Young Pine Saplings

[Iceblink]

Cream, clove, ginger, and honey.

The cream note here is the one that immediately turns to sour spoiled milk on me. Spoiled milk with some ginger and clove but still...BAD, BAD CREAM! I don't think I've had a scent fail this quickly on me since Ichabod Crane!

[astarinel]

Add me to the chorus of voices that find this blend doesn't really work with their skin chemistries.

 

I was hoping that the cream would play nicely, although cream notes tend to go flat and a bit sour for me. I've been looking for a spicy chai-like blend, but a lot of spices tend to get dry and slightly musty on me. Unfortunately, this blend is no exception here. I don't smell any honey really, and the ginger is definitely the fresh ginger of Polynesian Pop/Mother Ginger rather than the foody-deep ginger of Gingerbread Poppet/Shub-Niggurath. Clove just must be one of those spices that doesn't work well on me, because this is definitely getting a little dry and unpleasantly musty. This really just doesn't work on my skin. Disappointing!

[Little Bird]

I don't get any cream or honey from this, just the clove and ginger battling it out on my skin. It's like gingerale and a smoky, dry, slightly wooden, slightly bitter smelling clove. I wish that the ginger were spicy instead of that bright gingerale smell, because I never quite feel like this type of ginger blends well with other notes, and it's just weird paired with the smoky clove.

 

After about fifteen minutes, this makes me smell like cigarette smoke, and my husband said it smells like an ash tray :/ no good.

Edited March 1, 2011 by Little Bird

[Jupita]

In the imp : it has a very bakery scent...

 

Wet: still some of that bakery scent, probably my interpretation of clove+cream...

 

The more it settles, the more it becomes a creamy ginger, slightly floral...

Exactly like the bathmelt Elixir from Lush used to smell...

It's gorgeous... not something I'd wear very often, because its a very strong scent... but gorgeous all the same.

I love my decant.

[crebbsgirl]

On me, this smells EXACTLY like Paintbox Soapworks' Comfort and Joy. There's a creamy ginger thing happening. It's nice, but not something I would want to wear as perfume.

[reconditarmonia]

I thought I'd love this one, but I don't, really. It just isn't all that pleasant. Could do with stronger cream/honey.

[zankoku_zen]

So this smells like creamy ginger milk, slightly foodie. Verges on gingerbread on me, actually.

 

I like to eat gingerbread, but this is a little too foodie for me. Delicious, but not the type of scent I typically wear.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Ginger with cream and honey.

 

Wet: The ginger is amping!

 

The dry-down: Still very gingery, and with just a hint of clove, but the cream and honey are starting to tame the ginger. I think that this is the raw ginger note, as found in Milk Chocolate, Raw Ginger and Butterscotch. Just a gorgeous scent, and no surprise that this is one of the hits of this year's Lupers. At least one bottle is in my future!

[reynardine]

While it had a friendly, almost foody smell in the bottle, it was fail on my skin. I think it's the ginger--evidently, I can't carry off that note. Off to swaps.

[midnight_aeval]

This smells like ginger & smoke... weird. I don't get cream, honey OR clove. Unless the combination of these notes = burning. Not really foody. I picture this might be what ginger cigarettes may smell like if they existed LOL sadly, not for me.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Honey, you are an evil nemesis. You totally spoilt this one for me.

 

me---> <---honey

 

Yes, this is the same gorgeous deep ginger from Loaded Gun. And I love that ginger.. so rich and luxurious. And the clove for me is surprisingly subtle - it's there, but it's not really strong. The cream would have been nice if it wasn't mixed with the honey. Which brings me back to the honey. Sadly, this is the type of honey that produces a horrible powdery cloying sweetness on my skin and makes me feel a bit sick. I'm happy that I didn't go for a bottle unsniffed (which I was tempted to do, because.. mmmmmm, ginger) - I have learnt that I must try before I buy when honey's involved.

 

Sadly, this is not a winner for me. Honey strikes again!!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: This is softer than I expected, but beautifully blended. It’s marginally ginger dominant, but all elements are well represented. Wet: The cloves catch up to the ginger, leaving the honey the softest element, but honestly, this is a gentle, nebulous sweet blend, with the spices well complimented by the cream and honey. It strengthens a little on the skin as it warms, but it simply hasn’t much throw, which is a shame, as I’m liking it. Dry: Mostly ginger with a touch of clove and a softening caused by the tail end of cream and honey. As I like ginger, this works for me.

[PurringPulsar]

Young Pine Saplings

 

In the imp: an odd mix of popcorn (what the?) and sweet honeyed spices.

Wet on skin: still smells corny but now reminds me of tortilla crisps (ready salted) with honey-roasted nuts.

Dry on skin: this one is weird. I smell some cream and yes, it’s sour cream. Not nice. I also smell honey, and a very savoury ginger note, hot and spicy, I do not smell clove but I smell a lot of black pepper. And underneath it all is a very strange undertone of peanuts and tortilla crisps. It’s like a selection of snacks-salt and black pepper flavoured tortillas dipped in sour cream, and honey roasted nuts with chilli nuts, and a hint of ginger chutney. It’s not something I want to smell like though.

After a while: the scent’s corny/sour scent tones down and I smell a lot of fizzy ginger powder now, and pepper (still no recognisable clove). The ginger is the same one in the Milk Chocolate and Raw Ginger scent or the one in Vampire Kiss, because it’s very dry and fiery but has an effervescent aspect like ginger beer. There’s a scent to it like chilli as well. It’s still too savoury and the creamy scent I was hoping for is not there. It also reminds me of White Rabbit, the spices and honey are similar, but WR had a softer milk note as well as a smooth clean background, which this lacks.

