St. John's Eve

[wavechaser]

A summer bonfire, with frankincense and myrrh, bay rum, and white rose.

This is very very smoky, very incensey. The rose and rum are non existent on me, and I'm fine with that. I smell like a church bonfire! Drying down its more Easter Vigil Mass, but I still love it!

[zankoku_zen]

Oh man, this smells like a really great smelling BONFIRE.

 

Seriously. This has got smoke, vetiver, just a hint of sweetness from the bay rum note. Bonfire Night had a syrupy sweetness. This one is definitely more masculine.

 

Pretty tasty.

[cuervosueno]

When I saw this on the update, I knew I should buy it. But then I didn't. But the reviews kept calling to me, and finally I kicked some sense into myself and got this....

 

Gorgeous! Heavy smoke in the bottle,but even then, it is sweet smoke, not the acrid smoke of say, Djinn. In the bottle the bay rum is fairly clear too.

 

On, it is just wonderful. Like someone was burning maple and added some spicy incense. The bay rum gives it spice, and though I can't smell the myhrr per se, I'm sure it is adding to the incense vibe. I don't get rose, but there is something sweet here, so perhaps that is it. eta: actually its a golden sweetness so is probably the frankincense.

 

It is a perfect sweet smoke perfume, though I still am craving CB I hate Perfumes burning leave scent (which I thought this might be a good replacement for, longer lasting, etc). It doesn't quite have the clean crisp sweetness of that scent, but that's ok, I can always have two sweet smoke perfumes!

Edited June 29, 2009 by cuervosueno

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Very dark incense, but with something sweet (must be the white rose) deep in the mix.

Wet: I'm reminded of how Dan Patrick, the ESPN anchor/newscaster would talk about about a player on a hitting streak, saying "he's el fuego" or something like that. (We would always laugh, because he was not saying, "he's on fire", but "he is the fire"! ) But now I know what he means.

The dry-down: The white rose and bay rum are there, but as I stated up top, they are a bottom note. A little layering with Mr. Nancy or the White Rose from the Unity set might be interesting. First way for tart, second way for sweet.

But, yes, otherwise, a summer bonfire on which someone has tossed on white roses that were first sprinkled with some old bay rum.

Edited July 28, 2016 by thekittenkat

[inkaddict]

I love the idea of a bonfire scent and bay rum+frankincense+rose= me floating on a happy smoke cloud, should everything work as I hope. Only, vetiver and rose? Doom potential (oh pleaseplease let this rose behave on me, pretty please!).

 

Decant: Yessss, no death by vetiver! The smoke is sweet and spicy, but still clearly fire smoke, not incense.

 

On skin: Wet this is very spicy, and the vetivet lifts his head up for a few seconds, then goes back behind a curtain of smoke. It sweetens again as it dries and the rose comes out to play (and behaves! Huzza!), almost a dried rose...dried rose petals tossed on the fire?

 

I have the Bonfire Night atmospheric spray and while I love it I'm glad I couldn't find it in perfume form since the tracle makes it much too sweet and rich for me to wear, but this is perfect. It doesn't exactly make me think of a live bonfire right in front of me, more like smelling the smoke in the distance...

 

 

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Resin and smoke.

 

Wet: Smoke over bay rum. Yum!

 

One hour: Much more resinous than before, with bay rum. Not much smoke any more, and the rose hasn't put in an appearance yet. But this is spicy in that bay rum kind of way, over frankincense with just a drop of bitter myrrh. Understated, but I like it.

 

Two hours: Still understated, mostly bay rum. I am surprised by how light this is. Will probably retest before giving this one up. But if this is its natural state on me, I'll be wanting to trade it.

 

Three hours: Very subdued indeed, lightly sweet bay rum.

 

Four hours: Amazingly light.

 

[blktauna]

in bottle: smokiness

 

wet: Fearful Pleasure without the apple and lighter.

 

dry: sadly fades to the barest whiff of smoke rather swiftly.

 

Doesn't last long but I enjoy its smokiness while it lasts.

[donnatron]

Bottle: Straight up bonfire with a bit of resin.

 

Wet: Smoky vetiver and a touch of frankincense and bay rum. This is still smoky but has lost the outright bonfire quality.

