The Sportive Sun

[tinyvulture]

Heliotrope, amber, almond flower, frangipani, cedar, and calamus.

A warm, glowing mix of resins and soft florals. I smell dry cedar, a touch of tropical frangipani, and layer upon layer of sweet, powdery amber and heliotrope. It’s really pretty, but not quite strong enough to be a favorite.

[windbourne]

On me, this started out store-brand soap in a bottle (not unlike Dial, actually), and then as it dried it turned into the very scent of summer sunshine. It was ridiculous -- I kept sniffing my arm and it smelled the way the sun feels on your skin in the late afternoon in mid-July or so -- golden, warm, and relaxing. I felt mellow and cheerful after testing this scent and will keep my imp safe until next winter for certain.

 

I don't know if I'd want to use this strictly as a perfume, but as a short-term mood-altering scent, so far this one is high on my list.

[Juushika]

This was a frimp from a seller (it was on my wishlist before that, because, as a Leo, solar oils interest me), and I've worn it before—but I've yet to write a review.

 

In vial: Cedar, strong, sharp, and almost medicinal, with a bright and sunny floral.

 

On me: The first thing I get is a whiff of blossoming florals, which isn't much to my taste. The floral quiets on the drydown—it's still pretty strong on the skin, but is tempered in the throw, giving the oil a vague "perfumey" note. I actually don't get much of the amber except as a grounding note to balance the fresh florals and the sharp dry cedar—in fact, I wish the amber were more predominant, because it's one of my favorite notes, and more of it would better balance the rest in this case. The scent is hard to describe: it's sunny, not quite warm, and not firey, more like the bright golden light of a direct sunray than a sun-warmed surface or the sun itself. The color is certainly a pale yellow gold, creeping up on white. But for all of those positive qualities, there's something a bit sharp and medicinal about the blend, something too pointed, too sweet, a bit citrus-sharp. Reading up on it, I think it might be a calamus, which I've never encountered before.

 

Verdict: I like the golden feel of this scent—it is mostly definitely a solar oil. However, I'm not a big fan of the florals, which are too drug-store perfumey for my taste. The sicky sharpness of the blend also turns me away from it—I think the combination of the cedar and the citrus aspects of the calamus are just too much for me. I've come back to this a few times because I want to like it, is has a few promising notes, and I like the feeling of the blend, but there are a few too many unpleasant smells in there for me to really love or wear it. I think that it's about time to finally let this one go.

[alianthe]

In the bottle: Bright and sunny, spicy, hot, like sun beating down on your face.

 

On my skin: Mm, spicy! Warm and round. Definitely smelling the cedar. At the trail-down, it's mostly cedar, with a little sweetness and a little amber. Soo glad the flowers didn't come out as much.

 

Conclusions: A good, light summer blend. But, I'd wear it in a locket on winter days when I'm craving sunshine.

[fireflower]

Hmm, definitely smelling the cedar. It's a sweet cedar that doesn't turn into pencil shavings, but that may be because I definitely get heliotrope and frangipani behind it. It's a very interesting woody-floral. There's a bright, sunny element to it, too. It definitely does the name justice. Nice summer blend, prettiest in its wet stages.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Hot, dry, and resiny. Amber and cedar.

[Rouge]

In the vial - A rich but somehow dry amber scent. The cedar isn't noticeable in and of itself but I think that's what's giving this blend its warm, woody undertone. There is however something powdery and harsh I'm not sure I like.

 

Wet on the skin - Again, this is a dry, woody amber. I smell none of the floral notes as yet.

 

Next stages - What an incredible morpher! Almost instantly, the harsher aspects of the amber soften to a golden, spicy haze and the delicious almond flower and frangipani emerge, like flowers blooming after a midsummer sunrise.

 

Dry down - Just like a summer's day becoming warmer and brighter as time continues, this blend gets better the longer it's worn.

 

Similar scents - Sol Invictus, The Lion

[suki]

in the bottle: that 'dry, orange' scent people have mentioned. more specifically, i catch a subtle hint of what smells like vetiver, although it's not mentioned in the description. there's also a peek of the amber coming through.

