sunlitgarden

When a mother sits by her infant's cradle, he stands on the pillow, and, with his wings, forms a glory around the infant's head. He flies through the chamber of content, and brings sunshine into it, and the violets on the humble table smell doubly sweet. A halo of white honey and sweet apple with carnation and ambrette seed. In the decant: Sweet apple! I've tried a good number of bpal apples at this point and I would put the color of this apple as "yellow" or "golden". It's very sweet, but it doesn't really smell quite like a red apple. It's a little fresher and crisper, but not as much as so as a green apple. It makes me think of sweet apple juice or cider. There's a teeny bit of spice, maybe from the carnation. This is a REALLY NICE APPLE. On my skin, the apple smells a little bit "greener", fresher and crisper but overall I would still describe it as "golden". I'm not super familiar with ambrette seed (though I like scents I've tried that have it), and I think to this it's adding a sort of...depth to the sweetness, giving it a thicker texure, in a way that's similar to butter or vanilla without quite being either of those things. Apple rarely lasts on my skin, as much as I enjoy the note, and this seems to be no exception. Once the apple starts receding here, this is starting to smell a bit on the powdery side. It's still quite pleasant, though. It's actually reminding me of something oddly specific: decorative soaps in the shapes of shells or pumpkins or other "seasonal" items that are sometimes on display in people's bathrooms. If I sniff closely, there's a mix in the dry scent of floral/spicy/sweet/powdery. I haven't gotten much carnation in this, except for maybe a bit of "spice" in the decant, and maybe a faint bit of floral now. I like this best in the decant and fresh on my skin. I wish I could get that apple top note to last (if it did I would have many more apple blends), but so far it just hasn't been possible.

The Phoenix bird, dost thou not know him? He sang to thee the Marseillaise, and thou kissedst the pen that fell from his wing; he came in the radiance of Paradise, and perchance thou didst turn away from him towards the sparrow who sat with tinsel on his wings. Lyrical palmarosa suffused with white sandalwood, amyris, bergamot, and rose geranium. I'm not familiar with palmarosa or amyris, but I like the other notes, so I decided to take a chance on this blend. Wikipedia says palmarosa is a grass with the oil's scent similar to roses and amyris is a type of resin. In the decant: I mainly smell sandalwood with a rosy floral in the background (though I assume it's the palmarosa and rose geranium and not actually rose). I also can detect a "brightness" from the bergamot, but it's not a very strong note at this stage. Sometimes sandalwood can smell dry and dusty to me but this doesn't really smell like that. It's a strong hit of the "spicy", aromatic part of the sandalwood. On my skin: Fresh on my skin, the "rose-like" notes smell less like rose on my skin than they did in the decant. In fact, I barely smell anything like rose at all. Sandalwood is still the dominant note, but I am also getting a bit of bitterness from the resin (amyris) maybe? After a few minutes, I am starting to smell the bergamot a bit more, or what I assume is it, giving the scent a bit of a lemony note. There's also a faint smell of like dried grass? Maybe that's part of the palmarosa? As it dries down more, this is kind of reminding me of a cross between a tea blend and an incense -- unsteeped/unburned (like sniffing a container of tea and a container of incense, near each other). I like the scent though, especially the sandalwood in the beginning. It goes more from incense towards tea with the "dried grass+lemony" smell as it dries down, but I still get some wafts of the aromatic sandalwood. I was hoping to get more of the roselike notes on my skin though; they're barely there at all, unfortunately.

In the Wild North has a sweetness, but it's not an actual berry like Skadi or Almond Blossom. It's the Lab's snow note plus spruce and pine, which is definitely lovely but not the same as Skadi. Alas. I haven't tried Skadi, but I get a strong berry note in ITWN... it smells like blackberry to me. Maybe it's chemistry dependent.

I think this came as a Lab frimp but I'm not sure how old it is. In the imp: Sweet orange, florals in the background. I like this! On my skin: lots of sweet orange! This is creamy, sweet, and has a lushness to it that does make me think of a jungle. I've never been to a tropical rainforest myself but it reminds me of standing in a greenhouse with lots of flowers and plants in the background. I've tried a few tropical scents where the plumeria is too sharp, but it's not like that here. A few minutes later I'm starting to smell what I guess is the incense smoke--it reminds me of a freshly blown out candle. I don't usually like smoke notes but it's blended with enough other notes here that it's not overpowering. I probably wouldn't have picked this for myself but I actually really like this, especially because it's different from any other scents I have. Yay for frimps!

