Lovers and a Fan

[theseagrows]

White coconut, thick wildflower honey, and threads of saffron.

this starts off with something a bit rubbery and sweet smelling, then out comes the coconut and honey. the saffron is sweet bordering on fruity. it smells like a pina colada to me. the honey seems to be just hanging in the background adding richness. this scent is very, very sweet on me, but i tend to amp sweet/fruity notes, so maybe that's why. it takes awhile but after about maybe 45 minutes the sweetness is tempered some and it's getting a little more honeyish, which improves the scent on my skin. it smells very tropical, honestly. not really what i was expecting, but my skin chemistry does strange things sometimes.

[miss_rynn]

This is very coconut-husk to me, a kind of dusty woodiness. I think it's the saffron that is drying it out a little. The honey keeps it a little sweet without being POW HONEY. This actually reminds me a lot of Velvet for some reason. I suspect that the coconut is making me think of myrrh. It seems to sweeten up a bit more on the skin, but it isn't a foodie or girlie scent. Understated, and elegant without being fussy.

[mineralgirl]

This is very light on me... I can hardly smell it. It just disappears. It sort of a sweet honey on me but it's so light that I just can't even smell it.

[hexnut]

In Vitro Coconut, sweet but not cloying.

 

Wet A nearly colorless oil. The throw was coconut, but up close I got honey and spice for the first few minutes. The skin scent then morphed into a mildly sweet woody note, but the throw remained coconut dominant for a bit longer.

 

Drying Twelve minutes after application the coconut was gone. There was still a bit of throw but it was a faint and sweeter version of the scent on my skin, which remained woody. It was reminiscent of the GC oil Intrigue ("Black palm, with cocoa, fig, and shadowy wooded notes") despite the dissimilar notes.

 

I would have liked the coconut to stick around longer but it's one of those "volatile" BPAL notes on me. As a skin scent Lovers and a Fan is quite nice, if perplexing, and although I don't need another bottle I'll happily use this one.

[LiberAmoris]

Mmmm, coconut. The note here is absolutely the white flesh of a mature coconut...so realistic that I can almost taste it. It's by far the most prominent note on me, with the honey and saffron rounding things out and adding very subtle sweetness and faint floral notes. It smells a bit like a very nice tropical vacation, not in a suntan product kind of way but in a drinking fancy cocktails/swanning around in caftans kind of way. It's rather transporting to wear this on a cold day.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Straight from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: Love coconut. Wildflowers are a yes although honey is a maybe. Saffron is a bit of a wild card.

 

In the Bottle: Extremely mild coconut. I'm having to really sniff with the bottle right at my nose to get it.

 

Wet: Still very light, with me having to hold my nose right at my wrist. I think I'm getting honey more than anyhing else at the moment, but something is keeping it from being too cloying.

 

Drydown: The coconut does come out to play, giving this a slightly stronger throw. Compared to the sweet creamy coconut of Ivory Vulva, this is definitely a more natural coconut. It's still on the sweet side, but not candy-like.

 

Verdict: Uncertain. I think, maybe, that if I had to choose between the coconuts I'd go with Ivory Vulva myself. But if you prefer your coconut less cavity-inducing, try this one.

[petrichorandleather]

In the bottle: Just coconut, I don't detect anything else.

 

wet, on skin: Wow, the coconut really bloomed immediately, with saffron waltzing along with it. So well blended.

 

dry, on skin: Coconut is sweeter (honey-laced) while the saffron gives it this really rich and interesting edge.

 

later: Coconut is dryer, think powdered coconut or coconut flakes, baked coconut, the saffron in this is so well behaved an amazing.

 

I could wear this for the rest of my life, HUGE win and awesome blind buy for me.

[Astarial]

In the bottle for this one I get no coconut at all - it's primarily saffron with just a touch of honey. It sweetens once applied, but remains very light and not at all cloying. The coconut peeks out into the drydown, and I definitely get some of the references to a pina colada - it's got a very fruity, tropical drink kind of feel to it. Very briefly it borders on suntan lotion, but then goes back to pina colada.

 

Once dry, it's a very soft, gentle blend. I'm not picking out any of the notes in particular - they combine really well.

[biocarolyn]

This is a beautiful skin scent. I'm not getting the super dominant coconut that everyone else is smelling, and the honey in the is more of a mood than sweet or toothache territory. This just smells like... skin, baked in the sun, lounging around. It's relaxed, and while I can smell all three notes since I know what's there, it's blended and even and warm.

