Hallow-e’en, 1914

[Zii]

"Why do you wait at your door, woman,
Alone in the night?”
“I am waiting for one who will come, stranger,
To show him a light.
He will see me afar on the road
And be glad at the sight.”

“Have you no fear in your heart, woman,
To stand there alone?
There is comfort for you and kindly content
Beside the hearthstone.”
But she answered, “No rest can I have
Till I welcome my own.”
“Is it far he must travel to-night,
This man of your heart?”
“Strange lands that I know not and pitiless seas
Have kept us apart,
And he travels this night to his home
Without guide, without chart.”

“And has he companions to cheer him?”
“Aye, many,” she said.
“The candles are lighted, the hearthstones are swept,
The fires glow red.
We shall welcome them out of the night—
Our home-coming dead.”

- Winifred M. Letts

A welcome for the home-coming dead: an incense of dried ivy and maple leaf with honeyed fig, black cypress, and grave dirt.

AHHH first review!! No pressure.

ITB: Green dirt. Basically Beth's graveyard dirt is my favorite thing, and I leaped at the chance to try this. There is also a deep, almost vetiver like feel to this in the bottle that I love.

Wet: The green dirt is now lightened by the honey, but the smoke in this really keeps the cloying in check. The dried leaves are very much burning incense and not just leaves, which gives this a super smokey and evocative feeling.

Drying: The harsh smokey edge has worn off, making this much more rounder and balanced. I think I can smell something that must be fig as the honey fades a little, and it's really surprisingly wonderful and not foody.

Dry: I had no idea I was going to find this sexy when it dried, but something about the honey and fig combined with the smoke and dryness of leaves really reminds me of some sort of fall/Halloween seductress. I can imagine Morticia Addams smelling like this. The smoke and leaves are very much in the back now, but they ground the sweeter scents really well and add really interesting dimension to this perfume. This is really feminine without being at all typical or overly floral, and I can see this aging amazingly. So glad I tried it!

[glitteringoracle]

I was blown away when I sniffed this today.

 

ITB, it's the scent experience of a graveyard service. The ivy and maple leaves blend with the honeyed fig and bring the arrangements and grave coverings to life, with the cypress looming overhead and the dirt in a pile nearby.

 

I'm not sure I'll ever skin test this because it's evocative of one service in particular for me, but I'll definitely hang on to it.

[JasminDreams2010]

Evocative, eerie, outdoorsy, soft.

This is very like the poem that it was inspired by. It smells like sitting outside in a graveyard at night, with at least few of the graves being freshly dug. Graveyard dirt is loudest at first with the ivy and soft incense coming out on the dry down. The honey and fig are feather-light here. Unusual, lovely. I agree that this could be a morticia addams scent- that is my costume this year and I'll try it for that purpose. I believe I'll keep this bottle

[Nepthys]

This was one of the Weenies I was most looking forward to and when I opened the bottle, my heart sank - it just smelled like wet wood and dirt. Same once it went on my wrist. But after about 20 minutes, it morphed into a rich autumn smell that reminded me of walking down a country road late on a fall night. This actually could be called Devil's Night too - it's evocative of fall nights outdoors, that smokey smell of trees and earth with something sweet. Definitely glad I got a bottle and waited it out.

Edited November 1, 2014 by Nepthys

[biocarolyn]

Wow this is evocative. A little spooky even. In the bottle and wet on the skin this is strongly dirt and ivy. It reminds me of Post mortem lauretus at that stage... But on the dry down it sweetens, and the sweet fig and cypress become clearer and stronger. The ivy and graveyard dirt are still hanging around a bit, but in the background. This is unusual, unlike any of the blends I have. I really like it!

[OctoberGwen]

Gaaaaaaaahhhhh.

 

This is lovely. First applied, it's slightly bitter and the dirt note is very prominent. Given a few minutes to develop on my skin, it becomes another creature entirely. Honey and fig are both notes that do not often agree with me: they can both be cloyingly sweet, which usually makes me nauseous. Here the honeyed fig lends a beautiful round sweetness that is an absolutely perfect balance for the slightly bitter/sharp quality of the ivy/leaves/cypress and the sourness of the graveyard dirt. Each element here is necessary and lends something vital to the whole, and something about this scent captures what I feel to be the true essence of Autumn. It's evocative, haunting, and really beautiful.

