I Will be Strange, Stout, in Yellow Stockings

[Ina Garten Davita]

I thank my stars I am happy. I will
be strange, stout, in yellow stockings, and
cross-gartered, even with the swiftness of putting
on. Jove and my stars be praised!
— Malvolio

Champaca absolute, lemon peel, basmati rice, smoked vanilla husk, and green tea.

[zankoku_zen]

So the basmati rice and vanilla husk end up smelling like popcorn to me, with whiffs of both citrus and green tea. So japanese style popcorn? Yup. The basmati rice is a nice toasted rice note, which is what is smelling like popcorn to me. Fun, yellow, and foodier than I expected. Medium throw and wear length.

ETA: Mouse Circus goes to Japan, drinks alot of green tea, writes bad carny haikus.

Edited August 13, 2019 by zankoku_zen

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant, I get the basmati rice and champaca, brightened by the lemon.

 

On me, it's a basmati rice and champaca party. The rich, buttery basmati rice is the star of the show, but the incense-y champaca note isn't far behind. So... rice and incense. The lemon and green tea in this are very light, just adding a bit of freshness in the background, so if those notes are normally problematic for you, this may still be worth a shot if you're wanting a nice rice scent and like champaca.

 

This scent is pretty unique and was fun to try, but I am not sure that I want to smell like incense-y rice. But if you do... this one is for you.

[AprilB]

This is so good. The beautiful incensey champaca note is light and gentle, made more so by the sweet creaminess of the basmati rice that grounds it, and gives it a sort of voluptuous softness. The lemon is light, and sweetly zingy, lending the brightness of a sunny, cloudless late spring day, and eventually gives way to the very faint vegetal tea note. I didn't detect the vanilla, but it may be lending sweetness in the background. Overall, this is a hopeful, uplifting scent. I'm so glad I tried this.

[Okupsidedown]

I Will be Strange, Stout in Yellow Stockings

 

In the bottle: It really is strange. Rice. Something lurky. Perhaps the smokey vanilla? Seems more murky than that, though. I get a tiny bit of tea.

 

Wet: Riiiiiiice. And the lemon. I'm still having trouble picking champaca out, but I think it's the buttery flower note. Smells like lemon cookies a little, which makes sense.

 

Dry down: Oh fuck, this is delicious. Lemon cookies, but not foody. How? No idea. Perhaps the champaca. Flowery. If you made lemon cookies out of flowers, this is what you'd get. Green tea coming forward.

 

Dry: More rice husk than cooked rice. The lemon is so friendly. Gentle. The vanilla is more savory, probably because of the smoke. As I test more blends with champaca, I'm developing a great love for it. Not the incense, yech. But the flower and absolute, yis! This blend is a great deal more mild than sniffing the bottle would have you believe.

I like this a whole lot, but I'm very curious as to how it smells on me to other people. It's even less conventional than your average bpal, which is saying something.

[Alisha_SBC]

Oh wow. I smell like rice! Like steaming, fresh rice with the slightest touch of butter. Then, slowly, whiffs of champaca from a nearby flower drift by on a fragrant breeze, joined by the aroma of green tea scented with the barest hint of vanilla.

This is nice. Not BU bottle worthy, I don't think, but quite enjoyable, fun, and different.