Pele

[ShannonElisabethJones]

… This perfume embodies her gentler, benign aspect as the capricious Goddess of Dance: muguet and Hawaiian white ginger enveloped by warm, damp tropical blooms.

 

In the imp - tropical flowers. Weird - when my brain hears "tropical" it automatically thinks "fruity" for some reason (mango, coconut, banana, etc). This has none of that, and I like that.

Wowowowow - it's turning into a mixture of all the blooms I love...orange blossom, jasmine, gardenia. Not that I actually smell them, it's just so reminiscent of those. It's probably just something in my scent memory from summers in south Florida.

After a while, there's something humid-green underneath the showy blooms.

It's almost overwhelming.

I think I'll keep her, and go easy.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Fresh and floral, like floral scented fresh laundry, or a dryer sheet.

 

Wet on skin: Still makes me think of clean laundry, just out of the dryer, that you snuggle up in because it's warm, and breathe in the fresh dryer sheet scent.

 

Dried down: Soft florals, still a bit dryer sheet on me.

 

Throw: I'm not really getting much off of this, but my skin does seem to like to eat up a lot of scents.

 

Verdict: *** 1/* This is really very pretty, and I love the scent. But in the way I love the scent and warmth of fresh out of the dryer laundry, not something that I would think of putting on as perfume. Which is sad,really, because it would make a fabulous perfume for a hot summer's day. I just don't see myself reaching for it. As much as I love the smell of dryer sheets, I don't really seek them out for scent. I do think I'll keep the imp, though, maybe use it as a linen spray.

[Teaker]

A gorgeous tropical floral- simple and fabulous. This isn't cloying or overly sweet, the ginger keeps it grounded and adds a touch of warmth without ever smelling "gingery." This reminds me of big, luscious white flowers with golden centres. Alas for me, this is very faint on my skin and disappears quickly, no matter how much I apply. But I sure enjoy it while it lasts!

[fundercat55]

In the imp: Creamy, clean, tropical flowers.

 

Wet on the skin: Same as in the imp. Perhaps a little sweeter. It reminds me of the packages my Uncle & Auntie used to send from Hawaii when I was a girl. Bottles of black sand, macadamia nut chocolates, a polished and painted coconut shell purse, pictures of volcanoes, idyllic beaches, and lush greenery. If those packages had a scent, it would be Pele.

 

Dry: This one isn't much of a morpher on me. It quietly fades away, but doesn't change much from the creamy floral.

 

I love this scent, I only wish my skin didn't eat it. I can slather it on, and an hour and a half later there is nary a whiff of it left. It's lovely though. A perfect summer scent.

[Sarah Morehouse]

I am confused. I cannot do florals. I especially can't do white florals. I LOATHE gardenia. Pele smells AWESOME on me. Huh? How's that even possible?

 

I get the white ginger, by the bucketload, and that's what saves this for me. The ginger brings its flowery friends tagging along, but they are not as boisterously shrill as usual. They're singing a smooth alto chorus of loveliness.

 

Unfortunately Pele is super-weak on my skin. I am huffing my arm. I may have to slather this one. I do not object to that idea. It's going on my bottle list.

[DevilsCandyCane]

Eeek, this is a massive hell no. I bought 2 imps hoping for an awesome summer scent, but...baby powder. Straight up baby powder. As it dries, it smells exactly like the really unpleasant shampoo the dog washer used to use before they switched to something nicer.

 

Baby powder meets dog shampoo

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Airy florals.

 

Wet on my skin: Thick, wet flowers and a bit of ginger.

 

Dry: I'm pretty sure there's gardenia and hibiscus in this, wet and sweet. The ginger saves it from becoming overly flowery, giving it a vaguely sharp edge. It fades unfortunately quickly on me, within half an hour, leaving faint white gardenia close to my skin.

[LizziesLuck]

Beautiful. Light and tropical. Unfortunately it has no throw on me, and lasts all of 10 minutes, then is gone.

[Poenari]

This is a beautiful summery tropical floral. I get mostly Hawaiian White Ginger on my skin, and that's what sold me on Pele. Reminds me of my long-ago vacation in Hawaii. I will only want to wear this in the summer, but it is perfect for those hot summer days, or if I ever get to go on another cruise or beach vacation.

