Christmas Eve on the Moor

[cfrancesca]

CHRISTMAS EVE ON THE MOOR
And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, they stood upon a bleak and desert moor, where monstrous masses of rude stone were cast about, as though it were the burial-place of giants; and water spread itself wheresoever it listed, or would have done so, but for the frost that held it prisoner; and nothing grew but moss and furze, and coarse rank grass. Down in the west the setting sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and frowning lower, lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night.

“What place is this?” asked Scrooge.

“A place where Miners live, who labour in the bowels of the earth,” returned the Spirit. “But they know me. See!”

A light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced towards it. Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. An old, old man and woman, with their children and their children’s children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily in their holiday attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a Christmas song—it had been a very old song when he was a boy—and from time to time they all joined in the chorus. So surely as they raised their voices, the old man got quite blithe and loud; and so surely as they stopped, his vigour sank again.

Windswept moor grass, grey moss, mud, and stone warmed by a small, comfortable fire.

This was a total risk for me based on the notes, but I got it because I love anything based on the Moors, since to me it's evocative of Wuthering Heights, my favorite novel. This starts out almost exactly how I imagined it would, and I don't think that's ever happened to me before! I get grass, ivy, sweet ozone, and some damp stone. As it dries I sadly start to amp the ozone, and as per usual, it turns into slightly sharp men's cologne, I also get something like lemony citrus. I don't get the warm fire, any smokiness or mud (but I'm not sure how mud smells like, to be honest), which I'm happy about.

Though I really wish it would have stayed as it smelled in the beginning, I kind of like it (but I know I won't be able to wear it days were I'm headachy because it's a little too strong). More so than Scrooge, this makes me think of how Heathcliff would smell if he were running through the Moors looking for Catherine (yes, I'm a dork ). I find it masculine.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: This beautifully captures its concept. It does give a sense of chill and the dominant moss and moor grass notes create a sense of outdoors in winter. The mud is understated and blends with the fire to the point of separate notes being hard to distinguish. Wet: The grass scent grows more complex and dominant. The moss gives a vaguely aftershave effect to it. Fire is more noticeable now with the wind/storm ozoney thing balancing it out. I’m liking this a lot, though I think I’d like it better without the ozone. Dry: Mostly ozone and moss. Not nearly as good as it started out.

[bluelena]

This is totally sweet and aquatic on me. I'm a freak!

[edenssixthday]

Christmas Eve on the Moor - I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this one because it sounded like it could smell really beautiful, but if the mud note took over, I would hate it. Well, I tried it, and I love it. I don't smell any mud at all. It's a really gorgeous scent -- definitely has the scent of frost-dampened winter grasses, and the moss gives it a really lovely layer of depth. The stone note is faint, and is the "good" stone that I love from scents like Night's Bridge. I don't pick up at all on the fire note. When I first apply, it's mostly a strong ozone and moss scent, and the ozone renders the wet oil slightly cologney, but it dries down beautifully, without the faintest hint of cologne, even though the ozone is still present. Once it's dried down, it's mostly an ozone and moss scent, while the other notes (except for the mud and fire, which I never do smell at all) play in the background. It's really, really beautiful.

Edited December 2, 2010 by Edens Sixth Day

[Incendiare]

Huh, this is so aquatic in my decant. I would have expected something heavier, earthier, and/or drier. Wet, the greenery comes out and it smells a bit sharper. This reminds me of autumn more, when it is just starting to get colder, but the grass is green and the creeks and ponds are cold but not yet frozen. Very fresh and clean. A lot nicer than what I was expecting.

[Dark Alice]

This is such an evocative scent. Soft grey Moss, wind, with just a hint of something earthy. I can actually see the windswept mosses in my mind as I sniff this. The only problem is that this is just way too light on me. But it is nice.

[Little Bird]

I always want to try any fragrance that mentions smelling like mud. Sadly, Christmas Eve on the Moor turns to soap on me (which is like the opposite of mud, really). It's like sharp, white, dry soap flakes and sour, bright green moss that reminds me of bpal's spanish moss note. As it dries down, there's something like a hint of lemony men's cologne in the mix. But mostly it's soap on my skin, and a bit too sharp for my tastes.

[Schmoozy]

Oooh, it's my beloved airy aquatic scent at Christmas. Grasses swaying in th wind, with some mud and moss thrown in. The smell of fire lingers in the background. It's kinda sweet, a little smokey and slightly masculine.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: The grass and ivy are strong here, probably amping the ozone, stone and aquatic. Smells a bit men's cologne-ish.

Drydown: ahh.. much nicer. The most of the fire I can capture is the smell of chimney smoke on wet stone. I definitely feel the stone amps much more here. The mix becomes saltier with puffs of grey moss bursting out. The smell is similar to parts of the coast about a 1/3 of a mile from my house but this mix is saltier. If you add seaweed and remove a touch of salt, it would be dead on (we have plenty of spots similar to moors in maine. Some equate the landscape to scotland...but it's just "coast" or "field" or "marsh" though. )

Edited December 23, 2010 by SophieCedar

[milo]

At first, this is a cold ozone blend. Kind of like ice pellets beating down on you on a cold winter's day. Dry, pretty much the same, though I do get kind of a rock smell now, though maybe it's the description association. Very evocative, but not the kind of blend I would wear.

[rayvn1]

Straight-up aquatic, damn it The two blends I was most anticipating were this one and Shadows of What May Be which was also epic fail on me, unfortunately. So, so wish I was getting what other people are on these two scents. I crave a good mud and grass scent! Ah well. I may try mixing the two to see what happens.

