Hanerot Halalu

[MisterShrapnel]

Olive oil, beeswax, and smoke.

This is beautiful. I think it's one of my favorite of the 2008 Yules. I mostly get the warm, honey-ish melting beeswax (that alone is enough to make me swoon, really, but it gets better), a gentle curl of smoke (just like when you blow out a candle!), and the glow of something that does indeed make me think of orange even though it's not listed in the description (is that olive oil?). Though in this context the orange makes me think of candlelight, and I can almost feel the warmth emanating from the tiny flame. Synesthetic liek woah. This lasts forever whenever I wear it and has great throw. Even though it seems stronger on my thirsty skin, it's never ever cloying. Very atmospheric and unusual, which I think embodies the Lab's style very well.

[kikithepirate]

Dear God. I went back and forth about ordering this scent - but something about its simplicity kept calling out to me. Finally, I put it into my cart and figured I could swap it if it didn't work out.

 

Let me just say that this is one of the best BPAL scents that I've tested to date. On my skin, the beeswax is dominant, and it takes on a sweet, almost floral quality, which I think is partly the olive oil. I don't catch any smoke at all, which is fine with me, as that was the part I was nervous about. I agree with the person that said this perfume has more of an orange color than an actual orange fruit scent - I don't catch any of the latter, but it certainly has a warm, glowing feeling to it. It takes all of the great aspects of candles and makes it into a wearable perfume that won't make people in the bar look around and ask, "Who's burning the candle?"

 

In addition, this one has a pretty strong throw on my skin. I feel bad for people who didn't get to try it out, and it'll be hard work to make my bottle last!

[WidgetAlley]

Like the above poster, something about the simplicity of the notes listed above meant I just needed it.

 

In the bottle: Oh. My. God. This smells amazing. It smells just like-- just like-- beeswax, and olive oil, and orange blossom honey, and just the tiniest bit of blown out candle. It's so creamy and honey-sweet that it's almost foody, but without smelling like candles or bakery or any of that. Just... rich, and soothing, and warm, but still kind austere, kind of quiet. It's absolutely beautiful.

 

Wet: Beeswax and orange blossom at the first sniff. I was wrong about the honey-- I can smell the wax now that I have it on, so strongly I can almost feel it. Olive oil then, green and rich and peaceful. Still creamy and soft and just the slightest hint of smoke. This is by far one of the most evocative and beautiful blends I've worn, elegant in its simplicity, but it's also so comfortable, so accessible and friendly that I don't feel like I'm not grown-up enough to wear it.

 

Dry: Everything I said above and more. Sweet, creamy without foody, rich without being overwhelming... just.... perfected simplicity and absolutely gorgeous.

[Rosaleen Dhu]

Oh...my. This is incredibly sexy. Wisp of smoke, sweet honey, creamy and soft olive oil and beeswax. The scent makes me feel wonderful in a noir femme fatale kind of way. I'm in my crummy clean the house clothes and I feel like a man-eater! Good job, Lab!

[Persephone76]

Hmm...I must be the only one not thrilled by this blend. I was hoping for beeswax, and I get very little. It's all olive oil and orange, which makes me smell vaguely of a gourmet salad and at the same time makes me vaguely nauseous. Sigh. I'm still tempted to order a bottle and see how it ages because of the hype.

[voodoocatwoman]

Another sniffie with a tiny bit in the vial...

 

And oh my, how lovely. Beeswax and HONEY. I smell HONEY. And like Winnie the Pooh, I don't mind if I do.

 

Very nice.

[filigree_shadow]

This scent is sweet and not particularly smoky at first. It seems like the beeswax is the most prominent note, and it smells sweet and smooth. To me, the olive oil makes it smell like it's on the sacred, serious side, rather than fun and light-hearted. The smoke comes out more later on when it's drying, and makes the scent smell even more sacred. It's a lovely scent. Very pleasant and enjoyable.

[FandF]

incense, honey smoke....LOTS OF HONEY SMOKE!!!! and um.... baby powder; dries to overpowering baby powder. stays baby powder. overall not so good on me..the honey note killed it for me and then the baby powder just never went anywhere else. Shoot!

 

[kelpsoda]

Wet: orange hits me in the face, but then fades a bit. I can smell smoke under that.

 

dry: wax, candles and a hint of orange. It's pretty much a spot on candle scent with sweet orange (or honey?). It doesn't have a lot of throw. I like it, but I wish the orange wasn't turning funky on my skin.

 

ETA: the smoke and funky orange smell disappears after an hour, and now I'm getting a mellow beeswax smell. nice, and comforting.

