Et Lux Fuit

[LittleGreyKitten]

At last, the light at the end of our three-month tunnel of misfortune. To commemorate this momentous occasion, we present a big ol’ bottle of sunny, happy, bounciness -- a golden blend with a celebratory feel, promoting joy, peace, and a sense of comfort and well-being: golden amber, heliotrope, vanilla musk, carnation, daisy and sunflower bouquet, neroli, lemon peel, ylang ylang and honeycomb.

Dammit. Dammit dammit! I will give this a few more tries, but my skin turns it into pure men's cheap deodorant. Dead on. Initially it's amazing, well blended and lovely. Then, as it dries my chemistry kills it dead. Hopefully on another day I'll have better luck, as the initial bright clean scent is amazing.

[Eleri]

Crud. I was hoping this one would do well. In the bottle it's all sunflower, on me it smells like dishsoap.

[Polly]

Just wonderful!! If this isn't sunshine in a bottle I don't know what is. It's just such a happy, golden scent! No notes pop on me... they come out to play at intervals, intermingling, wafting...something different every time I sniff. The honey here is gorgeous. Overall this blend makes me feel summery and pretty.

[hologhost]

Wow - Yellow! This reminds me very much of Sundew.

 

I smell the carnation - it adds a form of warmth. It also has a slight tinge of green. I almost feel it's more spring than summer.

 

I really like this, but I think I'll save it for spring.

[tidesong]

In the Bottle: Carnation, sweetened by vanilla and I can definitely smell the amber in it. I smell the citrusy floral of neroli, and a little lemon as well.

 

On Application: Lemon. A little honey and amber. A little musk. Please don't Pledge out on me….

 

On Drydown: Pledge. Sigh. There's something very pretty underneath it, though. I might give this a few more minutes.

 

Comments: It had promise, but it's not really working on me. Headachey and cloying.

 

Verdict: Swap.

[Dymphna]

In the bottle: Fruity, tangy, sweet, citrusy, flowery, bright, fizzy. Wow. This is such a happy, bright scent. I was anticipating most of the notes in this but dreading the neroli, which has the power to completely ruin a scent for me, so I didn't get my hopes up. Opening the bottle and taking that first sniff was such a pleasant surprise. There's also a bit of nostalgia, as this scent has something about it that says, "70s perfume"--or maybe even "70s shampoo." But not in a bad way! I was just a little girl in the 70s, but I know this smell. It's clean but still "scented" in a feminine way, like a young woman just out of the shower who's sprayed on a nice, light scent and is getting ready for a date.

 

Wet: Bright, golden-yellow-orange, sweet citrus. Bubbly. Reminds me a bit of Litha's mead, without the beer-y smell. Just foamy and fizzy. And then a soft, gorgeous vanilla as it starts to dry. It just keeps getting better and better. My silly husband thinks it smells like a nice-smelling cleaning product. I don't know what's wrong with his poor nose. But he likes it, so it's okay.

 

Dry: A beautiful vanilla musk that's both bright and soft, with just a hint of sweet resin in the background, and possibly some honey. Golden caramel cashmere is the image that pops into my head now, like a favorite sweater. Love. (Now, looking at the description, I see that the notes I definitely detected are: golden amber, vanilla musk, lemon peel, carnation, ylang ylang, and honeycomb. The neroli stayed hidden, thank goodness! I don't get any daisy or sunflower, though I'm not sure how they'd smell, and I definitely don't know what heliotrope smells like.) I'm so impressed at how well-blended this is. All those notes and none of them knock the others out. Instead, they balance one another, the deeper ones grounding the light ones, and the lighter ones brightening the deep ones. It's just amazing.

 

Summary: I can't get enough of this scent! I've been wearing it almost every day since I got it and I'm going to be ordering another bottle before it comes down. I'll probably end up stockpiling a couple more bottles eventually. It's such a pretty, bright, joyous scent, like sunshine in a bottle. (Okay, that was corny, forgive me.) I said when it was first announced that I was grateful and touched that Beth chose to share her happiness with us. I'm even more grateful now that I've tried it! This is absolutely my Happy Girl scent.

[abejita]

That "sunshine in a bottle" thing people keep saying? Oh, hell yes. This is a rich, yet somehow light, smooth, golden scent. The notes that dominate on me are vanilla musk, daisy/sunflower, and the honeycomb. But the honeycomb isn't the typical bpal honey (which I love). You can actually smell the waxiness. It's really beautiful. The citrus takes the background and the amber helps smooth it out.

 

I am in love. I will be getting a second bottle. I give this a 9/10. The only reason it falls short of a perfect ten is that its wear length on me is shorter than I like. My scent locket (not a bptp one) broke, but when I get a new one, I'll use it in that as well to help with the wear length.

[kythryne]

This is an amazing scent. To my nose, it smells slightly sweet in the bottle, and goes on a bit soapy-clean, but then it warms out into this marvelous warm, happy scent. It reminds me of that relieved, almost weightless feeling you get when you realize you've been through something really stressful and come out okay. I can't pick out any specific notes, just a warm rich sunshine-ish scent. It smells like calm summer afternoons.

