Florence

[grrrlennyl]

The pearl of the Italian Renaissance. Elegant iris, bright berries, gilded amber and velvety spices.

at first: i'm not sure what iris smells like, but i'm definitely getting the berries, amber, and spices. lovely.
on: much darker. i think all i'm getting is the iris, with the slightest hint of berries.
45 minutes later: this is going very sharp on me. there's a hint of amber in the background.
1.5 hours later: just generally sharp and floral.
overall: my skin does not like this at all.

[gingersnapp]

This is a very feminine blend. I would say that the berries and the amber are the strongest notes, and the amber is tempering the berries so that they're not too overwhelming. I usually get a very plastic smell off of berry blends, but this time it's not like that at all. Juicy and golden and red, if that makes any sense.

[bristlecone]

This was a frimp in one of my orders.

 

I like berries. I like amber. I have no problem with some spices. I have no previous experience with iris, but the flowers are pretty. Despite all this, Florence just did not work for me. It was sour and just smelled "off" to me, both in the vial and on my skin. I ended up throwing the imp out, since the cap broke the first or second time I opened it, which meant that 1) I had to keep the imp upright if I didn't want to spill the oil everywhere (more trouble than it was worth), and 2) the scent dissipated throughout my bedroom (would not have been a problem if I actually enjoyed the scent). I'm glad others like this, but it was not for me.

Edited December 3, 2005 by bristlecone

[k00kaburra]

I have heard of the wonder of florentine iris so I hope it will be prominant in this blend.

In bottle: The smokiness of iris and delightful bright berries, warmed in the golden glow of amber. I really like this sweet with a smoky accord.

On me: Very pretty. The iris is strong and something about the spices seems to make the blend go rather green for a few minutes. The berries sparkle and laugh in fruity glory, as they are the stars under the spotlight of the iris. Oddly, on the skin Florence rather reminds me of Skadi. It is a warm and happy scent.

[Sheila]

Wow, pretty! This reminds me a lot of 13 and Black Pearl, other iris scents that I love.

 

This combines the gorgeous, sweet smell of iris (and if you don't know what iris smells like, you should try it--it's a creamy floral) with a slightly darker "spice" smell. It suggests dark water to me, making this scent very aptly named. I don't get the berries or the amber.

 

Wonderful, Beth!

[Fishwomon]

This isn't an oil I would've chosen for myself, but I acquired an imp from somewhere, and I'm pleasantly surprised. In its initial (wet) stages on me, Florence is a lovely, unusual floral - if this is iris, then I quite like iris! It's light, pretty, interesting, and not at all a cliched floral. Alas, in the drydown, I get lots of berries, and berries are always too sweet on me. But if you like berries - even if you're wary of florals generally - do give this a try.

[hypatia]

First sniff: Iris. Reminds me of Hermes's Hiris, a bit.

 

After a while: Iris, spices, amber. I can just barely smell the berries in the background. It ends up as a soft, refined amber with a hint of iris to it.

 

Interesting; if I didn't know the name, I'd have associated it more with France than with Italy. It intrigues me enough to make me want to finish the imp, though I don't think it'll go into regular rotation.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Alas, I've noticed lately that iris goes to powder on me, and that's the case here--an oddly sharp powder, if that makes any sense. There is a hint of berry and spice, but not enough to make this work on me. That's ok, though; my parents are going to Italy for their anniversary, so I'll save this and my imp of Venice as going-away presents for my mom; she wears iris with no problem.

[ScrimHazard]

This was way to amber smelling when I first got it, but after about a month of sitting around it finally smells how I hoped it would. This is a scent I'll have to age to make it how I prefer it.

 

In bottle: Iris and spices!!!

 

Wet: Iris dripping with spices and oh, I smell the berries!

 

Dry-down: The amber warms up the floral note and the berries mix the strong floral with my skin. I tend to work well with berry based fragrances. It reminds me slightly of black dahlia, but less like I should be wearing a black velvet cloak and more like laying on satin sheets in the nude.

 

After two hours: Sadly this does not last very long on me and I only smell faintly of iris and berries. Must reapply...and you know what that means...I need to order a bottle.

[BlackWingedRoses]

Pier One Imports...bottled.

But that's a good thing!

There's lots of mingling going on. It is very well blended.

I thought I smelled coconut but it must be the amber and the berries dueling it out. It's a rich and creamy scent with a hint of spice and a bit of fruitiness. Even if you are not a huge fruity person this is great because it is not overpowering. I'd say it is more of a floral.

a very beautiful exotic scent.

