Rara Avis

I've had this on my right wrist for about 40 minutes..... I'm picking up the cucumber and lavender very clearly, and just a hint of the violet leaf. I like that I'm able to pick up the cucumber without a ton of citrus, as cucumber always strikes me as a quiet note, while citrus is generally a bit of a bully. I'm picking up the tiniest bit of metallic note set against the lavender now, about 1 hour in, and starting to lose the cucumber but the oak moss and woody notes are just peeking through. Very quietly. There's no discernible projection - this scent has stayed very close. I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to help push this out, away from my skin just a bit. All in all, a lovely scent. Different, not easily categorized. Nothing screechy or loud, this is very quietly summer. If I were to assign it a color, I'd call it "light celadon". I think this would appeal to the folks who like "clean" scents (maybe I'm reacting to the linden blossom rather than smelling it explicitly?) because even with the violet leaf there's nothing dark or potting soil anywhere in this and despite the cucumber there's no foodie aspect, either. Daytime wear, I can't see this sending a night time message. UPDATE: 04 Oct 2019 Decided this was worth a full bottle.

ADDENDUM - I found a solution to get this lovely fragrance to project a bit off my skin. I bought Alkemia’s Enigma spray and spritzed lightly over this oil. I am anosmic to iso-E Super, so I don’t detect any change to the scent. My final test of this theory was to borrow my SO’s schnozz. I put Rara Avis solo on my left arm, on my right I topped it with a single-spray misting of Enigma. He couldn’t smell anything when I waved my left arm through the air, but he could clearly pick up the cucumber, lavender and ozone when I waved my right arm, about 10 inches away. When he put his nose directly to each arm he was not able to identify any difference between them, so he may be anosmic to iso-E Super as well (another test for another day, perhaps).

A Pims Cup on the veranda. A mojito made serendipitously with Hendricks. Not for everyone, and best served on a hot day with a cold beverage, but it's nice to have in my summer arsenal.