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Showing results for tags 'Yule 2016'.
Found 114 results
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In Latvia, the Ziemassvetki, or Winter Party, is a celebration of the birth of Dievs, the Sky God and Supreme Ruler of the Latvian pantheon. The two weeks prior to the Ziemassvetki is Ve?u laiks: the Season of Ghosts. Candles are lit to honor the gods and a fire is kept burning throughout the Season, burning away the unhappiness of the previous year so men's spirits can be renewed. At the feast of the Ziemassvetki, places are left as a courtesy to the ghosts, who arrive by sleigh. A scent created to burn away sorrow: bergamot, frankincense, rose geranium, ginger, lemongrass, and blood orange. I bought Season of Ghosts, because I know there is some sorrow coming up for me that I'm really going to want to burn away. Winter is always a difficult time, but this one is sure to be one of the worst. In the bottle, first sniff is sort of soapy, but with something soft and warm. The oil itself is very dry. ... or maybe that's my skin. Wet on, it is not so soapy now. i can definitely smell the rose geranium and the lemongrass. This isn't really bright and citrussy, though it definitely does have citrus. something is sort of dusty, maybe that's the frankincense? I think this will actually work! Yay. A soft scent for sad days.
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Ghastly misshapen branches casting long, twisted shadows and clutching at you with prickly needle-like fingers: pine pitch, bone-white dried fir, and spruce tar with opoponax and blackened tobacco. First off, take this review with a bit of salt. I just got it in the mail this morning and my bottle was so cold it misted up when I took it out of the box. But I was dying to try it, so here we go. ITB: Pine and something almost lemony sharp. Unsettling for sure. Wet: That lemony thing is totally gone, replaced by a sweet pine. The combination of the balsams and the pine is both sweet and dark and very masculine on me. Evil christmas tree is very much the right frame of mind for this. It's obviously pine and tree resin, but something else lurks in the background that's a little sweet, a little unsettling and very wonderful. Drying: Opoponax tends to be a sweet resin on me, and I can really notice that sweetening here. It's still a very dry scent, but there is something almost fruity about it, the way I had hoped Skadi's berry note would behave. I can barely notice anything I could call tobacco, which is a shame because I love it, but there is something blackened about this for sure. Right now it's prickly to the point of being a bit sneezy when I really huff it, but its not at all cleaner fluid, which I was worried about with all the pine. Dry: Surprisingly sweet. While there is still a bite to this, it settles into something that's a lot more unisex than I expected from the first initial blast of pine and woods. The brightness of the pine takes a back seat and I'm starting to get a wee bit of the tobacco, which I expect will be more pronounced as this ages and develops. My other really woody blend in my collection is Jupeterian Phoenix, which is an amazing and very snuggly wood scent. This, while still being wood dominant, is like JP's evil brooding brother. It's dark, pine rich and really wonderful. I made a good choice for my single bottle Cyber Monday purchase.
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Shadowy lavender oudh. Anyone remember the I Am Tired of Tears and Laughter perfume oil? Oh yeah...this is similar. Simple and beautiful lavender oudh. I have secretly been wishing for a lavender bath oil to use as an in shower moisturizer and bought it immediately. I will cherish this bottle. Eta: I just used this in the shower...it is a lovely, dark lavender. Love it.
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And cares long, long, forgotten: joyful sugared carnation and vanilla freesia. Oh my. If you love carnation and vanilla do not let this pass you by. This is the carnation perfume of my dreams. It is a true carnation and, while I don't smell freesia yet, the vanilla is prominent. I don't often smell vanilla when it is listed, but here I smell it. Lovely. Stunning. I love it. Eta: I just wanted to say that I get absolutely no honey here, not even a vibe (I cannot wear honey) just for those of you who cannot wear honey and are interested in this scent. I know honey is not listed as a note but whenever I read a review where someone so much as mentions honey I run...
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This is the scent of an awkward encounter with a Yule-evoked doppelgänger mate: spectral cologne, blurry herbs, fireplace ash, and a dusting of crumbs. Dorian Dopplegänger! Dumb Cake smells like Dorian on the other side of the looking glass. The spectral cologne note is pretty great—like a luminous Dorian. The blurry herbs and dusting of crumbs are very faint...there's just an edge of something foody here, like white cake and the barest hint of perhaps rosemary? The ash is also spectral—pure grey-white, rather than gritty, sooty black. It's fantastic, and I will enjoy every drop (and endeavor to get some on my husband, because I think this would be amazing on him).
