Litha 2009

[FallDaze]

Midsummer, Ukon Juhla, Alban Heruin, the Light of the Shore. This is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, marking the sun's highest path across the sky. The Sun God and the Lord of the Forest are at the apex of their strength, and the Holy Day itself is a celebration of light's triumph over darkness. The world around us is teeming with light and life, and on this day fertility rituals for both the land and its people are observed. Golden honey and moss, with honeysuckle, chamomile, parsley, white gardenia, frankincense, carnation, vervain, gum arabic, yarrow, and liquid copal.

I've got the 2009 version, for what it's worth.

~ In the bottle - A sweet, herbal scent. Very green. Reminds me of what it might smell like to fall asleep in a vibrantly green field under a blooming tree on a hot day. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet though.

~ Wet - Sweet carnation and a summer field. Deliciously green and fresh. The parsley is starting to come out and is adding a little sharpness. Not at all the hot, humid and sweltering summer scent I was anticipating.

~Dry down- A grassy, herbal summer scent. As it's dried, it seems like the grasses that I'm detecting have dried a bit as well. It might be going a little plasticy, but I can't be sure. It might just be a case of over-sniffing though. I'll see how it goes.

~After a few hours - a sweet honeyed grassy scent. Slightly herbal, but it definitely reminds me of summer.

I'm a little iffy on this one, but I'm going to hang on to it and see where it goes.

[thekittenkat]

This is for the 2009 version.

 

In the bottle: Sweet, but herbal at the same time.

 

Wet: Very green, but some sweetness is rising up.

 

The dry-down: I'm getting a touch of the frankincense and that, along with the parsley, the moss, and the yarrow, are grounding the honey and all the sweet florals, like the carnation and the gardenia. Perhaps too much so.

 

Later: This is a very well-blended scent. I would like for the honey note to predominate more, however. It's a nice scent for summer, and I'm glad I got a bottle.

[Gin]

Litha 2009

 

My nose must be broken. Litha is pretty much all smoke on me. Smoke with a touch of resins and a hint of honey. But mostly dry smokiness.

[LunaLovegood]

I have to agree with Gin, all I got from the bottle and on my skin was smoke. I really didnt get anything else. Not for me.

[AliBabble]

i loved the first litha... 2009 is very different...but i'm warming up to it. sniffing from the bottle, it smelled great - soft, sweet and honeyed, yet subtle. on my skin it is faint at first, yet a little sharp , with an herbal "bite" - maybe the parsley? not sure...this is a strange scent - it seems to get stronger, rather than fading...i'd say it's grassy yet honeyed at the same time...i can't remember exactly what's in this new version, but it smells a bit like wild summer greenery warmed up by honey and resins...i can't say it has the same lushness and richness as the honeyed-mead version of the former litha, but it's still lovely in a feminine, summery way....

[marared]

I'd call this a cousin to Mead Moon - it's definitely more herbal than honey (whereas Mead Moon was more honey than herbal), and when I first tried it yesterday, there was something that went a little off about it. I'm not sure which note it is - there are too many that I'm unfamiliar with - and it's still trying to go a little bit wonky, but so far it's behaving itself this time. It's definitely a nice summery scent - I think if I layer it with a little MM to give it a little pep, it'll be perfect.

 

Later edit: nope, it's still going wonky. Sad - it starts out so nice for the first few minutes.

Edited June 9, 2009 by marared

[angelicruin]

In the bottle, very herbal.

 

Wet on skin, honey sweetened herbal floral and moss.

 

Dries down to honey, frankincense, and carnations. I'm not getting any smoky notes and I usually amp those.

 

I'm not sure if I want to keep the bottle or not. I might try to just let it age and see what happens.

Edited May 30, 2009 by angelicruin

[ralenth]

Bottle: Herbal and a little sweet. It is reminiscent of something that I just can't pin down. Very pleasant, though.

 

Wet: Bright and green, with a dollop of honey.

 

Drydown: The sweetness of the yarrow floats across the top, swirled with carnation. As it dries futher, I'm getting a hollow sweetness on top of that. Not candyish, but oddly a more natural marshmallow scent?

 

Dry: Sweet and a little green. Very light and summery.

 

Overall: I'm not sure why, but when I tested this the first time around (before I was ready to review), it was all smoky and sexy. Obviously, my test this morning was far from that. I'll be keeping my eye on you, Litha '09, you tricksy thing. Either way, I'll be keeping it.

