There's a Certain Slant of Light

[Lycanthrope]

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons -
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes -

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us -
We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the Meanings, are -

None may teach it - Any -
'Tis the Seal Despair -
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air -

When it comes, the Landscape listens -
Shadows - hold their breath -
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death -

Thin, tinny ozone with frankincense, white sandalwood, white amber, hyssop, bitter violet leaf, and shadowy wisps of smoke.

Was most looking forwards to this scent because of the amber and violet leaf... sounded like parts of my beloved Darkling Thrush.

Wet in the bottle this has a slightly peppery warm kick to it, on my skin there's a shift immediately to a cooler pine-like aroma, not quite minty but there's definitely a green herb in this mix. I can start smelling the violet giving a little bit of a rough push to the green base, and underneath it all there's a creaminess. This does smell somewhat similar to The Darkling Thrush of past years except without as much frank mintiness - this is more of that deep violet-like floral, with a hint of peppery bite from the smoke at first, evolving into a dusky floral hanging out over a sandalwood amber that is more on the lighter side.

It's nice. I'll keep my bottle but I don't know about hoarding... yet.

[mgrazulis]

Emily Dickinson's poems have fascinated me since early youth. Death, loneliness and isolation are indeed themes of winter. The setting winter sun reflected as cold light before death...

 

When this hit the skin, the cleansing aroma of hyssop cools the air. There is a sharp cleansing green to the violet leaf that is lifted by the frankincense and bright sandalwood. It does seem like cooled breath. Here the hyssop rings a bit like Absinthe until much later when the amber and delicate smoke impart a lingering warm sweetness across the cool notes. In its finality, this a fascinating and evocative herbally resin. Only in the end, is sweetness and warmth experienced.

 

Bravo, Beth!!

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Ozone with a hint of violet.

 

Immediately on skin: The ozone gives this a cologne-like, feel, while the violet sweetens it and adds some body to the scent. The sandalwood also lends itself to the background here and is rather dry. Overall this is slightly bitter ozone with a dry feel and a bit of violet mixed in.

 

After a little while: This gets smoother as I wear it. It’s not a sharp scent, but a cologne-like blend of ozone and violet with some dry sandalwood in the background.

 

Overall Impressions: I amp violet, and this blend is no exception. All I get from this is the ozone, a bit of violet, and a hint of sandalwood. It’s nice, but a little too unisex for me.

[angelicruin]

In the imp: Violets and ozone definitely

 

Wet on the skin: violet amber and a bit of smoke

 

Drydown: ozone, amber, smoke with a little bit of floral violet

[myth]

Frankincense, sandalwood, amber, and smoke compelled me to try this one, even though ozone is almost always a deal-breaker and I generally avoid florals. Recent success with Goblin Rider had me feeling optimistic. Here ozone unfortunately beats everything else into submission once it gets settled on my skin, and all I get is a headache-inducing floralish dryer sheet.

 

Feh on chemistry that amps what it hates to the complete exclusion of what it loves.

[Mamacat]

In the vial - it's ozone, that's for sure. But it's not all up in my nose beating my sinuses. I'll give it a try.

 

On my skin - smells pretty much the same as in the vial. I wonder if the sandalwood, amber or other notes are going to come out...

 

15 minutes later: It's a really pretty ozone. I am getting a touch of the amber with it. Maybe the amber and sandalwood are just softening it up a bit and making it wearable. It doesn't smell like detergent the way other ozone scents can on my skin.

 

Nice! Still deciding if I need a bottle of this in addition to all the ones I'm in love with from the Yule update.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is floral and ozone...

 

once applied a hint of violet and sandalwood; turns slightly incensey...

 

after awhile this turns back into an aquatic ozone...

 

nice, but not my cup of tea...

[Little Bird]

In the vial, this smells like very clean, cold, black pepper, though I'm not sure where I'm getting the pepper from. It smells very dry.

 

On my skin, this is soapy and dry, and my skin definitely amps up the ozone. It has almost a sweet, fruity sort of smell to it at first, and I can smell the violet.

 

5 minutes after first applying this, I'm left with soap. As far as soapy scents go, this one isn't awful. It has a chilliness to it that I like, almost like bpal's snow note wrapped into a bar of soap.

