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Showing results for tags 'Yule 2013'.
Found 85 results
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No tower too high, no dragon too mighty! Get in ass-kickin’, self-savin’ gear with this bright, energetic perfume! Orange blossom, neroli, white musk, shimmering amber, yellow sandalwood, Himalayan cedar, radiant saffron, and golden honey. In the bottle: Musk and amber with a touch of orange blossom. Wet: Cedar and saffron with just a touch of musk. I am not a huge cedar fan and I am so worried this is going to over-run all that gorgeous orange blossom and neroli that I wanted from this. Dry: Powdery cedar with a touch of neroli. I am hoping this ages well and the cedar mellows out some.
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On the night of the Epiphany, a joyful, broomstick-riding hag clad in a tattered shawl drops into chimneys all over Italy, bestowing gifts to good children, and dropping coal into the stockings of naughty kiddies. La Befana vien di notte Con le scarpe tutte rotte Col vestito alla Romana Viva, Viva La Befana! As the Three Wise Men searched for the house of the Christ child, they found themselves lost. Eventually, they stopped at a small house and knocked on the door. A small, wizened woman opened the door, holding a broom in her hand. The Astrologers asked the woman if she knew the location of the child, but, unfortunately, she did not know who these men were looking for, and could not aid them in their search. It was deep into the night, and the air was chilly, so the kindly woman offered the three men her hospitality. They spent the night in her warm, comfortable home, and shared bread and stories with one another. The Astrologers explained to the woman why they were looking for this blessed infant, and invited her to join them in their search come morning. Though she was touched by their tale, she declined, as she had a great deal of housework to do. At daybreak, the Astrologers awoke. They thanked the woman for her generosity, gathered their things, and prepared to leave. Before they departed, they, again, asked the old woman if she would like to join them on their journey. Again, she declined, and sent them on their way. After they had left, she regretted her decision, and she set off to find the Three Wise Men. After many long and frustrating hours of searching, she still could not find them. Saddened, yet still filled with hope, she stopped to give a gift to every good child she passed. La Befana comes by night With her shoes old and broken She comes dressed in the Roman way Long life to the Befana! Candy charcoal, winter lilies, parma violet, a sprig of cypress, a poof of chimney dust, and holiday sweets. straight sniff from bottle is purely sweet and gooey....absolutely nothing else ... holy moly...once applied the violet is astonishing and the dust and candy charcoal....ZomG... if you are a violet lover of bpal blends this is for you!! words cannot even describe the beauty and depth of this one...it is heartbreakingly beautiful i love it to death
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Every holiday season should be full of lewd suggestions and filthy double entendres, right? This is a new take on past Lick Its - a peppermint candy cane with an extra jolt of sugar, coated in more sugar, with sugar on that sugar. I'm a fan of the Lick It series. Lick It Now continues the minty goodness tradition, although this one is a bit softer than the last couple of years. It's still very minty, just not slap-your-face minty. A winner!
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Diabolically decadent! Bone-chilling mint swirled in thick globules of marzipan cream. MINT. Mint, mint, mint. Creamy mint. Nothing else!
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Popularized by the reality TV show "Real Cultists of Arkham Hills"! Wow....to be first!! Sniff in bottle: a slightly sweet pumpkin-ish, grainy scent. Maybe that is the treacle? On Skin: Don't get any pumpkin or pecan...although there is a sweetness to it, and that grainy scent. Drydown: Stays the same after a few minutes. Not sure if it's for me...even though I am a foodie lover, especially pumpkin scents, but this seems a bit too grainy. Was hoping for more of a pastry scent...might let this settle since I just got it!!