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Théodore Rousseau A wintry tangle of oak and forest mosses against a deepening amber backdrop. The amber in Forest in Winter is actually no mere backdrop; even in the bottle, it's the most potent note to me, and it's beautiful. Green, living moss is the next strongest note. I sniff this and my mind goes a-swirl with gold and green. This doesn't change on my skin from the bottle. It just opens out into a warm, deep amber-bathed mossy forest. This amber gives the woods an impression of glowing. (ETA: Actually, on re-applying this, I think I'm picking up champaca, too.) The blend is a little sweet, and quite smooth. As it dries, the oak comes out, smelling like a wise, old tree still in verdant health. There's a touch of cool frost so faint it's barely there, mostly adding a lighter tint to the greenery. The rest of the blend smells like mature and lazy summer. Perfect for me.
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Black leather accord, lavender, myrrh, and vetiver with white cognac. With the note list, I was expecting a strong leather-myrrh-vetiver kick, but initial application, it smells of lavender, much lighter than anticipated. The leather does come out. Six hours after spraying, I sill had an attractive smell in my hair, including an intriguing note I could not identify. Low throw.
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With any luck, you won’t even remember the holiday season’s awkward family gatherings. In The Bottle: Rich brown sugar and butter. YUM! Wet On Skin: Yep, there's the whiskey! And it's REALLY whiskey. This isn't some cute "oh that's kinda boozy" note. This is straight up hard-drinkin' Jack. Dry Down: The whiskey mellows and the combination becomes, amazingly, like Snow White with vanilla extract added. In All: a lovely, soft skin scent- it's got very low throw, so you may have to slather- it seems to me like it's a good stand-alone daytime scent, but there's also potential to do some fun stuff with layering. so glad I got a bottle!
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Edvard Munch A snow-thick scent, chalky with sandalwood and clove, streaked iron-orange and tonka-brown. My decants haven’t come yet, but I got to sample my friend’s decants with her last night. Some snow notes come across as plasticky or chemical to me, but I’d found that the one in Tres Riches Heures is lovely. It reads to me as coldness + mint + a little vanilla. Winter Landscape opens, to my nose, with that same snow blend. At first I only get this snow, but with a subtle sandalwood instead of Tres Riches Heures’ blue musk. I don’t find any other notes and (like Tres Riches Heures) this opening is simple but pretty. After some minutes I find what might be hints of orange and clove. The former is so subtle on me that I didn’t even notice it when first testing last night. The latter is also soft, but more noticeable than the orange. They color the blend but don’t come close to overwhelming it. By drydown, some of the snow has melted away, but it lingers, blended with an orange-tinted, cloven sandalwood. The clove has strengthened on me slightly but hangs in balance, and the sandalwood stays soft. I never smell iron or tonka. Low throw and lasted a couple hours on me last night, somewhat below average for me.
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Soft, sugared shortbread and warm cocoa. After falling in love my first bath oil, I have high hopes for this. (Straight out of the mail) In the bottle, I smell what is listed. Such a warm scent. As it's drying on my skin, the prominent cocoa reminds me of El Dia de los Reyes. I wish I was getting more shortbread, but there is a light yummy cookie-ness under this. I would so love to take a bath in this when I get the chance. Super cozy!
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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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Held on December 5th, this is the festival of the Horned God of the Forest, one of the di indigetes of Rome, god of cattle, fertility, wild, untamed nature, and prophecy through dreams. The scent of a thick, starlit, unspoiled forest, with a burst of wild musk, opobalsamum, black bryony, mandragora, and hemlock. The label art on this is a little strange, a dapper young man riding Krampus. The dood on Krampus has a Victorian mustache. Anyways... Sniffed from the bottle, this is a sweet, cool pine with a touch of a skin-musk, sort of like Coyote / Ivanushka. On the skin, this scent develops a little bit of the metallic snap of pine, similar to Black Forest/Nocnitsa (without the dirt). It's not a sharp, airy pine by any means, and there may be a hint of snow but this is not a predominant note. The scent dries down to a soft, snuggly Coyote-esque forest aroma, with the pine and woods being a full, rounded note as opposed to bracing. It's actually quite nice and close to the skin, and if you're scared of 'forest' notes, you shouldn't be of this one!
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Days of Winter Sunshine "Are the days of winter sunshine just as sad for you, too? When it is misty, in the evenings, and I am out walking by myself, it seems to me that the rain is falling through my heart and causing it to crumble into ruins." - Gustave Flaubert Rain falling through the heart: carrot seed, frankincense, white jasmine, sea buckthorn berry, and iris. This, this is goooood. It's a light jasmine with a hint of fresh green and a touch of the sea. Dry down is mostly frankincense and jasmine, I looooves it!
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Jean Audran Grey amber and elemi, white cypress, shadowed musk, guiac, labdanum, and black ti leaf. First application on skin, I get the lovely labdanum with a light quality. However, the perfume darkens and I swear I get a licorice note (nope, not listed). From there, it morphs into a swirl of light musk. On me, a skin scent. A bit confusing, but pleasant.
