Faunalia

[Lycanthrope]

Held on December 5th, this is the festival of the Horned God of the Forest, one of the di indigetes of Rome, god of cattle, fertility, wild, untamed nature, and prophecy through dreams. The scent of a thick, starlit, unspoiled forest, with a burst of wild musk, opobalsamum, black bryony, mandragora, and hemlock.

The label art on this is a little strange, a dapper young man riding Krampus. The dood on Krampus has a Victorian mustache. Anyways...

Sniffed from the bottle, this is a sweet, cool pine with a touch of a skin-musk, sort of like Coyote / Ivanushka. On the skin, this scent develops a little bit of the metallic snap of pine, similar to Black Forest/Nocnitsa (without the dirt). It's not a sharp, airy pine by any means, and there may be a hint of snow but this is not a predominant note. The scent dries down to a soft, snuggly Coyote-esque forest aroma, with the pine and woods being a full, rounded note as opposed to bracing.

It's actually quite nice and close to the skin, and if you're scared of 'forest' notes, you shouldn't be of this one!

[spiresinthesnow]

This one does kind of remind of Coyote and Ivanuskka it has a raunchiness to it and seems a bit fizzy or fuzzy. A little borderline masculine, but sweet. I really like it but its hard for me to describe, it reminds me of a warm naughty can of Coca-cola!

 

[angelicruin]

I get spicy, sweet pine wood and wild musk as the strongest notes on my skin. And what glasspillars said above comparing it to warm Coca Cola is spot on for me too.

Edited November 29, 2009 by angelicruin

[annaham]

LOVE THIS. It smells shockingly similar to Hellhound on My Trail, a blend that I love dearly.

 

[edenssixthday]

Faunalia - I don't usually like forest blends or animalic musk blends, so I thought I'd hate this one. Surprisingly, I think it's going to become my #1 most-worn scent this winter! It just works so gorgeously well! It's heavy on the heavy, velvety, animalic musk, reminding me of Ivanushka or Buck Moon. The forest scent is very wintery and reminds me of what it would be like to be covered in heavy animal furs while riding on a sleigh at night through a snow-blanketed forest. I can't begin to say how cozy and warm and comforting this scent is. Every time I go to test a new Yule blend, I end up putting this one on instead because I just can't resist it. It's also got incredible staying power. I put some on last night before bed and 13 hours later, I could still smell it on my skin. It didn't waft at that point, but my skin smelled so gorgeously wintery and musky. I must get a bottle of this before the Yules go down! Maybe a backup, too.

[surf-tormented]

I got my bottle of Faunalia 7 days before the holiday, so thank you BPAL for the promptness.

 

I like the design of the bottle label a lot. Bright red, man riding a devil. I have noticed the labels always seem to have a trace of graph squares on them. Maybe it is intentional, maybe it is their printer, who knows? I just wanted to point that out if it is a printing error, I've seen it on a lot of bottles.

 

In the bottle, it smells rather strong and musky, like a crazy Cat Lady's unkept house. It is not completely unpleasant, but it does make one cautious to apply too much.

 

When it is applied to the skin, however, it changes into a really nice musk-pine scent on me. It reminds me of really good pine room spray. Normally I wouldn't put something like that on me, but I like the depth of this perfume oil. Coupled with the piney musk, is a nice doze of winter plants and furry warmth, an escape from December's chill.

 

It lasts a long time on me. It is very strong for 5-6 hours but I went to sleep with it on after wearing it all day and the musky pine was there in the morning. I tend to only put a drop on my wrists, behind the ears, etc, so a little of this goes a long way.

 

For a while, I wondered if this would be better as a room spray because it doesn't seem like perfume. But it doesn't seem like a candle or room spray either. So I think I'll just wear it as perfume. Sometimes I get a "you smell like an overscented candle" comment, but I did wear this to a dinner a friend was having and no one said anything, so maybe they got the weird, this isn't exactly perfume-ish, yet it works.

 

As far as its Faunalia qualities, it does have that warm, fur pelt decadence to it. I imagine it would be a good scent to wear when running in the forest with Pan, collecting old witch herbs like mandrake and hemlock on the dark forest floor. It has an overwhelming Hecate feel to it. Even the balsam note seems very witchy and Hecate to me. Diana is usually associated with Pan in my coven, but Hecate can be an aspect of Diana, so maybe it works, a sort of seeing of a male god's festival but in a feminine sort of way.

 

I wish it had a musical feel to it, since the flute is associated with Pan and Faunus, like maybe a reed or metal note, but overall it is nice with the warm musk, deep woodsy pine and other herbal notes and a backbone of spices. It's probably my favorite Yuletide scent I have gotten from BPAL, except for Ice Queen, which sadly, doesn't raise its head around these parts anymore.