[roseus]

In the imp: fresh, light florals

 

On wet strong gardenia and a little kick from the giner

 

Dry lots of white florals; jasmine, gardenia, and plumeria. A little kick of ginger and some damp green underneath it all. On me it had decent throw but the blend is delicate feeling, not overpowering in any way.

Edited May 18, 2016 by roseus

[freyasfae]

Oh, this is now on my list of top scents for summer. Love the tropical, hothouse florals with the spicy ginger kick. I am going to have to explore more ginger scents now. I got this as an imp from a lot I bought on Ebay and have been doing tests over the Winter Break while I am off work. I am going to come back to this in the summer!

[joopjoop]

This scent is my everything! It was in my first imp order and it was the scent I was most looking forward to trying. And I love it!

 

Wet: This smells EXACTLY like the Crabtree & Evelyn White Ginger soap I used as a teenager, and that fact makes me SO HAPPY!! That soap (and powder and lotion) smelled fantastic I was so mad when they discontinued it!

 

Dry/Later: Delicate tropical blossoms, particularly jasmine and gardenia - but a very soft gardenia (a flower that has a tendency to go screechy on me). I do wish it lasted a little longer, it fades a little too quickly for my taste, but I don't mind applying more for that white ginger nostalgia blast!

[PrinceofcatS]

Usually tropical flowers means heavy and smelly and fruity and I hate them with a passion, but I love muguet desperately, so I gave this a try. It's really pretty! Definitely has a tropical flower feel but it's white flowers and lovely and pretty. I got a gardenia out of this and I don't know why, but the muguet was prominent. There's maybe a tart and bright note from the ginger but I didn't actually detect any ginger. I think i might send this to a friend because I can probably find muguet scents i like better than this, and I don't feel like I'll wear it a lot because tropical flowers is still not my ultimate jam. But i recommend it.

[Casablanca]

Bottle: I hardly get anything from this in the bottle. A little faint ginger and lily of the valley.

Wet: Mm. Mostly the muguet (lily). Light and refreshing, like the flowers are floating in a spring-fed tropical pool. Maybe hibiscus and gardenia? The impression is very "white flowers."

Dry: Ginger comes out to play but is never out of balance. This is a nice, light ginger, nothing like the high-pitched whining and powdery ginger in Siren.

Very pretty scent. Potentially a nostalgic boost for Hawaii lovers. It smells very top notey, and I have a feeling it won't stick around. ...Sure enough, give it 20 and it's mostly gone.

[Candice Chen]

A vacation in a bottle. There’s something languid, relaxed and cheerful about it. I feel like I should be wearing a comfy white shirt, with the sun and a cool breeze on my skin. Ironically not something I would have tried had it not come as a frimp.

This is a mellow, creamy tropical floral blend with a bright almost-crystalline lily note that does not smell like air freshener or soap, as so many lily notes do. It softens and gets warmer, creamier; less bright and white after dry down. Does not last too long or project too far on my skin, but while it's on I feel like I'm walking around in my own little bubble of joy.

 

I tend to go for the denser, richer spice, resin or foody scents from BPAL but this is gorgeous enough to warrant a full bottle.

 

[JTobias]

Tropical florals. I do not detect coconut florals, just tropical.

[gloame]

My bottle's from the Lab, circa 2011, I THINK. It was pre-website redesign so I can't check my orders to be sure.

 

I have been hoarding it ever since I got it, only breaking it out every now and then because I'm so afraid of running out. Despite it being GC, I'm just terrified a new bottle won't be quite as perfect as this one, as once happened to me with my favorite (also hoarded) scent, Arkham.

 

What's really interesting to me is that I hardly ever gravitate towards florals, but when I find one I like, I am endlessly loyal to it. See: this one and Peitho.

 

Pele is beautiful, tropical, bright and shining like the Pacific sun, unselfconscious, quietly powerful. It is my favorite summer scent and my favorite scent to wear when I need to be HBIC.

