A Wonderful Light

[bicyclette]

Her little hands were almost numbed with cold. Oh! a match might afford her a world of comfort, if she only dared take a single one out of the bundle, draw it against the wall, and warm her fingers by it. She drew one out. “Rischt!” how it blazed, how it burnt! It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle, as she held her hands over it: it was a wonderful light. It seemed really to the little maiden as though she were sitting before a large iron stove, with burnished brass feet and a brass ornament at top. The fire burned with such blessed influence; it warmed so delightfully.

Three radiant ambers with honey, linden blossom, bourbon vanilla, and orange zest.

In the bottle: creamy, sweet orange, possibly some floral (the linden blossoms?)

Wet on skin: So this is definitely orange ZEST- I'm getting creamy orange for sure but there's also really bitter note like citrus pith- it's the difference between taking a bite of plain juicy orange and accidentally biting off some of the peel too. It actually reminds me of Halls vitamin C drops- they're sweet and citrusy but then there's almost a medicinal quality, like mint or eucalyptus. It's kind of off-putting.

Dry: Much nicer- everything seems to have settled down and now this is a warm, sweet well-blended scent. I can't really pick out the individual notes, but the bitter note has disappeared.

I'm going to hang on to it for awhile and see what (if anything) happens with the overly zesty zest and if I like the drydown enough to reach for it.

[orata]

First off, this throws out a huge warm glow of amber, rounded, creamy, and lovely. There is a slightly pomandery orange zest scent (with a hint of fragrant, bitter oils--like bicyclette said, it's definitely orange zest and not orange juice). I get the same sort of smokey honey-vanilla combo as in Defututa, too, with a nearly plasticky note to it that I also associate with tonka bean. There's a little sparkle that I think may be from the linden, but it's not coming out as a prominent note--it's mainly amber and orange zest to me.

 

It dries down to a very comforting, warm scent, with lots of vanilla and beeswaxy honey (in fact, it smells much more like beeswax than like honey to me), with a slightly bitter, almost medicinal note to it underneath if I put my nose right up to my wrist. It reminded me a little of O as well, but it's not nearly as powdery and sweet. I'm also a little bothered by the bitter undertone, but it's mainly detectable from close up. From further away, it's more just a warm, lovely beeswax, amber, and vanilla.

[Imbrium]

This starts off alllllll honey on my skin--the sort of comforting and sexy honey I associate with Judith and Holofernes, not the honey that turns too sweet on my skin, like the honey in 'O'.

 

Okay, that's not quite true. Oddly, the first time I applied this, I got nothing--it was like my skin just ate it all. So I reapplied a lot of it. Then, I got honey.

 

As it dries down, I smell a bit of orange and I assume, vanilla, in the background--it reminds me, honestly, a bit of a creamsicle, but it's very faint. The thing is, I don't get anything more than this on my skin. In the bottle, A Wonderful Light is sweet, and complex, with citrus bite balanced by what smells like a rather seamless blend of the amber, vanilla, and honey. On my skin, honey with a hint of orange.

 

It might sound like I'm complaining. I'm not, actually--this smells really sexy on my skin, actually, which is rather far from the inspiration, but still a quality I enjoy in a perfume.

[fetish911]

This smells awesome! Amber first and foremost. Not the yucky amber that goes all penceil shavings on me like Lyonesse, but golden warm amber. And then the Honey steps in. Not too sweet though, and not as heavy as O (which I love too) So it compliments the amber well. I then get a slight whiff of something that smelled piney at first but disappears in an instant. ! I don't get any orange zest from this, or vanilla. Its all amber honey. This scent isn't very strong unfortunately. It stays quite close to the skin so it will be a slather-er.

I need muliple bottles of this. yum!

 

4/5

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Warm, glowing Amber. A bit of brightness from the Orange but I detect none of the "bitterness" a few other reviewers found.

 

Overall, my impression after about a minute is this is a White Floral pared down to an almost Zen-like simplicity.

 

To a point, it reads as a skin scent.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Heavenlyrabbit

[hlemonds]

Mostly honeyed amber with a hint of orange that disappears once dry. I might be getting a hint of the Linden Blossom. Can't really pick out the vanilla. This reminds me a bit of Womb Furie (without the spices) Or O (but not as strong). I do like it, but I wish I was able to sniff out a bit more vanilla and orange. Also wishing it had a bit more throw. All in all it is a nice scent, and I'll enjoy seein ghow it ages.

[cfrancesca]

When first applied I get this warm and creamy blend of glowing amber, very soft smokey vanilla and beeswax (it's similar to Hanerot Halalu on my skin) with a slightly spicy holiday-type orange scent in the background, and I'm not sure but I also get soft hints of pine as well.

 

As it dries I start to get a little bit more vanilla, hints of honey and the blend gets creamier but I'm still getting too much beeswax for my tastes. After almost 4 hours of wear most of the beeswax has burned off and it reminds me of the base in Sibyl with the soft and creamy vanilla honey amber and soft hints of orange.

