There is a Garden in Her Face

[JasminDreams2010]

Ethereal grace in earthly form: cherry blossoms, pink roses, and graceful white lilies under a sheen of pale honey.

This is the second Lupercalia to break my heart this season.
I love cherry rose scents and have been looking for something to replace my bath and body works Japanese Cherry Blossom. I knew this was a bit of a long shot but had to try because it's a cherry rose.

We have sweet, feminine roses, delicate cherry blossom, delicious soft honey. And then LILIES that come in and stomp all over it and turn the fine concoction to soap. Pretty in the bottle, pretty on my skin for the first five seconds, then the lilies go hot screechy diva on me and suddenly, it's a dove bar.

The good news is that I think it's a skin chemistry thing. This might be positively glorious on the right person. It's truly lovely in the bottle.

[DovaKitten]

It's definitely a skin chemistry thing, JasminDreams. On me it is a very, very pretty floral without even the faintest hint of honey (my skin has not liked honey notes lately, ymmv). There is a BRIEF moment in the drydown phase that I thought, "Oh, old lady soap," but it quickly passed. (Also worth nothing: I think most florals smell like old ladies.)

 

It's a nice perfume if you like light florals, very feminine and soft. Unfortunately, I need something sweet and foodie to balance out my floral scents right now (Pink Snowballs is my HG rose scent), and the honey just isn't strong enough for me. I happily will pass this along to someone who can appreciate it for what it is.

[Akurarei]

This one is different

 

Wet it is kind of a cross between wisteria and cherry blossoms

On my skin, wet - it does give a powdery purple impression, but it quickly gives way to a fruity cherry note with a sweet undertone

On my skin, dry - all powder fades away, replaced with a subtle cherry note, a thin layer of honey and a crisp, bright white lily

It's lovely!

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: The cherry blossom seems to be the dominant note, followed by the pink rose and the lilies. I was hoping this would be a sugary floral, but the honey doesn't seem to be very strong in the decant. Hopefully that will change once it hits my skin.

 

Wet: As soon as it hits my skin, I get the cherry blossom and rose notes. I thought the rose was threatening to overtake the cherry blossom, but actually, the lilies claim the center stage. At this point in time, the lily note is the strongest, followed by the rose note, and then the cherry blossom. I'm not getting much honey from this at all. It's more of a floral blend than a sugary floral blend. I was hoping to get more of the cherry blossom and honey from this, but I suppose I will have to stick to Reflected Vulva as far as the cherry blossom is concerned.

 

Dry: The aforementioned florals and a hint of the cherry blossom.

 

Verdict: Too much floral, not enough honey! This will not be a bottle purchase.

[Miss Despair]

Oh, pretty! Mostly soft, pink rose and cherry blossom on me. Lily is more in the background, but asserts itself a little once dry. I'm not getting a whole lot of honey per se, but there's a sweetness to it that is probably coming from the honey note. Very innocent and girly. It somehow reminds me of soap without actually being soapy. I do wish it'd assert itself more and be more long-lived.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Miss Despair

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Gorgeous light floral.

 

Wet on skin: Still that beautiful light floral. It almost reminds me of the Bat and Body Works Japanese cherry blossom, but not quite. Other than an almost afterscent, I'm liking this so far.

 

Dried down: Same as before... but I'm getting more annoyed by the rubbery afterscent.

 

Throw: It does have a bit of throw, but the rubber is still mixing in with the florals.

 

Verdict: *** I like it... but not enough to buy a bottle. I'll keep the decant for a second test, though, and if I like it enough, I might seek out a secondhand bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

I really really wanted to love this.

 

It had three elements I had high hopes for. And the pink roses I felt I could handle.

 

And in most ways, this doesn't disappoint. It's pink, delicate, floral with mainly cherry blossoms, honey and a touch of lilies, and pink roses.

 

And yet... I don't adore it.

 

On the other hand, this would be perfect for standing a cherry blossom tree as it blooms, and the petals are carried off in the wind, as you turn around to gaze at the eyes of a besotted youth. Very much like in shoujo/school girl animes.

 

Gloriously, cherry blossom pink.

