Chanukkiyah

[Delirium1009]

CHANUKKIYAH
Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam, Asher kid'shanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Chanukah.

Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam, She'asah nisim la'avoseinu, bayamim ha'hem baz'man hazeh.

Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam, She'hecheyanu, vekiyemanu vehigi'anu laz'man hazeh.

Olive oil, beeswax, glowing amber, sweet sufganiyot, pomegranate, and fig.

Ha'Neiros halalu anachnu madlikin al hanisim ve'al hanifla'os, ve'al hat'shu'os ve'al hamilchamos, sh'asisa la'avoseinu bayamim hahem baz'man hazeh, al yedei kohaneicha hakedoshim. Vechol sh'monas yemei Chanukah, haneiros halalu kodesh hem. Ve'ein lanu reshus le'hishtamesh ba'hem, eh'la lir'osam bilvad, ke'dei le'hodos u'lehalel leshimcha hagadol al nisecha ve'al nifle'osecha ve'al yeshu'oshecha.

Ma'oz tzur yeshu'asi
Lecha na'eh leshabe'ach
Tikone bais tefilasi
Ve'sham todah nezabe'ach
Le'es Tachin Mabe'ach
Mitzar ham'nabe'ach
Az egmor beshir mizmor
Chanukas hamizbe'ach.

In bottle/imp: Brown sugar and amber, with a sweet bakery/foody note thrown in. There’s a little spice as well.

Immediately on skin: This is such a warm, yummy scent. I smell brown sugar and something buttery and foody, but not overly so. It might be the olive oil, but it’s subtle and blends well. The beeswax is in here, but it interacts nicely with the other notes. The amber is tame, and very warm. The fig is adding a nice, soft earthy fruit scent and almost a warm spiciness, but I can’t seem to smell the pomegranate at all.

After a few minutes: Even though I seem to have listed all the individual notes above, I have to stress that this scent is very well blended. This has become a little sharper, with the pomegranate peeking in to add a sharp but light fruit note. The sufganiyot (donut, I believe) is definitely present in this blend; I can smell some sort of baked, warm cake and it’s certainly yummy. The beeswax adds something to the blend that tames the foodiness quite nicely. There’s almost a nutty feel to it which is probably from the olive oil blending with the beeswax. This blend has gotten extremely sweet though, with an almost maple syrup quality coming from the sugary notes. (added a couple hours after wearing) A while later, there's also a smokiness that smells just like a burning beeswax candle mixed in with the other notes. It's amazing!

Overall Impressions: If you love warm, sweet blends, then this one is for you; it’s not just straight-up foody in my opinion, but the sweet notes come out very strongly. The beeswax is a nice addition, and it’s evident in the blend amongst the other notes. This scent is on the verge of becoming almost maple-syrupy on me, so if you tend to have a problem with that, you may find it happening here. Everything is beautifully blended, however, and creates a beautiful scent. Overall, it’s a nice warm, comforting, sweet scent that is just wonderful and perfect for the name Chanukkiyah!

[pugmom]

Love this! I would have bought it no matter what the notes, but I am so glad this works on me!

 

From wet through drydown, it really doesn't change on me. I get a warm pastry scent on the verge of being very buttery, but doesn't cross the line like so many other foody oils do. I get a little sugar and a little spice, but I really have to search for it. There is something (maybe the wax) that is grounding this from being too foody. I can't say enough that this is a very smooth and well-balanced blend. My only dissapointment is I didn't get any fruity notes, pomegranate or otherwise from this. I thought that would lend a nice contrast, but I never got it. It appears to have decent throw and is pretty long lasting.

 

Things that could have gone wrong for me didn't - not too buttery, and the amber didn't go to powder!

 

It is lovely and comforting, and most likely a 2 bottle oil for me!

Edited November 2, 2007 by pugmom

[Thursdae]

Chanukkiyah enveloped me in a sweet and foody aroma. I smell pastry--a doughnut with maple frosting. It's very focused in its sweetness (it could be the pomegranate providing a high note), and some element provides stability--the amber, perhaps.

[akw]

Oddly enough, there is something about this that reminds me of the parts of Red Lantern that DID work on me, even thought the notes are different. I adored Red Lantern for the first few minutes until it went all perfumey. I'm enjoying having something similar that doesn't do that.

 

I don't get pastries so much as just warm, sweet goodness. It's rich and comforting and the pomegranate and fig give it sweetness without being overtly fruity. It may be the amber that makes me think of a soft, candlelit room.

