The Stream

[Casablanca]

The intuitiveness, compassion, sensuality, and creativity that nourishes and sustains Order: lavender buds and gentle bells of Lily of the Valley floating on a calm river of lychee, ylang ylang, and white magnolia.

First on, The Stream is a dewy lavender lychee. Especially the lychee. I pick out the lily of the valley after a bit, but only with help from the notes list. Mostly, this is an aquatic-leaning lavender lychee in its early phase.

During drydown, I get a little more lily of the valley and the first of the magnolia, but they are really paying their respects to Emperor Lychee.

Once The Stream has fully dried, that up-and-coming courtly magnolia comes to her own, partnering with the lychee for a time, and then mostly taking over. Ylang ylang blends closely with her and adds to her sultry aspect. The lychee lingers for a time. The blend becomes a fresh and quirky white floral.

Gradually the lychee and dewiness fade and leave a white floral.


The lavender-lychee combination reminds me of the fresh quirkiness of lavender and grapefruit together, like in Sugar Phoenix. I don't see lychee growing on me as much as that combination did, but I'll enjoy the decant.

[dementia_divine]

In the decant: I’m hit with a blast of lavender, some lychee, and then the lily, followed by the magnolia and ylang ylang.

 

Wet: The sweet lychee and herbal lavender stand out to me the most, but I can smell the other floral notes behind them (the lily and magnolia are more noticeable than the ylang ylang on me). The lychee seems to be holding its own. I am surprised that one of the floral notes hasn’t taken over by now (although the magnolia does seem to be gaining strength with time).

 

Dry: The lychee is still going strong, and the magnolia is next in prominence. The lavender is much calmer now, and overall, this is a sweet, fruity floral.

 

After a while, the magnolia overtakes the lychee and this becomes more floral than fruity.

 

Verdict: This was my only decant I got from The Emperor update, and I got it mainly because of the lavender (and I was curious about the lychee). If you are hoping for lychee, I don’t think you will be disappointed, as long as you aren’t averse to fruity florals. I don’t think this is a scent I would likely reach for, but it was nice to get to try it.

[VetchVesper]

This one is odd and discordant to my nose. I get lavender mixed with a thick fruitiness at first, which I think is a combo of the ylang ylang and lychee. During the dry down, I get some of the floral of the lily of the valley. It doesn't go soapy, which is a plus. I don't have tons of experience with BPAL's magnolia note, but I think I detect it coming forward as the fragrance wears, adding a bit of floral lushness. The blend is just to discordant on me though. The lavender seems screechy and harsh against the cloying fruit and not quiiiiite soapy florals. This one is not a win for my chemistry.

[Ghost of a Rose]

Bottle fresh from the lab.

 

In the bottle: Lavender and lychee. It's a lovely combo! Wouldn't that make an amazing dessert? I'm thinking of one my mom used to make, something between a cake and a cobbler, a sheet cake with islands of fruity pudding-like filling. It would be perfect for this flavor combo.

 

On me, wet: Mostly the lavender. It's the kind I love, that made me fall in love with lavender all those years ago. Old-fashioned and gentle, not the sharp medicinal kind.

 

At 5 minutes: Where's that lychee I smelled in the bottle? The lavender is great, but I already have plenty of lavender oil.

 

At 10 minutes: Still mostly 100% lavender, but every now and then I get a draft of some other floral. It wafts by too quickly and quietly to identify which of the other flowers it is. And I don't know what lily of the valley smells like anyway. The others I used to know well but haven't smelled by themselves for a while, so I'm not certain I'd recognize them either.

 

At 15 minutes: Still mostly lavender. I'm wondering if my skin eats fruity notes. I didn't smell much pomegranate in The Robe of Pomegranates either. I do hope the lychee comes out. It was so delicious in the bottle. I am still getting that breath of another flower.

 

At 20 minutes, I did get a bit of the lychee, in the sillage at first, but now it is starting to peek out on my wrist. Come on, lychee!

 

At 30 minutes: Ah, there you are! Now it's that interesting and lovely combination from the bottle, of lychee and lavender. And with the hint of other flowers - probably the ylang ylang or magnolia or both, because it smells familiar. It could be difficult to separate the ylang ylang from the magnolia, since they both have that tropical, sweet character. It's an inspired pairing, like the lavender and lychee.

 

At 45 minutes: Absolutely gorgeous. I think it must be at its peak right now, because all three components - lavender, lychee, and mixed florals - are in perfect balance.

 

At 1 hour: The lavender has gone, leaving the fruit and flowers. I love how this transitions from herbal to fruity to floral, blending smoothly between each transition. It reminds me of high-quality hand-dyed multicolored yarns, how one color doesn't suddenly change to another but instead gradually blends from one color to the next, so that it's impossible to say exactly where the change occurs. Like those, this is interesting as well as beautiful.

 

At 2 hours: It has faded dramatically. I notice the lychee first, but the florals then come in to override it.

 

At 4 hours: It's over, having finished up with soft florals.

 

Verdict: 6 out of 6 stars

Edited September 2, 2018 by Ghost of a Rose

[zankoku_zen]

Lilies, lychee and magnolia. This one is a gentle, floral unisex blend. Medium throw and wear length.