Hexennacht (2008)

[zankoku_zen]

This perfume is the scent of the witches' revel: German fir and forest herbs, incense and bonfire smoke, infernal flora, glowing amber, and the wet, glimmering scent of skin warmed by dance.

I liked this one better than the 05 version. I got a plummy kind of incensey floral spring. It kinda reminded me of a lighter more floral Devil's Night. Very pretty, very fun. Edited February 23, 2009 by zankoku_zen

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Uuuunnnnngggghhhh....this smells like magical forests. It brings back innumerable fond memories of times spent outdoors around bonfires at night in the woods during the summer. This is exactly the essence of those moments bottled. I love it as much as I knew I would and then some. I'm definitely going to track down some more of this! Magical.

[crebbsgirl]

GAH!! I was so hoping this would be similar to Hex 05 on me. And it's not. I'm getting some weird eau de dryer sheet on my skin that's turning me right off. Even the man is not impressed with this one on me. He wrinkled his nose and said "Incense, but not the good kind." I'm so disappointed with this. It's very much sharp pine and a little ozone-y too.

[mgrazulis]

Evergreen boughs, a light fire of incense, damp night blooms and a hint of skin scent. Similar in some ways to Perchta, minus the snow. Earthy...nice decant!

[Invidiana]

A wonderfully woodsy and smoky scent, sweetened just slightly by amber and florals. There is a certain eerie allure about this scent, probably brought on by the "skin warmed by dance"note which I'm assuming to be some sort of sexy skin musk. When it mingles with the other notes, it creates what I imagine to be the essence of a medieval witches' sabbath in the heart of the Black Forest, drawing you closer and closer until you get completely sucked in.

Edited October 31, 2009 by Invidiana

[Violaine]

There's something in here that's in Dorian, right? Or maybe The Mouse's Long And Sad Tale? Something in the background, something sweet and slick and dark, something sinister and sexy... UNF, it's totally in there. Ohhh, maybe it's the amber? But amber usually goes bad on me... hmmm....

 

ANYWAY! This is glorious. It's a dark, smutty pine forest, the scent of hot sweaty sex next to a bonfire, oh yes. YESSSSSS. I cannot quit huffing my arm. I mean... smutty pine forest and sweaty bonfire sex. I'm not sure there's anything else I can say, here!

 

So, so good.

[jamethiel]

In the bottle: Fir

 

Wet: Fir and incense. NOM

After five minutes: Some Ozone is creeping through and the incense has faded. It's a very cold scent now, but I still like it.

After ten minutes: oh wow. Some of the amber's coming through, floating over the fir and ozone. This is people huddling together round a fire against the monsters outside.

Oh, now the incense is coming through again. And musk. Usually I hate musk, but this is just the scent of skin. Oh my god this is gorgeous: I can only echo everyone else: this is intensely sexy.. WHY do I have to fall for discontinued LE scents?

 

Dammit, if this ever comes round again, I am BUYING a bottle

[starfish327]

decant bought off of lj

 

in the imp: smoky pine

 

wet: smoky pine

 

dry: smoky pine, a hint of amber, and incense. this is a more piny, slightly weaker st john's eve on my skin.

 

this is very nice. in fact, this is much nicer than what i had thought it would be. i had purchased this one because i liked the name and it was on my wishlist, but i couldn't remember anything about it, and the reviews had me a tad concerned that it would be overpowering. but this is actually a lot lighter and a lot more feminine than i had feared it would be. this is definitely dark, but it's not brooding dark.

[whisperstilled]

In imp: Green, piney and herby but mostly piney to the exclusion of all else. It's nice fresh pine though, not the stale scent of a christmas air freshener.

 

Wet: Pine some more! Maybe a tiny bit of flowers, but not a lot, and it's going powdery. Still no smoke, and no musk. I think the powder must be the amber, which just does not get along with me.

 

Dry: Yep, slightly effervescent powder. Definitely not for me, into the swaps. 1/5

[thelaurenator]

Oh, this is just GORGEOUS.

 

I tried the 05 version, and it didn't work for me. But this is to die for on my skin. It's much more feminine than the 05 version and the sweet amber combined with the foresty smokiness of it... it's just heavenly.

 

I want to roll around in this. I'm definitely going to need more than just my half-bottle.

[Molls]

I had always been curious about this scent, and when I got the chance to try it in a swap recently, I jumped at it. In the bottle, and wet on my skin, it is very pine-y. Almost air-freshener pine-y. It stayed that wasy for about 30 mins. As it dried down, the incense started to come out. However, with the incense came a B.O. smell - this is definitely sweaty witches dancing in the forest, as JennyGardener mentioned in her review. Glad I got the chance to try it, but it's not for me.

[arsinoe9]

Hexennacht 2008 is very, very different from Hexennacht 2005. I much prefer the 2008 version.

 

This scent evokes very specific mental imagery for me: The pristine, glorious, rolling landscape of Northeast Switzerland. Glowing and sparkling with life. Clean and pure. Color? That special rosy golden glow of sunset illuminating the tops of spring green trees.

 

The scent, to my nose, is equal parts: fir trees, muted floral, and body musk. A light sheen of sweat on a body which is musky, despite the crisp, cool air, after walking the Wanderweg. The florals are muted, wild, living, and sweetly green. And the forest is softly fresh and unspoiled. Invigorating.

 

May Day is one of my favorite celebratory days, and Hexennacht 2008 encapsulates, for me, that day more than it does the night before. I don't smell darkness or icyness or bonfires. I smell a solitary clean, warm body walking through a majestic mountainous landscape under a technicolor blue sky. A clear mind at one with and in awe of the surrounding world. Reverence for the natural world seems an inherent part of celebrations such as Hexennacht/Walpurgisnacht and May Day, and that focus is very well represented in Hexennacht 2008.

[calivianya]

Based on the notes I really, really wanted to love this, but from the moment it hits my skin on it is nothing but woodsy man-soap. It smells like something my boyfriend would wash himself with. I'm going to pass.

[AirimirOfGondor]

I just tested this today!

 

In the bottle, it is super-piney, with a hint of sweetness.

 

Wet on skin, the pine completely dies almost immediately, and it's kind of sour-sweet. The sour is definitely a musky sweat smell, and the sweet is some kind of hard-to-define candy/fruit/flower....thing. The sour overpowers most everything else though. If I were to smell a note like this on Mr.OfGondor, I would probably tell him to go shower.

 

But as it dries more, the sweet-and-sour thing dies down, and I'm left with a very nice, sweet, grounded, earthy/woodsy/incense blend. Just a touch of skin musk is still there, and the sour is gone entirely.

 

It definitely feels like you've walked through a pine forest, then ran into some extremely sweaty witches, who suddenly disappear, leaving only their incense behind.

And while I keep smelling that sour note and going 'yuck' to myself, the 75% dry-completely dry smell is wonderful. So I think I can tough through the sour sweat note until it's gone, to end up with a very nice end result.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i loved this. i loved it SO much. i didn't much like the older one, but the '08 was just lovely. i went through... several bottles.

 

now that i sold the last decant i had stashed away - 'cuz i knew i'd never use it - i figured i should jot down my thoughts.

 

when it was fresher (oh, a decade ago) there was a bit more forest in there. woodsy-chilly-trees, deep in the woods where the sun never really hits. never got bonfire smoke, but there's a skin musk and the powdery amber. and the memory of trees.

 

it is almost like the memory of a most excellent night, in a bottle. i hope we get this back again someday.