This probably came to me as a frimp from the Lab, but I'm not sure how old it is. In the imp: Musk and sweet strawberry. I wasn't sure how strawberry leaf would compare to strawberry fruit. It smells a little bit greener, I guess, but still smells sweet and somewhat candy-like-- I can see how other people have mentioned bubblegum. On my skin: More pink bubblegum and some musk (smells more like red musk than white musk). I don't really smell the grapefruit here, specifically, but I am guessing it is helping to balance out the scent and keep it from being too overly sweet. It just doesn't have a particularly sour, sharp, or citrus smell to it. I like this. Probably not enough to get a whole bottle, but it's worth holding onto the imp. I like The Instructional Manual better for strawberry and musk but this is a possible GC alternative.

Plastic Pink Flamingo has been on my wishlist for years. Someone was kind enough to gift me a sniffie of this. Thanks <3 I couldn't really smell much in the empty decant, but there's a *tiny* bit of oil on the wand and I rubbed it on my arm. At first I wasn't going to write a review because I didn't think there was enough to go by, but I keep getting whiffs of the most lovely sugary-sweet marshmallow, so I decided to write one anyway. Up close when I sniff it it's more like the dandelion/sap (but still sweet--it reminds me somewhat of Fairy Wine), but the throw is more marshmallow. I would really like to get more of this and do a more involved skin test because it smells really good! Will update if/when I get more. <3

In the decant: In scents with this many notes, I often have trouble picking out individual ones. I definitely smell the lavender in here, and the scent overall is on the sweet side but it's not overpoweringly sweet. Something reminds me of....a barn? I guess that's the hay? o_O On my skin: I smell the sweet strawberry and cream here but it's not nearly as dominant as it was in The Instructional Manual on me. This is on the herbal side and the "after-smell" that lingers in my nose after I sniff it reminds me of fennel. This is kind of a weird one on me, but the scent that it's settling into as it starts to dry is better than how it smelled in the decant and wet on my skin. The carnation is giving this blend a spiciness. The "barny" quality of the hay goes away, thankfully, and it's more like just dried grass. The scent it's settling into is hard to describe but it's kind of spicy and also herbal. The carnation is coming through now and there's something almost a bit smoky. This is okay on me, but not my favorite of the 2016 Lupers. The Instructional Manual is more to my taste in the strawberries and cream department.

Cherry blossoms falling into folds of red musk, bourbon vanilla, and strawberry cream. In the decant: Creamy strawberry candy! I can smell the red musk in the background giving this a bit of spice/depth. On my skin: Again, creamy strawberry candy. I haven't had one in a long time but it makes me think of strawberry Cream Savers (creamy hard candies) which I used to love. The tiny bit of red musk is making me think of eating Cream Savers near the door to a headshop with some faint incense wafting out when someone opens the door. But mostly this is incredibly sweet and creamy strawberry candy. I don't smell the cherry blossom specifically but it might be adding to the overall "pinkness" of this scent. I'm trying to stick to decants to keep my collection's size under control but I kind of regret not buying a bottle of this one! I'm a strawberry fan and this is lovely, not boozy or overripe like some of them have been on me.

Kind of embarrassing but I never got around to writing reviews for all of my decants from last year's Lupers, and I never remember what I thought of a scent without a review. I'm trying to rectify this now before a new batch of Lupers comes out, so I don't get completely overwhelmed. In the decant: Fruity-floral. The plum and blackcurrant smell juicy and "purplish", and the wisteria and cherry blossoms smell sweet and light. Very springy and pretty. I think the green tea is adding to the overall light, refreshing feel of this scent. On my skin: It's good to be able to narrow it down to the lily in Night Snow at Kambara that made it smell incredibly soapy, not the cherry blossom or wisteria, because the same thing isn't happening here. This is a really nice fruity-floral. It's somewhat "juicy" smelling while not being heavy, overripe or boozy like some fruit scents can be on me. It's sweet but not overly sweet. The tea keeps it smelling light and almost lemony. As it dries, it gets a little soft and powdery on me, but in a way I find pleasant. There's something a tiny bit smoky, which I've encountered sometimes from tea notes. In the fruity-floral category, I've had the most success with the Shungas and other "Asian inspired" scents like Weeping Branches Moon, and this is another winner for me

Thanks for that list sprout! I will have to try a few of those! I am loving A Little More Tea. Tea and cookies! Not a tea strictly speaking (from the tea plant), but on me this year's Season of Ghosts really smells like an herbal tea blend with lemongrass, ginger, and citrus. I REALLY want to drink a hot cup of it!

