Mrs. Dunbar

[Invidiana]

Mrs. Dunbar conducts her house of assignation, at No. 44 Grove street in the best manner. The utmost decorum is observed, and every facility is furnished to those who call for passing the time in the most agreeable manner. This is a first class house.

A decorous, agreeable experience: crystalline vanilla musk, freesia, and white tea.

Be still my beating heart. The vanilla musk had me at first sniff out of the bottle, and it only blooms on my skin the longer it dries down. This is more of a translucent vanilla as opposed to the foodier ones, but there is still something irresistible that could almost be called "delicious" about it. Ethereal freesia and white tea swirl into what is really an enchanting, almost fairy-like scent that would make me think more of a Victorian virgin ghost bride than a mistress of ill repute. I'm conservative with what I get backups of, but I had to get a backup of this one.

[SophieCedar]

Holy shit. I love this.

 

Having always been a freesia geek, this was instant appeal. Wish I got like 3 bottles. Its billowy clean vanilla. Actually notable sweet freesia giving a floral light purple tinge. Then a bit of brightness from the white tea that washes my brain windows. Overall color impression is ribbons of light yellow and purple light.

 

This is how I wish to feel after leaving a salon or doing a long-ass yoga session...like the years have been peeled off and the reset button pushed... No one can tell, not even I, that I spent my 20s and 30s being a total hot mess. This scent is my happy place.

[Ina Garten Davita]

This is the scent of being down wind of ethereal fairy wings! It's so delicate and perfect.

 

The vanilla musk is predominant through the length of the wear. The freesia and tea are fleeting as lovey top notes.

 

It's a clean, glittering scent. And I love it!

[zankoku_zen]

Freesia and vanilla musk. It's light, floral, and feminine. Good throw and wear length.

[Little Bird]

The vanilla musk smells like white musk on me, and a very sour, sharp, chemical white musk, with not much vanilla. It almost wants to go soapy on my skin. It smells similar to the musk I disliked so much in Edith Cushing, but I sold my bottle of that one and can't directly compare. The white tea smells sharp and citrusy. The freesia is cheap, screechy, and slightly soapy. It kind of reminds me of Bath and Body Works.
Mrs. Dunbar is very bright and sharp on me, with a soapiness in the drydown. Not enough vanilla for me.

[SmilesSunshine]

In the veins of mother ghost in the tea and vanilla. The musk accord reminds of mother ghost and Edith. It has just s hint of the floral. I adore thiis. Very pretty non gourmand vamilla, light floral note in background. Pale musk. It's s colder scent and right up my alley.

 

Must note that some might find this tart and sharp in phases

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Lovely. That vanilla musk is much foodier than I expected though - almost smells like cake! Like tea and cake. I didn't expect it to be gourmand at all, but I find it really is on my skin, so far. The floral is really pretty, and non-descript (I could never identify it as freesia if I didn't know). The cake-like note is settling and getting less gourmand, more musky. Very pretty, so feminine.

 

 

Dry: I was actually hoping this would not be great on me, but it is totally lovely. Floral, vanilla musk tea. Not gourmand really, once dry. It's beautiful, and I think I will have to search out more.

[celestia]

♔ Mrs. Dunbar

 

I knew I’d like this so much I bought my bottles of her blind, amidst the fumble over sold-out ladies, Bunce and Valentine.

 

In the Bottle: crystalline, almost floral musk masked by a slightly foodie-ish, gourmand pearlescent vanilla.

 

Wet: The vanilla in this is kind of gourmand, almost foodie-ish. It reminds me of the same creamy, pearl-like gourmand vanilla Edith Cushing. I get the same sparkly-effervescent floral that’s in Ava and BFJA at the forefront too- the freesia. The white tea smells a bit like white musk and light tea. Interestingly, although I can single the freesia out in this blend (which seems to be in equal strength with the vanilla), it manages to be gentler here- most likely owing to the white tea.

 

Drydown: Yea…the pearl-like gourmand vanilla is more prominent, even becoming almost buttery- but thankfully the sparkly (not bubbly or fizzy, mind you) freesia and white tea both help keep it in check. This results in a scent which remains creamy, gourmand, and vanillic- with a distinctive, sheer, and semi-translucent effervescence afforded by the freesia and white tea. Not my favourite vanilla during the wet stage, but the final drydown blends successfully into a sweet, commercially perfume-y, creamy, sheer vanilla musk- similar to Ava, which I really love.

 

TL;DR: Pearl-like gourmand vanilla, wisps of semi translucent white musk and light tea, all wrapped around by a gently, yet effervescent, sparkly freesia

Edited May 15, 2017 by celestia

[doomsday_disco]

I was lucky to have a wonderful fairy pick this up for me while I was studying in Germany, but it appears I never reviewed it once I returned.

 

In the bottle, the astringent, lemon-y white tea is the strongest note, followed by the freesia, and then the vanilla musk.

 

On my skin, I am still getting the notes in that order: white tea, freesia, and vanilla musk. But the vanilla musk is stronger on me than it was in the bottle, and it reminds me of the vanilla musk found in Edith Cushing as well (it’s a tad buttery and gourmand). As it sits on my skin, the vanilla musk ends up becoming more prominent. Once dry, this ends up being a freesia and tea-infused vanilla musk. The scent itself has decent, throw, too, and when I was walking in the hot desert wind earlier, I kept getting tons of the ethereal vanilla musk. Lovely! It just keeps getting better after several hours of wear.

 

I had two bottles of this, but I ended up giving one of them to my mom last year, because she had used up all of her bottles of Ava (her holy grail scent), and this belongs to that scent family. I will not be letting go of the bottle that I still have and am kicking myself for not reaching for this one more often.