Horse Chestnut Honey

[Ravenclaw79]

Horse chestnut honey.

Honey! Bzz bzz bzz! But this isn't the standard Lab honey -- usually, the Lab's honey note is all fake-smelling on me, but this, this is a really warm, sticky honey, well-grounded by the horse chestnut so it actually smells more like real honey. Yum!

[cfrancesca]

I get lots of caramelized, sticky honey and what must be horse chestnuts (I've not smelled horse chestnut before, but I do get a soft chestnut scent so perhaps the scent is similar?). Unfortunately for me, there's also some kind of brown sugar or maple syrup, slightly smoky thing happening (what I first got as "caramelized") and my skin usually doesn't like those scents, perhaps that's coming from the horse chestnut. It's very foody, thick and sweet.

[Iceblink]

The chestnut in this is really, REALLY strong on me; when it's wet it's almost overpowering and it's slightly stale/musty...not good. This blend does get better and better the longer it dries as the honey steps up. Very VERY nutty though. I think this would benefit from some aging so I may revisit this imp in a few months.

[marared]

I really, really love this in the imp - warm, rich, nutty honey, the kind that makes me long for warm and sunny autumn days. But that "caramelized" thing cfrancesca mentions turns into the Sour Stink of Doom on me. *sigh*

[Lethran]

In bottle: Yep, that’s horse chestnut. It smells like the park of my childhood. Pungent woods and nuts, made sweeter with a bit of honey. Wet: Mmmmm… This is exactly as I was hoping it would be Sweetened nuts, wood, a bit of delicate blossom. Pennsylvania woodsy park. Dry: more delicate and drier, but still utterly lovely.

[oceandreamer001]

This is very interesting.

 

Wet: I get honey and chestnut.

 

Drying down: Sticky, oozy honey (yum) and some chestnut.

 

This ends up slighly smoky honey on me and is gorgeous. On me, it smells like the honey from Lush's Honey I Washed the Kids. And that's a good thing.

 

Definitely a bottle. A nice surprise, glad I tried the imp!

[angelicruin]

Heavy chestnut on my skin with just a touch of honey. Quite lovely.

[Blood onmy hands]

I'm not exactly sure what chestnuts smell like, but this is gorgeous and my definite favorite of the Rappaccini's honey blends. It's sweet, warm, and foodie, but also smells outdoorsy, like an impression of crisp fall air and trees.

I get a warm, wooden, sugar glazed nuttiness that smells lightly roasted and foodie (but not cloying at all, and really smells more like a light sugary glaze than outright honey on me) and what smells like a far off hint of pine and a cold chill in the air. It's really lovely and makes me think of being in a park in fall...

 

I need a full bottle of this asap.

[SophieCedar]

Warm nutty honey. The chestnut is strong! It smells similar to hazelnut and really amps the honey, preventing it from getting all powdery on my skin. Nice! I like this one just as much as Yellow Jessamine Honey.

[MCS4096]

I like it in the imp, but on my skin it's Caramel SN and it is hoooorrible It's burning plastic-- sticky sweet, acrid and bitter

[cuervosueno]

Horse Chesnuts are one of my favorite trees--they are magical in the spring, when their flowers are like bright white candles....

 

But for all my love of the trees, which incidently, have only grown in places I've lived briefly, I don't remember much about the actual chestnut, other than people found them a nuisance for some reason....

 

All this to say, I had no idea what this would smell like.

 

But I like it. It's honey with a warm addition, that yes, I guess is faintly nutty, but thankfully not overwhelming as I am not a fan of nuts as scents. I THINK I recall that real chestnuts (not horse chestnuts) when roasted don't have a traditional "nut" scent, so perhaps that is what I'm getting? There is also a nice greenness in this. Whatever it is, it cuts the sweetness quite a bit--for example this one is much less sweet dripping honey than honey tobacco is (I have four honeys on right now, so I'm comparing!)

 

This one warrants more wear and more exploration for me. It is more than just my beloved BPAL honey note--it has it's own complexity, green and nutty too. Quite nice, but after it sits a bit I do get a bit of carmelized wierdness that other noticed, so I hope that doesn't last long or goes away....

