Strings in the Earth and Air

[GoldenRubee]

Strings in the earth and air
Make music sweet;
Strings by the river where
The willows meet.



There's music along the river
For Love wanders there,
Pale flowers on his mantle,
Dark leaves on his hair.



All softly playing,
With head to the music bent,
And fingers straying
Upon an instrument.

- James Joyce


White sage, white musk, honey myrtle, galbanum, lilac, and everlasting flower.

In the bottle and when first applied I can smell citrus. This is from the honey myrtle. Is is light, fresh and soft, surrounded by an equally soft ethereal musk. I can smell more sage and musk with the honey myrtle than I can smell lilac (which is normally very fragrant) although it could be my skin chemistry. I have been wearing it for an hour now and it is still as strong as when I first tried it. Everlasting flower (according to wiki) is any number of flowers that can be used in dried bouquets. But again, I smell a fresh, crisp citrus with sweet, warm honey and musk, not powdery in the least. I am not disappointed in the least. I am not big on florals so this is a wonderful addition to my Spring and Summer collection.

[OctoberGwen]

This is absolutely beautiful. It's saved from floral sameitude by the white sage and the musk; their freshness combined with the softness of the honey myrtle and lilac is simply lovely. I would absolutely reach for this as a Spring fragrance choice.

 

Depending on longevity, I'm considering a bottle.

 

 

ETA: Alas, this faded fairly quickly on my skin and in the scent locket it smells very soapy. I guess I'll just have to enjoy my imp.

Edited February 18, 2012 by OctoberGwen

[kawaiiferreto]

Wet and for the first hour and a half or so this was very lemony/ citrus. It is tart, but not so tart it's painful (sometimes super citrus stings my nose.) I think the rest of the herbs and flowers really balance out the tart. After that initial stage the citrus fades out and it sweetens up a lot. The more it dried the sweeter it got and less lemony. I tested this last night and I can still smell slightly sweet herby floral with just a touch of lemon if I huff my wrist. The throw on this was pretty light. It was stronger while the lemony top-notes were fresh. This was really quite lovely. I don't know that I need a bottle, but I will be keeping me decant!

[zankoku_zen]

Citrus, musk and sage. Pretty, light, fresh. The sage is too much for me personally, but other than that this would be a lovely spring blend, or perfect for a wedding.

[angelamaria]

I tested this blend twice, one a day or two after receiving it, and another after it's been sitting in my drawer for a while, bit less than a month.

 

In bottle: the first time I sniffed this, it was very herbal, and reminded me strongly of this cologne I used to wear as a child, called Angel's Breath. It was mostly white sage and lilac. On my retest, it seemed to have grown creamy--something I never thought of it being before--and while it retains its herbs, it was more floral now, more feminine, sweeter, and really more to my liking.

 

Wet on skin: on my first test, I thought it was cologney, a clean and herbal floral, bright and young but not tipping over to the "kiddie" side. On the restest, however, the creaminess does stay and the cologne feel has disappeared, and I fell quite in love. It still has a "cool" feel to the blend, but nothing as chemically as cologne--it's soft and subtle and refreshing. The white musk is divine, and I suppose it giving that nice creamy feel. The lilac does have a touch of powder but it played well with the blend.

 

Dry: definitely an instance of a blend coming into its own after a bit of rest, the first time, this was all powdery lilac on me, enough to tickle my nose unpleasantly--but this all but disappeared on the retest. A powdery feel is still there, but it just lends a softness to the light, uplifting, and feminine scent, a beautiful mix of that clean white sage, lovely white musk and beautiful everlasting flower.

 

Verdict: I'm so glad I gave this a retest! What I'd instantly set aside earlier, I'm so getting a backup for now.

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Hello, sage! Herbal, grassy

 

Wet: The sage is strong in this one! A richly floral blend dominated by the sharp sage. I also get some sweet notes, combined with delicate white musk. Overall, it's pretty and soft.

 

Dry: Something weird happens as this dries. The flowers turn sour and pungent, almost like they’re rotting. I get more mossy notes at this stage and something akin to wet soil. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s also not what I normally enjoy wearing.

[astarinel]

As I put it on, it immediately reminds me of another scent, and it takes me a moment to put my finger on it.

 

Whitechapel!

 

The white musk + lilac + citrus is definitely what's doing this for me. It's very clean and bright and a little crisp. I would definitely say it strikes me as a unisex sort of scent, despite the lilac and florals. The citrus is definitely in the front, and it's a bit tart while wet, but as it dries the citrus fades and it gets softer and smoother. I'm pleasantly surprised by this -- the note list sounded absolutely not like my sort of thing, and this is a lot more wearable for me than I expected. I won't be hunting down any more than my decant, but I may actually pass it along to my boyfriend to try.

[lilyliza]

This smells pretty masculine when it first hits my skin, but the flowers come out pretty quickly and soften it. The wet stage reminds me too much of bathroom cleaner to really appreciate it due to my skin amping the citrus, but dry it's a nice herbal floral that's not too strong, clean and fresh rather than perfumey. It's nice enough, but it reminds me a lot of about five other scents I have and doesn't really have any qualities that make it stand out from them in my mind.

[theseagrows]

what an odd scent this is, and a morpher. at first i think it was all sage, white musk and lilac, then some marzipan-y note came through for awhile. now i smell the sweetness of the marzipan with a weird sour floral. maybe the everlasting flower? this smelled odd at first, but possibly doable, but now it's straight up sour on me, unfortunately.

[surlygurl]

This is my favorite of the Bards this year. On first sniff, I thought it would be lemon candy. I applied anyway and WOW! Loud herbal lemon and something creamy and sweet. At first they're side by side, but eventually the herbal lemon loses itself inside the creamy sweetness. It's sweet without being foody, clean, uplifting. Bottle buy, for sure.

 

(I couldn't figure out why it's so familiar until I read the notes & reviews. It reminds me of Scales of Deprivation, but soft & sweet! Must be the white sage/lemon combo.)

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle:Mostly sage tempered by the musk.

 

Wet: Citrus, perhaps lemon, but not overwhelmingly so, thank goodness.

 

The dry-down: Oh, dear, I spoke too soon--lots and lots of lemon. It's drowned all the other notes, alas. I was afraid of this coming in, but I always like to try partials of the Bards from my wonderful decanter.

[milo]

This really has a TAL kind of vibe to it at first. Florally and astringent. After a bit, soft, snuggly, a bit of vanilla, and something citrussy, a soft lemon. I really like the drydown, and may seek out more.

[The Planet Queen]

I bought a deccant of this thinking I should try it before committing to a bottle.In the bottle: it has a clean/ fresh smell.Wet: at first it smelled almost like lemon pledge. A few minutes later that smell started to disparate and the notes started to come forward.Dry down: it smells musky but clean and airy it's the best way to describe it. I kept smelling my wrists.It doesn't have much throw but I put very little on. It did last longer than I expected. I will be ordering a bottle before its discontinued.

 

 

[Little Bird]

I like lilac scents, but I'm not getting much lilac from Strings. I thought that I picked up the wrong decant when I first put this on, because it was sharp and lemony, but I see that most of the other reviews have mentioned lemon as well. Lemon and herby sage with a floral edge that threatens to turn soapy on me, but just lends an overall clean feeling to the blend. Bright and clean, and a little too sharp for me.