Like the Flashing of Light

[suki]

His flight was like the flashing of light, his plumage was beauteous, and his song ravishing: fire-yellow amber, neroli, frangipani, king mandarin, white honey, and saffron vanilla.

In The Bottle: King Mandarin, reporting for duty! This has LOADS of King Mandarin and I LIKE IT.

Wet On Skin: The honey is coming through now, lending a balance of top sweet and middle sweet. The amber is bringing up the rear, but not intensely.

Dry Down: THERE'S the saffron vanilla! I was wondering when she'd show up to the party! Her inclusion has mellowed the edges of the king and now it's become like an adult version of a Creamsicle, the scratch of the frangipani making this scent mature, not in teeny-bopper territory.

In All: this sweet scent is light and fun and joyous, perfect for daily day time use, but if layered with, say, "O" or another honey-heavy scent, I think the whole vibe would change and the scent would become waaaay more nighttime ready

[Jenjin]

HAPPINESS IN A BOTTLE
Light, fresh, and airy, the citrus notes are smoothed over by the saffron vanilla and warm amber. Something about it reminds me of Edith with an extra squeeze of orange. After it settles, it becomes a one-note citrus on me. I'm wishing for a bit more vanilla and depth but this would be lovely for layering.

 

UPDATE: I only have a decant of this, and after a month, I NEED A BOTTLE, MAYBE 2. It undeniably wearable, and on days that I'm not wearing it, I can't get it out of my mind. GORGEOUS!

Edited September 17, 2017 by Jenjin

[zankoku_zen]

Honestly, this reminds me to Love's Philosophy + a squeeze of orange. Saffron vanilla, with swirls of mandarin and a touch of amber. Good throw and wear length.

 

I think I need a bottle.

[sth0]

This is one of the most golden, gorgeous, uplifting scents I have ever worn. This is instantly a top 10. I feel utterly enraptured by it. It doesnt change much from wet to dry on me at all. It is magical. If you love warm, orangey, bright scents or you need something to lift you up, get this. I am already buying a backup.

[sunlitgarden]

I am still a teeny bit congested from a cold, but I think I can smell well enough to resume testing...I need to finish trying these decants before the Anniversaries come down!

 

In the decant: This makes me think of a bright yellowish-orange. "Creamsicle" is the first thought I had--sweet orange and vanilla.

On my skin: The orange is making me salivate. O_o It's still mostly a sweet orange to me but the other notes are keeping it from being too obviously foody or gourmand. This is really, really nice. I love King Mandarin (the SN is the bottle I've come closest to finishing without spilling any out of all my bottles) and it is wonderful here. I was worried that the saffron might make it smell medicinal because I had that problem with Love's Philosophy, but thankfully it doesn't do that here.

[Blood onmy hands]

This smells like the King Mandarin single note met up with Love's Philosophy and rolled around in baby powdery amber. Dry and powdery on me rather than being creamy, so it doesn't have a gourmand/creamsicle impression on my skin. I don't really love the chalky/dry vanilla in Love's Philosophy, and the amber makes it more powdery and dry. It's warm, glowing, powdery orange. I was hoping for more honey and more of a creamy, sweet vanilla.

[VetchVesper]

Starts out as sweet orange candy with a touch of floral. Its got a softness to it rather than a bright, zesty citrus. The saffron starts to warm up on my skin and adds a little musky warmth. I almost get a slight leather note? Very subtle. It's become less edible as it dries down. It's more of a soft, warm skin scent now. Pretty, but it doesn't seem like it lasts long or has much punch on me. Glad I got to try it though.

[gloame]

Is BPAL Delivery Day not the most amazing day ever?

 

This is so super mandarin. It smells like bright yellow. It's soft and smooth, not sharp citrus. I'm not getting much amber or, alas, saffron (the note I'm always looking for!) but it is very pretty and happy.

[lizabelle]

Wow, this is definitely a yellow scent! I'd almost venture to call it a yellow floral, but those almost always have ylang ylang in them. For once the amber is not doing bad things on my skin, and neither is the neroli. It's a little powdery but not soapy or overpowering. The mandarin in this is lbright and pretty, and I can also smell the saffron throughout. It's very smooth and well-blended. Even though I like it, for whatever reason I keep thinking it's not really for me when I smell it--this is one I'd prefer to smell it on someone else. Still, a lovely blend.

