Velvet Teddy M∙A∙C 2016

I've received samples from Mac for the entire lipstick series and this is the only one I've liked to be honest, but I do like it a lot. It has very prominent notes of honey, tonka and tobacco, woody but in a very soft, delicious manner. Reminds of scented pipe tobacco smoke and old libraries. If you like TF tobacco vanille, you might want to try this one, it's very similar but with a kinder, more feminine touch.

I would *not* say this is a 'dupe' for TF Tobacco Vanilla, but it is related. The tobacco flower and Tonka Bean are more prominent here, and the added honey makes this a sweeter and more 'rounded' scent to me... where TV smells like straight-up Christmas, VT smells like what I expected tobacco + sweetness to smell like. It's absolutely not worth the insane prices people are asking for it right now, but if you hang in there and get a bottle for less than $100, I think it's a great buy. I can't wait to wear it in the end of summer and into fall - like others have noted, it's a spiced sweet chai. Yum!

When I was a teenager, it was a treat when my mom brought home a six pack of Henry Weinhard's Root Beer, it being considered quite fancy compared to, say, A & W in cans. This is the olfactory equivalent - honey, vanilla, and I suppose it's the tobacco notes stepping in for sassafras. It smells like fancy root beer. This is not a bad thing.

I wear it for the nostalgia factor and because I guess I like to smell like fancy root beer sometimes.

First scent to reach the nose is cedar.

The feeling of just having changed the guinea pig cage and watching the little creatures run around with a spring in their step because someone cares enough to clean their room.

Second scent would have to be honey.

In measured dose, the honey reaches the nose to envelope me in the sensual feeling of sweetness.

Third scent would be the tobacco.

Reminding me of the sweet smell of pipe tobacco, reminding me of wise men who smoke pipes and older leatherbound books in a library.

I don't know why anyone wouldn't love this, however I do.

A dear person brought me the scent from Ireland, as the MAC Shadescents will only be available in Germany in February.

I was simply too curious, as I am a huge fan of honey scents, so I made a blind purchase and what can I say?

This fragrance has one of the most authentic honey notes I have ever smelled - it truly smells like wild honey. My best friend always raves about the MAC Africanimal, which was once part of a limited edition, and that was also said to be a fabulous honey scent. For me, Velvet Teddy even knocks Reminiscence Tonka out of the running, and that says a lot!

Velvet Teddy excites me 100%! I am very curious about the other 5 Shadescents.