Flowering Chrysanthemums

[iiinterstate]

Chrysanthemum, marigold, golden sandalwood, vanilla, cinnamon, and amber incense.

I usually don't care for florals but I had to try this one. I have an affinity for mums.

This is really quite nice upon application. Flowers and incense with just a little cinnamon. I like it, but I don't really need a bottle.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Light golden oil. Soft and warm; faintly floral (definitely some 'mum), very rounded and almost creamy, delicately sweet.

 

Wet: Faintly spicy, almost like carnation. Very golden and light in feel as well as appearance. Hint of soft vanilla, and a good wallop of creamy amber.

 

Dry: The marigold adds a lovely fresh green note that mingles with the 'mum wonderfully. The amber has a hint of powder, but is mostly just warm, creamy, and comforting along with the sandalwood which is very light. A bit of smoky incense.

 

Later: Spicier, smokier, greener, sharper - with more throw and force. Some intense musk has come out - it's pretty sexy - and the vanilla has amped, becoming sweeter and more foody.

 

Summary: The golden creamy delicate sweetness reminds me a lot of L'Estate, but this has more depth, the darker elements of light spice and smoky incense and sexy musk. The amber-vanilla combo is beautiful and creamy without being powdery or cloying, and the flowers are rounded and velvety. The sandalwood is very faint. Good throw & lasting power.

 

The most complex and well-crafted of the new Shungas, for sure. It's not my style but it's gorgeous. I barely get any cinnamon and I also agree that it's similar in feel to Morocco.

 

[tartchef]

Glorious.

 

Surprisingly fresh out of the vial, all peppery mums & bitter marigolds, deep burgundy & bright gold. The vanilla, incense & cinnamon are a quiet chorus in the background, adding a warm, sweet veil over the blossoms. The freshness hold strong much longer than one would imagine, eventually giving way to the sandalwood & vanilla. Even then, it's a warm, skin-close scent but with that bitter, clean mum & marigold... delightful!

 

(No doubt I'm insane, but there is something about this that makes me think of Nowhere in Particular & some of the other Weenies... that warm/cool frisson of plants & spice.)

 

If you were hoping for Mum Moon Redux, you'll be disappointed, but Flowering Mums is absolutely beautiful in its own right

[MCS4096]

In the bottle: To me this smells mainly of amber incense and marigold. I don't have experience with the Lab's mum or marigold notes, but it really smells like actual marigolds being planted in the garden. A bit spicy, a bit moist, a lot amber and sandalwood.

 

Wet: I thought this would smell a lot drier, but it's quite moist and a tad juicy. Cinnamon is hardly distinguishable here.

 

Drying down: Wow.. I can't really compare this to any other lab blend I've tried! It's floral, but not in the overpowering sweet way that many of the lab florals are. Its not quite as spicy as a carnation note.. and it is somewhat green. I'd say its a rather realistic garden bed floral, with a background of powdery incense and sandalwood. This is my kinda floral

Edited February 28, 2009 by MCS4096

[MisterShrapnel]

I... I actually spent a few minutes staring at the picture, trying to figure out the genders of the two people. Their hairstyles confuse me. I still have no idea who's on top. *squints* Uh, anyway.

I'm surprised that the marigolds and chrysanthemums actually resemble carnations not only in appearance but in scent as well. Slightly spicy and creamy floral, and I'm so happy that they never go soapy or high-pitched. The vanilla and amber seem to have a large share of the attention and the cinnamon is very quiet--I don't think I can smell it at all. It's a soft, quiet, and golden scent, indeed a bit lush or "moist," as the previous reviewer stated. Really describes the picture, in other words. Doesn't have a lot of throw or strength, unfortunately, but now I want a full bottle! It's lovely.

[awesomeoverlord]

Imp: Beautiful florals -- lush but spicy and dry at the same time. Grounded in amber and soft sandalwood.

 

Wet: The florals start to dry out a bit more, the powdery loveliness of the amber emerges and I think I'm getting the *lightest* whiff of the cinnamon.

