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Moscow

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A rich, bold blend of imperial rose, carnation, lush jasmine, lily of the valley, dark musk, amber, bergamot and gilded tangerine.


On me, this is a really lovely well-blended floral. I'm actually surprised it works; the scents that have a lot of florals (Flower Moon) but no one dominating (like Spellbound does) don't usually work on me. However, this is an exception. I'm not getting any tangerine on this, which is good, nor much lily. I do smell rose, lavender, and jasmine. The rose and jasmine trade off for most prominent note. This is a very soft scent, a bit sexy but not too sexy to wear to work. I don't think it's very hot summer day, more warm summer evening. I won't get a big bottle of this, but I'll definitely use my imp when I want something a little softer than Spellbound.

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Sigh.

 

I got this because many of its notes (rose, lily, carnation, jasmine) are in my favourite commercial perfume (Bellodgia). But on me, this is all musk, musk, musk and something smelling a little like burnt rubber. How can this be? :P

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God I love florals. And this is such a classic floral to me. It's the most traditionally "perfumey" smelling oil I've smelled from BPAL, but it's not harsh or overwhelming like department store florals (Estee Lauder florals, for example - everyone shudder with me).

 

Even though I love me some florals, I've had issues lately with almost all the flower components in this. Rose by itself gives me a headache, jasmine is overwhelmingly strong, and carnation can make me feel a bit ill. This blend is so well balanced it's like all the best aspects of each of these somewhat problematic flowers have been brought out.

 

This is what I would wear when I have to go to a function where I have to play up the properly brought up young lady aspect of my personality. It's like an invisible reminder of propriety and class and grace.

 

Bottle. Maybe a big one.

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This scent is very delicate, and probably the most commercial smelling oil I've tried so far.

 

In the bottle it is all floral and just a little tangerine. I adore tangerine, so I was very excited to try this after a sniff. However, when I put it on, the tangerine disappears, never to be smelled again. *sigh* The musk and amber never showed up either.

 

I think my skin really amps up florals and, oddly enough, the carnation became the most dominant note on me. This was very nice for the first few hours, since the smell was soft, lovely carnation with little hints of lily of the valley and just a tiny bit of rose. However, at the four hour mark it turned into baby powder. After a reapplication, it was back to soft florals for the next seven hours.

 

I like the oil quite a bit, but I don't think it will be getting much wear. It's almost a little too delicate for me. It will be nice to break out on days when I just feel pretty.

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I mainly bought this for its name, being that one of my favorites songs is “Moskau (Moscow)” by Rammstein. The description sounded nice and I thought it would smell great.

 

Right away, this smells like bubble gum on me. I think it is the combination of the jasmine, tangerine, and lily of the valley.

 

While this dried down I kept getting whiffs of something that smells like OFF! DEET bug spray. Unfortunately, it remained this way after the dry down. I had to wash it off.

 

Tried this again for the second time. I get tangerine with an underlying jasmine note. OK, this smells better. I think I smell a bit of carnation. But as it dries down, it starts morphing into bug spray again. *Sigh* I really wanted this to work out. :P

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I may have a stuffed nose but the reek of jasmine can still cut through all the...stuff. I can smell rose too, but on the get go it's all about the jasmine. I think this'll be too jasmine-y for me to wear, although it's quite creamy so far as I can tell.

 

Hmm, well, it's very strong when first applied but on me, at least, seems to fade quite quickly. IT also goes a bit soapy in the later stages.

 

Overall this is quite nice if you like jasmine. I find the jasmine just about bearable, but it strays over into headache territory after a couple of minutes.

 

One for the swaps!

 

Oro

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In the Bottle or Imp:

Citrus, floral notes, jasmine and tuberose florals. Maybe a hint of powdery amber.

Wet, on Skin:

Lemon, very potent jasmine and a white, light and airy rose.

Drying Down:

Takes a turn for aquatic with that accursed lily soapy note that gets amped on my skin, but also detecting more tuberose and wisteria. Very watery, very fresh. Soft amber base holds the florals down.

Over Time/Longterm:

A lightly peppery, light floral. I think I detect a hint of fennel? Mostly lily at this point.

Final Verdict?

Very floral, a series of white flowers and lily. I was expecting a much colder scent, maybe a minty herbal, but this is pleasant an inoffensive. Very feminine, soapy fragrance. A mood or room scent for me, if I want to bring in a breath of flowers to a gray day.

