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Showing results for tags 'Yule 2005'.
Found 13 results
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THE RAT KING The Nine-Headed nemesis of the Nutcracker Prince. Dust, wood and feral musk with a fang-sharp undertone. In the bottle: Definitely a sharp, woodsy aroma... kind of a hint of pine, I'm getting, and this smells very earthy, almost like my Aveda Brilliant humectant pomade, so it has a definite hair-salon upscale styling goop hint to it. It does have a somewhat chemical tang to it. On my skin: The initial 'Aveda' aroma fades somewhat and this obtains a very light, somewhat birch-like barkiness, and on top of that is a very, very animal-like musk. Kind of like the scent of a small animal like a rabbit or guinea pig, that light aroma that reminds you that this is something alive, and not just a fuzzy toy... I'm not sure it really works out on me at this point, as it's still a bit chaotic and unsettling. There's definitely a dusty powderiness to the blend, and it brings to mind a craftshop with little rats scurrying around... After a bit of time to dry and mature: This is like the woodsy elements of Geek, without the sharp leather and with much less smoke. I get that very delicious hit of light forest that I adore in that oil, but the feral musk has a definite civet-like swagger that doesn't work out on my skin. However, that said, this is definitely a unique aroma which brings to mind a malevolent rat in all of his feral glory! This may be a swapper in the future.
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When the holidays roll around, not everyone has mistletoe, caroling and cookies on their minds. This scent is a paean to celebrating hard: nights covered in glitter and dusted with cocaine, flutes of Cristal clutched in shaky hands, leather and lace, the Spiders From Mars in the background, and twisting, sweaty limbs entangled in dark corners. Hairspray and cigarette smoke is the incense in this temple to decadence, strobe and mirrors replace the devotional candles, and Bolan sings the hymns. This scent is for everyone that has every drifted off into Quaalude-induced reverie to the beat of a tribal 4-on-the-floor: the sound of Mott the Hoople, Sweet, Slade or the Dolls. This scent reflects the futurism, self-indulgence and excess of the Glitter 70's: champagne, hyacinth, tuberose, ylang ylang and flashing white musk with jonquil, tobacco flower, white sandalwood and a pale poppy. So, the god of irony hath decreed that of course I would receive my Yule order while in the midst of a cold, which would be at that lovely stage where my nasal pasages are clogged. Nonetheless, given how much clamour there is for a review of this fragrance, I'm going to try to give my best impression anyway. The first question: is this floral? The answer is yes, at least upon initial application. The tuberose and ylang ylang are particularly noticable, even with a cold. Ah, but (at least with my chemistry) it doesn't last. The flowers fade within minutes, leaving the smell of white musk and champagne. The flowers retreat to the background, where (either do to my own expectations or Beth's genius, and I suspect the later) they take on a light hairspray smell. That might normally be a deal-breaker, but the truth is, this works so perfectly with the description of the scent that I can only view it with awe. For those folks looking for a New Year's Eve perfume, I think this will be gorgeous. I look forward to revisiting this when I can more fully appreciate the nuances of the fragrance.
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THE PEACOCK QUEEN In dramatic contrast to the soft innocence of Snow White and the dew-kissed freshness of her sister, Rose Red, this is a blood red, voluptuous rose, velvet-petaled, at the height of bloom. Haughty and imperious, vain, yet incomparably lovely to the eye, but thick with thorns of jealousy, pride and hatred. I love rose. Let me just get that out of the way. That said, The Peacock Queen is not necessarily my favorite incarnation of the versatile rose. However, Beth has flat-out nailed the concept of "haughty" in scent. This rose is haughty. It is very much a fresh, blooming rose . . . but there's something very distant about this rose. It's not a rose that's blooming from the earth. It's one dozen very expensive, perfect red roses, bought for a woman who expects that sort of thing. It's perfume. It's striking. It's very beautiful, but not approachable. Remarkable. Like I said, this isn't my personal favorite of the rose blends, just because the vibe it evokes isn't entirely "me," but I am incredibly impressed with the artistry of the scent and with how many different ways rose can smell and feel.
