non_boingy

Note: Limited release perfume oil; atmosphere spray review topic located here. The last fleeting moments of sunset, casting a perfect, magical, golden light across a damask-adorned dining room, bathing a father and daughter in an enchanted glow. This is a beautiful amber vanilla--very true to the atmo spray, but on the skin it does blossom into something slightly more floral--maybe vanilla orchid? It reminds me a lot of a slightly cleaner and dryer Celeste. There is also a backing of spice when it initially goes on wet. I think this is what the reviews of the atmo spray are picking up on when they say "resinous" but to me is it definitely a spice--a little cinnamony, a little cardamomy, but a warm spice to be sure. It's a Christmas/baked goods vibe, but it burns off on me quite quickly on the drydown. The throw is quite subtle and stays close to the skin. I could imagine this being a good scent to wear in an office or professional setting when you still want to feel a bit feminine--it's not a screaming floral or a sugary candy-frosting vanilla, but a beautifully blended and subtle Your Skin--But Better! scent. I was really worried I wouldn't need this AND Celeste, but I can't get enough of these warm vanillas, and I think they do differ in a numbr of ways! It is definitely extremely fitting as a "golden" scent--it makes me think of lazy Sunday afternoons in early fall, sipping coffee and reading snuggled up with the cats on the couch.

Initial thoughts--this is definitely a winter forest. I'm not getting a pure snow note (it's less intense than Mud-mingled Boot Slush, for example, or Skadi), but there's definitely something cold about it. The pine is not Christmas-tree pine but a very fresh, crisp, almost lemony pine--like you've crushed the needles between your fingers. It is bracing for sure, like drawing in a big breath of crisp air while camping. There's a sweet note that reminds me a lot of Autumn Lace as well--leaves, maybe? But not the dirty green-pepper smell I often get from the Lab's leaves notes. I generally avoid their "dead leaf" note but this is so pretty, and I like the one in Autumn Lace too. It's sweet, not musty or dusty. It makes me think of being at my roommate's family's cabin up in the Cascades. L O V I N G this!

When I lived in India, my landlord grew what he called Night Queen jasmine bushes. They were tiny fragrant white blossoms that smelled fresh and green and were wonderful when wrapped around a wrist or worn in the hair. I used to sit on the roof of my boarding house just smelling their fragrance in a cool summer breeze--some of my fondest summer memories. I found out that what's usually called Night Queen here in the US refers to night-blooming jasmine, but none of the night-blooming jasmine or "Night Queen" jasmine scents I tried were at all like that slightly green, fresh jasmine I smelled in India--they were either too heady or too indolic. Apparently Winter Jasmine is an entirely different brand of jasmine entirely, but upon opening my bottle I almost burst into tears because *this* was the perfectly captured scent of my landlord's garden. In the bottle, wet, and on the drydown the scent remains a true fresh jasmine, not headache-inducing or screeching but very close to the skin, fragrant, and beautiful. There is a hint of greenness to it that makes it a lot more wearable than the pure white floral I usually associate with jasmine, and it has a little less throw than I would normally get from a jasmine scent. All of this is fine by me, as it really does give that "scent of jasmine on a cool wind" vibe I've been looking for! I would highly recommend this as a "jasmine for people who don't like jasmine," since it's so soft compared to other jasmines like night-blooming or jasmine sambac. After two not-so-great SN experiences with Tagetes and Rose of Sharon, I am so, so happy I own this now!

In the bottle, and initially on my skin, this is a beautifully creamy vanillaed rose--reminiscent of Pink Snowballs, but a bit heavier on the rose. The vanilla just slightly gilds the rose and rounds it out--it truly is "tinged." I'm not 100% sure what bois de rose smells like, but there is some slight powderiness there as well. I'm not sure if that is the bois de rose or the vanilla. On the dry-down, however, this goes flat-out Off! bug spray. I've been having this difficulty with some of the less-green BPAL roses lately, like Peacock Queen and La Milagrosa. I know some others have a problem with those scents as well, so it may be one to avoid if you find those scents hard to wear. I do have a friend who will love this, though, so Between Your Heart, with its pretty Victorian gentility, need not languish on my shelf forever! <3

Like Lycanthrope, I expected this to be a loud, strong tropical a la the Tiki scents, but instead this is a very soft and feminine fruity floral that remains very close to my skin. I do not get any ginger at all. I definitely can detect the same guava note that is in Golden Wave, but it is much less "brighter" than GW--I wonder if it is the tobacco that does that? Unlike the juicy mango of Nymphia, the mango in SCDLH is considerably less present, sort of rounding the edges of the guava and making it creamier. Thankfully I don't get any green pepper-type notes that I sometimes get from the sea salt! I love my tropical scents but am sometimes afraid to wear them on the bus/to class because of how heavy the throw usually is on me and the boozy notes. This is just soft enough that it will be totally wearable, but still give me that same summery, feminine feel. This is a total hit!

