Muse of Fire

[suki]

Muse of Fire

 

O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash’d in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire
Crouch for employment. But pardon, and gentles all,
The flat unraised spirits that have dared
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth
So great an object: can this cockpit hold
The vasty fields of France? or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest in little place a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confined two mighty monarchies,
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder:
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts;
Into a thousand parts divide on man,
And make imaginary puissance;
Think when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i’ the receiving earth;
For ’tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Carry them here and there; jumping o’er times,
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who prologue-like your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.

 

Lilith performed this prologue with her Shakespeare camp this summer. It gave me chills every time I heard her practice her lines, and forevermore she will be my Muse of Fire.

 

The image accompanying this scent is from the morning of her performance. Lilith, you inspire me every day. Your love of Shakespeare has reinvigorated my own, and it means the world to me that we have this to share with one another.

 

My little Muse of Fire: an explosion of rainbow-hued flower petals dusted in sugar.

In The Bottle: woah. That was something else. It was effervescent and colorful and sweet and sharp all at once. The "exploding" is accurate! (Pssst this is one of those "how does Beth DO that?!" moments for sure!)
Wet On Skin: I honestly can't pull out a single type of flower. And it's not "floral" in the traditional sense (scents!). It honestly reminds of Hawaian Punch!

 

Dry Down: This is making me think of :something: from childhood and I can't place what. It's like fizzy candy and magnolia trees in spring time and lemon lime soda and pixie stix all rolled into one.

 

In All: Nostalgia, bottled.

 

Beth, sometimes you break my heart. ❤️

[Aviatrix]

This is exactly what the description says! A veritable explosion of colours and impressions of flowers, all coated in a not-too-sticky sugar. It is fresh and sprightly, a little sharp, but not too much so, and very festive.

 

I'm glad I got a bottle; this is exactly the kind of sugared flowers I love!

[dementia_divine]

In the bottle: An explosion of flower petals, indeed! Something in this reminds me of Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending and Ava. I think it may contain tuberose. When it first arrived, I thought it may contain freesia as well, but I don't have any Butterflies, Jewels, and Flowers Attending or 51 around to compare these and know for sure.

 

Wet: It's hard to pinpoint which florals this contains. I think I am getting some orange blossom, and possibly some honeysuckle. The floral notes in this one are bright, and I am reminded more of Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending than anything else.

 

Dry: This is like Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending without the vanilla musk. But the floral notes in this are brighter, and I can definitely see the comparison to fizzy candy. I am even less certain about which floral notes are in this now. The sugared aspect is stronger during this stage of the scent, but it really is just a dusting of sugar.

 

Verdict: Sugary florals are my jam, so I will be keeping this, though it is more perfume-y and not as sweet as I was hoping it would be.

[loubric]

In the bottle it is very sharp and all florals and vanilla explosions ... the smell really does explode! It's very sweet but has a very potent and sharp green to it.

On my skins it's very strong and smells like my mom, a mixture of Charlie Red Perfume and the Bath pearls she used to use! It's very pretty but doesn't sit on my skin well It is very beautiful, I think if I can't swap it I'll send it to my mom

[astarinel]

Sugary florals! I'm not sure of the floral notes, I would guess freesia or something else a little sharp, and maybe orange blossom? There's an orange blossom note I'm less fond of, the one in Hunger, and I'm getting reminded of that here. A little too floral and not enough sugar for my taste.

[fundercat55]

I really like this one.

Wet: Juicy fruit punch and flowers.

Dry down: I'm getting fresh jasmine and sugar. My skin tends to amp jasmine to a sickening degree, but this is staying sweet and soft. As the dry down continues, it reminds me of these little white rose and violet flavored pastilles my mom used to get when I was a kid, but with jasmine. Sweet, soft white flowers and a breath of confectioners sugar.

A fun, sweet, innocent floral.

[Sangria2]

Oh my, this one is So Gorgeous.

 

In the decant: It's like everyone is saying, an explosion of scent that brings to mind riotous color. It is floral, and also a touch fruity.

 

Wet: It is almost difficult to register the number of notes and smells that go flying by at first. But I also get jasmine, some very light rose, and...pomegranate? I can't decide where the fruity element is coming from, but the flowers here are best described as juicy. I'm also getting a sort of vanillic creaminess behind them all, but I would not say it is outright "vanilla." Sometimes I get that from blends with orchid.

