Litha 2006

[dixiehellcat]

... Honey mead with honeysuckle, oak wood, ivy leaf, wild thyme, carnation, daisy, vervain, gum arabic, frankincense, yauhtli, and liquid copal.

OH MY. This is sooo nice! In the imp it smelled very light, so much so that I was afraid it would die on me right away, but after just a few minutes this glorious scent came wafting up from my arm & my nose was stuck to my wrist for the rest of the evening...not that it needed to be exactly, since it has great throw! I caught the honey, hints of floral and spice and of incense, which kind of grounded the whole thing for me, as I love incense notes. GUH. Must find more than this loverly but lonely imp.

[alianthe]

In the bottle: honey and warm, lush, fruit. Almost but not quite citrusy.

 

On me (wet): sweet and very woodsy. I can definitely smell the oak, but then the frankinscense gets sharper, threatening to push everything else away.

 

On me (dry): (gone in 30 min, I had to really slather to get a "dry" reading on it) sweet, warm, woody, and just a little sharp.

[500ml]

Boy, this is quite something. Wet on skin it smelled ever so strongly of aniseed which then slowly turned into a musky/woody scent. Next stage was lemony and then it turned into something very very nice. I found it hard to pinpoint the notes after a while, but I was amused with how many times Litha changed.

[brownbear]

I love it!!! This goes on my new favorites list. The first time I wore it I got flowers, then sweet flowers, then soft honey. I wore it again today and the first whiff was orange peels and honey. Mmmmmmmmmmm Then it was floral and sweet and now honey. I love this so much.

[Ishtar]

I was very happy to be able to track down a decant of Litha, as it sounded perfect for me. Honeysuckle, thyme, vervain, resins AND mead? Oh my! I love mead so much, I actually made a batch of it a few years ago with a group of friends... needless to say, I needed to try this.

 

In the imp and wet on my skin, Litha reminded me of several other gorgeous summer/solar BPAL scents. Tarot: The Sun came to mind for its similarly joyful, glorious feel. Mead was indeed the most prominent note, complete with the slight sourness of fermented honey and a complex mix of floral and fruity notes.

 

Without question, this is an exuberant, almost jubilant blend and I can see why it is so well-loved. For my personal taste, though, there is a little too much going on at once. Not that I mind that type of scents, don't get me wrong: some of my favourite BPAL blends are precisely ones where there is a lot going on, such as Tarot: The World and Aquarius. But somehow, these blends strike an almost magical balance between all their disparate notes, whereas in Litha I get the feeling that each component is clamouring for attention. The end result is a little over the top for me.

 

Even though I really enjoyed the initial stage, I will be looking for a better home for my decant.

Edited February 9, 2008 by Ishtar

[twilighteyes]

In the bottle:

Honeyed mead top, warm oak note on the bottom.

 

Wet on skin:

Still honey with a woodsy oak incensey note.

 

Dry on skin:

Incense is coming to the top. Some spice (from the carnation?) I think the copal and gum arabic are making themselves known. Honey is still waving its little arms at me. Definitely a floral note going on in there now, incense has died back a bit as the florals emerge. Honeysuckle is coming out.

 

Hm. Honeyed warm woodsy/incensey floral. Very nice. I can see wearing it during the summer, especially on a warm night outside by a fire.

Edited February 27, 2008 by TwilightEyes

[waternight]

In the bottle: Daisy and resins (frankincense and copal), carnation, fresh greens, light honey wine. Very fresh and summery.

Wet: Light, sweet, fizzy honey mead! Gentle, breezy florals and plants. I definitely get the daisy, with a backup of honeysuckle and a tiny bit of carnation. This is breezy and wonderful! Very light, dry resins - no gooey resins here. Sweet copal mixes with the honey. This has the potention to be a sticky, cloying mess, based on the notes, but it stays light and sweet and gentle.

Dry: Slightly fermented and fizzy. Light, summery florals drizzled with the lightest honey and herbs. LOVE.

[donnatron]

Imp: Honey mead (the devil's brew. I nearly ran screaming from the imp due to bad memories of honey mead), green ivy and a touch of my beloved frankincense.

 

Wet: The honey mead goes sour and turns my stomach a little (again, not through any fault of the perfume, just through my own youthful mead indiscretions). The ivy starts to creep through the entire scent; the honey can't decide if it wants to go sweet or sour. The carnation is going spicy.

 

Dry: Hallelujah! The mead steadies itself, the honey sweetens accordingly, the frankincense smells delicious and holy. The florals have entwined to create a sweet boquet and the entire scent is just divine. It really takes its time to blossom, but the drydown makes it so worth it.

 

Throw: A few inches from the skin. This also has the benefit of smelling more like it could possibly be my natural perfume rather than an applied perfume.