 

I love the poem, too, and the scent nails it. My hands-down favorite Halloweenie this year, and perhaps ever. I am so glad I took a chance on a blind bottle.

Edited November 12, 2014 by OctoberGwen

[strangemodegirl]

Dirt notes normally are horrid on me and I tend to stay far, far away from them, but with all the rave reviews for Hallow~e'en 1914 I decided to be crazy and get a bottle.

So glad I did.

At first the dirt was strong and I wasn't too sure, but, it has dried down to be one of the most gorgeous scents I have tried so far out of all this year's Weenies!
So don't let the dirt note scare you and try this one!!

[lamenteuse]

I wore this one for Halloween night because it went well with my costume. I was in full Victorian Gothic with very pale makeup, a black veil over my hair, and dead flowers. My husband called the costume "widow's weeds" so I figured this scent would go well with the look.

Now, it worked perfectly with the look of my costume, but it is not a smell I would normally wear.

 

I got a lot of dirt, old green leaves, and traces of something dark and dusty. It was a perfectly spooky dirt scent, but normally I am not one for that. I'll keep the imp for when I need it in costumes, but all that dirt was too much for me,

[radiantfracture]

In the bottle: sweet dried leaves and wet mossy earth, and the earthy, edible fig.

 

On the skin: smell of growing plants, almost floral; then the scent drops close to the skin and becomes grassy and -- almost starchy -- like the smell of wet new-dug bulbs and roots. The clean, cool cypress.

 

The honey is really nice in this -- gently sweetening the blend without taking over.

 

 

ETA: I layered some Mead Moon over it, just to see what more honey might do -- it's a sweet atmospheric combination, like a sepia print.

Edited November 13, 2014 by radiantfracture

[Ashmedai]

Wet on skin, I smell ivy - still greenish, but dried and not so "wet-green", which I never liked in BPAL's ivy note. This is excellent, though! Alongside that, the scent of rich, black loamy earth, a note that's really started to grow on me since I fell in love with "Garden of Death" in a previous year's Halloween update, but I only like a little of that note, and here it's blended in perfectly. Next to come forward is that fantastic "dried leaves" note I love so much - clearly maple, and clearly my favorite - sweetened just a bit by the fig. There's also something slightly vegetal and peppery, like bell pepper and tomato leaf, but far underneath the main notes (love it!). I don't smell much, if any, cypress, and would have missed it if I hadn't known it was there, same with the honey (and I normally amp honey like nobody's business). It doesn't morph much to the final dry down - slightly smoky dried ivy and leaves, rich vegetal earth, and a very light touch of fig. This just shot up to my #1 favorite from the Halloween update and is the fall scent of my dreams. I need a back-up...or twenty.

[stellamaris]

hmm, still on the fence about this one.

The "leaf" note is one that I love but it's sort of a bully for me, it tends to bury everything else. I want the smoke and incense but all I am getting is leaves, everywhere. And something lovely and green.

Almost like Buenos Noches. Very fresh in the dry down.

 

and...the big bottle came, and it smells different from what I remember but still so good, an amazing outdoor scent. Almost smokey, I think that's the leaves but very green, and the dirt does not overwhelm, I can amp the dirt thing until it's like blergh (Zombie I am glaring at you) but not here, it's just grounding and nice.

 

This is one of the most complex story telling BPALs I have ever bought, I am so happy to have it.

Edited December 19, 2014 by stellamaris

[Aviatrix]

At first I am getting greenery (ivy and maple), followed by a rather sweet freshly dug earth scent. I am thinking the sweetness is coming from the honey and the fig, because I am not specifically getting any of those. Luckily, because honey tends to overtake scents on me, but not this time, yay!

It gets sweeter as it dries, and the earth gets more subdued. Still getting a lot of maple, though.

 

I am probably getting a full bottle, because this is such a unique and striking scent. It could work for any kitchen witch or Gothic beauty out for a cemetery stroll in the afternoon. It's beautiful!

[Lucide]

I am testing this one for the second time and I still think it is a beautiful scent.

