The Winter of Our Discontent

[nekogrrl]

Embrace your villainy: balsam, myrrh, mandarin orange, bitter clove, artemesia, rosewood, nutmeg, dark musk, smoke and cypress.

In imp: woodsy incense. Hrm. Interesting.

Wet on skin: *coughs* The woods are there. Kind of sharp and dry.

Dry on skin: clove and oranges. The balsam and cypress have faded.

10 minutes later: Still clove and oranges.

Final verdict: Meh. It's okay. Not wild about it, though.

[filigree_shadow]

Aha. Bitter and herby with stark wood notes. Yes, it does smell villainous. It also smells masculine, to me. This is not a scent I'd wear personally, but it's the sort of thing I usually like on my husband, and I'd like it as a room scent as well. Even though it's slightly harsh, it's also comforting. It smells warm and interesting.

[Bluestocking]

In the bottle: Orange, clove, nutmeg and dark smokiness… it smells like the dark side of Thanksgiving and Christmas, with the combo of orange and dry spices and smoke, and there's a lightly bitter undertone from the myrrh and artemesia. Beneath I get touches of the woody, green balsam and cypress.

On, wet: The orange is fading, but more from the myrrh and cypress. Still lots of nutmeg and clove and smoke, which makes me think of clove cigarettes just a bit. It's a deceptively sweet scent if you just get a whiff of it, but on closer sniff, there's that bitter darkness underneath.

Later: Mostly rosewood, myrrh and dark musk now, mellower and woody and somewhat sweet, but with hints of the spice and always a tinge of that ominous dark smoke. There's rose here, too—not full-on rose to me, but it's one of the many layers here. It's unexpectedly sensual and appealing.

Overall: Woody, spicy, smoky and dark, both bitter and sweet—not necessarily cold or full-on villainous to me, but it definitely does suggest Richard's strange sexiness as well as his ruthlessness and bitterness. I like this, esp. for the autumn and winter, but a little goes a long way—there's a lot of throw, and it lasts a loooong time for me. Ultimately, it's an exceptionally complex and compelling scent, which makes it quite worthy of its name.

 

 

[voodoocatwoman]

A little definitely goes a long way. This is a very forceful scent, quite powerful. It is almost a bit overwhelming. I smell the myrrh, clove and nutmeg... and a bit of musk to hold it all together.

The end result is so strong that I can taste it as well as smell it. Wow.

[jencallisto]

(2006 version)

 

In the imp: Mmm, spicy-sweet-bitter woods.

Fresh on the skin: Sharp, woodsy, a little sweet, a little soapy, very much not me.

5 minutes later: Possibly a nice room scent? A rather bittersweet spice, round and complex. Not bad, if not really me.

15 minutes later: Spicy woods, nice enough.

2 hours later: Sort of a soft, dark honey-sweet spicy resin.

4.5 hours later: Light honey resin.

8 hours later: Barely-detectable honey resin.

 

Verdict: Nice enough, if not really me. I do love the name of it, though. Shakespeare! <3

 

One phrase: honey resin.

 

[asciident]

Wet: Floral and deeply musky.

 

First on: Unchanged on skin.

 

Dry: Woodsy florals and faded out musk.

[zankoku_zen]

I get a very golden resin blend from this. Sort of like Leo 2007 --- musky amber, woods and florals.

[ShadowsDance]

So first, I must confess the only reason I originally signed up for this in a decant circle is because I love this macro.. Don't worry, it's SFW

That said!

 

In the imp.. odd, this feels more like a summer scent. Kind of like bug spray..?

Wet on my skin I can smell the balsam, and it is a bit smoky. It dries down to be about the same, wood and smoke. It's like a campfire in the woods. It's okay.. Don't know that I'll wear it often, but I think it will go in my imp box..

Edited May 23, 2009 by ShadowsDance

[Andrea912]

I bought this knowing nothing of the notes...I simply wanted it for my Shakespeare collection when I opened I took a sniff from the decant and kind of wrinkled my nose.

 

Then I looked up the notes and sighed to myself...except for nutmeg and smoke, nothing in it appealed to me.

 

I swabbed it on my wrist...alas, quite blah. Masculine.

 

But then, twenty minutes later, I can't help but notice that one of my all time fave smells is emanating from my wrist...could it be...Hand of Glory?!

