Little Flora

[paintednightsky]

Peonies and cream.

2012 decant...

Wet: I do smell vanilla and some spice at the forefront. Sweet bakery type scent with floral peaking through. Smells very different dry however.

On me the creamy vanilla smell vanishes very quickly, less than a minute leaving a floral scent. Instead of peonies, it smelled first of roses, then more like hyacinth or lilac to me for the first ten minutes or so and also maybe a bit of jasmine. Then I smell the peony breaking through. Maybe. Quite honestly, maybe I've forgotten what peony smells like What I smell may be the merging of a floral blend. Also a touch of greenery/freshness. It is a nice, light fresh floral. Different. Reminds me of those big, triple milled bars of fancy floral soap.

[ajansuz]

2012 bottle

 

In the bottle, the cream note smells more buttery, like dairy that has been cooked or baked, not fresh cream. The floral is understated with some sharp greenery. It's not unpleasant, but it's different.

 

Wet: For about twenty minutes the cream stuck around with nearly a burnt sugar sort of undertone to it. It smelled extremely foody and overwhelmed the floral. I was a little concerned that it would stay that way and smell more like a baked good than what I was hoping for.

 

It's on the dry down that the cream fades back to something soft and understated, more vanilla now than caramel. The floral warms up to a bright sweetness but not cloying. There's also a cool note to it. It reminds me of the lettuce in The Last Unicorn or whatever gives Sonnet D'Automne its chill.

 

It only lasted three hours or so before fading away. While there, the peony fragrance was very true to the flower. I liked the contrast of cool and warmth in this scent. It was soft and sweet without being too youthful.

[Blonde_Venus]

I've been eagerly awaiting Little Flora so am very excited to open it. First thing to note; very cute sepia artwork on the label!

 

What I'm expecting: A very light, creamy sweet floral. Innocent and fresh.

 

In the bottle: Oh wow creamy hazelnuts! I wasn't expecting something so rich and nutty. It smells, to me, exactly like Cadbury's Fruit & Nut.

 

Wet on the wrist: What a transformation! Here we go with the peonies. Lush, wet pink petals. The creamy/milky note remains stopping this from going into the flowery Air Wick room freshener territory. There is a chance that, on me, that very 'pink' scent will become very bitter and overpowering. Hopefully the sweet cream note will stick around.

 

Dry (fifteen minutes later): A clear ozone note is appearing over the sweetness, a very wet spring-like scent. Maybe this is Flora leaving the nursery to take a turn around the garden after the rain- plucking some flowers to take back to her governess.

 

After an hour: Thanks to the commitment of the creamy sweet note, the scent remains nicely balanced and the peonies don't turn bitter.

 

Final notes: A very spring-like scent. It is not wholly sweet and innocent in the child like way but not an adult scent either; more well-to-do adolescent.

[orata]

Blergh. Foody and floral in a way that combines the worst of both worlds. It smells more like cookies than cream to me, with an overpowering buttery/baked goods note that fades into a headache-inducing, powerful, soapy, heady floral. It is much stronger than the peony note in The Dormouse or Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono, which I thought of as more delicate--this is almost like a boozy tea rose. Like getting punched in the face with flowers. It has a bit of an ozone or aquatic note in the drydown that is contributing to the soapy feeling. I do like it better dry than wet, but just not a fan either way.

[fairestrocza]

Wet, Little Flora is warm, slightly spiced creamy note with a breath of incredibly realistic peonies in the background. I was prepared to add this to my (very) limited collection of florals I can wear, but then it dried.

Dry, this is very stem-y in a way that reminds me of Rose Red - for some people, this should be fantastic news (and I would say that anyone who has Rose Red in their top 10ish bottle list probably ought to track down a tester of Little Flora). Unfortunately, on me that stem-y note hints at the smell of stale chewing gum. Skin chemistry fail, big time.