[zankoku_zen]

I am beginning to think that BPAL's stone note just goes to air freshner on me. This is cool, dark aquatic that veers into the air freshner/laundry detergent variety.

 

SAD.

[Altaira]

Not getting much, I can barely smell this at all. There is an aquatic quality and mossyness, but nothing really stands out. I certainly don't get any fire or smoke.

[anastasia]

this is very soft and evocative. it reminds me of Beth's Eric sold at Dark Delicacies and also of Sarah from the Vampire series and after i have worn it a while it is like Eric went to live in The Black Tower. The smoke is like smoke from a very low fire - maybe a peat fire...

it is soft and blankety on me. like being able to spend a night on the moor on a night warm enough to just lie down and sleep on the ground in your clothes with the fire as a well banked pile of coals maybe slow roasting some potatoes. it makes me think of soldiers in their down time - just keeping watch.

[thekittenkat]

Note: I like grass and dirt scents, so let's see how this one works.

 

In the decant: Stone and mud, and a little bit of grass.

 

Wet: The grasses add the moss may be of the winter season, but they have a sweetness about them.

 

The dry-down: The mud is present, but only as a base for the stone, the grass, and the mud. Happily, I don't seem to get any of that fire note--it was the one note that I was worried about. Could be bottle-worthy.

[GhillieDhu]

Purchased at my mother's request and tested on its way to her. This is the sort of scent that I love in theory but know better than to buy for myself, because 99% of watery or airy notes don't work on my skin. With that caveat...

 

Aquatic cologne. Very nice cologne, though. It reminds me of Love's Rain scent, actually, except more grown-up and with a squeeze of lemon on top. If I wore Cool Water-type scents, I'd probably adore this.

 

If your skin doesn't explode ozone and aquatics, I'm guessing this might resemble a fall version of Amsterdam - the flowers are gone and the grass is turning brown, but there's still that feeling of clear running water and open space.

[melange]

Perfumey and fresh while wet, this reminds me of herbal shampoo at first. It relaxes into something cushiony, soft and green-grey, but I never do get the fire from the decant. Shadows of What May Be has earth and grass notes too, but it's raw and this is much quieter.

[surf-tormented]

It's very light on me. The only perfume I can compare it too is VA's Ghost of the Moors, which is very strong and earthy, almost too much so. But this is similar to that in a lot of ways, except this is more (ha) grassy. It has a great scent in the bottle but lasts mere minutes on my skin.

Edited January 28, 2011 by Madame Nyx

[ofthegood]

In the vial, this was a very aquatic men's cologne/aftershave smell. On my skin, it immediately developed to more of a green, ozone, and soap scent, and got sweeter and soapier as it dried. At one point, it really reminded me of bathing with Irish Spring. Not a terrible thing, but a strong and fairly generic scent on me.

 

Drying down, the dirt started to emerge and it was like... washing my hands with Irish Spring after planting bulbs? It just kept getting softer, quickly losing the sharpness from the greenery and the ozone. Having loved Shadows of What May Be, I desperately wanted more of the raw earth and plant smells to come out. But it faded into soapy powdery generic blah.

[theseagrows]

i kind of knew this wouldn't be a "me" scent, but i love the imagery/idea of a scent based on the moors. i was hoping that maybe, just maybe the "stone" would be subtle and not overwhelm the scent, and i would get a smoky, dirty, grassy oakmoss scent, but alas, the metallic-ozone of the stone is very strong on me. i think my skin must amp ozone notes, because all i can really smell is ozone, mud, and maybe a smidge of the fire in the background. pretty, but ozone gives me a headache, unfortunately.

[tajana]

Christmas Eve on the Moor has nothing about it that reminds me in any way, shape, or form of Christmas. However, this is a surprise hit for me. This would be great on my boyfriend too but this is so good I hardly want to share. I do not normally enjoy perfumes with aquatic or ozone elements - they tend to screech and go flat on my skin, and all end up smelling like cheap soap. This is the opposite of my experience with CEotM, probably because the additional notes in here are ones I enjoy, and they conspire to make this a clean and cologney yet atmospheric and evocative fragrance.

 

The coolness of clear water, the refreshing breeze before a lovely thunderstorm, the gorgeous smell of mosses and dew-covered grasses! Underneath all of that, there is a small hint of a sweet, snuggly, comforting woodsmoke note that warms it up and marries it perfectly to my skin. It is not savory or charred, it's just a softly, abstract interpretation of a fire. The lasting power of this is par for the course of most BPAL fragrances on me.

 

I enjoy the clean, subtle outdoorsiness of this fragrance. It makes me think of a bonfire in a meadow, the warm orange glow of the flames contrasting with the emerald of moss, the deep smooth gray of stones worn by the cool wind, and the wistful muted blue of stormclouds.

[MCS4096]

I'm kind of obsessed with the idea of the moors... but my romantic fixation is more of the Hound of the Baskervilles variety than Wurthering Heights

 

Unfortunately I don't really get anything that resembles what I imagined the notes in this blend to smell like.. I generally like the lab's grass and moss notes, but they seem more earthy usually, and I'm ALWAYS up for mud and stone. But this... is high pitched, slightly sickly sweet, soapy generic ozone perfume. No where near grassy, earthy, or firey enough for my liking. Boo!

[aquazoo]

I am getting the chilly part of it. Then I get the smoke. It really comes together into a nice, comforting scent.