[angharad]

Mmmmm. The iris and berries are most prominent on my skin at first, making this a dark, sweet scent. After a few minutes, the berries fade back a bit to let the amber brighten this up, and finally the spices begin to peek out. It stays a bit more floral than I normally would prefer, but I love any and all iris scents. Overall, Florence is absolutely lovely on me.

[smallvoice]

It's lovely in the imp, but once I dabbed a bit on my skin it turned musty. Extremely musty. There was some floral, and a hint of sweet berries, but lots of dust piled on top. Luckily, as I let it sit on my skin, the spices come out and mingle with the group and chase away most of the musty smell. I'm not sure I like spicy berries... it's strange, but the floral seems to be low key, and it's just all very... odd. It's a peculiar blend on me. Am I getting rid of it? Not yet. Must do some more experimenting with it. I think I may like it after it's been on my skin a bit longer.

[sthenno]

Apparently I'm the only one who thinks this smells like Thierry Mugler's Angel. A sweeter, juicier, and less toxic Angel. I'll be keeping this one.

[Ryvre]

In the imp, this smelled really nice, though very sweet. Wet, it smells like berries and not much else. For some reason, the berries overpower everything else on my skin. The other notes start to come out a little as it dries, but it is still overwhelmingly berries.

[PurringPulsar]

Florence

 

In the imp: this reminds me of raspberry ice cream/frozen yogurt for some reason! Or blackberry? Whatever it is, I get sweet creamy berries with sugar and a hint of iris.

Wet on skin: mmm, now the berries get darker and a bit greener-you can smell the greenery around the berries. The iris in here is sweet and almost creamy-powdery in feel. I don’t get the amber or spices yet.

Dry: ooh, I like this. It smells like freshly picked blackberries in cream with a hint of green, also something dry behind it which may be one of the spices (it smells more like a woody note to me though) with the iris adding it’s pale, gentle touch. But then the scent changes. The almost tart greenish berry smoothes out, becomes creamier and merges into the iris. I think the amber comes out, and I smell more of the spices (can’t tell what they are though) adding warmth. This is a very unique scent, so pretty.

After a while: the scent has smoothed out nicely and now I get a pleasant yet unexpected creamy berry scent-it’s like blackberries and currants with raspberries mixed into whipped cream-it almost reminds me of some kind of dessert, I think, with iris just enhancing the paleness of this creamy scent, and adds a touch of powder (that’s good powder, btw). The scent is sweet, but not too much thanks to the slight tartness of the berries. Hints of spice flit through here and there, and I get something reminiscent of sandalwood too.

Eventually, this moves away from the creamy fruit dessert scent to something more muted and sophisticated. It’s still very berry, but the iris comes into it’s own now, and the golden amber can be detected behind it with warm spices. The scent is velvety, indeed, with a feel of dust or powder to it.

Verdict: this is a lovely scent, very unique, very different, elegant and soft. It starts off with a surprisingly creamy berry scent. Like blackberries, raspberries and blackcurrants in cream or even frozen yogurt. This berry note was slightly green and fresh at first, but the it becomes smoother, lighter, gentler, and the iris takes hold with it’s pale powdery scent-and in this fragrance, the iris has a creamy aspect to it. Then it loses it’s almost foody berry-cream scent as it becomes a lovely balance of iris and berries with a hint of dry spice and sweet amber. This scent is delightful, quietly sophisticated and with a uniqueness to it-I haven’t smelt anything like this. I don’t need a bottle yet but I’m keeping the imp.

[modesty_blaise]

Oh, amber, what´s up with you??

 

I sometimes wonder if I´m the only one that thinks amber... reeks? Cause when people can say that this reminds them of, say, ice cream, I simply cannot understand it. It seems to me amber is the last thing to remind me of anything I can eat...

 

Well. Berries would have been nice. As would iris. Spices? Not really my thing. Amber? All there is. Maybe something else in the background, but amber is really blocking my view. I know that some of you hate this, but Florence is just too grown-up for me. I smell like my grandma. And before you roll your eyes; my grandma doesn´t smell yucky, nor does she smell old, or poopy or anything like that. She just tends to wear heady, perfume-y scents, like Opium and the likes.

 

It´s not like I had to wash this off. It´s just... not me. I actually caught a whiff of it earlier, when I went to the store to pick up some things, and I nearly laughed. It´s just so weird. Like if I´d drawn a mustache with my eyeliner. It´s fun around the house, and Florence is nice and evocative, but man, I have to let this go.

