I got a 1 ml oil sample of Lymphae in a reddit swap along with a few more Fantome samples at a discount. These are usually $11 for a 1.5 ml bottle. I wonder if the one I have is pre-reformulation since it is only 1 ml or perhaps the freebies arrive this way. I do appreciate that they note when perfumes are reformulated on their website. 

I have been wanting to try this perfume for a while because I see it suggested a lot in r/perfumesthatfeellikethis for pictures of rain and ponds with flowers in them. This one and Diptique’s Lilyphea get recommended a lot but this one is way cheaper. I am a sucker for a perfume with a good moodboard attached. 

The samples from Fantome are always beautiful, the tubes are wrapped in a shiny deep gold foil sticker with the text printed on top in black. I kinda wish the name of each one was a bit easier to read since the packaging only differs in that one spot so if you have multiple, you kinda have to peer through and make sure the light hits the label right. 

Notes: White musk, cool vanilla, a swift-running stream, Italian lilac, orange blossom, damp earth, and the ozone of spring thunderstorms. 

I put this one on and…. it smells almost exactly like a perfume I just recently full-sized. I just got a 10ml rollerball of Swamp Witch from Andromeda’s Curse because I like wearing that scent when its rainy out. They have some differences but overall, the smell is similar enough that I don’t feel compelled to buy a larger size of this one too. It is cold and watery. I get water, ozone, and a clean musk. This perfume also has a sweet floral note that is not present in Swamp Witch. This is like the only significant difference I have really found. In my head, I imagined this floral smell as pink lotus absolute, because it was really reminding me of Ancient Waters of Venus from Sorce, and looking at the notes, I think it may be the orange blossom. It also reminds me of Feu Follet from Alkemia. I wonder if I should compare these side by side or something. The ozone in this is very realistic. It really is a very gorgeous, serene aquatic that smells like a gray-blue color. It is kind of cozy to me! Though if you don’t like smelling like atmospherics then you might not like this. I don’t get any vanilla, but if there was one, it doesn’t read as foody to me. The floral note in this stuck around the entire time and I felt like this scent was pretty long lasting for an oil perfume. Overall, I liked it but I do prefer the one I already got a larger size of.