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Showing results for tags 'Yule 2015'.
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Favorite pastime: harassing sheep. Nobody’s perfect. Wooly sugared marshmallow root. 1. Find a bag of marshmallows. 2. Smash your face into them. 3. Suffocate and die happy. Seriously, this is delightful. It has a slightly perfumey edge that adds a bit of complexity but otherwise it is pure vanillay-marshmallowy goodness. eta: I've been wearing this all afternoon and the perfumey quality faded away by the end of the first hour. It's been the most beautiful vanilla marshmallow scent since.
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II est amer et doux, pendant les nuits d’hiver, D’écouter, près du feu qui palpite et qui fume, Les souvenirs lointains lentement s’élever Au bruit des carillons qui chantent dans la brume. Bienheureuse la cloche au gosier vigoureux Qui, malgré sa vieillesse, alerte et bien portante, Jette fidèlement son cri religieux, Ainsi qu’un vieux soldat qui veille sous la tente! Moi, mon âme est fêlée, et lorsqu’en ses ennuis Elle veut de ses chants peupler l’air froid des nuits, II arrive souvent que sa voix affaiblie Semble le râle épais d’un blessé qu’on oublie Au bord d’un lac de sang, sous un grand tas de morts Et qui meurt, sans bouger, dans d’immenses efforts. – – – Bitter and sweet it is on these long winter nights To sit before the fire and watch the smoking log Beat like a heart; and hear our lost, our mute delights Call with the carillons that ring out in the fog. What certitude, what health, sounds from that brazen throat, In spite of age and rust, alert! O happy bell, Sending into the dark your clear religious note, Like an old soldier crying through the night, “All’s well!” I am not thus; my soul is cracked across by care; Its voice, that once could clang upon this icy air, Has lost the power, it seems, — comes faintly forth, instead, As from the rattling throat of a hurt man who lies Beside a lake of blood, under a heap of dead, And cannot stir, and in prodigious struggling dies. — Charles Baudelaire, translation by Edna St. Vincent Millay A new interpretation, inspired by Millay’s translation- A soul, cracked across by care: blood and ruin, smoke and sorrow, incense and ice. This scent is dark, with dark incense. The Ice is that of black ice, and the smoke is definitely in the background, but not too burnt smelling. I don't smell any "blood" and the "ruin" is just this overall sharpness. Very intriguing scent.
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Wienerbrød and caramelized pecan with pearl sugar and soft cinnamon. OOH!! Got a bottle of this for my birthday!! In the bottle - foody lovers, get this if you haven't already!! I get a very yummy spiced pastry. Soft cinnamon is correct. On skin - this warms up to well...I get all the notes!! This has a medium throw on me. There is pastry and very light cinnamon. Those of you afraid of cinnamon, don't be....it is perfect! The pecans are very nice. I am not one for overly nutty scents, but this is the perfect maple-y pecan scent, but it is more gourmand than sweet. Dry down - stays the same.... this is a keeper for sure and I bet this will age wonderfully!!!! Edited to add that there is a hint of caramel..... oooh very glad I asked for this!
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Favorite pastime: skulking under dining tables, waiting to abscond with unsupervised food bowls. Don’t blame the dog! Dregs of cinnamon and cocoa. In The Bottle: Oh, YES. Right off the bat, this is Mexican Hot Chocolate. Wet On Skin: The hits just keep on coming. There are two basic types Lab chocolate notes- the yummy cocoa-y ones, and the ones that turn to weird, waxy plastic on my skin. The ones that work on me are found in scents like Bliss, Boomslang and Gelt. The ones that don't work are the ones found in the Box O Chocolates and most '13' scents. This scent, fortunately, has the former. And it's *glorious*. Dry Down: This is a nice, "grownup" cocoa scent. Less foodie and, believe it or not, I would call this scent kinda sexy. The chocolate becomes this dusty, understated warm note and the cinnamon gives just a tiny amount of spice- this is NOT an overpowering spice scent, so those fearful, give it a try. In All: Not just bottle worthy, possibly hoard worthy. I predict this will be quite popular.
