Butterflies and Plovers

[Spacekitty]

Blood orange, King mandarin, nectarine, patchouli, violet, ylang ylang, and amber.

Was anyone else hoping this would be like Lush Karma?

Sadly, it's not (though I'm still looking for a smell-alike if anyone has any suggestions). Though it is nice, it's just a little too violet and not enough patchouli for me. It's still in the early stages, though, so I'll update after an hour or two.

I will say, though, that this is NOT Children's Tylenol "orange flavor" orange that most orange and orange blossom scents turn into for me. This stays pretty straight up citrus orange. Which is a total relief and a welcome change.

[Dinerdulcinea]

Oh, alas. I had high hopes...but I get something sorta like the EEEBIL JAZZMINNNNNZZZZ outta this.

 

Blech.

[Little Bird]

The notes in Butterflies & Plovers are not kind to me. The citrus is sort of bitter, like citrus rind, rather than sweet and juicy. The ylang ylang is sharp and oddly metallic on my skin. There are hints of earthy patchouli and clean violet, but they drown in the bitter citrus and eventually the amber swoops in and really ruins things, giving the entire blend a strange, dry, dusty smell.

[arabella]

First Impression: Citrus Punch.

 

Dries down to: The citrus fades quickly and a scent not unlike shoe polish emerges. After a while, I do pick up on the violet, also.

 

Additional Comments: I'm guessing it's the patchouli that's making this smell like shoe polish. I never get any nectarine, ylang ylang or amber. Ultimately, it turns into a very faint violet and patchouli muddle.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

[CrazyPretzel]

Wow, this kind of reminds me of the BPTP massage oil: Ignis! With ylang ylang, patchouli, and mandarin, I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. The great thing is that the ylang ylang in Ignis is one of the few Lab incarnations of ylang ylang that I actually like.

 

Fresh on, this has a thick, sweet, kind of candied-violet feel to it. As it dries, the nectarine and citrus start to come out - they're very full and rounded and just beautiful, almost lickable. I can smell the amber and patchouli in the background, weighting the scent just enough to keep it from being straight orange effervescence.

 

The violet and ylang ylang in this are not cloying, just smooth and pleasant.

[binaryfaerie]

In the bottle: Citrus all the way.

 

On: Butterflies and Plovers smells just like a tangerine to me! And not just the fruit, the whole thing -- peel, pith, and all. After a few hours the citrus scent fades and it becomes woody and almost masculine. This was quite different from what I was expecting, but the wood scent is strangely comforting, so I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

[Czarina]

In the decant: Smarties (candy).

 

Wet: orange and violets.

 

Drydown: candy sweet, faintly orange.

 

Extremely pleasant but not much throw or wearlength.

[savage_rose]

On most blends, patchouli is a delightful accent notes. On certain blends like Fire of Love and this one, it's not. I smell like a hippie who's been smoking...pepper. EW. Thank God it's fading, because I'm not sure even soap can get out what was there.

[willowtreeling]

interesting scent. orange-y smelling at first, then sort of violet-ish. The patchouli comes out later...

This is the only perfume that a student has complimented on...I was walking by a desk and a little boy said, "You smell nice, Miss Willowtreeling" I was so surprised

[karihan]

Oh, man, did this morph on me! In the imp it was fruity with a bit of spice and sex from the patchouli and amber. The minute it hit my skin, however, it went pretty much straight patchouli and stayed that way. Granted, it's a very nice patchouli, not the stanky version I sometimes get from the note, but still ... just patchouli and a hint of amber. No fruits, and I never did get any violet. *sigh* Off to swaps with this one.

Edited March 22, 2008 by karihan

[twilighteyes]

In the bottle it's a little bit of citrus and some dark amber.

 

On my skin the violet immediately comes out. Eek. Violet seems to hate me lately.

 

As it dries I am smelling mostly amber with some violet and a teeny bit of ylang. The patchouli just adds an earthy background.

 

This is a violet that might actually work on me!!

 

As it sits even longer on my skin, the citrus comes back out. Now I'm getting citrus top notes with a violet bottom.

 

Stays close to my skin and not a very long wear time.

[Eemia]

I can't even detect a whiff of fruit on my skin. None of the fruit notes appear at all, even in the initial stage. Instead this is a beautiful and exotic dark scent that is mainly focused around the violet. Not to say that this is an overpowering floral. Despite being mostly violet on me it doesn't feel like a floral fragrance at all. It's complex and interesting. And the violet itself isn't a classic violet by any means. It's not the feminine, vaguely powdery violet that I'm used to. It's a lush, deep violet made even more intense by the addition of the patchouli. The patchouli is strong and even a little masculine. I love it in here---it's like a familiar smoky, earthy, natural touch. Nothing dank or heavy about it. The ylang ylang and the amber are warmer notes but I only notice them after this has settled into my skin. Usually ylang ylang can really amp up on me but it hasn't so far.

 

I don't notice the change as it dries down. More like it's there and then it just fades from my skin completely. It did last a few good hours though with a nice amount of throw. This is absolutely a keeper for me.

