Josie

[Yvaine]

JOSIE
The brooding, raucous, and hot-blooded proprietress of the Château Lobrano d'Arlington, the gaudiest bordello in the District. Miss Josie had a true talent for hype, and promoted her ladies in an effusively romanticized, over-the-top fashion. La Belle Stewart, who was in actuality a circus hoochie koochie girl from Chicago, was billed as "a bona-fide baroness, direct from the court of St. Petersburg."

Heady magnolia and honeyed peaches.

In the bottle it's very soft peaches and cream.

On application, it gets stronger. The honey and peach are obvious, the magnolia lurks around in the background and lends some southern intrigue to the blend.

As it dries down, the magnolia comes out more and mingles with the honey. I feel like I'm sitting under a nearly full-bloom magnolia tree eating peaches. Honey notes do not typically work for my nose, but this is an exception.

Dried down, the magnolia has gone to the back again and the honey and peaches take over, though the sweetness is broadened by that magnolia note in the back. This is not a ripening peach, or one of those anemic early peaches that don't even have a scent. If you bit into this one, juices would spurt through your fingers, trickle down your arms, and mysteriously make their way into your cleavage. This is plump, juicy peach just waiting to be bitten.

Overall: a lush sweet not-quite-foody scent that is innocent as pie--if that's what you're paying her for...

[Venneh]

Okay, so, so far the District's been bombing on me horribly. But this is three notes: honey, peaches, magnolia. No way this can go wrong, right?

 

In the decant, I'm definitely getting a combination of honey, peaches and magnolia; it combines to form an almost peach schnapps scent (and I love peach schnapps). And it's the same on my skin; an absolutely amazing combination of peach and honey and magnolia, really lush, really sweet. YES.

 

This is definitely going to end up being a bottle; it's a bit too bright for the fall season right now, but mid-winter, spring, summer, oh yes.

Edited November 12, 2009 by Venneh

[Xanon]

I got to skin test this yesterday at the Bay Area MnS.

 

In the bottle this was fresh peach yumm and honey! But tasty honey, not weird funky honey.

 

Wet this stays cool and peachy, I think that the magnolia is keeping it from getting soft and golden.

 

Dry its all cool peachy goodness and honey. Delicious!

 

Overall: I was worried that this would go squiffy, honey typically does, but it was a huge surprise! I also had reservations about magnolia. Magnolia makes me break out in hives when I touch the actual flowers. On me it stayed cool and juicy but on Ralenth it got all warm and golden and delicious. This was the first time that I noticed how drastically skin chemistry can alter a scent. (We then found that there were a ton of scents that are polar opposites with... )

[theandorran]

I'm with Xanon that this is a 'cool' peach scent and I was actually rather surprised. I was expecting something much warmer and juicier and... peachier. On me, the magnolia and peach blend together into this one sweet, planty, fruity scent.

 

It's hard for me to describe what Josie smells like because it reminds me of something I might have smelled at my grandma's, but I'm not sure of what. I get peaches, and this odd note I can only describe as planty. It's not herbal and not floral... it's not precisely magnolia. It's... the way I'd picture peach branches smelling, I guess.

 

I'm a little disappointed, because it doesn't smell the way I pictured it, but then, I also really love it. It gets better and peachier for me as it dries down.

[angelicruin]

This scent is a perfect balance of magnolia and peach on my skin. I just love it. Makes me think of warmer weather.

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, Josie is very strongly honey. (I amp honey, so this isn't surprising.) Dry, the honey calmed down then magnolia and some peach started to come through. This is good, but I'm hoping the peach will come out more as it ages.

[Indigo78]

In the bottle this was strong peach with barest hint of honeyed florals. When first applied it blasts hyper-sweet peach for about a minute, with no tartness at all. A bit later it becomes much deeper and developed. I could swear there's dirt in there? Clay? ... but something that's musky and grungy in a bedroom hair sort of way.

 

The magnolias are floral, but not grandma-ish at all. They get extremely heady and the throw is incredible. The honey is about even with the magnolias, and on me this strongly smells of peach. It lasted six hours or so on me yesterday, but once it was gone, it was gone.

