Pip

[zankoku_zen]

Blue satin swaths of iris and indigo flower, billows of white mallow root and smoked sugar, embroidered with antiqued amber.

Pip starts off with satiny iris flower, and puffs of mallow. But it dries down to a smoked sugar and amber blend. The iris flower is slightly powdery on wet, but then it smooths out as it dries. The sugar starts to come out and the amber is very present.

I was expecting to enjoy this as much as I have. Medium throw and medium wear length.

[Aviatrix]

This is a very soft and sweetened floral with just a hint of something creamy - so if you're worried this will be a huge marshmallow scent, you need not be. At least it isn't on me. It's not cloying at all, just creamy.

I wasn't overly familiar with the flowers in this blend, but to me they conjure up a very sweet and innocent vision. I can imagine wearing this for many different occasions, and the throw is medium, so it's not too heavy, nor is it a skin-close scent. Something in-between.

 

ETA This reminds me of a more floral Edith Cushing, actually. I looked it up, and mallow flower is in the same family as ambrette, so that must be the note I am detecting. So If you enjoy Edith, you might also enjoy this!

Edited August 3, 2016 by Aviatrix

[milo]

This one starts out like puffs of sweet iris. Iris always smells ethereal and somewhat powdery, so the best way to describe it is a light purple pouffy marshmallow. On me anyways. This blend reminds me of Faith and TKO, and perhaps other silver, otherworldly blends like Staged Moon Landing. The air around me smells lovely, cuddly and feminine with the mallow and touch of floral ,and up close its more of a sugary floral. WIN!

 

Eta: I'm getting no amber or smokiness whatsoever. Maybe it will come out with age? I do like it fine the way it is, but I imagine the amber would ground this blend more. Will check back in a week or so!

Edited August 7, 2016 by milo

[aphrodite]

When I tried this on fresh out of the mail, there was a sort of high pitched note that has ruined several scents for me. It's a note I attribute to blue musk, but which also may be the result of a flower I've yet to peg as the culprit. I was leaving town the next day for a week, during which I also went through the peak of my monthly cycle, so upon return, I tried it again.
MUCH better. It's soft and sweet, with an elegant powdery quality. At first you think it's mature, it's what your classy great aunt's boudoir smells like, but then you realize it's also what you, a child trying to wear her high heels, would put on yourself while exploring said boudoir. It has a sort of end of the evening glow about it, like the embers of the fire of your adventures of the night (without anything remotely smelling like fire or embers or smoke). A soft scent which lingers close to the skin, beckoning a loved one to lean in for a hug. It's very early 20th century glamour, but not at all outdated.
I think it would appeal to a similar group as The Unicorn Rushing, but particularly recommend it for lovers of sweet, powdery florals, such as violets and irises.

[celestia]

♔ Pip

 

In the Bottle: Nutty, foody buttery marshmallow musk and sugared golden amber..what? This makes me feel a little sick.

Wet: The white mallow root definitely reminds me of the same woolly marshmallow note in Stekkjarstaur- but it’s as though the Yule lad got dipped in the lab’s chocolate note because I’m getting this horrible nutty scent, instantly upon application and I don’t really like anything nutty. It could be from the smoked sugar, as I've had a similar nutty chemistry clash with Sugar Skull 2007, or it could be from the mallow root which makes more sense on paper - or a combination of both. If I look beyond that, I get a gold sweet amber note, similar to Blossoms in Springtime but is juxtaposed with foodie buttery mallow instead of the golden florals I love so much in that blend. I'm pretty certain it’s the same antiqued amber. The florals and the smoke from the sugar, both temper the amber from turning into heavily honeyed or sugared amber which is a relief, because I that combination tends to turn anything into snake-oil with my chemistry.

 

Drydown: The marshmallow note has dried down a lot sweeter, more sugary, but less buttery and rich. I like it better in this stage. I get various gradients of purple florals coming through a lot more now- the smoked sugar smells more like slightly deeper and richer sugared iris at the forefront and I’m LOVING this. It ends up smelling like the dewy sugared lilacs I get from Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree- but with iris instead of lilac. The amber is glowing again and overtaking the rest of the notes. It’s golden and sweet, not unlike Blossoms in Springtime which is one of my favourite golden floral blends. A faint whiff of sugared iris and marshmallow sugar. I like this phase a lot. I wish the initial stage would have smelt more like this instead though.

 

TL;DR: Dewy sugared purple florals and sweet, golden amber.

Edited December 23, 2016 by celestia

[Little Bird]

Starts off as screechy, sharp, white floral iris and dries down to tons of baby powdery amber with a weird, burnt maple sugar edge. This was a scrubber for me.

Wearing this again, it's still sharp white floral and powdery amber, but I am getting some of the marshmallow/vanilla sweetness from it now, making the scent creamier, and the burnt maple sugar thing isn't showing up.
Powdery, sweet, creamy white floral, but with a perfumey, sharp undercurrent.

Edited December 27, 2016 by Little Bird

[LizziesLuck]

I'm afraid of iris. Sometimes it does this thing where it smells exactly like violet. But the other notes in this.....!!! I had to try it. HAD TO.

 

 

Wet: Tiny hints of almost-but-not-quite-violet, but it's not bad. And the other notes come out quickly....ooooh that antiqued amber! I want that in single note! And the mallow and smoked sugar are to die for. The floral is almost gone already, and I can't believe my luck. This is way better than I hoped on me, so far.

 

Dry: Argh, having such a hard time deciding how I feel about this! I ADORE that antiqued amber note, and the mallow and smoked sugar are present and killer - but that iris....it's powdery (but not really in a bad way) and smells so close to violet. It's not giving me a headache the way violet does though, nor do I find it overly sweet like violet, or generally repulsive, like violet....but I feel like I SHOULD. I think I need to wear it for a full day to really know how I feel about it. It's much better than I expected though! Ugh, that sugar note!!

[DiZZysTARdust]

After having worn this for a few moments and letting it dry out, I am strongly reminded of cave of treasures by this. It's missing the honey and lilacs but the creamy, warm amber is most definitely the same. I was a little surprised at how warm and red this is tbh. I was expecting a cooler, more soapy floral based on the "blue swaths" in the description but in the bottle this is a lovely strong powdery amber. The powderiness of what i assume is the iris is cutting down the sweetness of both amber and sugar, and I feel that the other flowers, while not being distinctly identifiable to my nose, keep the amber from totally dominating this blend.