La Befana

[cassandrakfreaq]

Candy charcoal, winter lilies, parma violet, a sprig of cypress, a poof of chimney dust, and holiday sweets.

this is a sour sweet smell on me. there is a hint of cypress and the lilies go powdery on me. I am hormonal right now so hopefully my body is jsut going nutssssssssssss

[lookingglass]

I am always on the hunt for another lovely violet. La Befana calms my fears about the smoke and brimstone I was expecting. It is very much like Arrival of the Sabbath...on me, but with violets. The violets are fuzzy and dark, the candy is rich and sweet, and the dust is like powdered incense. DH says I smell like a Victorian candy store. It is my favorite sitting-by-the-fire-smoking-a-pipe kind of scent. Glad I got a bottle. Yum...

Edited April 25, 2009 by lookingglass

[Avery]

I still don´t quite know what to think of La Befana. I love the story and was intrigued by the notes listed. I always think I´m going to love violet, but seems that i haven´t found one I really like yet.

 

La Befana is an "interesting" smell on my skin. A little powdery, a little *coughcough* smokey (the charcoal?) and a little flowery. It smells a little like there are violet candies blooming on a tree outside and there´s a fire off in the distance being put out by old powder puffs. It´s curious, but it definitely doesn´t fall into "good"ville, and is oh so not me. I keep trying my imp from time to time, but usually am only inspired to raise an eyebrow at the lingering scent.

[nightbiscuit]

in the bottle: I am reminded strongly of Monster Bait: Closet... this is very sweet and creamy.

 

on skin: The love child of Faith (the sugary violets Siamese twin) and MB: Closet, after playing outside in the ashpile.

 

A sweet and cute fragrance.

[modillian]

In the bottle: Ooooh, all candy charcoal! Too strong. Cloying pastry stink to high heaven.

 

Wet on the skin: *siiiigh* This is why you should never, ever go by the smell in the bottle alone. On the skin it morphs almost immediately to a delicious candy smell and strong pastry-smell akin to the one in Channiukya.

 

Dry on skin:...the syrupy-sugared pastry smell may be a biiit too strong actually. After an hour it becomes thinner, sweeter, and the candy comes back in. Very delish. I'll have to try it on a different hormone cycle to get the full effect. I don't know about the other smells in the oil, but I'm definitely getting the charcoal and holiday sweets.

 

ETA: Once more, this is a really interesting combination of scents, but too weird for me. What a peculiar knockout, but definitely to the swaps.

[vegasblueblood]

One of my favorites and reminds me of a big stocking full of holiday sweets and candy. This is beautifully blended and melds into a perfect combination of violets and sugary sweetness with a hint of lemon, which I am assuming is part of the candy charcoal note. This makes me feel warm and happy and transports me back to Christmas's past where my grandmother would ply us with candy. The violet is quite prominent but this isn't really floral. It's also not entirely foodie. It's just it's own entity that can't really be boxed into any scent category. Love it.

[Apple]

I agree with previous reviewers who have compared La Befana to Chanukkiyah and Sugar Skull 2007. On me, the dominant note is the rich scent of sugar that is about caramelize... not of caramel, mind you, but of a hot sugar glaze, just starting to brown (the GC scent Kill-Devil also shares this note). There is a hint of fruitiness in the imp, but it dissipates quickly upon application. In addition to that rich sugar, a smoky note blooms on my skin and gives a little edge to the scent, darkening and deepening it. I really like this. It's like a smoky Chanukkiyah, minus the fruit. Yum. No lilies, violets, or cypress to be found.

 

Later on in the dry-down, it starts to go a little plasticky (a phase that the other sugar-based scents tend to go through on my skin, too), but it soon returns to smelling edible. It has good throw and is very long-lasting on me as well; the rich sugar scent lasts for hours and hours.

[zankoku_zen]

At the beginning I got really dusty sweet violets. As it has dried, the baked sweets have come more to the forefront. So now it's dusty baked goods. Like Christmas cookies thrown in the chimney.