 

wet: the amber comes out, but this is not a sweet amber, it's tinged with that 'dry' quality. nice!

 

dry down: the heliotrope and the frangipani have unfortunately conspired to become baby powder on me. sad!

 

in all: i'm jealous of those that can wear this without the powder morph.

[milo]

I really quite like this. Like other reviewers, I think this is "hot sun" kind of fragrance. I absolutely adore heliotrope, I plant a lot on my deck and the fragrance really likes to come out on a hot summer evening. The amber and cedar seem to take an edge off the sweetness of the heliotrope, and the almond nicely rounds it off. The drydown to me is the beautiful, soft scent of the heliotrope.

[jencallisto]

In the imp: A lot like The Lion -- warm golden amber, a little soapy.

Fresh on the skin: Soap soap soap -- honey brown soap, quite sweet and fairly mellow for soap, but still soap.

5 minutes later: Ooh, I think I can smell a bit of the almond flower. It doesn't really mitigate the soap impression, though. It's quite a sweet, lovely soap, though.

10 minutes later: This is actually really pretty, a golden-yellow crisp almost-floral, with just a hint of soap. It's very much not me, even though I rather like it. I'm not sure why that is.

20 minutes later: I swear I'm getting something almost citrus out of this. And I grow to like it more and more as it sits on my skin. Spicy-mellow-golden-soft.

30 minutes later: This is so confusing. Because I really like it. But it's really not me. It's kind of breaking my brain a little.

1 hour later: Hmm. This is doing that thing that The Illustrated Woman and Phantom Calliope did to me, but I thought it was the patchouli, which isn't in the notes for this. This is much lighter and sweeter and more golden than either of those, but there's just something about it. It may go with the soapy-powdery aspect.

2 hours later: I kind of wish the throw on this wasn't so far. I kind of love it and I kind of hate it and it's all very confusing. I think the "this just isn't me" is winning out, though.

3 hours later: Yeah, not me at all.

4 hours later: Still strong, still really not me.

5 hours later: What the frelling frell? I just took a shower, and it's still on my arm.

 

Verdict: It's odd, because I did sort of like it, and yet I also feel a sort of antipathy to it that got stronger as it wore even though the scent stayed basically the same. It's quite a strong one, with a soft waft that is distinctive and pronounced.

 

One word: golden-brown

[Tracelina]

Ok, I have to preface this by saying that I'm somewhat stuffed-up right now. The SO got a decant of this from another forumite; it's been sitting in a "try me! try me!" pile for a couple of weeks, and I opened it on a whim this morning. In the imp, it smelled like parchment--the note I love so much in Buggre Alle This Bible and a few others--so I put it on and sniffed. "Wow," I thought, "finally, a musk note that doesn't take over the entire blend! Lovely!" So I came to the Reviews section to see what other notes were keeping the musk in check and...huh? No musk?!?

 

90 minutes or so later, that's still what I'm getting: slightly floral, golden sunny musk. Bizarre. That said, it's a lovely blend, and a great antidote to the cold, cloudy day outside. I'll have to try it again when my head cold takes its leave.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is like the Lion, but slightly more almondy. It's got the same golden vibe, but I get more whiffs of the heliotrope and almond on it. There's a tiny bit of the cedar in the background.

 

Hot, ambery, spicy, resinous.

[nekogrrl]

Wet on skin: the amber is really baby-powdery, and nearly takes over. However, underneath is this lovely orangey glow. (Me to the hubby: But it smells like the sun!)

 

Dry on skin: The powderiness of the amber has died down, and the frangipani and probably the almond are more prominent, but it's not overwhelming.

 

Final thoughts: This is a beautiful scent to wear during late spring/early summer, when it's warm but not fully bleah! with the humidity, or to remind yourself there is warmth during winter.

[devilot]

Huge thanks to the super generous emzebel who PIF this bottle to me!

 

In the Bottle: There are a few notes that I can't identify on their own in this blend (heliotrope, calamus), but in the bottle it definitely has a golden and mellow scent to it. In fact, something is tricking my nose into thinking there might be the tiniest bit of vetiver there.

