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Showing results for tags 'Yule 2009'.
Found 35 results
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JOULUMUORI Old Lady Christmas, the sweet, smiling wife of Finland's Joulupukki. Her scent invokes the comforts of Christmastime and the warmth of love and cheerful companionship: a glowing hearth, luumukiisseli, riisipuuro, and sima. Ok, so luumukiisseli, riisipuuro, and sima translate to prune soup, rice pudding, and mead. I had to try it. It was so nice!!! Very warm and foody and boozy. It's just starting to fade on my skin, and I put it on 4 and a half hours ago, so it's got a decent longevity. It's kinda what would happen if Hellcat came over for christmas dinner, got drunk on mead, and passed out in the rice pudding. I will be getting some of this, most definetly. Oh, and I have no idea what happened to the prune soup.
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Every kid wants a pet magah bird! A prism of scent, an explosion of multi-colored feathers: blood orange, black plum, sugar cane, guava, frangipani, coconut, pimento berry, violet, caramel, and pear. This smelled good at the lab, so I dabbed a little bit on. I sniffed it a little bit later and was like........whoa.....sugar overload, not quite sugar of death, but a little close to it, so I was like...oh well, probably not for me. Then I sniffed it again after a few hours, and it's very ........ dusty sugar fruit. HUH? I think this one is a morpher. Little birdy likes running all over your skin chemistry and doing unexpected things. I will definitely need to try this again, and pay attention to how it morphs.
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You darkness, that I come from, I love you more than all the fires that fence in the world, for the fire makes a circle of light for everyone, and then no one outside learns of you. But the darkness pulls in everything; shapes and fires, animals and myself, how easily it gathers them! -- powers and people -- and it is possible a great energy is moving near me. I have faith in nights. An embrace: black poppy, lavender, thick black incense, black amber, rose geranium, Brazilian rosewood, and benzoin. This is pretty close to a signature scent for me. After all these years of BPAL, it's still a special feeling when you find a perfume that works so well. And to think I wavered on reading "lavender". Every other note reached out beckoning me. This is indeed dark, in a deeply Victorian way. It's like carved Whitby jet. Smelling this, it draws me in. Benzoin seems to be a Magical Agent. Not so pronounced on its own, but it gives other notes more resonance. A unisex blend, too. Not girly or masculine. Just.... Victorian (can't think of a better adjective, sorry).
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Cold, cold forever more. A winter storm roaring through empty stone halls, bearing echoes of despair, desolation, and death on its winds. The scent of frozen, dormant vineyards, bitter sleet, and piercing ozone, hurled through labdanum, benzoin, and olibanum. When I sniffed this at will call the main impression I got was a snowy scent with a hint of cold grape or wine and perhaps a touch of ivy or greenery. Testing it now that I have a bottle, it is even more complex and varied than I expected. There is a sharp, cold feeling to this -- that wonderful BPAL snow note that we've seen over the years (in this, I'd say it's closest to the snow in Snow Moon or Death of a Gravedigger) but it's a little more piercing and "perfumey" because of a blast of ozone wafting over a snow-encrusted stone tower. There is an interesting effect produced by ozone and resins like labdanum and olibanum that creates a staticky aura of "perfume" over the other notes. The vineyard aroma comes out as it dries and the crackle and fizz of that sleet and snow starts to fade a little. It's a pale, frozen grape wine, just barely there, to give a slight blush to the blend. I'm imagining frosted, frozen bundles of grapes lost in the snow in a stone courtyard. Very evocative. The image and story surrounding it really make it for me -- if this had been given a more generic name I might find it too perfumey but looking at the picture of the stone tower on the label and thinking about a ghost and a snow storm, make me very eager to wear this out on a bleak winter day. Hopefully it will be a few more weeks before we have one of those in these parts though!
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While Persephone visited the realm of Hades, she tasted one single pomegranate seed, an act which compelled her to remain connected to the Land of the Dead for all eternity. Demeter's grief over her beloved daughter's absence that brings on the bleakness and barrenness of the winter months. The Fruit of Paradise, the Nectar of Death: bittersweet pomegranate. The story of Persephone was what first made me love pomegranates when I heard it as a child, and as the cold months begin and they start appearing on store shelves (in ever increasing quantities!) I cannot resist them. The rich, blood red, dripping fragrant juice is a delight, and I love perfumes in which it is a prominent note. This is a deeper, stronger pomegranate than something like Swank or Persephone, but it remains true to that sweet red almost berry-like scent. It's given some depth and strength by...well, I'm not sure but it makes me think of amber. I was wondering if maybe this would have a strong earth or dirt note, but it is mainly pomegranate sweetened and deepened perhaps by amber or some other sweet, golden pale resin. A few notches different from something like Hymn to Proserpine, but it does recall a Yule time red sweet berry-fruit scent. On the drydown there might be a hint of a rich, darker note, but that clear, bright red fruit is always on top.
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The Day of Kings, the Celebration of the Magi. In Mexico, on January 6th, children place their shoes by their windows. If they have been good during the previous year, the Wise Men tuck gifts into their shoes during the night. Hot cocoa with cinnamon, coffee, and brown sugar. Right out of the bottle this pretty much smells like hot cocoa to me. It's a milky chocolate. On my skin I can only detect a faint whiff of coffee. The cinnamon does not come out to play til it starts to fade out and it is very, very mellow. I hoped this would be more of a cinnamon coffee scent but on me it is more of a really chocolatey cafe mocha. Chocolate scent lovers will adore this.
