Marae

[girlygirl]

MARAE
Vanilla orchid, Monoi tiare, gardenia, and light incense.

*swoon*
Gorgeously heady tropical paradise in a bottle. Edited April 22, 2008 by girlygirl

[widdershins]

Alright, I'm going to preface this review with a little quirk I have. To me, some flowers smell "meaty" like gardenias and honeysuckle. I don't really know how to describe it, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. They're just very cloying to my nose.

This is how Marae is. A hothouse filled with big, meaty, cloying flowers. The vanilla orchid and gardenia come out instantly, while the monoi tiare is in the background, smoothing things out. Very full-bodied and it reminds me of a lush tropical greenhouse.

[Kimocean]

When I first put this on this morning I got a wash of smokey smell that quickly went away. I guess it was from the incense but it was unexpected. Once Marae was dry the orchid came out to play and reminded me a little bit of one of my all time favorites Vassakassajja. The gardenia isn't too strong on me and I get just a hint of soft vanilla coconut that makes this seem very tropical. Overall I'm very pleased with this scent and I'm certain I will be wearing it quite a bit this summer.

[asciident]

Wet: Vanilla, gardenia. Pleasant and light. A definite vanilla flower, rather than a foody one.

 

First on: Big flowers! Gardenia comes in strong, the vanilla orchid moves to the background. There's also a flowery scent with which I'm unfamiliar; I'm guessing it's the Monoi tiare.

 

Dry: Dry, the flowers are a muted and incensey. This ends up being like a light, cheerful flower incense. Beautiful for springtime.

[steffanina]

Marae-

 

In Bottle: A very rich, bright white tropical floral.

 

Wet: Wet intense floral. Is that gardenia? --Yes, it's listed, so it must be! I'm happy I can identify gardenia, I'm so forgetful when it comes to florals.

 

Dry: Tropical florals usually treat me well, of all florals. Nice and juicy. Florals are not my preferred scent--go into my sinuses, make me headachey. I would like this one if I had to pick a floral, though.

 

Overall: Bright tropical floral, quite pretty.

[lizardqueen]

In the bottle: I get primarily gardenia and/or Monoi tiare, I think. Something that says to me "sultry tropical flowers," at any rate. If I take a really long sniff it seems a bit like I get something weirdly like adhesive at the end, but that might just be that I'm huffing too hard.

 

On me, wet: As soon as it touches my skin Marae displays a sharp green note, as if the stems of the above flowers have just been cut. The floral note is still prominent, it's just hand-in-hand with the green.

 

On me, dry: Once drydown begins (i.e. just about immediately), Marae softens, mellows. There is the vanilla orchid; there is the incense. It's light, just the slightest bit powdery and/or soapy, and not too sweet, but still quite feminine. It's not terribly strong, and seems to stay fairly close to my skin. Overall, I think this will make a wonderful summer scent, and I'm quite pleased to have ordered it.

Edited April 23, 2008 by LizardQueen

[Ina Garten Davita]

Soap opera sex on a tropical island after a sensual massage with monoi oil.

 

This perfume is so expertly and harmoniously blended. Gardenia can be such a gaudy bitch, but she's been tamed in this bottle. For evening wear, almost too special, too sensual to wear in the light of day.

[LunaLovegood]

Delish!

This is gardenias and monoi tiare. So good and delicious. Its sensual and summery.

Its honestly beautiful, but after it dries. In the bottle is really pretty, but sharp and when first

applied. Fortunately that doesnt last long and the blend settles into a strong, but not overpowering

gardenia scent.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is gardenia and vanilla orchid...heavenly

 

once applied gardenia and incense are just beautiful together...a touch of sandalwood is

quite possibly in here or something similar...very lovely, indeed

[edenssixthday]

Marae - In the bottle, I smell gardenia and incense. On my skin, it's all sorts of super strong gardenia with just the slightest hint of orchid in the background. I don't smell the incense at all. It smells like a slightly tropical version of Sacred Whore of Babylon, which is also almost entirely gardenia on me. I don't really like predominantly gardenia scents, as I find them incredibly heavy and smothering, so I'm afraid this one has to go. The throw is moderate and it doesn't last very long on my skin - by the 20 minute point, it's almost entirely undetectable.

[CrazyPretzel]

Clearly this is a much-loved scent but... it is absolutely shocking what a complete mess it is on me! I'm starting to think I really cannot do gardenia at all. It smells like rotting flower stems that have been decaying in a vase of water in an overheated room on me. With a bit of pretty vanilla and incense over the top. I think I need to swap this, stat!

[xoe]

Marae is lovely, but short-lived on me.

The gardenia is beautiful and not too heavy. I can smell the orchid a little bit, i think... maybe. and the incense is what is left as it fades.

I really like it qutie a bit.

[Little Bird]

Marae and Tiki Queen were the surprise floral-favorites from my Tiki orders and decants (which is surprising and impressive, because I tend to hate floral blends). While Tiki Queen is strong and candied on my skin, Marae is lighter, softer, and more incensey-sweet. It's like creamy, slightly perfumey gardenia with a sweet, floral incense wrapped around it. It almost smells a bit smoky or powdery without smelling like smoke or baby powder, if that makes sense. It fades a lot after an hour on me and clings closely and sweetly to my skin.

 

My boy really likes it when I wear florals, so I'm happy that this works on me and doesn't give me a headache .