[Casablanca]

Freshly applied, King mandarin is king of this golden-orange blend. I smell the neroli, but other elements keep it from getting too orange lollipop on me — I think the mandarin lays over it strongly enough to temper it. The result is a sweet orange-mandarin on a sweet honeyed floral background. I catch a hint of amber at the start of drydown. Overall this blend is quite bright, and I don’t get any vanilla or saffron sense while it’s wet.

 

As drydown progresses, a little creaminess sneaks in, subtly. We’re getting some creamsicle creep now. Hi, vanilla!

 

Once dried, Flashing of Light is more vanilla-forward. The saffron seems much lighter to me than it was in Love’s Philosophy, but the initial flash of yellow-orange has also mellowed a lot. On me this becomes an orange-tinted creamy vanilla skin scent.

[Aviatrix]

This is mainly sweet mandarin with a hint of spice on me, with something that almost reminds me of ginger, although the note isn't listed. Luckily the honey stays put in this blend and doesn't amp on me!

It feels festive and happy, and I can imagine a lot of people would like this

[theredkilt]

Sniffing inside the bottle, the neroli hit me so hard, i needed to take a step back and regroup.I hope it's not a neroli-centric scent.

 

Testing on skin, the neroli note goes away and i'm left with beautiful wafting cloud of sweetened mandarin. Very ethereal and cozy.

 

After 10 minutes the neroli reappears (WHY???), but it's a sweetened amber neroli with hints of saffron.

 

This reminds me of A Wonderful Light from the 2011 Yule release.

Edited February 20, 2017 by theredkilt

[lady_pandora]

This starts out with a citrus that has a green and bitter tang to it, and reminds me a lot of the opening stages of 51. I cross-checked 51's note list in an attempt to narrow down whether the mandarin was doing this or the neroli, but 51 shares both notes! So I'm no closer to figuring it out, but at least I know why they smell similar!

 

The bitterness recedes somewhat over the wear-time, and the sweet notes bring up the rear in a quiet, subtle blend to balance it out. I can't pick apart the amber from the honey from the vanilla, as they are low-key and in perfect harmony. A certain tang remains, and surprises me with tart little wafts from time to time--this is not the super-round orange of something like Haunted Palace! (Which I also love--they're just totally different!)

 

This is a really great summer scent, and it does throw "flashes" at me throughout the day! I'm starting to figure out that I really like BPALs that surprise me periodically throughout the day--"Hey, what's that really interesting smell?...Oh, it's me!"

[Lucchesa]

Lovely! It almost had to be, with these notes (I am getting better at this...) Only the saffron had the potential to ruin things, and it has reminded a subdued earthy note grounding the high-flying citruses. The sweet mandarin plays beautifully off the bitter neroli, and the honey and vanilla remain in the background.

 

Citrus blends (and things with evanescent names like Cheshire Cat or Phantasm) have often disappeared quickly on my skin. Like the Flashing of Light seems to have excellent staying power and even a little throw. I can imagine wearing this year round -- it's bright and warm and would cheer up a winter day beautifully.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Warm, citrusy amber. Bright and fairly sweet. Lovely so far. I adore amber, honey, saffron and vanilla. I like orange, but it doesn't always like me. Neroli is typically horrid on me, so this was a risk. So far it's beautiful though. The orange is soft, somewhat muted. Not too tart or sharp. This is one of the most beautiful orange perfumes I have ever smelled.

 

 

Dry: Very soft and light. Really pretty. I don't really know what frangipani smells like, but there's a pretty floral note here with the amber that I am loving. There's just a faint hint of citrus left. This is lovely. I think it will be even better with some aging.

[Myrrha]

As the reviewer said above, "happiness in a bottle". It dries down to something a little bit vanilla/honey/amber with a golden "light" lifting it from the orange and neroli. On me there is a touch of bitterness, probably from the safron, that really makes this stupendous.