[Alaeidrel]

In the bottle, I basically can't smell this.

 

Drying down, it's wildflower honey without doing the insane AMP HONEY FOREVER my skin loves and saffron. There's maybe a little coconut rounding it out, but I don't smell it yet. (I also only test a tiny bit of each scent, so my wrist is literally pressed to my nose to sniff this).

 

Dry it's a very sophisticated, slightly foody honey. I'm quite a fan. (Boo, hiss).

[cherrycherry]

A cooler coconut to that of Ivory Vulva, with warm saffron and sticky honey. This is going to age like a dream. One to put away for a few months, methinks. Beautiful though and one I am very glad to have bought unsniffed.

[DJ Sin]

When first applied to the skin it was coconut. Its a soft coconut not black more fruity and mild. As it dries the honey and saffon come out. I amp honey, so it is the dominant note on my skin. This reminds me of a softer So Below without the patch and musk. Edited to add that the drydown on me is spicy honey coconut. I need a bottle!

 

 

********I bought of bottle of this and from the bottle it smelled like sake and patchouli.

 

mmmmmm did my nose go weird? Or it is because I just pulled it out of the mailbox? Or did I get something else? Or the blend is different than my decent???

Edited March 21, 2015 by DJ Sin

[zankoku_zen]

Coconut has decided to douse itself in honey. And then sprinkle some saffron on it to prevent it from smelling too sweet or like suntan lotion. I'm surprised at how well behaved the coconut is in this blend. That being said, it's still coconut. Good throw, and good wearlength because that's how my skin chemistry likes to roll.

 

Toothsome, sweet, coconut.

[Lady_Fire]

Sweet coconut overload. Coconut is not my favorite, but sometimes it does amazing things *ahemcaptainlilith* but usually it just isnt something I'd reach for. This is, as stated above, a honey doused coconut, reminding me of drinking tropical drinks on a warm beach. I am not familiar with saffron, but there is a slight spiciness to this that I don't recognize so I imagine that's it. If you like tropical, sweet scents I think this would be a hit for you.

[lohengrin]

In the bottle: I have no idea what to make of this. I smell none of the listed notes, at all. It's sharp and perfumey.

 

On skin, wet: No change from the bottle scent.

 

On skin, dry: It's settled down a little, but not much. Still very sharp, and smells nothing like any of the listed notes.

 

After an hour: Alas, this one never does smell at all of coconut or honey. And saffron worked very well on me in Love's Philosophy, so I'm reluctant to say what I'm smelling here is saffron, either. I have no idea what happened with this scent, but I am not pleased. I'll let it age another couple months just in case that mellows whatever went wrong, but dang.

[karykeion]

Let's play Will This Honey Turn To Powder On MJ.

 

In the decant: ...I actually don't know that I'm a fan, pun totally 100% intended. I can see how there's coconut and saffron in here, but it just kind of smells like plastic to me.

 

On me, wet: It kind of smells like nail polish. Oh dear. Like, I can see that there is coconut in here, but...nail polish. Then again, that's how I felt about Body Remember, which I guess means that they share the same coconut note and that coconut note does not like me at all. It's not turning to powder, though, so...there's that.

 

On me, dry: Okay, well, it stopped smelling so horrible, but I think I'm just destined not to be friends with this one coconut note. The honey doesn't turn to powder, though, which is nice.

 

I'm going to give this another test because I think my skin is being weird today, but as it stands, I don't think so.

[agirlnamedfury]

This is one of the Lupers I was most excited to try this year, because all of the notes sounded amazing to me. So it was the first one I grabbed to test when I got my giant decant circle package.

 

This is so light that I almost couldn't smell anything in the imp, just a bright, clean freshness.

 

Wet on the skin the coconut really comes out. This really screams "spring!" to me. Something about the sweet lightness of it reminds me of Eden... a coconutty Eden. The reviewer who compared it to a pina colada is right on.

 

Unfortunately this is going all plastic on me as it dries...

 

I think this will have to be re-tested, as I'm not sold on it yet.

[Leopard403]

I think this is my favorite 2015 Luper. Lovers and a Fan is what I WANTED all of the vulva scents to be: Warm and close to the skin without any overt notes. Knowing what this includes, my brain can identify the coconut, but it is really warm and subtle and it plays beautifully with the other notes. I often amp honey, but not here; the honey is not overtly sweet, just thick and grounding. And that little thread of saffron? Oh, man. The notes blend together so seamlessly! I had a few friends take a whiff, and nobody screamed "coconut!" or "honey!" The consensus was that this just "smells soooo good."