 

It becomes less complex on drydown, but still very nice.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

sniffed from the bottle: immediately makes me think "brown sugar and maple oatmeal" (which i like, so that is a good thing) but the maple isn't quite right. something sweet and edible - almost Misk U-ish.

on skin: still with the Misk U feeling, but without the bitter coffee/sour/peanutbutter type note it has on me. i don't get olive oil (thankfully) but i do get the beeswax -- although more like clover honey -- and something that might be amber but without the baby powder.

i like it, surprisingly.

reminds me of a scent you'd find in a high-end, pricey, boutique candle. subtle, classy and wealthy.

[n3m3sis42]

In the bottle:

Thick honey and cream. Yum!

 

Wet:

A strong sugary scent, reminiscent of Sugar Skull when I first apply it. It calms down quite a bit, though, and I can smell hints of other notes, though it's hard for me to pick out any individual one. Oh man. If this does not go wonky on the drydown, it may be a multiple bottle purchase.

 

Dry:

Did not go wonky. It is pure love. If you are not into foodies, this may not work for you, but I wouldn't say this is strictly a foody blend as I can smell hints of the oil and wax notes on and off.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle this reminds me distinctly of arrival at the sabbath & hommage

to the devil minus the patchouli and darkness...

 

once applied this is sweet, mapley-fig and warm caramel...creamy floral abounds...this has quite a throw...

 

this is so well done and the complexity is nothing short of stunning to the olfactory senses...

 

a true beauty & i am in love

[jolarocknrolla]

One of my favorites from this year's update. I smell honey, but it's not overpowering, a tiny bit spicy (fig?), there is a secondary sweetness in there that's foody but it doesn't have the heavy sugar or burnt sugar scent that some BPAL "foody" scents have. This is amore wearable foody scent and i highly recommend it!

[tartchef]

Oh god, I'm going to have to be the bearer of the first cold, wet blanket, aren't I?

 

In the bottle, wet, dry & everything in between, Chanukkiyah was nothing but acrid burnt sugar & faux maple flavoring. No fig, no beeswax, nothing remotely yummy - just the smell of a pot of Maple Swirl coffee left to scorch on the burner.

 

I had to wash it off in the end. (sigh) This is one for the Sell It NOW pile.

 

(For reference, I should note that I historically have trouble with most buttery sweet foody scents - Gluttony & Misk U were similar trainwrecks on me...)

[girlygirl]

In the bottle: sweet and foody. Doughnuts!

Wet: mmm, doughnuts with jelly filling.

Dry: The amber, beeswax, and olive oil come out to play with a maple note. Warm and comforting. I do smell something bitter - not unpleasant really, just odd enough that I keep sniffing to try to identify it.

 

I like the wet stage the best, so this may be one for the scent locket.

 

ETA: the burnt note comes out after it dries down. Like a just-extinguished candle. This does not play well with my skin chemistry.

Edited November 14, 2007 by girlygirl

[Silverstrike]

It was a bit overpowering, like Sugar Skull. Now that I've skimmed the reviews, I can sense that familiar note to Red Lantern as well. Unfortunately, both scents did not work for me, and neither does this one.

[neuilly]

This actually isn't terribly foodie on me. I get a hint of the maple syrup that people mention but on me it's mostly beeswax and olive oil with a generous helping of amber. Sadly not very fruity. It's a rather unconventional scent but I'm really liking it. Will definitely use my decant and may even have to buy a bottle!

 

In a way is smells like a lightly scented beeswax candle...if they came in amber and olive oil.

[ladybird]

Wheeee, it's a Chanukah scent! With sugar and...

 

...and WAH. It's got cream in it. tartchef, I had the exact same reaction - it smells just like Misk U and Gluttony, which means it smells like unhappy maple syrup.

 

whimper. No Chanukah present for me from BPAL this year!

[savage_rose]

In the bottle: Sweet, sugary pastries; yeasty bread; light perfuminess

 

Wet: The same!

 

Dry: It's almost disappeared. What is left is delicious, although there's almost a hint of plastic that I seem to get on the occasional whiff. I think I might love this, I just wish it would stick around longer.

[portalkat]

I love this blend. It has that slightly boozy deep fruit note from the pom and fig and the sweetness from the jelly donut, but most of all, it has that beautiful beeswax note that I was hoping for. The fruit seems strongest in the early stages and after a couple of hours, the beeswax and amber notes are stronger with the sweet boozy fruits mellowing and floating around the background. This is exactly how I had imagined Chanukkiyah to be. I prefer resin blends to foody ones and the beeswax and amber move this in that direction.