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DED MOROZ Grandfather Frost! Accompanied by his granddaughter, Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden, he bestows gifts to virtuous and hard-working people, rewarding their decency and integrity, and punishes those who are lazy, shiftless, and unkind, killing their fields with frost, cracking the trunks of their trees, and destroying their homes. The first incarnation of Father Frost was not at all benevolent. He was the personification of the darkest aspects of winter, winter's destruction incarnate. He kidnapped unruly children, and slew people capriciously by freezing them to death. Light, darkness, kindness, and malice: golden amber, white amber, redwood, teak, bois du rose, sage, tree moss, and snow. The label is the same as all the 06 Yuletide scents. waaahhhhhooooo, this finally arrived, i couldn't wait! in the bottle:very light scent, slightly green smelling and something almost minty, this smells somewhat familiar, yet not something i can readily place my finger on. wet: hmm, yes there is something slightly minty here, even though i don't see mint as a listed ingredient, but it isn't a pepperminty scent, i am getting i think spearmint? and the very faintest whiff of "snow" and the barest touch of sage. this is such a soft scent, up close i get something greenish, and minty, but so amazingly light. the waft of teh scent is a soft almost powdery scent, but not old lady powder, more the soft fuzzy powder type feel. not florally, not slushy, just a fuzzy, almosty hazy, minty, goodness. i also at this point can detect an aura of redwood, it confused me at first i was thinking evergreen, but then when the scent settles, i realized it was redwood and teak, more redwood though. the longer this is on, the more the scent settles and melds into this beautiful, comforting scent, it is definitely a cool scent, definitely a soft scent and definitely a scent i am proud to own. adding after a long drydown time, this does get a hint of rose, it is a very soft rose, not sharpness even hinting at the edges, and teh amber really starts to step forward as teh mint softens i really hope beth can resolve the component issues, and offer this. i love it.
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Sol Invictus Sane, sol et in cloacam radios suos defert nec inquinatur. A radiant blend of solar oils: golden amber, saffron, heliotrope, hibiscus, citron, frangipani, frankincense, tangerine, mock orange, and orange blossom. Once the amber kicks in, this is to die for. In the bottle and wet, the first thing I get is lots of soft (as opposed to juicy) citrus and creamy floral, and something almost sharp and harsh --maybe that was the saffron and frankincense before they dried down, I dunno. Once the amber begins to amp, this gets warm and a little sweet, with a muted orange tone, all grounded nicely by the frankincense. I'm even getting the saffron and yay! it blends seamlessly. The whole thing is so balanced and smooth. This a very cozy, comforting blend, almost a softer, fruitier version of Sol - more feminine and without the spice. I love that this is warm and golden without using any allspice or anything that would make it smell like a Yankee Candle, and yet I still get that homey, kitchen vibe from it. This is wonderful...I'm so happy that I finally have my golden sunny scent!
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THE SNOW MAIDEN The Snow Maiden is the daughter of Spring and Frost: as lovely as the first snowfall, and as striking as a sliver of icicle. Isolated because of her chilly otherworldly nature, and unable to know love, she longed for the companionship and warmth of mortals. One bright, white winter's day, the Snow Maiden came upon a gentle, handsome shepherd named Lel. She grows fond of him, and beseeches Mother Spring to grant her the ability to feel. Her mother is moved by her daughters plight, and blesses her, but the moment the Snow Maiden is struck by the depth of love she feels for Lel, her heart warms, and she melts. Ylang ylang, osmanthus, spring berries, and daffodil cloaked in hoarfrost. In the bottle: The daffodil and hoarfrost carry with it the chilly pine scent added to the somewhat acidic daffodil. The berries bubble up after the pine and remind one certainly of Ice Queen, it can't be helped. However, she's gentler. Wet: The Ylang ylang and osmanthus snake out of the bottle and mute the pine scent. I'm glad of this as I love the winter scents but really don't like pine nor mint. When this is wet it becomes a touch incensy. Drydown: The pine takes more of a back seat and lets the berries dance. I can barely tell her aparty from Ice Queen to be honest. But she's kinder, and as I am not so much of a pine fan I prefer this to the Ice Queen's harshness, but when she grows up she wont be Snow White.
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SNOW-FLAKES Out of the bosom of the Air, Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken, Over the woodlands brown and bare, Over the harvest-fields forsaken, Silent, and soft, and slow Descends the snow. Even as our cloudy fancies take Suddenly shape in some divine expression, Even as the troubled heart doth make In the white countenance confession, The troubled sky reveals The grief it feels. This is the poem of the air, Slowly in silent syllables recorded; This is the secret of despair, Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded, Now whispered and revealed To wood and field. The radiance and desolation of winter. Crystaline, brital, beautiful, unique. In the bottle: Delicate, the most ephemeral mint. (But with something fruity sweet just lingering on the outskirts of oral perception.) Wet: The notes are so very very hard to pick out. Their is something Juicy hiding in there, and something sweet. The mint nearly disappears on the skin. It's a perfect winter scent without the pine and even without the mint. The mint disappears to leave just that subtle chill that makes this a gorgeous winter scent. I have to admit it reminds the nose of Snow White. That juicyness is still in there... whatever it is. Drydown: There is a mysterious sharp note that blooms later, it takes this to neither floral, nor fruity... It is not accosting either. It's just... pretty. This scent is .. magical. I can barely pick out any note, but the way the smells mix together.... Huzzah. Well done! Trully a piece of art.
