Blossoms in Springtime

[evekrieg]

Vanilla bean and vanilla blossom, golden honey, antiqued amber, beeswax, copal, lotus blossom, and helichrysum.

What a strange and complex little bottle! Wet it smells absolutely gorgeous. Sweet and warm with a tinge of something else in the background. The drydown smells nothing like how it did while wet. Something almost aquatic comes out of the background. I think I might really like this but I'm still not sure exactly what to think! Some of my favorite perfumes start out that way.

I am excited to let this one settle for a few months and revisit it as I'm sure it will continue to be interesting.

[ami226]

On first smell, I get lots of vanilla with a buttery feel. After a bit, the vanilla backs off a bit. I get more honey and a floral hint. I really miss that initial blast of vanilla. I'll need to try this one again.

[zankoku_zen]

Vanilla with a buttery feeling and a giant honey dose, with some soft amber on the background. This is like a softer, more sophisticated version of O.

 

Sexy, muted, honey.

[mari4212]

Yummy.

 

In the bottle, it's sweet, with an almost graham-cracker scent.

 

On, it's vanilla, copal, and amber that take center stage. It's a creamy-warm scent, sweet and soft, but definitely present. I get wafts every time I move my wrists.

 

This is only going to get better with age. I'm glad I splurged on a bottle right off the bat.

[yakiguri]

On first application I immediately understood the praises lauded on this scent. It's a soft yet deep honeyed vanilla, O with a dash of AWESOME. Then within five minutes--FIVE!-- my skin has completely and utterly eaten all the amazing bits and left me with a powdery-sweet play dogh. Curse you, skin chemistry!

Edited April 22, 2012 by thatbrownelf

[Sateki]

Definitely reminds me of O, especially for the first hour. Baby powder honey! After that, the vanilla and musk comes out, giving it a more mature feel. The powdery smell begins to fade around the hour mark. Not quite what I expected, but beautiful nonetheless. A keeper!

[lilyliza]

Wet, this gives off a sweet tang that reminds me a lot of canned fruit (maybe the lotus blossom and honey together? I'm not sure). Eventually this subsides to a very vanilla (in a good way) smell deepened by the honey and amber and made more seductive with copal and florals. It's sexy, but in a more understated way than the more in-your-face scents. To me, it's very much a "lady in the streets but freak in the sheets" kind of smell, lol. Although it's a lovely scent, I ultimately decided against getting a bottle but enjoyed using up my decant.

[KatharinaNordh]

Was So excited about this one - and now, I'll end up spenind the day figuring out what went wrong.

 

It smells like blood and metal on me, and not even in a pleasant way - wet, it smelld like soap, but that (thankfully) passed very fast. But now, sweaty, dirty, blood and metal - really cool, of course, but maybe more for...well, for not me.

 

Stupid skin chemistry - honey is usually the one thing that makes Everything smell good on me.

 

I'll let this one age a bit though, rather than hurry to get it swapped of. Cause it has potential - lots of it.

[miss_rynn]

All florals and sadness

 

It smells like a floral version of the honey and red musk in Womb Furie, and gives me a headache like an icepick through the skull. So terribly unhappy, because I had such high hopes.

[becca_s]

When I first put this the first thought that came to my mind was 'mmm, vanilla ice cream'.

 

It becomes less foody as it dries and I can smell the antiqued amber and copal. I was scared that the amber would make this powdery on me, but it doesn't in this blend. Overall, this is a lovely, warm vanilla. I wish that I had ordered another bottle.

[stellamaris]

Marshmallows! Puppies! Unicorns!

I love this, it's all sweet sugar vanilla, and something that is reminding me of the Wiley Grasser.

[sunlitgarden]

I *loved* the art for this one. Vulvas of all types!

 

Whoa, this oil is dark orange-red. I wasn't expecting that for some reason. In the bottle, it's a rich and creamy-smelling vanilla. I am getting red musk on my skin, or at least a similar note, which I'm pretty sure is what makes it be dark red like that. I've only seen that color from oils with red musk, although it could possibly be from the resins in here.

