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Showing results for tags 'Yule 2018'.
Found 111 results
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Sharp, deep green, and resinous. Deep fir, smoky vetiver, and musky. The smokiness disappears after a bit, and you're left with a musky fir. Sort of mancave manly?
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Shaggy fur, snow-flecked and rose-touched. The snow in here definitely smells minty. Like a snow-covered rose, with just a hint of mint. The shaggy fur isn't really coming through, but there is a slight warmth to the blend when it dries it my hair. Lasts for a few hours before fading away.
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As red as blood, as sweet as death, and as green as rebirth. The red currant starts out pretty strong. We're talking about 80% red currant, and 20% juniper berry. When it dries in the hair, it's more of a 50/50 split for me. This is like red currants that were hanging out in the woods with some pine trees. There's almost some kind of lemon scent present as well... or perhaps that's just my nose being crazy. It smells more festive than I thought! I also like it much more than I originally anticipated as well; I love red currant, but I wasn't sure about the juniper berry. Lovely!
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Matted fur, oakmoss, and clove. Furry clove and oakmoss. Yup, definitely. Medium throw and wear length.
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Black Phoenix’s 2018 blob of Christmas Pudding is loosely based on a medieval recipe, and is crafted, as tradition dictates, from thirteen ingredients (representing Christ and his apostles, natch). Thick with treacle, smoky with suet (suet accord, sillies – there’s no mutton fat in this perfume!), and sweet with stirred custard. Oh damn, did I not review this one? According to my notes this one was a cake-pudding (definitely get that custard thing going on!), with molasses (fine, it's treacle) and spice. It was what I would consider a Christmas Pudding/Cake smell. Good throw and wear length.
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The Brutal Ones: dark chocolate, black pepper, and green cardamom. I purchased a bottle of this on the whim that I had all three ingredients in my pantry and loved the smell of them together, haha! I tried it on both myself and my partner. Bottle: Pepper, cardamon, hint of dark chocolate Wet: Very black pepper and cardamom, but not really any dark chocolate that I can tell. I think this would make a good gender neutral scent. Dry: The spices are no longer over-powering and it mellows out quite nicely. It also smells sweet, but I don't really get any chocolate on me. Overall: Really quite like it once the spices mellow, but it's very strong initially. It seems to have a short life on me even after slathering it on, but spices tend to do this to me. A nice spice scent. Update: I tried it again just after posting this and lo and behold I got chocolate! It must have been the splash I put on initially because it's quite balanced and lovely now. On my partner: He got dark chocolate and cardamom, less pepper. It dries down to a nutty, almond dark chocolate and fades into a lightly sweet, very faintly cardamom scent. He also really likes it!
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The protoplasmic ooze results in man. It arrives at thoughts and emotions, it builds lofty ideals and great civilisations. The objector urges that this proof of progress is no proof of the permanence of any personality. No proof, but certainly no suggestion of disproof. Again, we find no trace of waste. Change and the revolution of one form of matter into another are evident to us, but no waste, no loss, is anywhere discoverable. The noblest product of the universe so far as we are certain of it is the rounded and accomplished personality of man. Why should nature everywhere display her absolute incapacity to cast away an atom of her lowest product, and yet be able to plunge into nothingness her very greatest? – the Occult Review, January 1905 A pretense of civility, the height of anthropocentric arrogance: a lime-washed gentleman’s fougere with a pinch of snuff, an insouciant whiff of gin, and the memory of an amorphous, sluggish, protoplasmic greenness. This is what Arthur Conan Doyle’s Tobias Gregson would smell like. A Victorian man, rough-edged but not uncivilized; not outstanding, but dogged; he gets the job done — no matter what. Lime and gin in the bottle. Goes on as a fresh lime cologne. A light tobacco note comes in — is that the snuff? Continues into a masculine cologne and finishes as a somewhat generic lime aftershave. A first cousin to John Watson (the scents, not the characters). This would probably be amazing on a gentleman, but I am a lady.
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Inquiries into the Philosophy and Phenomena of Spiritualism should procure admission to Mr. Morse’s Seances at 15, Southampton Road Holborn, London on Friday Evenings at Eight O’Clock. Don’t be late: polished teakwood, pipe smoke, sugar-clouded absinthe, vetiver, and rum musk. This smells like manly butterscotch at first! Or perhaps like Hot Buttered Whiskey and Tag Upon Avon had a love child. It's a very warm scent, and the tobacco and rum mix to create a sweet, chewy, butteriness. I don't really get much absinthe except maybe when I first put it on, but that's probably part of what's reminding me of Tag Upon Avon. The teakwood is subtle at first, but comes out more in the dry down and grounds the fragrance, keeping the sweetness from turning syrupy, like it is (IMHO) in Hot Buttered Whiskey. This is boozy, but gentler than HBW. I think it could be a cousin of Perversion actually. Very nice. I would totally want to nibble on a guy who smelled like this, but I think it would equally well for a woman.