 

Overall: Dammit. I try really hard to not fall in love with LEs, because I know that they will just break my heart eventually. This is gorgeous. I am keeping an eye open for it, because I want to smell like this all summer. And in winter when I'm depressed that it's not summer.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Sweet, green, and resiny.

 

Wet: CITRUS (verbena, but not the crazy lemon cleaning solution type) and resin. The sweetness is mellower and distinctly honey, now. More herbal, softer overall. Thyme!

 

Dry: The verbena, which was very nice, has faded and the honey has amped. The herbs and resins remain. Strong, strong throw.

 

Summary: Herbs and resin dipped in rich honey. I find it very soothing and comforting, and it reminds me of Gennivre (but stronger on the honey, and warmer) and the herbs are very reminiscent of Chiroptera. Really nice - I'd love my apt to smell like this - but I doubt it's something I'll wear much. I'll enjoy my imp, though.

[Wwindy]

This blend is such a tease! On first applying, I got a gorgeous burst of effervescent, glowing mead... which vanished, almost instantaneously. I don't think I've ever slathered so much on an initial test, and still -- my skin just drinks this stuff up as if it were... uh... tasty sweet alcohol or something!

 

I tried reapplying heavily mid-day; that time around, my results were slightly less sweet, with more of a prominent ivy note, but also a slightly plasticky element. And then -- poof! -- gone again. Come back, Litha, come back!

 

Sniffing my decant seems to be the best shot I have at actually checking this blend out, so: In the vial, Litha reminds me a bit of Chimera (the cinnamon in that hardly shows up on me at all, so it's probably the honeysuckle + copal combo that feels familiar) or No. 93 Engine (not sure what's pinging that comparison, but my nose is insisting there's something in common). If only I could get it to stick around on my skin and share its loveliness...

[grashopper8]

This is just LOVELY!!!!!!!! A smart impulse-bottle-buy, I must say!

 

A light drizzle of honey mead, a pretty herbal tone, some sweet young honeysuckle, a faint swirl of incense....

 

The overall effect is soothing, feminine, clean, and fresh.

 

This is a happy warm summer scent, I feel like I'm in a field of sweetgrass and wildflowers.

 

I want to cuddle me! This will be in heavy rotation for the remainder of my summer.

 

4.8 out of 5

[zankoku_zen]

This is sweet, honey meadish. It was heavily copal at the beginning, an almost juicy plum kinda fruity floral. Now its sweet honey, slightly herbal and oh so delish.

[femmefatale]

I actually only got this because it was part of a pack of bottles I got on ebay. I would never have tried this otherwise.

 

I am so glad I did.

 

It is a lovely warm, feminine (but not girly) scent. I get most honey mead with a touch of woods and florals, though no single note is overpowering.

There is something about it that makes me happy and nostalgic at the same time. This seem like it would be a great summer into early fall scent.

 

I will have to try this in my locket soon, as I think it will smell gorgeous not affected by my strange chemistry.

[ElinaMakropulos]

Litha is wonderful - gorgeous verbena underscored by lush florals and honey. It has amazing throw and lasts forever. To me, this is femininity in a bottle.

[hlinspjalda]

In the bottle: Like good mead, honey with tannic herbs for balance. Also some resin.

 

Wet: Something pungent and resinous dominates immediately. I can also smell the honeysuckle. Where did the mead go?

 

Twenty minutes: Honey, but with some bitter or tannic notes. There's also a sharp resin note. This needs more time to develop.

 

One hour: Honey, carnation, herbs, resin. Getting closer to a balance. It is complex!

 

Two hours: The carnation and herbs have mastered the honey. This has blended well, but I rather regret the loss of the sweeter floral notes.

 

Three hours: Definitely not very sweet, much more an herbal, growing-things kind of fragrance. Even the resins are subordinate to the oak and herb. A wonderfully complex blend, but it doesn't rock my socks.

 

Five hours: I do like this one. It seems ever more complex as the floral notes diminish, I guess because the resins are peeking out more.

 

I traded this away again for a bottle of my very favorite LE scent; I doubt I'd have let it go for anything less than a top-five bottle.

[caitilarkin]

I jumped on a bottle of this as part of my rapacious lust for honeysuckle, even though I was a bit worried about some of the other notes (mead tends to go grainy on me and thyme sometimes ends up bitter).

 

In the bottle: Well-blended sunny florals with mead in the background

 

Wet on skin: The grainy mead amped for a few minutes before mellowing into a deliciously golden, boozy note. The florals are yellow and summery but not overwhelming.

 

Dry on skin: This is glorious, much more so than I had thought it would be. The honey appears and blends the richness of the mead with the supersweetness of the florals, while the herbs and woods add depth without bitterness.

