Halôa

[GoldenRubee]

Wine grapes, myrrh, frankincense and olive leaf, and the warm scent of offertory cakes.

Opening the bottle, I smell butter mixed with wine, as if I were cooking a rich meal. On my skin, it sweetens up and adds some light spices into the mix along with the olive leaf. I have had it on all day and the scent still lingers. It is light and fragrant and not foody at all.

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: sour cream frosting with something else (white grape?)

wet: it starts to get woodier and the olive leaf comes in.

dry: the olive leaf keeps coming out more and more. I just don't like it.

The olive leaf gets stronger and stronger on me and I don't find it to be a pleasant smell.

NOPE!

Edited May 9, 2007 by Dinerdulcinea

[Gin]

Halôa

 

A friend sent me a slew of bottles to test, and this one happened to be on my desk this morning. I didn't remember even reading about this one, so I figured I might as well give it a try. At first, it was a crazy mishmash of fruit, honey, and spices, but it quickly smoothed out. It goes into a honeyed cake scent and then the frankincense comes to the fore. Oddly enough, after a few hours, this smells quite a lot like Dior's Hypnotic Poison--but a nicer, softer, subtler Hypnotic Poison.

[beachbabealways]

I just got a bottle of this and I'm not good at reviews but I will say I love this one. When I open the bottle I smell something foody. When wet on skin ... the same thing. As it dries I am picking up something else, maybe the F&M?? Then it goes back to the warm foody note again.

 

This reminds me of Knave of Hearts on my skin but a lighter version of it. So I would put this in the group with ... Knave of Hearts and Eat me.

 

Very nice!!

[lushlovely]

First whiff from the bottle: buttery-honied grape with something pungeant sticking its tongue out at me.

On my skin: uh-uhhhh. More stale bitterness, like going into a really old church where there is still the lingering scent of old incense. Must be the F&M doing this.

 

I had such high hopes for Haloa because of all the comparisons to Beaver, and Beaver is probably my all time favorite lunar blend. I didn't get any of the cheesecake similiarity between them at all, nor any frosting. I thought sure I would love this one, but the F&M just ruin it for me. I can't see myself wearing this one at all really.

[Neely]

In the bottle: buttery cakey goodness with a slight berry undertone from the wine.

 

Wet: wine really amps up as this hits my skin and the cakes go into the background. No olive leaf yet.

 

Dry down: wine, cakes and olive leaf which grounds it all and makes it blend together.

 

30 minutes: a sophisticated berry and olive leaf perfume. Less foody than I anticipated. The olfactory cakes have gone to the background and give this a creamy base.

 

Conclusion: creamy berry olive leaf. Very seasonal.

 

Rating 1-5: on my skin this is a 4.

[fountaingrl]

Ok, I don't know what to do with myself. Just when I think I know what will and won't work on me, Beth astounds me again! I had NEVER found a fruit blend that worked. I had enjoyed some wine notes, but the wine in Athens has crazy throw and my partner hates it. I love myrrh but it is very strong and I have a ton of myrrh blends already and a small cache of Minotaur.

 

I had this little sniffy of Haloa. I am packaging up a package to get sent to a newbie for enabling, and right before I tuck it in I think, "oops, sniffied it but never even tried to test, let's give it a shot too." Oboy.

 

It does NOT smell like heavy resins on me, nor does it smell like wine note even tho it has 'wine grapes.' It doesn't go fruit-barf at all. I have had no luck with most foodie scents, have swapped away all my monster baits, but THIS one?

 

Sugar, sweet sugar and cake, and light, and almost coconut but not quite, so fresh and light and sweet, like the smell of light golden sunlight and fluffy snow. Words fail.

 

I need a shower cuz I tested it after a run, and I am SITTING HERE STILL STINKY because I don't want to wash off the sniffy and I have sent off the imp. It took me *checks watch* oh .... thirty minutes to start hunting down a bottle?

 

I am going to need to build the paypal big time between 'weens and yules.

 

ETA: I 'clean-tested' obviously, before sending off the sniffy, since I was a bit icky. I love those little individually-wrapped toothpicks you can get at restaurants, I keep a couple tucked into my wallet. Does that make me an addict, to carry around testing supplies everywhere I go?

Edited July 19, 2007 by fountaingrl

[modernsaints]

AGH. What. I was promised cake

 

This is... well it starts as a sort of cake-y wine. Which, gross. Then it gets heavily spicy, with a really sort of tart, green undertone (I'm not sure WHAT that is... for some reason I want to say olive leaf? nooo. I want olive leaf to smell like real olives.) It just gets weirder and weirder, and hits some strange tickly place high in my nose, and blech.

[LadyMedb]

I like the cake, I like the incense, but I can't get over the salad note. I think it's a psychological thing, because the olive leaf is really only a fleeting top note. I was intending to swap this, but I lost it. Oh well.

[LadyBug]

This has a sharp scent like red wine...that's most likely the wine grapes. Next I can smell the frankincense which makes it kind of incensy. And the after smell is the cakes. This scent it weird because none of the scents blend into each other...they all stand out on their own. Unfortunately, it's not for me...but I know a lot of people would like this!

[alicia_stardust]

This is a beautiful scent, and one I didn't expect to like. For the most part I get cakes. They are very sweet but not as sugary as some of the other cake scents out there. I really think that has to do with the wine aspect of this scent as well as the olive leaf. I really think those ground out the cake nicely. This is a warm and comforting scent and one that I am glad to have a bottle of.

[arabella]

First Impression: Creamsicles drenched in honey.

