Impressions of the Floating World

[Lucchesa]

Vanilla silk, patchouli leaf, sweet benzoin, and smoked honey.

 

Smoked honey? Sign me up! Impressions of the Floating World does not disappoint. I was afraid the silk note would be like the linen note, which veers into dryer sheet territory on my skin, but there's nothing aggressively clean about this scent. The smoke isn't prominent but it and the patch lend an earthy quality to the honey and vanilla and keep them from being overly sweet. The word that comes up for me is "husky." If Impressions of the Floating World could talk, it would sound like Kathleen Turner.

 

ETA retested a different decant a few months later and it had terrific throw and wear length on me.

Edited June 19, 2018 by Lucchesa

[LunaGoth]

Mmm, this is delicious. I definitely get the "silk" nature of the vanilla and the other notes round things out beautifully. My new favorite vanilla, it's a winner!

[sarandipitee]

This has aged very nicely but now the patch has become more prominent - feels closer to Banshee Beat than when I first tried this a year ago. The benzoin is lovely and the silk adds a nice layer.

 

It’s really lovely and I’m glad I held onto my bottle.

[Juliamon]

Received a tester of this and had been putting off trying it in favor of other scents that were more easily obtainable, but I was looking for something to pair with the Dead Leaves and Burnt Marshmallow hair gloss I was using and this jumped out at me by virtue of being sugary and smoky.

 

The patchouli leaf dominates in the vial, but is sweetened by the vanilla. Once on skin the benzoin and honey show up, almost overpowering everything else. I think I smell the silk note, something weirdly and uncomfortably reminiscent of the laundry area of a hotel, that waft of humid air smelling of fresh industrially-cleaned linens.

Once my skin has had its way with the patch this becomes an almost nauseatingly-sweet honey and benzoin party. Even the vanilla, which I usually amp, couldn't stand up to it. But the laundry smell is gone too, so I guess it could be worse?

 

I'm relieved I don't have to hunt down more of this, but still disappointed it didn't work out.

[galahad]

In the Bottle:

Perfumey and smoky vanilla with a dusky edge

On the Skin:

That silk note is so interesting and hard to describe. Definitely get the light smoked honey and the patchouli seems to be white patchouli.

On the Drydown:

This is strangely perfumey but in a good way. Elegant but with enough grit from the smoke and patchouli to be interesting. The benzoin adds a subtle vanilla resinousness. Direct sniff on the skin and I'm not sure about it but the scent from the throw is gorgeous. Definitely a keeper.