Fairy Market

[kohaisama]

Otherworldy golden incense, blooming wind-flowers, everlasting lavender, bluebell, a faint whiff of exotic sugared candies, and fae mist upon wet green grass.

In the imp: delicate florals and a light sweetness

Wet: beautiful bluebells!

Dry: the florals sharpened and turned into milled soap with something green floating in the background

This isn't a winner for my skin, but it's beautiful naked and I can't wait to put it in my locket!

[milo]

I usually love or at least like incense blends. This one however, has too much floral for my tastes. I do get the incense, and a wonderful vanilla which must be the sugared candies (?). I wish this amped on me rather than the floral. I can see how this would be amazing on some people, just not me.

[WidgetAlley]

The lovely angelfish323 sent me an empty bottle of this, and there was just enough left for a test.

 

Bottle: I can smell nothing but sugar and sweet florals. There's a very sweet lavender, bright bluebell and a lovely fresh green note backed by something a bit aquatic. Extremely pretty if a little soapy. No incense yet.

 

Wet: The brightest, prettiest floral and the most lovely sweet candy and baked goods, with a touch of spice and a fresh-cut grass scent. Bright and glittery and beautiful. If this doesn't go to soap on me it will be stunning. This is what I expected Dia de los Muertos to be like, but without the cocoa (and the soap.) There's a beautiful incense in here, somewhere, too. Just gorgeous, very spring-summery. Delicate and exotic and it really, really does smell like a market-- like cakes and flowers and green grass and sunshine and heaps of mysterious goods from foreign parts. It's a little soapy in the throw. I'm having difficulty deciding if I care.

 

Dry: What a morpher! At first this is primarily yeasty bakery-buns and sugar, but after a while the incense and flowers begin to stand out more. I agree with whoever said this blend isn't unified-- but that's not a bad thing! It really is like "little silver bells" all ringing out. I'm going to hold off on purchasing more and see whether it's something I crave wearing again, but I have a feeling that once spring rolls around a 5mL of this is going to be slipping into my shopping cart. This is the most Fae thing I've ever smelled; truly unique.

 

Absolutely an example of the magic of BPAL.

[amanderinorange]

This is my favorite scent ever I think.

 

In the bottle: When I first opened it up and took a whiff I fell in love. It has such a light incense smell that mingles nicely with the florals and candy. I think I actually just stood there smelling it for a few minutes.

 

On me: still smells lovely (phew) and the floral scent has actually faded a bit. Also the incense has been amped a bit to make it a bit of a warmer smell, if that makes any sense. Unfortuately, this only lasts on my skin for about two hours, then I have to reapply. However, it makes me happy to smell it, so I will gladly spend the money buying more bottles if I have to.

 

ETA: Yup. This has done it. My go to scent and I'm glad that I found it. This is the one scent that I have tried that actually settles my stomach when I smell it and is helping me out so much right now. I'm already 1/4 of the way through it, so I need to get another bottle fast.

Edited March 6, 2009 by amanderinorange

[lilirose]

I’ve had a bottle of this for a while, but when I first got it, the scent seemed very faint, so I’ve let it do some aging before reviewing.

 

And now? OMG, this is a scent for sure. It’s a gently floral, sweet smell- not “screaming in your face” floral, but a “bluebells and mist” floral, with a heady soft incense base that makes it to die for. Somehow I’m not picking up the lavender- and I do love lavender- but that’s testament to how skilfully blended this is.

 

It’s still quite soft and doesn’t have the longest staying power, but it’s such an amazing, evocative scent, perfectly capturing its namesake.

[GardenCat]

One of the first perfumes I tracked down imps of - as it was so pretty! It starts kinda green & grassy for me, before the light florals take over. It morphs through the day, until it's just a sweet springy scent. *sigh*

[Dianora]

I'm honestly surprised that I hadn't reviewed this one before, I've had it for ages. I was very attracted to this scent initially because I adore Stardust, and I love the idea of the Market. I could imagine the smell of it, and I thought that if this perfume came anywhere near that dream-scent, it would be exotic and delicious. Unfortunately for me, this was headache in a bottle.

 

In the bottle, it smells kind of heavy and floral, like old-lady perfume of doom. I put it on, and immediately get a sour, mildew-y note that is very off-putting. As it dries, the florals come out more, but that mildewy note lingers for a long time. I don't get incense or sugary sweets out of this one, just moldy flowers.