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Braving the Ice White mint cookies with a drizzle of pomegranate cream, dusted with confectioner's sugar. oh, my- the first review feels like more pressure somehow! And I want to do this one justice, since it's sooooooooooo delicious. I will also add a disclaimer that my skin turns most things into incense and powder/woods, so most sweet scents get toned down a lot on me. I got a bottle of this for a friend and because I'm a stinker like that, I tested a little on my wrist with a q-tip. I immediately ordered myself a bottle. It is taking all of my reserves to walk to the post office and mail it to her! HOLYEFFING*&*!! this is good... In the bottle it smells syrupy sweet, so I was a little skeptical. I was also a little nervous about mint notes as I tend to like soft, warm perfumes. Not to fear! The mint, on me is tame at best, mostly it disappears into the background to add a crispy freshness. The pomegranate cream note blends smoothly with the yummy, buttery shortbread cookie scent and creates a cloud of deliciousness. OMNOMNOMNOM. I don't know if it's my skin or the cream note but there is a musky softness to this that makes it a bit sexy as well, like a skin scent. But, in the end this is all about the confectioner's sugar. I smell like a pretty cloud of vanilla sugar, and it somehow isn't overly sweet but has enough throw to notice. It's all lovely- vanilla-cloudy-softness. My boyfriend LOVES it. And I can totally see this working with an Otto and Victoria theme! Yay! I edited this to say that it reminds me a little of Demeter's Angel Food, which I really like. For days I want to feel feminine and happy.
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Iced blackberries, blackcurrant honey, frozen white peach, and sweet vanilla cream. Oh my god, you guys. You guys, oh my god. Oh my god. Ice Princess smells so very good. For reference, I use the bath oils in the bath; I'm sure this will be a bit different on individual people's skin if you're a slatherer. Ice Princess is funny, because in so many ways, she's the opposite of what I'd envision from her name (or, I suppose, from the colloquial use it takes on). Rather than being cold or harsh, she's warm and comforting. The cream and (I suspect) the blackcurrant honey take on a sweet edge, in the water, that reminds me a bit of the sort of warm fuzzy-feeling I get from white musk, with a definite fruity edge--mostly it's too well blended for me to pick out a particular fruit, but sometimes I got hints of the peach sort of popping up above all the others, just for a moment. I also smell a bit of something floral, though it's not listed in the notes, and I can't think what I would be smelling--it reminds me of just the lightest touch of rose. Perhaps my brain is tricking me, there, because Ice Princess feels a lot, to me, like Winter Maiden? I can't say, but whatever the reason, I really love Ice Princess.
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Anything BUT jolly! Draped with chains and bells, wielding both whip and rod, this rag-clad, horned, red-skinned, soot-covered leering creature is both the companion and the antithesis of rosy-cheeked and ebullient Kris Kringle. He is called by many names, and, in a myriad of cultures, he is seen with different robes and faces, but he is nevertheless always a sinister and fearsome instrument of Santa's wrath: he wields a switch on all irredeemably naughty children before tossing them into his large black sack and whisking them away. Be good, or Krampus will toss you in a river! Sinister red musk, black leather, dusty rags, and wooden switches. straight sniff from bottle reminds me oh so much of my beloved anne bonny!!! patchouli and red musk...l-o-v-e it!!! OMG...ok, honestly...i was so afraid this would be in the same league as "rat king"...i did want to love rat king....really i did....but it was far too hot and peppery for me... this one is truly, truly nothing as is described...it is all sweet and thick and resinous in the most amazing way possible...after 30 minutes or so, something almost green & herbal...anyway, for those who know me, know my chemistry with leather can be nothing less than spectacular...meaning whatever the masses smell, i usually don't ... but i do know that krampus is amazing on me and i love it beyond belief....gah!!! :D ETA: in my haste and amazement of this gorgeous scent, i found a misspelled word or two.....
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Brian and I made this one for Ted to honor his undying, incessant, relentless love of Abba: silvery snow reflecting myriad glimmers of orange blossom, black currant, pink grapefruit, white mint, sweet plum, and Italian bergamot. ITB: This reminds me of the old-fashioned hard ribbon candy my grandfather used to have out each Christmas. I remember there being swatches of sweet citrus, berry, and peppermint, which is very similar to what this smells like to me in the bottle. Wet: The bergamot comes out warmly on my skin first, followed by the clean white mint, the slightly sugar grapefruit, the plum, and finally the orange blossom. The smells like a combination of fruits being preserved and made into the toppings for a wonderful set of pastries. Dry: After a 12 hour day, nothing remains on my wrist, which warrants a re-application assessment after a few dry-down hours. After a number of reapplications, the scent is warm and softly fruity, like black currants laced with orange blossom, warmed in a tart.
