Beltane 2005-06

[LunaSea]

... It doesn’t matter where your faith lies, Beltane is sacred to us simply because we’re human. It is a celebration of new growth, rebirth, of the fertility of our land, our spirits and our bodies, and is a reminder of the joy in simply being alive. Celebrate life! Wind some flowers into your hair, dab a little oil behind each ear, toss the first petals of springtime onto your yard, and bless your garden the old fashioned way!

Beltane is heaven. It is definitely spring in a bottle. It is lovely flowers and greens. Wet on the skin, I get a touch of sweetness, and a little bit of spice. But mostly this beautiful combination of green grasses and flowers. Fresh and sweet and floral. Wonderful.

But, my damn chemistry turns this to powder within just a few minutes. I am seriously heartbroken. I can't bear to part with my bottle, because it is the perfect embodiment of spring. I will try it as a room scent, and I swear I am getting a scent locket!

[Imbrium]

In the bottle: This smells wonderful already - floral, but very light. I'm struck by how similar it smells to Amsterdam, which is one of my absolute favorites.

 

On: Beltane starts out very much as it smells in the bottle. Among the flowers in this blend, I know I smell tulips, and something aquatic - it's very green. Unfortunately for me, one of the floral notes in this blend is one of the ones that doesn't agree with my skin. It turns sickly sweet, and slightly powdery, which is slightly depressing, given how divine it smells in the bottle. I think this may well be the first Bpal that I try as a room scent - I hate to give up on it when it's so pretty away from my skin.

 

Besides - regardless of how it smells on me, I know I'm going to want some come next Beltane.

[misfitroxy]

It’s very difficult to describe what this smells like when wet. There’s florals in there, of course. Something sweet and something spicy too. It’s pleasant and even tasty.

 

After dabbing a bit on my wrist, I’m getting an almost citrus-like juicy flower smell from this. It’s very different and again has me pretty stumped. I might be getting a bit of a grass smell, as there’s something overtly “clean” in there centering the various blooms.

 

While I’m not crazy about its first stage (just a bit too floral sweet for me), once it mellows some and the spice/musk emerges, the oil becomes a lot more wearable on me.

 

It’s soft yet delicately fragrant like a field of colorful wildflowers, absolutely capturing the onset of Spring in a bottle. While I’m much more of a smoke and wine (notes only!) girl, I can see myself wearing this from time to time and most certainly using it on and around the sabbat. My thanks to the Lab!

[darkling]

Beltane turned out to be one of those scents that doesn't agree with my body chemistry. It smelled like soapy rose and bath beads in the bottle and on my skin

[karlajean]

In the bottle, and wet on my skin, Beltane smells exactly like a stargazer lily to me. And while they're my absolute favorite flower to look at, I'm not a fan of the smell of them.

 

As it dried, the scent got a bit better, but it still smells much like a commercial perfume to me, which is something I'm trying to avoid with buying BPAL scents. Still not too sure I like it.

 

After a few hours, it's gone slightly baby-powdery, but not completely. It's alright, but not going onto my list of favorites. I'll probably keep it as something to wear next Beltane and that's it (well, and because I'm obsessing over collecting as many imps of LEs as I can find )

[ismene]

Many people are describing Beltane as being light or fresh, but to me it feels very heavy. It indeed smells like a large bouquet of fresh flowers - flowers to which I'm allergic. I wasn't expecting this one to be quite so overpowering or I wouldn't have ordered it, since the stronger florals usually give me a headache. I can't identify many of the notes, but I think I smell a bit of rose, which would explain my bad reaction to the oil.

[yeahbutnobut]

Beltane

 

In the imp: fresh, green and with a hint of light florals. Very 'springy'.

Wet on skin: this reminds me of a perfume I sometimes wore when I was younger. This is so green and bubbly, with light spring florals. It does smell a bit soapy, but this isn't too bad, for now.

Dry on skin: this is such a green scent, but more of a spring green, like buds and new leaves on the trees. There's a scent of blossom here, adding a gentle floral note. It makes me think of a sunny spring day, it's cheerful and playful. But now it mellows out and I can make out jasmine and maybe some rose and loads of spring flowers. It gets less soapy and more floral now, but still with a crisp green note, which is also quite aquatic. This brings to mind meadows, and blossoming trees growing by clear streams.

After a while: this reminds me of little bit of the wet stage of Nuit, but it's a greener, sunnier and moister daytime equivalent, I think it's the jasmine. It really does remind me of a perfume I wore when I was younger though.