[becca_s]

This starts out really creamy - at first it smells kind of nutty - like someone else said, kind of like hazlenuts. This lasts for about 10 mintues and then it morphs into a soft, creamy floral. The peony in this reminds me more of the Dormouse than The Girl in the Speckled Pink Kimono - it's not a sweet smelling peony it's kind of more green and fresh smelling like other people have said. Overall, this is very wearable and I wear it quite alot. I don't think that I have given the scent justic here but I found it hard to describe all the different elements. It's one of those scents that you could wear everyday, I often wear it to work.

[astarinel]

Wow, I somehow was expecting this to be a light and pretty scent, I guess because I think of peony as a sort of watery sugary pink flower, but this is much heavier and foodier than I anticipated.

 

The cream note is really, really thick and buttery and heavily dominates the scent while it's wet. It does fade off a bit as it dries, but it really seems like ultimately these two scent types just don't go together well to my nose. Heavy buttery cream + sweet watery flowers = olfactory weirdness, and I just can't get used to it. It might be nice for people who wear creamy and milky scents well, but I am not one of those people.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I will order anything with peony as a dominant note; it's the one floral I love even more than rose, but it tends to get drowned out by other notes. I have a big bottle of Dormouse and wear almost nothing else in early Spring. I am happy to say that Little Flora has the same lovely peony as Dormouse but is different enough to warrant having both: the cream starts a little strong and surprisingly spicy but then quickly fades into a nice background as it dries, leaving a light vanilla or buttercream edge to the beautiful peony. A perfect girly scent for Springtime.

[GoddesShel]

Oh, oh, oh...Peony!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally, it's a peony that works on me!! I get no cream, no spice, it's just about a single note peony on me, which makes me exceedingly happy! It doesn't morph much, just beautiful, beautiful peony!

[Gateau]

Peony. Peony. Peony peony peony, the kind that smells like a fine-milled expensive soap. I'm really not getting any of the creamy, vanilla, hazelnut notes that other identified, just a realistic peony. If this is a note you like, definitely don't miss this, because it's peony all the way.

[unlaced]

This smells just like Katrina van Tassel to me. I mean exactly. It's been a while since I've smelled that once so maybe if I did a side by side I would find some differences but If you like one maybe check out the other. At first, I'm getting an even balance of the sweet cream and peony. The cream seems to be dissipating as I wear this, which is slightly dissapointing for me, the more cream the better, but it's still a beautiful scent.

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: I absolutely love both peony and cream, and I'm hoping for a big win with Little Flora!

 

Wet: Very, very green and nutty. It smells like I rubbed fresh cut grass and hazelnuts on my arm

 

Dry down: Thankfully within 15 minutes the weird green/nut smell is gone and a sweet, creamy, soft peony is left.

 

Dry: The peony here isn't as sweet as in Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono and more soapy, but it's quite pretty. It's a very pink and feminine smell. I wish that there was more cream, but the peony is so pretty here that I can't really complain.

 

Final thoughts: Wear time was decent (around 4 hours) and I think this will fill a nice niche in my collection.

 

Verdict: Keeping the decant, possible bottle.

 

Edited for spelling

Edited January 2, 2013 by Alethia

[surlygurl]

Oh my.... what lovely soap.

 

I'd love to say how I get lovely flowers & creamy cream and all kinds of wonderfulness. But all I get is floral bath soap. The kind my grandmother had in her bathroom when we came to visit.

[amanderinorange]

I've had this for a month and set it aside to see how it would mellow because the first time I sniffed it all I got was turpentine. I was hoping for the peony from Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono, but all I get is green and dirt. On the skin it smells less green, but I still get no cream or flowers.

[Blood onmy hands]

This is a soapy, slightly tart smelling, spring floral. I don't get any of the vanilla/cream aspect. I agree that it's reminiscent of a floral bar soap. Not sweet enough for me, unfortunately, as I love vanilla & floral blends.

[Aldercy]

Wow, this is one of those oils that really needed time to "settle" after traveling, I think. When I first received the decant and popped it open for a sniff, I was almost repelled by it. It smelled like STRONG plastic-y, buttery, fake cream. Maybe even a little like popcorn? There was no sign of the peony at all. I stashed it away for later evaluation, disappointed.

