Melantha

Midsummer, Ukon Juhla, Alban Heruin, the Light of the Shore. This is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, marking the sun's highest path across the sky. The Sun God and the Lord of the Forest are at the apex of their strength, and the Holy Day itself is a celebration of light's triumph over darkness. The world around us is teeming with light and life, and on this day fertility rituals for both the land and its people are observed. Honey mead with honeysuckle, oak wood, ivy leaf, wild thyme, carnation, daisy, vervain, gum arabic, frankincense, yauhtli, and liquid copal. In the bottle: Mead! Oh, lovely mead! It's definitely the top note, and I'm not sure what I'm smelling underneath there, but it's not terribly overpowering. Just sweet mead. Wet: Ah, now the mead has backed off a bit. I can smell something green in there (wish I could remember the description), and it's more outdoorsy than it was. The mead keeps making appearances, though. Dry: The scent has stayed the same since I applied it. Mostly a green, with a touch of wood, maybe, and the mead occasionally sticking up its lovely head. I suspect that it would be nice as a room scent, too! edited to add description - clover

It was about three feet and half high, with a head like a collie dog and a face like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long, and its back legs were like those of a crane, and it had horse's hooves. It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws on them. It didn't use the front legs at all while we were watching. My wife and I were scared, I tell you, but I managed to open the window and say, "Shoo", and it turned around barked at me, and flew away. The scent of the wild, hauntingly beautiful Pine Barrens of New Jersey! Pitch pine with blackberry leaf, cranberry, cedar wood and tomato leaf. A first review! Ummm..... In the bottle: Oh, gorgeous! I can smell the cranberry and pine, with the warmth of tomato leaves in the sun. Wet: The cedar comes out a little to play with the pine and cranberry, and the leaves are in the background, blowing in the breeze. Dry: I'm not getting much morph here at all. It's a beautiful, complex scent, that reminds me of walking through a garden here in the Garden State. The blackberry gives it just a hint of sweetness, without overpowering the other notes. I'd rate it a 4.5 out of 5. I'm going to give my bottle lots of lovin'! ETA: It's a light blend, but with a lot of throw.

"Courage!" he said, and pointed toward the land, "This mounting wave will roll us shoreward soon." In the afternoon they came unto a land In which it seemed always afternoon. All round the coast the languid air did swoon, Breathing like one that hath a weary dream. Full-faced above the valley stood the moon; And like a downward smoke, the slender stream Along the cliff to fall and pause and fall did seem. A land of streams! some, like a downward smoke, Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go; And some thro' wavering lights and shadows broke, Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below. They saw the gleaming river seaward flow From the inner land: far off, three mountain-tops, Three silent pinnacles of aged snow, Stood sunset-flush'd: and, dew'd with showery drops, Up-clomb the shadowy pine above the woven copse. The charmed sunset linger'd low adown In the red West: thro' mountain clefts the dale Was seen far inland, and the yellow down Border'd with palm, and many a winding vale And meadow, set with slender galingale; A land where all things always seem'd the same! And round about the keel with faces pale, Dark faces pale against that rosy flame, The mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters came. Branches they bore of that enchanted stem, Laden with flower and fruit, whereof they gave To each, but whoso did receive of them, And taste, to him the gushing of the wave Far far away did seem to mourn and rave On alien shores; and if his fellow spake, His voice was thin, as voices from the grave; And deep-asleep he seem'd, yet all awake, And music in his ears his beating heart did make. They sat them down upon the yellow sand, Between the sun and moon upon the shore; And sweet it was to dream of Fatherland, Of child, and wife, and slave; but evermore Most weary seem'd the sea, weary the oar, Weary the wandering fields of barren foam. Then some one said, "We will return no more"; And all at once they sang, "Our island home Is far beyond the wave; we will no longer roam." Soporose and lenitive: opium-laced golden lotus with rich amber, pine resin, and rose otto. My first first review! *shake* In the bottle: It's so delicate! I'm a lotus fan, and the lotus here is so soft. It smells like there are fruits there, too, but not overwhelming sweet. Was there peony in the description as well? Wet: Just as in the bottle. A lovely, delicate scent, a little sweet. I catch wafts of it around me. Dry: It hasn't really morphed on me at all. It is a true summer scent, and I'm so glad that I got this one! ETA: I spoke too soon. It did morph on me late in the drydown... becoming a darker, more blended, beautiful scent. Ahhhhh...... edited to add description - clover

Unfortunately, it's Lemon Pledge with florals on me.

