Et Lux Fuit

[juniperus]

At last, the light at the end of our three-month tunnel of misfortune. To commemorate this momentous occasion, we present a big ol’ bottle of sunny, happy, bounciness -- a golden blend with a celebratory feel, promoting joy, peace, and a sense of comfort and well-being: golden amber, heliotrope, vanilla musk, carnation, daisy and sunflower bouquet, neroli, lemon peel, ylang ylang and honeycomb.

Bottle: bright, sweet floral.
Wet: still bright, somewhat less sweet, warming.
Dry: softer, the sweet taking on depth. the honey isn't turning on me, nor is the ylang ylang nor neroli. yet.
Later: both light and dark, broad and deep, slightly sharp (the lemon plus the neroli, I think) beneath shimmering gold. I didn't think this would work, and it almost doesn't but it's so complex and interesting...I gotta keep the decant.


eta: decant, not imp. oopsie. Edited October 30, 2006 by Shollin

[ginevra]

This year has been a real whirlwind for me, so when I saw the Lab's description of ELF, I knew it would be perfect. It is. It's a sweet, floral scent, maybe a tiny bit citrus-y, and it is wonderful for lifting the spirits. Very optimistic. A perfect late summer scent!

[smallvoice]

This is indeed a golden blend, and it does promote feelings of joy and well-being in me. I think I will enjoy this over the winter, when I feel like a contrast or when I'm longing for warmer days. I don't know what to say about it, because I don't get the notes seperately at all. I think the lemon adds a neat spark to the blend, the vanilla musk is perfect, and the amber is absolutely golden, but that's about it. I know there are florals, but they are delicous and stay where they ought; they don't overwhelm. It's just joyful!

[niobe]

Wow, this is quite nice. In the bottle it's sharp and lemony, with muskier undertones -- wasn't sure i'd like it. But on the skin it warms immediately and the amber and vanilla begin to rise, just a little -- and the carnation adds just a touch of round yummy spiciness to the sillage. The citrus fades on me in the drydown, and it's just very warm amber/musk with a light touch of something sweet. I can't pick out the heliotrope at any stage, but what I do smell is really quite gorgeous. it's a very soft, lush, happy scent, and a really wonderful blend! I am glad I got a bottle rather than an imp!

 

This reminds me of my grandmother, who was quite a glamour girl in the 1940s and has always worn Shalimar, and who is not at all old-ladyish. Love it!

[sh1mm3r]

I tried this at the Atlanta MnS. My sister loves Clinique's Happy, and the description sounded similar.

 

At first, it was all sunflowers and sunshine - very yellow smelling. And then it touched my skin. *sigh* It must be the amber. It turned into a generic, too-strong perfume smell, similar to what happened with The Living Flame.

[Ahania]

Mmm! This is sunny, spicy, powdery, and creamy, all at once. It's the first scent I've tried with citrus that didn't turn into Pledge (even the lime scents turn into Pledge on me). I got an imp, now I have to go hunt for a bottle someone doesn't want.

[zankoku_zen]

This one was a straight shot all the way from imp to drydown.

 

It smells like an orange creamsicle on my skin.

 

I find this one cheery, creamy and very uplifting. It is truly a golden scent, like waking up in the morning to soft sunshine on your face and pillow.

 

The only problem is that my skin LITERALLY eats this up. After 15 minutes, I had a really difficult time smelling it. I will definitely be keeping the half-imp I got... but I doubt that I will be trying to hunt down more of it. It was a nice scent, but it just has no throw.

[acerbic]

Yep, no throw at all, and skin definitely ate it very quickly.

 

Bigger problem was that even though it smelled fantastic in the bottle and for the first few minutes on me, it turned into baby powder almost as fast as my skin ate it. I'll probably try again before I say yes or no, but I think my skin doesn't like the carnation. Who knows.

[harmonyfb]

In the bottle, this was pure sunshine. As soon as it hit my skin, things went wrong. It went on a little sharp (I think that's the heliotrope), and began to amp up horribly. It's giving me a headache, though the sharp scent has faded in favor of blooming amber. I can smell the lemon peel through the slightly-powdery amber, but I smell no vanilla musk, and no honey. I'll revisit in a bit, but I don't think this is for me.

[Voleuse]

This is amber and vanilla and citrus to my nose, sweet and warm and golden. It's very similar to Litha in feel, but Litha smells more floral to me, while Et Lux Fuit is sexy and a little foody. Must be the vanilla musk. The blend gets a little rounder over time, but it never completely loses the mild tartness of the lemon. This is beautiful, and it makes my mouth water. Definitely a keeper.

[Shollin]

First sniff: And there was light! This is another gorgeous golden shiny happy scent. It’s less warm than Litha, and quite a bit fresher.

 

Wearing: Oh, this reminds me of Snow Angel. It’s the same sort of fantastic sparkly sweet lemon, with an added swish of fresh sunny flowers.

[bardsong]

This smells like orangey vanilla. I can't detect the amber notes at all. But something is working here because this is the only vanilla scent I've tried that hasn't gone horribly rancidly sweet on my skin. It is definitely sunshine in a bottle, although it's not something I'd probably normally wear.

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant included in a purchase from eviltemptressdq

 

Initial Thoughts: I thought I'd tried this one, but I think I was confusing it with Litha.

 

In the Bottle: Very warm and sunny, nicely floral and sweet.

 

Wet: Hmm...between the musk and the amber, I'm getting the old tsunami of those notes at the expense of the others.

 

Drydown: Okay, the musk backs off a bit and I get wafts of honey and citrus that are all mellow and warm.

 

Verdict: I'm glad I got this!