 

Dry: Gorgeous. The vetiver is my favourite gritty and smoky sort and then the frankincense and mrrh are sweetened by the bay rum. The white rose doesn't rear it's terrifying head. It's very simple but unlike any other scent you're likely to smell walking down the street.

 

Throw: Strong.

 

Overall: This is lovely. It's definitely not an every day scent. I can't see myself putting this on and going to the office or running errands. It's a special occasion scent although not exactly a fancy dress event. I guess I'll have to think about exactly where I'll be wearing this because I do love it.

[tragedy]

THIS is what I wish every description that contains vetiver would smell like on me but doesn't.

This smells like pure smoke, a touch of sweet, just a touch... but smoke smoke smoke.

And I love it!!

[puddingirl]

I ordered a bottle because I love smoke and myrrh. In the bottle it smells fantastic. Exactly what it is meant to, a dark and cool evening with a bonfire, music and alcohol. When wet the smoke from the vertiver is very heavy as, I suspect, is the rum. I hope it calms down a bit because it is too much even for me. The smokiness has turned quite sharp now, oh dear. From a distance I can smell a smokey alcoholic cherry smell which is quite pleasant. It is still a bit too smokey when dry, however like De Sade, I think this will work well when layered with Black Annis.

 

Verdict: Smokey up close, more smokey alcoholic cherry from afar. Will layer with Black Annis.

[aquazoo]

Light and fruity at first, then the fire jumps in. But not just smoke, it's as if some aromatic wood was being burned with a heap of incense.

[ralenth]

Warm, smoking wood with swirls of incense and tinges of sweetness. I'm glad I let this rest before testing it as my initial sniff when it landed reminded me of Liquid Smoke!

[greenranger]

Mostly I got this because of the frankincense and myrrh.

 

I do love resins. Mmmmm.

 

On, this is smoke. Rich, intense, bonfire smoke. This is a fire that was built to burn, not cook.

 

This isn't a pretty candle on a table or a back yard barbeque or even something at the beach to roast marshmallows over. It isn't pretty fireworks way up high to ooh and aaah over...or even surreptitious sparklers or fireworks that go bang or shriek.

 

This is a fire as EVENT.

 

This is bonfire as tradition and test of courage.

 

I can definitely imagine smelling like this after jumping through a bonfire.

 

 

 

 

[Babette]

I get a lot of smoke and frankincense, and some underlying sweetness that I can't figure out since I still am a newbie to many scent notes. It reminds me of those times when I would visit my [indian] friends homes during the holidays and because I would head over in the mornings, their mothers would be praying to the gods and burning incense. St. John's Eve brings back comforting memories of my childhood summers and when I wear this to sleep, I would get very pleasant dreams.

[edenssixthday]

St. John's Eve - Aside from the "summer bonfire" note, I love every other note that's in this blend. So of course, the only thing I can smell is the summer bonfire. It's very, very smoky. It seriously smells exactly like my clothes smell after I've been hanging out all night by a campfire. It's absolutely amazing as a dead-ringer for campfire smoke, but it's not something I'd wear as a perfume. I really wish I could have smelled more any of the other notes.

 

 

[crebbsgirl]

This was a pleasant surprise. I have a sordid history with rose and frankincense. I didn't get screaming rose, nor too much playdoh from the frank. What I ended up with was a sweet smoky blend, with hints of light rose. It was very soft on me. Nice, but I like other smoky blends better.

[superpopkid]

Oh, I love this. It's soft, sweet bonfire smoke. I can't pick out the rum or rose, but they may be there adding to the richness and sweetness. It doesn't change much at all wet to dry, and has what I think is the perfect throw: not suffocatingly strong, but I don't have to huff my wrists to get a whiff. If this scent had a color, it would be autumn leaf gold. I like Demeter's Bonfire scent, but this outstrips it - much, much softer than I thought a fire scent could be. I could wear this all the time, which is good, because it's my first bottle!

[starfish327]

i was born in st johns so i was interested in seeing what this blend was like, and was lucky enough to be frimped some off the boards.

 

in the imp: really heavy smoke and vetiver. the first time i opened the imp i thought bbq and didn't test until now.

