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Olive oil, beeswax, glowing amber, sweet sufganiyot, pomegranate, and fig.


Gnnnnnnuh. Why did I purchase this? Because I looked up sufganiyot, and it's basically a sweet fried Jewish holiday pastry. It's a Jewish jelly donut. I had to have it.

I get the familiar so-rich-it's-smokey pastry smell. On top of that is a fresh waft of clearing air, must be the beeswax and olive oil. I know the creamy amber must be amping up the buttery smell. I can smell the rich fruits stuck in the middle, between the pastry and the beeswax smell, but I can't tell the individual notes. Once again, nnnnnnnnnnnnggguuh. This is the equivalent of sex on a flour-dusted table in the middle of pie-baking, elbow in the butter dish, oil-smeared hands, and fruit scattered on the floor (not very kosher?) If I wear this I won't get hungry myself, but I feel like people around me would. Basically, this is sexy!holiday pie. :DDDDD

P.S. Sorry about the double posting! Is fixed now. Edited by modillian

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I basically got olive oil and beeswax. No sweet dry amber, no pastry, no pomegranate, no fig. Definitely not a foody scent on my skin except for the light touch of olive oil that appears upon initial drydown. It's just straight wax after about half an hour, and it stays waxy for several hours. The throw is light, and the scent lasts for at least 12 hours.

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CHANUKKIYAH

 

In Bottle: Sweet and delicious

 

On Skin: Wow, bottle worthy! This reminds me a bit of my Brown Sugar and Fig lotion, which I LOVE. I smell the fruits, the gorgeous amber, and deep honey, and also a brown sugar/caramel note. It is so pretty! Sweet and foody but not sickly sweet, yet it’s also sexy and sultry. Yes a perfume can be both! It is so warm in feel and it instantly comforts me, yet it also kind of makes me feel like a sex-cat. Hell yeah, this scent is multiple bottle worthy. I loves it! I do wish it was a bit stronger, but it just means I’m going to slather so no biggie. 5 stars from me!! Light to moderate throw and average wearlength.

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I love Chanukkiyah when I first put it on. I get a clean olive oil that reminds me of some of the olive oil hair products I have, and a strong scent of something like jelly donuts. A sugary pastry and fruit (it smells kind of like raspberry to me, but I guess it's pomegranate playing nicely on my skin for once, lol) with hints of a clean, sweet olive oil.

 

After a half hour or so, this isn't so good on me though. The amber makes it a bit baby powdery and the other notes in this have gone perfumey and sharp. The sweetness has all faded away, leaving me with something cold, perfumey, powdery, and odd. I think that the beeswax and olive oil need to be paired with something sweeter to be bearable for me.

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I don't really like this on me--in the bottle, it smells nice, sort of like Eat Me, but not as foody.

 

But on me, it just smells like a generically scented foody candle. I hate that candle-y smell. The other thing that has that smell on me is Gingerbread Poppet and also, Cockaigne. It sort of makes me feel sick:(

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I smell a slickness in this at first. Something a little fruity, but only just so. Then it vanishes completely. A heavier note develops and it becomes much more sweet and musky. It smells like a foody incense on my skin at this point. The amber is there as well, but it isn't as strong as the foody sweetness. I thought the pastry note would be a certain death on my skin, as the pastry/cake variety of food notes just turn stale or oddly sour on me. But this has remained sugary sweet and wearable. This dries down without changing much, only turning a bit more musky.

 

I like this, but I probably won't wear it as much as some of the other Yule blends. It's pleasant and definitely not overly foody, but it just doesn't stand out on my skin.

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Huh...straight out of the bottle I smell- nothing. No matter how much I huff I am getting nuthin'. :P

 

On my skin I am getting a very, very faint hint of somthing like fig pudding, a little foody but not at all spicy. Then after 15 or so minutes it fades into olive oil and beeswax. (Just like a burning beeswax candle.)