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The Day of Kings, the Celebration of the Magi. In Mexico, on January 6th, children place their shoes by their windows. If they have been good during the previous year, the Wise Men tuck gifts into their shoes during the night. Hot cocoa with cinnamon, coffee, and brown sugar. Right out of the bottle this pretty much smells like hot cocoa to me. It's a milky chocolate. On my skin I can only detect a faint whiff of coffee. The cinnamon does not come out to play til it starts to fade out and it is very, very mellow. I hoped this would be more of a cinnamon coffee scent but on me it is more of a really chocolatey cafe mocha. Chocolate scent lovers will adore this.
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The Miskatonic Valley’s premiere sex shop. Black and red musks with honey, leather, and sugared black rose. In the bottle: Leather, leather and leather! Definitely a black, new leather. Wet: Still just about a single note leather on me. This is really lovely. There's something just a little powdery to it (likely the honey), but not in a way that would ruin it. Very strong, a big throw for me on this. Dry: Leather, leather leather. If I wanted a SN leather I sure got it! I really do like this and I don't mind at all that it's all leather on me, though I would have liked some of that sugared black rose.
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... because the holidays can be really, really frustrating. Blueberry slush with a hint of lime and blackberry juice. Same snow note as Nuclear Winter, very high-pitched and cold/ozone. I also gets lots of lime and that is quite complementary to the snow note. I do get a bit of blueberry up front, but it fades quickly on me (which is fine, blueberry always smells just a tiny bit fake IMHO). There is a slight underlying sweetness and what I would call bitterness, more like blackberry leaf rather than sweet blackberry juice. The sweetness does balance out the cold note a litte but that slushy cold is what stays with you long-term. What is funny to me is that the cold note has a strong throw and the juicy/sweet notes have a short throw so when i bring my wrist close to my nose i get a lot more juicy sweetness but from far away i get more snow. Fun scent
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Yule Cookie Clouds of flour and spices with the scent of ginger tea, warm caraway cakes, snickerdoodle pinwheels, and sugar cookies with sweet orange frosting A direct sniff from the bottle and I thought I had found another yummy baked cookie concoction from the lab with a slightly different note, maybe that is the caraway?? It smells wonderful, but not quite like the other 'baked goods' scents that have been released before. At first when I applied it it was all baked cookie, but within minutes I got some sort of citrus amp that is almost overwhelming! I wasn't expecting the sweet orange frosting to be so... lemony!! It seemed to be the only note I could detect!! That citrus did fade to the background after about 20 minutes, and the ginger tea starting coming out... it really is morphing into something very lovely. Every once in awhile I pick up the sugar cookie or snicker doodle sweetness, but it is the ginger tea that my skin is amping. For my skin chemistry it seems it is more 'Yule Tea' than 'Yule Cookie'.
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The Visionary Silent is the house: all are laid asleep: One alone looks out o'er the snow-wreaths deep, Watching every cloud, dreading every breeze That whirls the wildering drift, and bends the groaning trees. Cheerful is the hearth, soft the matted floor; Not one shivering gust creeps through pane or door; The little lamp burns straight, its rays shoot strong and far: I trim it well, to be the wanderer's guiding-star. Frown, my haughty sire! chide, my angry dame! Set your slaves to spy; threaten me with shame: But neither sire nor dame nor prying serf shall know, What angel nightly tracks that waste of frozen snow. What I love shall come like visitant of air, Safe in secret power from lurking human snare; What loves me, no word of mine shall e'er betray, Though for faith unstained my life must forfeit pay. Burn, then, little lamp; glimmer straight and clear- Hush! a rustling wing stirs, methinks, the air: He for whom I wait, thus ever comes to me; Strange Power! I trust thy might; trust thou my constancy. - Emily Brontë What I love shall come like a visitant of air. The wild freedom of the snow-gleaming heath thrusting through the dull safety of the hearth and the doldrums of the bleak, rolling moors. Lush, honeyed red musk twined with heart-thrilling white musk on passion-warmed skin against a backdrop of raw, iced peat, common heather, and hearth wood. In the bottle: This reminds me very strongly of the scent of a good metaphysical shop, the musk is really very lovely and there's a bit of wood. Wet: Heather and musk! What a gorgeous combination! Dry: Still heather and musk with just a touch of iced peat, this is really very lovely. I want a backup!
