The Sun's Treasure

[suki]

“Have you remembered how I do my little coin trick?” he asked Shadow with a grin.

“I have not.”

“If you can guess how I did it,” said Mad Sweeney, his lips purple, his blue eyes beclouded, “I’ll tell you if you get warm.”

“It’s not a palm is it?” asked Shadow.

“It is not.”

“Is it a gadget of some kind? Something up your sleeve or elsewhere that shoots the coins up for you to catch?”

“It is not that neither. More whiskey, anybody?”

“I read in a book about a way of doing the miser’s dream with latex covering the palm of your hand, making a skin-colored pouch for the coins to hide behind.”
“This is a sad wake for Great Sweeney who flew like a bird across all of Ireland and ate watercress in his madness: to be dead and unmourned save for a bird, a dog, and an idiot. No, it is not a pouch.”

“Well, that’s pretty much it for ideas,” said Shadow. “I expect you just take them out of nowhere.” It was meant to be sarcasm, but then he saw the expression on Sweeney’s face. “You do,” he said. “You do take them from nowhere.”

“Well, not exactly nowhere,” said Mad Sweeney. “But now you’re getting the idea. You take them from the hoard.”

“The hoard,” said Shadow, starting to remember.

“Yes.”

“You just have to hold it in your mind, and it’s yours to take from. The sun’s treasure. It’s there in those moments when the world makes a rainbow. It’s there in the moment of eclipse and the moment of the storm.” And he showed Shadow how to do the thing. This time Shadow got it.

Radiant amber and orange blossom, golden oudh, and saffron-threaded honey.

In The Bottle: Sweet, spicy saffron and warm, thick honey. Soooooo beautiful.

Wet On Skin: The amber is definitely in the mix, but the saffron is really dominating. I get no orange blossom at this stage.

Dry Down: Dead. Sexy. This is a sultry, spicy, close-to-the-skin kind of scent. I will wear this on all the hot summer nights that lie ahead for ever and ever.

<3

[Casablanca]

A lovely dry, golden saffron dominates this scent throughout its life on my skin.

 

Secondarily, there's a blend of ambery honeyed wood, with a little orange blossom showing up now and then. I'd been concerned that the neroli would take over and smell like orange lollipops, as it often likes to do on me, but I don't always smell it, and when I do, it's mild. Overall, the blend smells dry and golden, like August.

 

This is the mood of scent I'd hoped for from the aged Sportive Sun I got from the Lab's Etsy, but that had been kind of flat. A friend said hers had also aged past its prime. The Sun's Treasure strikes gold.

[galahad]

In the Bottle:

Golden but with a cool edge.

On the Skin:

Tamed orange blossom. The oudh emerges as a soft resin with a perfumey edge, sweetened by amber. A really interesting pale but warm blend

On the Drydown:

The slightly medicinal saffron adds an interesting element to this. The play of the resins against the orange blossom is pleasant. Not a strong, overpowering blend but it has a soft longevity on the skin.

[hammy]

In the bottle - Funky citrus.

 

Wet - Oh crap. This is one of those blends. It's going into a weird "charred plastic" territory.

 

Drydown - Worse. Washed it off. Not sure if it was the oudh or the saffron that offended, but I wasn't sticking around to find out.

 

Verdict - This absolutely did not work for me, which is a shame because the description, notes, and reviews all sounded gorgeous.

[_surya]

Golden & Warm. I get the honey and the saffron in addition to the oudh. This reminds me a lot of Philostratus Phoenix.

[Minh Scent]

This might be my win from the series. Wet, this almost a metallic scent, with some orange blossom barely there. As it dries, it is a beautiful bright amber on my skin. The honey is tempered by a very light, non-skanky oude and gorgeous saffron. The final drydown is an almost powdery amber saffron. Low projection, but lasts long. Given the note list, I suspect some deepening with age,

[Nikki Scarlet]

Since I got a moon-themed scent via Zorya Polunochnaya, I figured I'd pair it with a sun-themed scent, and this one sounded nice. I usually love anything with orange or orange blossom in it, and am generally pleased by amber and honey scents when I can smell them (sometimes my nose seems to have some trouble picking up these notes).