[ellebelle]

Mine smells like the BPAL snow note - it smells NOTHING like what you all are describing or the notes. It makes me wonder if my bottle is mislabelled.

[V294]

I get some pine like scent too at the wet stage and then the orange comes out a bit more and there is some creaminess underneath but it's more bright at the moment. Nice scent and certainly different. I hope the ambers and honey strengthens to make it a bit softer, but overall it's not bad.

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the bottle, this was all honey. 100% honey and I was a bit worried, but applying it on my skin was a much different experience. On me, there is definitely honey, but the orange zest and bourbon vanilla are right there to make this scent go wonderful on my skin. I'm not sure what linden blossom smells like, but I'm not really getting any floral from it. I think this one will age beautifully.

[topazphoenix]

I really wanted this to work for me. The description sounds so wonderful. But I don't really get amber or honey..it's like vague powdery sweetness mixed with something floral which I'm assuming is the Linden..it smells like expired grandma soap to me :/ And on my skin, there's that odd note that's..pine. It totally smells like pine. It smells better after its dried down and settled a bit on my skin. Like it's a bit reminiscent of O, but I prefer O. I'll hold onto it though, because I feel like amber doesn't reach its true potential unless its aged..sadface.

[JLH]

Guh I love this one! It smells like a warm, cozy house filled with Christmas cheer!

 

In the vial (I have a decant, thanks to tkannon) I mostly got honey from this, but on my skin this is a delicious base of warm amber and honey with a very tart, sharp orange zest scent. It has that bitter but fresh scent that comes from a freshly zested orange; it's so sharp that it's almost pine-like, as other reviewers have mentioned. As it dries it becomes softer and somewhat floral. This scent doesn't go powdery, and is sweet but not overpowering. Just lovely.

[Gin]

I've been wearing A Wonderful Light for about an hour. Because I expected more orange, I thought it was kind of boring at first. It smelled sort of powdery/fuzzy-sweet, and all I could think was amber! 'cause I couldn't remember what the other notes were. An hour in, the vanilla has emerged although it still stays close to the skin. I get only the faintest trace of orange creamsicle, which would be disappointing if I didn't love the vanilla so much as it is. It's still a little powdery, but pleasantly so. Both amber and honey can go overwhelmingly powdery and headache-inducing, but they're very quiet in AWL.

Verdict: I'm a sucker for vanilla, so this is a keeper.

[absinthetics]

Vanilla and beeswaxy honey (as said above) that isn't the plasticy kind. This scent caused a co-worker to follow me into a different room and say "don't think I'm weird but what are you wearing?". He said I smelled like wonderful cookies.

[sharkdiver]

This is a beautiful scent...At first, I detect the amber and orange with the sweetness of the honey lingering behind the scenes when it first goes on wet...I do also detect that "bitter" zest note a few others mentioned, but if you blink your eye, you'll miss it - it's there and gone in a flash it seems. As it sits, the honey starts making it's way to the front knocking the orange to the background, so it can share the spotlight with the amber. The amber is a really mellow calming amber, not an in-your face- too perfumy kind of amber, so don't be afraid of it! I think as it sits even further, the honey wants most of the attention (at least on me, since honey amps on me) and is tempered by the soft amber and orange in the background. I never really detected the vanila.

 

Overall, I would give this 4/5

 

Since I have a lot of other honey centered blends that I adore, I probably would not buy a bottle for that reason, but will definitely be keeping my decant.

[suki]

In The Bottle: I'm getting quite a bit of the linden blossom, followed by some honey. the 2 by themselves shouldn't work well together, because linden has a 'greeness' to it and honey is all softly sweet and powdery. But it's actually a pretty compelling juxtaposition...

 

Wet On Skin: the linden and the orange are doing this dance that makes them come across together as Neroli (or Orange Blossom). at this point I'm getting a little of the honey coming through in the back ground, but the vanilla so far is no where to be found.

 

Dry Down: A soft, gentle honey-floral, when I tried this scent at Will Call last month there was something about it that compelled me to get it. And there's something still, though I don't know what it is. It's sweet and gentle and not like any other scent I wear. It feels fragile, like I need to shelter it. I think I'll want to wear this a lot when it gets warmer outside again.

 

In All: low throw- definitely a 'skin' scent, I think A Wonderful Light might be the unsung hero of the Yules this year. I have a strong feeling that because of the unassuming quality of this scet it's going to be overlooked now- only to be in high demand later.

 

 

 

[biocarolyn]

This starts at as gorgeous warm round amber. Usually amber goes powdery on me, but this stays warm and thick. I can tell its sweetened, but not catch honey as a distinct scent. I do, however, catch the orange zest which is absolutely lifelike orange peel, with the oil and the bitter pith. This feels like what I wanted O to smell like, except O was so painfully sweet. It's a skin scent but it lasts and lasts for me- going strong at 12 hours, with very little morphing.

