Vinland

[theshapeshifter]

The legendary site of the Viking colony in Newfoundland founded circa 985. Crisp northern wind blowing over loganberry, wild roses, prairie crocus, iris versicolor Linné, mountain avens, yellow birch bark, mayflower and maple leaf.

In the imp: Slightly sweet woods.

Initial application: Cool yellow woods and bark, greenery and a clean airy scent. Definitely getting the Viking/Scandinavian vibe.

Drydown: The loganberry starts to come into play later, just when I'd forgotten there were meant to be berries in this blend. It's much more of a background note than in any of the other berry-containing BPALs I've tried - not like eating berries, but like picking them from a small hidden bush on the edge of a young deciduous forest.

It's not quite as 'me' as some others I've tried, but it's a lovely scent.

[bristlecone]

This is my very first review.

 

Vinland is the scent that made me decide to place my first BPAL order back in October. I had been waffling for some time, but when Vinland was introduced, it just sounded so good that I absolutely had to try it. I'm really surprised at the range of responses to it- it seems that no two people get quite the same scent from it (I'm particularly surprised so many people are smelling citrus!)

 

When I first put it on, I mostly smell the berries. I expected a tart berry, since I've tried the loganberry drink at IKEA and it always struck me as similar to cranberries, if not quite as tart. The loganberry in Vinland is very sweet and a bit grape-y. I can smell a bit of green or woods in the background, but it's very subtle.

 

After it's been on my skin a bit, it turns even sweeter... a bit like cotton candy, surprisingly.

 

After that, I pretty much just get the roses.

 

Vinland is the scent I reach for when I'm feeling tired or when I know I have a long, stressful day ahead of me, because it cheers me up. To my nose, it's completely seasonless and works as well in the warmer seasons as in the cold, and the staying power is better than average. I'm a bit disappointed that the woods didn't make more of an appearance, but I guess you can't have everything. I suppose I'll need to get a big bottle once my imp is gone.

[quikslvr]

Berry, sun and florals. Crisp. Reminds me a tad of The Hesperides. Very cool heath on warm spring or fall day. Berries come out further as it dries. Fruity, pleasant, all the way until stale.

[Blood onmy hands]

Vinland didn't smell anything like what I expected (or hoped) it would. I was hoping for a scent that was mostly woods and frost. On my skin, I get neither.

 

My first impression of this was that it smelled soapy. I hate it when scents do that.

 

Then... citrus. Limes and oranges. Why? I wasn't prepared for this at all.

 

About an hour into wearing this, I'm getting a subdued berry (the loganberry?), and still a sharp eye stinging sort of citrus note. The kind of citrus that burns.

 

Horribly disappointed... but someday I'll find the perfect forest/woods fragrance that works on me. Some day.

[donsixgun]

Ugh. Bathroom Spray. Rosey floral bathroom spray.

[Dark Seraphim]

I purchased a five ML bottle of this just from reading the description. The risk was well worth it as this is one of my favorites.

 

Bottle: Strong citrus scent, but not entirely so. Smelt like some berries too. Longberry was mentioned, so I think that's it.

 

Worn: A combination of berry, citrus and forest. Very clean, very crisp. Like being in northern woods in autumn. Very strong and long lasting.

 

Burner: Every single note is amplified a hundred fold. If too much is used, it can actually be nausiating, but once it stays more in the burner, it becomes the wonderful scent it truly is.

 

Overall, this is one of my favorities. It's so strong that it actually emanates from the closed bottle. Love it! 9/10

[Dark Sparkle]

The smell of my forefathers, of course I had to try it .

 

First sniffle: Primarily quite fruity, especially citrus, I also get a hint of maybe grass or...pine?

 

Wet on skin: Initially it is very fruity the first minute or so and then it becomes very citrussy, almost sour on my skin.

 

Dry down: It sweetens as it dries, the citrus wanes and leaves the berries in the forefront with the smell of sunkissed grass and forest. It actually reminds me of the smell of ripe berries in a forest in Northern Sweden in the middel of summer where we once used to live .

 

Over all verdict: Holy gravy this just gets better and better, I think I have found a perfect summer scent here!

[polydactyl]

Wet: A light, sweet, slightly tart scent with a gentle spicy undertone. I recognize this similar tartness in Arkham Revisited, reminds me of citrus but not quite. It's a bit like the taste of a piece of tangy hard candy just before it melts away in your mouth, when the original flavour has almost disappeared.

