TheIceMaiden

This is my new favourite Halloweenie this year!! Sonnet d'Automne starts off with fresh autumn leaves. A cold white musk note comes in next, along with a bit of amber. As this dries, it gets sweeter from the white cocoa and vanilla, and a bit warmer. Its a light scent but lingers close to the skin for hours. This reminds me a bit of both October and Cloister Graveyard in the Snow, but not as leafy and ozone-y as October, and not as cold and dry as Cloister Graveyard. Sonnet is a cold, sweet breeze rustling the autumn leaves. Love it!

I have to agree with some of the previous reviewers, Pumpkin Princess is Sugar Plum Fairy's autumnal little sister. This starts off with tiare and amber and a hint of pumpkin. The tiare-amber combination stays prominent until drydown, when this is a girly, sweet vanilla-fluff scent. Most honey scents do not work on my skin, and surprisingly I get no honey from this at all! I love tiare, and I love Sugar Plum Fairy, and I really like this scent so far too., although I do wish the pumpkin note was stronger.

This is my favourite of the butterflies this year, and I'm surprised that it worked on me since geranium, orchid, and violet are traditionally notes that do not work well with my chemistry. Blue Morpho is a well-blended lush tropical floral on a base of cool white amber. Despite all the floral notes, this isn't overwhelmingly strong or perfumey. The throw is moderate and its refreshing on the hottest of summer days.

I have to agree with previous reviewers, this is like a lemon mojito with a bit of absinthe on a sweet, vanilla-white chocolate base. I really like this more than I thought I would (BPAL's Absinthe didn't work for me so I didn't think this would work either). This is such a cute scent and will be perfect for summer.

Snow White is my all-time favourite BPAL blend, so I wanted to try this to compare. They are nothing alike - in fact, I'd call this the love child of Snow Glass Apples (minus the apple) and Ice Queen. This is cold and minty with some lovely soft musks, a touch of subtle evergreen and/or birch, and maybe a hint of fruit and floral underneath that. The drydown is a slightly-sweet, fruit (melon?) with floral mix. I don't love this as I do the released version of Snow White, but I do like it, so I'm glad to add it to my collection.

I wore The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair on Sunday during my city's St. Patrick's Day parade. And The Passionate Shepherd sounds like a lovely idea for today.

I love mango scents so I was very curious about this scent. Wet, its lots of mango mixed with white chocolate. As it dries, the buttercream comes forward and mixes with the mango. I normally like sweet scents, but this is just a bit *too* sweet for me.

This reminds me of last year's Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Cardamom, Rum, and Ginger Truffle, but its much better because it lacks the funky cardamon note. This is lots of fresh ginger, a little chocolate, and just a hint of butterscotch on the drydown. The ginger keeps it from being overly sweet, and the throw and wear-length are pretty good so far. I'm not sure if I'll need a full bottle as I have lots of other ginger scents I love, but the decant is a keeper.

I didn't think I would like this (too sweet) but my friend gave me a decant and I was pleasantly surprised. This starts off slightly fizzy, very sweet orange - like Pixie Sticks or Fun Dip candy mixed with orange soda. It dries to a mix of jellybeans, sour candy, and just a hint of peppermint. This is a really cute scent that reminds me of the candy you'd find in a kid's Christmas stocking (minus chocolate) or Easter candy.

I wore The Clock Strikes Midnight last night. And today its Yvaine, in hopes that she'll come back in 2011.

I wore Großvater Tanz last night, and its Sugar Plum Fairy later today.

I still have a few scents to try, but these are my impressions so far. Which one embodies Christmas/Yule the most? Although it didn't work for me, The Second of the Three Spirits smells like an old-fasioned Christmas celebration to me. Best foody scent from this year's Yules? My favourite sweet scents this year have been from the Trading Post imp sets this year. Kourdabies is my favourite cookie scent ever now, and the others are really nice too. Gingerbread Poppet is also a classic, and I really like Großvater Tanz and A Game Called Yes and No as well. Best snowy/wintery scent? The only "snow" scent I liked this year was Waltz of the Snowflakes, which is beautiful! Best scent that you'll enjoy wearing in warmer weather? I have a hard time bringing out Yules in hot weather, I'm silly like that! But Lick It Vigorously will probably be a good scent for a hot day (or a hangover) since its very minty and refreshing. Waltz of the Flowers and Sugar Plum Fairy will probably be lovely in the spring too, but too heavy for hot summer days. What's this year's sleeper scent? Its hard to say, but I'm guessing it will be something from The Nutcracker series. And do you have an overall favorite yet? Sugar Plum Fairy is my favourite so far, but I'm very fond of Waltz of the Snowflakes.

