doomsday_disco

Winnie the Pooh is among my very favorite books, and Eeyore is my favorite character from the series, so this was the Hundred Acre Wood scent to which I was most looking forward. I used to have a mug with Eeyore's good morning quote on it, too. I wish I still had it!

I'm not familiar with the thistle note, but I, too, get lots of purple and grey from this scent, with the iris, lavender, and lilac swirling together to make that grey and purple floral bouquet, and the high-pitched iris and lilac being particularly loud on me (although this grey lilac seems to be tamer than some other varieties). The floral notes combine with the rain-soaked moss, which I believe may be the same note found in 2024's The Storm, to just exude melancholy -- but over time, the grey musk peeks out and smooths over the loud iris, lilac, and moss notes, so that it is less like having a cry and more like a deep sigh. I mean, you would be sighing the deepest of sighs, too, if you lost your tail, or your house made of sticks kept falling down. By the end of the day, I'm left a soft, clean scent of grey musk tinged with tea leaves, a few flower petals, and some raindrops on moss.

Needless to say, this one is a keeper and a must-try of the Hundred Acre Wood collection.

I haven't tried layering this with The Donkey's Tail yet, but I'll update this review once I try layering them together. I adore that scent even more with its lavender, vanilla, and fuzzy cotton notes and may just have to get a back-up of this for more of The Donkey's Tail. Petition for The Donkey's Tail to be released as a bottle in a future installment of the Hundred Acre Wood scent series!  

I like Rabbit's scent more than I thought I would! It starts off with a blast of lemony white tea, followed by some lemon verbena, and a smackerel honey. Then the oats and condensed milk emerge and eventually overtake the bright notes, making it more like a sweet, toasty oat scent. I am pleased to report that the vetiver seems to be missing in action on me, so if it's lurking beneath these notes, it is very well-behaved and not a strong, smoky variety.

I think this would be perfect to wear during spring and am so glad it worked out (especially since the White Rabbit from the Mad Tea Party collection does not jive with my chemistry).

When I first sniffed this, I thought this would mostly be a cardamom and amber scent (even though it had plenty of rest before that first sniff), but it's actually mostly about the milky musk (which isn't buttery whatsoever!) and snow notes on me, with some welcome cardamom, a bit of honeyed rice (which isn't super buttery like some rice notes can be on me), and a little amber in the background. Although the description says slushy snow, I swear I smelled Snow White's sweet snow note with the musk when I tested it for the third time yesterday. It definitely does not contain the berry-infused slushy snow of Skadi, the bright, maybe white tea-infused slushy snow note, the mentholic snow of Nuclear Winter, or the evergreen-infused snow of Snow Bunny.

I wore this as my scent of the day on Friday last week, and I did a big slather. I felt like I got more of the cardamom that way, but this scent stayed close to the skin on me despite me slathering it along my forearms. 

I really enjoy this one and would wear this whenever there's a need for a comforting scent, in winter, when one is longing for the warmth of spring, or in early spring, while watching the last signs of winter fade away.

This is, of course, the most honey-forward of the Hundred Acre Wood scents. The honey is the dominant note throughout wear, and it smells floral, pale, and thin instead of thick and gloopy to me. There's some effervescence from the mead to go along with it (and maybe there's a squeeze of orange in the mead?), which is most noticeable during the first few hours of wear, and some woodsmoke, which, fortunately, isn't overbearing, but does smell a little odd on me combined with the honey. I'm not really getting any amber from this (maybe because my skin is running away with the honey).

I'm not sure how often I'll reach for this one, with its honey and smoke, but I'll be hanging onto the bottle regardless since I was gifted the whole collection. I think this would be best worn in late summer or early fall.

I may have won the skin chemistry lottery with Edward Bear, but my skin chemistry is ruining Piglet's scent, which was one of the Hundred Acre Wood scents to which I was most looking forward.

The red bean paste (Beth's red bean paste note is so good!), apple blossom, and caramelized almond notes are the most prominent notes on me, with that caramelized almond note being almond toffee-like, like almond brittle, so it is very warm on me with that note and the red bean paste, and then the apple blossom drifts through, which helps to lift the scent. But then it does something that some scents do on me, even when there's no similar notes, and I don't know what it is causing it -- but it starts smelling soup-y on me, like... it ends up being somewhat tomato soup-esque? This is something I have had happen to me with some scents even before COVID, so it's not my sniffer being broken -- it's truly my skin chemistry, as it's not like that at all in the bottle or during the wet phase of the scent.

I asked for and was gifted the entire Hundred Acre Wood perfume oil set for Christmas, so I won't be parting ways with my bottle, even if my skin chemistry is being rude to me. Time to go the scent locket route to enjoy that lovely red bean paste note!

I feel like I won the skin chemistry lottery on this one.

