New Orleans

[GreatWhiteFork]

Reminiscent of hothouse blooms on a humid night, ripe, but touched with decay. Sweet honeysuckle and jasmine with a hint of lemon and spice.

 

IN THE BOTTLE: Flowers and something green. I get quite a bit of the jasmine, with the honeysuckle twined underneath it.

WET: Hello jasmine! The whole thing is very wet, almost humid smelling, like the city in the middle of august.

DRY: This one is a bit heavy on me, but pleasantly so. It is sluggish and rich, but the humid factor leaves once it dries. The whole thing is very much a night time scent; I feel like I should be sitting on a bench by the Mississippi, smelling the warm night air and watching the lights flicker on the water.

- - - - - -

This is definitely a keeper! I love the jasmine+honeysuckle combo, and the whole thing is relaxing and almost sluggish. It just makes you want to sit on a porch swing with a glass of wine and throw bedroom eyes at your swing buddy.

[littlesparrow]

This is gawwwwgeous. The flowers remind me of Crossroads - I wonder if that's the jasmine? But it's not as woodsy/green as Crossroads, much more feminine I think. It embodies my completely Hollywood-based image of the south perfectly. Sultry, sexy, deep, delicious yumminess.

[welcometothefamily]

In the Imp: Crushed, overripe jasmine flowers. That's hothouse alright... Not unpleasant per se...but hmm.

 

Wet: HELLO FLOWERS. This is a very thick and heady floral scent, but a perfect balance of jasmine and honeysuckle. Threatened to go soapy on me while it was drying.

 

Drydown: This is still very much jasmine and honeysuckle, but I'm getting an undercurrent of lemon and possibly a slight hint of spice.

 

Verdict: This is quite pleasant, I seem to be able to wear jasmine when it's by itself or with another flower. (When it's blended in a floral bouquet it tends to smell old ladyish on me) This was a frimp from the lab, which is cool since I never would have picked it for myself. I don't wear florals really. I'm glad I got to try it, and I'll keep my imp, but no bottle for me.

 

2.5/5

[OneMoreFilthySeaShanty]

For a while, I lived in Northern Virginia, where every spring/early summer it would rain profusely. We also lived near former swamp land, thick with flowers that are so heavy smelling that it borders on traditionally perfume-y scent. If I were smoking a cigarette at the edge of one of those heavily flowered spots near a county fair, it would smell like my arm right now.

I have NO idea how I feel about this...

[theredkilt]

Heady blooming jasmine with a hint of greenery. I wish it was a tad sweeter. Ultimately, i don't i will be able to pull this one off

[satinworship]

This instantly reminds me of walking down Coliseum St. in the Garden District in the late summer. The jasmine is a bit loud on my skin, but the honeysuckle and lemon balm are taking me back down memory lane! It would be hard to label just one scent as New Orleans, since it's a city that prides itself on being spastic and hard to pin down. This is the decay of a once proud aristocracy, determined to remain beautiful and graceful even in death. Summer in a bottle for this southerner.

[mymymai]

• ITI: Jasmine. Yep, that's jasmine alright - strong and imperious, pushing almost all the other notes out of its way. Lemon does try to make a showing, but it soft and timid against its assertive note "companion".

Wet: Okay, at least the jasmine is somewhat tempered by the honeysuckle and lemon on my skin, but it's still way too much. It smells like crazy disinfectant, lemon cleaner, and jasmine deodorizer. Well, at least I smell clean. Then again, my skin just doesn't like jasmine.

Dry: It's just jasmine and lemon, but mostly jasmine now. Alas, into the swap pile you go.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: A very heady zesty-floral. Jasmine & lemon, with a sort of decayed honeysuckle in the background (like the honeysuckle bush, with a lot of dead/used up honeysuckle flowers on the ground around it) & a tiny hint of spice.

Wet on skin: A split second of lemon & then suddenly HONEYSUCKLE! There's some lemon & jasmine behind it too - like you're standing in a garden with a lemon tree, honeysuckle & jasmine, but you're closest to the honeysuckle.

Dry on skin: Not a huge change, it's more faded & evenly mixed now, none of the scents are prominent. There's a TINY hint of spice & decayed flowers now.