 

This is a gorgeous representation of Summer Solstice--sunny, sweet and natural.

[GalaxyLei]

I can smell the honey, but Litha is otherwise a very herbal scent. It's not listed, but I smell lemon in there as well. Very bright and green, slightly sweet. Nice.

[jencallisto]

In the imp: Honey-sweet, fuzzy, a little boozy, and something else I can't quite place.

Fresh on the skin: Pungent, some honey, but mostly just no. I wish I knew what I'm disliking about this, but whatever it is, I'm _really_ disliking it.

30 minutes later: Oh, more honey, that helps. This stage is decent.

 

Verdict: Not so much, though perhaps I'll try it again sometime.

 

One phrase: Pungent honey.

[ami226]

In the bottle: Mmmmmm, honey!

 

On the skin: honey gum? Strange but surprisingly good... I wish that it was a little more meady on me though. I will have to retest.

[asciident]

Wet: Soapy.

 

First on: Bitter soap.

 

Dry: Faint, not that I'm sad about it.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Mmmmm, lemony honeyed mead with fresh herbs, carnations, and a background of summer blooms. This is really, really fantastic on me, and I might have to snag a bottle of it before the new update goes down (even though the new edition is slightly altered. Whatevs!) This smells like sweet summery heaven! Great throw, long lasting. The florals smell realistic and don't overpower the other notes. On my skin the honeyed mead and herbs predominate. Love it!

 

[Arcy]

Litha 2006 : Honey mead with honeysuckle, oak wood, ivy leaf, wild thyme, carnation, daisy, vervain, gum arabic, frankincense, yauhtli, and liquid copal.

 

In bottle : Honey mead with a trace of sweet incense like smoke.

 

Wet, on skin : Absolutely one of the most gorgeous things I've ever had the pleasure of putting before my olfactory sense. There's no boozy, but it still smells like honey mead topped with flowers and greenery, with a campfire in the background. It is a very wood nymph sort of a scent, very golden for those that think in terms of scent “colors”.

 

Dry down (15) : Drier smelling. A bit more woodsmoke. Still sweet, warm, golden honey with a tempered mature background. Love.

 

Hour + : A perfect mixture of bitter and sweet that makes my tummy growl with hunger. Not even kidding. How do I always forget that “Litha is GOD, but it makes you eat everything in sight!”?

 

Hour 3 : Still disgustingly perfect. I may at this point be accused of favoritism.

 

(Review done while wearing Litha 2009 on my other arm, man the 2006 version kicks its buttocks!)

[Aldercy]

Mead and spiky carnation! Those are the top notes for me so far. I'm excited about the grainy, antiqued honey smell of the mead, and I'm definitely going to have to try to find this in more blends. Litha '06 also somehow manages to be "green" and warm at the same time, something I've never encountered. It's very outdoorsy with the oak and what I'm guessing is the ivy, but there are curls of floral smoke and glowing resin floating around. There's also this funny touch of what seems like carrot.

 

This one strikes me as really medieval. It's rich, but rough around the edges. Lovely and feminine, but there's a little barbarism in the background. Overall, I feel rather like I'm sitting in a crumbling, walled garden (a practical garden with vegetables, herbs, and strong trees) in the dry, late summer, a few strands of scent coming from the nearby castle kitchen. And the mead hall is in full blown party mode.

 

I was feeling guilty and negligent for not ordering Litha '09 when I had the chance, but (though I still want to try it) I'm feeling better about it now. I'm not sure it could be much better than this earlier version.

[GirlDetective]

I got this decant as a freebie two years ago and immediately dismissed it because I'm not a honey fan. It seems kind of too thin and high and reedy on me. I mean, I hated Les Bijoux, is how little I enjoy honey. But last night Litha 2006 took me to school, and let me know that I am a fool for thinking of honey this way.

 

I don't notice the honey at first, for the first hour I get honeysuckle and daisies and something sweet, with something on top keeping it green and fresh, and something woodsy below? And at the end of the night all that's left is honey and smoke, but a rich, dark honey. I can see where people got soap from this, it reminds me of Phantom Queen a bit, which is all Irish Spring on me. But I think Litha is clean and sexy, I want to wear this every Saturday evening-to-night for the rest of the summer.

 

And it lasts really well on my skin... I applied the oil at 5:30 pm and my wrist still smelled like honey at 2 am. This is after three hours dancing outside, one hour eating vegan dosas, and another two hours dancing inside and all travel taking place in the rain.

 

 

[Gin]

Litha 2006 is everything I had hoped for from Litha 2009. I think I misread the 2009 description and expected they'd be the same. 2006 is warm honey mead, golden and comfortable. There are florals here, but they're subdued. Honeysuckle, carnation, maybe some marigolds? Beeyoutifull!