teas at all.

 

Self wet: flowers jump to the front, more soapy than sweet. Strong throw and still no tea that I can tell. Slightly citrus as it dries, maybe that is what is making me think shampoo. And for some reason I just smelled fresh grass. It is certainly light, herbal and sweetish, but it is also pretty soapy on me. Not horrible but I just can’t justify putting this on when all it mimics is a good scrub. And then it becomes just this side of headache inducing.

 

Late later: still smell like shampoo. The floral has mellowed some, but the soapiness has not left the skin. Reapplying to see if it gets better makes me smell like fresh cut grass and soap. This is now headache inducing, going to go wash with real soap.

 

Next day: shampoooo

 

Overall: I wanted to like this, after all I love tea. But it is far too soapy on me.

[La Soldier]

I get peony and white tea from this. a little disappointing, I wanted more tea and less floral. that's my own fault, though. it smells really light and is a good everyday scent.

[stardreamer]

First impression: Tea!

 

Fresh on: Tea, tea, and more tea. Not that this is any surprise. :-) Something a bit citrusy underneath (lemongrass, maybe?) but mostly just tea.

 

Drydown: Stays very true to the initial scent. I find tea scents in general to be relaxing and grounding, and this is an outstanding example. Never got anything floral out of it at all.

 

The only downside is that it doesn't last long; I've touched it up once, and both times it was nearly undetectable after about 4 hours. Admittedly, both of these intervals included errand-running in the heat; it might hold up better on a day when I was going to be mostly indoors.

 

Bottom line: I like it a lot, although the poor staying power is a minus. Not going to be a top favorite, but it's well worth keeping.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Peony! Ooh, this smells great, I'm not getting much of the herbs, but I can smell at least one tea note and lovely, lovely peony. I'm in love. I love tea notes and peony and I have a great relationship. I hope this stays true on my skin. I am a bit worried about the herbs.

 

On the wrist: Mmm, green tea and peony, this is fantastic. If this keeps up I'll need to buy several bottles of this! This is the quintessential spring scent, delicate peony carried by the wind to a tea party under a weeping willow. Nearby stream babbling serenely. Oh, love. This is so clean and beautiful, so delicate and natural and amazing.... Thank you Beth!

 

Dry: This one is a definite winner, it's possibly the best BPAL oil (for me) I have tried thus far. Dreamy and sweet, like a soft spring breeze, when all is right with the world and the only clouds in the sky are the big puffy ones that look like anything you can imagine them to be. I recommend this one to peony lovers and tea lovers!

[gailnilsson]

I love this one...very nice on me and the thing that puts it over to future big bottle purchase is that my DH actually said I smelled good while wearing it! He generally dislikes most perfumes I try. Anyway, this was one of the rare times (maybe three times, ever!) that he commented favorably on a scent. On me, it is fresh & bright.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Frimp from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: I like some tea scents, although the best success I've had so far with them has been Dorian on my husband

 

In the Bottle: Very light, very airy and springlike, very green.

 

Wet: The teas come out to play. Still a very, very light scent with no throw.

 

Drydown: The peony comes out and sweetens everything.

 

Verdict: It's a very nice, light and pretty scent, perfect for spring, but I'm not in love with it.

[jmchau]

I love this scent. I can actually smell the tea, and the sweet floral isn't overpowering the green herbaly scent.

 

This will go on my 'to buy' list

[willowtreeling]

wet--a teensy bit fruity--like apricots or apples or figs, but mixed with a green smell

 

 

dry--very fresh and green and herby and a wee bit shampoo-y but in a nice way....i feel very clean in this one!

 

 

Sadly, the scent is gone within minutes! stupid scent eating skin...it always does that to the ones i love....

 

i guess i will just love my imp and not go for a bottle:)

[Emera]

Cry. No tea for me. I got about half an hour of pure peony from this - which was nice, but, well, just peony - then it flatlined. I wish I had enough on this to write a longer review, but that's really all that happened!