Marae

[gwynethr]

Vanilla orchid, Monoi tiare, gardenia, and light incense.

It's a good thing that I really, really like gardenia. Because that's all she wrote in this one. I know there are other things in here, which I smell when in the bottle, but on me, it's just intensely floral and very Lady of Shalott. I think it'll be good to put in shampoo or lotion, but it's sadly not as special as I had hoped.

[circeramone]

In the bottle: Sweet and floral

 

Wet, on my skin: Honey (I'm not sure where that came from), and really heavy florals

 

Dry: Gardenia ahoy! Oh, and the faint aroma of incense.

 

edited to add:

 

Dry, 2+ hours later: Only incense remains. I smell like generic incense at any generic New Age-y store.

Edited May 19, 2008 by circeramone

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, Marae is mostly gardenia. Dry, a light bubblegum scent takes over. I think vanilla orchid is the culprit since I got the same reaction with Opuhi. Someone else can have this.

[yeahbutnobut]

Marae

 

In the imp: floral notes and dry gardenia…please don’t tell me that’s the gardenia my skin warps into evilness?

Wet on skin: ack! It is the gardenia my skin hates! Though it’s not doing it’s worst here, yet…

Dry on skin: whoa, burnt petals and cloying fruitiness! This is gardenia, but not the lovely gardenia from Honey Moon, Angeronalia or even Swan Maiden that I like. This is the Sacred Whore gardenia that turns sharp and burnt on my skin…and this time, it has a sickly undertone of overripe fruit, like banana. I can smell some monoi here, but the gardenia is overpowering. The only thing that comes close to smelling of incense here for now is that burnt petal smell.

After a while: ah, now that smells a lot nicer. The cloying gardenia backs off and the lovely tiare takes over. Now that’s the kind of gardenia I like. However, this isn’t as glorious as Tiki Queen. It’s a bit fainter that TQ, softer, with hints of the fruitiness of the other gardenia note but none of the richness and fullness that TQ has. And where’s the incense? I was really looking forward to smelling incense in here but apart from an incredibly faint and vague smokiness, I don’t get much incense at all.

Despite it’s faintness compared to Tiki Queen, this is a really nice monoi scent. Warm and sensual, the rounded floral scent occasionally wafts and surprises me with it’s loveliness, like the scent of gardenia gently lingering in the summer night air. It’s still not a love compared with TQ, but it’s growing on me.

Verdict: after the glorious Tiki Queen, I thought this would be just as fabulous, tropical flowers and incense? surely that should work? Not so, since the gardenia in here happens to be the gardenia note I dislike and my skin turns sour, acrid and burnt with a hint of rotting fruit. Thankfully it’s not too strong on the ‘evil gardenia’ as it was in Has No Hanna. But the gardenia does take over and overpower every other note, I get hardly any tiare and vanilla, and save for a burnt petal note, hardly any incense. the drydown is much nicer, when the scent turns to a nicer tropical floral, and more of the monoi note I love shows up. However, the scent is faint by now, not as powerful and gutsy as TQ, this seems a little weak despite the heady flowers. Overall this wasn’t a keeper for me, I sold my two bottles, though I did keep my half-decant, because there aren’t enough monoi scents in BPAL and I really like what this eventually turns into. But I wish it had more incense…

Emoticon rating: :|

Is it a keeper? No, I don’t like the ‘bad gardenia’ beginning.

If you like this, try: Tiki Queen, Sacred Whore of Babylon, Has No Hanna, Lady of Shalott, Tupapau

[zankoku_zen]

Oh man, the incense on this one really comes out on me. It is however, hot and bouncy with the touch of florals.

 

Not my style (I don't like predominantly incensey blends) but out of all of the incensey type blends, this has to be one of my faves.

[Dracoo9]

Insence always becomes this horrible monster of doom on me so I was warry of snagging a decant from a circle but I wanted to try it and I felt darring so I snagged an imp.

 

I'm soooo glad that I did. This was one of the few scents that I actually said to people (my mother and the boyfriend) 'I smell delicious!' This scent is creamy with the florals, which is amazing that I like because I tend to dismiss most floral blends. The gardenia and the Monoi are the ones I smell the most, with a small peek of vanilla. The only thing that I dont like about this blend is that it stays on for an hour or so then runs far far away. But I suppose thats what getting bottles is for?

 

Rating 5/5 DELICIOUS!

