Alkemia Reviews, Pt. VII

[femmenstein]

As usual, favorites are denoted with an asterisk. Alkemia's storefront can be found here.

Koi No Yokan (An intriguing romance of plum blossoms, lily of the valley, white musk, and water lotus kindled by dry aged Japanese cedar, tempting black currants, and a flirtation of exotic pomelo and tamarind.)

In the bottle: Kind of just smells like a generic floral?

On skin: Still a mainstream-smelling floral (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), but it’s more complex. The plum blossom is definitely the strongest note (yay!), and the scent overall has a very pretty and romantic feel to it. I think this is one that I’ll have to wear numerous times to get a good opinion of. It reminds me of another scent, but I’m not sure what it is. There’s also something kind of sharp hanging out in the background. The pomelo, maybe?

Longevity: Starts calming down significantly after about 2 hours and started fading after about 3 hours. Lasted about 4 hours.

Seven Watermelon Suns (A slightly surreal blend of ripe red watermelon, English cucumber, white leather, golden fig, white poppy, night flowering datura, and water musk.)

In the bottle: Watermelon, something warm, and something floral.

On skin: This is definitely “surreal,” as is described. The watermelon is nice and fresh, as opposed to candied or super artificial, which is great. The rest of the notes are there a little bit, but are in the background. I can detect the cucumber and leather, but everything else kind of just blends together. This is definitely interesting.

Longevity: A bit of the florals came out after about 1.5 to 2 hours, and it started fading after about 3 hours. Lasted between 3 and 4 hours.

Lost Highways (Roadtrip around the U.S. in a bottle. A botanical peregrination of Saw Palmetto Palm leaves and Southern cypress from the Southeast bayous; New mown hay, Lemon basil, Wild bergamot tea from the Great Plains; Linden blossom and Acadian pine from the Northeast; Night flowering desert flowers from the Southwest; and Spicebush and Incense cedar from the West and Northwest coast.)

In the bottle: Green, woody, and a bit floral.

On skin: All of the above, with a bit of a soapy/detergent edge. Damnit. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but not what I was hoping for at all. I can’t distinguish any of the notes from each other, so it’s pretty much just soap/detergent on a cotton shirt.

Longevity: Lasted between 4 and 5 hours.

Apsara (Dark purple hyacinth flowers and Darjeeling tea dance together in a sensually alluring spring pas de deux.)

In the bottle: About what it says on the tin. Hyacinths and tea. Very spring-y and a bit strange, but in a good way.

On skin: Again, exactly what it says on the tin. It smells more complex than just hyacinth and tea.

Longevity: Started fading after 2.5 hours, and the tea calmed down a bit. Had about 3 hours of good wear.

Falling Stars on Winter Solstice (Aromatic balsam needles, a dab of dark musk, sweet myrrh, incense resins, melted snow, and a touch of cabin woodstove smoke.)

In the bottle: Myrrh and resins, a touch of pine, and a bit of smoke. Reminds me a lot of how Gothique initially smelled, or rather, Gothique reminds me a lot of this.

On skin: This scent is so bizarre. Sometimes it smells exactly like Gothique did before it morphed into lemon candy, meaning I don’t get the pine at all, and sometimes it smells strongly of pine. I still really like it, but I wish it didn’t change so much on me.

Longevity: Started fading after the first hour, and faded significantly after two hours. Barely noticeable after 4 hours.

Musc de Jonquille*** (Bright daffodil musk blooming through a light dusting of spring snow.)

In the bottle: Nice, crisp, green daffodils with a bit of warmth. Lovely.

On skin: Fresh, crisp daffodils and greenery among warm musk. Instant happiness.

Longevity: Faded after 2.5 hours, and had about 4 hours of good wear.

Ambre Extrait*** (Our 100% natural aged amber accord is an exquisitely sultry blend of some of the most precious and spiritually redolent resins in our Alkemia collection including: North African Rock Rose, Cambodian Agarwood, Prussian Amber resin, Madagascar Vanilla, Nepalese Spikenard, Somalian Opopanax, Tunisian Liquidambar, Himalayan Cedar, and Honduran Styrax.

Together these natural unguents and essences swirl into a richly resinous golden single note Amber. In its bouquet, a true amber-lover will be able to detect notes of wild honey, red earth, pale wood, temple incense, smoke, beeswax, sap, bark, saffron, velvet, skin musk, crushed citrus flowers, butter, and suede.)

In the bottle: Dry, old wood. In a good way.

On skin: Dry, antique woods. The scent that very old wooden furniture has, but in the best way. It brings back memories of browsing antique stores, which is something I love. I get a little bit of nuanced butter and smoky beeswax as well, but they’re way in the background.

Longevity: Still fairly detectable after 4 hours.

Midnight Garden*** (A lunar intoxication of night-flowering white flowers – tuberose (flower of dangerous pleasures), lily (flower of majestic beauty), honeysuckle (flower of binding love), gardenia (flower of secret passions) and moonflower (flower that inspires dreams of love.)

In the bottle: Predominantly tuberose, with some lily and sweetness.

On skin: This is super tuberose-y, and I love it. Tuberose is one of my favorite florals, so I had a feeling I’d like this. It’s pretty much just floral notes though, so if that’s something that puts you off, definitely avoid this.

Longevity: Faded significantly after about 3 hours.

As Dark Things Are Meant to Be Loved* (Lapsang souchong tea, aloeswood, smoked black amber, aged dark patchouli, tonka, Amazonian breuzinho, Moroccan bhakoor, labdanum, temple incense, caramelized opium, black coffee, black coconut, soft Russian leather, and tabac leaf.)

In the bottle: Strong coconut, and something dark and powdery.

On skin: Dark, resinous, and sweet. The coconut is very strong initially (much to my dismay), but it settles down after a few minutes. The tea and coffee read the strongest, and more of the resins and incense notes come out after it’s been on the skin for a while. I also get some of the opium, which is dreamy. I almost bypassed this one because of the coconut alone, but it’s really lovely once it has time to dry down a little.

Longevity: About 4 hours.

Blue Moon Eclipse** (An olfactory place of solace - the coolness of ferns and delicate irises beside tumbling woodland streams scattered with mossy rocks, water lilies, flowering rushes, black willow, ginger musk, and a whispering breeze of lemon verbena infused aldehydes gathered into a tarnished antique silver pitcher filled with early autumn chrysanthemums.)

In the bottle: Very bizarre and interesting. Reminiscent of fruity citronella candles.

On skin: Virtually the same, but fruitier. Still very reminiscent of citronella candles, but there’s also a distinct melon-like note, and some soft florals. I actually really disliked this as first, but it’s grown on me.

Longevity: Faded pretty significantly after the first 2.5 hours. Had about 3 hours of good wear.