Samhain

[tinyvulture]

All the depth, beauty and darkness of All Hallows Eve. Truly the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein.

this really evokes being out in the woods on a chilly fall evening, breathing in the night air, forest scents, and crushed leaves underfoot. the fir and “damp woods” notes are dominant on my skin. i don’t smell any pumpkin, but the red apple is really noticeable. after awhile it starts to smell sweet and spicy, like apple cider, thanks to the clove and nutmeg. it perfectly captures this time of year.

[vyvyan]

Oh, my word. I ordered 2 bottles of this (Samhain 2005) when it came online, and while I was waiting for it to ship I questioned that *so* many times. Apples and I don't get along - any fruit is a problem, really, but the Hesperides was like sugary juice poured over me, Verdandi was like a Yankee candle, and Harvest Moon 2005 was way too sweet.

 

But this? This is *perfect*.

 

The woods and fir aren't prominent on me; they provide a base and ground it enough to keep it from being foody. As it dries, the apple wafts up toward me, and the spices - it smells like cider but *not*, like mulled cider drunk out of doors, simultaneously sweet and dark. I can see why everybody says this is *the* scent of fall. I'm glad I've got my bottles - I'm going to stash one away, and enjoy the other one all through the fall and winter!

 

Edit: throw is great - I'm washing the dishes and keep catching hints of it, and I only put a little to test on my elbow!

Edited November 7, 2005 by vyvyan

[Eros]

In the bottle, dried apples and sweet spice. Nice enough....

Once it touches the skin O.M.G. This is BEAUTIFUL!! The apples & spice fade softly into the background allowing the fir and patchouli to come to the forefront with a hint of sweet smoke. So like Hexennacht(YUM), but a *touch* sweeter.

This is the smell of autumn in a deep, dark forest...I LOVELOVELOVE this!! Beth's description is dead on.

 

I believe I'll be getting another bottle asap...or twothreefour....

[harmonyfb]

In the bottle: Stale cigarettes. What the hell? (I finally decided that must have been the patchouli.)

 

Wet: Overwhelming patchouli for a moment, then the apples began to come through. At that moment, I thought it might resolve into a good scent for me. Alas.

 

Dry: ::wrinkles nose:: I smell like one of those fakey apple-pie-spice candles. It's really, really nasty.

 

Off to swap.

[Little Bird]

Odd impression that I cannot shake is that this smells a bit like cigarette smoke on me. And, as much as I hate cigarettes and the smoke makes me horribly ill, this doesn't actually smell bad. The smokiness isn't overpowering either, it stays in the background.

 

Mostly I am smelling the fir needle and a damp leaves scent. It's like walking through the forest after a light rain in the fall, with someone who is smoking a cigarette. A bit of apple and spice comes out in the drydown, offering an apple cider-ish dimension to the blend.

 

Samhain is an okay blend to me. It's not really grabbing me though, and it doesn't seem like something that I'd actually be comfortable wearing. I'll probably end up decanting away most of my bottle.

[fictiontragedy]

I should start this off by my sisters reaction to this oil because it just amused me. I went out to dinner with her tonight and all night she was sniffing the air, visiably so and finally she looked at me and was like. "Do you smell that? Something smells really good." I shrugged we were in a resturant so I thought she was talking about food. However she kept sniffing the air and then said "It's like pumpkin pie." At that point I laughed a little because I knew she was smelling me so I passed my wrist to her and she looked at me like I was crazy and I just told her to sniff. When she did she laughed and was like "It is you, you smell so good."

 

So the baby sister loves Samhain and I told her if she wanted she could borrow it. She was excited.

 

I also have to say I love Samhain but it took me a few times wearing it to really know that I loved it because I don't think my nose got it at first.

 

In the bottle it smells almost overwhelmingly like spice and apples.

 

I think when first applied the apples even intensify a little and I can't have my wrist near my nose until it mellows out.

 

That being said it doesn't take long to mellow out and suddenly it's perfectly blended yumminess. Woods, Apples, Spices, Pumpkin. I smell it all and it's wonderful.

 

It morphs a little as it wears the woods are some time prominent and then other times the fruity, spicy notes are but it's never overwhelming anymore.

 

It lasts forever, I can put in on in the morning and go to bed with it still on and the next morning I'll still get hints of smokey woodsy goodness.

 

I almost didn't buy this because I don't like patchoulli but on me I never really smell it, or if I do it's a patchoulli that I don't hate so it never bothers me.

 

I'm really in love with this as so many others seem to be.

Edited November 11, 2005 by fiction tragedy

[Fefferbella]

Wow, the warm, rich spices, crisp fresh apples and woodsy notes blend into a picture perfect fall scent. I love this blend, it's lovely and comforting.

[Ina Garten Davita]

Samhain 2005. This is a lot different from 2004. The dirty, burning leaves scent that dominated 2004 has been relegated to the background, temepered and sweetened by a pumpkin-vanilla scent. Nice, but I still haven't been able to get on the Samhain crazy train.

[malabar]

Samhain 2005 - Lots of woodsiness and smoke for me; not much else. I want to smell the fir, apples, pumpkin, and vanilla that others have noticed. May be better dilute.