[pinkusmaximus]

Yuck. I don't get any of the listed notes...instead, I smell smoky, musky, dirty herbs. It's puzzling, because I like and have had good luck with every single note listed. Somehow, in this blend, they all become notes of doom for me.

 

This scent is sharp, bitter, and downright unpleasant on my skin. I washed it off immediately and will try to rehome the bottle with someone who has better luck with the blend.

[LunaClaire]

I didn't have many expectations for this scent; but that said, its complex and enchanting. The honey-copal blend makes it sweet and biting at the same time. With a backdrop of herbs and wildflowers. Nice. I'm glad I got it!

 

6/8/9

Just had to add that I LOVE this scent the more I wear it! So complex and feminine. Signature for Summer!

Edited June 8, 2009 by LunaClaire

[Gardenia]

Mmm.. honeysuckle, is that you in the imp? I don't know, but it smells goooood.

 

Sweet, and a little spicy one it is on my skin. A sweet honey-floral. What could that be...? The parsley, perhaps? I dunno, but whatever it is that's in the background is ruining this for me. If I could remove whatever that bit is, this would be a perfect scent for me.. ah, well.

Edited June 6, 2009 by Gardenia

[alhbooks]

I only got a passing whiff of smoke for an instant as I applied the scent, then for me it goes happily to a softened honey and grassy field mixed with flowers. I didn't know what to expect but I'm a big fan of carnation and usually willing to try anything with that note and I'm definitely not disappointed although the carnation is so well-blended it motly shows up as a spicy top note. I'm certainly keeping my bottle.

[stellans]

I wish I got the smoke and/or incense and/or greeny herbal stuff from this blend, but all I get is honey. Lots and lots of honey. Super sweet honey. And it goes on. And on. And on. AND on.

 

I ordered a bottle of this before I even got the decant to try, so I may end up hanging on to the bottle for a year or so to see what happens with it, but right now it's not me at all. I don't do strong honey notes very well, they're just too sweet and sometimes induce a headache. Unfortunately, Litha 2009 is one of those blends.

Edited June 19, 2011 by stellans

[Dark Alice]

In Stellans previous post...she wanted the smoke, grass, and incense. I wanted the honey....we should really switch skin chemistry. I got ever note she wanted....no honey, no carnation, but moss, something smoky, frankincense....yeah...that's all I get here. So glad I got to try the scent...but I won't needing a bottle.

 

 

[Jenn2D2]

Of the decants I've tried, this was the one I expected to not like given some of the listed notes, but I just went and ordered two bottles last night...

 

In the vial: sharp and herbal, with a bit of background sweetness. The smell lingers in the air a bit where I opened the decant.

Wet: spicy herbal notes with a light floral background; no honey, but that's a good thing for me in the 'wet' stage of a perfume.

Dry: alternating green/spicy herbal scents, but very well blended. I can't really pick out too many individual notes, but seem to get more of a "feeling" of the scent. Fairly good throw, but not overpowering. After a day's wear, the scent did finally fade to a general "honey" smell, but by then it was faint enough that it didn't feel sickly (a problem I have with some of the sweeter scents.)

 

 

I expected I'd be overwhelmed by the honey, or the florals, in this scent, but my skin chemistry seems to just love this scent. It feels like something I could wear all of the time - not too strong, but light and beautiful.

[CynicalPink]

This laundry list of notes has so many favorites. I'm excited!

 

Imp: HONEY moss carnation and frankincense

 

Wet: Honey, Parsley, moss and the overall effect of cologne

 

Drydown: Oh no! It's doing that powdery cologne thing! It's super sweet, but it's totally turned to powder

 

Overall: Noooooooo Honey cologne! And here I thought this would be perfect and June Gloom would be skippable! Total opposite reactions.

[milo]

Wet, this was straight up soap, a good soap, mind you but still a herbally soap. After twenty minutes, it's a pretty, incensey floral that gradually gets more and more powdery. This is a good this, as I like soft, powdery scents. I do have lots of incense/powdery blends in my stash, so the imp will probably be sufficient.

[greenranger]

Wet, I have smelled a soap, somewhere, that was remarkably like this in feel. I don't normally get "soap" from scents. Hm.

 

 

Drying, there's the moss, and a whiff of parsley...the honey makes an apearance...Mostly, though, I think I am smelling copal? The flowers and the frankincense are missing. I'll have to hold on to this and see if it changes, but, right now it is mostly copal with a few green leaves.