[stellans]

For whatever reason, today my skin chemistry firmly rejected wearing this blend. I bought a bottle after falling in love with a decant (and it was a fresh decant from a fresh bottle, so no aging was in play), but I think once again my change in medication is wreaking havoc with which blends work on me and which do not. The florals turn a horrid plastic-y, headache-inducing miasma on me...and that is so not how it used to be! I hate that this is happening, and that there seems to be not a lot of rhyme nor reason to which or why. *sigh*

[Gin]

Fairy Market

 

Incense. And flowers, but... more like a flower-scented incense. I'm surprised at how incensy this is. I expected whoaflowers! Dry, it's faintly floral-incense over something vanilla-like.

[sighanne]

When I first smelled the bottle, I got fruity perfume. Sort of like a department store perfume? Yes, that with the sugared fruits. It was nice, but not for me. I didn't smell any lavender, and I HATE lavender. Then why do I have a bottle with lavender? Wishful thinking: I desperately want to try all the Stardust scents, and most of the other Gaimans as well. Also, I'm a CBLDF member, so the cause is meaningful to me.

 

So I tried it on my skin. And it's AMAZING! It dries down to a beautiful sweet fruity floral scent that I can't pick out any single notes from at all. The lavender never showed for me. A blend with lavender that I can wear! Oh, it's so very beautiful. It's so much better on my skin than in the bottle. This reminds me why it's a personal rule of mine to always try blends on my skin, rather than making my decision based on the smell in the bottle.

[Icekitten]

I hoped this was a winner for me but sad to say it is not.

In the bottle it smells like lovely sweet flowery

Wet still lovely and sweet flowers..

But after just a few min my wrist it's all flower Powdery.

 

 

[Siberia]

In the bottle and wet, this is awesome: the first time I smelled it, I imagined exotic fruits covered in pastel rock sugar and fairy spices. I can actually smell the sugar, sweet fruits, and a field of fresh flowers. If it would stay like this, it would be exquisite.

Unfortunately my skin turns this extraordinary thing into stink. Dry, it settles down first into a soapy perfume scent - the soap feel of it is so strong, that I can actually feel it in the back of my throat, as if I had tasted soap.

The scent of this wet is so amazing that I'm not willing to part with it, though - I am holding out for a Gaiman scent locket to try this with.

[buryheratsea]

This smelled so nice in the bottle- very soft and sweetened floral, but when I applied it it was way too subtle I really had to huff my wrist to get any scent at all

[Monster]

I was SO excited to try this one out. The description of the Fairy Market in the book, Stardust was one of the most exciting, interesting things I've ever read. I love the little worlds Neil creates.

This was the first bottle I purchased from the Stardust series (and the one I was MOST excited about) and I was a little bit disappointed at first (I imagined the Fairy Market as smelling more of spice and incense and was expecting that).

 

I haven't sniffed it since I received it in the mail in 2007 so...lets see if this has aged well. Perhaps my opinion has changed.

 

In the bottle this smells like powdery flowers, sugar and a teeny bit of incense.

On my skin this is delicate purple flowers growing in dew-covered green grass. The incense note is starting to amp up as this dries down...

Finally dry, this is still primarily a floral incense scent with just a dash of dusty candies. To me, this really doesn't smell what I would imagine the Fairy Market to smell like but more of what an exotic woman shopping in the Fairy market would smell like. This is really a mysterious smelling femenine floral blend. For people who aren't too fond of floral notes, I urge you to try this, it's dark and balanced with JUST the right amount of incense to keep this from smelling like Depends butt powder.

 

Setting my original expectations for the scent aside, I really love the way this smells. It's really a grown-up sort of perfume, something I would wear on special occasions or in the winter underneath layers of clothing. It's a heady scent with great throw. Very pretty! I'm glad to have rediscovered this

 

 

[apinchofsugar]

My second review ever! This was the first bottle purchase I ever made, along with Yvaine. The Stardust scents are what drew me to BPAL in the first place, actually.

 

In the bottle: Wow, it's like I'm falling into a bloom of wildflowers. There's also a nice sweetness behind the florals -- which is the sugar candies, I am guessing. Upon first whiff, there seems to be a commercial-y vibe to the scent, which is probably due to all the florals, but the candy note adds that je nai se quoi of BPAL.