Verdict: this is a lovely, light scent which is the essence of spring. It makes me want to go skipping in dewy meadows and then lying under blossoming trees and letting the petals fall on me. It's bouncy, it's fresh and green, with blossom and jasmine scents, and possibly rose. It's slightly soapy, but in a pleasant, 'child's soap bubbles' kind of way. There's something youthful and playful about this scent. However, I do prefer Nuit or Queen Mab as my jasmine scent, but this is really nice.

 

Edit: I was hoping to love this scent. But after an hour, it smells just like Raid fly spray, and stays like that for ages. It's a nice sweet flowery scent but it reminds me too much of insecticide for me to love it

Edited May 31, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Flowers with a sprinkling of green herbs. Definitely jasmine, perhaps some ylang ylang? It does make me think of May Day and the whole 'dancing 'round the flowered Maypole' tradition.

On me: Powerful floral. Jasmine, ylang ylang, rose. There's also that interesting, sweet note that I get from lotus, and I think I may detect a hint of tulip. The herbs that I detect in the bottle have become rather watery, but it definitely adds, rather than subtracts, from the scent. All in all this is an excellent spring floral, perfect for bringing in the new season of light and warmth.

[Glitzie]

In the bottle: very green floral

 

Wet- green floral with a depth, I can't distinguish the different floral scents but this is a lovely blend.

 

Dry- the greenness has gone *phew* it no longer smells of hothouse flowers. It has dried down to a really heavy floral which is gorgeous. I def smell Jasmine in there quite prominently. Perfect, I really like heavy heady scents and this fits the bill perfectly

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): This smells like spicy flowers to me. On second sniff, more flowers, but still not overpowering.

 

Just On: Wow, it turns almost immediately to all flowers. Still not overpowering, but I'm a little unsure about flowers only on me. I can't identify any specific flowers, my nose is still pretty untrained, and these are blended very well.

 

An hour or two later: It's a lot of flowers, and a lot of flowers. Something has turned to plastic, but that's not the dominating scent, so it's flowers in plastic.

 

Around 6 hours: Flowers. And too many flowers for me to really enjoy this scent. I love the idea, but I don't think it's going to work for me.

 

12 hours: It's dried way way down to faded musty florals, and I don't care for it much.

 

Overall: If you love flowers, this is probably an awesome scent for you. I don't love them, so this goes off to swap. If it had stayed spicy flowers, I might have liked it a lot more. I'm very glad I got to try this though, and it was a worthy purchase, so I'm happy.

 

After reading other reviews: Yup, it's floral, just like everyone says. Too bad it doesn't work for me, as I tend to amp up or twist florals into something acky.

[Orodemniades]

Imp: Mm, a soft, watery green floral.

 

Wet: Smells strongly of carnations and...carnations. With stuff.

 

Drydown: There's something vaguely spicy in here, maybe a hint of cinnamon?? I have no idea what florals are in here - oh, I can smell a bit of tea rose, I think...and maybe some lilac? Gah, I have no clue.

 

Overall: Okay, hours after I put this on, a scent from my childhood appears. I can't remember what it's in connection to, but I love that scent! Unfortunately it takes time to get to that phase, and I'm actually not all that fond of the first few stages of Beltane. I love florals, but find the carnation in this a little overpowering. I'll still wear it, but it might be more of a Feb-March scent than one for June...

 

Oro

[oakmoss]

I wonder if Beth reads through these reviews and chuckles at all the guesses about what's in these mystery perfumes?

 

In the bottle, just light, flowery, beckoning... nothing specific. But in the first moment it touched my skin, LILAC, like burying my face in a dew-damp branch of the spring's first lilac. Alas, that lasted for a few fleeting moments, and now it's morphed into more of a mixed bouquet, sharper and somewhat powdery. It's nice, but I don't love it yet, perhaps because I'm just disappointed the lovely lilacs went away!

[Aurelius]

In the bottle: Floral, somewhat "thick" and "heavy."

 

Wet/Drying/Dry (all the same on me): Ooh, this a sweet floral. I was expecting it to be heavy, as many florals smell on me (and how it smelled in the bottle). Instead, this was much lighter, greener. I wouldn't say it was "soft" on me, but then again, my skin chemistry amps up florals. Instead of conjuring up an old room filled with dried flowers, or a lush rose perfume, this smells of freshly cut flowers. It's one of the floral blends that has behaved the best on my skin.

 

Very very nice.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a word or two: Herbal

 

In the imp/bottle: Definitely floral, and sort of green.

