I sampled  Esscentual Alchemy For the Love of Bees Botanical Perfume Oil on a dreary January day, a day that I was exhausted by work and frankly, life in general. All I wanted was comfort. The house has been purged of all chocolate and sweets (overreaction to unhealthy December eating), everything was irritating me. This usually isn’t a time that I should sample a fragrance, no fragrance should have to deal with contrary me, but I did. And I’m very happy that I sampled For the Love of Bees. This pretty, floral green grassy scent made me forget about gray, stressful winter days and about sunshine, greenness, and the good ‘ole outdoors. For the Love of Bees made me feel optimistic.

At first, I was a bit confused by For the Love of Bees as I often am with pastoral and/or honey scents. I got this sourness, sweetness, and lots of dried hay. And a coolness to my nose. It is complex. After a few minutes, I can wrap my head around a few of the notes, but they come to me in images: sunshine, foliage, dried grass, and pollen covered bees. If you like hay scents, then try this one. This scent is not hay shy! I get lots of dried hay and chamomile tea with rich, sticky honey and honeycomb (seriously smells like the real deal). There’s an evergreen quality, a coolness, a greeness. This is the broom flower. Once I sniff this, I imagine pollen 🙂 What I find the most surprising about this scent is a delicate touch of dark berries. This adds to how summery this scent! The black currant adds a sweet muskiness and mixes perfectly with the earthy, dry hay. Awe, summer.

I knew that I liked For the Love of Bees, but didn’t know if it would be something I’d wear. I haven’t been through a “hay” stage in a sometime and sometimes I wonder if I’m delusional thinking honey as a note works for me. After a few tries, I demanded that David smell it. I never describe scents to him or give him a name, notes. I have him sniff, he’s an “emotional” sniffer, you can see it in his face, and his nose isn’t “trained” like mine. He sniffs and declares, “This is the best damn hay scent that I’ve ever smelled.” Yeah, it’s that kind of good. It really smells pastoral. You’ll notice the hay and honey.

Notes listed include 5 types of vanilla bean tincture, hay, broom flower, black currant, beeswax, ylang ylang, blue chamomile, honeysuckle, and carrot seed. PERFUMER – Amanda Feeley

Sizes and prices vary for this botanical perfume. The 10 ml perfume oil of For the Love of Bees retails for $75 and is available at Esscentual Alchemy’s store.

Victoria’s Final EauPINION – If you want a scent that smells like the countryside, this is it. Like I said, I haven’t been in a “hay” phase in years. But, if I had this years ago, I would have been very happy. It was exactly what I wanted.

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*Disclaimer – A sample of this perfume was provided by Esscentual Alchemy. I am not financially compensated for this review or any others. My opinions are my own. Bee is from The Vintage Moth.