Summer is my favorite time to wear natural perfumes. This is the season when everything is in bloom, so it feels especially appropriate to wear botanical essences; also, the warm weather and warmer skin seem to make the perfumes themselves "flower." In any case, I've spent the past week rotating between several fragrances from indie line Roxana Illuminated Perfume, and the two I'm going to review here are Aurora, an early Illuminated Perfume (first offered in 2006) that keeps drawing me back, and To Bee, the latest release.
Aurora is a floriental with a mood of "vivid light polarized and magnetized." Its notes include mandarin, jasmine, rose, spice, and amber; like all Illuminated Perfume creations, it is formulated with "plant essential oils, absolutes, and CO2 extracts with tinctured plant material in a base of pure organic grape and grain alcohol." Aurora's opening is a nicely blended citrus-spice accord with a touch of clove, followed by some lush ylang ylang (as well as the jasmine). The base is a woodsy-spice blend with a slightly powdery feel and perhaps just a hint of tonka or vanilla. As promised by Illuminated Perfume, Aurora does give off a carnation-like effect by its dry down.
To my nose, the liquid perfume of Aurora lingers longer in its spicy phase, whereas the solid version moves more quickly into the creamy ylang ylang note. Ideally, I'd apply the liquid in the morning, and then touch up with the solid as the day goes on. (I've purchased one of Illuminated Perfume's brass-finish solid compacts, which is a convenient small pleasure to carry and use.) Despite its spice and amber notes, Aurora is never overwhelming, and it has a classic feeling that I enjoy. It's feminine, but not — dreaded term — "girly."
To Bee is "an opulent ode to the winged alchemist," with notes of honey, spice, amber, mimosa, sweet clover, beeswax, and resins. It was inspired by the smell of actual beehives, and while I've never been near an active hive, I'd like to imagine that they do give off an aroma something like this. On my skin, To Bee's opening is a wave of spice, particularly a rich saffron and a hint of something cinnamon-like. The spices subside after a bit, making space for an accord suggesting sun-warmed grass and a heart note of true beeswax that reminds me of hand-dipped beeswax candles. In the later notes, there's a suggestion of smoky leather (labdanum?) lurking underneath the grass and beeswax. The fragrance's base is a warm amber accord of tonka bean, resin, wood, and vanilla, which Illuminated Perfume has previously offered on its own as a solid perfume called Aumbre.
To Bee develops smoothly and slowly on my skin, and it lasts very well for a natural perfume. It should interest honey-fragrance fans, although it's not solely a honey scent. It's deeper and more complex than L'Occitane's soothing-sweet Honey Gentle Water (now discontinued) and more nuanced and earthy than the gourmand honey of Wiggle Perfume's Bee. And, since it has spice and resin notes in addition to the honey and wax, it should appeal to other scent-audiences as well. It also feels somewhat more androgynous than the womanly Aurora. Both scents could easily be worn year-round, even if they do seem especially evocative and redolent in the summer air.
Roxana Illuminated Perfume Aurora is available as liquid perfume (7 grams for $150) and solid perfume (5 g for $28); To Bee is also offered in liquid (7 g for $175) and solid (5 g for $28) formulations. Solid perfume compacts and lockets with refills are also available, as are small samples of both scents. For buying information, see the listing for Roxana Illuminated Perfume under Perfume Houses.
How would you rate the longevity of these, compared to either conventional perfumes or other naturals? I have not had very good luck so far with natural perfumes. None of the Anya’s Garden scents lasted even an hour on my skin. The all-nautral DSH scents that I have tried were a little better, mostly lasting around 2 hours. Cardamom and Khyphi seems to be about the best; I get perhaps 3 hours from it. I have been interested in the Illuminated Perfume line, but hesitant to actually try it for fear that they would be “now-you-smell-it-now-you-don’t” scents.
Hi, Roses — Well, even conventional fragrances vary for me; depending on the fragrance, they can last anywhere from an hour to almost 24 hours! As far as natural fragrances, go, this was one of the longest-lasting I’ve tried. I applied sparingly from my samples, and I could still smell To Bee well into the workday. Aurora also lasted well. Some others in the line, such as Lyra, are beautiful but shorter-lived.
Just for a worst case scenario, I remember wearing an Honore des Pres natural fragrance, Sexy Angelic, that was completely dreamy — and vanished in less than 30 minutes. But for many natural scents I’ve tried, 2-3 hours seems typical. I guess you can think of it as something like tinted lip balm that you just need to reapply!
I’m very late to this conversation, but I just wanted to add that I, too, find that the fragrances from Illuminated Perfumes last longer than other natural perfumes. I’ve been terribly disappointed with some natural scents, which seem to vanish in about 15 minutes (no kidding). I do get more “wear” out of DSH and Mandy Aftel perfumes–but still, after an hour or so they’re gone (I have very dry skin). In my experience, the fragrances from Illuminated Perfumes last considerably longer–tho, of course, not as long as many synthetics (for example, Eau Duelle recently tortured me for at least 24 hours; how I wished it would fade!).
I have many scents form Illuminated Perfumes, but Greenwitch is probably the one I wear most often. I put on (a substantial amount) in the morning and can smell it around me all day. It’s not loud, but it remains present, and toward the end of the day it often surprises me by “reappearing” unexpectedly. I must admit, I typically don’t just apply it in the morning–I’m likely to “top up” throughout the day using the solid version. (But I often reapply with synthetic perfumes, too; I like that fresh burst of a reapplication midday.) Another thought about longevity: on London Makeup Girl’s blog, she recommends applying a bit of the solid perfume to one’s hair. Apparently scents stick around well that way. I haven’t tried it, but perhaps it’s worth a go!
I think To Bee liquid and solid have excellent longevity for a natural, I was pretty impressed.
I agree!
Do you know the rationale for the price difference between the liquid and the solid? It seems massive. Unfortunately I generally prefer liquids.
London, I’m not exactly sure, although I think this applies to other brands as well. Maybe it’s due to the high percentage of wax in the solid version? Or maybe it’s one of those weight-vs.-volume issues that always confuse me? In any case, a single dab of the liquid would go a lot further than a single dab of the solid.
Thanks for highlighting these, Jessica, and I’ll remember to reach for my naturals while it’s still summer!
Yes! I’m also going to be re-trying some samples from Acorelle week. If I remember correctly, they’re fleeting, but very nice indeed (especially on a hot day).
Roxana does a nice job – I haven’t tried these but To Bee sounds right up my alley! Thanks for the reviews.
She does! I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve sampled so far, and I own a compact with pans of Lyra and Aurora (which I keep rotating), so I’m a bit hooked at the moment!
I love honey in a fragrance and To Be sounds lovely.
Me too, and it’s hard to find ones that I like. Wiggle and Memoire Liquide both offer good straightforward honey scents. To Bee is more mysterious and complex, of course!
So glad to see a review of these since I just happened upon them the other day and have been wondering about ordering a sample, or three…
Hi, Cinnamonster! They’re quite nicely done, so if you’re intrigued, you may want to order a few small samples from her Etsy shop.