Fire in the Sky: Strange Invisible Perfumes Fire and Cream

By Tom When Marina wrote about this houses Aquarian Roses she compared the scent to a magician's trick, Alexandra Balahoutis being the magician. Her newest, Fire and Cream in my mind puts her more int the role of a painter of the California Plein Air school. It was inspired by a late-summer evening sky and although I'm sure that she didn't in my minds eye I see her mixing the scent in front of that fiery sunset. It opens on me with a burst of ripe orange, somewhat like Mandarine Mandarin, but branching off with the addition of an innocent orange blossom and smoky frankincense. Whiffs of lavender and tuberose join in, but never overpowering. The drydown finally gets to the cream: sandalwood and a touch of patchouli. It's not a literal cream; it's not the funhouse Creamsicle of Argenteé (as much as I enjoyed that one). It's the polish on the woods and the barely-there patch that is a wonderful take on a warm summer evening. Like some of the scents at SIP (Lyric Rain, for instance, ain't), this one is fairly unisex. It's available at their store in Venice, CA and on their website (link above), $145 for 1.7oz of EDP and $195 for 1/40z of perfume