Yew Berry Infused Honey

[GoldenRubee]

Yew berry infused honey.

In the bottle this smells very bitter, but once I applied it on my skin it really changed into something beautiful. I get a little bit of evergreen (not much) and a touch of sweetness and a spiciness that I love in my oils. It does constantly change over time and mellows and I do find myself sniffing my arm time and time again. The honey/sweetness and evergreen fades completely on me and I am left with a simple light, gorgeous spicy scent. LOVE

[angelicruin]

On my skin, this quite spicy and a little sharp. It's almost like cinnamon and honey blended together on my skin. Good throw too.

[Invidiana]

Wow, I must have very different chemistry from the other two--on me this is tangy honey and lime! An unexpected but delicious combination, and it's truly an infused honey with the thick golden honey being the dominant note and the lime-like tang of the yew berry as an accent. However, I do amp sweeter notes most of the time, so others may get a different ratio on the drydown.

[childoftime]

I am infamous in my family for playing with yew berries as a small child (no, I never ate them, but I did scare the pants off of my mother, and was fed ipecac at least once), so as soon as I saw this blend was available I had to get some!

 

Yew is an evergreen bush, and that is readily apparent when this oil first hits my skin. The sweetness of honey mixes with the spicy green scent of crushed yew berries and smells fresh, clean without any hint of soapiness, and feels sun-warm. The longer this scent stays on, the more the honey comes out, and by the time this is dry, it's a really lovely honey with hints of evergreen and I can definitely see where Invidiana is getting lime, albeit very faintly. It reminds me of summer days spent in the backyard surrounded by growing things and dappled sun patches.

 

The verdict? I bought it more as a sentimental scent, but I'm surprised at how really lovely it is. It's the perfect honey scent for me. Not too sweet, not foody at all, and not too herbal! I'm going to have to get my hands on another bottle before it disappears. I can definitely see this one getting a lot of use during the warmer months, and oddly enough, especially in the fall.

[edenssixthday]

Yew Berry Infused Honey - My experience with this seems very different from the other reviewers so far. It opens up as a sweet, woody-resin scent, reminiscent of what you might get if you blended honey, evergreen, and myrrh together. It's incredibly gorgeous in a slightly sweet, but mostly rich and smoky-wood kind of way. The honey is never fully identifiable -- I just know that's what's got to be sweetening up the overall scent. It stays pretty true on my skin for a couple of hours, but around the 3 hour point or so, I notice that up close, it smells exactly like BPAL's chocolate note on my skin. E.X.A.C.T.L.Y. It's weird. It's not bad, it's just odd and not what I expected.

[Venneh]

In the bottle, this is very much a woodsy scent, maybe incense or myrrh with honey, vaguely reminiscent of Sed non Satiata. On my skin, it's very much that myrrh/incensish type of scent iwth the honey underneath. We'll see how this goes. It goes incensey and sharp honey on me, not quite for me.

Edited May 18, 2010 by Venneh

[jizatt]

Up close sniffing, I get a spicy sweet scent - mostly spicy, maybe a hint of the evergreen. I'm not sure I would have picked it out without reading reviews. The waft though is a creamy spicy honey.

[RhinestoneHousewife]

Definitely evergreen in the bottle.

 

Wet on skin: Evergreen and spices.

 

Dry on skin: Warms up with some honey but still spicy. It smells a little bit like spice carnations to me.

 

Verdict: I really like and will wear it a couple of more times before I decide on a bottle or not. I bet this scent will age really well.

 

 

[saralaughs]

A nice spicy honey scent.

 

It smells really sharp/herbally in the decant. Once applied though, I get cinnamon bark or cassia. It's a dry spice though. I get a bit of evergreen as well but it is not overpowering at all. This is a sweet spicy blend that reminds me of Hot Cider for some reason.

[izile]

wet.. . weird. . . it almost immediately reminds me of that woody-forest note used in the Winter seasonal LEs. . . except. . . cinnamon, red hot cinnamon candy (am I insane?) it's like if those candies grew on a tree, this would be that tree.

 

drying, the honey is trying to assert balance, but I'm not sure if it's going to be able to. It is a very dry spicy scent, I agree with saralaughs there. It's nice, but I'm not really a cinnamon wearing girl, so off to the swap pile it goes.

[Little Bird]

I think that this might be my favorite of the Infused Honey scents. I get a little bit of something like cool evergreen, but it's mostly a honeyed spice smell that's sort of like spiced cola on my skin at first. Sticky-sweet and spicy, but with enough of a woodsy note to keep it from being cloying. The drydown is golden honey, spices, and a touch of green woods (not so much of a cola smell in the drydown).

