Samhain

[Kaygee]

Truly the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein.

I got a decant sample of Samhain 2004 and was delighted because it was high on my list of things I'd like to try--if only still available.

It is simply wonderful.

Wet, it smells of the mix of patchouli and fir, with the apples just keeping it sweet.

As it settles, there's this greeness that lingers, from the pine I suspect, but it's in a context of apple and spice and something that's just warm, and very safe--but not cuddly or powdery or girly girly--just safe as houses.

Then I got it! It's my grandmother's house, at Thanksgiving. It's the wet firs out back, mixed with the apple and pecan pies coming out of the oven, and Grampa's spicy cologne--cause he's "spruced up" just before we arrived.

Amazing. I vote for a Samhain 2005 re-release, please!

[theshapeshifter]

Wow. Now I see what the hype is all about!

 

Wet: Crisp smoke and fir notes, with a hint of sweetness.

 

Drydown: The outdoorsy/woodsy notes are getting perfectly balanced with spicy, autumn food scents - crisp apple, rich pumpkin and spices.

 

This is so gorgeous... I can't stop sniffing myself!

 

PLEASE, bring it back this fall!!

[Chirp]

In the bottle: Clove and nutmeg swirled with a smooth buttery note. I can also smell the deep, damp earthiness of black patchouli. The entire scent has an acrid touch to it that reminds me of wood smoke and dried leaves.

 

Wet: The apples suddenly appear, juicy and sweet. Mixed with the scent of warm spices, I am left with something similar to apple cider (although I am also vaugely reminded of Clairol Natural Instincts hair dye). The scent of pumpkin, rich but light, tempers the, buttery quality of the blend, making it slightly less foody. The patchouli remains but it is lost in the background for the moment, partly hidden by the juciness of the apple. The wood smoke has disappeared.

 

Dry: The apple note has faded significantly, though I do occasionally catch a whiff of its sweet aroma. The spices, released from their cider prison, have come forward on their own again, and now I can smell the distinctive odor of allspice. The earthiness of this blend has intensified as well, as the patchouli is no longer held back by the apple-y sweetness. At this point, I can just barely smell a gentle wood note emerging, no longer masked by the rest of the blend.

 

 

Samhain is lovely, but a bit too spicy for summer (for me anyway). The lack of a detectable fir note was something of a disappointment, however I frequently seem to miss the evergreen note in blends that claim to have them. Overall, an excellent scent.

Edited June 3, 2005 by Chirp

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): It smells woodsy, with a hint of mulled wine, and some smoke.

 

Just On: Ooh, much more smoky right away. A tart wine-y smell with it. Almost a hint of antiseptic scent, but not in a really bad way.

 

An hour or two later: I guess it almost smells a bit like mulled wine, a faint whiff of smoke, and some kind of antiseptic. I sort of like it, but at the same time I'm not sure.

 

Around 6 hours: The antiseptic scent seems to be gone, leaving mulled wine while sitting by a campfire.

 

12 hours: There's a little smoke and stale wine left on me, but it's mostly gone.

 

Overall: This is a pretty nice scent all the way through. It does turn stale at the very end, but that's not a big issue for me.

 

After reading other reviews: I guess I fall in line with a lot of other folks who really like this one. I did swap it, because I'm trying to get my hands on so much more, but I'd take it if I could get it again.

[moukin]

Oh no!

 

I got an imp of this from someone in the LJ community and I'm in love!

 

It's very spicy and woody and sweet. At first, it smells a bit too appleish for my tastes, but the apple dies out a bit and then it just smells wonderful on me. It definitely evokes images of crunching through dry leaves in October and smelling fresh baked autumn treats.

 

What a wonderful scent!

[~AmusedMuse~]

To me it reminds me of hexennacht, except maybe more herbal. I can pick out the allspice and pumpkin and it is lovely but my choice would be hexennacht over this one..

[blaqpearl]

I cant believe I really love this perfume. I bought an imp from someone on a whim and didnt even look at the notes. So I open the imp and I smell this wonderfullness. I reminded me of Hexennacht which absolutely adore. Now after reading the description, now I know the smell that jumped out at me...it was the apple. Wow. On my skin it smells of a spicey mixture laden with patchouli. It gest warmer as time goes on. I really love this. I really shy away from mixes that have nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, allspice, etc. Now I might have to start giving them a chance after this.

