The Stream and the Waterfall

[Lycanthrope]

The flow of inspiration and passion, intuition put into action. The stream flows from the heart of the Empress’ Forest into the verdant fields at her feet. Sakura blossoms, neroli, and peach blossom cascading into a pool of white frankincense and hiba cedarwood.

This sounds like an amazing Shunga Salon-type blend. I had to try it for the sakura and hiba cedarwood alone!

Sniff from bottle is ... confusing. It's very subtle, light, at first, but then I think it's trying to be topnote of neroli, a hint of frankincense resin, and then I get a background of warm peachy peach. A hint of honey sweet that then turns a little syrupy, I think of crystal clear simple syrup. No idea why.

Wet, it's... cedar? But like hinoki type, clear, not too woodsy, oh, and there's the spicy cream of cherry blossom. There's a bit of a swell of orange-blossom candy neroli and peach roiling together in the first few minutes, and I'm reminded of fruit candies, like some kind of exotic floral candy (There's actually an old-school Japanese candy called 'Flower's Kiss,' which has inexplicably pictures of flowers all over the wrappers but is in actuality an apricot hard candy... I used to have these a lot as a kid, and couldn't place the flavor - what a naive non-BPAL person I was! Apricots!). This does remain fairly sweet, and light, on my hand.

With a bit of time, I can start to get more of the slightly sharp cedarwood - japanese cedar? Or something... It's definitely taking this a bit away from pure candy and sweetness. It still remains pretty strong on the peach/peach blossom, with the sakura and cedarwood giving a distinctively Japanese-style Salon flair. I'm not getting frankincense as a dominant scent, but it must be doing something to unify everything and ground these lighter notes, like a background glow.

[torikitty]

Bottle: peach candy

 

wet: cedar and peach blossom! The pencil shavings slowly die down. The cherry blossom makes it light and springy. It's not overpowering, but has decent sillage.

 

dry: the cherry blossom becomes more apparent, with the cedar taking a backseat. And it sweetens up a bit, which I wasn't expecting. This feels kinda unique to my collection.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Carrie

[spookyumbrella]

This sounds like it would be a Shunga - oh well.

 

Apricot and soothing, high-quality cedar. No pencil shavings, at least not for me. Cherry blossom adds a faint floral creaminess, but apricot and cedar are the stars here. Overall, its smooth and elegant, befitting the Empress.

[JMorgynWhite]

I'm insane about this one. Reminds me of Beneath the Kotatsu- which it doesn't resemble but I think it's because it's def Shunga-like. I'd say peach and pencil shavings on wet then this amazing delicate creamy floral/fruit thing with the cedar on dry which makes it amazing. It's really subtle and ends up close to the skin which is why I think it reminds me of Kotatsu.

[Elspethdixon]

In the imp - Sakura & a hint of neroli over a cedar base. Almost syrupy without being cloying.

Wet/freshly applied - Gentle cedar with wisps of soft florals floating above it. Shunga-like, as I expected.

Five-ten minutes in - The cedar has receded, blended seamlessly in to the florals, and the syrupy-sweet aspect is gone, too, leaving a soft/powdery floral that edges close to soapiness (don't turn into soap, please don't). Light, with low throw (only about an inch or so). I'm getting much more sakura & peach blossom than neroli (there's not even a hint of citrus bite - smelling this blind I'd never guess neroli was in it, and after the first few minutes I'd struggle to pinpoint cedar). I ran the wand from the imp through my hair as well, and on said hair, with skin chemistry removed from the equation, it's a completely different scent, cedar dominant with a hint of syrupy peach and some very faint hazy frankincense incense, maybe a slight touch of floral. Is there such a thing as girly cedar? If so, this is it.

Half hour in - Soft peach blossom & clean skin musk, maybe with a hint of cedar, but only if I'm looking for it. On my hair, it's a faint cedar-peach combo that smells almost like baked goods.

[Juliamon]

I wanted to love this! In the imp it's bright, clean, sweet, happy floral. The cedar is light enough not to bother me. But my skin is having none of it. It vanishes instantly on my wrists and turns into run-of-the-mill cherry blossom in the crook of my arm, making me feel like I'm a young teen at B&BW. I already have too many locket-only scents, so this one's headed to the destash box.

[zankoku_zen]

Sakura, peach and a touch of cedar. Definitely delicate florals, slightly watery feel, and very Shunga-esque. Low throw, good wear length.