Hearth

[luxuria]

HEARTH 2005 (Limited Edition)

Thoroughly revisited. This year's Hearth is warmer, sweeter, and more traditionally comforting. This is the scent of candied chestnuts, buttered, covered in brown sugar and honey, alongside the scent of cedar smoke and soft pine.

In the bottle: Hello, butter. It smells slightly nutty, too, but I'm mostly picking up on the butter.

On the skin: The brown sugar comes out almost instantly, and that nutty smell gets stronger. Oh, there's the wood, too, a couple minutes later, along with a faint breath of pine. This is definitely not a purely foody scent. It reminds me of eating those chestnuts inside a log cabin with the fire blazing- I don't get very much smoke at all, but it's a very warm scent. Luckily the butter is pretty much nowhere to be seen.

It doesn't morph too much on drydown, but I'll edit this if I notice anything different.

Overall? Very homey and evocative. This would make an absolutely fabulous room scent.

[lorajc]

I'm so bummed cuz I have a cold and I'm having the hardest time smelling this one in particular. I do smell the nutty/buttery quality at first, but then I get nothing............. . I may smell just a touch of the cedar smoke....but my nose is not cooperating.

 

I'll need to try this once my head clears up.

 

ETA: Okay, I wore this today and my nose is cooperating a bit more. I put this on this morning and only got the nutty/buttery scent and then I couldn't smell it. However, it is freezing here and I'm a cold person. When I got in the car with my jacket on and blasted the heat, the scent started to emerge from my jacket and it was wonderful. This is definitely one of those scents that reacts with your skin and is quite lovely. I wasn't sure about this, but wearing it is definitely what made me fall in love with this. It's very comforting in the cold weather. It does wear rather lightly though.

Edited December 5, 2005 by lorajc

[slave1]

In Bottle: Nuts and pine.

 

On Skin: Very different than last years version. Which is a good thing. Last years smelled purely like pipe tobacco. This years is sweet and foody. The chesnuts are the strongest note. I can taste them almost, their buttery brown sugar coating… Yes, it smells exactly like “chesnuts roasting over an open fire”. WOW! The pine and cedar are light enough, just background notes to give the fireplace smell. I think this is a perfect holiday room scent.

[zillah37]

I loved last year's version of Hearth because of the pipe tobacco and cherry, so I was sad to hear this year's version was different. That didn't stop me from buying it of course, but it made me sad.

 

I get really strong butter when it's in the bottle. Almost overpowering actually.

 

Once it's on the skin, it starts off as pure butter. Then the brown sugar comes out and it calms down a little to something very warm. I slowly get nuts and pine, but not smoke. It's a very strong foody scent on my skin, which I love, but I still like the '04 better.

 

I'm definitely keeping the '05 and possibly getting another bottle though. It's still a winner in my book. The '04 version just happens to be my second favourite scent.

 

 

Edited on 12/18: The more I try this, the less I like it. It's kind of musty and old smelling even though it's a new bottle. I think I'll be trying ti swap this away to get more of the '04 version. Ah well.

Edited December 19, 2005 by zillah37

[QueenFae]

Lovely! Buttered toffee with chunks of chestnuts, smooth, sweet and creamy. I can detect an undershadow of smoke and piney-ness, but it's really very subtle. There's also something in it that makes me think of a deep coffee, sort of like Miskatonic University. I guess I would classify this as toffee/coffee/nut crunch while you are sitting next to the fire. I never tried the original Hearth, because I knew I wouldn't like it, but I am so glad I tried this one. It's really yummy and has a lot of staying power; I put some on my neck last evening and I could still smell it in my hair this morning. I'm really enjoying the toffee yumminess, try the new Hearth y'all!

Edited December 7, 2005 by QueenFae

[lysithea]

Wet: Initial stage is like a feast for the nose. Toasted nuts, sweet brown sugar, layered with a tinge of smokiness - with fir and evergreens peeking through the top layer.

 

Wearing: This stays true. The pine/fir is only noticeable while wet. When dry this becomes a warm nutty scent with a layer of smokiness. Maybe a description of roasted nuts in a honey/maple syrup mixture would sum it up.

 

In some ways it has that toffee, caramel-like creamy twist that I noticed in Miskatonic University. While this would not replace Misk. U - it falls into the same category.

 

Quite lovely and comforting to be sure. This is a foody scent. If you can't do foody, maybe this would work as a room scent for you. Another winner from this year's Yule collection.