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: This is a scent I would have sworn blind a month ago I wouldn't like - and yet here I am, getting quite excited over it. I do believe monoi tiare is the same thing as Tahiti de monoi, which is heaven on earth, but I'm hoping this is going to turn out to be a really lovely fresh, light floral with vanilla's mellowness and the incense to give it a bit of sophistication. In other words, this could potentially be a really good 'wear to work' scent.

 

In the bottle: You know when florals are so sweet and delicious they almost smell like fruit? Yeah. Oh yeah. I'm not floral educated enough to pick them apart, but I definately get the creamyness of the Monoi and a hint of mellow vanilla. This is light, creamy and very smooth.

 

On the wrist, wet: Monoi tiare, strait up (It's a kind of gardenia macerated in refined coconut, but it actually smells a touch like jasmine). The gardenia and the vanilla orchid (Vanilla that doesn't smell or behave quite like vanilla!) coming in right behind it... little lingering incense, very light, just as promised. This, so far, is delivering exactly what it promised! All the right notes, in pretty much the right order, and it's tropical bright and fresh and light.

 

Twenty minutes later: Oh god - if you've never smelt Tahiti de monoi, then you can't quite possibly understand how good this smells. It's not quite coconut, and it's not exactly like a gardenia either, it's just... good. The vanilla orchid gives it some extra soft sweet mellowness, and the gardenia mostly just blends together with those two. There's a barely detectable baseline that I recognise as incense, but it really doesn't overpower (Or even touch) the main scent. I like this. I REALLY like this.

 

Verdict: Definately a keeper.

 

Tl;Dr: Delicious creamy-fresh monoi tiare, mellow vanilla orchid, the softest incense baseline. Energisingly sweet freshness, and softly sexy.

[tinyvulture]

now that i finally recognize the scent of gardenia, i can tell it’s strong here. the orchid is far more subdued. the vanilla is lovely and there’s just the slightest touch of exotic incense. breezy, floral, tropical and feminine. nice when you just want something subtle and light. a similar GC scent would be Euphrosyne, with its gardenia sweetened by vanilla.

[heysunshine]

This is the tropical version of Midnight on the Midway. Lightest incense makes it dusky and lots of florals are on the forefront. On me this is mainly gardenia scent. The vanilla orchid is peeking out from under everything else and if I bury my nose deep enough in my arm I can smell it. Not a keeper bottle for me, but I may try to acquire an imp down the road just in case I ever need anther flowers+incense blend and it is a very pretty scent. eta: and once the gardenia faded the drydown was a pleasant, tiare, vanilla and incense-y scent. But still a drydown I can accomplish with other oils.

Edited July 16, 2008 by heysunshine

[Stephanie]

This is a very pretty, unobtrusive gardenia scent. I love Monoi oil and this smells just like it. It dries down soft and powdery.

 

This makes me want to got to Tahiti!

[smallvoice]

Marae was nothing but gardenia on me. None of the incense, nor the orchid, nor Monoi tiare... Just gardenia. Gardenia is pretty, but I don't love it that much. Also, this gardenia wanted to kill me. It started to strangle me, and there was this glint in its eye that chills me to this very day, and I knew it meant business. So I did what any reasonable person would do; I attacked back! Soap and water and lots of scrubbing managed to subdue the gardenia long enough that I could get away.

 

I knew I should've opted for Opuhi with that set. Opuhi just seems less likely to be a sociopath.

[kawaiiferreto]

Wet and in the imp this is GARDENIA.

 

Luckily as it dries the gardenia backs off. After 20 minutes or so I can smell what I assume is the monoi tiare, it's faintly coconut-y, but not the cloyingly sweet buttery coconut I get from the standard lab coconut. It smells faintly like how an actual coconut smells, and faintly floral. I'm not sure if I get the orchid because I don't know what that smells like. Several hours later I get a very faint whiff of the incense, but it's predominantly meaty floral and coconut-y goodness. It's quite lovely, but I don't know that I can see myself wearing this often enough to keep the bottle.

[pinkstardust420]

Wow! This is absolutely gorgeous! The florals mix beautifully with the vanilla orchid, and that touch of insense just makes this blend complete. Sweet and delish!

[Emma2403]

Tropical blooms. Very sweet yet not nauseating.

 

I can smell orchid and maybe gardenia but there's something a little more fruity in there too.

 

I'm in love and definitely need to see if I can still track a bottle!

[voodoocatwoman]

Beautifully tropical. Gardenia and orchids, sprinkled with vanilla and incense. The problem is that the scent is gone within an hour.

