Beltane 2008

[PurringPulsar]

Mugwort, French rose, Lily of the Valley, broom, frankincense, myrrh, benzoin, foxglove, woodruff, rowan wood, ivy, sandalwood, spring mint, thyme, iris, copal, and night blooming jasmine.

Beltane 08

In the bottle: warm mint. That sounds contradictory, but that’s what it smells like, cool mint with warmth and greenery.
Wet on skin: very, very minty! It’s a green garden mint though. Underneath, I smell lily of the valley.
Dry on skin: oh, this is very pretty. It’s mainly mint, surrounded by lots of green herbal lushness. reminds me of Envy, but I prefer this. I can smell the thyme as well, and the lily which for now is being pleasantly floral and not soapy…this reminds me of the nice lily of the valley from Bilquis and Lilium Inter Spinas. I think I also smell some tree bark/wood and jasmine. I think the resins are adding a warm, deep base. But for now, mint rules supreme. It smells like a fresh wet, bright springtime scent.
After a while: the mint is gone now, and the scent is a fresh green floral-herbal scent. I now smell much more of the lily of the valley, and it’s turning a tiny bit soapy, but not too much to make this smell bad. I also smell something that might be copal or benzoin, but not much of the frankincense or myrrh that I was hoping for (I love the deep resinous undertone in Ostara). I also smell a lot of rose here now. There’s a bitter soapy scent from either the jasmine or the lily that preventing me from loving this, but I really like it.
As it dries down, it goes through these phases of ‘mmm, this is lovely’ and then ‘hmm, this smells weird’. It went into a bitter-soapy floral stage where the lily and one of the green notes/flowers went all bitter and not very nice on me and I wanted resins. Now, I smell what could be the myrrh under the green florals, and I really like it. But sadly, it’s just not resinous enough for me. And the notes don’t seem to mix well on my skin either.
Verdict: I thought this version of Beltane would be an instant love. I loved the 06 version, with it’s vibrant greenery and velvety musk undertone. This one is totally different and despite being a lovely spring scent it is on me, sadly, a bit disappointing. I quite like the minty start, fresh and cool and full of wet green notes and a hint of floral, but then the lily and possibly the jasmine, as well as something almost like wisteria, make this smell rather bitter and like floral notes turned bad on me. it’s not too bad, but it’s not really sitting right on my skin. the green notes also have turned soapy. The biggest disappointment is the lack of resins on my skin. with frankincense, myrrh, copal and benzoin listed, I was hoping at least one of them would really show up, but none of them do, really. I loved the resinous-floral scent Ostara had, I was hoping for something similar here. But instead it’s just a floral-green scent that I’m not crazy about. I’m keeping a bit to see if age will bring out the resins. I still prefer Beltane 06.
Emoticon rating:
Is it a keeper? Just a decant or so. Not a bottle.
If you like this, try: Envy, Green Phoenix, The Passionate Shepherd, Lilium Inter Spinas, Beltane 06, Lick It (any) Edited May 27, 2008 by Shollin

[slave1]

BELTANE 2008

 

In Bottle: Earthy floral

 

On Skin: The earthiness of this scent is beautiful, it really tames the florals and provides such a nice base. The woods seem most dominant followed by the herbs and then the florals. I truly feel this wraps up so many aspects of Spring. As the scent develops the herbs really start to amp on me, very menthol like and cool. The resins combine with the woods and really add a soft feel that makes this scent sturdy and deep. The florals seem to be the lightest overall, just pretty background notes. Other versions of Beltane have been all about the floral whereas here it’s much more about greens and freshness. It’s a very pretty scent, but not really me. Still, I’ll keep the imp I have. Light throw and short wearlength.

[fairnymph]

Beltane is one of those scents (in all the versions I've tried) that really morphs dramatically on the skin, and so should be tested even if the smell in the bottle/imp doesn't appeal.

 

Sniffed in imp: Strongly resiny, complexly woody, and heavily incensey, with hints of heady florals and herbal greenery. Sharp and a little sweet. Heavy on the myrrh, frankincense, copal and sandalwood. A bit mentholic.

 

Summary: The woods, herbs, and resins in this are surprisingly divine; wonderfully blended, a little smoky, and evocative. Amazing how this morphs on the skin. Still, it is much darker, drier and heavier on incense notes than '06, and so not something I'd wear.

[couscous]

Beltane 2008 is a wonderful green herbal-floral, very dry -and, surprisingly, extremely light. I think of the scent as a sheer, dry sister to Ostara, and I'm thrilled with it. I, too, get impressions of clover and grass. I LOVED 2005 Beltane but hated 2006, and I'm happy to say that 2008 is much more like the greenery of the former, and so much less heady than the latter. I'm not getting any strong resins from the one, but there's definitely a wood base to this, and it's not a sweet or pine-y wood. Very blonde wood, if that makes sense.

 

I wish it were a bit stronger on me, but that's my only complaint. It's totally lovely

[zankoku_zen]

This is a very pretty garden. The florals aren't overwhelming, it has enough greenness to keep it from being cloying. This says spring, flowers and sunshine.

 

A bright, happy scent.

[QueenFae]

This is quite different from the original Beltane, which is one of my all time favorites. This is not as green; in fact, it's floral to the max! There is a very strong top note of jasmine and lily of the valley. Very springy and girly and white. Underneath, I can pick out the spiciness of the frankincense, mint and thyme. The rest of the notes are pretty muddled, but it's a general white floral/ herbal based scent.

 

Unfortunately, not love at first sniff, but very pretty just the same.

[fiddlefox]

first i smelled the mint with soft florals and then though I'de keep the bottle, but then i realized after wearing it that the mint fades and it turns horribly soapy on me ugg off to swaps

[rayvn1]

This was a sharp and almost astringent floral when first applied. It quickly faded to a sweeter version and then, poof! It was gone... Off to the swaps!

[gamermouse]

It's a flower festival and warmth and everything that I wanted to love about Samhain but made for the spring. The mint comes out to play in the early stages but eventually fades away. Mugwort comes in and out at fleeting intervals, here for one sniff then gone for the next. It's a beautiful and lively scent. I love this most once it has dried down and the mint is gone. That is the best stage, when it's all flowers and wood.

[quantquill]

Gosh darn it. I think it's the mugwort. If you've ever used the Bissell steam cleaner with the Bissell cleaner, that's what it smells like on me. Slightly soapy, clean, a teensy bit floral but nothing sweet or identifiable. I'm feeling so betrayed by my skin chemistry.