 

Applied, wet: Oop, here comes the grass note. A little bit sharper, now, but still very sweet and soft and floral. It's like running through sugar and wildflowers. A barely-there incense note comes to life, but the florals are balancing it out well. The candy is there, but in the background.

 

Dried down: About the same as wet, but there's a little more powderiness to the smell. Not so much that it makes you think of powder (it still smells like a floral perfume on first whiff), but it's there, I think.

 

Verdict: All in all, a great floral. It's sweet and flowery without going too far into soap or powder territory. It smells a bit like a commercial perfume, but again, the sugar candies (and incense) adds a little something extra to make it interesting.

Edited July 21, 2009 by apinchofsugar

[jewelbug]

Wet: flowers and cut fresh grassy stems.

 

Dry: The green stemmy/grassy note in this gets really bitter and stays that way. Is there violet in here? Violets are usually bitter like this on me. Not good for the jewelbug…

 

Overall: Nope, too sharp, floral and perfumey on me.

 

[svelterose]

When wet, it smells super sugary. One my skin, however, it smells like creamy girlyness and everything dresses, frills, and little sparkling tiaras. I don't get that overly perfumy sense but I had heard that there was a tea note in this? I don't know. But I think that might be tapering down some of the sweet vanilla and keeping the floral from going powdery on me.

 

I like it. It does smell fae-like and effervescent. =)

[tajana]

Ok, so... Fairy Market... I didn't search for this too earnestly because I'm very picky with floral blends, and fresh or grassy blends, too. But then I got to try it. This. Is. Wonderful! Freshly applied to my skin, it's sugary delicate pink flowers and a tiny hint of creamy, marshmallowy goodness, fresh but girly. As it dries down a bit the bright green grass note shines through, wet and dewy... not like the harsh smell of freshly mown grass, but like the smell of a wild clearing where the plants grow freely. The grassy backdrop really enhances the flowers, which spring up delicately in shades of soft blue and lavender and pink. The creamy, marshmallow sweet candy smell is delicate and faintly fruity, faintly vanilla-tinted, and makes the throw of this scent smell quite delicious, but not in an overbearing way! There are whiffs of delicately sugar-coated lavender and... gah! I find it difficult to elaborate on this coherently. After it's been on the skin for a while the warm, golden incense shines through a bit more, balanced with misty floral notes.

 

In summation, it smells like glitter and creamy candies strewn over a flower-coated meadow in mid-morning.

 

 

Unfortunately, this seems to be one of those fickle scents on me. It needs to be slathered to come through, and even then, it often poofs all too quickly. I may eventually get a bottle, but it wouldn't be the most cost effective of purchases.

Edited December 1, 2009 by tajana

[Aldercy]

This is the first time I can report being able to smell nothing in the bottle. I've heard people say that about certain blends and thought it impossible, but I really smelled nothing even though I knew something was there. It was like a sound just barely out of your range of hearing-- enough to know that something is kind of bothering you, but not what.

 

Anyway, on the skin, Fairy Market is still very light. But I think I can catch a bit of every note. Lilting, weepy lavender, a bite of really bright, ecstatic incense (it's very strange-- it suggests smoke, but isn't smoky), hard, glassy, sugary candy (I was expecting a "red" impression from the candy, but now I don't actually know how to describe it at all), bluebell (yay! I love bluebell) and a tiny itty bit of greenery.

 

This is so explosive and vibrant and yet so faint! Impossible to get a hold of. It's innocently exciting. Makes me think of a conglomeration of every fantasy book I ever read as a kid.

 

My only problem with this is that I think I might amp lavender a bit. I don't dislike lavender-- and this is a very creamy, gentle variety, not too sharp-- so that's alright, but I would like to be able to get a little more of the other notes. Maybe if I eventually spring for a scent locket, this will be even better in there.

 

 

And, yes, it is a little "commercial"y, somehow. It reminded me a bit of the generic "oh, there must be perfume samples in this magazine" smell at first, but there is something-- and I don't know what-- that jolts it out of that territory. Fairy Market is what commercial-perfume-samples-tucked-in-magazines would smell like in a perfect world.

Edited August 17, 2009 by Aldercy

[Xylis]

just a very very quick review because there are so many other things that i ought to be doing. i couldn't resist putting just a little drop of fairy's market on my wrist since agrat-bat-mahlaht (the scent that i'd tested earlier) had faded away. and WHOOM.

 

it's gorgeous, i am in total love.

