La Befana

[bristlecone]

Candy charcoal, winter lilies, parma violet, a sprig of cypress, a poof of chimney dust, and holiday sweets.

From the description, I thought this would be a floral with a touch of anise (the candy charcoal) and some underlying foody notes. I wasn't quite sure how they were going to pull off that motley crew of notes, but it sounded good to me, so what the hell.

Unfortunately, that's not what it is at all. I blame myself... I should have waited for reviews instead of making assumptions based on the written description alone. I mostly get a syrupy burnt-sugar scent which eventually morphs into something akin to chocolate or caramel. I couldn't pick out a single flower, though there's something slightly powdery in there that I couldn't identify. There's no anise. (I'm one of those rare people who actually likes anise.)

It's not horrible. I'll probably keep the bottle. But it's not what I was hoping for. I'll try it again on a different day to see if I enjoy it more.

[Keslynn]

In the bottle, La Befana is all caramel and ooey gooey candy.

 

On my skin, it's exactly the same. Mostly, I'm getting a caramel note though there's an almost cookie-like note as well. Very foody and sweet. Then after an hour or so, it changes completely. It was another one of those puzzling moments where you want to know what smells so good and don't realize it's you because your perfume has changed completely from the original scent. La Befana goes from caramel cookie to a gorgeous light floral. I'm pretty sure it's the violet that's the main contender. I never knew violet could smell this good! I tried the violet twin (Hope/Faith?) from CD and was unimpressed because of the lightness and blandness of the scent. This violet is wafting up to me in voluptuous scented waves. Perfumey in a gentle unobtrusive way. The sweetness of the violet is nicely complimented by the caramel, which has stepped into the background. I thought the foody part was the best, but this is just heavenly.

 

Verdict: Foody deliciousness and the best violet I've ever smelled. La Befana can drop down my chimney anytime!

[The_Merf]

On my skin this starts out as a very caramel-candied scent with a bit more depth than usual (do be warned that 'caramel' is sort of my default description for most foody notes that have any buttery-ness at all). It becomes less candied, and I want to say that it starts to resemble "charcoal," but that's only because I've read the scent description. I don't know what's creating the impression of something dark and crumbling, but you do get that. The violet, when it peeks through (I appear to be one of those that it is not strong with), is a weaker and lighter violet than I am used to in most Lab blends. It the the last note that remains, after the candied has dried off, but by then it is very faint on me.

[asciident]

Wet: Pixy stix.

 

First on: ...Kool-aid. Wish I was making this up, folks. Red Kool-aid.

 

Dry: It mellows a little and you can smell the lilies and violet, but mostly it's "candy charcoal" and "holiday sweets", which in my case is apparently flavored sugar powder!

[Jilara]

La Befana in the bottle is all butterscotch kisses with a creamy quality. I sniffed the bottle and thought "Oh no, it's not what I expected!"

 

But not to worry. She bloomed out with application to skin. Something sweet and floral added in to the creamy butterscotch almost immediately, and gave it depth.

 

Drydown brought out a soft bloom of violets and a hint of the winter woods, chilly bark of trees sort of quality, with almost a cotton-candy scent behind it, and the butterscotch went away. Soft and lovely. La Befana is complex, and I love it!

[LauraB]

Ok, does anyone in the US know pontefract cakes? They are little treacly liquorice sweets and I suspect they're like candy charcoal because there is a definite pontefract cake note in this. I'm getting pontefract cakes and violet. After a while the lilies come out and it gets a bit more floral, but the pontefract cakes are still there. Interesting, but I'm not sure whether it's my thing.

[edenssixthday]

La Befana – This reminds me a lot of the ultra-sweet, sticky, gooey, carmeley blends like Enraged Groundhog Musk, Sugar Skull, and Bonfire Night. It’s smoky and uber-sweet and doesn’t smell good on me at all. This type of scent usually turns on me gains an unpleasant burnt-plastic odor, which this one doesn’t do, but I still don’t care for the scent. It’s probably going to be well-loved by people who like the sticky, burnt-sugar scents, but I’m not much into foody scents, especially of the sticky variety, so this will get passed along.

