The Stream and the Waterfall

[Lycanthrope]

The flow of inspiration and passion, intuition put into action. The stream flows from the heart of the Empress’ Forest into the verdant fields at her feet. Sakura blossoms, neroli, and peach blossom cascading into a pool of white frankincense and hiba cedarwood.

This sounds like an amazing Shunga Salon-type blend. I had to try it for the sakura and hiba cedarwood alone!

Sniff from bottle is ... confusing. It's very subtle, light, at first, but then I think it's trying to be topnote of neroli, a hint of frankincense resin, and then I get a background of warm peachy peach. A hint of honey sweet that then turns a little syrupy, I think of crystal clear simple syrup. No idea why.

Wet, it's... cedar? But like hinoki type, clear, not too woodsy, oh, and there's the spicy cream of cherry blossom. There's a bit of a swell of orange-blossom candy neroli and peach roiling together in the first few minutes, and I'm reminded of fruit candies, like some kind of exotic floral candy (There's actually an old-school Japanese candy called 'Flower's Kiss,' which has inexplicably pictures of flowers all over the wrappers but is in actuality an apricot hard candy... I used to have these a lot as a kid, and couldn't place the flavor - what a naive non-BPAL person I was! Apricots!). This does remain fairly sweet, and light, on my hand.

With a bit of time, I can start to get more of the slightly sharp cedarwood - japanese cedar? Or something... It's definitely taking this a bit away from pure candy and sweetness. It still remains pretty strong on the peach/peach blossom, with the sakura and cedarwood giving a distinctively Japanese-style Salon flair. I'm not getting frankincense as a dominant scent, but it must be doing something to unify everything and ground these lighter notes, like a background glow.

[torikitty]

Bottle: peach candy

 

wet: cedar and peach blossom! The pencil shavings slowly die down. The cherry blossom makes it light and springy. It's not overpowering, but has decent sillage.

 

dry: the cherry blossom becomes more apparent, with the cedar taking a backseat. And it sweetens up a bit, which I wasn't expecting. This feels kinda unique to my collection.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Carrie

[spookyumbrella]

This sounds like it would be a Shunga - oh well.

 

Apricot and soothing, high-quality cedar. No pencil shavings, at least not for me. Cherry blossom adds a faint floral creaminess, but apricot and cedar are the stars here. Overall, its smooth and elegant, befitting the Empress.

[JMorgynWhite]

I'm insane about this one. Reminds me of Beneath the Kotatsu- which it doesn't resemble but I think it's because it's def Shunga-like. I'd say peach and pencil shavings on wet then this amazing delicate creamy floral/fruit thing with the cedar on dry which makes it amazing. It's really subtle and ends up close to the skin which is why I think it reminds me of Kotatsu.

[Elspethdixon]

In the imp - Sakura & a hint of neroli over a cedar base. Almost syrupy without being cloying.

Wet/freshly applied - Gentle cedar with wisps of soft florals floating above it. Shunga-like, as I expected.

Five-ten minutes in - The cedar has receded, blended seamlessly in to the florals, and the syrupy-sweet aspect is gone, too, leaving a soft/powdery floral that edges close to soapiness (don't turn into soap, please don't). Light, with low throw (only about an inch or so). I'm getting much more sakura & peach blossom than neroli (there's not even a hint of citrus bite - smelling this blind I'd never guess neroli was in it, and after the first few minutes I'd struggle to pinpoint cedar). I ran the wand from the imp through my hair as well, and on said hair, with skin chemistry removed from the equation, it's a completely different scent, cedar dominant with a hint of syrupy peach and some very faint hazy frankincense incense, maybe a slight touch of floral. Is there such a thing as girly cedar? If so, this is it.

Half hour in - Soft peach blossom & clean skin musk, maybe with a hint of cedar, but only if I'm looking for it. On my hair, it's a faint cedar-peach combo that smells almost like baked goods.

[Juliamon]

I wanted to love this! In the imp it's bright, clean, sweet, happy floral. The cedar is light enough not to bother me. But my skin is having none of it. It vanishes instantly on my wrists and turns into run-of-the-mill cherry blossom in the crook of my arm, making me feel like I'm a young teen at B&BW. I already have too many locket-only scents, so this one's headed to the destash box.

[zankoku_zen]

Sakura, peach and a touch of cedar. Definitely delicate florals, slightly watery feel, and very Shunga-esque. Low throw, good wear length.

[Ghost of a Rose]

Bottle fresh from the Lab.

