The Miller's Daughter

[moonstonemama]

There was once a miller who was very poor, but he had a beautiful daughter. Now, it happened that he came to speak to the king, and, to give himself importance, he said to him, “I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold.”

The king said to the miller, “That is a talent that pleases me well; if she be as skilful as you say, bring her to-morrow to the palace, and I will put her to the proof.”

When the maiden was brought to him, he led her to a room full of straw, gave her a wheel and spindle, and said, “Now set to work, and if by the morrow this straw be not spun into gold, you shall die.” He locked the door, and left the maiden alone.

Spun gold, tear-soaked straw, and rose-infused amber.

in the bottle: very rose, with something that smells like baby powder, probably the amber.
wet: still very rosy smelling, but with a sharp metallic edge to it.

dry: pretty much the same as wet. rose with a metallic edge. it's very pretty

[GreenSpine]

Wet, this is sharp and soapy and not that impressive. But after a few minutes on my skin, it starts to change. Happily, the straw note (which reminds me more of Hay Moon than Scarecrow) comes out the strongest and lingers the longest. The rose and amber are lovely, pretty strong at first before settling back over time. A little bit of the gold note (which reminds me of the lovely gold note in Phoenix Steamworks), and the slightest edge of salt rounds the scent out beautifully.

 

Overall, this is soft, with a medium throw and medium to long wearlength. I can't wait to see how it ages.

 

This is even more lovely than I'd hoped/expected!

[Lucretia]

oooh this is nice, it really lives up the description. Golden amber roses! It starts off quite dry and you really get the hay, but then the amber and rose really dominate. It's little bit like a rosey brisingamen or an ambery jezebel. I'm a little worried the amber will just amp out to the point of giving me a headache as it's apt to due, but so far so good. If you like other rose blends I think you will like this. I think I'm good with just a imp, but this is really nice!

 

Eta: I wore this again today and got much more of an aquatic feel and less rose. So there is definitely some tears in there!

Edited November 14, 2008 by Lucretia

[butcherbaby]

this starts off on the wrong foot for me..in the imp i get a screechy gold metallic brine, followed by sour wet hay hot on it's heels. it's such a shock i have to go back and reread the notes to see if i made a mistake ordering this. nope, got the right one.

the quivering saw blade of scent quickly settles down into a much warmer hay, and i can *just* catch the edge of the amber wafting up throw the grass. mmmmm...a *bit* like a much softer, lighter version of lion, perhaps? now i'm getting a scent i find hard to describe, though it is very familiar to me in life. it's the scent of being outdoors, perhaps early fall, or in the late dry summer after a rain. a scent that is dry and moist at the same time, fresh but just starting to crumble & decay.

the throw is lovely, delicate, but not airy...it's grounded in the old spinning shack, the sheep wool, and the burlap & rushes that line the floor of her chamber. slowly, the girl herself starts to emerge.... a light, sweet rose, shyly wending her way through the paths created by the other scents.

it's utterly lovely.

and quite a subtle treat for one who usually likes IN YOUR FACE POW!!! scents.

 

all the marchens i've tried so far have this subtle otherworldly quality, and i am enjoying them very much. i think i may have to order them all, just for the experience.

[oakmoss]

I really wanted to love this one, as I have a lovely memory of a Waldorf School Halloween event I attended about ten years ago, where one of the students portrayed this gold-spinning maiden, singing so sweetly as she spun her magic. But alas, there was no straw, no gold, no amber, just a rather harsh rose that gave me a dull headache. Perhaps it was the combination of rose and tears, as aquatics often disagree with my chemistry. I'm going to keep the imp around and try it again, hoping for some magic of my own!

[innocent]

I should have paid attention to the "tear-soaked" aspect of the straw. Aquatics amp on me, and smell either like dryer sheets or soap. That said, the Miller's Daughter is still pretty pleasant. The rose is swollowed up by the soap, but the gold, straw, and amber put up a pretty good fight. A bright scent, like late-morning light. Unfortunately the soap is too much for me.

[greenranger]

Rose infused amber, with a backing of straw, salty tears, and gold...The rose is strong on me, but, not amped all to heck and actually wearable. The amber and salty straw are the next strongest notes, with the gold as just a hint in the back.

 

The rose fades, and the amber, straw, tears, and gold are what is left.

 

It's a kind of nice enough scent while the rose is there, but, I don't really like it till the rose burns off completely. What remains is a sweet, golden, hay scent, edged with shimmery crystals of salt.