 

wet: spicy smoke. this really does smell like hot ashes.

 

dry: it looses some of its smoky-ness and becomes much more spicy. i can almost get something sweet but i'm not sure if that's just because i know that it has rum in it now. luckily i'm not getting rose out of this at all because i normally amp rose into a floral mess.

 

this is nice. this is really nice.

[Geminirubyshoes]

Hooray! bonfire smoke in a bottle! with white rose! I honestly can't tell where the frankincense are myrrh are but it doesnt matter. I really wanted this for the bonfire smoke aspect and I got it. This has the same softness that Ysabel does, just without all the "red" stuff (red rose, cedar, carnation..) Super cozy. Mad throw and staying power too.

[voodoocatwoman]

Wet: Downwind of a big-assed bonfire.

 

Dry: The smoke recedes somewhat and a dark sweetness emerges.

 

Not terrible, but not me.

[Lyzz13]

When I first got this bottle last year, all I got was overpowering smoke. I decided to let it sit for a month, and try again. Of course, I promptly forgot after sticking it in the back of my BPAL drawer, and *just* found it again while reorganizing the smellies.

 

In Bottle: Smoke's barely there, I can actually smell the myrrh and rose now, yay!

 

Wet: There's that smoke. There's something meaty about this scent. The resins are the most prominant, with a hint of the rose for back up. I have no idea where the bay rum went.

 

Dry: There's a bonfire here, but it's a bit more distant. The bay rum finally comes to play with the frankincense and myrrh, with the rose glideing in and out.

 

I love this.

[Juniper]

This is, for me, one of the most perfect scents I've ever purchased from BPAL. I love it. It's like the Renaissance Festival in a bottle. It has just the right balance of smoke and sweetness (the frankincense really needs the smoke to balance and ground it, at least on my skin). The rose is almost imperceptible, just a hint, rounding out a rich, spicy, smoky, sexy scent.

 

I am down to about the last ounce in the bottle I purchased last summer. I'd hoped and hoped there'd be another round of it this year, alas! It's forcing me to branch out and try the rest of my stockpile, which is a good thing, but man... I would love to see this scent in regular rotation. It's that good. I'm genuinely surprised to see so few reviews of it! I always get compliments when I wear this one.

[Ishtar]

Woodsmoke and I don't get along IRL - it's one of the very few scents that make me queasy. Needless to say, I've been steadfastly avoiding blends with as little as a hint of smoke in the description. However, despite my misgivings, it turns out St John's Eve is really quite nice.

 

In the vial, I get almost pure vetiver, and really good vetiver, at that: the rooty, earthy, fruity kind. It's rich, masculine and alluring.

 

First impression after applying: it's powerful yet it stays close to the skin. A strong scent with minimal throw, if that makes any sense. For a few moments I get whiffs of classic men's aftershave, then the smoke shows up. Much to my surprise, it's sweet, fruity... and perfectly wearable.

 

It doesn't morph much on me past that stage, and fades to a sweet woody scent that I think would be great for layering. I could see it lending extra depth and body to soft florals, for example.

 

So. It appears than not only can I wear smokey scents after all, I am already making plans to layer them with others. You do learn something new every day!

[stubbornfire]

Someone very kindly sent me a half bottle of this as a thank you for a small favor I did for them, and I am so super grateful. It smells just beautiful, absolutely gorgeous.

 

I've figured out that incense scents are my thing, I guess, and this is very much an incense scent. First on, and continuing that's the dominant smell. It's a sort of... like when you have to leave somewhere before your cone/stick is done burning and you extinguish it and you get the scent plus smoke? It's got a bit of sweetness to it as well, which I guess is either the bay rum or it and the rose together; I don't get any rose by itself.

 

It's so lovely.

[Aviatrix]

Now, I was curious about this one, because so many reviews mention vetiver, and I can just NEVER do vetiver, at ALL.

 

But I was surprised to discover that this one is fairly soft, and if it is indeed a vetiver note it isn't very prominent on me. I am getting a lot of the bay rum, some smoke, a little resinousness, and sadly no rose at all.

 

I think it might be a little too powerful on the smoke for me to wear as perfume, but I look forward to using it in my oil burner