The Small Harem

[burymestanding]

Tahitian vanilla and strawberry with tonka bean absolute, Italian bergamot, ylang ylang, and Haitian vetiver.

In the bottle: Candied strawberries all the way.
Wet on skin: Strawberries and more strawberries, with a bit of a citrus underpinning.

 

Drydown: Aw, this disappeared on me! It is extremely close to the skin, so if you prefer not to let everyone in a 5 mile radius know what you're wearing this might be good for you (I tend to like obnoxiously in-your-face throw). I'm getting very light strawberry and vanilla, with the vetiver keeping it from being overly sweet. Kind of reminds me of a much lighter version of Beaver Moon 2012, but that always seemed more like strawberry cheesecake than apple cheesecake on me.

 

I picked this up with the hope that it'd be a good scent for hot days when I don't want anything too overbearing, so I think this will probably work for that usage. I'm hoping it might gain a bit of oomph with some aging, though. And, to be fair, I tested this straight out of the mail box.

[Little Bird]

A sickly, cheap, waxy strawberry lipsmackers and artificial 'vanilla flavoring.' The ylang ylang here is sharp and perfumey, white musk-like, and gives me a headache. Bergamot makes the strawberries smell sour and unripe in the drydown, covered in cheap white musk and sugar, with a waxy, dusty, cheap overlay. It just goes all wrong on me. 15 minutes in, it smells like a plasticy potpourri with a vaguely waxy berry smell to it. Fades away quickly, but I wasn't really sad to see it go.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Little Bird

[hammy]

In the imp - Vetiver is a death note on me, but thankfully I don't smell it here.

 

Wet - Oh gawsh. So good!! I love how slap-you-in-the-face sweet this is, and I hope it stays this way for a while.

 

Drydown - I'm guessing the ylang-ylang is doing the same thing that it did in Love and Sleep (another Luper from 2014) -- it comes in and makes everything all swirly silken sweetness and then recedes on drydown. Ah, well. It's still a lovely scent. Mostly strawberries and creamy vanilla. If I didn't know there was citrus in here, I wouldn't have guessed it. And no hint of the vetiver, mercifully. Goes a little plasticky on me toward the very end, but it's so faded by that point that it doesn't really matter.

 

Verdict - I adore this when I first put it on, but it loses points with me as the sweetometer drops. Probably good I didn't get a bottle.

[quintessentially]

WOW this is pure strawberry on first application. It's warm and sweet and stays strongly strawberry through dry-down. Vanilla comes out to play and it matures a bit when bergamot comes out a little bit. I really liked this one as a strawberry scent. Very summery, IMO!

[astarinel]

Strawberry. It reminds me of the strawberry note in Strawberry Moon '09, tinged with green. The vanilla and tonka give it a sweet, creamy feel. This reminds me a little bit of Kitty, one of my absolute favorite scents, but not as nice, unfortunately. Kitty has the same vanilla + strawberry + bergamot combination of notes, but the strawberry note in that one is different, rounder and a little juicier.

 

I found the throw on this very light, and the spot I tested faded to vague sweetness fairly quickly. It's soft and springy, but for me it suffers a bit because it reminds me of a similar scent that I like significantly better.

[Myria Jean]

On me this is a dark, smoky, slightly floral strawberry. Note though that I amp vetiver and most berry notes.

This is a gorgeous rainy day scent.

[zankoku_zen]

Smoky vanilla and tonka syrup. On wet, there was a splash of strawberry. But overall this smells like a syrupy smoky vanilla and tonka blend. Sticks close to the skin.

 

Super torn on this, as this is actually a pretty blend, but perhaps almost too gourmand for me.

[loubric]

In the bottle sharp sweet strawberry bubblegum with a green coolness in the background (the vetiver perhaps?)

On my skin it's a very very sweet and potent strawberry bubblegum!! The dry down is beautiful and the vanilla is stronger with a sharpness coming through.

The vanilla is very strong which is a shame, I was hoping the strawberry would be stronger!

[Eemia]

Bright, strong strawberries with a translucent quality. The strawberry note is all I can smell at first and I couldn't be happier about it. I don't get any sweet syrup or candy connection here, it reminds me more of a natural type of strawberry. A vanilla-floral comes through as it dries, and it's very creamy and soft, slightly sweet too. There's a mild earthiness underscoring everything, which must be the vetiver but it's so tame in here that I don't notice it much.

 

Overall this is just a gorgeous strawberry scent and I love that the fruit stays vibrant throughout most of the wear.