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Pele

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This perfume embodies her gentler, benign aspect as the capricious Goddess of Dance: muguet and Hawaiian white ginger enveloped by warm, damp tropical blooms.

Is Hawaiian white ginger a flower? Because all I get here are florals. Lovely, carefree, tropical flowers, nothing that resembles ginger root to my nose. And just as I never lie on a beach with a tropical drink in one hand and the latest James Patterson novel in the other, I will never wear this scent. I appreciate its beauty, but it is so not me.

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I was so excited to try this because I thought it would be a tropical delight, but all I get is fabric softener sheets? I mean, nice enough in that really "clean" sort of way, but nothing that screams tropics to me. Sadness! I was so sure I would love this.

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I can't actually smell anything in the bottle! I had to sniff the wand to get an impression. Tropical florals, which is how it goes on, but it's so so faint. There's some ginger, and it gets too sweet as it dries, but honestly it's gone so fast it's hard to tell. Kinda bummed because this sounded quite exciting on paper and in the reviews.

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The eruptions in Hawaii have Madame Pele on my mind, so I decided it was time to pull this one out of the to-test pile. On me, it's dominated by a white flower that's dewy and waxy by turns, and at first I was thinking "I don't know what this flower is," but score one for finally learning some more notes--it's tuberose! I know because this note is in both Ava and Swans on the River. It's soft and pretty and not all that strong on me. I probably don't need a ton of this, since I have big bottles of the aforementioned (and more complex) tuberose blends, but it's nice.

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All I got was the heavy overpowering scent of wet wet lush wet flowers.

 

Drowning in flowers.

 

Thick, heavy, oppressively vibrant exploding with life and clouds of scent rolling off of them flowers.

 

Not sure if it's the muguet (LotV doesn't like me at all) or the tropical blossoms (they usual have indole in them and that doesn't like me either) but eeeeeeeeeeg.

 

I had to use the rubbing alcohol to get it off.

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First Sniff: Gentle, light plumeria

 

Initial Wet Application: Soft and light, this is going to fade. This is definitely tropical and gentle.

 

Dry Down (first 15 minutes): Was that milky coconut?!?

 

My Reaction: Definitely different than my other tropical hothouse scents (like Bayou) but just too light on my skin. I thought I had detected a faint hint of lovely coconut, but it wasn’t strong enough to stick around. The gentle ginger was also nice, but just too light to stay. And that explains it: ‘muguet’ is in the lily family and lily from the lab is always too light and fades too quickly on me. Oh well, it was nice to give it a try.

 

Rating: 2

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Wet: Sweet, tropical flowers. Plumeria? Just a touch of ginger as well. I swear I can smell a little bit of coconut, too.

 

Dry: If you were outside on a warm day smelling tropical flowers, I imagine it would smell similar to this. The coconut has disappeared, and the ginger is barely hanging on. A light, sweet, somehow warm, tropical floral scent.

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Pele was love at first sniff many years ago, but it faded so quickly I never went for a bottle. I retested it recently, and decided on a full because it's just too gorgeous to not have around. It is the lack of base notes I think that makes this blend fleeting, however the crux of the elbow provides pretty decent wearlength, more than before! Also the Lab filled the bottle up high. Thanks Lab. :)

 

Lush, tropical blooms, straight up. It reminds me of jasmine mostly, or what I want jasmine to be, not powdery, just petally, dewy, tropical evening blooms. It's so beautiful. I had a little plastic solid perfume locket when I was a little girl, and it had a scent similar to this, sweet and innocent, gorgeous florals. I loved that little thing. Perfect for Spring/Summer. This would layer beautifully with dirt or green notes. If this was a color palette it would be blue, purple, white, with a little bit of green.

 

Try Pele if you like Grief, Mab's Court Gardenia, Bluebonnet SN, Alkemia's Haiku, Paradisiaca, or Blue Ridge Skyline, The Little Book Eater's Claire Fraser, or Deep Midnight Perfumes Highclere. 

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This is a white floral, which means it was not made for me, but I appreciate what it is. I don't get any ginger, which I would have liked to make this stand out more to my nose. It starts off soapy, but turns into a clean, creamy floral blend. Good for hot weather and pretty -- I would love to spend time in a garden that smelled like this, and it would be beautiful in an oil diffuser. Moderate wear time, low throw.

