L'Estate

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Nepalese amber, vanilla infused amber, golden musk, sandalwood, golden lily, sunflower, and honey myrtle.

 

When I smelled this my eyes rolled back in my head and my first thought was, "Damn you, lab!" because I knew instantly this was going to be one of those blends that would cause me to lose all financial restraint and pursue a bottle of it at all costs. This is so gorgeous it is beyond words, but I'll try. It reminds me of a golden Inez...like Inez and Monsterbait: Underpants went on vacation together to the South of France and were sun bathing on a topless beach. Guh.

[Gin]

Golden. Warm amber, vanilla, musk, sun-colored flowers. I love HappyLoveJoy's review that says L'Estate "smells like the color of honey," because it does.

[stellans]

*sigh* Today is the third time I've worn this blend, which for me means it's a make-or-break day. Unfortunately, it's break. As in: break up. I don't know for sure what it is in this blend that reacts so badly to my personal chemistry, but it does. Maybe it's the amber; goodness knows amber is not always a friend to me, though it can be lovely. Maybe it's the lily, as that also can sometimes be problematic. Whatever. All I know is it turns sickly sweet on me, then moves to plastic. Doggone it.

[hlemonds]

I'm still a BPAL bebe, but i'll try....

 

Creamy vanilla-amber, warm, soft musk, and lilies (i think, lol.) This makes me think of a sun filled meadow, teaming with buzzing bumblebees, the heady-scent of sun-warmed lilies, and skin scented with a creamy-vanilla freshness.

 

Hubby walked over to me and said, "Gah, you smell Good! I like this one! I want to eat you up!"

 

Yeah, L'Estate is made of WIN!

[ami226]

Okay, I received a decant of this awhile ago, tried it on, and put it into the swap pile. Well, now I just received a partial bottle and decided to give it another chance and

 

Wow! A lovely honey musky amber. It is amazing and I have no idea why it didn't smell so good before!

 

-EDIT- The only drawback is that this scent stays very close to the skin...

Edited September 13, 2009 by Catseyes

[Invidiana]

This is a gorgeous, golden amber sweetened by the vanilla and made alluring by the musk and sandalwood. The myrtle adds a a citrusy touch, which is not astringent like myrtle can tend to get sometimes, and definitely appropriate for summer--but really, this could easily qualify as a fall scent without a problem, and I love anything evocative of fall It's liquid gold, sensual and spectacular!

[Venneh]

This smells amazing in the decant. I'm getting this golden sort of musk with what is either the sunflowers or the myrtle; this is smelling like summer in a decant. On my skin, the musk and amber comes out a bit more, with the sunflower and myrtle coming forward. It's still this amazingly beautiful golden scent, and yeah, this pretty much confirms that I need a bottle of this, like I thought I would. They got the summer concept straight on with this, and with winter coming, I may need this to battle winter gloom.

Edited November 2, 2009 by Venneh

[ellebelle]

This must have one of the same honeys as Crib Girls because I get ... LEMON OF DOOM. This is beautiful until the lemon amps up and drowns out the rest of the prettiness. This *is* very similar to Echo and The Harp of Cnoc.

[tielan]

L'Estate is a huge disappointment for me.

 

Not because it's not a lovely scent: it is! Smooth and amber on my skin at first...and then it turns rashy. In less than 15 mins, I have a raised red splotch about the size of my two thumbs on my skin.

 

It's gonna have to go, I'm afraid.

[Verios]

This is a scent that I (very fortunately) got in a swap a few weeks ago--I'd been wanting to try it as it sounded really amazing, but had begun to think I wasn't going to manage to snag some anytime soon.

 

It was well worth the wait. (I'd put off trying it for this long after receiving it because I was afraid it was going to be straight florals after smelling the bottle--I like some floral, but not usually a ton...) However, this really is the golden, warm, amazing scent that I was hoping it would be. The floral is there as well, but there's a gorgeous, creamy golden vibe to it. I'm so glad I got a bottle of this! I keep sniffing at my own wrist, so if there's any one flaw I see with this, it's that the throw isn't huge on it--I want to wrap myself in this scent like a blanket and roll around in it!

