Yew-Trees

[caffinatedangel]

Piercingly sweet berries over evergreen boughs, deepened by the tree’s sacred wood.

Yew Trees is really, really strong evergreen as the top note, with just faint whispers of other things. Mid-way, it's a better balance of evergreen and some woody/nutty vibe going on. Then base notes it reminds me vaguely of tonka, just not as creamy. I don't know what it is, but it's a lot like miskatonic U. was too. Must be the "wood" note used. Which is lovely, but the evergreen was too much for me. If there were berries in this, they only slightly sweetened the wood which probably gave it that sweeter tonka vibe to me.

It lasted a while, and each step of the aging on skin really changed from point to point. But, I guess I'm just not an evergreen fan, in any form.

[Lamia]

This is a powerful pine scent, without being aggressive. Thick beneath the pine is the smell of leather.

 

This is NOM.

[obsidienne]

In the imp, this is light pine with something sweet.

 

On the skin, lightly sweet berries, pine and some very pretty light woods.

 

Dry down: less pine and woods, light berries, and... really? Is that coconut? I could almost swear that's coconut.

 

A pretty but unusual scent. It'd be nice around the holidays or during cool weather, but it's not really me.

[Apple]

How utterly bizarre. Yew-Trees is not something I ever would have tried on my own, as I am not a fan of pine/evergreen scents. But I was generously frimped an imp of it in a recent swap, and so I decided to test it out.

 

Sniffing the imp, it is indeed pine-y... but not in that Pinesol or car freshener way. Far more subtle. I think catch a whiff of frankincense or sandalwood, too, and now I'm much more intrigued. I apply a tiny swipe from the imp to my hand, and the evergreen-type scent yields almost immediately to that resiny (frankincense? sandalwood?) note. But then, surprise! The scent suddenly sweetens, and I realize I'm smelling... coconut? Yes, definitely coconut. And pine. And frankincense (or possibly sandalwood). No, really. It's like some kind of tropical Christmas in a church!

 

And what's even weirder is that I kind of like it. I don't like pine scents at all, and I'm not wild about coconut in perfume. If you had said, "Come sniff this coconut pine perfume," I might have wrinkled my nose and said, "Coconut AND pine? Together? Ugh! No thanks - I'll pass."

 

But strangely, it works. It's sort of light and clean, crisp and warm at the same time. Very fresh and snuggly. It is very vaguely Christmas candle-y, but there's something (maybe the coconut) that's preventing it from going too full-on holiday. When fully dry, it is just a whisper of creamy sweetness.

 

Verdict: very interesting, very unexpected, and actually quite nice.

 

Edit: (Note: This was edited after dreamcatcher's review below.) Crap. There's vanilla in this. And it's the wintergreen-y kind I'm allergic to. And it was so pretty for awhile! *sigh* Off to swaps.

Edited October 21, 2009 by Apple

[dreamcatcher]

* piggybacking* EXACTLY what Apple said. I agree completely with the stages and I also really like it. I'm using up my imps for now but keep considering a bottle. It's almost but not quite yummy. *end piggyback*

[reynardine]

Got a frimp. Got two! Lucky me. I am so allergic to most woods (cedar, sandalwood, and yes...YEW). But what the heck, I'll try it!

 

In bottle: Is that pine? I think? It isn't yew. We had yew trees in our front yard for the longest time and I know very well what that smells like, that lovely sharp scent that hits just before my nose stops up.

 

Wet: What IS that? It's not pine. Something woodsy, though. Had my husband, who likes to work with wood, take a sniff and he couldn't place it either, but it wasn't pine we were getting. Not berries, either. Earthy smell. Clean.

 

Drydown: Pleasant, crisp, woodsy scent. Would go nice in winter, I think. Cannot place it, though. However, it did NOT make me sneeze, tear up or start wheezing, so whatever it was didn't set off my allergies.

 

Good staying power, too. Still around several hours later.

