I can hear the bells are ringing joyful and triumphant...

Strange Invisible Perfumes Urban Lily EdP

I mentioned Strange Invisible Perfumes Urban Lily EdP on my favorite Spring scents last year, but I'm only getting around to reviewing it now. Alexandra Balahoutis founded her house, Strange Invisible Perfumes, in 2000. Billed as "botanical perfumery," Strange Invisible Perfumes are all organic and fall into a current popular trend in perfumery.

I'm of two minds regarding the trend. On the one hand, I in favor of environmentalism and embracing a chemical free life; on the other hand, perfumery is about making the best scents possible, with whatever can be had. Also, Chandler Burr makes a pretty credible argument in The Perfect Scent in favor of synthetics in describing how they are frequently more environmentally-friendly because they can produce approximately the same or better quality ingredients without, say, having to kill musk deer. However, I suspect the 'all naturals' movement is here for a while, anyway. While I don't go out of my way to look for them, I certainly do note when a scent is 'organic' because, while I don't care, I have friends that do and, for the sake of gift giving, it's nice to know.

According to Strange Invisible Perfumes,

Sincere. Resilient. Untamed.

The lush scent of lily of the valley blossoms

Similar to the gardenia, lily of the valley will not yield an essence. Happily, the sweetness of its petals, the strength of its roots, and the lush beauty of its leaves are captured in Urban Lily, a stunning bouquet for the ages.

Urban Lily is dry and green, a clean smell in a world-washed-clean-by-Spring-rain kind of way, not in a hand soap or laundry soap kind of way. It's green and clean like plants and earth. In that respect, it reminds me of CB I Hate Perfumes Black March and CB I Hate Perfumes Wild Hunt. It also induces that catch in the back of the throat, verge of tears feeling. It also has a dryness to it; some reviewers said this was sort of like the smell of hay. I'll mostly have to take their word for it, since where I'm from all the hay has a slightly mildewed smell from the high humidity. To me it reminds me of the smell of incense trapped within the pages of church hymnals. Which brings me to the other scent this reminds me of, CB I Hate Perfumes Fire From Heaven. This scent seems to be a blend of those two, with the addition of the smell of wet concrete drying and hardening in the warm summer sun.

The other imagine that arises in my mind when I close my eyes and beath in Urban Lily is the color of foam on top of waves, after the wave has crashed against the beach and left a line across the wet sand, like the top of a fan or or the rippled edge of a shell. The overall effect in my mind is most akin to...creation. The start of something new, both organic and man-made, of nature and the urban. For those reasons, it seems very oriented toward Spring to me. It's not a particularly gendered smell either, which I appreciate. I think it could easily be worn by anyone without a lot of second glances, which I don't usually find in soliflores, so that's a nice surprise.

You can buy Urban Lily direct from the perfumer in pure parfum (.25 oz for $210) or EdP (1.7oz for $175). The perfumer also has samples available, as well as the rest of the Strange Invisible Perfumes line. You can also get Urban Lily at BeautyHabit

"I'm seeking girls in sales and marketing.
Let's go make out up in the balcony.
Your business dress so businesslike and I'm
Tossing the blouse over a chairback and
I can hear the bells..."
- "I Hear The Bells," Mike Doughty
(You can listen to the song here)

Want more reviews? Try...
~ a review from Ayala at Smelly Blog
~ a review from Robin at Now Smell This!
~ a review from Scent Hive
~ a review from Perfume-Smellin' Things
~ a review from Perfume Posse
~ a review from The Beauty Alchemist