 

I'm going to order another bottle before it goes away. 10 out of 10!

[emzebel]

This is golden, fresh, sweet, spicy, citrusy, vanilly...just about everything I love in a scent all in a bottle. This is one of those scents that gives me a happy little shiver down to my core when I smell it. And happily a little bit lasts for a while, so I don't have to slather it madly...

[Dandelion]

ELF is a bright scent but not a sharp brightness. It's a powerful and warm scent, and smells like how a sunset would smell if, um, it smelled like something... I get mostly amber (YAY AMBER!), carnation, lemon peel, and ylang-ylang from the bottle. On my skin the notes deepen and the florals show up (vanilla, alas, never rears it's head), and within an hour it all turns to orange blossom. Er. Must be something wrong with my nose? It's a nice orange blossom, of the sort that redeemed Masquerade for me (it seems very strange to be mentioning Masquerade in a review for a scent that's obviously so different). Maybe a bit of carnation in there too. I'll have to try it at a different time of the month, I guess, and if it still doesn't work... decant time! I do like this scent, but not as much as I expected to. I don't need quite so much of it...

rating: 3/5

[porcelain72]

My first LE scent! Huzzah!

 

In bottle: and here I thought orange juice was liquid sunshine. It's bright and clean, such in direct contrast to dark scents like Zombi that I don't even want to put them next to each other in the box, lest some sort of perfume oil holy war take place.

 

Upon application: the lemon charges forth. However, it's a nice, smooth lemon without bite. This is really lovely.

 

Drydown: the lemon eases off, and what remains is a soft, indeterminate floral perfume. There's a slight edge of baby powder coming on, but it's not yet taken over. They should make a laundry detergent with this scent.

 

On the downside? It's fading really fast. Overall, though, this is a wonderfully gentle, non-intrusive scent, perfect for the nice weather we're (finally!) having today.

[indicolite]

I was wary of the honey, but I ordered a bottle. This is very nice. After drydown, the neroli dominates on me. Neroli was always a pale green scent to me, but the other aspects of the scent do indeed make it golden.

 

Quite a happy scent.

[anxious1]

Warm and sensual. Languidly laying by a pool in the afternoon and the heat of the sun against ones skin. Very delicate yet bright....

 

The drydown is wonderful and turns into a gentle sprinkling of liquid gold (if there was a scent to liquid gold). The late drydown is an amber note with a touch of powder.

 

Love it!

[Meg]

In the bottle: Gold! Lovely lemon peel and yellow flowers and a bit of neroli, with honey.

 

Wet: Lemon peel and neroli, then flowers start popping out, spicy ylang-ylang, soft carnation and sweet daisy. It's a bit tart and powdery and sweet.

 

Drydown: It's soft like skin from the vanilla musk, and sprinkled with honey. There's a clean-smelling, beautiful flower in there, I think it may be daisy and carnation associated with lemon peel and neroli. It comes as a citrusy, sweet yet soft floral, that reminds me of clean linen in the bright sun. It's bot powdery from the amber and creamy from the carnation, which is very pleasant.

 

Overall: Absolutely perfect for its description, it's really bottled joy and light. It smells clean, rejuvenating, happy and gentle. It's really something to wear to cheer you up, or to remind you of the sun's heat in the winter. A great summer blend.

[storme]

In the imp: sweet soft honeys and the sharpness of the citrus and carnation.

 

On me, wet: man, this is vividly golden-orange to my nose, morphing between rich citrus and soft sweet hints of honey and ylang ylang. I'm not sure which I want to win yet.

 

On me, dry: hot, warm, and hovering between too-sharp and too-sweet. This is a really intriguing scent - it'll be interesting to see how this morphs over my cycle.

 

Verdict: I have a bottle of this coming in a swap - I'm not sure I'm going to need it, but I could see this growing on me to become a favourite. A very sunny scent indeed.

[midnight_aeval]

I get mostly the combo of floral and honey from this blend. Not one I would generally think of buying because I detest florals, but this one is not at all what I was expecting. It's sweet and makes me smile.. I think I would wear this when I'm having a rough day/week.

[fairy]

I like this one a lot. Another great scent when you need a boost. Happy, cheery, fruity, yellow sunny. After a little bit it starts taking on a cologne type scent, which works. Fun and uplifting fragrance

 

edited to add: This one stalked me and made it to my top ten. I can't get enough of it. Pefect pick me up, happy fragrance.

Edited August 25, 2006 by maddi

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Despite the fact that this has no apparent similar notes, in the bottle on when wet on skin, Et Lux Fuit smells like Harvest Moon 2005 - sort of an Autumnal, boozy floral

 

On me:

I had to buy this based on the concept alone - I needed some "Et Lux Fuit" apparent in my life and I liked the sound of it. When it was wet on my skin, I was reminded very much of Harvest Moon 2005 - it was floral but in a very Autumnal way and it smelled a bit boozey. It doesn't take long for it to start drying into something else though - still a touch of boozey-ness to it, but the floral toned down quite a bit. Now, a strong vanilla musk is showing through. It manages to not be too sweet, and still have some kind of crisp edge to it that makes me think of the Fall.

