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Showing results for tags 'Yule 2018'.
Found 111 results
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Blackened patchouli, sweet vetiver, labdanum, and honey. I forgot what the notes of this were when I grabbed it to wear this morning, but I've been in love with it all day and now I see why. It's like a slightly sharper cousin to this year's Zoe and the Goat weenie. When first applied it's a blast of smoky patchouli with a hint of vetiver peeking out. As it dries down, the vetiver becomes a bit stronger and the honey appears, as does a scent that I assume is the labdanum. These mix with the patchouli and create a really complex and lovely scent. I love it both freshly applied and hours later. I'm probably gonna need a backup bottle.
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Undoubtedly the greatest marvel of Spiritualism is the materialisation of the spirit form. It is highly interesting to study the gradual development of this phenomenon. It was not till some years after the advent of modern Spiritualism that materialisation was heard of. At first the spirits had power only to materialise a hand or foot, and that very imperfectly; then they were able to produce faces, several sometimes showing at one séance; but even at that time the spirits prophesied that the time would shortly come when they should be able to materialise a complete human form, and walk about in our midst. That time has now come. On two occasions I have witnessed the phenomenon of a spirit reincarnating itself — putting on a material body and dress — the body to all intents a human body, and the dress fabric of earthly produce. The spirit has not suddenly burst on my view in a perfected form, but slowly evolved out of nothingness before my eyes, and again melted away, repeating the process again and again! – Experiences in Spiritualism: A Record of Extraordinary Phenomena Witnessed Through the Most Powerful Mediums, With Some Historical Fragments Relating to Semiramide, Given by the Spirit of and Egyptian Who Lived Contemporary With Her by Catherine Berry A quiet perfume that emerges slowly out of nonbeing: white musk, ambergris accord, coconut, almond milk, and honeysuckle. Wispy, ethereal and enchanting. When first applied, the coconut leads the way, accompanied by the ambergris and almond milk, but it never strikes me as foody. Once it settles in, the musk and honeysuckle show up and I find I'm in love. Almost defies classification. It's not gourmand, not especially floral, but utterly lovely. Definitely back up bottle worthy.
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‘To make frumente. Tak clene whete & braye yt wel in a morter tyl the holes gon of; seethe it til it breste in water. Nym it up & lat it cole. Tak good broth & swete mylk of kyn or of almand & tempere it therwith. Nym yelkes of eyren rawe & saffroun & cast therto; salt it: lat it naught boyle after the etren ben cast therinne. Messe it forth.’ In parts of rural England, the last sheaf of grain from autumn’s harvest were added to a sweet porridge that was eaten on Christmas morning to ensure good health and strength during the dark of the year. Cracked wheat cooked in cream and ale with currants, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Frumenty to me smells like cinnamon, nutmeg and popcorn. I think its the effect of the cracked wheat cooked which smells like a cooked grain, which means to me... popcorn. Spiced porridge if you like. Medium throw and wear length.
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Every year at BPAL, we put up our tiny black Yule tree in the front parlor. It has red lights, and it’s decorated with whatever we have handy. I don’t remember when we got this little tree, but it’s been a Yule staple here as long as I can remember. There are always black and red candy canes on the tree; I don’t know what they actually taste like, because these things have been with us forever and are a bajillion years old. They are probably lethal by now. Red musk, star anise, clove bud, labdanum, opium pod, and black patchouli. Anise, clove, hint of opium and red musk underneath. There's a whiff of mint as well, I swear. This one is an anise-red musk blend. Good throw and wear length.
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A sweet, dark ember of winter pleasure: port wine, brandy, and bourbon simmered with white sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, orange peel, and wild blackcurrant. Black currant, spices, clove and port wine. Boozy black currant! If that's what you're looking for, this is a nice warm blend. Good throw and wear length.