 

This blend utterly drips sex to my nose-brain, and I love it. Yeah, I am completely IN LOVE. Or at least hardcore infatuation. It evokes a woman who isn't afraid of who she is and where she has been. There's none of "old lady" or "kid's perfume" business, either... just mouthwatering gorgeousness. I'll have to see how she ages, and let that be the deciding factor on whether I get multiple bottle... Josie may be a "buy it when you need" it blend, for me.

 

I wanted Peach Moon to smell like this, I took a gamble and ordered a bottle unsniffed-- and I couldn't have asked for a more stunningly crafted scent.

[astarinel]

I find this blend to be perfectly what I expected from the note list, and I really like it.

 

None of the notes are really taking over, and they all combine in a wonderful way. The magnolias are heady and warm, the peaches soft and juicy, and the honey sticky and sweet. It's a very sweet and feminine blend, and the magnolias keep the honey and peaches from becoming too foody.

 

To compare to other peach blends, it's warmer and juicier than Fae and richer and sweeter than Philommeides. I'm not sure I need a bottle yet, as I have bottles of those two and it's not quite peach-scent-weather, but I'm definitely hanging on to the Josie I have.

[edenssixthday]

Josie - I thought I'd hate this blend, considering the likelihood of any of the notes to actually work on me. Surprise, surprise! It works well -- GORGEOUSLY well. No single note overwhelms the other. They all blend in harmony and unison. The amazing thing is how the headiness of the magnolia keeps the juiciness of the peach from being too sweet, while the juiciness of the peach keeps the sweetness of the honey from being too sticky and cloying, and the warm, smooth flow of honey keeps the magnolia from being too heady. It's just awesome how this blend works, and this is one I can actually see myself wearing year-round for just about any occasion. I really love it and am glad I decided to give it a shot.

[ami226]

Honeyed flowers and peaches! Mmmmm!

 

The honeyed flower scent in this one reminds me a lot of To Helen and Flower Moon. Pretty nice! I think I would be happy with a decant though because I don't see myself wearing this kind of scent too often. I would prefer to go to Philommedes for my peaches!

[Violet74]

I am ever so impressed with The District scents so far, and Josie might just be my favourite from the decants I bought. This one has a pretty good throw and wear length, I've been surrounded by a lovely haze of fuzzy peach from when I applied at 8am and it's now 11 hours later and it's still smelling good! To my nose there seems to be a little booziness to the blend and I'm agreeing with Venneh with the peach schnapps comparison. Mmmm really gorgeous. Going to get a bottle for certain.

[reynardine]

Got a decant to try and I AM IN LOVE.

 

Wet: Honey and peaches, with a bit of floral behind

 

Drydown: Stays true, although the magnolia comes out a bit more.

 

Later: This is a heavenly scent. Bottle. No, two bottles! My mom will want one!

[lupidog]

this smells pretty decadent in the imp, but going on it is too strong and alcoholic for my tastes. as it dries, that booze edge softens and it becomes a really rich peach, which i mostly like, but is somehow just a tad off for me. after it is thoroughly dry, it smells like a very soft sugared peach...

 

though it drove me crazy, because it also smelled almost exactly like something i knew was related to my pets. after much huffing, i realized it smells almost exactly like ferret ear cleaning solution. um.... okay. this is where i start to fear i'm going mad (though not really, this stuff does have a very particular odor and josie oddly mimics it) because hilma reminded me of horses/stables. who knows!

[ellebelle]

In a way, this reminds me of Thalia. It's a combination of lush fruit and sparkling florals. Definitely a spring/summer scent and in my "to buy" pile.

[tarotgirl99]

I've sort of been in a BPAL funk. Pink Snowballs gave me hope, but this is true love.

 

In the imp, it's more peach wine, but on the skin, the way edensixthday described it is perfect: The amazing thing is how the headiness of the magnolia keeps the juiciness of the peach from being too sweet, while the juiciness of the peach keeps the sweetness of the honey from being too sticky and cloying, and the warm, smooth flow of honey keeps the magnolia from being too heady.

