Sunflower

[shelldoo]

 

Sunflower, Egon Schiele.

Sunflower bouquet, black amber, creeping black moss, wilted greenery, and scorched, dry stems.

 

in the bottle:very very light, slightly floral

 

wet: sweet floral, slightly green

 

light sunny floral, w/ a very light burnt edge to it. almost like a photograph that is just curled and singed on the edge. this scent is just singed on it's edges. it is mostly a light fresh floral, with a hint of fresh greenery and the singed edges.

Edited September 15, 2007 by Shollin

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Several other Salon III scents are what I am calling "Clean Florals" which apparently don't contain aquatics or ozone.

 

This is a floral that seems a bit pungent. Something husky or smoky somehow. Very evocative. I smell late summer or early autumn in this.

 

A nice gardening scent.

 

Next to Monna Vanna (and maybe Death and Life Completed ) this is my favorite of the Salon III florals. It's unique. And wearable.

 

Highly recommended.

Edited May 25, 2007 by Heavenlyrabbit

[clover]

Out of all of the new Salon scents, to me this is the most regal. It's Floral with a capital F.

 

I'm not really sure what sunflowers actually smell like, but I was thinking more along the lines of a wildflower. This, to me, smells more like a grand bulb plant - narcissus or jonquil or lily or something along those lines.

 

It's got a hint of greeness and a hint of fruitiness to it as well. Gorgeous, but I'm not sure I can pull it off. It's too impressive. I think I'm not tall enough.

[supremegoddessofall]

Sunflowers! With a touch of something darker. Not really getting the amber here.

[LadyCrow]

AH, Sun-Flower! weary of time,

Who countest the steps of the Sun;

Seeking after that sweet golden clime,

Where the traveller's journey is done;

 

Where the Youth pined away with desire,

And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow,

Arise from their graves and aspire

Where my sun-flower wishes to go.

 

-- William Blake

 

I had to try this because of this poem, which in turn fascinated poet Allen Ginsberg, and because I grew up on a part of the Great Plains where sunflowers are farmed. While the scent is more of an evocation than a recreation, it captures the way sunflowers definitely aren't girly-floral. The Lab is really starting to capture a "fuzzy" quality in certain scents -- Kelly Pool also comes to mind -- that works interestingly in the overall picture here.

 

In the imp: Astringent, almost a bright green scent. I even want to say "clean" here.

 

Wet: A bit lemony at first -- something here is lemony on me in the same way that many sun-related scents are (e.g. Ahathoor).

 

Drydown: I get the amber, and then, quite sharply, the moss. Something nags at me, reminding me very faintly of melon. There's none of the scratchy outright smoke of Scarecrow here, just hot, hot sun beating down on the fields. (Yes -- if you've never been to one, the whole field of sunflowers really does face east in the morning and west in the afternoon.) Something's a bit prickly, like geranium (and like a sunflower is physically). At about 20 minutes in, there's only moderate sillage, but this is really a scent you'd wear for yourself anyway -- either actually during the summer, to really feel that confident goldenness (The Lion might actually be a better GC comparison than Scarecrow), or in other seasons, to conjure that "sweet golden clime."

 

Sunflower is maybe a tad sweeter than the real thing, which smells a bit like marigold in my memory of it, but is one of those "big sky country" scents that I mentally shelve alongside Coyote and Tombstone... which is totally wrong for German Expressionism in the early 20th century, but what can you do?

[dawndie]

Wet: nice light floral

 

On skin: sweet, earthy, green floral

 

Half-hour later: it's become more masculine and cologney, which must be the moss. Drat!

 

In conclusion: I enjoyed the beginning, this was a unique sweet floral, almost like it had a dollop of corn syrup added. However, I wouldn't buy a bottle for myself as it turns into an aftershave-like green cologne that's just not my thing.