Edited September 4, 2010 by cuervosueno

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I really love the scent of chesnuts, but I think whatever honey is in these Apiary scents is not working too well on me--Horse Chesnut Honey started out great, very nutty and spicy and sweet, but dried down strange and cloying. It has a lot of throw and lasting power, so if it works on you, I think I would really work!

[edenssixthday]

Horse Chestnut Honey - I have no idea how horse chestnuts differ from regular chestnuts, but I love regular chestnuts in all their wild variations, but I don't like the way this scent smells. The horse chestnut note -- or maybe it's that note combined with the honey -- smells strikingly similar to wet dog. There's something sharp and acrid, and I think that may be the honey note, since there are some honeys I simply can't wear. Sadly, this one is a no-go for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Chestnut + Honey. Both of which are notes that LOVE my skin, and that I can't handle. Nutty honey.

 

Epic. Fail.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - A warm, spicy, almost coffee like scent

 

Wet on me - Thick gloopy honey with slightly waxy, slightly spicy highlights

 

Dry on me - Very faint, it disappears entirely

 

Overall - I was very excited by the reviews and the wet stages, but it just didn't survive very well on my skin

[plainjean]

Ugh. It's a slightly less-rancid O on me. Cloyingly sweet and really off-smelling.

[aquazoo]

Honey that's thick and sweet. I am getting a nutty tone to it. Lotsa throw. It's turning a bit woody, but not a good woody.

[Pika]

This was the "foodiest" of the honeys I've tried so far. A very sweet, nutty honey, and I'd definitely buy the "carmelized" description above. Very much honey, but almost too sticky-sweet for my tastes! I really didn't get a woody edge from this one either, though I think that would have deepened it nicely. Maybe I'll try layering to get that effect.

[Schmoozy]

Nutty, rich, extremely sweet honey. In fact it may be too sweet. It really does have that fresh O honey feel, and I prefer O aged. So I will hang on to my imp, and review this at a later stage. It's just way too fresh for me.

[hkhm]

imp: caramel honey. very pretty.

 

wet: sweet caramel honey, very sexy.

 

dry: nutty, sweet caramel covered in honey.

[Mountaingrrl00]

Wet: Very true to the scent of a horse chestnut. I can smell the glossy wood of the husk as well as the nutty meat. The honey is like a flavor-enhancer, bringing the smell forward.

 

Dry: More muted. Sweet, but in a softer way. A little greener and less nutty.

 

After eight hours: It has faded completely from the back of my hand, but is still a soft honey on my wrists.

[tdiym]

wow.

horse chestnut honey is the love child of Tomoe Gozen bath oil and Kill-Devil. dark, rich, sticky and sweet.

i'm not much of a foodie fan but this is so much darker (like Kill-Devil) that it doesn't seem foody to me in the usual way.

this is the rich, sweet honey i've been looking for.

i totally love this and definitely need to get a bottle...(at least one! )

[killerklown]

Bottle: Chestnuts

 

Wet: Even deeper chestnuts. Apparently I really amp chestnuts

 

Dry: The chestnuts even out but they're still strong, but a thick sweet honey starts to appear

 

8 hrs later: A thick, sweet nutty honey. This isn't the fake sugary honey, this smells like actual honey

 

I put this on before bed last night and I can still smell it faintly now. It's much sweeter now then when I put it on- a thick nutty honey that makes me want to lick my arm. Delicious!

[cupcakegernade]

I don't know what it is, but in the imp and fresh on my skin, this smells like honeyed celery! There is a bit of nuttiness to this once it begins to dry, and after a bit it becomes a rich and lightly honeyed hazelnut that is very nice. I think I may need to let this set a bit and test again.

[whataboutprom]

This is a rich, brown, warm honey scent with a strong caramelized nutty note. Wet the scent is beautiful, but I am worried the nutty note will go bad with my skin chemistry.

 

As it dries, the base notes threaten to go dusty but haven't quite gone bad. I smell a teeny bit of something floral that is quite nice with the rich honey note.

 

This is very sweet, but so far it's behaving okay on my skin. I have learned from experience that I will need to try this a few times before I can tell for sure if it works. *fingers crossed*

 

I spoke too soon. This turns into deep, nutty dust. My skin amps the horse chestnut to the point of being sickening.

Edited September 4, 2011 by whataboutprom