 

I am finding it interesting that some of the standouts for me of the winter updates from BPAL as well as other etailers are the blends based on Hanukkah.

[steffanina]

Chanukkiyah-

 

In Bottle: Sweet, a little buttery and sugary, and a tad fruity, very nice! A foody fan like me loves that.

 

Wet: Very faintly sweet initially.

 

Dry: This is really evocative of the name, with a hint of amber and beeswax balancing the sweetness. There's a tiny bit of must that comes out on me, and I wonder if that's the pomegranate, because that seems familiar with other pomegranate blends of BPAL for me.

 

Overall: A lot of lovely things in this blend. Might try in scent lockets.

Edited November 18, 2007 by steffanina

[AliBabble]

first sniff from the bottle this smells great - i'm a jewish girl, and i love hannukah, so this pleases me. i smell jelly, wine (the pomegranate?) and the amber. it smells dark, rich, and raisin-y (the fig?) - but full of flickering light. on my skin, the olive oil comes out big time - and i love the smell of olive oil, so this is good. the beeswax comes out - it's all there. this "tone" of scent seems to work on me. reminds me quite a lot of haloa (which i also like), but lighter - not quite as dark. this is fairly perfume-y on me - not in a florally way, but i think from the amber, which is slightly "high-pitched" in this blend. this has that same blend of rich dark sugar mixed with shining resin - the amber - that i find in arrival at the sabbath - but again, not as heavy, though it is pretty strong. will be great for the holidays.

[alicia_stardust]

CHANUKKIYAH

 

This is sort of a maple-sweet-honey-doughnut-fig scent on my skin, from beginning to end. It is really delicious smelling, but it's not so overly foody that I can't imagine it as a perfume. The amber really acts as a great base for all the other notes. You should try this if you like foody or resinous scents. =)

[valentina]

Time to drink my gin and tonica and review BPAL's Chanukkiyah...

 

(I'll refrain from lapsing into that Adam Sandler song as much as possible in this review.) Well, in the bottle, Chanukkiyah is very much molasses and sweetness, with a sharpness beneath it. It initially went on very sweet and dark molasses-y, but after 5 minutes, the olive oil, fig and pomegranate really take over for a while, along with a certain powdery amber. The scent becomes relatively sweet and sharp in a very distinctive way, but after a half hour or so, everything settles in and the components take their place. To me it's sweet without being cloyingly foody or sugary. It is so utterly different from the other holiday scents -- I find it dark, but not in in a sultry or ominious way, but rather a robust, complex way. It really brings to mind all the fragrances of a kitchen where a wonderful Chanukkiyah feast is being prepared!

 

Tell your friend Veronica to go test Chanukkiyah!

Edited November 24, 2007 by valentina

[ariosa]

Incense and baked goods. Then I read the notes again, and nod -- amber and baked goods, though the beeswax settles in after a while with the olive oil, so that this isn't as sweet as I feared it would be. I'm hoping this doesn't become overpoweringly sweet as it settles on my skin for the evening. Nice!

[flyingpizza]

Foody lovers, rejoice! Alas, I am not one of you. But this has that buttery, donuty top note of The Crumpet Rebellion and so many other of those sweet scents y'all love. I can't swing it myself, but I know this will be a hit for many!

[tinyvulture]

this scent immediately reminded me of something, and i wracked my brain trying to figure out what. then i realized – Fig Newtons! yes, that's exactly what it smells like! on me, Chanukkiyah is a blend of strong fig and crumbly, buttery cake (i’m guessing that’s the sufganiyot donut and the brown sugar). an extremely foody scent – i’m not picking up the beeswax or olive oil notes at all. i don’t notice the pomegranate either, but the amber does come out after awhile to add its usual lovely warmth.

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: Maple and cake

 

WEARING IT: The fig leaf, beeswax and amber really come out immediately on my skin, but there is still the overall scent of cake lingering.

 

VERDICT: I love this scent, I'll be wearing it a lot!

[shellyshells]

Oh man, I really really love this in its wet stages! It's like a fresh baked fig cookie/cake (is there such a thing?)

 

As it dries down it is a subtle fig incense on my skin.... I keep going back and forth on whether I should get a big bottle or not... I probably will! I can't wait to see how this baby ages!

[AomoriJ]

Wow, this is lovely! I love foody scents, but in the imp it was a little too sweet. On my skin, though, it turned into brown-sugar-maple-syrup-buttery-dough goodness that didn't feel like it would rot my teeth. Compared to other blends, the throw isn't really intense, which is good for me since it means I can wear it to work without smelling up the room. I must get a bottle of this before the Yules go away.