On Imagination

[zankoku_zen]

The unbounded soul: a vibrant, airy, uplifted amber with smoked vanilla and coconut, tuberose, orange blossom, wildflower honey, and sheer musk.

[Amazonia]

Okay, I am bad at this, but here goes...

 

I received my bottle Saturday, so let's keep in mind that it's very fresh and unsettled.  I'll try to update in a few weeks.

 

I think the smoked vanilla, orange blossom and honey are most prominent right now, and to my nose/skin chem they translate as tobacco.  I was actually surprised to revisit the notes and find that tobacco is not a listed component.  Not picking up coconut or amber.  Tuberose is quiet.

 

I think I recognize the orange blossom from Vixen.  Something in On Imagination reminded me strongly enough of Vixen that I hunted-up my imp for comparison purposes.  If Vixen is peachy-orange, then On Imagination is a light caramel brown. 

 

On Imagination is a sepia photograph of Billie Holiday crooning 'God Bless the Child' in a dimly-lit intimate jazz club at the end of the night, with only her bass player in accompaniment.  The only audience members left in attendance are the bartender and a well-dressed gentleman sitting in the corner, absent-mindedly swirling the remnants of his last rocks glass of bourbon, his orange-flavored cigarillo wafting a thin ribbon of smoke into the room.  

 

Low throw.  Longevity TBD. 

[forspecial_plate]

I had a different experience!  This translates to strong, heavy incense, nag champa variety, that takes over on my skin for hours, lasts through soap and water, into the next day.  I can smell the orange blossom, honey, and maybe tuberose, but honestly I can close my eyes and be transported to the incense section of a new-age shop.  It didn't agree with me and I have several other scents that fit that category, so I don't need to try this again.  Please note, this was tested pretty much right out of the mailbox (shared order with a friend, she had more success with this one!).

[ajansuz]

I completely get the association with tobacco. It definitely smelled like it had a strong component of that in the bottle. When it first touched my skin, there was this really delicious smokiness, much more than in other scents I've tried with smoked vanilla. I was expecting to amp coconut, because my skin usually does. I've been wearing this for several hours now, and I still can't pick it out. On the dry down the smokiness went away. The honey in this is incredibly lush and sensual. As it all dried down, it was a very incense-y scent and more amber forward.

 

After several hours, it's a skin scent without much throw. I can still smell it just fine. It's sweet, soft, and comfortable, like a favorite shirt. I'm happy it has worked on me as well as it has, because I loved the description and felt very hopeful.

[Madame Mew]

The amber and honey in this are so perfect. It is an uplifting scent, reminds me a bit of the recent Milk Moon, and the Coconut in the smoked vanilla and fig trio but with amber. I did not expect to love this, and I really really love this. Beautiful scent for a summer night. 

[feyofthefellwood]

It's interesting how it seems to play differently on people's skin. I'm getting orange blossoms and honey predominantly, with a bit of coconut and smoked vanilla underneath. It's sweeter than I expected, but really pretty.

[puellacaerulea]

It's really interesting how different everyone's experiences of this scent are! In my decant, I definitely pick up the amber, coconut, and sweet florals -- I think the wildflower honey is reading like honeysuckle to me. There's no honeysuckle in this, but I swear I smell it. The coconut, smoked vanilla, and amber amp up more as it dries down on me. I don't pick up tobacco per se, but I definitely recognize the coconut/smoked vanilla combo from the Coconut, Smoked Vanilla, & Fig Menage a Trois -- here it's smooth, dry-ish, only faintly smoky, and helps keep the florals and honey from getting aggressively sweet. After drydown, I'd describe this as a light and sweet amber, orange blossom, and honey scent, grounded by the coconut and smoked vanilla and a hint of skin musk. It's ridiculously pretty.