 

Yes, yes, it is! What a lovely suprise; I don't know how or why, but this surprising morph is delightful! Yay!

Edited June 23, 2009 by Andrea912

[Monster]

In the imp: Woah! Intrestingly enough, this smells like the inside of a hotel lobby to me...not a cheap litle motel but a nice hotel you stay at when on vacation to say...Disney World!

Wet: Ok, I can't get by the fact that this smells exactly like the lobby of a hotel. This also smells like the inside of the camper my family used to rent as a kid in Point Sebago Maine. This smells like fresh, green plants, leather (??), the perfume of other people and the faint memory of smoke embedded in the fabrics.

 

Dry: As this dries it remidns me less of the inside of ahotel lobby (which wasn't bad, btw) and more of a sharp, woodsy mans cologne. I think this would smell great on my husband during the winter months.

 

Overall: I like this one a lot! I won't wear it but I'm sure my husband will adore it. I also love how this remidns me of a hotel lobby and the camper I used to spend summersin as a kid. it's kind of magical what scent can do for the memory sometimes. I just recalled a bunch of things I thought I'd forgotten forever. Thank you, Beth!

[stellans]

I am reviewing the first (or 2006) release of this scent, although I have a bottle of the newer incarnation waiting in the wings for later reviewing. I first tried this in early 2007, and loved it so much I hunted down 2 bottles, just to have. Hoarding struck me early in my BPAL addiction! Somehow reviewing this slipped through cracks till now, though I'm not sure how it happened. Oh well...I'm reviewing it now!

 

Dark and cold, with a bit of dank herbs: myrrh, is that you? Balsam lightens up the blend a bit, and clove a bit more, but this is above all else a winter scent, and it's wonderful to wear such in hot weather! It's like opening the freezer and finding a snow ball carefully saved from last winter, with a sprig of evergreen sticking out of the middle. I still love this scent, and it only gets better year-to-year!

Edited October 20, 2011 by stellans

[Invidiana]

Oh yes. Of course, I had to get a Shakespeare-inspired scent, and Richard III did not disappoint. This is deep, dark, smoky frozen evergreens veiled in the mystery of musk, sweetened ever so slightly by the clove and nutmeg into one villainous decadent pleasure Note that I do tend to amp warm spices, which always come out somewhat sweet on my skin--maybe they come out bitter on others', I don't know, but what my own chemistry does totally works for me. Christmas trees have nothing on this stuff!

Edited November 3, 2009 by Invidiana

[ouch!]

Gosh this actually smells like sweet smoke at first. I've never got the smoke note from any other blend that claims to have it in but this one...I DO!!!

I'm not getting any of the spices or anything...

 

It's just a very resinous smokiness at first with a hint of sweetness.

 

It then turns into a soft powder resin smell. Reminiscent of..Midnight Mass (Minus Wood). My chemistry seems to blur resins alot and that's what I'm getting. I don't think this is how it's supposed to smell but..it's still nice anyway.

 

It doesn't really change after this, I have never really smelled the spice in this but can imagine with the right chemistry this is a stunning blend. I'm gonna send this on to someone else I think so they can enjoy it.

[DifferentDances]

Bottle: Very smoky incense. A teeny hint of something citrus at the edge, but mostly smoke.

Wet: Acrid, smoky incense.

Drydown: Musky, floral smoke.

Dry: Musky, plastic smoke.

 

Would I ever wear this? No.

 

My rating: 2/5

[DamnSatyr]

In the bottle: Strong, musky - smells like a men's aftershave!

 

Wet: Very strong, the rose jumps out immediately. A little of the clove, too.

 

Dry: All I can smell is the rose, which has gone quite powdery smelling. A shame, because this scent has so many other nice notes but my skin only wants to show the rose.

[Deyja7]

I just rediscovered this imp - and promptly spilt it all over myself. -.-

 

Too bad as i think i kinda like it, its the wood/pine forest i get upon first spill was quite strong but mellows quickly to be quite comforting. It seems to completely avoids smelling like air freshner, like most of the assorted woods smells do to me. The darker notes do tone it down, i can smell the balsam and myrrh..

 

Though minutes after spilling the imp, ive only got a light scent hanging about. Go figure.

[a_llb]

In vial: Bitter & stale smelling, with a hint of dark, smoky, untended evergreens.

