Nocnitsa

[Aurelius]

...Her scent is that of a lightless fir wood, nighttime air, wet forest mosses and upturned earth.

I have this as both an order and a gimp from the lab!

In the vial, and wet on skin: Pine! And...berries? There's something sweet that I cannot place. It's lovely and unexpected.

Drying: Come back, pine! The pine has left, replaced by dirt. Wet, earthy dirt, not dry coarse dirt. The sweetness still jumps out, although now it's no longer on my wrist, but flits about in the throw.

Dry: Dirt. Just dirt.

Overall: Man, the opening stages of this scent are to die for! I LOVE the pine and sweetness. The drydown, however, just isn't for me. This is a lovely scent and I'm sure many people will adore it.

[tropicalstorm]

In the bottle- woods! Pine! Fir tree! Woody scents are my favorite, so this scent is immediately on my good side.

 

Skin: Wet. Still woody, but with more dirt and moss (?- I don’t really know what moss smells like).

 

Skin: dry. Sadly, when the aquatic side of the scent comes out I like it a bit less. I think it will be a good locket scent, as aquatics don’t really work on my skin.

[quinkel]

It becomes boring but again...A new LOVE

Pine, foresty all what i like in the summer, Nocnitsa is also a very neutral scent. Not only gender neutral but it's wearable for all kind of occations. It is not overpowering, does not waft a whole lot, just enough.

If you like Skadi and Dublin, you sure like this too!

 

*now off to update my top10*

[Sara]

Imp sniff: Woah there cowboy..this sucker is wicked sharp. I think it's the wood notes..damn those wood notes, always sounding so lovely, yet screwing me over in person.

 

Swipe: Hmmm....the sharpness must've jumped straight off the ride, cuz that bitch ain't no where to be found now, how awesome is that?? There are notes coming out from all over the place now, I can say with much confidence I can't recognize a damn one and this feels like a whole new BPAL to me. Generally most of the oils have a common feel to them.. but this is new and surprisingly delicious.

 

Drydown: So far so good. Seriously, I will kill someone if this fucks up on my skin later. I'm completely and utterly in love!!! It's like sweet, yet not in a tangy sugar way, it's soft, yet not in a poopy way, it's multi-faceted, yet not a busy jumble...I mean I can't pick out a damn thing, but it's wonderful. Surprisingly it almost reminds me of country apple spice, not a cheapie kind, but a genuine one from a genuine country store/artsy fartsy fair.

 

Overall: You know..just when I become frustrated with my lack of wearable scentage, the Labbie folks toss me a freebie that is so far down on my list to try, that it'll take forever for me to get to it normally - then it ends up working!! My bottle order is due anytime soon, and the bf is pilfering me alcohol and pipettes from work, this might have to become an honorary spray..just to hold me over until I have the monies to place a larger order.

 

I LOVE FREEBIE IMPS!! THE LABBIES ARE TOTALLY TITS!!

 

 

Edited to add: Oooh, I just went back and read the description, I can't wait to tell our Bulgarian and Polish friends what I'm wearing.

Edited June 3, 2005 by Sara

[antimony]

I ordered an imp because I'm Polish, and I felt like I just couldn't pass it up.

 

Unfortunately, I really can't pull off the woodsy, piney scents. This is a really unusual scent though, and I have to say I am very blown away by it. First of all, it dead on captures the scent of walking through an evergreen forrest. I can almost feel the fir trees. Then, mixed in with that, there's this sweet scent of berries, like poziomki (wild strawberries) and maybe something like lingonberries? If you can wear forest scents, this one is *awesome*.

[Hallows_Eve]

In the bottle- Pine, Pine, Pine, Pine, Pine- You get the idea. Luckily it is not so strong that it knocks you over, but I couldnt get any other note from here except the pine.

 

On me (wet)- still pine, but with something else subtly in the background, moss and dirt, not "car freshener" pine, but the smell of whole real tree, roots and all.

 

On me (drydown)-- Pine. But the other things are coming out stronger. The fir and earth mainly. There is also something in there that reminds me of an outdoor fire, burning wood.

 

This, to me, will be perfect to wear in the winter. The first thing I thought of is bringing a pine tree home for the holidays. It has a bit of a candle smell to it, I cant quite place it exactly, but something like a burning scented candle, and better.

 

Also, after the drydown, it reminded me a bit of "Baron Samedi"- though greener, and with pine in it. Not quite sure why, because there are no common notes that I know of. I will say that this is the first pine scent I have ever worn that didn't feel cheap, synthetic or overpowering. I *think* I like it.

 

My husband loves it!

[quimerula]

Strong moss and pine over an earthy bottom.

Slowly it goes a bit softer, but it's still quite... it's like walking in a wet and dark forest!