 

On skin, wet: I wonder if there's a tea note in this. I'd swear there's a citrus of some sort here. Lemon peel?

 

On skin, dry: This now smells like a musky, herbal, citrus floral. Very nice, but also very faint.

 

Conclusion: I like this! After sniffing constantly for an hour, it gave me a slight headache, but I was fine after just wearing it normally. Still, I don't think I like it enough to keep the whole bottle. I'll probably decant it and keep one or two.

Edited December 18, 2005 by Aredhel

[Eris]

Interesting. In the bottle, I smelled a soft, rounded floral. Not too cloying. I was very happy because I thought, "Ah! Another floral for those that don't usually like florals."

 

On my wrist, it promptly turned into a thick, layered almost-soapy-but-not-quite-soapy green and white floral. In fact, it reminded me strongly of Danube without the opening watery blue note. They definitely have a similar core, at least on me.

 

In the end, I'm just not a floral person, alas. This is definitely a unique floral, clean more than perfumey sweet, and it doesn't offend me like some. Unfortunately, it just doesn't do much else, and I'm sure some other person will love it more.

[mmcfa2]

Beltane is a serious morpher on me! From the bottle I get drifts of Nuit and I was scared cause Nuit went yucky on me, but no fear

 

wet on: flowers I cannot identify and a wisp of smoke.

 

drying Fruit! but just a flash of a fruity smell, the same note in queen Mab, but then it's gone and I'm pretty sure it's not realy a fruit at all, just a berry smelling floral.

 

dry: a hint of spiciness in a creamy floral. Carnation?I can't tell you a thing about what is in it but it is just wonderful

 

The drydown is pretty much the same and I just love it and would like to have a nother bottle pretty please? I have a few LE and non LE to swap if anyone just hated it

[Chas]

I discovered BPAL right after Beltane sold out, which is a pity. I swapped with someone on LJ to get an imp, and I already have a strange relationship with this oil. I love it, but I don't like it.

 

In the bottle, it's very green. Wet on my skin it smells like my flower garden. After about 20 minutes, it dries and smells very herby. I'm getting hints of mint from it, along with a soft "green." Like walking through you garden in the afternoon, and stopping to touch all the plants. It's florally and herby, and very ripe.

 

I don't think it's something I'd use daily, but it will be perfect for ritual work.

[AnaisSatin]

I smelled carnation (or was it tulip? I always mix them up. This is why LE Beltaine reminds me of Amsterdam). Normally I'm not a florals person, and this scent is extremely floral for me, but Beltaine goes great with my hippie summer persona. Thanks Beth!

[tempete]

The lovely ChupaChup sent me a decant of Beltane to try!

 

Beltane is a sweet, grassy floral that unfortunately turns to soap on me, suggesting the presence of jasmine. It also gives me a headache, which happens often with very green scents. Alas, Beltane did not work for me but I can see how it would be lovely on someone with the right chemistry.

[Galena]

I smell Geranium.

 

I like this, it's pretty and light and very sparkly floral.

[Sheila]

Oh, this is gorgeous. It is indeed floral, but I'm picking up something spicy too. (I don't think it's carnation--maybe the same lilies that are in Tiger Lily?) It's a bit like Eos, but with that added spice.

 

It's light, buttery-yellow in color, and very pretty. Feminine. Perfect for Beltane.

[blaqpearl]

I had hope for this floral. It sounded great. I think the herbals combined with this didnt mesh well with my chemistry. It was very medicinal too my nose. But I am glad I got to try it.

[arabella]

First impression: Very green - like stems and leaves. I don't really like this stage.

 

Dries down to: A fresh floral - like bulb flowers - mainly tulips and daffodils, that have been rained on recently. The scent is wet and heavy but not overpoweringly floral. Tends to stick around quietly, as if it's there but trying not to be obvious. To me, this is much more April than May.

 

Lasted: About 4 hours - which is pretty good for me.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[QueenFae]

Beltane is wonderful. It's a bright, lovely, green/yellow floral. So scrumptious and delightful, it reminds me of Spring afternoons and dancing through flowering meadows. It smells like tulips on me, with a glorius, light green undertone. I can't get enough of this one. People who like Corazon will probably like this one. Bravo Beth!!!

[~AmusedMuse~]

definitely a sharp green floral with added spice, not sure what kind of spice but it reminds me of camping in the spring....After wearing it awhile the sharpness of the green floral morphs into something more sweet and maybe its carnations I am smelling I dont know but I do love it...(hoards her imp)