[mmcfa2]

I got lovely fir and apples and light spices out of the bottle. first on my skin the leaves and pumpkin came out to play but then I got...vinegar! apple cider vinegar , but vinegar nonetheless I'm pleased to say though, that I had planned to use this as a room scent, and for that it will do just fine.

[PrettyPenny]

On me, this is like smelling a pumpkin pie in the middle of the woods on a perfect fall day. It's mellow and spicy at the same time, and at the tail end of a sniff I can just barely catch the scent of fall leaves in the background.

 

It's absolutely lovely, though I'm not usually a spice person. I'm not sure how often I would wear this, but it would be nice on occasion.

[jewelbug]

Add me to the list that LOVES Samhain. Wow. I'm so freaking glad I followed the crowd on this one!! THe patchouli might have scared me away, but i'd heard this blend praised so highly that I couldn't resist!

 

Bottle: Earthy woods and damp leaves with the most wonderful current of spiced, buttery pumpkin underneath. No apples Oh,and a hint smoky.

 

On, wet: Very smokey phase initially. Surprisingly enjoyable smokey phase, in fact. The halloween oils (along with torture king) have educated me in the ways of smoke! I love it, and I had previously avoided it. Mmmmmm.....

 

Drydown: Enters a less smokey (but the lovely dark smoke is still there, in the distance) phase. The faraway smoke gives the stage to this wonderful woodsy-apple-pumpkin spice. Darkly sweet and earthenly sexy. Oh. Dear. God.

 

Overall: This is just insanely gorgeous, and it lasts forever, and has one of the most amazing throws I've experienced from a bpal thus far.

 

I kinda think of this as a way more approachable (and better) Jack. I loved the buttery pumpkin spice of jack, but it was far too foody and sweet on me for perfume uses. This has the same buttery spiced sweet pumpkin that peeks out occasionally, but its grounded by the most amazing wonderful things. Sigh.... I am kicking myself for only buying one.

Edited January 1, 2006 by jewelbug

[shayelea]

Whoa.

 

Honestly, I was not expecting this scent to live up to the hype. Patchouli is an iffy note for me, and evergreen scents can also go spectacularly wrong. (For example, me + cedar = dill pickle. Love pickles, don't want to smell like them.)

 

This was very sharp in the vial, and I can see how some people might be getting the "medicinal" quality I've seen described. The fir's maybe a bit reminiscent of, say, Vick's VapoRub. But there are definitely the damp woods underneath that.

 

Once on my skin, however, it warmed almost instantly, and there was the *exact* scent of autumn that others have raved about. Sort of a sweet apple cider note on top, then some of the roundness of the pumpkin and spices, and then the *woodsmoke,* oh, how LOVELY.

 

Over the last six months or so I've been going to the other girl I work with whenever I get a new imp to try and holding out my wrist to see what she thinks of it. This is the first time that she actually said something right off when she came by my desk about how GOOD it smelled, so I let her try some. I also gave her the necessary URLs!

 

All in all, this is *heavenly* and lasts *so long* and I'm so glad that this decant happened to arrive just in time for me to squeeze in an order under the wire.

 

(Oddly enough, this also has just a hint of the way my house smelled when I first moved in. It hadn't been lived in for a long time, and it was October, and the smell soon faded. But it's a lovely sense-memory, even if I was weirded out by the smell at the time.)

[sookster]

strong and medicinal smelling straight from the bottle but upon application

this warms up immediately to the most incredible smokey sweetness ever

the patchouli peaks out after some time as well along with moist earth....beautiful.....

this is the perfect scent for autumn and even winter

incredibly long lasting as well....love Samhain 2005 very, very much!!!

[AlaskaSnows]

Wet: Kind of like Sugar Skull, sweet, a bit of fruit, and some smoke and a cherry cough drop.

 

 

Dry: Unfortunately much like when wet. The smoke smells nasty and the cough drop smell is just not ignorable. Just not a good match with my skin.

[Silverstrike]

First applied, Samhain '05 is really beautiful on me-- BEAUTIFUL. Devil's Night seems similar to my uninformed nose, but without floral. Then my wonky body chemistry turns the beautiful scent into something artificial and plasticky. I must find a new home for this one.

[Lady_Snakette]

Well it was this oil that first tempted me to BPal. Andi purchased one of another forumite for which i am grateful.

In the bottle, i can smell the vicks vapour rub type smell others have mentioned. And this isn't a bad thing. I was slightly worried about it but decided i had to try some.

On me, woww, so many scents to decipher.

Dry, the sharpness has faded into the background and i'm left with a much softer note. I can still smell the spiced pumpkin, but there is so much more that i find difficult to describe. There is a slight hint at sweetness too.

[SeaMonkey]

SAMHAIN '04

 

In the vial it was very strong and sweet, and a little boozey. I get a little bit of dr. pepper lip gloss that I've gotten from a few LE's.

 

On my skin, it goes a little head shop, but its mostly sweet apple smoke with a little bit of booze. I get the fir and outdoors, but its very faint. I'm so glad the apple didn't take over like it tends to do in other blends. It stays in the background.