Dry: The tartness is still here, with a tinge of ozone. It's not very strong, but it does last several hours on my skin. What I'm smelling is completely unfamiliar to me - it's not green herbal, or floral, or fruity - but it really gives me an impression of Nature. It's a truly outdoorsy scent.

[slugbait]

Got this from cookie. Thanks!

 

In the imp this smells like bubblegum. My younger brother sniffed it and he said it smelled like bubblegum to him, as well… Wet this still smells a bit fruity. As this dries, this turns into nail polish remover. NO!

 

I let this sit longer but still smells of nail polish remover with Bitrex. I take a closer sniff to see if I can distinguish some other notes, but they are struggling. I can smell a tiny bit of rose, but everything else is mixing to take on that sharp, pungent smell of nail polish remover. I really wish that I got the outdoorsy smell some people are getting. A little longer, it begins to give me a headache and I 'm forced to scrub this off. Bummer.

[Caltha]

Vinland

 

This is sweet, sweet berries in the air, but when I smell it close it gets more perfumey/soapy. I get a hint of wood, perhaps birch bark, and a sweetness of honey. Not a very "northern" or cool smell to me since it's so sweet. It's also quite faint.

 

Edited: Every time I retried this it was pure soapy sharpness, very unpleasant. Too bad, I wanted to love the birch and maple...

Edited September 6, 2005 by Caltha

[malanna]

On first application, it's slightly bitter and green. However, afterwards, it gets to be green, clean, and sweet. The sweetness smells like fruit (I'm assuming berries), yet, when sniffing Vinland, I don't think, "Oh, fruit!" I think, "Oh, sweet!" Basically, it's not a very fruity scent. After an hour, the sweetness fades, and it's just green and clean, with a tiny, tiny bit of sweetness. This reminds me of a sweeter, less herbal soapy Come to Me.

[dcmo]

Cool, crisp, clean, very well balanced. Intial wet I do get a lemon woodsy scent, but it dries down softer. Nice.

[ScrimHazard]

I should tell you that this is the first time I ordered a bottle as opposed to an imp without first trying it out on my skin. I was just so completely positive I would fall in love with it that I couldn't wait the four months it would take for me to get the imp, try it and order the bottle, then finally receive it.

 

I opened the lid as a sweet toothed child beset with hunger and blessed with a bag of heaven sent confections. I admit...I raped my bottle of Vinland. I sniffed only for a millisecond and was made instantly alert and aware of mental transport to a land made clean by ice and snow. It was a sharp whiff and it stung my nose, not as a too-pungeant perfume would, but as a particularly memorable and alluring visage after the light is taken away and your not yet adjusted eyes see the negative of the image for minutes to come.

 

On my skin it went completely berry at first. Soon I was smelling the ice-covered bark of the brambles to which the berries clung. And then the horizon. Can you believe it? I smelled the horizon!

 

As time wore on it smelled practically the same, but just more blended and less sharp.

 

I couldn't be happier.

[olympia301]

 

A very sweet perfumy scent, would be right at home on the perfume counter at your favorite store. It's crisp but sweet, not too heavy, and very pretty indeed. This one is exceptionally well blended, it is very difficult to pick out individual notes here. I can see why people have been describing it as "crisp" and "full of berries", but it's not astringent nor does it smell of rasberries. This is a good perfume for days outdoors and for meeting friends, it manages to be perky and relaxing at the same time.

[urraca]

In Vinland Beth has captured the smell of summertime in Canada. I've never been to Newfoundland, but this reminds me very much of the rocks and islands of Georgian Bay. It smells like sunshine beating down on trees, wildflowers, hot granite, dried grasses, low-growing juniper and wild berries, blending them all into one heady mixture in which no single scent stands out distinctively. It's a fruit for peole who don't like fruit; a floral for people who don't like florals. Just lovely.

 

[Essay 28]

In the bottle: soft, faint floral, a note that reminds me a bit of those "mountain fresh" type fabric softeners.

 

On skin initially: The floral amplifies just a bit, although the only note I can really distinguish is iris. It makes my eyes water a bit, but there is a very, very slight whiff of a woody note. Something about the scent still keeps drawing the fabric softener comparison to mind.

