The Gladdener of All Hearts

[ravenfeathers]

the gladdener of all hearts

Honeyed milk, baby powder, lavender, orris root, sage, carnation, angelica, frankincense, and rose otto.

 

in the bottle a little flowery, a little spicy; carnation, lavender, and sage are all really strong players here.

wet on skin very similar to the smell in the bottle with a soft twang of rose and a vegetable-y undercurrent of angelica which rounds out the softness of the other notes really well. carnation is really holding its own in a small, polite battle with lavender.

dry on skin a soft, creamy, and frankincense-y floral. this is the floral for the gal who just can't stand florals. on extreme drydown, all of the notes fade together into one sweet scent. it's innocent and beautiful.

 

i like this far more than i anticipated, especially in the extreme drydown.

[MeiLin]

In the bottle: Orris root, carnation, breast milk and baby powder. I immediately think of my daughters as babies; this is essence of babysmell, the good kind. If I were still nursing I'd be in pain and looking for a baby about now, it's that evocative. All you moms out there, you know what I'm talking about.

 

Wet: Lavender and orris root, top note of carnation. As it dries, the milk comes out. This is fairly faithful to the bottle so far. It smells like a particular brand of non-talc baby powder I used when the girls were tiny. Beth, you're making me cry, seriously, just because it reminds me of my precious babies.

 

Dry: This is not a morpher on me. It remains constant, a soft, sweet babysmell, and I absolutely adore it.

 

Sir agreed--smells like No1 and No2 when they were brand-new--but requests that I not wear it to bed.

[alhbooks]

For me, the scent is dominated by lavender and the honeyed milk, which happily does not go sour like Milk Moon did on me. As it dries though, it evens out, though I still think the sweet milk is the strongest of a soft lot.

[lysithea]

Soft honeyed milk and carnation are the strongest elements of this blend for me. Carnation lends a hint of spice to the mix. As it dries down, the powder comes out, but it's nice...not dusty or dry smelling powder. Just a sweet soft cuddly clean barely there kind of scent. It's definitely comforting and nurturing in feel and I think it would make a nice after bath sleepytime comfort scent.

 

If you like scents like Alice and Dana O'Shee, definitely add this one to your collection before it's gone.

[Pepperminx]

In the bottle this smells faintly herbal, but on my skin it turns into a dusty floral with creamy undertones. I get a bit of lavender, but I've found that we get along pretty well, so that is OK. After a while it softens up and gets a little sweeter, but not foody. I assume that is the honey in the milk.

 

Throw is low to medium, not sure how long it lasts. I like it enough to keep the bottle, I think

[ElinaMakropulos]

Very odd...to me, this is spicy, cinnamon-y green apples It may be that I put it in the crook of my arm; maybe it would smell a bit different elsewhere. My skin may also be a bit weird right now, my hormones seem to be all out of whack. It's definitely not unpleasant but not what I was expecting at all. It has decent throw and lasts a good long while. Even if I didn't like the scent, I'd keep it because the bottle is so lovely - that same image of Lilith is my laptop's wallpaper

[VioletChaos]

in the bottle: lavender and a bit of rose.

 

wet on skin: the lavender is still present, but i'm icking up the orris root now too, which i'm really enjoying, because it's lending a sweetness that's tempering the harsh aspect of the lavender.

 

dry down: orris and floral, this is very light and gentle- a "baby" scent for sure- but no trace of powder, which for me i am thankful.

 

in all: sweet, close to the skin. it reminds me of Burt's Bees "baby bee" products. if you like the scent of those, you will *adore* this- as i do!

[greenranger]

Well, I did have to try it. It's a really nice soft innocent sweet smell...untill the sage makes it all about the sage on my skin.

 

This is sage on me, soft sweet innocent sage.

[oakmoss]

I was nervous about the lavender, but I can't smell it at all. My first impression: baby aspirin! Does widdle Wiwith Victowia have a widdle cold? It's that apricot-orangey powdery smell, sweet but dry. And then the scent settles down to a lovely soft fruity floral, so pretty, heart-gladdening indeed. I know this will be a blend I wear a lot.