 

Musky and a creamy vanilla. Thankfully, this isn't the cream note that goes sour on me. As it dries more, I'm getting more amber, with an almost aquatic edge from it - this must be a similar amber to the one in Lyonesse, because I'm getting a Lyonesse-like impression at this stage, although I think I like Lyonesse better... this is kind of "clean" smelling, but also has a artificial-perfumey vibe I don't really like, I think from the florals. It's giving me a hint of the sourness I sometimes get from cream blends (boo! It was good at first!) I think there's a particular amber that may go bad with my chemistry, because I had a similar unpleasant result from Gelt. Not Lyonesse, though, thankfully.

 

I am not getting any honey or beeswax.

 

Although I was expecting this to be my favorite from the 4 Shungas I bought, I think it's actually last. o_O

 

Edit: Okay, after about a half hour the bad note calmed down a bit. It smells okay on me, but not great. I still don't think this is a keeper though, because there are too many scents that are amazing to wear ones that are just okay on me.

Edited May 19, 2012 by sunlitgarden

[angelamaria]

Before I get really started, there seems to be a batch variation between bottles issues at the start of the Lupers, and at the middle-to-latter end. I was on a short BPAL hiatus after the holidays, and thus only got to try Blossoms with a full bottle purchase around the middle of the Lupercalia season. I bought another bottle at the very tail end. Both bottles had dark red oil. The bottles that came out early during the Lupers had lighter, orange-colored oil. I was able to snag a decant of this early Blossoms after a while.

 

This is the review/notes I had based on the red-oil version:

 

In bottle: this is deep, strong honey with a boozy quality to it, with rich flowers. Slightly powdery to my nose, but with a "glowing" and sexy tone. It's similar in feel to Glowing Vulva, but this is sweeter (based on memory).

 

Wet on skin: this softens on my skin, but stays fairly similar to bottle scent. Sweet honey, with a touch of brightness, rich but not overpowering florals--it's actually rather light, but the feel/tone I get is definitely "rich" and "lush". Also, very quickly going to powder on my skin. Damn.

 

Dry: sigh. This has turned to powder, honey, vanilla, and flowers. It's sexy, though--and it's not listed as a note, but the oily powderiness I'm getting is very similar to how red musk reacts on my skin (as opposed to how ambers turn).

 

Verdict: not my scent. Interesting, but no.

 

As mentioned, recently I was able to try the orange-oil version (thank you, you know who you are!!). It is lighter, slightly sharper in feel than the red oil version, both in the decant and on my skin. The amber does turn slightly powdery, but not to the same extent as the red-oil version did, and not enough to turn me off completely. About two hours on, the powder has also mostly disappeared again, leaving behind a pleasantly "peppery" feel. In all other respects the scent is the same: sweet honeyed flowery vanilla enveloped in musky tones. Sexy, but light, almost subtle.

 

Obviously I can't know for sure what was in the later Blossoms batches, or what Beth meant it to be, but if it WAS red musk, it makes sense. Red-oil Blossoms is sexy, orange-oil a bit more on the naughty side than full-on sexy.

 

Verdict #2: The orange-oil Blossoms in Springtime is a keeper for me

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Butter! I guess that's the vanilla. So much more foody than I expected.

Wet: Definitely getting some amber, and the florals are appearing. Overall still very sweet.

Dry: On me the foody vanilla dominates - I was expecting a sweet floral blend but this is more like Eat Me or Sprinklecake. I liked this well enough, but the second time I tried this, I had an allergic reaction like I sometimes do with cinnamon. Weird

[DJ Sin]

Vanilla bean and vanilla blossom, golden honey, antiqued amber, beeswax, copal, lotus blossom, and helichrysum.

 

I smelled the helichrysum and lotus blossom right away in the decant.Very sugary sweet smell, and it dries to soft beautiful spicy vanilla scent on my skin.

 

Need a bottle of this, it wins!

 

long throw on me as well.

[Violaine]

I just cannot EVEN with this oil. I'm Anne Burrell huffing garlic off the heels of her hands with this oil. Holy lord, it is sex. Sex sex sex. Like, literally. Okay, NOT literally, but if the smell of sex were a color, this oil is the same shade. It's magnificent and creamy and skin-musk and heaving and panting and flushed skin and... pardon me, but I have to go put some more on.

