Northernminx

Deep green aquatic notes, that "slush" scent I sometimes get, and a nose-full of pine. This was a sort of darker, colder and more wet version of Snow Bunny. A very cool and piney scent.

That sort of slushy note the Beth puts in some of the yule's is strongly present in here. It's cooling, fresh, and not something I am ever able to identify. There's a strong undercurrent of pine in this and Talvikuu but I found this a lot sweeter than Talvikuu. Nice, pretty, but like Skadi last year, just not my thing.

Frankincense, myrrh, and cedar. This is a very woodsy, incensey scent as others have pegged it but it really rings true for me where some of Beth's other incense blends just haven't turned me on. This is gorgeous, simple, soothing, and just very nice on me. A definite keeper.

The 05 version of this was much fruitier and a little less foody. The flowers are still there but they’re on a sidetable of ripe, gorgeous autumn fruits. I love both last years and this years version and am keeping both.

I have a hard time distinguishing between this and Rose Red until I put them side by side. Potentially because my Rose Red has aged a year,this is a little more heady a little more in "full bloom" and almost past it than Rose Red is. Rose Red remains my preferred of the two but this is really beautiful and amazingly true to the real thing.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm nummy. Gorgeous, warm, boozey, and a touch of something sweet, spice and some musk. This is like a naughtier drunken version of Samhain to me and I absolutely adore it. It's masculine to the extreme with my chemistry so I'll be passing it to one of the boys but damn is it sexy.

Well I think the hairspray associations come from some of the heavy florals in many hairsprays.

 

I didn't get a ton of floral on this, though I did get a serious dose of white musk and an undertone of champagne. This was posh, sophisticated, heavy all-night-long partying feminine perfume. It's a little sweeter on me than I anticipated and has a sort of waxy flower touch at points but it's mostly musk and champagne. Gorgeous and girly but not quite me.

Whoa. Wake up and smell the moxie! Sinus-clearing citrus scents and a touch of spice underneath it. This is gorgeous and a definite pick me up that's great for Friday mornings when I just can't drag myself out of bed to deal with the teenagers. Totally wonderful!

Light, fresh, a touch lemony and a touch of tea and a touch of sugar and some peach. It's elegant and understated but the juciness of the peach lends it some fun.

 

I think this may be Dorian's sister. She's the one that orchestrates him getting into the tea room to F*** you six ways from Sunday, smiles sweetly on the way out and knows you just had a good time. It reminds me very much of the novel Fingersmith for some reason.

 

It's sexy in a nice girl sort of way but it's just so damned lovely. One of my absolute favorites

I guess I'm one of the few who just didn't lose it over this one. It's not that I don't luuurve the scents involved in theory, but they just never really work well on me. That hard black leather scent goes wierd on my skin in a sort of dominatrix gone bad, kind of way. She just doesn't know when to stop and then Patchouli gets in on the act and it's sort of an unwashed dominatrix smell.

 

Not terribly enticing adding in the bourbon and this one becomes a Christmas nightmare to my mind.

 

I will say that it's just my skin so have no fear. I had the delicious pleasure of inhaling this on a fellow BPAL'ers wrist and wanted to leap on him right then and there - the fact that he's totally and utterly and happily gay not withstanding.

 

Gorgeous on others. On me...notsomuch.

In the bottle, sort of like the 2004 hearth but without the cherry-ish scent. Hmmm...

 

After sniffing this year's hearth, which I also adore, I wasn't sure where this one was going to go since last year's hearth became a sudden favorite with the boyfriend Tobacco, a hint of soft leather and something sweet and candyish with an undertone of soft wood dust. Gorgeous, complex, it's not neccessarily even masculine and wore as well on me as I think it would on the beloved. It's comforting while still being a touch mysterious and a perfect scent for the namesake. Gorgeous.

Aquatic mint. In the bottle this did remind me a bit of Ice Queen from last year. It's almost like mint on speed. The dry down goes soft and somewhat powdery on me (damn you aquatic note!) but since I'm not a huge "cool scent" fan anyway, that's both anticipated and okay.

Spicey in the imp, this was earthy and musky on me. This should have been overpowering but somehow mellowed really nicely on my skin, becoming a sort of overlay of musk against my skin. Definitly sultry and stirring and kind of exotic. Nice.

Heavy on the clove as others have noted, this was a little more herbal than say straight clove or three witches on me. I didn't particularly find the scent attractive but it never really went beyond the wierd herbal part on me and tended to overwhelm any other scent in the area.

Cheerful, bright and fruity, maybe some lotus, cherry, and orange - whatever it is it's gorgeous and just makes me smile. For purposes of use this is wonderful for clearing the air and bringing a happy mood into a room or time-frame. Beautiful to smell and it definitly picked up the happiness factor as well.

Mint on top, light and sweet with something almost buttery and soft beneath it. Not quite vanilla, but a little lighter and more fresh. This was a gorgeous scent that I really loved, very wintery without being cold.

 

And I have no idea how to use it so sniff test only.

Sort of medicinal and sharp, I couldn't really place any notes in this except to say that it was fresh and clearly herbal. In terms of effectiveness I did feel a bit more energized and ready to go using it, but I didn't really like the scent of it enough to try it repeatedly.

That sort of boozy mint that might be pennyroya that smooths into a soft powdery scent with a little bit of bitterness. I lacked the incense and powder but I did try this at night during meditation and it helped soothe my mood enough to ward off a potential nasty fight with the boyfriend. Nice and helpful

Resin and woodsy, maybe a touch of sandalwood. This was very grounding, warm, soothing, and "earthy" without being dirty. I didn't attempt to use this ritually but did sniff it a bit as I'm not remotely of a Buddhist persuasion.

Jasmine and maybe some violet, this was a dark and potent floral. I didn't find myself particularly any luckier using this, but I also don't always know how to use these and so my implementation is nebulous at best. (It's also not been a good month to judge luck in any form.) Lovely to sniff though

Cinnamon and woodsy (maybe a little cedar?) along with a metallic touch that sometimes means clove that's gone wierd on me. Very spicey and earthly, masculine and strong. Nice, definitly empowering, but not for me.

Cinnamon, clove, and a touch of something citrusy perhaps, this was, as noted, a bit sweeter to me scent-wise than Money Draw. Functionally it worked pretty well though I think I had better results with Money Draw - potentially because the distinction between the two isn't clear to me. Gorgeous smell and effective. Nummy.

Dry sweet grasses and resin. Holy smokes the resin.. strong, mysterious, dark, temple hallways and a touch of fruit at the end. I was really surprised at this blend as it was amazingly complex scent wise and extremely useful for the deep meditation I tried today. Verra nice and one i may have to nab a bottle of.

Soft, smokey myrrh and something dark and a little bit edgey. The dry down fades into lilly of the valley which is sort of an odd combination. It reminds me of a beautiful ingenue whose wandered into a not-so-up-scale bar. Lovely but not quite me though I was glad to have tried it.

Scent wise - spicey, warm, and cinnamoney with a touch of clove or orange. It's gorgeous to smell.

 

It's even better working. This turned what should have been a rather expensive day into a day where I actually saved and earned back some money. It's not entirely to the credit of the oil but I'm fairly convinced this didn't hurt and did in fact help. Definitly nabbing a bottle.