 

At first the Ivy really comes forth. I have never smelled that note in a perfume before, but I immediately recognised it. It smells quite 'real' and remembers me of playing in the garden when I was a child (our garden was totally overgrown and full of ivy).

Then the dirt comes along, also a note I have never smelled before, but is lifelike and beautiful.

The fig is on the background, but really binds this smell, if that makes sense. And I think that it gives a tiny bit of sweetness.

 

This scent is quite green and almost a bit herbal smelling. It is perfectly gloomy.

It is my favourite of the Halloweens that I have tried this year!

Edited November 21, 2014 by Lucide

[thekittenkat]

1st, my mini-review from DSWC:

 

Cold Sniff: ivy, ivy, ivy

Wet: fig is coming out and maple leaf, too

Dry: mostly ivy and dry leaves; would like to re-test, as I think I like it, but am not sure

 

Now for a more in-depth review:

 

In the bottle: There's the crisp ivy note, rather akin to the ivy that I cut & tear down from Mr. Kat's house's brick walls (it's trying to sneak in through the windows), but slightly gentled by what must be the honeyed fig.

 

Wet: The ivy calms down as the maple leaf moves into the foreground.

 

The dry-down: Quite the morpher, as I'm now getting a hint of the dirt and the cypress, and a slight whiff of something (can't imagine what note is causing this) slightly soapy and aquatic. But the longer I wear it the more the crisp green bitterness of the fresh ivy returns. Not sure that I like it on me. It's a very masculine scent.

 

ETA: I should note that my skin usually loves all these notes, all but the ivy and the cypress. Of course, the 2 notes that I am sure of, end up dominating the scent, sadly.

Edited November 25, 2014 by thekittenkat

[Jangzonrice]

in imp: strong green ivy and cypress with a little bit of dirt

 

will update when I get to try it on!

[KakashiMorph]

an incense of dried ivy and maple leaf with honeyed fig, black cypress, and grave dirt.

 

In the bottle: Dirt and cypress, beautiful and sharp and earthy.

On my skin: More of the same, with the dirt taking up the fore in the beginning. There might be ivy too, I am not entirely sure if I can discern cypress from ivy. It only takes a couple of minutes for the sharp green cypress to become prominent but after another couple of minutes the dirt fights it back down again and starts mellowing it down. It takes about half an hour to start noticing sweeter, mellow notes like the honeyed fig (although I personally only get a vague honeyish scent) while the earth ones are almost gone.

Drydown: A vague hint of fig slathered in honey. This one's quite a morpher and I prefer the green sharp stage although the sweet one is nice as well.

[zankoku_zen]

Ivy, maple leaves and dirt. This one is has a greener leaf note than Magnificent Autumn. The dirt is particularly present during the drydown.

 

This smells like the outside garden of an abandoned house in the fall. The smell of damp foliage, dirt, and leaves. Good throw, good wear length.

 

I would even say this has an almost ozoney element to it.

 

Green leaves, dirt, air.

[riddel]

This is fresher and greener than I was expecting. The ivy, she is strong in this one. When wet, the dirt smells rich and damp. It dries down to a clean, earthy scent with a lot of herbal leafiness and a slight undertone of figgy richness.

 

I like it! It's not what I was expecting -- I was hoping for graveyard chic, whereas this is more gardening chic -- but it does feel like early fall to me.

[Poenari]

We once lived in a 2 story house built in 1918, and it was partly stucco on the outside, with a big covered front porch. My husband built a porch swing for me, and I used to love to spend evenings reading to our daughter snuggled next to me while swinging on it. Beside the porch was a big flower bed filled with ivy that was also climbing up the stucco. When we first bought the house, I had thought to pull out all the ivy, but it was so thick and entrenched that I changed my mind. We had a huge Norfolk pine tree in our front yard, but were surrounded by old oaks and maple trees in the neighbors' yards. This scent takes me immediately back to autumn evenings, swinging on my porch, with the smell of the ivy and dirt, our pine (not a cypress, but still reminiscent) and the old neighborhood trees with their leaves turning and falling. I loved that house so much, but we moved when I changed jobs so I didn't have to drive 2 hours each way to work. I cried for days after we moved out because we had such memories there, especially our daughter's growth chart with nocks on an old doorway leading to the basement. This scent takes me home!

