'Cause it's a tradition now: BPAL Yule 2010
So much neat stuff this year--The Nutcracker! A Christmas Carol! And yet, so much stuff that doesn't actually sound good to me! This is very good indeed, seeing as how I'm stinking broke. ;) Anyway--on to the scents!
THE NUTCRACKER
KLARA: Honey dusting powder, mandarin, iris, ylang ylang, tea rose, and carnation. Every time I see “carnation,” I perk up. But between the honey and the abundance of flowers, I don’t think there’s any way this’d work on me.
HERR DROSSELMEYER 2010: Pipe smoke, sweet leather, woods and linen. Not for me, I think, but I bet on Himself… hmm…
HARLEQUIN AND COLUMBINE: French vanilla, red currant, sage, balsam, rosewood, mandarin, lemon peel, pomegranate, and cedar. Okay, so we’ve got some citrus, some red fruit, some woodsy stuff, and French vanilla. …Maybe?
THE SOLDIER: Red musk, vanilla cream, black tea, black pepper, leather, and pie. Oooooo. If it weren’t for the leather, I’d say this has my name on it. (Leather just likes me a little too much sometimes.) Might be worth a shot, though.
GROßVATER TANZ: Rice porridge, candied fruits, heavy cream, powdered clove, and Lebkuchen. I think I can safely pass on this one.
THE NUTCRACKER: Frankincense, black mission fig, and galbanum. Nah.
THE CLOCK STRIKES MIDNIGHT: Black currant, frankincense, blue musk, mugwort, and wisteria. Nope.
THE RAT KING 2010: Dust, wood and feral musk with a fang-sharp undertone. Oh my, no!
THE WALTZ OF THE SNOWFLAKES: Vanilla-laced snow, graceful and sweet, with fir needle and black pine bark. This doesn’t sound like me at all, but at the same time it sounds so pretty and so perfect for the season that I think I may go for it anyway.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
EBENEZER SCROOGE: Neglected leather, oakmoss, tonka bean, black pepper, cumin, and vetiver.
CHRISTMAS EVE IN THE COUNTING HOUSE: Creaky wood, thick fog, and dying embers.
A WORLD OF FOOLS: Figgy pudding with a stake of holly through its heart.
MARLEY'S GHOST: Grave-cold phantasmal iron links.
INCESSANT TORTURE OF REMORSE: Opopponax, lavender, blackberry, patchouli, olive leaf, myrtle, and white cognac.
THE CHAINED PHANTOMS: Purgatorial wretchedness and despair: ice-limned white wine grape, balsam of peru, and chamomile.
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, and nope. I’d be interested in sniffing them, because I bet they’re all very evocative of their subjects, and I always enjoy seeing cumin in scents, but in general, not for me.
THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS: Shimmering white amber, voluminous vanilla, white musk, zdravetz, and summer flowers. This sounds pretty, but white amber + white musk + summer flowers sound like a definite no for me.
A COLD, CLEAR WINTER DAY: Winter tuberoses bending gently in a crisp, cold breeze. Another “bet it’ll be pretty but it’s not for me.”
THE SCHOOL: In the corner of a desolate, dismal schoolhouse, all lonely stone walls, beeswax, and dusty wooden writing desks, stirs the scent of gold coins hidden in forest outside Baghdad, waves crashing against the hull of a Salé pirate ship, the lofty halls of Pépin le Bossu's court, and a wild child's home in the woods. Not really interested in the scent itself, but I love the idea.
MR. FEZZIWIG'S BALL: Mince pie, dark beer, a well-loved spruce wood fiddle, and bow resin. Hmm… hmm… prooooobably not. Definitely intrigued, though.
A GOLDEN IDOL: Antiqued amber, English lavender, vetiver, and tea rose. Nope.
THE SECOND OF THE THREE SPIRITS: Pine boughs, plum pudding, spiced pears, sugared chestnuts, punch floated with oranges, boughs of holly, and myrica berries. Oh! This sounds so yummy! I’m afraid it’ll go to just a mishmash o’ sweet foody stuff on me, but it sounds like such a perfect Yuletide scent…
BOB CRATCHIT'S HEARTH: Glowing firewood and sherry-cobbler. Mmm, another one that sounds lovely, but I think I can pass… Maybe it’ll be out for testing during the weekend events, and I can see what direction it goes in (e.g. sweet fire + wood, or foody with a bit of smoke, or…).
CHRISTMAS EVE ON THE MOOR: Windswept moor grass, grey moss, mud, and stone warmed by a small, comfortable fire. Nope.
IGNORANCE AND WANT: Bog myrtle, wormwood accord, carrot seed, lovage, Roman chamomile, orris root, myrrh, and patchouli. Definitely not.
A GAME CALLED YES & NO: Mulled wine and marzipan. Ooh, this sounds delightful-but I’m not sure I don’t already have what effectively amounts to a lifetime supply of mulled wine via my bottle of Gluhwein. Another one to wait to see reviews of, I suppose…?
THE LAST OF THE SPIRITS: Blackcurrant, myrrh, and vetiver. I love the simplicity of this one. Maaaaaybe.
