Midway

[rayvn1]

A bombardment of edible carnival indulgences. Funnel cake, caramel apple, cotton candy, salt water taffy and sugar tart.

Sugary goodness! I've tried the original and resurrected over the last few days and haven't noticed a great deal of difference between the two. I'm starting to appreciate the lab's sweet scents and this is a great one! Sugary, salty, and yummy with light throw.

Edit to add scent description Edited July 30, 2009 by rayvn1

[Venneh]

In the tester that I got in a recent swap from Devilot (thanks!), it's this really sweet, vauge sort of scent. Can't get any specific notes out of it. There's enough for a thumb test, and it's still that really vague sweet scent. Nothing I really need or want more of, so I think someone will probably want a tester of this.

[brwnpaperhag]

Weird. For a long time I wanted this to be my perfect HG scent, but now that I'm actually testing it, it's just not for me.

 

I get the musky sugar from Velvet Unicorn, with the basked goodness from Boo...and then, under it all, is a weird green scent. Like the one in Strawberry Moon 09. It's only happening on my right arm, which makes me think it's just the blend, but still. It's making the yumminess go plasticky on my skin, which has never happened with a foodie scent on me before. Also, all this mishmash of smells makes it a cheap Love's Philosophy.

 

So so sad.

[Invidiana]

This is deeeeeeelicious. It reminds me exactly of walking through a midway at the fair with funnel cakes and zeppolis frying, mounds of cotton candy and an undercurrent of caramel. Major YUM.

[DeltaCat]

The main note I get is caramel popcorn. Followed by funnel cake. Then cotton candy. Why or why did I discover this now?!?!?!

[fieryredhead]

I got a 1/2 bottle of the original version on ebay which turned into a 1/4 bottle due to the seller not closing the lid all the way.

 

Light & sweet & very foody I wasn't sure I liked this when I first put it on. It grew on me quite a bit; a scent that made me good enough to eat but wouldn't make me sick after if you know what I mean. unfortunately the throw was very light; maybe I need to apply heavier but with only 1/4 a bottle I don't know if I'll be able to make myself do that!

[TulaMontage]

Original Midway

 

In the bottle it's salty vanilla water. Not what I was expecting at all!

 

On my skin it's a very light popcorn vanilla, quite sweet and lighthearted.

 

Dry, it's almost gone. My skin eats this up. Look out for an original bottle of midway in the swaps section people!

 

Miday res

 

In the imp this is just like the original with an extra jolt of sugar, MUCH more to my tastes It's got more atmosphere and depth than the original. Perhaps age is not a great thing with some scents?

 

Wet this is sweet and sugary vanilla popcorn. LOVE ITTTTT!

 

Drying down, exactly the same, with a sprinkle of salt. It's got great staying power and throw. I adore this

 

 

[misscoldheart]

This is a review for the Original Midway.

 

In the bottle it does smell sweet, and I get a bit of coconut?? but not as strong or complex as I was thinking. My husband LOVED it when he sniffed it, saying it was one of the best BPALs he had smelled so far! (I"m always bugging him like "...sniff this!"

 

Once I put some of it on I got the cotton candy right away, with the candy apple, I think. Whatever the cake note is, it's really awesome and not gross like some of the BPAL cake notes I've tried in the past. It really does smell just like a funnel cake!! The salty note is there as well...And after a while, everything melds together and smells sort of like a melty chocolate bar or something. So awesome!!

 

Sadly, it's been a while since I was at a fair midway, but nonetheless I really love this one and will certainly compare it to the state fair later this season!! LOVE.

[cherrycherry]

A review for original Midway --

 

Okay, so now I understand all the comparisons with Velvet Unicorn. Good God, this is one delicious and gourmand blend. I am so glad that I finally tracked a bottle down and persuaded my husband to treat me to it. The throw is spectacular and it just lasts and lasts for hours. I put the smallest dab on before taking my brother to the fair the other night and I could still smell it wafting from my throat and hair when we got home. I seriously wish that this scent could be brought back in some way to the regular catalogue as everyone deserves to try this. Absolutely beautiful.

[ltrittipoe]

This is for the Res. version, got it in a swap today and am SO EXCITED

 

 

When I first put it on, it smells so familiar. It took me about an hour to place it - CREAM SODA!! The exact vanilla fizz scent of the sweet cream soda I drank as a kid (that kind was Nehi, but I think it pretty much all smells/tastes the same).

 

Now that I've had it on for a couple hours, if I huff my wrist close, I do get a funnel cake/donut/salty popcorn blend under the cream soda.

 

This is absolute, pure love.