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Mod Note: There is a review topic for Perchta release years 2008 and 2017 located here. Per our Review sub-forum topic policy, a new review topic has been created for the 2018 release due to an inexact match with previous years' scent description. Perchta, the Shining One, is the Lady of the Beasts, an incarnation of the goddess Holda. She, too, leads the Wild Hunt, and is the protectress of wild animals, and appears to mortals as either a white-clad, white-skinned, white-haired beauty, or as a brutish, bestial hag. She is called Berhte Mit Dem Fuoze; one of her feet is shaped like a beast’s, which gives away her superhuman nature no matter how she is disguised. She is also called Perchta the Belly-Slitter, for, at Yuletide, she castigates the wicked, slovenly, and idle, and rewards those that are generous, good-natured, and kind. The Belly-Slitter enforced community taboos, punishing those that spun during holy days and those who failed to partake in sacred feasts, thus jeopardizing the next year’s harvest. Her punishments can be a bit over-the-top, though: they include disemboweling the transgressor and filling the empty cavity with refuse. Her scent is a blend of wild musk, snow, and alpine flora: Nigritella lithopolitanica, balsam fir, aconite, crocus, touch-me-not, edelweiss, iced sugar crystals, Iris variegate, and violet. This is lovely. It's not the "coldest" snow or ice blend I've ever tried. It's white, powdery, but complex enough to be interesting. It's sweet but not tooth-achingly so. The only notes I can pick out for certain are violet and the barest hint of fir. This is very clean and I'm considering a bottle
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The second series commenced at 15, Southhampton Row, on Wednesday evening. Into the present course, the medium, Mr. Shepherd will introduce some of the more marked peculiarities of his singular performance. He sings at each concert in the soprano voice. A marked peculiarity: tonka bean and red sandalwood with orris, lemon peel, and leather. In the imp: A very light, almost powdery scent. I'm getting mainly the orris, with just a touch of leather and vague sweetness - maybe the tonka? There's a hint of a zing at the tail end, which I'm guessing is the lemon peel, although it's not identifiable as so at this stage. Wet: The orris is still dominant, although now the leather runs a close second. No zing, lemon-y or otherwise, though. No tonka or sandalwood that I can detect, alas. Dry: Tonka and sandalwood arrive to save the day! Now the orris/leather (mainly orris at this point, tbh) combo is elegant and subtle, not overwhelmingly powdery. This now smells like the dusting powder an elegant Victorian or Edwardian lady would use. Still no lemon peel that I can pick up, but perhaps that will improve with age.
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Sir, — After sitting for a short time in darkness, we heard raps on the table and on our chairs, after which the whole room vibrated powerfully. The medium, Mr. Herne, was entranced, but was unable to speak. Mr. Kent then described a female spirit as standing behind Mrs. Berry, with arms extended over her head. Mr. Kent took a concertina from the table, and after playing a few airs, Mrs. Berry requested our invisible friends to whistle an accompaniment, which they immediately did through Mr. Kent I the most magnificent manner I ever heard. Every air which was asked for was at once played, and cadences and shakes were whistled in the most finished style. “Home, sweet home!” was the last air played, and a lovely accompaniment like the singing of birds was given by the invisibles. This terminated a most interesting séance. – M. Pearson, 5 July 1870 The tittering whistles of phantasms: rosewood and rose geranium prickled with pink peppercorn, cardamom, white sandalwood, and frankincense. Cadences and Shakes goes on my skin as a pink-peppered rose geranium on white sandalwood. I find a touch of rosewood when I hunt for it. The rose geranium smells similar to the one in The Fox Sisters. The pink pepper is fun and quirky with it; the pepper and sandalwood give spice and texture to the geranium. In drydown, I start to catch a mild frankincense. It reminds me of the soft frank in Season of Ghosts. I'm not yet sure what I think of this one. I feel like it needs a bit of time to come together more -- it hasn't been here long. I'm interested in how it ages, because I think it might mesh and fill out nicely.
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Red leather, chocolate, and black pepper. I get mainly red leather with whiffs of chocolate and black pepper. If you're into leather blends, give this a whirl. Medium throw and wear length.
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Labdanum and birch tar with leather, orris root, copal, and bergamot. Coca cola resins (hi labdanum), birch, leather and a whiff of bergamot. This one is a resinous-birch/leather blend. Medium throw and wear length. Perfect for those Yule lads.
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Bitter almond, cacao, black cherry, patchouli, and labdanum. Oddly enough, this smells like Cherry coke and a whiff of dusty patchouli. I think the labdanum, combined with the bitter almond and black cherry end up as a sort of cherry cola type smell, and then you get that over a bit of dusty patchouli. Medium throw and wear length.