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No minces were harmed in the making of this pie perfume. Figs, raisins, dried cherries, and suet accord (vegan-safe!) steeped in dark brown sugar, crystallized ginger, lemon and orange zest, nutmeg, allspice, and clove, embraced by an apple cider cornmeal crust. This smells strong of nutmeg, clove and allspice, with apples and raisins and hints of other fruit. In other words, this smells like mincemeat as you're making it. Delicious! For all of you apple pie lovers, give this a whirl.
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On the darkest nights of winter, the swirling winds buffet battle cries and the moans of the long-dead on their blue-fingered eddies. Storm clouds rumble in the east, and a host of wailing spirits, wights, and ghouls gibber, drift, and creep through the land. Sleet and champaca, fir needle and opoponax, blue musk and cypress, balsam and snow. This one is slushy wet snow (I get the Ice Queen snow note), with whiffs of fir and blue musk. It reminds me a fair bit to Ice Queen, sans the berries and the blue musk always makes a strong appearance for me in a very distinctive manner. Good throw and wear length. Evocative of the deep cold quiet of a snow day in the middle of the night.
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No additional description provided.] It's Christmas Day at the North Pole. All of the deliveries are done. Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves are chilling with some gingerbread, and Santa is filling his pipe with the good tobacco, the kind that he always saves for this day. I'm a big fan of ginger and gingerbread, whether it's for consuming or smelling. The smell of tobacco has always been pleasant to me. This combination was irresistible. Out of the handful of BPALs I've tried with a tobacco note, this is most similar to Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand. At every stage, gingerbread is in the background, adding a bit of spice to the tobacco. Gingerbread Tobacco is warm and inviting. I could see myself wearing it anytime I want to feel like wearing an olfactory Snuggie.
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Snow and black leather. Very snowy, like Snowball fight in NYC snowy. A sweet, fruitier slush. I'm trying to seek out the black leather. I'm sure it's there, but this is not a leather-forward scent. I get a few hints of the cleaner, crisper cold black leather note but it's supporting the snow. I can imagine this would be a discarded riding crop lying in a snowbank. It's nice, and straightforward, striking more of the pine-slush-snow note buttons rather than leather, which was the opposite of what I hoped. Will take some more wears to get a full impression.
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Clove, honey, and helichrysum. Let this sit a full day from when it arrived. Expectations: Honey and clove seems like a scent that could be made for me. I think I've only tried one other blend with helichrysum/immortelle, but I liked it.** In the bottle: The Lab's honey with something deepening it. It's a little herbal and a little spicy, so the overall effect is less sweet than some of the other honey blends I've tried. On my skin: Wet, the clove comes to prominence first. As it initially dries, the honey is also detectable, keeping the clove from being harsh or biting. Once it starts to settle, the honey increases to become the dominant note though the clove doesn't diminish. But in this phase, it's clovey honey rather than being clove with honey. I can't detect the helichrysum as a distinct note, though it may be what's keeping the honey from being cloying. There is sweetness to this scent, but it's much mellower than some (many?) of the other honey blends I've tried. After another half an hour, I'm drawing the conclusion that this isn't much of a morpher, which is good for me. This a surprisingly comfortable scent. It's sweet and spicy but not flowery or foody. In a perfect world, there would be a touch more clove, but that may well come out with aging. This does have the characteristic strong throw that BPAL honey has on me. In fact, I'm a person with several honey blends and several clove blends, and I feel safe saying those notes are behaving in very characteristic ways on me. So if the description sounds like it will work for you, I definitely think it's worth a try. I'm very glad I ordered my bottle and am now contemplating a second. I don't need to hoard this for all eternity, but it is a blend I can see myself using with some regularity. ** Full disclosure: The other helichrysum/immortelle blend I've tried is Judith and Holofernes, which also has honey -- which may be a factor in why I can't really distinguish the note here. Edit: Not an hour after I posted (but about 2 hours after initial application), and this has become a "second skin" type scent on me. I mean, it has a lot of throw, so it's not a skin-close scent. But it is a scent that works very seamlessly with my skin chemistry. Update 12/25 -- I recently ordered a second bottle of Ninth Lash and another bottle of Bengal (the closest GC scent I can compare this to). Sniffing them both side by side, I think the helichrysum in Ninth Lash is adding a layer of subtle earthiness or herbalness. It's not sharp or pungent, but it deepens the BPAL honey note.