[parrot_suspect]

After hearing that a bottle of this went for upwards of $200 on eBay, I had to try it. I was fortunate to be able to get an imp of Samhain in a swap.

 

At first sniff, it smelled woodsy and piney. Then as it dried down, the other notes came out. I detect apple cider, spices, pumpkin, patcholi. It's a fantastic blend of cozy, "homey" kitchen scents and an eerie, lost-in-the-woods-at-night kind of scent.

 

It truly does capture the spirit of fall and of Halloween. I sure hope Samhain will be available again this fall.

[magdalene]

in the bottle: my birthday is in October, in the thick of autumn, so I'm more than a little bit attached to the season. Everything just feels right during that time of the year. The air holds a certain bite to it, but overall it's very comfortable to be outside. Leaves are changing colours and stomping through them brings forth one of the best sounds in the world. Everything seems sharp and in focus. People are just starting to light their fireplaces. Pumpkins everywhere and the best Halloween swag is in all the stores. This scent evokes all of that for me. It's pumpkins and smokiness, dying leaves, and a strange crispness.

 

wet on skin: the clove really stands out when I first apply it, with the allspice coming up right behind it. This reminds me of making pumpkin cookies for my birthday party with my mother when I was about seven.

 

dry: Patchouli and apple have decided to show up the party, but they don't stay very long. It's mostly just the spicey pumpkin and smokey leaves. I managed to score an imp of this off LJ and am dying to get a big bottle of it. Hopefully, it'll be re-released this coming season.

[Essay 28]

In the bottle: very woodsy, with a sharp bite of spice.

 

On skin initially: A strong, overwhelming fir scent, underlaid by a very sour smell. The sourness reminds me of spoiled fruit, like what falls from the tree in late summer heat.

 

After an hour: The sour smell faded finally, as did the fir note. Finally I got a sharp whiff of apple, then a hint of spice came back. After reading reviews, I knew that this scent often progresses and changes longer than others do, so I kept sniffing away.

 

After two hours: spiced apple cider, with a faint, faint hint of pumpkin.

 

After four hours: The sour smell comes back and it is really frustrating. I think it may be the allspice, since it lacks some of the "fruit" scent of earlier and smells a little more towards bitter than sour now.

 

Unfortunately, this scent is not a keeper, as the sour/bitter note appearances just aren't worth the brief flash of beautifully spiced cider.

[sophia_helix]

I was utterly thrilled to get ahold of this yesterday. I'm another October baby, and it sounded just up my alley.

 

In the bottle:

 

A sharp, woodsy scent, with a hint of sweet apple underneath.

 

Wet:

 

Mmm, cinnamon and clove, like baking pies. But the pine/apple is gone?

 

Drydown:

 

Holy mother of god, this is incredible. The cinnamon/clove scent keeps alternating, somehow, with the pine/apple scent, with a little woodsmoke to tie it together. Sometimes it's sharp and sweet, sometimes it's spicy and creamy, and I am just going into ecstasies and can't stop sniffing.

 

Halloween is just about my very favorite holiday, but it's all tied up with the goth-spooky-dark aspect of it. This just takes October 31st and makes it all about the harvest, like it used to be -- spices and fruit and trees and fires. I still love Halloween, but this scent has literally given me a whole new look at the season.

 

It didn't last quite long enough (no more than a couple of hours), but I didn't put much on because I wanted to save it. I think I'll treat myself to a full slather sometime this fall.

 

 

Gah. Must find more of this!

[Lilithlefay]

Smells like nutmeg, allspice, and mulled wine with a touch of pumpkin on me. This is something I would reserve for the fall. This really reminds me of Halloween when I was a kid. I hope this is rereleased sometime because I think I now have to get my hands on a bottle.

[maewitch]

This was a lot more mellow than I was expecting from the description.

 

The scent that wafts up is pure stewed apples, lightly spiced and sweet. This is my favorite aspect of the blend. It smells deliciously homey and just a bit creamy.