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HEARTH 2005 (Limited Edition) Thoroughly revisited. This year's Hearth is warmer, sweeter, and more traditionally comforting. This is the scent of candied chestnuts, buttered, covered in brown sugar and honey, alongside the scent of cedar smoke and soft pine. In the bottle: Hello, butter. It smells slightly nutty, too, but I'm mostly picking up on the butter. On the skin: The brown sugar comes out almost instantly, and that nutty smell gets stronger. Oh, there's the wood, too, a couple minutes later, along with a faint breath of pine. This is definitely not a purely foody scent. It reminds me of eating those chestnuts inside a log cabin with the fire blazing- I don't get very much smoke at all, but it's a very warm scent. Luckily the butter is pretty much nowhere to be seen. It doesn't morph too much on drydown, but I'll edit this if I notice anything different. Overall? Very homey and evocative. This would make an absolutely fabulous room scent.
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How bittersweet it is, on winter's night, To listen, by the sputtering, smoking fire, As distant memories, through the fog-dimmed light, Rise, to the muffled chime of churchbell choir. Lucky the bell -- still full and deep of throat, Clear-voiced despite its years, strong, eloquent -- That rings, with faithful tongue, its pious note Like an old soldier, wakeful, in his tent! My soul lies cracked; and when, in its despair, Pealing, it tries to fill the cold night air With its lament, it often sounds, instead, Like some poor wounded wretch -- long left for dead Beneath a pile of corpses, lying massed By bloody pool -- rattling, gasping his last. A winter's horror: smoke and stillness, faded incense and the metallic tang of blood. Am I the first?... This was the first Yule blend that I opened, partially because it was the first alphabetically and parly because it was the one I was the most curious about, wondering how smoke and blood would come across and excited about the incense. In the bottle (which is lovely, by the way), it is a perfumey incense smell -- I think that the "metallic tang" is what gives it a slightly static, perfumey scent, rather distant and sophisticated and a bit like a very dark commercial perfume. When I wear it, the pleasant scent of and incense store starts to develop more -- I don't get any one particular kind of incense, it's just that kind of "occult store" vibe without any one element dominating. It is muted and slightly dusty, as though cloth had been soaking up the scent of many kinds of incense for years and is now being hung out in the cold to air out. This warms up nicely on my skin, which loves incensy smells, but it's not an overwhelming scent. Could there be a faint breath of nag champa in there? Maybe something amber or musky as it dries? I may add more to this as I wear it but those are my immediate impressions...this might not be an every day scent for me but I think that on cold winter days, especially, the chill air will contrast nicely with this dusty incense-soaked tapestry.
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Lo! now the direful monster, whose skin clings To his strong bones, strides o'er the groaning rocks: He withers all in silence, and his hand Unclothes the earth, and freezes up frail life. Skeletal limbs of birch and fir coated in a thick, impenetrable blanket of snow. This is the death of the year personified. Ahhhh the pressure. My first 'first to review'. Here goes: Out of the bottle, Talvikuu is strong, sweet and brightly resiny...the way sap would smell if it was mixed with sugar. This is a very perfumey, dense, heady fragrance...not dry and airy like many of Beth's 'foresty' blends. This scent stays strong and true for quite some time on my skin, and the simple but strong notes morph very little all the way through the drydown. The one thing that stands out for me about Talvikuu is that it's a perfect example of the absolute brilliant quality of the oils that Beth uses. I'm so glad I ordered this scent, and I'll enjoy wearing it all winter long.
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I don't always have to be sinister, do I? Here's to finally being able to hit the slopes again! Soft white powder snow with a touch of youthful girlie perfume. Wow! First review. Talk about pressure In the bottle, this smells slightly sweet, aquatic, and piney. It reminds me a lot of Dublin, actually, which reminds people of Skadi, so if you were mourning the lack of Skadi this year...Snow Bunny might be your answer. On my skin, the pine note comes out a lot more. It's girlier in the bottle. It's fresh and crisp, and definitely smells more like actually being out in the snow than Snow White. It's a lot more woodsy-floral than Snow White's almost foody sweetness. The "youthful" part is spot on as well. On the drydown, it settles more into the skin. The pine is less biting and the softer, sweeter notes I smelled in the bottle come back out to play. This is my favorite stage, but I'm partial to the more "comforting" scents, and that's more of what it is at this stage. Overall? Entirely not what I was expecting, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless. It's a morpher but lovely at all stages. Sorry I can't be more eloquent!