[euterpe414]

This one smells just like I thought it would :nod:

 

Sunflower, amber and mossy greenery mingle together to create a really dry, warm sunflower scent. The three elements are really well balanced on my skin- it is neither a sweet floral or cologne-y - it stays very natural on my like being in a field of sunflowers on a hot day.

 

This is an incredibly evocative scent and fits the painting to a T. I love it and think it will be perfect for summer and autumn.

 

[Thursdae]

I've never noticed scent from a sunflower but now I'm looking forward to taking a big, deep sniff of the next one I see.

 

Straight out of the bottle, Sunflower, for a brief second, took me by surprise and not in a good way. But with the warmth of my wrists, a wonderful scent wafted up--bright, strong, and full of sunshine. Not in a citrus way, more in a late afternoon, fields of amber waving kind of way. I saw butterflies. I felt a glow.

[edenssixthday]

Sunflower - This goes on clean, pristine, bright, sunny, and it's one of the prettiest and most uncomplicated florals I've encountered. It's really truly stunning. After about 30 minutes, it starts to really fade, but for several hours after application, I continue to get wafts of the scent; however, after that first 30 minutes, the scent is no longer as clean and bright and sunny as it initially was. Rather, it's warm and husky and almost smoky. It's still gorgeous, though! I really love this blend and I do think it's bottle-worthy. The throw is amazing initially, but wears off somewhat quickly. The wear length is average to above-average.

[Jilara]

A warm and golden scent, like summer in a bottle. It reminds me vaguely of both Scarecrow and Sundew, but without Scarecrow's acrid dry grass smell or Sundew's sticky aqueous note. It doesn't smell scorched at all to me, despite what the description says. It's a happy scent, full of hot summer days but not a wilting heat.

 

It's very uncomplicated, and doesn't seem to change much from wet to dry. A bit more amber-ish dry, but that's about it. Definitely a feel-good scent, evoking lazy summer afternoons.

[valentina]

I love sunflowers, I really do, and I'm growing them in my backyard right now. Of course I had to try this scent, because I love both sunflowers and BPAL, it just wouldn't be right if I avoided it. Everything in this scent makes sense to me, especially the amber (which can smell warm and humid to me), and the scorched and burnt greenery, because where sunflowers grow really well, it gets hot and dry. That's all conceptual, and on my body, reality sets in. And the reality is that on my body, moss is like TNT. Kerblooey! There goes the balance of the scent, and after the explosion, I am covered in moss. It amps up, takes over and burns off. I get nothing but moss in this blend, much to my dismay.

 

My review is really rather meaningless except if you're a person whose body chemistry turns moss into a monster, this may become an issue with Sunflower. Or it may not. The scent does smell wonderful in the imp, and for most people it's probably a great blend. I'm going to keep it as a room scent.

[moon_lemming]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this scent. Okay, maybe I'm overstating it. But I really like this blend, it's golden -- in a flowery sunny way -- without being too bright. That doesn't mean it's not light, because it is at first. It's a light sunny yellow floral. It seems a little too sweet to be a sunflower, actually. I luff it.

 

As it dries, though, I begin to like this scent even more. It picks up a bit of green and the yellow mellows out into more of a goldenrod kind of scent. The end result is a sturdy, mellow, golden floral; more like being in the field among tall flowers than next to a vase of fussy cuttings.

[alicia_stardust]

Sunflower is my favorite of the Salon IIIs so far.

 

Wet, I smell a resin and floral combination. It has a bit of a bite.

 

Dry, I get a yellow, earthy floral that reminds me of late summer. The height of the sun's time, and yet there is an edge of darkness. There is something about this that is very regal. It's a commanding floral that says, "Here I Am."

 

I am head over heels. This is such a different floral than I am used to wearing and yet I love it. I will be buying more.

[PurringPulsar]

Sunflower

 

In the imp: a juicy, golden, amber-tinged dry floral scent, warm and sunny with a hint of hay.