[coldandsleepy]

In the bottle: sweet, soft lavender (not big ol' astringent lavender), spicy carnations, and lurking herbs.

 

On me, wet: wow. This is one of my favorite lavenders from the lab ever. For me, it's definitely the key note, but it's so gentle and juicy. Around it, more herbal scents are cropping up. Nice. The whole thing is still really light and soft.

 

On me, dry: now, at last, I'm getting the baby powder. It's not like an avalanche of talcum or anything-- just the lightest hint. Everything else in here has really mellowed out and combined into one beautiful soft sorta floral sorta herbal scent. Even the lavender settles, just becoming part of the overall scent. Does it smell like a baby? Actually, yeah, it kinda reminds me of how my youngest brother smelled when he was still new. Like, right after he'd had a bath. (He was a colicky baby, so... he didn't always smell so great. Anyway.)

 

Throw and duration: this is a very subtle blend on me. I can definitely smell it on the air, but it's faint. Close to my skin, it's still going strong, so I really think it just doesn't carry far for me. That's okay-- this isn't necessarily a scent I need to have other people smell on me, but rather more of a comfort scent for myself. Don't know duration yet... I'm a little overexcited and had to review it right away.

 

Overall: in case you couldn't tell, I basically love this. I don't get the honeyed milk at all, which was the one part I was worried about. If anything, I think that comes in during the drydown to add a little additional softness and sweetness to the scent. It's not a problem for me after all. I'd also say that it's worth risking this one if the only thing you're scared of is the lavender. Like I said earlier, it's not the RAAAAAGH LAVENDER RAAAAAAGH kind of lavender at all, and there's a chance that it'll just meld on down into the rest of the scent once you apply it, like it did for me.

 

This is really a wonderful scent and I can't think of another BPAL to compare it to, so... I'm very very pleased with it, and might just try to snag secondsies on it.

[Czarina]

In fairness I think I should reserve judgment on this one to see if it mellows a bit over time.

In the bottle, wet, and on drydown this is harsh lavender to the exclusion of almost every other note. I get the honey and sage a bit in the background but if anything they create additional offnotes.

 

Sometimes I like scents better over time. I'm hoping my approach to this one mellows with age. Right now, do not want.

[slave1]

THE GLADDENER OF ALL HEARTS

 

In Bottle: Lavender and powder

 

On Skin: Again I was a bit scared off by the lavender. Sadly, laender and I hardly ever get along. Luckily, the lavender fades quick and the super sweet honeyed milk comes forward. This scent is very creamy and the honey is not like honey single note, it's more a cherry scented honey, very dark and syrupy. The powder makes the scent lighten up a bit. The herbs also help cut through the thickness of the scent. The rose and cranation add a more soft and floral side... both these notes also usually hate me, but here they are manageable since the sweetenss counteracts the normal sour and bitter feel I get from them. The frankincense is very light and just offers a subtle spice, very nice. A very pretty scent, still babylike but much deeper... like concentrated baby. Thats a good thing! Strong throw and long wearlength.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Almost juicy and fruity, but mostly herbal. Light and fresh.

 

Wet: Similar - still that juiciness - but orris begins to emerge in a major way, rapidly.

 

Dry: Pungent, super floral, soapy orris. No juiciness, no herbs. Hint of milky baby powder base.

 

Summary: Final dry down is intense floral-soap and baby powder. Had to wash off. Strong throw and lasting power.

 

Carnation, where art thou? And oh Orris, you are so harsh.

Edited September 27, 2008 by fairnymph

[hkhm]

bottle: i get the lavender, angelica and frankincense. this is sweetly herbal.

 

wet: the lavender has an initial flare, no milk or baby powder to my nose.

 

dry: i never got milk or baby powder from this scent. this is the sweetest sage you can imagine with angelica and orris and maybe a hint of the sweetest parts of lavender.it's smalles sweet to me, sweetly herbal. i like this so much more than i expected to.