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Fainting and gasping, I looked at that unhallowed Erebus of titan toadstools, leprous fire, and slimy water, and saw the cloaked throngs forming a semicircle around the blazing pillar. It was the Yule-rite, older than man and fated to survive him; the primal rite of the solstice and of spring's promise beyond the snows; the rite of fire and evergreen, light and music. And in the Stygian grotto I saw them do the rite, and adore the sick pillar of flame, and throw into the water handfuls gouged out of the viscous vegetation which glittered green in the chlorotic glare. I saw this, and I saw something amorphously squatted far away from the light, piping noisomely on a flute; and as the thing piped I thought I heard noxious muffled flutterings in the foetid darkness where I could not see. But what frightened me most was that flaming column; spouting volcanically from depths profound and inconceivable, casting no shadows as healthy flame should, and coating the nitrous stone above with a nasty, venomous verdigris. For in all that seething combustion no warmth lay, but only the clamminess of death and corruption. Viscous vegetation, slimy water, suffocating incense: death cap and false morel with green frankincense, black copal, Spanish moss, celery seed, and lime rind over stagnant black liquid and decaying kelp. In the Bottle: This smells like putrid, decaying plant matter, like damp, rotting woods and leaves and mushrooms and all the things of the forest. I am not sure I am brave enough to skin test this. D: Okay it took me all day to work up to it, but here you go. Wet on skin: Oh God, gross, get it off!! Very green and rot-y smelling with a sickening sweet undertone. D: D: D: Dry: Sharp, putrid narcissus, like rotting narcissus flowers in the woods where some unholy ritual has been done. Unless the Elder Gods tell me to keep this scent, it will be finding a new home.
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On December 5th, the eve of St. Nicholas day, a veritable storm of Krampi swarm the streets of Bavaria. Wielding sticks and chains, they inspire the hearts of naughty children with terror. Smoke, fur, and rusty chains with apple schnapps, malted chocolate bonbons, and Bavarian mints. Krampuslaufen smells wonderfully of Christmas to me. My grandmother used to bake a truly massive amount of cookies when I was younger. Traditional Polish ones, American ones, Italian ones the recipes of which she got from her sister's Italian mother in law, even Baklava from a recipe she got from an old Greek neighbor. She would give us all of these pack haphazardly in a huge disposable roasting pan. This smells a lot like pulling the foil off of that - not really cookie but all the bits and bobs that went into them. It should be discordant but some how it's not. It doesn't really smell of apple, or smoke, or chains. It smells nothing like what I expected it to. There seems to actually be something like red musk (?) underneath it all tying it together. I don't usually like red musk, but this is reminding me a little of the red musk in Midnight Kiss which I really love. Maybe it's just the way the apple schnapps note is coming across, but I don't smell apple. All in all it's really well blended and kind of hard for my nose to parse the notes, but I like it and I like smelling like it.
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The perfected winter rose, dew covered and freshly cut. Red Rose. Limited edition. My favorite rose so far. This is the first rose scent I haven't melted off within an hour. (I was amazed the first time I wore it. Eight hours, and no need to reapply!) In the bottle, it smells like a rose from the florist - that cold hothouse smell. On, it warms up slightly, but not too much - it's got a slight bite, which is a nice change from most roses that fade to a powdery softness. I'll be very sad when I finish this one.
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A lighthearted winter scent: chilly vanilla rose snowballs! Dainty, soft, and certainly unfit for flinging! Pink Snowballs started out Snow White, with a hint of vanilla, and stayed that way for a while. After about two hours, I smelled it and snow white had wandered away, leaving the vanilla left with a single rose and a hint of her perfume. Rather soft, and pretty.