[tharsei-thanate]

What the heck, I put this on and at first it's beautiful florals and then almost immediately it goes soap me. Lillies, roses, and cherry blossoms all work with my skin chem individually, I guess as a group they overwhelm my chem too much??? I mean, it's not terrible but I wasn't expecting it to smell like I rubbed a bar of soap on my wrists. I'll keep the decant but no bottle for me.

[Astarial]

In the imp, this shows real promise. It's a gorgeous blend of cherry blossom, rose, and lily, with just a hint of honey. Not too sweet, not too floral.

 

Sadly, on my skin the rose and honey conspire to drown the other flowers and rule together in a mad, passionate embrace. At times it veers slightly soapy, but overall that's how it stays - rose and honey, honey and rose.

 

On the bright side, I can definitely tell it's pink rose, and not red?

[cinnamonster]

It's pretty, but quickly turns to cherry blossom soap on skin. Nice if you want to smell clean.

[Lorelai1945]

When I first put this on, I get a blast of sweet floral honey. It's amazing. In no time, however, it becomes all rose. It's a pretty rose and a soft, Victorian lady's powder sort of rose, but it's all rose all the time. I should just assume that if rose is a note, that's all I'm going to smell.

[milkyway]

This scent immediately caught my eye based on its description, I impulsively bought a full size of this.

 

In the bottle: Absolutely lovely! Like a bouquet of flowers with the tiniest hint of sweetness from the honey. It smelled fresh, not oldlady-like or heavy. A perfect warm weather scent!

 

Wet: Smells just as good as in the bottle, I was so happy- I felt like I hit a jackpot with this!

 

Dry: Here we have our unhappy ending. Something about my skin doesn't play well with one of the notes… and I think it might be the honey. It starts to smell like a soap on dry down. Not a bad soap scent actually, but definitely not the scene I fell in love with on first sniff.

[asciident]

Wet: Bright pink rose in full bloom.

 

First on: Still quite rosy, tempered with a touch of honey. Just a little soapy, which doesn’t bode well.

 

Dry: As expected, it went full-on soapy. Think that’s the lilies. Still quite rosy, but the honey is gone.

 

 

[milo]

I love the lab's cherry blossom note, but it is pretty much non existent here. I'm getting musky, sour rose, kind of spring-like definitely, but not something I could see myself wearing. Not for me.

[tinyvulture]

Cherry blossoms! One of my favorite florals, so pink and cheerful. I'm not a Bath & Body Works snob, and this does remind me of their cherry blossom stuff which I buy in abundance. Except here, it's mixed with rose. No honey, just creamy pink florals. Pink, pink, pink! Super girly! But alas, it goes soapy, and that makes it feel stuffy and wrong for me. More honey would've helped.

[celestia]

♔ There is a Garden in her Face

 

Cherry Blossom is a weakness of mine. and although, I've tried almost all of the ones released by the lab and post, I have yet to come across one that really speaks to me.

 

In the Bottle: Ah! Sweet, soapy cherry blossoms, and a backdrop of what smells like almost juicy pink roses

 

Wet: I mainly get beautiful sweet, feminine, pink roses with soapy cherry blossom petals, and a hint of green lily. It’s fresh, dewy, sweet and natural. An underappreciated blend. The honey peaks out towards the end of the wet stage, it smells like a thinly veiled white floral honey, almost smeared on, rather than drenched in amongst the florals. It reads like a soft smelling light monofloral kind of honey, it’s gentle, plush and nearly velvety in olfactory texture.

 

Drydown: The cherry blossom and pink rose actually become juicier and remains dominant throughout, it may be because of the harmonizing nature of both scents- they seem to lend properties to each other. It almost seems like they fuse into one note. The honey remains sweet, light and fragrant. Altogether it smells a bit like a pink rose infused cherry blossom nectar and slightly soapy, white honey powder. The clean powderiness isn’t the kind you get with failed skin chemistry, it’s high-end, and gives the impression of a white Victorian styled dressing table, laden with bright pink, pale pink and creamy white florals, a powdery rose blush laid out on one side, and a sprig of cherry blossoms standing in a small clear vase on the other. A very feminine, pinkish white, and delicate floral and powdery-honey scent. Very springlike, extremely wearable. Dries down to a powdery pink rose and white floral honey, maybe a hint of juicy sweet sakura.

 

TL;DR: Clean cherry blossom and pink rose petals with powdery white floral honey.

Edited April 25, 2017 by celestia