Litha 2006

[ouch!]

... Honey mead with honeysuckle, oak wood, ivy leaf, wild thyme, carnation, daisy, vervain, gum arabic, frankincense, yauhtli, and liquid copal.

Having read the descriptions I can definately tell my version is the 2006 version. The honey is really prominent, but there's so much other stuff going on in here it's a bit overwhelming. It's floral and fruity with a roundness that's hard to describe. I don't get any herbal from this. This is a bright fun scent and it packs some punch.

Honeysuckle is noticable and there is a really slight resionous twang which must be the frankincense. But this is one of those scents that I find really hard to describe. Very well blended. Grr. Hate it when that happens.

As it dries it becomes more rounded and smooth, it's almost creamy, still a bit floral..still a bit fruity.

The dry stage really shows off the honey, it's a flowery honey though. Really cool blend but not a massive favourite of mine.

[papermaker]

This starts with a blast of mead. I like mead. Then there is all kind of honey. This is like a thick raw honey. Under the mead there is a bevy of flowers. Honeysuckle and carnation being the most apparent to my nose. Drier it feels a little incensy. This will be a spring/summer staple for me now that I have a bottle

[JazzieCazzie]

Acquired as an imp off my wish list in a swap.

 

IN THE IMP: Odd. Slightly acrid at first but then sweet, fresh, herbal, floral.

 

Dabbed on my wrist and in the crook of my arm.

 

WET: This is super-duper spring time. Spring flowers blending beautifully with the green and resins, and the honey is not cloying and doesn't try to take over the party.

 

DRYDOWN: This dries down quickly and into something that is very much the sum of its parts rather than definable notes. If I didn't know what was in it, I would not be able to identify the notes as anything more than a very light, VERY light, very nice spring scent. It's nice. But for me it's JUST nice. It's actually TOO "NOT in my face" for me.

 

OVERALL: This is a lovely light blend and would probably work well for someone who is a "beginner" or works with people who don't like strong scents. It doesn't make a statement. It just wafts spring.

 

ETA find this interesting because it's almost eight years old, and in my experience honey blends have gotten stronger with age. Yet almost every review I read here singles out the honey, whereas on my it didn't amp at all. So let me add that I was coming down with a cold when I tested this and it may indeed be stronger than I thought but I didn't have an issue with the other scents I tested that day. So YMMV.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 4 for what it is.

Edited February 24, 2014 by JazzieCazzie

[mishi-bear]

I received this from a friend, and it's definitely this 2006 version. For an 11 year old oil, it's still going strong, and smells lovely.

 

It's very sweet. Honestly most of what I got from it was the honeysuckle. There's something to it though that smells almost fruity. I'm not sure if that's just how the florals have aged, or the mead, but it really smells like there's berries in it or something.

 

Overall, a nice smell. It's definitely springtime feeling.

[ShannonElisabethJones]

Oh no! I must have bought this ages ago before I knew how badly resins like frankincense smell on me. Oh, well. Let's give it a try.

 

In the bottle - Resinous and incensey. Eek.

 

Freshly applied - warm florals. A prick of incense...or is that the boozy mead? It keeps getting swamped by flowers. Something like jasmine. Oh...must be the honeysuckle. OHHH there's the mead...wow!

 

Yeah - warming up to mead and flowers. A little greenery. It's not getting me headachey or going to powder on me, surprise surprise. Crap....maybe a little powdery.

 

I think I like it. The mead is verrrrrrry honey-y. Not something I'm used to, but I could wear it.

[mandragora369]

I acquired a bottle of this old scent, 12 years old.

 

Wet: this is very herbal on my skin.

 

Dry: the honey scent is quite strong on me with a floral touch. But I cannot detect Carnation, frankincense or copal which is sad.

[Bamels]

I bought this to wear when celebrating Litha, so am not hugely bothered about the smell, as long as it isn't horrendous. I can smell heavy florals in the bottle, and something that is almost soap, but not quite. It has a good throw. When on and wet, the florals die down, and I can smell something citrusy. Nice, like the sun It's really fun and full of sunny energy

[Lilah Ladybug]

Bringing joy to days of isolation by reviewing my hoard of oils...

 

This is Day 15:  Litha 2009

 

I was gifted about a 1/4 bottle of this from a generous forumite and have longingly sniffed only from the bottle at this point... too scared to fall in love once it hit my skin...

But today I couldn’t resist any longer!

 

In the bottle it’s very sweet honey... honey suckle... floral and a little fresh greenery...

 

On the skin, like walking down a warm sunlit path that is blossoming with all kinds of flowers, there has been a recent light rain so everything is fresh. You happen upon a honeysuckle bush and the bees buzz around collecting pollen for their honey. Their hive can’t be too far away as the sun has warmed their home and you can smell the beeswax and honey in the air as well. 

It does get quite heady, perhaps a touch cloying but I find this reminiscent of when flower’s scents are amplified by the hot sun... it soon settles down into a gentle, warm floral. Sweetened by honey...

 

After some time the resins start to become more noticeable. By this time, the majority of the heady floral aspect is gone and it’s a soft, sweet, resinous floral but the throw is very low. I’ve been wearing it for around 2 hours and I have to get right into my wrist to smell.

[Cali]

I'm mostly getting thyme, thyme, just a touch of mead and frankincense. Very nice, but my skin clearly doesn't want to wear this. :c

[ShadowEtienne]

A while ago, I was gifted a decant of this by a friend who has been into BPAL much longer than I have, and have been using it extremely sparingly so that I won't run out and never be able to have it again too soon.

 

Litha (2006) is a garden in the woods with herbs and flowers and bees nearby being warmed by the sun. It's a well balanced scent on me, honeysuckle (supported by the honey), thyme, and vervain are probably the most noticeable smells for me right off the bat on my skin, but the others are there, filling out the rest of the garden with flowers and green growing things. There's a spiciness to this that is lovely and blends well with the woods and resins that seem to make up its gentle base. I don't notice them at first sniff, but they are definitely present and lending to the impression of this garden being a tended area where the sunlight comes down through the trees in a forest.

 

Honey has been a very hit and miss note for me, but here, it is delightful and definitely lends to the sun-warmed feeling of the scent.

 

Alas, discovering it this late, I will have to treasure my little decant and choose when to use it carefully.