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In Latvia, the Ziemassvetki, or Winter Party, is a celebration of the birth of Dievs, the Sky God and Supreme Ruler of the Latvian pantheon. The two weeks prior to the Ziemassvetki is Ve?u laiks: the Season of Ghosts. Candles are lit to honor the gods and a fire is kept burning throughout the Season, burning away the unhappiness of the previous year so men's spirits can be renewed. At the feast of the Ziemassvetki, places are left as a courtesy to the ghosts, who arrive by sleigh. A scent created to burn away sorrow: bergamot, frankincense, rose geranium, ginger, lemongrass, and blood orange. I bought Season of Ghosts, because I know there is some sorrow coming up for me that I'm really going to want to burn away. Winter is always a difficult time, but this one is sure to be one of the worst. In the bottle, first sniff is sort of soapy, but with something soft and warm. The oil itself is very dry. ... or maybe that's my skin. Wet on, it is not so soapy now. i can definitely smell the rose geranium and the lemongrass. This isn't really bright and citrussy, though it definitely does have citrus. something is sort of dusty, maybe that's the frankincense? I think this will actually work! Yay. A soft scent for sad days.
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Snow afire with the morning’s first rays of orange blossom, neroli, and rose gardenia. wet on skin: I cannot even begin to describe this - it's so different from what I expected. It smells like chilly flower-stems more than it smells like actual flowers. It smells more like rose (very white rose) to me than gardenia or orange blossom. A slightly powdery (but in a green way) sweetness barely begins to creep in. When I went to get a bottle of water, a waft of the softest, most divine, almost dusty sweet floral came up to my nose. I was like "what am I walking by?!" but i smelled my wrist and I think it's me! The floral elements of this are so curiously grounded - it's not quite musky, I'd say; I have no idea what's in this snow note, but it really amplifies parts of the floral interestingly and dampens other parts. It certainly doesn't smell like a springtime flower. This also mimics winter-time sunrise super weirdly. When I put it on it felt more like snow at night. But as it continues drying, the flowers get stronger, sweeter, almost warmer, and it feels like pink and orange pouring over the dark sky on the snowy edge of the horizon. This actually does remind me of what I remember Lolita as being, though on Lolita I felt it stuck in the green stage and only because a beautiful wet floral on my blanket when i woke up in the morning, but never on my skin! I can't even say it's the lab's orange blossom note; the orange blossom in Tweedledee smells exactly like orange blossom to me. I mean I do get slight orange blossom from this, but it's like a musty (snowy?) rose/white florals for the most part. And it keeps getting more of that floral as it wears, just like the process of dawn getting more and more pink sunlight! (I wrote this in an email to a friend and i figured i should post it?) EDIT: So I wore this again today and got a clearer impression: it definitely has a soft, almost, almost sugary sweetness in the snow scent, and this time I did get orange flower and gardenia out of it. Today we actually did have snow when I got up at dawn, so it's a lucky scent too. While walking home in the snow I couldn't believe how well the scent jibed with the actual light fluffy clean smell of snow, and the fluffy white look of snow. The flowers are bright, but there's also definitely like a white musk in here. The musk and the flowers last the longest, so that the final hours of the perfume are a little different from the sunny-bright early hours when the snow note is strong and the orange blossom is at its height.
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Always fun (and hard) to be first! In the bottle - Pretty sharp to my nose. Heavy bayberry!! Not getting any candle out of this yet. On skin - Ah, there it is... takes a second, but as it warms up, there is that fake candle!! It is amazing how Beth does it! This is really a fake bayberry candle!! As it drys down, it stays pretty sharp....bayberry ain't playing games here! This is exactly what it is.....Fake Bayberry Candle!! I don't think it will be for me, but wow....very fun to try this and amazed at how true to the name it is!!
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WHOA!! First sniff in the bottle...is a blast of....not sure what I am smelling!! Heavy... very nasal clearing! Could be something like camphor...not sure, but along those lines! On skin - Ok, it does settle into what smells like an almost burned down fire, but there is also something green?? I know that doesn't make sense, but there is something semi aquatic there.... very faint! Surprising low throw on me, but it is more masculine to me. Think this would be better on a guy.
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The evening bell tolls their knell: hyacinth and snow-dusted honeysuckle, sweet with asphodel and honeyed vetiver. Do the Dancing Maidens Sleep I've worn today. It's cold, twinkling, and almost a fragile blend. Like the delicate nature of BPAL's Maiden mixed with that cleanliness of the Sherlock Holmes scent. I think Hyacinth works well and appeals to this giving an airy, crystalline nature to this soft floral perfume. Big change in its last dropdown hours later as it really morphes to a warm and sweet vetiver for me. Kind of relaxing at the end. Cool or warm, both sides of this maiden are very interesting. *Also even though I think this was from The Nutcracker this image reminds me of the feeling I get from this scent.