[theseagrows]

aw i was hoping for more of the violet, but this is very foody on my skin. at first it's a caramelly scent, and that's ALL i can smell. once it settles down a bit, the florals come through and i am enjoying it a bit more, but the caramelly note is much too sweet for my tastes, so i'll have to swap this.

 

eta: after an hour or two, this is really nice. i am just contemplating whether waiting on the foodiness to settle is worth it. hmmm.

Edited December 10, 2007 by theseagrows

[mamoyer]

Wet: Pixy stix.

 

First on: ...Kool-aid. Wish I was making this up, folks. Red Kool-aid.

 

Dry: It mellows a little and you can smell the lilies and violet, but mostly it's "candy charcoal" and "holiday sweets", which in my case is apparently flavored sugar powder!

 

It is EXACTLY like this on me. Powdered Red kool-aid. It almost feels like I'm SNORTING pixi stix, it's that sweet. It's enough to make me nauseated. Good thing I only got a half decant.

[portalkat]

I love La Befana. I get the sugary caramel notes in the background with the sweetened up lily and violet up front. There is also the bit of smoky charcoal swirling around, but everything is so well balanced that I can't label it either foody or floral. I normally go for wood/resin/smoke/incense blends, but I have been wearing La Befana every day for almost two weeks because I love it so. The staying power on me is tremendous - 20 hours plus.

[Cheri]

I must be smelling Kool-aid too because La Befana smells a lot like if you layered MB:Bloody Mary with a small amount of Red Lantern. When it dries though, it's a very pretty, sweet, carmelly scent. I agree with other reviews that it lasts long. I kind of wish I could smell some violet, but maybe some aging will bring some of that. It's actually very nice.

[Tulliver]

Wow. I get a really boozy smell from the bottle - like a really good port. I don't see anyone else getting that. Maybe my nose is rebelling, but it's a really obvious one for me.

 

Wet on skin: Oh wow... this is REALLY odd. I can't pick out any individual notes at all - although the port scent seems to have gone. It's very faint almost immediately, with hardly any throw. This is a shame since, while I definitely can't pick out notes this was one of the first blends that I earmarked for my huge Yule order. I'm hoping something comes back once it dries a bit and settles.

 

Dry: OH! There's the violet! It's EVER so faint and I can pretty much only detect it at the back of my nose, but it's there. There's a cakey sweetness to it, too, and a hint of smokiness. But it's really a very faint scent. Oh, what a shame! I'm having to bury my nose into my hand to get anything of this and it's only been 15 minutes since application.

 

I like this. I REALLY like this. I just need for it to hang around a LOT longer. Maybe I'll try it again at a different time or use it as a room scent. It would make a gorgeous room scent, I think.

[Iceblink]

This is a really odd blend and not at all what I was expecting. It's almost all a heavy pastry scent that is not unlike that of Knave of Hearts on me. After the first few minutes, though, there's a little whiff of sweet, Faithy violets and that whiff keeps popping up from time to time. It's a strange combination, but it's not a bad one. I'm going to have to wear this a few times to know what I think of it for certain but this so far is definitely a unique BPAL!

[bheansidhe]

I ordered this one more out of curiosity, since I never wear violet or lily. I was immediately struck by a scent memory when I tried La Befana, and after some sniffing I figured it out: It smells like a St. Joseph's Day altar, loaded with desserts and flowers and food. (If you're not Italian or from New Orleans, here's a link: http://www.thankevann.com/stjoseph/photos.php)

 

I smell the hundreds of Italian cookies baked for the altar: macaroons and biscotti di regina, little anise toasts, sugared St. Joseph's Day fig cookies, and salt-dough breads shaped like crosses and fish. I smell buttered pie crust and definite notes of sugar and caramel (similar to the "cakes" note in Haloa).