[blu°]

Not usually into foody smells, but Midway is one of the great exceptions. It's not tooo sickly sweet, and it doesn't have any of those horrid caramel, brown sugar, honey or strong cream notes. Somehow, it's in between a foody and a skin scent for me. It also stays pretty close to the skin. Some random qualifiers: mild, sweet, soft, shining surface of a piece of amber or some hard candy... that last one is true. This has no powderiness at all, and also little throw. I often imagine structures to define scents, and this has a smooth, maybe even lacquered, shining surface. It really has a lot of similarity with a creamy hard candy... like Werther's Echte or something like that.

[sarandipitee]

This was a heartbreaker.

 

Midway (original) does not love me. At all.

 

Just like Snow White, Egg Nog and other foody scents this stuuff goes to straight up plastic funkiness on me. The sweet caramel sugary goodness is there, very faintly but unfortunately it's completely overwhelmed by the greasey, plastic burnt sugar smell that wins out.

 

Sigh. Off the to swaps to someone who will love Midway more (and who doesn't have whacked out skin chemistry like I do).

 

ETA: After about an hour of wear, it does lose the majority of the plasticky-burnt smell and settles into a really, sweet foody delight. But I can't handle the initial stage, so it's still off to swaps land.

Edited April 20, 2011 by sarandipitee

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I found a bottle of the original Midway (finally!)

 

I can see the comparisons to Velvet Unicorn since they are both white fluffy gourmand scents. VU is more of a pink lemony marshmallow fluff where this is funnel cakes with powdered sugar, taffy and cotton candy. I think it's a lot closer to Boo. I smell light salty popcorn if I smell my wrist very close in the beginning but the overall scent is heavily powdered sugar funnel cakes.

 

AMAZING.

[milo]

This is for the original version. I swapped away my resurrected version back in the day, because I wasn't too fond of foody scents. Well, tastes can change, and I discovered that I loved foody scents on other people, so I wanted to try this one again. This is pretty much how I remembered the resurrected version, and true to the description. Delicious deep-fried funnel cake, caramel, (though I can't say I get any apple), a touch of marshmallow, and a bit of salt, which I don't remember getting in the resurrected version. I get a faint muskiness here as well, and it also lasts longer. But the two are pretty similar. I'm glad I have the imp now to enjoy, as I (very) occasionally don't mind smelling foody.

[Honey]

No idea what version I am reviewing here.

 

Imp: Omg, sugar and toffee and caramel! That's cotton candy and candy apples right there! Really nice sugar that does NOT smell burned or rancid. Sticky sweet and yummy!

 

Wet: Straight greasy-sweet funnel cake and toffee and cotton candy!

 

Dry: This reminds me a lot of Storyville, and it is so different from most of the BPAL sugar blends. Nothing burned or rancid, just fried funnel cake and cotton candy and toffee. Lovely and mouthwatering!

[neverything]

in bottle: Sweet buttery sugar. Slightly less than average throw.

 

wet: Funnel cake comes out first. Not too sweet. Not much throw.

 

drydown: A comforting, warm, delicious scent of honey and pastry and sugar. Best when smelled indirectly. Not much throw at first, but gets stronger as the scent gets sweeter.

 

verdict: Once this gets going, it smells AMAZING. There aren't words to express how much I love this scent. If I could only have one BPAL, it would probably be this one.

[Incendiare]

I was able to snag the Res'd version on eBay. I don't know if my nose is broken, but this barely has any scent in the bottle. Mind you, I've had others smell this too and they've all said that they could barely smell anything in the bottle. Maybe like a soft waft of a liqueur-filled chocolate but that's it. It actually smells really nice at this point but I just wish the scent were a lot more palpable. A lot more comes out once I slather this on my wrist. It turns slightly plasticky on me wrist and seriously has an Aveeno lotion element to it, which I actually like but is just weird in this situation. To me, it's like a cross between a chocolate fudge candle and Aveeno lotion. It stays the same on me from here on out. I'm going to have to try it in my scent locket since I like it in the bottle. Overall, I love foodie blends but this one is a disappointment. I just don't see the hype, and sadly get no sugar nor cotton candy nor funnel cakes, etc.

[angelamaria]

In bottle: sweet, foody cake, caramel apples, vanilla, sweet syrup that makes me think my teeth will rot just smelling it! Yum.

 

Wet on skin: syrupy, thick sugar, and a hint of vanilla-ey cake. The throw is surprisingly light, or my skin is eating all this goodness up. What I can get is the same as the bottle scent. Yummy, full-on foody.

 

Dry: now where did that come from? It's turned plasticky on my skin, though there is no explicit cream note listed, but whatever the lab uses for its cream note, they have it here too. It did build in presence dry on my skin than wet, although it still feels curiously light on my skin in comparison to what I expected from the bottle. What IS there, is yummy creamy sweet sugary cake (well, ignoring the plastic).

 

Verdict: well, I don't wear foody scents, but I was really excited to try this nonetheless. Sadly, that cream/plastic note just makes sure that this won't be a keeper.