After a few hours: VERY faded, still there if you're sniffing closely, but not otherwise noticeable. Like I've just washed with a honeysuckle & jasmine scented soap.

Verdict: So pretty! Not an everyday scent, as it's rather intoxicating at first & eventually fades to a slightly soapy smell (not unpleasant though), but I can definitely see myself wearing this one - especially in Summer & late Spring!

[Veronica]

In the bottle, this is all bright floral and something kind of herbal and astringent--honestly does smell like some kind of voodoo. I don't get a straight jasmine from this and don't know what honeysuckle smells like, but something about this is slightly soapy and very green and herbal. I find the description to be quite accurate--this feels humid and dusty.

 

After a few minutes, this clears up and it is herbal, green jasmine.

[Trinacria]

Definitely a humid scent, so doesn't work well if you like your summer scents to be clean and crisp. On me, the jasmine totally overwhelms the honeysuckle, and I was hoping it would go the other way around. Nice longevity though.

[emanomaly]

Ordered this imp due to my love of all things jasmine and honeysuckle. Not disappointed, not by a long shot. Heavy, humid, glorious, perfectly balanced jasmine and honeysuckle on me. I don't pick up any of the lemon or spices others have mentioned. There is something in there that reminds me of the cheap jasmine soap you can buy at the Asian market, but the honeysuckle cleans it up before it gets too.. "soapy." Settles in as all of the languorous, deep, heavy, moonlit florals that I love.

 

Almost cloying, but *not quite.* Heady to near nausea, but *not quite." That beautiful, nearly oppressive smell of floral fecundity. I can't tell if I'm dizzy from the scent itself, or becoz I'm sniffing it incessantly.

 

I shall have a bottle of this.

Edited July 10, 2015 by emanomaly

[LizziesLuck]

Wet - my skin immediately amps the spice, as it always does (which is awesome, I love spice)

 

Dry - Not terrible. Very sweet. The jasmine isn't super awful like it often is on me. I wish more spice lingered, but there's just enough to keep it from being too floral. I shall keep the imp.

[Soupy Twist]

In the bottle: ew, WTF is THAT? smells like spoiled flower stamen — like the inside of one of those plastic-looking lilies which should smell good but doesn't. The honeysuckle is trying hard to come out, but it fails. The "decay" pretty much overwhelms everything.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Soupy Twist

[d0gbones]

In the imp: Floral but slightly herbal. Think that may be the honeysuckle.

Wet: Powdery, there's something strange and medicinal going on too, eek.

Dry: Floral, pleasant, but sort of nondescript? It's light, so it's not turning my stomach like most honeysuckle/jasmine blends do, it just doesn't do anything for me. Perfect if you love honeysuckle though, that's definitely the most prominent note on me.

Edited November 10, 2015 by d0gbones

[freyasfae]

I really wanted to like this as New Orleans is my favorite Southern city, buuut it's the honeysuckle that kills it. Despite liking honeysuckle (and eating it), honeysuckle does not like my skin. However, this scent does make honeysuckle more bearable for me than some of the other honeysuckles (or honeysuckle/jasmine blends like Twilight). I like the humid decay that creeps in, but the drydown gets more honeysuckle, and I am afraid this one has to go to the swap pile.

[Tian-Tian He]

Holy f, excuse me while I rant... this is amazing! At first it's quite strong and almost nauseating jasmine but after it died down a bit I sniffed my arm and literally got giddy- it's super super realistic small, sweet white flowers. (That was a lot of adjectives.) Like... the insides of them though, like you tore the petals up and sniffed them. Then after about 10 minutes it smells more serious (??) for some reason, less sweet and more purely floral. I didn't get any lemon or spices though.

[Winterbelle]

I was surprised to really like this one. On me, it's all jasmine and honeysuckle (I assume, I can't really tell them apart). I don't smell any lemon or spices. That's ok with me, I don't usually like lemon. Wouldn't have minded some spices though. It doesn't smell much like decay to me. In the dry down stage it starts to go a little soapy, but luckily that stage doesn't last. It's very strong on me, which I like. A very strong, slightly sweet, royal and heady floral. Maybe a bottle purchase for this one.