 

And realizing what I smell, I feel the same rush of wonder - a scent captures this! - that I felt the first time I saw a live St. Joseph's altar.

 

Fifteen minutes on my skin and I smell a whoosh of the dust that got released when they hauled the altar tables out of storage for the feast. The scent actually morphs into a floral dust note, and then the desserts creep back.

 

And then I smell the violets. Oh, the violets. Every year there were hard sugar eggs on the altars, intricately iced in lurid pastel roses and violets; sort of an Easter interpretation of sugar skulls. I licked one once when no one was looking. It tasted like perfume and preservatives and those chalky candy cigarettes (do they still sell those?). I smell those eggs, perfectly captured as a "candy charcoal" note. How very interesting. It's nothing like the Lab's other smoke notes, nothing woodsy; it's very dry and chalky. But there's also a rich, living floral note; the sprays of cut flowers and the warring perfumes of the ladies in attendance.

 

I would never wear this because my skin hates violets. However, it was a neat half-hour in Smell-o-vision, and a really amazingly innovative scent combination. Average throw and wearlength. It will really depend on how your skin morphs the individual notes. I never got any cypress.

Edited December 23, 2007 by bheansidhe

[heysunshine]

A smoky, sugary caramel. It smells like Bubblelicious Cotton Candy gum.

[n3m3sis42]

In the bottle:

Brown sugar and molasses.

 

Wet:

This is very reminiscent of Sugar Skull upon initial application. As it dries down, I start to catch hints of the violet as well, and a little later, the charcoal/dust note.

 

Dry:

This dries down a little faint on me, but I'd say it's sort of a cross between Sugar Skull and a weak-ish Faith, with hints of charcoal and dust. I think I had to let Faith age a couple of months before she really blossomed on my skin, so there is hope that this one will become a favorite in time.

[crazyredhead17]

I joined a decant circle for this one because the concept intrigued me but I wasn't sure about the notes (violet on my skin usually goes baby powder).

 

I also have a cold or something, so I can't identify as much as usual.

 

Wet, this was a sweet, sugary, almost caramel scent on me.

 

Sadly, the violet grabbed ahold of this one and the end result is slightly sweet baby powder.

[PurringPulsar]

La Befana

 

In the bottle: caramelised fruit and Xmas pudding! Reminiscent of Sugar Skull. Here's to hoping this caramel doesn't turn too cloying.

Wet on skin: now I can smell flowers blooming out of the sugary stickiness…lilies and violets and a little hint of smoke!

Dry on skin: oh, this is really intriguing. I smell violets, candied violets just like the ones in Faith, a hint of lily (not soapy lily) and a green woodsy note that may be cypress. Between it I smell a nice, comforting scent of chimney smoke, it's subtle though-not full on smoke but a waft of it, like the faint scent of smoke and soot in the air. It's definitely coal smoke, not wood smoke. I also smell things like mince pies, Xmas pudding and maybe even a hint of Italian pannetone or panforte? The caramel note is still going strong but it's not cloying thanks to the playful complexity this scent has with all the other notes. All the notes smell different but they go together surprisingly well!

After a while: this one is a morpher! Now it's turned to caramelised violets. Before it was smoky desserts and I still smell that, but now it's the violet that is becoming dominant over the caramel. This is a youthful and pretty violet, not a dusty and antique violet that smells old fashioned, this violet is lovely. I don't smell as much smoke now.

Then the caramelised scent returns! There's definitely a fruity and spicy aspect to the caramel, which brings to mind plum pudding. It reminds me of Crumpet Rebellion as well! And then the violets come back. Then the sugar returns and this time it smells boozy, like there's a hint of wine or rum to it. This scent is fun, I must say. Someone described it as whimsical and I totally agree. It's festive and jolly but very different to the usual festive scents. It's a very strong scent with tons of throw as well!

Eventually this settles into something reminiscent of Cockaigne and Sugar Skull 06, a scent of brown sugar, mince pies, puddings and treacle…only this time with a touch of violet which prevents the scent from being too sickly. This scent lasts for ages on me!