 

This scent is a bit green at first, the autumn leaves mingle with the dirt note but I can smell them each distinctly. The fig is barely there to my nose, but it does lend a sweetness and there is a hint of dryness to all the greenery. It loses the green on the drydown and becomes more autumnal. This is more of a skin-scent on me with very little throw compared to what I usually wear, but I can smell it on me and it makes me feel cozy and reminds me so much of happy memories in our old home. I will cherish this bottle.

[Hazy]

Oh my goodness, am I ever in love with this scent. I'll spare you all the backstory, but the first fragrance I ever purchased was Demeter's Thunderstorm, and I adored it. It instantly became my signature scent, and I've been on the lookout for a similar BPAL ever since.

 

Well, on my skin anyway, Hallowe-e'n 1914 is it. Especially when it first goes on, it's all damp greens and moss and earth. The more it dries, the more the faint sweet and smoky notes come out to play. I expected for them to lend the scent a warm feeling, or give me some candy-sweet or bonfire imagery, but that doesn't happen on me. What these notes evoke, in all honesty, is the feeling of finally stumbling across a familiar neighborhood after wandering out in a storm. It doesn't feel very autumn-y to me, though. (Says the Floridian, so take this with a grain of salt.)

 

There is a note I dislike that I've smelled before, which I think may be some kind of greenish wood. It's not too prominent though, and it somehow disappears entirely when I really slather the oil on. The throw seems decent, but diminishes fast -- which is no big deal for me. I'd have bathed in Thunderstorm and I can and will bathe in this little lovely.

[rconklin]

This was one of those, "Hm...that could be amazing, but it could also be meh scents" for me. I love the lab's ivy and leaf notes, but they don't always love me and the other notes in the blend are generally uninspiring on my skin. But I'm trying to steer my scent collection away from "ANYTHING WITH VANILLA!" so I opted to get a decant.

 

Wet: the sharp scent of ivy that I love so much and a nice, loamy grave dirt. Lovely, but not exactly something I'd wear regularly.

 

Drying: This is getting dustier, more like a swirl of dried leaves and loam. The ivy fades.

 

Drydown: I was driving home the other night trying to figure out what that incredible smell was--it was so familiar. It took me a second, because I wasn't associating it with this particular blend, but: chrysanthemums. Somehow this dries down to chrysanthemum on me. I'm not sure what's doing it...but it's a dead ringer for dried chrysanthemum blossoms/chrysanthemum tea. THAT IS A GOOD THING. I double checked today to make sure that I wasn't just making things up, and yep, still chrysanthemums. I'm just hoping that if I buy a bottle, the bottle will have the same dry down as my decant.

[milo]

Leaves, kind of sharp green leaves just starting to turn. That along with cologne. Leaves usually work on me if there is sime kind of sweetness with it. This doesn't work on me, its to sharp.

[doublehelix]

BAM! Right off the bat, this is stinky, strong pine, like pinesol for the outhouse. As it dries down, it becomes more smokey, and there are notes of delicious fig! The dirt comes out to play too, meddling with the strong leaf and tree notes. Still quite strong for me once dried, and as others mentioned, smells of men's cologne...

[lookingglass]

I'm loving this blend. Loving it. Wet, it is like exploring the perimeder of an overgrown cottage on a damp fall evening: all at once fresh, broken ivy, crunching dry leaves, and soft, disturbed ground. Drying down, the foliage and earth notes soften, and a sweet, sticky, dark fruit note emerges, with wafts of incense, as if someone has thrown open the door with an armful of offerings. It reminds me of hybrid of Medea and Samhain, with a drizzle of honeyed fig, and a note I can't quite place…ozone? There's an airiness about it, even with the initial dankness, and through the figgy compote. I find it very elegant, spooky, and deliciously wearable.

[Blood onmy hands]

Sharp, damp, sappy green leaves and dark green ivy with a hint of soft, black soil and sweet, woody fig. I almost like it initially, though the greenery is a bit sharp and sour. The drydown starts to shift into smoky evergreen, like someone set the cypress on fire and threw it into the middle of the greenery, and the dampness is turning a little soapy. I don't get along great with green scents, and the smoke and soap in this one are off putting to me.