Litha 2006

[ajcj213499]

... Honey mead with honeysuckle, oak wood, ivy leaf, wild thyme, carnation, daisy, vervain, gum arabic, frankincense, yauhtli, and liquid copal.

Litha is lovely, and very different from what I was expecting!

It smells very sunny and golden yellow. I was worried it would be too sweet (honey and I rarely get along), but it's not at all. I can smell the honeysuckle and mead and they smell very summery.

Heavenlyrabbit said that it reminded her a bit of Roadhouse (another favorite of mine) and I can see the similarity. I'm not getting any lemon though, as it seems other people are (for which I'm thankful- I have enough lemon scents).

Bottom line: Litha=

[euterpe414]

I have not tried Roadhouse, but on me Litha reminds me a lot of Athens, but a bit more complex and a tad less sweet as well. It seems like my skin is really amping up the mead in this blend. That being said, I really love this! It is a wonderful late summer, early fall blend. I will be wearing this a lot! The lasting power and throw is also very very good.

 

 

EDIT: Strangely, Litha goes VERY VERY sharp and soapy on me during my "time of the month". Odd. Guess I can only wear this one three weeks out of the month!

Edited July 13, 2006 by euterpe414

[zenvodunista]

In the bottle I definitely am hit by the scent of mead -- a honeysuckle brewed mead On, this fades quickly into mead and sunflower and daisy and pollen. So pollen filled, in fact, that I felt close to sneezing!

 

Really lovely and summery!

 

ETA: It's been a few hours now, and I'm happy to report that while this definitely has that honey musk note that I call "cunt musk", it's not overwhelming like Honey Moon was though. Which means that I can wear it, even out of the house!

 

O goes to powder on me, Honey Moon is too funkadelic on me for wearing, and Athens does the same thing and goes weird due to the smoke. But Litha? I can wear a honey scent at last! I am super pleased!

 

ETA: It's been several weeks since this review, and I just wanted to say that ever since I got it, I've been reaching for this one several times a week. It is really really quite lovely. I've got a second bottle on the line because, well, it's very happy making!

 

I've been noticing too, that if I reapply in the afternoon, the pollen phase happens again, and I get a second burst of flowers and pollen and herbs and summer layered into my honey mead.

 

n.

Edited July 24, 2006 by zenvodunista

[damuddymeg]

Wow, does this ever morph!!

 

In the bottle: Fresh, lemony floral.

 

Wet: Lemony herby floral. Lots of lemon! A little honey. Bright and lovely!

 

Drydown: The lemon takes a backburner to smooth, creamy floral. Eventually, the lemony note fades altogether (after perhaps an hour), and I'm left with warm, sunny daisies, carnation, and clover-y, herbal-y honey.

 

Dry, 4 hours later: This has become an altogether different fragrance. The warmth is still there, as is a breath of honey. But the floral is being joined by a incense notes.

 

Gorgeous in all stages!

[LittleGreyKitten]

Oh boy, Litha stumps me. Here goes with a mildly useless review. Firstly, I like it. Secondly, I dunno what it smells like. It doesn't seem herbal or honeyed or floral or really. It smells like a warm summer day to me; specifically one in the Pacific Northwest here, where it isn't dry and dusty, but is always green and a bit humid. It is light, refreshing and yum. I will definitely be wearing it heavily this summer. It's been hot and I get picky about what scents I wear, as they get way magnified, especially in our even-hotter upper floor apartment. Litha will be a nice addition to my summer scent wardrobe.

 

Wait, there is a hint of honey in there. Mmm, honey. I like! This is such a well blended scent, nothing sticking out and being disruptive.

 

4.5 out of 5.

[Nekomata]

Very herbal, with a background scent of honey mead. This doesn't morph much on me, but reamains sweet and foresty throughout. Light and nice for the summer.

[ChupaChup]

I was hoping for a honey mead note like in Athens and I did get it for about the first five seconds from Litha and then it went horribly wrong on me. I didn't get anything like the sunny summer scent others are reporting, on me it's a very woody scent with bitter herbs. I didn't get even the tiniest bit of the florals. It's very aggressive, the kind of scent that gets stronger and stronger and I had to wash it off.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Honey lemon.