 

After an hour or so it fades into soapy sugar on me. Not sure what note made this go wonky on me but I am sad it didn't work out. This was the one holiday scent I was the most excited about. :D

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Argh, this is what I get for not looking up each and every note. If I had known what sufganiyot was, I would have passed on this. This smells very foody in the bottle and when I put it on I get a foody-caramel blast (part of that probably comes from the fig, which tends to go very sweet on me). Honestly, this reminds me a lot of Red Lantern, except that Red Lantern smelled like something had been burnt, whereas this does smell like a perfectly cooked golden pastry with some sweet topping. As the scent dries down, there is an additional sweetness from the beeswax (perhaps the olive oil as well, though I'm not really familiar enough with that note to pick it out when there are so many other strong notes). As a rule, I don't really dig non-cocoa based foody scents, but as far as scents in that category go, Chanukkiyah is very nice. It starts to smell like a cinnamon roll toward the end of its cycle--whereas Kether is a sanctified cinnamon roll with the emphasis on the cinnamon topping, this is a sanctified cinnamon roll with emphasis on the pastry. :P

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In the bottle: Sweet, rich foody pastry, but not sickenly or cloyingly so. A hint of olive oil. The barest hint of resin.

 

Wet: The base is the sufganiyot, rich and pastrylicious. The fig adds a touch of fruit, the pomegranate isn't so much a pom note as it adds a slight tartness, and the olive oil simmers through the pastry, lending a lovely smooth quality. As the oil sits on my skin, the pastry becomes softer and the resin warms up a bit. This is gorgeous.

 

Dry: This becomes a lovely, soft, sweet, slightly foody scent, with fig and olive oil and honey and a very smooth, gentle amber. This is love!

 

I was wary of this one after reading the first reviews - I thought it would be waaaay foody and sticky-cloying sweet. It's not. It's just sweet and foody enough, but it never goes overboard. It's complex and glowing. A perfect scent for Chanukka.

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On first contact, this is quite nice. The fruit notes are fairly strong, and there's a slightly foody element, presumably the sufganiyot (which I had to Google to find out are a kind of pastry). Not getting too much amber or beeswax initially, but I think they're lurking in the background a bit. I can pick up a definite similarity to Queen Alice, which also has fruity and sugary notes over amber, but in this case without the spiciness of the carnation.

 

It's a very warm and comforting scent, and the pomegranate gives it a bit of sharp, tart sweetness, like the wine note in Queen Alice. It lasts a fair length of time, and stays pleasant through all of it, with the amber coming out more as it settles down.

 

On the whole, quite nice, but very much like a non-spicy Queen Alice, and since I'm already planning on getting a bottle of that -- and like the spiciness -- I decided to make a gift of this one to Jewish friend, since the day I tried it was the first day of Chanukah, and she was coming over that evening anyway.

 

Grade: B+

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Chanukkiyah - Oh wow, this is a strange, yet intriguing scent. It's very foody in that sweet and sticky kind of way that usually repels me, but the amber and pomegranate seem to really temper the sticky sweet sufganiyot and the odd, sweet scent of the beeswax. It's very much a foody scent on me, and very warm and comforting, almost boozy in its sweetness. I didn't think I was going to like this one, but I do. Every note works together to create a scent that seems to be the perfect aromatic translation of the historical meaning of Hanukkah. This is quite lovely. The throw and staying power are both above average.

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This scent is incredibly decadent, I've never had a good track record with the other foody scents in the BPAL catagloue, but this scent does start off as the most gorgeous maple/honey and cream scent. Over time this deepens to add an incense scent which keeps the scent from being totally one dimensional.

 

Thankfully I cant smell the fig, which is wonderful as fig is one of my most hatest notes.

 

The throw is quite powerful as well, I could smell a waft from my unopened decant, and it seems to last well.

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On me, Chanukkiyah seems to be just sugared pastry and olive oil. Funnel cake, anyone? I like it, don't get me wrong, but I was hoping for the pomegranate and fig. I'm hoping age will bring them out.

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I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for my Yule decants, and I just happened to get a frimp of Chanukkiya in the mail today, with another swap!