If someone invented gingerbread soda, this would be it: fresh-cut ginger roots in a fizzy base spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, and a drop of sugar. Yum! As it dries, the ginger recedes and I get a soft, vanilla-marshmallow base. ETA: A week later, this has settled and changed. The ginger note is much more mellow and there's more vanilla-marshmallow. Yay! This is so fun and unique. I love Gingerbread Poppet, but I love this one even more.

In the wet stage, this is almost all bright, sunny orange blossom with a hint of carnation and tea. As it dries, the orange blossom recedes, and I get tea with the tiniest hint of vanilla and sandalwood. It makes me think of the dawing of a new day, which is fitting for this scene in A Christmas Carol. This is quite lovely, I'll be keeping my decant.

This is such a pretty scent! I agree with the Jolly Ranchers comparison, but I do smell plum, not watermelon. There's a hint of apricot mixed in with the sugary sweet plum and as it dries, a cool, clear amber, light musk, and a whisper of tiare. I can't pick out cacoa. This is a light scent and doesn't last long, but its so beautiful while its there. This is my favourite scent of this year's Yules.

Wine scents have never worked for me, but I was curious about the marzipain and this is one of my favourite scenes in the story (and most movie adaptations). Much to my surprise, I get a light, fruity red wine that neither goes soapy on me nor too boozy, mixed with yummy marzipain. For a while in the midstage, the combination gets almost *too* sweet, but then the mulling spices come out to keep the sweetness in check. I raise my glass to Beth and BPAL for making such a fun scent. Cheers!

This is one of my new favourites this year. This starts off with evergreen notes, but its not in-your-face pine cleaner at all, its softer and subtle with a hint of vanilla and a drop of mint. As it dries, Snow White peeks out briefly before it dries down to a lovely soft vanilla. Snow White is my favourite BPAL of all time, and I love all these recent variants.

I think this is going to end up one of my favourite new Yules this year. Its warm, spicy, cozy, and Christmas-y to me. This openes up with candied orange peel and spicy cookies. It next settles into creamy, lightly spiced porridge. The clove comes out in the dry stage.

Hello peppermint! This seems to be the strongest mint of the six Lick It scents so far. It also has lots of sugar, but not much vanilla. Thankfully, its lacking that weird metallic note I got from last year's Lick It Till its Sticky, and it doesn't have skin musk like Lick It Like You Mean It. Its closest to Lick It and Lick It Again but with extra mint. I love peppermint scents, so I love this so far!

Snow White is my all-time favourite BPAL, I was so excited to see her in bath oil form this year. As my tub was filling up this morning, I put in a tiny squirt of Snow White and it scented not only my bathroom, but my whole apartment! The scent lingered throughout the bath and even after I toweled off, I could still smell a hint of Snow White on my skin. Love!

I'm surprised I haven't reviewed this yet as its one of my favourite winter scents and I've loved it since it came out. This is a mix of tart green apple, a mint note that feels like a breath of cold air, and a gorgeous icy soft musk. I keep hoping that this will come back some day as my bottle is getting dangerously low.

I'm surprised I haven't reviewed Lady Una as she's been one of my favourite GC scents since she debuted. Lady Una is also one of the very few blends with honey that I can wear. This scent is all about the vanilla bean, with a little blackberry in the wet stage, green tea in the dry stage, and the honey musk adding a sweet, slightly powdery base to tie everything together. This is a close-to-the-skin, feminine scent and hopefully she'll never disappear from the Stardust collection.

Jezebel is mostly rose and orange blossom with a very sweet and heavy honey note. Zombi is roses and dirt. This is one of my favourite rose scents. Blood Countess's rose note isn't very prominent, this is stronger on the berries, plum, and gardenia. Since you like gardenia too this might be a good choice. Euphrosyne was strongest on the jasmine and gardenia on me. I didn't find Snooty Rose to be very rosey. The other notes were stronger. Blood Rose has lots of dragon's blood and wine mixed in with the rose. If you're okay with wine, you might enjoy this one. (I haven't tried the other rose scents you mentioned.)

Cloister Graveyard in the Snow smells like a winter day - grey skies, cold crisp air, and the scent of the air before a storm hits. Its colder and drier than the Yule "snow" scents. Its my favourite of The Salon blends, and one of my favourite GC blends overall.

After almost two years of looking, I've finally gotten to try this! This is such a simple scents, lots of gorgeous vanilla and just a little licorice. The only unhappy thing about Humbug is that the throw is light and the staying power isn't too long, no more than a few hours. But I love it anyway.