 

Seriously though. If you're a Glowing Vulva fan and woefully lacking in any of that awesome goodness, try and find a bottle of this. It's right there in the same family, and it's GORGEOUS.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Toffee, but slightly tart and with a slightly floral backdrop

 

Wet on me - A smooth creamy musk and something bitter like orange peel and a touch of bubble gum

 

Dry on me - I get vague little hints of musk, but mostly it disappears on me

 

Overall - It faded too quickly for me to get a real impression

[Missy_killer]

In the bottle: Smells like a very light and soft toffee.

 

On: First of all: holy crap I did not expect the oil to be blood red. Secondly; I smell that light toffee again. And then the florals peek out, I hope they play nicely but already it seems like the helichrysum has taken the lead role.

 

Unfortunately Blossoms in Springtime didn't smell like the vanilla goodness I expected and hoped for, it smelled very strongly of florals which I do not care for one bit. I have since testing swapped away my bottle. The only thing I miss is the label art

[bellumed]

Super sweet but not candylike, just strong in the honey vanilla, which I certainly can't complain about. It's airy and delicious! The beeswax keeps it from being pedestrian, despite its hyper-femininity it's not commercial at all. The florals bloom prettily on my skin-- normally I'd mourn the loss of a more foodie scent, but no. This is femmey and alluring. I would totally wear it on a date. Wonderful stuff, so glad I have a bottle!

Edited January 24, 2016 by bellumed

[LizziesLuck]

I'm always looking for vanilla. I have recently discovered I love the Lab's "vanilla bean" note, so I am excited to try this!

 

 

Wet: Buttery vanilla. Slightly soured milk for a second, but that burns off. This is a much more foodie vanilla than I expected, I was expecting floral vanilla. I swear there's a cream note in this.

 

 

Dry: This is mostly vanilla on me, which is awesome. It's a similar vanilla to that in Snake Oil, but less sugared and without the other notes. I pretty much love it. Not sure it's my perfect vanilla, but it's darn close! So glad I tracked this down.

[celestia]

♔ Blossoms in Springtime

 

More than a year and a half since the last review?! WEW! Time to change that! Almost certain I've reviewed this before- and have definitely dropped the name of the scent many times in a lot of my reviews. It's such an overlooked and underappreciated scent. I've jam packed this review with so many adjectives because it really is that vivid and elusive for an olfactory experience. I'm honestly surprised there is no love for this... but I can't complain! More for me!

 

In the Bottle: Sweet, golden, vanilla-rich, honey drenched yellow florals.

 

Wet: This is the richest, creamiest, most golden floral I have ever come across, it positively glows on my skin. The vanilla in this is seriously potent blended in with the amber and honey. No surprise either, the first five notes are glorious “dream team” shades of creamy yellow and gold- I mean look at the lineup! vanilla bean AND vanilla blossom, GOLDEN honey, BEESWAX, ANTIQUED amber. Combined, the initial blast of vanilla is spicy, golden, sweet, and sooooo rich and creamy – this is incredibly intoxicating. It shares similarities with Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge- but a lot more vanillic and floral.

 

Drydown: The honey comes out a lot more in the drydown, it’s a vanillic honey amber. I amp amber to the n-th degree and it’s still quite sweet and creamy with the complex medley of notes still singing to each other. Antiqued amber and copal gives it this spicy, resinous warmth, while the golden honey and beeswax add an all too familiar sweetness. The two vanillas in this are incredible- vanilla bean, guys! And vanilla blossom. It’s just so rich…and creamy even right through to the drydown. Definitely a very warm, glowy scent. Ugh, this is so beautiful and easily accessible which easily justifies my many acquired bottles.

 

TL;DR: Sweet, spicy, golden, honey-drenched, creamy-rich, vanillic florals.

Edited May 20, 2017 by celestia

[roseus]

In the imp: sweet waxy lotus blossom, honey, and vanilla. Glorious.

 

Wet: creamy golden floral, sweet and springy.

 

Dry: I wonder if this has champaca in it? The beautiful creamy sweetness gets covered up by sharp powdery incense that I get with champaca.