White Lotus

On me, this is a cool aquatic (fresh water not salted) floral which slowly warms. At first I just get the Lotus and cool floral note but no lily of the valley which is a shame as I love that note. The opening reminds me of another popular perfume that I had a sample of, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was! It slowly sweetens, as the tuberose comes at about the 2hr mark. Its a beautifully done tuberose, not too sweet as the lingering Lotus cools it. Then about the 3hr mark the Lotus leaves and in comes the musk as it turns into a skin scent. I don't get any patchouli on my skin. It's definitely upmarket and expensive smelling and while the mid point and dry down are lovely, it's still a bit too cool for me so I won't be getting a bottle. Although that said they do have a sale on at the moment and the mid point on is beautiful.... 😂 * Edit - upgraded to love! While the opening still isn't my favourite (just a little watery and cool floral for my taste) the mid point onwards is beautiful and as they have a crazy sale at the moment (£15 for 100ml!) I couldn't resist getting a bottle. It's an absolute steal at that price and it's different to other perfumes in my collection.

An exquisite perfume. Poetic, dark and smooth, like a night-time stroll by an enchanted pond. When I first smelled it, it teleported me to the shores of Booya Moon, for all of you Stephen King fans out there. A crepuscular aquatic planet full of peace and healing, but also dark looming threats behind every flower and tree. Technically, this is an extremely interesting aquatic floral. It’s fresh, but it’s also warm, crisp but also sweet. It opens with a very dewy, green lotus that only becomes sweeter and more tame as time goes by. Lily of the valley is also extremely prominent on my skin. I would almost wanna call it “pristine”, if it didn’t veer towards murkier territories fast. There is a herbal bitterness underneath which keeps it from smelling mainstream, and the fragrance becomes rounder and richer as the other florals kick in. Overall effect is mysterious, aquatic, with a touch of forest and swamp, soothing and nostalgic. A wonderful olfactive experience, especially if you can snatch it for the ridiculous discount they used to have on the Illuminum site some time ago.

Strangely--or not!--Illuminum White Lotus somehow reminds me of Dior Addict (pre-Y2K). I'd have sworn there was some sandalwood in this perfume. Overall, it's very spicy and oriental--more so than floral to my nose. I do detect both jasmine and tuberose in the bouquet, so maybe this is a floriental? I'd call this a cold weather perfume, but it smells pretty good sitting in front of an air conditioner on July 4th. What White Lotus is not primarily is a big white floral or an aquatic composition--not by any stretch of the imagination. I have seen very few reviews of this perfume, no doubt because most people are not obsessive enough to order the massive Illuminum sample sets. The Illuminum series includes a number of well-made perfumes, from the perspective of ingredients. With the huge number of new compositions churned out over only a couple of years, I have my doubts that much creative investment was put into this collection, but the ingredients are good enough to make nearly all of them wearable--barring an idiosyncratic aversion to this or that note.

A delightfully soft and posh smelling perfume from Illuminum. I immediately get the clean, green lily of the valley top note, before the sandalwood making up part of the lotus accord comes through. Tuberose and jasmine are very light. The best part is after about 30 minutes when the white lotus absolute begins to appear. For me, it is all about the lotus. It is lovely with it's rich, nuanced, watery earthiness. I can hardly smell the musk and patchouli, yet on my skin it lasts about 4 hours until drydown. You can smell the high quality of the ingredients. All in all, it is a little too sweet for my taste, but lovers of lotus might like to give this a try. You may love it.

Quite an interesting perfume. Definitely a smooth wear, although the jasmine and tuberose heart does also remind me of that 'bubblegum sweet' smell these white flowers can have (no bad thing for me, I must add). The drydown dials back the sweetness with the aid of some earthy facet (likely the combination of musk and patchouli as listed). I have no IRL experience with lotus, so cannot really comment on its presence... instead I'll offer a free-association list of what I personally make of this fragrance: balmy pink sweet earthy bubblegum subtle smooth

This is not as floral as the votes suggest; I smell a lot of patchouli...