[Loligo]

I loved the first hour of this scent: smoke and pine were most prominent, but the toasty brown sugar smell was there, too, and the combination was just so evocative -- you could just *see* the hearth, and the Christmas decorations, and the old-fashioned sweets. It was like every Christmas scene in Little Women, distilled into a bottle. I wish the smoke and pine had lingered longer, though. Later in drydown, the sweetness got a little cloying and one-dimensional. I'll have to try this again when I'm not slightly sick to my stomach.

[Hawke]

To be fair, I am a little congested, but, man. If this smells this good when I'm plugged up, I can hardly wait for a clear day.

 

In the bottle: Brown sugar and nuts. Carmelized brown sugar. It's like a bowl of .. pralines. Something equally sinful and wonderful.

 

Wet: The cedar and pine pop out almost immediately, though they stay in the background of the nutty goodness. It evokes fireside snacking to me, too, and makes me smile just sniffing it. Beautifully done. I'm so glad I've got it. I will try to resist the urge to buy more right now.

[Wrenlet]

"Soft pine" is not soft enough for my poor nose I can smell the foody goodness underneath, but have you ever seen someone sneeze with a mouthful of nuts?

[joseybird]

A whiff of pine, then butter and carmelized sugar (like Sugar Skull) and a nice warm nuttiness. As it dries down, the pine note dissapears, and eventually all that's left is mapelly sweetness. Nice, but it doesn't feel very distintive =(

[shelldoo]

in the bottle: hmm pecan pie? some sort of sugary nut dessert

 

wet: ahhh ok so there is the pine note, actually that is almost all i smell, evergreen.

 

as it dries it is no longer a gooey dessert treat, it is a christmas dessert sitting beside a freshly cut pine tree, the smell of the evergreen sweeping through the room mingling w/ the scent of delicious, sweet nut pies, and yummy smatterings of yuletide treats.

[Spring Snow]

YUM YUM

 

This scent is all delicious goodness. When the boy and I were making our Yule order, we decided we'd get just two, one for "inside X-mas" and one for "outside X-mas." (Talvikuu is outside x-mas.)

In the bottle and wet it is completely buttery and sugary. As it dries, the pine and cedar come through making it a very intriguing and multidimensional scent. Just lovely.

I layered some snake oil on top (meaning I sniffed a new imp of snake oil after I tried on the Hearth and spilled it on my wrist), which "grounds" the butter, making it very spicy and neat smelling. Mmm. It's absolutely edible.

[AlaskaSnows]

Wet: can't even explain it... sweet nuts?

 

Dry: Brown sugar with a warm meaty chestnut background, and a touch of light aromatic pine which brings the feeling of cold outdoors. I am totally in love.

[ChupaChup]

Wow, this is totally different from Hearth 2004 and so much better! Last year's version smelled like pancakes covered in maple syrup on me, it was cloying and even made this foody girl a little queasy. This year's is like sitting in front of a fireplace roasting chestnuts just as someone brings a freshly cut Christmas tree in from the cold. There is even a little smoke from the fireplace. The pine needle scent is quite strong at first but it dies down a little to let some of the buttery, sweet chestnut aroma come out. It's a very unusual scent, something I would think would smell better as a room scent than as a perfume, but the longer I have it on, the better it smells on me. This blend is so addictive I may get another bottle before the collection goes away.

 

ETA: Well, I tried it again today and although I still really like it at first, after a couple of hours, it smells kind of funky. I think the pine note has to either stay stronger or disappear completely for me to be able to like this. I may be swapping it after all.

Edited December 11, 2005 by ChupaChup

[Blood onmy hands]

Wearing this makes me a bit nauseous. It reminds me of something that wasn't exactly good from my childhood, but I can't seem to place it. It just gives me an anxious feeling.

 

It smells very buttery in the bottle and on my skin at first. But it is also rather nutty and woodsy. Maybe it is the cedar smoke that is making me feel so sick? Wood smoke, butter, and a hint of pine. It's... not working well on me.

 

An hour later, the smokiness has calmed down a bit... this smells like I melted butter and added a bunch of brown sugar to it. I like more complex/rich foodie scents, so this one isn't really working for me. I think this one would make a better room scent than a personal one.

