Impressions of the Floating World

[Lucchesa]

Vanilla silk, patchouli leaf, sweet benzoin, and smoked honey.

 

Smoked honey? Sign me up! Impressions of the Floating World does not disappoint. I was afraid the silk note would be like the linen note, which veers into dryer sheet territory on my skin, but there's nothing aggressively clean about this scent. The smoke isn't prominent but it and the patch lend an earthy quality to the honey and vanilla and keep them from being overly sweet. The word that comes up for me is "husky." If Impressions of the Floating World could talk, it would sound like Kathleen Turner.

 

ETA retested a different decant a few months later and it had terrific throw and wear length on me.

Edited June 19, 2018 by Lucchesa

[LunaGoth]

Mmm, this is delicious. I definitely get the "silk" nature of the vanilla and the other notes round things out beautifully. My new favorite vanilla, it's a winner!

[sarandipitee]

This has aged very nicely but now the patch has become more prominent - feels closer to Banshee Beat than when I first tried this a year ago. The benzoin is lovely and the silk adds a nice layer.

 

It’s really lovely and I’m glad I held onto my bottle.

[Juliamon]

Received a tester of this and had been putting off trying it in favor of other scents that were more easily obtainable, but I was looking for something to pair with the Dead Leaves and Burnt Marshmallow hair gloss I was using and this jumped out at me by virtue of being sugary and smoky.

 

The patchouli leaf dominates in the vial, but is sweetened by the vanilla. Once on skin the benzoin and honey show up, almost overpowering everything else. I think I smell the silk note, something weirdly and uncomfortably reminiscent of the laundry area of a hotel, that waft of humid air smelling of fresh industrially-cleaned linens.

Once my skin has had its way with the patch this becomes an almost nauseatingly-sweet honey and benzoin party. Even the vanilla, which I usually amp, couldn't stand up to it. But the laundry smell is gone too, so I guess it could be worse?

 

I'm relieved I don't have to hunt down more of this, but still disappointed it didn't work out.

[galahad]

In the Bottle:

Perfumey and smoky vanilla with a dusky edge

On the Skin:

That silk note is so interesting and hard to describe. Definitely get the light smoked honey and the patchouli seems to be white patchouli.

On the Drydown:

This is strangely perfumey but in a good way. Elegant but with enough grit from the smoke and patchouli to be interesting. The benzoin adds a subtle vanilla resinousness. Direct sniff on the skin and I'm not sure about it but the scent from the throw is gorgeous. Definitely a keeper.

[Poenari]

I was gifted a bottle of this a few weeks ago from a lovely forumite/friend and finally got around to trying it. Holy wow, is this gorgeous! I tested a small spot on my inner arm, found it to be a winner, and promptly took my shower and slathered! 

 

At first this smells like the old original Skin Musk Oil on me... bear with me, because that is a good thing. I wore the hell out of that scent in the 70s and it always garnered compliments. This is not that scent, not at all, but it starts out on me with that vibe. A kind of musky vanilla. 

 

After about 20 minutes, the patchouli starts to waft, mixed into the gorgeous vanilla. I agree that this is like a Banshee Beat/Revenant Rhythm in reverse. The patch is softer and not dominant, but the vanilla has a sweet smokiness to it and it all works beautifully together. I'm really happy to have this and will be able to wear it in more situations than I can wear Banshee Beat. 

[torischroeder9]

In the decant: Benzoin is most prominent, though it's smoothed out by vanilla silk. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it's the same, benzoin smoothed by vanilla. As it dries, the smoked honey also comes forward; the smoke in this honey is enough to cut a good portion of the honey sweetness on me, at least at this stage. 

 

Given some time to develop, the smoked honey note warms until it's a main player. There's still some benzoin and vanilla smoothing out the cloying stickiness of honey. I don't know that I'm getting a lot of distinct patchouli leaf, unless I'm reading it as part of the smoke in the smoked honey. 

 

This is definitely a very wearable scent. It's a little sweet and a little smoky and a little round and creamy. 

[feyofthefellwood]

This reminds me of the Antikythera Mechanism, but a bit sweeter from the honey and more silky/floaty from that silk note. Very pretty. 

[VetchVesper]

This one is extremely musky on me and the musk clings and won't let go.  I can detect all the mentioned notes, but they're all enfolded and enveloped in the heavy silk note. The effect is very sexy and a little bit dirty, but it can also be a little much for me. Like a rich dessert, this fragrance works best for me when used sparingly and savored.