 

What I really need, I suppose, is for my memory of what I wanted from the scent to fade a bit so that I can see if I like it without missing the flowers that I was hoping to smell. I kind of wanted a honeysuckle/carnation/gardenia scent, with enough resin to make the flowers last. I don't think this is that scent, but, if I forget that I wanted flowers, for once, maybe I can be happy with the resin that I do have?

 

 

 

[tartchef]

The original Litha ended up thin & tinny on me, so I had high hopes for the new version... I'm not 100% sold yet, to be honest, but it's an interesting scent so far...

 

Wet on my wrists, there's that candied honeycomb note from Mead Moon, thick & sticky & cloying. Hot on its tail is oakmoss, my nemesis But here, it's not nearly as heavy & choking as usual - in fact, it nearly smells... coconutty? Like Shadwell's biscuity note... There's something else in here, the yarrow & chamomile, I'm thinking - thick pollen, kind of funky & musky but still plant-like. As it dries, I get the copal smoke, dry & a bit sharp.

 

At this point, I need to mention that Litha is a totally different creature in the crooks of my elbows, and it's this that makes me inclined to keep trying it... Here, I'm getting loads of parsley & vervain & fresh juicy herbs & flowers - the carnation even peeks out for a bit! The moss is making things a bit soapy, but not enough that I'm giving up.

 

I'm going to let Litha rest for a week or so & try it again - if I can get the yarrow & herbs to stand firm against the moss, and if frankincense can tame the copal edge a bit, we'll be onto something just perfect for mild summer days

 

ETA: OK, we really need to make this work - Litha's extended dry-down, especially on my wrists, is fantastic. That musky pollen, honey & copal has settled into the pores of my skin, and is radiating it back out, hot & deep & golden and WOW.

Edited June 13, 2009 by tartchef

[tragedy]

yarrow!

 

 

I love yarrow so much, I used to hang it to dry in my house. I love the smell of the flowers, the stalks freshly snapped, the delicate leaves, and this is like all of that crammed down into a bottle at first. It is wonderful in a very sharp, herbal, yarrow way!

Something flowery comes into play behind the sharp yarrow...maybe the honeysuckle, and something sweet, honey? I dont know but they stay back and let the yarrow forefront.. and I'm glad for it.

Beautiful!

[Blood onmy hands]

The original Litha was mostly sunny, sweet citrus with a hint of wildflowers & honey on me. This new version starts off very herbal on my skin and has a powdery drydown.

 

First on, this smells herbal and soapy, and has a dry, green, herbal stage thanks to the parsley. As the soapiness calms down, a bit of sweet honey, perfumey floral, and something smoky creeps in. As it dries down, this starts to go powdery and smells like smoky floral incense and powder on my skin.

[pinkstardust420]

I'm getting a smokey note first, but that quickly goes away, and I'm left with a sweetened herbal with some kind of coconut note in there somewhere lurking!

[gleipnir]

I wasn't sure at first that I liked this but I keep applying it almost every day.. Definitely a cousin of mead moon as others had said.

 

wet this smells very honey and mead-y very similar to mead moon with a backdrop of floral and herbs

 

after drydown the honey smell becomes more subtle and the mosses and light florals take over and everything becomes quite grassy. Overall this is very well balanced, I can smell honey, floral and moss at all times. I get no smoke or coconut from this.

 

I decided to get a bottle because whereas mead moon is very sticky sweet and sometimes overpowering, this has the same feel but not as sweet, a perfect summer scent for when I feel like a light herbal floral.

[mgrazulis]

Soft, sweet honey opening with an herbal kick of parsley and chamomile. Green florals, carnation and a delicate waft of gardenia smoked with moss, vervain and copal. In the end the frankincense and honey sweeten the hot powdery copal. Sharp, sweet and biting. Edited June 21, 2009 by mineralfairy

[caitilarkin]

In the bottle: Thick, herbal honey with faint florals

 

Wet on skin: The thick honey is receeding just a tad, and I can pick out the yummy copal, honeysuckle and chamomile. There's also a grainy note--maybe it's the yarrow? (I've never smelled yarrow before.)

 

Dry on skin: This is thicker and sweeter than Litha 06. On my skin, the main similarity between the two is the lovely honey note. This year's version also lasts longer on me--over 12 hours.

 

I wore this yesterday (on Summer Solstice) and it was absolutely perfect.