Edited November 14, 2008 by Aerinha

[penemuel]

Rose and straw, with a little sweetness from the amber and a little tang from the tears and the gold -- this is LOVELY!

 

I've fallen madly in love with hay scents this year, and already have two bottles of Hay Moon and bought the entire Pumpkin Plunder so I could have Needle in a Haystack, but this is just as good in a different, brighter gold kind of way. It's warmer than Haystack, which is probably the amber.

 

I think I need a bottle of this in the next order!

 

ETA: I should say, I get very little pumpkin in Haystack -- if you do, you may find my comparison a bit off...

Edited November 14, 2008 by penemuel

[windbourne]

I really like this in the imp -- it's very golden and sweet, with a bit of rose to light it up a bit -- but as soon as it hits my skin it turns to soapy water. :/ It mellows some as it dries; I can smell hay in it at that point, but it's definitely not a -dry- hay, which is good, since I couldn't stand Scarecrow.

 

As it continues, the rose shows up a bit. It's really more of a white or pink rose, light and airy and -very- sweet, with the amber remaining mild and impersonal.

 

I -think- I like it? It's not really like any other scent I've tried, ultimately. I may have to try it again in a week or so after it's settled a bit. Maybe the soapy salt will fade a little? If not, I'll swap it away. But I'd like to give it another chance.

[SurrealReality]

Rumpelstilzchen is my favorite fairy tale, so this makes me sad.....

In the Bottle/Imp: Blech! A strong metallic note and very salty hay. Perhaps a little rose

 

Wet on Skin: a little better.....powdery amber, rose, salty hay, and a metallic note (but it has faded quite a bit)

 

Dry: Eek! Back to where we started.....when it's dry on my skin it smells just as bad as it did in the imp. Wait, I take that back....it actually smells worse (in addition to everything else, I'm getting a very strong soapy / salty aquatic note now). Sorry folks! I can't wait for the drydown. I've gotta go wash this off!

 

In the Bottle/Imp: 1.5 out of 5 (metal and salt....two of my last favorite notes)

On My Skin: 0.5 out of 5 (soap is my all-time least favorite note. It actually made me nauseous. I've never had that happen before)

 

OK, so the only reason I tried this scent was because of the fairy tale. It didn't sound like my kind of thing at all, so it shouldn't be any great shock that I don't like it.

[angelicruin]

In the imp, it's all amber with a touch of rose

 

Wet on skin, much the same. I generally run the other direction from oils with rose notes, but this is not bad. The amber blends nicely with the rose to give this oil it's "spun gold" quality.

 

It's not something I would want in a bottle and I will probably pass this imp onto someone else to sample, but I'm glad I tried it.

[kelpsoda]

I get a lot of rose from this. Wet, it's roses and salt. Dry, it's pure roses (which go kind of sour). I was hoping this would be more metallic, but I think rose just overpowers everything when it hits my skin.

[Schmoozy]

I have to say that this is one of the most gorgeous rose blends I have tried in a long time.

This has all the notes I have been coveting lately. Amber, straw and of course my beloved salty aquatic. All together they combine beautifully to create a simple, golden, slightly sweet mix of amber, rose, straw and tears!

[rayvn1]

I have completely struck out on all the Marchen's I thought I'd love Ah well! Time to try the others instead I guess. This one was alright enough, a blend of aquatic and rose when I was crossing my fingers for the gold and rose. Not bad, just not amazing.

[jencallisto]

In the imp: Light rose and something vegetable-y

Fresh on the skin: Yes, definitely vegetable... Wait. Sweet potato? Okay, weird, this totally reminds me of unripe sweet potato, not too sweet -- or rather, something else balancing out the sweet, bitter and fresh. This must be the straw?

5 minutes later: The rose is just a hint, strange because my skin usually amps rose. This is extremely well-blended and quite unusual. I'm liking it a lot, actually.

20 minutes later: A lot of vegetable and a little rose.

30 minutes later: Oh my goodness. The amber's starting to come out, all creamy and gold, and now this is turning _beautiful_. Still oddly fresh -- I could see the argument for sweet, wet hay, and still with just a hint of rose. Gorgeous.

1 hour later: This has stayed true -- golden fresh hay with creamy amber, all with the aura of rose. I get almost no aquatic, as far as I can tell, and if there's metal it's blended with with the straw and amber perfectly. Which is fine by me, because I adore this the way it is.