Edited February 8, 2009 by kelp

[MCS4096]

In the Bottle: The most amazing sweet beeswax! There is a slight sharp citrusy note that I think might actually be the honey.

 

Wet: I dont get any smoke yet, but certainly sweet (and yes, orange blossomy) beeswax. YUM!

 

Dry: Sweet sweet sweet beeswax that fades to a lovely skin scent. The smoke is barely evident on me. This is a really lovely blend that would be perfect for layering, or days when you don't need something exotic.

 

ETA: I've never had this happen before with a blend.. but I put this on shortly after getting out the shower the other day and it burned like hell! I had huge red welts on my writs and inside elbows. I have no idea which note did that.. but be warned.

Edited February 22, 2009 by MCS4096

[milo]

This is so feminine and delicate. I get a true beeswax scent, quite sweet, but just beautiful. I don't really get any orange or smoke that some are smelling, just the lovely, creamy (from the olive oil?) calming scent. My mom used to keep bee's, and this reminds me of that, or those beeswax candles that you get in craft stores, only this smells better. It has great wear length, I've been exercising, and it is still going strong even after 4 hours.

[heavywhitewove]

Best of the 2008 Yules. Not seasonal at all. I get a hint of orange described above as well as the creamy wax and smoke. Subtle but has a decent throw (much better than the Shungas). This is the sexy scent you were hoping for in the Odes. I ordered this unsniffed with a back up bottle (EXCELLENT).

 

If you missed HH - check ebay or the swaps to get some- very worth it.

 

This doesn't smell like any other BPAL I own.

[catattack]

Hanerot Halalu

 

Bottle: Sweet, creamy, fruity

Wet: This is a sweet fruity scent. It smells like an orange creamsicle. Yum. After a few minutes, I smell something smooth and oily. Something that's coating the creamsicle and holding it down. Must be the beeswax/olive oil?

Drydown: It is no longer distinctly orange. It's smooth, creamy and waxy, like a candle. But not in a bad way. Like the other reviewers have said, this is a natural beeswax candle. I don't smell the smoke.

I put it on late afternoon, and about 5 hours later at dinner, I can still smell it and it's really nice. It hasn't gone funky. Yeah!

Throw: Medium. I put this on lightly and I could still smell it from a foot away. Slathering will be unnecessary for me, which means my bottle will last longer.

Overall: I regret purchasing only one bottle. This is a comforting scent. It'll soothe if you wear it when you don't feel well or are feeling a bit gloomy.

[zankoku_zen]

I was hoping for a more orange blend, but I get a ton of beeswax and it kinda smells like honey, but less cloying and sweet. As it dries, it kinda smells like an almond cookie on my skin.

 

*sigh*

[ChloeKEvil]

When I was about nine, we lived in a tiny house in the country, and my uncle and his family lived in an even tinier house across from us- actually on the grounds of an old monastery. My uncle's business was making hand-dipped beeswax candles for churches across the country, which he did in another building on the monastery grounds.

 

On some days, I was lucky enough to get to go and help him. The inside of the 'candle factory', as we called it, was scented with rich warm golden beeswax, almost winey smelling. It was always warm, too, because of the heat of the beeswax tank that he dipped from.

 

Hanerot Halalu smells exactly like that building. It throws me right into the memory of helping him trim the wicks to the right size- and then standing by the shelf that sold his candles in church and just taking deep breaths and enjoying the beautiful smell.

[tajana]

Wet, it's beeswax, like a just-starting-to-melt candle, strongly scented with light orange blossom honey and a faint drizzle of olive oil. The olive oil note adds an unexpected twist, it keeps the fragrance spare and elegant in its simplicity, but keeps it from being too straightforward or unsophisticated. I can almost see the flickering candlelight and feel the warmth of the tiny flames. While it's a nicely done scent, in its early stages it doesn't really grab me as deeply as I expected: I think I've simply come to realize now that I don't really like smelling like honey. When it dries down, it's delicate and beautiful: bright creamy beewsax and a curl of smoke. Earlier on the beeswax seemed to be coated and floating in honey, but by the drydown it smells like an expensive candle, sparingly scented, with another candle somewhere in the distance just blown out. At the beginning and the end (a few hours later) there is very little throw and it's close to the skin, but the area in the middle, when it's drying down and settling and morphing, is when the throw is actually quite strong. It's a beautiful scent, but I'm not sure about how often I'll wear it... I feel like I would have been better off with a decant than with a bottle. This would be the ultimate scent for someone who wants to smell like a pure candle, or like beeswax.