[Quiet_Owl]

I've discovered that I am a total foodie scent lover, so I needed to have a bottle of Midway! I searched far and wide, and after losing 4 eBay auctions for it, I finally won a full 5ml of the original. Wahoo! I tried it out yesterday and today, so here are my thoughts!

 

I was so excited to unwrap the bottle and check it out, but a bit nervous at the same time because I was hoping I wouldn't be disappointed. Finally freed the bottle from the cage of bubblewrap - the label is so cute! Unscrewed the cap, took a big sniff...oh, no...I think I made a mistake!

 

In the bottle: All I'm picking up is old, greasy popcorn. It smells pretty gross. I carefully rolled the bottle to see if some of the oil had seperated, but the floor of the movie theatre smell prevails. I'm not getting any sugar, no apple, nothing! I'm not even wanting to try this on my skin, but I have to give it a fair shot.

 

On my skin: Applied a very small drop from a pipette to my left wrist, rubbed wrists together. A few seconds in, still smelling greasy. Then...wait a minute...things are getting interesting! I can smell sweetness! Like powdered sugar and taffy! Not picking up any of the apple still, but it's starting to smell sugary and yummy. Deciding to try it in my scent locket as well!

 

In my locket: Applied 3 drops from a pipette. The greasy smell opens everything up, but after an hour or so I am getting the most delicious scent! I don't go to fairs often, (so not much authentic Midway experience!) but living on the coast I visit the boardwalk all the time in the summer, and this smells exactly like the boardwalk! I can now smell the sweetness of the funnel cakes, their powdered sugar, the taffy, and the salt smell reminds me of the ocean. This is wonderful!

 

Drying down: On my skin I'm getting tons of deliciousness now! I am so happy I gave this a chance, it is amazing how true-to-life this scent is! There's lovely soft sweetness, with a bit of a salty scent humming underneath. Cannot stop sniffing my wrist!

 

In my locket: Does not really dry down, but the longer I wear the locket, I'm getting a coconut smell, too! Like sunscreen! I keep getting whiffs of something at my desk, and I'll think "Mmmm, what smells so good?!" It's me and my Midway!

 

This has amazing lasting power and good throw on me as well - I didn't refresh my locket this morning, and I'm still smelling the yuminess!

 

A new absolute favorite for me - I'll have to carefully ration it since I only have 1 bottle!

Edited July 3, 2012 by Quiet_Owl

[zombiewench]

I was able to snag a bottle of Resurrected!

 

I LOVE this one. To me, it smells exactly like a faire! It's VERY much funnel cake and salt on me, with just a few hints of cotton candy and caramel apple.

 

It stays very close to my skin though, I will need to try it in a locket whenever I get my hands on one of those. For now however, I will just get strange looks as I continue to sniff my wrist!

[littlebeky]

I won Midway off of ebay recently for a very decent price (which I am so glad for because it wound up not being my absolute favorite out of all the bottles I won!).

 

In the bottle it smells like soft slightly burnt coconut marshmallows? Or coconut cotton candy? Either way, I get a coconut note.

 

On my skin wet it is the same, just the coconut is a bit less while the cotton candy/sugar scent comes forward.

 

On my skin dry it fades down to baked goods and cotton candy but it is very faint and disappears quickly.

 

I was hoping this would be a bit different but I still like the scent and I want to give it another shot in a few days. Not sure if even though it is an old aged bottle if I should let it settle a bit after shipment.

[welcometothefamily]

In the Bottle: Veeeery faint caramel. Hmm.

 

Wet: Holy caramel ice cream! Seriously, I'm craving Cadbury's caramello ice cream! Maybe a hint of fried donuts....very faintly. Or that might just be because I have a plate of home made fried donuts sitting on the table in front of me.

 

Drydown: Caramel ice cream with candy floss. Turns vaguely powdery....powdered sugar?

 

Verdict: This is nice, but not for me. It's just a little too sweet and single-faceted. On wonky days, this has the potential to give me a sugar-induced headache. I can see why everyone loves it though!

 

3/5

[The Poison Queen]

Absolutely stunning. Pure cotton candy to me, in the bottle, on my skin. This is a marvelously perfect cotton candy, I am SO thrilled to have a bottle. Not a lot of throw, a very close to skin scent, but pure spun sugar to me. I LOVE this.

[MiasmaResonance]

For the original version.

Yummy, yummy, yummy! This is fried dough and cotton candy! I am in foodie paradise... 5/5.

[icecreamcone]

I recently got ahold of a 2007 bottle of Midway (Resurrected).

I like it, it smells like a mix of Sticky Pillowcase and possibly Yule Cookies together (or another buttery/brown sugar scent).

It doesn't have much throw and doesn't last very long, but I can see why it has a cult following.

Edited December 26, 2022 by icecreamcone