Verdict: this is downright bizarre, and not in a good way. I was hoping for a spicier take on Sudha Segara but instead I get something that smells of spicy tortilla crisps dipped in sour cream. WTF? The spices here smell salty and the ginger is too dry, and the cream has a strange reaction that makes it smell both sour and also like corn snacks-sometimes popcorn, sometimes tortillas. Even the honey doesn’t sweeten this. I’m passing the decant on.

Is it a keeper? no thanks!

If you like this, try: White Rabbit, Sudha Segara, Mother Ginger, Milk Chocolate with Raw Ginger and Butterscotch, Burning Vulva, Playing with a Loaded Gun (if you can find it)

[girasol]

Wet: Feck! You're right, yeahbutnobut, it's popcorn. More specifically, buttered popcorn flavoured Jelly Belly jelly beans. In smell form. Weird.

 

Drydown Spices coming through, but still with the popcorn.

 

Dry Better now. Clove often goes batsh*t crazy on my skin, but this is not too bad. And the ginger is nice and sharp - BPAL ginger notes often don't actually smell gingery to me, but this one does. Yay!

[Bamels]

I am recovering from a cold so my nose may not be up to scratch. In the imp I smell pilau rice! That must be from the clove and ginger. This wasn't what I was expecting. Maybe the cream will come out on my skin. The ginger is strongest on my skin and seems to be blocking out anything else. It smells more like ginger powder as opposed to fresh ginger. Whenever I sniff it I get that funny dry feeling on the tip of my tongue like I do when eating ginger snaps! This is just too flat out ginger for me. It may have been nice if I could smell any of the other ingredients, but ginger has knocked them all out. I may put this one up for swaps.

[Lit Chick]

Oh good, I'm not the only one who gets buttered popcorn jelly belly, my most hated of the flavors.

 

It smells good and bad and good... cannot make up its mind. I'm not sure about this.... honey can be dodgy with me. Cream is awesome... and I can smell the notes fighting over who wins on my skin. I'm going to keep this and see what happens at different times in my cycle... right now I'm fertile and the honey and my hormones do not mesh. It's oddly masculine, perhaps it will be hot on the husband.

[Schmoozy]

Creamy, spicy gingered honey. It's very soft and sticks close to the skin. I adore it!

[animalcule]

in the decant: My very favorite note combo, milk or cream with honey, with a touch of spice.

 

wet on skin: Creamy light honey with a lot of effervescent ginger. I don't get any clove. This is what I was hoping Sudha Segera would be like.

 

dry: the ginger calms down a little, but it's quite consistent. Ah! I can detect a little clove now! I like clove, but it can be overwhelming to many scents, so I'm glad it's so gentle here.

 

I do not get ANY popcorn/tortilla chip/rice aspect, which is good because anything that smells like grains in my BPAL is nauseating and ruins a scent!

 

 

I might have to track down a bottle. Subtle, stays very close to the skin, but delicious. I'd like to see what aging does to it...

[maika]

This is odd. In the bottle, it's all warm creamy spicy gorgeousness.

Wet, it smells like slightly spicy buttered popcorn?!?!?

Drying down, the popcorn thing edges back, and I get a strong fresh ginger note.

 

I'm putting this away to age for a bit, but at this point, it's not what I was hoping for.

[filigree_shadow]

Yeah, it's like a milky cream with ginger in it, and it does kinda smell slightly like buttered popcorn.

I like it, but I've tried enough scents sort of like this enough to know that I really like it for about 10 minutes and then I'm ready to smell something else.

 

It does seem comforting in a sweet, familiar sort of way, so I want to hang on to my decant, but I don't think I'd ever use a whole bottle of it.

 

ETA: Oh. My husband says "Ew. Sickly sweet." So I guess I won't keep it.

Edited May 8, 2011 by filigree_shadow

[asciident]

Wet: Spicy! Nice warm ginger scent comes on strong.

 

First on: Clove amps right away, but after a minute or so the honey comes in to temper it. Still quite gingery.

 

Dry: Oh, so sad! It fades quickly. What's left is deliciously creamy, but there's really almost no throw left at all.

 

 

[Gin]

I'd love a creamy clove but instead I get GINGER! I don't know that I'll even bother to let this one age a bit because I don't think anything will silence the screaming ginger. Too bad, I had high hopes for Young Pine Saplings.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I can't say anything other than "it smells like a buttered popcorn jelly belly". Interesting, but not for me.

[kattharia]

Oh, Young Pine Saplings I so wanted to love you! I remember I loved my decant! True, I remember in the bottle and wet, I wasn't happy, but you dried so nicely. What happened?Maybe It's my wonky nose, or my wonky skin, but where did the fruit come from? Wet or dry, what I smell is FRUIT LOOPS? WTF? After about 20 minutes I get the milk that had fruit loops in it. So sad on this, but off to swaps you go!

[milo]

Just as advertised from wet to dry. Ginger and clove with cream, not really what I'd imagine young pine trees would smell like, but nice just the same. It reminds of the spices in pumpkin pie, but not the actual pumpkin. This is a bit too foody for me, and while I like smelling spices in my home, I like to wear it more subdued. Nice to try though!