 

It only lasts about an hour on my skin, and smells like a creamy bar of snow scented soap, laying in a pile of dryer sheets. I also get a hint of smokiness before it disappears.

 

Slant of Light isn't really my sort of thing, but it's nice for a soft, clean sort of fragrance. I amp ozone and have a hard time wearing it, but this is softer and more wearable to me than most ozone scents are.

[blu°]

I only did a very quick test of this today, and as it's not quite my type of scent, I'll leave it at that, I guess.

 

However, I was still amazed at how well the scent captured today's winter light. It was kind of sunny, but a bit misty/hazy, and VERY cold. The little sun that came out gave a pale icy pastel yellow light. There's A Certain Slant of Light gets incredibly close to this kind of frozen sunlight on a winter's day.

 

Scentwise, I really thought I smelled grapefruit, but apparently none is listed. The ozone does indeed smell slightly metallic and a bit bitter. Overall the scent stays light, hardly any throw, and not a very long staying power as far as I can tell.

[Ravenclaw79]

There's a certain scent so light,

on this afternoon -

No impression does it make

on my nostrils two -

 

Heavenly Hurt, it gives me -

I can find no notes,

No internal difference

I can write about -

 

Gentle flowers - Many -

I am in Despair -

A well-blended bunch of blossoms

Wafting on the Air -

 

When it comes, I strain to sniff it -

Subtle - breath inheld -

There it goes, 'tis like a Hundred

Other scents I've Smelled -

Edited December 3, 2008 by Ravenclaw79

[Seadreamer]

It was only after I ordered this that I became afraid that frankincense was a migraine inducer for me, so... *crosses fingers*

 

In the bottle: Um... cologne? I see one review that describes the ozone as cologne-y, so maybe that's what I'm smelling. And something sweet.

 

Wet: Much sweeter, and there's a green herbal-y something coming through. I am also getting violets from this, but it's the flower, not the leaf. So far, so good.

 

15 minutes: Still no headache, so either the frankincense isn't the cluprit or it hasn't kicked in yet. The scent is... a soft, cool, moist floral. That sounds odd, even to me, but there you go. The violets are defininately going peppery now, just as they are in real life. This is shaping up to be the most true violet scent I've found so far. If I don't develop a migraine, this might be a real keeper.

 

1 hour: OMG, this is BEAUTIFUL on me. This is my perfect violet scent, with that ozone/aquactic mix that I am coming to adore backing it up. I don't get the amber, or I'm just not recognizing it. The frankincense seems to be behaving, but then my other migraines kicked in a couple of hours down the road. I think I'll post now, keeping fingers crossed, and edit later if a headache pops up. If it stays away this is absolutely going on the Must Buy A Big Bottle Before It's Gone List. Here's hoping...

 

--Edited because I still can't spell. Or type.

Edited December 4, 2008 by Seadreamer

[gchris]

in vial: smells like bandaids

 

wet: bpals snow note, cooling and fresh. smells wintry.

 

dry: this smells perfumey but is light and nice. drydown is similiar to mr. ibis.

[rayvn1]

I'm writing a final paper today on Copland's Emily Dickinson Songs, so this seemed like the perfect one to test today Tinny ozone and dust with a faint floral background is what I'm left with after a few hours of wear. Started out pretty strongly floral. I like this a lot, but I think my imp is sufficient.

 

Edit for cat-tail induced typo

Edited December 8, 2008 by rayvn1

[Pottersville]

Such an odd little scent on my odd little skin chemistry! It's very cold and floral. The frankincense and sandalwood were what convinced me to try an imp, but they're being overpowered by the ... I'm not sure what! Maybe it's the amber going all wonky on my skin that makes it so sweet and flowery? Or the tinny ozone driving the herbal violet leaf and pungent hyssop down to the merest hints? And where did the smoke go? On me, this is a rather nondescript scent, and therefore not a keeper.

[kjirstiben]

Initially on, I was immediately struck by the ozoney nature of this scent. It was slightly perfumey-sweet, with a certain almost fruity quality to it. For some reason I'm getting the impression of a magazine-fold perfume...

 

As it continues to dry down, this is definitely a magazine-fold perfume on me (generally these give me headaches). I think it's the combination of ozone with "white" scents that is giving me this impression.