Wet on skin: a honeyed amber with dry, sweet petals and hot summer hay.

Dry on skin: wow, this is glorious! I'm not familiar with the smell of sunflowers but I've always imagined them to smell dry and seedy, not with much scent really…this is totally different. The amber is surprisingly strong here, in fact it is the dominant note, a rich sweet amber with a syrupy feel, surrounding a golden nectar-dripping floral note, smelling more like a lush tropical bloom than a sunflower. However, there is a dry background reminiscent of Scarecrow, of sun-warmed hay and straw in a harvested field. I smell none of the moss or the greenery-just dry golden hay and amber. It almost reminds me of the blends with myrrh, musk and/or amber in them, like Haunted.

After a while: the amber now merges with the floral note, which smells amazing and so different to what I expect from sunflowers. It's almost like camomile with a lush floral background now, there's a honeyed hay and apples aspect in the scent now. Like amber and camomile and daisies with honeysuckle. I smell a little more of the dry stems now. I'm amazed at amber in here smells like a heatwave, it feels hot and overbearing, but you know how hot summer winds feel oppressive, almost heavy? That's what this evokes. Searing summer temperatures, reminds me of the 47C heat I experienced on holiday this year. But it still smells gloriously golden, big bright sunny blooms.

The apple scent gets stronger with time, combined with the black amber it smells like Verdandi, though this is less autumnal. It has the same honeyed apples scent to it. Maybe there's camomile here?

At the end there's a hint of the moss finally coming out, as well as something reminiscent of either Lush Tiptoe Through the Tulips or Summer Blues.

Verdict: far from being a wilted sunflower like in the scent's painting, this brings to mind Van Gogh flowers, vivid yellow and gold and ochre. It evokes the visual of a sunflower filled field on a hot August day. The sunflower note itself is very beautiful-a lush golden floral note with a touch of dryness, more evocative of the appearance of the flower than its actual scent. The amber is good and strong here, and feels warm, thick and heavy, curling around the floral and grassy notes like lazy summer afternoon heat. The wilted greenery and moss are very subtle and don't detract from the dry, hot, sweet and sunny feel of this scent, it's another lovely interpretation of summer and sunlight in scent. This is like Scarecrow, but much nicer, a little more feminine and rich. I think I might get more of this some day, but it's one to wear sparingly, as like summer heat, it can get too overwhelming if there's too much of it! it's one of those oils which works with the heat as opposed to against it. But for now I'm keeping the imp and wearing it a lot-it's a great antidote to this summer which has been anything but scorching and dry

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? The imp, definitely. I might get more, this is unusual and unique, better than I expected.

If you like this, try: Scarecrow, Haunted, Verdandi, Vipralabda, Et Lux Fuit, Red Moon 07

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Dark and burned and yet somehow juicy. Similar in feel if not in scent to Perversion

 

Wet on me – Clean, cologney scent

 

Dry on me – Slightly sweet ozone, with a dry earth backdrop

 

Overall – Very unusual, but not for me

[Little Bird]

I've gone through a couple decants of this now and I really should just take the plunge and buy myself a bottle. At first this reminds me of Riding the Goat, but a better and less sour version. It's musty, pale green, salty, and slightly sweet (reminding me of green olives again). The boy sniffed my wrist and said it smelled "sort of lemony fresh." I don't get lemon from this but I can see why he might interpret it as a fresh/clean sort of scent. He said that he can understand why it makes me think of green olives. So we compromised, lol.

 

After fifteen minutes or so, the drydown of this is just gorgeous. My parents used to let me grow sunflowers every year; the flowers would grow much taller than myself and were always such fascinating, hauntingly beautiful plants. I love the artwork for this one too. Anyhow. My point is that this scent really is evocative of the artwork and the sunflower for me.