Edited December 11, 2005 by Blood onmy hands

[AliBabble]

wow, this is different than i expected...but i'm really liking it!! reminds me of the color brown...woods and caramel...the first notes i get out of the bottle are the butteriness and nuttiness, but with plenty of pine needles and cedar. it's an interesting combo.

on my skin it ping-pongs back and forth a bit between pine (i worried it would be a bit pine-sol-ish at first..) and the sweet, rich brown sugar-ish smell.

it finally settles with a nice balance of the pine/woodsiness and rich, dark nuttiness. it's not too sweet - just enough. very comforting, if a bit hunger-inducing.

it's very "little red riding hood"/ "to grandmother's house we go". makes me wanna run off to a cozy cabin in the woods.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: The warm sugar and butter are strong and comforting, but the pine is sending a sharp yellow note that to my nose disrupts the balance of the fragrance. It makes it disturbing rather than a comfort.

On me: This is so much better on the skin! Warm wood, old wood, slightly smoky from many fires over several lifetimes. The sweetness of the butter and sugar makes this note rather nutty - it seems to be a very sugared candied walnut. I didn't anticipate liking this so much, but it is awesome.

[gingersnapp]

I was worried about this mix because in the bottle, all I could smell was butter. Shill was a blend I was excited about but that just didn't work on me. I couldn't smell the pine at all, but was somewhat relieved about that because pine blends never seem to work on me either.

 

But on... this is the holidays for me, perfectly liquified and wearable.

 

It's sugary, buttery almonds. But then the pine! The pine is the perfection. It's like sitting around the fireplace in my parents' living room, decorated tree in the corner, snacking and talking and just enjoying each other's company. I love this. This is what I wanted Hearth 2004 to be.

[Scylla]

I like Hearth 2005 better than Hearth 2004--but it is a totally different scent. It smells delicious, but even as a foody scent lover it's just too sweet, buttery and foody for me to wear. I think it would be terrific as a room scent in an oil burner, though. I will probably keep my bottle for this purpose.

[maewitch]

This is great, and so unusual to my nose. It starts out with a deep smoked nutiness which evolves a wonderful pine - not sharp and sweet like fresh pine, but drier, almost like logs for the fireplace.

 

I get no butter, and no real sense of brown sugar, though it is a softer and sweeter blend than I was expecting.

Edited December 17, 2005 by maewitch

[eclecticaurora]

Once I put this blend on I began to smile and couldn't stop...not sure what it is, but the scent just makes me all happy. Reminds me of going to my aunt's house and doing X-mas there: Sitting around the fireplace and cracking and eating the nuts and cookies. The nutty-liquidy sugar is at the forefront of the smells, but hiding behind it is my favorite note: Pine! It stops it from being too foody for me. It's just GORGEOUS!

[magikalcrab]

I wanted so much to love this scent - foody and I work well together. In the bottle, I could smell a sharp piney hit over a warm buttered scent and had hope.

 

Wet on skin: powdery, with the tiniest hint of caramel

 

Dry: nothing but pine. Pine and I hate each other. It was strong enough to give me a headache within about half a minute and I had to go wash it off. Strangely enough, the scent stayed there and turned sugary sweet.

 

My chemistry is strange.

[SeaMonkey]

Hearth 2004 is one of my favorite scents, so I pouted when it was changed and said I wasn't going to try it. THen I grew up and got an imp.

 

In the vial, its all buttery and I'm scared, because buttery notes go all vanilla candle on me.

 

But I put it on and BOOM! Its pine! and nuts! and smoke! with a subtle underlying butteryness. This is very pretty. THe cedar comes out for a bit. This is definately roasting nuts in front of a fire.

 

Tis beautiful

[queenofattolia]

I wanted so much to love this scent - foody and I work well together. In the bottle, I could smell a sharp piney hit over a warm buttered scent and had hope.

 

Huh. To me, in the bottle it smelled exactly like graham crackers.

 

Wet on the skin: exactly like Pine Sol mixed with caramel corn.

 

Dry down, exactly like it was wet, except much softer.

 

My chemistry is strange.

 

Mine isn't, so this was a somewhat unpleasant surprise. I had my sister try it, and on her it smelled like graham crackers through all three stages. Obviously it is not for us. I'm disappointed, because it sounded like such a lovely smell and it is probably only one of three total BPAL scents I haven't liked (and I own at least a dozen I do love).

[white_jenna63]

As soon as I opened the plastic bag, never mind taking the tape off the imp and opening it, I got a blast of sweet nuttiness (no comments about my personality, please). When I did open the imp, I could pick up a little bit of pine underneath. Wet on the skin, the butter-toffee-nut continued. After a couple minutes, I AM THE MIGHTY PINE! So strong it made me jerk my head back and fear this may have to be swapped. But then it faded quickly and diappeared within ten minutes. Now it's still butter-toffee-nut, could almost be caramel corn. Very nice. And it *does* work lovely as a room scent, as the wand bounced out of the imp and scented some of the carpet.