 

 

eta: I figured it out. If you removed the super buttery note from Obatala and mixed it with Love's Philosophy, you'd get Lovers and a Fan.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Leopard403

[Larinessa]

Dusty dry coconut. Meh. No honey or saffron on me. Pass.

[izile]

In the decant: weird, musky, not very attractive, something "off"

 

wet: honey, and something weird in the background, no coconut

 

dry: I'm getting coconut now, but it's just an overall odd scent. Don't think this is for me.

[Lorelai1945]

This is a very interesting scent on me. I definitely get a floral honey. It's pretty sweet. I don't think I detect any coconut, but I'm starting to understand exactly what saffron smells like. Love's Philosophy is one of my all-time favorite scents, and while this is very different, I think I can smell the same saffron note in this that I do in LP. The only thing putting me on the fence with this one is that the florals read a bit..."old lady" to me. (I know some people hate that terminology, but I don't know how else to say it.) It is very feminine and light and pretty. I'll keep testing.

[Scylla]

I bought a bunch of decants of the Shunga scents, so when I got around to trying the imp of Lovers and a Fan I could not remember what the notes were.

 

This scent is very interesting on me, although I did not immediately detect coconut, saffron OR honey! I'm not sure exactly WHAT it smells like, but combined with my chemistry it's intoxicating and I can't stop smelling my wrist! I'm definitely going to need a bottle.

[HappyLoveJoy]

Lovers and a Fan perplexes me. Do I like it? Love it? Not like it? I think it's been all three! I mean, how can just a few notes be so complex? The first time I tried it I loved it because it had a sort of deep and sweet clean musky vibe to it even though I really couldn't pick out any notes and it was reeeeally potent. Second time there was something off, like hot plastic, so I thought it may end up getting swapped but I also know that time can make a scent bloom in the bottle. The third time I decided to put on a lot of it---on my neck, down my shirt, on wrists and the crook of my elbow.

 

Crook of the elbow is a bad place for it. It's closed up and sweaty and the chemistry on me makes it just not pretty, like rotting fruit. I sniffed the saffron I have for comparison and think maybe that's the note. It's dry, dusty and a little metallic. It's the Trader Joe's version and the only saffron I've ever sniffed.

 

On the wrist after a few hours is my very favorite and makes it worth holding onto. It gives me confidence that when I wear it on my neck, other people smell something good wafting off of me. It's like creamy-smooth white honey, dry slightly sweet coconut with that little nutty brown skin attached and some type of delicate white floral. I get nothing sharp at all, no stinky overpowering flowers or rancid honey. I want to give credit to saffron but don't know exactly what aspect to give to it. Maybe it's the dryness of it. Keeps it from being too candy-sweet. So unless this is outright awful on you, I recommend waiting before you part with it. I think it does best when it can diffuse off the skin right into the air. No fabric to cover it, no inner elbow to stifle it. Such a beautiful finish.

[MCS4096]

This is so strongly saffron.. it's basically the only thing I can smell. As such it's very much like Celeste, which is also primarily saffron. As time wears on the honey is noticeable here as a clear sweetness, whereas Celeste has a musky vanilla vibe, but they are still very similar though I think I prefer Celeste. It's odd that I dont really detect any coconut, when so many others seemed to..

[CiaoBonefish]

Wet: This is predominantly coconut and saffron. The combination is almost chocolate like which is interesting. It is very smooth and creamy, and if this scent had a color it would be white.

Process of Drying: This seems to get more nondescript as it dries on me. The chocolate note is gone now and it is more sweet and papery in a way. It's like the scent has dried up a little and isn't creamy. I can also smell the coconut more now and less of the saffron.

Drydown: STOP RUINING ALL THE PRETTY LUPER SCENTS FOR ME COCONUT! I'm amping the coconut like crazy and all I'm left with is dry sugar coconut, very nondescript.

Overall: It was revenge of the coconut on my wrist today. First with Ivory Vulva and now with this one! Alas, the coconut in them just amps on me and because of such they are just not for me. I've noticed other reviews being similar to mine about the dusty coconut, but since the scent started out with this interesting chocolate and milk and saffron kinda vibe I'm chalking up the fail to my skin chemistry.