 

Sunflower is slightly musty (in a good way somehow), dry but still green, and truly smells like sunflowers to me. It has a sultry, dried wildflower sort of scent to it without striking me as being floral. It's not at all perfumey. I love this scent, so I have a hard time describing it. It's warm without being hot or bright, dry without being dusty or powdery, and green in a pale, fading sort of way. So pretty. I'm going to wind up getting a bottle of this just because it reminds me so much of a happy memory from my childhood

[Ahania]

Oh, that's what sunflowers smell like! I noticed this note in Et Lux Fuit but couldn't place it. It starts out oddly sweet and green. As it dries, the floral takes over, with some greeness lingering, but not sweet anymore. The drydown goes kind of harsh on me, still floral but kind of acrid.

[bombus]

It reminds me of a sunflower drying in the late summer early autumn. I am loving the amber and the moss, even though moss and I are not always friends. My only downside of this is that my skin eats it up almost immediately. Five minutes later and I can’t smell it at all.

[hkhm]

imp: a rich, warm amber.

 

wet: the amber gets warmer and there is a deep, sweet floral along with it.

 

dry: softer amber. this is actually very pretty, i'll wear it when i want a very rich amber scent.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Odd. It's a bit perfumey, with amber definitely showing through, but the overall feeling to it is sort of thin and green. If that makes any sense.

 

On the wrist: Immediately I get a faint hint of powder, so I am keeping my fingers crossed in the hope that doesn't get more noticeable. Sharp and more perfumey now. Not as warm as I was expecting it to be. Usually when I think amber I think, warm, round and yellow. This is more sharp, thin and green. So far this is not my cup of tea. The powder is getting heavier and more prominent as well.

 

Drydown: Very perfumey and powdery. Powdered perfume. Perfumed powder. You get the idea. Body chemistry strikes again. *sigh* Swaps.

[steelxrose]

Sunflower is a strange floral on my skin. Sweet, but with a darker, richer something in the background. (Black amber, I'm looking at you.)

 

It's an interesting blend, to say the least.

[porcelina]

so sunflowers are my favorite flowers but i have no idea what they are supposed to smell like. apparently i can wear florals when they are wilted like this, heh. as time goes on something a little too sweet and a touch of sour greenery comes out and it stops being so pleasant. i might be able to pull this off in the summer.

[theseagrows]

i get a sweet-herbal floral from this with something sort of powdery underneath. i do enjoy powdery, in the violet or musk way, but something in this is off to me. i'm not sure what the culprit is, but it must be the black amber, which is weird because amber usually works on me. too sweet for my tastes, and just not my style.+

[zankoku_zen]

I think of the things I smell the most is the black amber - it is smoky and powdery. I did get the scorched stems part, esp. when wet. But now, it's a generic green, with a powdery resinous base. Interesting.

[Kimbernunk]

I grew up in the Sunflower State, and bought a full bottle, scent unsniffed, out of homesickness and because I love the scent of sunflowers.

I can't do a particularly methodical review with this scent. When I first tried it, I got a definite "Woah, sunflowers" followed, thanks to my skin's love of amping amber beyond all reason, by a definite sweet, almost sticky, dark scent (the black amber, definitely). The amber took about an hour to really calm down - it wasn't a pleasant hour and I was starting to wonder if it just wasn't going to work. It finally did calm down though, and I'm left with a really pleasant scent that is vaguely floral and vaguely a sunny, late-summer day.

 

And then I walked over to the nearby farmer's market, which is a block away. In between my apartment and the market is the following: a fairly busy 2 lane road, lots of grass, lots of blooming flowers, and a few crabapple trees. It's really sunny and humid and in the mid-80's right now. What blew my mind was that the moment I walked out the door and the whole way over to the farmer's market and back, I was getting really HUGE wafts of Sunflower... until I held the perfumed wrist behind my back and sniffed the wind for a moment. The perfume smells *exactly* like the air outisde right now - redolant with warmth and lots of grass and flowers and trees baking in the mid-late summer afternoon. I'm in awe.

This is PERFECT.