Noche Buena

[sookster]

NOCHE BUENA
A celebration of the Nativity: the light, uplifting incense of the Misa de Noche Buena, purple sage, and a vibrant bouquet of plumeria, chrysanthemum, tuberose, Angel's Trumpet, Mexican tiger lily, dahlia, and azucenas.

straight sniff from bottle is an olfactory delight of plumeria and chrysanthemum....

once applied this is a deep, floral incense ... jeebus.... beth just gets better
and better with these 2007 yule blends...

the sage and florals swirl together and are nothing less than astonishing...the throw is fair
so i will have to slather this puppy for certain...g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Another new BPAL that I am passionately in love with.

 

This smells like Frida Kahlo.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i didn't buy all of the Yule blends, i skipped ones i knew i'd dislike. but this one - i wasn't sure what most of the ingredients smelled like, so i took a chance.

sniffed from the bottle: smells like the giant chrysanthemum i got when i was in 4th grade, right before i got to come home from the hospital. (bad hospital memory. pretty flower. someone had glued googly eyes on it and a pipe cleaner smileyface)

something also reminds me of Roadhouse (the oil. not the movie)... a green, grassy, dandelion sort of smell.

i generally associate plumeria with cloying, artificial, overly scented B&BW type products or air fresheners - i don't think i've ever smelled a real one. but if that's what i'm smelling here...it is very pretty!

such a womanly, feminine (did i spell that right? it looks odd...) blend this is - without smelling pink or sweet. just fresh and wholesome.

anybody remember the fragrance April Fields? i get *very* strong scent-memories of that perfume from this oil.

all in all, very nice!

[romaprincess]

This one is really floral. For some reason, it kind of reminds me of Night's Pavillion, which I have (and like if I'm in a floral mood) I don't know if my skin ate the incense, but I can't detect it. I'll have to try this one again after I get over my love affair with Gingerbread Poppet.

[savage_rose]

In the imp: fruity, floral

 

Wet: There's a similar note to Crypt Queen, I'm not sure what it is. But it's an undernote, mainly it just smells like pungent, beautiful flowers.

 

Dry: It does smell like chrysanthemum! And like a lovely, exotic bouquet. I like this well enough, but it's not something I'd wear every day...I'm glad I just have the imp.

[dixiehellcat]

In the imp, a green note really caught my attention first. I thought 'oh no, this isn't gonna work on me'. But after a few minutes on, the floral and incensey notes came out to play, and oh my, this is goooood. Must have a bottle or two. Or three. hehe

[copyshopclerk]

In the bottle: Vibrant floral, plumeria, lily. I did not look at the notes listed for this when I did my sniff test, so I find it interesting that I used the word "vibrant" which is part of the description. But it is - this isn't a soft, gentle floral. It's very bright!

 

On: Smells like a bright bouquet of flowers. I would've guessed carnation but it's not listed - but there's that little bit of spice. Plumeria & mum present (not like Crysanthemum Moon though) and something borderline fruity. This may sound odd but I'd describe this as something of a "thirst quenching" scent - it's luscious like that.

 

Dry: I sort of love/hate how Beth creates blends that make me question my "work/don't work" blends (love because it's fun finding surprise hits, hate because I don't know what I don't like anymore - must.. try... everything!!) I don't like most florals - a few flowers I really like (gardenia, violet, sometimes carnation) but generally I write off floral blends as "ones I don't need to try because they probably won't work." I can usually categorize florals into two groups - the "This smells like something my grandmother would wear" and "This smells like something that would be stunning on a woman who is classy and dressed up and ready for anything" - a sharp contrast with my usual jeans & a ponytail ensemble

 

But Noche Buena is really gorgeous and a floral that doesn't feel too old for me or too dressy for me - maybe because it's a floral incense instead of a straight up floral? It's fresh, lush, a little spicy - sweet & vibrant incense + flowers. I only have the little bit left over in the bottle from decanting 6 imps, but this will end up being another bottle purchase for me!

 

Similar to how people said Midnight Mass smelled like Catholic church incense (which I didn't get but wish I did!), I wonder how similar this is to incense used in the Mexican celebration of the midnight mass. Much love for Noche Buena!