 

Wet: Holy moly CEDAR! Heh, v sharp cedar wet on me. Then I can smell the 'golden warmth' that others have mentioned. Some florals now (frangipani = plumeria and I don't smell it v distinctly, but can discern a v subtly sweet floral that wouldn't surprise me if it were plumeria), guess it could also be the almond flower.

 

Drydown: Still warm, but almost dusty. I think this is what some folks refer to as the 'pencil shavings' result of cedar. Could also be the amber making it dusty, but it doesn't always go dusty on me. *ponders* Hmm...

 

Verdict: I'm not the biggest fan of cedar and not how much I can smell of it here. Wish there were more sweet floral, wish there was more warmth. And yet, despite this not being my all-time favorite, I can't seem to stop sniffing my hand over and over again.

[Gin]

The Sportive Sun

 

Heliotrope is a note I cannot pass up. In The Sportive Sun, it dances across a warm golden amber ray. Dry, I get mostly amber and frangipani. I like this one, but I don't think it's 'me'. I think it's a little too powdery.

[tartchef]

Now that I have it in my hot little hands (thank you, jewelbug!), I can't for the life of me figure out what took me so long to try this. It is an odd one at first, the powdery amber & heliotrope & the almond/frangipani blending into a strange, bittersweet scent - babypowder-esque, but vaguely sinister... cyanide & tiny pink socks

 

If I'm patient, though, the cedar & calamus warm up & start cutting through the powder, a lovely & sticky & sappy combination.

 

In the end, Sportive Sun is very similar to Labores Solis on me - I may do a sniff-off at some point to determine which of the two to keep.

 

 

[benthic]

I picked up a decant of this and loved it so much I had to find a bottle. In the bottle it starts out as cedar and warm dust; I didn't get the florals at all. Once I'd applied it, it turned into a lovely, dry, warm scent: cedar with light florals and amber. I'd been worried that amber turns powdery on me after a bad experience with Versailles, but that didn't happen at all with this scent, nor did the cedar turn into pencil shavings; it remained a nice sweet wood. The scent also lasted a long time on me, although the throw was only moderate. After sniffing the imp it remains in my nose for several minutes, which I don't mind at all. Possibly my very favorite oil; it manages to balance some notes which could go very wrong in a perfect way.

[rayvn1]

A huge blast of incense-y amber. Smelled like I ws brushing a Sandalwood stick on my arm after awhile. Fabulous Great summer scent: glowing and warm

[Invidiana]

A singularly and beautifully desolate scent, with amber burning in the forefront and the sweetness of almond flower a whispered memory in the backdrop. It really does evoke not just the "sportive sun" but also "the innumerable days"--a vast stretch of barren red land that continues into eternity.

[tailoredshirt]

I really love this. I bought this looking for a good cedar scent, and I wasn't disappointed. It started off strong and perfumey, very floral. Then I forgot about it for about half an hour and took another sniff and mmm, cedar. It's really lovely - dry and sweet from the amber. A little bit of lingering floral, but mostly warm cedar.

 

The only thing is that it doesn't last very long. I've been wearing it for about 3 hours now, and it's not very strong anymore. It dried down to a soft, powdery cedar, which might be the amber's fault. Still very pretty, though. I know a lot of reviewers associate this scent with summertime, but I think it would be a fabulous warm scent for fall and winter.

[Casablanca]

I'm an amber lover and these notes look great (except that calamus is iffy), so I didn't expect what happened here.

Sportive Sun is boring.

Maybe it's the age: the bottle is around 9 years old. I smell the amber predominantly, and a little faint almond and cedar, but the blend smells flat and a little like lotion. Without actually smelling like it, Sportive Sun reminds me of suntan lotion.

After an hour, the cedar strengthens on me, and I start to get more of a floral vibe. At almost two hours, the amber is strongest again. The lotiony smell abides, like the Dude.

I might make a bath oil out of Sportive and layer it with spring fruit blends or fuller ambers for depth and interest.