[aviva]

this is an absolutely lovely green floral, very exotic. but like othershave mentioned, doesn't have a long staying power.

 

 

still love it though.

[Shollin]

First sniff: I madly adore orchid, but I fear the gardenia, which is quite prominent from the bottle in its white sweetness. The orchid hangs back a bit, a rich warm presence surrounding the gardenia.

 

Wearing: Instantly it’s an enormous cloud of gardenia and nothing else. I smell like the girl Frank Butler wants to marry. Sadly, nothing else ever really shows up.

[rayvn1]

Generic floral smell on me, unfortunately No incense whatsoever. Nice, pretty flowers.

[cinderfallen]

This just shot up to my top 10. I knew there could be no wrong with this blend for me, and I was totally right!

 

It goes on almost fruity bright, green, perhaps from the crisper orchid; and there is that lush, almost overripe smell people mentioned, right at the beginning, but that's immediately gone. Within a few minutes, the incense mutes the intensity of the florals, which turn a little creamy except for the crooks of my elbows, where that crystal green note sticks around. But when I say incense, I mean a sugary smokiness that texturizes the bubbly sweet scent, gives it character. I love that the incense is not a true headshop incense note, but just that touch of *something* that warms up the scent, turns it slightly Oriental and edgy-musky. But for the incense, Marae would remind me a lot of Vasakasajja, which was a little too loud for me; the smokiness lends the perfume a more intimate presence, pretty as it is.

 

I agree with a previous reviewer that this reminds me of Midnight on the Midway, or more of what I wanted it to be, though Marae is sweeter and brighter: sugared incense and flowers, with the texture of crystallized sugar of cotton candy on your tongue.

 

ETA for another take on description, perhaps also a slight change in chemistry/hormones (right before my period): Gardenia is a super heavy, sweet, uber-floral isn't it? A friend had a gardenia she grew in her room, and that definitely doesn't smell like this! I get super sour candy, the really lip-puckering kind, where the sweet lays just underneath the surface, and you can almost taste it, there's so much sugar. Almost citrus-lime, almost berry! I don't get any kind of vanilla or cream from this blend.

 

This scent is super crisp. The balance of sweet to sour reminds me of tart lemonade. ...which seems to be super different from others' perceptions!

Edited October 25, 2009 by cinderfallen

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Deep golden oil. Softly sweet, light, delicate, feminine floral. The gardenia is very gentle, and I do definitely get some orchid. A faint wisp of incense.

 

Wet: Dries almost instantly, and goes more planty-floral, sharper, less sweet. More heavy and cloying, I think from the orchid - I sadly don't really get any vanilla. All florals amped.

 

Dry: Gardenia really amping, whoa. And the orchid too. This has gone quite sharp, quite quickly - but it's also really heady. The incense to me smells a little copal-like, green-resiny with a distinct burnt edge - though it's faint.

 

Summary: Really strongly orchid, even stronger than the gardenia which is also strong, in a sharp, heady, planty way. I'm not getting any sweetness or incense in the drydown - just extremely strong florals that make me feel a little ill.

[lamenteuse]

I didn't really like a lot of the Atomic Luau, many were either way to fruity or way to flowery for my liking (which was really upsetting because I am a huuuuuge nut for tiki stuff). Marae, however, is perfect. It's not too flowery, just light and summery. Perfect for when you want just a little bit of scent. By "little bit of scent" I do not mean that it fades quickly or does not have enough throw. It's like, forgive me for getting poetic here, wearing a silk top instead of a wool sweater.

 

Amazing, amazing, amazing. Because of this scent, I really hop they bring the Luau back this year!

[Gin]

Marae

 

*weeps* I wanted to like this. Instead, it's Gardenia with a tiny bit of incense. But mostly gardenia. I like gardenia, but not that much.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

gardenia overload. not for me!

[Ishtar]

Being a big orchid and tiare fan, I was hoping for an exotic, beachy, suntan lotion- like scent.

 

Unfortunately, like many reviewers have mentioned, Marae is all gardenia, all the time. Not that I have anything against gardenia, but in this blend it's so prominent that the other notes never get a chance to come out and play. I can detect a faint earthiness every now and then, but it's no match for the giant crazy gardenia - no creamy orchid, no luscious coconutty monoi, and no incense to speak of.

 

Off to swaps!

[ami226]

On the skin: Very floral. I was hoping for a bit more orchid, but I am not getting much of that. It is a sweet floral, but not one of my favorites. Definitely going to swaps.