 

Naughty kids.

[mgrazulis]

La Befana sounds like one of those off-beat fun scents BPAL is known for...in the imp, there is a burned sugar and smoke note. On the skin--whoa--butterscotch, toffee and caramel. A wisp of violet floats about as it dries. It's an odd scent of dusky burned sugar and goey treats--very sweet. Perhaps if the florals and cypress make a stronger appearance, it could be a keeper.

 

I have a feeling this will go to someone who likes the candy scents and will appreciate it more than I can!

 

 

 

[femmefatale]

To me this smells like a cross between Sugar Skull and pipe smoke. Verrry interesting. I'm just so thankful the violets were kept in check.

I'll definitely keep my partial and wear it this fall/winter when I want something....unusual.

 

 

[alterosen]

I love this one! It's Sugar Skull with berries & a little violet. Yummy!

 

I couldn't understand how I missed it when it came out but I see there's no berries in the description

& I was probably afraid of the lilies. Thankfully, I don't notice them or the chimney dust.

 

This is a new favorite!

[aquazoo]

Burning something. Burning and candy and hairspray and everything else.

[Invidiana]

Wow, just....wow. I need to be alone with this. To me it's coming out as sweet caramelized figs with ooey gooey burnt-sugar syrup (guess that's what "candy charcoal" tastes like). If you love burnt sugar as much as I do, you HAVE to try this. As for the fig impression, though figs aren't listed in the notes the reference to "holiday sweets" probably does include them because dried figs are holiday sweets over in Greece, where my family is from, so I'm pretty sure they also are in Italy next door. Maybe the candy charcoal really is made of burnt sugar, because burnt-sugar candy is popular in Greece as well and I have a feeling the Italians are equally fond of it. I know there are people terrified of violet out there, but it's not particularly noticeable. There's just the barest hint of evergreen and smoke in the background. Absolutely gorgeous--hunting down more!

Edited November 12, 2009 by Invidiana

[kawaiiferreto]

Death by sweetness! This is very very sweet to start, with a little bit of smokey depth. After about three hours this is faintly musty sugar, which I like, but before that it's just too sweet for my non-foody self.

[laslibres]

In the bottle, it's like Candy Phoenix had a love child with Sugar Skull. Sugary fruit candies, and caramel. On me, a bit of smoke and violets come out, although there are still fruit candies underneath that…apple and pear, maybe? And currant?

 

It’s not a strictly "candy" scent, though. The smoke and flowers make it more complex and mature than that, as well as give it a bit of a powdery feel that you don't find in either Candy Phoenix, Sugar Skull, or any other candied scents. Keeps it from being overly sweet.

[ImperatrixMundi]

La Befana is very sweet. It smells like sirupy brown sugar (like in Sugar Skull), a hint of cocoa and violets. I love violets but La Befana was seriously too sweet and sugary for me. It smells really nice actually but wearing it is out of the question for me. I'd have expected something a little lighter, more complex and more floral.

[metaldog32]

In the bottle -Sweet caramelized sugar..almost burnt.

 

Applied wet on skin: Super caramelized sugar..underneath is wisp of chimney dust..and I think that violets are adding to the super sweetness with the caramelized sugar…I think also that the violet with it’s typically “powdery” vibe is tricking me into thinking I’m smelling the chimney dust…I like it so far.

 

10 minutes on skin-Oooooo..this is really turning very nice on me. The violet is sheer now..and I get a little bit of lily in the forefront with the sweets/charcoal in the back. The throw on me right now is soft but not invisible.

 

Hour later This does seem like Sugar Skull with violets and candy charcoal. It’s softened up considerably on my skin but isn’t invisible at all with the throw soft. I still keep getting little wafts of the candy sweetness with the dust..

 

Staying power is impressive -10+hours

 

Bottom Line: La Befana is an interesting reiteration of a candy/sweet fragrance; although not normally what I gravitate towards I find the charcoal the note that seals the deal for me to keep it in my collection. Not something I will pick regularly but it does fit the niche for perhaps late winter rotation.

