poetria

WOODS IN WINTER When winter winds are piercing chill, And through the hawthorn blows the gale, With solemn feet I tread the hill, That overbrows the lonely vale. O'er the bare upland, and away Through the long reach of desert woods, The embracing sunbeams chastely play, And gladden these deep solitudes. Where, twisted round the barren oak, The summer vine in beauty clung, And summer winds the stillness broke, The crystal icicle is hung. Where, from their frozen urns, mute springs Pour out the river's gradual tide, Shrilly the skater's iron rings, And voices fill the woodland side. Alas! how changed from the fair scene, When birds sang out their mellow lay, And winds were soft, and woods were green, And the song ceased not with the day! But still wild music is abroad, Pale, desert woods! within your crowd; And gathering winds, in hoarse accord, Amid the vocal reeds pipe loud. Chill airs and wintry winds! my ear Has grown familiar with your song; I hear it in the opening year, I listen, and it cheers me long. Wild hemlock and juniper berries scattered in the snow beneath leafless trees bedecked with glittering icicles. In the bottle: It seems very aquatic and linen-y. And because of that perception, when I first accidentally got a teeny bit on my hand, that, too, smelled uber-aquatic. I was worried it might give me a headache! But I pressed on!! On skin: It starts off smelling a touch like pine or rosemary, but I guess that is the juniper or maybe the hemlock… It is very atmospheric - very light. It has a bit of sweetness (but it is not a sweet fragrance overall), a touch of spice and… perhaps a teensy bit of vanilla? It’s quite comforting. And strangely warm, even though it’s supposed to evoke, well, Woods in Winter! Maybe that tiny bit of sweetness is like marshmallows - light, fluffy, sweet, soft... That must be the snow on the ground Side note: When I first put it on, I was surprised that it really evoked some strange emotional feeling - brought tears to my eyes. (I’ll have to figure that out! ) I wore it overnight, and when I sniffed my wrists in the morning it was nearly gone, with just a hint remaining. It was back to smelling a bit aquatic. I think I’ll have to try again (and maybe add to this review later). Bottom line: It’s lovely. For me, it’s almost ethereal, and I find it appropriate that it’s based on a poem, because it has a poetic feel to it, if that makes any sense. I’m fairly certain I’ll be keeping my bottle (Edited to add in a piece I had forgotten before - sorry!)

So delicious!!! I never thought I was a fan of foodie fragrances, but lately I've been exploring them more (just BPAL's foodie scents, anyway), and Maison En Pain D'epices is truly a delight!!! I'll admit that when I sniffed it in the bottle fresh from the mailbox, it reminded me of a generic spice-fragranced holiday candle, but since it's had a little time to mellow, it is SO much more than that. And while I can definitely imagine it being a lovely room fragrance (e.g. in an oil diffuser), I think it also really works as a perfume, and I LOVE it!!! For me, this is a quintessential holiday fragrance. Anyway, onto the more informational bits... I can definitely pick out the gingerbread & a hint of chocolate at the start, and then the fruits and vanilla meringue/icing come in and out during the dry down. At this point, it's like a symphony of scents, all playing in harmony - the gingerbread doesn't go away, it just serves as a backdrop. Kind of how gingerbread houses are decorated with a variety of sweets to create a colorful, yummy, edible work of art! Anyway, occasionally I get what I'm interpreting as a bit of a tea note (like what I smell sometimes in Lilith's Tea Party), but this might be the spicedrops & pinwheel mints.... And much much later, I just get a faint hint of fruitiness (when I put my nose to my wrist). It really does smell, to me, like a hint of fruit jelly candies. Oddly, even with this melange of sweets, it never becomes cloying! The staying power is pretty good, and the sillage is lovely - I don't think it's a sillage-monster, but if one is standing within a foot or two or three, it's probably noticeable. I know I keep catching wafts of it every now and then when I'm moving around! Speaking of sillage... I wore this perfume last night to our staff holiday party - at one point, my co-worker was standing near me and commented on how she had just smelled "something... It smells like Christmas..." Then of course she said it smelled like some kind of potpourri, but she had a look on her face that suggested the fragrance (even if she described it as "potpourri") had brought back some pleasant memories. I didn't say anything - I just figured I'd let her enjoy her moment In short: yay Maison En Pain D'epices!!! Yummy!!!

This Harvest lunacy combines the autumnal scents of dry leaves, mulling spices, balsam fir, cedar, juniper berry, clove, saffron, damson plum, sage, yarrow, and lily twined with Dionysus' sacred grapes and ivy, a bounty of apple and pumpkin, and the amaranth and lingum aloes of Janus, all touched by a gentle breath of festival woodsmoke and sweet wine. I really adore this!! I haven't tried any prior years' Harvest Moons, but I think this is just beautiful. It is incredibly complex, and well-blended, so it's a little harder to pick out the individual notes, but... As it evolves on my skin, I get the fruity apple and plum (and maybe pumpkin? I know, not a fruit, but still!), sweet woods and spices, dry leaves, a breath of lily (which, to me, lends an occasional lightness, even clean aspect, to this blend), something that evokes a feeling of rich warm darkness, and, dare I say, something a little vanillic, almost caramel-y... I would not call this a gourmand fragrance, though. And in the background, every now and then (especially in the deep drydown), I can catch a hint of smoke, like leaves or a bonfire burning in the distance... For me, Harvest Moon 2010 is such a gorgeous, quintessentially autumnal fragrance, and I am truly enjoying wearing it. So glad I took the chance on this in my first BPAL order (Edited to add official BPAL description)