Hearth

[sarahj]

Hearth 2005

Thoroughly revisited. This year’s Hearth is warmer, sweeter, and more traditionally comforting. This is the scent of candied chestnuts, buttered, covered in brown sugar and honey, alongside the scent of cedar smoke and soft pine.

 

in imp: BUTTER and smoke

 

wet: BUTTER and pine

 

dry: buttery caramel corn

 

verdict: a bit too foody for me...I may swap

[nancybridget]

On my skin, this is sugar plums and brown sugared caramel. There's a touch of spice and a warm floral. I want to eat it!

[supremegoddessofall]

Oh, this is nice! I actually get something almost chocolately here. Very sweet and candy-like.

[Monster]

This was one of those scents I thought I was going to love and it makes me feel a bit ill when I sniff it.

 

The chestnut note is nauseating to me for some reason. I smell it and my stomach instantly turns. Unfortunatly I can't put this one on my skin so I'm just gonna review it out of the bottle.

Once I block out the chestnut note I smell sweet smoke and a bit of caramel.

 

If the chestnut wasn't making me feel so ill I would probably love this scent, but unfortunatly it's just not for me.

[outofrhyme]

In the bottle:

This is so yummy. It smells vaguely like marshmallows, I think, and nuts, or coconut, or something. It's definitely sweet, but not too sweet - a little tiny bit like cotton candy. It's gotta be the brown sugar, the butter, the honey, the "candied" in "candied chestnuts."

 

Wet:

I smell the pine/cedar smoke now. And the candied chestnuts as candied chestnuts. Mmm.

 

Dry down:

This is rapidly warming up to sitting beside a fire. "Hearth" is dead-on. The pine and cedar smoke take the front seat... but I can also definitely catch the candied chestnuts.

 

Final thoughts:

This would make an incredible room scent. Except that I don't scent my room, and I certainly don't have enough of this for doing so. As a perfume, I feel like it feel old, probably due to the pine/smoke. Not necessarily really old, just, older than I am. Not at all youthful. I think it would be great for the holidays, though. It really smells just like chestnuts on a fire... reminds me of a mountain lodge, or something. It's making me nostalgic for something in my past... which, sadly enough, might've been one of the themed hotels at Disney World during Christmas season.

 

Later: it's continuing to change, mostly insofar as the smoke is mellowing out, and it's growing on me even more. I think that "mature" is a better label than "old." And considering that I should soon be breaking away from a college image, it's probably fine for my age. There's also something distinctly comforting about it. I'm really glad I have an imp.

[GlowJob]

Pine like WHOA!I was expecting something really warm and comforting but this is 100% pine on me.The smell truely does remind me of Christmas but it won't be one I'm wearing.

[alliekat13]

This is so disgusting. It smells like celery with a little bit of caramel drizzled on top. Now, celery is my most hated food, so this blend literally makes me sick. I gotta go wash this off.

[lightgatherer]

Buttery without being overly buttery, and thankfully, doesn't go to plastic on me like many scents with butter notes tend to. It does start to merge into a bit more of a blended scent, but I don't really get candied chestnuts from this - more like a very buttery kettle corn. The smoke and the pine are in there somewhere, I think, but they're subtle. This is a good scent for spending curled up with a book on a rainy day.

[GoldenRubee]

This smells wonderful in the bottle! Once applied, it reminds me of freshly popped caramel corn! Rich and yummy! I also get small glimpses of brown sugar, butter and nutty goodness. After smelling this, I wish I new where I could go and find some!

[porcelina]

mmm. in the bottle, it's sweet, buttery and nutty, like those roasted candied nuts they sell in paper cones at fairs and such, and there's a hint of fresh pine. it doesn't smell much different on my skin except that the smoke comes out a bit. it's chestnuts roasting on an open fire in a cozy wood cabin with a great big fresh-cut christmas tree. it's comforting and warm... like many of the reviewers above me, i think this would be a fabulous room scent and i think i am gonna have to buy more sometime before christmas just for that purpose.

Edited April 24, 2007 by porcelina

[filigree_shadow]

When it's wet: This smells like pine-scented cleaning products on me. Bleah. And then the chestnut scent comes in, and it turns into nuts & cleaning products. I... uh... I don't think this smells right on me. I can smell a tiny bit of butteriness underneath it, but the pine part is so overwhelming that I don't fancy having my nose right up to my skin to smell this.

 

When it's dry: It's a little more buttery, but it's still mostly pine. I'm really perplexed by this. I tried this a year ago and liked it so much that I swapped for a bottle of it. It's been one of those ones that sits in my BPAL box but for some reason or another I never reach for it. I decided to get it out and try it again tonight, and I'm really surprised that I ever swapped for a bottle of it. It doesn't smell like I thought it did. Odd.

 

ETA: All right, I rescind my earlier comments. After it's been on for more than 30 minutes, the pine scent isn't nearly as strong, and it has a lot more of that "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" scent that I remember. I actually do like this now. But, urgh. That initial stage was not pleasant.

Edited May 14, 2007 by filigree_shadow

[modillian]

This was sent to me as a frimp, and I was so happy to try a suprise LE. Unfortunately, it turns completely to maple syrup on me. Must be my poor reaction to honey and candied chestnuts. I am trying to layer it with other things to make the maple syrup work for me, but I am pessimistic. :\ Dratted skin chemistry.

[funkmoppet]

This is my first encounter with butter as a note, and I daresay it'll be my last.

 

Wet, it's all chestnut. Sweet, caramel chestnuts with butter. And this goes on right through the drydown. It's way too foody for my tastes. To me, it smells like caramel chestnuts swimming in melted butter. It's way too oily, and not at all something I'd ever want to smell like. In fact, I wouldn't like it as a room scent either.