[inurbanus]

In the bottle, this smelled very fruity to me, which boded well, since I was afraid of the baby powder note. Well, The Gladdener is powdery, but in a wearable, fuzzy kind of way like Alice and Inez. It's creamy, and at the beginning, herbal, but I can still smell a little bit of it (after putting it on at 10:00 this morning) and it's dried down to soft, honeyed powder. The carnation and the rose otto were also dominant in the beginning, which I think contributed to the fruity smell. I honestly don't know how often I would wear this or Lilith Victoria in public, but I'm betting that they'll be marvelous sleep blends.

[LunaLovegood]

The bottle is gorgeous! However, the scent is not my cup of tea. All I can sniff is sage and Lavander. Not a fan of lavander at all.

[livingdead71]

This is very pretty, creamy, and light. I mostly smell lavender, honeyed milk, and a little bit of the carnation on the skin. I don't love this like I love Lilith Victoria(must order more!), but I do like this scent, and am glad to have a bottle.

[tempete]

I was going to pass on Gladdener because I don't always do well with BPAL milk notes and I'm not so fond of powdery notes, but the Will Call reviews convinced me to give it a shot. Unfortunately, while it's not overly powdery on me, Gladdener smells like lavender-y sour milk on me.

[Suu4LC]

In the bottle this is sweet honeyed milk and lots of lavender. A little too lavender heavy, but I'm hoping it will calm down a bit on my skin so that I can more of those other notes. Thankfully, this doesn't smell sour or sickly, and hopefully that trend will continue when the blend is on my skin.

 

Hmm...this is interesting on the skin...at first I got a blast of the honeyed milk, but it seems to be losing hold over the sage and frankincense. *SO* much sage. Damn, seriously this is way sage overload on me.

 

Yeah, this was not what I expected at all-I wanted a sweet, powdery, milk blend and got a total sage blend. I won't be keeping this bottle.

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, The Gladdener of All Hearts is lavender, sage, and carnation (heavy on the lavender). Baby powder starts to come through as it dries. This isn't me, but I do like it.

[Schmoozy]

Bottled baby powder with lavender and sage. It's sweetened with honeyed milk, yet the honey is not overwhelming, in fact the honey is not even noticeable. Carnation and frankincense provide a touch of spice and seem to bring a balance to the sweetness. Gladdener is herbal, soothing and very soft.

This is extremely pretty and I can feel that I am going to wear this often at night after a hot bath. I can already see myself bundled up by the fireplace with a damn good book and hot cup of tea.

[milo]

To me, this is a fruity, creamy scent. I don't get the lavender, baby powder, or the milk, maybe it just needs time to settle. This really smells like child vitamins, or like sweet tarts, and unless it changes with a bit of aging, this is definitely not for me.

[vegasblueblood]

This is so lovely and sweet. It is all honeyed milk and baby powder on me, though in the bottle the lavender is very prominent. It then becomes sweet almost to the point of being foody shortly after I put it on and continues to get sweeter after a few hours. The honeyed milk is right up at the forefront with a mixture of baby powder, and carnation. If I'm not mistaken, orris can be very sweet so I'm thinking this is what is giving this it's foody-ishness. I really love this one and it is my current favorite of the three blends that were created in honor of Lilith Victoria.

[heathercaley]

I amp rose like nothin else! This is a different rose though. It's an earthy rose, with a dash of creamyness. Not overly creamy though... it's just enough cream to keep the notes from going overly floral.

 

When I sniff my arm... I get lavender. Then towards the end of the sniff... rose pops out with a bit of herbals underneath. The cream cuts the sharpness that could ensue if these flowers were allowed to roam free all over my arm.

 

Be still my heart... do I smell carnations dancing forth? The tell tale spicyness is playing tricks on me. I keep getting wafts of carnations as I put dishes away. But up close, it's rose!!

 

about 10 minutes later:

 

What a changeling. One second it's herbal rose... the next it's creamy rose... the next it's creamy carnations..

 

 

[Champagne]

I waited days to review it cause t`s such a complex blend that it`s hard to speak simply about it. It`s strongly herbal and fades beautifully in a powdery milky shade, and it stays a lot. it`s apt for a baby for it`s creaminess mixed with soothing lavender, but it`s apt for me too when I`m tired and need to be reassured and comforted!