[dixiehellcat]

Yum! Finally a Shunga that likes me! On me the citrus and ylang ylang are predominant, and they make a very cool combination. The other flowers sing backup, and if I huff my wrist I can catch just a hint of patchouli. Delish!

[theseagrows]

this smells very asian to me- it reminds me of the incense i smell in chinatown in san francisco. i believe the violet, ylang ylang and patchouli are most prominent on my skin. the amber and citrus seem to just hang out in the background, blending seamlessly. i like this ok, but i don't love it. i think the patchouli is too apparent for my tastes.

[meaganola]

This is mostly violet with a teeny bit of citrus and maybe some nectarine (I don't get much ylang ylang, amber, or pathcouli), and there's this distracting almost buttery note (it's not *butter*, but that's the only word I can come up with to describe it) that I keep trying to identify. It also shows up for me in Oval Portrait and Thalia, but I don't see anything that is in all three, so I don't know what it is. I like violet, but that butter thing just sort of breaks it. It's not impressive on me at all. The rest of this bottle is definitely going on the swap list. I have too many other scents I haven't tried yet or just *love* to bother using the rest of this one.

[FandF]

Peanut butter and mandarin!!!!!!!!!!!

 

But let it sit a bit and it dries down to a lovely and very light violet and orange scent. Like all the Shungas, this is complex and weird but I find myself liking it.

[persianmouse]

Butterflies and Plovers- My nose just got raped by an orange, while a violet laughed and filmed it in the background.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, my mortal enemy the patchouli is RIGHT THERE, but you can smell the citrus and floral.

 

On my skin, the patchouli totally dominates this - but as it's on, the citrus peeks out and the ylang ylang shows its face.

 

When it dries, it's much more well-blended than before, but the early stages kill it for me.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – I get a slight citrus sweetness, but the patchouli is the main note

 

Wet on me – An odd combination of citrus and patchouli, which just don’t seem to sit with each other. All the while backed by a hint of violets

 

Dry on me – A soft, gentle citrus and violet combo with a dab of skin musk

 

Overall – Pretty and wearable when the patchouli had backed off, but not very exciting

[forspecial_plate]

I like a few citrus scents, but this one comes across candy sweet. The floral notes are a bit high pitched for me, too. Overall, just not for me.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Violet, citrus, patchouli.

 

Wet: Lotta floral. I get violet and a hint of ylang ylang. There's also citrus, but no patchouli or amber.

 

Twenty minutes: Violet and patchouli, mostly. I hope this changes, because I can wear every other note in this perfume save the violet.

 

One hour: Much better now. As I hoped, the violet faded some. It's still there, but it doesn't dominate any more. Now this is much more like I expected, with patchouli and amber and a hint of citrus. I expected it to be sweeter and spicier than it is, though.

 

Two hours: Amber, patchouli, and something else. Most of the subtleties have gone. I like this, but it's not spectacular.

 

Three and a half hours: Light amber with a breath of patchouli. It's pretty much done. Oh, well.

[mhickle]

I originally tested this at ECWC months ago. I really liked it then, and wanted to have a closer look sniff.

 

Now that I have an imp, I can try it for real! It's a really pretty floral with my beloved violet. The patchouli deepens the blend, but I don't get any of the citrus. I was really hoping for more of the citrus!!

 

However, what I am getting is very sneezy. Now, it could be something else, but it started almost as soon as I put this on my wrists. There have been several blends that have been making me sneezy lately -- must investigate and find the common note!

[asciident]

Wet: Floral soap. I think it's the ylang ylang and violet.

 

First on: Still soapy. Meh! I really wanted fruit and patchouli.

 

Dry: Sigh, unchanged.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

 

Wow.. not many reviews for this one, that seems strange? Well, maybe it's a bit of a secret, but I'm glad I discovered it! And the reviews that are here are very mixed, which I find interesting. So here's how it went with me.

 

When it first goes on.. very VERY orange/mandarin but not sweet at all.. it's a dark, deep and rich orange that's very lush and heady. I get a faint whiff of something almost menthol for just a few seconds, but that disappeared.

 

After it's been on for a little while, the violet comes out more - so at that stage the orange melds in with the violet so that I can't quite tell which is which.. I can distinguish both notes, but only if I try real hard - they're blended beautifully. I can smell the nectarine now too - it's sweetened things up just a little bit. The amber is also there, giving everything a golden softness and keeping it on the orange rather than purple side. No hint of the patchouli yet.

 

One hour later - still no patchouli.. well, that's weird! But actually I'm not complaining because I love this just the way it is.. that lovely deep dark orange is still there, the violet and amber are still there, not sure about the nectarine, and oh yeah.. ylang-ylang - did that ever show up? I'm not sure it did. The violet is coming out stronger than the orange now though, which is a bit of a shame because I liked that middle stage this went through when the orange was balanced more evenly with the violet.

 

Two hours later - hmm.. pretty much just violet left, with a hint of amber. The orange is *just* there, but very faint.

 

Overall - a nice blend, lots of interesting layers and stages to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Juicy mandarin oranges tempered with patchouli. I like this...it's so straightforward and simple, yet satisfying. I'll definitely use this decant up come summertime!