 

After an hour: Whoa, new note made its debut...and I can't place what it is! Something close to a pine scent, not cleaner type (like pinesol) but definately more like being in a pine forest in the hottest part of summer after a good rain has soaked the ground. It's not an unpleasant scent, but there's still a hint of a floral, which has gone completely powdery. Alas, it still makes my eyes water, and as much as I like the piney forest image it brought up for me, this one's a swapper.

[Bellatrix]

In the bottle: Sharp wildflowers with berry juice.

 

Wet: Wildflowers are still there, but this time with a forest-y scent. Like I'm walking through part of a northern forest where the canopy is so deep that the ground is still moist, though the sun is shining down.

 

Dry: Same as the wet, though this time I'm snacking on a berry while walking.

 

Love my impy, possibly a 5ml bottle.

[imaginepageant]

In the vial: Very strong, sharp, and pungeant. Entirely masculine. I can smell hints of pine, brine, and mountain. It conjures images of a mountainside on the Atlantic, with a crisp wind blowing through the valley.

 

Wet: The biting sharpness and masculinity backs off a little, and the scent becomes slightly powdery. There's still a lot of pine there, along with the scent of tree bark and mountain wind. There's a strong but musky rose smell, mingled with some other soft floral that I assume is the crocus and/or iris.

 

Dry: It starts to smell a bit more powdery and aquatic, but maintains that definite sharpness. It's very musky, and slightly soapy; it reminds me of Lever 2000. It's like pressing your nose to a burly mountain man's neck when he gets out of the shower, fresh and clean and still dripping wet.

 

An hour later: My skin has turned it entirely soapy, which is a shame, because I hate soapy scents and was really hoping to like Vinland, since Newfoundland is part of my heritage. The pine and bark is still there, and the rose is strong though again, very soapy.

 

Overall: This would be a nice scent for a man, if he wanted to smell rugged and clean at the same time (although, the soapiness might only be on me).

[tart]

What I first notice about Vinland is that is smells breezy! The overall scent is very light, but I smell something floral, fruity, and kind of spicy underneath. Maybe I'm crazy, but it smells kind of like a very light fruit candy with a little bit of cinnamon. Very, very light on me, though. I can hardly smell anything.

[Orodemniades]

Wet: Tiny spring flowers overhalf-frozen fields...something citrusy?

 

Initial drydown: Rose and lemon? Vanilla? Something soft yet spicy...

 

Drydown 20 mins:Becomes lovely and cool sweetness, a very outdoorsy scent.

 

Overall: Lovely, but gone in two hours!

 

Oro

[oceandreamer001]

The legendary site of the Viking colony in Newfoundland founded circa 985. Crisp northern wind blowing over loganberry, wild roses, prairie crocus, iris versicolor Linné, mountain avens, yellow birch bark, mayflower and maple leaf.

 

The only way I can describe this: It's like walking into a Lush store. All the scents mingling together...delicious.

 

Pure Bliss!!!!!

Edited August 24, 2005 by oceandreamer001

[tinyvulture]

I can smell the combination of sweet berries and wildflowers, and a touch of rose. It’s clean and crisp, and ever so slightly lemony. It’s pretty, but doesn’t do a whole lot for me.

[Firewaver]

This is a pleasant, clean fragrance.

 

It's slightly woodsy, with a hint of citrus and maybe berry; though all these notes are very well blended, none stick out too far as to be obtrusive.

 

The wood notes in it smell very fresh, like freshly chopped green wood, or maybe leaves. I like it, it's a calm and soothing perfume. I don't feel I would wear it enough to fully appreciate it, so I'll most likely pass this imp on, but as a stand alone scent, it's quite lovely.

[Ajila]

Wet on me this was this was very lush, wet almost rotting vegetation. Dry on me it's hot, dry and spicy. It's like the beach on a hot summers day, it's quite a masculine scent on me.

[Muppetk]

Wet: Pretty! Hard to describe though. Definitely a lemon topnote, the rest is... vaguely green? Well blended anyway.

 

 

Drying: aha! The "lemon" has evolved into lingonberry! Yum! Maybe my skin will let me keep this fruit? please?

 

Dry: still lingonberry -- but not much else but faint green something. I need to try this again when it's not the 4th scent I've tested in a day. I can't tell if that's the scent or if my nose is confused, but this is definitely promising.

 

I think this has faded after about an hour, but I'm not sure. Again, need to re-test. Pretty from what I can tell though!