 

When I sniff up close, I pick up a woodsier and slightly more bitter note, which is probably a combination of the fir and the patchouli. By itself I'm not sure I would enjoy this undercurrent, but as part of this blend it provides a much-needed depth.

 

This is indeed a very autumnal scent. It makes me think of an evening spent baking, with the windows left a little open to let in the smell of fall leaves and earth.

 

ETA: This just kept getting better the longer it was on. The dark, woodier notes and the foodier notes blend together into a fantastic sweet-earthy-slightly-spicy scent that is a close, more innocent, cousin to Hex.

Edited August 16, 2005 by maewitch

[Dustbunnyxox]

From the bottle: Ooo. this is deep autumn. A cold chilly day but the sun is still shining. i can smell the pumpkin, and nutmeg. Like a more deep jack.

 

On me: woah. thsi went way too deep on me. now all i smell is the fir, and patchouli.

 

Two hours later: meh. hasn't been two hours. i didn't like this one at all. way to weird. i can't explain it. way too incensy and urgh. gosh this one smelt so good in the bottle.

[quimerula]

Wet I get the autumn scent itself, really!

I get clove, spices and patchouli over a green bottom line that doesn't make it as sweet as it would seem.

 

Dry, it turns more spicy and warm.

This is a warm gourmand perfume, absolutely delicious.

[imaginepageant]

In the vial: Damp woods and fir needle, indeed. Cold and biting, with a touch of sweetness and spices.

 

Wet: Sweeter. The clove, nutmeg, and allspice make a dazzling entry, with the pumpkin and apple lingering in the background. It's very minty, which is probably the pine note, but to me it seems medicinal. Strangely, this reminds me a lot of Snake Oil, only woodsier.

 

Dry: The sweetness ebbs away, and the damp woods and fir needle come back with a vengeance. This is an extremely woodsy scent; it's autumn in a starkly different way than Jack. It's walking through a forest whose trees are bare, rotting brown leaves coating the ground, the still air crisp and damp with fresh rain, the sky cloudy and colored a dull yellow. This scent has an amazing throw; I swiped it onto the inside of my left arm, and even as I type all of this, I can smell it as strongly as if my nose were pressed right up against my skin.

 

An hour later: It sweetens up a second time around, and also smells a bit muskier. Still extremely woodsy, and still with that strange mint that reminds me too much of Snake Oil.

 

Overall: After reading a million gushing reviews and realizing that Samhain was a Holy Grail of BPAL, I expected something more astonishing. But this isn't a scent I'll be doing backflips over. It's a beautiful autumn scent and I will be wearing it, but if I had to choose, I'd definitely name Jack as my preference.

[LunaSea]

I found BPAL at the very end of October last year when the Yule LE's came out, so I missed the opportunity to buy Samhain. I was lucky enough to recieve an imp of this from a swap with a very generous forumite, so I finally get to see what all the hubub is about.

 

First, let me say that I never checked the notes for this blend. So when I brought up this thread to write my review, the words "black patchouli" jumped out at me. What?! I'm wearing patchouli? And not diving for the shower to scrub it off? Wow, my scent tastes are changing!

 

In the bottle and wet on the skin, this is a very rich, definitely autumnal blend. It makes me think of mulled wine and incense. Maybe a whiff of dried leaves. Warm and comforting, and I can imagine walking through the autumn leaves, despite the fact that the sun is beating down on the green grass outside today.

 

As the scent develops, the winey note is more prominent, richer perhaps. I never specifically thought, "Oh, pumpkin!" or "Oh, apple!" but there are definite fruit notes as well. And a tiny bit of smoke, but not much. Like a bonfire in the distance.

 

A few hours after application, it is mostly woodsy and leafy. I prefer the spiced wine stage, but this isn't bad. Now that I know there is patchouli in it, I keep sniffing and thinking, "I *think* that's patchouli..." but it isn't making me go so either my perceptions are changing or it isn't the same patchouli note that I am used to hating. Either way, I am so glad I got to try this blend. It is definitely autumn in a bottle. And while my heart still belongs to Jack, I will order a bottle of this if it becomes available again this fall. That is something I never would have done before, as the "p" word usually makes me pass right on by.