+ 1 What about Desert Places? Is it a white tea-centric blend? I haven't tried Tyrannophobia or Firethorn Berry Tea. But I can vouch that on me, Desert Places was very white tea heavy. It was a lot more clean and "fresh" smelling than I was expecting! But very nice--I just prefer The Dormouse for that kind of scent. I just tried my decant yesterday and BPTP's Yule scent Tea and Music is a wonderful scent for sweet tea and wood!

This year's Yule blend In the Wild North is evergreen with berries and snow on me

In the decant: I'm an evergreen lover and this is wonderful! They are all here! (except juniper I guess, but that's okay). I can't exactly pick out the different evergreen notes but I can tell there's more than one in here. And something sweet, like berries? It's reminding me of Old Moon 2008 with the evergreen and berries. On my skin: Yeah, there's definitely some kind of berry in here. Blackberry? It made me think of sour gummi worms candy briefly, reminding me of Blue Snowballs. I think the snow note here is that same note from Blue Snowballs. And I'm smelling vanilla? or something like it, a little bit. I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting from this scent but this is sweeter and fruitier than I was thinking it would be on my skin. I already have some scents in this vein (Blue Snowballs, Old Moon 2008, even Waltz of the Snowflakes) so I don't think I'll be needing a bottle of this as I'm trying not too have too many similar scents. It does smell good, though! Evergreen notes with sweet snow and berries.

In the decant: Wow! Lots of stuff! This makes me think of a yellowish-orange color. There are a lot of notes swirling around, but I can definitely smell the lemongrass, citrus (bergamot/blood orange), ginger, and roselike rose geranium. Not sure I specifically smell the frankincense. The ginger, lemongrass and citrus notes are making me think of some sort of yummy herbal tea blend or a sauce used in cooking. On my skin: Still smelling edible/drinkable, zingy with the ginger. Still is making me think of some kind of herbal tea blend. It's indeed bright and invigorating and would probably make a good aromatherapy blend. I'm mainly getting the ginger, lemongrass and citrus. I've learned that in blends with rose geranium, I usually can smell it in the decant but not at all, or very little, on my skin. Which is too bad because I enjoy the note. I don't know that I smell the frankincense specifically here, but there is a sort of "glowing" resiny note to this, which I guess is it. This is a nice scent overall, but I keep wishing I had a nice hot cup of tea made out of it! Dry: Okay, I'm getting more recognizable frankincense now. It's warm, glowy, and reminds me a little of violin bow rosin. I still smell a little of the other notes as well (including more rose geranium than before--maybe it's able to come out again once the citrus top notes leave). It's really nice at this stage. But overall this scent reminds me of tea so much that I want to drink it and it's actually kind of distracting/makes me hungry. O_o

In the decant: YUM! Creamy, sweet, fluffy marshmallow and vanilla cream. I haven't done a side by side comparison yet, but just based on my memory, on my skin this is very similar to last year's Marshmallow Cookie Pie (which I already have a bottle of). I think the main difference is that MCP was heavier on the chocolate, while this has more of the marshmallow. Overall, they're similar enough that I don't think I need bottles of both, but this is VERY yummy. If you regret missing out on MCP, get this!

In the decant: Sweet-spicy carnation and vanilla. On my skin: There is a little smokiness to this when first applied; like another reviewer said it's like a candle just blown out kind of smokiness. It's mostly carnation, sweetened by the vanilla and maybe the freesia (it's not a note I'm very familiar with). As it starts to dry, if I sniff my wrist closely it reminds me of warm dust in a computer lab. I know that sounds weird, but it's not bad; there's something comforting about it. It reminds me of playing Oregon Trail and Kid Pix in the computer lab at my school. Whatever that scent is fades as it dries, though. The drydown is warm, sweet, creamy vanilla and carnation, similar to Alice on me. I still think Alice and Morocco are my favorite blends for carnation (and they have the added bonus of being GC), but if you don't like some of the other notes in those oils or are looking for another sweet carnation scent, this is definitely worth trying. It's a really nice carnation.

In the decant: This smells really nice. Sweet tea and a rich deepness, presumably from the mahogany leather. I don't smell any chocolate. On my skin: This smells almost smoky at first. The tea note can sometimes do that but also it might be coming from the wood. I think that the mahogany and leather here are two separate notes because I'm definitely smelling some wood in here. It is an aged, oiled wood. I can detect the leather if I think about it but it's not strong, dominant, or chemical. It just kind of adds a supple softness to the scent. It's mostly wood and sweet, warm tea on me. This is more on the masculine side, but I don't find it out of place on my skin. I bet it would smell amazing on a guy though. I still don't smell any chocolate.

