The Large Harem

[hexnut]

Damask rose, white carnation, lychee, Himalayan cedar, and white honey.

In a final battle with The Dream at Will Call last night, this came out on top.

Fresh on my skin this was all rose. After a bit the carnation poked up a bit, a pleasant surprise because the Spanish Red Carnation single note of a few years ago was nearly odorless on me. Later on I got bits of the cedar, and although rose remained dominant it combined with the other notes to make an overall lovely scent. It lasted a good while on my skin, all through the drive home and long after the smell of The Dream had faded away from my other arm.

I don't know what lychee smells like - I only know it's an Asian fruit - but possibly it was reinforcing the citrusy quality that I get from some rose blossoms. Whatever it was doing in the Large Harem, it can keep on doing it. I'm delighted to have a bottle of this.

[zankoku_zen]

These are pink roses, light honey and a brush of lychee which has a tart/citrus edge to it.. It's much more of a rose/honey on wet, it's almost musky. It dries to a lighter rose, touch of carnation, lychee and honey.

 

It's pink, lovely and very dreamy.

[Marion]

At first it is mostly rose with a hint of carnation (and possibly lychee? I don´t think it´s the cedar). It´s okay, but I prefer carnation to rose, so the ratio is wrong for me. After a few minutes all the notes mix and in the end, for the next 4 or 5 hours, it´s all honey. I love the last phase, I want to bathe in it.

[ImpImpImp]

Small sprig roses and a ton of honeyed lychee, with a hint of carnation. I don't get any cedar.

[sunlitgarden]

I was excited to try this scent because of the rose and lychee, primarily.

In the decant: Hmm, interesting. There's a contrast here between the cedar, which smells rich and "solid" or "massive" side, with the lighter and sweeter rose and lychee. The cedar smells more like old wood here than the fresh "pencil" or "Home Depot" type scent that it sometimes smells like.

On my skin: Mostly the cedar with some rose (and maybe some lychee?) in the background. "Massive" is still the word that is in my head, like a big wooden pillar. I'm not getting much honey but I think it is serving to sweeten the scent a bit.

As it dries, it is starting to smell a bit on the spicy side. I am not sure if this is from the carnation, or the cedar, or both. It's mostly a spicy wood with a little bit of rose.

I'm surprised the other reviews are mentioning mostly rose and not much cedar, because I'm definitely getting a lot of cedar, and I smell it in the decant as well as my skin -- maybe a batch variation?

[suslee]

So I had the wonderful fortune of testing this while in the heat of my monthly woes to compare this to now, when it's pretty much over.

When my hormones were wacky, my decant amped cedar and something minty like no one's business and I was upset to not smell anything else even when it dried (30 mins later). I was very distraught and confused since the earlier reviewers weren't getting any cedar at all and wondered if this was either mislabeled or there was something wrong with my batch haha.

 

Now when I'm (just about) back to normal, on my skin I get damask rose, cedar, and lychee, in order of what's strongest. After smelling cedar amped like crazy the other day, I can definitely pick out the cedar.

15 mins later: I'm getting damask rose, lychee & honey---which made this one of my top anticipated Luper 2016 scents, and cedar faintly in the background.

22 mins later: OH I see now. The cedar now is just about gone and it's hard to differentiate it from the combo duo of lychee & carnation. OMG I love love love love love love this.

 

I was aware that hormonal changes (like menopause) could really change how Beth's perfumes could smell on you, but this was my first time experiencing this for myself aka during my monthly woes.

At least I now know not to wear The Large Harem during the initial days of my monthly suffering. Heck, I may even stick to wearing purely HGs rather than tempt fate when my hormones are so wacko!

 

I will be getting a bottle of this!!!!

[PeculiarHeroine]

On me this opens with a burst of ceder. ACK! Nooo, I wanted a lush floral and fruit blend. Why, cedar, why!?

But the cedar only sticks around for a while, blending in the back, and letting the carnation take front and center, followed by rose. I don't get any lychee out of this, which is too bad, as I was hoping for that fruity freshness added to this blend.

This reminds me a lot of Maiden, but with a hint of ceder to it. Not bad, but not exactly what I was hoping for.

[animalcules]

I love every note in this except lychee, which I haven't tried yet - but I love actual lychee. So I had to have this.

 

A burst of light rose, carnation, honey, sweet tart fruit, and cedar. This doesn't morph much on me. The cedar stays very present, which I'm loving - gives it depth and balance and makes it less of a super sweet blend. I actually think the faintest note is the rose, which is surprising, as rose usually dominates blends on me.

 

I really like this.

 

Similar to Alice (but wood instead of cream, and juicier) and Jezebel (but with less cloying honey) in the GC.