Morning in the City of Angels

[hammy]

Walking and holding hands with my Lilith as we joke and giggle is one the greatest joys of my life. She is growing up fast, and these moments will happen less and less, but I will forever treasure them. I hope that when she is an adult, she will look back on these memories and feel 1/100 of the happiness that she brings to her father.

Sunflowers and California poppies, vanilla-tinged oak bark, and a spill of sugary breakfast cereal.

In the bottle - Not sure what happened at the Post, but the oil in my bottle was barely at the top of the label. That said, this seems suuuuper up my alley. I live in Southern California, and this smells like sweetened summer air.

Wet - A little grassy. Totally OK with this initial grassiness, since it seems to level itself out almost immediately.

Drydown - Hm. There's a component in this that's making my nose twitch. Maybe the oak bark? I'm trying to think of other oak blends and whether those bother me ... all the ones I can think of (Haloes, Antikythera, Arana, Oak Moon -- pretty much everything except Lawful) are good on me. Maybe this is that Lawful oak? Or maybe I'm placing the blame incorrectly and it's the sunflowers or poppies that are throwing me off? Or the fact that it's vanilla-tinged? Hm. I really don't know what's going on here.

Verdict - I thought I'd love this. Assumed it'd be an instant hit, actually. I'll give it another shot in a few weeks, though I don't think my skin chemistry will cooperate. All the sweetness and nostalgia and florals were gobbled up by my skin. I'll definitely save it for a locket or oil burner or something. It's absolutely lovely in the bottle and I'm really disappointed that I don't get to wear the gorgeousness I smelled in there.

[torikitty]

This smells great in the bottle, but I'm getting some gardenia or floral that will be problematic. Maybe the sunflowers and poppies are more floral-forward than I was expecting. This smells beautiful, and I know will smell lovely on the right person. My chemistry really brings the floral the front. I was surprised with how long it lasted, too. Medium throw. It doesn't morph too much, I think sweetened sunflowers is accurate.

[zankoku_zen]

Green grass (is that sunflowers), touch of poppy, bark, and something that smells almost musty-smoky. This is a very green, very outside blend. For those of you that are craving a woodland forest in the summer, I'd give this a whirl. Good throw and wear length.

[Bassmastadroog]

I like this BECAUSE it has gardenia nuances! Holy moly! The vanilla tinged oak bark and floral stand out in unison. The mix of poppies and sunflower have a gardenia-like touch to me. Non synthetic, very fresh and real. Oak bark from Bpal is a favorite scent of mine. I can smell the slightest sugary milk over top of it, and it makes something altogether like a mix between Volcano in Springtime and La Prostitution, only with no Jasmine. Its been going strong with good throw for two hours now. I really like this one.

[Leopard403]

Morning in the City of Angels is such an interesting scent! Upon first whiff it smelled exactly like Tulip Yankee Candles, a major flashback to 2001 when I worked at a little candle shop before going off to grad school. That olfactory memory sticks in my brain, so as this blend dries down I still get that same smell. If I concentrate, though, there's a lot more going on here. It's funny: Rather than being a frivolous top note, that sugary cereal seems to ground the blend, keeping those florals from becoming too headache-inducing. And yes, as others have mentioned, there's something similar to the creamy white of gardenia here, though there is greenness and a hint of bark, too. Not quite soapy, which is nice. Above all, something about this blend smells, well, complicated, for lack of a better description.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Grass, flowers, sugar. Something almost mapley? Or maybe caramelized? It's somehow clean and floral and gourmand all at once. Very interesting!

 

Dry: Quite lovely! The gourmand notes faded, and this is primarily clean grassy-ness and floral notes on me. Lovely!

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: Very floral. I could be mistaken, but the sunflower note makes me think of the discontinued All in the Golden Afternoon. I can smell a bit of the oak bark in the background.

 

Wet: The floral notes reign. I believe it's the sunflower note that is in the lead. I'm not getting any of the vanilla-tinged oak bark or the bit of sugary breakfast cereal on my skin at this time.