 

Hopes & Thoughts: Given the previous reviews, I'm a little wary of something exceptionally lemony.

 

In the imp: Honey and lemon! Very herbal and very nice.

 

On skin, wet: Very herbal, with strong honey and lemon notes. The honey's very warm and dry, and not really very sweet. I'm quite surprised that it's not heavier on the lemon!

 

On skin, dry: Herbs, lemon and honey make for a very strange, almost sour combination on my skin. It's kind of soapy, but in a weird way.

 

Conclusion/Notes: I'm not a big fan.

Edited July 18, 2006 by Aredhel

[PurringPulsar]

Litha

 

In the imp: a warm, sunny, sweet yellow floral scent-I think I smell a good true honeysuckle note, as well as sweet honey.

Wet on skin: a little hint of green pops up but still this scent keeps it's sunny yellow sweetness…

Dry on skin: this is gorgeous! This is a beautifully well blended mix that smells like gentle sunshine. I smell a little bit of something wine-like and sweet, which is the honey mead. I love the honey note in here-it's very sweet and gentle, not a tart, sharp honey at all. I also smell something almost lemony, which may be a herb of some sort…I smell thyme, and also a beautiful true honeysuckle note-this is probably the nicest honeysuckle scent I've encountered. I also get a little spice, which must be from the carnation, and just a little bit of resin. But all in all, the notes are so well blended and work so nicely together in here.

After a while: this really smoothes even more to become a lovely, more mellow scent now, a soft blend of slightly boozy (but not strongly so) sweet honey mead with honeysuckle and spicy florals (carnation and probably yahutli) resting on a balmy undertone of herbs. The resinous notes aren't blatant but I can just about make them out and they seem to bind the whole fragrance together…but if I sniff really hard I think I can just make out the frankincense. This is amazingly sunny as a scent-it's warm and has a very yellow feel to it.

Eventually it smoothes out even more into a balmy, creamy, sweet yellow floral with a hint of pollen and fuzzy herbs with a hint of mead and spice. Beautiful. The mead comes out just a little more after that, and one thing about this scent that I really like is that the honeysuckle note here doesn't go funny on my skin after a few hours.

Verdict: this is a perfect representation of the summer solstice in scent. at times this scent is lively and bright, a real celebration of the longest day of the year, at other times it is mellow, laid back and soothing. This scent brings to mind a vivid sunshine yellow, it is such a solar scent, bright, warm, happy and joyful. The mead note in here is fantastic, with sweet honey and one of the best honeysuckle notes I've smelt in BPAL, along with a myriad of other notes like spicy florals and soft green herbs and just a little bit of resin. The result is a wonderfully rounded, balanced and beautiful scent so representative of the start of summer, with a real sense of light and warmth to it. I'm very glad I have a bottle because not only is this evocative of it's namesake festival, it's also very wearable and so different to anything else.

Emoticon rating:

[miss apple]

Litha - in the bottle it's kind of nondescript. Something florally and light. Once on it blossoms into a bright golden yellow scent. I can really smell the honey and it reminds me of Jezebel quite a bit. The florals fade to the back and mostly what stays strong is the honey. I can see wearing this in early September when the days are still warm and the nights start to cool.

[valentina]

In the bottle, Litha smells a lot like honey mead and honeysuckle. When it hits my skin, it become positively woozy with honey mead, with emphasis on the mead more than the honey. It's very sweet, but a little yeasty. After than calms down, after about 15 or 20 minutes, it reminds me of a more summery Yggdrasil that's drunk on honey mead. I smell woods and greens (especially ivy) and bright summer flowers, along with the honey mead. It's not especially suited to my body chemistry, as the woodsy/green/wildflower/herbal scents tend to muddle up on me. For anyone who loves those sort of scents, if you don't have a bottle, find one soon. And the label art! It is positively gorgeous, and so beautifully expresses the nature of the holiday.