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[No additional description given.] Yeah. It's uuuuugh...an actual lump of coal! You know that sooty, dry, slightly sulfuric note from La Befana? Or Brimstone? Take all the prettiness off of those and turn it up to 11. No joke.
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Caspar David Friedrich A gravestone of polar ice. For real? No one has reviewed this yet? This is just a gorgeous scent. It's one of nine (!!!) I got blind bottles of this year because the Yules were just that awesome. In bottle: I get a faint hint of the BPAL snow note and something very sweet, a little green, and floral that has just a hint of wallpaper paste--but not in a bad way. I have absolutely no clue what this is, but it's gorgeous and not at all something I'd expect for a scent with this description, as I expected Sea of Ice to be more like Hypothermia from 2009 or Nuclear Winter. Applied, wet: Paste isn't a problem at all, and this becomes sweet, refreshing, and vital and faintly aquatic. But just faintly. This makes me think of glaciers with the warmth of the sea nearby. Of meltwater, of--wait for it!--the ocean with ice floes in it. Incredible. Drydown: The same, but marginally more aquatic. Has a fairly decent throw, seems that it will last moderately on my skin. This is just spectacular. I may need a backup bottle before the Yules come down.
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Once upon a time, there lived a stone-hearted, evil butcher and his grasping, covetous wife. Their shop was located near a parochial boarding school in a small village in eastern France. One day, three little boys passed the butcher's shop. Their clothes were neat and starched, and the wicked couple fancied that they could see gold stitching on the little boys' shirtcuffs. The butcher's eyes gleamed with avarice, and he hatched an evil plan to rob the children. His wife enticed the little boys into the shop and fed them poisoned sweets. Her husband then slit their throats, chopped their little bodies into pieces, and put the pieces into barrels. Good Saint Nicholas discovered the monstrous crime, and, through God's grace, resurrected the little boys. He confronted the vile butcher and forced him to atone for his crime. The butcher became Le Père Fouettard, Saint Nicholas' partner on his Christmas travels. Dressed in a soot-covered black suit that mirrors Father Christmas' suit of red and white, he travels with Saint Nick and dispenses coal and floggings to naughty children. Whip leather, coal dust, gaufrette, and black licorice. This is really different...in a good way. It has this odd sweet but not sweet scent. I really get the licorice full on with leather afternotes. Then you do get a hint of coal-kinda strange. This smells really good on me, I can really rock the leather and licorice for some reason . I'd recommend it for those that have that body chemistry where only food or non-floral scents smell good (like me).
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Vincent Van Gogh Cypress and black juniper, fir balsam, oakmoss, benzoin-laced snow, and the last remaining leaves of autumn. In the bottle, this is cold juniper, with something vague but sweet in the background drawing me in. On my skin, the balsam comes out, and the sweetness resolves itself as dead leaves, rather than the benzoin I had been expecting. After a while, the cypress rears its head, but this is primarily juniper and leaves for me, which is not remotely a complaint! This is a scent that starts off very sharp, but softens over time. Grant me poetic license: it's like leaving my house to a shock of cold air, then making camp in a thicket of fragrant trees. The coldness doesn't leave, but it's overwhelmed by what surrounds it.
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Abraham Blowmaert Soft brown leather and glowing embers of amber tinged with blood orange and crimson musk, and flecks of night-black coal dust. I'm not great with picking out these notes. They swirl together into an almost earthy scent in the bottle. Wet, it's much brighter. I get some juicy blood orange wrapped in brown leather. I don't know if I'd call it soft, though. It smells like a more rugged outdoor jacket. I also get something prickling in my nose like vetiver does, but it isn't the same. Maybe the coal dust? Dry, the leather has softened and the other notes have blended into each other really neatly. Whatever was prickling my nose mellowed out and dovetailed with the orange. I'm not experienced enough to pick out amber, but the whole scent has a richness and I'm thinking that the amber is what's stitching all of these elements together. I quite like it and I think it would be a pretty solid unisex scent.
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Ivan Shishkin Snow-draped fir, spruce, and pine. I love pine and snow scents, and this year there was a lot to choose from in that department. I went with this one and it was definitely the right choice. It's the perfect blend of a snowy softness and a fresh winter air/forest scent. Some tree scents are far too sharp for me, and sometimes the lab's snow scent doesn't work for me - this completely sidesteps both of those issues. Really glad I blind-bottled this one because it's just gorgeous.
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Fear of Tyrants This has jack all to do with Yule or winter, but it sure does apply to current events. Proceeds from Tyrannophobia benefit the ACLU, thereby helping stem the imminent assault on civil rights. Birch tar, tea leaf, and black raspberry strangled in an iron fist. In the bottle it smells really strongly of raspberry tea. I may as well have stuck my head in a tea chest full a raspberry black tea, it smells just the same. And it stays this way wet and dry. It's really distinct raspberry, not the vague berry smell that sometimes happens. I don't get much of the birch tar till it dries. Even then it's not strong. Again, it's like sticking your head in a wooden tea chest. You notice the tea first, then the wooden container. It's simple but beautiful. I don't get any metal notes for those worried about that, but I'm sure YMMV. For those who are looking for a berry tea, this is strongly advised.
