The Darkling Thrush

[LittleGreyKitten]

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.

This starts out so promisingly when wet: wonderful snowy goodness, hint of something sweet and floral beneath. No pine, which is a fun change- most of the snow blends have pine.

Then it dries. And the Violet of Doom pokes its widdle soapy head out. And then it stomps all over the beautiful slushy goodness and all that is left is 100% Evil Violet. Ech. Of all florals, violet is the absolute worst on me, even jasmine is a better bet. The only thing is, sometimes it never appears in blends that list violet, hence my high hopes for The Darkling Thrush. But no, it had to go and ruin everything.

The orris and amber remain MIA, which is OK.

For me, 2.5 out of 5. Possibly would improve in a scent locket. Edited December 27, 2007 by Shollin

[slave1]

THE DARKLING THRUSH

 

In Bottle: Violet aquatic

 

On Skin: This scent has a strong ozone/aquatic feel. Very bright and light blue in feel. I can feel a cold chill wind blowing through the pine trees carrying a light pine scent with them. This reminds me of Skadi right away. Very pretty but slightly dark. The violet in this scent is actually not innocent like it always seems to feel on me. I get a sinister scary lost in the dark feel from this scent. During the drydown the amber warms up the scent a bit, not a lot, just enough to give it a bit more depth. All in all I like this scent. It’s very clean with the aquatic note, and the violet is tame enough that I wouldn’t call this a floral and the amber gives it a soft warmth. I love this as a unisex fragrance and also as a room scent. I think I need a bottle.

[Koumori]

I was drawn to this because the poem is so lovely, and I'm not disappointed at all. This is an absolutely lovely scent. It has many of the same half-aquatic notes that we're used to in BPAL's "snowy" blends, but edged with forest pines and underlaid with a soft floral. Absolutely gorgeous. My favorite of the Yuletide blends I've tried thus far.

[mandragora]

Very cool and aquatic smelling. Picture slushy, melting snow as opposed to solid block of ice. A very dusky and mysterious floral blowing in the frosty winter air. And yes, it does turn soapy, but I like the way it does soapy. No sign of the warm amber though. Clean and delicate, a pretty winter scent.

[emzebel]

Icy pine with something warm poking out - I wore this today because I keep passing the real pine wreath that is hanging on the door to my office suite and thinking as I do so, "I should really wear a BPAL oil that smells like this."

 

The Darkling Thrush isn't exactly a pine tree, but it has that icy aquatic pine scent that as someone put it up thread just sings "Yule at the Lab". Which just sings...

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

What kind of Victorianist would I be if I didn't jump at the chance to sniff this? Thomas Hardy is The Master. I'll buy any scent inspired by anything he wrote (although if Beth ever comes out with Tess of the D'Urbervilles, the squee will know no bounds. Pleeeeeease?). On me, Darkling Thrush is like a wintry version of City in the Sea--what I loved about that blend was the combination of aquatic and soft floral; Thrush has both of those, plus that elusive, delightful snow-and-pine scent from Skadi, Snow Bunny, etc. (I concur that the review that called this note "Yule at the Lab" was dead-on. ) I don't really get amber, which is just fine with me--Hardy would roll in his grave if it smelled more like Hope than like Darkness.

Edited December 9, 2006 by Laurel the Woodfairy

[yeahbutnobut]

The Darkling Thrush

 

In the imp: ohhh, this is the gorgeous icy scent from Ice Queen, Nuclear Winter, Kumari Kandam and Cloister Graveyard. Maybe with a hint of Skadi/Snow Moon’s snow. Soft and cold and slushy.

Wet on skin: cold, minty, fresh and white snow with a hint of powdery orris.

Dry: wow. This is beautiful. It’s minty and frozen and very cold, and also serene, a peaceful scent. It smells like cold winter air over a frozen lake, and there’s a hint of cucumber which gives a wet, slushy feel. Under it, I get slight hints of pale orris enhancing the feel of white snow this scent has, and there’s a hint of amber glinting through the scent, like winter sunlight through icicles.

After a while: the snowy scent softens a little and it’s not as cold now. I detect a hint of ozone to it which seems to work nicely on my skin (it’s a ‘good’ ozone note) and now I smell the powdery scent of orris, a hint of violet and amber. It’s almost like the amber’s warmth is thawing the snow. The orris and violet are particularly strong at some points, fringed with wet ice and with that promising amber note underneath. The drydown is a beautiful mix of warm amber contrasting with cold ozone on top of powdery flowers.