 

Dry: Deep creamy spicy florals -- this is gorgeous, and that's coming from a person who's not big on florals as a rule (to the exclusion of rose). Really soft and understated but unbelievably beautiful. I wish it had more throw -- I'll have to slather -- which just means I'll definitely be needing a bottle

[dreadpiraterustypants2]

expectations-

gimme that sharp, pungent marigold with a warm glowing undercurrent!

bottle-

outside of the bottle its powdery-coyote?miss lupescu? odd! must be the insense....

opening it-wa! pine tree sap! yum~

wet-

tasty, warm and pungent indeed! still making the sap association, quite like that. the amber is coming out, and i wish it wouldn't so i could stay here a while!

yes-here is a distinct mum smell now. wavering on the powderlike.

drydown-

powder ish.

verdict-

powder makes me call off the hunt, and be calm enough to hoard my implet

Edited March 28, 2009 by Shollin
Removed Lab description --Shollin

[blu°]

It's not quite easy for me to decide whether this is a love-scent or merely a not-totally-unpleasant one.

 

First of all, there's bitter autumnal florals. Chrysanthemums smell really bitter to me, so together with the marigolds the bitterness makes sense.

 

The bitter floral scent is not unpleasant, but maybe a bit bodyless?

 

Behind it, I can sense the other notes, but they really stay behind the florals, and don't seem to be present in the (only subtle) throw.

 

Close to my skin I can smell a very nice vanilla-amber-incense, no sandalwood, though, and only the tiniest trace of cinnamon maybe. The way those warmer notes stay close to the skin reminds me of Sapphics and The Illustrated Woman, and I can see how someone might think there was pine sap in Flowering 'Mums.

 

ETA: I've come to the conclusion that this is much more suited to be worn outdoors with a fresh wind blowing around you than indoors. It really comes to live when you move around in fresh air, while sitting at home it just seems to vanish on my skin somehow.

Edited March 7, 2009 by blu°

[PersephonesChild]

The smell in the imp is a strong dose of marigold and chrysanthemum-- a fresh and piercing, non-sweet floral. Not very much amber, cinnamon, etc.

 

On my skin, the vanilla and sandalwood opens up beautifully, to give a sweet but not too sweet base to the high notes of the florals. I don't get much amber, so I'm going to assume that the amber incense just melds perfectly with the sandalwood.

 

And... I love it. It smells a lot like Belle Epoque (more than The Mouse's Long and Sad Tale) but slightly less in-your-face. There's no lily to potentially go soapy, and the sandalwood dries down a lot more gently. The marigold and chrysanthemum float on top the whole time, perfectly supported by the other notes. Not too sweet. Not overwhelmed by either cinnamon or amber. Perfect.

[GalaxyLei]

Wet on me it smells like...hardware store? Wood and leaves. As it dries down, it gets more flowery, but still predominantly green, almost the smell of branches by the dirt. The wearlength is not that long, and it goes to just the reminder of flowers. Chrysanthemums all gone. Not for me.

[zankoku_zen]

It makes me sad to think that I can't wear mums (it was my maternal grandparents favorite flower!), but I can't. It's always so bitter on me. And in this case, the vanilla turns to plastic, so it's a bitter vanilla plastic.

 

Sad, but true.

[penemuel]

This scent starts out so nicely -- golden, warm, amber and sandalwood with a little floral edge to it. It really is beautiful and I have high hopes for it.

 

Unfortunately, as it dries, it becomes a bit sour. It's the same thing that happens to Snow White on me. I'm not sure what it is that does it, but I think I'll stick with my decant. That way, it's enough for a scent locket, and it won't have that sour drydown. I hope.

[GhillieDhu]

Flowering Chrysanthemums is definitely in the same family as L'Estate, but reminds me of Schlafende Baigneuse as well. It has the same fresh, clear, slightly green chrysanthemum note.

 

Wet: At first it's all fresh early-morning flowers, but then VANILLA jumps in to sweeten things up. It seems like the vanilla Beth used for the Shungas is a little more dessert-y than the vanilla in other blends I've tried. It doesn't go plastic on me, which is good, but on the other hand, I don't much fancy smelling like a birthday cake.

 

Drydown: Sandalwood eventually chimes in to help ground the mums and bring out their earthy side, and amber is lurking shyly around the edges. Cinnamon is a no-show, which I don't mind. Rather pleasant, but nothing special.

 

Dry: What's this? Almost gone, but for a faint aura of ambery green and the clinging scent of hot oiled metal. Alas. Flowering Chrysanthemums, you sounded so promising, but you are FAIL. I'll stick with the Baigneuse for my 'mum fix, thanks.

[astarinel]

I love mums, and was always kind of disappointed by how deeply Mum Moon failed on me (thanks, opium notes!), so I was looking forward to trying this. It starts out bright, warm, spicy floral. I started to put it on the list to more carefully skin test at length, but as it dried it faded to essentially single note incense. Not even amber incense or anything special, really, just like I'd been burning some generic incense in the room and the scent had clung to me. Which wasn't bad, really, but wasn't at all what I was looking for.

