Preconceived notions:
This is the Yule LE I was most eagerly anticipating because I adore the smell of pipe tobacco and this sounded so absolutely perfect, but I'm a bit worried now based on the reviews. Sweet scents really aren't my thing, so I'm hoping Hearth turns into the pipe tobacco and leather scent I'm craving and not into cherry syrup. :P
First sniff:
Wow, that
is cherry sweet! I expected this to bear at least a passing resemblance to the new formulation of Hellfire based on the description, but the two couldn't be more different and still share some common ingredients. This really does smell like cherry pipe tobacco inspite of the almost syrup-like sweetness of the cherry note. I find that the further away my nose is from the bottle, the more I smell the tobacco and the less I smell the cherry, which is a good sign. :D
Wet on skin:
This is definitely cherry, not cherry wood - it smells like the inside of a chocolate covered cherry where all the gooey syrup is, but there's also tobacco under here and a faint hint of worn leather. It's not nearly as candy sweet as I'd feared, although it's far sweeter than I'd hoped for. I have a feeling the cherry note is going to die down as it dries, though, because it already appears to be mellowing. :D
Dry down:
As predicted, the cherry is mellowing nicely, leaving a gorgeous cherry tobacco scent that's very comforting to me. The longer this sets on my skin, the more I can smell the pipe tobacco and leather instead of just cherry syrup. It appears my treacherous body chemistry has pulled a fast one on me for once, turning a potentially "definitely not me" scent into something absolutely gorgeous!
This is what I expected from Hearth. I'm
very happy with the way this one turned out! :D
The bottom line:
Hearth was too cherry sweet for me in the bottle and wet on my skin, but once it dried it smelled
exactly like I'd imagined it would. Also, this one isn't as aggressively masculine as Hellfire was, which is wonderful because I don't always want something that screams testosterone. I love this one (at least on me)! :D
ETA: Since I wrote this, I've decided I love Hearth even more than I said in my review. Now it seems the cherry syrup smell dissipates
much quicker and I'm left with the most delcious, deep, rich cherry pipe tobacco scent. I wear this to bed and it puts me right to sleep! It's so comforting and peaceful smelling and absolutley wonderful. I've got 4 bottles and 2 imps now and I'm in heaven. :evil:
This post has been edited by Penance: 11 January 2005 - 10:39 PM