I'm not a fan of lilies - perhaps because I'm very allergic to them in real life. Not in this bottle, though! In this bottle, and on my wrist, they are perfection. They are well balanced with the cotton flower, vanilla sugar, and cashmere accord to create something that is formal and utterly seosonless. I've worn this for nights out in summer and winter, and it never disappoints. This is a fancy dress perfume. Wear it with a veil for added mystery!

From the bottle: this may be the white ghostly scent I’ve been hunting for!
On skin: yay!! Finally - an indie lily! I’ve been hunting for a beautiful lily, not lily of the valley, and it’s surprisingly hard to find. This lily is delicate, slightly creamy, slightest hint of soap. I’m so happy to find this! It’s a similar vibe to Stereoplasm Spectres in White Dresses, but with lily and vanilla. I was a little devastated to see the full size was sold out by the time I sampled this. I decided to go ahead and try the Love of Cemeteries scent since it has the lily note. But yes this a beautiful ghostly creamy lily.

This definitely needed a bit of a rest (cold commutes through Canada are no friend to perfume oils!). It was initially a blast of laundry soap when I first received my package but after a few weeks it morphed into a gorgeous cool floral musk. It manages to be cozy, cold, and comforting all at the same time and although this came out as an Autumn release it doesn't read particularly seasonal to me at all. I don't know how Nui Cobalt Designs does it other than magic.

In the bottle there is still some of that cotton/cashmere scent but once applied it positively blooms into something elegant. The cotton flower is the same note in Starlight and Spidersilk. The lilies aren't overpowering and aren't powdery, very fresh. The labdanum and vanilla sugar notes aren't heavy or syrupy at all but still anchor the top notes. This scent is very airy (the description of it being sheer is bang-on). There's something green in this too (the lilies maybe?). An unexpected obsession.

Lasts maybe 3-4 hours on me. Intimate projection.

Can't recommend enough.

I must admit when this arrived, "ghost laundry" which was pretty and eerie (but a tad out of my comfort zone) immediately came to mind however a week later Au Bal Masqué morphed into a cotton candy/candy floss/spun sugar perfume I can pull off and wear! It's lovely with a realistic lily in the background with a sheer sweetened non-foody wistful vanilla on top that I recognize from Starlight & Spider Silk and the unique cotton flower from Little Brown Rabbit. It's almost cold and ethereal smelling with a hint of powderiness that adds to the scent story of a haunted masked ball scene. The only lilies I'm familiar with are Easter Lilies so I asked a garden obsessed coworker what she thought and she told me I smelled like Stargazer Lilies with a realistic slight fruitiness to this blend I didn't notice until she pointed it out. Nearly 12 hours later this morphs to warm spun sugar (and a touch of hidden greenery) which is somehow not childish nor cloying smelling and I get a dainty music box playing a haunting melody when I let my mind wander.