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Perhaps some day, who knows? But not today; it froze, and blows and snows, And you’re too curious: fie! You want to hear it? well: Only, my secret’s mine, and I won’t tell. Or, after all, perhaps there’s none: Suppose there is no secret after all, But only just my fun. Today’s a nipping day, a biting day; In which one wants a shawl, A veil, a cloak, and other wraps: I cannot ope to everyone who taps, And let the draughts come whistling thro’ my hall; Come bounding and surrounding me, Come buffeting, astounding me, Nipping and clipping thro’ my wraps and all. I wear my mask for warmth: who ever shows His nose to Russian snows To be pecked at by every wind that blows? You would not peck? I thank you for good will, Believe, but leave the truth untested still. Spring’s an expansive time: yet I don’t trust March with its peck of dust, Nor April with its rainbow-crowned brief showers, Nor even May, whose flowers One frost may wither thro’ the sunless hours. Perhaps some languid summer day, When drowsy birds sing less and less, And golden fruit is ripening to excess, If there’s not too much sun nor too much cloud, And the warm wind is neither still nor loud, Perhaps my secret I may say, Or you may guess. – Christina Rossetti Sweet labdanum, white myrrh, and bourbon vanilla. Clean, light, with a slightly green note. This needs to age for the vanilla to come out. I can't wait to see how it ages.
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Chilly vanilla rose snowballs! First review ever on this site but figured since I had the Pink Snowballs Floof literally 6 feet away I should post. In the cute jar (which i'll probably re-purpose) : Smells like sugary vanilla. Mighty fine, if I do say so myself. It comes with little wooden tongs to grab the floofies. Very light pink color Eating it: Nice, light, and sugary. Exactly how you'd expect cotton candy to taste. It doesn't exactly taste like the cotton candy you'd find at a fair, and i'm not saying that as a bad thing. It doesn't taste like rose essence. (I know that may sound strange but I may have misinterpreted the description for a short while lol) It almost has a mint taste when it melts in your mouth and a slight mint after taste. You really can taste the "chilly" part. It tastes similar to the cotton candy you could by at block buster (remember those things?) and that's not a bad thing either. Reminds me of the olden days with my brother and dad. Certainly a unique cotton candy and, what I feel, is high quality. Would buy again.
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Fear of the Aurora Borealis Hellish shimmering streaks of unholy, alien light: electrically-charged lavender, yellow bergamot, agarwood, blue plum, and a peculiar, discomfiting green musk. Kinda surprised that no one's reviewed this one yet, the Lab's description is so intriguing. This one caught my eye because I'm such a fan of 51 and its green musk, also the inspiration behind it. I'm fairly new to the world of BPAL and this is my first review so go easy on me In the bottle: this is mainly lavender with a bit of bergamot and maybe something a little woody, which I think might be the agarwood. Wet: The lavender, bergamot and agarwood really come together and remind me almost of an essential oil blend to aid sleep, quiet and peaceful, but that is held back by something bright and quite electric in the background, a freshness adding depth which i assume is the green musk. No plum yet. Dry: The green musk has taken over a little bit, although the lavender is still quite prominent, and the plum has appeared! To my nose, it's not a thick, sticky, chewy, blue kind of plum, it's like a super fresh, green on the outside, yellow on the inside plum. Fresh and gorgeous and compliments the green musk perfectly, ties it all together. I think this is a wonderful winter/spring scent, possibly unisex as well. I really like this, it's different and all the notes fit together really well.
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Cedar, cracked leather, a bent twopence, and pipeweed. This is sprayed on my sleeve, as I already have HG in my hair. The cedar is so warm and earthy, it almost smells like patchouli for a second! No pencil shavings here, thank goodness. Either the leather or the metal is a bit chemical smelling, but not too bad. There's some sweetness from the pipeweed. This is mostly cedar though. It's really nice! Something is giving it an almost spicy feel. It's a very warm, glowing type of wood scent. I expect this will change a bit with age, I usually find that happens with cedar, it calms down after a year or two. I don't wear a ton of woody scents, but this is nice, and I am glad to have it to go with my few woody perfumes, but it's not really me, and I don't foresee wearing it a ton, and I think that was the longest run-on sentence I have ever written, but clearly I can't decide how I feel about this. This is unique - mostly cedar, hints of leather, a sense of warmth, a touch of sweetness. I like it. If you like woody smells, I would recommend this. This scent is not hamster approved, none of those horrid cedar shavings here!