 

Dry: Ah, there's the sugary breakfast cereal! I can smell it behind the sunflowers.

 

Verdict: I had to try this one because I liked the idea of the floral notes accompanied by the vanilla part of the oak bark note and the sugary part of the cereal. While I enjoy the scent, I was hoping it would be more sugary. I don't think I need a bottle, but I'm glad that I got a chance to try it.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

it was that "sugary breakfast cereal" that made me interested in this.

 

it was one of the three scents i tested at the DSLE this past weekend, and it was sweet and delicious but i find it hard to judge things accurately in a room full of so many scents...

so i was really looking forward to trying it when my order was delivered.

 

 

i've had it on for a couple of hours now and it hates my skin. but that's ok, my wallet doesn't mind.

 

 

at first there were nuances of Golletes (which i adore) but then it settled in and changed into The Oval Portrait but with the addition of White Blossoms.

 

after about an hour it is mostly just those white flowers - i don't know if it is gardenia, it doesn't seem that shrill and headachey - but it ends up being more that and way less of the sweet cereal-ness i was hoping for.

 

bear in mind, though, that if there's anything even remotely gardenia-y in anything, my skin will amp it into next week. that's especially true for regular commercial perfumes, but also true for oils.

[hushmesilent]

The notes in this seemed so unusual I had to try it. I was really hoping for a sweet, creamy, and floral blend, but it doesn't play out that way on my skin.

 

Immediately, I get hit in the face with a ton of flowers. I agree with the above poster that it smells a lot like the Tulip candle from Yankee Candles. It's kind of smoky and incensey. I don't smell the sugar or vanilla at all. It lasts that way for a very long time, hours and hours, before changing. It starts to turn green and sharp first. The flowers smell springy and happy. This would be a beautiful springtime scent. After falling asleep wearing this, I woke up to the last stage of this perfume. It was sweet and incensey, barely there. I could absolutely smell the vanilla and just a hint of the flowers.

 

Unfortunately, I got an incredible migraine from wearing this the first time. So far so good on the second wear, but I just barely dabbed. I can still smell it, which is crazy because my skin eats perfume like crazy. I think I will hold on to this, but it's not one of my favorites, and I don't see myself ever seeking out any more.

 

Edit: Round two wearing it and I am just now getting the warning signs of a whopper of a migraine. Off to the swaps for you, Morning in the City of Angels!

Edited October 30, 2017 by hushmesilent

[Jenjin]

Fortunately, i've only been into a Yankee Candle store once, otherwise I suppose this Tulip candle that has been mentioned might spoil the experience. For me, bottle sniff and wet I was worried. There was an almost maple note that often times amps on me. After a few minutes, this transforms into a darkbrown sugaredwoods background, that gives the warm florals a glorious bassnote. I LOVE THIS!!!!!! WOWZA. It is extra sugary on me, all swimming around with the golden flower nectar makes me want to yodel in the Swiss mountain tops with Maria von Trapp.

Edited January 14, 2018 by Jenjin

[aphrodite]

I'm a great lover of sweet florals, and this is a unique take on the category. The florals are bright, fresh, and sunny - simple and straightforward, and very accurate - and fresh out of the mail, they were pretty much all I got. As soon as the next day, it had become more complex - it opens with the florals, but then the sugary cereal comes in, kind of like the flowers are already wafting and you wake up to that and then pour your cereal. The vanilla tinged oak twines its way in, and it becomes this springy, classic yet original, sugary floral, which eventually fades into a sweetened skin scent. Gorgeous. I'm already wearing it a lot even though it doesn't match the weather here at all, and I think it will be a big staple when spring rolls around.

[Little Bird]

This goes very wrong and headache-inducing on my skin, with a sharp, perfumey, soapy white floral and hints of sour, green grass. Nothing like vanilla, woods or cereal for me, just amped up perfume floral.