[alicia_stardust]

NOCHE BUENA

 

This is a very haunting, feminine, gentle floral blend with a touch of incense. The plumeria is the first thing I smell and it is also the strongest note in this blend, from start to finish. Behind the plumeria I get a sort of pungently sweet medley of florals, but then the sage seems to bring in an arid, herbal quality to keep things from becoming too sweetly floral. In the background, the tuberose lends a dusky, powdery quality to this. This blend has a sort of hopeful, fresh, desert-like quality to it.

[forspecial_plate]

I was really looking forward to trying this, with some trepidation, not being sure if it would smell good on me. Good news, it does!

 

Right away I recognize the chrysanthemum from Mum Moon....a note that I really love. Other than that I just can't pick this scent apart. This scent reminds me of a sound. It reminds me of the clear, deep tone of a bell. I'm not sure why, but it does! Also, I know this sounds lame, but this reminds me of a really high quality candle....the kind you smell in the store, and really want to buy, but it's too expensive. It's very floral, but I can tell there's more going on than just flowers. I think I did smell the sage a little bit.

 

After a while, something threatens to turn soapy but it doesn't get out of control. Overall.....this just works! Really nice scent.

 

Edit: dangit, that lily does come out soapy on me after all. It's not horrible. Could be one of the scents with lily that I can actually wear.

Edited January 9, 2008 by Forspecial Plate

[LauraB]

This is just gorgeous. Fruity floral with a very "juicy" feel to it over a light but noticeable incense note.

It is very feminine - far more than I would have expected from an incense blend.

[flyingpizza]

I wanted to like this so much, as Xiuhtecuhtli is one of my holy grails, but it had nearly nothing in common with the Xiu. It is a very pleasant light floral, but is rather generic to my nose and not incensey at all. Of course on you, it may flourish and bloom.

[Bagfish]

Noche Buena on wet really reminds me of the wet stage of Coral Snake, I think it is the plumeria and gardenia making the similarity, and it is a beautiful sweet, juicy floral. But where Coral Snake has a warm heart of Snake Oil, the heart of Noche Buena stays empty, there are no base notes filling it and rounding it out. My husband summed it up by saying that my wrist smelled like "the perfume hall in a department store", a rather generic perfumey scent with no outstanding features. Shame.

[ariosa]

Like bagfish, I find that this reminds me of the wet stage of Coral Snake -- which I love. Must be the plumeria -- and it's lovely! It's fruity and sweet and lush. Unlike bagfish, it doesn't smell generic perfumey on me, which I'm very thankful for. I don't know if I'll order this, though, because I have what I want from plumeria and fruit with Coral Snake. We'll see how this lasts as it settles on through the evening.

[Medici]

In the bottle: Wet, purple florals – freshly cut so that you smell the greenness of their stems. Mmm. That plumeria jumps right out, tailed quickly by the tiger lily. (Looooove them lilies.)

 

Wet: Hardcore florals – fresh, and sweet without being cloying. (This is what I’d think of to recommend for the floral-curious. It’s not so strong that you’re being beaten over the head with “OMGFLOWERS!” but it does waft nicely.) It’s actually a little on the dry side, which I’d imagine can be attributed to the sage. It really grounds this blend at the onset.

 

Drydown: Yep. This is one sexy floral. On me, its predominantly plumeria-chrysanthemum-omg!lily, which makes for a lovely, slightly sweet, slightly coy “purple and white” blend.

[steffanina]

Noche Buena-

 

In Bottle: Mmm, some nice fruit and sugar and something a little minty in the midst of all these sugary fruity florals.

 

Wet: Fruit, plus florals, one of which has an edge. A sharp (but not acrid) green edge.

 

Dry: Far more fruity than floral, but light fruits! A yummy blend!

 

Overall: Yummy!

[grashopper8]

Hrmmm...

 

I really am not sure if I like Noche Buena or not. The florals are so sweet that they have a fruity quality, and then there is a dryness in the background which I think is the sage. This tickles my brain because it seems juicy and lush, yet herbal and green, all at the same time.

 

My head a'splode.

 

It's interesting, but I don't think it's a winner with my chemistry. Mwah.

[slave1]

NOCHE BUENA

 

In Bottle: Herbal floral

 

On Skin: Very heavy floral, and very purple in feel. The florals blend very well and are dominant with plumeria leading the way, and the sage offers a nice sharp herbal slice through the sweet blooms. The incense is also light, more in the background, but keeping the scent from being cloying or too floral. I am not a huge fan of florals, but I do like this one. It has depth and doesn’t overwhelm me in a clowd of flowers. A perfect balance and very nice feel. A harmonious floral blend with a very feminine side. Moderate throw and average to long wearlength.

