Midnight Garden

Everything you read here is true; the silky, white petals are creamy and rich, there's a soft breeze blowing through the orchard, and the flowers grow in peaceful harmony. Lily, gardenia, and honeysuckle are three of my favorite white florals, and in this perfume they really shine. All their best qualities are there in their typical stunning intensity, the waxiness of the lily, the sweeping gardenia petals, the warm white honeysuckle - and all without overwhelming. I recognize tuberose, a welcome friend, and though I haven't smelled datura before, Alkemia is typically very true to life so I trust it's well represented as well. Honestly it's impressive how well balanced this scent is. This could so easily be a sticky, hot, suffocating mess, but it's not! It's Midnight Garden, thank god. As others have pointed out, this perfume is neither sugary or overly green, but simply white. Because of that, it feels unbound by the seasons. I could see it in the winter as a joyful reminder of eternal spring, a wistful autumn wear, a seductive date night scent (maybe with a layer of something spicy underneath?), or a daytime pick-me-up. It has excellent performance, so no need to worry about fixatives or reapplications. Overall I find it wonderful, and it was the crown jewel of my sample set.

The person a few comments below (adrimira98) who mentioned this being reminiscent of a Victorian garden on a humid night is absolutely right. That’s exactly what I’m getting from this too. Romantic and gothic. The longevity is amazing; I can smell a whisper of it on my arm after 8 hours of wear. The comments I’ve gotten are positive, and that it has a sunscreen or powdery feel after it dries down. The description of the scent’s qualities from the Alkemia website: “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). Hauntingly beautiful.”

Honestly, to me, this smells like sex in a garden. Beautiful, lush, night-blooming white flowers and a musky, animalic note in the base that smells so elegant, refined, and a little naughty. This was sent to me in the curated sample set I requested and my description was along the lines of: An elegant princess who spends her days attending to her duties and her nights hidden away with her secret lover in the palace garden. (I sent them a request based on one of my characters) AND LET ME TELL YOU Alkemia delivered. This one and Kashish really blew me away. Tuberose is hard to get right and neither of these had that overly sweet bubblegummy scent. It actually added a certain creamy lusciousness that made it come across as super sexy.

I thought Alkemia had made a mistake when they sent me this sample based on my other purchases. After all, I don't really like floral perfumes most of the time. But they were right. I'm in love with this scent. It starts out with roses faintly and honeysuckles largely. It's like walking through the forest and encountering that luscious-smelling honeysuckle bush that has attracted so many busy honey bees. I keep wanting to smell my wrist when I'm wearing this perfume. Unfortunately, it doesn't last very long. But, fortunately, the lovely honeysuckle scent stays most of the time, winding down somewhat soapy and powdery.

If you love white flowers, you WILL love this perfume. I can't compare it to Fracas, as I don't have that one (yet). But, I do find this to be a gorgeous fragrance that floral lovers will adore. And, it is a great value for the price. It is a soft floral that is very versatile, in my opinion. Yes, as previous posters have mentioned, this could be a white tee and jeans fragrance. But, it could also be a fragrance that you wear to a nice dinner. It is a great, wearable fragrance.