 

Dry: The fruit has faded, and it is now sugar and flowers. The sugar is not brown or caramelized at all, it smells to me the way rock candy tastes.

 

This stuff is amazing. It reminds me of the best parts of Sugar Moon, only lighter. The throw is more than decent, I've had it on for two and a half hours now and I am still catching constant whiffs of it as I move around. I wish I would have blind bought a bottle, but thank goodness I still have time to rectify that.

[milo]

Lovely spiced, sugary flowers. This is like scented Stock, watered with cinnamon heart water. I quite like this, we'll see how the wear goes today.

[zankoku_zen]

Spiced, sugared flowers. One of them is definitely phlox, and one of them is definitely jasmine. mr. zee_zee does not like the smell of this one. This one reminds me to Hope and Faith from Carnival Diabolique with their sugared flowers smell.

 

Spicy, sugary, flowers.

[xeia]

I'm afraid I became arrogant after purchasing a couple of perfect bottles blind... The last two I have bought have not turned out well, including Muse of Fire

 

Wet, it is definitely a strong bouquet of florals. I can't distinguish any specific one, and I'm not getting any of the other (sugar, vanilla, creamy, spicy) notes others have mentioned. (I may not have the most developed nose, either.)

 

Eta: I initially thought this was violet-ey when dry, but I think I was getting a similar headachey thing from a weird jasmine chemistry reaction. Huh. Usually jasmine and I get along just fine. Disregard my strange nose and skin.

Edited November 7, 2015 by xeia

[LizziesLuck]

I didn't order a decant of this because I'm dumb and somehow forgot how much I love sugary florals. And then I saw the reviews, and the talk of "explosions" made me wonder if this had some of that effervescence that I love so much...

 

Thankfully a lovely forumite gave me a tester (Thank you Mystery213!) and I've been able to test it in time to add a bottle to my order before it's gone, because this is glorious.

 

It is slightly effervescent, not quite in the same was as the Lab's champagne note, but something similar to that. It is sugary as well, but not too sweet. I can't pick out the flowers. There is a slightly spicy floral in there...I don't think it's carnation, but maybe? I don't get violet or jasmine, two florals which I amp and don't care for. I don't get rose either, which I amp and do like. To me, it's a white floral. It's nothing I'm familiar with, so not lilac or honeysuckle either. Maybe freesia? Can't be sure though. Whatever it is, it's gorgeous, and I can see reaching for this a lot in the spring and summer. Beautiful.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Bottle ordered from the Lab through a decant-circle add-on

 

Initial Thoughts: An explosion of flowers dusted in sugar? Gimme nooooooow!

 

In the bottle: (Actually sniffing from the tissue I had to use to dry off the bottle - it chose to share in transit.) Explosion is right. It's bright and fizzy and effervescent with an interesting balance between sweetness and bubbly-sharp. The florals are kind of all smashed together - repeated sniffs suggest some jasmine and the potential for rose. I hope it's not the latter - after I started looking at reviews that mentioned rose or violet I started worrying, because those two really hate my skin. And I want to love this one both for the scent description and the story behind it.

 

Wet: Uh oh. That was a sharp left turn into something that smelled strongly of chemical lemon, of all things. Luckily that faded fast, although it's still quite lemon at the moment.

 

Drydown: Okay, it's starting to come together as more floral and more sugary. I think I'm smelling jasmine through that persistent impression of lemon. What floral might go lemony on a person? Magnolia?

 

Further Drydown: Okay, the sugar slowly builds and creates a candyish undertone. I also get a trace of the spiciness that others have mentioned. What I don't get, thank all the gods above, is any whiff of stinky collards (rose) or acrid stank (violet). If those are present, they are either in such small amounts or so well balanced against other notes that I'm not suffering my usual yuck of faulty skin chemistry.

 

Verdict: Definitely keeping this. It's cheerful and vibrant and something I will wear a lot.

[LiberAmoris]

Wow, Muse of Fire is like a firework of flowers and colors. I find it impossible to pick out any individual stem, but at times I think I catch: daisy, lilac, cotton blossom, clover, rose, and phlox. But I really have no idea, because it's an absolute tumult of petals, built up to the point where my brain is awed and then I can only think: flowers. In this sense, it seems wonderfully spring-y to me, like the month of May in a bottle. I wore it today at work and when I went to pick up my salad at lunch, the guy at Pret leaned in and said: YOU SMELL SO GOOD.