 

I don't think Yew Trees is really for me (I'm a floral girl), but it was nice to find a woodsy scent that didn't create havoc.

 

I like the idea of a previous poster to try to layer this with one of the pumpkin scents. Might experiment with that and see how that goes.

[MamaMoth]

In the bottle, straight-up pine cleaner. Yowza, that's harsh. I almost didn't try this one on, it made my eyes water. But I've vowed to give every imp that comes through my hands at least a small skin test, sooo....

 

Wet on skin, more of the same for a few minutes. Then it starts to morph, and it starts getting better and better. The pine becomes a really soft evergreen smell and fades waaay into the background. I can still smell it, but just enough to enjoy it. Up front, it's now sweet and creamy, but in a fresh way. I can't believe it, but Yew Trees turns into something really nice. This may weasel its way onto my bottle list.

 

It really is reminding me of Brown Jenkins in some ways. Perhaps it shares the coconut-husk note?

Edited October 26, 2009 by MamaMoth

[KesHiro]

Got this as a free imp in one of my orders.

 

To me, it starts off as a heavy pine with something sweet in the background (probably the berries so many have mentioned). For some reason, I keep thinking that there may also be juniper in this, but then again my nose may be broken. After about an hour, I also get the vanilla/coconut smell that some others have reported. Maybe it's because the holidays are just around the corner but I keep thinking "Christmas! Pretty decorated trees! Wonderful cookies in the oven! Holiday candles!" whenever I sniff this.

 

Interesting and pretty, although I'm not sure if I'll wear it often. Definitely going into my oil burner though.

[loubric]

Minty vix-y piney vanilla musk on me.

Does that even make sense??

 

At first it was very medically strong but as it dries down on my skin it becomes warmer and slightly sweeter. A little bit woodsey.

 

I am perplexed.

[impolight]

IN THE IMP: Very faint. Is that... Coconut?

 

ON EPIDERMIS: MUCH, Much sweeter than expected.

The coconut (strangely) makes more bold an appearance than

the berries. The evergreens are wreathed in a vanilla mist.

Electric, pastel, mentholated green.

Confections on a woodland carriage ride...

Edited January 17, 2010 by impolight

[starfish327]

in the imp: pine and something sharp, but not too sharp- just enough to be noticable.

 

wet: pine. just pine.

 

dry: sweet pine. this is a lot less intense than what i had feared after my run in with wolfsbane- i had been afraid to try any of the rest of the garden series.

 

this isn't an overpowering pine but i don't know how much i'd actually wear it. it's not an instant trade item but if i were offered something for it i'd trade it.

[Schmoozy]

 

One of my first true BPAL loves. Wood, berries and evergreen. It doesn't get any better than this. Lot's of medicinal pine surrounded by sweet berries. Dry, dusty and very strong. A little goes a long way.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Yep, those are yew trees and tart berries. Wet: The wood really comes out on the skin. The berries are not entirely ideal. There is something a little odd underneath and not entirely pleasant, like the strong soap my grandfather used to combat poison ivy oil. I thought I would love this from the bottle scent, but I really, really don’t. Dry: The nasty edge is like a cat scratch. It’s the icky thing and powdry blandness left. It’s painfully disappointing.

[milo]

At first this is a mentholated evergreen with something sweet and foody in the background. What a morpher this goes! From wet to dry, it is very different. The menthol evergreen disappears, and a sweet, woody blend comes out. It's almost foody in nature, a bit spicy, like a cookie, but with a bit of lovely wood. I don't get any berries here... I am surprised that I like this blend, as I thought for sure it was going to be 'just another evergreen blend', though I shouldn't be, as woody seems to be a go to scent the last month or so. I'll certainly enjoy the imp, and may even upgrade depending on how this blend develops on me and ages in the imp.

[papermaker]

This begins as a blast of evergreen. It begins to sweeten almost immediately though. I like this stage. Then it is the wood of the tree, but it smells really creamy almost as if there is tonka or vanilla in it. The smell of evergreen begins to reemerge though to make this well blended.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Mainly soft pine - fir perhaps?