 

i'm not really getting a breakdown of individual notes, but this is all just pure sweet goodness. this is a very pretty fruity floral scent that is mixed with just a very very distant tinge of smokiness to ground the scent. i'm hoping that the grass and lavender will get more prominent as it dries over time, but right now, i'm sitting here with a smile on my face.

 

beautiful concept, beautiful scent. fairy market is love! <3

[LadyLuckless]

Wow, I've never reviewed this one? Really!? It was in my first order! Bad Lady, BAD!

 

Fairy Market is just the perfect confection of sugared grasses and flowers, with traces of sweet incense and what actually comes across as morning dew! It's ridiculously evocative of its namesake, completely gorgeous and I love it to pieces. It's perfect for bedtime, or any time I want to feel relaxed and dreamy (which is a lot actually) and I'll never be without it.

[AstraeaSophia]

The magnanimous trailertrashprincess sent me just enough of Fairy Market to give it a single test.

In the bottle: I actually got this in an imp, and the level was so low that I didn't get much of a whiff. What I could smell was delicate floral.

 

Wet: All the sudden, I can pick out a sweet note in the florals. At first I thought I was smelling pear, but it must be the "sugared candies" component I'm smelling. It doesn't smack me in the face. There's a very soft sort of balance that's been struck between sweet and flowery, and this scent is starting to grow on me.

 

Drydown: The florals step into the spotlight again while the sugared candies step to the side, not totally out of sight but certainly not the focus. I can finally pick out the "green" and the golden incense. I love the incense note in Fairy Market because there's enough to notice it but not enough to knock you over. Just lovely.

 

Totally dry: I just keep falling in love with Gaiman scents, one right after another. This scent is gorgeous. The sweet rounds out the floral in such a way that when it's totally dry, there is no single smell that stands out. It's just this lovely concoction of fruity floral that does very much evoke the fae in my mind's eye. It makes me feel comfortable and relaxed to wear it. For someone reason, smelling it reminds me of a bookstore. :-P A very lovely smelling bookstore indeed.

 

Conceptually, I'm a bit mixed on this one. I remember one poster saying this scent didn't remind her so much of a fairy market as what she would imagine a lady wandering through the fairy market might smell like, and I find myself in that camp. I think the people who feel this way are maybe just unconsciously associating fairy market with the movie version, where there's drums and torches and deep, vivid colors. The book version of fairy market is daytime, bright, and a little more pastel in my mind. My brain was expecting the movie version. My nose detects the book version. And all in all, those road bumps aside, I'm really quite pleased. I'm adding a full bottle to my wishlist.

 

4 out of 5 yummies (although, as with every Gaiman scent I've tried so far, I'd give it 4.5 if I could)!

 

:yum: :yum:

Edited November 6, 2009 by AstraeaSophia

[Lucretia]

This is such a beautiful, delicate scent. Someone above said dreamy and I think that's spot on. Behind a veil of mist are wildflowers and grass, and sweetness all perfectly blended together. Normally I can't do sweet scents, but this so soft and there's nothing sticky or sharp in it. It's really like no other scent I've tried to date. It's a definite bottle for me!

[Myrrha]

Wet: A high, thin floral scent. It is like the smell of the glass flowers sold in the fairy market, precious and fragile.

 

As it dries: Nag champa floats in, but it is very light. With it is a very faint scent of sweet pastry like a fairground treat. Now it is almost like two perfumes coming from two separate places, like scent in stereo. Sometimes I get the flowers and sometimes the sweeter part of the scent. It is like they float in on separate breezes.

 

Dry: Mostly a delicate floral scent on me, with elusive wisps of incense/pastry. Lovely but too ethereal for me to wear.

 

I’m impressed once again with Beth’s artistry. How does she get that “stereo” effect? It is interesting to compare this scent to Midnight on the Midway which also has nag champa and a note of fairground pastry. Fairy Market is much more ethereal, delicate, and smells like a longing for something unobtainable. Midnight on the Midway is much sweeter and fuller and the nag champa is more recognizable as a familiar incense.

Edited February 21, 2010 by Myrrha

[reynardine]

I must really amp grass notes, because upon application, that is most of what I’m getting here. There’s a touch of aquatic there, but otherwise, this one fails utterly on me. I’m certainly not getting the same scent that everyone else seems to be! Barely any florals and no sugar at all. Just grass…