 

Wet, I get a blast of something like burnt sugar. This note reminds me very strongly of the Crumpet Rebellion and Anaconda. So fans of those sugar notes, take note! (Chanukkiya doesn't smell exactly like either of those scents, I just think it has a note in common, and it should appeal to anyone who was a fan of either CR or Ana.) Looking up "sufganiyot" I find it's a donut, so that must be the source of the sugar note.

 

As it dries, the sugar settles down and the olive oil and beeswax really come to the fore. They're definitely the core notes of the scent, so the overall character of Chanukkiya is fairly light. It's definitely unique. The beeswax seems to bring a very slight smoky quality.

 

I haven't been able to pick out the pomegranate. The fig is also hard to single out, but it's definitely contributing to the sweetness. I get mostly beeswax, with a hint of brown sugar. It's quite nice. The initial stage is very light and waxy, but it's definitely gourmand. The richness of the sugar and fig seem to develop as the scent wears.

 

This would be a great choice for anyone who has found other brown sugar notes a bit too overwhelming (as I sometimes do - Anaconda was way too strong for me), or for anyone who wants to like foody scents but finds them a bit too much. It's a wonderful, lighter alternative. People who completely hate foody scents probably won't like this.

 

The throw is interesting, because the beeswax is pretty gentle on me, but this sugar note always has really good throw. The sugar is enough of a background note that, as a whole, this has somewhat light throw. However, because the sugar note seems to amp, little by little, the throw actually seems to increase as I wear it. Wear life is probably better than average.

Edited by naeelah

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I obtained an imp of Chanukkiyah in a swap and it turned out to be my favorite of all the Yule blends! On me, it smells mostly of honey and beeswax with sweets (presumably the brown sugar and sufganiyot pastry) in the background. I don't really get any pomegranate or fig at all. I thought it would be light, but it has LOTS of throw. I'm going to need to buy a bottle (or two) before it goes away! Luckily, this does NOT smell like Anaconda or Crumpet Rebellion on me, because neither of them worked with my chemistry.

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Oooooh... this smells of honey and pastry and spicy caramel in the bottle. It's utterly delicious. I'm really enjoying discovering that I like the foody scents. I NEVER thought I would.

 

Wet on skin: Much the same as in the bottle. Definitely the sufganiyot - it has to be even though I've never seen, smelled or tasted the real thing before. But I can get the beeswax too, lurking in the background. This was the note that made me unsure - I thought if there was a killer in this it was sure to be that. I was wrong. Oh, so very wrong.

 

Dry: I think I get the olive now, as the sufganiyot recedes. It never goes away though and remains the main note with the beeswax still very much present also. The throw is wonderful and it seems to be lasting fairly well. This will definitely be worn a good bit over winter. It's so warm and cheering.

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Wet, Chanukkiyah is a foody hit that nearly knocks me over. When it's had a chance to relax on my skin, though, it's sweet, waxy, just a little smoky, like sniffing a burning candle without the sense of heat. I get a little more olive than I'd like, but the oilve oil note isn't amping as much as olive leaf does. It lasts for quite a while.

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In the imp, I smell amber, oil, and beeswax - it smells like an amber-scented candle.

 

On my skin, the pomegranate and the fig come out with the sweetness of the sufganiyot.

 

When it dries, it's a really beautiful blend of the oil and the wax and the amber, with the pomegranate and fig just wafting and floating over top. LOVE IT.

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This is an absolute eyes-roll-back-in-the-head, mouth-water, wanna-cry knockout of a scent. I LOVE it and am hoarding like a hoarding hoarder.

 

In bottle: cool fruit dusted with powdered sugar.

On my skin wet: it's as if I'm got my nose in a snifter of strong, sweet red wine while sitting at a table with sugar-dusted pastries and lit candles. The wine note is no joke - is that what you guys mean by fig? I don't know a thing about figs, tried one as a kid and hated it, never looked back. It's possible that bright red scent is the pomegranate, though that's not really what it smells like to me.

On my skin dry: the pastries and wine fade out after an hour or so, and give me a scrumptious couple more hours of olivey candle fragrance.