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Moscow

Initial impression: Oh boy, jasmine alert. Feral flowers all over my arm - how I wish I'd saved this for the weekend.

There's something very familiar in this, a scent that makes the back of my nose contract - sort of woody and astringent ...what is that? I think it smells like...dry leather.

It's funny, I wouldn't necessarily have associated jasmine with Moscow - although I definitely understand amber and imperial rose. I guess I think of jasmine as being more warm-weather.

Unfortunately that's the note that is dominating, so I'm not smelling much of anything else.

 

1 hour later: On me, this smells just like jasmine oil that's leaked to the bottom of an old leather bag. It's just too much feral floral for me - but it would be great for someone who's a big jasmine single-note fan.

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Wet: A rich, sweet, golden, intensely floral scent accompanied by a hint of citrus. The tangerine oil isn't very strong, just an accent to the floral, like gold thread in a tapestry.

Dry: Jasmine is in the foreground, with all the other florals crowding behind it. It's hard to identify them separately because they're all harmoniously blended together. Sometimes I think I catch some lily of the valley, sometimes the rose, but it could just be my imagination. The tangerine disappeared quite early. This blend lasts quite a while on my skin, with a mostly jasmine scent slowly fading away with time.

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moscow

at first: wow. this is definitely bold. i was expecting something a bit sweeter, but this is just a big bunch of roses, jasmine, and lilies to my nose.

on: very interesting. i get the brightness of the tangerine and the softness of the musk, with a diverse floral bouquet behind it.

1.5 hours later: a bit sweet and just generally floral. i can't really pick any notes out.

overall: if this stayed the way it smells when wet, i'd probably keep it, but i don't need another floral blend.

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I can't remember what I was thinking yesterday when I testing the perfume, but I do remember thinking that there was a lot of musk and something I thought was dragon's blood or cherry. It must've been the carnation. I think what happened with the scent was that everything faded away except the musk. It was very musky. It made me think of a scent that was very leathery and musky (can't remember it), but without the leather. Yeah, just very musky. If I didn't make that clear enough the first time.

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Hmm. In the bottle, this smells almost exclusively of lily to me.

 

On application, I smell something sharp and clear, maybe tangerine?

Soon, a heavy note of jasmine is followed by even more lily.

 

Dry, all i can smell is the lily and jasmine. This is indeed a very white scent. It makes me think of a plantation house in Georgia, with an enormous garden full of white lilies. I think I expected Moscow to smell a little less floral and more... clear and icy, maybe?

 

Maybe I was just thinking it should smell like vodka. :P

 

Unfortunately, I'm not a big white floral person, but I can imagine a very feminine young lady wearing this and smelling divine.

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Bottle: Dry pine needles, orange (on the verge of overripe), rose and a hint of jasmine.

 

Wet, skin: Mostly rose/jasmine with hint of citrus (or bergamot). Very powerful floral--my skin always intensifies them. What's worse is my skin turns jasmine to cat pee--I was hoping this one would be different. But--Hint of cat pee--le sigh. It's hard to tell what else is under the rose/catpee, but I think there is a hint of vanilla? And a spicier floral than rose--carnation, perhaps? Still, it's mostly just floral-old lady-catpee.

Drying: Way to floral, no more citrus left. The good news is that the jasmine LOST! There is NO MORE CAT-PEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHeee! :P This is a first for me when it comes to jasmine blends. After about an hour it’s a light rosy scented floral powder, but I am beginning to smell a sweeter flower--the lilies, I think. And it really does feel like its got a little vanilla, even though that's not listed as a note. It's actually very pretty, and it lightened up a lot. It's slightly sweet with a nice balance of lily and rose, and that hint of "vanilla". Very pretty. It fades rather quickly, but is still very faintly detectable at 6 hours if I stick my nose right next to it.

Overall: Very lovely scent. Surprising after the jasmine scare. I quite liked it, though I was hoping to smell the tangerine (my skin apparently killed it). But I'm not a big floral girl, so I'm going to pass this on to someone who is.