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Annihilation. The ice, desolation and barrenness of nuclear devastation shot through by a beam of radioactive mints. Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in one word: Peaceful. In the bottle: Interesting! A definite 'cold' scent; frosty and very minty. While there may be peppermint here, the most prominent mint seems (to me) to be wintermint -- a good thing in my book, because I love wintermint. On skin, wet: Crisp and clean, and very cold. There's a distinct ice-like quality, like frozen earth. This is what I had wanted Numb to be (by the time I received it, and had changed my mind about mints). On skin, dry: Beneath the ice, there's something grassy here. Slush, mint and grass. An unexpected turn, but a lovely one! Unfortunately, after about an hour, it starts to give me that "I feel like I'm going to sneeze, but don't" feeling, which hangs around until the scent dies off. Conclusion: It's hard to explain this one. It's like a devastated, grassy open field in the middle of winter, when the ground is completely frozen. An odd description, I know. As Macha said somewhere, this is a much more 'peaceful' scent than I would have expected. But then, that makes sense -- wouldn't things be peaceful after a 'nuclear devastation'? All told, I'm growing very fond of this scent.
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What else could possibly be more lickable at Yuletide? This is a candy cane perfume, minty, sweet and sugared. Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word: Candy Canes! In the bottle: Yes indeed, a candy cane. A bit sweeter than the candy canes I usually have, but a candy cane all the same. Peppermint and sugar. On skin, wet: Crisp, sugared peppermint and a dash of vanilla. Reminds me of peppermint ice cream. On skin, dry: The vanilla becomes slightly stronger, and takes on a... musky? quality. Lovely, but unexpected. It instantly reminded me of another blend, but it took me nearly an hour to figure out which blend that was: Black Opal. They both share a musky vanilla quality, which I adore in both blends. Conclusion: I love peppermint, vanilla and candy canes, so it's no surprise to me that I absolutely adore Lick It.
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HERR DROSSELMEYER Magus, toymaker, and Godfather to Klara. An enigmatic man, seemingly somewhat sinister, but bearing a gentle air and a sincere love for children. This scent is dignified, refined, but dark, and hints towards esoteric mysteries and the secrets that tie mechanics to magick. Pipe smoke, sweet leather, woods and linen. Wow, I can't believe I'm the first one. ohhh the pressure. Anyway, I got to try this one at the will call. I mentioned how much I love clove and Forest suggested that I try this one. It doesn't have clove in it, but it has that same dark heft to it. Deep and dark are the best ways I can describe this one. I get the tobacco, tobacco - not smoke, but not so much of the other notes specifically. It really is deep and complex. mmmm I like it. It's not entirely masculine, but would smell nice on a guy. A dark, mysterious guy.
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MISTLETOE The plant of peace in Norse tradition. If enemies met in the forest and came upon a sprig, they laid down their arms and observed a truce until the next sunrise. Yikes, am I the first to review Mistletoe? I'll keep it simple then... Mistletoe: I love you. You are the perfect spicy green scent. A little bit of sweetness for the berries, with a little bit of sharpness for the poison. I'm wearing Mistletoe today (Yule and all) and I have to admit the first minute or two were a little scary. I was afraid the sharpness was a little funky. But it disappears right away and turns into a lovely blend sharp and sweet. It's the PERFECT holiday scent. And it stays pretty true from first application on...which is why this review is so short.
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Affectionately nicknamed 'The Devil's Bake Sale'. Wet I can't believe how foody but yummy this is. This is by no means too foody meaning it doesn't get sickening or cloying as some food-y type products do. You can actually smell that golden brown smell as when pastry or dough is baked and becomes golden because of the butter. That's exactly what this smells like. How in the world did Beth get that smell in a bottle? 10 minutes There's also a sweetish, vaguely fruity bakery smell mixed in with some cinnamon and nutmeg too. 20 minutes The cinnamon has come out more to the foreground . Damn, this is really good. I'm impressed. The buttery golden brown goodness is still there just more cinnamony. Still smells as good as it did when wet, this is a real pleasure. 5 2005 In the bottle Hmm. More creamed and sugared butter smell. On Wait a minute, I don't smell the golden brown buttery pastry of 2004. 30 minutes It's less cream and sugar and more cooked pastry crust. Throw: average Scent category: Foody Summary I like the sweet dough smell of this better than the cinnamony part of 2004 blend. The golden buttery crust part of 2004 is here in the 2005 blend also. Whew. Purchase again? Yes. 1-5 rating (5 being best) 4
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Limited edition; winter 2003. The juice of ripe, bursting, blood red holly berries. The juice of ripe, bursting blood red holly berries - with plenty of the tangy green leaves thrown in. Absolutely holiday, I smell like a fresh garland of greens draped across the fireplace, with some cinnamon-y apple cider simmering in the other room and just barely discernable. Sharp, but good. I'm more likely to use this as a room scent than a personal one.