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Favorite pastime: slamming doors. What a drama queen! Booming carnation, iced mint, white fir, and itchy patchouli loudly disrupting a dreamy bed of lavender. Yikes, first? Okay. Let's see. I made myself wait until Christmas before opening my blind-order bottles! In the bottle, I get spicy, spicy carnation. Whee. It definitely "booms," but it's got some freshness behind it to keep it from getting too dense—the fir, maybe, or some green carnation stems. Wet, I detect a spike of mint. It's almost like that lovely snow note that shows up in so many other yules—that'd be the fir and mint, I suppose—but it's quickly overpowered by the carnation. It’s quite unusual, and I’m excited. Drying, it rapidly becomes...ecclesiastical incense? Some blend of the carnation with the patchouli creates a heavy, dead-ringer for the kind of incense used in my Catholic church. I’m picturing fewer slamming doors, now, and more images of low, golden light and flickering candles and the gentle, reverent murmur of heads bowed in prayer. Dang, this was just last night, at Christmas vigil. I can't smell any mint or fir now. It does have fantastic throw—I'd daubed a bit on my arm to test it, and I still keep catching whiffs of it. I even pulled down my sleeves in attempts to muffle it a bit, but nope, still booming away, even through the fabric. My sister just asked me why I “smell like church.” Awww . I wanted to smell like a fierce little Icelandic holiday gnome! Verdict: It’s a beautiful blend, don't get me wrong, but I don't think this one's for me. I'll give it another shot, though, before I relegate my bottle to the sales pile. Church incense is lovely, but I just couldn’t wear it as a perfume. Now, soggy fireplace cinders, on the other hand…
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In Winter in my Room I came upon a Worm -- Pink, lank and warm -- But as he was a worm And worms presume Not quite with him at home -- Secured him by a string To something neighboring And went along. A Trifle afterward A thing occurred I'd not believe it if I heard But state with creeping blood -- A snake with mottles rare Surveyed my chamber floor In feature as the worm before But ringed with power -- The very string with which I tied him -- too When he was mean and new That string was there -- I shrank -- "How fair you are"! Propitiation's claw -- "Afraid," he hissed "Of me"? "No cordiality" -- He fathomed me -- Then to a Rhythm Slim Secreted in his Form As Patterns swim Projected him. That time I flew Both eyes his way Lest he pursue Nor ever ceased to run Till in a distant Town Towns on from mine I set me down This was a dream. Pink, lank, and warm: grapefruit, yuzu, tuberose, peony, violet leaf, pikaki, Indian frankincense, and tonka. In the bottle this scent reminds me of one of the tiki scents. Pink and fruity. Just on the pink fruits jump to the surface and make this unbelieveably fruity and girly. Soon though it starts to balance out and the other notes gain dominence and start to calm to fruit down a bit. This is a clean sort of scent, not soapy just clean and girly. I can't see wanting to wear this now but can see me reaching for it often once spring comes. Or on days I am home bundled up in my room on dark cold days this would be a great lift scent-wise!
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A song of meagre comfort, lilting in the wind: orris root, white sandalwood, grey amber, and soft white chocolate. I really like this one! From the sprayer and spritzer it's a very buttery chocolate. I get actually a bit more milk chocolate, but not sure if it's because of the slight smoky sandalwood. I get a chocolatey violet, like a fine French confection. Sprayed in the air it definitely is a blast of foody, buttery vanilla-chocolate, with a dusty but violet/orris powderiness. I think there's definitely a bit of grounding from the sandalwood but by no means is it a very powerful woodsiness. The amber probably makes this glitter a bit, but I recall the grey amber being uber-smooth, and not terribly sweet. This reads as a slightly floral gourmand, in the violet-chocolate family. I kind of love it. Backups, plox.