[grifyn_whiffs]

I really thought there would be a lot to love about this one, but the minute it hit my skin, it reminded me of an oil roll-on I bought a few years ago by AURIC BLENDS called "Aphrodesia" (which is described as "rose, jasmine and vanilla -- sweet with a spicy kick"...whatever!). This smells almost EXACTLY like it, and I practically drove myself crazy trying to figure it out.

 

Like that roll-on, this scent is just sort of LOUD and overbearing. It gave me a terrible headache, so I wonder what that loud and proud note is beckoning my migraines?

 

The drydown is less headache-inducing, and that's when the sunflower bouquet and/or the daisy notes assert themselves. It does smell like them, but it's not a scent that agrees with my chemistry, as those notes always go sort of stale and stinky on my skin.

 

At any rate, this one is not for me I'm afraid.

[GoldenRubee]

This is a very happy, sunny scent to me. Like running through a field of sunflowers with bees buzzing around. This is a light floral with amber and honey with a powdery scent in the background. I also get a little bitter citrus once in a while too. I might have put on too much today because yesterday I put on much less and liked it much more. It was much sweeter than today. Today I have had it on for hours and it is still loud and clear! So it does have staying power. All in all, I think this is great for leaving winter behind and saying hello to spring.

[asciident]

Wet: Sweet, fruity and just a hint of floral.

 

First on: All the florals bloom as soon as it touches my skin. It smells strongly of heliotrope, carnation, daisy and sunflower sprinkled in vanilla musk. Vague citrus notes.

 

Dry: The vanilla musk and citrus went into hiding. Amber and florals, which is perfectly nice, but I'm not in love with it or anything. I was hoping for more amber+vanilla+musk+citrus. It is a really golden, happy blend, though.

[kraken]

In the Bottle: Florals and lemon citrus.

 

Initial Wet: Now amber and citrus with very little florals. Initial impressions make me thing of warm, summer sunshine, lemonade and sun-dried lawns.

 

Initial Dry: The florals and vanilla begin to come through, but not strongly. Not much honey, but the amber more than makes up for it. The whole blend is very nice, one note not completely dominating the others.

 

Drier Dry: It turns to a dry, spicy honey backed by sunny citrus. The spice is amber and carnation and there is just a touch of florals, not overwhelming. The throw is all honey. Unfortunately, it fades within a few hours.

 

I think it's safe to say that this is the only "sunny" scent that I really like. I think the honey really does it and it's nice that the florals aren't dominant.

[phedre]

In vial: Lemon, neroli, and sweetness. This really is liquid sunshine.

 

on skin: Neroli is the dominant note for me. A touch of daisy, but no carnation unfortunately. I get a bit of the honeycomb too.

 

Drydown: Golden. This is just yellow, happy, pretty fun. It's nice, but not for me.

[deleahrium]

Definitely a happy, light, floral, sunny scent. It reminds me of a traditional perfume, without the yucky alcohol-ness. It's pleasant, and I think it would be nice for spring! It's like a floral vanilla-- it makes me think of a big bouquet of fresh flowers. A HAPPY scent, for sure

[hackess]

Imp: Grapes and grass and just a tinge of orange peel

Wet: Yellow flowers - sunflowers, daffodils, and daisies.

Dry: Honey comes out a bit and sweetens up all the florals. There's something underneath that dries/powders it all - honeysuckle? Amber?

 

It's a very sunny inoffensive scent, but not something I'll wear often.

[vylit]

Wet: Ylang Ylang and sunflowers. This has a strong perfume smell to it. My grandmother used to wear something that smells like this.

 

Dry: It turns to powder. Under the powder I can smell carnation, sunflowers, and, well, cheap perfume.

 

This is definitely one for the swap pile.

[wikkidraven]

this is a faint citrusy floral...no real throw at all. not really what i thought it would be, but it's pleasant enough. definitely a yellow, spring scent.

[stellans]

Imp: The description of this blend made it sound perfect for the bright cheerfulness of today, and it was. Normally any lemon note will turn to Pledge on my skin, but I am happy to say it didn't in this oil. Vanilla and amber are not notes I look for, but in this blend they are smooth, warm, and utterly delightful. I couldn't even smell any lemon wet, and hardly any flowers...amber and vanilla ruled.

 

Wet: On, I smelled the underlying floral notes much better than in the bottle. Still no lemon, which for me is a definite relief. I freely admit there are some blends in which the lemon note isn't bad on me, but they are (so far) few and far between. I will happily add this blend to the 'positive' list.

 

Dry: Every sniff I take makes me feel like stretching and purring like my cats do in the warm sunlight. This a comfort food, woobie-blanket, warm puppy kind of blend, and it is wonderful both wet and dry. The flowers are more prominent dry than they were in the wet phase, but still the amber/vanilla alliance is predominant. I bought this unsniffed from eBay after a friend raved about it, and so glad I did.

 

Verdict: Keep. Keep, keep, keep. And try to get a back-up bottle.

Edited May 2, 2008 by stellans

[everanything]

In the bottle: a very 'bright' and 'happy' scent, almost reminds me of original Clinique Happy without the alcohol burn. The brightness is definitely the the flowers and the citrus, with the happy as my nose recognizing the neroli and vanilla.

 

Wet: the lemon peel and neroli create a spicy pleasant citrus, which reminds me of the brief citrus notes that Freak Show and Great Sword of War both share.

 

Dry: the nice citrus vanishes into a dry powder soap note that really makes me gag. Only throws an inch or two, thankfully. Another off to swaps.

[ladybird]

*whimper*

 

Curse of the Baby Powder strikes again!

 

This started as a lovely fruity-flowery scent, all warm and happy. And then a little while later...baby powder. My skin just does this to some scents.

 

So sad! I was really looking forward to this one. Into the trades...