Halôa

[thekittenkat]

Wine grapes, pomegranate, myrrh, frankincense and olive leaf, and the warm scent of offertory cakes.

In the bottle: There's a hint of all the notes, as though they had been mixed into a white wine (non-alcoholic) from those grapes (green, I suspect).

Wet: Now the pomegranate comes bursting through, with the gentle olive leaf in its train. The cake note is rounding this out, so it's not too fruity.

The dry-down: The myrrh and frankincense are present, but only in a mild fashion, and the grapes are combining with the pome for a lovely light fruit note. If you don't want to smell like winter holiday sweet heavy food and drink or snowy woods or the Christmas tree, but still want a lovely light scent for the winter holiday season, this may be a scent to try.

ETA: It's a rather elegant scent.

[Suu4LC]

You know, based on the notes in this, I never thought it would really be for me. I generally don't like anything olive, and I'm not much of a myrrh/frankincense kinda girl. But when I sniffed this at will call, I fell in love.

 

In the bottle, to me, this is mostly a warm, sweet cake scent. Don't really notice the pom or olive leaf, but I definitely get a bit of the wine grapes and a touch of the myrrh and frankincense. Sooo pretty.

 

Once this is on my skin, the olive leaf comes out a bit more. Again, it's not usually a note I like, but god, this blend is just so genius and perfect. Just so well blended-it's hard to pick out specific notes-it's just this gorgeous, rich sweet warm cake blend with a touch of fruitiness and incense.

 

The only downside of this blend is that on me, it faded very fast and had to be reapplied constantly. It's totally worth it though. This has easily become one of my top favorites.

[edenssixthday]

Haloa 2010 - The last two releases of Haloa smelled like warm, buttery goodness on me. They were stronger on the cake note than anything else and sweetened a bit by the fruit. This one is completely different on me, even though it seems there's only one ingredient that's different. The 2010 version is really strong on the grape and pomegranate and there's a pretty prevalent note of greenery running through it that I'm guessing is the olive leaf. I can barely smell the cake, although I know it's there because it's keeping the the fruit notes from turning sour on my skin. I also can't identify the resins, but something's got to be grounding this scent to my skin, as it's the type that would otherwise wisp away quickly. I really, really like this scent. It's very pretty and unique.

[Incendiare]

In the imp. I can smell the sweetness of the cakes and a hint of pomegranate. Wet, the wine grapes come out more, and there is a different kind of sweetness that is almost reminiscent something I have smelled in a craft store before, but in a very good way. I surprisingly still can't detect any resins, just the sweet notes.

 

As Haloa dries, I am starting to detect a green note. The combination of this green note and the sweetness reminds me of Christmas decorations. Overall, a beautiful blend of which I would definitely consider picking up a bottle.

[lunaticana]

who could have guesses Luna would love wine grapes in her pefume

I guess those sweet offerty cakes make it good

frankincense is a winner, that's why I just HAD to try it! and I'm more then happy that I did, bottle maybe!

[Iceblink]

Seriously sweet grapes that knock you over with their strength when this is wet. After a while I get the olive leaf, calming down the grape a bit, and a little myrrh to give this some depth. But the grape and pomegranate make this soooo sweet; it's almost a bit much. Will retry at some point to see if this mellows with a little aging.

[Schmoozy]

Huh, I didn't realize this was different from previous years. Strong white wine grape just like The Chained Phantoms with resins, pomegranate and cake. It's a nice enough scent, but for some reason the white wine grape note is messing with my skin chemistry. I might just need to retest this at a later date.

[greenranger]

This is very nice. It's sweet and mellow and smooth. Almost edible, but, not quite. It's elegant, and smooth, and I think I like it very much indeed.

[zankoku_zen]

Haloa has always been a BIG CAKE mess for me, very rich and buttery. This one is a pleasant surprise and for me, much more wearable. I do get a 'cake' base, but the buttery richness of it is cut by a stronger fruitier presence (pom, is that you?) as well as a hint of green.

 

For me, this ended up being a softer version of Haloa, and more wearable. Still, not my style but worthy of considering esp. if you amp up butter/cake notes.

[Altaira]

Smells a bit rotten when wet. I let it dry, but the wine mixed with the extreme buttery cake makes me queasy and I washed off after a few minutes.

 

Full disclosure: pomegranate scents hate me and almost always either disappear or go weird on my skin.

[milo]

At first, this is dusty cakes. Dry, much the same, but with the added white wine note. I find this scent really odd, and dusty in an way that cake was left out for a month in the cupboard, because no one ate it. There is also a bit of incense after awhile. Kind of reminds me of All Souls, but All Souls was better on me. Nice to try, though!

 

2011 version: This is warm, vanilla amber fruit at first, really yummy and not at all like last years version on me. Dry, cake with a bit of spice and a yummy fruit topping. This is really nice and warm on me, much nicer than last year, though there is a slight dusty note. It kind of reminds me of Halloween Las Vegas, though I like HLV better, this is pretty darned good too. No need to upgrade, as I have back-ups of HLV.