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Favorite pastime: indulging his yogurt fetish. Whatever floats your boat! Berries, skyr, and oats. In The Bottle: Very light, sweet berries and a tiny bit of oats. Wet On Skin: The berries start to bloom a bit more once it warms up on my skin. Dry Down: Berries with oat crust. No yogurt on my skin, alas! In All: Medium throw, and, unfortunately, this berry note is coming across as fairly artificial, like an air freshener that is berry-scented. I'm hoping it might settle further, as I *really* adore the Lab's Oats note, but only time will tell.
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Annihilation. The ice, desolation and barrenness of nuclear devastation shot through by a beam of radioactive mints. Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in one word: Peaceful. In the bottle: Interesting! A definite 'cold' scent; frosty and very minty. While there may be peppermint here, the most prominent mint seems (to me) to be wintermint -- a good thing in my book, because I love wintermint. On skin, wet: Crisp and clean, and very cold. There's a distinct ice-like quality, like frozen earth. This is what I had wanted Numb to be (by the time I received it, and had changed my mind about mints). On skin, dry: Beneath the ice, there's something grassy here. Slush, mint and grass. An unexpected turn, but a lovely one! Unfortunately, after about an hour, it starts to give me that "I feel like I'm going to sneeze, but don't" feeling, which hangs around until the scent dies off. Conclusion: It's hard to explain this one. It's like a devastated, grassy open field in the middle of winter, when the ground is completely frozen. An odd description, I know. As Macha said somewhere, this is a much more 'peaceful' scent than I would have expected. But then, that makes sense -- wouldn't things be peaceful after a 'nuclear devastation'? All told, I'm growing very fond of this scent.
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Be not sorrowful: snow-touched cherries dusted with sweet, spicy blooms. Origin: Straight from the Post Original Thoughts: Sweet, spicy blooms to me mean carnation. Snow can be good. I'm not sure about cherries, but thought it was worth a shot. In the Bottle: Very strongly cherry - it dances between cough-drop and candy. It's also definitely sweet and floral. The snow is just the faintest impression of cold. Applying: There's a blast of the almost-medicinal cherry as I'm applying it to wet hair. Drying: I can't think of any other way to describe it, but it's like the snow note greys out the cherry, muting it a lot. I know that doesn't sound appealing, but it's not a bad thing. And pretty quickly the carnation takes hold. Wearing: The end result for me is a carnation HG with a tinge of cherry that is no longer so sweet that it's cloying or medicinal. Not as powerful a throw as some other HGs I've used. Verdict: Based on the sniff from the bottle, I'd suggest cherry-lovers consider grabbing this one. ETA: If you love cherry and carnation, definitely check this out.
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I don't usually write reviews, but there were none for this one, so I'll give it a try... ... to me this smells like beeswax-scented carpet, or like a slightly-sweet version of "new car smell." *EDITED* to add: I actually love beeswax and dust in BPAL scents, that's why I tried this initially... and was disappointed that it didn't smell much like either of those things on me. Skin chemistry is a funny thing, y'know!
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Blinding white in the noonday sun: white mint, eucalyptus, glittering elemi, white tea, silver fir, and camphor. Bright! White! Not as shocking as I thought it would be, in fact there's more tea than mint and eucalyptus. I don't get any fir from it, which I like. I don't know what camphor smells like, though.
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White roses, white amber, and snowflakes. My bottle just arrived today, and as it settles and warms up it may change, so I might need to edit this review later. But for now...this is glorious!!! This starts off with sweet rose and the vanilla-snow of Snow White (my all-time favourite!). It's similar to Pink Snowballs (another fave), except that the rose note is very much a white rose, and its not as sweet. As it dries, the white amber comes out, making it very similar to Love Lay Upon Her Eyes (yet another fave!), but with the vanilla-snow background, and the slightly different rose note (white vs. red). I adore this and if it doesn't change with settling, I suspect I'll need a few more bottles in the future.
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Wow. This is absolutely true to life. You can even smell the salt of the ham and the juices are a little less juicy because, well, it's a day old, right?
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Swirled grey and purple in the gloaming: snowdrifts shadowed with opium tar, wild plum, Siamese benzoin, champaca resinoid, muguet, and carnation. The snow in this is dry and dusty. There is no mint note, nor pine. It is a darkish scent, definitely purple. The champaca note is a bit bitter and I don't smell any of the carnation until the dry down. It's a little green and odd as it pops out with the wild plum and opium tar.