In the bottle:
A bit citrusy, but with something . . . earthier? There's also something my nose is picking up as just sort of a static, like I get in the bottle with Lab Rat. Difficult to figure this one out, as it's also not a strong scent.

On me, wet:
Essentially the same as above, but stronger. Well blended!

On me, dry:
Once it's settled into my skin it warms up, and it becomes a little easier to discern distinct notes. Within the first couple of minutes I occasionally catch whiffs of something almost animalistic, like fur and hide, underneath the sweet sparkle of the combined orange blossom and amber, and the smoother sweetness of the honey. But as time wears on this settles down and the earthy/savoury scent is more clearly the saffron. I don't know much about oudh so I don't know how it's playing into the scent.

Dry, later:
The saffron becomes the dominant note in the end. The orange blossom, amber, and honey are still present in roughly that order of strength, but all three combined are just a faint whisper behind the saffron. Kind of disappointed, actually: I was hoping the saffron would just be an accent note to help ground the sweeter scents, rather than being the savoury main course. I pretty much just smell like some kind of soup.

Verdict:
This isn't a scent I'd wear, but I don't dislike it. I could see using it to set a mood while writing or doing a ritual. It's definitely a unique sort of blend compared to my other bottles. It does have a "sun" theme to it, but it's not quite what I thought it'd be. I think I was hoping for something more like an orangey O or a heavier/more androgynous Hell's Belle. It might still be that for someone else, but I guess my skin wants to highlight the saffron, which . . . mehhh.

Do not dislike, do not love. Still glad I tried it, but may end up swapping. Might try it as a room oil first, though.

[zankoku_zen]

Amber, saffron, honey with a tinge of orange blossom. This is a thick, middle eastern type of honey. In fact, this is the type of honey that Bast would enjoy. Warm, exotic, spicy. Good throw and wear length.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Ugh. I knew there was a chance the orange blossom or oudh would ruin this for me, and wet orange blossom certainly is. Bitter. Smells like wet cardboard and powdered orange bathroom cleaner. and sadness. I love all the other notes, so hopefully it dries OK!

 

 

Dry: Actually, really awesome. I thoroughly enjoy this dry. It's mostly a really dry honey note (which I have never experiences before, and I like it) with saffron and hints of orange (also very dry). The whole scent feels dry and exotic and I really like it! Will see if age makes the wet stage more tolerable.

[torikitty]

Amber and green orange blossom. It's got that bright, outdoorsy feel. I guess the saffron is giving it more of a green edge, or perhaps plastic? It's not exactly what I'd expect from saffron. The honey is hanging out in the back, it hasn't overpowered yet. This is pretty, but this isn't a "me" scent. This does settle down into a more orange blossom and honey. Low throw.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Carrie

[milo]

I love amber, and I'm into resins right now, so this is a must try. Hard to describe this one. It's not sweet, per se, but I can detect the honey in the background along with what I'm guessing is the saffron. It is warm and unisex. I don't mind this, but I think it would do better for me as a room scent.

[lexyOZ]

I wish I'd got more than a sample of this, it ticks all my boxes. Heady, gorgeous orange blossom that smells just like my flowering mock orange at the moment; a hint of a deep, but non-dirty oudh; and a peek of a gentle, resinous amber that's ever so slightly powdery, and that almost earthy touch of bitter fragrance from the saffron. It really is a radiant, golden scent that feels sophisticated and mature. I'm in love.

[Blood onmy hands]

A very creamy, fruity orange blossom with golden, sweet honey. The drydown gets some powderiness from the amber, but I can't pick out oudh, and this is a pretty straightforward fragrance. Orange fruit, creamy and airy blossoms, sweet honey, and a powdery finish. A very soft orange blossom that lasts about an hour and then fades quickly on me.

[wickedcookie]

This is totally off of memory and not actually comparing notes. When it is wet this has a touch of whatever is earthy / weird / off about Detritus Humain, I think.

 

But, as it dries, everything sweet and spicy rises to the top. About ten minutes later a little hint of metal balances out the sweet.

 

Definitely wearable.