[miss apple]

I ordered Nocnitsa on a whim - the forsest mosses and upturned earth sounded darkly delightful. My initial sniff test, however, revealed a strong piney scent. Not quite what I as looking for. This isn't a christmasy pine though; it's dark which I'm guessing would be the nighttime air or perhaps the mosses. Since I was testing out two other scents though, I'm thinking that I might not have be in the right mood for this. I'll definitely have to give it another go before I decide if I want to keep the bottle.

[Elemcee]

I am wearing Nocnitsa today. It makes me think of walking through a dark forest, smelling of pine and leaves, there being a whiff of some rare flower every so often, but you can never find it. I like it.

[wolfie13]

In the vial: - Pine

 

Wet on skin: - Pine with an added sweetness (but not a specific note to me) and fresh wet dirt. In fact, on me, it smells EXACTLY as if I had layered Hemlock and Graveyard Dirt.

 

Couple hours later: - The dirt scent has faded away (sad) and it smells like the sweet christmas tree scent that Hemlock alone has on me.

 

Late drydown: - The scent is a lot lighter forest scent with a touch of the musky sweetness that Hexennacht had on me.

 

Final verdict: - As I already have 5 mls of Hemlock, Graveyard Dirt and Hexennacht, I won't be purchasing this one, as it's too similar to too many things I have already. But if i didn't, I would buy this one!

[Blood onmy hands]

Wearing Nocnitsa was like dousing myself in PineSol cleanser. Smelled very very strongly of pine and a strange minty-menthol note.

 

I normally am very fond of pine scents, but this was just too strong and sharp. I had to scrub it off after about two hours because it just kept getting more and more obtrusive and bitter.

[nineveh]

Initially, I was scared to try the foresty scents because I was worried about their smelling sharp like a tree air freshener or something. But I've found since then that forest scents are usually subdued with a bit of sweetness on me.

 

Nocnitsa is wonderful. The forest is there, but it's not overwhelming, and it mixes so well with the moss and earth scents. This is like the darker, cold weather version of Nosferatu (which I thought was light and fresh).

 

I will probably get a bottle of this sometime.

Edited July 1, 2005 by nineveh

[LiberAmoris]

Nocnitsa on me is pine, oakmoss, and the glorious 'dirt' that the Lab is famous for. There is something minty or eucalyptus-y in here that makes it very refreshing, like cool forest air.

 

This will be perfect for those days when I feel tired of floral or resin blends and want something cleansing and fresh.

[Nox Eterna]

Nocnitsa

 

In the vial: Warm damp forest floor on a Spring day.

 

Wet on: Sun warmed damp earth with new pine sprouts starting to emerge.

 

Dry on: Sweet and fruity. Fresh wild berries warmed by the sun, entwined

in the branches of pines.

 

Overall: Warm day in a Spring forest. Maybe a picnic or camping trip. On me it is

a warm forest scent, where black forest seems like a cool forest.

[Ajila]

I have to admit I didn't expect to like this at all, but as I had the imp I decided to try it out. In the imp it smelt stongly of eucalyptus. Wet on me it was fir, fir and more fir, this only lasted for a couple minutes. When it dried it went through a stage where it was almost berry like, darkly fruity, but fruity none the less. It's final stage on me came after a couple of hours and it 's completely at odds with the concept, because whilst it's earthy, to me it's a summery earthy, it reminded me of sitting on the drying, prickly grass during playtimes at infant school during the summer. It's the smell of the grass and the plants in 'the wilderness' at the top of the field and the hedges and our hands from making daisy chains. So contrary to my expectations I liked this, although I perhaps like it more for the associations it brings to mind than how it smells on me.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Rather dark and incensy. Perhaps pine.

 

Just On: Yeah, pine.

 

An hour or two later: Pine resin.

 

Around 6 hours: Not much left, a bit of pine.

 

12 hours: It all went away.

 

Overall: I like this one. Which is rather odd, because I usually don't do pine much.

 

After reading other reviews: I didn't get all the mossy other stuff, but that was okay in this case.

[rainbow]

In the bottle- pine and cedar. Very sharp.

 

Wet on my skin- this smells more like wood; very fresh and wet. As I'm wearing it becomes a bit softer, but still smells very strongly of wood and pine.

 

This smells very much like a forest on me. Overall it's sharp, very piney, with cedar undertones. Unfortunately I didn't get any fruit from this.

[Tesseljoan]

IN the vial Nocnitsa smells like a forest with the dusty smell of an old stone church. Ever since I've been to Florence, I adore the scent of stone churches, so this one seemed perfect. On my skin though, it turns into a pungent after shave smell, and I smell like the kind of guy that has an after shave cloud twenty feet around him, with his hair slicked back (you know the type). so....... this goes into my oil burner, to make my room smell like a dusty stone church in a pine forest.

[dubh_ceol]

Imp: AHHH! Pine! AHHH! Smells like pine sap. Lots of pine sap.

 

Drydown: Pine. Still. But something else as well?