AN ALTAR TO COLD, RIGID, DREADFUL DEATH: Black cedar, frankincense, and dust. Nah.
SHADOWS OF WHAT MAY BE: Upturned earth, overgrown grass, and dead weeds. No.
CHANGING THE SHADOWS: Vanilla, orange blossom, white sandalwood, mate, red tea, and carnation. See, this starts with vanilla and ends with carnation, which makes it very tempting, but there’s a whole bunch of I-really-don’t-know in the middle. Could be awesome, could be floral and ack. Guess I should wait on reviews for this one, too.
WHOOP: Crisp winter air, shimmering amber, sweet honey, with a touch of pumpkin pie, pine cone, cranberry, and bayberry. I think not. (Honey.)
YULETIME
AUTUMN AND WINTER: Bitter currant and dry leaves. Winter wind at dusk. Nah.
CHANUKKIYAH 2010: Olive oil, beeswax, glowing amber, sweet sufganiyot, pomegranate, and fig. I still have a bit of this from… good grief, was that 2007?... and when I put it on last year I thought it went kinda funky on me, and I don’t know if that was just me and foody scents not really getting along, or if it’s actually gone a bit rancid. I really love having something special to wear for lighting the menorah… I guess the thing to do is open that old bottle back up and see how it’s doing this year, decide for sure whether it’s me or the bottle and whether I need more.
EGG NOG 2010: Sweet brandy, dark rum, heavy cream, sugar, and a dash of nutmeg. This is an illustration of how badly I need to go through my imps/decants and cull the herd, because I’m 85% sure I bought a decant of this in 2007, and I remember not being impressed, like it just kinda smelled vaguely sweet on me… but I have no idea if I proceeded to give the decant away or not. Another one I should probably just check on when I get home.
GELT 2010: Dry cocoa and golden amber! I was so bummed by this last year (edit: apparently that was two years ago!), though now I don’t entirely remember what exactly went wrong. At any rate, I’m never really sure what to expect from amber anymore.
GINGERBREAD POPPET 2010: Warm, cozy gingerbread spiced with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. I’m actually a little bit baffled that I haven’t tried this yet. Sounds perfect for those snowy days!
HALOA 2010: Wine grapes, pomegranate, myrrh, frankincense and olive leaf, and the warm scent of offertory cakes. Eh, sounds kind of like All Souls (which I love and have plenty of) with some fruit added-and wine/wine grape notes have a tendency to take scents over when I wear them, so basically I’ll pass.
JACOB'S LADDER 2010: Golden amber, galbanum, benzoin, ambrette, rockrose, costus and tonka. I think I bought this last year or the year before? And liked it? But I still have some? Somewhere?
JÓLASVEINAR 2010: Their scent is a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries. Fun but not for me.
LICK IT VIGOROUSLY: This is a candy cane perfume, minty, sweet and sugared. Got a decant of last year’s version. I kept the decant ‘cause I like the novelty of it, but it’s not a scent I need more of.
MIDNIGHT MASS 2010: This perfume is a traditional Roman Catholic sacramental incense, most often used during a Solemn Mass. Got a bottle last year (yay!), so I’m good.
NOCHE BUENA 2010: The light, uplifting incense of the Misa de Noche Buena, purple sage, and a vibrant bouquet of plumeria, chrysanthemum, tuberose, Angel's Trumpet, Mexican tiger lily, dahlia, and azucenas. I think I was tempted by this back in 2007 because of “incense” and “plumeria”… if I recall correctly, it smelled like dryer sheets on me. Live and learn!
PEACOCK QUEEN 2010: This is a blood red, voluptuous rose, velvet-petaled, at the height of bloom. In a nutshell, with a few exceptions, I don’t wear rose; rose wears me.
ROSE RED 2010: The perfected winter rose, dew covered and freshly cut. Someday I’d love to smell this on someone who can actually wear rose.
SNOW WHITE 2010: A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers. Based on the description, this has never interested me, but reviewers have commented that they smell in it things like vanilla, coconut, and almond (someone compared it to Snowcake!), so this may be the year I finally break down and try it out.
WINTER-TIME: Sweet, soft snow. Nah.
WOODS IN WINTER: Wild hemlock and juniper berries scattered in the snow beneath leafless trees bedecked with glittering icicles. This could maybe be a Boy scent, but it think it’s safe to pass it up.
YULE 2010: Blood red holly berry, mistletoe, wild thyme, verbena, cinquefoil, hemp, winter rose, evergreen, frankincense, juniper, and myrrh. I’m always so tempted by the sabbat scents, but with the exception of Samhain they always sound more herbal/floral/not-for-me than I want. MAN I wish I lived in a place with a Will Call so I could try this without committing to a decant. (I also wish I had enough money that a $3-4 decant of perfume oil didn’t strike me as a major commitment.) The reviews from the 2006 version aren’t particularly encouraging. I’ll hold off, then.
Dammit, I had something here about the new scents based on The Last Unicorn, but LJ ate it. At any rate: neat!