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Wow! The alcohol note in this is strong! There are other foodie notes in here that I am trying to discern as it dries down. Maybe some cake....
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A sister’s grief: carrot seed and blue musk, grey with labdanum, bitter frankincense, champaca blossom, and salt. I'm a sucker for aquatics. I, however, have had terrible fortune with Carrot Seed blends. I don't know what it is (possibly a run-in with the carrot seed CO2 extract when I was a younger wolf). This is immediately salty-aquatic like Pool of Tears aquatic, with a swiftly apparent sweetness. I think possibly that's the blue musk with the top notes of laudanum (cistus). There is frankincense here and it's probably adding to the first sparkle. It's combining well with the wry twist of salty aquatic and giving it a bit of a complementary high smoke, incense note. I'm probably getting champaca, as an equally higher toned white-yellow floral note, as parts of me are going Khajuraho? What? And that's likely the influence of that note. I love Khajuraho, for its sultry-sweet over the top exotic note. I'm not getting too much carrot seed directly, although I'm sure with all these high notes, it's layering and helping to ground something here. The labdanum / cistus is also providing some depth and grounding. This scent is a very nice aquatic, slightly different from aquatics I have. It reads more light and top-note-ish, and I think because of less purely rich grounding notes, it burns off on me pretty fast. But, it seems light, inoffensive, very beautiful. I think extremely wearable for work.
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On my Yule "dream list" has been a pomander scent for a few years now. So I happily snatched up a bottle once the Yules came out...even if it was a rapidly disintegrating pomander. In the Bottle: Have you ever smelled a dried slice of orange? That is what this single note smells like in the bottle. Orange citrus but not wet, juicy, and sweet like a fresh orange. Wet: Still mostly orange citrus. Sort of like orange zest but a bit earthly too. That must be because it is disintegrating. I was hoping for a bit of clove but I'm not sure if it isn't there or needs some aging to bring it out. Drydown: Pretty much stays the same from beginning to end. Medium throw but it is a very gentle scent so the throw seems lower than it actually is. I thought it wasn't throwing much at all but my husband let me know that while soft he could clearly smell it while sitting several feet away from me. I like this a lot and can actually see me wearing it when I want a bit of something sunny in the winter without being too sweet. Or in the summer when I like a citrus smell but don't like to smell "sticky". I'll be interested to see if it gets even earthier as it ages.
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Favorite pastime: hiding in the rafters, ogling your smoked sausage. Eyes up here, mister! Sweaty pear and honey with leather, coconut meat, tonka bean, and castoreum accord. I went out of my comfort zone to try this. I’ve heard some negativity concerning castoreum but hadn’t tried it myself. But, having good luck with animalic notes I decided to give this a go. This is a really odd scent. I love it but it is odd. I’m gonna do my best to describe it. Okay, first, this one’s a morpher. WET: Starts out as VERY sweet, juicy pear. Underneath this is something bitter and unpleasant. For me, leather sometimes starts out bitter but maybe it’s the castoreum? Anyway, soon the bitterness dissipates. DRYDOWN: Coconut and a touch of Tonka come out and help to tamp down the sweetness. Way down at the base the leather is making itself known. Again, since this is my first time trying castoreum I can only guess that this is what is combining with leather. The leather smells animalistic and skanky. Also, there’s the faintest wisp of smokiness rising up. This scent still stays pretty sweet all the way through and the pear stays prominent. I asked my Mom to take a whiff and describe it. She said sweet, fruity, dirty, leathery, musky. I really dig this. Glad I took the chance but it’s definitely not for everyone.
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Favorite pastime: stealing crusty bits from used frying pans. It takes all kinds. Chunks of sweet carrots and dates mushed with nuts, topped with crumbles from a pie-like spelt and barley crust. Well, the forum won't let me post a new topic, so instead of making one to merge I'll just reply here! I can't believe no one has reviewed this yet, but here goes... In the bottle: Something vaguely sweet but not familiar enough to identify - my guess is this is the carrot note, because it reminds me of an unbearable sweet carrot soap I once made the mistake of buying. Behind that, there's a definite buttery "crust" peeking through. On skin: The sweetness disappears pretty quickly, sending the buttery crust note to the forefront. After some drydown, the sweetness comes back and balances with the crust. This definitely reminds me of something I've tried before...I think "Drink Me," perhaps?