2 hours later: This is almost pure amber now, mellow and gold and oddly fresh. And truly lovely.

3.5 hours later: Ah, the rose and sweet hay are back, light and radiating a delicate yellow-gold.

5 hours later: Fading fading fading, but still there, golden sweet hay on my skin.

14 hours later: A faint amber-hay scent still lingers.

 

Verdict: This is unusual and really beautiful. I love this. I don't know that I'll wear it a lot, but you know, I just might.

 

One phrase: sweet amber hay.

[Blood onmy hands]

The Miller's Daughter, overall, is a very thin, dry, sour fragrance. The rose is sour and sharply perfumey (I like a fresh rose or sweet rose note, personally), the amber is dusty, thin, and sharp, and the hay/straw note just adds to that dusty feel. As it dries down, there's something salty and almost sweaty smelling that just makes it smell gross on top of being unpleasant.

 

Total failure on me. Blech. Just unbearably dry, simple, and soured...

Edited April 9, 2011 by Little Bird

[Lycanthrope]

Caveat: I amp rose and turn amber occasionally into baby powder, depending on which kind it is. Ifrit / Sparrow / This Blend = powder.

 

So... this goes completely and utterly to a powdery rose on me in no time flat, and then amps to the point where a tiny dot on the back of my hand is overwhelming a coworker or two. Initially on application there was a golden sparkle that was promising but my chemistry doesn't play well with this scent.

 

Can't do.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is a soft, rosy powder. Unfortunately, the amber in this one goes powdery. After about an hour, I can smell something that I can only associate as 'gold'. It's not metallic per se, but it does give the distinct impression of gold.

 

This is a soft, womanly scent. I can see a little girl liking this.

[Christine Daae]

First impression: This actually smells salty. Wow.

 

In the imp, this is vaguely unpleasant as it smells salty, like tears. Seriously. It's probably a combination of the salty aquatic and the metallic note that combine to create this odd 'tang.' Not exactly inspiring confidence in me to try it on my skin, but on my skin the saltiness tones down a little, and the sweetness of the floral and the amber balance it a little bit.

 

The amber does go a little powdery in this, but it's not unpleasant. It's soft and pretty, sort of pinky-golden, with that metallic/salty tinge that makes it more than just an amber-floral blend.

 

Eventually this mostly smells like sweet powdery amber, but with a metallic/salty bite.

 

I'll probably have to wear it a few more times to see if it's a keeper, but it's interesting for someone who doesn't usually have issues with amber. I can see how if amber usually goes to powder on you this might not work out for you at all, though.

[thelaurenator]

I'm a little disappointed with this. It has a really watery, tangy smell-- the tears. Kind of metallic and yucky. I was hoping for more "rose-infused amber" which IS present, but only after more than an hour of wear can I really smell the amber. Drydown is pretty, but this is too aquatic. I think I'll keep my imp, but no bottle for me.

[sqwook]

Wet: amber straw gold dusty herbal

 

Dry: Metallic rosebud, turning powdery rose. This is the first oil that has gone powdery on me in a not-really-good way - amber does *not* usually act this way for me, so I'll blame the rose. (I'm always ready to blame the rose anyway.)

 

Reminds me of my grandmother, so I'm keeping the imp for now, but rose is my nemesis.

[Iceblink]

I love the gold note that this opens with. It's reminiscent of some of the steampunk blends--warm and polished. Next I get a lot of rosy powdery amber--very strong stuff! Finally the straw comes out and this gets very...weird. Like rosy hay with a hint of salt. I don't dislike it but it's really odd and it's got so much throw that I think it could get me headachey. I may let it age a bit and try again.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells salty at first. Kind of a salty, sweet amber. It's a bit odd. As it dries it gets sweeter and less odd. I think that when the rose part of the scent was coming out it was confusing my nose. It ends up smelling like a dry, slightly salty rose scent. It is unusual, and I'm not sure I've smelled a rose scent that smells like this before. I generally like the dewy ones best, and this dry rose isn't working for me all that well. It is interesting, though.

[milo]

Gah, once again I cannot identify rose!! I thought the *ahem* smell was jasmine, which also doesn't get along with me. There is something "dusky", that I'm enjoying once in awhile, but it morphs fleetingly. The rose definitely dominates in this one, and alas, this is not for me.

[femmefatale]

This pretty much goes right away to rose powder. This smells like grandma skin.

 

Not for me.