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It's very sweet and sugary and warm when it's wet, but as it dries down it becomes a bit less foody while still retaining just a little bit of that quality. There is something nutty in this and after this is dry, it is very hard to describe for me. It doesn't smell like anything in particular - sort of incensey I guess in a general kind of way with maybe something fruity behind it. But it's all so meshed together that it's hard to say that's what I'm smelling. It's very interesting, but that nutty smell I'm getting is distracting and makes me think this is just not working well on my chemistry.

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In the bottle: powdered sugar-covered fried pastries.

Wet: oh, yeah, buttery pastry.

Drydown: pastry-olive-oil-beeswax.

 

Below average throw and wearlength. Lovely while it lasts.

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Chanukkiyah

 

In the imp: caramelised jam, very much like Crumpet Rebellion.

Wet on skin: this smells like Sugar Skull 07 now, right down to the slight hint of manly perfume I got from that scent!

Dry on skin: it still smells strongly of treacle, and there's still a hint of that odd perfumey note, but now I think I smell the fruits. I think it's the pomegranate I smell here, but it's not the sweet, rich pom from Fruit of Paradise, but something much more bitter and sharp. There's also something green and bitter-maybe the olive oil? It doesn't smell like good olive oil though. This one is really odd on my skin, a bit muddled…the sugary note is somewhere between La Befana and Sugar Skull, but there's a scent of aftershave and a strange bitter fruit note that almost clashes. Maybe this will settle down after a while. I can't smell the beeswax or amber.

After a while: ok, now this is coming together a little bit more coherently. Now I smell the fig and pom, and they remind me of the fruits in Milk Moon 07, but whilst I loved MM07 and what the fig and pom did to that, in here they seem to clash with the sugar a little. I smell a bit more of the jam now and the smoky treacle becomes less aftershave-like and more like caramel (very strong caramel, mind you) but the fruit notes are too sharp and distracting.

I was hoping this would settle nicely but that sharp bitterness with the cloying treacle smell lasts for too long. Only after a few hours do I get the beeswax.

Verdict: this one really let me down…and I got a big bottle and everything because it sounded so good! Fried jam doughnuts! Amber! Beeswax! Fig and pomegranate! The only things that could have gone wrong were the olive oil or maybe the doughnut note turning too caramelised. This did indeed turn very caramelised, but it also turned downright weird on me! A scent like masculine perfume or aftershave came out, and a very bitter note also cut through the thick, sticky sweetness…a note reminiscent of bitter pomegranate ‘skin’ (not juice) or rancid olive oil. I would have probably found the scent a little cloying but definitely agreeable were it not for this annoying bitter note which made the scent a little dissonant. I wanted more beeswax and amber. Oh well, at least I managed to sell my bottle but this one was quite a heartbreaker on me. I wish it even remotely smelt like Eat Me on me!

Emoticon rating: :P

Is it a keeper? no.

If you like this, try: La Befana, Sugar Skull, Milk Moon 07, Red Lantern, Knave of Hearts, Arrival at the Sabbath

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And to think I almost didn't get this! On me, Chanukkiyah as a beautiful honey-amber with rich, almost winey fruit undertones. I loved it so much I had to get a second bottle. The hit of the 2007 Yules, for me at least! :P

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This is very pretty. It reminds me of a sacred scent, which is appropriate. I think it's the olive oil and fig that makes it smell that way to me. The amber makes it pretty, and the beeswax apparently does not do that weird play-doh thing to me that honey does.

 

Chanukkiyah is certainly a winner for me out of the Yule scents. It's pretty without being overly foody or overly feminine. I like it a lot.

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This one is...weird. meh. It must be my skin chemistry, but I really don't get a foody scent here (at least not in the way Egg Nog and Gingerbread Poppet are foodie. Heck, it is not even as foody as Dana O'Shee.) Every once in a while I get a faint whisp of something sweet, but if I put my nose to my wrist it is very "green" smelling. Something plant-like, perhaps the olive leaf. It is a bit jarring to me. The scent of the throw and scent at my skin just don't jive together for my nose. I will try it again in about a week (hormones may be making this one morph), otherwise it is off to the swap pile.

 

And I really wanted this to work!!!

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