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Now, suppose this is to be accepted as the rational and scientific explanation of all the phenomena of this order which have been observed since the human race began to conserve records of its own experience. To what conclusion should we be logically forced? The believe in the objective reality of apparitions under such conditions would have to make way for a new conception, but the point which is really at issue between the materialist and the spiritualist would remain untouched. That issue relates to the permanence of the human personality after death. The spiritualist will point you to his own experiences as affording evidence of the permanence of personality. The materialist is certain that all the experiences of which the spiritualist is conscious result from the operation of natural law. But the eternal question of the soul – “Am I an immortal thing?” – is not to be decided either by the proof of the existence of whole armies of ghosts, or by the rational explanation of all apparitional phenomena whatsoever. The spiritualist falls into an easy error in the supposition that a continuance of personality on a new plane implies a permanence of continuity. What guarantee has a ghost of being immortal? Me not he also perish out of his appointed sphere? And why might we not fancy a whole procession of lives in phantom state – each more ghostly, more attenuated than its forerunner – the ghost of a man, the ghost of a man’s ghost, the ghost of a “ghost’s” ghost, until the thin thing fades into nonentity and slips back into the universal element? The materialist falls into an error parallel with that of the spiritualist when he conceives that a rational explanation of all ghostly phenomena has disposed of a belief in immortality. The concept is as independent of evidence, and as unsupportable by evidence as it is indestructible by evidence. We can neither prove nor disprove, but the balance of reason is still upon the side of the believer and it favours strongly the hope of a continued existence and a continued growth. We can but argue from things known. In all nature we find the clearest evidence of law of progress. – the Occult Review, January 1905 Falling into nonentity and slipping back into the universal element: pallid oakmoss and earthy patchouli tumbling into a void of misty lavender, cistus, and white agarwood. Misty lavender, oakmoss, and a whiff of patchouli. Misty is right! This is wispy, ghostly lavender. Medium throw and wear length.
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Birch tar, tobacco, bergamot, ochre musk, and petitgrain. Tar, tobacco, and musk. This one is a dark musky blend. Masculine to my nose. This smells like naughty sexy times with a Krampus. Good throw and wear length.
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Black rose, Baltic amber, leather, white sandalwood, black pepper, and vetiver. Rose, sandalwood, amber and a whiff of peppery leather. I am really getting a ton of black rose from this. It's the most prominent note here. So yeah, rose with hints of everything else. Great throw and wear length. Because, yanno, rose.
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White fir, olibanum, thyme, and leather. I get fir, thyme and a whiff of leather on the drydown. This is very much a green fir smell. It's very fresh and pleasant to smell. Good throw and wear length.
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And when Rudolph had opened the third seal, I heard the third reindeer say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black snowman; and he had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four reindeer say, A measure of peppermint for a penny, and three measures of licorice rope for a penny; and see thou hurt not the egg nog and the gløgg. Snow soaked black with tobacco, oudh, and black magnolia. This one is the scariest Snowman to me because black magnolia turns into wet wool on me, so I'm getting a soggy wet wool with a touch of oudh and tobacco. Great throw and wear length. I actually dislike this so much, it might actually win out as the worst BPAL on my skin in a long long time. But magnolia is a super duper problematic note on my skin, so YMMV.
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And I saw when Rudolph opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four reindeer saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white snowman: and he had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. A wan, noisome slush, pale as peppermint: pestilent snow mounds with mint, white moss, lemon peel, benzoin and frozen sugar cane. Pine, mint, moss and a touch of sugar. This is one of the more traditional Snowmen, I feel. It's piney, cold mint, and a whiff of moss and sugar. It smells like being outside. Good throw and wear length.
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And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second reindeer say, Come and see. And there went out another snowman that was red: and power was given to him to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. Blood-soaked snow, ice-rimmed steel, red tobacco, crushed strawberries, and red licorice. The oil is very red. It's mainly a strawberry tobacco musk with a whiff of snow and sugar (which I am assuming is the red licorice). It's actually much more approachable than I thought. I am mainly amping up the strawberry and the tobacco. It's a sweet, red, blend on me. Good throw and wear length.
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And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth reindeer say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale snowman: and his name was Frosty, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Not quite a jolly, happy soul. Snowballs and carrot seed, vanilla vetiver, and white incense. Piney snow, smoky vanilla incense. This one smells like a slightly more smoky and masculine Skadi actually to me. Good throw and wear length.
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[No additional description provided.] Snow White and Blood Kiss had a baby and this is what it smells like. Snow White snow, cherries, and throaty vanilla musk. Good throw and wear length. UGH this is so good.
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[No additional description provided.] Frostbitten Dodo is possibly an even more confusing Dodo blend than normal. So I get a hint of snow, but then followed by touches of lemon, sugar and mango. As it dries, the snow sort of melts and I get mango, agarwood, and a touch of red musk. The mango is a very faint overlay over everything, and its definitely one of those that transitions fantastically between wet and dry. Low throw, medium wear length.
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[No additional description provided.] Eucalyptus, pine, clove and Indonesian patchouli. This is an intensely eucalyptus-pine blend on wet, and it dries to a more pine-clove-patch blend. Definitely much more masculine. Good throw and wear length.
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