Verdict: it seems to me that every year, Beth brings out a scent with a distinctive, white, minty, ozone-y, wet and musky ‘snow/ice’ accord which I adore. In 04 it was Ice Queen, in 05 it was Nuclear Winter and Talvikuu, and for 06 it is the Darkling Thrush. This is a wonderful, peaceful, poetic and gentle scent, with an icy beauty to it like a winter morning with soft, blushing clouds in the dawn sky with frost and snow all around. I love the ice scent this has, this doesn’t smell of ‘darkness’ like the description says, to me, this has a lovely glow to it. The orris adds a pale white powdery scent which of course goes very well with the whole snowy theme, the violet is cool and soft and silvery, and the amber gradually warms up and sweetens the scent with its golden, luminous tones, like the first rays of spring sunshine melting the snow. This is a very moving scent, full of serenity, elegance and glacial beauty. One I need more of.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Yes! I’ll get a bottle, but just one since I already have Nuclear Winter and Ice Queen.

If you like this, try: Cloister Graveyard in the Snow, Kumari Kandam, Nuclear Winter, Dublin, Snow Moon, Jolasveinar

[NanookPurple]

I think it's interesting that so many others got a slushy/aquatic sense from The Darkling Thrush. To my nose, it was like "Walking Through Woods on a Snowy Evening." The damp leaves are there for sure, but far more prominent is earthy, grounded, pulled-out-by-the-roots violet.

 

A keeper indeed. The drydown is especially grand, all sugared violet warmth.

[wolfie13]

This is largely the same on me in the imp and wearing - I really just get the lab's

slushy snow note - which usually reads as an aquatic and floral on me.

 

Being as aquatics and florals are usually a bummer on me, this is a bad thing.

 

It's my chemistry though - most of the winter and snow blends all end up smelling the same on me and doing the same thing - turning into a rather loud, sweet aquatic, floral.

 

As this dries down I do get some amber wafting around, but it's just not enough to convert me (and instead makes me long for the only amber/floral that has ever worked on me - Bruja. But I digress.)

 

I'm just not lucking out much with the yules this year - it's the winter of my discontent.

[theseagrows]

i get a sweet snowy scent like whatever is in talvikuu, but the base of this is different. i think i smell the violet far in the background if i inhale deeply. the snow note is cloyingly strong on me at first, and doesn't settle much. this might smell lovely in another hour, but i really don't want to have to wait that long to be able to wear it :/

[LiberAmoris]

The Darkling Thrush is so lovely---as lovely as the Hardy poem and then some. It's a deceptively simple blend---the snowy slush note, a touch of ozone, and then the amber, orris, and violet. But on the skin it takes on another dimensionality---I think it must be the amber that gives it a kind of suffused glow, like a tree irradiated with backlit light.

 

There's also something here that feels like things moving towards the center, like winter and summer converging. It's appropriate for this year, as December's been so mild here that the cherry trees are blooming because they think it's spring already.

[Lionesse]

How is this a floral, but yet, not a floral? I don't know! But it is. Its cold and warm at the same time too.

 

Like a shy smile from a melancholy child....

 

I love it.

[Kittyflop]

First whiff, slightly soapy floral. Like a very high-end, nice laundry soap.

 

As it wafts: I get more of a sweet, clear violet. It has a strong throw. (I have it in a scent locket) . It smells cold. Icy. I don’t get much of the amber. Sadly I can’t remember what orris is like, so it might be showing too.

 

A few minutes later – holy CRAP that is strong! Even in a locket under my shirt it’s making me sneeze. Off off off. I think I like this but must use verrry little. After discarding the felt, about 15 minutes later, I can still smell it faintly wafting up from the locket - and I do like it.

[sarada]

The Darkling Thrush is another Yule blend that I had a hard time getting a feel for until I tried it by itself, and then I began to wonder if I might have a mislabeled decant because it was so minty. It was overwhelmingly minty, almost like Snow-Flakes, but without the Snow White layer underneath.

 

The snowy note in this most resembles the one in Snow Bunny, but it's really going in a minty fresh direction on me. Underneath it, the orris, amber and violet are indistinct. If anything it resembles the cosmetic foundation scent that I get from I Died For Beauty. Must be the violet, plus that dry orris, making it remind me of layers of thick caked makeup. Unfortunately that's not a positive smell for me.