 

Hour later: Very nice. Woodsy, (no more pine, thank the gods), with a bit of floral scent too.

[Raygun]

This is every spooky, dark forest that has ever appeared in fairytales or nightmares. It evokes the image of being in a dense, tangly pine forest on a crisp fall evening, smelling the rich, loamy dirt, wondering if the sounds you hear are simply twigs cracking beneath your feet, or someone, SOMETHING creeping up behind you. It's absolutely brilliant.

 

I do find that it fades very quickly on my skin, but have solved that by dabbing a bit on the inside of my shirt collar. This is a definite big bottle scent.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: the lab included this as an extra. it's a bit menthol-y to me, with lots of woods. very earthy, and not something i'd think i'd like.

on: very feminine wood scent. there's a freshness to this that i don't usually get with strong woods. very nice.

1 hour later: soft, sweet, and woody. there's something almost aquatic about this.

2 hours later: this is almost fruity on me now. how wonderfully odd.

3.5 hours later: very pretty and soft.

overall: i'm going to keep this one, since it is one of the rare wood scents that doesn't turn into something disgusting on my skin.

[Rackham's Vanity]

I can't decide about Nocnitsa. It morphs quickly on me, through several very distinct stages.

 

Wet, it's piney and lovely, but quickly turns sour, almost unbearably so. Aquatics begin to ooze forward, but before they come to the forefront, the oil settles into a sweeter, almost resiny scent. The sour note does lurk in the background, however, adding a slightly disconcerting edge to the drydown's organic sweetness.

 

It's the smell of forest decay, for sure, and well done...but I'm not sure it's for me.

[Monster]

Ok, anything Penance likes, I like lol

 

This one smells of astringent right out of the bottle.

On my skin wet the dirt smell really comes out! Ohh how I love this! Very muddy and spicy. This is a masculine scent, but smells wonderful on me.

After it dries down, the initial astringent smell is like a breeze of fresh air...this reminds me of the woods at night...right after it rains. I love this.

 

I will try this on my boyfriend later and see how it does on him.

[feline.by.design]

Hmm... Nocnitsa.

 

In the bottle, the sharp pine smell was the first to come out at me, along with the "upturned earth" scent, which smelled like damp soil after a heavy rain. I wasn't sure I'd like it, although I thought it would smell excellent on a man. The pine smelled a little like eucalyptus, to give you an idea of how bright it was. I swabbed the little impie wand on my arm and let skin chemistry work its little magic.

 

After about thirty second to a minute, the dark earth/bright pine smell blended into each other, swirled around a bit, and then became a surprisingly light green fragrance. It's borderline herbal, a little reminiscent of Jabberwocky but not as pronounced. To be honest, I nearly lost track of Nocnitsa on my skin. "Now I know I swiped it on this spot... sniff sniff" It became quite unexpectedly faint on my skin within minutes, mere minutes of application. It smells really fantastic, as I love green herbal foresty-like fragrances, but I have to shove my face into my arm to smell it.

 

But wait! I could have just frazzled my nose into uselessness, as I called on another nose to rate the fragrance's potency, and he said that he could smell it, and it was "rather strong." Hmm.... I must have stressed my nose out, as after he made that comment, I could smell it without practically snorting my arm. Maybe it was the pine that kind of made my nose get stunned for a while, who knows?

 

Although it begins as a cold night in some Polish forest, Nocnitsa warms up to resemble a more feminine Fenris Wolf. It's lovely, and I'll think about whether or not I'd like a bigger bottle. It just depends on how often I'll be reaching for my imp.

 

-doreen

[Miss Lynx]

Oooh, I think we have a winner here. Trying to find a foresty scent that really works on me has been a challenge, but I think trying enough different things coupled with the fact that my tastes seem to be expanding a bit may have produced results.

 

At first whiff, Nocnitsa is very sharp and piney, with almost a eucalyptus edge -- quite reminiscent of Loup Garou. But then as it settles in all kinds of other dimensions start to unfold. There's a resinous depth, a slight earthiness, and, as some people have commented, some sort of fruity note, though the Lab description doesn't list anything like that.

 

On drydown, it really reminds of nothing so much as my beloved Bewitched, with maybe a touch of Tintagel, too. It's not identical to either, but has a very similar feel. It's dark and earthy and wild-smelling, but also a little sweet and incensey at the same time... Very nice. And very northern-smelling, somehow -- it puts me very much in mind of my parents' land in northeastern Ontario, which is all pine and spruce and rock and moss, and the air there has a certain indefinable sweetness.

 

It's fading down a bit faster than I'd like, but hell, most BPAL scents I like seem to do that. Can't really hold that against any one of them any more (well, except maybe Thanatopsis, which holds the record for most mayfly-ish lifespan, having done a full disappearing act inside of 15 minutes).

 

Grade: B+, at least. Repeated wearings might bump it up to A, we'll see.