In the decant: Mostly caramel. This smells almost boozy. A little salt. On my skin: This smells delicious immediately. I am getting the caramel still (it's reminding me of the caramel you get on caramel kettle corn) and buttery cookie. This is making my mouth water. Apparently, my mental associations with butter and salted caramel are stronger with caramel kettle corn than with any kind of cookie because that's what it's making me think of. But uh, kettle corn is awesome so that's not a bad thing. This could pass for some sort of carnival scent. As it's drying I am getting some of the same sort of cocoa in Marshmallow Cookie Pie. I'm not really smelling nuts here, which I actually like because I'm not a huge nut fan. Perhaps the nuts contributed to my brain reading this as popcorn. I think they're adding a bit of warm dustiness to the scent as it dries on my skin. Dry, this smells warm and lightly spiced. Somewhat similar to the drydown of Marshmallow Cookie Pie but with a bit of cinnamon. I think a decant is all I need; I have other foody scents I like better. This is nice though.

As a foody scent fan, this is one of the Yules I was most excited about. But I decided to get a decant first because peppermint doesn't always work well on me. In the decant: Creamy mint and fudgy chocolate. Promising so far. On my skin: This is smelling a lot like Thin Mints girl scout cookies right after I apply it. Peppermint on me can sometimes smell like toothpaste and it also sometimes has a strong cooling effect that I don't always want, so I'm a bit nervous about it here. After a few minutes, I don't think I'm really experiencing the cooling effect. If I am, it's very slight, and I barely notice it. With the sweet creamy mint, this is somewhat similar to how I remember Mother Shub's Unmentionable Peppermint Creams (though I haven't tested that in a while) but with chocolate instead of the marzipan. It's on the border of toothpaste mint, but not quite there; I think the scent is sweet enough to keep it out of toothpaste territory. The red velvet part of this scent is pretty minimal on me. I got a bit of it in the decant, and more when first applied, but that fades and once it starts to dry it's mostly sweet creamy mint. I was hoping for more cake and/or chocolate out of this scent.

In the decant: Along with the florals, I smell a "cool air" note that's not ozoney. I have trouble picking out the individual flowers but this smells a little sweet. Color associations: white to light purple (that might just be me thinking of the color of wisteria though). On my skin: it's sweeter and a little powdery. Violet doesn't work well on me at all, but wisteria works better in the same sort of category. Unfortunately, I'm having the same soap experience as others. As it dries, it's turning soapy on me; it's a nice, high-quality soap, but still... bar soap. Some scents remind me of how a nice soap would smell but don't smell like the soap itself, but some blends (and this is turning out to be one of them) DO smell like the soap itself. And this would be really nice IN soap, but I don't really want my perfume to smell like the actual bar of soap. I start almost tasting the soap in my mouth when I get whiffs of it that close. A little while later, the "bar of soap" actually fades and now I like it better again. It still smells like a nice soap, but the actual bar part is gone, which is mainly the part that bothered me. I tried both this and Drum Bridge for wintery cherry blossom scents and I like Drum Bridge better on me, overall. But this is nice too except for the "bar of soap" stage. Soap always seems to be a risk for my skin with white florals, unfortunately. (Later Edit): After skin testing last year's Luper scent First Cry of the Warbler on the Plum, which also contains wisteria and cherry blossom, I think I can narrow it down to the lily causing the soapy effect here. I don't have that issue with First Cry.

In the decant: Ooh this is pretty. Well-blended, so a bit difficult to describe, but I smell some aromatic (almost "spicy") wood, florals, and a cool herbal snow. On my skin: This is good on me. I let my partner sniff it and she was attached to my arm for a good three minutes. It's still kind of hard to describe but it's a nice balance of wood, florals, and a cool herbal snow note. As it dries, this reminds me of Cheshire Moon 2013, minus the fruits but with the cherry blossom and herbal snow note. I don't know if I need a whole bottle of this because I already have a mostly full bottle of CM 2013, but I do like it a lot.