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[No additional description provided.] I am going to apologize in advance for this review, because I don't think it will be that helpful re: the snow note. In the bottle and on my skin, Frostbitten Cheshire Cat is strong on the Cheshire Cat component. So much so, that while I can tell it is indeed Cheshire Cat plus something, it is hard for me to identify what that something is, because the Cheshire Cat has decided to curl up on top of it! This is a grapefruit PARTY on my skin, so if you are a grapefruit lover, and you like Cheshire Cat, you should check this one out. It takes about an hour and a half for it to calm down, and when it does, I still get a lot of Cheshire Cat, but the Frostbitten component is becoming more noticeable. I am still having trouble pinpointing what it is underneath all of this Cheshire Cat, so I will just give a list of things that it is not: it is not the sweet snow note from Snow White; it is not the slushy snow note of Skadi; it is not the intensely minty snow note; it's not the sweet, powdery, pine-y snow of NYC Snowball Fight; it's not the powdery, wintergreen or spearmint-y snow of Winter-Time, and it definitely does NOT have the same snowy component as Frostbitten Zombi, so trying one Frostbitten this year won't really give you an idea of the rest. If anything, it might be a white musk snow, or maybe that's just Cheshire Cat's dark musk mingling with whatever comprises the snow note. If I sniff really close, I get a bit of coolness from the frostbitten note, but it's light, and I never had a cooling sensation on my skin with this like I did with Frostbitten Zombi. I was hoping for Cheshire Cat plus Snow White's snow note. That is not what I ended up getting, but I am still happy that I grabbed a bottle, because Cheshire Cat is one of my favorite GCs, and I love grapefruit.
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Crackling almond wood and the deep sweet smoke of burgundy pitch, Austrian amber resin, black copal, and frankincense. This is just beautiful. It starts off very green and pine-y (burgundy pitch = spruce) and then as it starts to dry down and melt into my skin, hints of smokiness come out and I start to get whiffs of woodsmoke and incense. Not sweet incense, pure and resin-y, with just a hint of smoke. You know how when you burn pure resin incense you smell the resin more than the smoke? This is absolutely that, and the little bit of smoke I get fades throughout the dry down. It’s a very clean, cool, resinous incense, and it makes me think of a tiny church in the middle of a pine forest in the dead of winter.
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The Shining Ones: snow-spattered lavender, bourbon vanilla, white mint, and white amber. I am testing this before it has had a full day of rest, so I will update my review if my experience is different after it has had more time to settle. Schönperchten is a clean, cool scent. It's very lavender-forward at first, but it becomes more of a snowy scent over time. The white mint is present throughout wear, but this a light variety of mint that adds a coolness to the scent without being intense or having a burning effect on the skin. It becomes a clean, powdery scent on me (but not like baby powder), and I am not sure if that is due to the white amber, the snow, or a combination of those notes. The snow in this is not sweet, slushy, or pine-y, nor is it the really minty variety. I think there could be some white musk mixed with some ozone at play here... otherwise, the white amber is going powdery on me even though I haven't had that issue with it before. The bourbon vanilla just adds a light sweetness to the scent after a while and becomes slightly more noticeable after a few hours of wear, but it is not a main player on me. It ends up being powdery snow, white amber, and white mint with a very soft lavender note after three hours of wear. I really enjoy the lavender and white mint, and I think the scent goes well with Brian's photo. It conjures images of white furs and soft, powdery snow. I just wish the beautiful lavender note had remained as strong as it was initially! I am going to let this rest some more and see if the vanilla comes out more as it ages.