Freshly applied, I get the blast of buttered toast, but then a deep amber shows up and steals the show. It's the dominant note throughout wear on me, backed by the fuzzy cotton stuffing note, which is not laundry-like on me at all or problematic like some fabric notes are (huzzah!), a bit of toffee-like honey, and the roasted vanilla. I only get a whiff of the butter and milk notes when I sniff up close. Drink Me is actually more buttery on me than this scent. I feel like this perfume perfectly encapsulates our favorite honey-seeking bear -- we have the gourmand elements, but then we have the amber and roasted vanilla adding more cozy warmth, and then the fuzzy cotton stuffing note to remind us that he's a stuffed animal, as Tom mentioned in the livesniff of these on YouTube.

This will be perfect to wear on chilly days when you're staying inside and wanting to wear something warm and cozy (or even when it's not -- just honor Pooh by saying, "Tut tut, it looks like rain" and slather some on when you need some comfort  ).

This one is predominantly about the pomegranate. The pine being most noticeable when the scent is first sprayed, but it never is as strong as the pom, forever confined to a background role as the pom asserts its dominance and somehow seems to increase in strength over time. I've sprayed this on my couch a few times, and did a few tests on a paper towel, and I had the same result: primarily pom and only a wee bit of pine.

I like this and will hang onto the atmo, but it's not as strong on the holiday vibes as 2023's Pomegranate, Fir Needle, and Cypress Perfume Oil, which I enjoyed more. I just wish there were more pine!

Le Tits Now is mostly about the champagne on me, which is quite fizzy, bright, and almost soda-like in this scent. I've tested this twice, and the champagne reigns on my skin in full force for about five hours before I get much of anything else from this. I believe this features the chilly, sweet snow note of Snow White, but the fizzy champagne makes me question if that's really the snow note I'm smelling. I smell a little musk with the snow note after the champagne calms down at the end of a long day, adding a nice backdrop to the champagne and snow, and I'm pleased to report that there's no red musk among the blushing musks featured here. Sadly, I'm not really getting any lavender from this, but that could just be due to my skin making this a champagne party for hours on end.

In any case, I'll definitely be keeping my bottle, and I plan to wear this tomorrow to ring in the new year.  

I had to get a bottle of this because I enjoy these festive robins so much, AND because I'm a slut for cherry.

I am happy to say that blind bottling this scent paid off! The cherry is a main player during both the wet and dry phases of the scent, although it is most prominent early on in wear. It's very much a fruit-infused mulled wine scent to me, but aside from the cherry, I'm not very good at picking out the winter berries (there might be some pom here???). There was a darker note in the background that I wasn't able to pinpoint, but I'm not sure if that was the fruit itself, whatever comprises the russet feathers, or if it is part of the brandy.

My partner, who also loves cherry scents and birds, but didn't know this contained cherry until it arrived, was thrilled that the cherry note is so prominent and was glad that the scent is just as amazing as the artwork.

We will both enjoy applying this one for a boozy cherry fix during the winter months!  

First Noel, First Base is a blast of apple at first, backed by the beeswax, but it doesn't take long for the beeswax to take the center stage and become the dominant note, sweetened up further by whatever remains of the apple. I've tested this myself and slathered it on my partner, and it has great throw.

I typically say I have too many beeswax scents, or too many apple scents, but this is the first scent I've had featuring both notes, and it did not disappoint. I'm excited to have another Yuletide apple scent in my collection.  

This is amazing. I get lots of lavender, cardamom, and an airy cream that smells like a homemade vanilla-infused whipped cream, with a smattering of almond paste that's most noticeable during the first few hours of wear. Then it mostly becomes all about that cream, which I am delighted to say is not a butter bomb in this case. This is the least bread-y of the lavender bread scents -- I didn't get any yeast-y baked bun scent, but that could come out more as it has had more time to settle, or maybe my skin ran away with the other notes (I don't mind). My partner doesn't even care for baked good scents and thought this smelled delectable.

One bottle will not be enough! I like this more than Lights, Camera, Something, a scent from a Lilith update of yore which also featured lavender and cardamom notes. This features way more lavender with the cardamom, and the cream makes this scent more floofy.  

I didn't get to assemble the cute little gingerbread house before I left work on Tuesday -- my coworkers just would not give me a break.  

But I did get a photo of all of the cards I was sent when I came into the office that day:

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Thank you to @goddessrobyn, @lorizav, @Lucchesa, @LavenderCoffee, @moonminx, @Usagi, and @twilighteyes for all of these amazing cards!  

His appetite is insatiable! Crumbs of gnawed marzipan and toasted hazelnuts tumbling through a thicket of patchouli and gunpowder and bouncing off of a throbbing cherrywood ramrod.

Liqueur-soaked twin cherries reeling from a double pony-kick of pink pepper and white ginger.

Buttercream-frosted angel food cake and a smear of strawberry lip gloss.

