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Showing results for tags 'Yule 2018'.
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I can only consider departed spirits and ministering angels, as one innumerable company continually surrounding us. And are they not as nearly united to their fellow soldiers now, as when in the body ! What should hinder ? Gratitude and affection are natives of heaven, and live for ever. Forgetfulness is a property of mortality, and drops off with the body. Therefore, they that loved us in the Lord, will surely love us for ever. Can anything material interrupt the sight or presence of a spirit ? Nay,— ‘Walk within walls no more the passage bar, Than unopposing space of liquid air.’ – the British Spiritual Telegraph, Vol. 3 No. 6, April 1859 Blackened opoponax and frankincense smoke shrouded in wilted roses, black taffeta, and tear-stained lace. A deliciate, somber, soft rose...this scent reminds me of Antique Lace and the Best Lies with some incense wafting through. The rose is pink and faded but still slightly juicy, with a bit of muskiness, but darkened to a lovely sepia around the edges. Wistful and unassuming, but still well estabilished.... I can see this scent fitting in nicely anywhere.
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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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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 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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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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[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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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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This is the scent of a freshly assembled gingerbread house, with swirls of multicolored icing, spice drop lights, meringue snow, pinwheel mint accents, chocolate roof tiles, candy wafer pavers, and jelly candy stained glass. We used a French translation for ‘gingerbread house’ as the name to make it sound fancier. French adds +40% Fancy! A jumble of scents reminiscent of that box of mixed Christmas cookies your grandmother used to make. For all the candy/sugar treats mentioned, this is shockingly not that sweet. I get chocolate , a HINT of gingerbread... and if I keep inhaling I eventually detect the barest whisper of mint and what I think is anise. My skin is notorious for burning off sweet scents so I'll be interested to see how this works on others. The dry down is a mix between Sugar Cookie, Gingerbread Poppet with a touch of Gelt and an indistinct Fruit note that shows up way in the background.
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[No additional description provided.] Cedar, gunpowder, and baking spices. If you were looking for a smoky woodsy with clean cedar top notes and spicy notes underneath, look no further. Very masculine. Good throw and wear length.
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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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YULE CAT The Yule Cat is a gargantuan Icelandic feline that feasts on indolent people who shirk their community responsibilities. Don't be lazy! - idle hands make for a very unpleasant Yule! Malevolent musk, a drop of infernal civet, vetiver, club moss, birch, goosefoot, and rowan. Make sure when sniffing Yule Cat straight from the bottle that you do the wafting thing you learned in chemistry class. I didn't do that at first and it's so strong, it burned my nose hairs and made my eyes water. I don't know what civet or really any of the notes smell like, but directly from the bottle, it's very strong evergreen wood. It's sooooo strong, I was scared to skin test this. But I did anyway. On skin wet: pretty much same as the bottle, but not quite as strong. I'm definitely getting more of the graininess of the wood. It's very... hmmm.... hard to describe... organic feeling, I guess. Drying on skin: It's calming down some, which is great, 'cause really. Yule Cat is potent. I think I might be catching some musk now, but still mostly a freshly cut wood kind of smell. Seems to be fading pretty fast, which is pretty okay with me. lol Dried Yule Cat isn't completely offensive, but I might consider layering this with something that might lend it a bit of sweetness, but that just my personal preference. Overall: very interesting, pretty potent and definitely NOT what I would normally wear. But it's actually turning out to be evocative of something that's teasing the edges of my conscience; I'm finding it inspiring in a way. Not because it's pretty or yummy, but there is a creepy darkness to it that makes me think of Hollywood villains.
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A melancholy, deep scent, poignant and brimming with nostalgia. The perfume of sugared plums over a breeze of winter flowers. I haven't tried this on my skin yet, but it smells delicious out of the bottle. It smells like a candy or sweet that I of course can't think of the name right now.
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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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Dr. E. S. Packard, of Corunna, Me., in the Eastern Star, states that Mr. David Prescott, of South Sangerville, over ninety years of age, “wandered away into the woods, and not returning, a crowd of over a hundred men hunted for him nearly two days; the mill pond near his house was drained. Search was made in every direction but to no success. “A gentleman of that place decided to call in the aid of Mrs. Stevens; she told him somebody was lost, and not being able to visit the place she drew a map or chart of the locality, giving directions, by which, on his return he was immediately found alive, but died the next day. The day following I was at South Sangerville, and stopping at this gentleman’s house, examined the map, which was perfect in every respect. The house and shed were correctly drawn, the mill and pond near the house were marked, the field and woods, two fences over which Mr. Prescott must climb, even to the swinging of the road by the house was definitely given. “The spot where she said he was, was shown by a large black mark, and he was found exactly in that place. When we consider that Mrs. Stevens never saw this place in her normal condition, it is to me a wonderful test of spirit power.” Absolute and perfect clarity: rockrose, white amber, Corsican immortelle, Siamese benzoin, white sandalwood, and life everlasting. Sniffed, I get clouds of sweet sandalwood incense and white cotton -- not "clean laundry," but something white and cottony and opaque. I think this particular iteration of white amber is doing the powdery thing. It's not floral-forward, though the flowers advance as the blend wears down. Mostly, it's reading as benzoin/sandalwood dusting powder. There's a non-foody but vanilla-like sweetness (probably the benzoin, which contains vanillin). Also, somehow, the blend smells white. The vanilla-resin-powderyness makes me place it in the XYZ Lace family of Lab blends (e.g. Antique Lace, Black Lace, Red Lace). So this is... Psychic Lace.