Grapefruit amps on my skin, and doesn't like me. 'Nuff said.

Simply put: Wearing this, I feel like I'm in India. Sigh.

I was worried when I put it on. The initial sniff on my wrist was great - then it morphed into something a little sour smelling, and not particularly nice. That stage lasted about 10 minutes... And now there's this wonderful soft spiced orange, with a hint of musk. Gorgeous. I will cherish my bottle. And the kitty's cute, too.

A fabulous fall scent. Of course, I adore fall scents of all sorts, so it's difficult to find one that I don't like. Berries, cider, and woods. All together, and smelling wonderful.

Yum yum yum. Plummy and sweet, with the florals lying under the surface. I wore this Christmas Eve, and it was the perfect scent! Mmmmm.

I just tried this recently, and am very pleased. It has something in common with Winter of our Discontent, but is slightly different; I wish I was better at picking out notes so that I could be more specific. A bit spicy and sharp, though not spicy in a "clove and cinnamon" kind of way. It's hard to describe. The incense really rounds it out nicely. A new fave Yule scent!

Oh, man. I won a partial on eBay, and yay! I love masculine scents, and this defintely is. I can't pick out any particular notes, but that smoky, resinous thing that other have mentioned is definitely here. I had Doc on one hand, and Mum Moon on the other (my fave BPAL) and Doc was winning the wrist-sniff battle. Oh, that I had a whole bottle of this!

I got an imp of this from kiio's decant circle, mainly because of the name. A few of the notes were worrisome to me, but I figured why not? I got three BPAL and Arcana packages yesterday, and went into an orgy of testing. After a little while, I smelled this incredible smoky, spicy scent that practically had me drooling. An enabled friend of mine was over, and she got the same enslaved look on her face when she sniffed my arm. I immediately started trying to figure out which of the samples was this heavenly scent. It was Winter! Oh, I'm glad I went ahead and bought a bottle unsniffed, and now I know I'll be buying one or two more before it disappears. Wow.

Amber is one of my favorite notes, along with tonka, benzoin, and ambrette. This is very close to being a perfect scent for me. It just wafts around me, warm, and comforting, and lovely, and lasts a long time. Amber sweetness. Mmmmm.

This did SO not work on me. I guess I'll have to officially give up on ozone/aquatic blends. I can't seem to find one that doesn't make me wrinkle my nose when it hits my skin.

Nice. I got it both for the Oriental tie-in, and for a sleep blend. It's okay, but I don't like that lavender seems to be in everything that's considered a "sleep" blend. I get a bit tired of it, personally. I'll probably swap it.

Peonies are my favorite flower, so this was a must. Ah, gorgeous. There's really not a lot to be said, except that the other notes tame the peony a bit, and it's so great. Lasts a long time, too!

Now, I don't like florals. Really, I don't. But a very kind swapper sent an imp of this as a frimp, and I had to try it. Beautiful. I can't describe what it is that makes me love this, but I do. It's not "floral-y" at all; the notes blend so wonderfully that it just makes me happy to sniff it. I will treasure my imp.

I wanted to love this, as Beltane is my favorite sabbat. However, florals and I do NOT get along.... case in point.

When, oh when will I learn that chocolate in almost any form does NOT work on me as a scent? Sob.

This is yummy. Not quite a favorite, but certainly up there! I love ginger, peony, mango, pineapple, tea, and musks, and they're all there. Mmmmmmm. Just wish the person who traded me the bottle had sent the brain!

Not something I'd pictured myself liking, but I got an imp as a gift, so why not? WOW! I really love this. The flowers are in the background, in evidence but not too much so. It's the other notes that make this amazing. I wish I knew exactly what they were....

I like most of the notes here, so I gave it a try. The spices, which I was eager to sniff, weren't to be found. It was a touch musky, and I got some amber and lily, but nothing made me sit up and take notice. I haven't had luck with either OotD or CD yet.

I enjoyed sniffing this, but as a perfume? Doesn't work for me. Strange, because I love Arkham Revisited so much, I thought I would love this one, too.

A pleasant scent, certainly. The pear was forefront, with a little vanilla in evidence, but really nothing special. No bottle here.

The notes in this made me sit up and take notice, so I had to try it. Spice! Loads of spice. Clove is what I get from it, mainly, with other things dancing around so far in the background that it's hard to tell what they are. It's nice, but I guess I amp clove too much to wear this.