 

EDIT: I also do get some of the similarity mentioned by a previous reviewer to the Harp of Cnoc--both really make me think of hot, lazy summer days.

Edited July 16, 2011 by Vashtya

[angelamaria]

In bottle: this is almost cologney at first--the flowers are sweet and sharp, rather heady. I can't pinpoint specific notes.

 

Wet on skin: this becomes a slightly sweet-spicy floral, cool and almost minty, definitely cooler than in the bottle. It's very beautiful and elegant, ladylike with a touch of sensuous woman. The ambers and sandalwood ground the high florals very beautifully, and give it a softness that wasn't apparent when sniffing from the bottle.

 

Dry: once dry, it's developed a powdery quality that is rather pleasant--expensive, luxurious powder scent. It sticks fairly close to the skin, and after a while even that powdery quality recedes and this remains a beautiful, resinous womanly scent, soft florals and gentle amber.

 

Verdict: I tested this about three times--I keep trying to resist this blend but I can't. stop. sniffing. my. wrist. when I have this on. So I've given in to the inevitable.

[Missy_killer]

In the bottle: Amber is naturally the first note to say hello, there's citrus here too and some sharp florals. Second snff is all heady florals and musk, it reminds me of some old fashioned "classic" perfume. It has a pepepry twist that tickles my sneeze buds.

 

On: Very heavy cologne-vibe. It reminds me so much of a classic perfume, I know that my grandmother has a small bottle of it...But I can't remember the name of it. The flowers get strongerbut it's like...off? Like the icky water your flowers has been sitting for a few days. Far away it smells like peppery amber.

 

Okay no, it's so heady and sooo floral! When i'm in my 60's I might consider wearing this.. But that's another almost forty years til then. It's better this one goes to a loving home that can get better use out of it than I can.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Mmm. Sweet glowing amber and florals. The florals are continuing to amp though and it's getting a bit odd. There's something really clean about this though.

 

 

Dry: This settles so well into a beautiful floral amber scent with the vanilla, musk and sandalwood wafting in and out, giving it depth. It's classic, lovely, elegant. Glad to have it! Do wish it was a bit stronger with more throw.

[ramblingrambler]

I see why this fragrance is so sought after and incredibly popularit is downright superb. Expertly blended and glorious, L'Estate strikes me as something that could be sold as mainstream perfume but is just enough off the beaten path to be sneered at as niche. And that's not a disrespectful comment on my end... people don't know what they're missing on the niche, indie, e-tail market until they're actively buying it (and then never going back ).

 

To be sure, this bottle is everything golden and warm. Sniffed, I can parse it two ways: one in which all notes are inextricably linked to create one overarching impression, and the other in harmonious parts to a perfect whole. I smell it both ways as it wafts toward me... it is a blend of components, a true masterpiece, that together sings just the right song, perfectly tuned and attuned to body chemistry.

 

I can't say anything about it except it is elegant, sophisticated, and exceptional. It smells like high-end perfume that isn't trying to be perfume.

 

Edit: I use this sparingly, so five months later Ive come back to revisit my post. It is still glorious, beautiful enough to move me to pick up this post again, if you know what I mean. This time, I wear it as we approach spring through what the groundhog said would be a long winter, and I am reminded of early April, the apex of blooming and blossoming flowers before the rainy months set in. The warmth is really present today on my skin, so this smells like the sun beating down on fragrant yellow, orange, and white gardens - something we dont usually see here until the late spring and early summer months. I am, however, also reminded of the intense humidity present under willowy tree shade where the soil remains slightly damp in the morning, before the sun has fully dried it all. I guess this is like taking a stroll around ten or eleven in the morning and feeling the day go into full swing.

Edited February 7, 2018 by ramblingrambler