 

The underlying powdery scent is drowned out by the minty slush though. While I think it's similar to some of the minty scents that I liked in this regard (Nuclear Winter, Talvikuu, etc.) it's really just not working on me. But fortunately I think I have plenty of other snow scents to keep me busy!

[grrrlennyl]

at first: cold violet.

on: tons of soapy violet.

1.5 hours later: super soapy.

5 hours later: soapy flowers.

overall: this just didn't work for me.

[mmmitchell]

This was really my first of the "icy" blends from the Lab. I found it very evocative of late winter and overcast, melancholy days. I quite enjoy it since that's not really a "season" that comes to me down here on the Gulf Coast.

 

On me, this is all icy forest scents, but it's a deciduous forest, not all pine. There's a wet slushiness, and just a hint of florals from the violet and orris notes. I don't get much amber from this blend.

 

This scent stayed very true from the bottle to my skin, not much morphing on this one for me. It's a well-behaved scent that stays close to the skin, but has great lasting power. A "private" scent, if you will. I don't mind having a few scents that a person would have to be close enough to kiss me to smell.

[lady_pandora]

This is a LOT like Talvikuu--the watery/piney/minty note is exactly the same on me. What makes Thrush different from Talvikuu is the amber in Thrush, which rounds out the scent and makes it golden while blunting some of the masculine effect of the piney note. So if you thought Talvikuu was just a shade too masculine and aftershavey, you might want to try the Thrush.

 

The amber also evokes the image of sunshine. Talvikuu will always remind me of snowstorms, not just because of the notes but because there was actually a snowstorm going on when I was given my imp of it. Thrush, then, is the day after the snowstorm. It's still colder than a witch's you-know-what and the snow is two feet deep, but the sun has come out and maybe the snow is melting just a little, but not enough that it's all gross and sludgy, and the sky is blue and cheerful despite the cold.

 

I've got it! Talvikuu is the blizzard and Thrush is waking up the next morning and finding out you don't have to go to work.

[keltic]

in the imp – oh my! i’m not sure of the notes, but i can detect a soft, delicate and sweet floral that must be the violet. the rest is crisp and clean and ... pure. this is utterly enchanting.

 

wet – sweet, and crisp and cold, but cold not in a negative gowing-up-in-20-below temps. cold as in fresh, clean, and holding promise. i’m not sure what orris should be, but this has a teasing note of something between floral and sweet.

 

dry-down – i’m light and buoyant from this scent. i also want to shove my wrist under everyone’s nose so they can experience this delight. it has become a bit sweeter, and more mature at the same time. i am in LOVE with this!

 

verdict – oh yeah, bottle ordered right away! i just wish this ad a bit more throw and staying power. perhaps if i slather it on in obscene quantities. . .

[savage_rose]

I keep calling this Darkwing Duck in my head. Methinks I need more sleep .

 

I was a bit apprehensive about this one...violet can either smell lovely on me or really, really unpleasant. But this violet is definitely darker and sweeter...it smells much darker and almost succulent, like fruit. It smells almost like creamy violets to me, but with a darkness to it. I'm really enjoying this scent.

[blueroses]

I own several of BPAL's icy, snowy blends, but this one is just a bit different enough to warrant keeping.

 

In the bottle, The Darkling Thrush is a sweet slushy scent. On, it's an icy sweet violet that fades to a soft powdery violet and orris. After a few hours, it just smells cold, like snow, how I thought Snow-Flakes would smell.

[QueenFae]

This is definitely winter at the lab!! It has the famous BPAL frozen winter note, and it reminds me quite a bit of Ice Queen. It's not quite as fruity as Ice Queen, and has more of a minty twist to it. It's like the Ice Queen's quiet little brother. The soft mint undertone is lovely; not at all sharp or overwhelming like some mint blends. There is a beautiful softness to the Darkling Thrush, which I'm guessing is the effect of the amber note. I like this much more than I thought I would from the desription, I am a huge Ice Queen fan and this is almost a worthy substitute

[TheIceMaiden]

I adore all of the Lab's "snowy" scents that I've tried so far. Each is lovely and unique and The Darkling Thrush is no exception to that. Wet, its a snowy scent but without pine or other evergreens. As it dries, the violets begin to peek out from the snow. This makes me think of later winter/early spring in New England: one day its warm enough for early flowers to bloom, the next day a light snowfall covers everything. Beautiful.