 

Note: I get NO Coca-Cola from this blend. I get just about everything else, but my skin doesn't vamp up any sugary notes at all. It is straight up musky pine with wood/herbal undertone. I didn't get a Coyote scent either, that oil smells very dry grass on me and Faunalia doesn't have that scent at all on my skin. I do have dry pale skin though, if you have medium tone to dark and/or combo/oily skin, I think perfume morphs differently.

Edited November 30, 2009 by Madame Nyx

[crebbsgirl]

I'll admit that I ordered this from the decant circle I was participating in without fully reading all of the notes. Once I did, I began to worry. But this is awesome!!! It smells fizzy when first applied, almost along the same lines as the Champagne set of scents from Will Call last year. I get that same nose-tickle. As it wears on my skin though, I get the cold wintery forest feel, pine and some other dark woods, but there seems to be a bit of a crystalline feel to it. The musk is definitely in the same family as Ivanushka, but where that scent was soft, this has a bit of an edge to it (but not in a sharp way). It's still warm and comforting, but a little but sexier than Ivanushka was. It's sweet, but not overly so. I normally don't do overly well with green or forest scents because I usually make them go soapy. But this one doesn't do that for me. I think this may be a bottle purchase.

Edited December 2, 2009 by crebbsgirl

[Ilex]

What was I thinking? Honestly... none of these notes work on me (except mandragora- Mandrake is my favorite of the Garden scents). I just keep hoping I'll find a "forest" scent that works. This wasn't it.

 

Fizzy is a good word that others have used and I'll use it too. Fizzy, fizzy sweet tarts. And shampoo. The sweet tarts would be the musk (red, I'll wager) and the shampoo would be the pine. Aaaand its one of those scents that wants to get in my mouth. Its very sunny and almost tolerable, but the whole being able to taste it (shampoo, its not tasty) element is a no-go.

[jizatt]

Oh I had to come chime in -- If you like the Coyote/Ivanushka family -- you will like this one. It had that same sweet suede musky quality, but with a cold forest rather than the warm grass of Coyote. I think this one is a bit stronger, and maybe sweeter as well, the dry down anyway. I could not stop huffing my wrists the whole time. I went to sleep with it and anytime I woke up during the night, I sniffed again. This genre is so comforting to me, I LOVE this scent. I'm contemplating a bottle to go with my Coyote and Ivaunushka... can't decide if I need them ALL or if its hoarding tendencies

[Tal Shachar]

This was amazing on me, it's the standout of the Yules for me so far. As people have said, the furry musk is similar to Coyote/Ivanushka, and the starry forest resembles the snowy forest of Moon of Small Spirits, a chilly and slightly effervescent note. Same soft pines as in that one too, where they smell like trees rather than pine air fresheners. And yet it's definitely worth having all on its own: the musk is a few ticks more toward the masculine side (still pretty unisex), a little less sweetness and more bite.

 

This is one of those scents where you go OMG I CAN STILL SMELL IT ON MY SCARF MMMM. I may buy a backup bottle just because I don't think it attracted too many people. The fools! I shall take it all!

[bLissKite]

This is one of those scents where you go OMG I CAN STILL SMELL IT ON MY SCARF MMMM. I may buy a backup bottle just because I don't think it attracted too many people. The fools! I shall take it all!

 

 

not so fast, darling bennu. i shall be swiping a few bottles of this myself!!

 

oh, this is a most delicious scent; when i first sniffed it in the decant just now, i couldn't refrain from putting this one on, even though i swore to myself i'd test all of these decants later (however, the rest will have to get in line, b/c i want to spend some q.t. with Faunalia).

 

this smells exactly like canada dry ginger ale on me.

 

not reed's ginger brew or any other ginger ale, but canada dry -- like my gramps used to use as a mixer for his crown royal. mmmmm! it totally effervesces and, in that, feels musical to me. a tad more musky after drydown, which is also equally brilliant.

 

i adore this.

[patina]

Yes, like most people have commented, I get a rootbeer/cola from this. Maybe sassafrass? I know there's none in here, unless it's substituting for the mandragora. Hmm.

It reminds me of a non-beery, lost-in-the-woods version of Devil's Night. Which might not be the best comparison, but there's the musk and spice, maybe?

It's like Coyote too, as others have mentioned, but darker.

This is how I'd hoped German Expressionist Horror would smell.

 

On drydown, it becomes somewhat more fusty, though the "spice" and pine keep if from being overbearingly so, at least to me.

Edited December 2, 2009 by patina

[Invidiana]

This is just amazing; it's just intoxicating, for lack of a better word. Reminds me a bit of that E.M. Forster story where the girl is so enamored with the woods she eventually turns into a tree. It's got a lot of evergreen, and a great mix of evergreens, but the musk adds this wonderful feral quality that just makes it burst into life. Faunalia is rich, dark, warm, cold, inviting and sinister all at once--hard to describe in words--you have to smell it for yourself to see what I mean.