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[No additional description provided.] I was really excited for this, as I just loved last Yule's Frostbitten Snake Oil. However, this one was a surprise. I get a faint whiff of Zombi's soil note, but normally wouldn't identify the root as Zombi. Instead this comes off as a beautiful winter forest scent of gentle snow and pine trees and clear air. Imagine walking through a snowy forest on a calm afternoon and you've got this. Throw is average. On the whole, this isn't what I expected but I absolutely love it.
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[No additional description provided.] In The Bottle: The same slightly-lemon ginger-y gingerbread I got from another in this series, with coffee bean and smoked vanilla. As with that scent, the only thing I get from first sniff in the bottle is the gingerbread and no supporting characters. Wet On Skin: INTERESTING. Rather than the death-cologne version of oudh that sometimes happens with my skin or the yummy incense version, I get neither- instead I'm getting a death of spice that's adding to the gingerbread whilst taking away its foodie aspect. Dry Down: This reminds me *strongly* of one of the really old Tree of Life / Kabala scents from around 2005 or 2006. It's definitely not Hod but I'm not sure which one it's reminding me of. There's something that reads as intense and meaningful and spiritual about this, though, which is sometimes an aspect of oudh that gets overlooked I think. It feels like there's a reverence that it carries, something that I'm going to reach for during this long, cold winter ahead on grey days when I need to remember that winter is a necessary time of contemplation. Beautiful and deep, like Frost's vision of a winter forest at nightfall.
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[No additional description provided.] In The Bottle: This one is sweet, rich, slightly creamy and just a hair spicy upon first sniff. The lavender is definitely present, but not at the forefront. Wet On Skin: Lavender sugar is most of what's happening here, I can't say I'm really getting the gingerbread much, but this isn't the same as the lavender sugar I experience with TKO, let's say. I think the gingerbread is softening the lavender somehow, though it's not exactly foodie, though it IS slightly sugary. Dry Down: That has, in fact, become a daytime-wearable version of TKO. I get no gingerbread (the inverse of Gingerbread, Coffebean and Smoked Vanilla- so perplexing!) just a lovely, soft sugary lavender. Very comforting, this is a scent easily work during the day and I anticipate reaching for it to mix with some similarly comforting scents, like the 2017 re-release of Antique Lace. Lovely! ❤️
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[No additional description provided.] In The Bottle: Mostly gingerbread, with a little of that extra-lemony aspect that fresh ginger frequently has. Wet On Skin: The gingerbread is, like, REAL gingerbread. I'm getting the lemon, the cake, the spice, the sharpness. It's really different than my previous experiences of the gingerbread single note (like, say, in Gingerbread Snake Oil). I'm liking it- but I also hope that the coffee and vanilla come out to play soon! Dry Down: Astoundingly, I am getting ZERO coffee from this. Which is odd, because coffee notes usually sit well on my skin -they don't amp, but they are *very* present. The vanilla has finally made an appearance, but I'm not getting the smoked aspect, either- this is more like gingerbread with a little dollop of vanilla cream plooped right on top. It's delicious, and I'm betting will get better with age, but it's not the scent that I thought it was going to be. If you're hoping for a coffee-heavy scent, check out some of the other 2018 Yule offerings, cause you might be sad about that with this one.
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Unearthly howls reverberate in the shadows of a darkened wood: black cedar, yew berries, juniper and frost-crusted moss, crushed beneath a shaggy spectral black musk. Frostbitten Malediction and Skadi had a baby in a pine forest. Love it! Goes on sweet, slowly turns dark.
