Flowering Chrysanthemums

[Musamea]

Chrysanthemum, marigold, golden sandalwood, vanilla, cinnamon, and amber incense.

 

Etsy purchase from the Lab

 

In the bottle: Undifferentiated florals and mostly something that very much reminds me of the Lab's honey note

 

Wet: Initially, whatever I'm reading as the honey note really blooms and the scent is almost overwhelmingly cloying; after about 5 minutes, the honey fades back and the spiciness of both chrysanthemum and golden sandalwood moves forward, with a hint of amber incense floating in the background. This stage is much more pleasant and wearable for me – it's light, yet exotic, floral, and I love the chrysanthemum as a different take from the Lab's more usual carnation on a "spicy" flower. I tested on my wrists and in the crooks of my elbows – what's really interesting is that the above description is all from my wrists; my left elbow amps the incense waaaaay up – it's all smoked flowers and sandalwood loveliness, while my right elbow went straight to soapy marigolds. The throw from far away still yields a bit of honey musk.

 

Initial dry: The scent seems to get darker and drier, with more and more of the incense coming forward and mixing with the dustiness of sandalwood and cinnamon; the chrysanthemum still peeks through, but rather than the crystalline, pulpy scent of a fresh flower, it's more like the after-image of a flower, more like dried petals of chrysanthemums and marigolds held in a wooden chest than anything else.

 

Full dry: First, Flowering Chrysanthemums went just a biiiiit feral on me (may be a time of month thing); the scent also weirdly fades in and out of my skin. At full dry, I first get smoooookey amber incense that felt a bit too dark and murky for me to see myself using up the bottle, but then that faded out and now what's reemerged is warm vanilla sandalwood with a hint of incense and spice – a very sexy second skin scent

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: really pretty. Sweet, feminine, floral without being FLORAL. The amber and vanilla and very present. This is lovely, just as I imagined

 

 

 

Dry: A lovely, soft, feminine, almost citrusy floral. Sweet and innocent. I think I actually get more marigold than chrysanthemum. It's very nice.

[Casablanca]

In the bottle, I smell a golden floral, and maybe a little vanilla.

 

On my skin, this opens as a lovely, golden, lightly spicy, and incensey floral. It reminds me of Flor de Muerto, but with incense and a spicy edge. This doesn’t change on me as it dries, other than becoming much more faint on the skin. Cinnamon often amps on me, but here, thankfully, it remains soft.