Verdict: this is a scent that really does capture the magic of the season-it is joyful and youthful, warm and inviting, and brimming with sugar. However it's not your average festive scent. This one is unusual and magical. It brings to mind a scent of the violet perfume of a kindly grandmother mixed with the scent of sugary treats she has brought as gifts, and a touch of soot and charcoal clinging to her dress. It's a very welcoming scent. Normally I'm not into the heavy sugar/caramel scents, and this is very much a heavily caramelised scent, fruits covered in toffee and plum puddings and spicy fruitcake. But I love this. I think it's the touches of violet (which lightens it nicely), cypress and smoke that make this more interesting than the usual caramel scent. I'm not sure if I'll get another bottle because it is a heavy and very sweet scent that may get a little too much at times, but I am definitely keeping my one bottle!

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? yes! This is such a unique and fun, festive fragrance!

If you like this, try: Faith, Sugar Skull, Cockaigne, Drink Me, Arrival at the Sabbath, Knave of Hearts, Queen Alice

[girlygirl]

On my skin, La Befana is similar to Sugar Skull. Less spicy and more floral/sweet, but a cousin to Sugar Skull nonetheless. Delicious. Especially good in my scent locket. Seems long-wearing.

[QueenFae]

I ordered this because I was dying to know what "candy charcoal" smelled like; and wow, what a unique scent!

 

Yes, this really does smell like candy charcoal. It's super sweet, but in a pink powdery way, like Lush's Rockstar fragrance. There is a chalky, dusty aspect to the sweetness that is almost indescribable. This manages to be pink, yet black at the same time, which is truly hard to achieve in a scent!

 

There is a vague floral background behind the dusty sweetness. This unfortunately doesn't last very long, and has faded just a few minutes after it was applied.

 

Very different: I don't love it, but I don't hate it. I think I'll give it some more time.

[Brianne]

At first, this smells exactly like horehound candies to me. If you've never had them, they are dark, sticky and oddly flavored but sweet. The violet starts to come out a bit when it hits my skin, but it's a surprisingly subtle violet. Other than that, it just has a sort of vaguely sweet smell but nothing really jumps out on me here - it leaves me unsure on how to feel about it. When I catch a whiff of the violet, I like it but sometimes I sniff and I only get that vaguely sweet smell and nothing else. Will definitely have to test this later!

[mawaridi]

This has got to be my favourite of the Yule blends. I never would have bought it based on the description, but I received an imp of it as a gift and have subsequently ordered a bottle. It is absolutely exquisitely blended; sweet sugared violets, but not too sweet, they remind me of violet flavored candies. And over it all is the dry dusty charcoal candy scent that turns this from a girlish sugary floral into something mature and complex.

 

It's beautiful, a real masterpiece of scent. I'm infatuated!

[filigree_shadow]

Wow! Very, very sweet. And a little bit chalky right there at the beginning, kind of like those sugary candies that have that powder in the bottom of the bag. I don't smell any flowers in this, or charcoal/chimney dust. Just a very sweet candy scent. It's kinda cute.

[Neely]

LOL, I get exactly what Filigree gets. Sugary candy powder. I don't get caramel, or chimney dust. But I smell it faintly in there, the violets as well. But my skin just amps the sugary powdery candy. That isn't a bad thing just not my thing. With that said, I think a little aging might bring out more charcoal and tame the candy. So I am keeping the generous 2ml freebie someone gave me, with a trade,and the decant someone frimped me with. As Filigree said, it really is kinda cute, and something about it tugs at me to keep it a while and try again.

[arabella]

First Impression: Sweet dough batter loaded with glaceed fruits.

 

Dries down to: Burnt sweet dough batter loaded with glaceed fruits.

 

Additional Comments: I wish I got some of the other notes that are supposed to be in here - especially the violets and lilies - but there's not even a hint. I'm glad I only got an imp of this instead of a whole bottle.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 1 out of 5