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For a very gothy Yule. Black licorice slurry with blackcurrant, black fig, and mulberries. In bottle: Mulberry and black current dominant, richly juicy. The fig grounds it and the licorice gives it a bit of bite. This is deliciously designed, if you are looking for a dark berry blend. Wet: The current and mulberry differentiate more one the skin, but still work together beautifully. The berries are flatter and less juicy though still lovely. The fig lends it a gentle warmth. The licorice fades into the background. Dry: Fast fading. Mostly mulberry kissed with currant.
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CHANUKKIYAH Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam, Asher kid'shanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Chanukah. Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam, She'asah nisim la'avoseinu, bayamim ha'hem baz'man hazeh. Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam, She'hecheyanu, vekiyemanu vehigi'anu laz'man hazeh. Olive oil, beeswax, glowing amber, sweet sufganiyot, pomegranate, and fig. Ha'Neiros halalu anachnu madlikin al hanisim ve'al hanifla'os, ve'al hat'shu'os ve'al hamilchamos, sh'asisa la'avoseinu bayamim hahem baz'man hazeh, al yedei kohaneicha hakedoshim. Vechol sh'monas yemei Chanukah, haneiros halalu kodesh hem. Ve'ein lanu reshus le'hishtamesh ba'hem, eh'la lir'osam bilvad, ke'dei le'hodos u'lehalel leshimcha hagadol al nisecha ve'al nifle'osecha ve'al yeshu'oshecha. Ma'oz tzur yeshu'asi Lecha na'eh leshabe'ach Tikone bais tefilasi Ve'sham todah nezabe'ach Le'es Tachin Mabe'ach Mitzar ham'nabe'ach Az egmor beshir mizmor Chanukas hamizbe'ach. In bottle/imp: Brown sugar and amber, with a sweet bakery/foody note thrown in. There’s a little spice as well. Immediately on skin: This is such a warm, yummy scent. I smell brown sugar and something buttery and foody, but not overly so. It might be the olive oil, but it’s subtle and blends well. The beeswax is in here, but it interacts nicely with the other notes. The amber is tame, and very warm. The fig is adding a nice, soft earthy fruit scent and almost a warm spiciness, but I can’t seem to smell the pomegranate at all. After a few minutes: Even though I seem to have listed all the individual notes above, I have to stress that this scent is very well blended. This has become a little sharper, with the pomegranate peeking in to add a sharp but light fruit note. The sufganiyot (donut, I believe) is definitely present in this blend; I can smell some sort of baked, warm cake and it’s certainly yummy. The beeswax adds something to the blend that tames the foodiness quite nicely. There’s almost a nutty feel to it which is probably from the olive oil blending with the beeswax. This blend has gotten extremely sweet though, with an almost maple syrup quality coming from the sugary notes. (added a couple hours after wearing) A while later, there's also a smokiness that smells just like a burning beeswax candle mixed in with the other notes. It's amazing! Overall Impressions: If you love warm, sweet blends, then this one is for you; it’s not just straight-up foody in my opinion, but the sweet notes come out very strongly. The beeswax is a nice addition, and it’s evident in the blend amongst the other notes. This scent is on the verge of becoming almost maple-syrupy on me, so if you tend to have a problem with that, you may find it happening here. Everything is beautifully blended, however, and creates a beautiful scent. Overall, it’s a nice warm, comforting, sweet scent that is just wonderful and perfect for the name Chanukkiyah!