 

The honey isn't overwhelming in this blend, and neither are the florals (though they are definitely present - I have a hard time picking out exactly which ones I'm smelling though). I would say the musk is the star in Et Lux Fuit. It's warm, sensual, and just a happy blend.

 

Final note:

Beautiful scent that I think works well - all the notes really mesh together and since getting it, I've already worn it 5 or 6 times (which is quite a lot for me given the size of my collection lol)

[dorei]

I got to try this when I was doing a swap 'n sniff at my friend's home the other day.

 

In the bottle: definitely lemon, and I smell flowers and vanilla too.

 

Wet: Yikes! Lysol. Oh dear.

 

Drying: Whew. Fading, fading, no more lysol. Faintly lemony-merigne (or however you spell it) and something else. Not sure if it's perhaps the honey.

 

Dry: Faint clean citrus scent with a slight floral.

 

Can't wait for this to show up in the mail in my own order.

[abberlaine]

Oh, wow! My skin smells like I just washed with Neutro Roberts's Miele e Latte soap -- I smell artificial-but-all-the-better-for-it honey and vanilla. The lemon peel is easy to pick out, too. (You'd think that was the honey going bad on me, but no -- the honey presents itself as a separate element, soft and dulce de leche-gooey.) Then there's the florals. They don't "pop," but they're not bad at all.

 

For the first little while, the scent is warm, fuzzy, and pleasantly distracting. As it dries, the florals take over a little more than I'd like them too, but it's still a nice scent.

 

I'd wear it again!

Edited August 16, 2006 by Abberlaine Arrol

[Rheliwen]

This is an incredibly strong and cloying floral initially. From a distance it smells delish, but it hurts my nose up close.

 

Mostly I smell ylang ylang and heliotrope with a small dash of sunflower and honey. As it dries the amber comes out more as a powdery backdrop.

 

Very pretty, very spring/summer, very floral.

[nerdcraft]

in the imp:

Lovely, rich, round floral, with a slight juicy scent. Lots of notes I don't recognize right away.

 

wet:

Much juiciness! It's a little disconcerting right now, like my nose is running in circles trying to keep up. But in happy circles - this is really nice.

 

dry:

Slightly less citrus juicy, slightly more floral, and definitely amber. This is still very, very lovely. It's so weird that I can pick out the tiniest note of honeycomb (which smells waxy and powdery on me) amidst all this gorgeousness, but it's not enough to harm the overall scent.

 

overall:

This is a gorgeous, rich floral that feels warm and sophisticated. It's definitely a golden kind of scent, and it feels like something you'd wear when you have things under control. I can picture a stylish, capable but welcoming woman wearing this. I'll definitely be using this one for special occasions. Lovely!

[gypsybaby1]

I had to get this on the basis of it being described as a "big ol' bottle of sunshine". A friend close to my heart once called me His Sunshine and I've held onto that for dear life ever since.

 

I tested this lightly Monday evening, I believe, after it arrived. Of course, I had also tested Dorian at the same time and this was so light that it was lost in the ensuing lust for Dorian. But I do recall that I liked it when I caught whiffs of it...

 

So, I decided to give it a proper test run - here at work of all places.

 

I sniffed... I tested... I slathered!! I read all of the reviews while I was sniffing the test smear, waiting for something to go horribly wrong. It does have it's moments in the drying phase where I literally felt like there were fumes wafting up from a heavy, weighty, boozy perfume. However, it lightened up considerably and it's a warm, spicy, ver lightly boozy scent now.

 

Everyone's talking about golden scents... I don't understand how a scent can be golden, but I'm going with it. I just get random flashes of green mixed in with the whiffs now and again. It's a keeper, but definitely only one bottle. LOL I might get another bottle to send to a friend for her Christmas giftie - I think she'd love it.

 

Just one last thing - I definitely get the Litha / ELF comparisons. Yeah... definitely.

[joseybird]

I just LOVE the note list of this blend! It strikes me as very bright and colorful, like the note list in Fee, and from the beginning, I was hoping thiat Et Lux Fuit would be at least remeniscent of Fee. Plus, I love the name....

 

I primarily get a sharp, slightly soapy floral from this--not good, as BPAL florals and I don't get along =( they tend to go nasty or just plain banal on me. This is, I think, one of my more preferred BPAL floral scents though...the citrus notes blend nicely into the floral notes, with amber and honey providing a sort of transparent overlay to the blend (I WOULD have liked more amber, though =(). The vanilla musk is very, very faint in this blend, which is sad because I love vanilla musk!

 

A decent blend, but I'll prolly end up swapping it away. Plus, I kinda think the bottle art is fugly x.x; nekkid white-haired guy....;;

[jidabug]

In the bottle it's very much as people described, very sunshine and lovely. I picture running through hills dotted with wildflowers.

 

First on, it's very sweet in a flowery way but without being cloying about it. However. On drydown it goes directly to baby powder, do not pass go, do not collect any other scents. It must be the amber in it, since that usually goes a bit powdery on me. Oh well. It was very nice in the beginning, but I'm not keen on the powdery end.