[Little Bird]

Oddly, in the bottle, Litha reminds me quite a bit of an orange soda. I get something sweet, effervescent, and citrussy.

 

On me, this still smells like orange soda with, perhaps, a bit of lemon. This reminds me strongly of Sundew. Sweet, bubbly citrus.

 

In the drydown I am getting the slightest hints of very sweet honey and sweet wild flowers. It's a very bright, happy fragrance.

[theshapeshifter]

It's really hard to pin down individual notes in Litha, other than a lovely warm, woody, herbal honey scent, but it's amazingly evocative of Midsummer, being outdoors in a sunwarmed field of flowers, with just the faintest citrusy tang way in the background. My only regret is that it doesn't seem to last as long on me as I might hope - but then, it's a very hot day today, so I've probably sweated some of it off.

[Spring Snow]

yum yum YUM! Litha, where have you been all my life?

 

In the bottle: It's a bottle of mead. Are you sure I can't drink this?

On the skin: The mead stays strong, but the honeysuckle and green woods start to come out, making the scent very fresh and complex.

Drydown: The honey is the part that really lasts, it stays strong and sweet even after the rest of the notes have faded down.

 

Verdict: I LOVE IT. Definitely a top 10... maybe even a top 5. It's lovely, sunny, and perfect for warm weather.

[sh1mm3r]

Honey mead with honeysuckle, oak wood, ivy leaf, wild thyme, carnation, daisy, vervain, gum arabic, frankincense, yauhtli, and liquid copal.

 

In the bottle, it's hard to describe what I smell - definitely sweetness and earthyness.

 

On my skin, I can smell the honey but it is more spicy, probably the wood and frankincense. Right before it dries the boozyness of the alcohol jumps out.

 

Then comes the sad part. I really get carnations with this, which sadly turn a sickly sweet on my skin. It's like being in a florist's shop where a bunch of candles are lit and there hasn't been any fresh air for days.

 

I believe it to be my skin's fault though, not the blend. It has never liked florals but I wanted to give it a shot anyway since Honey Moon is one of my favorites. Ever since, I have been determined to try all bpal honey scents.

 

A little later, I just wanted to say I can really identify the bpal honey note in this because after a while it just smells like a magnified version of me. I can't wait through the multiple hour drying phase though.

[m13]

What a fun blend!

 

On me, Litha starts off as lemon + honey, about a half hour later it's mostly light fruit, half an hour or so after that we're back to honey only sans the lemon this time and with a whiff of spice or resin (copal I think) .... but between my boobs and in the crooks of my elbows it's herbs and honey.

 

Works perfectly for capturing the feel of Summer Solstice but it'll be a swell scent for Lammas too.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Fresh from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: Honey is a hit-or-miss note for me, and the frankincense scared me a bit as anything incense-y or musk-y tends to take over the whole fragrance. But I adore honeysuckle and carnation and having skipped the last couple of Moons, decided to try and see.

 

In the Bottle: Strongly herbal and honey.

 

Wet: The florals come out first, followed by the honey mead. Once everything gets sorted out, it strikes me as a more herbal version of Beltane or Flower Moon.

 

Drydown: The mead and incense grow, but don't take over. I'm smelling booze-drenched flowers and I like it!

 

Verdict: I'm going to hang onto this for a while and see how often I reach for it.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Someday I hope to have a complete set of BPALs for Sabbats. Litha will have a place of honor next to Beltane in my bottle-armoire. Lovely label--sunset and a big bonfire. I'm so excited about this one! In the bottle, Litha actually smells rather similar to Beltane--fresh, complex herbal-floral. On me, though, it blooms and becomes unique--a lemony topnote (I can see the comparison to Sundew), with herbal and "green" notes underneath (I LOVE ivy as a note), settling into a delicate bouquet of "clean" florals and just a hint of the yummy mead. It really does smell like pollen--good call, yeahbutnobut! Does anyone remember a B&BW scent called Happy Daisy? Litha is like a much grander version of that to me! Happy, fresh, bright, breezy...the fairest of summer days.