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I've been frimped this about 3 times now, so I guess I should review!

 

So...florals are not my thing, but "tropical" florals get a bit of a pass. This is pretty, I'm not really getting any ginger which may give it a bit more oomph, but this absolutely transports me to a Hawaiian garden after a heavy rain, or a greenhouse full of tropical blooms. I will wear this, very occasionally, on those super hot humid summer days where my beloved gourmands feel just a touch too heavy. Definitely a daytime scent, would switch to something more *me for evening.

 

I'm testing my newest imp, so maybe I should test an older one (I think I got one in 2015) to see the difference, so if I do, I'll compare and edit.

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I feel like I must have reviewed this before. I think I've tried it at least twice. But apparently no review. So. 

 

This imp came direct from the Lab. 

 

In the imp:  Gentle florals and soft ginger. I cannot identify muguet specifically, but the floral note is delicate. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it's all white floral, though nothing is soapy or harsh. As it dries, the muguet becomes more of a distinct note, though the ginger and other floral notes keep it soft and not screeching on me (which is a problem I sometimes have with lilies of all varieties). Given even more time, the ginger bounces back a bit so it's definitely a gingerly floral. 

 

It's beautiful in the same way that Vixen is beautiful (translation: I love it) though it's much cleaner and softer, lacking Vixen's grit. I think I need that grit to really want it in a perfume oil, but Pele bath oil or atmo spray would certainly get my monies. 

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Have an imp of this. A lovely tropical floral, but a subdued one that isn't too much. The muguet has a slight chewiness to it that I love, while the tropical blooms make a watery smell.

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Pele is so lovely! On me it starts out as sheer, transparent muguet and shimmery ginger. As time goes on you get less of the ginger and more of a general impression of tropical white flowers. They stick around close to the skin for a long time. It's light, gentle and breezy without being cool or astringent. Such a good summer perfume for any fellow white floral enjoyers.

 

While I don't think this qualifies as a skin musk, on me this ends up being the perfect clean skin scent. My fiance hugged me and couldn't tell if i was wearing anything or if my skin just smelled really good. Sometimes that's exactly what you want.

 

 

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I'd sniffed Pele once prior to making these notes and liked it, but these were my more detailed notes. 

 

These were all very good smells on me earlier. And I liked it at initial sniff, so I feel like this is going to go well.

 

In Bottle: Ginger, lily of the valley, tropical blooms, we're in a rainforest again, a different one though. This shares some excellent notes with Macchu Picchu.

 

Wet on Skin: The ginger is popping on me nicely, and there's that rich, humid floral that I really like. This is great right off the bat!

 

On drydown: Pele is a remarkably gentle scent on me, but it smells really nice. Mostly ginger and tropical blooms, but the muguet/lily of the valley adds some smoothness (I think it might be what's making the scent so gentle). It is good though, and good for when I want a subtle floral with a little bite.

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Pele is non-existent on me. Every once in a while, while running around after a toddler and working a heartbeat up, I can catch the faintest whiff of something floral, but it's too weak to tell what it is even. The Deep in Earth I put on yesterday that I didn't bother washing off before bed is stronger than freshly applied Pele, and believe me, I slathered.

 

How disappointing--I am a huge fan of ginger scents.

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I reapplied this and my skin must be eating this, i only get a faint whiff of soap. :c

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Blind sniff: Pele smells like gardenia (possibly tiare) and tuberose. A quiet floral.

 

Okay, reading the notes, I have no idea what white ginger flower is supposed to smell like, but I'll bet that's the gardenia I'm picking out. This would be a good floral to wear in the summer heat because it's not heavy at all. Pretty, yet ephemeral, like the flowers on a lei.

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Testing a 3 yr old imp.

 

My impression of Pele is white flowers on a rainy day. I think that muguet is responsible for the rainy day imagery since I'm used to associating it with watery scents.

 

Gentle and benign are accurate. These florals are as fresh and inoffensive as florals get. There's nothing funky, aggressive, or ominous going on here, just a peaceful drizzle over pretty white blooms.

 

She's a beauty, but a bit of a demure one. The scent is modest and seemingly in a hurry to leave.

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