[sionnac]

Would you believe I'm bidding on a dress on eBay with a pattern called "snow violet?" How perfect is that! If I win it I'll have just the right BPAL to wear...

 

Edited to add: I love the violet note and the slushy snow note together. Perfect for March's rainy or snowy days. It doesn't go soapy on me, but man do I amp the violet!

(and I won the dress!)

Edited March 16, 2007 by sionnac

[tarotbydiana]

The Darkling Thrush seems Otherworldly.

 

I imagine a tiny bird with a fan of plumage in a rustling of irridescent purple, silver snow and a sun-touch of gold. The perfume has a delicacy and a softness that is the inhalation equivalent of running fingers over fine plumage. The violets and the orris are the feathers while the snow note, which seems bright and minty at first and then quiets, is the wind over the white veiled landscape. The amber is the solar rays fading into dusk, the time of in-between, and bridge betwixt the worlds.

 

I can hear songbirds outside the window. Perhaps they too are singing a round of praise to Beth for this lovely creation.

Edited March 1, 2007 by tarotbydiana

[metaldog32]

The Darkling Thrush

 

So..it’s been at least three or four days that I have been wearing this particular Yule LE. I thought it was kind of appropriate to wear when we are so close to transitioning from winter into spring. Maybe not officially..but it’s in the air..so here it goes :

 

Initial sniff from bottle: When I sniff deeply I get what some people call the “dryer sheet” phenomenon..I myself recognize it as ozone. It’s mixed with that snowy, wintry-like note that Beth is so adept at creating…it certainly does smell like winter. Right behind it is a soft mint-like note..I want to say I can smell some sort of evergreen/pine as well..but I can’t be certain. Although the pine/evergreen notes tend to be a bit bracing and sharp to me, in this blend they seem a bit softened..not invisible..but softened..I don’t know if it’s the ozone or snowy notes or maybe even the violet..but right now..it’s all a very snowy blend. I agree with many other reviewers.. this almost smells aquatic..which I have to assume might come from the marrying of the ozone and snowy notes..a frozen aquatic if you will.

 

By the way..violets and I are kind of iffy. I have only met a couple that I have liked..so this is going to be another challenge.

 

With just the cap off, the scent coming from the bottle is impressive..it wafts fairly strongly.

 

Applied wet on skin: It’s the ozone and snowy notes in the forefront….and then I get some of the violet..and in this blend it is quite..beautiful. No powdery roaring violet..but a gentle violet..it seems to work very well with the snowy/ozone notes..and although I can’t quite register the orris or amber at this point, there is something in this blend that keeps it from being just downright chilly and frozen. There is something in here that makes it soft and….hopeful??? Meh..could just be over-analyzing..I do that.

 

Couple of minutes on skin: The ozone has backed off bit and it’s more cold/minty/floral now on me…something on the tail end of this is making a bit warmer…could be the orris or maybe the amber???? Whatever it is it gives a touch of depth that is very nice. The everygreen/pine note is still kind of there…but like I said it doesn’t overpower the scent..but works with it in tandem. Really very beautiful.

 

Ten to twenty minutes later: So now it’s the violet with the snowy note in tandem and now..yes now…now I get the orris in the back…the ozone has softened considerably and the orris..the orris keeps things interesting with it’s dry note. I don’t get powder..but again..it’s a snowy soft violet with just a hint of dryness….almost like that little thrush beating it’s wings so fast. It kind of reminds me of snowfall..when the snow actually isn’t made up of fat wet snowflakes..it’s the kind of snowfall that is so light and feathery that it almost feels dry. Feathery snowfall at night with the violet peeking though.

 

I love the violet in this blend.

 

Hour later: Faint whiff of the ozone/winter/snow notes..it’s all the delicate and cool violet…with the hint of orris. I admit I don’t actually register the amber..but I suspect it is in here…lending it’s soft warmness in a subtle manner.

 

As many have said..this truly is a very poetic and serene fragrance.

 

Drydown: Soft whiff of the violet dusted with the orris…and surprisingly..what emanates from my wrists is a touch of sweetness that has got to be coming from the amber…it’s a soft waft..but it is discernable to me.

 

Lasting power is about 3-4 hours with throw admirable at soft to medium.

 

Bottom Line: The Darkling Thrush is an absolute beauty as far as winter fragrances go. It is a a quiet and serene snowy floral that surprisingly does not go screamingly pine-y or powdery on me. I love it for late winter and am pleased as punch I was able to snag a bottle from a forumite. A keeper for sure.