Edited January 26, 2016 by Winterbelle

[PrinceofcatS]

This is all a humid, generic floral. I get "sweet decay and spice" out of this, but no flowers I recognize as jasmine or honeysuckle (both of which I love). I got a few hints of honeysuckle like it was struggling to come through the other notes but it vanished. I'm not really enjoying this at all.

[Casablanca]

It feels like a cat's age since I wore jasmine. New Orleans goes on my skin as jasmine, honeysuckle, and an aromatic that takes me by surprise -- lavender? Yes, at first I get loads of unlisted lavender. It's like I just applied TKO for the night. Behind this trio, there is, as described, a hint of lemon and spices. At first I think I smell a little distinct black pepper, but after a bit the spices are just all blendy spices.

Lavender is strongest on my skin at first, but in a few minutes, honeysuckle and jasmine step to the front. Now I seem to also smell a little background vanilla.

 

A summer scent. I'm liking it.

[roseus]

Jasmine and honeysuckle roll out heady and humid. There's something dry and herbal that I would pin down now as lavender thanks to Casablanca, but it does not move the scent into bath product or sleepy time as lavender does for me. When I move my hands around I get wafts of lemon, but not when I sniff directly off my arm. There is some dampness underneath, like jungle-y greenery. A bold summer floral that I will revisit next season!

[freyasfae]

I got this is a frimp with a lab order. Honeysuckle and I just can't get along. Jasmine can be iffy, but I generally like it, but combined with honeysuckle it brings out the qualities of the jasmine that I find hard to stomache - the headiness of it mostly.

[lizabelle]

Oh, wow. This is one of the loveliest jasmines I've ever smelled, and jasmine is basically my favorite smell ever so I've sniffed quite a few. This is very close to what I remember my dad's jasmine plant smelling like as a child--cool, sweet flowers that I loved to more or less stick my head into to smell them better. The honeysuckle is a perfect match for it and keeps it cool and not too indolic, although there is just a touch of it at the end of the sniff. Very heady, definitely evocative of a moonlit walk somewhere humid with flowers all around. Decent throw but it manages to not be completely overwhelming. From a distance there's some a citrus-green bite but up close it's all flowers. I adore this and it's going in my cart immediately.

 

ETA: The final drydown, right before it's about to disappear, is dried jasmine that's slightly papery, like it's been pressed in a book. Absolutely gorgeous from start to finish.

Edited January 24, 2017 by lizabelle

[renfair]

Got this one as a frimp sent from the Lab with an order. It sounded really nice, so I was looking forward to trying it!

First Sniff Impression: Very nice, light floral. Not overpowering and I don't get decay at all, like I do with "Grief."

Wet in Vial: The honeysuckle and jasmine combine to make more of a lily of the valley scent for me. I can barely detect some spice, but it comes across as more of an alcoholic tang.

Drying Down on Skin: Really just a pretty solid lily of the valley-type smell. It's very pretty, but maybe not quite as complex as I was expecting from the official description.

Dry on Skin: Scent fades fairly quickly. A few hours in, only a bit of honeysuckle remains. I still don't get any jasmine, but maybe there was enough to dissipate and remove the lily of the valley smell. I don't get any lemon at all in this one, which is too bad. That would probably add such a nice dimension to it.

Conclusion: Very nice, light floral if you need something that's not overpowering. A more "commercial-friendly" perfume, that you could wear to work or around people who might not appreciate a huge blast of patchouli or red musk. Subtle and delicate. Not much staying power, though. Less than 8 hours later I can just barely smell it on my applied wrist and not at all on the wrist I rubbed it on to. It was very pretty, but I think I'm ok with just using up the imp or passing it on, and not buying a full bottle.

[Mufasa]

I am desperately glad I received this as a frimp instead of just buying a whole bottle unsniffed like I usually do because, while I was enchanted by the notes, as soon as New Orleans touched my skin florals exploded out of my eyeballs. While this makes me sad that it wasn't the perfect summer scent I was expecting I'm happy I got to try it out even though my skin made it a repulsive stinky rotted flower, oh woe is me....

[gloame]

Love this one. It’s just barely unisex. The jasmine is gorgeous. There’s something wet and hot in here (humid is exactly it). It smells like the Bayou, decaying flowers, sultry swamps, honeysuckle; like water, like summer. Beautiful. Feminine, floral, heated.

 

Where I'd wear it: New Orleans in an early, humid spring