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I'm three-quarters gone! Gingerbread fougere, with hints of lilac, lime, and citrus musk. Well, DAMN. This one is a manly cologne, sophisticated with the spicy gingerbread in complete balance with the lime/citrus which give it a sophisticated lightness, but at the base there's a smouldering spicyness. This actually smells like a commercial man's cologne (the name of which escapes me at the moment, but I sort of want to point the finger at Dior's Pour Homme, whichever the superspicy version is). This is the manly, spicy cologne version of gingerbread. AND IT SMELLS EPICALLY DELICIOUS, AND SEXY. It's DROOLWORTHY. In fact, the tagline should read "ALL GONE", because... well, you really just want to swallow this gingerbread man whole. (and yes, all the innuendo there is FOR A REASON LADIES). [here's to fingers crossed that this smells as good on mr. zee_zee as it does on me]
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BLACK ICE Lovely, dangerous, slick, and bitterly cold: chilly white sleet-like notes with a hint of vetiver, a breath of smoky asphalt, and winter wind. In the bottle: Vetiver for sure. This scent is unique in the Yule category, in my opinion. It is cold, but by being a cold 'perfumey' scent. It's interesting how I can pick up the 'winter wind' aspect. This scent is hard to pin down, it is light and airy in some way. Wet: There are things in here I could not tell from smelling the bottle. There is something dirty and almost acidic. I suppose this is where the asphalt comes in. It's a little plasticy and man-made at first. But I can already tell it's disappearing upon dry down. Drydown: The Vetiver is calming, and I once again can percieve that chilly, air feeling to it. The airy feeling though has finally become 'cold' somehow. The perfumey is becoming a bit more ethereal and less 'in your face'. I have to be honest, I didn't think I would buy another bottle of this until it was completely dry. I really enjoy it at this point, it's calm, and cool and delicate, yet a vibrant 'perfumey' blend. This would be great on a boy, too. It starts to remind me of being outside on a brutally cold night. This scent is definitely a wrist-sniffing scent.
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BUTTER RUM COOKIE A boozy addition to the devil's bake sale! Rum-soaked butter cookies, crusted with sugar, soaked in almond and garnished with orange rind. Butter RUM? You betcha... with these cookies around, the Devil would be too wasted for malice. The Rum, Almond and Orange Zest all combine together and make this a wearable gourmand for men (and women). The Cookie and Butter part are pretty tame compared to some other BPAL's like Sugar Cookie. Yes, the aromatics here definitely place this in Cologne territory. But in a foodie kind of way, if you can imagine. Note- Almond can be almost unbearably bad on me, it is fine here.
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Annihilation. The ice, desolation and barrenness of nuclear devastation shot through by a beam of radioactive mints. Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in one word: Peaceful. In the bottle: Interesting! A definite 'cold' scent; frosty and very minty. While there may be peppermint here, the most prominent mint seems (to me) to be wintermint -- a good thing in my book, because I love wintermint. On skin, wet: Crisp and clean, and very cold. There's a distinct ice-like quality, like frozen earth. This is what I had wanted Numb to be (by the time I received it, and had changed my mind about mints). On skin, dry: Beneath the ice, there's something grassy here. Slush, mint and grass. An unexpected turn, but a lovely one! Unfortunately, after about an hour, it starts to give me that "I feel like I'm going to sneeze, but don't" feeling, which hangs around until the scent dies off. Conclusion: It's hard to explain this one. It's like a devastated, grassy open field in the middle of winter, when the ground is completely frozen. An odd description, I know. As Macha said somewhere, this is a much more 'peaceful' scent than I would have expected. But then, that makes sense -- wouldn't things be peaceful after a 'nuclear devastation'? All told, I'm growing very fond of this scent.
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I've run away from a little old woman, A little old man, A barn full of threshers, A field full of mowers, A cow and a pig, And I can run away from you, I can! Gingerbread with red musk, brown musk, civet and ambergris accord, Ceylon cinnamon, black cedar, black moss, and pine tar. Who knew that musk could work so well with gingerbread? I didn't, until today. I get heavy, spicy musk that really comes out to play on the drydown. I also get the civet and luckily for me I can carry that well. There is a earthiness to this also that grounds it and makes it very masculine. I absolutely must try this on my husband when he gets home from work tonight because I know he is going to absolutely rock this. Sweet, musky sweetness and dominant spice along with earth and a tiny lick of pine tar. God, this is fabulous. Left to rest and settle on my skin for a good 10-15 minutes, this becomes spicier on me and definitely more masculine. Though my husband is going to be slathered in this, I know I will be wearing it too. Only a tiny bit is needed because the throw and power of the blend is totally dramatic. Wonderful. Really, really delicious.