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Blueberry-filled sufganiyot, blooping blue with jelly. GUYS. Guys. Not to sound (too) dramatic, but I've been DYING for a blueberry sufganiyot scent. I am beyond excited to get my hands on this and try it out. Wet: Very rich blueberries! Like a rich blueberry jelly or jam. There's a slight hint of a pastry note, but the blueberry jelly is pretty strong. Dry: I'm trying to think of a word that's better than "delicious" but I'm coming up short. This is an incredible, rich, blueberry jelly donut scent. While the blueberry jelly scent is still stronger than the pastry note, it's much more prevalent when the scent dries down. I had stupidly high expectations for this scent, and I'm not disappointed at all. I may need a backup bottle, which is rare for me. I've just been JAMMED. (... at Jamm Orthodontics.)
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During the year 1896 considerable stir was created by the investigation of Dr. Hippolyte Baraduc, of Paris, in the line of “Thought Photography,” which is of interest to psychic investigators generally. Dr. Baraduc claimed to have gotten photographic impressions of his thoughts, “made without sunlight or electricity or contact of any material kind.” These impressions he declared to be subjective, being his own personal vibrations, the result of a force emanating from the human personality, supra-mechanical, or spiritual. The experiments were carried on in a dark room, and according to his statement were highly successful. In a communication to an American correspondent, printed in the New York Herald, January 3, 1897, he writes: “I have discovered a human, invisible light, differing altogether from the cathode rays discovered by Prof. Roentgen.” Dr. Baraduc advanced the theory that our souls must be considered as centers of luminous forces, owing their existence partly to the attraction and partly to the repulsion of special and potent forces bred of the invisible cosmos. A number of French scientific journals took up the matter, and discussed “Thought Photography” at length, publishing numerous reproductions of the physician’s photographs; but the more conservative journals of England, Germany and America remained silent on the subject, as it seemed to be on the borderland [Pg 199]between science and charlatanry. On January 11, 1897, the American newspapers contained an item to the effect that Drs. S. Millington Miller and Carleton Simon, of New York City, the former a specialist in brain physiology, and the latter an expert hypnotist, had succeeded in obtaining successful thought photographs on dry plates from two hypnotized subjects. When the subjects were not hypnotized, the physicians reported no results. As “Thought Photography” is without the pale of known physical laws, stronger evidence is needed to support the claims made for it than that which has been adduced by the French and American investigators. “Thought Photography” once established as a scientific fact, we shall have, perhaps, an explanation of genuine spirit photographs, if such there be. – Hours With the Ghosts; Or XIX Century Witchcraft by Henry R. Evans Mercury-limned lavender, palo santo, and ambrette seed. First impressions from a bottle that landed this morning: I know some people associate lavender with sleep scents, old lady smells and/or medicine, and kudos for all of those things, but thought photography is a blend that shows her potential as a sophisticated note in an elegant perfume. Beautiful strong musky lavender, reminding me of bpal's 18 June 1860. Not getting much Palo Santo at this time. Big throw and great longevity.
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A holiday creation of Lilith’s! Squished strawberries and gingerbread with a touch of French vanilla and mint. Sweet strawberry candy, whiff of vanilla and gingerbread. It's a ton ton ton of strawberry candy on me. For those of you that like candy blends, give this a whirl. Good throw and wear length.
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[No additional description provided.] This has only been off the mail truck for about two hours, because I couldn't wait any longer. In the bottle it's pure, luscious gingerbread. When it's freshly applied, I smell like my favorite kind of gingersnap: thin and a little crispy, like a pepparkakor from Sweden. There's even a little bit of a lemony note, but that subsides as it dries. It ends up as a perfect gingerbread that I want to eat.