 

However, it's been about a week and this is something completely different now. It's mostly peony, the tart dewy peony that I enjoy in The Dormouse. I don't interpret it as soap, but I can see how people easily could. It's an old-fashioned and slightly pretentious floral. The cream is barely there by comparison, just a hint of white warmth underneath. It's not a sweet scent and it's not a foody scent.

 

I like it and will keep the decant for when I'm in the mood for a huge dose of peony, but I don't feel it's unique enough to get a bottle.

[Coralie]

I love flowers. I love creamy scents. I thought, when I ordered a decant of this, that it would be the perfect perfume.

 

Then, while waiting for it to arrive, I remembered that how my skin reacted to the Dormouse, and that peony is a common note for these. (When I tested Dormouse I described it to a friend as "I think I am being devoured by a flower monster.") I amp the holy hell out of peony. So when Little Flora finally came, I was scared, but I tested it anyway, for kicks.

 

basically what happened is I put a tiny drop on my arm and now the entire room smells powerfully of soap. This one is not for me

[Floria]

In the decant, this is slightly bitter, in the way that some floral notes are on me before they've had time to mellow and warm up. After a few minutes on my skin, it's very nice, but practically a peony single-note. I'm not a fan of very buttery scents, but a little complexity would have made it more interesting. I'll be using the decant, but since I already own a big bottle of Lady in a Speckled Pink Kimono and imps of Shoggoth and The Dormouse, I don't think I'll need a big bottle of this.

[Monday]

This is a way greener peony than I got from Lady in Speckled Kimono. In the imp I also get the nutty impression that others get.

On my skin wet: Cake and green peony.

On my skin dry: The peony has taken over. The blend has morphed into a youthful uncomplicated peony blend. It's still a green and stemmy but a bit too perfumey for my taste.

[TheIceMaiden]

I recently discovered I loved BPAL's peony note after someone kindly sent me a sniffie of Lady in a Speckled Pink Kimono. And I was hoping Little Flora would be similar to Katrina Van Tassle, one of my all-time favourites.

 

In the opening stage, Little Flora is a green-stemmed peony with a rich, almost cake-y cream background. The cream fades quickly on me and I'm left with just peony. The peony is a bit more perfume-y than the one in Pink Kimono, but still quite lovely. So far I like this scent so I'll keep my decant, but I don't think I love it enough to upgrade to a bottle.

[zeldaZ4]

ITI: A summer garden in sunshine. The peonies are warm and dripping nectar while bees buzz about.

 

On Skin: Wet, very strong peony with no cream yet.

 

Dry, I start to detect something foody, as if someone has laid a plate of biscuits on the table in the peony garden. That foodieness fades quickly, and the peony seems to amp, and amp, and never stop amping! Yuck! Straight up, really strong floral. Had to scrub it off!

[zankoku_zen]

Peony SN.

 

Super strong, kinda creamy, ALL PEONY. All the time.

 

This is your face, pelted by peonies.

 

Any questions?

Edited January 15, 2013 by zankoku_zen

[OctoberGwen]

Simple, creamy, soft, fresh peony, which is one of my favorite floral notes. I love this and am considering a bottle.

 

It's nice to take a break from my heavy, spicy resins/musks on occasion and this may be the perfect antidote.

 

Gorgeous!

[milo]

I'm trying to remember what my peonies smell like in my garden, I think they were a strong, perfumey floral from what I can remember. This one is indeed, strong floral flower. I can only think of this as a flowery, flowery flower amongst flowers. After a bit, a buttery creaminess, but still all about the flowery peony. This reminds me of a perfumed cream, maybe that my mom wears. J'adore? I'm probably wrong, but it reminds me of something my mom would like.

[neuilly]

I admit that I got this knowing that I have no idea what Peony smells like. And to be honest, I'm still not sure. I get a lot of greenery at the beginning, and then a lot of powder at the end. It's coming off slightly like a chemical on my skin? It's a bit odd - wish I could smell it on someone else!