 

EDIT: I'm so glad I clung to this one instead of hastily swapping or selling it away. I tried it again and it's just gorgeous. The excessive honeyed sweetness that bothered me last time is gone... Hanerot Halalu dries down to this amazingly pretty orange-flavored beeswax, evoking the warm glow of a candle. Close to the skin and appropriately natural smelling. Light and lovely, appropriate for almost all weather. Awesome awesome! Proof that if a scent doesn't quite seem 100% right the first time, you should revisit it a little later before making a final judgment. I LOVE this so much.

Edited March 13, 2009 by tajana

[savage_rose]

This is a lot sweeter than I was expecting, but not pleasantly so. And the wax just smells off somehow on me, like cheap unscented candles. I think this could be nice on the right person, but unfortunately that's not me.

[Sweetie666]

Mmmm YUMMY!! This smells exactly like the chocolate oranges I get at Christmas! :wub2: Must find a bottle of this!

[GardenCat]

I agree with Boggy - a standout from the Yules 2008. I don't think I ordered a decant of it originally, but sniffed it & KNEW I had to get some. Smelled just like a rich, dark honey in the bottle, but settles into a gorgeous, unique scent. The olive oil must keep it from getting too smoky. SO Glad I have a few bottles !

[thelaurenator]

This is lovely. I get NO smoke from my bottle, which I am glad of. It smells like faint orange-honey and beeswax from a candle. A warm, glowing and utterly comforting scent. One of my favorites!

[ouch!]

Gosh I'm loving this!! Much more than I expected to. The smoky part of it is from the get go, there's a few other bits in there aswell, it's almost like there's a fruit in there. Or....maybe orange blossom? Dunno...something like that. This stage does wear off quite quickly though but it's beautiful!!!

 

On drydown this becomes so nummmy...mmmm. It's like a sweet, waxy scent that I've not smelled before in any other BPAL blend. The closest I could compare it to would be Ichabod Crane but it's just that one element. It's the friggin beeswax of course. But it's so much more prominent in this blend and I LOVE it! It's a very comforting scent, and it's got a really good amount of throw. Something you could smell from a distance but....draws you closer. Mmm!

 

This is a winner. Not gonna get a bottle but I've certainly enjoyed wearing the imp.

[Aldercy]

This smells like orange infused olive oil to me, with a slight warm waxiness. No smoke to speak of. Kind of sweet, but not at all in a sugary or desserty way. It is highly unique; I don't have any other BPAL I can begin to compare it to. I like it, but this is one of those scents that does not smell like it really belongs on a person, you know?

 

I've been wanting to try this for a long time and thought it would be hoard-worthy based on the notes, but (while I think I'll hang on to the decant), I (luckily) don't need gallons.

 

ETA: Noooo. Hanerot Halulu = headache. Only like 2% of BPAL manages to give me a headache, but this is apparently one.

Edited September 24, 2009 by Aldercy

[ami226]

Wow! This one is just really sweet! Beeswax! Slightly smokey, but mostly just sweet. And slightly orangey? Weird. Not bad.

[CiaoBonefish]

Hmmm. First off I will have to say that if you do not enjoy beeswax this scent is not for you. If you don't enjoy honey, on the other hand, don't be afraid to give this scent a go!

 

In the bottle it is predominantly beeswax with an interesting more liquid quality to it. It's not waxy per se and I realize now that it was the olive oil. No smoke just lovely olive oil and beeswax.

 

On my skin this is absolutely gorgeous and comforting! I'm getting equal amounts of olive oil and beeswax; the olive oil keeps it from being overly sweet and waxy and the beeswax keeps it from being olive-ish. No olive smell really in sight! The olive ol actually has an almost citrs quality t it... but not really... just ALMOST. This scent doesn't really morph from there and I don't really get any smoke. That being said I'm perfectly content, actually in love, with this scent! Yumm beeswax!

 

Pretty good throw and lasts quite a while on me. I tried to layer with this scent and WOAH it just overpowered everything which just shows how good the throw actually is (I guess I'll have to keep the Lights of Men's Lives for layering purposes which by the way isn't as complex as Hanerot sadly enough)!

[elixirbeth]

So, I have two bottles of Hanerot and I love them both, but the scents are totally different, and the labels are different as well.

 

 

The bottle on the left is almost all sweet orange, I couldn't place it at first but after a minute said "Orange maybe?", it has just a hint of beeswax. After reading some other reviews seems like orange also came up, so that's what it must be. A very pleasant scent, though not what I was expecting, because: The bottle on the right is all warm olive oil and beeswax on me, with maybe the tiniest puff of smoke. I bought the second bottle because I liked the one I had so much, the oil/wax combo is really comforting to me. Both scents are very appealing, and I was in no way disappointed. Hanerot (both versions) are keepers in my book.