2016 version: I got a decant of Egg Nog because somehow despite being a foody scent lover I haven't tried it before. I already have Mother Shub's Spiced Lait de Chevre, which mostly fills the eggnog scent niche for me, but I wanted to see how "regular" Egg Nog compared. In the decant: Egg nog. Exactly what it says on the tin, LOL. Rich, creamy, booze, nutmeg. The combination smells like raisins a little bit to my nose. On my skin: I get a blast of that "raisin" note right away (I think it's the sugar combined with one of the liquor notes) and then the nutmeg amps up almost immediately. I'm not smelling cream (which is not necessarily bad, it's a hit or miss note on me and can smell sour) and the rum seems to just be smelling like dark sweet sugar. I'm mostly just getting the nutmeg and sugar....no rich creaminess on my skin, and this has very little throw. I'll put on a bit more and see what happens. Hmm.... this time, sniffing it closely, I do get a sugared milk scent after the first wave of raisin then nutmeg. But overall, Mother Shub's is much more rich and creamy on me, and has a much stronger throw (to the point that by the end of a whole day of wearing it, it's almost too much). Egg Nog is surprisingly light on me and more of a skin scent. I think I'll be sticking with Mother Shub's but glad I finally tried this one.

In the decant you can tell there are (comparatively) a lot of notes here but it's well blended. I can definitely detect the lavender, which smells a bit astringent, and a sweet fruity apricot. I'm not sure if the "blood orange musk" contains the fruit or is just supposed to evoke the color, but I do think I can smell some orange as well. It's smooth, sweet, a bit creamy, and almost reminds me of some sort of fancy cocktail with fresh fruit and fresh-squeezed juices and lavender-infused liquors--except there's no booze note. So I guess it's a virgin cocktail. Anyway, I like it so far. Occasionally my brain parses all the notes together as some sort of paint, but that doesn't always happen--just from time to time. On my skin, it's even fruitier than in the decant. Mostly apricot with some orange also. It has a similar "texture" to the hard candies in Pere Noel... perhaps the combination of orange and lavender is what's reminding me of Pere Noel. I can smell a bit of spicy resin-ness, perhaps from the red benzoin. I don't think I've smelled a scent using red benzoin before; I mostly associate benzoin with a sweet smell much like vanilla ice cream but this benzoin is more incense-like and reminds me of sandalwood a bit. Drying, it's getting even sweeter. I can smell the lavender more strongly again (it was buried under the fruit/benzoin when the scent was wet). It's the sweet lavender and fruits with the other aspects providing more of a grounded base. This is really nice! Whatever my nose parsed as "paint" in the decant is not present on my skin at all. Orange in all its forms has become one of my favorite notes lately--it's just so bright and uplifting, and here it also smells warm and somehow elegant as well. It definitely smells like a perfume (as opposed to a lot of my scents that smell like food, or incense, or a fresh flower, or like some other oddball thing like Dungeon Crawl) but it's a really nice one. This is being put onto the full bottle contender list.

When I sniffed this, I immediately thought of two of my favorite GCs: Mouse's Long and Sad Tale and The Dormouse. The vanilla/sandalwood combination usually reminds me of Mouse's Long and Sad Tale because that's where I first experienced it. I also smell a lot of light, fresh tea like in The Dormouse. The orris also gives this a sort of powdery-sweet aspect that reminds me of a candy like (American) Smarties. The sandalwood is lightly aromatic and "spicy" here, but not nearly as potent as in some other scents (such as He Came in the Radiance of Paradise, for one I've tried recently). In the decant and wet on my skin it's really drowned out by the tea. This is a LOT like The Dormouse on me minus the peony. Okay, as it's drying I'm getting more sandalwood. And eventually more vanilla, though not a whole lot. White Tea is still the #1 note on me, making this smell clean and fresh. Overall, I enjoy this blend. I think I like The Dormouse a little bit better though (peony/tea rather than sandalwood/tea).

This gets the honor of being my first Yule decant to get skin tested/reviewed, solely because I had trouble getting the cap off and then it splashed all over my hand. I have Gingerbread Poppet 2010, which I actually wore today, and this gingerbread note is similar to that but minus the "vanilla/frosting" aspect I get from GP. There are spices like cinnamon and a sort of bready-cookie background and something like melted butter. Wet on my skin, I smell sweet-tart red currant along with the spices. I remember an orange and red currant candle I used to own ages ago (I think it was from Illuminations--sad those stores closed) and this reminds me of that, minus the orange. Maybe the "red fruits" includes a bit of raspberry as well, but on me it's mostly currant. While this reminds me of a holiday candle, it's definitely one of the better/realistic ones. I am still smelling the melted butter note as well. The fruits fade away somewhat on my skin as it dries. They're still faintly there, but it dries as primarily spices (mainly cinnamon) with a bit of melted butter and a little sweet fruit. This is probably not different enough from Gingerbread Poppet on me to justify a full bottle (I still have most of my bottle of GP), but it's a really nice variation and the currant scent while the oil is wet is really nice. It's too bad that note doesn't last very long on my skin.