[Rackham's Vanity]

Thanks to a wonderful forumite, I am now the proud owner of an imp of Samhain. I have been fishing for this oil for a long time, and I must say, Samhain does not disappoint.

 

Samhain is dark, pumpkin-pie-spicy earth on me, with none of the sour mossy note I get from Nocnitsa. For the first hour, there was a mild butter note, the same one I detected (strangely) in All Saint's, but it disappears and sweet loam takes over. In fact, Samhain smells a lot like Lush's Cupcake face mask, all bitter chocolate and deep, rich mud. Perfect.

 

I am mad for this scent. It is the essential embodiment of the season for me: darkness, earth, decay, fire, and spice. Bravo, Beth!

[erikasilverstein]

BOTTLE SNIFF: Very woodsy. Getting alot of fir and patchouli. Not a fan of patchouli

 

WET ON SKIN: Same as bottle. Smells like thick tree sap. Very incensey.

 

DRYDOWN: Thankfully, the patchouli fades after about 1/2 hour, and the remaining scents are delicious: Apples, spices (clove?), cider, and evergreens.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS: Complex. I wish I liked this more by itself -- I love it conceptually, as autumn is my most favorite season. And not just because my birthday's in October

 

However, I notice that it layers REALLY well with Jack (yum). Amps up all the good foody stuff in Samhain, while masking the patchouli.

[emzebel]

So, I acquired an imp of Samhain (2004) in a lot of LEs on Ebay fairly early in my BPAL addition. And I liked it in the vial, but it didn't jump out at me as being a scent that I wanted to slather myself in for the summer, so it sat, forlorn in my untried imp box.

 

Then yesterday, after applying a hefty dose of Danse Macabre, I checked the update before leaving the house...and decided that it was a good day to finally try Samhain. OMG. What an absolutely beautiful blend. I can smell the pumpkin and the apple, but they are submursed in the most wonderful smoky autumn leafy smell...I did get a sort of nuttyness, which may have been the result of not completely removing all of the Danse Macabre (in which case, let me note that these two oils blend beautifully, too. ).

 

Thank you thank you thank you Beth for bringing this back again this year so us newbies can order large quantities!

 

Edited to add thoughts re 2005 vintage:

 

I fell absolutely in love with 2004 based on the imp described above, and ordered a bottle the day of the first update and a second with my Beaver Moon order.

 

I am, however, not entirely sure that I will be needing both bottles of 2005. I'm going to have to see how it wears. It may have been the year of aging, it may have been the minute differences in the blend, it may just be that it is so much easier to over apply from a bottle from an imp, or it could be that my skin chemistry has been off the past two weeks from being on antibiotics and menstration, but I just don't like this year's Samhain as much as that precious little imp.

 

It is still absolutely lovely in a way that I have a hard time describing, but at the same time, it doesn't send the same chills through me that 2004 does.

 

So I'm going to have to play with this one for a bit, I think.

Edited October 27, 2005 by emzebel

[AngelFireHeart]

Out of the bottle this is a beautiful scent to start with. This is the scent of cool crisp autumn days & sweet warm pumpkin pie to warm you when you come in from the chill. This is the scent also of massive leaf piles collected at the bottom of the garden. On me this dries down after a days wear to just a residual sweet pumpkin pie scent, but gorgeous perfume.

[Rosabella]

Samhain 2004

 

In the bottle, this was delicious - sweet, buttery, spicy pumpkin, sharp fir trees, a deep resin: Autumn in a bottle. LOVED it.

But with only dots on wrists and inner elbows - OH NOOOOOOO! Overwhelming patchouli (I hate it yet my skin chemistry blows it up all out of proportion) and that nasty smell when your jack o'lantern has been sitting out on the steps too long after Halloween and the burnt innards have started to rot and grow mold. Had to wash it off - and even with repeated scrubbings I could STILL smell the patchouli the next morning. Tried it once more after a week or so hoping it was just chemistry the first day, but got the same result. So so sad I can't wear this!!! It's the fault of my chemistry, not the perfume.

Edited September 15, 2005 by Rosabella

[loveandprozak]

(This is a review of 2004's Samhain)

 

Wet: Patchouli and dusky honey. Yes, yes, I know there's not supposed to be any honey in here, but that's what it smells like. It must be a combination of the sweet fruits and spices, combined with my skin's tendency to amp up the sweetness in almost anything. It's a warm, dusky smell.