 

ETA where I'd wear this: When I need to be quietly powerful, subverting the patriarchy with subtlety

Edited July 24, 2017 by gloame

[lizabelle]

Oh no, my skin eats this. It starts out as a gorgeous white floral with a good mix of muguet, plumeria, and something else. Others have suggested gardenia, so possibly? It sits close to the skin and is very pretty but verges on indolic, which I personally like in a white floral (definitely preferable to soapy). It gets more indolic as it settles, but then I turned my attention elsewhere and the throw halved itself. In the drydown it's a very soft, pretty wisp of a floral with some spicy ginger, which I didn't get until now. Because of how little throw this one has on me I don't think it's a bottle, but it is lovely.

[ramblingrambler]

In imp, it's more fierce and striking, a warm but crisp scent wafting out at me. On application, wet, it softens only slightly, maintaining a striking, crisp scent. As it dries, softening further, white heady florals come out and the crisp element seems to smooth out into billows. Lovely. Not for me, but I can see my mother loving the hell out of it.

[celestia]

♔ Pele

 

In the Bottle: Light, sweet white floral and cool tropical breeze, with a very faint trace of slight fruit

 

Wet: This is such a pretty scent! I put this off for a while because my chemistry started to morph and wasn't sure I should commit to a bottle, but it's reset on me to a beautifully gentle sweet, slightly fruity, white floral and tropical breeze- for some reason I pick up hints or remnants of coconut- the commercial kind you find in tanning oil. And I know I said breeze but there's something really warm about this blend. I don't get steamy warm- maybe a cool breeze in a tropical climate? or that kind of warm tropical breeze near the sea that isn't cold, but feels almost cooling.

 

Dry: The coconut is ever so faint and kind of melds with the white floral- it reminds me of plumeria. i'm getting a coconutty white floral, it's still warm and tropical - but it's also creamy and clean at the same time. It's almost like a warm, tropical breeze has picked up the scent of some lush plumeria blooms and blown it in my direction.

 

TL;DR: Lush, clean, creamy and slighly sweet- a light, warm tropical white floral breeze

[marilyn eyre]

Pele, Pele, Pele...

 

Such a beautiful scent. Warm, but like skin-warm, not heat warm. Light, juicy florals that make me feel like laying out on a towel on the beach.

 

...But it fades so fast! At the most, an hour before it's completely gone. Like a beautiful, fleeting memory. Still contemplating a bottle, it's a great pick me up.

[ianastar]

Wet this is very green and soapy. Reminds me of wet morning near the ocean. I definitely get the sweet, tropical florals,

 

On the dry down it starts to smell a little like popcorn mixed with wet dog.

 

On final dry down it is definitely more floral. Very faint florals after a few hours of wearing, but there is still that under note of wet dog. I had such high hopes for this one and glad I tested it twice.

Edited November 2, 2017 by ianastar

[torikitty]

Definitely no gardenia, but with the white florals, I can understand the confusion. Yep, coconut and white ginger. Also some of plumeria, muguet, and pikake. This totally reminds me of my aunt, she must have worn something similar when I was younger. It's fresh, clean, tropical, and comforting.

Edited November 20, 2017 by Carrie

[achildoftime]

I really enjoy it when scents can be tropical and not fruity. Not that I dislike fruit smells, but tropical blends can get way too sweet for me. This is ginger and sweet grass to my nose. I get very little floral notes and all of the greenery. I really love this scent, but I wish it were stronger. It hangs around for a while, but is barely there.

[dementia_divine]

I know I tried this a few years ago when Pele first appeared in a lunacy poll, but apparently I never actually reviewed it, and I can't remember my thoughts on it. So... proper review time!

In the imp: Warm, white florals.

Wet: Warm, tropical florals and Hawaiian white ginger, with the latter quickly becoming the most prominent note, followed by the lily and what I think might be gardenia. There's a creaminess and a warmth to this scent.

Dry: The scent is much lighter now. I'm still getting a lot of the Hawaiian white ginger. The scent seems to be sweeter during this phase – I think I'm smelling some coconut along with the florals.

After a while, it becomes a soft, white floral scent. It's still warm, but it isn't as creamy, and it has lost its sweetness.

Verdict: This one is pleasant, but I don't think I'd reach for it. I wish the creaminess and sweetness had stuck around a while longer!