[LiberAmoris]

Litha was a real surprise to me, because I smell a lot of things in here, but I don't really smell honey mead, which I was expecting. It smells more like an infused or steeped liquor, something between dandelion wine and sunflower tea. It's golden and rich and herbal. I also love the ivy note here---it really tempers the sweetness and gives it such an outdoorsy and fresh feeling.

 

There's something about Litha that seems like a harbinger to autumn. Maybe it's the ivy. Whatever it is, I really like it and I'm glad I got a bottle.

[Neely]

Love the label with the sunset and fire!

 

In the bottle: WHOA, knock you on your butt honey meade. Of course the bottle was sitting in my mailbox in TX summer heat.

 

Wet: honey meade, but not knock you down. The honeysuckle is there very lightly on the top. And I get fresh lemon, or lime. Something citrusy but not orange citrus. I hope this doesn't turn into lemon Pledge.

 

Dry down: citrusy sweet, boozy loveliness. No Pledge to be found. This is bright and fresh. Sparkling.

 

30 minutes: the ivy comes out to play. It smells like The Black Tower on me, but not as ozoney and without the leather. Liber Amoris is right, the ivy seems to harken to Autumn. I love this!

 

Conclusion: This is really wonderful. Eventually it dries down to honey and ivy on me. So glad I got it.

 

Rating 1-5, on my skin this is a 4.

[Rheliwen]

Litha is yummy summer in a bottle.

 

Initially it goes on pretty lemony with a wheat/hay note in the background (most likely the meade). That note develops into the frankincense and woody oak while the lemon morphs into a citrus yellow floral. I don't smell much honey in this (yay since it hates me) but I can almost feel its presence.

 

Litha smells more sophisticated and I can see why it was more expensive, the ingredients are just so smooth. It dries down to an almost shea lotion creaminess swirling around all the other notes. Very interesting indeed.

 

ADD: Litha has turned into a less pink/cotton candy Pink Moon. They definitely have a similar feeling to me.

Edited July 15, 2006 by Rheliwen

[melange]

Bottle: mostly heated mid-level notes, but I can't single them out very well.

 

Wet: still heated, and floral, something to bask in.

 

Drydown: sweet and resiny and just enough wild greenery to balance it.

 

Worn: much the same, and I like how the notes emerge and retreat within the blend. As for lemon, I only caught a brief whiff, no more. Litha is not-unexpectedly sweet-sweet-sweet when just sitting around; along with the honeyed notes, my skin seems to be amping the frankincense and other resins. It lasts about an hour to an hour and a half with some potency, then trails into an afterhaze.

 

Thoughts: if I'd only been sitting around and typing while preparing to write this review, I might have made a note to wear Litha only when observing the solstice, due to the quality of its sweetness with my chemistry at rest... but luckily I found out, half by chance, that what it really wants is my getting sweaty. In one way or another. Which actually fits quite well with its theme. And which means that the next time I do some really intense gardening, let's say, Litha will be right up my alley.

 

Try exercising with Litha this summer. You might find yourself getting even more into it.

[eviltemptressdq]

mmm... Litha arrived in my greedy little hands yesterday afternoon, and it is SO delicious! Sweet sweet sweet... did I mention it was sweet? hehe... On my skin, this is golden honey... bright floral (honeysuckle, my favorite scent ever, i assume!)... but with extra honey to amplify that.

 

This really is a great scent for summer!!!

[gingersnapp]

This is a super sweet floral. I can't really tell which flower is which, but honey mead is definitely the dominant note on my skin.

 

This is bright and golden. Really beautiful.

[sihaya09]

Oh, thank goodness! You see, I loved Honey Moon, but could not wear it, because the jasmine-y note gave me a terrible headache. Litha is Honey Moon minus the jasmine.

 

I get primarily an herbal honey with honeysuckle and sweet flowers. It's not perfumey at all-- it smells like a lovely summer stroll though nature right as the sun begins to go down.

 

Love.

 

ETA: The second time I wore Litha, I got a definite candied lemon scent. It works really well with the other sweet notes without going overboard on the sugar.

Edited July 19, 2006 by sihaya09