[eoifemacbeth]

On me, alas, this is about 90% honey! It’s a pretty honey, much lighter and summer-y-er than the thicker more dank honey that shows up in a lot of Lupers. I do amp honey tremendously so if you don’t, your mileage will certainly vary! I can smell a little vanilla and musk if I work quite hard and the orange blossoms are just barely there on my skin; I get zero coconut or tuberose, which is surprising! This will probably age beautifully.

[torikitty]

Darn you, honey, making things smell acrid again. The other things around it smell pretty, but there's just an acridness that is just too much for me to enjoy this.

[zankoku_zen]

Vanilla, amber, coconut and shrill tuberose. Medium throw and wear length.

[Estamets]

“warm. Honey, spice, a hint of beeswax. floating golden amber. Everything about this is lovely.”

 

Those were my notes from my original test of a decant, in the middle of which I bought a bottle because I loved it so much. 
 

Then I got my bottle. I immediately wand-capped it (which I only do with Keepers), and let it rest quietly after its travels. 
 

After a week or two, I slathered my wrists and BAM: earthy, round, pale tobacco. (The label image is accurate.) It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the uplifting airy amber I so fondly remembered. This isn’t the funkiest tobacco, and there were some other notes in there but I was so disappointed that I didn’t keep track of them. 
 

THEN - and, friend, here is the rub - I gave the bottle an 8.0 shake. Like, in acting class where you pump your fists back and forth and release your jaw and say “arglblarglgarble”… I did that with this bottle. Vigorous. Committed. Waking my dearest love from shock on a plummeting airplane.

 

In short: I SHOOKETH. 
 

And, with champagne-sized bubbles still rising through its smooth oily decadence, I re-slathered. 
 

BAM: AMBER. 
 

That tobacco-ish vibe is now identifiable as smoked coconut and smoked vanilla. And now the other lovely notes have room to breathe: I get the honey, a hint of blossoms, a breath of musk and, as it warms up, light airy amber. Beautifully blended. Poetic in effect. 
 

verdict: this one needs to oxygenate or age, but hot damn once you get there it’s gorgeous. 

[skyturtles]

Warning: I think I've just found my new favorite scent. I've been wearing it for 4 days now and want nothing else.

 

I love honey, and I love orange blossom. This much I know. I didn't know I liked vanilla until this scent - the hint of smokiness brings out that touch of earthiness that keeps all the sweetness from becoming syrupy. I typically despise anything coconut scented, so luckily it's not a strong note here. I'm usually hit or miss with both amber and tobacco (I like them, but they are so easily overwhelming!); when paired with the sweeter notes, boy oh boy is everything rounded out and complex and lovely and perfect. I can't stop smelling myself. I'm in love.

 

I will probably be purchasing a bottle of this for keepsies and taking notes from Estamets above me (funnily enough, the very same person I purchased my decant from! 😁)

 

 

[freyasfae]

feminine, but not girly, there's a sexiness to it that feels breezily confident

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Creamy and vanillic with a healthy glow.

 

Drydown: The vanilla and coconut are fused together as the main note, creeping towards play doh at times, but mostly providing a pleasant, creamy base. There's a musky warmth that may or may not involve the amber, and I can definitely smell a floral component, but it's not really a main note, more of a nuance. I don't really detect the honey, but it might be boosting one of these other notes.

 

Dry: Overall it's a floral vanilla with a hint of a bonfire-on-the-beach vibe. Sort of tropical, but not quite. It almost smells a bit like banana milk, but like, a musky, smoky banana milk. Sort of.

 

 

7 out of 10 bones

[LavenderCoffee]

I really dig this. I passed on it initially because amber/coconut/tuberose are all iffy for me, but those notes don't come across very strongly on my skin. I get smoked vanilla/honey/orange blossom and it is divine. The smoked vanilla is so gorgeous, I just cannot stop sniffing myself. Plus the musk seems to anchor the other notes really well to give the scent some staying power. It doesn't have a ton of throw, but you don't have to go nose to skin to pick it up. Also agree this has a tobacco sort of vibe to it.