Fortuna Balnearis

[suki]

The Fortunes of Health and Well-Being

A hymn for good health and protection of the vulnerable: orange blossom honey, vanilla husk, green stem sap, and a drop of King mandarin.

In The Bottle: Neroli lightly dribbled over a sweet but delicate honey base. This is not the heavy honey -at least in the bottle- of "O". This is more like a honey *dust*. Fragrant but extremely delicate. I also get a tiny edge of the green sap, I recognize it from Strawberry Moon '09. It's a lovely addition here to bring balance to the sweet elements.

 

Wet On Skin: The mandarin is starting to come into play at this stage, as the oil wars on my skin. I'm glad- King Mandarin is a note I really adore and part the reason I wanted to get a bottle of this scent. The vanilla husk remains invisible right now, but the other notes are playing to preciously together, I can't say I miss it.

 

Dry Down: WHAT a lovely springtime scent! Neroli, sweet mandarin, light honey- there is no bad here. A good floral for those that shy away from florals, a good foodie for those that don't like heavy gourmand. This scent has low throw, a sweetly nostalgic feel and makes me ache for the return of spring.

 

Beautiful beautiful beautiful.

[JasminDreams2010]

This is mostly orange blossom sweetness on me, with a bit of the fresh blast from the sap. Not getting any of the honey note, I think it may just ground the orange blossom a bit because it doesn’t fade the way orange blossom/Neroli tends to. Feels a little beachy, actually, like a fresh breeze. None of the soap smell Neroli sometimes has.

 

Good stuff! If you liked alma Venus from a few years back you may enjoy this as well.

[Soupy Twist]

neroli and green stem in the bottle. Goes on as a musky, hoarse stem note, which sours into a fake soapy neroli. Significant throw.

 

I am going to be very unhappy if the Fortuna line teaches me that my skin hates the Lab's orange blossom note.

Edited February 6, 2018 by Soupy Twist

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: *sigh* orange bathroom cleaner or doom. Why do I insist on trying? (because honey and vanilla husk and sap, that's why.....)

 

 

Dry: This actually recovers quite a bit on my skin, and settles into a somewhat juicy, tart orange scent with lots of green sap. There's some bitterness from, I think, the orange blossom aspect, and I am not a huge fan of that. It's OK, and I bet lovely if you enjoy both orange and orange blossom. Not I. Glad I tried it though!

[Lucchesa]

I could echo VioletChaos's review almost word for word. This is a citrus blend, not a honey one; the honey is dry and light, not thick and heady. I got that hint of sharp green sap and more than a drop of king mandarin -- also one of my favorite notes. The vanilla was very quiet. A beautiful daytime blend of orange blossom, sweet-tart mandarin and pale honey, so nice.

 

My skin tends to eat up citrus blends inordinately quickly, so unfortunately, unlike Soupy Twist, I don't get any throw from Fortuna Balnearis, and it doesn't last very long on me. But it is lovely enough to be worth slathering and reapplying.

[zankoku_zen]

Green stems, a touch of orange blossom and mandarin. It's a very green stem + citrus mix. Honestly, this is making me think summer gardens, the smell of citrus off a navel orange and sunshine. Medium throw and wear length.

[lwhitesel]

It's citrus and honey! Finally a honey that works on me -- it's not heavy or dominant at all -- and definitely on the musky/sexy side of things. Not much throw, medium wear length. Very springtime, the way you hope spring is coming soon.

[Juliamon]

In the imp: a bite of honey, something green, a hint of mandarin.

 

Wet: Floral orange honey, with the green stem sap keeping it from going sweet. No vanilla but just the lightest touch of mandarin. Really nice but also rather light.

 

Dry: The floral aspect of the honey starts to take over as the mandarin burns off. Still no sign of the vanilla. Guess I need more than just the husk to notice it!

 

Incredibly light throw on me, pretty strictly a skin scent. I get a couple hours' wear from it, don't really love it enough to take the time to reapply though. Leans a little too soapy for me.