 

I guess i can sum this up by saying that its like drinking apple wine in front of a bonfire.

 

Now i want to try the '03 and '05 versions

[fragrantgrasse]

Sniffing out of the bottle Samhain 05 doesn't have the depth of Samhain 04. That could be because O4 has mellowed over the past year getting richer, rounder and more soulful. Samhain 04 also has more of a reddish color than 05.

 

I am not getting the pine smell that has been noticed by many but I certainly do get smoke-apples-pumpkin. I don't notice the glorious leafy smell that 04 had either.

 

On my skin it needs time to breathe and open up and, like a wine with a high alcohol content, there is more character over time and as it warms to skin temperature. It is lovely for awhile but then on my skin chemistry, it goes off and begins to become sour. Maybe I need to eat more apples and pumpkin to sweeten it up!

 

So, here's my summation: I like 04 better now. But it would not surprise me if 05 gets better and better over time and by next year I'll be whining because 06 isn't what good old 05 was....

[Leda]

Samhain 2005. I had to get this after so many included this among their BPAL favorites!

 

I had no choice but to have such high expectations.

I wasn't really prepared for the actual scent. Once I let go of expecting it to actually smell like my own memories of cold Autumn nights, I was able to fall in love with the Samhain that it is.

 

Apples and patchouli are what leads this scent. My nose imagines a little chocolate in the deep drydown, not unlike the ultimate drydown of 13. A little sweet, a little smoky, but with the delightful apple-patchouli. A winner for sure.

[mockturtle]

Samhain '04

 

Warm and spicy, certainly a scent for Autumn. First impression is that it's a scent that would be perfect for a scented candle. The pumpkin is really noticible when wet, but as it dries, I smell more of the damp woods. Ironic, yes?

 

Using this scent throughout the day (as I have for several days in the last month or so), I really notice a sweet apple-y note that I missed in my first test. This is one scent that's really grown on me, and is perfect for blustery Autumn days when I want to think of falling leaves, spiced cider, and pumpkin pie.

[Voleuse]

2005 Version

 

Oomph. This is leaves moldering underfoot, bare branches overhead, and somewhere in the distance, a bonfire. Cold air, and the stars out above.

 

This is much less dry on me than the 2004 version was, and much darker. I can detect the patchouli, but it's perfectly balanced with the woodsy notes. I still don't get any fruit, aside from an evasive sweet note in the background. I do like this much better, but it's still not quite for me.

[rinoastar]

I got this and Jack in the same order, and I think Jack leaked a little bit in the box because when I took my first in-the-bottle whiff of Samhain, I got warm, buttery pumpkin with an undertone of strange sweetness. Upon first application, I certainly got a shock--cold, sharp, sickeningly-sweet something assaulted my nose. However, I really wanted this one to work for me, so I stuck it out. Unfortunately, it never deepened to any of the gorgeousness that others here have described, just flat, cloying, pervading sweetness. It's not even a tooth-aching sweet, but a wrong sweet, like Havisham's wedding cake or the smell of candies hidden years ago by a naughty child who has not come back for them. It's a slightly overripe sort of sweet, and after about an hour or two it becomes undeniably masculine on me. I smell like a scarecrow left out to moulder after a drenching rain--all straw-like sweetness gone to seed and rotting in the farrow.

 

I'm afraid this one is just not for me. I don't even want to smell this on my loved ones, so it's off to the swap/sale pile for Samhain. I guess this is just proof (not that I really needed any; I knew better, but couldn't really resist the call) that patchouli and/or woods just go rancid on me.

Edited November 28, 2005 by rinoastar

[britton522]

Samhain '04....

 

Was given this as a frimp, and was ecstatic to try it.

 

In Bottle: Autumny, but a little heavy. Was worried after all the "gym sock and Vick's" reviews the '05 edition has gotten. Decided to brave it anyway.

 

Application: Apple, autumn warmth, kind of like sitting near a bonfire.

 

Dry Down: Oh good grief, get it OFF me! This turned into the gym socks and incense smell I had feared. My roomie was laughing hysterically as I plotted on how to get it off.

 

Lasting Power: Couldn't get rid of it. Like Undertow, it just wanted to be lvoed so much. I was not up to the task. Roomie tried it: smelled like a glorious cool fall day with apple cider on her until it wore off some four hours later. Still, she was not impressed. Went to a friend, who will hopefully love it properly.

[Nehushtan]

Samhain done me wrong. Again.

 

I joined this board in the spring of 2004, so I had months to build up my longing for Samhain that year, having heard about the mythical, wonderful Samhain '03. It didn't work on me. Still, being of the hardheaded variety, I decided to go for Samhain '05. It sounds wonderful--smoky bonfires and mouldering leaves and crisp autumn air...I wasn't frightened away by mentions of patchouli and ultra-deep foresty scents, because those usually work on me.

 

Et tu, Samhain '05?

 

Syrupy, medicinal apples. I don't get the loamy, leafy tree smell that others are getting. I get a Hexennacht-y sweetness with an apple-y smell. Not a real apple, not tart, more of an apple-peel-potpourri smell. This scent does not make me feel like I'm in the middle of a fall forest, unless that forest is a friggin apple orchard.