Dries down to: Much the same but considerably toned down.

Additional Comments: I seem to be getting the worst of this. It must be a blend that, on me, obscures the individual notes. I should at least have twigged to wine grapes and cake. I'm not familiar with myrrh or olive leaf. I can't pick out the frankincense at all. It's okay but nothing great.

Lasted: 3-4 hours

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

[Rheliwen]

2006 version.

 

I always wanted to order this but I'm not really a foody gal. Boy am I glad I got my hands on some because I haven't fallen in love with a blend in a while.

 

It starts off as rich spices with a fruit undertone and just an instant whiff of vinegar. It dries down to rich mulled wine (where the wine note is very subtle) and Beaver Moon's cheesecake. Myrrh and I go together so well it should be illegal.

Edited October 23, 2007 by Rheliwen

[AEris]

AGH. What. I was promised cake

 

This is... well it starts as a sort of cake-y wine. Which, gross. Then it gets heavily spicy, with a really sort of tart, green undertone (I'm not sure WHAT that is... for some reason I want to say olive leaf? nooo. I want olive leaf to smell like real olives.) It just gets weirder and weirder, and hits some strange tickly place high in my nose, and blech.

 

This is gonna sound weak, but: Ditto.

 

I don't really like this. I don't all-out hate it, but it's just not doing it for me.

 

I washed it off after a few hours and spotted on some standby Snake Oil to get over the blahs Haloa put me in.

[girlygirl]

2006 version

 

Foody and Incensey have a baby and her name is Haloa.

 

I can smell the cake, the grape leaves, the frankincense, all of it blending together so well.

[lilirose]

2007 version!

 

This is just absolutely luscious. Definitely OMG territory.

 

On me, it's grapes and gorgeous frankincense with a warm "baking" smell underneath. I don't get any boozy wine smell, nor any bitterness from the myrrh- I can't really make it out other than a possible addition to the "incensey" smell.

 

I can believe fruit and incense, but fruit, incense and the smell of cakes baking? Incredible!

 

Excellent throw, even though I've burned my nose out a bit by sniffing nine new bottles and twenty-six different imps.

 

This just totally rocks. I give it a 10 out of 5. One of my favourites ever.

Edited November 13, 2007 by lilirose

[jade_starlight]

Sadly, this one simply doesn't work on me. Between the wine and what I think is the olive leaf it's giving me a headache. And I had such high hopes for this one, too.

[aleciarivas]

Well! At least I am not the only one! I put this on and immediately took a dislike to it! I was sampling YoakeNoKami's imps at the time, and I set this one aside right away. Kept sniffing and sampling, and a little while later I caught this AMAZING smell.... I thought it might be her at first, but it wasn't!! It was the little spot of Haloa!!!! mmmmmm.... Wine and cake and fruit and smoke.... I totally love this Yule!!!!

[steffanina]

Haloa 2007-

 

(The previous incarnation was interesting but a little too cloying for me.)

 

In Bottle: This one smells of grapes and something creamy-sweet.

 

Wet: Clean soapy smell, sweet, and a hint of fruit.

 

Dry: Very like last year's blend--a tiny bit cloying, like overripe fruit, with a hint of resin.

 

Overall: A bit too cloying for me.

[taramarie]

On me, Haloa is just grape juice and incense resins. Nice, certainly, but not me. I think this one might work better as a room scent than perfume.

[Delirium1009]

2007 version

 

In bottle/imp: Wine and spicy resins.

 

Immediately on skin: This is very sweet, and the wine grapes, frankincense, and myrrh come out first. It’s like the smell of rich resin-y incense and spilled sweet wine.

 

After a few minutes: The myrrh and frankincense have taken over this blend; it’s a strong resin scent now with a hint of earthy olive leaf, incense, and grapes.

 

Overall Impressions: If you enjoy grapes, myrrh, and frankincense, try this blend, because unfortunately that’s really all I get from it. It’s nice, but nothing special in my humble opinion. It smells of sweet wine and resin-y incense.

[vegasblueblood]

2007 version:

 

This smells like the celebration it honors. It's full of sweet, fruity wine with a smoky background of incense and you can just imagine the scene of what this festival would have been like. It is a very intoxicating blend, as it should be, and I imagine that offeratory cake notes will come out after it's been on my skin for a while. It's not an overly boozy scent since you get more of the wine grapes than the wine itself. The frankincense is starting to emerge and I have a feeling this will age absolutely beautiful.

[shellyshells]

2007 version-

 

 

Ooh! It smells absolutely deliciously cakey with hints of fruit & wine. Ah but on the drydown a slight plasticky smell in the background. I wonder if there is some kind of cream or milk note in here... I seem to turn them into plastic like Milk Moon. Ugh... it was so nice at first. Oh well.

[slave1]

HALOA 07

 

In Bottle: A berry tart

 

On Skin: The grapes come out first… very sweet and a little over-ripe. Then I smell the offertory cakes, giving the sweet tart crust feel. The incense gives a sweet smoky background, but there is something that is just “off” to me. Something I didn’t get from last years blend. Is the olive leaf going funky on me? Last years blend worked on me, this one doesn’t really. It also fades super fast. It turns into a slightly herbal incense blend with grapes in the distant background. Oh well, still not a bad blend, but I think my bottle from last year will be enough for me. Light throw and short wearlength.

[Honeygirl]

2006 version

Bottle: Grape

 

Wet: Bubblegum grape and incense.

 

Drydown: Gets very sweet on me. The incense nearly disappears. I like this scent, but wish the incense would stick around.

3.5 outta 5