 

That's what I got through the rest of the stages of this scent. I'm not terribly fond of it, though it didn't go bad on me--it's just not a combination of scents that I particularly care for. I'm starting to wonder if I have an uneasy relationship with frankincense...

 

Sigh. Not a winner for me.

[Coldfire]

Decant: ozone and white is what is coming to me

Wet on Me: now it’s ozone and the frankincense with slight hints of the white sandalwood

Drying Down: fades down fairly quickly. Same scents as when wet but less of them now.

Dry: Never got any of the smoke whisps, but the ozone is gone now and I get the

frankincense and white sandalwaood…but very quietly. This is a quiet scent that sends out tendrils and

makes one want to seek more of it out.

[zankoku_zen]

*sigh* Such promise disintegrates into nothing. It started out as a bright perfume sort of floral/aquatic, and has debased itself to something peppery.

 

Boo.

[iiinterstate]

in the decant: thin violet.

on me: more violet, definitely bitter.

 

I must amp violet, because usually sandalwood and frankincense are prominent notes on my skin. There is a teeeeeeeeeny bit of sandalwood in there, but not much else.

 

Oh well, violet lovers rejoice!

[forspecial_plate]

When I first tried this, I was instantly transported back in time. This smells just like something my mom used to wear in the 70's, when I was little. It was uncanny. I'll have to ask her what she wore and if she remembers, I'll report back and edit my post.*

 

Anyway, I agree with those who said this is perfumey or cologney.....I would add sophisticated. There is a chilly element, but otherwise I couldn't really pick out a single note. Maybe much later, I could smell the amber, but that could be my imagination. It's just all seamlessly blended to my nose. I think each note is adding something to the whole scent, but again, I can't pick them out separately.

 

Because it reminds me of my mom, I think of this as slightly more feminine than not, but that doesn't mean I can't wear it. It seems like a great perfume for a winter night out, slightly formal, and very classy. It makes me think of night-time, despite the name.

 

*Edit: she says she wore Ambush and Heaven Sent, but also Charlie which is what this made her think of. Which is kind of funny because my dad's name is Charlie! : )

Edited November 30, 2010 by Forspecial Plate

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Lots of ozone with unidentifiable sweetness way in the background

 

Wet on skin: As expected, I'm amping the ozone and will have to wait it out...

 

Dry on skin: The mega-ozone lasted about an hour, then the violet becomes more prominent. I'm never able to detect any of the other notes.

 

Maybe aging will temper the ozone a bit; I'd love to get some sandalwood from this.

[nellieburger]

In the decant: Very green – slightly bitter. Almost smells like cleaning products…

 

Wet on skin: More floral – violet prominent.

 

Dry on skin: Light, lingering violet florals. Strange how it changed so drastically, but in a good way!

 

[lainevierge]

When I first tried this scent over a month ago it was 100% killer ozone. Thankfully it's mellowed quite a bit. The ozone is still there, but it blends with the other notes and comes off more like a snow note than anything else. In the background there's a hint of something cool and violety. The amber hides deep down and begs you to come looking for it.

 

I was going to swap this one away, but I think I might like to too much now.

[FandF]

This one was so close to a WIN for me but missed it's mark (to date).

 

Starts off a faint violet scent but then goes away and turns to something strange. What begins as violets and green stems of flowers morphs away to almost a floral scent...which slanted a little too far away from the green stemmy goodness it started as!!! Overall the dry down is a nondescript floral scent that went away on me. No staying power and disappointing.

 

[voodoocatwoman]

I laughed out loud at ravenclaw79's review. And while I have to agree that this Certain Slant of Light does smell like a lot of other scents I've tried, I don't get generic florals. I don't get violet. My nose picks up sandalwood and frankincense. That's not a bad thing. It is warm and cozy. But it is definitely NOT unique.

[savage_rose]

At first this smelled like GC blends I love...reminders of Iambe or Veil. And then it morphs into ozoney-herbal florals, with a streak of green astringent running through it. And then the astringent takes over, and it's...SeaBreeze?

 

I like this at first, but the drydown smells too astringent for me to like where it ends. Although if I have stuffy sinuses, I just might reach for this.