 

I think that this is the most honey-heavy of the Infused scents, and it has lots of throw and staying power on me. I feel like I'm surrounded in a cloud of sweet, golden honey and soft spices.

 

I like this a lot, but I think I'll save my decant for colder weather.

Edited June 2, 2010 by Little Bird

[SophieCedar]

In imp and wet there's an evergreen waft surrounding the dominant smell of honeycomb. Slightly waxy and glossy red smelling..

Drydown, the waxiness subsides a bit and it develops into a creamy spicy honey. Color impression is iridescent sheer red instead of glossy thick red now..

[LunaClaire]

I love this scent - my favorite of the honeys. It starts out on me, as others, with a distinct evergreen note with the honey, that is somehow cinnamony. Somehow smoldering. Then relaxes into a lovely resinous, creamy honey.

 

[femmefatale]

Yum! This is a delicious spiced honey with just a hint of greenery. I really like this and could see wearing it a lot this fall/winter. Might have to pick up a bottle.

[Schmoozy]

 

The scent of spicy, cold greenery with the sweetness of honey. The greenery seems wet, and very woody. The spices are dry, and kinda dusty but combined with the greenery and woods gives off a herbal note. This is one of the honey blends where the honey is really prevalent and it's sweet, but feels medicinal. Definitely bottle worthy.

[milo]

This one reminds me of Holly Berry and Mistletoe from the Inquisitions last winter, (or the winter before). Reminds me of Christmas. After a bit, the gorgeous honey dominates, quite musky and Christmassy. Not very good for this time of year, but I still like it. Probably not enough for a bottle, but it is quite pretty.

[kelpsoda]

This is a delicious honey. It reminds me of the one from O. I get a minty-pine scent mixed up with the honey. Fresh but not woodsy.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

I have a love/hate thing with BPAL's honey blends.. but this one is lovely, the honey is clean and fresh rather than mead-y, sweet or cloying.

 

At first it seemed a little bitter and green/woody, but the scent really does change through the drydown stages. After about an hour on my skin, I now have a lovely soft berry with a rich woodiness and a soft wafting honey that's stayed fresh and hearty rather than going powdery. This is very pretty, and it does remind me of Christmas smells - not sure why!

 

[heywilma]

This is really, really nice, like chai tea for my skin. I love the cinnamon sweetness to this, and out of the three Honeys I'm skin testing now (Durian and Jerusalem Cherry), this has got to be an easy favourite. So different from the decant too; there it was mostly eucalyptus-y, and I'm happy that it makes the change. Possible bottle purchase!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Yep, those are yew trees and tart berries. Wet: The wood really comes out on the skin. The berries are not entirely ideal. There is something a little odd underneath and not entirely pleasant, like the strong soap my grandfather used to combat poison ivy oil. I thought I would love this from the bottle scent, but I really, really don’t. Dry: The nasty edge is like a cat scratch. It’s the icky thing and powdry blandness left. It’s painfully disappointing.

[Dharklady]

In bottle: Sweet, slightly fruity strong raw honey.

Wet: Strong cinnamon followed by a minty evergreen that glides over the raw honey.

Dry: The minty evergreen takes dominance with the cinnamon falling into a supporting role for a short while and it really pretty. Then the cinnamon slaps the evergreen back into place and asserts it’s authority. The whole scent is sweetened by the honey though its specific note doesn’t stand out anymore.

Notes: Not at all what I was expecting and I’m not such a big fan of strong cinnamon. Off to swaps it goes.

 

[CitizenBree]

Another honey scent with no honey for me. This is spicy with a little green. It's got that resin-y myrh. It doesn't morph to much on me. Has a pretty strong throw and lasts a bit longer than 2 hours.

 

Give this one a try if you are into resins.

[ami226]

On the skin: A slightly spicy honey with a hint of green. Interesting....

 

This one needs to be used sparingly!! It gives me a bit of a headache. Don't think this one is for me.

[MeiLin]

In the decant: Astringent. Honey to the rear.

 

Wet: Ick. Smells like a hedge, and not the good kind.

 

Dry: Sweeter, but still that hedge smell.

 

Verdict: Meh verging on ick.

[Andrea912]

an oriental spice, like Xia Xiang perfume, perhaps? Dries down to a lovely, heady, sweet honey. Nice.