On skin: Wow, this smells exactly how I thought Gothic Horror would! Whereas GH ended up being romantically rosy, this blend is spicy and slightly scary. Maybe it's the mandarin? Citrus doesn't do too well on me. I can definitely pick out the clove, and the cypress and rosewood smooth out the smoky musk.

Dry: Whatever was frightening me faded- the remaining scent is basalm-laden myrrh, dusted with spices. I like this stage best, yet something is still lurking in the undertones... it must be the discontent.

[WidgetAlley]

Mine is the '08. Things that rock: balsam, artemesia, rosewood, nutmeg, smoke, cypress. Things that don't rock: mandarin orange, myrrh. Things that might possibly given enough luck rock: dark musk, bitter clove. Let's do this.

 

Bottle: Hunh. Smells kinda like that universal woods-and-black-musk blend that all foresty, heavy BPALs start out as. I get a spicy, heady middle note, maybe the bitter clove? Nutmeg is there too, dusty and nutty and sweet all at once. The rest is just a big blur of swift-moving smoke.

 

Wet: Whoooooa nelly. Strong nutmeg at the fore, delicious! It brought backup, though, in the form of cypress and other heavy woods. I'm getting dry, splintery wood smell from this, not the rich forest I was hoping for, and something (rosewood? Perhaps the musk?) is running strongly to powder. The end result is weirdly evil nutmeg talcum powder.

 

A Couple Episodes of Scrubs Later: Very faint, very pretty, very powdery orange and nutmeg with a backing of fresh green wood. Lovely but not something I'd ever wear due to all that powder! I'll keep this in the box for a few more weeks-- maybe it will settle more-- but unless something changes drastically this is going on to a new home.

[starfish327]

i don't think that i've reviewed this one before.

 

sometimes blends have more an impression to me than a scent, if that make sense to anyone other than me. i can make out the white florals, with the woods and pines underneath. i don't really get orange off of this one. it doesn't really strike me as masculine, but it's not gender neutral or feminine either.

 

i kept thinking that it smelled like a church but that church wasn't really right either. then it hit me. this smells like a funeral parlor. it sort of makes my skin crawl. it's really, really unsettling. it's actually...freaking me out a bit.

 

this is really, really weird.

[impolight]

::: THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT:::

 

This one came as an unexpected gift from Sissy! (Thank you, Schnanni!). Apparently, differences in body chemistry inspired the bequeathing, so the intrigue levels were piqued. A review of the notes revealed nary a cause for alarm so, wrists at the ready, the time is nigh to plunge ahead.

From the Bottle: This is very Christmasy. The Cypress, Orange, and Clove are all vying for preeminence. The Winter of our Discontent manages to be both dark and shiny. This manages to be bitter, sweet and spicy all at once.

On the Skin: Oooh! The Darkness! The Winter of Our Discontent blackens considerably. While neither note was mentioned, this is quite remniscent of both a metallic element and something that is very much like a Black Walnut. The sweet, spice, and bitter notes are still whirling dervishes, but something else is rising from the depths; a powderier note that reminds one of an old timey barber shop kind of fragrance... the kind of talc once favoured by grandpa.

The Winter of Our Discontent is highly polished and envelops the wearer in a halo of well being.

This one gets a 4.5 out of 5.

[mymymai]

ITB: It's very floral, almost too sweet, but then it reminds me of tea as well with the clove and mandarin orange. I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet.

 

Wet: I can pick up the clove, cypress, myrrh, rosewood, and artemesia. I think I'd like it better without the last note as the scent gives me an uneasy feeling, like it's almost aquatic and the notes are, well, discordant.

 

Dry: The nutmeg and clove work together with the myrrh and orange to turn the scent into something more pleasant. I can detect the musk and rosewood, but I'm still not very fond of the artemesia in this blend.

[AirimirOfGondor]

I got a frimp of this, and I'm not sure how it has aged compared to full bottles.

 

In the imp, I find it pretty nondescript; it's kind of wet, and kind of crisp, but I can't place any specific notes.

 

As it dries, I get something dark and heavy, and lighty smokey, but it very much reminds me of smoked fish. >_<

 

Fully dry, it is still slightly smokey, and dark, heavy and wet, but with a hint of sweetness, and the fish smell is gone.

 

All in all I like it, but only for an occasional use here and there.