 

I've managed to keep it on for the dry stage - and finally the woods are very weakly coming through, but it's too little too late, and that butter note just keeps on going.

 

Off it comes. Off to swaps it goes.

 

I expected to not like this one, but wanted to try one of the Hearth blends because I love the concept. But I definitely think the elusive '04 version is the one for me. The hunt continues.

Edited July 24, 2007 by funkmoppet

[LadyBug]

This one smells just like the description but also just like a Yankee candle. A little too butterscotchy for me to wear. I was hoping for more...pine? Yummy though, no doubt!

[Trish]

In the imp: Very sweet and foody, almost caramel, but with something woody and smoky behind it.

 

Wet: Wow the wood just jumps out immediately! I mean it's still very sweet and foody, but with a very definite wood note.

 

Drydown: Definitely cedar and pine. As it dries the foodiness is backing off quite quickly, so that it's becoming a sweet yet somewhat sharp wood. Actually it's reminding me a lot of Misk U, with the sweet foodiness over the woods long with dust. Except this is less sweet than Misk U now, and of course no coffee.

 

Dry: The same, this isn't morphing much on my skin at all. Dry woods with creamy foody sweetness.

 

It's nice, but I prefer Misk U.

[squirrelmonkey]

In the bottle: nuts and brown sugar

 

Wet: nuts and brown sugar

 

Drydown: A hint of smoke comes through, with just a tad of pine, but nutty sweetness dominates. Good throw, and lasts a good while; doesn't morph much after it's dry. Definitely a very foody blend. I didn't get any butter, just sweet chestnuts with a hint of resiny pine. Definitely a keeper -- perhaps not for every day, but for winter when I want to be reminded of crackling fire and delicious seasonal favorites. Apt name!

[MaidenGenevive]

Hearth

 

My imp is labeled 2004, but it smells exactly as 2005 should, so I think it was mislabeled.

 

Mmm, delicious! This is everything the description promises. Honeyed buttered chestnuts (with just a touch of almond), complete with subtle wood and smoke undertones. This scent would be perfect on a cold winter's day.

 

After wearing this a while, I can't help but notice that it smells just like Cockaigne.

 

[4 - Really Like] Happily, I like this as much as I'd hoped I would.

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Sweet butter

 

Wet: Mmm, this is good! There's butter and sugar and something sweet and fruity. Some smokiness too.

 

Drydown: This is very sweet to me. There's a chemical note that's emerged, but that's good as this is 2 years old and it makes me not want a bottle as badly. But still, it's good. Sweet and buttery and smoky.

3.0 outta 5

[Ethaisa]

I love foody scents, so no surprise this is a winner for me. Warm, buttery chestnuts with just a hint of caramel. As it dries, that delightful edge of burnt sugar that makes caramel so wonderful rises up and becomes smoky, and brings a hint of pine with it. First snowfall today, and I slathered myself with this. A yummy warm comfort scent. I don't have a fireplace to roast chestnuts on, but it sure smells like I spent all day doing just that!

[zankoku_zen]

This so didn't work for me. It was butter everywhere. Butterny nutty pine. Buttery nuts. Then finally, buttery smoky nuts.

 

In any of its metamorphing stages did the butter let up.

 

Sad.

[VioletChaos]

in the bottle: butter and sugar. YUM!

 

wet on skin: more butter and sugar, with the faintest, faintest note of pine. good!

 

dry down: the pine comes out a bit more. yes, this smells like a cozy winter night in a cabin: pine and sugar and cuddling up by the fire.

 

in all: i LOVE this- and kinda want to eat it!!!

 

 

[tsukara]

This was the first BPAL scent I ever tried after I won two Imps at an Interfilk auction this year.

 

Hearth '05 is an instant favorite with me. From bottle to drydown, it makes me feel warm, comofortable and, above all, scrumptious. The butter, sugar and nuts all balance themselves out nicely on me, creating the general idea of warmth and comfort, while the pine and whiff of pleasant smoky scent remind of the wider world.

 

It lasts a good while on me, which is surprising, as none of the notes really take over or go sour on me. It stays at the right balance of sweet and savory. Absolutely wonderful. Too bad I can't find more! And if only I could find a genral catalog scent I like as much... *sigh*

[Elvie]

Hey, my first ever review

 

Won a bottle of this in an Ebay auction and I'm in love. It takes me back to a holiday in Vermont at Christmastime and a lovely shop that sold scented candles, Christmas decorations and wooden toys and gifts.

 

I get a lovely smokey, woody scent from it and lots of buttery spices. Absolutely delicious.

[Catimenthe]

Got it as a frimp -- only labeled "Hearth" (and with assorted other freebies), so this provided me a nice adventure as I tracked down whether it was actually a BPAL blend or not.

 

 

Anyway...

 

Warm, brown-buttered and nutty, a bare bit of sweetness, with an underlying tang of pine and woodsmoke as it goes on. Pine/smoke comes forward a bit as it dries, but the buttery/nutty smell stays more prominent. Still detectable 12 hours later.

[greenranger]

First whiff, chestnuts...sweet chestnuts.

 

As it dries I can smell the honey, butter, and brown sugar as well as the chestnuts. It does seem slightly smoky, but the smoke is barely a background note, and the pine is not really detectable.

 

Dry, the whole scent blends a bit more. I think I can smell more of the pine and cedar smoke now, and that makes it a little less foody. The speed of the change is slightly worrysome, as I am hoping that the scent does not dry down to just wood and smoke. I want chestnuts and sugary honey goodness.