Strange Invisible Perfumes • Lyric Rain • Fragrances

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*TOP REVIEWER* Tovah on 11/24/2008 2:14:00 PM more reviews by Tovah

Age: 36-43   Skin: Oily, Olive, Warm   Hair: Red, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

Ingenius. Inspired by and named for Dorothy's Parker's morbidly exquisite poem, Lyric Rain is an olfactory deconstruction of the reality of death, and the implications of decomposition. "Oh, let it be a night of lyric rain/And singing breezes when my bell is tolled." Like Parker, this perfume cannot resist wit; and it knows better than to take itself too seriously. True to form for the exceptional Strange Invisible Perfumes, at the beginning of wear, I am damn near compelled to dress in black and roam a moonlit cemetery. Jasmine, patchouli, and lavender create a night spell; I can almost hear echoing footsteps and wisps of Chopin Nocturnes played by raindrops. "I have so loved the rain that I would hold/Last in my ears its friendly, dim refrain." In synch with the poem, Lyric Rain becomes wry, yet bitter, with notes of lotus and pink pepper; "Kinder the busy worms than ever love." Overall, the fragrance creates irony: the scent of old damp leaves, cold night air, moss-covered earth, and yet, somehow, prettiness emerges, like an afterthought; hindsight. "My bed made secret by the leveling showers,/My breast replenishing the weeds above./And you will say of me, "Then has she died?/Perhaps I should have sent a spray of flowers."

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*TOP REVIEWER* qwendy on 10/14/2008 2:38:00 AM more reviews by qwendy

Age: 44-55   Skin: Sensitive, Fair, Cool   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

When I tried Lyric Rain at their shop in Venice a month or so ago, at an event, a fellow Perfumisto said that it almost smelled Vintage. I completely agreed, and since I have so much Vintage, left it to others who haven't the stash I have. Imagine my surprise when I opened a lovely gift and found a bottle for me alone, and again found it Beautiful, in a rather classical way. I am unfamiliar with the Dorothy Parker piece it was inspired by, must look it up. Ah here it is, Lyric Rain is in the first line http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/dorothy-parker/testament-2/ and flowers in the last with a lot in-between ; )

Lyric Rain is a beautifully formulated floral oriental, seamlessly blended, which is just how I like my perfume!

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*TOP REVIEWER* sniffer on 2/27/2007 10:41:00 PM more reviews by sniffer

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

Heady, rich floral with aromatic accents, after an initially stinky blast. Then a whiff of sweet flowers, and the medicinal note of patchouli is now taking over. Darn.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Maller on 7/19/2005 9:48:00 PM more reviews by Maller

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

Lyric Rain invokes memories of being in India for me and the scent of sweet, floral incense burned in some temples there. It strikes me as being incense eminently suitable for a shrine or temple to one of the goddesses...but not Kaali. There is nothing remotely intimidating or severe about Lyric Rain. It doesn't even have the forbidding note that many SIPs have at the beginning and instead of a garland of skulls, a garland of sweetly scented flowers would be more in keeping. It would be perfect for a shrine or temple dedicated to Lakshmi - all about beauty, pleasure, gentle contentment, abundance. The notes are given as jasmine, pink pepper, blue lotus, patchouli and lavender. The jasmine, blue lotus and patchouli are most likely what make it so evocative of Indian incense for me. I detect a touch of pink pepper which gives it an interesting spark, but the lavender is hiding from my nose with great success.

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*TOP REVIEWER* dreamstorm on 4/24/2005 6:16:00 PM more reviews by dreamstorm

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

Do you remember the part of "You Only Live Twice" in which the assasin tries to kill James Bond by stealing onto the ceiling, slipping a string down between the boards and sending drops of poison along it that fall perilously close to our favorite debonair spy's mouth? Lyric Rain is the epitome of that scene -- an incredibly heady, almost narcissus-like sweet jasmine and Indian sandalwood incense combination create an impression of dead heat, wood ceiling slats, woven straw roofs, low lying Polynesian style beds, hot, sticky tropical night air, and through it all, beads of incredibly sweet, potent, deadly, and so heavy its almost musty, poison dropping through the air.

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*TOP REVIEWER* CareerLady on 4/17/2005 9:59:00 PM more reviews by CareerLady

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Other    

Official description:
Lyric Rain takes it inspiration from the lines of Dorothy Parker's "Testament." Translated into each expressive detail of this composition is the delicate sweetness of jasmine, charged with an upward flash of pink pepper and the worldly charms of blue lotus, patchouli and iris.


Initially this perfume starts out awful - all the SIP perfumes start out like real stinkers. Then it calms down to jasmine and patchouly, a lovely rainy jungle accord.


Later, the drydown is candy-sweet iris blossoms on an animalistic base, with no hint of either jasmine OR patchouly.


This one is just too sweet for me and seems to lack the character the other SIPerfumes have.

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