 

This is so lively and hopeful, I have to keep it for those days when I need a rainbow on my wrists.

[Leopard403]

I have mixed feelings on Muse of Fire. The drydown is absolutely gorgeous, a sugary-sweet blend of flowers that is neither too foody nor too floral. However, the first 10 minutes or so, as it settles in on the skin, are pretty rough: All I get is that high-pitched scent that comes when you first spray cheap commercial perfume and are waiting for the alcohol to burn itself off. That part is painful, a headache waiting to happen, and I don't know if the end results are worth it.

[sunlitgarden]

Preconceived notions: I enjoy a lot of the "sweet florals" so I definitely wanted to try this one, but I was a bit apprehensive that it didn't actually list notes more specific than "flowers" -- some florals are good on me, others bad.

In the decant it smells like a sweet mix of florals. There's nothing too cloying in here. I don't smell rose. It kind of reminds me of the Lunar New Year scents or, more generally, some of the "Asian inspired" floral blends. There's a watery peony-like note and something that's a bit tart.

On my skin: I can smell the sugar more clearly now. "Petals dusted in sugar" is indeed a good way of describing it. It's almost fruity.

Overall, this is a fun scent, but I have enough similar ones that I don't think I need to spring for a full bottle. I will keep my decant though

[Cali]

Yep, sugared florals, that's what I'm getting.

It's cute, fun. Not crazy fond/not completely blown away of/by this as I've literally just sniffed a few other sugared florals which I liked a bit better but hey, can't have everything. It is adorable though. ^^

[Blood onmy hands]

Muse of Fire starts off as a watery, fruity blossom, and dries down to a sharp, perfumey white floral tone with hints of powdery, sweet wildflower and something spicy. Too floral and not enough sweet for me.

[celestia]

♔ Muse of Fire

 

In the Bottle: Effervescent citric dust and sugared florals

 

Wet: Well it’s evident that by ‘explosion’ this scent meant sharp citric perfumey florals similar in the way of Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb (haha flowerbomb..explosion, geddit?).. This compared to other effervescent sugar dusted florals like Butterflies Flowers and Jewels Attending, Fairy Market, Juliet, Midnight on the Midway in that it has the same sparkly fizzy note without actually being spirited with bubbles. It’s similar to the champagne note used in the lab- but toned down a lot, with a lot of floral sugared sweetness veering it more towards Flowerbomb territory than beverage land. The only thing that differs slightly in comparison to BFJA which it shares great resemblance to, is that it has this distinct, sugary candied citrus note.

 

Muse of Fire takes on the reds, ambers and yellows instead of the rainbow petals listed in the description. Amanatsu, lemon, clementine, grapefruit, kumquat, yuzu, tangerines, blood orange? Certainly not all but perhaps some of these must have been chosen for such an intricate medley of citrus and if not (as I actually suspect) then florals which most closely mimic the scent these give off. I mean it’s a wonderful rainbow of colour- just from one limited spectrum towards the far left. Could magnolia grandiflora be in this? Winter honeysuckle? Lemon verbena? Stephanotis? Orange Jessamine? Choisya? Orange Blossom? I feel like freesia must also have taken a role in this (also present in BFJA), perhaps even tuberose similar to that in Ava. I don’t smell any jasmine (not even jasmine sambac), red rose, lilac, or phlox as many have come to identify- but whatever petals, they have been dusted in this sharp citric-sweet effervescent dust.

 

Drydown: The fizziness calms down a great deal in the drydown phase, and it smells a little like sour citric candied florals, but the fragrance of these florals is much softer, more delicate – and a little more commercially sweet and fresh. More of the florals come out – I’m guessing orange blossom, freesia, tuberose, magnolia, and winter honeysuckle because they tone down a great deal when dry, unlike red rose, violet, lemon verbena, geranium or late summer jasmine- where they amp and can become strongly fragrant on skin leading to a distinct, dominating note… much of it is still crushed and blended all too seamlessly that it’s still difficult to discern the origin of each “rainbow” petal that must have gone into this blend. I like it, but I don't "multiple bottles" like it.

 

TL;DR: Effervescent sugary candied citric florals

[tinyvulture]

Wow. Amazing! A sweet floral bouquet...I truly can't pick out which florals are which...it's a girlly, pink, floral overload! Very much like a classic woman's perfume, reminds me of Butterflies, Flowers and Jewels attending, as dementia_divine noted also. I love it so much!!!