 

On Application

Eucalyptus and fir

 

Dry Down

I don't really get any berry. Not for me.

 

Rating (0-5)

1

 

[ianastar]

In the bottle this was an evergreen bough adorned with sweet berries.

 

Drying down and finish - this is a soft evergreen. The gentle hush and sway of a tall, majestic evergreen. Not too overpowering, just enough.

 

Im not big on the evergreen scent, but I wanted to try this anyways, I like it but not enough to wear it on a regular basis.

 

I'm very suprised that I didn't get the Pine Sol scent, because a lot of the green scents turn to Pine Sol on me right away.

[pandorasmuse]

In the imp: Very pale oil. Just a hint of yellow color. I smell a lot of the wood and evergreen, but I like it much more than I have liked those notes in other blends. The berries smell like juniper berries, rather than something sweet.

 

Wet: Very interesting! Definitely juniper-y. I don’t really know what a yew tree is. Is it a juniper relative? I smell a bit more sweetness now. This will be great when the weather turns a bit colder, I think.

 

Drydown: Less juniper-y, more gentle pine. This is drying pleasantly.

 

Later: The berries definitely make an appearance as time goes on. This is a nice, walk-in-the-woods sort of scent.

 

After wearing it for a full day, I am still most pleased. This is the woodsy, outdoorsy, nature girl scent I have been waiting for.

[ShannonElisabethJones]

Very piney. Sharp and refreshing. At first all I got were fresh pine needles, but it's starting to warm up a little with the woodiness. I'm not really getting any berries yet, but if they never show up, I'll still be happy with this scent.

[LightLikeKnives]

In the bottle: Is that Old Spice I smell? Yup.

 

On the skin: It smells initially woodsy and piney, that disappears rapidly and leaves behind the nutty/overly sweet smell that smells very much like the original Old Spice. Yuck! Wearing this made me feel like I had aged 20 years. Eventually that smell faded away, leaving a faintly spicy, musky scent which wasn't that bad.

[mxtine]

OMG Pine! My nostrils flared and my eyes bugged out when I sniffed this. I can't skin test.

[aleciarivas]

This was a fantastic scent in that it morphed gradually over time from sometime distinctly almost-pine-smelling into a lovely soft berry scent with hardly any wood beneath. It's very faint though, and doesn't throw at all on me. It's neat for the unique morphing quality, though.

[Doc M]

My first review!

 

In vial: junipers. Maybe spruce. Slightly smoky/spicy.

On skin: the same. The resins and woods start coming out after a few minutes, enhancing that spicy sensation. No berries, unless we're talking those hard green berries you find on evergreen boughs sometimes. This is a very strong scent. Beating on its chest, giving-a-Tarzan-yell strong. There is no feminine sweetness to be found here. I imagine it has a strong throw too.

Verdict: Pleasant but a bit too masculine for me. A good scent for winter. Now I get to post my first swap!

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Whoo, strong evergreens. Hello, Pacific Northwest in a bottle. I love pine scents, so I’m going to slather this one on.

 

Wet: Oh yeah, still evergreen dominant, but I’m noticing perhaps a slight undertone of food. Still making music for my nose.

 

Dry: Evergreen is still the dominant note, but now I smell hints of berries to sweeten everything up. I really like this one.

[Quillifer]

If you ever have someone around who is sceptical about BPAL's ability to recreate scents, let them sniff this. It's an absolute dead-ringer for the smell of yew trees. I could even take you to a particular yew that this smells more like than others (and I know a lot of yews).

 

I'm going to keep the imp because I love having this scent to hand as something to smell, and because I feel great veneration for yews, but I don't feel inclined to wear it. I feel part of the yews, but they don't feel part of me, if that makes any sense; this scent expresses something I belong to but not an aspect of myself.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Quillifer