The Darkling Thrush

[jizatt]

The hope of springtime penetrating winter darkness. Snow, darkness, and icy air illuminated by the thrush’s song: warm amber, soft orris, and melancholy violet.

I, an avowed violet hater, and distruster of orris, found a beautiful violet/orris blend. I love it and it loves me back =)
When I first put it on, I made the violet face and started pulling up my swaps thread. But it went away JUST quick enough and is gorgeousness on my skin.

I smell that sweet dusty snow note, an indefinable sweetness, and somehow the whole thing is dusky.

[Dark Alice]

I will never understand Beth's winter notes. Sometimes they are minty, sometimes medicinal, and now in this it's just darn fizzy. This smells like a cold slightly medicinal fizzy violent soda that is slightly dry. But definitely soda and fizzy like, cold and fizzy. It's not for me but I am so glad I was able to try it.

 

 

[crebbsgirl]

There is something very similar to When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go here. I think it may be the same snow + amber combination. The violet is quite pretty here, and not sharp in the slightest, but that may be the amber and orris working together to soften it. This is beautiful.

[Vega]

Sniffed: Lush evergreen, touched by a floral or berry-like sweetness. Very similar to Moon of Small Spirits.

 

On skin: The Darkling Thrush is a sweeter version of Moon of Small Spirits. Both are fresh, forest-green scents, very much like a living temperate forest, but where the Moon is thin and cold and purer, the Thrush has a touch of sweetness. It seems a bit berry-like, but it's probably the violet and maybe orris. A graceful blend of evergreen and gentle, sweet floral: elegant in its simplicity, and almost alive. The Darkling Thrush also reminds me of Glasgow; I no longer have the latter to test alongside, but I think Glasgow would make a good dupe for this. Colour impression is rich pine-green edged with purple and maroon.

 

Verdict: I'm so glad I got my hands on a decant of The Darkling Thrush -- it's as good as I expected it to be! It makes a good counterpart to Moon of Small Spirits, if I want something a bit sweeter but still evergreen to wear. Definitely keeping my decant.

[OctoberGwen]

The snow/icy darkness note is quite strong at first, but after a few minutes it fades and I'm left with a lovely, soft, haunting wisp of fragrance. This embodies the Thomas Hardy poem just beautifully, with the sad sweetness of the violet and just a brush of amber. Quite lovely, but fleeting...like the thrush's song.

[sprout]

in the vial: lab snow note (mint + fruity note (citrus/grapefruit/cucumber) and/ O3/ozone note plus evergreen note (spruce/fir/pine?) similar to Cold Moon

wet on wrists: snow note, spruce?, faint ozone? (no fabric softner sheet, thankfully), a hint of violet

early dry phase: spruce (or other evergreen note) with violets (no soapiness, no high pitch floral, no dryer sheet) it evokes snow in an evergreen forest with violets peeking through the snow drifts

drying: lovely, powdery, slightly sweet orris

late drydown: warmth of amber, slightly sweetened by the orris, warm and almost vanilla like, but not foody or floral, powdery and sweet like the bird's feathers..the evergreen and "snow" note are absent

 

Bottleworthy for a certainty. of all the Yules over the years, the Thrush remains my favorite. It could be the poem, as the scent captures it very well

I have a thing for birds, and the imagery of the thrush song stirring the hope of Spring through the Winter gloom is certainly romantic so it obviously colors my passion for the creation

I may have to get back up bottles so that I may slather

Edited December 31, 2014 by sprout

[Aviatrix]

This is very violet, and a little bit "green" to me. There is a distinct snowy note as well, which is quite mint, but not too much, so that it doesn't overpower the floral.

The amber is not very noticeable. It lies in the background and gives the whole scent a bit of warmth. This is interesting, as I ended up with a scent that was both cold and warm at the same time. Still, though, I would characterize it as a classical Lab snow scent!

 

It is veering on a little soapy, but seems to stay on the right track after all and not go into full-on soap territory.

 

Overall, it is a very nice wintry scent that might also work great for very warm days when you want to cool off a bit.