 

[Geminirubyshoes]

In the bottle this smells like fruity burnt licorice but when I put it on, it blooms into sweet, cold, smoky violet with a bit of a greenish edge. I really love the lab's violet note in everything I encounter it in. This is a comforting scent to me. It just started getting really cold in Vermont and this is helping to make me feel warm

[loubric]

I was very excited to get a bottle of this in a swap. On sniffing the opened bottle it was very candy foody strong with lots of violet but I was worried it might be too food on me…. I applied it very sparingly to my skin and I was suddenly over powered by warm buttery candy sugar food – not in a good way.

 

How disappointing…. But 5 min later it dried down to a perfectly wonderful sweet violet scent, it still has remnants of sickly food but the violet dominates, and mixes and blends everything very nicely. Lovely. I can now appreciate the magic this blend has, thank goodness I had the sense to wait!

[Schmoozy]

Hard sweet candies, charcoal and violets. The candy at one point threatens to become buttery, but as quickly as it appears, it disappears even faster. La Befana is smoky and dusty, but mainly it is sweet violet candies covered in soot.

[starfish327]

This is one of the very rare violet scents that work on me (skin test everything. seriously.)

 

I get the holiday sweets (like opening a box of ribbon candy), something that hints at smokey (the chimney dust?) and the sugared violets. I do like this is and it reminds me of a candy that I can't place. I don't see myself reaching for this, ever, but I like it a lot more than I probably should-and it is nice to know that sugared violets don't go to death-stank on my skin.

 

 

(Also, yes, this is sugar skull and violets.)

[ScabbyLucy]

Hmm. I love the 2007 version, its the perfect blend of floral violets, sweetness from the candy, and the touch of something else from the chimney soot. Maybe it just needs aging, but the 2013 version seems way more floral, with the lillies predominant.

[Aviatrix]

In the vial, this is a very pretty and sweet floral, though I can't quite pick out individual notes.

 

At first, I get a huge amount of violet from this one. Violet can go both ways on me, but usually it works out. I'll see where this goes.

 

After a while the violet has been tempered a little, and I get the sugar and candy notes, which are very pleasant. I am not getting any cypress, but it could just be that it's in the background grounding the blend. There is an overtone of something I can't quite identify, but might be the chimney dust note. I'm also not sure what happened to the lilies, but on the other hand, the scent is fine as it is.

 

Overall, it's a very pretty and fun scent that makes me think of candy stores and holiday cheer!

I am debating whether I need a whole bottle, but I'm definitely keeping my little decant!

[Teaker]

Flowers and candy, what's not to love?

I ordered this because I love violet, but unfortunately I can't detect any in here. Thankfully there is a big bouquet of heady lilies to make up for it! Under the floral I can smell a hard candy made of caramelized sugar. There is a fuzziness to the scent that I would have described as smoke, but when I look at the notes I wonder if it isn't dust? Although I guess "chimney dust" would be smokey. It's not overpowering, it just makes the scent a bit more interesting than straight lilies and candy.

This is a sweet blend, but not sickly or cloying. It's toasty and comforting, the burnt sugar smell is exquisite in colder weather. It's the way you would smell if you lived in an old fashioned candy store, that has a crackling fire in the hearth and winter lilies on the counter. I was really pleased with this, it is my favorite of the Yules and one of my top 10 scents ever!

If anyone is curious, when you accidentally dump half a bottle of La Bafana on yourself it smells like toasted marachino cherries.

 

Edit: Sad news. While I adore this scent fresh, when aged it becomes unwearable for me. The only way to describe it is "clean diapers." I have to get rid of my bottle... I'm very sad.

Edited February 14, 2016 by Teaker

[zankoku_zen]

2013 version

 

Sweets, violets, and lilies. This is less dusty on me than the 2007 version, and its more of a candy + violet mix. The sweetness of the candy really amps the violet note on me, and it doesn't go powdery.

 

Too sweet, but if you were looking for a sweet violet blend, give this a whirl.