Edited February 26, 2006 by modesty_blaise

[loves_requiem]

Imp: baby powder

 

Skin: soap and baby powder....i think im getting soap cuz of the lilies...

 

Dry: spicy baby powder????

 

why does amber hate me so much?? what did i ever do to her????

[nancybridget]

Oh, I'm in looooooove!

 

This is a beautiful spicy, amber and berry blend. It actually reminds me of Lolita Lempicka, but with the berry note. There's also a floral hint of Iris.

 

It's warm and sexy and I'll definately be needed a big bottle of Florence.

[kayte]

I got this imp last week, it's about a third full and of indeterminate age.

 

In the imp - it smells spicy, and the oil itself is a golden amber colour.

 

Wet on skin - umm...pine?! I don't think anybody else got "pine." It definitely smells like a bright, minty FOREST. I wasn't expecting that, but it's actually pretty refreshing!

 

Dry - ...which is why it is really too bad that that minty tree smell is gone within about 15 - 20 minutes, to be replaced by thick, spicy, powdery flower. It actually kind of reminds me of my Chanel No 5 body powder, but I'm not sure if that's more because of the actual scent or the "powder" that I'm getting. This smells nice on me (if a bit mature), and it would be lovely at night. I wore it during the day though, and it was much too much. Also, it lasted forever. I put it on yesterday at about 9 am, and over 12 hours later, despite having actually rinsed off my wrists it was still going strong. I'll have to go easy on this one.

[abberlaine]

That's a first. Iris? There's iris in here? On my skin, Florence is all thick but muted berries, dry spices and raw amber. The berries here are on their way to drying up (as opposed to, oh, say, the berry juice that I got out of Bordello) and there's something... burnt in the spices. Is that clay dust?

 

To the average Joe, Florence smells like berries and a sculptor's workshop. It's not bad as a "close your eyes and be transported" kinda scent, but it's not my kinda thing to wear as a perfume.

Edited April 3, 2006 by Abberlaine Arrol

[stardreamer]

This goes on a touch floral, which is probably the iris. After an hour or so, it's more like a sweeter take on The Lion -- spiced amber lightened by the berry note. I'm starting to collect as many amber scents as tea scents! Staying power is pretty good; it's still quite present after about 10 hours. This one's a keeper, though it may go into the second-rank rotation.

[arabella]

First Impression: A dry, yet, creamy and rich floral.

 

Dries down to: I'd guess the main note to be a bulb flower - probably, iris. There's also something sweet, almost like honeysuckle but not quite.

 

Additional Comments: The sweetness is coming from the berries and the amber is really in its element here.. I'd be interested to know which spices are in this - maybe, cardamom? This one did not disappoint.

 

Lasted: A couple of hours.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[Cielamara]

This was the fourth of the gift-imps from Massachusetts.

 

In the bottle: Hmm. I was expecting to get hit with a blast of berries as was the case with Blood Countess. No such thing with Florence. Florence has the rose-gold haze of spice and amber that drew me to it initially.

 

Wet: There's that hint of berry, but it's mostly iris, I think. This is nice.

 

Settling: Hello spices! There's still very little sign of the berries. Just amber and spices, amber and spices. This is nice, but it's not got a whole lot of oomph on me, which is surprising...normally amber and spice mean it's going to be there for a while.

 

Drydown: Florence was lovely, and I would like to occasionally smell this in the room...but my spice quota is already fulfilled. Between Scherezade and Snake Oil, I'm good to go on the heavy spicy blend front. However, this one might have a future in the bottle business--not for me, but for my mother. I made her try some on and she's really liking it.

[Spastik_Kitty]

In the bottle: Berries and pine? I have no idea why I'm getting pine in this.

 

First on: Same thing, a very sweet pine and slightly over ripe berries. It must be the spices.

 

After a bit: This is exactly like most Pine candles I've encountered, weird that my sense on scent keeps focusing on that.

 

After a bit more: The berries are a bit more prominent, still sweet but not cloyingly so, it still reminds me of xmas trees.

 

I don't think I'll be keeping this.

[Voleuse]

On first application, this is bright and sparkling. The iris is strong, but swathed in warm spices that remind of Christmas. It's pretty, but it also makes me want to sneeze. As it dries, however, the scent morphs to amber with golden spice overtones. It's rather evocative--a spacious room, polished bright, recently vacated. Beautiful.