Winter Heavens

[Incendiare]

Black midnight winter skies glittering with points of light: chill air, champaca flower, white musk, fir needle, papyrus reeds, and grey amber.

Out of the vial, this is cool, musky, and kissed with champaca flower. Wet, the champaca flower remains strong. Actually, it slightly amps, but in a good way. Soon after, I can detect some of the ambergris which joins with the musk. This smells very pure and white, and lives up to its name. I surprisingly get no fir needle which, to my nose, usually takes everything over and leaves no other notes with a chance. The champaca is a perfect match for the musk and ambergris.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Cool air and something faintly sweet.

 

Wet: Fir needle has arrived!

 

The dry-down: The champaca flower and white musk have combined with the cool ozone note to give the sense of a pleasant late winter/early spring evening here in the Deep South. There's still a chill in the air at night, but some flowers have started to bloom, adding their sweetness to the air. Very elegant.

Edited February 6, 2012 by thekittenkat

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp is a decant from the lovely TrailerTrashPrincess.

 

In the imp: The oil is clear and a pale yellowish ivory color. I first notice the flower, then the chill air, which is lovely and lighter than "cold" scents usually are - no sharp medicinal notes. The white musk (which I love) is also there.

 

On me, wet: Mostly the same, except that I do pick up an understated note of pine (the fir needles.) It still isn't sharp or camphoraceous, just enough there to make this a unisex scent. I have no idea what papyrus reeds smell like, so I can't tell about that one. Nor am I familiar with grey amber specifically, although I would recognize amber in general; and so far I don't.

 

After 10 minutes: It is becoming less sweet and floral. This allows something I can't identify to shine out - perhaps those reeds? And there's a "men's cologne" feel to the background.

 

After 20 minutes: Now there is a somewhat soapy, jasmine-like aspect to the floral note, and the men's cologne aspect is stronger. The fragrance resembles jasmine enough that I looked up champaca on the internet to see if it is a type of jasmine. It isn't; it is in the magnolia family. The fir is there, blending subtly into the background.

 

After 30 minutes: Still mostly jasmine-like but I'm also starting to get a whiff of the spicy incense scent that is more familiar to me, from champaca. The men's cologne note has lightened up, but it isn't going anywhere.

 

After 1 hour: Basically the same as above, but while going about my work I did notice a cloud of fragrance that had a note similar to anise.

 

After 2 hours: The jasmine/champaca dominates, but there's still a definite aspect of men's cologne.

 

After 3 hours: Mostly men's cologne.

 

After 5 hours: The cologne scent has faded and it's now a nice incense/floral fragrance, but quite faint.

 

Verdict: I like this best in the first 10 - 20 minutes on my skin, when the beautiful flowers are dominant, so it might be a good candidate for the scent locket (which retains the top notes much longer.) The rest of the time, it's too much like a men's cologne to really be my thing, but I would like it on a man. I like how the more feminine florals combine with the men's cologne scent - it's an intriguing yin-yang fragrance. So it could also be unisex.

 

Later ETA: I do like this best in the scent locket - the florals do last there.

 

My rating: 4 stars

Edited March 5, 2012 by Ghost of a Rose

[stellamaris]

Wet this smells a lot like Clairol's Herbal Essence shampoo, the original one from the seventies, or at least how I remember it smelling. Dry I smell the champa, it's very delicious. I agree it's quite boy, but I like that, especially during the Lady Time of the month strangely.

 

After a couple of months, this one is round and creamy greeness, lovely.

Edited March 10, 2012 by stellamaris

[AnyseLawsBray]

In bottle: Slight whiff of ozone, dark and still. A wisp of hazy grey amber.

 

Wet: The amber intensifies and is joined by champaca, sweet and smoky. There is almost a spark of fruitiness that comes from the white musk & fir needles, I think. It's stunning, really evocative of gazing at the Milky Way on a clear winter night.

 

Dry: It gets even better as the papyrus reeds come out, dry and plush. At moments the throw of this blend reminds me of that smell on your clothes when you've been around a campfire - clean flannel and woodsmoke and snow.

 

Verdict: I really didn't care for Winter Heavens much when I obtained and tested it at the beginning of the year. It's been on my sales post for probably 4 or 5 months now - and while updating that post, I decided to give it another test. How glad I am for that! Age has changed this blend so much for the better. I immediately removed it from my listing and am now on the search for more! It reminds me of a foresty, paler version of Devil's Night - which is one of my absolutely favorite blends.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: Cool, airy, sweet cologne. Definitely more than a hint of sweet-smoked champaca, and the bright bitter snow note. It's the musk and the fir, I think, that are lending it a foresty, masculine edge. I like it, but it's quite strong.

 

Wet: Warms up right away to an almost powdery white musk and airy champaca. From farther away the fir needle and something citrussy comes out. Grey amber (ambergris) is one of those YES notes on me, so the base of this is a lovely sweet warm round... something. This sexy and close and surprisingly 'perfume-y', but not overpowering. It almost smells like a very high-class winter-themed dryer sheet-- but not in the bad way!

 

Dry: Warm, sweet ambergris, champaca flower, smoky fir, and citrus musk. This dies down to a close-to-the-skin, pull-you-nearer scent with just the right amount of warmth for winter. For something that started off so masculine, the end result is very feminine. I'll put this back in the stash until colder weather comes, but when it does, I'll wear it quite a bit!

[ami226]

On the skin: A cool, yet slightly sweet and airy scent. Really, this matches the description perfectly! It's really hard for me to identify single notes in this one.

 

It's not for me, but it is a really lovely blend!

[mymymai]

ITB: It's odd. I can pick up the papyrus and fir, but I'm guessing as to the cold perfume-y note. Perhaps that's the chill air.

 

Wet: It's green and slightly astringent from the fir, but there's an odd muskiness underneath the champaca flower. It reminds me a little of early 90's Glade air fresheners.

 

Dry: Yeah, it's really similar to air fresheners mixed with soap. That's too bad.

[freyasfae]

This is a very balanced scent, which I tend to not like as they seem to go generic perfume on me once they eventually dry down. I like more layered scents which BPAL is so great at. I am having trouble distinguishing different scents except for something kind of citrusy which may be the astringency of the fir like mymymai mentioned. Her description as 90s Glade air fresheners is perfect - and this is from an imp that aged from 2011.

Edited January 16, 2016 by freyasfae

[joopjoop]

Cool creamy white floral with the barest hint of fir and something that smells just a little bit fruity on my skin. Although it does have a cool feel, it also seems faintly tropical. Interesting.

 

This one doesn't morph on me much at all. I got this decant in a swap and had no idea what to expect. I like it and will probably hold on to the decant, but don't feel compelled to hunt down a bottle.