[monsteralice]

Simply gorgeous - or I suppose complexly gorgeous in this case. It has a definite purple feel to the florals, but not jungle-y, with just a little drift of incense around it. It did need reapplying about halfway through the day, and the scent shifted a little more towards incense even in my scent locket.

 

This one may be a bottle for me.

[Blood onmy hands]

I'm not sure why I wanted to try this one out. I tend to hate sage and tuberose is one of my perfume kisses of death. Plumeria also tends to be perfumey and headache inducing on me.

 

At first on my skin I was surprised at how nice this smelled. It was sweet and juicy with a hint of dry sage or chrysanthemum lingering in the background. Within a minute, though, this morphed into exactly what I was afraid it would smell like on me. Perfumey, sharp, white floral mishmash with an herbal sage note in the background. White florals seem to turn into something reminiscent of cheap, sharp, drugstore white musk and hairspray. That sharpness is strong for me in this blend.

 

Noche Buena is definitely not for me. I can't pull off perfumey florals; they just give me headaches.

[blu°]

Almost exactly what Tania said. Juicy sweet incense from imp and first applied, then soon I get the sharp heady florals.

 

However, I do like Tuberose in other blends (Delight), as well as plumeria (Xiuhtecuhtli), so the specific white florals ruining this for me must be the azucenas (lilies), possibly the tiger lily, and almost definitely the Angel's Trumpet.

 

When I grabbed the chance to order a decant I had hoped that maybe those would be outweighed by the other florals or the incense and sage, but they are not.

 

Lucky me! (considering the amount of current LE bottles on my wishlist)

[jenleigh]

I don't know how Beth works her magic, but this time, she's really done it. Cubans celebrate Noche Buena too, and putting this on, I get the strongest scent memory of the years I've spent Christmas with my husband's Cuban family.

 

The tuberose in this comes out to play pretty strongly at first, but then it calms down a bit and I get what I think must be the lily and plumeria mixing a bit with the mum and the incense. This gets prettier and prettier on my skin as it dries down.

 

I can tell already I'm going to run through my imp quickly - I'm going to need at least one bottle here.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Sweet flowers, including plumeria, and a touch of herbs.

 

Immediately on skin: The flowers in this are the strongest… plumeria and tuberose stand out, but there are definitely other floral notes in there too. This blend is on the cooler, and maybe even aquatic, side. It has the slightest herbal scent to it, but the blend is overall sweet and very feminine.

 

After a few minutes: There’s a sweet smokiness over the whole blend now, but it’s light and very fragrant incense. The floral notes are still very strong and sweet with the plumeria and tuberose coming out the most. The tiger lily is also noticeable, but it hasn’t gone soapy on me like most lily notes do. Overall, right now this blend is sweet with lots of flowers, a touch of slight fruitiness, and soft incense smoke.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a lovely, sweet, complex floral. The floral notes are blended together well though. There’s enough of an incense feel to make this blend not just “another floral blend” and a fruity, bright, sweet feel to it.

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant from eviltemptressdq's circle

 

Initial Thoughts: I so wanted to try one of the Hispanic-themed Yules and this looked like the best of them. But I'm wary of the incense, which can chew up the other notes and leave devastation behind.

 

In the Bottle: Quite fruity--dark, rich red fruits--and somewhat floral, with the incense in the background.

 

Wet: I'm getting several of the florals at first...the chrysanthemum and plumeria, I think.

 

Drydown: Oh, damn. The incense is starting in. I can almost smell as the florals disappear one by one into the creeping mass of the incense. There's only the barest hint of the floral after a while.

 

Verdict: *pouts* It started out so beautifully, too. *adds to the sale/swap pile*

[theseagrows]

this is a sweet, almost tropical floral. i definitely smell plumeria and tuberose the strongest, with the incense and sage adding a slight herbal quality and keeping the florals in check. this smells very pink and purple to me. it's very pretty-i'd love to wear this in spring or summer.

Edited December 6, 2007 by theseagrows

[zankoku_zen]

At the beginning, this is incensey, but in the drydown the plumeria comes out in full force. Can I call this purple? This is definitely a purple, sweet floral. I smell a hint of the azucenas.

 

A tad too sweet for me. I was hoping the incense and the florals would strike a bargain. Alas, no.