The Nutcracker

[Aldercy]

THE NUTCRACKER
Klara’s most prized Christmas gift. Broken by Fritz in a fit of jealousy, repaired by Drosselmeyer’s magic: frankincense, black mission fig, and galbanum.

The first thing I think of when I apply The Nutcracker is frankincense and hot sugar. Like someone drizzled something sweet over smouldering incense.

The frankincense is definitely the most prominent note here-- rich, earthy brown, faintly peppery. Stately and humble at the same time. But the sweetness in here is more surprising. It's seems linked to the fig for sure... chewy, purple, dried fig with a crust of sugar. These notes have a lot of depth and are very evocative. Definitely a purple-brown scent. Kind of bruise colored.

It's a pleasant, warm and unusual scent. Despite having many other frankincense-heavy scents, I'm not sure I have anything that's really like this.

(I still have never been able to figure out what galangal smells like, despite having tried it in probably a dozen scents. It's something that slips completely under my radar).

[birdiefu]

Wet, this is very much frankincense. As it dries, it remains very resiny, but gets deeper and I am guessing this deeper, smokier resin scent is the galbanum. I don't get the figs at all. This is a dry, slightly smoky resin blend. Not too overpowering once it dries.

[megank4]

When first applied, before reading the notes, I thought this had some cedar in it.

Now, dried, I get mostly fig.

Nice and somewhat masculine scent.

[edenssixthday]

The Nutcracker - This is definitely a resin-heavy scent. It's predominantly warm, dry, husky frankincense. The galbanum gives it a bit of a musk-like softness around the edges. The fig sweetens the scent up. I also feel like I'm smelling cedar (and possibly even a hint of balsam?). I tend to not like fig much at all, but it blends nicely with the frankincense in this scent and it makes the fig surprisingly likeable for me. The longer I have it on, the more I can smell a dry, blonde wood note -- it's just got to be cedar. It's a lovely scent, but one I'd rather smell on my husband than wear myself.

[violetblue]

I would love this in a room spray. On, it's strong fruity fig, then dries down to a gorgeous incensey smell and the fig keeps it sweet but I don't smell it distinctly anymore. I don't see myself wearing it, but it does smell lovely.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Wow.. what a lovely, soft and comforting smell this starts out as!

 

I do love fig, so the chances of this one being a winner were high, but the combination of notes here is interesting - the frankincense is slightly sweet but dusky and resinous, and the galbanum adds a touch of fresh green-ness. But mostly, it's all about the fig - gorgeous.. not too sweet, and slightly woody.

 

Unfortunately, this one loses its appeal after it's been on my skin for a while - I loved it for the first ten minutes.. but after that the galbanum became a little overpowering and kinda stomped out the nice fig and the soft duskiness of the frankincense. Somehow the notes just don't seem to be blending nicely on my skin. I don't think this will end up being a bottle I reach for to wear.

[Dark Alice]

Fresh..light green pineish scent. Where is my fig? Where is my frankincense? I think the bottle is hiding the scent from me! I am going to hold this and age it and see what happens.

[dawndie]

Wet: light incense

 

On skin: sharp dusty frankincense

 

Half-hour later: more dusty sweetness from the fig

 

In conclusion: this is the same fig from Miller v. California, sweet but shy and needs a bit of coaxing. This one fades pretty fast too, only lasting a couple of hours on me before disappearing. I'd love for it to hang around more, I enjoy the incense blends.

[capncait]

i need to retest this. i popped all of my decants out the moment i got them in the mail, and have found that my first impressions were way off from what they ultimately smell like.

 

to me, the Nutcracker comes off like a masculine incense blend. there is a certain astringency to it.

 

the fig isn't the plump, sweet fig note of other blends. to my nose, this is a dryer note that helps to ground the incense a bit.

 

this is quite the comforting blend though. i might have to tie the boyfriend down and do some skin tests on him. it could be quite sexy.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

1/2 5mL bought on Livejournal.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I passed the Nutcracker by when making my Christmas order because of the fig. Fig is an iffy note for me (as are pretty much all fruit notes, if they're not outright dealbreakers), but I love all things resinous and incensey, so I caved when a half bottle came up for sale. I'm really hoping that the fig is either virtually unnoticeable in this or that it ends up blending so much with the incense notes that it doesn't smell like actual fruit. I do think that this one could be a real winner, if the fig behaves itself.

 

First sniff:

 

Mmm, incense! Church incense, to be exact. It's resinous, slightly dry and slightly sweet. It reminds a little bit of Cathedral, but without the cedar note that Cathedral has to it. It's also somewhat green smelling (the galbanum, I'm sure). Almost like very fresh sap or snapped green twigs. It's a beautiful scent. Deep and dark, but also somewhat fresh smelling. Incense lovers are going to like this one a lot, I think.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Lots of frankincense and a little galbanum. It's a very dry resin blend and not sweet at all on me. This stage reminds me less of Cathedral and more of Midnight Mass. It has a similar sap-like note to it, under the dry frankincense. I still don't get any fig at this point, which is fine by me.

 

Dry down:

 

This is really nice once it's dry. Still predominately incense, dry and ever-so-slightly peppery/spicy. I do get a bit of fig at this point...or at least what I think is the fig. It's very slightly sweet, but not really fruity. Instead I just get a dark, rich, sweetness that blends nicely with the frankincense and galbanum. This makes me think of the Tarot blends for some reason. It's not a Christmas-type scent to me, really. It's deep, dark and mysterious smelling with a nice smoothness from the fig. It still makes me think of churches, but also of dimly lit occult stores, velvet curtains and incene smoke.

 

The bottom line:

 

I'm really enjoying this one and I'll almost definitely buy another bottle or two. I'm glad I gave into my BPAL-related impulsiveness. For some reason the vast majority of the spur of the moment, "never appealed to me before now" scents I buy end up being winners. Evidently, my id knows more about my taste in scents than the conscious parts of my mind do.