 

I'm glad I have a bottle of Tiki Queen and I'm glad to have a decant of Marae, though I'm not sure if I need to search out a full bottle of this one or not. It's a really lovely, light floral...

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Oooo, I am so glad I hunted down a decant of this! Marae opens with the rich gardenia I know from Lady of Shallott (in fact, if you miss out on Marae, I recommend trying that one); however, Lady of Shallott has a cool touch of aquatic, whereas Marae keeps the sweet warmth going with that beautiful creamy vanilla orchid. This is what I would wear for an island paradise honeymoon scenario--romantic, rich, sexy, tropical. Divine!

[Mamacat]

I think I've finally learned that gardenia smells pretty soapy on me. I guess most flowers just don't work with my chemistry.

[evanescence]

Marae turns me into a giant Renuzit air freshener. Too much gardenia - it just amps unbelieveably on me - and as much as I want to love it, it doesn't love me back.

[theseagrows]

the gardenia is at the forefront of this scent, but once it settles into my skin the monoi comes out and the gardenia softens. the vanilla and incense add a nice background softness, so that this does not become to overwhelmingly floral. very pretty, i'm just not sure i'd use a whole bottle. i'll keep it around awhile and see what happens.

[filigree_shadow]

I recognize a little bit of orchid in there, but mostly it's gardenia. It's a tropical lush floral scent, very much on the smooth and soft side. I like this better than most gardenia scents, but I burned myself out on gardenia about 10 years ago (that's what wearing one scent every day for a year will to do ya), and I'm still not ready to wear a gardenia scent again.

 

This one is quite pretty, though.

[penemuel]

I was afraid this blend would be Flowers of DOOOOOOM like Pele was, especially after the reviews mentioning the gardenia. However, it's a pleasant surprise. Definitely more floral than I would wear, but like Tiki Queen, I'm not rushing to scrub it off my wrist.

 

It's definitely heady tropical flowers, and a little tiny bit of musk and maybe vanilla behind them. It's a bit less creamy than Tiki Queen, but it's definitely a warm and pretty scent.

[MilkAndSugar]

Lovely.

 

At first sniff, this reminds me of Venice a bit. There's something in here that smells a little red curranty to me. But that's about the only thing Marae and Venice have in common.

I also find the same floral note that was in Hell's Belle (which unfortunately didn't work on me at all). This must be the gardenia (I'm not familiar with gardenia, seeing how it doesn't grow where I live). In Marae the gardenia note is nice and smooth, not headache inducing at all like it was in Hell's Belle.

How nice, since I thought I couldn't wear gardenia at all.

 

(EDIT: Oops, Hell's Belle has Magnolia, not Gardenia. My bad. The scent is, however, similar to my nose.)

 

Marae has a nice throw, and it makes me feel like I have tropical butterflies in my hair (which can't be a bad thing).

Edited May 2, 2008 by MilkAndSugar

[hkhm]

bottle: i'm not a fan of orchid or gardenia but this smells incredibly beautiful.

 

wet: these are some seriously pretty florals! these are sweet, creamy and spicy florals that are in no way overpowering or cloying.

 

dry: this dries to a creamy/spicy gardenia scent that makes me feel like booking a trip someplace tropical.

[euterpe414]

Marae is just so elegant and beautiful! All of the flowers seem to be equally blended on my skin, with the incense and vanilla backing them all up. It lasts for a very long time with a moderate amount of throw on my skin. I should note that on me, the incense is very, very light- this is in no way an incense blend- it is very much in the floral family. This scent really sparkles on my skin, and is definitely evocative of a tropical paradise, elegant, gauzy dresses, fragrant breezes and walks on the beach. I am loving this scent, and am very happy to have it in my collection.

[Pika]

This one didn't really work on me. I got primarily gardenia... a LOT of it. I didn't get any grounding incense, or even vanilla, so this became a very heavy, cloying floral on me. I smell something that reminds me of sweet pea (?). Actually, it reminds me a bit of Juliet, though not as balanced. It definitely has an aquatic dampness to it as well... I agree with the greenhouse feel mentioned above. That's a "good thing" for a tropical fragrance, but it's overall just too cloying and floral for me.

[sarahmarie]

Fresh out of the bottle, this is very heady and sweet, full of orchid and gardenia blending to create a richly feminine, tropical floral.

 

30 minutes later, it is still very heady and strong - I will only need to wear a teeny bit of this one. It's funny, a lot of people are mentioning it vanishing on their skin - but in my case it is very strong and seems to be maintaining that level of strength.

 

4 hours later it has faded to a lighter, closer-to-the-skin floral, but it has sharpened a bit, too. The jury is out on whether I'll hang on to this one, but it definitely has beautiful qualities. If you like rich, heady tropical florals, definitely give it a try!

[slittlecrowrussell]

This is an utterly lovely blend of gardenia and other white tropical flowers... it has a subtly green edge, as if you're sniffing the whole cut flower and are getting a touch of the green crispness of the stem along with the lush blossom... sadly I don't really get the incense in this. Marae has a creaminess to it that's probably due to the vanilla... in fact, I found it overall to be quite subtle. It would be a good one to wear on a hot date on a hot summer night... if you want a summery version of a thick, creamy floral like Hell's Belle. The only bad thing was that I couldn't smell it after only half an hour... Much later on the BF said that he smelled "lovely flowers" on my neck though... which is nice, but I like to enjoy my BPAL too! For this reason alone, I'm debating about reluctantly sending Marae to the swap pile. If I could get the fragrance to last, it'd be one of my all time favs...