 

Throw is like wow and it lasts for at least 12 hours (about to go to bed now). This is definitely a bottle purchase.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

one note i love, one note that's usually a dealbreaker.

and, this is all peach. and not a good peach on me, either. it's the peach from Labyrinth.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this smells like a sweet, innocent fruity-floral.

 

On my skin, this is instant love . I love peach notes, and this is a sweet, juicy peach on me. It smells ripe rather than candied. The floral part goes creamy and heady on my skin, giving the peach a little lift and complexity. As it dries down, I can smell the honey. I don't normally like bpal's honey notes, but this is golden, smooth, and delicate honey. Something about this scent seems heated and sensual to me as well, like a hot southern night (perhaps the floral night playing very nicely on my skin). It's just gorgeous.

 

Josie smells romantic and southern, and I think that she's my favorite of The District blends so far. It smells like the perfume of a young girl sneaking out of the mansion on a hot summer night to meet up with the guy she's crazy about <3.

[Schmoozy]

 

Absolute love. This is exactly what the notes state - Honeyed peaches and magnolia. Lush, velvety peaches drizzled with honey combined with magnolia. It's sweet, it's summery and it is beautiful.

Another District winner.

[bookandbroom]

Pretty alluring, in the bottle — the magnolia is unexpectedly subtle, the peaches thick and sweet and rich. On, though, it's a touch unsettling; the combination of notes makes none of them smell like I think they ought. There's the illusion of cream, and an elusive floral that doesn't want to identify itself as magnolia. It's surprisingly bright, not quite clean but the florals do lean toward the soapy, at least on me. The peach creeps forward as the oil starts to dry, but it's shy and a little retiring.

 

Interesting, especially for the way the notes seem to disguise themselves — that talent for hype, embodied in scent! — but not quite my sort of thing.

[scrappy]

A very sweet and light peachy-floral. The peach and magnolia work well with each other, neither scent overpowers the other.

[Iceblink]

Simple and straightforward magnolia and peach. The peach is really sweet and thick, almost honeyed; if the magnolia weren't there, this would be ridiculously sweet but it's kept in check. I will certainly revisit this in warmer weather--it's perfect for summer in the south!

[filigree_shadow]

This is a very pretty magnolia scent. It's lovely with the peaches. It smells so... southern. Light and not too heady at all. I like this one. Smells like springtime. I don't go for florals much, and I can't see myself needing a whole bottle of this, but I'll hang on to the decant. Hopefully I'll remember to wear it in the spring.

[musichappens]

This is the only scent from the collection that I knew was going to be an instant win for me. It is just a simple blend of magnolia and peaches with just a hint of honey, but it's perfect in every way imaginable. A bottle of this is definitely going in my next order.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

 

Very lush and heady - this is a very lovely blend of the rich aroma of a magnolia flower on a hot summer's night with the sweet syrup of peaches. The honey is mixing nicely with the two, keeping the sweetness grounded but maintaining the richness. I have a magnolia tree in my front garden, so I know the smell well, and this is dead-on - it's exactly the same smell that I get when I open my front door on a breezy warm night and the smell of the magnolia flowers comes in to the house.

 

This is actually too much for me.. for the first hour or so it was wafting sweet rich syrupy smells all around me, almost to the point where I was tempted to go and wash it off, but once that stage passed then it became a lovely sweet and powdery wispy fragrance - still with the magnolia, but far more mellow. This should be worn with a flowery dress and a big floppy straw hat whilst you sit under a shady tree at the park on a sunny day.

 

 

[Geminirubyshoes]

So stoked to finally have a bottle if this.

In the bottle: warm, wafting magnolia peach waves...

Wet: the magnolia of my dreams! Damn! These are magnolias with a purpose. This puts any other crap perfume that tries to emulate magnolia (yeah I'm talking about you bath and body works) to utter shame. The throw is so strong but it's awsome.

Dry (about an hour later) just a faint touch of magnolia with musky peach being prominent.

This is really a masterpiece in my opinion. Definately a smell worthy of New Orleans

Edited December 25, 2009 by Duskinhereyes