Edited February 15, 2012 by milo

[CitizenBree]

watermelo bubble gum? super sweet fruit. It smells really good and really sweet, fruity. I like fruity smells but something in this makes it seem like it wouldn't be my style. maybe it smells a little artificial? I don't get a lot of the cakey part of it.

[Gin]

I like this better than I remember liking the previous Haloa. It's really sweet and cakey, with a background of smoke and a twist of pom.

[marared]

2011 edition. I've been eyeballing this one for a while now, unsure because wine of any kind often dominates a blend on me, but these are just the grapes... and frankincense and especially myrrh have a track record of not playing nice with my skin, but not always.

 

Happily, it works. On me, it's a slightly grapey frankincense and olive leaf - I do not smell the pomegranate or even the cakes, but perhaps it's the cakes that lend that hint of sweetness to the blend. It's a little strong for the first fifteen or twenty minutes, but it damps down after a while and hangs on for at least five or six hours before the scent evaporates. Not foody or winey at all - just smooth resin that will age like a champ. I will have to get a full bottle of this after all!

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp of the 2011 version is a decant from Mellifluous.

 

In the imp: Oil is clear and a golden yellow. There are traces of a brownish sediment at the bottom of the imp - mix well before using. It smells exactly like its color: butterscotch hard candies. "Way too foody for me," is my first impression.

 

On me, wet: Still butterscotch candy, although the scent is a bit more complex and nuanced on my skin. I can pick out the grapes and pomegranate in the background. As it dries, the butterscotch begins to fade and I can better smell the fruits and especially the cake.

 

After 10 minutes: This has morphed a lot in the last 10 minutes. The butterscotch is gone. The foodiness has toned down considerably, and I am beginning to pick up the non-foody notes of myrrh, frankincense, and olive leaves. I like it better now.

 

After 20 minutes: The incenses and leaves are now balancing out the cake and fruits nicely. The spiciness of the frankincense is evident, which livens up the blend.

 

After 30 minutes: The cake, myrrh, and frankincense notes have merged seamlessly into an unusual designer scent in which it is difficult to identify any particular note. Nice! It has already faded into a more subtle, lean-in-close kind of perfume.

 

After 1 hour: Not foody at all anymore. The frankincense has developed a gentle bite of spiciness which is stronger than the food notes. But it's still a designer blend rather than an incense-y one. The cake note serves to tone down the incense, and the overall effect is unusual and quite lovely.

 

After 2 hours: Delicate and perfumey, with incense notes.

 

 

Verdict: I'm glad I gave this a chance. I liked it much better than I thought I would, based on my initial impression of overwhelming foodiness. The foodiness lightens up considerably after the first 20 minutes, and from then on this is quite nice. I don't need a bottle (I'm more of a florals person), but I'll keep and enjoy the imp. Reminder to myself - don't wear this in the scent locket! I don't want to smell like butterscotch candy all day!

 

My rating: 2 stars for the first 10 minutes

4 stars after 20 minutes on my skin

[thekittenkat]

Note that this is for the 2011 release.

 

In the bottle:Light cake soaked in a delicate white wine.

 

Wet:The olive leaf comes forward to give this warmth, and there's a hint of the pom.

 

The dry-down:And just like last year's scent, the myrrh and frank are late to the party, but in a gentle and lovely fashion. All the notes are present and blend very well together. Do like this a lot.

Edited February 3, 2012 by thekittenkat

[ami226]

2011

 

On the skin: Smells like angel food cake! Yum!! Or a fruit cake with rasins? It's a very light scent though. Not overpoweringly foody. Unexpectedly, I really like this one! I'll need to try it again.

[mymymai]

2011

 

In the Imp (ITI): Wow, my nose must be off. I smell butterscotch on first sniff. Then I can tease out the myrrh and frankincense and just a hint of the wine grapes. It’s rather foody, but not offensively so in the bottle.

 

Wet: Hmm, on my skin the wine grape and olive leaf come to the forefront. There is a little frankinsence, but I really don’t smell the cake aspect anymore. It’s certainly not as sweet on my skin.

 

Dry: Still lots of wine grapes, some myrrh and frankincense, and foody cake. I’m not a fan, but it isn’t horrible.

 

Other Impressions: Husband hands-down likes it. This is the first really enthusiastic response I’ve gotten from him. It smells like powder and incense to him.

[Monster]

This is the 2010 version.

 

Upon first application I get a big, sugared burst of grapes, pomegranate and cakes. I swear there's pear in here! Something about this is very similar to The Perilous Parlor to my nose. As it dries, I get the teeniest hint of frankincense and myrrh and the wine grapes get a bit more boozy. The sweet fruits and cake notes are dominant throughout all stages.

 

I'm really surprised Haloa hasn't gotten more love! It seems like it would be a foody favorite. If you like Perilous Parlor or Candy Phoenix you'll probably love this one.

[bellumed]

2010

 

Much as I enjoy the actual drink, wine scents really aren't my thing. But after reading the description, I was floored by how much I liked the smell of this in the imp, not grapey at all, just delicious and sweet, like cake and pomegranate candy. Sadly once it's on my skin it morphs away from that, first into an olive leaf scent and then into the grape I expected. Even that's not really bad, but I just don't care that much for grape, so this one isn't for me.