I love Scherezade--any nag champa/spicy scents are like a cozy sweater to me. I also love Golden Champa Attar!

Kyoto, Shanghai, and Pele are floral scents that I think would be lovely for school--they're light and unobtrusive, which might be useful when you're crammed in with a bunch of people, like I was in school! In high school I myself often wore Sudha Segara, which is a creamy honey-ginger. It's more "foody" than the other floral scents I've recommended. Oooh, and on me at least, Bengal smells like a fresh cinnamon roll! For scents that convey a smoke scent *without* being cigarette smoke, maybe try Hanerot Halalu ("Olive oil, beeswax, and smoke") or the aforementioned Light's of Men's Lives. Both of them are beeswaxy smoke--a sweet, honeyed smoke that doesn't suggest cigarettes or anything illicit at all.

Try Sudha Segara! Again, not explicitly "floral" but very feminine. The honey note is especially prominent and it feels confident but sensual. I think other blends along those lines include Scherezade, Morocco, and Queen of Sheba. You might also like Arise, Lift Up Thine Eyes and See from the most recent round of Lupers, which has champaca flower (the flower used in nag champa incense) so it's definitely a floral that has an incensey kick! Also, if you can find it, Great Vampire Bat is great!

When I studied abroad in India, my host mom used to burn a very specific kind of champaca incense on her home shrine. We lived in a small apartment and the incense used to perfume everything--our clothes, our hair--until we were walking around in a cloud of scent. I really loved my host mom, and so whenever I smelled that particular kind of incense, even when I wasn't in the apartment, I associated it with her warmth and kindness. When I got back to the US I wasn't able to get the incense she liked so I tried to recreate the scent via perfume. Scherezade did the trick for a while, but Arise, Lift Up Thine Eyes and See is, for me, almost EXACTLY like the incense. On me it smells like a softer Scherezade, but it has a distinct nutmeggy undertone. I think the vanilla is what's causing the softness--I don't really get any chamomile but I'm not completely sure what a "chamomile" note smells like! I don't think it's wearable for everyone (it is, as others have stated, very headshoppy) but blu is right when she says it "smells of India." For me it's a very lovely, evocative scent of a wonderful woman who was present throughout a very life-defining and important time in my life, and I'm glad I got to try it!

I wish I could love this, because the scent description is so beautiful! Unfortunately all I get in the imp and when I first apply it is pure Windex, and on the drydown I get about fifteen minutes of the lovely smoke and orange scent every else is talking about before it goes right back to Windex again.

I am absolutely obsessed with this! It's hard for me to pick out any one note other than vaguely "fruity tropical" but WHAT a fruity tropical! I think what I'm getting is mostly passionfruit with a breath of pineapple, but it's warm and lovely and the coconut doesn't verge on suntan lotion like it sometimes can--it really just smells like how a favorite cocktail in an island tiki bar would smell. I don't get any vanilla at all. I can't stop smelling my wrist, and it's perfect for the upper-70s weather we've been having here in Ohio lately. Soooooo glad I got my hands on a bottle!

I LOVE Golden Wave and Santa Eularia Des Riu. They both bloom wonderfully in the heat and convey two different "beachy" sort of scents--Golden Wave is warm and tropical, while Santa Eularia Des Riu is soft and Mediterranean!

Those are both great ideas! I prefer Kitsune-Tsuki to Kumiho in terms of scent, but they're both excellent. Also, I don't think you could get it in time for your con, but Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit would be great for this character too!

I bought a whole bottle of this mainly for the label art, which I get a kick out of, but as an aquatic lover, I'm incredibly pleased with this! Like everyone else, this is an aquatic that smells a lot "greener" to me than most--certainly more so than Octopus, which I love but is like a salty blast in the nose, or Cthulu, which verges on Windex on me. I'm not very good as describing notes, but I think it must be the oakmoss and green musk that keep it so soft and vegetal. There's a little hint of peachy nectarine just at the end of the scent, too. As this settled on my skin is smelled really similar to the smell of clean laundry--sort of cottony and fresh. This will be a great hot-weather scent!

On me, this is a beautiful predominantly honeyed floral. It does go through a stage when it's wet where it's almost entirely honey with very little mimosa or amber--that was just almost too sweet for me, but after a couple of hours the slightly powdery amber tempers the honey and makes it drier and much more wearable. It's an incredibly warm, comforting scent, and I think it would end up working pretty well as a cold-weather scent too! Absolutely gorgeous and I'm glad I have a bottle!