 

No vanilla for me, and the linden is so faint that I only recognize it because I read the notes. Very very pretty scent, voluptuous in a way, without being heavy or cloying.

[Antoinette]

This one is a toss up on me. It begins all amber and honey, with the amber going powdery and the honey being cloying. Not exactly promising. Then, about an hour later, magic happens and it becomes this gorgeous vanilla orange scent. It had a lot of throw in the beginning, but as it morphed into the vanilla orange stage it really became a close to the skin scent.

 

Overall, it captures its inspiration very well. It's warm and inviting. Almost 12 hours after applying, I can still smell it if I hold my wrist up to my nose. At this point, it's like a nice rounded citrus honey vanilla. It makes me think of the color orange.

[jizatt]

What a wonderful scent! I get the amber heavy at first, and a thick honey orange, but I also get the soft pine whisper -- its a weet pine though, not the sharp pinesol-y pine. Since its here, I think it always should have been, it melds perfectly. I don't get the linden myself, but maybe thats what we are registering as pine somehow?

 

overall - glowing amber, a creaminess that must be the vanilla, soft orange, soft and sweet pine.

[patina]

This oil is a bright red in the decant. On, I get honey to the extreme. Also I get the scent that sometimes lingers in the air after I've peeled an orange. It does have a tiny bit of bitterness, but without it the honey/ amber would be too sweet. (I can't smell the amber exactly because the honey's too loud but I get a hint it's there from the sweetness and the "texture".)

 

A nice, bright scent that's lovely for winter.

 

edit: I'm reminded of Hod: Res a little bit.

Edited December 30, 2011 by patina

[Invidiana]

Warm, glowing and beautiful. I actually got the impression of orange blossom here, probably from the way the combination of linden blossom and orange zest behaved on my skin. As it dries down the ambers and honey really shine, and I'm also echoing the impression of beeswax. It also grows a bit sweeter and creamier over time from the vanilla, and the honey and amber elements seem to warm up and grow alluringly musky as it keeps drying down though I must note that honey and resins do tend to take on a musky quality on my skin after a while. This is a perfect evocation of radiance, and I imagine it will age wonderfully.

Edited December 25, 2011 by Invidiana

[yeahbutnobut]

A Wonderful Light

 

In the vial: sweet honey sharpened by orange.

Wet on skin: tangy orange with a mellow honey note that smells of beeswax!

Dry on skin: this isn’t just orange…this is an orange pomander! Studded with cloves, trimmed with a bow with a cinnamon stick, and hanging from a Christmas tree! Yes, I smell the spices and even a hint of pine here, and there’s a glow of beeswax candles here. This is fabulous! It reminds me of Hanerot Halalu, but even nicer, sweeter, less oily. I can’t smell the linden, vanilla or amber, but there is an underlying sweetness to it. But the dominant scent from this is warm beeswax and orange pomanders.

After a while: the pomander stage was short lived, but that’s no bad thing because then the amber comes out. It mingles beautifully with the honey, the beeswax scent remains but I smell a separate rich gloopy honey-this is honey straight from the comb. It’s made even more golden by the amber, and the vanilla sweetens the scent even more. It’s a shame that I don’t smell any linden here, but I’m not complaining, the mix of honey, amber and vanilla in here blows O and Et Lux Fuit out of the water.

Only after a few hours does the linden make its presence known, that delicate and elusive blossom gilded by honey and amber. It now smells like a mellow June afternoon.

Verdict: a wonderful scent! This is what I wanted Et Lux Fuit to smell like! This is such a beautiful scent, really uplifting and full of hope and warmth, it truly glows. Starting with a festive pomander scent of spiced oranges and beeswax candles, it then morphs into the perfect blend of honey, vanilla and amber. I can’t stop sniffing it; it’s like sunshine and hugs in liquid form. The linden is shy and only comes out once the honey-amber-vanilla party has calmed a little, but it’s probably the prettiest linden BPAL I know of. I think I need to stock up on this one because it really is as fantastic as I hoped it would be.

Is it a keeper? definitely-must order a bottle or two asap!

If you like this, try: Lights of Men’s Lives, Hanerot Halalu, O, The Lion, Et Lux Fuit, L’Estate

Edited December 30, 2011 by yeahbutnobut

[marared]

The honey smells much like the GC honeys, which unfortunately is not all that great on me. I was hoping for more of the orange and linden blossom, but it's really just a golden amber-honey without any real zing to it.

[prunesnprisms]

Oh dear. Cat-pee and baby powder, all day long.

 

It wears really strong on me, too.

 

I had really hoped this one would work out, but alas, there's more in the world for other people.

[SadariEvenstar]

Love, love, love. I am in love with this. The dry down is actually fairly similar to Piper at the Gates of Dawn on me(which I also love, so that okay). I guess it's the honey, orange, linden, amber combo. Radiant.