The Pearl

[Jenjin]

A salt-encrusted cocoon overflowing with almond blossoms,

sweet patchouli, and dried peony petals whipped into orris butter.

[ghoulnextdoor]

The Pearl opens with an unexpected fruity-tarty-sweetness as if someone had sliced a perfectly ripe persimmon atop a bed of dried apricots. This initial surprise fades as the scent settles into something truer to its nature. It becomes the olfactory embodiment of iridescence - if the pearlescent interior of an abalone shell could release its shimmer as fragrance. There's something mineral and organic happening simultaneously here, like salt crystals forming on driftwood at low tide. From there, the scent unfolds in luminous ripples, revealing the strange not-quite-colors that exist inside shells - those blues that aren't blue, the pinks that aren't quite pink, the greens that seem to flicker in and out of existence depending on how the light hits. It smells exactly how that color-shifting, mysterious inner world of abalone looks - ethereal, ancient, and somehow both oceanic and otherworldly at once.

[OxfordComma]

This is really pretty, y'all. And I second everything said above! Peony always reads vaguely fruity to me, so I definitely get the fruity-tarty-sweetness mentioned. The salt starts to ramp up within a few minutes and the florals mingle to give it a sort of beautiful pastel iridescence. Like a toned-down Lisa Frank seascape. It manages to have that salty air freshness, but still have a creamy floralness to it. It fits the art *perfectly* imo, and it's going to be a great summery scent without hitting the usual notes of summer fruity/floral staples. Throw is good, wear length I've clocked at at least 5 hours (but I was not paying super close attention after that.)

[Teamama]

Wow, this is glorious. It's almost a bottle for me, but my skin isn’t doing it justice. I feel like I'm wearing something borrowed, like a sweater carrying a friend's signature fragrance.

I get the peony & patchouli & salt, as well as a sweet/tart mystery fruit. The orris is a bank of fog somewhere on the horizon--present but not near.

I'll definitely use up my decant, but I think that's all I need. If it's your signature fragrance, maybe I can borrow a silk scarf from you sometime? 

[KuriousKat]

Fruity sweetness in the opening, soon turns to a mild, creamy floral. There's a mineralic note in the background (salt?). Unfortunately doesn't last long on my skin, and its a familiar fruit-floral  that i don't feel the need to duplicate.

[Amoraexcena]

This is the smell of Aphrodite's seashell that she sleeps in. It's a lightly mineralic fruity, creamy floral, and sexy in a I-just-woke-up-dishevelled-and-ravishing sort of way. Very much a Lupercalia! Unfortunately I think the orris is amping a bit on my skin and it's pulling a little soapy. 

 

It reminds me of A Girl Knitting, but I prefer the creamy-fruity-clean-fabric smell of that one on me. 

[carrioncupid]

(had this sample for abt 4 days) in the slonk it smells like... butter? like straight up salted butter but dropped into some patch i think. it's very odd, considering how when i initially sniffed it when i first got it, it smelled quite fruity thanks (probably) due to the peony. 

 

on skin the butter recedes into the background somewhat (although it is still very much present) and there's a noticeable fruity and floral quality to it now. i don't smell anything resembling anything close to almond in here, even if i really try to pick it out. it very much so has a sort of... clean and yet, dirty-at-the-same-time creamy quality to it that was present in a girl knitting, similar to what amoraexcena said. ooh. the fruitness evaporated again and the butter is back with a vengeance. i just think that salty, buttery patchouli simply isn't for me. 

 

i ended up attempting to scrub this one off (to seemingly little effect) but i gave it another sniff and i think i like it more post-scrub. the butter has been sheered away for the most part leaving the fruity peony petals behind (although that accursed butter still lingers noticeably around the edges), sigh-- if only there wasn't any orris butter in here! i think the butter part is messing with me. if it had been just regular orris i think i would've enjoyed it just fine. 

Edited Wednesday at 03:58 AM by carrioncupid