 

Skin chemistry fail, again. Looks like I'm not meant to wear the mum scents!

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Mums with faint cinnamon and incense--much nicer than I expected! (Mum Moon was a syrupy failure on me and I have been wary of mum notes ever since.)

 

Wet on skin: The delicious mum and marigold are still at the forefront, supported by incense and sweet vanilla.

 

Dry on skin: This did not morph on me at all, but remained a deep, spicy, non-traditional floral. It's on my List of Luper Love.

[nekogrrl]

So far, this is the most interesting of the Lupercalias for me.

 

Wet on skin: vanilla flowers.

 

Dry on skin: very spicy floral with a subtle vanilla amber undertone.

 

Verdict: I'm not sure if this totally works on me, but I like it.

[Little Bird]

I really like Chrysanthemum Moon, and I thought that this would be similar. I was wrong; Flowering Mums is really nothing like Mum Moon. Mum Moon smells like dry flowers and sultry incense, and Flowering Mums smells like live, wet, slightly green florals on me.

 

I usually amp up cinnamon, and I don’t get any spice from this at all. In the drydown, powdery sandalwood with a slight amber sweetness joins the florals. I expected really great things from this, so I'm kinda let down. I was hoping for dry mums with spiced vanilla and light touches of incense. In reality, this is more like soft, wet flowers with a background of clean baby powder.

 

This does get more of a dry, sweet, golden feel the longer that it sits on my skin, but I'm not crazy about the first couple hours of wear, and it's still a little too powdery for me.

[theseagrows]

ohh what a delectable and interesting scent! bpal's mum note seems to like me, and here it is no different. this is a smoky-sweet floral with an almost candylike feeling to it. this one morphs a lot on me, i liked it when wet but now that it's dry i'm not sure i like it as much. something here smells chocolatey-earthy here. i think my skin is doing a number on it though so i will try it again later for the final verdict.

 

[Ceri]

In the vial: Sweet, lovely mums.

 

Wet: Floral incense & sandalwood.

 

Dry: The most prominent notes are the floral & incense. I get a bit of both the vanilla and sandalwood, but they are mostly lurking in the background.

 

Overall: My skin eats this right up, after 15 minutes, all that's left is a powdery floral scent. Not for me.

[aquazoo]

A dry floral. The vanilla comes up, and the other elements — nicely blended and balanced. It has that little bit of sharpness of those particular flowers, and the cinnamon heats it up.

[Argentwolf]

Chrysanthemum, marigold, vanilla, and amber all mingle together to create a spicy, warm sort of vanilla-floral on my skin. It's a durable scent that treats me to delicious wafts of dry warmth. This is like the scent of pressed, dried flowers, given by a lover from long ago. Out of all of the Shungas, and indeed all the Lupercalia scents, this was definitely my favorite.

[ephemera]

In the bottle this scent is a little… bland. It smells pretty but it doesn't smell like "much". However, the notes are mostly notes that tend to do very nice things on me, so I'm definitely giving this a try.

Right away on my skin this gets a mild sort of spice to it - the chrysanthemum coming out. The vanilla is very much a base note - not very prominent, but it blends the oils into a more cohesive whole rather than the jumble of scents I suspect this would be. The sandalwood and amber are adding a slight creaminess to the scent and it's turning into a lovely, mellow sort of feminine blend. Floral without smelling like flowers, if that makes any sense. I think this may be bottle-worthy.

 

Edited: *pout* After a little over an hour this went 100% baby powder on me. Woe!

Edited March 19, 2009 by ephemera

[voodoocatwoman]

I just love this. It starts out very peppery and sharp (mum and marigold) but it dries down to resin-y heaven. The sandalwood and vanilla shine.

[AEris]

This is a soft, clean, white-smelling musky floral on me. The musk note reminds me of Anactoria, an almost honeyed musk, and the florals are soapy - maybe a hint of rose in there??

 

It is pleasant, I do like it. I'm not wowed, or tempted to buy a bottle, but it's fine to wear for today.

[simpsonmeredith]

This was beautiful in the bottle and during the wet stages. Dark resins with spicy vanilla and amazing florals. I typically can't stand florals but I'm going to have to put chrysanthemum and marigolds in the carnation category of love after this.

 

I really wanted to love this. Amber incense with vanilla and sandalwood? Come on, this was meant for me. Unfortunately, something in here turns to soap during the drydown.