Hope

[zankoku_zen]

Sharp and cynical: bitter mimosa, smoky opoponax, Oman frankincense, French beeswax, and linden blossom.
 

[Janis]

The opoponax (neither dark nor smoky!), beeswax, and linden blossom are holding hands to create the most lovely impression of sun-warmed honey. Bitter mimosa quietly adds a light green, sappy quality in the background contrasting with smooth frankincense. I don't find it to be cynical at all - this is the crisp sweetness of early spring as trees fill with green blossoms and honeybees start getting busy. Really lovely. A wearable light green honey, not foodie in the slightest, totally appropriate for springtime. 💚

[Casablanca]

Hope most interested me for the mentions of French beeswax and linden flower.

 

First, what does French beeswax mean? Is it wax made from fields of lavender? Now, that this has arrived... it does remind me of the lavender-infused honey I used to keep in the kitchen, some waxiness to it. That honey had a bit of a sweet, herbal lavender lilt to it, and this reminds me of that. This French beeswax is the strongest note at first on my skin.

 

Second, the linden. I love this note, and it doesn't often appear in blends. I was curious if I could find it here. And I might be... there's a bit of a cottony quality to the scent starting in drydown. It's really blending into the mimosa. Like a soft, cottony mimosa. 

 

After this dries, I find a sweet, myrrh-like thing that may be the opoponax, and the earlier notes step back a bit. The whole becomes quite blended.

 

This is the concept scent of a fresh, sunny, French country kitchen in springtime.

[MoonRayne]

I dabbed a drop of Hope on each wrist and went for a walk. The fruit trees are all in bloom and walking down the street I couldn't tell the difference between Hope wafting around me and passing by a blossoming tree. Hope is exactly like a late afternoon walk when Spring is in full bloom, gorgeous.

 

That being said this is not an overpowering floral. The linden is soft and clean without going powdery. All the other notes blend so well I can't pick them out.

 

Dry down the linden amps on me without going powder. I think the beeswax helps ground it.

[zankoku_zen]

Fruit trees, linden, a drop of honey and mimosa. This is a soft honeyed Spring floral. Its very soothing, and comforting. Medium throw and wear length.

[Leopard403]

I’m having a very different experience with Hope. It’s a surprisingly fusty scent, like sniffing a long-lost box of cigars.

[ccelaya]

Words that come to mind:

 

Sweet, Springtime, Green Florals, Beeswax, Picnics, Clean, Blossoms, Lovely, wild flowers. 
 

The perfect scent for a nice walk around the block or possibly a springtime hike. 
 

I would pair this with a cool glass of iced tea, or maybe a chilled white wine. 
 

loving this bottle!!

[VetchVesper]

Weird. Sort of rubbery and fruity, with overtones of honey and lychee. Those are my 1st impressions, before looking at the notes.  There's also a smoky undertone that reminds me of a floral caramel. 

Ok, looking at the notes after giving this a couple of minutes on my skin, the smoky-sweet aspect is still there, and is becoming recognisable as a dusty candle wax. The floral, fruity, and honey tones are gone, but so is the weird artificial smell. I'm getting a lot more resin, the opopponax, I think. I think I'm also getting a good amount of linden blossom. I haven't had a lot of experience with the note, but I think I recognize it, and I'm suspecting it's not something I really care for. 😕  It's sort of fresh, bright, and woody. A little green and a little soapy. 

 

This one's definitely different. The dusty wax and thick resins don't really gel for me with that brighter linden blossom. 

[Missanneshirleyofgg]

we are chatting in a group and starfall looked up mimosa flower. It was interesting because when she read that mimosa can have notes of violet I was SHOOK because when I first picked up this bottle I thought I had mistakenly picked up Instinct of Hope as I smelled violet. for me this smells like violets pressed into the pages of a well loved book

Edited May 9, 2020 by Missanneshirleyofgg

[starbrow]

Unf.

 

Yes, this is one of those unf smells for me, right from the start. And I totally wouldn't have guessed it just from the list of notes! Mimosa, opoponax, and linden blossom are all question mark notes in my brain's scent catalogue, beeswax can go wonderful or too sharp,  and frankincense (though a winner) itself is usually a quieter note. This could have easily gone floral-bomb, so I wisely decanted.

 

Okay, first up, French beeswax. (What makes it French? Is it extra fancy?) So I  am getting hand-poured beeswax candle. Some people find candle universally uncomplimentary, but in this case, it's a boutique candle that has been poured with deliciously goth scents. Like they've poured beeswax that most people would burn at Halloween to feel extra spooky, but that a goth could just burn (or in this case, wear) at any time year. I'm getting a heckin ton of Oman frankincense, which is just this spice-laden frank that conjures up desert panoramas, cool and dry by night and hot glimmering vistas by day. Could the smoky opononax be helping with that? Mayyyyyybe? I will report back if I figure out what it actually smells like.

 

What about the other unknown notes? The mimosa, which theoretically has notes of "almond, honey, violet, craft paste and fresh cucumber", and linden blossom, "honey, honeysuckle, and grass"? They emerge not as florals but as teas with florals, the way jasmine tea and other craft teas can bloom with the sylvan echoes of their infused blossoms. The spices are just enhancing the tea-and-candle effect of the scent in ways that my hygge-loving soul is responding to in every single way. I need this Hope in my life. Bottle, please!

 

 

[artisjok]

Earlier in the day I was wearing The Magus, and Hope is in the same family, yet more refined, more composed. 
It’s waxy sweet and floral with a touch resin, though the mimosa is directing this to more of a tea-like floral, as mentioned above. I wonder if the smoky opoponax will emerge more with age... 
It shifts to be a little fresher than I expected, almost a soapy edge. I think this is gonna be great for Summer . 
I’m pleased to have a lil partial bottle to enjoy~

[Rayleigh]

This seems to be one of those hit-or-miss blends, and on me, it's a clear miss. I'm getting all of the advertised cynicism, and none of the redemptive softness others are finding. Bitter and medicinal, with a sharp edge and overlying dustiness. Opoponax, frankincense, and beeswax are usually safe notes for me, but they aren't strong enough to hold back the bitterness. I have not tried mimosa or linden blossom before, and I can't tell if one of those notes is going medicinal, or if it's some emergent property of the resins and flowers not agreeing with each other on my skin.

 

This one isn't for me. It does make for a perfect partner to the poem that inspired it, though.

[Lucchesa]

It was interesting to read all the other reviews and not find a match with my experience until the last.  On me, too, the bitterness was uppermost.  I thought it paired beautifully with the poem, but for the first hour or so it was sharp and unappealing on my skin.  The later drydown is actually really beautiful -- the bitterness mellows out and becomes interesting against the beeswax and frank and the slightly smoky florals.  But the opening isn't worth it for me.  

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: I'm getting the sweet mimosa backed by some linden blossom (the same one found in Boober).

 

Those are the two standout notes on me as well, with just a hint of the resins in the background. Then it morphs so that that a honey-heavy beeswax reigns for some time, with the sweet mimosa note cozying up to it. It's almost cloyingly sweet on me. The honey/beeswax calms ends up calming down somewhat, but the almost fruity mimosa is quick to reclaim its clown. It settles down as a mimosa-dominant scent after several hours of wear, backed by some honey, linden blossom, and just a touch of smoky resins.

 

The mimosa in this is too heady and sweet for me. But if you're looking for a mimosa-heavy scent, you should try this one.

Edited November 6, 2020 by doomsday_disco