[Schmoozy]

Dry, dusty and woody. Incense with hints of fig that seem to sweeten the overall blend. It does have Midnight Mass qualities, but it the resemblance is small.

[Little Bird]

The Nutcracker smells better in the bottle than it does on my skin. It smells like Cathedral and the fig from Intrigue in the bottle (both blends that I adore), but the fig is barely noticeable at all once I actually apply the oil. I'm surprised that there isn't any cedar listed in the notes, because I get a strong cedar chip smell from this, with a bit of sweet resins. As the scent dries down, it starts to get really smoky in a way that I'm not enjoying (sort of smells like bad cigarette smoke and actually keeps making me cough when I smell this). I wound up scrubbing this blend off after about an hour, because it makes me feel like I'm having trouble breathing.

 

I like a little edge of smoke in fragrances and I normally love incense smoke type scents, but the smokiness here is really bothering me :/.

[greenranger]

I thought I smelled wood at first, but, no, it's the resins. It still smells woody to me, though, and if there's fig it is hardly apparent at all. Spicy, resiny wood.

[forspecial_plate]

There are potential problem notes here but they work together like magic.

 

Galbanum is green and rooty. On its own it is overpowering and not pleasant, but here it is tempered by the sweet fig. Fig also has an earthiness that compliments the galbanum.

 

Fig can be too sweet and sometimes reminds me of bananas (thinking of Lucifer which was unfortunate), but here it is balanced by the resins.

 

I like frankincense but it can sometimes be too heavy. It has a way of taking over the entire fragrance. In this scent I have a hard time even picking it out, but I know it's helping to hold together the other two notes.

 

Overall impressions: I applied heavily and the galbanum did stand out, but like I said it struck a balance with the other two notes. Sometimes the most simple scents are the best ones. Oddly after a while this scent seemed to fade away to nothing but I think maybe my nose just got used to it. The Nutcracker is everything I was hoping for. There is a Christmas candle aspect....just a little bit.....but it's a quality I enjoy. This is a winner!

[Veronica]

This smells exactly like Lush's Buche de Noel facial cleanser/Santa's Rice Porridge face mask! A delicious bowl of porridge kicked up with sweet spices and cranberries! A great scent for non-foodies and foodies alike!

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Glorious incense sweetened by fig (not a sickly sweet, but soft and muted). Woody resin note is definitely there, and a dry dirt tinge (I'm guessing this is the galbanum)

 

Wet: More of the same. I’m falling in love.

 

Dry: Beautiful resin, with a hint of sweetness and spice. There is smoke, but I don’t find it overpowering. I’m a huge fan of incense blends and this one is definitely slather worthy!

[ladyjc]

I'm getting a lot of sweet fig backed by a lovely wood note. This is beautiful! I love wood, I love fig. This is right up my alley. Just trying to decide if it's different enough from other bottles I already own.

[cuervosueno]

I like incense scents, and frankincense in particular, though I have problems with BPAL frankincense sometimes as it does not smell as true to the resin as some others. It tends to be drier and not have the almost citrus note of true frankincense. That said, I always have to try, and I thought this might be good with the fig to warm things up, even though galabanum is usually a dry note to me.

 

This is of the dry variety, and the fig doesn't brighten it. It's more like incense dust than incense, and doesn't smell particularly like its notes on me. It just a hint of incense that fades fast on me. Dry dusty and woody describes it perfectly.

 

I'm not crazy about it, but since many of the Yules I got were epic fail, this one is, at least, inoffensive.

[surlygurl]

This one is tough to describe. Fresh on, it's clean & earthy frankincense. A little tart. As it dries it sweetens, but is still earthy. The earth note starts to fade and the fig grows more tart. It dries down to a play of light & dark with sweet/tart overtones. Quite nice, but I won't be needing a bottle.

[rayvn1]

Wow, I completely agree with Dawndie that this is very close to Miller vs. California's dark fig note. I can't say I'm getting Cathedral associations though..oddly I could have sworn this was straight up fig and leather with maybe a little resin to sweeten it up in the background. Weird reaction on my skin I guess but very appreciated!!

[sqwook]

While wet: Dry old cut wood

On my skin: Woods and maybe some nuttiness. (Okay, I didn't read the note list as I was trying it, and apparently the suggestion of the name "The Nutcracker" let me to think that nuts could be involved. Am I just very suggestible? Not sure...I'm glad that at least one other person above mentioned a slight foodiness, so I'm not the only one! It's definitely more "nutty" than fruity; I don't think I get fig out to of this blend.)

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Lots of frank, but rounded out by the fig.

 

Wet: The fruit sweetness of the fig has kicked into high gear!

 

The dry-down: As much as I love this fig note, I'm glad that it has calmed down. This is now a well-rounded scent, with the frank giving the fig a richness and depth, and keeping it from being a little too fruity and too sweet. Granted, it is still fruity and fruit sweet, though. The galbanum gives this a hint of greenery. Mostly though, it's a resin-rich fig scent. Bottle-worthy.

[Altaira]

A dry scent, with something almost aquatic giving it a faint cologne quality. Sweetens up on drydown. It's nice, but it is similar to other blends and doesn't stand out from the pack on me.

[taramarie]

On me, The Nutcracker is frankincense and what I guess is the galbanum. I don't get fig at all. This is nice as it is but I'm hoping aging will help.

[Nia]

None of the notes smells soapy on me. Why, oh why then Nutcracker smells like some sort of bitter incensey soap?

 

There is zero fruit on this one. It smells a bit green and like men's cologne when it dries down. It feels like a good incarnation of the tale's hero, but it's certainly not for me.