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The dawn of the Eddic and Skaldic poetry heralded Iceland’s long and rich history of literary culture. Since World War II, there has been a tradition in Iceland called Jólabókaflóðið, or the Christmas Book Flood. It begins with the release of Bokatidindi, a catalog of the season’s new publications. Gifts of books are exchanged on the 24th of December, and Christmas Day is spent reading with your loved ones. This year, we’d like to add a few droplets to the flood. For every purchase of Svarta Fönix Bókaflóð, you receive the Svarta Fönix Bókaflóð perfume, a carefully selected used book purchased from Los Angeles booksellers, and a portion of the proceeds from each bottle will be donated to Project Night Night, an organization that provides security blankets, age-appropriate books, and plush toys to homeless youth. A warm cup of chai, the purr of a bookstore cat, and a roaring fireplace nestled in a library, with books of every size, shape, age, and genre resting on the polished mahogany shelves. In The Bottle: The sweet, smoky scent of the roaring fireplace and the rich smell of the mahogany. A nice start! Wet On Skin: I'm not getting the chai *exactly* but a general warm, resiny spice is what the scent has shifted to. It's very cozy and rich, perfect for a cold, cold winter. I hope it holds! Dry Down: Staying true from application onward, this scent is warm, smoky-sweet and cozy- everything it promises to be, and I'm sure will only get better with age! PS for those interested, the book I received was Positive by David Wellington, which apparently is about zombies, pirates and death cults, among other things. Thanks, Puddin'!
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Gaudeamus omnes in Domino, quia Salvator noster natus est in mundo. Hodie nobis de caelo pax vera descendit. Apologies, I looked for my bottle of Cathedral so I could compare the scent of Cathedral Incense atmo to it (thought that might be most useful to others), but am unable to find it so am working from memory here. But I do think that Cathedral Incense is strongly reminiscent of Cathedral, and that people who like it would like this! I'm getting similar resiny-herbal-sweet vibes, with what smells like frankincense and myrrh with maybe benzoin and styrax? There's a hint of what smells like candle or incense smoke as well, although I wouldn't call it heavy on that element. It's really beautiful and smells like Christmas mass. So glad I got a bottle!
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UNCANNY STORY FROM THE ONSET SPIRITUALISTS Wealthy Widow Becomes a Ghost’s Bride The Bangs Sisters, May and Lizzie, Continue to Startle the Peaceful Residents of a Massachusetts Town – the Spirit Bridegroom Charming May Bands and her sister, the great spiritualists, who, when at home, reside in Chicago, have lately startled the natives of Onset, Mass. This statement means more than might appear on the surface when it is added that that little town is almost wholly made up of spiritualists. Thither the Bangs sisters hied themselves some weeks ago to take part in the summer assembly of the eastern societies. They made their headquarters at Happy Home cottage, where they were daily visited by pilgrims in search of friends and relatives long since in the “other world.” Among those visitors was a rich widow from the far west, who wanted to see her lover, who had been a captain in the United States army. The captain, who came from Maryland, died on the eve of his marriage to the rich widow. For a year she has worn widows’ weeds and longed for even a visit from the spirit of her departed lover. Miss Bangs informed her that she could not only produce the captain’s spirit, but that the marriage ceremony that had been cut off by death would be performed in Happy Home cottage. A few days ago an item was given out for publication to the effect that the ceremony had been effectually performed some days before. In speaking of it May Bangs said: “I materialized the form and the lover came out of the cabinet attired in the uniform of an army officer. The premises had been previously examined to prove that there was no mortal about. The materialized spirit asked that the curtains be drawn for a while to shut off the front parlor. The bride wanted him to put on her slipper, and he did. “Only a faint light shone through the room where the minister and others were waiting. He kissed her numerous times. The bride was in a new wedding dress. Then the materialized spirit lover requested that the marriage ceremony be performed, and the request was granted. He placed a ring on her finger. They were together a long time that evening.” – Fort Wayne Sentinel, September 10, 1894 Misted roses and the memory of cologne, salt-wet and bittersweet. The Spirit Groom is gentle rose and salt water on me, like roses and tears. The 'memory of cologne' is very subtle, almost an insinuation more than a note. The first time I tested this, I wasn't sure it would be 'me', despite the lovely rose. But the second time I tested it, it really bloomed on my skin and I found that I kept bringing my wrist to my nose for the watery rose. So I guess this one is a keeper!