 

 

 

 

[samarablackcat]

Wet, I get a sweet, green smell, not like grass, more herbal, and something that reminds me of lemon, a fresh scent, per se, not tart. And yet in the background is...acetone? And incense... light, wafting, but sharp. Reminds me as it dries of No. 93 Engine...must be the opobalsamum.

 

A very herbaceous scent, and morphed into a scent very reminiscent of the forest. Intriguing.

[nekogrrl]

Sniffing the decant, the first thing I think is 'orange Sweetart'. When it first goes on, yes, very much orange Sweetart, but that almost immediately changes to a dark, sweet scent.

 

And then it disappears. Wait, there it is, a dark piney scent I can only smell if I shove my arm into my nose.

 

This disappears way too quickly to warrant spending money on.

[midnight_aeval]

In the vial it's a fizzy, sweet forest. It reminds me somewhat of Bezoar, but not as dry. That must the be opobalsamum. I can't figure out what's causing the fizzy note - maybe the "burst of wild musk"?

 

After about 10 minutes into the drydown it reminds me very much of a fizzy Lamia! I always thought the Lamia/Bezoar likeness was because of cardamom, but perhaps the common link is some type of balsam?

[Blood onmy hands]

I thought that I would love this after smelling it in the bottle. In the bottle, it smells like some sweet, effervescent mix of root beer and cola, with a soft undertone of fuzzy, warm musk. On my skin, this gives me a vicious headache. It smells spicy and kind of cinnamony, like a spicy potpourri of some sort. Then there's something sharp and perfumey underneath the cheap spice smell. The drydown starts to get slightly smoky. All around, it's just bad and headache inducing on me

 

My skin amps up spice notes, and I don't care for the spiciness here paired with the sharp, perfumey muskiness and hint of sharp smoke. This just goes all wrong on me.

[musichappens]

A very strong forest scent with just a hint of fizz. It's a unique scent, but totally not for me.

[VorpalBunny]

I just found my new favorite Yule scent! (I almost didn't even try this one, but the forest drew me in.) In the bottle, it has a complex, almost floral scent. When I wear the scent, I smell a lightly piney scent (just enough hemlock to have a pleasant, slightly wintry scent, without so much that it screams Christmas tree) with a strong note of sandalwood. I keep trying to find sandalwood scents that I like because it's my favorite single note, but the blends never seem to work for me. I don't see it listed in the notes, but if it's not there it sure smells like it. I am so in love with this scent!

[greenranger]

In the bottle, I thought that I smelled snow, or some watery note, and I worried.

 

On me, though, it warms up fast. I smell spicy greenery and musk. There might be something dewy and wet somewhere in the background.

 

 

[Schmoozy]

Wow. For some reason this blend smells quite similar to Leo '07 and The Magi from last Christmas. Once on my skin it is a fizzy, sweet green musk that sticks very close to the skin. The smell of forest woods (pine & fir) are so light that it is hard to make out at first. Faunalia is a warm, spicy musk blend that differs from everything else this yule. I absolutely adore this.

Edited December 19, 2009 by Schmoozy

[SeaLady]

This, weirdly, may be the only Yule success for me this year.

 

But oh boy, is it ever a success. It smells great on my and The Boy. Starts out winter trees and crisp air, and dries to sexy dark incense, musk and forestry in a way that does not upset my sinuses (which pine/juniper sometimes does). This is absolutely my favourite Yule scent this year (and I even remembered to wear it on actual Faunalia!)

[femmefatale]

I did not expect to like this since I thought it would end up smelling like a tree air freshener or cleaning product since that's what happens with most "forest" scents on me.

 

But it doesn't! Yay! it's mostly musk with a touch a rich greenery (but no soap or xmas tree!). There is a very slight cologne/perfume note, but it's not strong and actually is very nice.

 

I actually like this a lot more than I expected to. I probably won't need a bottle though since I'm trying to keep my collection a bit more under control, but I'll try it on dh first before deciding. I think this would be wonderful on him.

 

 

[DeltaCat]

Very much like Coyote and even a bit of Hellhound...

 

Warm, I get a bit of a cherry coke smell in the way way background. A slight spice. The musk is fantastic!

[sqwook]

In the bottle: High-pitched pine and very dark musk

 

On me: This is a dark forest, the kind with evergreens, though the evergreens don’t (thankfully) do that "HAI I'm a pine tree" thing on me. Dark, leans toward masculine, definitely. (Also, on my skin anyway, this doesn't remind me of Coyote at all - C was light, sweet, and dried sweetgrass; this is very dark, with dark musk.) A forest with a hint of danger in the shadows.

 

What the wolf would wear on its way to waylay Little Red Riding Hood.