Have I spoken this day of aught else?

Is not religion all deeds and all reflection,

And that which is neither deed nor reflection, but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul, even while the hands hew the stone or tend the loom?

Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations?

Who can spread his hours before him, saying, “This for God and this for myself; This for my soul, and this other for my body?”

All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self. He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked.

The wind and the sun will tear no holes in his skin.

And he who defines his conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage.

The freest song comes not through bars and wires.

And he to whom worshipping is a window, to open but also to shut, has not yet visited the house of his soul whose windows are from dawn to dawn.

Your daily life is your temple and your religion.

Whenever you enter into it take with you your all.

Take the plough and the forge and the mallet and the lute,

The things you have fashioned in necessity or for delight.

For in revery you cannot rise above your achievements nor fall lower than your failures.

And take with you all men: For in adoration you cannot fly higher than their hopes nor humble yourself lower than their despair.

And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles.

Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.

And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain.

You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees.

A perfume of the sacred in the ordinary and the value of labor, joy built from the things you carry into the temple of your days. Golden hay, frankincense tears, hearthsmoke, amber-streaked cedar, and beeswax.

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?

And if it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space, it is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart.

And if you cannot but weep when your soul summons you to prayer, she should spur you again and yet again, though weeping, until you shall come laughing.

When you pray you rise to meet in the air those who are praying at that very hour, and whom save in prayer you may not meet.

Therefore let your visit to that temple invisible be for naught but ecstasy and sweet communion.

For if you should enter the temple for no other purpose than asking you shall not receive:

And if you should enter into it to humble yourself you shall not be lifted:

Or even if you should enter into it to beg for the good of others you shall not be heard.

It is enough that you enter the temple invisible.

I cannot teach you how to pray in words.

God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips.

And I cannot teach you the prayer of the seas and the forests and the mountains. But you who are born of the mountains and the forests and the seas can find their prayer in your heart,

And if you but listen in the stillness of the night you shall hear them saying in silence,

“Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth.

It is thy desire in us that desireth.

It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days which are thine also.

We cannot ask thee for aught, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us:

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all.”

A scent for wordless communion, an immersion with the divine: silver frankincense and white myrrh, blue lotus absolute and white sandalwood.

You would know the secret of death.

But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?

The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.

If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.

For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;

And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.

Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity. Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.

Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?

Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?

And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

Ecstatic unbecoming: earth-warmed patchouli, sweet myrrh, terebinth, galbanum, gurjum balsam, and black amber.

Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide?

And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?

The aggrieved and the injured say, “Beauty is kind and gentle.

Like a young mother half-shy of her own glory she walks among us.”

And the passionate say, “Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread.

Like the tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us.”

The tired and the weary say, “Beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit. Her voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow.”

But the restless say, “We have heard her shouting among the mountains,

And with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions.”

At night the watchmen of the city say, “Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east.”

And at noontide the toilers and the wayfarers say, “We have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset.”

In winter say the snow-bound, “She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hills.”

And in the summer heat the reapers say, “We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair.” All these things have you said of beauty,

Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied,

And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.

It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth,

But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.

It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear,

But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears.

It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw,

But rather a garden for ever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.

People of Orphalese, beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.

But you are life and you are the veil. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.

But you are eternity and you are the mirror.

You are life and you are the veil; a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted: saffron-threaded sandalwood, white ambrette, wild narcissus, smoky yellow tobacco flower, and gilded vanilla.

An oil for new beginnings in the new year. Use to clear out residual emotional, spiritual, and social debris, break cycles of repeating narratives, old drama, lingering resentments, and stale grudges, and purify spaces, tools, and the self in preparation for a fresh start. Sweep your literal and metaphorical thresholds clean and step forward unencumbered.

Contains: frankincense, rue, three mints, angelica, cascara sagrada, yarrow, bay, lemon verbena, lime, and salt.

Hearthglow, a cousin to BPAL’s Heartglow, is an anointing oil for keeping the home safe, welcoming, and quietly joyful. It is an oil of gentle warmth, built to protect the household and its inhabitants, comfort and honor house spirits and guardians of place, encourage peace and understanding, and create an atmosphere of love, emotional safety, and mutual care.

Suitable for use in ritual work and to anoint doorframes, hearths, windowsills, and keys.

Contains: fossilized amber resin, frankincense, dragon’s blood resin, orris root, red sandalwood, lavender, patchouli, clove, allspice, burdock, sweet orange, honey absolute, sweet grains, and marjoram.

“What a bewitching girl…”

A facade of innocence shattered by a demonic chortle of black honey bubbling up from an abyss of burgundy pitch.

A schoolboy’s sickly grin molded from warm beeswax, lips clamped around several rusty nails.

Bringing you the colors of spring! Tawny golden musk and cherry-blossom lipstick smeared over blood-slicked fangs.