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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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A smoldering bundle of pine needles, bark, and resin with myrrh, frankincense, and burgundy pitch. Pine Smoke hair gloss is like a Christmas tree + church incense for my hair. I was hoping it might have the same vibe as my beloved Frankincense and Pine Pitch atmo, and yes, it does. The ‘smoke’ element is not too strong, more of a suggestion than outright smoke. I’m glad for that, as I’m not sure I’d want my hair to smell overly smoky. Delightful!
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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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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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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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KNECHT RUPRECHT I came here from the forest I tell you, it is a very holy night! All over the tips of the firs I saw bright flashes of golden light; And from above, the gates of heaven I saw with open eyes the Christ-child and as I wander through the dark forest I hear a light voice calling me. "Knecht Ruprecht" it called, "Old man Lift your legs and hurry! Fast! The candles alight the gates of heaven open wide old and young shall rest from the hunt of life and tomorrow I shall fly to earth as it shall be Christmas again!" I said: "O dear master, Christ My trip is almost at an end; It is only this one town / where the children are good". "Do you have your sack with you?" I said: "The sack, it is here; apples, nuts and almonds solemn children do enjoy". "Do you also have your cane?" I said: "The cane, it is here. But only for the bad children, to hit their right rear". The Christ-child spoke: "That is good; So go with god my faithful servant!" I came here from the forest I tell you, it is a very holy night! Speak now how I find it here Are the children good or bad? The snow-covered foliage of the Black Forest and the fruit and woods of apple and almond trees. I've used the search engine and searched all through the reviews several times and could not find this oil listed. I am surprised I am the first to review it. Knecht Ruprecht is a totally unexpected favorite in all the Yuletide oils I ordered. In fact, it is ranking side-by-side with my beloved Queen of Diamonds for all-time favorites. This creation defies even Beth's description. Snow covered fir of the Black Forest? Yes. Fruit and apple wood? Yes. Almond wood? No clue, actually -- but if Beth says so, then Yes. It's all there, and so much more! Knecht Ruprecht is an exquisite oil providing intermittent wafts of scent for hours, just as uplifting as the first application, and then softens to a sultry warmth. I absolutely L O V E it, and will probably be wearing it well into and through the summer.
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[No additional description provided. Scent description for Dorian is here.] In the bottle: Slightly chilled Dorian. The musk and fougere of Dorian mingled with the chilly sweetness of Snow White. Wet: On my skin, I'm getting powdery snow and Dorian. The snow note is not ozone-y or extremely minty, nor is it citrus-y or of the slushy variety. Although I do get a sufficient amount of the cold component and Dorian, the frostbite note is more prominent on me. As it begins to dry down, the chilly part of this particular snow note ends up increasing in strength. Dry: It's a lot sweeter now, thanks to the sweetness from the snow note and the sugared vanilla tea from the Dorian (which always ends up being a dominant note once dry on me). I applied Go to Sleep, Darlings on my upper arm for reference (which features the snow note from Snow White without the floral notes). At first, Frostbitten Dorian isn't as sweet, but the scent becomes sweeter over time. It is a blustery day in the hundred acre desert, and as I was walking around outside, I kept getting hit with the same magical chilly sweetness that I get from Snow White. Verdict: Hoard-worthy.
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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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My most remarkable experience has been with Dr. H. Slade of New York, for whom I have formed a high regard. I first met him at his residence last November, when, without announcing my name, in three consecutive sittings, at eleven o’clock in the morning, seated at a small, bare table in the centre of a light room, there written on the under side of a slate placed on the table, several communications addressed to me, purporting to come from my deceased friends. I pass over the other manifestations – such as the movement of heavy articles of furniture in plain view, without visible contact – and confine myself to the writing on the slate, which I regarded with most interest… – Thos. W. Waterman, Binghamton, NY, July 14, 1873 The result of a physical law which is not yet understood, and the existence of which has hitherto scarcely been suspected: beeswax candles, chalk, and dust. In the Bottle: Rich beewax and a little bit of a dusty background On the Skin: The beautiful lab beeswax note, rich and sweet. The dry chalky note and dust emerges quite quickly to dry out the blend and tone down the sweetness of the beeswax. I am loving the chalkiness. On the Drydown: Stays fairly consistent through the drydown as a dusty beeswax but the beeswax amps up every now and then. I love it.
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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.