 

In the bottle::  First a whiff of peach (that actually smells more like apricot, or maybe canned peaches in syrup - Could that be the clear syrup mentioned by some reviewers?)  Mixed with some light florals and a hint of things I can't identify.   Then it becomes a very blended classic-style perfume with tones of flowers and fruit, especially apricot.

 

On me, wet:  Much the same as in the bottle.  When the perfumey note comes in, it has a sharpness exactly like a traditional perfume containing alcohol.

 

At 5 minutes:. Very much like a traditional perfume.  The "alcohol" sharpness has mostly evaporated.  It's already gone a little dry and powdery (not a bad thing, just an observation.) This is a sophisticated, formal, complex fragrance.  The apricot character is faint.  I have to look for it.  The florals are more noticeable.

 

At 10 minutes:. The fragrance has lightened up quite a bit already.  Otherwise it is the same.  

 

At 15 minutes:. I'm finding it difficult to pick out any specific note, although I do eventually come up with apricot, and a bit later, a very faint breath of orange. Mostly it's just a light, classic perfume. There's still a trace of the sparkly, sharp "alcohol."  

 

At 30 minutes:  Still very perfume-like.  There's still a bit of floral, and a hint of fruitiness, but the frankincense, and especially cedar, is starting to show up.  These notes are all subtle, very blended.

 

At one hour:  Same as above

 

At 2 hours:  Very light, classic perfume.

 

At 3 hours:  Very faint, virtually gone.

 

Predominant Notes:. Apricot.  Otherwise this is a very blended oil.

 

Character:. Classic perfume.  Feminine, formal.  I agree with the previous reviewers that it is Shunga--esque.

 

5 out of 6 stars

Edited November 25, 2018 by Ghost of a Rose

[alyelle]

Imp: sweet cherry blossom and peach, with a woody undercurrent of frankincense

 

Wet: a pale, secluded wood, with pink blossoms skittering through on the breeze

 

Dry: the memory of blossoms, and crushed leaves underfoot.

 

Like most apricot blends, this one stays super light on me, and so close to the skin that I need to apply quite a bit in order to generate any kind of throw. Possibly one that will be more potent with age, or in winter; in the height of summer, it lasted all of two hours, and the best throw I could achieve was 'faint'.

 

Stars: ★★★★

[rhonorv]

I got an imp of this from a forum sale (ty bheansidhe!), and it immediately became one of my favorites. The cedar (almost like cedar-chip cedar, in a pleasant way!) and cherry blossoms definitely dominate, and there's a beautiful complexity from the frankincense that ties everything together. It's also super clean smelling without being soapy or sharp. I'm so happy to have a bottle of this (ty ty torikitty!!). If I had to put one word to it: elegant! 

Edited September 15, 2020 by rhonorv

[Lucchesa]

Blossoms are hit or miss on me, but I received The Stream and the Waterfall in a blind bottle swap, and it's lovely.  Wet I get a hint of peach or nectarine with gentle pale spring blossoms -- I'm not actually making out the neroli, just the peach and cherry blossoms.  But there's a cedar mulch under those blossoming fruit trees.  The cedar and dry woody frankincense don't take over; they become the base notes with the blossoms floating over them.  The combination of a strong wood note in the cedar with the delicate blossoms doesn't sound like it would work, but it does.  I need woods or resins to anchor my florals, and this fits the bill nicely.  Not tremendous wear length on me; I had to reapply in about 3 hours. 

[starbrow]

If I was just looking at the notes nowadays, I would probably be scared off by the neroli and peach blossoms. But fortunately, I have a bottle from my inexperienced days of BPALing, and it's beautiful! It's one of the loveliest cherry blossoms, lightly kissed by other fruity blossoms of orange and peach, bathed in a pool of sweet water. The florals are soft-petaled and easy to live with for this non-floral-wearer. I have a soft spot in my heart for cherry blossoms, and often they are presented in a "fancy soap" kind of way. The Stream and the Waterfall is a dreamy, creamy take on cherry blossom; nothing so prosaic as soap. 

 

I am so not a fan of aquatics, but this is not at all an aquatic perfume to me. This is the sweetest, clearest water pouring over mossy stone in a dark, old forest waterfall. I think the frankincense and cedarwood are contributing to that impression of ancient stony forest. When many florals have moved along from my collection, this one has stayed all these years thanks to those grounding, calming elements.

 

The one downside to this blend is its low throw. It does last for 2-3 hours but it is a fairly quiet one, so if you want to simply sniff your wrist from time to time and remind yourself of a cool pool of flowers, this is your ticket.

 

I would wear this while: sweating my toes off in the middle of summer.