 

10 minutes: Wow. This does a terrific job of what I'd want and expect Samhain to smell like. The scent really seems to be working on two different levels here. On the top level I smell warmth; clove, pumpkin, and other spice. They aren't in my face at all, though. Instead it's a delicate blend that, when mixed, has more of a hearthy-warmth sort of feel more than anything. The second level is dominated by patchouli, but there's something else here that is allowing it to smell very.. dark. Not heavy at all, really, but just /dark/. I /adore/ this stage.

 

30 minutes: The dark layer slowly fades and blends into a lovely spice scent. It's got hints of sweetness propping it up and making the patchouli pleasant as opposed to hippie-shop. This is a warm smell, but exotic, and it has a an edge of allure and danger to it.

 

Hour - drydown: Not much change here, but the lasting power is fantastic. It stays for hours and hours and hours and hours on end, and yet isn't ever overly harsh or musky, like most scents that can do such.

 

Wow. I really like this. I think it's going to go into my top ten, which just shocks me. I never have tried it before because a) Up until now, there's yet to be a BPAL patchouli blend that I liked, and Recently I have heard it compared to Hexennaucht, which is a scent that I really didn't like on my skin at all. Samhain is fantastic on me, though.

 

I think my real love of the scent is that somehow, even though it's not pumpkin-centric at all, there's a certain evocation of Halloween and a Jack-o-Lantern with it. The layers of spicy, sweet warmth and earthy darkness evoke, in my mind, the image of a candle flickering in a carved pumpkin on a Halloween night. Definitely something I'll make to acquire bottles of and keep around when I'm in the mood to be a bit tragically hip.

[sarada]

Have I really not reviewed Samhain? I would swear it was one of the first reviews I ever wrote. Guess I forgot to post it!

 

I had been afraid of Samhain at first because I never like traditional autumn scents -- pumpkin and apple, as smells, are among my very least favorite things. Ironic, because I eat a bag of apples and a pumpkin pie every week all autumn! So I LIKE them, but I don't want to SMELL like them, dig? Every year I dread when "pumpkin spice" scented things start popping up in all the stores that I frequent and I have to hope that no one buys me something that smells like that, knowing my love for Halloween and assuming that it goes with a desire to smell like pie.

 

Enough back story though. Let's get to the point -- Samhain is one of the most incredible scents EVER and it has melted my evil heart. At my very first sniff I was a little worried about a hint of that thick, syrupy pumpkin/apple smell but it never really "took" on my skin in quite that way. Instead it unfolds into the most incredible bonfire of autumn leaves imaginable; a cold night, smoke in the air, dried pine needles underfoot and a dark cidery smell that never for a moment makes me feel nauseous.

 

A single drop of Samhain sticks around with me all day, so in the past year I've barely used anything from my bottle and even managed to decant a fair amount. I only need one drop at a time so this will last forever. And one year later it smells just as wonderful. I rub it on the backs of my wrists and through my hair and throughout the day whenever I want to be transported deep into the forest sipping cider with witches and pumpkinmen all I have to do is run my fingers through my hair, and that incredible smoky scent is released all around me.

 

I hope that Samhain 2005 is just like last year's, because this is an absolute treasure. It's so strong that I can't wear it too often though. Just a couple days each month in the fall and winter, and then it goes into the box until the weather turns crisp again. I almost want to drown in it but I think I can pace myself. It's all I can do to not just reapply it every 12 hours all autumn long but I'm going to try to vary it with some other favorites.....and cross my fingers that this year's will be a near match!

[Freyja Lux]

My first impression: mall perfume. Ack. Too much alcohol? I don't know, but it was hard to detect the notes at first. Maybe it's an old vial? (Or does that matter?)

 

On: Nicer, still too "mall-y" for me. The evergreen smell is nice, kind of green. The patchouli and nutmeg are also nice.

 

Later: Faints into more of the spicy smells and the green. But it just doesn't do it for me.

 

What rotten luck. First a miss with Jack, now Samhain. WHATINTHEBLAZESAMISUPPOSETOWEARONHALLOWEEN?!?!