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Urgh. This is so sour, soapy and unpleasant on my skin. It's a cheap, generic, white bar soapiness that gets stuck in your throat, sour jasmine and sharp rose, and intensely sour citrus. Heavy, sour, sharp, soapy floral disaster. In the drydown, the carnation adds a really unpleasant spiciness in this case. I had to scrub this one off after an hour.

Edited by Little Bird

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A really lovely, perfumey floral. The carnation, jasmine and lily probably stand out the most on me, a truly beautiful combination. My only complaint is that this one doesn't have much throw or strength. But then, that's the way it goes with my skin and most of the light, delicate florals. Beautiful, yet fleeting.

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Woe. I was really looking forward to this scent because rose and tangerine jumped out at me but all I get is soapy jasmine. :P and band-aid. :D

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All I could really smell of Moscow, whether in the imp, wet, or drying down, was amber incense of headache inducing strength. The florals were mustering an attempt to make their presence known, but the amber just drowned them all out on me.

 

I'm disappointed and a bit perturbed; this was my first BPAL with amber in it that I know of, and I'm really hoping that all amber scents don't do this on me. Not for me, at all.

 

Edited for crapola spelling.

Edited by LyndaM

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I didn't get much bergamot or tangerine from Moscow. Since this was part of my Rose Quest :::huzzah!:::, I was glad the rose didn't disappoint. Jasmine and rose dominated this fragrance on the small part of my wrist I dabbed Moscow on. It was a very nice floral, and although I enjoyed it, I don't think this will be something I would want a big bottle of.

 

Moscow is a very romantic scent. The floral was nice, and the rose didn't turn powdery on my skin. The dark musk was unobtrusive, and basically just enhanced the floral. I could really see this as a lovely, feminine room spray or diffused in a house. For me, though, it's one of those cases where you like the fragrance, but not on you. It's like putting on a shirt that is, admittingly, nice, but just doesn't suit your style.

 

-doreen

Edited by feline.by.design

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Very flowery. Wet, it is just gorgeous. The tangerine note comes out and blends well with the floral ones. On my skin the tangerine gets buried by the jasmine and rose and lilly. It's just a little too much of these flowery flowers for me. oh well.

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A nice scent, but as usual, the florals fail to fully succeed on me. On, it's got a strong, sharp white floral scent that I think of "perfumey" and which after a moment I realized is the lily-of-the-valley--reminds me of a perfume shop where my dad used to buy scents for my mom; I think he let me get a lily-of-the-valley perfume.

 

As it dries down the lily-of-the-valley fades away and I get more jasmine. Soapy, also as usual. Not much rose or anything else, really, and overall this scent has little to no throw or staying power on me. Despite its sharpness, I do like the lily-of-the-valley, but it fades so fast, and I'm not a big fan of jasmine, and overall this scent only comes out five minutes later if I stick my nose to my wrist. So, on my scale, a 2 out of 5.

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Moscow is very different than I was expecting. It is almost all musk and amber with a hint of carnation and something incredibly sweet-like honey sweet. It reminds me a lot of Morocco actually. It is heavy and rich and decadent, and sensual and I almost love it, but it is just a little too sweet for me.

 

(also, I never detected rose, tangerine, or jasmine at all)

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On my quest for a floral that doesn't go all wonky on me, I gave Moscow a shot.

 

Immediately the jasmine jumped out at me... it's overpowering. I decided to give the scent a chance to mellow more, hoping that like the other reviews before me, Moscow would become more complex...

 

Sadly, in the end all I could detect was jasmine and a hint of rose notes. :P Very pretty, but just not for me.

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In the bottle: Jasmine and tangerine, with other flowers in the background. This was love at first sniff, as soon as I smelled it, I knew it would work on me.

 

Wet: The tangerine goes slightly bitter - probably the bergamot coming out - while jasmine still sparkles around in the background with the other flowers.

 

Drydown: At first the jasmine dominates, but then the very creamy carnation comes out with the lily of the valley, and they form a wonderfully refreshing and lush bouquet - strangely I don't get any rose. By now the mandarin have completely faded to the background, making this mostly a floral scent. There is a musky background that adds sensuality to the scent.

 

Overall: A very bright, sweet and sensual floral, with a sharp edge to it, possibly from the lily of the valley or the citrus, which tones down the sweetness very well. It smells clean and white, like flowery snow, and can work as a spring bouquet just as much as a winter pick-me-up. Besides the lily note stays forever! I love it.

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